Number LIBRARY Trinity Collej^e Durham, N. C. Vo'et^ V Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Duke University Libraries https://archive.org/details/wesleymemorialvo02clar \ ts ' WESELEV. - ■S' ‘'7^^ •%- c^C'^ m 1^ H •0 * THE Wesley Memorial Volume; OR, WESLEY AND THE METHODIST MOVEMENT, JUDGED BY ISfEARLY OILE HUNDRED AND FIFTY WRITERS, LIVING AND DEAD. EDITED BY REV. J. O. A. CLARK, D.D., LL.D. / 7 ^ NEW YORK : PHILLIPS & HUNT. CINCINNATI : WALDEN & STOWE. J. W. BURKE & CO., Macon, Ga. J. B. M’FERRIN, Agent, Nashville, Tenn. L. D. CAMERON & CO., St. Louis, Mo. 1880. Copyright 1880, by :pia;zrjiji:ps cfc zzxjnsra?. New York. VJSI^CW a, ^ gaKX)L Of RELIGION 1. “ If Methodism continue in vigor and purity to future genera- tions, it will be associated with the name of its founder, and encircle his memory with increasing luster.” — Richard Watson. 2. “These gentlemen are irregular, but they have done good, and I pray God to bless them.” — Potter^ Archbishop of Canterbury. 3. “Mr. Wesley, may I be found at your feet in heaven.” — Loivth, Bishop of London. 4. “ In him even old age appeared delightful, like an evening cloud; and it was impossible to observe him without wishing fer- vently, ‘ May my last end be like his.’ ” — Alexander Knox. 5. “I consider him as the most influential mind of the last century — the man who will have produced the greatest effects centuries, or perhaps millenniums hence, if the present race of men should con- tinue so long.” — Robert Southey. 6. “His life stands out, in the history of the world, unquestionably pre-eminent in religious labors above that of any other man since the apostolic age.” — Abel Stevens. 7. “His quarrel was solely with sin and Satan. His master passion was, in his own often-repeated expression, the love of God and the love of man for God’s sake. The world has at length done tardy jus- tice to its benefactor. ’ ’ — Overton. % :1 ' ' . ' . ■ . : -i. S5f 'y? PREFACE ¥ HEI^ a traveler over the mountains of California first sees at a distance those great trees, which, on their dis- covery, astonished tlie world, he experiences a sense of disap- pointment. They are only trees — large trees, it is true, and well proportioned, but yet only trees. But after he has stood in the midst of the grove — after he has walked for more than three hundred feet close around a single trunk, and looked up to branches as high above him — or perchance has walked upon some fallen tree a hundred feet above the ground, with a trunk so wide that along it a team might be driven ; then, and not till then, does he realize their immense magnitude. So is it with great men. First seen they are only men — common men in their appearance and habits. Not until we study their movements, record their labors, follow them in critical moments, consider their decisions, look out on their broad views, and feel the throbbings of their hearts, do we comprehend their greatness. The one grand and only perfect character our world has ever seen was not recognized by his own age. He had no “ beauty that they should desire him,” and “ they esteemed him not.” But after eighteen cent- uries he towers above all other characters. In some measure, such was the life of John "Wesley. '"No man of his time was less understood. He was singular, because he fixed his eye upon and followed only the truth. He was mahgned and traduced. - Pulpits denounced him, the press satirized him, and every year pamphlets and volumes attacked his doctrines and movements, and impugned his motives. But, unmoved, he kept steadily to his purpose, and went about doing good. To-day nearly a century has passed ; the names 6 Peeface. of many of liis detractors have perished, but every-where he is associated with the great thinkers and glorious workers of the world. His name to-day is upon more lips, in more lands, than is that of any other man of his times. It was a happy thought of the editor of this volume to secure different writers, from different churches, and from different stand-points, to present their estimates of Mr. Wesley’s life and works. For Wesley was many-sided, and from many points of view his characteristics are worthy of record. To us, two elements in him -are pre-eminently conspicuous. / First, his unwearying labor and perseverance : second, his en- tire dedication of himself to Christ and his work. He planned his work skillfully, and did it thoroughly. ^ It has been said of him that “ he read more, wrote more, preached more, and traveled more, than any minister, if not than any man, of his times.” His long life, spanning nearly a century, gave him great opportunities, and they were well improved. Two entries in his journal illustrate his life : “ Here I rested for two weeks, that I might write up my notes, preaching only every morning and evening.” And in his eighty-third year, preparing Mr. Fletcher’s life, he says : “ To this I dedicated all the time I could spare till Hovember, from five in the morn- ing till eight at night. These are my studying hours : I can- not write longer in a day without hurting my eyes.” He knew no rest till he found it in the grave. He early read, translated, published, and took into his own heart and life, the little book of Thomas a Kempis, called the Imitation of Christ. To be like Christ, to think Christ’s thoughts, to sjjeak Christ’s words, to carry out Christ’s plans, to do, as far as man might do, Christ’s works, was the one grand ambition of his life. Hence those broad ideas of toler- ation, Christian fellowship and unity, which the Christian world is slowly embracing. He heard the Master say, “ Tlie field is the world;” and his heart echoed back, “The world is my parish.” M. S. A PEEFATOEY POEM. S EE God’s witness unto men ! Faithful through all the earnest years, As though, from old anointed seers. One had been bid to earth again For ordered work among his peers. Kindle as ye read the tale. The thrilling tale of duty done, Of gospel triiimphs, nobly won By Truth, almighty to prevail, — By Love, unselfish as the sun. They to holy missions born. Who shed a bloom upon the days, And work for Christ in loving ways ; F or them the envious blasts of scorn But scatter seeds of future praise. Time the great avenger is Of patient souls with lofty aim ; For whom the blind to-day hath blame, The wiser morrows hoard the bliss. And fill the ages with their name. Who themselves for others give. Need not to slander make reply. Nor falter in their purpose high ; For God hath willed that they should live, While all the proud self-seekers die. True hearts wish no flattering songs ; They humbly bow in holier fane ; Men do not bless the clouds for rain. The music of the lyre belongs To the skilled hand which wakes the strain. A Peefatory Poem. Service is its own reward If the deep love but prompt the deed. All heaven-sent souls can ask or need Folds in the favor of the Lord ; Their guerdon this — their highest meed. Praise we then our God alone, Who made his servant thus complete I And pour we, in libation sweet, Our wealth of spikenard — each his owm — In tribute at the Master’s feet. March 1*7, 1879. CONTENTS, . PACK PEEFACE 6 Eev. M. Simpson, D.D., LL.D., Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. PEEFATOEY POEM 7 Eev. W. Moblet Punshon, LL.D., of the British Wesleyan Methodists. INTEODUCTION 18 Eev. J. 0. A. Claek, D.D., LL.D., of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. THE WESLEY FAMILY 27 Mr. Geobge J. Stevenson, M.A., of the British Wesleyan Methodists. WESLEY AND METHODISM 61 Eev. J. 0. A. Clabk, D.D., LLD., of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. •• WESLEY AND THE CHUECH OF ENGLAND 76 Eev. J. H. Eigg, D.D., of the British Wesleyan Methodists. « WESLEY’S INFLUENCE ON THE SOCIAL, INTELLECTUAL, AND EE- LIGIOUS LIFE OF THE ENGLISH MASSES 98 Thomas Austin Bullock, LL.D., of the Methodist New Connection in England, WESLEY vYND PEESONAL EELIGIOUS EXPEEIENCE 128 Eev. Ctbus D. Foss, D.D., LL.D., Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. WESLEY AS A EEVIVALIST 149 Eev. Geoegb Douglass, LL.D., of the Methodist Church of Canada. * WESLEY THE FOUNDEE OF METHODISM 164 Eev. Holland N. M’Tteibe, D.D., LL.D., Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. , METHODIST DOCTEINE 168 Eev. William Bubt Pope, D.D., of the British Wesleyan Methodists. • IDEAS WESLEY DEVELOPED IN OEGANIZING HIS SOCIETIES 191 Eev. Oelando T. Dobbin, LL.D., (Trinity College, Dublin, and University of Ox- ford,) of the Church of England. 10 Contents, PiLOB - WESLEY’S INFLUENCE ON THE RELIGION OP THE WORLD 213 Rev. WilliajM Cooke, D.D., of the Methodist New Connection in England. WESLEY AND CHURCH POLITY 245 Rev. Tho.mas 'Webbteb, D.D., of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada. WESLEY AND THE COLORED RACE 266 Rev. L. II. H6lsey, Bishop of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church of America. WESLEY THE PREACHER 268 Rev. J. II. Rigg, D.D., of the British Wesleyan Methodists. WESLEY AS AN ITINERANT 285 Rev. George F. Fierce, D.D., LL.D., Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. WESLEY AS A POPULAR PREACHER 294 Rev. M. LeliEtre, of the Methodist Church in Prance and Switzerland. WESLEY AS AN EDUCATOR 300 Rev. Ef.astu.s 0. Haven, D.D., LL.D., Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. W^LEY AND HIS LITERATURE 310 Rev. W. Morlet Punshon, LL.D., of the British Wesleyan Methodists. WESLEY AND SUNDAY-SCHOOLS 829 Sir Charles Reed, M.P., LL.D., (Tale,) of the Independents of England. YYESLEY JUGE PAR de PRESSENS^ 335 WESLEY JUDGED BY DR. de PRESSENSE 339 Rev. Eumond de Pressenbe, D.D., (University of Breslau,) of the Reformed Church of Paris. EPW ORTH — A_ Poem 843 Rev. Dwight Williams, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. WESLEY AND WHITEFIELD 850 Rev. Joseph Kirsop, of the United Methodist Free Churches of England. JOHN WESLEY AND HIS MOTHER 861 Rev. John Potts, D.D., of the Methodist Church of Canada. JOHN AND CHARLES WESLEY 373 Rev. J. R. Jacques, Ph.D., D.D., of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada. PROVIDENCE OF GOD IN METHODISM 383 Rev. Andrew A. Lipscomb, D.D., LL.D., of the Methodist Protestant Church. Contents. 11 PAGE WESLEY AND THE EVIDENCE WEITEES, ESSAYISTS, AND OTHEES 404 Eev. J. 0. A. Clark, D.D., LL.D., of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. WESLEY THE WOEKEE 418 Eev. B. F. Lee, L.B., of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. WESLEY AND ELETCHEE 427 Eev. J. H. Overton, (University of Oxford,) of the Church of England. WESLEY AND CLAEKE 435 • Eev. J. P. Ne'wman, D.D., of the Methodist Episcopal Church. WESLEY’S LIBEEALITY AND CATHOLICITY 452 Eev. A. P. Stanley, D.D., (Dean of Westminster,) of the Church of England. WESLEYAN LYEIC POETEY 464 Eev. Abel Stevens, D.D., LL.D., of the Methodist Episcopal Church. WESLEYAN HYMN MUSIC 473 Miss Eliza Wesley, granddaughter of Charles Wesley. WESLEY AND COKE 481 Eev. Wm. M. Wightman, D.D., LL.D., Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. WESLEY AND ASBUEY 497 Eev. Thomas 0. Summers, D.D., LL.D., of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. IN MEMOEIAM. — Charles Wesley, Hyatnologist 529 Benjamin Gough, of the British Wesleyan Methodists. ' WESLEY AND LAY PEEACHING 532 Eev. Isaac P. Cook, Local Preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church. WESLEY’S DEATH AND CHAEACTEE 548 Eev. Luke Ttekman, of the British Wesleyan Methodists. THE WESLEY MEMOEIAL IN WESTMINSTEE ABBEY 594 Eev. A. P. Stanley, D.D., (Dean of Westminster,) and others. WESLEY IN SAVANNAH AND THE WESLEY MONUMENTAL CHUECH 506 Eev. J. 0. A. Clark, D.D., LL.D., of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. WESLEY AND THE METHODIST MOVEMENT Judged BY NEABLY OnE Hundred Writers, Living or Dead 649 Eev. J. O. A. Clark, D.D., LL.D., of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 12 Contents. PACK THE WESLEY MONUMENTAL CHURCH 700 Eev. Loviok Piekce, D.D., with an Introduction by Key. A. G. Hatgood, D.D., both of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. STATISTICS OE METHODISM 706 Eev. 'W. H. De Put, D.D., of the Methodist Episcopal Church. APPENDIX 725 CoNTAiNEfo Official and other Papers, approvtno the Wesley Monu- mental Church, from the following Methodist Bodies and Others. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South ; The Methodist Episcopal Church ; The Members of Congress from Georgia ; The President of the United States; The Secretary of State of the United States ; The Methodist Protestant Church ; The African Methodist Episcopal Church ; The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church of America ; The Methodist Church of Canada; The Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada ; The British Wesleyan Methodists; The Methodist New Connection in England ; The Methodist United Free Churches in England ; The Primitive Methodists of England ; and The Methodists of France and Switzerland ; also. Concluding Eemarks by the Editor relating to the approaching Meth- odist Ecumenical Council. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PEOFILE of JOHN WESLEY Frontispiece POETEAIT of SUSANNA WESLEY 26 POETEAIT of JOHN WESLEY 269 POETEAIT OF CHAELES WESLEY 372 FACSIMILE OF LETTEE FEOM JOHN WESLEY TO ADAM CLAEKE.446, 447 FACSIMILE OF LETTEE FEOM DE. CLAEKE TO LOED TEIGN- MOUTH 448-^51 THE MEMOEIAL TABLET IN WESTMINSTEE ABBEY 599 WESLEY MONUMENTAL CHUECH, SAVANNAH, GA 607 INTRODUCTION. I N offering the Wesley Memokial Yoltjme to the Puhhc, it may be proper to state the facts in which it had its origin. Its object is twofold : first, to erect by pen-pictures, drawn by leading minds, a Memorial to Wesley which shall be, we trust, more enduring than marble : second, to aid the comple- tion of the Wesley Monumental Church, now building in Savannah, Ga.,\the only city in America in which Mr. Wesley had a home and a parish. To the completion of the Monu- mental Church the net proceeds of the sale of the hook will he exclusively devoted. , During the Editor’s late visit to England the Memorial Yol- UME was conceived. It was suggested to his mind, with almost the force of an inspiration, that such a work would not only aid his efforts to build the Monumental Church, hut help to illustrate the life-work of John Wesley, and bring the various Methodisms of the World into closer union and fellowship. While lying, pressed by many a care, upon his bed at his hotel in London, the Memorial Yolume, with its name, its sub- jects, and its contributors, was, after constant and earnest prayer to Almighty God, mapped out with such vividness and distinctness that he arose at once and wrote out the plan. The book now offered to the public is the result. The work is given, in all its essential features, just as it was first conceived and planned on that, to the Editor at least, eventful morning. A few subjects have been added, and a few names substituted ; but the great majority of the contributors are those who, from its inception, were assigned to the subjects upon which they have written. That the Editor might be more^ 14 Inteoduction. likely to succeed, to some of the themes more than one writer was assigned. If one failed, there were others equally able to whom he could apply. With the exception, therefore, of cer- tain subjects subsequently added, and of a few prepared by writers other than those to whom an invitation to write for the work was first given, and whose previous and unfulfilled en- gagements allowed them to take no part in it, the volume, both in its subjects and contributors, is very nearly what the Editor designed from the beginning. On the same day the work was conceived, the Editor began a correspondence with some of those whom he had selected to write for it. On some he called, and made personal request. In a few days he received the pledges of the Eev. Dr. James H. Eigg, the Eev. Dr. Arthur Peni’hyn Stanley, Mr. George J. Stevenson, M.A., Sir Charles Eeed, LL.D., and the Eev. Dr. Abel Stevens. To these were soon added the pledges of the Eev. Dr. William Cooke, the Eev. Joseph Kirsop, the Eev. Dr. W. Morley Punshon, the Eev. Dr. William B. Pope, the Eev. Dr. O. T. Dobbin, the Eev. Dr. E. 0. Haven, and the Eev. Luke Tyerman. With these pledges, received in London, the Editor retimned home to complete what was so auspiciously begun abroad. How he has succeeded will appear in the volume itself. In it the reader will find representative writers from nearly all the Methodisms of Europe, Canada, and the United States.' It was the Editor’s wish that no Methodist organization claiming John Wesley as its spiritual founder should be left out of the Memorial Yolume. Every effort in his power to secure this result has been made. If any one is omitted it has been from no fault of the Editor, for he loves all the people called Method- ists, and prays that all, with one heart and one soul, may pre- serve the unity and purity of Wesleyan Methodism. The Editor would here gratefully record his obligations to all who have contributed to the work. It is, indeed, marvel- ous how readily responses were made to his call. This is Inteodtjction. 15 more a matter of surprise when it is remembered that every contributor is overburdened by Cburcb work and other pressing engagements, and that every article has been a free- will offering — a voluntary contribution — to the kloNUMENXAn Church. Every article, as Dr. Abel Stevens called his when he sent it from his temporary sojourn by the lakes and mount- ains of Switzerland, is the author’s “brick” in the monu- mental edifice which we are building in America in honor of the great and good Wesley. To one and all the Editor returns his heartfelt thanks. May God reward them for what has been to each a labor of love and self-sacrifice ! In returning thanks to the noble corps of writers who have aided him, the Editor must return special thanks to those who belong to other communions. May Heaven’s choicest blessings rest upon them ! To this simple but sincere prayer we are sure that our common Methodism will respond a hearty Amen. Besides those whose names appear as contributors to the volume, the Editor is under obligation to others. It is very gratifying to be able to record that from every one — except three or four — both in Europe and America, with whom, while preparing the work, the Editor has corresponded, answers have been received. But perhaps it is due to the three or four who ♦ have failed to answer his communications, to say, that the Editor has no evidence that they ever received the letters which he addressed to them. Their silence may, there- fore, be explained by the fact that his letters to them never arrived at their destination. From all others, however, most prompt and courteous answers came, nearly all of which were fuU of tenderest sympathy, of good cheer, and of sincere re- grets on the part of such as were prevented by prior and imperative engagements from writing the articles requested. For such universal promptness and kindness the Editor can account but in one way;H.it was a beautiful tribute to the memory of the great Christian teacher and reformer whose fife work he was seeking to honor. It showed more fully than 16 I]SrTEODUCTIO]Sr. anything else conld show, what a hold the name of John Wes- ley has upon all true Christian hearts the world over. And this is the more remarkable when it is remembered, that many of these answers came from those who are not called by Mr. Wesley’s name. In nearly every instance, both those who have written for the Mejioeial Yoltjme and those who were compelled to decline, have pronounced it a very great honor to be asked to contribute to such a work. It would, no doubt, give great pleasure to Methodists and the friends of Mr. Wesley to read the letters themselves, or to see them in print. But they are too many and voluminous to be given here. While this is true, the Editor may be permitted to give a few to the public, either in whole or in part. And this he does the more readily, because, when he asked contri- butions, he requested either articles on the subjects assigned, or letters which might be used in the published volume. Out of the many received the Editor gives only the answers of such as have no article in the book itseK. They are given in the order in which they were received, and the names of the dis- tinguished writers are as follows : the Eight Hon. W. E. Glad- stone, ex-Premier of Great Britain ; the Eev. C. H. Spurgeon, of the Tabernacle, London ; the Eev. ISTewman Hall, LL.B., of Christ Chm’ch Square, London; Mr. Wm. E. H. Lqcky, M. A., author of “ Eationalism in Europe,” “ European Morals,” and “ England in the Eighteenth Century ; ” the Eight Eev. Hr. Ellicott, Lord Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol ; the Eev. Hr. W. Antliff, of the Primitive Methodist Theological Insti- tute, Sunderland, England; the Eev. Hr. J. E. Hurst, Presi- dent of Hrew Theological Seminary, Madison, Hew Jersey ; the Eev. Hr. Wm. M. Taylor, Pastor of the Broadway Taber- nacle, Hew York city; the Eev. Hr. M. Simpson, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; the Eev. Hr. Phihp SchafE, of Hew York city ; the Eev. Hr. Wm. Bacon Stevens, Bishop of the Hiocese of Pennsylvania ; the Eev. Hr. Haniel A. Payne, Bishop of the African M. E. Church, United States ; and the InTRODUCTIOJS". 17 Rev. Dr. Alexander Clark, editor of tlie “Protestant Method- ist Recorder,” Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Editor regrets to add that the Rev. Dr. Clark is since deceased. The letters are as follows : — Hawaeden, September 7, 1878. Dear Sir: The design described in your letter is full of moral and historical interest, but I regret to say, it is quite beyond my power to take part in it. It would require me to enter upon a new and distinct set of studies necessary for the proper execution of the work, whereas my engagements already begun are in sad arrears. I must, therefore, ask you to excuse me. I remain, dear sir, your very faithful and obedient Eev. J. O. a. Clark, D.D. W. E. Gladstone. Nightingale Lane, Clapham, September 13, 1878. Dear Sir: I count it a great honor to have been asked to contribute to the Wesley Volume ; and you have rightly judged that I should have written in a tone which would show that no doctrinal differences pre- rent my feeling deep veneration for the character of John Wesley. I am, however, unable to attempt more work. I am burdened as it IS, and can hardly hold on from week to week. I have no leisure, nor the prospect of any, and I could not undertake the work which you re- quest of me. Yours very truly, Eev. J. 0. A. Clark, D.D. C. H. Spurgeon. The Try House, Christ Church Square, Hampstead Heath, September 17, 1878. My Dear Sir: I feel deeply grateful for the high honor your request confers on me. I only wish my ability were equal to my desire to comply with it. But the fact is, that I have just returned from my va- cation to a long series of preaching engagements in different parts of the country, which, added to my onerous pastoral work, entirely pre- vent my venturing to undertake so honorable and responsible a service. With hearty good wishes, believe me, dear sir, faithfully yours, Eev. j. O. A. Clark, D.D. Newman Hall. 38 Onslow Gardens, S. W., October 4, 1878. Dear Sir: I am sorry I cannot write an article for the Memorial Volume, for I have, already in hand a long book which requires all my 2 18 Inteoduction. energy and time; and I have, moreover, very recently published, at con- siderable length, my views about Wesley and his relations to English history. If men may be measured by the work they have accomplished, John Wesley can liardly fail to be regarded as the greatest figure who has appeared in the religions history of the world since the days of the Reformation ; and few men liave i^roduced a religious revival in a time so little propitious to religious emotion, or have erected a great Church with so little of the spirit of a sectarian. It was a strange thing that, at a time when politicians were doing so much to divide, religious teachers should have done so much to unite, the two great branches of the English race; and that, in spite of civil war and of international jealousy, a movement which sprang in an English university should have acquired so firm a hold over the hearts and intellects of the American people. ■ Wishing every success to your Memorial, I remain, dear sir, your obedient servant. Rev. J. 0. A. Clark, D.D. W. E. H. Leckt. Palace, Gloucester, October 5, 1878. My Dear Sir: I am much honored by your kind and explicit letter. I am unfeignedly sorry, as I have told Dr. Rigg, that I am unable to take any f)art, however little. My time is now used up to every mo- ment ; and I am under a pressure which positively precludes my under- taking any more. I can now hardly keep up my correspondence. This must be my excuse for this brief answer to your most friendly and interesting letter. I have no doubt that the forthcoming Volume will be received with interest in both this country and America. I shall keep your letter as an example of true, heart-whole enthu- siasm in the cause you so ably advocate. Excuse one overpressed for saying no more, but believe me. Very faithfully yours. Rev. J. O. A. Clark, D.D. C. J. Gloucester and Bristol. Primitive Methodist Theological Institute, Sunderland, October 31, 1878. Dear Sir: Yours came to hand just as I was leaving home on Saturday. I take the earliest opportunity of thanking you for the honor you do me Inteodtjctiok. 19 in asking me to write for'the Wesley Memorial Volume. On account of the state of my liealth, and my numerous engagements, I am obliged to decline the undertaking. I am very sorry I cannot help you in your most laudable work. With my best wishes, I am. Yours truly, Rey. Dr. Clark. W. Antliff. Drew Theological Seminary, Madison, N. J., November 8, 1878. My Dear Doctor: I have read your letter wdth great interest, and think you have made a very wdse and successful choice of wudters for your happily-conceived work. I regret to say that it would be impossible for me to prepare any thing worthy of the subject within the coming six months, as I am so far committed to other enterprises as to be unable to find the time. Wishing you great and continued success in your work in behalf of the Monumental Church, I am. Yours very truly. Rev. J. 0. A. Clark, D.D. J. F. Hurst. 5 West Thhity-Fifth Street, • New York, December 4, 1878. My Dear Sir: I have read your letter of 28th ult. with great interest, and if I could have assented to your request, I should have felt it to be a high honor to be associated with so many excellent men in so good a cause. But I am already working up to my very last pound of steam, and I must not undertake any thing extra. Such a paper as you wish should be one's best. But the subject is rather out of the line of my studies; I should have to read up for it as w’ell as write on it, and with my present duties on me it would be madness for me to attempt any thing more. Not, therefore, because I have no interest in your work, but rather because I have not the time to give to any extra literary work, I am compelled to ask you to excuse me. Believe me. Yours faithfully. Rev. j. 0. A. Clark, D.D. Wm. M. Taylor. Philadelphia, December 6, 1878. Dear Brother : Yours of 29th ult. is just received. I am much pleased' with the character of the work you are about to publish. The titles of the 20 iNTRODirCTIOlSr. articles and the names of the contributors must secure it success. I regret to say, however, that it will not be in my power to contribute an article as you desire. ... I could not devote an hour to any other liter- ary work. I have been obliged to lay over every thing else on aecount of the pressure that is upon me. Wishing you success. Yours truly. Rev. J. 0. A. Clark, D.D. M. Simpson. Bible House, Kew York, Decemler 12, 1878. My Dear Sir: Your favor of November 28 was received this morning. With the best disposition to contribute my humble share toward honor- ing the memory of the great and good Wesley in your proposed volume, I must reluctantly decline, as my time and strength are already taxed to the utmost tension. Respectfully yours. Rev. J. O. A. Clark, D.D. Philip Schaff. Episcopal Rooms, 708 Walnut-Street, Philadelphia, January 11, 1879. Reverend and Dear Sir: In reply to your kind and interesting letter of the 3d inst., in reference to the Wesley Memorial Volume, I beg leave to say, that my engagements are so numerous and so pressing, that I caunot conscientiously undertake the work you suggest, and must, therefore, respectfully decline your kind request. The volume which you contemplate making, will, I doubt not, prove both interesting and instructive. Very truly yours, Rev. j. 0. A. Clark, D.D. Wm. Bacon Stevens, Diocese of Pennsylvania. Xenia, Ohio, January 12, 1879. My Dear Sir: Yours of November 29 came to hand late in December. I am in sympathy with your enterprise. I think it a grand one, and hope you may succeed beyond your most sanguine expectations. At the same time I regret that numerous unfinished manuscripts now before me will consume at least twelve months in finishing them. They are official, and, therefore, cannot be laid aside for any other work. So that to overhaul the Journal of Wesley in order that I might write such an essay as you desire, and the dignity of your book demands, is entirely out of my power at the present time. Very respectfully yours. Rev. j. 0. A. Clark, D.D. Payne. IisTKODUCTIOjST. 21 IIethodist Protestant Board of Publication, Pittsburgh, April 7, 1879. Mr DEAR Dr. Clark: The announcement that you had undertaken the preparation of a Wesley Memorial Volume, by which to perpetuate the historical associations of Methodism, has given real satisfaction through- out our Methodist Protestant Branch of the Wesley family. Our people are thoroughly Methodistic in doctrine, in usage, in taste, and in all the fraternal sympathies of the Gospel. Ours claims to be a republic of mutual-righted preachers and people, holding the faith of John Wesley precious, and rejoicing with our older and larger sisters of the Method- ist persuasion in a common joy at tlie constantly enlarging dominion of this many-agented but unifold organization. The spirit of the world’s Methodism is ever the same; and it is the spirit of love, of peace, and of devotion. Whatever may be the differ- ences of polity among the Methodist branches, the life and power are forever one. It is full salvation which Methodism proclaims to the dy- ing world, as if the consecrated messengers knew but one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and shouted the glad tidings as a one-hearted song. Our branch of this happy family, whose parish is the Avorld and whose heritage is heaven, unites with all the others in congratulation that the hallowed garden-ground at Savannah is to be marked henceforth by a monument, not as over a grave but as over a cradle ; for your service is to commemorate the new birth of Christianity in the wilderness ; to re- cord the consequent life and beauty of Methodism ; and to foretell the coming glory of this wonderful manifestation of the divine favor. Yours is a gracious privilege. You do the will of a vast multitude. What Plymouth Rock is to Congregationalism, the rich soil of Georgia, where Wesley planted Methodism, is to a vastly larger host of Christian people this day. The Puritans wrought a work in America worthy of tlieir rigid integrity, and a million voices speak blessings on their names; but the doctrine of free-grace, as interpreted by the scholar of Oxford, preaching beneath the pines and palmettos of the Kew World, has found a welcome in a much larger multitude of exultant souls. I greet you, dear brother, with a warm right hand in your most com- mendable service. Others of our branch, authorized to speak for us more officially — President L. W. Bates, D.D.. of Lynchburgh, Virginia, and Secretary George B. M’Elroy, D.D., of Adrian, Michigan — will doubtless send you a message of becoming ecclesiastical recognition, and I venture to speak my Amen to their communication beforehand, or in the midst, or afterward, wherever, in the method of responsive Method- 22 iNTEODUCTIOir. ism, this sincere word may chance to strike the current of the more im- portant correspondence from the body to which I have the honor to belong. And may heavenly benedictions crown your efforts in a thousand lingering joys, until our glory is complete in Jesus Christ our Lord! Affectionately, Alexajsidee Claek. Before dismissing tliis Introduction it should be stated, that all the articles in this volume, except a very few, were written expressly for it, and have appeared nowhere else. And of those excepted nearly all have been rewritten or especially arranged by their res|)ective authors. For the poem, “In Memoriam — Charles Wesley,” by the late Benjamin Gough, the writer is indebted to Mr. George J. Stevenson, of Pater- noster Row, in whose excellent work, “The Wesleyan Hymn Book and its Associations,” the poem originally appeared. The Editor takes this occasion to say, that to no one while abroad was he under greater obligations than to George John Stevenson. For so much patient service, at the cost of so much labor and self-sacrifice, and for so many delicate atten- tions to himself and other American strangers in the great and crowded metropolis of England, the writer of this will ever pray that the benedictions of Heaven may always rest upon Mr. Stevenson and his equally kind and hospitable family. Eor the paper, “The Wesley Memorial in Westminster Ab- bey,” the Editor is indebted to the distinguished personages who shared the leading parts in the beautiful and appropriate ceremonies which witnessed the unveiling of the Wesley Mon- ument in that venerable mausoleum. The hand of Dean Stan- ley himself, chief speaker on the occasion, has arranged his address for publication here. And to the same worthy Dean we are under sj)ecial obligations for permission to print his late address before the Wesleyan Childeen’s TIome of London. This address, never before given to the public, revised by Dean Stanley, and printed for this volume at the press of the Inteoduction. 23 Children’s Home, was sent to the Editor by Mr. T. B. Stephen- son, M.A., its able and distinguished president. To Miss Eliza Wesley, of London, grand-daughter of Charles Wesley, the poet of Methodism, the Editor is indebted for two tunes by her father, Samuel Wesley, and one by her late brother, Samuel S. Wesley, both of whom were eminent mu- sical doctors, and musicians to the English Court. To the Rev. Dr. Edmond de Pressense, of Paris, pastor of the Reformed Church of France, whose aid, at the request of the Editor of this volume, was procured through the kind intervention of the Rev. M. Lelievre, of L’Evangeliste, Himes, and whose communication was sent both in French and in the English translation, the Editor has the pleasure of returning his sincere thanks. Many have been the letters received in which the prayers of the writers were offered up for the success of the W esley Me- MOiiiAL Yolume! Writing from his Irish home, in Dublin, Dr. Orlando T. Dobbin, of the Church of England, thus con- cludes a letter to the Editor : “Allow me to wish yon a favorable voyage, and a return cargo richer than that of a Spanish galleon, with your hand- some venture. With yonrseK I anticipate for the good Ship, John Wesley, a hearty welcome in every port the bark may touch at. Better than this, I believe and hope your book will do real good to souls, and lead many to think what it was that wins all this renown to your once humble preacher but now exalted saint.” A f W LESLEY, if' ¥eslei Memoeial Yoleme. THE WESLEY FAMILY. H K righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance, is JL the declaration of the psalmist ; and the truth of those words was probably never more clearly demonstrated than in the family of the Epworth AYesleys, but more particularly in the persons of John and Charles Wesley, the founders of Methodism. In almost every country under heaven there are to be found adlierents and followers of John Wesley by the name of Methodists ; and in a much wider sense the influence of Charles Wesley is felt, for his hymns are sung by Christians of every denomination ; and whether these people, spread all over the earth, acknowledge their indebtedness to those two brothers or not for helps in their religious services, the fact re- mains the same. Though at first despised, insulted, and every-where spoken against, the W esleys persevered in the glorious work which they commenced at Oxford about the year 1729, and which assumed a more definite and permanent form ten years afterward, when, in the month of November or December, 1739, John AYesley commenced the “ United Societies,” which have spread and in- creased until they now reach the uttermost parts of the earth. Now the question arises on many lips. Who are these AYesleys, and whence came they ? 28 The Wesley Memoeeil A^olume. For a period of two hundred and eighty years nothing was known of the history of the Wesleys beyond the seventeenth century. Dr. Whitehead, Dr. Adam Clarke, and Dr. Dobert Southey, all three of whom wrote what they considered to be elaborate and exhaustive memoirs of the Wesleys, all failed to throw even a glimmer of light on their early history, while one of these learned men declares, that all the records of the family of an earlier date than the reigns of the Stuarts in England are lost. That statement has no foundation in truth. Records do exist, by which we are enabled to get a continuous genealogy of the AVesleys during fully one half of the Chris- tian era : but the three learned doctors named above did not persevere in their researches long enough to receive the reward which has crowmed the perseverance of the writer. It is be- lieved that we are indebted to a near relative of the Duke of AVelliugton for the gathering together and completing the Genealogical Table of the AVesley Family, so far as it is com- plete, which was done nearly a century ago. It is a curious circumstance that about the period these inquiries wei’e being made by the descendants of the Earl of Mornington, John AA^esley should have made the declaration, that all he or his family knew of their ancestry went no further back than a “ letter which his grandfather’s father had written to her he was to marry ” in a few days. That letter was dated 1619, so that Bartholomew AFesley was then a single young man. Be- yond that period the Ep worth AVesleys knew nothing of their ancestry. Had they known what we do, it might have had the effect of diverting their minds from that great work which has made their memories so precious to multitudes of peojJe all the world over. In the annals of both England and Ireland the AVesleys, or AVestleys, or AVellesleys, (for they exist under all these desig- nations,) have a place which marks them in successive genera- tions as among the foremost men of the age for loyalty, chiv- ah’y, learning, piety, poetry, and music : not all represented The Wesley Family. 29 in any one person or generation, bnt in tlie snecessive ages these are distinguishing features of the leading members. These marks of mental and moral culture, as well as of emi- nent natural genius, were not extinct in those members of the family who have but recently passed away from earth ; nor are they in those who still survive. Wlien the venerable Samuel Wesley died, in 1837, it was acknowledged by those who knew him best, that as an extempore j)layer on the organ, or as a composer of organ-music, he had but few equals and no supe- rior ; while in the person of his son. Dr. Samuel Sebastian Wesley, who died as recently as April 19th, 1876, the same surpassing excellence was readily accorded to him as had been bestowed on his father. Long before the Normans conquered the country called En- gland, the Wesley family occupied a prominent place in the land. Before surnames were used, and before England was united under one sovereign, this family flourished. When Athelstan the Saxon ruled in this land, A.D. 925-910, he called Guy, the then head of the family, to be a thane, or a member of his parliament. This Guy married his kinswoman, named Phenan, the daughter of an old chieftain ; he resided at Welswe, near Wells, in Somerset. His son was Geoffrey, who occupied a prominent position among his Saxon compeers, and having been unjustly treated by Etheldred, he joined himself to the Danish forces, and marched with Sweyn against his own coun- trymen. His son was Licolph, who is said to have been con- cerned in the murder of Edmund the Elder, A. D. 916, and he was in his turn murdered on his way home to Etingdon many years afterward. His eldest son, Walrond, married Adelicia Percy, and long resided on his ancestral estate, the Manor of Welswey, and died there about A. D. 1070, leaving two sons, Avenant and William. Both these persons were owners and occupiers of large landed territory. Avenant obtained the ser- geantry of all the country east of the river Peret to Bristol Bridge. About that period surnames began to be used, or 30 The Wesley Memoeial Volume, terms which led to them ; hence we find the elder of these brothers thus designated in contemporary records : Avenant of Welswey, or Wesley; while the younger is mentioned as Will- iam de Wellesley, who married Elene de Chetwynde. The son of the latter was the heir, whose name was Roger de Welles- ley; he married Matilda O’Neal, and left issue, two sons and two daughters. The marriage of these four children into some of the principal families in England greatly increased the property of the family, and extended their influence in the country. Stephen, the heir, married Alice de Cailli, county of York. He having distinguished himself Avith Sir John Courcy in the wars in England and Gascony, was sent with Sir John to Ireland in 1172, to try and subdue Ulster. Of their four chil- dren, Walter, the youngest, who had been initiated into all the arts of chivalry, was permitted to accompany his father to Ire- land, and he had the distinguished honor of being appointed standard-bearer to the King, Henry II., who led the warlike expedition. For his military services in Ireland he obtained large grants of land in the counties of Meath and Kildare, and he settled in that country on his property. A standard, sup- posed to be the one carried in 1172, was preserved in the Irish branch of the family to quite a recent period. The Irish Wes- leys became a numerous and influential family. Leaving the Irish branch of the Wesleys to the heir. Valeri- an, his younger brother, Kicholas de Wellesley, married Laura Vyvyan, daughter of a Cornish Baronet, and inherited the En- glish estates in the west of England. He was engaged in much military service, for which he was amply reAvarded, and left is- sue four sons and tAvo daughters, several of whom married, by Avhich the family estates were again increased. William was his heir. He is sometimes called Walrond, and was grand- son of the standard-bearer. He married Ann, daughter of Sir William Yavaseur. Contemporary history mentions him as W alrond the younger, a great warrior ; he was slain, with Sir Robert Percival, in a battle Avith the Irish, October 22, 1303, The Wesley Family. 31 aged seventy years. For liis courage and conqnests the honor of knighthood was conferred on him. His eldest son, Will- iam, was also slain in battle vith the Irish. His yonngest son, John, became the heir as Sir John de Wellesley, Knight, who married a danghter of the English Wellesleys, of the connty of Somerset. His son. Sir John de Wellesley, was summoned to Parliament as a baron of the realm, and as sheriff of Kildare. William, the younger son, became the heir, with the title Sir William de Wellesley. He was one of the most influential men of his time, and his family represented interests of such magnitude as hut seldom concentrate in one household. We take a new starting-point here, as from this center there emanate three very prominent streams of family life and influ- ence. Sir William was married to Elizabeth, by whom he had one son, Edward, and three daughters. Edward joined the Scottish army during the Crusades, and set out with Sir James Douglas and the Crusaders to Palestine with the intention of placing the heart of Robert Bruce in the Holy Sepulcher ; he died in a contention with the Saracens in 1340. This incident entitles the Wesleys to use the scallop shell in the qnarterings of their family arms ; indeed, the Epworth Wesleys filled their shield with that feature only. While these events were trans- piring in the Holy Land, Sir William was created a peer of the realm under the title of Baron Horagh, and married, for his second wife, Alice, daughter of Sir John Trevellion, and had issue, four sons, named Walrond, Richard, Robert, and Ar- thur. Robert was a monk, and died unmarried. Each of the other sons became the head of a distinguished family, whose descendants have come down to our times. Their father. Sir William, was summoned to Parliament as a peer in 1339, but previously he had received from Edward II., in 1326, a grant by patent for the custody of the Castle of Kildare, but this was afterward changed by the king for the custody of the Manor of Demore in 1342, with the yearly fee of twenty marks. A grant of land was also made to him for his defense 32 The Wesley Memorial Volume, of the Castle of Diinlavon, and for his services against the O’Tothells, (poM^erfnl anti-royalists,) one of whom he took pris- oner. He was afterward made governor of Carbery Castle in Ireland, by Hichard II. He died at a very advanced age. His heir was Walrond. His second son. Sir Richard de Wel- lesley, became the head of the Wesleys of Dangan Castle, comity of Meath, in Ireland, from vRom descended the Mar- quis of Wellesley, Governor-general of India, and his brother Arthur, the Duke of Wellington. His fourth son, Arthur, became the head of the family of the Wesleys, in Shropshire and Wales, who in the Middle Ages took the name and estates of Porter, and from whom descended Sir Robert Ker Porter, the traveler and author, and his sisters, Anna Maria and Mary Jane Porter, well-known authoresses of the early years of the nineteenth century. Walrond de Wellesley married into the family of the Earl of Ivildare. He succeeded to Wellesley Manor, county of Somerset, in England, leaving to his brother Richard the Irish estates. He accompanied Prince Edward in a military expe- dition to France, and subsequently set out with the king to check an invasion of the Scots in Northumberland, where his brother was killed. He was eventually taken prisoner with the Earl of Pembroke, and died in France, 13T3. Gerald de Wellesley, third Baron Noragh, succeeded to the estates, but, having oSended King Henry lY., was deprived of them, and was imprisoned for some years, but was liberated on the accession of Henry Y., in 1413. His estates were returned to him, but the title of nobility was refused. He had issue, three sons and three daughters. Arthur was his heir. Arthiu’, on coming to his inheritance, took the name of Westley. He married Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas Ogilvy. Reheved of the responsibilities which had rested on his father, he devoted himself to the improvement of his prop- erty and to the extension of his influence, in both which he was very successful. Of his four sons, John entered the Church, The Wesley Family, 33 Rieliard married one of the Wellesleys of Dangan Castle, Humphrey married the daughter of Robert Wesley, of West- ley Hall, and Hugh, the heir, obtained the honor of knight- hood, and resumed the name of Wellesley. Sir Hugh de Wellesley married into the family of the Earl of Shrewsbury, ancient, wealthy, and influential, by which he recovered much of the position his grandfather had lost ; this was further increased by the marriage of his children. BQs son Richard fell in battle with the Irish in 1570. William de Wellesley, the heir, married in 1532, into the family of the Earl of Devon, by which his influence was greatly extended among the nobility. He had one son and two daugh- ters. One of the latter married into the family of Wellesleys of Dangan. Walter, only son of the foregoing, took the name of Wesley, or AYestley, and married into the wealthy family of Tracey. They had issue six daughters and one son. Herbert was the only son of Walter Wesley, and had the honor of knighthood conferred upon him. Sir Herbert mar- ried {temp. Queen Elizabeth) Elizabeth, daughter of Robert AVesley, of Dangan Castle, Ireland, by which event both the English and Irish branches of the family were again united. They had issue three sons, William, his heir, Harphame, who died unmarried, and Bartholomew, who was ordained a priest, and became the head of that branch known as the Wesleys of Epworth. William, the heir, was contemporary with King James I. He had issue three sons. William Wesley was his heir, and married the daughter of Sir Thomas Piggot. He had two sons and two daughters. George Arthur AYesley was his heir, who spent some years in the army, and squandered most of his prop- erty. He was twice married. Their issue was one son and one daughter. Their son, Francis Wesley, bom in 1767, mar ried Elizabeth Bamfleld. They had six children. Francis died in 1851, aged eighty-seven years, his wife died a few years 34 Tins Wesley Memorial Volume, previously, aged eiglity-two years. Alfred Wesley was their heir, born in 1804, and married Anne Lilly. They had issue, six sons, five of whom are now living : one is a clergyman in the Church of England, the Eev. Lewis Llerbert Wellesley W esley. Returning to Bartholomew Wesley, third son of Sir Her- bert Wesley, we get to the source from whom the founders of Methodism were directly descended ; the same person of whom John Wesley wrote in the brief extract previously given. The Rev. Bartholomew Wesley was horn in the county of Dorset about the year 1595. Chivalry held high rank at that period, and his father and his mother’s father had been brought up under the strongest impulses of that mighty infiuence. Great deeds, both in Church and State, were often the theme of conversation in the family of Sir Herbert Wesley, and chiv- alry, doubtless, became the standard of aspiration to his sons. Poetry, as well as religion, laid hold on chivalry, and took some of its most popular themes from the heroism of their ancestors. Religion was no strange thing in their household, and Puritan- ism was developing in the Hational Church when Bartholo- mew Wesley was sent to Oxford to complete his education. He studied both physic and divinity at the University, and about the year 1619 he married the daughter of Sir Henry Colley, of Kildare, Ireland. We find no trace of any family, excepting one son, named John, who has had his name perpet- uated in the annals of English nonconformity. From the time of the marriage of Bartholomew Wesley to the year 1640 we find no records concerning the family, but in that year he was installed Rector of the small parish of Catherston, county of Dorset. To that small living was added that of Charmouth, the two being of the yearly value of £35 10s. Out of that sum he had to maintain the dignity of a clergyman, the posi- tion of the son of a knight of the shire, and educate his son for the ministry ! If we consider the privations, persecutions. The Wesley Family. 35 and siLfferings which this good minister had to endure in tlie course of his protracted earthly pilgrimage, (for he lived through more than fourscore years,) we are amazed at his fidel- ity to Christ and his cause, and see in that endurance the same spirit as that of which St. Paul wrote in his Epistle to the Hebrews, in describing the faith of the patriarchs. After the battle of Worcester, in 1651, King Charles II. wished to escape to France, and in his journeyings he came, incognito^ to the village where Mr. Wesley resided. Being suspected at the smithy, where one of the horses of the royal party had to be shod, Mr. Wesley, as the minister, was appealed to, and steps were taken by him to try and arrest the fugitive king ; but the king escaped. The incident brought Mr. Wes- ley into notice, and contemporary historians, who favored popery, speak of him with contempt for his conduct on that occasion. Lord Clarendon calls him “ a fanatical weaver who had been in the parliamentary army,” and again, he is described as “the puny parson.” All the Wesleys, for three hundred years, were of small stature, ranging between five feet four inches and five feet six inches. Bartholomew Wesley was one of the ejected ministers in 1662 ; so, also, was his son John, who was then minister of Winterburn-Whitchurch, in Dorset. The merciful providence of God undertook for him and his, when cast upon the world without means, and one of his neigh- bors wrote of him in 1664, that “this Wesley, of Charmouth, now a nonconformist, lives by the practice of physic in the same place ” where he had ministered the Gospel. He was afterward exiled from his home and friends, and had to endure fierce and cruel persecution, so that we know neither the time nor place, exactly, of his death, but he expired about the year 1680, at about the age of eighty-five years. John Wesley, A. M., only son of Bartholomew, was born about the year 1636, in the county of Devon. Heceiving a thorough education at the best schools in that county, he was sent to Oxford, where he entered New Inn Hall, and seems to 3 36 The Wesley Memorial Volume. have received special help and favor in his studies from Dr. John Owen, Yiee-Chancellor of the Dniversity. He acquired considerable learning, took his M.A. degrees, left college about 1658, returned home to his father’s house, and soon gathered a Church at Weymouth, where he preached for some months. A vacancy occurring in the parish of Winterburn-Whitchurch, John Wesley was examined by Oliver Cromwell’s “Triers,” and having passed with approval, was appointed by them to minister in the vacant parish, in May, 1658. The living was valued at £30 a year, and on that pittance he commenced his public ministrations, and the same year he married the daugh- ter of the Rev. John White, “the Patriarch of Dorchester,” and one of the members of the Westminster Assembly of Divines. Dr. Callamy tells us that they had a numerous family, biit for over a century the names of only two of their children were known ; subsequent and recent inquiry has made known the following : Timothy, born April, 1659 ; Elizabeth, born January, 1660 ; Matthew, born May, 1661 ; Samuel, born De- cember, 1662, and Thomas, date unknown. John Wesley, their father, endured sorrows, losses, persecutions, and priva- tions of the most painful character, and they brought him prematurely to the grave in the year 1678, at the early age of forty-two years. He is said to have died in the village of Preston, Dorset, and to have been secretly buried in the night, as the royalist party, then in power, refused his body burial in the church-yard, where he had so long ministered ! His widow survived him thirty-two years, enduring great and continued hardships, supported chiefly by her two sons, Matthew and Samuel, the latter of whom spared his mother (out of his own small income) “ ten pounds a year, to keep her from starving.” She died in 1710, at a village near Coventry. Such is a brief, but faithful sketch of the parents of Samuel Wesley, Rector of Epworth, and the grandparents of the founders of Method- ism. The Wesley Family. 37 The Epworth Wesleys. History can scarcely furnish a more doleful picture than that which was presented in the homes of no less than two thousand clergymen in England, in the month of August, 1662, a period known as “ black Bartholomew,” as on St. Bartholomew’s Hay that number of ministers of the Gospel were ejected from their homes, their livings, and many of them from all sources of income, excepting what the charity of neighbors sup- phed. John Wesley, then a young married clergyman of only twenty-six summers, with a young wife, and three very young children, was ejected from his living at Winterhurn-Whit- church. Four months after that great calamity Mrs. Wesley gave birth to her fourth child, on December IT, 1662, and they called him Samuel. Born in the midst of social and national troubles of more than ordinary severity and continuance, it wa^ his hard lot to struggle with difficulties, hardships, and almost penury, duidng nearly sixty years. Surrounded by pious influ- ences, he was yet deprived of his godly father while a boy at school, and his devoted and pious mother had a heavy respon- sibility resting on her, with her large family, so that Samitel, when once removed from her home and sent to school, knew nothine: more of home till he made one for himself. How he struggled for a bare subsistence and to pay for the best education he could obtain in some of the best schools and at college, is a record of deep and appealing interest, even now, after the lapse of two centuries. At the age of nineteen he wrote and published a book called “ Maggots,” to help to pay his expenses at college. Dr. John Owen often proved his friend, as he had previously been to his father before him. He took his B.A. degree in June, 1688, and afterward his M.A. degree, both at Oxford and Cambridge. Dr. Thomas Spratt, Bishop of Rochester, gave him deacon’s orders August 7, 1688, and he was ordained priest by Dr. Compton, Bishop of London, February 24, 1689. Both those prelates were at Ox- ford with his father. 38 The Wesley Memoeial Voluivie. Tlie same year he had a curacy given him, with the liberal salary of £28 per anmim. For a few montlis he was a naval chaplain, at the handsome salary of £T0 a year, bnt this was soon given np for another curacy, at £30 a year, and while holding the latter preferment he earned £30 more by his pen ; so that in 1689 he was passing rich on £60 a year, and on the strength of that income he entered on the marriage state, hav- ing for his bride Susanna, the youngest daughter and twenty- fifth child of the learned and pious Dr. Samuel Annesley. Mr. "Wesley was ordained in the Church of St. Andrew, Hol- born, and he is believed to have been married there also. ISTo man was ever more suitably mated. Mrs. Susanna Wesley be- came the mother of nineteen children ; of these, her three sons who reached maturity, Samuel, John, and Charles Wesley, occupy each a distinguished place in the annals of the country which gave them birth, and of the Church in which they were such eminent examples of piety, earnestness, and devotion to the work of their lives. Unable to live in London on £60 a year, with a wife and child, Mr. Wesley gladly accepted the living of South Ormsby, Lincolnshire, where six children were born to them, one in each year. In the'year 1696 the living of Epworth was pre- sented to him, which was worth £200 a year at that time, and which woxild have been a comfortable living biit for the birth of one child annually in the family for nineteen successive years, the falling of his barn, and the burning of the rectory- house twice. The costs of those repairs, with his heavy family expenses, and much affliction, made hfe burdensome, and for forty years they were hardly ever free from debt, part of which had to be satisfied ‘by the incarceration of the worthy rector in Lincoln Castle. Mrs. Wesley directed the education of all their children, preparing the boys for college at Oxford, and the girls to go out as teachers in schools for young ladies. The success of Mrs. Wesley’s efforts in that department of home duty has made her a model for all English women ; while The Wesley Family. 39 the father of the Wesleys, as the Rector of Epworth is now called, was most diligently employed in pastoral work, in prep- aration for the pulpit, and in writing books, so that by the aid of his pen he might add somewhat to the income which was felt to be so sadly inadequate to the wants of the family. He died in the midst of his family, just before sunset, April 25, 1735, aged seventy-two years, saying, a few minutes previously, after reviewing his past life : “ I thank Him for all ; I bless Him for aU ; I love Him for aU.” He was interred in Epworth church- yard three days afterward. The “ Gentleman’s Magazine ” of that year described him as “ a person of singular parts, piety, and learning, author of several poetical and controversial pieces.” Susanna, the wife of Samuel Wesley, is now generally des- ignated “the mother of the Wesleys.” She was born in Lou- don, January 20, 1669. This remarkable anecdote is related by Dr. Callamy, in reference to the birth of this child : “ How many children has Dr. Annesley?” To which Dr. Thomas Manton replied, “ I believe it is two dozen, or a quarter of a hundred.” For many years it was difficult to determine which number was correct, but recent research has proved that both numbers are correct. She was her father’s twenty-fifth child, but she was the twenty-fom-th child of her mother, who was Dr. Annesley’s second wife. Her mother was the daughter of John White, a member of the Westminster Assembly of Di- vines ; he was a man of considerable infiuence in London, who died in 1644, and was buried with much ceremony in the Tem- ple Church, and over his grave is a marble tablet with this inscription : “Here lieth a John, a burning, shining light. Whose name, life, actions, all were White.” It is curious that the mother of Samuel Wesley, her husband, was also a daughter of a John White, who also was a member of the Westminster Assembly. The education of Mrs. Wesley was thorough, and included a 40 The AVesley Memorial Volume. knowledge of Greek, Latin, and also Frencli. She excelled in all tlie graces and accompHsliments wliicli a finished education conld bestow. The systematic manner in which she con- ducted the education of her children, and the remarkable success which she had in her efforts, led her son to obtain from his mother details of the same, which he published, and these, with other circumstances arising out of them, have tended to invest her memory with imperishable fra- grance, which will be perpetuated to the end of time, wher- ever Methodism is known. The trials and difficulties she went through were so numerous and protracted no language can describe them ; these she endured almost without a murmur. She lived to see the commencement of Methodism. Her last home on earth was the residence of her son John, at the Foundery, Moorfields, where she peacefully entered into rest July 23, 1Y42, aged Y3 years, and was interred by her son John in the burial-ground of Bunhill Fields, London. A mar- ble obelisk to her memory was erected in 1870, in the front of Mr. Wesley’s Chapel in the City Road, about two hundred yards from the spot where she is buried. Dr. Adam Clarke, in summing up the incidents of her life, says : “ I have been acquainted with many pious females ; I have read the lives of others ; but such a woman, take her for all in all, I have not heard of, I have not read of, nor with her equal have I been ac- quainted. In adopting Solomon’s words, I can say, ‘Many daughters have done virtuously,’ but Susanna Wesley has ex- celled them all.” Her son, Charles, -wrote his “ Hymns for the Lord’s Supper ” shortly after his mother’s death, and he is be- lieved to have had the life of suffering and the peaceful death of his beloved jjarents in his mind, when he wrote the following lines : — “ Who are these arrayed in -white, Brighter than the noonday sun, Foremost of the sons of light, Nearest the eternal throne ? The Wesley Family. 41 These are they that bore the cross, Nobly for their Master stood; Sufferers in his righteous cause, Followers of the dying God. “ Out of great distress they came, Washed their robes by faith below, In the blood of yonder Lamb, Blood that washes white as snow ; Therefore are they next the throne, Serve their Maker day and night; God resides among his own, God doth in his saints delight.” Hek Childben, to the Third and Fourth Generation, rise UP TO CALL her BLESSED. Owing to tlie burning of the Epworth rectory-house in Feb- ruary, 1709 — and with it were destroyed all the parochial regis- ters — the record of the births of their nineteen children was lost. A fter many years of inquiry and research eighteen out of the nineteen have been found. They are as follows ; Children of the Epworth Wesleys. Name. "Where Bom. When Born. When Died. 1. Samuel Wesley, M.A., London, Feb., 1690, Nov., 1739. 2. Susanna Wesley, So. Ormsby, Jan., 1691, April, 1693. 3. Emilia Wesley, So. Ormsby, Dec., 1691, 1771. 4. 5. Anuesley Wesley, ) Jedediah Wesley, f So. Ormsby, 1694, Jan., 1695. 6. Susanna Wesley, So. Ormsby, 1695, Dec., 1764. 7. Mary Wesley, So. Ormsby, 1696, Nov., 1734. 8. Mehetabel Wesley, Epworth, 1697, March, 1750. 9. Infant, Epworth, 1698, 1698. 10. John Wesley, Epworth, May, 1699, 1699. 11. Benjamin Wesley, Epworth, 1700, 1700. 12. Bov. 1 Epworth, 13. Girl, May, 1701, 1701. 14. Anne Wesley, Epworth, 1702, 15. John Benjamin Wesley, Epworth, June, 1703,, March, 1791. "16. Son, smothered. Epworth, May, 1705, May, 1705. 17. Martha Wesley, Epworth, 1706, July, 1791. 18. Charles Wesley, Epworth, Dec., 1707, March, 1788. 19. Kezia Wesley, Epworth, March, , 1709, March, 1741. 42 The "Weslet Memoeial VoLmiE. To most Metliodists, the cMef interest in the Wesley family is concentrated in the Epworth Wesleys. For any service of blessing to mankind, all the labors of all the Wesleys for a thousand years past, so far as we know them, ai’e not to be com- pared with the labors of John and Charles Wesley, numbered respectively 15 and IS, in the family roll as given above. A few words respecting each of the childi’en may be considered interesting. Samuel Wesley, the first-born of their large family, had this peculiarity, he was dumb till he was five years old, then com- menced to talk as perfectly as any child. He was the only child in the family who went to any school apart from home. He was a scholar in Westminster School. In 1711, through the advice of Bishop Atterbury, he became a student at Christ Church, Oxford. He took his M.A. degree, got ordination, then returned to Westminster as an usher, where he remained till January, 1732, when he was appointed head master of Blundell’s School, in Tiverton, where he died rather suddenly in November, 1739, about a month before the first Methodist Society was organized. He had strongly opposed his brother John in his evangehstic labors. He n:^arried Miss Berry, by whom he had one son and two daughters ; the son died young, the daughters mai-ried, and became disconnected with the Meth- odists. He published a volume of poems, in which are sev- eral good hymns which have a place in all Methodist Hymn Books. Susanna-, the first of that name,. died at the age of a httle over two years. Emilia grew to woman’s estate, and, after enduring many hardships and privations, mai-ried Robert Harper, a tradesman in Epworth without a trade, whom she had to keep for some years, but from whom she was afterward separated, and her brother John became her protector and friend. He gave her apartments in the house connected with his chapel in West- street, London, where she died in peace in the year 1771, in her The TTeslet Fahilt. 43 eiglitietli year. She had an exquisite taste for mnsie and poetry. Annesley and Jedediah have their names recorded in the registers at Sonth Orroshy, vhere they vrere both baptized, and died, and vere bnried. Susanna, the second daughter of that name, Tvas taken by her uncle Matthew, in London, after the rectory-house was burned down in 1709. MTiile she was yet a girl and away from home her mother wrote to her a long letter on the chief arti- cles of the Christian faith, based on the Apostles’ Creed, which has been printed, and will be preserved to the end of time as a marvelous theological production from the pen of a wo man. She afterward married Eichard Ellison, of Epworth, but the .marriage was not a happy one, and they were separated. She died in full assurance of faith, at the house of her dausrhter Ann. in London, in 1764, leaving four children — ^two sons and two daughters. Her descendants are now a numerous host, some scores of whom are named in the "Memorials of the "Wesley Family,” published by Phillips A Hunt, Xew York. Mary YT esley was of a weak constitution, and deformed in body ; but this defect was compensated for by a face which was exceedingly beautiful, and by a mind and disposition al- most angelic. In 1734 she was married to John IFhitelamb, who had been her father s §manuensis ; and who became the rec- tor of W roote, where Mrs. "Whitelamb died before she had been married a year. She had been the household drudge at Ep- worth, and had by her needle added much to the comfort of both John and Charles Wesley. Mehetabel Wesley was in personal appearance, in accom- plishments and genius, the gem of the f amil y. She was the first of the family bom at Epworth, and as an infant she gave evidence of that remarkable art and mental power which marked her as possessing a combination of all the excellences of the Wesley character. Possessed of handsome features, graceful form, winning manners, and mental powers far above 44 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. her years, her company was the delight of all who knew her. Alas, her career proved to be one of the hardest and most checkered of all the family. Opposed by her father in her early love affairs, she at length threw herself away on a wretched man very much below her in every respect, and after giving birth to several children, who all died in infancy, she at length herself sank into the grave, in 1750, under the weight of accumulated griefs and sorrows ; but she has left behind her some few specimens of her poetic genius, which, for tenderness and beauty of sentiment and expression, will live to the end of time. She was a contributor to the pages of the “ Gentleman’s Magazine,” and her own memory is embahned in that work in some very touching hues. She died happy, and Charles Wes- ley attended her funeral. John and Benjamin Wesley were two sons who both died soon after their birth, but around whose memories their moth- er had entwined such kindly associations that she determined to have both their names united in one if she had another son. When, in June, 1703, she had another son who lived to be bap- tized, she had him called John Benjamin. This is he who be- came the founder of Methodism. The second name was never used after infancy, and the register of baptism being destroyed in the Epworth fire, this fact would never have been known but for its preservation as a family tradition. Twin children, a boy and a girl, were born in May, 1701 ; they are mentioned in a letter written by their father to the Archbishop of York the day after their birth. They died be- fore any record was made of their names. Anne Wesley was married to John Lambert, a surveyor of Epworth, in 1725. In 1726 John Wesley was sponsor at the baptism of Mrs. Lambert’s first-born, who was named John. The family removed to Hatfield, near London, where all trace of them was lost after the year 1742. John Wesley, A.M., the Eounder of Methodism, was born in June, 1703, but of the place and date of his birth there is The AVesley Family. 45 no existing record ; these were consumed in the rectory fire in 1709. John was six years old when that fire took place, and the manner in which he was rescued that night makes his escape with life one of the most remarkable deliverances from instant death upon record. He was baptized by his father at Ep- worth a few hom’s after his birth, and, by desire of his mother, was named John Benjamin, but the second name was never used by the family, although the fact itself is preserved in documents belonging to other relatives. Till he was eleven his mother was his instructor ; but in 1714 he was removed to the Charter-House School, and in 1719 his brother Samuel be- came his tutor in the AVestminster School. In 1720 he was elected to Christ Church, Oxford. He Avas ordained by Bishop Potter in 1725, at the age of twenty-tAvo, and his excellent scholarship and efficiency as a teacher in the University secured him, in March, 1726, a Fellowship in Lincoln College. In February, 1727, he took his M.A. degree, and in August be- came his father’s curate. September, 1728, he was ordained priest by Bishop Potter, and in Hovember, 1729, the zealous young men he had gathered around him were first called Meth- odists. Until 1735 his time was chiefly spent as a tutor in the University ; he was with his father at Epworth in April, 1735, and in October-, the same year, he sailed with General Ogle- thorpe to Georgia, in America. From February, 1736, to December, 1737, a period of nearly tAvo years, John AV^esley was most earnestly and diligently employed in that part of America, conducting religious meetings which correspond to Methodist class-meetings, and in carrying on a Sunday-school there forty years before he thought of such a work in England. Leaving America December 22, 1737, he arrived in England February 17, and early in the next month he met with Peter Bohler, from Avhom he began to learn the plan of salvation by faith more perfectly. On May 24, 1738, he experienced that change of heart which completely altered the whole course of his religious teaching; and the simplicity, earnestness, and 46 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. courage wliich lie manifested immediately afterward, in preacli- ing salvation by faith alone, was marked by so many demon- strations of spiritual power, that thousands crowded to his ministry, whom he was obliged to address out of doors ; and in that way the Methodist, or United Societies, were com- menced in December, 1739. How the work grew and spread till it had reached all the great centers of population in England, history has recorded. Details of that marvelous work -will be found recorded in the fourteen separate “Lives of John Wesley,” which have been published, all of which are in print. For more than fifty years John Wesley labored in connec- tion with these Societies, and at the time of his death, March 2, 1791, there were in the world belonging to the Methodist Societies, no less than one hundred and thirty-four thousand five hundred and forty-nine persons. At the present time, January, 1879, there are probably not less than five millions of persons belonging to the Methodist Societies all over the world, while the total number of worshipers in the various churches and chapels belonging to Methodism is probably not less than fifteen millions of persons every Sabbath day. Truly may we say in the words of Mr. Wesley himself, “What hath God wrought ! ” The sixteenth child on the roll of the Ep worth Wesleys was a son, who was born May 8, 1705. The registers having been de- stroyed, we do not know his name ; but the Hector has recorded the circumstances of his death in a letter he wrote to the Arch- bishop of York, in which he says: “ On Wednesday, May 30, being the election day, great excitement prevailed, and during the night his nurse overlaid the child, and in the morning she found him dead in bed. He was buried the same evening.” This child has not been noticed by any other biographer of the Wesley family. Martha Wesley was the seventeenth child of that family. The registers being burned, we have only circumstantial evidence by which to determine the time of her birth, which appears to The Wesley Faimlly. 47 have taken place in the antnmn of tlie year 1706. From in- fancy she Avas deeply attached to her brother John, whom she resembled in person, manners, and handwriting, in the most remarkable way. Dr. Adam Clarke, who knew them both per- sonally, said that in their conntenancps they could not be dis- tinguished from each other. She spent much time with her uncle Matthew, in London, where she was introduced to a young Oxford student, Westley Hall, one of her brother John’s pupils, to whom she was married in the summer of 1735. A more unfortunate marriage was, perhaps, never recorded. The narra- tive of her married life, as published in “Memorials of the Wesley Family,” is one of extreme sadness and suffering. She was left a widow in 1776, after which period her brother John took care of her. She was a woman of considerable learning, deep piety, wonderful patience, and of captivating speech. She was a great favorite with the learned Dr. Samuel Johnson, the leviathan of literature, to whose society she was frequently in- vited, occasionally with her brother John, and her niece. Miss Sarah Wesley. She had a large family, but all her children died young. She survived her brother John only four months. She was the last survivor of aU the nineteen children of her mother. John Wesley left her a legacy of £40, but the Meth- odists of 1791 were too poor to find so large a sum, and she died without receiving the amount. She was interred in the same vault as her brother John, being in her eighty-fifth year. Charles Wesley, A.M., the poet of Methodism, was bom December 18, 1707. It is a curious fact that he did not know his own age, and his brother John and sister Martha both dif- fered in their opinion concerning his age. It was not till about one hundred and forty years after his birth that a letter was found, written by his father in 1709, by which the age of Charles is satis- factorily determined. He is there by implication said to have been fourteen months old when the rectory-house was burned down in Febmary, 1709. Charles was prematurely born, and he lay wrapped up in wool during several weeks without active con- 48 The Wesley Memorial Volume. scionsness until the exact time when he should have been born ; then he began to cry. He was feeble and delicate during all his long hfe. Educated by his mother till he w^as nine years old, he w’as then, in 1Y16, sent to Westminster School. He was there w'hen Garrett Wesley, Esq., of Dangan Castle, Ireland, wanted to adopt him as his heir. Charles determined, after several years’ entreaty, to refuse the adoption ; had he accepted, it is more than probable England would have had no Methodists, but the Wesleys might have become rich and great. Charles Wesley accepted ordination at Oxford in 1735, where he had studied since 1726 ; the following Sunday he was ordained priest by Dr. Gibson, Bishop of London. In Oc- tober of the same year he accompanied General Oglethorpe to Georgia, in the United States of America, as his private secretary. Charles brought dispatches to England from the Governor of the Colony in less than a year after his first arrival, and he did not return to America. He was afflicted with weakness and disease for several years. In May, 1738, while confined to his bed with pleurisy, at the house of T. Bray, in Little Britain, he entered into the liberty of the children of God. His conversion was clear, and it influenced for good in a marvelous manner all his future life. He first became an itinerant evangelist, then poet, then, uniting both vocations, he thus labored on for nearly fifty years, with results for good which are marvelous in every respect. For fifty years after his death his manuscript journals were concealed in a sack ; no one knew of their existence. In 1841 they were found and publivshed, since which time we have known something of the variety and extent of his ministerial and pastoral labors. In 1749 he married Miss Sarah Gwynne, a lady who would have been a rich heiress had she not joined herself to the despised Methodists ; but she never regretted the choice she made. They had a considerable family of children, but only three of them reached mature years, Charles, Sarah, and Samuel. As the poet of the sanctuary, Charles Wesley stands in the foremost The Wesley Family. 49 place in all Cliristencloin. He died in great peace, March 29, 1788, leaving more than six thousand hjnnns as his legacy to the Church ; and quite recently, in 1876, the new street just made by the side of the house where he lived and died, has been named W esley-street, in honor of his having resided there. He was in his eighty-first year, and was buried in the grave- -NVard of old Marylebone Church, where also are interred his wife and his two sons, Charles and Samuel. Mrs. W esley sur- vived her husband thirty-four years, dying in 1822, at the ripe age of ninety-six years. Iveziah Wesley was the nineteenth and last child on the Ep- worth roll. She was born one month after the burning of the rectory-house, on March 10, 1709, and about fifteen months aft- er her brother Charles. She never was very strong, but was tlioroughly educated, and spent the few years of her maturer life as a teacher. Afterward she was much in attendance on her brother Charles during the periods of illness which fre- quently laid him aside before he was thirty years of age. Her last days were spent under the roof of Mr. and Mrs. Piers, of X Bexley, John Wesley allowing them £50 a year for that pur- pose. She died at Bexley in March, 1741, within a few days after she had completed thirty-two years. She died unmarried. Hers was the last death in the family which their mother lived to know of. Sixteen months afterward Mrs. Wesley herself died in Loijdon. Of the three children of Charles Wesley, the first and sec- ond, Charles and Sarah, died in advanced life, both unmarried ; Charles was aged seventy-seven years, and Sarah only six months short of seventy years. Their biographies have been recently written for the first time in the “ Memorials of the Wesley Family.” Samuel Wesley, the youngest son of Charles and Sarah Wes- ley, is the only member of the family from whom have de- scended the numerous families of the Wesleys now living. Samuel was born on St. Matthias’s Day, February 24, 1766. 50 The Wesley Memorial Volume. He was born a mnsical genins. At the age of six years he had mentally composed, and when eight wrote ont a complete ora- torio, the manuscript of which is still preserved by his daugh- ter, Miss Eliza Wesley. He was married, first in 1793. Ont of many children born to him, there only reached maturity Charles Wesley, D.D., who for many years was sub-dean of the Chapel-Royal, St. James’ Palace, and one of the chaplains to the Queen of En- gland, and who died in 1859 ; Emma Frances, their next child ; and the next, John William Wesley. These two died beyond the age of fifty. His second marriage took place about the year 1810 to Sarah Souter. She became the mother of four sons and three daughters, all of whom are now living excepting one, the oldest, the late Dr. Samuel Sebastian Wesley, the emi- nent organist and com|)oser, who died in April, 1876. Their father, Samuel Wesley, was one of the most accomplished or- ganists and musical composers England has ever known. The story of his life surpasses that of any romance for exciting in- terest and wonderful genius. He died in 1837, at the age of seventy-one years, and over his grave was sung an anthem by the most skilled choir in the metropolis, combining exquisite music which will never be surpassed. His distinguished son, the accomplished Dr. S. S. Wesley, named above, died at the age of sixty-six years. The other members of the family, all living, are Rosalind Wesley, married first to Rojbert Glenn, then to Oliver Simmonds; Eliza Wesley, unmarried, residing in Islington, the same age as Queen Victoria ; Matthias Eras- mus Wesley, a distinguished citizen in London, associate of the institute of civil engineers, and treasurer of the college of or- ganists in England; John Wesley, who was some years a book- seller in Paternoster Row ; Thomasine W esley, married to Richard Alfred Martin; and Robert Glenn Wesley, married in 1858 to Juliana Benson. There are about sixty children and grandchildren living. WESLEY AND METHODISM. HE history of the Church may be divided into three grand JL epochs, respectively distinguished by certain great men who were each the embodiment of some great religious fact. The first, beginning with the creation and fall, ends with the fiood. Its representative men are Abel, Enoch, and Hoah. By the offering of blood through faith, Abel attested the need of atone- ment to obtain forgiveness, and the willingness of God to accept, through that medium, the sacrifice of a broken heart. By his translation — the reward of his holy walk with God through faith — Enoch prefigured the immortality of the soul and the resur- rection of the body. And ISToah, by faith in God’s threatened judgment, and obedience to the divine command, saved himself, condemned the world, and proved the certainty of the death pronounced against the sinner, and the life promised to the righteous. The second epoch extends from the flood to the coming of Christ. Its representative men are Abraham, Moses, and Eli- jah. Mlien, by faith, Abraham left his father’s house to so- journ in the land of promise as in a strange country, and after- ward offered up his son through whom he received the fulfill- ment of the promises, he discovered beyond the grave a city which hath foundations, and witnessed to the power of grace to endure the severest trials by which God puts to the test the faith of his people. And when Moses, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, refused a crown, he made evident the power of the same grace to deliver the godly out of the subtlest arts of the tempter ; and, as part recompense of the reward, he was made the deliverer of the Hebrews from their bondage in Goshen, the divinely appointed 52 The Weslet Memorial Volume. receiver and expounder of tlie only code of laws given by Jeho- vah to man, and the only one of the Old Testament prophets to whom Christ likened himself. The Tishbite raising to life again the dead son of the widow of Sarepta, triumphing over the priests of Baal in the trial by fire, standing upon the mount before the Lord when Jehovah passed by, and ascending to heaven in a chariot of fire borne aloft by horses of fire, dem- onstrated, as the name of the prophet implies, that Jehovah is God, and the fitness of the prophet himself to appear afterward with Moses on Tabor as a witness of the transfiguration of Jesus — the Lord’s anointed Prophet, Priest, and King. These two epochs, embracing the periods of the altar, the tabernacle, and the temple, prepared the way for the third and last. The third — which is the fulfillment of the types and prophecies of the former — proclaimed the grandest of all truths, the culminating fact of all inspiration — “ God is a Spirit : and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” This epoch stretches from the birth of the Baptist until the Lord “ come the second time without sin unto salvation.” Its representative men, thus far, are John, the Baptist ; St. Peter, the great apostle to the Circumcision ; St. Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles ; Martin Luther, the great Protestant ; and John Wesley, the great Methodist Reformer. Our purpose not allowing us to notice the special work of the representative men of this epoch, excej)t that of the Founder of Methodism, we proceed first to briefly epitomize what chiefly distinguishes the Wesleyan period. If asked what distinguishes W esleyan Methodism, we answer : It is a deliverance from the severe dogmas of Calvinism, from antinomianism, from lifeless forms, from the fiction of an unbroken apostolic succession, from pharisaic bigotry and intol- erance, and from bondage to the mere letter of ordinances. It restored and sanctioned lay-preaching — saying with Moses, in spirit, “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, ^nd that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them.” It has organ- "Wesley and Methodism. 53 ized an itinerant ministry, constrained by the love of Christ and willing to be aU things to all men, if by any means it may save some. It contends for a pure and spiritual worship, belie’vdng that aU times, all places, and all forms are accept- able to God, being sanctified by the prayers and faith of the worshiper. It has revived, in a restricted form, the ancient agapce, or love-feasts. It has restored, under the name of class-meetings, the meetings in which the early Church spoke often one to another to edify one another, and to provoke unto love and good works. It encourages and promotes revivals of religion as vital to the health and growth of the Church. It preaches a free and full salvation, justification by faith alone, carefulness to maintain good works as the evidence of the gen- uineness of faith and measure of final reward through grace, the witness of the Spirit to the behever’s present acceptance with God, holiness of heart and life, devotedness to Christ, a burning love for souls, missionary zeal, a true catholicity toward all who bear the image of Christ, and an entire reliance upon the Holy Ghost and his gifts as the only source of spir- itual power. j Methodism, howevs^as a system, was not the work of a day ; I nor did it spring from the brain of Mr. Wesley a perfect sys- I tern, as the fabled Athene, full-panoplied, from the brain of •W Jove. It has grown by the teachings of years into the grand I system it now is. But to Mr, Wesley pre-eminently belongs I the honor of being its heaven-appointed author and genitLs. Its illustrious founder, however, was not without obligation to others. It is questionable whether he would have met any thing like the unprecedented success that cro’wned his labors if he had not been seconded, from the first, by those who were specially qualified to push forward the great work to which they were mutually called of God. It has often been said that the early Methodist preachers in America were unlearned and ignorant men. In the J anuary number of the “ISTorth American Review” for 1876, in the 54 The Wesley Memoeial Volhme. leading article: “Religion in America, 1YY6-18T6,” Dr. Diman tells us, that with the sole exception of Coke, none of the preach- ers who established Methodism in America were educated at college. But this, however true of American, was not true of British Methodism, or of Methodism as a system. The system under which the early preachers in America labored was con- ceived and set on foot by profound thinkers, wise theologians, and eminent scholars. It is doubtful if an equal array of learn- ing, talent, and genius ever stood sponsors to any other Church since the days of the apostles — certainly never did such a variety of special and appropriat3 gifts as nurtured Methodism from its very birth. True it is, that its young manhood was tried by the waves of the stormy Atlantic in the ship which bore Wes- ley, the Moravians, and the Salzburgers, to Georgia, and by the persecutions which befell it in the wilderness on the banks of the Savannah. But its infancy was cradled in the rectory at Ej)- worth and rocked by the hands of Susanna W esley ; and its early youth was nurtured in the classic halls of Oxford. John W esley, Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, William Morgan, James Hervey, and other scholars at Oxford were its earliest professors. It afterward numbered among its followers John Fletcher, Adam Clarke, Joseph Benson, Richard Watson, and Thomas Coke. A nd who are these ? John Wesley, Fellow of Lincoln College, Presbyter of the Church of England — the eminent scholar, pro- found logician, with talents for organization and governmunt that’would have qualified him, had he been born a prince, to be the greatest monarch that ever sat on the throne of Alfred — to plan and develop the system, and to organize and direct its forces : Charles Wesley — whom Dean Stanley calls “sweet psalmist of the Church of those days,” but whom we call the sweetest singer in Israel since David, Israel’s great lyric poet, swept the chords of his tuneful harp — to write its songs : George White- field — the greatest pulpit orator, living or dead — to preach it to the multitude : John Fletcher of Madeley, prince of polemics — with wit well-tempered and keen as blade of Saladin, and with Wesley and Methodism. 55 logic ponderous and ernsMng as mace wielded by arm of Coenr de Leon, but with heart as tender and loving as a woman’s — to defend its doctrines : Adam Clarke, the great encyclopedic and oriental scholar of his day, and the learned Joseph Benson — to write its Commentaries: Eichard Watson, who “soared,” said the great Eobert Hall, “ into regions of thought where no genius, but his own can penetrate,” and who was “ the only sys- temizer,” said Dr. Alexander of Princetonyi “ who in theology approached the eminence of Tm'retin, or reasoned like Paley, and descanted hke Hall” — to write its Institutes of Theology : and Thomas Coke, of Jesus CollegiJ;, Oxford, doctor of civil laws, and the father of modern missions — to carry Methodism “ into the regions beyond.” Such were the authors and illus- trators of Wesleyan Methodism. Well may it challenge the Churches to present a greater array of various and peculiar gifts ! When these things are considered, it is no wonder that Meth- odism has made comparatively greater progress than any otlier evangehcal Church. Its effects are seen and felt not only in the millions who have hved and died, and the millions now hv- ing in its communion, but in all the evangelical Churches from Wesley’s time to the present. Martin Luther dehvered the hu- man mind from the bondage and superstition of Eome; John Wesley rescued English Protestantism from the dead formal- ism and sinful lethargy of national churchmanship. Luther re- vived the Pauhne doctrine of justification; Wesley, the Paul- ine doctrine of sanctification. Luther showed how we are justified by faith alone ; Wesley, how by faith in the blood of the Lamb we are cleansed from all sin. The early English Eeformers, wisely separating from the Church of Eome, set up the Church of England, but unwisely held on to certain unscriptm-al dogmas which distinguished the corrupt Church from which they separated; John Wesley, throttling these dogmas, proved that infallibility is an incommunicable preroga- tive of the Divine mind ; that apostolic succession depends not 56 The Wesley Memorial Volume. upon ordination by bishops claiming unbroken descent from St. Peter, but upon a call to the ministry sanctioned by the baptism of the Spirit, attested by the gifts, grace, and useful- ness of him who is called, and confirmed by his presbyters ; and that grace, whether the sacraments be administered by men with or without episcopal ordination, is communicated to all who receive them with faith in Christ. The same reformers rescued Enghshmen from the civil power of the Pope, but de- livered them over to an imperious king; John Wesley gave to this union of Church and State its deadly wound — a wound from which it has never recovered, and from which, sooner or later, it must die, whether its life goes out with the convulsive throes of a final struggle or qiiietly ebbs away with its latest gasp ; a wound which W esley dealt it when he organized the Methodist Episcopal Church of America, and committed its ordinations and its sacraments to lay-preachers consecrated by the imposition of his own hands and the hands of his co-pres- byters. The Methodism of Wesley is every- where felt outside of itself. Its true mission is acknowledged ; its claims un- disputed. Chalmers called it “ Chkistianity in earnest.” Judged by its spiritual power, by its marvelous effects in the awakening and conversion of souls, its scriptural and apostolic authority has received the highest and weightiest sanctions. Hor is its mission ended. Its conquests have been greater in the past twenty-five years than in any other quarter of a century of its history. Its field is still “ the world,” not only the world of sinners, but its sister Churches, to lead them to a higher life and greater devotedness to Christ. And this will be its mission so long as Methodism is true to the work and genius of its founder, till some greater than W esley arise, com- missioned of Cod to conduct the Church to higher and nobler things. The spirit of Mr. Wesley projected itself not only into the millions called by his name, but into all Christians of whatever Wesley and Methodism. 57 name. The great enterprises of the evangelical Churches Trhich have distinguished the last century and a half received their origin and impetus from his labors and zeal. Mr. Wes- ley Mas a Mi’iter and distributer of tracts long before the Society in Paternoster Eow had an existence. John Wesley and Thomas Coke, seventeen years before the Eeligious Tract Society of London was formed, organized the first Tract So- ciety the world ever had. Methodism gave birth to the I^aval and Military Bible Society — the first Bible Society that was ever formed, years before the organization of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The great missionary awakening belongs to the Wesleyan period. The London Missionary Society and the Church Missionary Society are traced directly to Mr. Wesley and his preachers. At the old Foundery in Moorfields Mr. Wesley projected and started the first Medical Dispensary the world had ever known. J ohn W esley and Adam Clarke founded the first Strangers’ Friend Society, in 17S9. Before Bell and Lancaster, Wesley provided day schools for the education of the children of the poor. And childi’en were , gathered by Mr. Wesley into a Sabbath-school in Savannah nearly fifty years before Eobert Eaikes had a Sabbath-school in Gloucester. The leaders of the great revivals of the pres- ent day have all drank into his spirit. John Wesley preaches in the lay-sermons of Moody; Charles Wesley sings in the songs of Sankey. The power of Methodism as a pioneer spiritual force was long ago acknowledged. To awaken and convert sinners hard- ened in sin ; to reach the poor and outcast ; to occupy the out- posts, or to be thrown out as skirmishers in time of a general engagement with the powers of darkness — ^these, and things like these, were said to be its mission. But how different the judgment of the world at the close of the centennial of Meth- odism! Methodism, especially in America, has been the pio- neer Church. Its axmen have plunged into the wilderness, and with sturdy strokes felled the trees of its forests. Its plow- 58 The Wesley Memoeial Volujie. shares have turned up the virgin soil; its husbandmen have not only committed the precious seed to the furrow, watered the tender plant, kept it free from weeds, and watched its growth with sleepless care, but they have thrust in the sharp sickle, reaped down the fields bending to the harvest, gathered the loaded sheaves into barns, and from their great granaries supplied famishing millions with the bread of life. Method- ism, in its great revivals, has been to the nations hke the river Kile. It has often overfiowed its hanks and spread itself far and wide. Its fertilizing waters have enriched and softened the hard soil beneath, and prepared it to receive into its yield- ing bosom the harvest-bearing seed; and, like the same Egyp- tian river, these overflows, in their results, have been perennial. Methodism, too, has not only carried the war into the ene- my’s country, but taken his strongholds, and fortified and held the places it has won. It has not only blasted the rock out of the quarry, but given form and beauty to the shapeless mass. Kor is its elasticity as a working power confined and fettered by forms and precedents. The swaddling-bands of the cradle have long since been laid aside ; the toga-jjrmtexta of childhood exchanged for the toga-virilis of manhood. That man, indeed, but little understands the true genius of Wesleyan Methodism who does not see that the wonderful elasticity by which it adapts itseK to times, and places, and circumstances, is one of the chief characteristics which its common-sense founder gave to it from its beginning. Whitefield preaches in the open air and shocks Wesley by his irregularity; Wesley, when driven from the pulpits of the Establishment, follows the example of his Oxford disciple and is soon heard addressing multitudes in Moorfields and on Kennington Common. At the old Eound- ery Thomas Maxfield, without orders and without imposition of hands, warns sinners to repentance, expounds the word of God to the faithful, and arouses Wesley’s indignation ; Wesley, acting on his mother’s advice, hears Maxfield for himself. Per- suaded that the same divine power attends Maxfield’s preach- Wesley akd Methodism. 59 ing which had attended his own, Wesley from that moment makes lay-preaching a part of the Methodist polity. Method- ism, extending its borders, soon numbers, “ in the regions be- yond,” thousands without the sacraments. Wesley, seeing that lay-ordination is a providential need, ordains lay-preachers for America and Scotland. The American colonies separate from the Enghsh hierarchy and become politically and ecclesias- tically independent; the ordination of Thomas Coke, to be General Superintendent, or Bishop, over the Methodist Soci- eties in the New W orld, immediately follows. And when these Societies, in General Conference assembled, erect themselves into a distinct and separate Church, John Wesley sanctions the deed, believing that the Methodist Episcopal Church in America is as much a New Testament Church as the apostolic Churches at Phihppi and Thessalonica. All that has been here said about Mr. Wesley and Method- ism — and much more — is now confessed. Lord Macaulay long ago sentenced to oblivion those “ books called Histoeies of Exglaxd, under the reign of George II., in which the rise of Methodism is not even mentioned.” To Mr. Wesley a pre- eminent place in history — especially in ecclesiastical and En- glish history — is now well-nigh universally assigned. The lit- erature of the eighteenth century was leavened by the optim- ism of Pope and Shaftesbury, and the skepticism of Hume and Gibbon. “ Its theology,” says Mr. Leslie Stephen, “ was for the most part almost as deistical as the deists.” The picture of English hfe drawn by Mr. Wesley in his “Appeal to Men of Reason and Rehgion,” — the irreligion, false-swearing. Sabbath- breaking, corruption, drunkenness, gambling, cheating, disre- gard of truth among men of every order, and the profligacy of the army and immorality of the clergy — was no over-drawn picture. Leslie Stephen confesses that these things, “ described in the language of keen indignation” by the pen of Wesley, “lead to a triumphant estimate of the reformation that has been worked by the Methodists.” “ The exertions of Wesley, 60 The "VVeslet Memoeial Volume. and tlieir success,” lie adds, “ are of tliemselves a sufficient jiroof tliat a work was to be done of wliicb neither the rational- ist nor the orthodox were capable.” The rehgion of England, from the Eevolution till the Meth- odist movement pervaded the Establishment with its spirit, says Mr. Lecky, in his “ England in the Eighteenth Century,” “ was cold, selfish, and nnspiritual.” It was, however, as he tells ns, “ a period not without its distinctive excellences.” “ To this period,” he writes, “ belong the ‘ Alciiihron ’ of Berkeley; the ‘Analogy’ of Butler; the ‘Defense of Natural and Bevealed Behgion ’ of Clarke ; the ‘ Credibility of the Gospels ’ of Lardner ; as well as the ‘ Divine Legation ’ of War- bnrton, and the Evidential Writings of Sherlock, Leslie, and Le- land.” But “ the standard of the clergy ” — especially outside of the great cities — “ was low, and their zeal languid.” Mr. Lecky, therefore, does not think it surprising that, at such a time, a movement like that of Methodism should have exercised a great power. “ The secret of its success,” he says, “ was that it satisfied some of the strongest and most enduring wants of our nature, which found no gratification in the popular theology, and revived a large class of religious doctrines which had been long almost wholly neglected.” “ The utter depravity of human nature,” he adds, “ the lost condition of every man who is born into the world, the vicarious atonement of Christ, the necessity to salvation of a new birth, of faith, of the constant and sustaining action of the Divine Spirit upon the believer’s soul, are doctrines which, in the eyes of the modern evangelical, constitute at once the most vital and the most influential por- tions of Christianity ; but they are doctrines which, during the greater part of the eighteenth century, were seldom heard from a Church of England pulpit. The moral essays, which were the prevailing fashion, however well suited they might be to cultivate the moral taste, or to supply rational mo- tives to virtue, rarely awoke any strong emotions of hope, fear, or love, and were utteily incapable of transforming Wesley and Methodism. 61 tlie cliaracter, and arresting and reclaiming tlie tlioronglily depraved.” ISTor was tliis all. The healthful influence of "Wesley upon pohtics — though not a politician — was no less signiflcant. It was due to him more than to any other, that “ the great moral precedent of an appeal to conscience in a political question ” was first established. “The religious movement of Wesley,” says Leslie Stephen, “ was so far removed from any political influence that Wesley himself, and many of his followers, were strongly conservative ; and indeed the movement itself was, perhaps, a diversion in favor of the established order. It pro- vided a different channel for dangerous elements.” And hence we are sure it was owing, in a great measure, to Wesley’s pow- erfidly conservative influence upon the thought of the eight- eenth century that England was indebted for her escape from the infidehty, disorders, and horrors of the French Eevolution. “ The evangelical movement,” says Mr. Lecky, “ which di- rectly or indirectly originated with W esley, produced a general revival of religious feeling, which has incalculably increased the efficiency of almost every religious body in the community, while at the same time it has seriously affected party poli- tics.” . . . “ The many great philanthropic efforts which arose, or at least derived their importance, from the evangelical move- ment, soon became prominent topics of parhamentai’y debate ; but they were not the peculiar glory of any political party, and they formed a common ground on which many religious de- nominations could co-operate.” The writings of Voltaire and the Encyclopaedists, the meta- physics of Condillac and Helvetius, and “the wild social dreams” of Rousseau threatened “the very foundations of society and of belief.” “ A tone of thought and feeling,” says Mr. Lecky, “ was introduced into' European life which could only lead to anarchy, and at length to despotism, and was be- yond all others fatal to that measured and ordered freedom which can alone endure. Its chief characteristics were, a hatred 62 The Wesley Mejioeial Volejme. of Avell-constituted authority, an insatiable appetite for change, a habit of regarding rebellion as the normal as well as the noblest form of pohtical self-sacrifice, a disdain of all compro- mise, a contempt for all tradition, a desire to level all ranks and subvert all establishments, a determination to seek progress, not by the slow and cautious amelioration of existing institutions, but by sudden, violent, and revolutionary change. Religion, prop- erty, civil authority, and domestic life, were all assailed ; and doctrines incompatible with the very existence of government were embraced by multitudes with the fervor of a religion. England, on the whole, escaped the contagion. Many causes conspired to save her, blit among them a prominent place must, I believe, be given to the new and vehement religious enthusi- asm which was at that very time passing through the middle and lower classes of the people, which had enhsted in its service a large proportion of the wilder and more impetuous reformers, and which recoiled with horror from the anti- Christian tenets that were associated with the Revolution in France.” Mhile the revolutionary spirit, which was of foreign birth, was thus menacing the established order, and seeking to intro- duce political and religious chaos, England was threatened from within by dangers scarcely less portentous. The great me- chanical inventions, “ which changed with unexampled rapidity the whole course of Enghsh industry, and in a Httle more than a generation created manufacturing centers unecpialed in the world,” gave rise to an angry contest between capital and la- bor, between rich and poor, that “ brought with it some polit- ical and moral dangers of the gravest kind.” “But few thinkers of any weight,” says Mr. Lecky, “would now deny that these evils and dangers were greatly underrated by most of the economists of the last generation.” “ The true great- ness and welfare of nations,” he adds, “ depend mainly on the amount of moral force that is generated within them. Society never can continue in a state of tolerable secui’ity when there Wesley and Methodism. 63 is no other bond of cohesion than a mere money tie ; and it is idle to expect the different classes of the community to join in the self-sacrifice and enthusiasm of patriotism if all unselfish motives are excluded from their several relations. Every change of conditions which widens the chasm and impairs the sympathy between rich and poor cannot fail, however bene- ficial may be its other effects, to bring with it grave dangers to the State. It is incontestable, that the immense increase of mannfacturing industry and of the manufacturing population has had this tendency ; and it is, therefore, I conceive, pecul- iarly fortunate that it should have been preceded by a relig- ious revival which opened a new spring of moral and religious energy among the poor, and at the same time gave a powerful impulse to the philanthropy of the rich.” But these benefits, good as they were, were not, in Mr. Becky’s opinion, the greatest triumphs of the Methodist re- vival. Its chief triumphs, he thinks, “were the consolation it gave to men in the first agonies of bereavement, its support in the extremes of pain and sickness, and, above all, its stay in tiie horn’ of death.” These results, he remarks, were in some sort effected for the bereaved and dying by the teachings and ceremonies of the priests of Rome. But this was done, he believes, by connecting absolution indissolubly with complete submission to their sacerdotal claims ; and, in doing this, the Catholic priests framed what Mr. Becky calls “ the most formi- dable engine of religious tyranny that has ever been employed to disturb or subjugate the world.” The work of Mr. Wes- ley and the evangelists, he says, was to destroy this engine of priestcraft. It was they who taught that the intervention of no human being, and of no human rite, is necessary in the hour of death. It was they who demonstrated that they could “ ex- ercise a soothing influence not less powerful than that of the Catholic priest.” “The doctrine of justification by faith,” adds Mr. Becky, “ which directs the wandering mind from all painful and perplexing retrospect, concentrates the imagination 64 The Wesley Memorial Volume. on one Saci’ed Figure, and persuades the sinner that the sins of a hfe have in a moment been effaced, has enabled thousands to encounter death with perfect calm, or even with vivid joy, and has consoled innumerable mourners at a time when all the commonplaces of jihilosophy would appear the idlest of sounds.” “ This doctrine,” continues Mr. Lecky, “ had fallen almost wdiolly into abeyance in England, and had scarcely any place among realized convictions, when it was revived by the evan- gelical party. It is impossible to say how largely it has con- tributed to mitigate some of the most acute forms of human misery. Flistorians, and even ecclesiastical historians, are too apt to regard men simply in classes, or communities, or corpo- rations, and to forget that the keenest of our sufferings as well as the deepest of our joys take place in those periods when we are most isolated from the movements of society. Whatever may be thought of the truth of the doctrine, no man will ques- tion its power in the house of mourning and in the house of death. ‘The world,’ wrote Wesley, ‘may not like our Meth- odists and evangelical people, but the world cannot deny that they die well.’ ” Mr. Leslie Stephen says that “Wesleyanism is, in many respects, by far the most important j)henomenon of the eight- eenth century,” and that “ its reaction upon other bodies was as important as its direct influence.” Mr. Buckle, the skeptical author of the “ History of Civilization in England,” confldently affirms that the effects of Wesleyanism ujDon the Church of England were hardly inferior to the effects exerted by Protestantism, in the sixteenth century, ujDon the Church of Borne. And when he compares the success of Wesley, whom he calls “ the first of theological statesmen,” with the difficulties which Wesley surmounted, Mr. Buckle is of the opinion that Macaulay’s celebrated estimate of the founder of Methodism is hardly an exaggeration, when that great essayist and historian pronoimced Wesley’s “genius for government Wesley ajstd Methodism. 65 not inferior to that of Richelieu.” Bj the great Methodist theoloerical statesman was eifected, “after an interval of two hundred j^ears,” what Mr. Buckle calls “ England’s second spir- itual Reformation.” But in this connection we must not fail to notice what Buckle intended as a fling at Methodism. He condemns it for its “mental penury,” because it has produced no other equal to John Wesley. This is no reflection on Methodism: it is directly the greatest compliment to Mr. Wesley, and indirectly equally so to Methodism. As well condemn the “ mental jjenury” of Christianity, because it has produced no greater apostle than St. Paul ; or the “ mental penury ” of the Reform- ation, because it has produced no greater reformer than Martin Luther. The truth is, neither Methodism nor the whole Christian Church has had more than one John Wesley since the days of the apostles. As Mount Everest lifts its tall head not only above every other peak of the Himalayas, but above the tallest peak of every other mountain range in the wide world, so does John Wesley, as a revivalist and reformer, tower not only above the other great men of Methodism, but above the greatest in all the other Churches of Christendom. “ Tak- ing him altogether,” writes his latest biographer, Mr. Tyer- man, “Wesley is sui generis. He stands alone : he has had no successor ; no one like him went before ; no contemporary was a co-equal.” “ A greater poet,” writes Dr. Dobbin, of the Church of England, “ may arise than Homer or Milton ; a greater theo- logian than Calvin ; a greater philosopher than Bacon ; a greater dramatist than any of ancient or modern fame ; but a greater revivalist of the Churches than John Wesley — never ! ” The time, indeed, is not distant when every historian who regards the truth of history, or respects the judgment of his contemporaries and posterity, will give to Mr. Wesley his true place in both ecclesiastical and English history. High-church- men, against whose bigotry and intolerance he protested; rationalists and infidels, whose skepticism he refuted; poets, 66 Tiee Wesley Memoeial Volume. historians, and essajdsts, whose irreligion he condemned ; and statesmen and philosophers, whose loose morality he assailed ; have been slow to acknowledge his powerful influence upon almost every phase of English thought. But the time will come — if it has not already come — when all will say, with Mr. Lecky : “ If men may he measured by the work they have ac- complished, John Wesley can hardly fail to be regarded as the greatest figure who has appeared in the religious history of the world since the days of the Beformation.” With the same great writer, British and American authors will confess the obligation of England and America to those religious teachers who, “ while the politicians were doing so much to divide, w’ere doing so much to unite, the two great branches of the English race.” With this greatest of English historians since the death of Macaulay they will see — though like him they may think it “ a strange thing ” — how it was “ that, in spite of civil war and of international jealousy, a movement which sprang in an English university should have acquired so Arm a hold over the hearts and intellects of the American people.” And to this we add, they will further see how it was, that, by a re- ciprocal inflrrence, the English people, forgetting the same enmities and conflicts, have been drawn so closely to their American cousins. The most brilliant essayists and historians who, since Wes- ley’s times, have written specifically on English thought and English civilization, have been for the most part rationalists and skeptics. It is not to be expected that they who are such will in all things treat with fairness one with whose religious convictions they have no sympathy ; whose enthusiasm they call fanatacism ; and whose holy life they denounce as asceti- cism. What Mr. Wesley magnified as of chief est importance is foolishness to them. It cannot be understood by them, be- cause it is only spiritually discerned. Wesley’s experience in the things of God is a mark for their wit and ridicule. Justi- fication by faith alone, the new birth, the witness of the Wesley and Methodism. 67 Spirit, heaven and hell, 'the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment, are with them figments worthy to be classed with the vain delusions of an effete mythology. Having no belief in the eternal verities which with Wesley were convic- tions, they regarded his writings and teachings, while w'eighing their infinence on English thought and civilization, solely in the light of their own deistical or infidel philosophy, and the language of those who are considered the great masters of English prose. Judged by their standard, Wesley has exerted no beneficial influence on civilization, like Y oltaire and P aine, or on literature, like Rousseau and Hume. He added nothing, they tell us, to the philosophy, nor did he add any thing to the literature, of his age. He added nothing to its so-called philosophy, it is true ; but he rescued many thousands from its poison and death. And did he add nothing to its civilization ? To lead a blameless life in a corrupt age, and by precept and example turn thousands from profligacy and vice to virtue and holiness — did this, and a great deal more that Wesley accom- plished in Church and State, add nothing to the civilization of England ? The writings of John Wesley, it is true, have not the splen- did diction of the infidel author of “ The Decline and Fall,” or the classic eloquence of that other infidel historian who traced the history of England from its beginnings down to the close of the reign of James II., last of the Stuart kings. But they have been read by millions now testing, beyond the grave, the realities of the things in which Wesley believed, and by mill- ions more now living whose religion and lives have been molded by the great truths which he preached, and about which he wrote. Judged by this standard, did he not accom- plish far more than any other religious writer of his day? Are not his wiltings even now influencing more minds than the writings of any other uninspired religious teacher since Martin Luther wrote his Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans ? W esley, as no one will question, was a master of 5 68 The Wesley Memorial Yolhme. Englisli thought and of the English tongue. Few in his day were more skilled in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin. To him, at an early day, the principal languages of the continent of Europe were familiar studies. Excellent grammars, in English, of several of these tongues — the old and the new — were made by Mr. Wesley at a time when, in England, gram- mars in English of the ancient tongues were things unknown, and philology was an undeveloped science. His translations from three of the languages of modern Europe are among the best hymns of the Wesleyan Hymn Book. He was not only a master of tongues, but a master of logic and rhetoric. His edu- cation was classic ; his culture all that the oldest English uni- versity, severe study, a retentive memory, and great intel- lectual powers, could bestow. If he had formed his style on the classic model of Tully’s Epistles to Pomponius Atticus — if he had copied the best writers of the Augustan age of English literature — who doubts that he might have attained preemi- nence in the realm of letters ? Lord Macaulay says : “ He was a man whose eloquence and logical acuteness might have ren- dered him eminent in literature.” But all mere literary fame John Wesley sacrificed, and he sacrificed it for a purpose. He who would not wear “ a fine coat ” that he might satisfy the hungry with bread, laid aside “ a fine style ” that he might make the Gospel of our salvation plain to the miners of Corn- wall, the colliers of Kingswood, and the felons of ISTewgate. His words may not have been, in the judgment of his critics, “ with excellency of speech,” but they were “ in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power.” ■ Like St. Paul — whom Wesley more nearly resembled than any other man has resembled that great apostle — Wesley was called a babbler by the Epicurean statesmen and philosophers of his times. The Gospel preached by Mr. Wesley was foolishness to Horace Walpole, but to millions it has been “ Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.” But let Mr. Leslie Stephen, the skeptical author of the Wesley and Methodism. 69 “ History of Englisli Tliouglit in tlie Eighteenth Centnry,” who tells us that Wesley “added nothing to the stores of English rhetorical prose,” and that his “ writings produced nothing val- uable in themselves, either in form or substance,” say what he really thinks of Mr. Wesley’s literary powers. “It would be difficult,” says this writer, “ to find any letters more direct, forc- ible, and pithy in expression. He goes straight to the mark without one superfluous flourish. He writes as a man confined within the narrowest limits of time and space, whose thoughts are so well in hand that he can say every thing needful within those hmits. The compression gives emphasis, and never causes confusion. The letters, in other words, are the work of one who for more than half a century was accustomed to turn to account every minute of his eighteen working hours.” “ W esley’s elo- ■ quence,” says tins same writer, “ is in the direct style, which clothes his thoughts with the plainest language. He speaks of what he has seen ; he is never beating the air, or slaying the dead, or mechanically repeating thrice-told stories, like most of his contemporaries. His arguments, when most obsolete in their methods and assumptions, still represent real thought upon ques- tions of the deepest intei-est to himself and his hearers.” “We can fancy,” he adds, “ the venerable old man, his mind enriched by the experience of half a century’s active warfare against vice, stained by no selfishness, and liable to no worse accusa- tion than that of a too great love of power, and believe that his plain, heiwous language must have carried conviction and chal- lenged the highest respect.” After thus writing, Mr. Leslie Stephen asserts that Wesley’s “thoughts run so frequently in the same grooves of obsolete historiaal speculation ^'^ — the ital- ics are ours — “ that he has succeeded in producing no single book satisfactory in a literary sense.” And yet we venture to say that Wesley’s plain, terse, and direct English had almost as much influence upon what Mr. Buckle calls “ the^cumbrous language and long-involved sentences ” of the times which im- mediately preceded the great revivalist, as his preaching had 70 The Wesley Memorial Volume. upon a lethargic Cliurcli and a sinful world. For it was "Wes- ley’s powerful influence — secret, it is true, but none the less powerful — upon the literature of his day, which, more than any thing else, discarded the old, and introduced what Mr. Buckle calls “ a lighter and simpler style ” — a style “ more rap- idly understood,” adds Mr. Buckle, and “better suited to the exigencies of the age.” But we are further told by Mr. Leslie Stephen that Wes- ley’s writings possess “ nothing more than a purely historical interest;” that Wesley’s theology, because of its “want of any direct connection with speculative philosophy,” is “ con- demned to barrenness ; ” that, having “ no sound foundation in philosophy,” Wesleyanism “has prevented the growth of any elevated theology, and alienated all cultivated thinkers.” The above fairly represents much of the criticism to which Mr. Wesley and Methodism have been subjected. Its author belongs to a class of writers who can be somewhat just to Methodism when it comes into comparison with other forms of evangelical Christian thought. But while their testimony in that respect is invaluable — and we have seen what it is, for we have put them on the stand and heard their witness for Methodism and its founder — these writers see neither in Methodism nor in any other phase of thought which has the plenary insjjiration of the Bible as its basis any thing ex- cept a weak and blind superstition. The facts of the great revival they affect to describe with the fidelity and accuracy of historians. But to them these facts are mere emotional phe- nomena, or phenomena which they ascribe to mere natural and secondary causes, and not to any supernatural and divine power. And has the great revival been “ condemned to barrenness ? ” Have all “ cultivated thinkers ” been “ alienated ” from it ? Has Wesley left no permanent influence on Enghsh thought? Ho his writings possess “ nothing more than a purely historical interest ? ” How is it, then, that his followers are numbered Wesley and Methodism. 71 by millions ? How is it that these are found aU over the Chris- tian world, numbering thousands whom the Christian world regards as “ cultivated thinkers ? ” If it has been “ condemned to barrenness,” what mean its myriad Christian temples ? its many hundred universities, and colleges, and seminaries of learning ? its many thousand educated men in the ministry, in law, in medicine, in philosophy, in science, and in government ? "What wiU one say of its thousand printing-presses? of its great pubhshing houses ? its newspapers, its magazines, its re- views ? its tracts and books ? its great benevolent institutions ? its orphan asylums? its homes for the poor and outcast? its great missionary and Sunday-school societies ? What means the aggressive force which constantly enlarges its borders ? How is it that in a little over a hundred years it has accom- plished results which are the wonder of the world? How is it that in many parts of the world, the old and the new, it is to-day increasing in a greater ratio than at any period since its beginning? What means its influence upon other Churches, upon their theology and practice ? Is Calvinism, or any other phase of Christian theology which Wesley combated, the same it was when W esley began to write against it ? Have they not been greatly modifled by Wesley’s teachings, by Wes- ley’s spirit, and by Wesley’s catholicity? Since Wesley spoke and wrote, and exemplifled what he spoke and wrote by his own beautiful life, have not the evangelical Churches been drawing nearer and nearer together ? Are they not more sweetly striving together for “the faith once delivered to the saints ? ” Is there not a more harmonious endeavor to “ keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace ? ” And have Wesley’s writings “nothing more than a purely historical interest ? ” How is it that there are over a hundred thousand Methodist preachers now living, who have not only read Wesley’s sermons, but studied them, prayed over them, and before received into the traveling connection been examined on them ? And who will say how many thousand more are now in 72 The Wesley Memorial Volume. heaven who did the same thing ? And has this great army of itinerant and local preachers, the living and the dead, exer- cised no influence upon English thought ? And have not mill- ions of pages in newspapers, in magazines, in reviews, and in tracts and books, been written to illustrate, to defend, and to enforce the writings which Wesley left to his followers? The writings of what other religious teacher outside of revelation have been so extensively read, or left a wider and deeper trace on the Anglo-Saxon mind and heart ? But what is English thought, about which we hear so much from a certain class of writers ? W ith them it means not the old theology of Moses and St. Paul, nor even that of Socrates and Plato ; but it means the old philosophy of Leucippus, Democritus, and Lucretius, and of their disciples in skepticism, Hobbes and Ilume, Voltaire and Pousseau, Spencer and Dar- win. It means whatever is skeptical in thought, whatever its modifications may be, whether atheism, deism, infidelity, ration- alism, or whatever is included in what is called the speculatiA^e philosophy, and is opposed to the Bible as a written revelation of God and his will. This, with certain writers, is the whole of English thought. The “ cultivated thinkers ” are all found there, and nowhere else. Every thing else, provided it savor directly or indirectly of revealed religion, is excluded. And yet, perhaps, not all of revealed religion. For if one profess- ing to believe in the sacred Scriptures so interprets them as to exclude the divinity of Christ, the doctrine of human deprav- ity, the necessity of repentance, the new birth, the witness of the spirit, holiness, and the existence of heaven and hell, espe- cially the latter, he may be taken, by an act of philosophic grace, into the number of the “ cultivated thinkers.” Such an one is admitted into the charmed circle of speculative philoso- phy because he is only half a religionist at the most. He is not fully in the light of the true philosophy, but he is not alto- gether in darkness. There is hope that he may emerge out of the dim and shadowy twilight of a semi-philosophy into the Wesley and Methodism. 73 bright and unclouded noon of the philosophy of “cultivated thinkers.” Hence, perhaps, Samuel Clarke and Benjamin Hoadley have left some impress upon Enghsh thought ; upon it can be found no traces of Philip Doddridge and John Wesley. We thank God that these devoted ministers of the Lord Jesus added nothing to English thought, as English thought is in- terpreted by the skeptics. As ah-eady noticed, the only influ- ence John Wesley exerted upon English thought in their sense of it, has been to save milhons of the English-speak- ing race from its blight and its curse. Had it not been for Wesley’s burning love of soids for whom Jesus died, and his apostolic zeal to pluck them as brands from the burning ; had it not been for his faithful Gospel-preaching in church and chapel, in barns and the open air ; and had it not been for the thoroughly evangehcal tracts, and treatises, and hymns, and sermons which came troo^sing from his unresting jDen, the so- called Enghsh thought would have embraced millions deliv- ered by Wesley’s labors from its skepticism and death. If John Wesley has left no trace upon true English thought — not the English thought of the skeptics — how is it that his name, his life, and his labors are now filhng a much larger space in the English literature of the day than those of any other uninspired Christian teacher that has ever lived ? How is it that these are so much the theme not only of the religious newspapers, and magazines, and reviews, and books issued from Methodist printing-presses and the printing-presses of other evangelical Churches, but of the secular histories and quarterlies of the times ? How is it that there is, at this mo- ment, a revival of thought on his life and work all over the world ? How is it that so many, in other evangelical Churches, are emulating one another to do honor to his memory? How is it that even the skeptical historians of English thought and of Enghsh life — though they do not give to him the full place to which he is entitled— are yet assigning him, with Mr. Buckle, the chiefest place among “ theological statesmen,” and, 74 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. witli them all, the highest rank among Church revivalists and reformers? And how is it that the Established Church of England, from whose pulpits he was so rudely shut out, is now, though late, claiming him as her own — as the one to whom she is most indebted for deliverance from rationalism and French infidelity on the one hand, and a lifeless formalism and an arrogant claim to Popish infallibility on the other ? Witness England’s recent tribute to the Wesleys ! A sculpt- ured memorial of John and Charles Wesley not long since was unveiled by Dean Stanley in Westminster Abbey. The worthy Dean, who delivered the address on the occasion, spoke of the Wesleys as those whom the Church of England de- lighted to honor, and hoped that no one would deny to them a place in that venerable mausoleum of England’s noble dead. Fitting place for a sculptured memorial of the brothers ! For to none of the many eminent dead whose memory that splendid old Abbey perpetuates has England been more indebted than to John Wesley, the great Methodist reformer, and to Charles Wesley, the great Methodist lyric poet. ISTor is all acknowledg- ment of England’s indebtedness to the Wesleys a thing of such recent date. When the music of Charles Wesley, Jun., like the effect of David’s harp on King Saul, revived the spirit of King George III., the old king, laying a hand on one of the shoul- ders of the musician, said: “To your uncle, Mr. Wesley, and your father, and to George Whitefield and the Countess of Huntingdon, the Church in this realm is more indebted than to all others.” If the Bible is the inspired word of God ; if God out of Christ is a consuming fire ; if the Gospel of Christ is the pow- er of God unto salvation ; if, without faith in Christ as the only sacrifice for sin, no one can be delivered from its con- demnation and guilt ; if the blood of Christ alone can cleanse the defiled and polluted heart ; if the fruits of the Spirit are the' only sure evidence of acceptance with God, and holiness the only fitness for an inheritance with the sanctified ; if Christ Wesley and Methodism. 75 is judge of quick and dead ; and if believers in Cbrist are re- warded with tbe crown of eternal life, and all unbelievers pun- ished with the pains of eternal death — then an impress, greater than that made by any other Englishman, has Wesley made upon the Anglo-Saxon mind and heart. If it be a supreme work to revive a lifeless Church and awake it to its true mis- sion on earth — to be instrumental in saWng the greatest number of souls from death, and to exert the greatest and widest influ- ence for good while hving, and, when dead, keep it ahve by the recollection of a life of perfect consecration to Christ and unselfish devotedness to the best and highest interests of man, — then John Wesley must be regarded the greatest of English revivalists and reformers. And if, after death, to speak to millions of the Enghsh-speaking race in the writings which one has left behind him with the same authority with which his utterances in life were received by comparatively a few thousand, be any evidence that one has left an impress upon English thought — ^then John Wesley, the founder of Meth- odism, has exercised a more powerful influence upon true English thought than any other Englishman, living or dead. Einally, if John Wesley, claiming the world as his parish, with no spirit of a sectarian and with no thought of founding a Church, has founded a great Church which has been instru- mental in winning more trophies to the Cross of Christ than any other — if he has infused his own apostolic sjflrit into the other evangehcal Churches and made them better witnesses for Jesus and the resurrection — then John Wesley is not only “ the greatest figure who has apppeared in the religious history of the world since the days of the Reformation,” but since the apostles. And such will be the dehberate judgment which the ages will pronounce upon the life and labors of John Wesley, “ who devoted,” says Lord Macaulay, “ all his powers, in defi- ance of obloquy and derision, to what he sincerely considered the highest good of his species.” WESLEY AND THE CHHECH OF ENGLAND. T he Methodism of to-day will never be understood until the history of its founder is rightly understood ; and neither the history of Wesley himself, nor the character of his life- work, can ever be understood, until it is recognized that his life was divided into two distinct, and in many respects sharply-con- trasted, periods — the period preceding, and the period following the spring of 1738. Much confusion and error have arisen from faihng to recognize the critical changes and the momentous de- velopments which have marked the course of certain statesmen, who have been unjustly accused of treachery, of holding at one and the same time a medley of conflicting opinions, and of hav- ing lio honest and real principles at all. Similar confusion has arisen as to Wesley’s opinions and principles from failing to observe the fact to which I have referred. The opinions of his earlier years have often been attributed to him as his perma- nent convictions and principles, although he had abandoned them flfty years before his death, while the real principles which guided all his course as the founder of Methodism have apparently never been apprehended at all by many who have undertaken to pronounce on the subject both of Wesley him- self and of the community which he founded. It is my pres- ent purpose to exhibit, as clearly as I can, what Wesley was after his High-Church views were abandoned in 1738, and to indicate also, at least in part, how the Methodism which he founded was molded by the principles which he then adopted, and which became ever afterward the controlKng principles of his life and work. Let 1738 be well marked. Wesley’s inner and essential High Churchmanship belongs to the period preceding that date. His Wesley and the Chuech of England. ^ 77 Cliurelimansliip in after-life, and tlirongli tlie space of half a century, included neither high sacramentarian doctrine nor serv- ile veneration for rubrics, nor any belief in either the virtue or the reality of what is commonly called “ the apostolical suc- cession.” Wesleyan writers take their stand here. I7one have shown so distinctly and fully the rigid and excessive Churchmanship of Wesley up to the date 1738. But they insist that from that date every thing was essentially different, and that the essential difference very swiftly developed into striking results. The High Churchman, they argue, makes salvation to be di- rectly dependent on sacramental grace and apostolical succession. Wdiereas the Evangelical Believer — the man who has received the doctrine of salvation by faith as it was taught by Peter Bolder, and as it is understood by the Reformed Churches in general, learns from St. Baul that “ faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Hence, according to his conviction, the Christian salvation— justification, regeneration, and sanctification — must be realized by means of the “ truth as it is in Jesus.” Truth and life are for him indissolubly associ- ated. He cannot forget the words of the Word HimseK : “ Sanc- tify them through thy truth ; thy word is truth ; ” and again, “ I am the way, the truth, and the life ; ” nor the words of St. Paul, when he speaks of himself and his fellow-workers as “ by manifestation of the tnrth commending” themselves “to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” It is the truth in the sacraments, according to his view, which fills them with blessing to those who receive them with faith ; they are “ signs and seals” — eloquent symbols and most sacred pledges — but they are not in and of themselves saturated with grace and hfe ; they are not the only organ and vehicle through which grace flows to the members of Christ’s mystical body, altogether irre- spective of any divine truth apprehended and embraced by the mind and heart of the believer. They admit that, up to 1738, Wesley had been a High-Church 78 ' The Wesley Memorial Voluyie. Kitiialist, but they insist tliat all bis life afterward be taugbt tbe Evangelical doctrine of salvation by faitb ; that be very soon, and once for all, discarded tbe “ fable,” as be called it, of “ apostolical succession ; ” and that be presently gave up all tbat is now understood to belong to tbe system, wbetber theological or ecclesiastical, of Iligb-Cburcb Anglo-Catbolicism. “Tbe grave-clotbes of ritualistic superstition,” they say, “ still bung about bim for awbile, even after be bad come forth from tbe sepulcher, and bad, in bis heart and soul, been set loose and free ; and be only cast them off gradually. But tbe new prin- ciple be bad embraced led,” as they affirm, “ before long to bis complete emancipation from tbe principles and prejirdices of Iligb-Cburch ecclesiasticism.” Such language as this may seem to High Cburcbmen harsh, and perhaps uncharitable, but tbe one question really is, how far it is warranted by tbe history and recorded sentiments of Wesley himself after tbe year 1738. Modern Weslcyans can- not be expected to be more Higb-Cburcb than their founder. I propose, accordingly, to show now, in some detail, what Wes- ley did actually claim and hold as to matters ecclesiastical during the half-century which followed bis “ conversion.” Ecclesiastical claims and theories are founded on theological dogmas. We shall see bow tbe newly-received doctrines of grace and of faitb gave color and form to tbe ecclesiastical prin- ciples of the founder of Methodism. It is bard to conceive views as to tbe public ministry of the word, and tbe government and discipline of the Church, more hazardous and untenable, according to tbe standard of High Cburcbmen, than those which were maintained by John W esley. ^>1 He held, as I will presently show, after the year 1745, tbat ! tbe office of presbyter or priest and tbat of bishop being orig- inally and essentially one, be, as a presbyter, bad the abstract and essential right to ordain presbyters, in a new sphere — a sphere of his own creation, so to speak — if by his so doing Wesley and the Chhech of England. 79 neither he nor they whom he ordained became intruders into other commnnions, or trespassers within other jurisdictions. Acting on this principle, he ordained “ presbyters,” and evmn “ siTperintendents,” * or bishops, for America ; he ordained presbyters for Scotland ; and eventually even conceived him- seK to be constrained to ordain presbyters to assist him in ad- ministering the sacraments to his own Societies in England, one of his strong pleas being, that the clergy, in many instances, would not admit his people to the Lord’s Supper. Indeed, there is high authority — the authority of Samuel Bradbiirn, one of his ablest and most eminent preachers — for saying that Wesley went so far, at the Conference of 1788, as to consecrate one of his English preachers as “superintendent,” or bishop. The Methodist Conference did but extend this principle to its obvious consequences when, a few years after his death, those of them whom Wesley had already ordained were pre- sumed to have the power to share their prerogatives with their brethren and partners in common charge of the Societies, so that all the Societies which desired it might receive the sacra- ments from their own preachers. Quite as radical, indeed, as any opinion of a modern Meth- odist on these points, and far more startling, as coming from John Wesley, is the following passage contained in the Min- utes of Conference for the year already noted, 1745 : Q. 1. Can he be a spiritual governor of the Church who is not a be- liever nor member of it ? A. It seems not; though he maybe a governor in outward things by a power derived from the King. Q. 2. What are properly the laws of the Church of England ? A. The rubrics ; and to those we submit as the ordinance of man, for the Lord’s sake. * In Wesley’s time, the senior preacher in charge was called “ assistant,” not, as now, “superintendent,” and the junior preachers, “helpers.” “Superintendent,” in Wesley’s ecclesiastical nomenclature, meant “bishop;” he held, of course, that his “superintendents,” or “bishops,” were not in order, but only in office, distinguished from presbyters. 80 The Wesley Memorial Volume. Q. 3. But is not the will of our governors a law? A. No; not of any governor, temporal or spiritual. Therefore, if any bishop wills that I should not preach the Gospel, his will is no law to me. Q. 4. But what if he produce a law against your preaching ? A. I am to obey God rather than man. Q. 5. Is Episcopal, Presbyterian, or Independent church government most agreeable to reason ? A. The plain origin of Church government seems to be this. Christ sends forth a preacher of the Gospel. Some who hear him, repent and believe the Gospel. They then desire him to watch over them, to build them up in the faith, and to guide their souls in the paths of righteous- ness. Here, then, is an indejiendent congregation — subject to no pastor but their own; neither liable to be controlled in things spiritual by any other man or body of men whatsoever. But soon after, some from other parts, who are occasionally present while he speaks in the' name of Him that sent him, beseech him to come over to help them also. Knowing it to be the will of God, he consents, yet not till he has conferred with the wisest and holiest of his congrega- tion, and, with their advice, appointed one or more who have gifts and grace to w^atch over the flock till his return. If it pleases God to raise another flock in the new place, before he leaves them he does the same thing, appointing one whom God has fitted for the work to watch over tliese souls .also. In like Bnanner, in every place where it pleases God to gather a little flock by His Word, he ap- points one in his absence to take the oversight of the rest, and to assist them of the abilities which God giveth. These are deacons, or servants of the Church, and look on the first pastor as their common father. And all these congregations regard him in the same light, and esteem him still as the shepherd of their souls. These congregations are not &hso\Mtit would be vain to attempt any thing like an analysis or even a sketch. Sufiice it to say, that the same practical wisdom distinguished his system of Church gov- ernment as marked his State politics. With slight modification it has stood the test of experience, and as yet shows no traces of decay. In the history of the Church Wesley stands first and foremost as organizer of a Church mle which provides for free- dom without license, discipline without laxity or undue severity, and Christian fellowship without servitude ; a system of gov- ernment which has drawn and bound together multitudes of opposite tastes, habits, and sympathies, and at the same time so effectually excluded all forms of immorality that it has long been a public surprise and shock when a Methodist is punished penally. By Wesley a wide berth was given to liberty as to opinions, and many of his more radical disciples might learn a lesson ; but he had no liberty for sin. To the day of his death Charles Wesley remained a “ High ’’-Churchman, and refused to be buried out of ‘‘consecrated ground.” John Wesley, too, in his early years, was a “ High ’’-Churchman in name, but as light came, and as circumstances pressed, he became a Dissenter in fact, and told his friends in his last hours, with his usual simplicity, to wrap his body in woolen and place it in the soil at City Hoad Chapel ; ground now “ consecrated ” enough in the repose of the bones of the man who accomplished more Christian work than any other laborer in the history of the Church ; and mingling with a soil which deserves a veneration Wesley’s Influence. 125 not less devout than that which holds the sacred ashes of the great apostle of the Gentiles. But, finally and briefly, John Wesley is the most illustrious example in the history of his country of the certain success which follows an earnest life of honest labor. It is now too late to recount his labors, or even to sketch an outhne. Our space is gone before we have touched the finest feature of his character. But if Wesley’s life was one of unceasing toil, it was one of unparalleled success. His teachings as to a new spiritual life, and the rules which regulate it, being sown broadcast over the country by an organized system of perpetual preach- ing, were backed by an ever-present example, careful pastoral oversight, kindly, but if necessary, severe disciphne, and by the omnij)otent power of the printing-press. The benef- icent labors of Whitefield, of Berridge, of Howell Harris in Wales, and of other similar men — only snippings from the original Wesley tree — and their results, were fairly Meth- odistic. Before Wesley had been at his work half his time, say within twenty-five years after he started for Savannah, he had planted Methodism in every large town in England and Ireland, and in many a hundred hamlets and villages ; while his teach- ing had ever been followed up by church guidance and private cormsel in families. In the very middle of his career he had done, without money, without patronage, and in the face of the most rancorous enemies, what no other man ever did before, nor has ever done since, coupled with his ceaseless traveling and preaching. Thus early, while he had above a quarter of a century to work, he had printed and sent over the country one hundred and thirty vigorously written pamphlets, nine parts of his “Journal,” and nearly seventy full sized books, besides twelve volumes and thirty pamphlets produced jointly by him- self and Charles. Lord Holland, Mr. Pitt, Sir B. Walpole, and the whole bench of Bishops in at the bargain, could show noth- ing approaching such results ; and results, too, which were pat- 126 The Wesley Memorial Volume. ent in the improved social and edncational condition, and in the renovated lives, of tens of thonsands. And what if we look at the subsequent growth of this Methodist power ? It roused all the slumbering Churches in the land to renewed energy — an energy which still clings to them — notably in the Establish- ment, where we have seen ever since earnest labor and constant success. But look at the world of Methodism, with its about five millions in Church-fellowship, and over twenty millions under the sway of its religions teaching ; and look again, and see it daily adding to its victories and multiplying its conquests. When Wesley reached the last year of his life, all over the Three Kingdoms he saw the fruit of his labors, and the sight gladdened his eyes and heart. His one hundred and fifteen cir- cuits, two hundred and ninety-four preachers, and seventy-one thousand five hundred and sixty-eight Church members, besides seventeen missionaries in foreign lands, and nearly equal results in America, were enough to cheer his great spirit, and make him “ thank Cod for his mercies.” He had not “ concerted the world,” but he had made such a beginning as England had never witnessed before. His old enemies had nearly died out, or had repented and turned friends. One half the kingdom admired, and the other revered him. The nobility now thought it a privilege to hear him talk or preach. Tens of thousands still rushed to his ministrations, and looked upon him as the boast and glory of England ; and thousands at this day are proud and glad that they have seen and talked with men and women who knew and conversed with the ven- erable apostle of Methodism. The clergy every-where un- locked their church and pulpit doors to him, delighted with his simple eloquence and saintly character. “ The tide is turned,” he wrote ; “ I have now more invitations to preach in churches than I can accept.” When Dr. Lowth, Bishop of London, would sit below him at table and Wesley remonstrated, the Bishop expressed a pretty general feeling when he said : “Mr. Wesley, may I be found at your feet in another world.” Wesley’s Ineleence. 127 He was, we say, an example uneqnaled of the certain success which follows an earnest life of honest labor. That is all. Rhetorical ornament or eloquent peroration would only dim the dignity and besmear the beauty of one of the very closest transcripts of the character of Him who “ went about doing good.” WESLEY AND PEESONAL EELIGIOUS EXPE- EIENCE. OD’S way of making any truth powerful among men has vX always been to translate it into the vernacrTlar of this world by incarnating it. He puts it into a human soul, and there fans it into a steady flame whose glow kindles other souls. The unspoken language of profound conviction is the one language which needs no interpreter. Tliere is no danger that Chillingworth’s grand postulate will ever be forgotten : “ The Bible, the Bible, the religion of Protestants.” But it is not merely the Bible written or printed which is mighty for the salvation of the world. Men may and do refuse to read this ; and often when they read it they get but the faintest possible conception, or even an utter mis- conception, of its meaning. It is the Bible incarnated, lived, Avrought into the fabric of human souls, clearly exj)ounded and brilliantly illustrated by transformed lives, which extends the borders of Christ’s kingdom. The epistles of Paul and Peter and John are within easy reach of many a hand that never opens them, and pass under many an eye that never discerns their glories ; but no eye can be utterly blind to the shining characters with which a once pierced hand is now perpetually tracing “ living epistles ” to be “ known and read of all men.” This thought is in itself so important, and, moreover, is so essential as the very key to the theme of this dissertation, that I wish at the outset to unfold it with sufficient fullness and par- ticularity to secure a vivid impression of it on the mind of every reader. Of course the supreme illustration of it is to be sought in the method of the incomparable Teacher. And how did he teach? Hot chiefly by what he said or did, but by Personal Religious Experience. .129 what he was. I derogate nothing from the splendor of his say- ings, the divineness of his doings, or the magnihcence of his miracles, when I declare that his chief teaching was Himself. He spoke, he did, more yet he was, the Truth. The eternal TTord — the revealer of God — the one only medium for the manifestation of God to the universe of intelligent creatures — '■'■The TTorcf, was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” With his own lips and by the pens of his amanuenses he completed the system of religious teaching ; and on the last page of the Apocalypse he set this solemn seal : “ If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are wiitten in this book : and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” Since that time almost eighteen hundred years of anxious, earnest, profound thinking have passed away, and no man singly, nor all men together, have added one iota to the relig- ious teaching of Jesus. And yet religious truth is under- stood better to-day than in the first century, or the tenth, or the eighteenth. How, if there has been no added revelation ? There has been the ever-new exposition furnished by many a fresh incarnation of the truth. John Robinson, of Leyden, in his farewell to the Pilgrim Fathers in 1620, nobly said : “ If God should reveal any thing to you by any other instrument of his, be as ready to receive it as you were to receive any truth by my ministry ; for I am very confldent the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of his holy Word.” And Bishop Butler, in his immortal “ Analogy of Religion,” with kindred insight declared: “FTor is it at all incredi- ble that a book which has been so long in the possession of mankind should contain many truths as yet undiscovered.” “ More truth and hght ? ” WTience ? “ To break forth out of 130 The Wesley Memoeial Volusie. his holy word.” How ? He will “ reveal ” it by some “ instru- ment of his.” “ Truths as yet undiscovered ? ” Where ? In “ the book.” Such revelations God has been pleased to make in all the Christian centuries. His universal plan for securing any marked and substantial advance of Christianity has been to incarnate in some one man some grand, fundamental, but neg- lected truth. The era of the Protestant Reformation well illustrates this. The world has gone down into the chill and darkness of a thousand years’ night. God has thoughts of mercy toward it. Plow will he bring in the day ? Ho new Bible is given ; there is no new flight of angels ; there are no new tongues of fire. A man is the herald of the dawn ; a man with great faults, (else his example had been of less value for our encouragement,) yet a man whom God taught that “ the just shall live by faith,” and he taught it to the world. But his great work was incomplete, and his tempest-tossed soul had hardly reached its happy home before the Dark Ages crept back again. Ritualism spread its upas blight ; infidelity and iniquity were rampant, and even in Protestant England, at the close of the seventeenth century, evangelical Christianity had almost perished from the earth. Again God honors his an- cient plan. Hot by angels, not by an added revelation, not by a new Pentecost, does he bring in that revival of evangelical doc- trine and life which has had no serious back-set for more than a century and a third, and which, when fairly considered in its relation to the grand outmarch of modern evangelistic effort, really seems to be the dawn of the Millennium. God intro- duces this transcendent era by a man; a man born of that woman concerning whom Adam Clarke wrote, “ Many daugh- ters have done virtuously, but Susannah Wesley has excelled them all.” This man was at once a Moses, a Paul, and a John. He led out God’s people from a worse than Egyptian bondage ; he preached the Gospel with surpassing power to men of more than Athenian refinement and to the most degraded outcasts ; PeesojS'al ■ Religious Experience. 131 and he was tlie verj apostle of love, for lie proclaimed as one of the chief articles of his creed that ‘‘perfect love” which “ easteth ont fear ; ” and he was enabled so to emphasize God’s universal offer of rescue for the ruined, that the world might understand it better than ever before. I soberly beheve that since it was first uttered no other man has done so much to simphfy and propagate that divinest of all divine utterances, “ God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever beheveth in him should not perish, hut have everlasting hfe.” The fullest and most severely dispassionate of Mr. Wesley’s biographers, Mr. Tyerman, elaborately justifies his characteriza- tion of Methodism as “ the greatest fact in the history of the Chiu’ch of Christ ; ” and says, “ Let the reader think of twelve millions of people at present enjoying the benefits of Meth- odist instruction; let him think of Methodism’s twenty-one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five ordained ministers, and of its tens of thousands of lay preachers ; let him think of the immense amount of its church property, and of the well-nigh countless number of its church publications ; let him thinli of the millions of young people in its schools, and of its missionary agents almost all the wide world over ; let him think of its incalculable influence upon other Churches, and of the unsectarian institutions to which it has given rise ; and then let him say whether the bold suggestion already made is not strictly true, namely, that '•Methodism is the greatest fact in the his- tory of the Church of Christh ” Now no religious movement ever sprang more directly out of the mind and heart of its founder, and received its mold and inspiration more immediately from him, than Methodism from Wesley. It cannot be understood apart from him, nor he apart from it. And what is Methodism ? This volume, which presents W esley in well-nigh every possible phase, abundantly answers that question ; this particular article has to do with but a single characteristic of Methodism, and yet that characteristic 9 132 The Wesley Memorial Volume. is its grand formative principle ; its centi'al, uniting, explaining idea, witliont wliicli it wonld not have been. Wliat is that idea ? Personal religious experience. Go into any Methodist church (worthy the name) in Europe, Asia, Africa, America, or any island of the sea, (there are twenty thousand of them in the United States alone,) and listen to the hymns, the readings, the prayers, the sermons. Ton must perceive that, according to the Methodistic idea, rehgion is no mere code of ethics or dogmas, no empty parade of cere- monies, no matter for rapt contemplation and antinomian quiet- ism ; hut a deep, conscious, all-pervading, triumphant spiritual life. A very simple teaching of the Holy Scrijitures, you may say. Yes, hut vastly more simple because of John Wesley, When he, a brilliant young tutor in Lincoln College, Oxford, was groping his way to the full hght of gosjiel day, Methodism was germinating. He found the light, and took it into one of the clearest and strongest of intellects, and also into “one of the most marvelous hearts which ever the hand of the Creator fashioned, or the spirit of the Redeemer warmed.” That mas- terful intellect was hungrily striving after more and more of the knowledge of God, through all the years from its first dawn in the pious Epworth rector’s home till, after eighty-eight years, the eternal sun-burst flashed upon it. But no such mere intellectual seeking, however successful, could have produced that immense result called Methodism ; and so, at the age of thirty-five, that great heart saw God, transmuted doctrine into life, and created Methodism. The question is often asked. What is the secret of the power of Methodism ? That secret I conceive lies partly in its eccle- siastical polity, more in its doctrinal teaching, and most of all in its religious experience. On the last of these every tiling turns. This it is which gave birth to the polity of Methodism and molded its behefs. Its doctrinal system is not new, though the manner of its proclamation is. Erom the beginning until now, the Methodists, we tliink, have been less inchned than any Peesoxal Keligious Experience. 133 otlier branclL of the Church to forget the inspired apostolic anathema against novelties in doctrine, “ Though we, or an angel in heaven, preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have heard, let him be accursed.” In the course of the ages the old doctrines of the Bible had been buried beneath the rubbish of forgetfulness and sacerdo- talism. Wesley seized them, lifted them up, shook from them the dust of ages which covered them, rekindled them at the al- tar of God, and then rushed forth and held them up as blazing torches before the eyes of the people. He taught that sin was not a peccadillo, not merely a misfort- une, but a dark, guilty, damning fact. He taught that salva- tion was not a proposal of help, restricted to a certain part of the human race, to be conferred at some time no man can tell when ; but to every guilty penitent it was a proclamation that he might now be saved — fully saved — saved to the uttermost, and have the witness of the Holy Ghost to the fact of this sal- vation. Ho wonder the people Hstened, for at that time these truths came with the force of a new revelation to the masses of men. I think I shall not be accused of an unjust criticism on our Christian brethren not of our faith if I cite an old-fashioned Methodist’s sarcastic representation of the teaching prevailing in the communities in which he moved. It was this ; “ Re- ligion — if you seek it, you wont find it ; if you find it, you wont know it ; if you know it, you haven’t got it ; if you get it, you can’t lose it ; if you lose it, you never had it.” The iMethodists reversed every clause of this description, and made it run : Religion — if you seek it, you will find it ; if you find it, you will know it ; if you know it, you have got it ; if you get it, you may lose it ; if you lose it, you must have had it. All the doctrines our fathers asserted were old, but they made them new, fresh, vivid, and powerful. This effect is es- pecially manifest in their teaching of that most experimental doctrine of the witness of the Spirit. God has given Method- 134 The Wesley Memoeial Yolhme, ism the honor of making millions of men understand it. This doctrine was almost a dead letter in God’s holy book when John Wesley arose. Yet the teaching lay plainly on the very surface of the Bible. Enoch “had this testimony, that he pleased God.” David had his feet taken “ out of a horrible pit and out of the miry clay,” and a new song put into his mouth. Paul and Peter and John told the same blessed story. Yet I doubt if a thousand men in all England, one hundred and fifty years ago, could have said that they knew their sins forgiven. But after fifteen years’ such service of God as has rarely been equaled, John Wesley became consciously a son of God. While listening one evening, in a Moravian meeting, to the reading of one of Luther’s commentaries, he felt his heart “ strangely warmed ; ” and then he knew, and was able to teach, the mean- ing of that inspired declaration, “ The Spirit itself beareth wit- ness with our spirit that we are the children of God.” The glorious doctrine of the witness of the Spirit was incarnated in him, and revealed through him to millions more. In that hour Methodism was born. So manifest and vital is the connection between Wesley’s personal experience of saving grace and the success of the re- ligious movement he inaugurated, that we must trace the suc- cessive steps of that marvelous experience. From infancy he was surrounded by the fragrance of a most sincere, if some- what austere, ancestral piety. He was descended from a royal line of God’s faithful witnesses. Daily prayers and Scripture readings were warp and woof of his childliood. Like most men who have been both great and' good, he had one of the best of mothers, one from whom he manifestly inherited his talent for logic as well as for saintship. Who can tell how much the world owed to that devout and devoted mother-love which breathed out in this concluding sentence of many a let- ter, “ Dear Jaekey, I beseech Almighty God to bless thee ! ” He gave early evidence of sincere piety, and was admitted by his strict father to the communion at the age of eight. Until Persoistal Religious Experience. 135 lie left Liome to attend the Charter-house school, in his eleventh year, he seems to have been an unusually thoughtful and con- sistent child-Christian. There, Mr. Tyerman tells us, “ he lost the religion which had marked his character from the days of infancy ; ” and adds : “ Terrible is the danger when a child leaves a pious home for a public school. John Wesley entered the Charter-house a saint and left it a sinner.” He supports this startling indictment by citing W esley’s own words : “ I was negligent of outward duties, and continually guilty of in- ward sins.” But the self-accuser adds that these “ sins ” were “ such as are not scandalous in the eye of the world ; ” and sums up this period thus : “ However, I stiE read the Script- ures, and said my prayers morning and evening. And what I now hoped to be saved by was : 1. Hot being so bad as other people ; 2. Having stiE a kindness for rehgion ; and, 3. Read- ing the Bible, going to church, and saying my prayers.” So the “ saint ” of ten had not become so very grievous a “ sinner ” at seventeen after all ; albeit there was a touch of Pharisaism in his piety. Mr. Tyerman paints Wesley’s undergraduate Efe at Oxford in similarly dark colors, thus: “When we say that from the age of eleven to the age of twenty-two Wesley made no pre- tensions to be reEgious, and, except on rare occasions, habituaEy lived in the practice of known sin, we only say what is equally true of many of the greatest, wisest, and most godly men that have ever lived. The fact is humiliating and ought to be de- plored, but why hide it in one case more than in another? Wesley soon became one of the holiest and most useful men living ; but except the first ten years of his childhood, he was, up to the age of twenty-two, by his own confession, an habitual, if not profane and flagrant sinner.” “ He thoughtlessly con- tracted debts greater than he had means to pay.” “ His letters are without religious sentiments, and his life was without a re- ligious aim.” “ He had need to repent as in dust and ashes.” The same biographer adds, however, within a dozen lines, 136 The Wesley Memorial Volume. ‘‘Wesley was far too noble and too liigb-principled to seek ad- mission into so sacred an office as tbe Christian ministry merely to secure for himself a crust of bread.” Another very able and appreciative student of Mr. Wesley’s character, Dr. Eigg, insists that these comments of Mr. Tyerman are “ altogether in an exaggerated tone of austerity ; and adds, “ He writes as if such letters cast shadows on the character of young Wesley; he declares quite unwarrantably that from the age of eleven to twenty-two, W esley was ‘ by his own confession an habitual, if not profane and flagrant, sinner,’ and that he ‘thoughtlessly contracted debts greater than he had means to pay!’ We must say that there is no evidence whatever to justify such language as this. Wesley seems always to have kept at a re- mote distance from any thing like ‘ profane and flagrant sin ; ’ he was ‘ a sinner ’ as moral and virtuous youths are sinners, but only so ; and if he could not make ends meet on forty pounds a year, there is no evidence whatever that he ‘thoughtlessly contracted debts.’” Mr. Badcoek, in the “Westminster Magazine,” gives this picture of Wesley after he had taken his degree at the age of twenty-one : “ He appeared the very sensible and acute colle- gian ; a young fellow of the finest classical taste, of the most liberal and manly sentiments.” Then came one great crisis of his life ; let me rather say, then began the one critical epoch, which lasted thirteen years, and terminated only when the intensely laborious, heroically faith- ful, despairingly weary “ servant ” became consciously a rejoic- ing “son” of God. He had finished his collegiate course, a thorough and elegant scholar. What should he do ? In those days, when so little was thought about a divine call to the minis- try, it would have been strange if any young man born, bred, and educated as he was, and with such a moral and religious char- acter, had not at least considered the question of entering that sacred office. He had such thoughts, and wrote of them to his parents. They encouraged his incipient plan, and his mother, Personal Keligious Experience. 137 especially, gave him excellent advice. He immediately began a most painstaking, conscientions, but blindly ascetic prepara- tion for holy orders. His characteristic account of it runs thus ; “ When I was about twenty-two my father pressed me to enter into holy orders. At the same time the providence of God direct- ing me to Kenipis’ ‘ Christian’s Pattern,’ I began to see that true religion was seated in the heart, and that God’s law ex- tended to all our thoughts as well as words and actions. I was, however, angry at Kempis for being too strict ; though I read h im only in Dean Stanliope’s translation. Yet I had frequently much sensible comfort in reading him, such as I was an utter stranger to before. Meeting hkewise with a religions friend, which I never had tiU now, I began to alter the whole form of my conversation, and to set in earnest upon a new life. I set apart an hour or two a day for religious retirement ; I commu- Diicated every week ; I watched against all sin, whether in word or deed ; I began to aim at, and to pray for, inward holiness ; so that now, doing so much and living so good a hfe, I doubted not that I was a good Christian.” It is well for sound doctrine and evangelical religion that the seed of truth thus sown in this eminently honest, earnest, and capacious soul, did not by a miraculous operation of grace burst forth into sudden flower and fruit. The slow germina- tion, growth, unfolding, and maturing of the precious seed in M esley’s heart and life have made the way of salvation easy to milhons of men. The divine method is “ first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear.” We are reminded of Israel’s forty years’ schooling in the wilderness ; of the apostles who needed, (for our sakes no less that for their own,) three years under the Saviour’s personal tuition, and ten days’ wait- ing for the Pentecost after that ; of Paul’s theological course in Arabia, and of Bunyan’s thrilling experiences recorded in his “ Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners.” God’s great sol- diers are wont to undergo a severe course of drill and discipline before achieving those victories which astonish men and angels. 138 The Wesley Memorial Volume, In the thirteen years from the age of twenty-two to that of thirty-five Wesley met and vanquished, not in bitter and be- clouding controversy with other men, but on the battle-field of his own soul, all the chief errors concerning the subject of per- sonal rehgious experience. For years of siich devout religious- ness and such strenuous activity in doing good as have never been excelled, he was by turns a legalist, a mystic, an ascetic, and a ritualist, with scarcely a glimmering of that personal, simple, saving, triumjDhant faith which these Egyjjt and wil- derness years were preparing him to teach. The downright sincerity and quaintness with which he recorded these experi- ences give his Journal and his letters a romantic charm. The writers whom he providentially feU in with at this period, and whose works had most to do with forming his opinions, partly by their direct teaching and partly by the stern antagonism they provoked, were Thomas a Kempis, Jeremy Taylor, and William Law. They were always too somber for him, and he recoiled from the morbid tinge of their teachings ; and yet they taught him. He promptly drew back from Jeremy Taylor’s mournful representations as to the necessity of perpet- ual. sorrowful uncertainty on the point of the penitent sinner’s pardon and acceptance. As early as 1725 he obtained a clear glimpse, doctrinally, of what he did not fully know experiment- ally until 1738 — the feasibility of a conscious salvation. This is manifest in his wilting thus to his mother : “ If we dwell in Christ, and Christ in us, (which he vlll not do unless we are regenerate,) certainly we must be sensible of it. If we can never have any certainty of our being in a state of salvation, good reason it is that every moment should be spent, not in joy, but in fear and trembling ; and then, undoubtedly, we are in this life of all men most miserable. God deliver us from such a fearful expectation as this ! ” To Thomas a Kempis’ “ Christian’s Pattern” and to Jeremy Taylor’s “ tioly Living and Dying ” he is manifestly indebted, among other things, for some of the clearest early conceptions Personal Keligious Experience. 139 ■which he afterward formulated in his teaching concerning Chi’istian Perfection. He says, “ I saw that simplicity of inten- tion and purity of affection— one design in all we speak and do, and one desire ruling all our tempers — are indeed the wings of the soul, -svithout which she can never ascend to God. I sought after this from that hour’.” The “ Pattern ” taught him this. An ri after reading the “ Holy Living and Dying ”• — devouring, I may rather say, for no words can well set forth the intensity of his hunger for the truth — he wrote, “ Instantly I resolved to dedicate my life to God — all my thoughts and words and ac- tions — being thoroughly convinced there was no medium, but that every part of my life (not some only) must either be a sac- rifice to God or myself, that is, the devil.” In September, 1725, Wesley was ordained deacon by Bishop Potter, whom he always held in high esteem, calling him “ a great and good man,” and recording in a sermon written more than half a century later an ad-Gce given him by the Bishop at the time of his ordination, and for which he had often thanked Almighty God, namely, that “ if he wished to be extensively useful, he must not spend his time in contending for or against things of a disputable nature, but in testif}dng against notori- ous vice, and in promoting real and essential holiness.” In March, 1726, he was elected Fellow of Lincoln College ; and eight months later he was appointed Lecturer and Moderator of the classes. “ Leisure and I have taken leave of one another,” he -wT’ote ; “ I propose to be busy as long as I live.” In his plan of study, which he closely followed, he devoted Mondays and Tuesdays to the Greek and Roman classics ; W ednesdays to logic and ethics ; Thursdays to Hebrew and Arabic ; Fridays to metaphysics and natural philosophy ; Saturdays to oratory and poetry ; and Sundays to divinity ; filling up the interstices of time with French, optics, and mathematics. In order to prosecute such studies and to lead a life of such strenuous re- ligious devotion, he reckoned minutes of time as more precious than rubies. He therefore deliberately resolved to rid himself 140 The Wesley Memorial Volume. of all unprofitable associates. He says : “ Wlien it pleased God to give me a settled resolution to be not a nominal but a real Christian, ... I resolved to have no acquaintance by chance, but by choice ; and to choose such only as would help me on my way to heaven.” The influence of William Law upon him at about this time is very manifest. He writes : “I began to see more and more the value of time. I apphed myself closer to study. I watched more carefully against actual sins. I advised others to be religious according to that scheme of religion by which I modeled my own life. But meeting now with Mr. Law’s ‘ Christian Perfection ’ and ‘ Serious Call,’ although I was much offended at many parts of both, yet they convinced me more than ever of the exceeding height and breadth and depth of the law of God. The light flowed in so mightily upon my soul that every thing appeared in a new view. I cried to God for help ; resolved, as I had never done before, not to prolong the time of obeying him. And by my continued endeavor to keep his whole law, inward and outward, to the utmost of my power, I was persuaded that I should be accepted of him, and that I was even then in a state of salvation.” His bondage to legalism is very evident. He must grope in the wilderness for weary years in order that he may be able to point out to hosts of weary pilgrims the short road to Canaan. The austerities, the self-denying charities, and the heroic home- mission work of the “ Holy Club,” of which he was the head, did not satisfy his ideal nor relieve his perturbed spirit. Ho man on earth studied religion more earnestly, nor practiced it more zealously. And at the time, it seems never to have oc- curred to him that he was wearing a garment of self-righteous- ness. He saw his error later, and said : “ In this refined way of trusting to my own works and my own righteousness, (so zealously inculcated by the mystic writers,) I dragged on heav- ily, finding no comfort or help therein, till the time of my leav- ing England.” He had not forsaken “ this refined way ” of try- Peesojstal Eeligious Expeeience. 141 ing to establish, a righteousness of his own when he went out to Georgia as a missionary. Before going he wrote a letter stating his reasons, the chief being these : “ My chief motive is the hope of saving my own soul. ... I cannot hope to attain the same degree of holiness here which I may there.” But be- sides such personal motives, he was moved by the brilliant pict- ure his fancy painted of the native Indians flocking round him and eagerly accepting the Gospel. When he reaches Georgia, how- ever, we find him not the grand Pauline missionary, flying every- where as the flaming herald of an impartial salvation, offered freely to all by a God who is “no respecter of persons.” We must confess rather to beholding a strait-laced, exclusive High- Churchman, who did but httle good and some manifest harm, and retired from the scene of his humiliating defeat in two years — as Mr. Tyerman styles him, “ in point of fact a Pusey- ite, a hundred years before Dr. Pusey flourished.” Dr. Eigg says, “ The resemblance of his practices to those of modern High- Anglicans is, in most points, exceedingly striking. He had early, and also forenoon, service every day ; he divided the morn- ing service, taking the litany as a separate service ; he inculcated fasting (real hard fasting, his was) and confession and weekly communion ; he refused the Lord’s Supper to all who had not been episcopally baj)tized ; he insisted on baptism by immer- sion ; he rebaptized the children of Dissenters ; and he refused to bury all who had not received episcopalian baptism.” The same author, whose estimate of W esley is exceedingly high, and who zealously, and, as I think, ably and justly defends him against some of Mr. Tyerman’s severe animadversions, is con- strained to characterize him at this period as an “ ascetic Bitual- ist of the strictest and most advanced class.” Mr. Wesley’s own retrospect of his experiences in Georgia is full of thrilling interest. In aU the range of autobiography I know nothing more searching, instructive, and pathetic, than the merciless self-dissection of this great, earnest, honest soul. The full impression of it cannot be felt except by approaching 142 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. it gradually, and then reading it entire in a sympathetic mood. The whole passage is quite too long for insertion here ; but we must solemnly pause over the most impressive paragraphs : — “ It is now two years and almost four months since I left my native country in order to teach the Georgian Indians the na- ture of Christianity ; but what have I learned myself in the meantime ? Why, (what I least of all expected,) that I, who went out to America to convei't others, was never myself con- verted to God. ‘ I am not mad,’ though I thus speak ; but ‘ I speak the words of truth and soberness ; ’ if haply some of those who still dream may awake, and see that as I am so are they. . . . “ Are they read in philosophy ? So was I. In ancient or modern tongues ? So was I also. Are they versed in the' science of divinity ? I, too, have studied it many years. Can they talk fluently upon spiritual things ? The very same could I do. Are they plenteous in alms ? Behold, I gave all my goods to feed the poor. Do they give of their labor as well as of their substance ? I have labored more abundantly than they all. Are they willing to suifer for their brethren? I have thrown up my friends, reputation, ease, country ; I have put my life in my hand, wandering into strange lands ; I have given my body to be devom’ed by the deep, parched up with heat, consumed by toil and weariness, or whatever God should please to bring upon me. But does all this (be it more or less it matters not) make me acceptable to God ? Does all I ever did or can know, say, give, do, or suffer, justify me in his sight? Yea, or the constant use of all the means of grace ? (which, nevertheless, is meet, right, and our bounden duty.) Or that I know noth- ing of myself ; that I am, as touching outward moral righteous- ness, blameless ? Or, to come closer yet, the having a rational conviction of all the truths of Christianity ? Does all this give me a claim to the holy, heavenly, divine character of a Chris- tian ? By no means. . . . “ This, then, have I learned in the ends of the earth, that I PEESOisrAL Eeligious Experience. 143 ‘ am fallen short of the glory of God ; ’ that my whole heart is ‘ altogether corrupt and abominable ; ’ and consequently my whole hfe. . . . “ If it be said that I have faith, (for many such things have I heard from many miserable comforters,) I answer, So have the devils — a sort of faith ; but still they are strangers to the covenants of promise. . . . The faith I want is, ‘ A sure trust and confidence in God that through the merits of Christ my sins are forgiven, and I reconciled to the favor of God.’ . . . “ I went to America to convert the Indians ; but O ! who shall convert me ? Who, what, is he that will deliver me from this evil heart of unbelief ? I have a fair summer religion. I can talk well ; nay, and believe myself, while no danger is near ; but let death look me in the face, and my spirit is troubled. ISTor can I say, ‘ To die is gain ! ’ “ I have a sia of fear, that when I’ve spun My last thread, I shall perish on the shore ! ” Surely the day of full redemption draweth nigh. Such a spirit cannot much longer pant after God in vain. Six days after he landed in England, on February 7, 1738, he fell in with Bohler. In his Journal he notes this day as ‘‘ a day much to be remembered.” During the three months which elapsed before Bdhler’s de- parture to America, Wesley lost no opportunity to sit at the feet of this pious Moravian, who was almost ten years his junior. His intercourse with the Moravians on ship-hoard, and with Spangenburg in Georgia, had impressed his mind with the con- viction that “ the secret of the Lord ” was with these simple- hearted people. Bohler told him true faith in Christ was in- separably attended by (1) dominion over sin, and (2) constant peace, arising from a sense of forgiveness. Wesley thought this a new gospel, and stoutly disputed it. Bohler said, “ Mi frafer, mi frater, excoquenda est ista tua philosophia ! And “purged out” this “philosophy” speedily was. Before 144 The Wesley Memorial Yoleme. many days Wesley declared liimself “clearly convinced of un- belief — of tlie want of that faitb whereby alone we are saved.” Bnt lest any one should put a meaning into these Avords such as his maturer experience would not approve, let it be remem- bered that his own note at this place in the revised edition of his early Journals is, “ with the full Christian salvation.” The legalist is now dead ; the High-Churchman must die also. A month later, having been “ more and more amazed ” by Boh- ler’s “ account of the fruits of hving faith,” and having tested this strange teaching by critically comparing it with the Greek Testament, he writes, “Being at Mr. Fox’s Society, my heart Avas so full that I could not confine myself to the forms of prayer that we were accustomed to use there. Heither do I purpose to be confined to them any more, but to pray indiffer- ently with a form or without, as I may find suitable to partic- ular occasions.” Snrely, “ the new AAune ” was working might- ily in “ the old bottles.” Driven from every other refuge, Wesley now doubted about salvation in the present tense. But again his sagacious and God-taught teacher sent him to the Scriptures and to experi- ence. The now thoroughly docile pupil, to his “ utter aston- ishment, found scarce any instances there of other than instanta- neous conversions,” and Avas presently confronted by “ several living witnesses.” “Here ended my disputing,” he Avrites ; “ I could now only cry out, ‘ Lord, help thou my unbelief ? ’ I was now thoroughly convinced ; and, by the grace of God, I resolved to seek this faith unto the end.” This diligent search continued another month, and then came the day of all days to this “ chosen vessel of the Lord.” At the mature age of thirty-five, after thirteen intensely relig- ious but most unsatisfactory years, he entered into the heaven on earth of a conscious salvation. “ On May 24, 1Y38, at five in the morning he opened his Testament on these words : ‘ There are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the dmne nature.’ On Persojtal Eeligious Expeeience. 145 leaving lome he opened on the text, ‘ Thou art not far f]-om the Idngdom of God.’ In the afternoon he went to St. Paul’s Cathedral, where the anthem was fxill of comfort. At night he went to a society-meeting in Aldersgate-street, where a person read Luther’s “ Preface to the Epistle to the Pomans,” in which Luther teaches what faith is, and also that faith alone jxistifies. Possessed of it, the heart is “ cheered, elevated, ex- cited and transported with sweet affections toward God. Re- ceiving the Holy Ghost, through faith, the man is renewed and made spiritual,” and he is impelled to fulfill the law “ by the vital energy in himself.” While this preface was being read, Wesley experienced an amazing change. He writes, felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation ; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death ; and I then testified openly to all there what I now first felt in my heart.” I have detailed thus fully the process of experience through which this pioneer mind and heart were divinely led, because I believe the very experience itself of J ohn W esley is far richer in lessons of permanent value than any didactic statements concerning it can be. Facts are God’s great teachers. But this article would be incomplete without a rapid survey of the chief channels through which this.hard-won experience of John Wesley has poured itself around the globe, and es- pecially has richly fructified the religious life of the two fore- most of the nations. I need not dwell upon those published works which will ever hold the first place among the standards of Methodist doctrine ; nor on his hymns, which still better en- shrine his very heart ; nor on the still more precious sacred lyrics of the David of modern psalmody, his brother Charles. N or need I now refer to the immense influence of W esley’s ex- perience on his preaching and on the preaching of tens of thousands of his successors, and indeed on very much of the teaching on the subject of experimental religion beyond the 146 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. pale of Metliodism. All these topics, so immediately germane to mine, are amply treated elsewhere in this volume. My final office is rather to call attention to the chief of the means of grace by which Methodism has always promoted per- sonal religious experience — the love-feast and the class-meeting. It would be very interesting, if the limits assigned me would permit it, fully to trace the rise and progress, the methods and results, of these peculiar institutions of Methodism. These topics are, however, very familiar, and must now be passed with a rapid glance. Methodism, from its very beginning, recognized and largely employed the social principle as an agency of grace. It is true that the chief of its methods for doing this, the class-meeting, was no contrivance of Mr. Wesley’s, but a providential fact. He had it before he knew it. He was thinking of “ quite an- other thing,” viz., paying the debts of the Society at Bristol. The proposition to raise a penny a week from each member was opposed, as being burdensome to the poor. One said, “ Then put eleven of the poorest with me ; and if they can give any thing, well, I will call on them weekly ; and if they can give nothing, I will give for them as well as for myseK ; and each of you call on eleven of your neighbors weekly, re- ceive what they give, and make up what is wanting.” It was done ; this purely financial plan could not fail, in the care of godly leaders, speedily to take on a spiritual character also. Wesley’s quick discernment saw the jewels God had thrown into his lap while he was looking for pennies, and said, “ It struck me immediately. This is the thing, the very thing we have wanted so long. I called together all the leaders of the classes — so we used to terni them and their companies — and desired that each would make a particular inquiry into the behavior of those he saw weekly. They did so. Many disor- derly walkers were detected. Some turned from the evil of their ways. Some were put away from us. Many saw it with fear, and rejoiced unto God with reverence.” Soon after he Peksoistal Keligioes Expeeience, 147 made a similar arrangement in London, and thus concluded his account of it : “ This was the origin of our classes, for which I can never sufficiently praise God ; the unspeakable usefulness of the institution having ever since been more and more manifest.” But if the class-meeting might almost be termed a happy accident, not so with "Wesley’s early and careful recognition of its chief underlying principle, the need of Christian fellow- ship. Three years before the first class-meeting was held he had instituted society-meetings, of which he was the leader, and which were very like the modern inquiry meetings. In the same spirit he revived the ancient agape in the quarterly love- feast, admission to which could be secured only by means of a ticket furnished by the pastor. These social means of grace were immensely important to Methodism. They were the altars on which the sparks of grace were kept alive, and the glowing brands fanned into in- tenser flame. It may well be doubted whether Methodism would have survived fifty years, or traveled a hundred miles be- yond its birth-place, without them. Methodism must “yc*.” Its evangelists felt the burning inspiration of the Great Com- mission in their hearts evermore. But they could not “go” unless there were faithful men to stay and keep the flock to- gether, and gather the lambs into the fold, and go after the stragglers. Unless when they returned they could And that they were doing a work in its nature permanent, they would have no heart to go on. An itinerant ministry must be supple- mented by an abiding local sub-pastorate. Earnest Methodists cannot, therefore, observe the partial de- cay of the distinctively Methodistic means of grace without deep concern. God has highly honored those means. They have led to the conversion, the reclamation, and the sanctiflea- tion of myriads of souls. In times of revivals the attendance on them is much increased. Other denominations have found great advantage in imitations of them in their inquiry meet- 10 148 Tiie Wesley Memoeial Yoluiie. ings, conference meetings, and experience meetings. To all eternity millions of happy spirits will praise God because on earth they “ spake often one to another ” in Methodist love- feasts and class-meetings. Many of the most spiritual ministers and laymen among us feel sure that they discern a close connection between a faith- ful attendance of these means of grace and a distinct, glowing, zealous, personal experience ; and lament the too-prevalent, half- and-half, Church-and-world style of religious profession, as the normal result of vacant class-rooms and infrequent and sparsely attended love-feasts. If a young convert is promptly assigned to a suitable class, in charge of a competent and faithful leader, and will regularly attend it — if he finds himself encouraged weekly by glowing experiences, fed by wise counsels, and in- spired by hearty singing — there is little probability that he will ever backslide, and great probability that if God whispers into his soul a call to the ministry, or to some grand form of lay ac- tivity, he will hear and heed it. It is one glory of Methodism that it has always been elastic, and adaptable to varied and varying conditions. It is no re- proach to it that its methods in England and America are dif- ferent. The Methodism of a strong self-supporting Church in China in A.D. 1900 may differ widely in non-essentials from that of its mother Church. The forms by which the ends aimed at in the love-feast and in the class-meeting shall be achieved may be gradually changed ; but those ends must be achieved some- how, or the glory of Methodism will have departed, and its very name will perish from the earth. WESLEY AS A EEVIVALIST. TTTi] liistory of the Cliurcli in its evolution throngh the ages JL is a perpetual attestation to the immensity of the divine resources, not only in ordaining and rendering all events sub- servient to its interests, but in bringing forward at the appointed time those types of mental and moral manhood, as instrumental agencies, which its ever-advancing necessities may require. How does history authenticate the fact that God not only appoints men gifted with plenary inspiration, but men uninspired, to ac- comphsh his purpose in the regeneration of the world ? When in the post-apostohc period it became necessary to formulate and vindicate the fundamental truths of Christianity against the Gnostic and Arian heresies, Athanasius and Cyril apj)ear, whose searching and subtle intellects confronted the wondrous problems of Deity, and gave those definitions of the person of Christ and the Trinity which have commanded the homage of the universal Church. Early in the history of Christian life and worship, the de- mand arose for the enthusiasm of song. Gifted with devout and poetic skill, John of Damascus, and in later times Bernard, penned their hymns, while Gregory, and Ambrose of Milan, in their chants and cantatas voiced these noble hymns in all the melodies of music. Long before a sacred literature was born, we find that genius consecrated its powers, and became an educating force by which the multitudes were famiharized with religious thought. In the cartoons and statuary of Raphael and Angelo, incarnated in fresco and stone, there was an ever-open gospel in which were recorded, in tinted and glowing colors, the leading events of Christianity. It was in the mediaeval times, when the inner 150 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. life of tlie Churcli had gone down to zero, that the schools of the Mystics were originated, and the writings of Thomas a Kempis, Mohnos, and Fenelon, attest how deep was the spirit- ual life which God had commissioned them to awaken. At length papacy, insolent as in the times of Hildebrand, aveng- ing in its cnielty and abject in its corruption, became a burden intolerable to the nations, when Luther, Zwingli, and Melanch- thon arose, renounced the yoke of Rome, and led the way in the Reformation of the fifteenth century. Rever, in the his- tory of the Church, did a great leader appear more essential than in the period immediately preceding the great Methodist revival. The early part of the eighteenth century is one of the darkest pages in the religious history of England. The Restoration wit- nessed a complete reaction from the stringencies which marked society under the puritanic rule of Cromwell. It gave rise to a libertine literature, which found its expression in the nameless degradation of its dramatists, and the social corruption which abounded in the higher life of the nation. The infidelity of Lord Herbert had alienated the aristocracy from the Church, while that of Tyndal and Wolston had taken hold of the popu- lar mind, so that the press abounded with the most gross and ribald attacks on all that was noble and virtuous in man. The clergy of the Establishment were intolerant in the extreme, and with but few exceptions made no pretensions to piety, and in some instances not even to morahty itself. The Ron-conform- ist successors of Doddridge had inchned toward the principles of Socinianism, while the poorer classes were steeped in igno- rance, and had descended to a depravity well-nigh beyond con- ception. The impartial historian frankly admits that all lan- guage fails to adequately picture the deterioration which rested alike on all classes, from titled nobles to barbarous toilers in the grim and dismal mines of the Rorth. In the obscure rectory of Epworth, amid the marshy fens of Lincolnshire, a child was born to one of the noblest mothers Wesley as a Revivalist. 151 that God ever gave to counsel and inspire a son ; a son who, in the allotment of Heaven, was to become the modem apostle to revive the Church and regenerate society ; a son whose line was destined to go out into all the earth, and his words unto the ends of the world. The name of Wesley will gather strength with the years ; and already he stands as one of the most prom- inent and remarkable agents whom Providence has ever brought forward for the accomplishment of a great work. Peeble in its beginnings, the ages only will tell the grandeur of its con- summation. In briefly sketching the elements which conspire to render Wesley foremost of all revivalists whom the Church has ever witnessed, we propose to notice the System of Truth which he accepted, the Character of his Spiritual Life, the Style of his Preaching, and his Power of Organization as seen in the means which he employed to give permanence to his work. His Theology. As a flrst and fundamental point, we notice that system of theological truth wliich he formulated and has given as a her- itage to the Church. It has seldom fallen to the lot of man to he endowed with a mind so full, so many-sided, as that which was intmsted to Wesley. While it would be untme to claim for him the inductive power of Bacon ; or to assert that he could walk the inner sanctuary of the soul with the stately tread of Shakspeare, who flashed the torch-light of his genius into the remotest corners of the heart ; or that he could wield the phil- osophic argument of Butler ; — yet the more profoundly we study his natural endowments the more we are impressed with their remarkable character. He was gifted with a breadth of understanding and a logical acumen which enabled him to grasp any subject wliich came within the hmits of human thought. In him there was reverence for authority, and yet a mental daring which led him into new flelds of investigation ; an im- partiality which refused to be biased, but calmly weighed the claims of rival systems. He had a spiritual insight which truly 152 The Wesley Memoeial Yoluiue. belongs to higher souls, by which they discern the affinities and relations of things spiritual. . In addition to these natural endowments, he enjoyed that wide scholarship and rare culture which the then first university in the world could supply. Thus furnished, he early in his career laid the foundations of that theological system which, it is not too much to say, is at once the most comprehensive, scriptural, and best adapted for evangelistic work which the schools have ever given to the Church ; — a system which is ever-widening in its influence, mod- ifying other types of religious thought, and which gives prom- ise of becoming the theology of the Church of the future. Thus gifted by nature and cultured by art, he seems to have contemplated every system which had been propounded to the Church. Eliminating what was false, he retained what was scriptural, and combined them with matchless skill. How manifestly does this appear! He accepted the Augustinian doctrine of sin, but rejected its theory of decrees. He accepted the Pelagian doctrine of the will, but repudiated that teaching which denied the depravity of man and the necessity of spirit- ual aid. He accepted the spectacular theory of Abelard, and the substitutional theory of Anselm, relative to the work of Christ, but utterly rejected the rationahsm of the one, and the commercial theory of the atonement of the other. He ac- cepted the perfectionist, theory and deep spirituality taught by Pascal and the Port Royalists, but rejected their quietist teach- ings, which destroy all the benevolent activities of Christian life. He accepted the doctrine of universal redemption as taught by the early Arminians, but was careful to denounce the semi-Pelagian laxity which marked the teachings of the later schools of Remonstrants. He joined with the several Socinian schools in exalting the benevolence and mercy of God, but never faltered in his declaration of the perpetuity of punishment. Magnifying the efficiency of divine grace with the most earnest of Calvinists, he at the same time asserted that salvation was dependent on the volitions of a will that was radically free. Wesley as a Revivalist. 153 It is impossible to over-estimate tbe influence of tlie theology of Wesley. If we accept the terms employed in modern the- ological science, its anthropology confronted and modified to an extent that has been under-estimated the sensuous philoso- phy of Locke, which, running its downward course, degenerated into the materialism of France, and all the degradation of the positive philosophy of Comte. By asserting the hberty of the moral agent, it vindicated the spiritual nature and essential royalty of man. Its soteriology modified and softened that ultra-Calvinism which overlooked the necessity of personal holiness by a misconception of the nature of Christ’s atoning work and the ofBce and work of the Spirit ; while its eschatol- ogy rejects the wild and dreamy vagaries of millenarianism, and that monstrous assumption that untainted innocency and desperado villainy will be congregated forever in that state where retribution is unknown. How grandly comprehensive, how profoundly scriptural, and how intensely practical is this system of theology! It is pre-eminently the theology of the evangelist who seeks to revive and extend spiritual rehgion. It contemplates man as utterly lost, and with the knife of the moral anatomist reveals the deep and festering depravity of the human heart. Generous as God’s own sunlight, it looks every man in the face and says, ‘‘ Christ died for you.” Yin- dicating the reality of supernatural communication to the spirit of man, it publishes the glad evangel that the invited Spirit will throne himself as a witness of sonship and a comforter divine in every willing heart. It holds out the possibilities of a victory over the apostate nature by asserting a sanctification which is entire, and a perfection in love which is not ultimate and final, but progressive in its development forever. Such was the system of religious tnith with which Wesley started on his mighty career of evangelistic labor. The world has never seen a formula which has more practically unfolded the spirit of the Gospel, and given it an adaptation to the average intelligence of man. Though scholastic in its origin, yet as he and his coadjutors 154 The Wesley Memorial Volume, rang it ont over the land, it became a power imperial to sway human hearts and sweep them into the kingdom of God. And this theology, hecanse of its intense loyalty to the Scriptures, is gathering strength with the years. It is molding the method of all Churches, and is the right arm of power to every man who aspires to hft up and save .the race. Its character is written on every page of the history of the mightiest revival which the Church has ever known. Its Spiritual Life. From the theology of Wesley we come to a consideration of its influence over his own mind as seen in his experimental life. We have already referred to the rare mental endowments with which God had intrusted Wesley. Hot inferior were those qualities which conspired to build up that Christian man- hood which made him preeminent as a minister of God. Foremost among those qualities was a will-power which would have made him eminent in any sphere. Meteors flash and darken again, but planets burn steadily in their orbits. Wesley swung the round of his earthly orbit with unfaltering purpose and ever-increasing brilliance. There is an heroic grandeur in that constancy which earned him directly forward in the ac- complishment of his great life-work. With this power of will there was a native integrity and sympathy with the spiritual which is constantly evident throughout his career. Several agencies conspired to fit him for his great work. The first was a sympathy with mediaeval asceticism. The lives of Lopez, Lawrence, and Franqois Xavier had early arrested his atten- tion. Accordingly, we find that the history of the Oxford Methodists very clearly brings out the ascetic mold in which the piety of Wesley was cast. The whole of their life assumed the form of monastic order. Their time was divided by sea- sons of fasting and solitude. Restrictions were placed upon their social intercourse, habits of thought, and daily action. This period was a sort of moral gymnasium in which his spirit Wesley as a Kevivalist. 155 was trained and toned, in wliich liis conscience was educated, and in wliicli liis duty became tlie pole-star of bis life. Like an- other Ignatius Loyola, thongli in the spirit of a servant rather than of a son, he was ready to cross seas and continents at what he beheved to be the call of duty. Wesley never forgot the moral discipline and advantage of this period of his life. In- deed, he regretfully declares that an observance of these rules would have been helpful throughout his entire career. It may be safely doubted whether any man ever accomplished much for God who was not subjected to a like discipline. The lives of Luther, Spener, and Knox give marked indications of that self-abnegation which gave fiber and power to their manhood, and, under God, made them mighty for the accomphshment of his purposes. But while the ascetic principles which shaped his early re- ligious life induced a habit of introspection and developed a certain thoroiighness and depth in his inner life, it must not be overlooked that Wesley stands forever a debtor to that Morav- ian type of piety which so largely influenced the entire of his subsequent career. The distinguishing attributes of Moravian piety were its vivid realization of spiritual truth, its demand for an inner con- sciousness of the divine favor wrought out by the Spirit of God, its joyous aggressiveness, its unquestioning faith, and its loyalty to the divine word. There are, doubtless, some feat- ures of Moravian teaching, as propounded by Zinzendorf, that must be questioned ; but the tone of piety is sweet and beauti- ful in the extreme. Its impelling power is seen in the fact that a comparatively feeble Church has lifted its banner in mission stations over all the earth to an extent unequaled by any Church of similar strength. ISTo sooner had Wesley come under the experimental teachings of Moravians like Bohler than he beheld the ways of God more perfectly, and from the night when he felt his heart strangely warmed while reading on the atonement in the Epistle to the Romans, a new power 156 The Wesley Memorial Volume. possessed him. Fired bj the enthusiasm of divine love, he henceforth more fully gave liis entire being to evangelistic labors. But the full power of Wesley’s spiritual life stands inseparably connected with his acceptance of the doctrine of Christian Perfection. In his “Plain Account” of this doc- trine we find that from the very beginning of his spiritual life his mind had been divinely drawn in this direction. Thomas a Kempis’ “Imitation of Christ” and Jeremy TayloFs “Holy Living ” first kindled aspirations for this grace. Evidence of his early soul-yearnings is found in the fact that, when at Savannah, he penned the lines, “Is there a thing beneath the sun, That strives with thee my heart to share ? Ah, tear it thence, and reign alone. The Lord of every motion there.” And on his return voyage he wrote : — “ 0 grant that nothing in my soul May dwell, but thy pure love alone 1 O may thy love possess me whole. My joy, my treasure, and my crown: Strange flames far from my heart remove; My every act, word, thought, be love ! ” If there be one master-passion which above all others ab- sorbed the soul of W esley, it was his intense admiration of the exquisite beauty of holiness which permeates and robes the character with the radiance of heaven. His ever-abiding de- sire was, that it should crown his own life and constitute the beatitude of others. As the mariner’s needle points, to the pole, so his heart turned to those who glorified this truth. The estimate which he set u^Don this experience of entire sanctification is shown in his repeated declarations that it con- stitutes the great power of the Church, and that wherever it was preached clearly and definitely, as a present experience, the work of God revived. Wherever Christians rose to its attain- ment, they became invested with a new power, which made Wesley as a Kevivalist. 157 them potential agents in the work of God ; and he does not hesi- tate to declare, that if this truth should become obsolete in the Methodist Church, its glory, as a revival Church, would forever pass away. Holiness unto the Lord was, he declared, the great dejposihim intrusted to Methodism, distinguishing it from every other section of the Church of Christ. In the three stages which mark the spiritual life of Wesley there is a remarkable preparation for his great work as the re- vivalist of the eighteenth century. The ascetic period gave him the mastery of the human heart, and armed him with power to search the conscience. The attainment of the Mora- vian type of piety led him out in the hne of immediate conver- sion and spiritual attestation to the heart, while the acceptance of Christian perfection enabled him to guide the Church into that consecration which would make its members collaborators in the work of spreading scriptural hoKness thi’oughout the land. Style oe Preaching. But from his inner life we may pass on to notice that style of preaching which he employed in accomplishing his great work. The history of the pidpit is in a sense the history of the Church, reflecting, as it does, the spirit of the age. Thus in the apostolic times we have the age of direct statement, as found in Justin Martyr; the age of allegory, which found its exponent in Origen ; the age of superstition, as expressed in the Montanists ; the age of ecclesiasticism, in Gregory the Great ; the age of doctrine, in the times of the Reformation ; the age of polemics, in the sixteenth century ; and the age of ex- position, which found its expression in the great productions of Owen and Howe. It was reserved for Wesley to inaugurate a new method of preaching, which, divested of scholastic forms, should at once command the homage of intellect and the heart of untutored simplicity. The eighteenth century has given us only two names illus- trious for pulpit eloquence: Wesley and Whitefleld. If one 158 The Wesley Memorial VoLmiE, was the Demosthenes of the age, the other was the Seneca. The one was hold, impassioned, full of declamatory power and emotional force ; the other was calm, cultured, searching, clear, and powerful in appeal. 'While the grandeur of White- field’s pulpit eloquence swayed for the time, the convincing and heart-searching appeals of Wesley left a more permanent impression on the age. Stars were they both of the first mag- nitude ; binary stars, that revolve around each other and shed the refulgence of their light on the darkness of their times ; hut while the luster of the one is dimming with the years, that of the other is ever increasing in the growing magnitude and permanence of that work which he began. It is conceded by the historians of Wesley, that, while his printed sermons indicate the theology of his preaching, they furnish hut an im- perfect conception of that popular power which he wielded. Sir Walter Scott heard him in his early life, and hears testimony to his great versatility, employing argument and anecdote, the simplicity of conversational address and yet an all-pervading and incisive earnestness which was potent to arrest all who heard it. The preaching of Wesley had always for its object the accomphshment of definite results. Kecognizing man as exposed to an eternal penalty on account of sin, and yet uncon- scious of his peril, he proclaimed the law in all its conscience- searching significance, and uncovered that dark immortality to which unsaved men were hastening with a vividness and power that awoke the guilty sinner, and prompted him to flee from the wrath to come. It is a complaint throughout the Churches that the spirit of deep conviction and- thorough repentance is seldom witnessed as in the past. May this not arise from the want of that tre- mendous and searching appeal in the modern pulpit which marked the ministry of Wesley and his coadjutors? To the truly awakened man he brought the fullness of the Grospel, of- fered an immediate pardon, and insisted upon the attainment of a witnessing Spirit, as authenticating the reality of the gift Wesley as a Eevivalist. 159 conferred. Witli the sharpness of definition he kept ever reit- erating the privilege of sonship, and never ceased to urge on those who had received the marks of sonship the necessity of perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. The preaching of Wesley presents a marked contrast to that class who decry all dogmatic teaching, and would emasculate the Gospel of those great distinctive truths which constitute the hones and sinews and fibers of our Christianity. What gave strength to his teaching was the perpetual presentation of doctrine in its practical relation to the experimental life of man. It was thus an educating force, and, being surcharged with that divine in- fluence which flowed out from his personal consecration and union with God, it became mightily transforming, making the moral wilderness to rejoice and blossom as a rose. ISTotliing more fully reveals the grand possibilities which in- here in man than the magnitude of those forces which belong to one who is called, commissioned, and anointed to proclaim the Gospel. We admire the power and skill of the artist who evokes from the instniment of music its many voices, weaving them into harmonies and planting them in the soul so that they five in the memory along the years ; but what is this to the achievement of the preacher who wakes the silent souls of thousands into melodies divine, and sends them singing through * the great forever, waking in turn music in other hearts as they go to the mountains of myrrh and frankincense, where the day breaks and the shadows flee away ! Such was the power of Wesley. From his bps came words that moved the spirits of multitudes toward God, and from that center there has gone out a power which is ever accumulating with the march of time, working out the regeneration of mighty mihtant hosts on earth and lifting uncounted millions to the skies. Power of Oeqaxization. With a theology such as we have described, wielded by an agent so consecrated, and in a manner so adapted to produce 160 The Wesley Memoeial VoLmiE. immediate results, we cannot wonder that over all the land the flame of revival was kindled to an extent such as the Church had never witnessed. The success which crowned the ministry of Wesley brought into play what must he regarded as one of the crowning attributes of his character — his power of organ- ization. nothing so distinguishes the essential greatness of a man, and gives to him such historic pre-eminence, as the power to organize. The names that stand peerless in government, in war, and in the annals of the Church, were, perhaps, more dis- tinguished in this particular than in any other. This talent for government Wesley possessed in an extraordinary degree. He had, says Macaulay, the genius of a Hichelieu in directing and controlling men. The first outcome of this power was seen in his ability to read the character of men, and select his agents to co-operate with him in his work. It was no ordinary soul that could choose his agents from every class, fling over them the spell of his inspiration, and hold them in line with a pre- cision that well-nigh approached the rigidity of military disci- phne. Yet this was the sublime spectacle which was witnessed in the last century. Men throughout the isles and over the seas responded to his call, and loyally toiled at his bidding for the evangelization of the world. The genius of Wesley for organization was further seen in the adjustment to the nature of man of that economy which he has given to the Church. The Protestant Church had hith- erto resolved itself into two historic forms, the elaborate ritual- ism of Episcopacy, and the rigid baldness of Presbyterianism ; in the one, the worship assumed a sensuous form, appealing to the senses ; in the other, there was a certain cold and unat- tractive foiTnalism. The quick intelligence of Wesley at once grasped the situation ; he recognized the power of social influ- ence, and, as a first step, established those class-meetings and modern (igapoB, or love-feasts, which have developed the spirit of testimony, and generated a warmth of Christian affection that largely constitutes the distinguishing bond of Methodism. Wesley as a Revivalist. 161 With^this provision for Ciiristian fellowship he organized a system of accurate supervision, by the appointment of an order of sub-pastors, or leaders, whose mission it should be to watch over the individuals intrusted to their care to an extent beyond the power of the ordained pastorate. The wisdom of this ap- pointment all must acknowledge who are familiar with the tendencies of human nature to recede from that position into which they have been brought in times of religious revival, and to renounce their allegiance to God. An eminent prelate has well said, that nothing in Methodism more evinces the far-seeing sagacity of Wesley than his expedient to supply to his follow- ers at once the opportunities for fellowship with the minutest oversight of individual interests. It may well be doubted whether the social economy of Meth- odism could have been sustained without those wondrous spirit- ual songs which form the litui’gy of the Methodist Church. The hymns of the Wesleys are undeniably the finest exponents of every j)hase of inner life that uninspired genius has ever given to enrich the psalmody of the Church. They strike every note in the possible of human experience from despairing pen- itence up to ecstatic assurance, from tremulous doubt to an ex- ultant faith that smiles serenely amid the wreck of earthly hopes, and sings its jubilate in anticipation of the coming in- heritance. The hymns of the Wesleys have shaped the exper- imental fife of the Church, they have given it an impress of joy, and for the last century have made it the singing Church of Christendom, to witness before the world that Christianity is not to walk the ages robed in mourning, but with the light of heaven sparkling in her eye. Clad in garments of praise, with thanksgiving and the voice of melody, she is to testify that “ happy is that people that is in such a case ; yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord.” . Ro statement of Wesley’s power to organize would be com- /plete without marking the comprehensiveness of his aims, which • gave him an elevation that seemed to overlook the ages, and 162 Thj: Wesley Memoeial Volujvie. anticipate the demands of an advancing civilization. Long be- fore Methodism had bnilt a school or college Wesley had pro- vided a series of elementary books to aid his untutored converts in the attainment of an adequate education. Recognizing the forces that slumber in cheap hterature, he let loose these forces in tracts, pamphlets, and magazines, ere yet men had dreamed of organizing tract societies. He thundered vpith strong invec- tive against the liquor traffic a hundred years prior to the birth of prohibition, and sought to educate his follo'svers to just con- ceptions of the pohtical issues of their times. Whatever would give strength, endurance, and beauty to the Church ; whatever would fit its members in the highest and noblest sense to make the best of both worlds, this great master-builder pressed into service and consecrated to God. Every type of Methodism over all the earth is at the present instinct with the organizing genius of Wesley. This has given to it permanence and power, and must project its influence along the fine of its entire history. Manifold are the lessons which the history of John Wesley as a revivalist suggests. Let none suppose that the highest culture unfits for the revival work of the Church. The finest scholarshij) may be associated with the most enthusiastic zeal for the salvation of men. Let none suppose that ministerial power must decline when the freshness and buoyancy of early manhood depart. With advancing years the influence and usefulness of Wesley’s min- istry increased, and the splendor of its even-tide far surpassed the glory of its dawn. Whoever aspires to fill the horizon of this life with highest benediction to his race, and gather glory to himself that shall be enduring as the Eternal, let him emulate the spirit of Wes- ley and the grandeur of his consecration. Sun of the morning, that openest the gates of the day, and comes blushing o’er the land and the sea, why marchest thou to thy throne in the heavens, filling the firmament with splen- 'Wesley as a Eevivalist. 163 dor? Why, but to symbolize the coming glory of tbe spirit- ually wise. “ They that be wise shall shine as the firmament.” Star of the midnight hour, that has shone on patriarch and prophet, waking the wonder and admiration of ages and gen- erations, why thy ceaseless burning ? Why, but to show the abiding brilhance of the soul-winner. “ They that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars for ever and ever.” 11 WESLEY THE EOHNDEE OE METHODISM. F OUTSIDER ! How may this word, so human, he applied to any thing so divine as the Church of God ? Ho man nor set of men can create a Christian Church. Its underlying principles and its sacraments are of God. Its ends, its sanctions, its authority and its power, are all divine. God made the Church ; it is his. But God made men also, and uses them as ministers in his Church, and when there is need, as reformers. This divine institution has a providential relation to times and places. Its truths change not, but they may be rescued from oblivion or perversion. Its ordained agencies may he conformed to new conditions of operation. This adaptation is committed under Providence to men — to men who have “understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do.” These chosen instruments seldom discern the full force of their measures. They are led by a way they know not ; “ they build wiser than they know.” The providential man is prepared and also prepared for. The occasion comes ; he responds to its de- mands and does more than he is aware of. History magnifies him and posterity thinks more of him than did his owa gen- eration. Without irreverence or derogating from the honor of the Head of the Church this providential man may be called a founder. Such instruments has God raised up all along the ages. They make eras in ecclesiastical history. Martin Luther was a founder. See the Lutheran Church, whose strength in Europe can hardly he conceived of from what we see of it in America. Like all providential work, the moral forces put in operation overfiowed the limits of the Wesley the Foundee of Methodism. 165 Churcli founded by bim. Tbe influence of Luther is not to be measui-ed by Lutheranism. Other branches of the Church, though the nomenclature may not point to them, can be traced to founders. Knox and his collaborators formulated the polity and creed of the Pres- byterians ; Eobinson, of the Congregationalists, of whom the Puritans of Kew England came ; Zinzendorf and his zealous company, of the Moravians. On account of its relations to the State the Church of En- gland may be traced to coordinate founders, Henry YIII. repre- senting the secular and Cranmer the spiritual. Without these two men, it might be said the Church of England would not have been at all, or it would have been different from what it is. To an Anglican or American high Churchman who, in ignorance of history, should taunt me because John Wesley was the founder of Methodism, my answer would be : Considering John Wesley and Henry Tudor as providential instrmnents in founding Churches, I prefer John to Henry. How and then a great thinker arises who is not an organizer. He develops and deflnes a system of doctrine negatively, by eliminating and rejecting certain accepted opinions ; positively, by bringing forward into clearer light and stronger position certain other opinions logically related. But there is not formed, as there may not be needed, any ecclesiastical organism for embodying and promoting this system. Such a man is not the founder of a Chm’ch, but of a school of thought in the Church. Of this kind were Augustine, Calvin, Arminius, Ed- wards, Hopkins, and Kewman. Even the four Gospels bear the individual impress of their inspired authors. The style of the man is seen and felt in the deliverances of the apostle. So we shall see in their work something of the character of the men who are instrumental in shaping the outward form of a Church, and by whose labors its membership is built up. This admission of the human element and influence is consistent with the divine origin and 166 The Wesley Memoeial Volteme. autliority of the Church. Its truths abide, its principles change not, because they are of God. But the providential adaptation by which they are brought to bear on the world, in accordance with providential circumstances, these are of human devising. Bible doctrines cannot be increased or diminished; but they may be presented, and systematically arranged, more or less clearly and consistently. Be not startled, then, or offended at the use of this word founder. Those who most object to it, as applied to their branch of the Church, furnish in their history the strongest examples of its presence and power. Laud founded high Churchism ; Pusey, the later and equally- marked Tractarian school in the Church of England. To these systems they stand related as father and child. The. Protest- ant Episcopal Church in the United States, as founded by Bishop White, underwent a transformation by Hobart and those of his following, even while books and standards remained the same. One may trace the hand of Hall, of Carson, of Spurgeon, of Broadus among the Baptists. Passing through the Annual Conferences governed by the same book of Discipline, one may discern the types of influential men — dead or living — impressed upon them. The Conferences are marked in their individuality from this source in spite of conneetionalism. Strong men — strongly willing and thinking and acting — must be seen in whatever they touch ; they cannot help it. God makes them and has use for them. We may not glory in them, but we may magnify the grace of God in them. We accept the phrase “Methodism and its fomidersP These founders originated no new principles, but continued and emphasized old ones ; they discovered no new truths, but rescued and stressed old ones that had gone out of fashion; they created no new moral forces, but, following providential openings, they took advantage of those that had been unused, or misused, or disused. In the second quarter of the last century appeared John Wesley the Foiwdee of Methodism. 167 Wesley and Charles Wesley and George Whitefield and John Fletcher, with a hand of men whose hearts God had touched. They were the founders of Methodism, which has come to be accepted as the religious movement of the eighteenth centmy. A writer in the North Americcm Review^ (January, 1876,) presenting the religious history of the United States for the one hundi’ed years then closing, says : “ The rise of this great and influential body must be viewed as the most signal re- ligious fact which the past century presents.” The four names given show a remarkable combination. Fletcher was the dialectician ; not loving controversy, but doing it sweetly and sharply and wonderfully well, and forging weapons for the defense of the Methodist doctrines that have won many a victory in humbler hands. Whitefield was the orator ; he arrested and concihated public attention, gathered crowds that no roof could shelter, and took to field-preaching, in which his example was followed, for reaching the people. Charles Wesley furnished songs, and put the Methodist expe- rience and precepts into meter. He was the poet. Of these several gifts John Wesley had a large share. He was aU these and more. He was the organizer, the spiritual governor. He was the founder. METHODIST DOCTEINE. T he term Methodism was, some hundred years since, a watch- word of contempt for a body of fanatics supposed to hold some new religious doctrines, to profess some strange experi- ences, and to arrogate to themselves a peculiar commission from Heaven. To many it is a watch- word of reproach still. But it has, nevertheless, rooted itself firmly in the nomenclature of the Christian Church. Evangelical Christendom generally agrees with those who bear it to accept the term as a human designation of a system of thought and action which it has pleased the Head of the Church to take into his plans for the spread of his kingdom in these later days. Its history has produced a very general conviction that the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life ecclesiastical, has added this to the corporate bodies of our common Christianity. Meanwhile, not solicitous about the judgments of men, it is commending itself to God by doing faithfully the work appointed for it in the world. Its sound — or rather, the sound of the Gospel by its lips — has gone out into all the earth. It is slowly diffusing its leaven through almost every form of corrupt Christianity ; it is silently impressing its influence, acknowledged or unacknowl- edged, upon the uncorrupt Churches of Christendom ; while, as an independent and self-contained organization, it is erecting its firm superstructure in many lands. This last fact implies that the system has its varieties of form. Methodism is a genus of many species. The central term has gathered round it various adjectives or predicates which express more or less important differences. But the term itself remains a bond of union among all these ; a bond which will be, as it has been hitherto, permanent and indestructible, if the type of doc- trine of which it is the symbol shall be maintained in its integ- Methodist Docteeste. 169 rity. For, though Methodism began as a life, that life was quickened and nourished by its teaching ; its teaching has sus- tained it in vigor ; and to its teaching is mainly committed its destiny in the future. The object of the following pages will be to indicate briefly, hut sharply, that type of doctrine. It must be premised, however, that there will be no systematic exhibition of its tenets illustrated by definitions, quotations, and historical developments generally. The scope assigned to this paper in the programme of the present volume allows only of a few general remarks. The subject takes us back to the beginning of the great move- ment. There are two errors which we have at once to con- front : that of assigning a doctrinal origin to the system, and that of making its origin entirely independent of doctrine. The founders of Methodism — sit venia verho — did not, like the Reformers of the sixteenth century, find themselves face to face with a Christianity penetrated through and through by error. They accepted the doctrinal standards of the English Church ; and the subscription both of their hands and of their hearts they never revoked. What is more, they adhered to the emphatic interpretation of these standards as contained in litur- •gical and other formularies. ETothing was further from their thought than to amend either the one or the other in the dog- matic sense. Though they clearly perceived that certain truths and certain aspects of truth had been kept too much in the background, and therefore gave them special prominence, they never erected these revived doctrines into a new confession. They did not isolate the truths they so vehemently preached ; but preached them as necessary to the integrity of the Chris- tian faith. The strength of their incessant contention was this, that men had ceased to see and feel what they nevertheless pro- fessed to believe. It was a widespread delusion concerning the RevivaT in the last century, and it is not quite exploded in this century, that its promoters pretended to be the recipients and organs of a new dispensation ; modern Montanists, as it were, 170 The Wesley Memoeial Yolhme. deeming themselves the special instruments of the Holy Ghost, charged to revive apostolic doctrines and usages which had been lost through intervening ages. Heither earlier nor later Meth- odism has ever constructed a creed or confession of faith. It never beheved that any cardinal doctrine has been lost ; still less, that its own commission was to restore such forgotten tenets. Its modest and simple revivals of early practice are such as Christian communities in all ages have felt it their priv- ilege to attempt ; but these have never touched the hem of the garment of Christian primitive truth. To Sum up in one word : Methodism, as the aggregate unity of many bodies of Christian people, is not based upon a confession, essentially and at aU points peculiar to itself, which all who adhere to its organization must hold. On the other hand, it is no less an error to disregard the theological character which was stamped from the very begin- ning on this branch of the great Eevival. Hever was there a work wrought by the Holy Ghost in the Christian Church which was not the result of the enforcement of Christian truth ; and never was such a work permanent which did not lay the foundations of its durability in more or less systematized doc- trine. How it was one of the pecuharities of Methodism that* it threw around all its organization, and every department of it, a doctrinal defense. The discourses which produced so wonderful an effect in every comer of England were, as deliv- ered, and are now, as preserved, models of theological precision. There is not one of them which does not pay the utmost hom- age to dogmatic truth ; and it is a fact of profound importance in the history of this community, that the very sermons which. Tin der God, gave the movement its life, still form the standard of its theological profession. Ho more remarkable tribute to the connection between ecclesiastical life and ecclesiastical doc- trine can be found in the history of Christendom. It is cus- tomary to ascribe the stability of the new economy to the won- derful organizing genius of its founder ; it may be questioned Methodist Doctrihe. 171 whether his zeal for solid dogma has not a right to be included. Certain it is, that early Methodism had a sound theological train- ing ; theology preached in its discourses, sang in its hymns, shaped its terms of communion, and presided in the discussions of its conferences. Hence its stabihty in comparison of other results of the general awakening. The mystical Pietists of Germany, quickened by the same breath, threw off, to a great extent, the fetters of dogmatic creed ; they retired from the external Church, disowned its formularies, gathered themselves within a garden doubly inclosed, cultivated the most spiritual and unworldly personal godliness, but made no provision for perma- nence and for posterity. Methodism, on the other hand, while steadily aiming at the perfection of the interior life kept a vigi- lant eye on the construction of its pecuhar type of theology. That was always in steady progress. It had not reached its consummation when the old Societies of the eighteenth cent- ury were consohdated into the Church of the nineteenth. But all the elements were there : some of them, indeed, indeter- minate and confused ; some of them involving troublesome in- consistencies ; others of them giving latitude for abiding differ- ences of opinion ; but on the whole supplying the materials of what may now be called a set type of confessional theology. For that type no name already current can be found ; in de- fault of any other, it must be called the Methodist type. But that term is no sooner written than it demands protection. It may seem at once to suggest the idea of an eclectic system of opin- ion. But, apart from the discredit into which this word eclectic has fallen, whether in the philosophical or in the theological domain, it is not apphcable here. The staple and substance of Methodist theology is essentially that of the entire Scripture as interpreted by the catholic evangehcal tradition of the Christian Church. It holds the three Creeds, the only confes- sions of the Faith which ever professed to utter the unanimous voice of the body of Christ on earth ; and, so far as these three Creeds were ever accepted by universal Christendom, it accepts 172 The Wesley Memoeial Yolujes. them, with only such reservations as do not affect doctrine. Among the later confessions — the badges of a di’^dded Christen- dom — it holds the Articles of the Church from which it sprang : holds them, that is, in their purely doctrinal statements. The eclectic hand has done no more than select for prominence such views of truth as have been neglected; never has it culled from this or that Formulary any spoil to make its own. It has no more borrowed from the Remonstrant Arminians than it has borrowed from the Protestant Lutherans. It agrees with both these so far as they express the faith of the Hew Testa- ment ; but no further. It has had, indeed, in past times a con- ventional connection with the name Arminian ; but its Arrain- ianism is simply the mind of the Catholic Church down to the time of Augustine ; and with the historical Arminianism that degenerated in Holland it has no affinity. It might be said, with equal propriety or want of propriety, that it has learned some of its lessons from Calvinism. Certainly it has many secret and blessed relations with that system ; not with its hard, logical, deductive semi-fatalism, over which Absolute Sover- eignty reigns with such awful despotism, but with its deep ap- preciation of union with Christ, and of the Christian privileges bound up with that high principle. But to return. The simple fact is, that any timly catholic confession of faith must seem to be eclectic : for there are no bodies of professed Christians, even to the outskirts of Christendom, which do not hold some portions of the truth ; while it may be said that many of them hold some partic- ular truth with a sharper and more consistent definition of it than others. But a really catholic system must embrace all these minor peculiarities ; and in proportion as it does so, it will seem to have borrowed them. In this sense, the de- fenders of Methodist theology admit that it is eclectic. They claim to hold all essential truth ; to omit no articles but those which they consider erroneous ; and to disparage none but those which they deem unessential. This, of course, is a high Methodist Doctetne, 173 pretension, bnt it is not a vainglorious one ; for surely it is the prerog|tive of every Christian community to glory in holding “the faith once delivered to the saints.” And as it is with the doctrines, so it is with the spirit, of Methodist teaching. In this also it is, after a fashion, eclectic, as it sympathizes with those who make it their boast that they know no other theology than the biblical, and is as biblical as they. It also agrees with those who think that divinity is a systematic science, to be grounded and organized as such ; while with almost all its heart it joins the company of Mystics, whose supreme theologian is the interior Teacher, and who find all truth in the experimental vision and knowledge of God in Christ. "We have to say a few words upon certain peculiarities in the doctrinal position of Methodism. But it is a pleasant preface to dwell for a moment on the broad expanse of catholic evan- gehcal tnith, concerning which it has no peculiarities, or no pe- culiarities that affect Christian doctrine. To begin where all things have their beginning, with the being, triune essence, and attributes of God ; his relation to the universe as its Creator and providential Governor ; his revelation of himself in nature : this supreme truth it holds against all atheism, antitheism, pantheism, and materialism. The unity of mankind, created in the image of God ; fallen into guilt and depravity in Adam ; re- stored through the intervention of the Son of God, who offered a vicarious atonement for the whole race, and is now carrying on the holy warfare for man, and in man, and with man, against the personal devil and his kingdom of darkness : this it holds against aU who deny the incarnation of the divine Son, one Person in two natures forever. The divinity and economical offices of the Eternal Spirit of the Father and the Son, the source of all good in man ; the inspirer of all holy Scripture ; the administrator of a finished redemption to sinful men con- vinced by his agency on their mindg, justified through faith in the atonement which he reveals to the heart, and sanctified to the uttermost by his energy within the soul, operating through 174 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. the means of grace established in the Chnrch over which he presides, and revealing its power in all good works ^one in the imitation of Christ : all this it holds against the Pelagian, Antinomian, and Rationalist dishonor to the Holy Ghost. The solemnities of death, resurrection, and eternal judgment, conducted by the returning Christ, and issuing in the everlast- ing severance between good and evil, the evil being banished from God’s presence forever, and the good blessed eternally with the beatific vision : all this, too, it holds with fear and trembhng, but with assured confidence that the Judge will vin- dicate his righteousness forever. In this general outline we have all the elements of the apostles’ doctrine and the truth of God. And with regard to these substantial and eternal verities, the system of doctrine we now consider is one with all com- murdons that may be regarded as holding the Head. But while it is true that these everlasting verities can under- go no change, they may all of them undergo certain modifica- tions of statement in the gradual development of confessional theology. It is needless to ask why the Spirit of truth has permitted this ; we have only to accept the fact that this has been his will. In the earliegj; ages of the Church he overruled the decisions of synods and councils for the defense and clearer manifestation of Christian doctrine. In later times we see, with equal and even more distinctness, the operation of the same law. He has administered the affairs of the kingdom of Christ on the principle of raising up distinct societies or denomina- tions rivaling and emulating each other, rallying round their respective expositions of the common faith, and turning their distinct and distinctive charisms to the profit of the universal cause. Por these diversities of teaching he is to some extent responsible, but not for their mutual contentions ; and he knows how to educe, through the process of ages, the perfect truth from our discordant confessions. We must not ask if he will ever reduce them all to harmony ; or whether, which is more probable, the Lord’s personal coming shall supersede them aU. Methodist Doctehste. 175 Our business is to guard well tbe deposit committed to us in our several commurdons ; differing charitably where we differ ; seeking to give and receive all the hght we can ; and waiting for the coming day, which will be a day of general revelation. Meanwhile, let us note a few of those peculiar aspects of the several doctrines mentioned above which Methodism hum- bly and reverently, but confidently, regards as part of its ap- pointed testimony. The attempt to sketch these is one of great difficulty, and of all the greater difficulty because of the brevity which is necessary. It would not be a hopeless task to exhibit the salient points of this type of doctrine at length, and with abundant use of the ample material which a century has pro- vided. Such a task must one day be accomphshed ; but it is probably reserved for the next generation. It will have to lo- cate Methodist doctrine generally in its true place in confes- sional theology ; to adjust it with the other great formularies of Christendom ; to study its own development from point to point ; to reconcile it on some subjects with itself, and to show how, amid some vacillations in certain doctrines, it has, never- theless, steadily converged to one issue, even as it regards those doctrines themselves ; to mark the deviations of which some bodies bearing the generic name have been guilty, or seem likely to be so ; to aim at some such clear accentuation of contested points as shall make their common teaching more emphatically one ; and, finally, what is perhaps most important of all, to in- dicate the specific effect which its specific doctrines have had upon the whole constitution, agency, work, and successes of the general system called Methodism. But all this is in the future. "What the present paper aims at, is only to note a few peculiar- ities, which the reader must expand for himself. And it may be as well to add, that the writer of it is only expressing his own conviction. He has, of course, an objective standard be- fore him in a variety of standards. But the subjective stand- ard must needs be applied even to them, and accordingly he must be responsible for his own judgments. 176 The Wesley Memoeial Yolesee. The doctrine of the most Holy Trinity might seem to be one in which there is no room for variety of sentiment among those who hold it : that is, the great bulk of the Christian world. But that doctrine is deeply affected both in itseK and in its re- lation to the universe generally, and the economy of redemp- tion in particular, by the view taken of the eternal Sonship of the second Person. Those who would efface the interior dis- tinctions of generation and procession in the Godhead sur- render much for which the earliest champions of orthodoxy fought. They take away from the intercommunion of the divine Persons its most impressive and affecting character ; and they go far toward robbing us of the sacred mystery which unites the Son’s exinanition in heaven with his humiliation as incarnate on earth. How, we lay claim to no peculiar fidelity here, nor would this subject be mentioned, were it not that Methodism has had the high honor of vindicating the eternal Sonship in a very marked manner. It has produced some of the ablest defenses of this truth known in modern times ; de- fenses which have shown how thoroughly it is interwoven with the fabric of Scripture, how vital it is to the doctrine of the incarnation, and how it may be protected from any complicity with subordinational Arianism. The transition from this to the person of Christ in the unity of his two natures is obvious. And here two remarks only need be made : first, that our doc- trine — we may say henceforward our doctrine — is distinguished by its careful abstinence from speculation as to the nature of the Redeemer’s self -emptying, simply holding fast the immu- table truth that the Divine Son of God could not surrender the essence of his divinity ; and, secondly, that in the unity of his Person he was not only sinless but also incapable of sin. Any one who watches the tendencies of modern theology, tenden- cies which betray themselves in almost all communities, and watches them with an intelligent appreciation of the importance of the issues involved, wiU acknowledge that this first note of honest glorying is not unjustified. Methodist Doctkihe. 177 Turning to the mediatorial work which the Son became incarnate to accomplish, we have to note that the Methodist doctrine lays a special emphasis on its universal relation to the race of man, and deduces the consequences with a precision in some respects pecuhar to itseK. For instance, it sees in this the true explanation of the vica- rious or substitutionary idea, which is essential to sound evan- gelical theology, but is very difEerently held by different schools. There are two extremes that it seeks to avoid by blending the truths perverted by opposite parties. The vague generality of the old Arminian and G-rotian theory, which makes the atonement only a rectoral expedient of the righteous God, who sets forth his suffering Son before the universe as the proof that law has been vindicated before grace begins to receive transgressors, was very current in England when Meth- odism arose. This was and still is confronted by the vigorous doctrine of substitution, which represents Christ to have taken at all points the very place of his elect, actually for them and only them, satisfying the dreadful penalty and holy require- ments of the law. Throughout the whole current of Methodist theology there runs a mediating strain, which, however, it would take many pages to illustrate. It accepts the Arminian view that the holiness of God is protected by the atonement ; but it insists on bringing in here the vicarious idea. The sin of Adam was expiated as representing the sin of the race as such, or of human nature, or of mankind : a realistic conception which was not borrowed from philosophic realism, and which no nominalism can ever really dislodge from the Mew Testament. “ Christ gave himself as the mediator of God and men, a ran- som for all before any existed; and this oblation before the foundation of the world was to be testified in due time, that individual sinners might know themselves to be members of a race vicariously saved as such.” This free paraphrase of St. Paul’s last testimony does not overstrain its teaching, that the virtue of the great reconciliation abolished the sentence of 178 The Wesley Memorial Volume. death, in all its meaning, as resting upon the posterity of Adam. In this sense it was absolutely vicarious : the transac- tion in the mind and purpose of the most Holy Trinity did not take our presence or concurrence, only our sin, into account. Therefore the Lamb slain before the foimdation of the world was, as it respects the race of Adam, an absolutely vicarious sacrifice. The reconciliation of God to the world — the atone- ment proper — must be carried up to the awful sanctuary of the Divine Trinitarian essence. When the atonement is translated into time, set forth upon the cross, and administered by the Spirit, the simple and purely vicarious idea is modified. Then come in the two other theories, which, as resting upon the background of the former, have great value ; but, as displacing that, are utterly misleading. God, as the righteous protector of his law, declares his justice while he justifies the believer, and will not justify him save as he makes Christ’s death his own through a faith which cries, “ I am crucified with Christ.” And God, as the Father of infinite love, commends his love in the sacrificial gift of his Son, not as if that alone should move us to lay down our opposition to his grace, but that the Spirit, teaching us how much it cost the Father to be reconciled to the world, might shed abroad that love in our individual hearts, and awaken in us the love that will imitate the Saviour’s sacri- fice and enter into the fellowship of his death to sin. With these modifications, as it respects the individual believer, does Methodism hold fast the doctrine of a universal vicarious satis- faction for the race. But marked prominence must be given to the consistency with which the universal benefit of the atonement has been carried out in its relation to original sin and the estate of the tmregenerate world before God. Meth- odism not only holds that the condemnation of the original sin has been reversed ; it also holds that the Holy Spirit, the source of aU good, is given back to mankind in his preliminary influ- ences as the Spirit of the coming Christ, the Desired of the nations. The general truth that Christ is the Light of the Methodist Doctrine. 179 world, enlightening every man that cometh into it — the spring of benefits to man that go out to the utmost circumference of his race — is held by our theology in common with many other schools. But we have our shades of peculiarity here ; some rescuing the doctrine from unreality, and some protecting it from latitudinarian perversion. With regard to the former, Methodism affirms the restoration of the Spirit to have been an actual fruit of redemption, mitigating from the very begin- ning the consequences of original sin, whether as the curse of the law or as the transmission of a corrupt bias. It will not tolerate the irreverent distinction between common grace and special grace ; believing that all grace was purchased at the cost of Christ’s most precious blood, and is intended to lead to sal- vation. It therefore looks out upon the court of the Gentiles with catholic eyes ; not regarding it as the sphere of absolute darkness and insensibility and death until the Spirit, adminis- tering the electing counsel, kindles here and there the spark of life to go out no more forever. It believes in a preparatory grace reigning in aU the world ; in a prevenrent grace antici- pating the gospel in every heart ; and in both as a most precious free gift to mankind, answering in some sense to the dire gift of original sin. With regard to the latter, that is, the latitud- inarian perversion, the Methodist doctrine lays great stress on the insufficiency of this preliminary grace. It does not allow, with some, that Christ is the seed of light and life in every man that cometh into the world, and in this sense the root and center of all human nature. He was, indeed, and is, the desire of the nations to whom he was not revealed ; but not a desire attained and fulfilled until he was manifested in the flesh. How he will deal with the multitudes of the human race who have had only this subordinate and comparatively faint attrac- tion — how and in what ways unknown to us he has responded to it or will respond to it — are questions which must be left to the “ Lord of the dead and the living,” the Shepherd of those “other sheep.” He is, and will ever be, “Jesus Christ the 12 180 The Wesley Memoeial Yoltjme. righteous.” So with regard to the secret influence that pre- pares for him in every heart ; which is stimulated by the spirit of conviction into vehement penitent desire. This preparation of preliminary grace develops into much vigorous life ; but we hold it not to be regenerate life until the Son is formed in the heart. Until then, let the latitudinarians say what they will, the word of Scripture holds its truth : “ If any man be in Christ he is a new creature ; ” a word spoken, be it remem- bered, in connection with the apostle’s asseifion of the general reconciliation of God to the world. The blessings of the Christian covenant, administered and im- parted by the Holy Ghost, which constitute the state of grace, are so simply set forth in the Hew Testament that there is not much room for difference of opinion among those whose views of the atonement are sound. We hold them, in common with all who hold the Head, to be one great privilege flowing from union with Christ, in whom we are complete; and that this great privilege of acceptance is administered both externally and internally. But, as we are dwelling on shades of differ- ence, we may observe that the Methodist theology lays more stress than most others upon the fact that in every department of the common blessing there is both an external and an internal administration. Every one of them bears at once a forensic, or imputative, or declaratory character ; while every one of them bears also a moral, or internal, or inwrought meaning. If there is a forensic justification, declaring in the mediatorial court where law reigns unto righteousness, and the atonement is a satisfaction to justice ; there is also a principle of obedience implanted, through which the righteousness of the law is to be fulfilled. These are inseparable in time and eter- nity : none but those who have a finished righteousness im- parted will be hereafter pronounced righteous for Christ’s sake ; and when righteousness is so complete as to bear the scrutiny of Heaven, it will need to be sheltered from the unfor- getting law by an imputed righteousness and an eternal pardon. Methodist Docteine. 181 Eemembering this always, Methodism holds very light the Romanizing disparagement of justification by faith on the one hand, and the Calvinistic disparagement of justification by works on the other. The righteous God is one, and there is but one righteousness : that which man’s guilt needs, Christ has provided in his atonement ; that which God’s holiness demands, the Holy Spirit of Christ will accomplish. The same may be said with regard to the believer’s relation to the Father through his union with the incarnate Son. It has its external and declar- atory character as an investiture with certain specific privileges, all of which are summed up in the word “ adoption ; ” but these would have no meaning — they would, in fact, be an unreality — unless there was inwardly imparted also the gift of regenerate life, which is the Son of God formed in the soul by the Holy Ghost. Similarly, with regard to the blessing of sanc- tification, which carries us into the temple of God, as justifica- tion carries us into the mediatorial law court, and regeneration into the Father’s house. Perhaps our Methodist theology has not been so definite as to the external and internal character of this third order of evangelical privilege. The term “ sancti- fication ” has been generally referred to the interior operations of grace, by a conventional consent that is easily explained. But really, though somewhat informally, this distinction has been observed. There is the consecration to God on the altar, which corresponds to justification at the bar: the sprinkled soul, with all that it has and is, is accepted of God, is dedicated to him in act inspired by the Holy Ghost, and is sanctified to Ifis service. It is regarded as set apart from sin and the world, though as yet the severance may not be, what it will be, abso- lute and complete. It is counted as entire sanctification, though the sanctification may not be entire. Around these three cen- ters of blessing — one in Christ Jesus — revolve, according to this theology, as according to the Hew Testament, all the privileges of the new covenant. The soul is set right with the law, is received as a son, and is sanctified in the temple. In the first, 182 The Wesley Memorial Yolhme. Jesus is the advocate and his atonement a satisfaction; in the second, he is the first-born among many brethren, and his atone- ment is the reconciliation ; in the third, he is the high-priest, and his atonement is a sacrifice for sins. In the court of law the Holy Spirit is the convincer of sin to the transgressor, assuring him of pardon ; in the home he is the Spirit of adop- tion to the prodigal, witnessing, together with his regenerate spirit, that he is a child of God ; and he is in the temple the silent, indwelling seal of consecration. But this leads to the doctrine of the Witness of the Spirit, which has been sometimes regarded as a Methodist peculiarity. By many it is set down as a specimen of what may be called an inductive theology ; that is, as a formula for certain experi- ences enjoyed by the early converts of the system. How, there can be no question that there is some truth in this. The ex- periences of multitudes who felt suddenly and most assuredly delivered from the sense of condemnation, enabled to pray to God as a reconciled father, and conscious of their sanctification to his service, may be said to have anticipated the confirmation of the word of God. They first read in their own hearts what they afterward read in their Bibles. For that the induction of experience coincides in this with biblical induction is most certain. That it is the privilege of those who are new creatures in Christ Jesus, and have passed from death unto fife, to know the things that are freely given them of God, cannot be denied by any who, with unprejudiced eyes, read the Hew Testament. In fact, the general principle is admitted in all communions, the differences among them having reference either to certain restrictions in the evidence itself, or to the medium through which it is imparted. A large portion of Christendom unite this witness with sacramental means and ordinances ; making personal assurance of salvation dependent on priestly absolu- tion, either with or without a sacrament devised for the pur- pose. Another, and almost equally large body of Christian teachers, make this high privilege a special blessing vouch- Methodist Doctrine. 183 safed to God’s elect as the fruit or reward of long discipline and the divine seal upon earnest perseverance ; but, when im- parted, this assurance includes the future ■ as well as the past, and is the knowledge of an irreversible decree of acceptance which nothing can avail to undermine however much it may be occasionally clouded. The Methodist doctrine is distinguished from these by a few strong points which it has held with deep tenacity from the beginning. It believes that the witness of the Spirit to the spirit in man is direct and clear ; distinct from the word, and from the faith that lays hold on the word, though closely connected with both. It is not separated from the testimony which is believed ; for, implicitly or explicitly, the promise in Christ must be apprehended by faith. But faith in this matter is rather trust in a Person than belief of a record ; and that trust is distinct from the assurance He gives, though that assurance follows so hard upon it that in the supreme blessedness of appropriating confidence they are scarcely to be distinguished. While the faith itself may be al- ways firm, the assurance may be sometimes clouded and uncer- tain. neither can co-exist with lapse into sin ; and therefore the witness may be suspended, or may be indeed finally lost. It is the assurance of faith only for the present ; only the assur- ance of hope for the future. It may be calm in its peace, or may be quickened into rapture. But it must be confirmed by the testimony of a good conscience ; while, on the other hand, it is often the silencer of a conscience unduly disturbed. It is, to sum up, in all types of Methodist theology — whatever abuses it may suffer in some Methodist conceptions of it — no other than the soul’s consciousness of an indwelhng Saviour through the secret and inexplicable influence of his Holy Spirit. Perhaps the most eminent peculiarity of the type of doctrine called Methodist is its unfaltering assertion of the believer’s privilege to be dehvered from indwelhng sin in the present life. Its unfaltering assertion : for although varying very much on some subordinate matters of statement as to the means 184 The Wesley Memorial Volume. of attainment and the accompanying assurance, it has always been faithful to the central truth itself. Its unfaltering asser- tion : for in the maintenance of this it has met with the most determined hostility, not only from such opponents as deny the doctrines of grace generally, but also from those whose evan- gelical theology in general and whose high sanctity give their opposition a very painful character and make it very embar- rassing. It cannot be too distinctly impressed that the one element in the Methodist doctrine that may be called distinctive, is the article that the work of the Spirit in sanctifying believers from sin — from all that in the divine estimate is sin — is to be complete in this state of probation. This is the hope it sees set before us in the Grospel, and this, therefore, it presses upon the pursuit and attainment of all who are in Christ. This is, in the judg- ment of many, its specific heresy ; this, in its own judgment, is its specific glory. It may be said that the suppression and de- struction of inbred sin, or, as St. Paul calls it, indwelling sin, is the one point where its aim is beyond the general aim. A long catena of ecclesiastical testimonies bears witness that a high doctrine of Christian perfection has been taught in all ages, and in many communities ; coming, in some instances, within a hair’s-breadth of this, but shrinking back from the last expression of the truth. The best of the ascetics and mystics of ancient and modern times both taught and exemplified a high standard of purification from sin, interior illumination, and supernatural union with Cod ; but, whether from miscon- ceived humility or jack of the highest triumph of faith, they invariably reserved the secret residue of evil as necessary to human discipline. This last fetter Methodism will not reserve ; its doctrine pursues the alien and the enemy into its most in- terior stronghold, and destroys it there ; so that the temple of God in the human spirit shall be not only emptied of sin, but swept also from every trace that it had been there, and gar- nished with all the graces of the divine image. It reads and Methodist Docteeste. 186 fearlessly interprets all tliose clauses in the charter of grace which speak of the destruction of the body of sin, of putting off the old man, of crucifying the flesh unto death, of an entire sanctiflcation of man’s whole natm’e, of a preservation in fault- lessness, of a perfect love casting out fear, of being purifled as Christ is pure, and of the love of God perfected in the human soul. Against this array of testimonies there is no argument that comes from God ; there is no contradictory array of scriptural testimonies. Redemption from the flesh spiritually understood, is not made synonymous or simultaneous with re- demption from the flesh physically interpreted. Ko sin can pass the threshold of life, for the expurgation of intermediate fires of discipline ; and there is no provision in heaven for the destraction of evil. Death itself cannot take the office of the atoning blood and the purifying Spirit. Then it follows that the final stroke must be in the present life ; the atonement is not more certainly a finished work than the application of it by the Holy Ghost ; the Spirit’s “It is finished ” must needs follow the Son’s, and in a voice that speaks on earth. All Scripture speaks of a holy discipline, longer or shorter, effect- ual in all branches of ethics and of the imitation of Christ and of charity to man, which precedes it ; and of a continual ad- vancement in every thing heavenly that follows it : but there must be a sacred moment of final deliverance from what God sees as sin in the soul. This is Christian perfection — a word which is essentially conditioned : a word which, indeed, is not affected by Methodist theology ; and, when used, is always guarded by its necessary adjectives of Christian, evangelical, and relative. Something has been said of the inductive character of Meth- odist doctrine generally, and with special reference to its views of personal assurance as being much built upon personal ex- perience. How.it must be asserted that with regard to the present doctrine of an entire deliverance from sin, the induc- tion was primarily and pre-eminently a scriptural one. Meth- 186 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. odism began to announce this liigb and most sacred possibility of tbe Christian life very early ; in fact, long before any expe- rience of its own verified the announcement : and it has con- tinued the testimony until now altogether apart from the vouchers of living witnesses. Its principle has been that God’s word must be true, and his standard the right one, however the lives of the saints may halt behind it. At the same time, it cannot be denied that in the historical development of the Methodist doctrine itseK, the induction of its own experiences has played an important part, and not always a satisfactory one. Time would fail, and it would be an ungrateful task, to explain in what sense it has been sometimes unsatisfactory. Suffice to say, that some forms of the doctrine assert, with more or less of positiveness, what cannot be maintained by the warranty of the Bible ; based upon experimental inductions not controlled by Scripture. The “ second blessing ” is sometimes confounded with the first, as if an entire consecration to God, which is the perfect beginning only, were an entire sanctification from all sin ; a blessing, it may be, yet far in the distance. The effu- sion of divine love in the soul, sometimes to so full a degree as to make the possibility of sinning a strange thought to the soul, is sometimes mistaken for that “ perfected love ” of which it is only the earnest. We must go to St. John’s first Epistle — the last testimony of the Bible — for our doctrine on this subject. Now that Epistle gives the most expficit assurance that there is set before the aspiration of the saint a perfected and finished operation of divine love, the triumph of which is the extinction of sin and fear. But it is observable, that before the last testi- mony to love in man as perfected, we have three testimonies to the gradual operation of the love of God in us, which carry it into the three departments of the covenant of grace mentioned above. First, into that of law : “Whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected.” Perfected love is, in the estimation of God, the fulfilling of the righteousness of the law, and its triumph is bound up with our habitual obedi- Methodist Doctrihe, 187 ence in all things. Secondly, into the department of sonship : “ If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” Universal, boundless, self-sacrificing charity — for such is the pattern of Christ’s charity— is the condition as well as the goal of perfected love. Thirdly, into the temple of consecration : “ He that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love ” — love with us — “ made per- fect.” Abstraction from all created desire, and supreme union with God, is also both the condition and the croAvn of perfected love. Much more might be written on this subject : but this is enough, notwithstanding every drawback, it still remains that the testimony borne for a century to the highest privileges of the Christian covenant is the glory of its theology. It has stimulated the religious life of countless multitudes. It has kept before the eyes of the people formed by it the one supreme thought, that Christianity is a religion which has one only goal, whether in the Church or in the individual — the destruction of sin. And we believe the day is coming when the Church of God upon earth will have given to it an enlarged heart to receive this doctrine in all its depth and fullness. Slight as this sketch has been, it has not omitted any point that may be fairly included in the differentia of the theology called Methodist. Of course, it has its specific type of presenta- tion in the case of many articles of the creed ; but it would be an endless task to dwell upon these, especially as in regard to some of them there is no definite standard among Methodist people. They claim a certain latitude in the minor develop- ments of central truths ; and are as free in the non-essentials as they are rigid in the essentials of the faith. The body of divines whose theology is thus described are far from being bound to a system stereotyped and reticulated in its minutest detail. 'Wliile the slightest deviation from what may be here called orthodoxy or fundamental doctrine never fails to awaken the keenest sensibility, and any thing like vital error is infalli- bly detected and cast out, there is a very large tolerance on 188 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. subordinate matters. That tolerance some may think carried too far ; but be that as it may, it exists, and it always will exist. This may be illustrated by two topics, in themselves of vital importance, but the aspects of which vary to different minds. One is the inspiration of Holy Scripture. The general truth that the Bible is, from beginning to end, the fruit of the Spir- it’s agency and the authoritative standard of faith, directory of morals and charter of privileges, is firmly and universally held : Methodism knows no vacillation here. It is free from the error which enlarges the limits of the canon, on the one hand, with the Romanists ; and from that which contracts them by making the word of God a certain something within the Bible which men must find for themselves. It does not admit the concurrent endowment of the Church with a perpetual inspira- tion ; thus introducing two voices, that of Scripture and that of the Church, one of which may contradict or neutralize the other. It has never shared the laxity of the Reformers and of the Arminians as to certain books and certain degrees of inspiration : no modern theology is more faithful to the plenary authority of Scripture ; none approaches nearer than it does to the high strain of the early fathers. But, inasmuch as Scripture itself never defines or gives the sense of its own inspiration, Methodism does not attempt to supply its deficiency, and define what is undefinable. It leaves, for instance, the many vexed questions which crowd around what is called verbal inspiration, and the uncertainty of the text here and there arising from the withdrawal of the autographs, and the methods of reconciling the seeming discrepancies of Scripture, to con- scientious and enlightened private judgment. It allows the same latitude here, no more no less, that every evangelical com- munity allows. But no community falls back more absolutely or more implicitly than Methodism upon the supreme defense of the entire Bible which our Lord’s authority gives it : of the Old Testament Scriptures as we hold them by his own word ; of the Hew Testament Scriptures by his Spirit. It cannot be Methodist Docteine. 189 said that it is more swayed than others by the self -evidencing light of the word of God ; but certainly none are more swayed by it. And it may be asserted with confidence, though with- out boasting, that there is no communion in Christendom the theological writings of which are so universally free from the tincture of doubt or suspicion as to the supremacy of the Bible. This is not — as some would affirm — through the lack of either independent thought or biblical culture ; this loyalty of Meth- odism rests upon the best of all foundations. Another is the doctrine of the sacraments. Methodist teach- ing has, from the beginning, mediated here between two ex- tremes wlfich need not be more particularly defined : in that mediation keeping company with the Anglican Formularies, and the Presbyterian Westminster Confession, both of which raise them above mere signs, and lay stress on their being seals or pledges or instruments of the impartation of the grace sig- nified to the prepared recipient. All its old standards, includ- ing its hymns, bear witness to this ; they abundantly and irre- sistibly confirm our assertion as to the sacramental idea gener- erally. As to the two ordinances in particular, there can be no doubt that the sentiments of the various Methodist com- munions run through a wide range. Recoil from exaggerated doctrine has led many toward the opposite extreme; and a large proportion of their ministers put a very free construction upon their standards, and practically regard the two sacraments as badges simply of Christian profession, the Eucharist being to them a special means of grace in the common sense of the phrase. There is a wide discretion allowed in this matter, and the wisdom of this discretion is, on the whole, justified. With that question, however, we have nothing to do here ; our only object being to state the ease as it is. But this essay must be closed, leaving untouched many sub- jects which naturally appeal for consideration. Something ought to be said as to the controversial aspect of this theology. But leaving that for other essays, we have only to commend 190 The Wesley Memorial Volume. the general principles of the Methodist theology to any strangers to it who may read these pages. They will find it clear and consistent, on the whole, as a human system, worthy of much more attention than it usually receives from the Christian world ; and, what is of far more importance, they will find it pervaded by the “ unction from the Holy One,” which is the secret of aU truth and of aU edification. IDEAS WESLEY DEVELOPED IN OEGANIZ- ING HIS SOCIETIES. J ohns’ WESLEY has given currency to a set of divine ideas easily acted upon but not always clearly apprehended, which make up the sum of personal religion, and without which, it may be added, personal religion cannot exist. This is the philosophy of his career ; perhaps very imperfectly understood by himself, probably never drawn out by him in a systematic form, yet sufficiently obvious to us who look back upon his completed life, and live amid the results of his labors. Im- mersed in the complexities of the game, the turmoil of the storm in which his busy life was cast, the unceasing struggle of his soul with the gigantic evils of the world, he could neither observe nor analyze, as we can do, the elements ar- rayed against him nor the principles evolved in the conflict that were ministrant to his success. As we are in the habit of instinctively raising the arm or lowering the eyelid to repel or shun danger, so he adapted measures and evolved truths by force of circumstances more than by forethought — those truths and measures so adapted to his position as a preacher of righteous- ness amid an opposing generation that we recognize in their adaptation and natural evolution proof of their divineness. They are the same truths which were exhibited in the first struggles of an infant Christianity with the serpent of pagan- ism; and when exhibited again upon a like arena seventeen centuries afterward with similar success, are thus proved to be every-where and always the same, eternal as abstract truth, and essential as the existence of God. The first grand truth thrown upon the surface of John 192 The Wesley Memoeial Volume, Wesley’s career, we take to be the absolute necessity of per- sonal and individual religion. To tbe yoke of this necessity he himself bowed at every period of his history. Vever, even when most completely astray as to the ground of the sinner’s justification before God, did he fail to recognize the necessity of conversion, and of individual subjection to the laws of the Most High. What he required of others, and constantly taught, he cheerfully ob- served himself. Very soon after starting upon his course did he learn that the laver of baptism was unavailing to wash away the stain of human defilement ; the Supper of the Lord, to secure admission to the marriage supper of the Lamb ; and Church organization, to draft men collectively to heaven by simple virtue of its corporate existence. These delusions, whereby souls are beguiled to their eternal wrong, soon ceased to juggle him ; for his eye, kindled to intelligence by the Spirit of God, pierced the transparent cheat. He ascertained at a very early period that the Church had no delegated power to ticket men in companies for a celestial journey, and sweep them railroad-wise in multitudes to their goal ; consequently, that this power, where claimed or conceded, was usurpation on the one hand, and a compound of credulousness and servility on the other, insulting to God and degrading to man. But he began with himself. We suppose he never knew the hour in which he did not feel the need of personal religion to secure the salvation of the soul. He was happily circumstanced in being the son of pious and intelligent parents, who would carefully guard him against the prevalent errors on these points. He never could have believed presentation at the font to be salvation, nor the vicarious vow of sponsors to be a substi- tute for personal renunciation of the world, the flesh, and the devil : and he early showed this. When the time of his ordi- nation drew nigh, and he was about to be inducted into the cure of souls, he was visited with great searchings of heart. His views of the mode of the sinner’s acceptance with God Ideas Wesley Developed. 193 were confused, indeed ; but on tbe subject of personal conse- cration they may be said never to bave varied. Fighting his way, as he was called to do, through a lengthened period of experimental obscurity — “ working out his salvation tyith fear and trembling ” — we nevertheless cannot point to any moment in his spiritual history in which he was not a child of Grod. What an incomparable mother he must have had ! What a hold must she have established upon his esteem and confi- dence, to whom this Fellow of a college referred his scruples and difficulties in view of his ordination, and whom his schol- arly father bade him consult when his O'wn studious habits and abundant occupations forbade correspondence with himself ! Animated to religious feeling about this time, he made a sur- render of himself to God ; made in partial ignorance, but never revoked. “ I resolved,” he says, “ to dedicate all my life to God, all my thoughts, and words, and actions ; being thoroughly convinced there was no medium ; but that every jpart of my life (not some only) must either be a sacrifice to God or myself, that is, in effect, to the devil.” And his pious father, seconding his son’s resolve, replies : “ God fit you for your great work ! fast, watch, and pray ! believe, love, endure, and be happy ! ” And so he did, according to his knowledge ; for a more conscientious clergyman and teacher, for the space of ten years, never lived than the Kev. John Wesley, Fellow and tutor of Lincoln. But there was a whole world of spiritual experience yet untrodden by him amid the round of his college duties, ascetic practices, and abounding charities. His heart told him, and books told him, and the Kttle godly company who met in his rooms all told him, in . tones more or less distinct, that he had not yet attained ; that he was still short of the mark ; that the joys of religion escaped his reach, though its duties were unexceptionably performed. His course of reading, the mystic and ascetic writers, together with the diy scholastic divinity that furnishes the understanding but often drains the heart, 194 The Wesley Memokial Volume. tended to this result — to fill the life with holy exercises rather than to overfiow the sonl with sacred pleasure. Of the simple, ardent, gladsome, gracious piety of the poor he yet knew next to nothing. But God was leading him through the wilderness of such an experience as this by a right way to a city of habitation, doubtless that he might be a wise instractor to others who should be involved hereafter in mazes like his own. He looked upon religion as a debt due by the creature to the Creator, and he paid it with the same sense of con- straint with which one pays a debt, instead of regarding it as the ready service of a child of God. A child of God could not be other than religions ; but, more than this, he would not if he could ; religion is his “ vital breath,” his “ na- tive air.” But Wesley did not understand, as yet, the doctrine of free pardon, the new birth, and the life of faith ; he, therefore, worked — conscientiously and laboriously worked — like a serv- ant, and not like a son, of God. But God sent some poor Cal- vinists to teach him these truths ; and he was not too proud to learn from very humble but sufficiently enlightened teachers — a few Moravian emigrants that sailed in the same vessel with him to Georgia. Their unaffected humility, unruffled good temper, and serenest self-possession in prospect of death when storms overtook the ship, struck him forcibly, and made him feel that they had reached an eminence in the divine life on which his college studies, extensive erudition, and pains-taking devotion had failed to land himself. He, therefore, sat himseK at their feet ; he verified the Scripture metaphor, and became “ a little child.” In nothing was the lofty wisdom of John Wesley, and his submission to divine teaching, more apparent than in this, that he made himself a fool that he might be wise. Salvation by grace, and the witness of the Spirit, were taught him by these God-fearing and happy Moravians ; and his understand- ing became full of light. It was only, however, some three years afterward, subsequent to his return to England, which Ideas Wesley Developed. 195 took place in 1738, that the joy of this free, present, eternal salvation flowed in upon his soul. The peace of God which passeth all understanding took possession of heart and mind through Christ Jesus, and for fifty years afterward he never doubted, he never could doubt, of his acceptance with our Father who is in heaven. The sunshine of his soul communi- cated itself to his countenance, and lighted all his conversation. To speak with him seemed almost like speaking with an angel of God. From that time he began to preach a new doctrine — a doc- trme of privilege as well as duty ; of acceptance through the Beloved, an assured sense of pardon, and the happiness of the service of God. And God gave him unlooked-for, unhoped-for success. Excluded by almost universal consent from the churches of the Establishment, he betook himseK to barns and stable yards and inn rooms ; and ultimately, with Whitefleld, to the open air, to the streets and lanes of the city, to the hills and valleys, and to the commons and heaths of his native land ; and with power and unction, with the Holy Ghost and much assurance, did he testify to each of his hearers the doctrines of personal repentance and faith, and the necessity of the new birth for the salvation of the soul. And signs and wonders fol- lowed in them that believed ; multitudes were smitten to the groimd under the sword of the Spirit ; many a congregation was changed into a Bochim, a place of weeping ; and amid sobs and tears and wailings beneath which the hearts of the most stub- born sinners quailed, one universal cry arose, “ What must we do to be saved ? ” J ohn W esley’s divine, simple, scriptural answer was, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” His personal experience of the etficaey of the prescription gave confidence to his advice. The physician had been healed himseK flrst ; he had been his own earhest patient ; he knew the bitterness of the pain, the virulence of the disease, and had proved the sanative power of his remedy. The ordeal of 13 196 The Wesley Memorial Yolijme. the new birth he had tried before recommending it to others. He had visited the pool of Bethesda, and could, therefore, speak well of its waters. And well might it work such change, to have the necessity of personal religion insisted upon with such unprecedented par- ticularity and pointedness. He singled out each hearer ; he al- lowed no evasion amid the multitude ; he showed how salvation was not by a church, nor by families, nor by ministers, nor by ordinances, nor by national communions, but by a deep, sin- gular, individual experience of religion in the soul. His ad- dress was framed upon the model of the Scripture query, “ Dost thou believe upon the Son of God ? ” A second truth developed in the ministry of John Wesley is, the absolute need of spiritual influence to secure the conversion of the soul. Conversion is not a question of willing or not willing on the part of man. The soul bears no resemblance to the muscles of the healthy arm, which the mere will to straighten and stiffen throws into a state of rigid tension at the instant, and retains them so at pleasure. The soul is in the craze and wreck of paralysis : the power of action does not respond to the will : the whole head is sick, the heart faint. To will is present with us, but how to perform that which is good we know not. The sick man would be well, but the wish is unavailing till the sim- ple, the leech, and the blessing of the Most High, conspire to invigorate. Just so it is with the soul; it must tarry till it be endued with power from on high ; but not, be it understood, in the torpor of apathy, nor in the slough of despair; no, but wishing, watching, waiting. Though its search were as fruit- less as that of Diogenes, it must be seeking, nevertheless ; just as, though the prophet’s commission be to preach to the dead, he must not dispute nor disobey. We must strive to enter in although the gate be strait and the way narrow ; we must be feeling after God, if haply we may find him, though it be amid the darkness of nature and the tremblings of dismay. We may Ideas Wesley Developed. 197 scarce have ability to repent after a godly sort, yet ought we to bring forth “fruits meet for repentance.” With God alone may rest the prerogative to pronounce ns “ sons of Abraham ; ” yet, like Zaccheus, must we work the works becoming that relation, and right the wrong and feed the poor. While, then, we emphatically announce the doctrine that the influence of the Holy Ghost is necessary to quicken, renew, and purify the soul, we do at the same time repudiate the principle that man may fold his hands in sleep till the divine voice arouse him. jSTothing short of a celestial spark can ignite the Are of onr sac- rifice, but we can at least lay the wood upon the altar. Hone but the Lord of the kingdom can admit to the privilege of the kingdom ; but at the same time it is well to make inquiry of him who keeps the door. John was only the bridegroom’s friend, the herald of better things to come ; yet “Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan,” did but their duty in flocking to him to hear his tidings, and learn where to direct their homage. To endangered men the night was given for far other uses than for sleep ; the storm is high, and the rocks are near ; the sails are rent, and the planks are starting beneath the fury of the winds and waves ! What is the dictate of wisdom, of imperious necessity ? what but to ply the pump, to undergird the ship, to strike the mast, haul taut the cordage, “ strengthen the things that remain,” and trust in the Most High ? If safety is vouchsafed, it is God who saves. So in spiritual things, man must strive as if he could do every thing, and trust as if he could do nothing ; and in regeneration the Scripture doctrine is, that he can do nothing. He may accom- plish things leading thereto, just as the Jews ministered to the resurrection of Lazarus by leading Christ to the sepulcher ; but it was the Divine voice that raised the dead. Thus sermons, scriptures, catechisms, and all the machinery of Christian action, wiU be tried and used, dealt out by the minister and shared by his flock ; but with each and all must the conviction rest, that it is not by might of mechanism, nor by power of 198 The Wesley Memorial Volume. persuasion, conversion is brought about, but by the Spirit of the Lord of Hosts. This truth had been grievously lost sight of in Wesley’s days, sunk in the tide of cold morality that inundated the land, and consigned it to a theosophy less spiritual than that of Socrates or Plato. But up from the depths of the heathenish flood our great reformer Ashed this imperishable truth, a treasure-trove exceeding in value pearls of great price, or a navy of sunken galleons. And throughout his ministry this shone with un- equaled light; for if any thing distinguished it more than another from contemporary ministries, it was the emphatic prominence it assigned to the Spirit’s work in conversion. This was the Pharos of his teaching, the luminous point which led the world-tossed soul into the haven of assured peace and conscious adoption. And much need was there that this dog- ma should have received this distinctive pre-eminence and peculiar honor, for it was either totally forgotten, coarsely trav- estied, or boldly denied. Having dealt with the truths that bear upon personal relig- ion and individual subjection to the truth, as well as the means whereby this was to be effected, the direct agency of the di- vine Spirit — things insisted upon with untiring energy by John Wesley — we now turn attention to the views which our great reformer put forth regarding Christians in their associated ca- pacity. The third principle which Wesley developed is, that the Church of Jesus Christ is a spiritual organization, consisting of spiritual men associated for spiritual purposes. This is the theory of that Church of which he was for sev- eral years the laborious and conscientious minister, and is no- where more happily expressed than in its Nineteenth Article : “ The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in the which the pure word of Cod is preached, and the sacraments duly administered according to Christ’s ordi- nance, in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the Ideas Wesley Developed. 199 same.” But this beautiful and scriptural theory was to a great degree an unapproachable ideal in England until that sys- tem arose, under the creative hand of Wesley, which made it a reality and gave it a positive existence, “ a local habitation and a name.” It is true the name he gave it was not “ Church ; ” it was “ The Society,” and in other forms and subdivisions, bands, classes, etc. ; but in essence it was the same ; it was the union and communion of the Lord’s people for common edifi- cation and the glory of Christ. As soon as two or three con- verts were made to those earnest personal views of religion he promulgated, the inclination and necessity for association com- menced. It was seen in his Oxford praying coterie ; seen in his fellowship with the Moravians ; and afterward fully exem- plified in the mother-society at the Foundery, Moorfields, and in all the affiliated societies throughout the kingdom. The sim- ple object of these associations was thus explained in a set of general rules for their governance, published by the brothers Wesley in 1743. The preamble states the nature and design of a Methodist Society to be “ a company of men having the form and seeking the power of godliness ; united, in order to pray together, to receive the word of exhortation, and to watch over one another in love, that they may help each other to work out their salvation. There is only one condition previously recpiired in those who desire admission into these Societies — a desire to flee from the wrath to come, and to be saved from their sins.” They were further to evidence this desire : “ 1. By doing no harm, by avoiding evil of every kind. 2. By doing good, by being in every kind merciful after their power ; as they have opportunity, doing good of every possible sort, and as far as it is possible to all men. And, 3. By attending upon all the ordinances of God. Such are the public worship of God ; the ministry of the word, either read or expounded ; the Supper of the Lord ; family and private prayer ; searching the Scriptures ; and fasting, or abstinence.” Whether we regard the design of the association given in these terms, or the speci- 200 The Wesley Memorial Volume. fication of duty, we seem to trace a virtual copy of the articu- lar definition of the Church recently cited. Wesley never failed to recognize the scriptural distinction between the Church and the world, nor to mark it. While he viewed with becoming deference the kingdoms of this world, and bowed to the au- thority of the magistrate as the great cement of human society, the clamp that binds the stones of the edifice together, he saw another kingdom pitched within the borders of these, differing from them in every thing, and infinitely above them, yet con- sentaneous with them, and vesting them with its sanction, itself all the while purely spiritual in its basis, laws, privileges, and Sovereign. Blind must he have been, to a degree incompatible with his general perspicacity, had he not perceived this. The men who possessed religion, and the men who possessed it not, were not to be for a moment confounded. They might be neighbors in locality and friends in good-will, but they were as wide as the poles asunder in sentiment. The quick and the dead may be placed side by side, but no one can for ever so short a period mistake dead flesh for living fiber, the abne- gation of power for energy in repose. The Church and the church-yard are close by, but the worshipers in the one and the dwellers in the other are as unlike as two worlds can make them. The circle within the circle — the company of the con- verted — the imjperium in imperio — the elect, the regenerate, Wesley alwajs distinguished from the mass of mankind, and made special provision for their edification in all his organ- isms. And, in sooth, the marked and constant recognition of this spiritual incorporation it is which gives revealed religion its only chance of survival in the world. To forget it is practi- cally to abolish the distinction between error and truth, between right and wrong. There is no heresy more destructive than a bad life. To class the men of good life and the men of bad together ; to call them by the same name, and elevate them to the same standing, is high treason against the majesty of truth, Ideas Wesley Developed. 201 poisons the very spring of morality, and does conscience to death. A nation cannot be a church, nor a church a nation. The case of Israel was the only one in which the two kingdoms were co-extensive, conterminous. A member of a nation a man becomes by birth, hut a member of a church only by a second birth. Generation is his title to the one, regeneration to the other. The one is a natural accident, the other a moral state. Citizens are the sons of the soil, Christians are the sons of heaven. To clothe, then, the members of the one with the livery and title of the other, without the prerequisite qualifi- cation and dignity, is not only a solecism in language but an outrage upon truth. It is to reconcile opposites, harmonize discords, blend dissimilitudes, and identify tares with wheat, light with darkness, fife with death. It is the destruction of piety among the converted, for they see the unconverted honored with their designation, advanced to their level, obtruded upon their society. It is ruin to the souls of the unconverted ; because without effort of their own, without faith or prayer, or good works, or reformation, or morals, they are surprised with the style and title, the status and rewards, of Christian men. This is, unfortunately, the practice on a large scale ; the theory is otherwise and unexceptionable. Imbued with a deep sense of the beauty and correctness of the theory, W esley did only what was natural and right when he sought to make it a great fact — a substance, and not a shadow — in the church militant. In this he not only obeyed a divine injunc- tion, but yielded to the current of events. By a natural attrac- tion his converts were drawn together. Like will to like. “ They that feared the Lord spake often one to another ; ” and “ all that believed were together.” The particles were similar, the aggregate homogeneous. They had gone through the same throes, rejoiced in the same parentage, learned in the same school, and embraced the same destiny. They owned a com- mon creed, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all ; ” resisted a common temptation, took up a com- 202 The Wesley Memorial Volume. mon cross, and, in common, renounced tlie world, tlie flesh, and tlie devil. They came together on the ground of identity of character, of desire for mutual discipline and beneflt, and of community of feeling and interest. It is obvious to perceive that "VV esley did not oi’iginate this communion, whether it were for good or evil ; for it was an ordinance of God in its primal institution, and in this particular instance arose out of the very nature of the case. Wesley could not have prevented it, except by such measures as would have undone all he had done. God’s believing people found one another out, and associated by a' law as flxed and unalterable as that kali and acid coalesce, or that the needle follows the magnet. But while he did not enact the law which God’s people obeyed in this close inter-communion and relationship, he understood and revered it, and furthered and regulated the intercourse of the godly by the various enact- ments and graduated organizations of his system. He set the city upon the hill, and bade it be conspicuous ; the lamp upon the stand, and bade it shine ; the vine upon the soil, and said to it. Be fruitful. He set it apart and trimmed it, and hedged it in ; convinced that such a separation as Sci’ipture enjoins was essential to its growth and welfare — a truth the Christian law teaches, and individual experience con Arms. Every beneflt the institution of a Church might be supposed to secure is forfeited when the Church loses its distinctive character, and becomes identified with the world. But neither to glorify their founder by their closer com- bination, nor for self-complacent admiration, nor to be a gazing- stock for the multitude, nor for the tittle-tattle of mutual gossipry, did John Wesley segregate his people; no, but for their good and the good of mankind. The downy bed of indo- lence for the Church, or the obesity that grows of inaction, never once came within his calculations as their lot. To rub the dust from each other, as iron sharpeneth iron, was the flrst object of their association ; and the second, to weld their forces together in the glowing furnace of communion for the beneflt Ideas Wesley Developed. 203 of the Avorld. They were to rejoice in the good grapes of their own gai’den, and sweeten by inoculation and culture the sour grapes of their neighbors. They were to attract all goodness to themselves ; and where it was wanting create it, after the Arab proverb, “ The palm-tree looks upon the palm-tree, and groweth fruitful.” It was as the salt of the earth they were to seek to retain their savor, and not for their own preservation alone. ISTo one ever more sedulously giiarded the inward sub- jective aspect of the Church, its self-denying intent, its exclu- sion of the unholy and unclean, than John Wesley ; and no one ever directed its objective gaze outward and away from itself, to have compassion on the ignorant and out of the way,” with more untiring industry than he. He knew the Church’s mis- sion was more than haK unfulfilled, while it locked itself up in its ark of security, and left the world without to perish. He was himself the last man in the world to leave the wounded to die, passing by in his superciliousness, and asking, “ Who is my neighbor ? ” and the last to found a community which should be icy, selfish, and unfeeling. He was a working min- ister, and fathomed the depth and yielded to the full current of the truth, that the Church must be a working Church. Armed at all points with sympathies which brought him into contact with the world without, the Church must resemble him in this. He was an utterly unselfish being. He, if ever any, could say ; “ I live not in myself, but I become portion of that around me.” To work for the benefit of men when he might have taken his ease became a necessity of his nature, molded upon the pattern of his self-sacrificing Master, and the law of his being must be that of the Church’s. The Church must “ do or die.” It must be instant in season, out of season. It must go into the highways and hedges. It must beseech men to be reconciled to God. It must compel them to come in. It must give no sleep to its eyes nor slumber to its eyelids till its work be done. It must stand on the top of high places, by the way in the 204 The Wesley Memorial Volume. places of the paths, and cry, “ O ye simple, understand wisdom ; and ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart ! ” It must gather all the might of its energies, and lavish all the wealth of its resources, and exhaust all the influences it can command, and coin all the ingenuity of its devices into schemes for the saving benefit of the world. Thus, not merely conservative of the truth must the Church be for its own edification and nurture, but also diffusive of the truth for the renewal and redemption of all around. And these were grand discoveries a hundred years ago, of which the credit rests very mainly with the Founder of Meth- odism, although mere commonplaces now. It is true they were partially and speculatively held even then, but very par- tially, and in the region of thought rather than of action. Some saw the truth of the matter, but it was in its proverbial dwell- ing, and the well was deep — just perceptible at the bottom, but beyond their grasp ; while to the many the waters were muddy, and they saw it not at all. There were no Bible, Tract, or Mis- sionary Society then to employ the Church’s powers, and to indicate its path of duty. But Wesley started them all. He wrote and printed and circulated books in thousands iipon thou- sands of copies. He set afloat home and foreign missions. The Church and the world were alike asleep ; he sounded the loud trumpet of the Gospel, and awoke the world to tremble and the Church to work. ISTever was such a scene before in En- gland. The correctness and maturity of his views amid the deep darkness surrounding him is startling, wonderful ; like the idea of a catholic Church springing up amid a sectarian Judaism. It is midday without the antecedent dawn ; it beggars thought ; it defies explanation. A Church in earnest as a want of the times is even now, in these greatly advanced days, strenu- ously demanded, and eloquently enforced by appeal after appeal from the press, the platform, and the pulpit; but Wesley gave it practical existence from the very birth-hour of his Society. His vigorous bantling rent the swathing bands of quiet self- Ideas Wesley Developed. 205 communing and prevalent custom, and gave itself, a young Hercules, to the struggle with the inertia of the Church and the opposition of the world. Successfully it encountered both. It quickened the one and subdued the other, and attained* by the endeavor the muscular development, and manful port, and indomitable energy of its present life. John Wesley’s Church is no mummy-chamber of a pyramid, silent, sepulchral, gar- nished with still figures in hieroglyphic coif and cerecloth, but a busy town, a busier hive, himself the informing spirit, the parent energy, the exemplary genius of the whole. Hever was the character of the leader more accurately refiected in his troops. Bonaparte made soldiers, Wesley made active Christians. The last principle we shall notice as illustrated by Wesley’s career, has relation to the nature and worh of the ministry. A grand discovery, lying very near the root of Methodism, considered as an ecclesiastical system, it was the fortune of John Wesley to light upon not far from the outset of his career. A discovery quite as momentous and influential in the diffusion and perpetuation of his opinions as that with which Luther startled the world in 1525. Luther published the then monstrous heresy that ministers who are married can serve the Lord and his Church as holily, learnedly, and acceptably, as celibate priests and cloistered regulars ; and our hero found out that men unqualified by university education for orders in the Church were the very fittest instruments he could employ in the itinerant work of early Methodism. Bough work requires rough hands. The burly pioneer is as needful in the army as the dapper ensign, and the hewer of wood in the deep forest as the French polisher in the city. How this was a great discovery — up to that period a thing unknown. The Boman Church knew nothing of such a de- vice ; its orders of various kinds bore no approximation to it ; presbyter and bishop were at equal removes from it ; the very Puritans and Hon-conformists knew nothing of it, they being in their way as great sticklers for clerical order and their 206 The Wesley Memoeial Volume, succession as any existing body — the more pardonable, as some were living in the early part of Wesley’s history who had them- selves officiated in the churches of the Establishment. His discovery was, that plain men just able to read and explain with some fluency what they read and felt, might go forth without license from college, or presbytery, or bishop, into any parish in the country — the weaver from his loom, the shoemaker from his stall — and tell their fellow-sinners of salva- tion and the love of Christ. This was a tremendous innovation upon the established order of things every-where, and was as reluctantly forced upon so starched a precisian as John Wes- ley, as it must have horrifled the members of the stereotyped ministries and priesthoods existing around. But as in Luther’s case, so here — “ the present necessity ” was the teacher : “ the fields were white to the harvest, and the laborers were few.” We have ample evidence to show that if he could have pressed into the service a sufficient number of the clerical profession he would have preferred the employment of such agents ex- clusively ; but as they were only few of this rank who lent him their constant aid, he was driven to adopt the measure which was, we think, the salvation of his system and in some respects its glory. The greater part of the clergy would have been unfitted for the work he would have allotted them, even had they not been hampered by the trammels of ecclesiastical usage. This usage properly assigns a fixed portion of clerical labor to one person ; and to discharge it well is quite enough to tax the powers of most men to the utmost. Few parish ministers, how conscien- tious and diligent soever, will ever have to complain of too little to do. But Wesley had a roving commission, and felt himseK called, by his strong sense of the need of some extraor- dinary means, to awaken the sleeping population of the coun- t)’y, to overleap the barriers of clerical courtesy and ecclesias- tical law, invading parish after parish of recusant incumbents without compunction or hesitancy at the overweening impulse of Ideas Wesley Developed. 207 duty. However much some clergymen may have sympathized with him in religious opinion, it is easy to understand how many natural and respectable scruples might prevent their following such a leader in his Church errantry. They must, in fact, have broken with their own system to give themselves to his, and this they might not be prepared to do. They might value his itinerating plan as supplementary to the localized labors of the parish minister, but at the same time demur to its taking the place of parochial duty, as its tendency was and as its effect has been. Thus was Wesley early thrown upon a species of agency for help which he would doubtless sincerely deplore at first, namely, a very slenderly equipped but zealously ardent and fearless laity; but which, again, his after experience led him to value at its proper worth, and to see in the adaptation of his men to the common mind their highest quahfication. “ Fire low,” is said to have been his frequent charge in after life to young ministers ; a maxim the truth of which was confirmed by the years of an unusually protracted ministry and acquaintance with mankind. A ministry that dealt in perfumed handker- chiefs, and felt most at home in Bond-street and the ball-room — the perfumed popinjays of their profession ; or one that, emu- lous of the fame of Himrod, that mighty hunter before the Lord, sacrificed clerical duty to the sports of the field, prized the reputation of securing the brush before that of being a good shepherd of the sheep, and deemed the music of the Tally-ho or Hunting Choras infinitely more melodious than the Psalms of David; or, again, one composed of the fastidious students of over-refined sensibilities, better acquainted with the modes of thought of past generations than with the actual habits of the present, dehcate recluses and nervous men, the bats of society, who shrink from the sunshine of busy hfe into the congenial twilight of their libraries, whose over-edu- cated susceptibihties would prompt the strain — ‘ ‘ 0 lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud ! I fall upon the thorns of life, I bleed ! ” — 208 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. these would have utterly failed for the work John Wesley wanted them to do. Ministers from the higher walks of life would either to a great degree have wanted those sympathies that should exist between the shepherd and the flock, or would have yielded before the rough treatment the first Methodist preachers were called to endure. Although the reflnement of a century has done much to crush the coarser forms of persecu- tion, it must not be forgotten that the early ministers of Meth- odism were called to encounter physical quite as frequently as logical argumentation. The middle terms of the syllogisms they were treated to were commonly the middle of the horse- pond and their sorites the dung-heap, l^ow the plain men whom Wesley was so fortunate as to enlist in his cause were those whose habits of daily life and undisputing faith in the truth of their system qualified to “ endure hardness as good soldiers.” They were not over-refined for intercourse with rude, common people ; could put up with the coarsest fare in their mission to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ to the poorest of the poor ; and were not to be daunted by the per- spective of rotten eggs and duckings, of brickbats and manda- muses, which threatened to keep effectually in abeyance any temptation to incur the woe when all men should speak well of them. Hence among the first coadjutors of the great leader were John Helson, a stone-mason ; Thomas Olivers, a shoe- maker; William Hunter, a farmer; Alexander Mather, a baker; Peter Jaco, a Cornish fisherman; and Thomas Hanby, a weaver. Thus the ministry that was to fasten upon the people was rightly taken from among the people, a point never to be lost sight of by any religious body aiming at popular influence. In the same proportion as the teachers are selected from the aristocracy or the middle classes, the field of labor will be confined to those classes, and the poor will, by a law that on the broad scale admits of no exceptions, throw themselves into the hands of persons of their own rank. The Church militant Ideas Wesley Developed. 209 must never forget that its highest mission is to the lowest, and that it is then most divine when it can most confidently aifirm, after its Master, “ To the poor the gospel is preached ! ” Any Church that is, to an observable degree, unsuitable to the poor, disliked by the poor, and deserted by the poor, has failed to the same degree in one main object of its establishment, and fails to the same degree in securing the blessing of the God of the poor. Another point in regard to the ministry to which Wesley gave habitual prominence, was the duty of making that pro- fession a laborious calling. The heart and soul of his system, as of his personal ministry, he made to be woke. Work was tlie mainspring of his Methodism — activity, energy, progression. From the least to the largest wheel within wheel that necessity created, or his ingenuity set up, all turned, wrought, acted in- cessantly, and intelligently too. It was not mere machinery ; it was full of eyes. To the lowest agent of Methodism — be it collector, contributor, exhorter, or distributer of tracts — each has, besides the faculty of constant occupation, the ability to render a reason for what he does. Work and wisdom are in happy combination ; at least such was the purpose of the con- triver, and we have reason to believe they have been in a fair proportion secured. And the labor that marks the lower, marks pre-eminently the higher, departments of the system. The ministry, beyond all professions, demands labor. He that seeks a cure that it may be a sinecure, or a benefice which shall be a benefit to himself alone — who expects to find the ministry a couch of repose instead of a field for toil — a bread-winner rather than a soul-saver by means of painful watchings, fast- ings, toils, and prayers — has utterly mistaken its nature, and is unworthy of its honor. It is a stewardship, a husbandry, an edification, a ward, a warfare, demanding the untiring effort of the day and unslumbering vigilance of the night to fulfill its duties and secure its rewards. It is well to remember that the slothful and the wicked servant are conjoined in the denuncia- 210 The Wesley Memoeial Yoluaie. tion of the indignant Master : “ Thou wicked and slothful servant ! ” Where there maybe sufficient lack of principle to prompt to indolence and self-indulgence, there are few communions which will not present the opportunity to the sluggish or sen- sual minister. But the Methodist mode of ojjerations is better calculated than perhaps almost any other for cheeking human corruption when developing itself in this form. The ordinaiy amount of official duty required of the traveling preachers is enough to keep both the reluctant and the willing laborer con- stantly employed. And Mr. Wesley exacted no more of others than he cheer- fully and systematically rendered himself, daily labor, even to weariness, being the habit of his life. A glance at his employ- ments at different periods of his career wiU dispel the mystery attending the marvelous productiveness of his pen, and multi- plicity of his labors, but only to heighten our respect for his industry, perseverance, and conscientiousness. The sketch which he has given of his daily labors is no artist’s sketch, hung up in his studio as a specimen of his skill, or poet’s por- trait, prefixed to doggerel dithyrambs, with “eye in a fine frenzy rolling,” to gratify personal vanity, or lure love-sick misses ; but the grave, unvarnished report of a grave, earnest man, who knew there was little to commend in it, for in doing his utmost he only did what was his duty to do. Yet was he the prince of missionaries, however humble his self-estimate might be ; the prime apostle of Christendom since Luther ; his pre-eminent example too likely to be lost sight of in this mis- sionary age, when the’ Church, in the bustle of its present activ- ities, has little time to cherish recollections of its past worthies, or to speculate with clearness on the shapes of its future calling and destiny. But in one sense he was more than an apostle. By miracle they were qualified with the gift of tongues for missions to men of strange speech ; but Wesley did not shrink fi’om the toil of acquiring language after language, in order to Ideas Wesley Developed. 211 speak intelKgibly on the subject of religion to foreigners. The Italian he acquired that he might minister to a few Yau- dois ; the German, that he might converse with the Moravians ; and the Spanish, for the benefit of some Jews among his parishioners. Such rare parts, and zeal, and perseverance, and learning, are seldom combined in any Kving man. We have never seen nor heard of any one like W esley in the capac- ity and liking for labor ; we indulge, therefore, very slender hopes of encountering such a one in the remaining space of our pilgrimage. In onr sober judgment it were as san« to expect the buried majesty of Denmark to revisit the glimpses of the moon, as hope to find all the conditions presented in John Wesley to show themselves again in England. We may not look upon his like again. Unlike many, unlike most enduring celebrities, Wesley was successful, popular, appreciated during his life-time, nor had to wait for posthumous praise. This was, doubtless, owing in part to the practical bent his genius took, which was calculated to win popular regard, as well as to the unequaled excellence he displayed in the Line he had chosen. The man who was known to have traveled more miles, preached more sermons, and pub- lished more books than any traveler, preacher, author, since the days of the apostles, must have had much to claim the admira- tion and respect of his contemporaries. The man who exhib- ited the greatest disinterestedness all his life through, who has exercised the widest influence on the religious world, who has established the most numerous sect, invented the most efficient system of Church polity, who has compiled the best book of sacred song, and who has thus not only chosen eminent walks of usefulness, but in every one of them claims the first place, deserves to be regarded by them, and by posterity, as no com- mon man. A greater poet may arise than Homer or Milton ; a greater theologian than Calvin; a greater philosopher than Bacon or Hewton ; a greater dramatist than any of ancient or modern fame ; but a more distinguished revivalist of the 14 212 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. Cliui’ches, minister of the sanctuary, believer of the truth, and blessing to souls, than John Wesley — never. There was in his consummate nature that exquisite balance of power and will, that perfect blending of the moral, intellectual, and physical, which forms the ne plus ultra of ministerial ability and serv- ice. In the firmament in which he was lodged he shone and shines “ the bright particular star,” beyond comparison, as he is without a rival. WESLEY’S INFLUENCE ON THE EELIGION OF THE WOELD. “They glorified God in me.” — Gal. i, 24. E YERY human being has some influence on others ; and that influence is good or evil, according to his character ; feeble or powerful, according to his position, his natural talents, or his personal efforts. John Wesley had high principle, genuine piety, and eminent learning, combined with unwearied energy and incessant labors during a long life ; and his influence for good on his contemporaries and on posterity must, in the very nature of things, be proportionately great in its degree and extent — so great, indeed, that no human mind can fully estimate it. His influence is mainly spiritual in its nature, and, therefore, eternal in its results ; and hke all moral and spiritual causes and operations, its effects stretch into infinity. We cannot tabulate them; figures and statistics, however carefully and accurately compiled, cannot afford even an ap- proximate estimate of the amount of spiritual good resulting from the life and labors of John Wesley. Yet we may assert with confidence that blessings so great have resulted from no other life since apostolic times. And these blessings have come without the . usual alloy of concomitant or consequent evils. Unlike the awful struggles of the Protestant Reformation, Methodism overthrew no thrones, called forth no armies, and shed no blood, because it evoked no secular power to maintain its authority, to defend its claims, or promote its diffusion. It was purely a spiritual work— a mission of love — and it depended solely on the God of love for its success. True, it had to encounter fierce opposition; re- proach and scorn, brickbats and blows, were often profusely 214 The Wesley Memorial Volume. dealt out to the messengers of salvation, and some of them fell martyrs in their holy and benevolent work; but they suffered, like their blessed Lord, with meekness and fortitude, not counting their lives dear unto themselves so that they might finish their course with joy, and the ministry they had received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. It was not so much the province of John Wesley and his co-workers to recover lost truths, as to vitalize them ; to ex- emplify, enforce, and diffuse them, by their life and ministry. The great doctrines of salvation had been already recovered by the Reformers from the darkness and the putrid corruptions of popery ; and they were asserted in the creeds and formu- laries of Protestant Churches ; but they had become buried and fossilized in learned folios, and throughout Christendom they had few living witnesses. Indeed, the experimental doc- trines of justification by faith alone, and the witness of the Holy Spirit, were generally denied in the pulpit, though pro- fessed in the formularies of the Church ; and not only denied, but resisted ; while those who maintained and exemplified these essential truths were branded as visionaries, as deceivers, and rejected as enemies of the Church of God. In the estab- lished Church of England there was orthodoxy in the articles, homilies, and liturgy, but formalism and antichristian heresy in the pulpit. There were, indeed, instances of profound learning and exalted talent, but so equivocally employed as at one and the same time to be defending the evidences of re- ligion and undermining its experimental doctrines ; resisting the arrogant claims of popery, yet rebuilding the Arian hy- pothesis and asserting Pelagian errors. While the doctrines of the Reformation were thus disowned and dishonored in the English Establishment, the Hon-conformist Churches had be- come, in numerous instances, corrupt in principle and degener- ate in character. In many Churches predestinarian decrees had engendered Antinomianism, and in others had displaced Wesley’s Influence on Religion. 215 the saving doctrines of the cross. Many honorable exceptions there were, as we see in the character of Watts, Doddridge, Seeker, Leighton, Berridge, Adams, Venn, Romaine, Perro- net, Guyse, Hnrrion, and other pious contemporaries, who, like the weeping prophet of Jndah, sighed over the broken walls of the Church, and prayed and labored for the restoration of truth and holiness ; but their own testimony, also, abun- dantly confirms the gloomy representation we have given of those days. The amiable Archbishop Leighton describes the Church in his day as “a fair carcass without spirit.” Burnet, in 1713, complains that “ the clergy were under more contempt than those of any Church in Europe ; for they were much the most remiss in their labors and the least severe in their lives ; ” and he goes on to deplore the ignorance as well as the immoral lives of the clergy, alleging that the greater part of those who came to be ordained seem “ never to have read the Scriptures, and many could not give a tolerable account even of the Cate- chism itself ; ” and, further, that the “ case was not much better with many who got into orders, as they could not make it appear that they had read the Scriptures, or any good book, since they were ordained.” Judge Blackstone, early in the reign of George the Third, impressed with the degenerate condition of the Established Church, had the curiosity to go to hear every clergjunan of note in London ; and he states that he “ heard not a single ser- mon which had more of the gospel in it than the writings of Cicero ; and that it would have been impossible to know, from what he heard, whether the preacher was a follower of Confu- cius, of Mohammed, or of Christ.” “ Like priest, like people ; ” for it was a natural consequence that ignorance, indifference, and immorality in the clergy should produce ignorance, infi- delity, and profligacy among the people. Archbishop Seeker, in 1738, thus describes the state of the nation: “In this we cannot be mistaken, that an open and professed disregard to 216 Tub Wesley Memoeial Volume. religion is become, through a variety of unhappy causes, the distinguishing character of the present age ; that this evil is grown to a great height in the metropolis of the nation ; is daily spreading through every part of it ; and, bad in itself as any can be, must of necessity bring in all others with it. In- deed, it hath already brought in such dissoluteness and contempt of principle in the higher part of the world, and such profli- gateness, intemperance, and fearlessness in committing crimes in the lower, as must, if this torrent of impiety stop not, be- come absolutely fatal.” Similar lainentations over the deadness of the Church and the profligacy, infidelity, and contempt of sacred things in the world, were expressed by Dr. Guyse, Dr. Watts, and many others ; and this state of things is thus summed up in the “Horth British Review” for August, 181Y : Never has a century risen on Christian England so void of soul and faith as that which opened with Queen Anne, and which reached its misty noon beneath the second George — a dewless night succeeded by a sunless dawn. There was no freshness in the past, and no promise in the future. The memory of Baxter and of Usher possessed no spell, and calls for revival and reform fell dead on the echo. Confessions of sin, and national covenants, and all projects toward a public and visible acknowledgment of the Most High, were voted obsolete, and, in the golden dreams of Westminster, worthies only lived in Hudibras. The Puritans were buried, and the Methodists were not born. . . . The reign of buffoonery was past, but the reign of faith and earnestness had not commenced. During the first forty years of that century, the eye that seeks for spiritual life can hardly find it; least of all, that hopeful and diffusive life which is the harbinger of more. Bishop Butler observes: “It was taken for granted that Christianity was not so much as a subject for inquiry, but was at length discovered to be fictitious. And men treated it as if this were an agreed point among all people of discern- ment.” Had not the providence of God interposed at this crisis, the darkness must have deepened, the depravity gathered strength, and the state and character of the nation have degenerated to the worst degree ; causing it to assume, long ere this, a mixed complexion of heathenism, infidelity, c.rid profligacy, such as is revolting to contemplate. Events of a subse- "Wesley’s Influence on Keligion. 217 qucnt date would have aggravated existing evils, and given force and activity to the most malignant and pernicious influences. The princi- ples and example of the French nation; the infidel metaphysics of Hume, and the atheistic philosophy of Mirabaud, Diderot, etc. ; the insidious skepticism of Gibbon, couched in elegant diction, and blended with an attractive theme ; the profane wit of Voltaire, and the coarse ribaldry of Paine ; the semi-deism of Priestley, with that of Belsham and Lindsay, and their coadjutors of the low Socinian school; the numerous equivocal lecturers on scientific subjects, investing nature with self-act- ing and independent powers, to the exclusion of God’s presiding and active agency ; and the multitudinous skeptical publications, some elab- orate, and others light and ephemeral, which since that day have con- tinued to swarm from the press, would doubtless, without the counter- acting agency of a powerful revival of experimental and practical religion — without such a revival as that exhibited in Methodisnr — have combined to corrupt the principles and deprave the character of the nation, until the measure of its iniquity was full to the very brim, and the land had become reprobate — blighted and accursed by its own enor- mities, and scathed and rejected of God. This awful doom, however, was averted, and that revival of religion denominated Methodism was the principal, though not the only, means at once of saving the country from so great a calamity, and of introducing the brightest era in British history. . Wliile these humiliating confessions reveal the degenerate state of the Church in general, and show the need of a refor- mation, they show also, as by a foil, the wonderful influence which the Wesleys, Whitefleld, and other holy men must have had in encountering existing evils, and bringing about the great revival which crowned their abundant labors. God had, indeed, been preparing the Church in divers places for the needed reformation just before those eminent men ap- peared actively in the fleld of labor. It shows the divine ori- gin of this movement, that in the early part of the eighteenth century, and just when the Wesleys and their little band of pious confreres at Oxford were struggling against their sins, and anxiously though ignorantly striving after salvation by penances, mortiflcations, and good works, gracious revivals had begun almost simultaneously in different and distant parts of 218 Tiee Wesley Memoeial Volxjme. the world, and that without any connection with or depend- ence upon each other. Thus the Moravian Church at Herrn- hutt, in Lusatia, after enduring severe and protracted suffer- ings in tlie very spirit of martyrdom,, had been visited with power from on high, and become fired with missionary ardor. In various parts of Hew England, under the evangelical minis- try of Jonathan Edwards, hundreds had become converted, and primitive earnestness was excited in the Churches. In the principality of W ales, under the powerful preaching of Howell Harris, though a layman, thousands had been brought to God and numerous Churches planted, consisting of converts who had lived previously in the darkest ignorance, and in all man- ner of ungodliness and profanity. Proceeding from the same gracious influence, a remarkable revival was experienced a few years afterward in various parts of Scotland, under the simple but fervent ministry of the Rev. James Robe. These several instances of gracious influence and power in different hemi- spheres at the same time had commenced without any human connection or mutual plan of co-operation. They were sepa- rately originated by that blessed Spirit who worketh as he will, and where he will ; though doubtless in answer to the prayers of his people, and in the use of scriptural means. There had been a few praying people in each place and country, who, unknown to each other, had been sighing and crying over the abominations of the land, and pleading with God for the out- pouring of his Spirit upon the moral deserts around them. And now God was preparing the Wesleys themselves for the great work which he intended them to do. John and Charles Wesley, accompanied by some German ministers, embarked for America October 14, 1Y35, and landed at Savannah February 5, 1736. The two brothers went as mis- sionaries, but failed in this special work, mainly because they themselves needed a fuller baptism of the Holy Spirit; and doubtless God designed their appointed fleld of labor to be in another hemisphere. Charles returned to England July 26, Wesley’s Ineltjence on Religion. 219 1736, after spending little more than five months in Georgia. John embarked for England December 22, 1737, having spent less than two years in America, and landed at Deal February 1, 1738. The two brothers returned wiser but sadder men; their experience and their intercourse with the Moravian brethren having taught them that there were blessings of richer enjoy- ment by which they would be better qualified, as ministers of Christ, for the great work which lay before them. There was now no rest for the souls of these devout men. They read, they prayed, and they inquired after the more perfect way. They received fresh light from the instructions of Peter Bohler, and the testimony and experience of living witnesses, as to the blessing of a full assurance of personal acceptance by simple faith in Christ. They earnestly sought, and they found the blessing : Charles on the 21st of May, 1738, and John on the 21:th of the same month. George Whitefield had obtained it before the Wesleys returned from America. ’ These holy men, having received the spirit of adoption, went on their way rejoicing. If a cloud at any time obscured their prospects or damped their joy, it was soon dispelled by faith in Christ, and they grew in grace and in the knowledge of God their Saviour. Having themselves believed, they, spoke ; they could not hide the sacred treasure they had found. The love of Christ constrained them ; their souls burned with celestial ardor, and they went forth wherever Providence called them, declaring the grace of God to their fellow-men, and offering to them the blessings of a free and present salvation by simple faith in Christ. Soon the doors of the Estabhshed Church were closed against them ; but when pent-up walls were forbidden to these messen- gers of mercy, they took to the apostolic method of preaching in the open air. Whitefield began this Christ-hke mode of preacliing February 17, 1739 ; John Wesley followed April 2, only six weeks after ; the zeal of Charles rose above his Church prejudices, and he proclaimed the Gospel in the open air, May 220 The Wesley Memoeial Volusie. 29t]i of the same year. ISTow the wide door of the universe was open, and gave them boundless scope among the milhons of our race, and ready access to the outcasts of men — the neg- lected and forgotten of mankind. The colliers assembled at Kingswood and Newcastle-on-Tyne ; and crowds of poor and rich, of high and low, in Moorfields and on Blackheath Com- mon ; and soon in every part of England the long neglected and left to perish had the gospel carried to them by these messengers of mercy, and multitudes were awakened and saved. Masses of men and women amounting to ten thousand, twenty thousand, yea, fifty,Land as some have computed, even sixty thousand were drawn together to hear these apostles of mercy, and the word was with power ; Whitefield preaching with the glowing ardor of a seraph, and the Wesleys with the clearness, calmness, and earnestness of the apostles. Mighty signs and wonders fol- lowed, for the hand of the Lord was with them, and the Spirit was poui ^d out from on high. Whitefield traversed England, Scotland, and Ireland, for thirty-four years, and crossed the Atlantic thirteen times, pro- claiming the love of God and his great gift to manldnd. A bright and exulting view of the atonement’s sufficiency was his theology ; delight in God, and joy in Christ Jesus, were the essence of his religion ; and a compassionate solicitude for the souls of men, often rising to a fearful agony, was his ruhng passion : and strong in the oneness of his aim, and the intensity of his feelings, he soon burst the regular bounds, and preached the Saviour on commons and village greens, and even to the rabble at London fairs. Lie was the prince of English preachers. Many have surpassed him as sermon makers, but none have approached him as a pulpit orator. Many have outshone him in the clearness of their logic, the grandeur of their conceptions, and the sparkling beauty of single sentences ; but in the power of darting the gospel direct into the conscience he eclipsed them all. With a full and beaming coiintenance, and the frank and easy port which the Enghsh people love — for it is the Wesley’s Ikeleence on Keligton. 221 symbol of honest purpose and friendly assurance — be combined a voice of rich compass, which could equally thriU over Moor- fields in musical thunder, or whisper its terrible secret in every private ear ; and to this gainly aspect and tuneful voice he added a most expressive and eloquent action. But the glory of "Whitefield’s preaching was its heart-kindled and heart-melt- ing gospel. Blit for this, all his bold strokes and brilhant sur- prises might have been no better than the rhetorical triumphs of Kirwin and other pulpit dramatists. He was an orator, but only sought to be an evangehst. Like a volcano where gold and gems may be darted forth as well as common th ags, but where gold and molten granite fiow all alike in fiery fusion, bright thoughts and splendid images might be projected from his flaming pulpit, but all were merged in the stream which bore along the Gospel and himself in blended fervor. Indeed, so simple was his nature, that glory to God and good-will, to man having fiUed it, there was room for httle more. Having no Church to found, no family to enrich, and no memory to immortalize, he was the mere embassador of God; an ins23ired with the genial spirit of his embassy, so full of Heaven recon- ciled and humanity restored, he soon himseK became a living gospel. Radiant with its benignity, and trembling with its tenderness, by a sort of spiritual induction a vast audience would speedily be brought into a frame of mind the transfu- sion of his own ; and the white furrows on their sooty faces told that Kingswood colliers were weeping, or the quivering of an ostrich plume bespoke its elegant wearer’s deep emotion. And coming to his work direct from communion with his Master, and in all the strength of accepted prayer, there was an elevation in his mien which often paralyzed hostility, and a self-possession which only made him amid uproar and fury the more sublime. With an electric bolt he woidd bring the jester in his fools cap from his perch on the tree, or galvanize the brickbat from the skulking miscreant’s grasp, or sweep down in crouching submission and shamefaced silence the whole of 222 The Wesley Memorial Volume. Bartholomew fair ; while a revealing flash of sententious doc- trine or verified Scripture would disclose to awe-struck hun- dreds the forgotten verities of another world, or the unsus- pected arcana of their inner man. “ I came to break your head, but through you God has broken my heart,” was a sort of confession with which he was familiar. John Wesley, with less of the scathing lightning and alarm- ing thunder in his eloquence, had a lucid precision in his teach- ing, an activity in his movements, and a dexterity in manage- ment, never equaled, perhaps, in the history of man. Both were equally faithful and heart-searching, both abundant in evangelical labors, energetic in character, and steady in their aim to glorify God. Charles Wesley, though from physical debility and tamer spirit less adapted for leading the way in the great movement, was yet an excellent co-worker for a sub- ordinate position, while his admirable genius struck the poetic lyre, and embodied in soft and harmonious numbers the glow- ing spirit of the revival. Such were the master spirits whom God raised up, and so eminently qualified with gifts natural and divine, for that extraordinary work to which they were called, the blessed effects of which we enjoy at this day. Never were sanctified minds more fitted for co-operation : the one was a complement to the other’s deficiency, and their united qualities formed an agency of the most perfect combination. Thus, one in object and heart, and so adapted for conjoint usefulness, the Christian mind cannot but deplore that diversity of sentiment on some minor points should have led to separation. But Whitefield embraced the doctrine of absolute predestination, and Mr. John Wesley, fearing its tendency to produce antinomianism, pub- lished a sermon against that doctrine, which gave offense to Mr. Whitefield, and led to separation and temporary estrange- ment. This took place in 1743, about five years after Mr. Wesley’s conversion ; but a reconciliation was effected in 1750 ; so that although their societies remained distinct, they preached Wesley’s Influence on Keligion. 223 in eacli others’ chapels, and their hearts were cemented with true Christian affection. As an evidence of this, Whitefield added the following codicil to his will : “ I also leave a mourn- ing ring to my honored and dear friends, the Revs. John and Charles Wesley, in token of my indissoluble union in heart and Christian affection, notwithstanding our difference in judgment on some particular points of doctrine.” Mr. Whitefield died at hTewburyport, in 'New England, U. S. of America, on the 30th of September, 1770. He died in the very midst of his labors, and in a state of utter exhaustion, a martyr to his irrepressible zeal, leaving behind him the im- perishable odor of his saintly character, and tens of thousands of living voices to bless God that ever he was born. Wesley, with equal zeal but less excitement, was spared to continue his apostolic labors until he had attained his eighty- eighth year ; and then the wheels of nature, worn out with incessant and long-continued toil, gently relaxed until they stood still. He preached within nine days of his death. With- out pain and "without fear he sang as he neared the eternal world — “ I’ll praise my Maker -while I’ve breath, And "when my voice is lost in death, ” and on the very night of his exit he repeated, scores of times, the first words of the hymn : “ I’ll praise, I’ll praise.” Unable to say more except the word “ farewell,” he expired March 2, 1791, and was interred behind City Road Chapel, London. His brother Charles died three years before, on March 29, 1788, and it is a remarkable coincidence that at the very moment when Charles died, his brother John and his congregation in Shropshire were engaged in singing Charles Wesley’s hymn, “ Come, let us join our friends above That have obtained the prize,” etc. In trying to estimate the influence of Wesley on the Chris- tian world we must first notice lus own Church as a part, and 224 The Wesley Memorial Volume. now no small part, of the Church of Christ. As the result of God’s blessing on his genuine Christian experience, the sterling excellence and benevolence of his character, and his abundant labors, many thousands were converted to God, and became inspired with a spirit like his own. Among these were many w’ho, like John Nelson, Thomas Walsh, and others, were them- selves constrained to preach, and to preach, (with less polish and ability indeed,) but with an earnestness hardly less intense than his own. As the result, thousands more were converted to God. Laborers being raised up as they were needed, the work spread until it prevailed to a wonderful degree, and ex- tended to the regions beyond. In the year 1785, March 24, Wesley records in his journal a brief review of the marvelous work of God in the following sim- ple, but graphic words : “ I was now considering how strangely the grain of mustard seed, planted about fifty years ago, has grown up. It has spread through all Great Britain and Ire- land ; the Isle of Wight, and the Isle of Man ; then to America, from the Leeward Islands, through the whole Continent, into Canada and Newfoundland. And the Societies, in all these parts, walk by one rule, knowing religion is holy tempers ; and striving to worship God, not in form only, but likewise Gn spirit and in truth.’ ” This gratified review of the progress of God’s work was recorded by Wesley six years before his death. But in the meantime “the grain of mustard seed” was still multiplying ; and when his happy spirit was called to its re- ward, the actual number enrolled as members under the organization of Methodism was 140,000 members, supplied by 650 itinerant preachers. Wonderful growth ! But, looking at the wonderful extent of Methodism now, (1878,) eighty-eight years since Wesley’s death, what shall we say of the far wider growth, and fructifying power of “the grain of mustard seed ? ” It has flourished in every quarter of the world, and its blessings of free salvation are expressed in languages spoken by many nations of the earth, numbering within its com- Wesley’s Influence on Religion. 225 prehensive pale, according to Dr. Tefft’s computation, (wliicli gives tlie latest statistics, and includes the various offshoots of Methodism,) the astounding number of 50,000 preachers, (local and itinerant,) 8,000,000 communicants, and 12,000,000 of hearers. And if we include the Sunday scholars, as we must do in order to ai’rive at a full and faithful estimate of Methodism, the computation of Dr. Tefft is not an exaggeration. Here, then, taking the world’s population at 1,200,000,000, is a ratio of one person to every sixty on the face of the earth either actually enrolled as members of the Methodist Churches or under the influence of the Methodist ministry ! Such a result in one hundred and forty years may well excite wonder, grati- tude, and praise. But, if from earth we lift our eyes to heaven, how many millions of happy glorifled spirits are there at this mo- ment, gathered through the agency of Methodism from all parts of the world, around the throne of God, blessing and praising him that they were rescued from eternal perdition and brought to the joys of salvation! We are overpowered — we are lost in wondering contemplation of the vast multitudes that crowd upon our vision ! Hot unto us, not unto man, but unto God be all the glory ! He hath done it. “ This is the Lord’s doing ; it is marvelous in our eyes.” “ His right hand, and holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.” Blessed be his glorious name forever ; yea, let all on earth and in heaven praise him for ever and ever. Amen. Yet the vast numbers which constitute the Methodist Churches on earth and in heaven, could we count them all, and place the entire aggregate in flgures under our eye, would not adequately nor nearly represent the influence of Methodism. Other Churches have been quickened into new life by the reflex influ- ence of Wesley’s piety, and the grand doctrine of a present and full salvation; other Churches have been aroused from lethargic slumbers into activity and enterprise by the example of Wesley’s numerous and incessant labors; other Churches have been excited to benevolence by Wesley’s self-denying and 226 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. boundless liberality. It was not possible for a man denying bimself, and giving and expending all bis income, sometimes to the extent of £1,000 a year in works of beneficence — rising at four o’clock, and preaching two, three, or even four times a day — traveling at a time when railways were not yet thought of, at the rate of four or five thousand miles every year, and amid all these labors writing numerous books, visit- ing prisons and hospitals, managing the affaii’s of numerous Societies in various parts of the kingdom, and maintaining a correspondence extending over the world — I say it was not pos- sible for a man to do these things, and not exert a powerful infiuence upon thoughtful minds in other Churches. Wesley was, as Robert Hall quaintly said, “ The quiescense of turbu- lence ; calm himself while setting in motion all around him.” The Churches of Britain and America saw his wonderful activity, and were amazed ; they ‘beheld the spiritual results, and became excited ; some to emulation, some to envy, and some to imitation, provoked by his example to love and good works. There was life in Methodism : life in its doctrines, life in its ministry, life in its singing, life in its prayer-meetings, and the spirit of life and power was in all its efforts. Other Churches saw this, and awoke to new life themselves, and thus the reflex influence of Wesley’s benevolent and zealous labors ramified and extended in various ways, far beyond the range of his direct and personal efforts. Moreover, in the open air services held by the Wesleys and Whitefield for so many years, great numbers of persons of all ranks in society, and worshipers in all other denominations, were awakened and saved, whose names were never enrolled among the Methodists ; but who, from domestic ties and other influences remained in their own Churches, and there lighted up the fires of piety and zeal. Many persons, too, from vari- ous causes, left the Methodist Societies from time to time, and joined other Churches, and helped to leaven them with evan- gelical truth, and inspire them with spiritual life. These in- Wesley’s Influence on Keligion. 227 stances were Tery numerous ; we cannot tabulate them, but tliey were^and even yet are, of frequent occurrence, and in tbeir aggregate amount to tens of thousands ; and among them hun- dreds of circuit and lay preachers who became settled pastors over ISTon-conformist congregations, or were ordained as minis- ters in the Established Church. Many, indeed, were driven to this resort by the pressure of want ; for in the early days of Methodism there was little or no provision made for the sup- port of married men and their families, and, therefore, gaunt privation compelled many to seek a sphere of usefulness where a comfortable subsistence could be found. We mention these facts, not in the spirit of envy or complaint, but to indicate the wide-spread and multifarious ways in which the vital influence of Methodism penetrated other Churches, and extended the kingdom of God. The fact is patent to all, and universally admitted, that with the labors of the Wesleys and their coad- jutors there was a waking up in the Churches which has con- thiued to this day. A sentiment this, sustained by the memor- able verdict of Sir Lancelot Shadwell, delivered by him in the exercise of his judicial functions as the vice chancellor of En- gland, and thus expressed : “It is my firm belief that to the Wesleyan body we are indebted for a large portion of the relig- ious feeling which exists among the general body of the com- munity, not only of this country, but throughout a great portion of the civilized world besides.” The gracious revival of religion under Wesley, while giving a scriptural prominence to the great doctrine of justification by faith, separated it from the deformity of Antinomianism, and every species of doctrinal fatalism. It divested Christianity from the reproach of a limited atonement, and the terrors of absolute and unavoidable reprobation. It presented the Gospel in its virgin purity, its celestial benignity and loveliness, as it shone forth on the day of Pentecost and in the apostolic times of refreshing, when thousands in a day were added to the Church. True, it spared not its terrible denunciations against 15 228 The Wesley Mei^okial Volume. the impenitent sinner ; it thundered aloud, as from the fiery summit of Sinai, the terrors of the Lord ; but it proclaimed, “ in strains as sweet as angels use,” the efficacy of a universal atonement, and the boundless mercy of God toward every con- trite soul. It discarded all the “ifs” and “huts ” and “special reservation,” by which Augustine and Calvin had fettered the promises, restricted the efficacy of grace, and chafed the anx- ious soul in its struggles for mercy. It showed the sinner there was no irresistible decree frowning him from the presence of his Saviour ; that the only obstacle or hinderance was in the sin- ner himself, and that the moment he renounced his hostile weapons, and placed his dependence on Christ as his Saviour, that moment he was justified and accepted of God. These gracious doctrines, with the necessity of personal holiness and obedience as the fruits and evidence of a living faith, were enforced by the ministry and exemplified in the lives of Wesley and his associates in the work of God. Their influence was soon seen in the Churches around, and still continues to be seen. The preaching of the Calvinistic school became greatly modified, and the pulpit generally began to savor more of prac- tical and saving truth than of stale speculations about fore- knowledge and absolute decrees. This change has continued to gain ascendency, and now high Calvinism may be regarded as becoming obsolete and dying out ; and the affectionate offers of mercy and earnest injunctions to personal holiness have happily taken the place of harsh and ascetic dogmas. In this change we heartily rejoice, as an approximation to primitive Christianity, and an auspicious omen to the general interests of religion. Yet while these views of sacred truth were conscientiously held and strenuously maintained by John Wesley, he was no harsh dogmatist, no exclusive bigot. He held the truth in love. His heart, his hand, and his purse were open to men of all creeds and professions; and had he been alive at this day he would have rejoiced in the growing unity of the Wesley’s iKELUEisrcE on Religion. 229 Cliiirches. as his writings and his life were consecrated to its proniotion. Many useful and invaluable institutions, essential, almost, to the universal diffusion of the gospel and the completion of the triumph over ignorance and sin, date their origin in the re- vival of religion under Wesley and Whitefield; and some of \ them may be traced directly to Methodistic agency. Sunday-Schools. — It is a common opinion that these heaven- blest institutions owe their origin to Robert Raikes, of Glou- cester. All honor to his name for his pious and philanthropic labors ; but, in truth, he was not the originator of Sabbath- schools. Bishop Stevens, in his “ History of Georgia,” tells us that John Wesley had a Sabbath-school at Savannah during the time that he was minister there ; and that was about forty- five years before the project was conceived by Robert Raikes. But apart from this. Sabbath-schools in England owe their or- igin to Methodism. The late Rev. Thomas Jackson shows, in his “Memoir of Hannah Ball,” a pious Methodist at Wycombe, that this young woman established a Sunday-school in that place in 1769, and was honored as the instrument in training many children there in the knowledge of God’s holy word. This good work commenced, therefore, twelve years before the benevolent enterprise of Robert Raikes. This fact was proba- bly unknown to him ; but even so, the very idea of the Sab- bath-school Avas suggested to his mind by Sophia Cooke, another young Methodist — the lady who afterward became the wife of the celebrated Samuel Bradburn. When the benevolent citi- zen of Gloucester was lamenting the prevalence of Sabbath desecration by the young savages of that town, and seriously asked what could be done for their reformation, Sophia Cooke meekly but wisely suggested, “ Let them be gathered together on the Lord’s day and taught to read the Scriptures, and taken to the house of God.” This suggestion being approved and adopted, the same young lady assisted Raikes in the organization of his school, and walked along with the philanthropist and his 230 The Wesley Memorial Volume. ragged urchins the first time they attended the church. John W esley wrote to Robert Raikes a letter encouraging him in his good work ; and by articles in his own magazine, and by letters to his preachers, he promoted the adoption of Sunday-schools in his own denomination, obseiwing at the time, as if prophetic of their future growth and importance, “ I find these schools springing up wherever I go ; who knows but some of these schools may be nurseries for Christians.” ISTurseries, in- deed, they have been, and still are, for the Churches. From them the Churches have been replenished with hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of members ; and among them not a few of her brightest luminaries, her ablest ministers, her most enterprising and useful missionaries and their wives. It is impossible to tabulate the glorious results of these heaven-born institutions ; but I find that several years ago the number of Sunday scholars connected with Methodism was computed by the Rev. Luke Wiseman at “ three millions and nearly five hundred thousand,” which we have reason to regard as a very moderate estimate at that time ; but since then the number must have increased to four millions as connected with Methodism, while not less than six millions of Sunday scholars are under the care of other Christian denominations. How many of these children and young people are annually brought to the enjoyment of salvation cannot be accurately given ; but from some statistics collected by the Sunday-school Union in England, and published in the report of 1875, we have ground for believing that the aggregate result of the labors of pious Sabbath-school teachers must, indeed, be very great. In that report it is stated that of the schools in the Un- ion eighty-four per cent, of the teachers were formerly Sunday scholars ; that eighty per cent, of the teachers are members of Churches ; and that 13,248 of the scholars had that year be- come united with the respective Churches. But, of course, the report of the Sunday-school Union refers to those schools only which are identified with the Union, and these are but a frac- "Wesley’s Ineleejs-ce on Keligion, 231 tion of the whole.* Yet these facts may be taken as a fair sample of the results of Sabbath-school instruction generally, certainly not as an exaggeration, especially as the work of the Sunday-school teacher is now become more spiritual in its char- acter, and the aim of the Christian teachers more directly turned to the salvation of the scholars under their care. How many thousands of Sunday scholars may we now hope are con- verted to God in one year in the aggregate number of Sunday- schools throughout the world ? And how many tens of thou- sands, yea, hundreds of thousands, have been converted during the hundred years since Hannah Ball, the young Methodist, opened her school at Wycombe? And how many have been transplanted from the garden of the Church on earth to flour- ish forever in the paradise of God above ? Here the pious im- agination may luxuriate ; here may gratitude raise her voice in exultant praise ! Schools aistd Colleges. — Sunday-schools, however, were but one means out of many which Wesley employed to pro- mote the great work of education. In the very year when he shook ofi his prejudice against open-ah’ preaching, and betook himself to the great temple of nature, Wesley and Whitefleld united in founding the flrst Methodist seminary ; and the very neighborhood, too, where the voice of the revivahst preacher was first heard in the open air was the spot where their first school was erected, Whitetield laying the corner- stone of Kingswood School, and Wesley finding the funds for its erection and maintenance. At the very first Conference which Wesley held, (1744,) the question was formally pro- posed, “ Can we have a seminary for laborers ? ” This shows what was in Wesley’s heart for men and ministers as well as youths ; but means were wanting, then, or the claims of other objects were more cogent at the moment. But in subse- * The entire number reported as belonging to the [English] Sunday-school Union in IStS is thus stated; Schools, 4,145; teachers, 98,904; scholars, 870, 638; not one tenth of the whole number in the world. 232 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. quent Conferences the question was resumed again and again, and though not realized at the time, the thought lived in Wes- ley and his successors, and was ultimately carried into effect by the establishment of those numerous and important schools and colleges, in England and America, and in their mission Conferences, which are a high honor to the liberality and intellectual culture of the great Methodist family. Thus the revival of religion was the revival of education, and they both advanced together hand in hand. Tract Societies. — The Religious Tract Society of London is a noble institution ; it is one of the glories of the age. It sows divine truth broadcast over the earth, at the rate of 200,000 religious tracts and books every working day in the week, or 60,000,000 every year ; and since its oiigin, in 1799, it has sent forth silent messengers of truth and mercy to the extent of 1,600,000,000 of copies. It may not, however, be generally known that this institu- tion is one of the outgrowths of the wonderful revival and diffusion of earnest rehgion produced under God by the labors of Wesley, Whitefield, and their zealous coadjutors. Yet so it was. Wesley, indeed, had written, published, and circulated numerous tracts, and even organized a “ Tract Society f a number of years before the grfeat society in Paternoster Row was conceived. Only four years after W esley had experienced the great spiritual change, he began his career as a writer and distributor of religious tracts ; for in the year 1762 we find he had already written and distributed by thousands, tracts en- titled, “A Word to the Smuggler,” “A Word to the Sabbath- breaker,” “A Word to the Drunkard,” “A Word to the Swearer,” “A Word to the Street- walker,” “A Word to the Malefactor.” And these tracts he distributed himself, and supplied them to his preachers that they might scatter them broadcast wherever they could do so to the probable good of the recipients. In 1715 we find him rejoicing that his efforts were inducing others to adopt the same mode of usefulness ; Wesley’s Influence on Religion. 233 for he writes, “ It pleased God to provoke others to jealousy, insomuch that the Lord Mayor had ordered a large quantity of papers dissuading from cursing and swearing to be printed and distributed to the train-bands. And on this day, “ An Earnest Exhortation to Repentance,” was given away at every church door in or near London to every person who came out, and one left at the house of every householder who was absent from church. I doubt not God gave a blessing therewith.” This was tract distribution by wholesale, the eSect, evidently, of Wesley’s example. Wesley did more than this. He saw in such a work the im- portance of organization, of general sympathy and co-operation, and, therefore, he issued a prospectus and formed “A Religious Tract Society ” to distribute tracts among the poor. He laid down only three simple rules, but a list of thirty tracts was proposed, already written or published by himself as a begin- ning, and the proposal concludes with these characteristic words : “ I cannot but earnestly recommend this to all those who desire to see scriptural Christianity spread through these nations. Men wholly unawakened will not take pains to read the Bible. They have no relish for it. But a small tract may engage their attention for half an hour ; and may, by the bless- ing of God, prepare them for going forward.” Here, then, was the organization of a “ Religious Tract So- ciety,” designed, as Wesley himself states, for these nations^' and based npon the most broad, catholic principles ; and this Society was in existence and operation seventeen years before the Religious Tract Society of Paternoster Row was organized. Yet, strange to say, in the “Jubilee Volume of the Religious Tract Society” of Paternoster Row, the efforts of John Wes- ley are not once named ! On reading that official volume some time ago I was amazed to find that though the isolated efforts of some others are made prominent, the extensive labors of John Wesley in this department of usefulness are unnoticed, and the Religious Tract Society he organized is not even 234 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. named. This strange omission must, we think, have been the result not of design, but of the absence of information. But though unnoticed or unknown by Mr. Jones, the author of the above work, there can be no doubt that great institution which is blessing the world every week with more than a million of religious tracts and books, is the legitimate offspring of Wes- ley’s labors and of his influential efforts in the same line of usefulness. It is gratifying to know, that although the Relig- ious Tract Society established by John Wesley does not now exist in its original form, its successor lives in vigor and pros- perity at the Wesleyan Book-Room, in City Road, London, having 1,250 distinct and separate publications in 18T1, and issuing in one year (1867) not fewer than 1,570,000 tracts, all printed and published by itself. Books and Periodicals. — While Wesley was the origin- ator of a Religious Tract Society, he was at the same time the active promoter of general knowledge. In 1749 we find evidence that he had previously published volumes as well as tracts, and now he began to issue his “ Christian Library,” in fifty volumes, embracing all sorts of valuable knowledge, but expurgated fj’om the mixture of all sentiments that might be detrimental to sacred truth. In the year 1777 he began to publish the “ Arminian Magazine,” which he edited 'him- self until his death. His preachers were his colporteurs, for every circuit was to be supplied with books by the “ assistant,” or superintendent preacher; and thus the press was made a powerful auxiliary to the living voice in diffusing knowledge, defending truth, and promoting the spread of religion. All that Wesley did, and all he said, echoed the voice of God, “ Let there be light.” He was a foe to ignorance, because he was the friend and the messenger of truth ; and to render his wholesome literature accessible to the poor, he sold his publi- cations as cheap as possible, and where means were wanting to purchase he was ever ready to give his publications without charge. Wesley’s Influee'ce oft Eeligion. 235 Bible Societies. — The British and Foreign Bible Society, formed in the year 1804, is, without doubt, the grandest institution in the world. Yet it was not the first organiza- tion to dispense the written word. It was preceded by the Naval and Military Bible Society, formed twenty-five years before. But both these institutions originated in the great rehgious movement of the age — one, indeed, directly from Methodist agency, and the other from Methodistic influ- ence. The venerable Thomas Jackson refers to this fact in his “ Centenary of Methodism,” and the Eev. Luke Tyer- man in his copious “Life and Times of Wesley,” gives us the following interesting account of the origin of the first Bible Society in the world. He says, in vol. iii, page 314 ; “ The first Bible Society founded in Great Britain, and perhaps in the world, was estabhshed in 1779, and was the work of Meth- odists. George Cussons and John Davies, after leaving the Leaders’ meeting in West-street Chapel, entered into conversa- tion, and when near Soho Square, formed a resolution to endeavor to raise a fund for supplying soldiers with pocket Bibles. They and a dozen of their friends united themselves into a Society for promoting this object. Their meetings were held once a month in the house of Mr. Dobson, of Oxford- street. John Thornton, Esq., of Clapham, became a generous subscriber. The first parcel of Bibles was sent from the vestry of Wesley’s West-street Chapel ; and the first sermon on behalf of the Society was preached in the same chapel by the Eev. Mr. Collins, from the appropriate words, ‘ And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, W oe unto us, for there hath not been such a thing heretofore.’ Thus arose the Naval and Milita/ry Bible Society^ This institution, which still exists as a distinct organization, was the precursor by twenty-five years of the great Bible So- ciety for the world ; and both sprang from the same cause — that craving for Bible truth which the revival of rehgion had 236 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. excited. There is an obvious and providential connection between this and kindred institutions. The gracious revival of experimental rebgion excited tlie benevolent j)rineiple, and stimulated men and women to do good ; and one form of doing good was, as we have already seen, giving gratuitous religious instruction to the young ; bence tbe origin of Sunday-scbools. Sabbatb-scbools produced in a few years a generation of readers. To afford wholesome pabidum to bundi-eds of thousands of newly created readers, religious tracts and books must be sup- plied ; to meet the narrow means of the poor, the books must be supplied at a cheap rate. Hence, Wesley’s tracts, and his Christian Library, of fifty volumes ; and hence, too, his Relig- ious Tract Society, followed, as it was, seventeen years after by the great organization of the Tract Society in Paternoster Row. But it was not possible that the religious thirst now excited could be wholly satisfied with human literature. There was the Bible, the Book of God, the fountain of all religious truth, and sole ground of its authority. This must be had. The desire became intense, and equally so the zeal of holy men to meet it. This desire had become so ardent among the people in Wales, where the circulating schools of Howell Harris and his zealous coadjhitors had promoted education, that the Rev. Thomas Charles, of Bald, came to London to interest benevo- lent men in supplying the population of Wales with copies of the Holy Scriptures. A meeting of some ministers and brethren was called, and it was proposed to organize a Society for this purpose, “ to supply the population of Wales with the Bible.” Joseph Hughes, of Battersea, got up, (I fancy I see him now, for I knew that holy man,) and he uttered these words : “ Form a society for Wales ! Why not form a society for the world ? ” As if inspired by the noble sentiment, it was resolved to widen the basis and purpose of the society, to embrace not only the small principahty of Wales, but the whole world. The Bible Society was then inaugurated, and thus we see how naturally "Wesley’s Influe^stce oit Keligion. 237 it grew under the providence of God, from the gracious revival of experimental religion, to the promotion of which the Wes- leys and George Whitefield had devoted their lives. Other holy men, especially the zealous evangelists in W ales, performed a worthy part, but history will ever accord the most prominent place to John Wesley in this great and glorious movement. The Bible Society has existed seventy-four years, and it has accomplished a work unequaled in the aimals of our world. It has published the Book of God in nearly three hundred lan- guages or dialects, and, including the issues of its auxiliaries at home and abroad, it has circulated since its commencement, copies of the word of God in whole, or in portions thereof, to the amazing number of one hundred and thirty millions, and is sending them forth at the rate of five millions every year. Behold, what hath God wrought ! In the committee formed at the organization of the British and Foreign Bible Society we see the names of two distin- guished Methodists, Christopher Lundius and Joseph Butter- worth ; and in the third year of its existence we find the name of the Bev. Dr. Adam Clarke, then the president of the Wesleyan Conference, who, at the special request of the Bible Society, was appointed by the Conference to London for the third year, his presence being deemed indispensable to the work of providing the Scriptures in foreign languages. These facts show both the direct and indirect influence of Methodism in giving the Bible to the world. Modern Missionary Societies. — I have before me the rec- ord of more than forty missionary institutions for spreading the gospel at home and abroad, aU of which have risen since 1790, and to these a large number of kindred institutions may be added ; and though some of these have no nominal connec- tion with Methodism, they all, doubtless, originated in that rehgious awakening which Wesley, Whitefield, and their asso- ciates in labor and prayer, so extensively promoted. For, in- deed, Methodism itself is one great collection of missionary 238 The Wesley Memorial Volume. organizations. "When Wesley found the ehurclies closed against him he said, “ The world is my parish ; ” and henceforth knew no more ecclesiastical restraints. The great commission to the apostle was “ Go ; ” here is “ itinerancy ; ” and Wesley and his preachers went forth ; they traveled. The great commission said, “ Go into all the world ; ” and hence no more parochial limitations for Wesley. The great commission said, “Preach the gospel to every creatni-e ; ” and hence the outlying masses must be reached ; and if they will not come to the gospel the gospel must be carried to them ; and hence the open-air aggres- sions, and the ministry exercised in barns, cottages, fairs, mar- ket-squares, and in all places where neglected humanity could be found. Here was missionary life and effort in the very soul and essence of Methodism ! Lay preachers rose up at first in units, then in tens, then in hundreds, and ere long in thou- sands. Here was the revival of an obsolete but a primitive mode of diffusing the gospel. Men speaking for Christ in homely phrase, but in living earnestness, because the love of Christ and the love of souls constrained them. Without ordi- nation and without ecclesiastical authority, except that which Christ himself imparted and inspired ; and here were missiona- ries ready at once for the work required. This formed no part of W esley’s plan ; for, indeed, he had no plan but that of fol- lowing wherever God’s providence and Spirit might lead. It led him to this in spite of his former prejudices ; for it gi’ew out of the spiritual life of Methodism as naturally and sponta- neously as the tree grows from the vitality and energy of the root. Hence the missions of Methodism to' distant lands and for- eign climes rose without any organization,* for, indeed, the organization came not until the mission work had gained a * January, 1V84 — eight years before the Baptist Missionary Society, twelve years before the London Missionary Society, and sixteen years before the Church Missionary Society — Dr. Thomas Coke and Thomas Parker organized a Foreign Missionary Society, and published “ A Plan of the Society for the Establishment of Missions among the Heathens.” — Editor. Wesley’s Influence on Eeligion. 239 footing in various parts of the world. Thus, twenty-six years before Dr. Coke went to the West Indies, a negress and her master, iSTathaniel Gilbert, had introduced Methodism into Antigua, (West Indies.) This beginning, followed up by the labors of John Baxter, a ship carpenter, had resulted in a Soci- ety of 1,569 members, and the converted negroes themselves had built a chapel from their own earnings. Hence it was the work of Dr. Coke not to originate but to extend the mission, which had spontaneously grown up from lay agency in the West Indies. It was the same in the United States of America. Philip Embury, an Irish emigrant, excited to his duty by the zeal of Barbara Heck, had commenced preaching in his own house, and formed a Methodist Society in Hew York in 1766; and soon after Captain Webb, arriving in Hew York, preached to the people in his uniform ; and when, three years after, in 1769, the Conference in England sent Eichard Board- man and Joseph Pihnoor, they found already a Society of 100 members and a place of worship that contained 1,700 people ; but as only one third of the hearers could get in, the other two thirds had to listen outside the building as well as they could. Here, again, the work of missions had sprung xrp without human organization, just as the primitive missions sprang up in Cesarea, in Cyprus, in Antioch, etc., in apostolic times. It was to assist this infant mission Church in Hew York that the first missionary collection was made at the Conference of 1769. It was much the same in Canada, Hova Scotia, and many other parts of America. We cannot, for want of space, narrate the facts, though they are of thrilling interest, showing the vital power, the spontaneous development, of Methodism. Suffice it to say that Methodism, thus planted in America, continued to spread in every part of the great republic under the apostolic labors of Erancis Asbury, whose incessant activity emulated the enterprise of Wesley, and the burning fervor of John Hel- son and Thomas Walsh. Ho labors could exhaust, no difficul- 240 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. ties could conquer, the energy of that devoted man. He forded rivers, he penetrated forests, he tracked the footsteps of the hardy emigrant to the uttermost settlement, and carried the gospel to the remotest bounds of civilization. He was, in- deed, a bishop of the primitive type, in labors abundant, in perils oft : and amid his incessant and arduous toils, by night as well as by day, carrying with him the care of all the Churches of his ever-widening episcopate. His contempora- ries labored with corresponding zeal and self-denial. His suc- cessors have carried on the great work transmitted to their hands, and copious showers of blessings have been poured upon their Churches. Methodism, taken in the aggregate, occupies no small space on the surface of the globe. Born of missionary zeal, all the sections of Methodism are actuated by the missionary spirit, and employ their wealth, their influence, and some of their best men as missionaries in spreading the gospel both at home and in various parts of the heathen world. Looking at the facts before us, we cannot but regard Methodism as a great missionary institution, putting forth its own energies for the conversion of the world, and by its spirit, its efforts, and its example, kindling the fire in other Churches, and becoming by moral influence, the main cause, under God, of the wonderful revival of missionary zeal in the several denominations which have, within the last sixty years, waked up to the duty of doing their part in evangelizing the nations of the earth. “ Methodism,” said the eloquent Dr. Chalmers, “ is Christianity in earnest.” Tes, and one part of its mission was and is to arouse other Churches to earnestness.. As the Rev. Dr. Dobbin, though a Churchman, and- of the Dubhn University, writes, when referring to the origin of Methodism and its powerful influence on Christendom : “ Hever was there such a scene before in the British Islands ; there were no Bible, tract, or missionary societies before to employ the Chui’ch’s powers, and indicate its path of duty; but Wesley Wesley’s Influence on Eeligion. 241 started tliem all. Tlie Cliurcli and the world were alike asleep ; he sounded the trumpet and awoke the Church to work.” The venerable Perronet had the same feeling in his day, while Wesley was alive ; for when looking around on the wonderful effects of Methodism, he wrote these remark- able words : “ I make no doubt that Methodism is designed by Providence to introduce the approaching millennium.” A sentiment which the subsequent development and influence of Methodism has served to illustrate and conflrm. Lat-pkeaching. — To lay-preaching, to which we have re- ferred, we must be allowed to give a more extended notice. When introduced by Wesley it was viewed by a slumbering Church as “ a startling novelty and pronounced “ an astound- ing irregularity / ” but soon as she awoke, and rubbed her eyes, she saw that instead of being “a starthng novelty,” it was the revival of a practice as old as Christianity itself ; and instead of being “an astounding irregularity,” it had primitive example for its precedent and apostolic sanction for its authority. When the disciples “were scattered abroad,” they “ went every-where preaching the word ” — in “ Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch ; ” and instead of this effort of spontaneous zeal being rebuked, “the hand of the Lord was with them ; and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.” And while the Church retained her vital en- ergy and aggressive power, the practice of lay-preaching was continued ; for we find in the early part of the third century, Origen, while ijnordained, went from Egypt to Pal- estine to preach in the churches ; and Alexander, the Bishop of Jerusalem, and the Bishop of Cesarea, in a joint letter to the Bishop of Alexandria, justify the practice, saying, “ Wher- ever any are found who are fit to profit the brethi-en, the holy bishops of their own accord ask them to preach unto the people.” Hence, “the astounding irregularity” lay not in adopting, but in so long neglecting, the primitive and di- vinely sanctioned practice of lay-preaching. It was divinely 242 The AVesley Memorial A^olume. sanctioned now in the abundant blessing which rested upon AV^esley’s humble workers, and through their agency the gospel was carried to hundreds of benighted villages and towns which the regularly ordained ministers could not reach; and thus was created a rich and abundant source from which, ever since, the regular itinerant ministry has been supplied. Other Churches saw the practice and the blessing resting upon it, and it seemed like a new revelation dawning upon them. Henceforth a lay agency was adopted, and this augmented power imparted new energy and efficiency to the Christian world. Many Churches, once stiffened with ecclesiastical starch, and muffied with sacerdotal vestments, have been given to see that Christianity, to fulfill her mission, must awake and put on strength ; must shake herself from the dust, and loose the bands from her neck, and go forth untrammeled and work with elastic freedom, employing all the resources of her power and her people to save mankind. Thus Methodism not only awoke religion from her tomb, but burst the bandages by which she had been trammeled and restrained, and bade her go free to bless the nations of the earth. We have not space to do justice to a subject so copious, so diversified, so rich in facts of interest, and facts increasing in number as years roll on. Slavery and the Slave-trade.— Slavery is now become extinct not only in the British dominions but also in America ; but who knows how much the well-known sentiments of AV^es- ley have infiuenced public opinion on this subject? At the time when AV^hitefield was the advocate of slavery and the owner of fifty slaves, and when John Hewton — afterward rector of St. Mary’s, Woolnoth, London — was engaged in the African slave-trade, John AVesley was denouncing slavery, and in 1774 he published a tract of fifty-three octavo pages against it. In the very year that AV^esley’s utterance was pronounced, Granville Sharpe began to advocate in public the cause of freedom. Fifteen years after the society was formed for “The Suppression of the Slave-trade,” AYesley’s tract was re- "Wesley’s Ineluence ok Keligiok. 243 publislied in Philadelpliia, and tlie agitation was continued until England paid do\\Ti the sum of £20,000,000 sterling for the freedom of the slave. The same feehng grew in Amer- ica until slavery was abolished, and Churches for a time alien- ated met and embraced each other in fraternal sympathy and love. Sacked Ltkic Poetky. — In noticing the influence of Meth- odism on the Churches it would be inexcusable not to advert to its poetry. The Holy Spirit which actuated John Wes- ley to revive true experimental religion inspired Charles Wesley to give it expression in poetic numbers. Methodism required just such hymns as Charles and John Wesley com- posed. Its psalmody must harmonize with its earnest spirit and give it vocal -utterance. Its doctrines of free grace, uni- versal redemption, justifying faith, the Holy Spirit’s witness, and entire sanctification ; its intimate and holy fellowship ; its clear apprehensions of duty ; its sublime morality, and its intense missionary ardor, required to be embodied in sacred song for the purpose of public worship, and of family and closet devotion. But where was poetry to be found to ex- press the animus of the Methodist body ? Evangelical as are the sentiments, refined and elegant as the diction and the rhythm, of Watts, Doddridge, Cowper, Hewton, and others — we acknowledge we enjoy and admire many of the hymns of the honored men we have named — I know of no collection of hymns, ancient or modern, but one, which can fully utter the doctrinal sentiments and the vig- orous pulsations of the Methodistic heart, and that collection is the Hymn Book composed and compiled by John and Charles Wesley. In the category of our blessings, the Wes- leyan Hymn Book must be reckoned one of unspeakable im- portance and value. Besides its high quahties in poetic com- position, it is a vehicle through which truth is conveyed, and a means by which it is conserved. It comprises a body of the soundest theology, the richest experience, and the sublimest 16 244 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. inoraKty. Its absence would have left a vacuum in our privileges which no other book of poems could supply. God saw it was needed and he supplied the need by the sanctified genius of the W esleys ; and what has been so great a blessing in fostering the piety of Methodism has fed the fiame of re- ligion in other denominations; and hence, of late years, the copious use which other Churches are making of pur excellent hymns. I cannot better conclude Wesley’s Influence on the Religion of the World than in the following sweetly flowing lines of Charles Wesley : — Our conquering Lord Hath prospered his word, Hath made it prevail ; And mightily shaken the kingdom of hell. His arm he’ hath bared, And a people prepared His glory to show ; And witness the power of his passion below. His Spirit revives His work in our lives, His wonders of grace. So mightily wrought in the primitive days. O that all men might know His tokens below. Our Saviour confess, And embrace the glad tidings of pardon and peace. Thou Saviour of all Effectually call The sinners that stray : And, O, let a nation be born in a day 1 Then, then let it spread. Thy knowledge and dread. Till the earth is o’erflowed. And the universe filled with the glory of God. Amen. WESLEY AND CHUECH POLITY. HEK Methodism is examined in the light afforded by m the experience of over one hundred and forty years, it presents a record of events which is both interesting and marvelous. That one out of a number of students at a famous university should be noted for his learning, or for piety, is not at all ex- traordinary ; but that such a one, in modern times, fired with no mere worldly ambition, and with no desire to make for him- self a great name, but whose heart, instead, was filled with zeal for the cause of God and compassion for the ignorant and sin- ful — that such a one should, in the providence of God, become the founder of a great Church, which, in less than a century and a half should number its membership by millions, is not only astonishing, but is without a parallel in history. Such a man was John Wesley. Such a Church is Method- ism in its various branches. It is not my present purpose to review the individual polity of each of the various branches of Methodism, nor to trace minutely every phase of the polity bequeathed to the Church by Mr. Wesley, as it was developed by him or was forced upon him by circumstances, but simply to outline some of the more important features of his matured polity, and to show how closely the man was identified with his measures. When Mr. Wesley, while yet a student, began to visit the prisons in order to benefit the inmates, or later still, as a clergyman of the Established Church, continued his ministra- tions to the poor and the distressed, he had no idea of the re- sults which were to follow his disinterested labors. His design was to reform men and lead them to Christ, but in doing this 246 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. lie expected to retain them in the Church of England, not to found a ncAV body. But as time passed the work grew upon him, and he was forced to depart from the beaten track which usage sanctioned in the clergymen of the day, or leave those whom he had been the means of rescuing from lives of sin to again become the prey of the arch enemy, and perish after all. hiearly every- where he went the newly-awakened people thronged about liim, seeking instruction in spiritual things, and he realized that some systematic method must he adopted by which it could be supplied. Hence, in 1739, he formed the first of his “ United Societies.” This was the germ whence the Church sjirung. Those who had desired to ridicule the whole move- ment had termed Mr. Wesley and his followers “Methodists,” and they wisely accepted the name. The Societies increased in numbers, and subsequently Mr. Wesley divided them into “smaller companies called classes.” The division into classes was at first designed only as a finan- cial arrangement, funds being needed to liquidate a debt which rested on a place of worship. The class consisted of about twelve persons, one of whom was appointed leader. This per- son had the oversight of the class, and to him, at first, were the contributions paid. Close inspection of the classes, joined to the reports of some of his leaders, convinced Mr. Wesley that these classes might be made conducive to spiritual growth, which was of more importance than the financial aid which they rendered, though both were essential to the well-being of the Societies, and accordingly he incorporated them into his system of government designed for the Societies. Indeed, it is at this point that Mr. Wesley may be said to have com- menced to develop his Church polity ; while yet he was far from contemplating a separation of any of the Societies from the Established Church. That idea came later, when circum- stances forced him to adopt it. For four years he regulated and governed the Societies by Wesley and Church Polity. 247 the aid of his helpers and class-leaders, without any general written law ; but in 1743 the “ General Pules ” were drawn up and promulgated as the constitution by which the United So- cieties were to be governed. In this incomparable code — in- comparable contrasted with other human codes — we readily perceive the sagacity and foresight of the compiler. These rules bear to Methodism to-day the same relation that the magna charta does to Englishmen. Only one condition was reqirired of all who desired admis- sion into the Societies, namely, “A desire to flee from the wrath to come, and to be saved from their sins;” but they were expected to evidence this desire by their subsequent walk and conversation. To guard, however, against the admission of improper persons into the Societies, who might, by disor- derly conduct, bring the cause into disrepute, he adopted the probationary system. The term of probation was first — it is stated by some au- thorities — two months ; afterward it was lengthened to three months, and finally to six months. Whatever views may be taken of the matter now, and there are many able men who contend both for and against the continuance of the probationary system, it certainly was an advantage both to the Societies and to those seeking admission to them in the commencement. It was a public guarantee on the one hand of the desire of the Wesleys to keep the So- cieties pure, and on the other, while admitting seekers of salvation to the religious privileges of the Societies, it gave them opportunity to examine carefully the doctrines taught by the Methodists and their usages. Then, if any were unwilling to subscribe to the one or conform to the other, they were at liberty to leave the Society without assigning a reason why they did so ; and, per contra, if any were disorderly in their walk, the leader might, after trying to bring them to a better state of mind, refuse to recommend that they should get their ticket of membership, when they were quietly dropped without the 248 The Wesley Memoeial Yoluiie. annoyance of expulsion. At the expiration of the six months, the conditions of the probation being fulfilled, namely, a regular attendance at class-meeting, leading a godly life, etc., etc., the probationer received his ticket, which constituted him a member of the Society. As the Societies multiplied, and Mr. Wesley’s assistants and helpers increased in numbers, it became necessary that he and his helpers should consult concerning the state of the work from time to time ; so another advance was made, and the Church polity developed one step further. The earlier of these consultations were styled “ Conversations.” Subse- quently the term Conference came to be applied to them. The general rules were admirably adapted to the regulation of the Societies, with their oflSciary, the stewards and leaders ; but now it was necessary that the work of the preachers, Mr. Wes- ley’s helpers, should be regulated also. Care must be taken as to what doctrine v^as taught by these men, because for it all, whether for good or ill, the world would hold Mr. Wesley responsible. And that there might be no confusion or clashing of interest the work of all must be systematically arranged. Considered numerically, these earlier Conferences were small indeed, but there was a large amount of effective work done by them notwithstanding. As the founder of the body, Mr. Wesley’s authority was, of course, supreme, both as to doctrine and usage ; but he was also accorded that authority by the common consent of his people : and, under the circumstances, it was best that supreme authority should center in him. Discussing this question, Mr. Watson remarks; “Few men, it is true, have had so much power ; but, on the other hand, he could not have retained it in a perfectly voluntary society had he not used it mildly and wisely, and with a perfectly disinterested and public spirit.” Referring to the same subject Mr. Wesley thus expresses himself : “ What is that power ? It is a power of admitting into, and excluding from, the societies under my care ; of Wesley aistd Chuech Polity. 249 choosing and removing ste'vvards ; of receiving or not re- ceiving helpers ; of appointing them when, where, and how to help me, and of desiring any of them to confer with me when I see good. And as it was merely in obedience to the provi- dence of God and for the good of the people that I at first accepted this power, which I never sought, so it is on the same consideration, not for profit, ^lonor, or pleasure, that I use it at this day. ... I did not seek any part of it. But when it was come unawares, not daring to bury that talent, I used it to the best of my judgment. Yet I was never fond of it; I always did, and do now, bear it as my burden, the burden which God lays upon me ; and, therefore, I dare not lay it down.” He inaugurated the itinerant system, and managed it so admirably that it became incoiporated into the general polity. After the long and somewhat acrimonious controversy which had been carried on between the Methodists and their oppo- nents concerning Calvinism had subsided, Mr. Wesley became more than ever solicitous about a settled polity for the So- cieties. Every year the necessity for devising some more systematic plan than had yet been arranged became more and more apparent. As early as 1745 the question of Church polity had been discussed at length, at the second yearly Con- ference, and every subsequent year had added its quota of light gained by experience. Mr. Wesley was a Churchman, warmly attached to the traditions of his Church ; but in this matter he felt that he must go as Providence seemed to direct. In 1746 he read very carefully Lord King’s account of the “ Primitive Church,” which convinced him that the unbroken apostolic succession was a fable — a mere assumption which had not been proved, and which did not, in fact, admit of proof : and this conviction helped to loosen the hold which the churchly tradition had hitherto kept upon his mind. Little by little, as the years rolled on and the exigencies of the case demanded it, his mental vision was widened and strengthened 250 The Wesley Memorial Volume. to meet that demand, until at length he took such an advanced position that his brother Charles joined issue with him in a very strong remonstrance. In his solicitude for the welfare of the Societies and their establishment upon a permanent basis, Mr. Wesley urged Mr. Fletcher to assume, or at least to share, his responsibility ; but Mr. Fletcher declined to do either. Mr. Wesley was in a strait ; but time, and the precarious tenure by which the Socie- ties held their property, which would be jeopardized in the event of his death if not properly secured before, demanded prompt and definite action. The Rubicon had long been crossed ; there could be no recrossing now. Strictly speaking, it had been crossed by the organization of that first Society in London in 1739. The work must now be consolidated, or more than forty years’ labor would be lost. But it was not the Societies in Britain alone that were urg- ing him to give them, once for all, a complete and definite polity, which would prevent disintegration when he was gone ; the Societies in America were also calling imperatively for prompt and effectual measures which would establish the Church there upon a permanent basis. In America prompt action was more especially urgent because of exigencies which had arisen as a consequence of the Revolutionary War. Hitherto the Methodists in America had received the ordi- nances of the Church at the hands of the parish ministers, as they had done in Britain ; but in the disordered state of affairs in the Republic, immediately succeeding the war, this was im- possible. Few, if any, of the old-time clergy were to be found in the land ; all, or nearly all, having returned to Europe with the British, as every vestige of Church and State had been swept away in the political changes effected at the time. Mr. Wesley fully realized the difficulties which beset his path, but it had not been the habit of his long life to turn aside from the performance of duty because difficulties were in the way. When any were to be encountered he met them Wesley and Chukch Polity. 251 squarely, and, if possible, overcame them. If it were found to be impossible to overcome them, he did what he deemed best under the circumstances, and in this spirit he proceeded to com- plete the work of the organization of the Methodist Church. In England he was trammeled by Church and State connec- tions. In America that difficulty had been removed. He had to plan for the permanent establishment of the Church in both countries, under different conditions, and, in the matter of the American Church his brother Charles opposed him strongly. After careful consideration and earnest prayer for guidance, having decided what he thought to be best for all concerned, he proceeded, in 1784, to carry out the measures decided upon. That his death might not seriously affect the Societies in Britain in a legal point of view, he had what is known as the “ Deed of Declaration ” drawn up and enrolled in chancery. In this deed he named one hundred preachers as the legal Con- ference, and made the term “ Conference ” also a legal one. By this document, also, the “ Legal Hundred ” were constituted a governing body, invested with power and authority which had hitherto rested with Mr. Wesley only. It also provided for the election of a president and secretary annually, and for the filling up of vacancies which would occur from death or other causes ; but did not make any provision for the ordina- tion of preachers, or authorize them to administer the sacra- ments of baptism or the Lord’s supper. It was not till years after Mr. Wesley’s death that the En- glish preachers began to administer the ordinances, nor then till after a long and unpleasant controversy had ensued upon the question. It should here be remarked, however, that in 1789 Mr. Wes- ley did ordain Mr. Alexander Mather general superintendent, and Messrs. Eankin and Moore elders. “ These,” Mr. Pawson, one of the early presidents of the English Conference, says, “he (Mr. Wesley) undoubtedly designed should ordain the others.” 252 The Wesley Mejioeial Volume. Such, then, briefly outlined, was the polity given to the Methodist Societies in Britain. In America it differed some- what. Here, as has been said, he was untrammeled by Church and State connection, and was, therefore, free to carry out the plan of Church polity which was the result of his mature judg- ment. Accordingly, in September of the same year that he made the Deed of Declaration he ordained Dr. Coke general superintendent, and eight days later gave him a letter of au- thority to proceed to America to organize the Church there into a distinct body. Hor did Mr. Wesley act in this matter on his own unaided judgment, though he had weighed it well. He consulted with Mr. Fletcher and others concerning the advisability of the course he was about to pursue, and they agreed with him as to the necessity for action. That he had a right to ordain men to the offices of the ministry in the manner he did, he maintained by referring to the decisions and transactions of the primitive Church as a precedent. Hotahly so by the usage of the “ ancient Alexandrian Church, which through two hundred years pro- vided its bishops through ordination by its presbyters.” Bishop and General Superintendent were synonymous terms. Mr. W esley had been greatly helped to his decisions upon the polity of the Church by Lord King’s “ Primitive Church,” the care- ful reading of which, forty years previous to this time, has been before mentioned. “ Dr. Coke,” says Dr. Stevens, was already a presbyter of the Church of England ; to what was he now ordained, then, by Mr. Wesley, if not to the only remaining office of bishop ? ” Mr. Wesley had also sumnioned Mr. Richard Whatcoat and Mr. Thomas Yasey to meet him in Bristol, where the ordina- tions took place at this time. Here, on the 1st of September, he ordained these brethren to the office of deacons, assisted in the ordination service by Rev. James Creighton and Dr. Coke, both presbyters of the Church of England; and the day fol- lowing he ordained them elders. These men, then — Dr. Coke Wesley Ajsn) Chuech Polity. 253 as superintendent or bishop, and the Messrs. "Whatcoat and Yasey as elders, the associates of Dr. Coke — were the persons commissioned by Mr. Wesley to organize the Church in Amer- ica, to whom he committed the well-defined polity and liturgy which he had prepared for it. Duly accredited from Mr. W esley to the Societies in America, they, on the morning of September 18, 1784, set sail for the place of destination, which they reached after a stormy passage of six weeks. They landed in h7ew York on the 3d of Novem- ber, and were entertained for a few days at the house of Stephen Sands, an infiuential member of the John-street Church. Surely it was fitting that the first Protestant bishop in the Dnited States should be entertained by a member of the first Society organized by his co-religionists in the country. In New York they took such rest as the Methodist preachers of the time were wont to take, preaching each day or evening, till they set oil for Philadelphia. Thence they proceeded south till they reached Barrett’s Chapel, where Dr. Coke met Mr. Asbury, and made him acquainted with Mr. Wesley’s plans relative to the polity of the Church, and his wishes concerning himself. Mr. Asbm-y had heard of the arrival of Dr. Coke and his colleagues, and was, therefore, partially prepared for the infor- mation he now received. In order to know the minds of the leading men among the American preachers he had called a council of such of them as he could collect ; and they and he deemed it wise to call a Conference forthwith, to meet at Bal- timore the following month. Freeborn Garrettson was the messenger sent “like an ar- row,” says Dr. Coke, to gather the preachers for this eventful Conference. On the opening of the Conference Dr. Coke took the chair, and presented Mr. Wesley’s letter dated September 10th, 1784, for their consideration. In this letter Mr. W esley had provided for the establishment of the American Societies into an independent Church, with an episcopal form of government, which could, he argued — we 254 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. think conclusively — be regularly organized by the officers whom he had appointed to do so, and had specially ordained for that purpose, namely. Dr. Coke and his colleagues, Messrs. Whatcoat and Yasey. Pie had cited to those who objected to this polity Lord King and Bishop Stillingfleet as authorities with whom he concurred, and had given expression to his own personal preference for an episcopal form of government.* He had not only devised this form of government, but spe- cifically recommended it for their adoption, and had also appointed Mr. Francis Asbury to be joint superintendent with Dr. Coke. The Conference cordially adopted Mr. Wesley’s plan, and at once proceeded to form themselves “ into an Episcopal Church, and to have superintendents, elders, and deacons.” Though appointed by Mr. Wesley, Mr. Asbury declined * See the Minutes of Conference for I'ZfS and 1747, quoted by Dr. Rigg, in '■^Wesley and the Church of England” pp. 77 and 80 of this volume. Note partic- ularly Wesley’s answers to the questions, “/s Episcopal, Presbyterian, or Inde- pendent Church government most agreeable to reason ? ” and, ^'’But are you assured that God designed the same plan should obtain in all Churches throughout all ages ? ” From Mr. Wesley’s answers to these questions, and others equally pertinent, it will be seen how liberal were his views on the whole subject of Church govern- ment. While Mr. Wesley had his preference, he did not believe that the New Testament Scriptures prescribe any one form of Church government Nor did Mr. Wesley prescribe any as “ essential to a Christian Church.” He was per- suaded that it was “ a consequence full of shocking absurdity ” to deny validity to “the foreign Reformed Churches,” because their form of Church government is Presbyterian, or Independent, and not Episcopal. Hence he believed that the government of the Methodist Episcopal Church of America, and even that of the Established Church of England, had no exclusive claim to apostolic authority. From his stand-point the Methodist Churches, whether Episcopal or non-Episcopal, are all, in form, equally apostolic. While he preferred a “ National Church,” he regarded a National Church as “ a merely political institution.” And while, no doubt, he preferred the Episcopal to any other form of Church government, he did not proscribe Churches whose government is either Presbyterian or Independ- ent. This, he thought, was a matter which each Church had the scriptural right to determine for itself. In answer to the question, '■'•Must there not be numberless accidental varieties in the government of various Churches?” Mr. Wesley says: '■'There mtist, in the nature of things; for as God variously dispenses his gifts of Tvature, providence, and grace, both the offices themselves and the officers in each ought to be varied from time to ,time.” And because “ the wisdom of God had a regard to this necessary variety,” he concluded to be the reason why “ there is no deter- minate plan of Church government appointed in Scripture.” — Editor. Wesley and Church Polity. 255 acting as superintendent unless elected by the Conference also. The Conference then unanimously elected Dr. Coke and Fran- cis Asbury superintendents, and Mr. Asbury’s ordination fol- lowed in due course. Perhaps no system of Church polity has ever been devised which is better adapted to the spreading of the gospel in all lands than the Methodist episcopacy is ; under the economy of which both pastors and societies enjoy mutual protection from arbitrary rule, and are favored with the privileges of Christian fellowship. The millions who have been brought to Christ through its instrumentality prove its power and efficiency ; and prove also the sagacity and foresight of Mr. Wesley in elaborating and arranging so efficient and lib- eral a polity. What the Methodist Episcopal Church is to-day, it has, like the constitution of Great Britain, grown to be through the storms of adversity and the suns of prosperity during the lapse of years. Equally removed from the assumption and tyranny of a hierarchy on the one hand, and from the license, uncertainty, and lack of central missionary force in segregated communities on the other ; a connectional Church sanctioned, as we think, by scripture, it stands, at least, a peer of the might- iest among the religious organizations of the age ; not boasting centuries of accumulated power, it is true ; but at the same time not burdened with centuries of excrescences and incum- brances. Youthful and free, preserving a pure doctrine and gathering a wise and holy zeal, with the blessing of God and under the power of the Eternal Spirit, it is, perhaps, not too much to say that it is — equally with the other Methodist Churches of Great Britain and America — the main hope of Protestantism for the evangelization of heathen lands. WESLEY AND TEE COLOEED EACE. W HEN Jolin "Wesley was on his first visit to Charleston, he preached for Alexander Garden, in old St. Michael’s Church. He noticed, with pleasure, several negroes present, with one of whom he had a conversation. He found her sadly ignorant of the first principles of religious truth. When he made a second visit to Charleston he conversed with another negro woman, whom he found in the same sad religious state. As carefully as he could he taught her the way of life. Negro slavery was not then permitted in Georgia, and few were the negroes whom he met. But while in Savannah steps were taken by him, as he wi’ites, “ toward pubhshing the glad tid- ings both to the African and the American heathens.” On his return voyage from Charleston to England, on board the ship in which he sailed were two negro lads, whom he in- structed in the principles of the Christian religion. Thus early did Mr. Wesley manifest his deep interest in the welfare of the African race. His opposition to slavery and the slave-trade is well known. His powerful arguments against the latter largely contributed to the success of Wilberforce. Indeed, it may be confidently affirmed that the abolition of the African slave-trade was due more to England’s great Methodist reform- er than to England’s great philanthropist. Little did Mr. Wesley dream, while conversing with the ne- groes whom he met in America, and the negro boys whom he was instructing in the ship on the Atlantic, that to the negro race, for whom he thus early felt such tender regard, a blessing would flow from his life-work greater than any other unin- spired man has brought to the sons and daughters of Ham. Without sectarian pride we may say, that the negro race has Wesley an^d the Coloeed Race, 257 been, under God, more indebted to Mr. Wesley and Methodism than to the combined efforts of all other Christian bodies, the world over. The space allotted to this article is too limited to allow more than a mere glance at the work wrought by the Methodists for the colored race. The facts herein presented will establish the truth of what has been said. In 1758 Nathaniel Gilbert, speaker of the General Assembly of Antigua, one of the W est India Islands, whose family claimed descent from Sir Humphrey Gilbert, the great English navi- gator and half brother of Sir Walter Raleigh, became an ad- herent of Wesley while on a , visit to England. Two of Mr. Gilbert’s slaves, whom he carried with him to England, heard Mr. Wesley preach in their master’s house at Wandsworth. Professing faith in Christ, they were baptized by Mr. Wesley. On his return to Antigua, in 1759, Mr. Gilbert began to preach to his negro slaves. For fifteen years he carried on the work. In 1774 he feU asleep in Jesus, and rested from his labors. His end was happy and triumphant. After his death the Society, of about sixty members, was kept alive for eleven years by two faithful negresses ; and then Dr. Coke sent a missionary to the island. The first missionary to the negroes the world had ever seen was Cornelius Winter, a Calvinistic Methodist, whom Mr. Whitefield brought with him to America ; but the first successful mission among them was the one in Antigua, originated by Nathaniel Gilbert, a lay preacher and slave-holder. In 1758 Mr. Wesley writes: “January 17. I preached at Wandsworth. A gentleman, come from America, has again opened a door in this desolate place. In the morning I preached in Mr. Gilbert’s house. Two negro servants of his and a mulatto appear to be much awakened. Shall not his sav- ing health be made known to all nations ? ” November 29, 1758, Mr. Wesley writes: “I rode to Wands- worth and baptized two negroes belonging to Mr. Gilbert, a 258 The Wesley Memorial Volume, gentleman lately come from Antigua. One of these is deeply convinced of sin ; the other rejoices in God her Saviour, and is the first African Christian I have known. But shall not our f Lord in due time have these heathens also for his inheritance ? ” “ These,” says Mr. Tyerman, “ seem simple entries ; but, as the acorn contains the oak, so they contain the germ of the marvelous Methodist work and successes among the sable sons of benighted and degraded Africa from that day to this. We think not only of thousands of converted Africans in Nama- qualand, KafPraria, Bechuana, l^Tatal, Sierra Leone, on the Gambia and the Gold Coast, in Dahomey and Guinea ; but we also think of tens of thousands in the West Indies, and Hterally of hundreds of thousands in the Southern States of America. This wonderful work of God began in the house of hlathaniel Gilbert, a temporary sojourner in the town of Wandsworth.” The last days of Hathaniel Gilbert, and the precious influ- ence which his unselflsh and sanctified life exerted upon the family that he left behind him, are thus told by Mr. Tyerman : “On what do you trust?” asked a friend. “On Christ crucified,” was the quick response. “Have you peace with God ? ” He answered, “Unspeakable.” “Have you no fear, no doubt?” “None,” replied the dying saint. “Can you part with your wife and children? ” “ Yes, God will be their strength and portion.” Thus died the first West In- dian Methodist. His wife soon followed him. His daughters, Alice and Mary, had victoriously preceded him. His third daughter, Mrs. Yates, died an equally blessed death. His son, Nicholas, for years was a faithful minister of Christ, and in his last moments was a happy witness of the power and blessedness of gospel truth. And finally, his brother Francis, his faithful fellow-laborer, returned to En- gland, and became a member of the Methodist class led by the immortal vicar of Madeley, the first class paper containing four names, and four only: John Fletcher, Mary Fletcher, Francis Gilbert, and George Perks; while, as late as the year 1864, Fletcher’s clerical successor in the Made- ley vicarage was the great grandson of Nathaniel Gilbert, and testified that he had reason to believe that no child or grandchild of the first West Indian Methodist had passed away without being prepared for the better world; and that almost all of them liad been even di.stiuguished Wesley akd the Coloeed Race. 259 among Christians for their earnest devotion to the divine Eedeemer. ‘‘ Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.” It is not our purpose to trace in detail the wonderful work of Methodism in the West India Islands, or how the mission extended its arms to the coasts of South America and Hon- duras. We may simply contrast Hayti and Cuba with Barba- does, Antigua, and Jamaica, in order to note the beneficent efiects. While Methodism has at no time and nowhere accom- plished all she has capacity to do, and while we cannot claim for Methodism that it has made the freedmen of these islands aU they should be, any more than that it has extirpated vice from Great Britain and Ireland ; yet the contrast between those regions upon which it has exerted its true power and those upon which it has not, is so striking that no student of history can fad to see it. The African had been in America nearly one hundred and fifty years before Methodism came. The larger number of this race with whom it first came in contact were those of Maryland and Yirginia. While they were by no means highly civilized, they^had lost many of those features which, as barbarians, they had brought with them to America. They were no longer fetich worshipers and devotees to their former superstitions. While still, to a great extent, the slaves of relig- ous delusion, they could not, properly speaking, be called idol- aters. The Methodist preachers had a timely and early acce^ to them in the promulgation, of the word of life. The simple gospel thus proclaimed to them by the early evangelists had great attraction for them. Ere long fetichism and debas- ing hallucinations fied before the light of gospel truth. They were once barbarians, and would have remained so in their native land. What seemed a curse was destined to prove a blessing in disguise. Many came as slaves to this strange and far-off land, to die in the triumphs of the Christian faith. Herein is seen the providential hand of God filled with the 17 260 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. greatest blessing for tbe enslaved, and counteracting the cupid- ity of man. When the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized, in 1784, it had already a large number of negro members in its expanding communion. Asbury and Coke were Englishmen, and violently opposed to slavery ; and Dr. Coke, by his attacks upon it, impeded to some extent the work among the slaves. Asbury, however, was more prudent, and more disposed to avoid public discus- sion. The Methodist preachers in the Southern States were many of them the sons of slave-holders, and, while opposed to slavery, they did not sympathize with Dr. Coke’s method of treatment, and so had access to master and slave. Those early preachers gave great attention to the religious interests and welfare of the colored people, and in consequence large num- bers of them were formed into classes wherever they were found. The class-leader was oftentimes the largest slave- holder. A place in every church was provided for the colored members, and the sacrament was administered to them as reg- ularly as to the whites. Ere long some of the most intelligent and trustworthy were licensed to exhort and to preach. In Charleston, Georgetown, and Wilmington, several very large classes were formed. The colored often outnumbered the white members. In those early days there was no special serv- ice for this class, since in every station, at the stated service, the colored members occupied and often filled the large gal- leries, and joined heartily in the worship. Up to the year 1787 there is no separate report of the colored members. The first separate report showed that the greater number were in Delaware and Maryland. Among the leading colored preachers of earlier Method- ism Henry Evans, of Horth Carolina, occupied a distinguished and conspicuous position. He was a free-born negro and a mechanic : a man of great integrity, and in high favor with the whites as weU as with those who were of his own color. Wesley and the Colored Race. 261 He worked among the stores in "Wilmington and Fayetteville, Horth Carolina, and in each place founded a Church, to which, at his own request, white preachers were sent. The Fourth- street Church, in Wilmington, is now upon a lot deeded to the African Church, for such the first Methodist Church there was called, and owes its place as a church lot to the labors of Henry Evans. So, too, the first Church in Fayetteville was founded. What Henry Evans was to the South, Black Harry, as he was called, was to the Horth. He was a coal-black negro, and traveled with Asbury and Coke, and preached with great power. Castile Seeby was another famous colored preacher of a later day ; one to whose memory Bishop Capers has paid the tribute of his grateful love. Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Church, was a power in Hew York Methodism. In Hew York, Phil- adelphia, Baltimore, Horfolk, and in the rural sections of the north-west districts, Methodism made gratifying progress, and especially in the farther South. In Charleston Methodism made large conquests among the colored people. There were many persons of color in that city of high respectability and of considerable intelligence, much of which they owed to the purity and simplicity of the gospel as preacked by Methodist preachers. Hp to 1832 there were no laws in any Southern State pro- hibiting colored people from learning to read and write, and there were regular schools kept for them. Many of the col- ored Methodists could read, and many were the trusted stew- ards and housekeepers, of wealthy families, or porters in banks and stores. Many were freeborn, and able to contribute toward building and maintaining the churches. In the coimtry the slaves attended the monthly services of the circuit preacher, and especially the camp-meetings. This class of negroes might be called Americo-Africans, since they 262 The Wesley Memorial Volume. were several generations removed from tlie native Africans. Christianity had its renovating influence upon them. The great mission-plantation system was not as yet, and the slaves owned by a Chi’istian master were regular participants in the family worship. There was, however, another very large class of negroes perfectly neglected. It was that class on the large plantations on the coast, and in newly settled regions. Just before the African slave-trade was ended by law large bodies of native Africans were brought into the country. They were purchased in large numbers, and placed in the rice fields and on the Sea Islands. In a climate milder, yet resem- bling that they left, fed abundantly with the food to which they were accustomed, they increased very rapidly. They were under the rale of their old African traditions, and groveling religious superstitions abounded. The children and grand-chil- dren of these native Africans in general feature and character resembled those who had come from Guinea and Congo. The circuit preacher could not reach them, and still less the city preacher. If reached at all, they must be reached by the mis- sionary sent especially to them. The Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1817, and William Capers, afterward bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was one of its first members. His great heart was stirred at the condition of the masses on the large plantations, and he, in connection with James O. Andrew, afterward bishop of the same Church, and always the warm and the true friend of the negro race, devised the plan of colored missions. This was in 1828. Dr. Capers prepared catechisms, visited the plantations, secured the co- operation of the planters, and mapped out the work. But few of the planters on the coast were then Methodists. They were principally Episcopalians, who only resided on their plantations during the winter months. They generally, however, gave a hearty co-operation, some of them agreeing to support the mis- sionary. There was much that was disagreeable and trying in Wesley and the Coloeed Eace. 263 tliis mission work. Tke slaves themselves were but few removes from heathenism itself, and the malaria of the rice fields was very deadly to the white man. Hence very trying were the cir- cumstances under which the missionary labored. The Meth- odist Episcopal Church supported the missions till' 1845, and then the work was continued up to 1865 by the Methodist Epis- copal Church, South. Dm-ing twenty years the Church South spent not less than one million of dollars in this field alone. The work was continually expanding, and demanding more min- isterial and financial outlay. The mission-plantation system grew with the opening of new lands, and colored missions were formed wherever there was any large number of negroes. Churches were built especially for the slaves, and when they were not so built, the churches of the whites were used by them. In the cities and larger towns there were churches especially erected for their use, and a missionary in charge of them. Also there were Sunday-schools, leaders, and local preachers. The results of this great work told upon the negro population. Polygamy, at one time so extensively practiced among them, ceased among those under Methodist infiuence. Many colored families otherwise not legally united in the marriage relation became as practically so as were those of the whites. Thefts, drunkenness, gaming, and profanity were very rare among the colored people to whom the missionary had access. There were over two hundred thousand members of color in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at the time when General Lee surrendered. Eor years, too, the laws prohibiting negroes learning to read were of no force, and only existed in the letter. There were many colored preachers who read well, and em- bellished the Christian character with all the graces of an upright life, and preached with power. Other Christian Churches had done a labor of love for the spiritual melioration of these once benighted sons and daughters of Ham. Yet to none do they owe a greater debt of gratitude than to the people called “ Methodists.” 264 The Wesley Memorial Volume. But we should give a very imperfect view of what Method- ism has done for the negro if we should confine it to those sections in which the negroes were in large numbers, and to that body of Southern Methodists which had them specially in charge. In the larger cities of the North, while there were not many negroes, there were enough to form considerable congregations, and in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington, negroes were gathered together in Methodist Churches. There were several different Church organizations in the North, differ- ing only in government, which were laboring to evangelize and educate the colored race. These were the Zion Methodists, the African Methodists, and the Methodist Episcopal Church. In every State these Churches are found ; and in all of the States many of highest position and of largest means are con- nected with them. Before the war the African Methodists had a university in Ohio, and had her quota of lettered and educated clergymen. The war came on, but the work among the colored people was not suspended ; still the faithful missionary went to his field ; still he breathed the often deadly malaria of the swamps ; still he trusted his life and the lives of his family to a people whom the world expected, with ax and brand, to carry death and ruin wherever the white man was powerless to protect himseK ; and still the Christian negro patiently waited for the end. Even where he loved his master, he longed for freedom ; and yet he felt no stroke for freedom, dear as it was, should be a bloody one. He simply waited. The Methodist had always been his friend. Many of the largest slave-holders were Methodists, and many were, like Nathaniel Gilbert, not unconcerned for their slaves. The Church had labored bravely, and was now rewarded in the greatness of the harvest ; but the war ended, and freedom came to the negro. Other Methodist bodies now had full access to the South, and with great zeal entered upon the work. Wesley and the Coloeed Eace. 265 The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, impoverished by the war, and scarcely able to survive the shock she had re- ceived, was unable to keep up the work she had begun and continued for so long a time. She could barely hold the ground she had gained. During the many years she had been directing the evangelical work among the negroes she had been training a body of colored ministers who were ready to take the places vacated by the white itinerant and local preachers. Many of these retained their connection with the Church South ; many of the ablest went with other bodies of Methodists. There was now aroused a great interest in the evangelization of the colored race on the part of the Northern people. ' They felt that every obligation required that they should do something for the negro, and at once they began their work. They found the field already prepared and white to the harvest. Preachers, leaders, and church buildings were at hand. Culture was needed, and especially organization for self-help, for hitherto the colored people had been provided for by others. They must now learn to provide for them- selves. The African Methodist Episcopal Church had a corps of able bishops and a compact organization. So had the Zion Methodists, who differed from the African Methodists in but little more than name. The Methodist Episcopal Church, rich and powerful, also came into the field. The Methodist Epis- copal Church established schools and colleges, and has been liberal and energetic. The other bodies have shown the same zeal. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, gave to the colored Church which it had set up — the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church of America — all the church buildings which it had erected for its colored members, and saw it organized- for important and successful work. The effects of Methodism upon the negro race in the South — and of the Baptists, the only other body of Christians who had done much for the negroes — was seen during and after the late war. The negroes rose in no insurrection. They waited the 266 The Wesley Memoei^ Volume. issue patiently, and wlien tlie end came and they were free, they accepted their freedom as of Grod. Wo Christian leader among them has ever been accused of any agitation that would result in bloodshed. They felt that God in his providence had said to the Christians of the South, “ Take these sons of Africa aud train them for me, and in my time I will call for them.” The two colored men who have been members of the United States Senate — men who, according to all testimony, have been noted for moderation, dignity, and purity — were Methodists and of Southern birth. The congregations of colored Meth- odists thrown upon their own resources have nobly met the de- mands, and now day-schools, and Sunday-schools, and churches are found all over the country. There is another result which we ought not to disregard. It is the influence of Methodism in welding the hearts of the races together. The white Methodists yearned toward their black brethren. The preachers who had preached to them, the Sun- day-school teachers who had taught them, the class-leaders who had examined them, and the bishops who had watched over them, could not be hostile to them, and the colored race could not but feel warmly toward those who had led them to Christ. So, while there was political division, there was religious fel- lowship. As to the future it is full of promise. When Col- quitt, the Democratic Governor of Georgia, leads the religious services of the colored people, by far the most of whom are opposed to his political views ; and when a Republican colored Congressman from his salary appropriates a liberal part to sup- port the family of his old owner impoverished by the war, every thing points to peace between the races, and prosperity ■ for both ; and to this end we believe Methodism has been the chief contributor. That the colored Methodists will always remain divided we cannot think, but, as the Wesleyans have their separate families, and the Methodist Episcopalians of America theirs, so may the colored Methodists remain as they are, differing in government, but Methodists in usage and creed. Wesley and the Coloeed Kace. 267 Although so ■wonderful a work has been done in the West Indies and America, the negro race in this western world has not alone been blessed. The tidal wave of blessing has swept back upon the shores of Africa. In Sierra Leone a Methodist missionary was found as early as 1811, but twenty years before he went there Methodist classes had been formed. Methodism extended in all the coast coun- try, and in 1839, nearly forty years ago, it reported over two thousand members. Thence the W esleyan missionary went to Senegambia, then to the Lower Coast, then to the Ashantee country, and then to the coast country near the Cape. America sent missionaries to Liberia, while English Methodists supplied their own dependencies. The work in Africa has just faMy begun, and the colored Churches in America are looking -with eager eye to the day when they can take their places beside the great evangelisms of their white brethren. To no race, we repeat, has Methodism been so true a bless- ing as to the descendants of Ham. Among no people of any race has it borne better fruits ; to none does it promise more. Among no people is the name of John Wesley more vener- ated, and no people sing the songs of Charles Wesley with sweeter melody or heartiness ; and among no others is there a purer type of faith and love, or greater devotion to Wesleyan Methodism. WESLEY THE PEEACHEE. ESLET as an Organizer has usurped public attention to TT such an extent as quite to obscure his character as a Preacher. And yet, in his power and success as a preacher was laid the foundation of all his power and success as an or- ganizer. He was, in simple truth, the most awakening and spiritually penetrative and powerful preacher of his age. "Whitefield was more dramatic, but less intense ; more pictorial, but less close and forcible, less incisive and conclusive. In "Wesley’s calmer discourses, lucid and engaging exposition laid the basis for close and searching application. In his more in- tense utterances, logic and passion were fused into a white heat of mingled argument, denunciation, and appeal, often of a most personal searchingness, often overwhelming in its vehe- ment home-thrusts. Some idea may be gained as to the char- acter of his most earnest preaching from his “Appeals to Men of Reason and Religion,” especially the latter portions of the first of these, and from his celebrated “ Sermon on Free Grace.” I am, of course, aware that the intimation I have now given of the character of Wesley’s preaching will surprise some, even of my well-informed readers, and that it is not in accordance with the popular conception of his preaching. It is- many years since the late Dr. James Hamilton, in an article in the “ISTorth British Review,” gave pictorial expression, in his own vivid way, to the mistaken idea which had grown up in some quar- ters respecting "Wesley as a preacher. He sketched him as, “ after his morning sermon at the Foundery, mounting his pony, and trotting, and chatting, and gathering simples, till he reached some country hamlet, where he would bait his charger, % Wesley the Pkeachee. 271 and talk through a little sermon with the villagers, and re- mount his pony and trot away again.” A more unfounded and misleading specimen of fancy painting than this it would be impossible to imagine ; and one can only wonder where good James Hamilton picked up the ideas or the fictitious informa- tion which he deliberately put into this written form. He was altogether at fault in his picture. As W esley was, during the greater part of his fife, simply the most assiduous horseman, and one of the most spirited of riders, in the kingdom, riding ordinarily sixty miles (let it be remembered what the roads were in the middle of the last century) day by day, besides preaching twice or thrice, and not seldom riding eighty or ninety miles in the day; so, for many years, Wesley was fre- quently a long preacher — was often one of the longest preach- ers of whom I have ever read or heard — and never stinted him- self of time when the feeling of the congregation seemed to invite him to enlarge, and when opportunity favored. Of com’se, however, he preached at all times many more short ser- mons than long ones, because he preached commonly three times every week-day, and four or five times on the Sunday, and because his earlier sermons on the Sunday needed to be over in time for his hearers to attend Church service. But when he preached after Church hours, whether in the after- noon or the later evening, and on special occasions, even on the week-evening, he was, as I have said, for many years often a very long preacher. Let me give some instances of this, only premising that all the special instances of protract- ed preaching which I am about to cite occurred after Wesley had taken to field-preaching. He had been an earnest and not unfrequently a long preacher before ; but it was not until he began to address crowds of thousands in the open air that his larger and grander powers as a preacher were called forth. About sixteen or seventeen months after his conversion Wesley writes in his Journal as follows, under date October 7, 1739, (Sunday :) — 272 The Wesley Memorial Volume. Between five and six I called upon all who were present (about three thousand) at Stanley, on a little green, near the town, to accept of Christ as their only “wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.” I was strengthened to speak as I never did before, and continued speak- ing near two hours; the darkness of the night and a little lightning not lessening the number, but increasing the seriousness of the hearers. Wesley had already, before this service, preached three times on that day ; and he preached yet once after it, “ con- cluding the day ” by “ expounding part of our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount to a small, serious company at Ebly.” Five serv- ices, therefore, that day, and among them one in which his sermon alone was nearly two hours long ! On Friday, the 19th of the same month, Wesley preached at Newport, in Monmouthshire, in the mbiming, and coming to Cardiff about the middle oi the day, he preached in the Shire Hall twice — in the afternoon at four, and again at six in the evening. He had a large congregation — “ almost the whole town” — and, preaching from the six last beatitudes, he says, “ My heart was so enlarged I knew not how to give over, so that we continued three hours.” On Sunday, June 13, 1742, he preached in Fpworth church- yard — ^his own and his father’s Fpworth — standing on his fa- ther’s tomb, and continued the service “ for near three hours.” This was his fourth service that day. On Wednesday, May 24, 1745, at Birstal, he “was con- strained to continue his discourse near an hour longer than usual, God pouring out such a blessing that he knew not how to leave off.” On Whitsunday, the 14th of May, 1749, at Limerick, he began to preach at five in the morning, and, there being no liturgy and no lesson, but only the simplest service, three short singings, one short prayer, and a final benediction, besides the sermon, he yet kept the congregation till near seven, “ hardly knowing how the time went.” At Whitehaven, on a Saturday evening in September, 1749, Wesley the Peeachee. 273 he preached from six to eight — a simple week-night service — which must have implied a sermon of not less than an hour and a quarter long ; and at eight he met the Society. These instances may suffice to show how Wesley enlarged under special influences. Even when he was more than sev- enty years of age, he sometimes, on a week-night evening, was so drawn out as to “ preach a full hour ” in the open air — as, for instance, in the market-place of Caermarthen, on the 21st of August, 1777. In the article to which I have referred it was said, that while Wesley could “talk through a little sermon with the villagers,” he “seldom coped with the multitude.” In the “Wesleyan Methodist Magazine ” for December, 1847, will 'be found a paper from the pen of the venerable Thomas Jackson, who died in 1873, in the ninetieth year of his age, which examines and reproves the errors of that article. Mr. Jackson thus deals with the point now under notice : — That he preached to “ villagers” so as to be understood by them, as his blessed Lord had done, will not be denied ; but that he “ seldom coped with the multitude ” is notoriously at variance with fact. No man was accustomed to address larger multitudes or with greater suc- cess. At Moorfields, Kennington Common, Kingswood, Bristol, New- castle, in Cornwall, Staffordshire, and Yorkshire, immense multitudes of people were accustomed to congregate around him through a long se- ries of years, and that with undiminished interest ; and it may be fairly questioned whether any minister in modern ages has been instrumental in effecting a greater number of conversions. He possessed all the essen- tial requisites of a great preacher; and in nothing was he inferior to his eminent friend and contemporary, except in voice and manner. In re- spect of matter, language, and arrangement, his sermons were vastly superior to those of Mr. Whitefield. Those persons who judge of Mr. Wesley’s ministry from the sermons which he preached and published in the decline of life, greatly mistake his real character. Till he was enfee- bled by age, his discourses were not at all remarkable for their brevity. They were often extended to a considerable length, as we learn from his Journal ; and yet, according to his oft-repeated statements, he did not know how to leave off and dismiss the people, for his mind was full of 274 The Wesley Memoetal Volume. evangelical matter, and Ins heart was richly charged with heavenly zeal. In a sense higher than ever entered into the thouglits of Archimedes, as he himself states, he was often ready to exclaim, when addressing vast multitudes in his Master’s name, “ Give me the where to stand, and 1 will move the world ! ” • Such is the testimony of Thomas Jackson, the author of the full and admirable “Life of Charles Wesley,” and the very accurate editor of Wesley’s voluminous works; who was him- self born before the death of Wesley; who made all that re- lated to him his hfe-study ; who knew well some of the men who had known Wesley best; and who should himself have accomplished for the life of John Wesley what he has so ex- cellently done as the biographer of Charles. The case being as Mr. Jackson has stated it, and as the extracts from the Jour- nal, which have been given, prove it to have been, it is proper to explain how the erroneous ideas which have been current as to the character of his preaching have originated. Three causes may be assigned to account for them. One is hinted at by Mr. Jackson in the extract we have given. Mr. Wesley’s was a very long life. Those of his people who had known him in his prime of strength and energy had died before himself. The traditions as to his preaching which have been current during the last half century have been mostly derived from those who had only heard him in his extreme old age, and, in many instances, on his hasty visits from place to place, when he would preach at seven o’clock on the week- night evening, or at five o’clock in the morning. But another, and, perhaps, more infiuential cause, has been, that an inference as to the length and style of his spoken ser- mons has been erroneously drawn from his published sermons. How unwarranted any such inference must be, may be shown by a remark of his elder brother Samuel, made at the very beginning of Wesley’s preaching career, and before he had begun field-preaching. In a letter addressed to Charles Wes- ley, but which refers to both dhe brothers, Samuel says, under Wesley the Peeacher. 275 date of December 1, 1738 : “ There is a most monstrous appearance of dishonesty among you ; your sermons are generally three quarters of an hour or an hour long in the pulpit, but when printed are short snips ; rather notes than sermons.” If this was the case so soon after the brothers had broken away from the bondage of sermon-reading in the pulpit, it is certain that, in after years, except in special cases — such as a sermon to be preached before the University — Wesley’s written sermons, which were ordinarily compositions having a definite purpose of theological statement and definition, must be regarded as altogether different in character from his preached sermons, delivered extempore, often after httle or no written preparation. Wesley the Preacher was teth- ered by no lines of written preparation and verbal recollec- tion ; he spoke with extraordinary power of utterance out of the fullness of his heart. StiU another cause of the error I have been exposing must probably be found in the urgency with which Wesley, in various places, enjoins on his preachers, as a rule, to preach short, and the emphatic way in which he insists to them on the evils of long preaching. But it must be remembered that the great majority of Wesley’s preachers were men whose stock of knowledge was very small, and who had re- ceived no intellectual training whatever. They resembled the plainest and most fervid of the Methodist local preachers or ex- horters of to-day. The same rule could not be apphcable to him as to them. But, indeed, the great Methodist preachers of Wesley’s lifetime — ^his most powerful lay helpers — were, as a matter of fact, none of them short preachers, while most of them were often, if not usually, very long preachers. Such were Walsh and Bradbnrn and Benson and Clarke. The fact, at any rate, is as I have stated it, so far as respects the preaching of Wesley; and I may add in passing, that for not a few years Charles Wesley was as long and often as pow- 276 The Wesley Memorial Volume. erful a preacher, even as he was as hard-riding and hard-work- ing an itinerant evangelist, as his brother John. In showing that Wesley, instead of being a talker of neat little sermons, was, in his prime of life, frequently a long preacher, and sometimes one of the longest preachers of whom we have any knowledge, I have not only shown how mistaken has been the popular tradition respecting his special character- istics as a preacher, but I have also proved that there must have been a remarkable charm about his preaching. Hone but a very eloquent speaker could have held thousands of people intently listening to him for two or three hours together in the open air. I have to add that, as I have already intimated, he was a singularly powerful preacher. Southey has given con- clusive evidence as to this point, in the interesting chapter in the first volume of his biography of Wesley, entitled, “ Scenes of Itinerancy.” Ho one, indeed, has done such justice as Southey to Wesley’s gifts as a preacher. Hot only in the “ Life of Wesley,” but in “The Doctor,” and in his “Com- monplace Book,” he has given evidence of the careful study and the fuU appreciation with which he has realized the preaching powers of Wesley. The able and eloquent Ameri- can historian, Stevens, gives some striking incidents to show how great that power was. “ In the midst of a mob, ‘ I called,’ Wesley writes, ‘for a chair; the winds were hushed, and all was calm and still ; my heart was filled with love, my eyes with tears, and my mouth with arguments. They were amazed ; they were ashamed ; they were melted down ; they devoured every word.’ That,” says Dr. Stevens, “ must have been, genuine eloquence.” Doubtless it was, and the very words — the vivid, affecting style of the description here quoted from Wesley himself — may serve to intimate what was part of his special power as a speaker. Like many terse, nervous writers, Wesley was not only a nervous but a copious speaker. His words fiowed in a direct, steady, powerful, sometimes a rapid, stream, and every word Wesley the Preachee. 277 told, because every word bore its proper meaning. With all the fullness of utterance, the gennine eloquence, there was no tautology, no diffuseness of style, no dilution. Close logical, high verbal, adequate philosophic, culture had, in the case of Wesley, laid the basis of clear, vivid, direct, and copious ex- tempore powers of speech. Culture and discipline, such as had prepared Cicero for his oratorical successes, helped to make Wesley the powerful, persuasive, at times the thrilling and electrifying, preacher which he nndoubtedly was. What a picture is that given of the effects of Wesley’s preaching in connection with his famous visit to Epworth ! For eight evenings in succession, in that splendid early sum- mer season, he preached to vast crowds from his father’s tomb, and his last discourse was his most powerful and prolonged, and was addressed to the largest multitude. The circum- stance, however, to which I refer, took place not on the last day of his preaching, but the day immediately preceding, (Sat- urday, June 12, 1742.) “While I was speaking several dropped down as dead ; and among the rest such a cry was heard of sinners groaning for the righteousness of faith as al- most drowned my voice.” “I observed a gentleman there who was remarkable for not pretending to be of any religion at all. I was informed he had not been at public worship of any kind for upward of thirty years. Seeing him stand as mo- tionless as a statue, I asked him abruptly, ‘ Sir, are you a sin- ner ? ’ He replied with a deep and broken voice, ‘ Sinner enough ; ’ and continued staring upward till his wife and a servant or two, who were all in tears, put him into his chaise and carried him home.” The stricken, staring, statue-like mas- ter, the weeping wife and servants— what a picture, I say, have we here ! That Wesley’s preaching was attended by more powerful and penetrating immediate results than that of any of his famous contemporary Methodist preachers, is notorious ; but it has been thought difficult to understand this. He was not, as I 18 278 The Wesley Memorial Volume. have said, a pictorial or dramatic preacher, like his great preach- ing contemporary, Whitefield ; but vdiereas Whitefield, power- ful preacher as he was, was yet more popular than powerful, Wesley, poj)ular preacher as he was, was yet more powerful in comparison with his fellows than he was popular. There is really, however, no special mystery about the power of Wesley’s preaching. All we know of his earlier preachina:, under special circumstances, Avould lead to the conclusion that he could not but be a singularly powerful preacher. His invaria- ble terseness of phrase and style prevented him from ever being tedious. His full and ready flow of thoughts, as well as of fit words, carried his audience with him. He was most pleasant in manner, pellucid in statement, fresh and lively throughout, and so frequent, so continuous, I might almost say, in his per- sonal application of what he was saying, making his doctrine to tell at every point throughout his discourse, that he never al- lowed the attention of his congregation to slumber. The cele- brated Ivennicott, at that time an undergraduate at Oxford, heard Wesley preach his last sermon before the University, in 1744, a fiaming, searching, intrepidly faithful sermon. Apart from its severity, he admired the sermon greatly, and was evidently very much impressed by the personality of the preacher. “ His black hair,” he says, “ quite smooth, and parted very exactly, added to a peculiar composure in his countenance, showed him to be an uncommon man.” He speaks of his “ agreeable emphasis ” in reading. He refers with approval to “many jast invectives” in his sermon, but with disapproval to “ the zeal and unbounded satire with which he fired his address when he came to what he called his plain, practical conclusion.” If “ his censures ” had only been “moderated,” and certain portions omitted, Kennicott says, “I think his discourse, as to style and delivery, would have been uncommonly pleasing to others as well as to myself.” He adds, “ He is allowed to be a man of great parts.” Cowper’s lines on Wesley will not be forgotten while we are Wesley the Preacher. 279 on the subject of his preaching. They were written when the fire and flame of W esley’s early manhood were long gone by. He speaks of him as one — “Who, when occasion justified its use, Had wit as bright as ready to produce; * Could fetch from records of an earlier age, Or from philosophy’s enlightened page. His rich materials, and regale your ear With strains it was a privilege to hear. Yet, above all, his luxury supreme. And his chief glory, was the gospel theme : There he was copious as old Greece or Rome, His happy eloquence seemed there at home; Ambitious not to shine or to excel. But to treat justly what he loved so well.” I apprehend that the last four lines give a most true and happy description of Wesley’s ordinary ministry, while Kenni- cott’s description enables us in some measure to understand the fire and intensity which characterized his preaching on special occasions, and in the prime of his life. Dr. Stevens has dwelt on the authority with which W esley spoke, the calm command which belonged to his presence and gave weight and force to his words. Ho doubt there was this characteristic always about Wesley’s person and presence. Gambold testifies to the same effect in regard to Wesley in his early Oxford days. Calm, serene, methodical, as Wesley was, there was a deep, steadfast fire of earnest purpose about him ; and, notwithstanding the smallness of his stature, there was an elevation of character and of bearing visible to all with whom he had intercourse, which gave him a wonderful power of com- mand, however quiet were his words, and however placid his deportment. But the extraordinary power of his preaching, while it owed something, no doubt, to this tone and presence of calm, unconscious authority, was due mainly, essentially, to the searching and importunate closeness and fidelity with which 280 The Wesley Memorial Volume. lie dealt witli tlie consciences of his hearers, and the pas- sionate vehemence with which he urged and entreated them to turn to Christ and be saved. Pie had not the “gift of tears,” as Whitefield had, or as Charles Wesley had, whose preaching appears to have been, in several resjiects, interme- diate in character between that of his brother John and of his friend Whitefield ; yet Wesley was often moved to tears as he pleaded with his hearers, and oftener still was the means of moving multitudes that heard him to tears. At times, however, his onset in applying his subject to the lives, the cases, the consciences of his hearers, was too intense, too direct, too electrical to be answered by tears. His words went with a sudden and startling shock straight home into the very core of the guilty sinner’s consciousness and heart, and cries, shrieks, sudden fits, cases of fainting and insensibility, men and women “ dropping down as dead,” as if they had been physically struck by a blow from some terrible engine, by a stone from a catapult, or a ball from a cannon, were the fre- quent consequence. And yet it was not that Wesley used stronger words than other preachers ; not that he used high word-coloring or exaggerated expressions ; the contrary was the case. Rather, it was that, using simpler and fewer words than others to express the truth — going straighter to his pur- pose, and with less word-foliage, less verbiage, to shroud or overshadow his meaning — the real, essential truth was more easily and directly seen and felt by the hearer. There was less of human art or device ; the language was simpler and more transparent ; and so the truth shone more clearly and fully through. There was less in language of what “ man’s wisdom teacheth ; ” less of what was fanciful, or elaborate, or artificial, and therefore there was more of the Spirit’s opera- tion ; more of “ the demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” So far as any mere written composition can give an idea of how Wesley preached when his aim was specially to convince and awaken, perhaps his last sermon before the University and the Wesley the Preacher. 281 wonderful “applications” contained in Ms first “Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion ” may help ns to sucli an idea ; but it must always be remembered that no written composi- tions can really approach the energy and directness with which Wesley preached when vast crowds himg upon his lips, to whom he was declaring, as in Epworth church-yard, “ the whole counsel of God.” Of the clear, strong, intense style in which Wesley could, if he felt it to be necessary, combine doctrinal argument with declamatory invective of the most scathing terribleness, we have an instance in his famous sermon on “ Free Grace.” But for the publication of that sermon we should at the present time have had no conception of what his powers were in that kind ; and it was owing only to very special circumstances, and much against his hking, that Wesley felt himself constrained to pubhsh that sermon. It is well known that Dr. Johnson had a great reverence for Wesley, and much enjoyed his society. In a letter to Wesley himself, he compliments him as “Plato.” Cowper, also', in the fines we have quoted, refers to Wesley’s power in social conversation of bringing forth the treasures of ancient philosophy. Let any competent judge read the plainly written but elevated and beautiful sermon on “ The Original of the Law,” and he will at once recognize the impress of a mind which, while it avoided all display of learning, was deeply imbued with the training and results of philosophy — of the highest and best philosophy, whether ancient or modern — so far as philosophy had advanced in Wesley’s day. Wesley had been an excellent preacher of his kind, though not as yet evangelical, before he went to America. His beau- tiful sermon on the “ Circumcision of the Heart,” preached before the University of Oxford in 1Y33, is one of several ser- mons included in his “Works,” which afford decisive evidence on this point. His style also — a style which the best judges, such as Southey, have agreed in greatly admiring, and which. 282 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. indeed, no one who understands and loves clear, pure, pleasant English can fail to admire — seems to have been already formed at that period, although its full power was not as yet developed ; it was awaiting development under the inspiration of full Chris- tian tenderness and zeal. But it was not until after he had become Bohler’s disciple that preaching came to be recognized and felt by himself to be his great work, or that the character- istic power of his preaching was brought out. It was his per- ception of the doctrine of salvation by faith which not only transformed him thereafter into a preacher, as his first and greatest calling, but which also breathed a new soul into his preaching. When he began to preach this doctrine his hearers generally felt that a new power accompanied his preaching ; and, at the same time, the clergy and the orthodox Pharisaic hearers felt that a dangerous, startling, revolutionary doctrine was being proclaimed. Wherever he preached crowds flowed in larger and larger volume to hear him ; but, at the same time, church after church was shut against him. As Gambold wrote in a letter to Wesley, it is the doctrine of salvation by faith which seems to constitute the special offense of the cross. This, at any rate, in W esley’s days, was the one doctrine which clergymen and orthodox church-goers would not endure. Short of this almost any thing might be preached, but on no account this. The University of Oxford would endure the high doctrine as to Christian attainment and conse- cration taught in the sermon on “ The Circumcision of the Heart,” but it would not endure the doctrine of salvation by faith, which ten years later, the same preacher would have set forth before his University. The reason would seem to be twofold : the evangelical doctrine of salvation by faith strips men altogether of their own righteousness, laying them all low at the same level in presence of God’s holiness and of Christ’s atonement, as needing divine pardon and divine renewal; and it also teaches the “ real presence ” of the divine Spirit, insists upon the present supernatural power of God to inspire repent- Wesley the Peeacher. 283 ance and faitlx and to renew the soul — the present supernatural power of Jesus Christ to save the sinner. Such a doctrine is “ spiritual ; ” it enforces the living power and presence of spiritual reahties ; it is accordingly “ foohshness ” and a “ stumbhng block ” to the “ natural man.” The “ natural man” receiveth not these “things of the Spirit of God.” The doctrine of high Christian holiness may be regarded as but another, and the highest, form of moral philosophy, of select and virtuous Christian culture. The doctrine of salvation by faith, through grace, is one which humbles utterly the pride of human understanding, and of merely human virtue. It was when Wesley became the preacher of this doctrine that he became a truly and fully Christian preacher. It was not a new doctrine ; it was the doctrine of the apostles, the reformers, and even of the homihes and formularies of the Church of England itself ; but in a sense-bound and heartless age it had been almost utterly forgotten. To revive it by the ordinance of preaching became henceforth Wesley’s great life-work. He became, above all things, himself a preacher, and he founded a preaching institute ; with preaching, however, always associ- ating close personal and individual fellowship. The whole of Methodism unfolded from this beginning. To promote preaching and fellowship was the one work, fellowship including a perpetual individual testimony of Christian believ- ers as to salvation by grace, through faith. Preaching and fel- lowship — this was all from first to last ; true preaching, and true, vital, Christian fellowship, which involved opposition to untrue preaching, and to fellowship not truly and fully Chris- tian. From this unfolded all Wesley’s life and history. His union for a season. with the Moravians, and then his separation from them, when their teaching became, for the time, mixed up and entangled with demoralizing error ; the foundation of his own Society — that of “ the people called Methodists ; ” his separation from his brother Whitefield and from Calvinism ; his field preachings ; his separate meeting-houses and separate 284 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. communions ; liis class-meetings, and band-meetings, and all tlie discipline of bis Society ; bis conference and bis brotber- bood of itinerant Methodist preachers; bis increasing irregu- larities as a Churchman ; bis ordinations, and the virtual though not formal or voluntary separation of bis Societies from the Church of England ; all resulted from the same beginning — from bis embracing “ the doctrine of salvation by faith.” WESLEY AS AN ITINEEANT. KF. absolute demonstration of John Wesley’s great work JL is, tbat it stands the scrutiny of the age and the test of time. During his life he was diversely interpreted. Well nigh worshiped by his adherents as a saint, he was ridiculed and denounced by others as an enthusiast, a fanatic, a schis- matic. Even those who admired the man, and pondered with wonder his tireless labors and unexampled achievements, misconceived his motives, and utterly failed to compre- hend his true character. The grandeur and magnitude of a mountain do not impress us while standing in its shadow as when, from some conspicuous eminence, the eye takes in its vastness and altitude. Comparison comes in to aid us in our estimate, and the prominence which was hidden by nearness of position looms up from the distant point of observation. The men of Wesley’s time did not and could not understand him. The antagonisms of his day provoked prejudices, exaggerated alike his virtues and his infirmities, and the controversies about his opinions and methods left contemporaneous judgment suspended and vibrating with the unresting winds which blew upon him. Between friends and foes opinions were so conflict- ing and extreme as to leave the intermediate classes in blank dubiety. The peculiar sanctity of the man, extravagant, as the world thought, yet always consistent with itself — the spirituality of his experience and his teachings, in offensive contrast with the prevailing type of religion — his broad views of the gospel, its power and mission, in opposition to the narrow and partial theology then prevalent — all these gave to his opponents a great advantage in turning the popular current against him. Hence 286 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. Wesley was a well-abused man. Hated, persecuted, maligned, be was sifted as wheat ; and yet, surviving all these agitations, and holding on the even tenor of his way, he lived to see the inauguration of that change in thought and feeling which has at last assigned him a place in Westminster Abbey, and thus secures a posthumous immortality to him, who, at one time, by the great majority of a lifeless Church and an ungodly nation, was not considered fit to live at all. The original fact, long doubted, denied, and obscured by mis- conceptions, false charges, and direct efforts to break down his infiuence and authority, has now crystallized in the universal conviction that he was a great man, a representative man ; great in his natural endowments, his scholarship and culture, and yet greater still in the singleness of his consecration and the un- wearied outlay of all his powers for the good of his race. For self-denial, heroic devotion, and protracted service, there is hardly a peer to be found in the annals of human history. However great Wesley was as an organizer — whatever his administrative talents as an original gift, and however these were developed, by early training in his father’s house, by his mother’s genius and piety, and his long scholastic career — yet his success was the result, not so much of his real statesman- ship, as of the subordination of his plans to apostolic prece- dent and providential suggestion. But this may be rightfully called the truest and highest ecclesiastical statesmanship. The church system of which he was the founder was not the elab- oration of his intellect not spun and woven from a pattern conceived in his own mind ; but was adopted in detail, one thing at a time, and at long intervals, as experience intimated a want or providence opened the way. Those familiar with the rise and progress of Methodism will see the reason and propriety of these views. Leaving out the many illustrations which Wesley’s history furnishes, this paper must be confined to a single fact and feature — the itinerancy. Called of God to preach, authenticated by the Church, and Wesley as ak Itesteeant. 287 jet disowned, rejected, and driven ont bj the ecclesiastics, Wesley bad no alternative but infidelity to bis trust and bis convictions of duty^ or, leaving tbe bouses of worship, to go out into tbe highways and hedges. His first circuits were improvised. He bad no plan but readiness to enter every open door, to obey tbe call of tbe people, to be instant in season and out of season. Turning away from settled con- gregations, organized with stated services, be went to tbe outcasts, tbe overlooked, the forgotten. He could not fore- cast tbe future, and bad no idea “ wbereunto this thing would grow.” Obedient to tbe heavenly vision, and working in harmony with tbe spirit of all grace and truth, “mightily grew tbe word of God and prevailed.” Tbe success of tbe movement necessitated provision to conserve its fruits. God met the emergency by thrusting out helpers and co-laborers. How Wesley hesitated about the recognition of these irregu- lar, unordained men, and bow be was overcome by tbe sage and timely warning of bis mother, are facts on record, “ known and read of all.” Right here tbe plan began to unfold and assume shape ; and it grew and grew, and is growing yet — all its possibib- ties being still future. More than a century of work and progress has not exhausted its vitality, or revealed any want of adaptation to tbe changing phases of human society. Outside of Methodism, the idea always prevailed that itiner- ancy was an admirable pioneer arrangement, well suited to a frontier population, to new settlements, to a crude state of social life, but wholly unfit for stable, well-established com- munities. On the basis of this plausible view the Methodist ChTirch has been regarded as a forerunner, whose sole func- tion was to prepare the way for the settled pastorate of other denominations. We do not mean to assail other people or their ways, or to dogmatize in behalf of Methodism; but the argument for a settled ministry, or even for a long term, has always seemed to ignore the self-conserving power of a 288 The Wesley Memorial Volume. true Christianity as found in the regenerate, and doubtless, as originally intended to operate for the protection of the local interests of Christ’s kingdom. The ministry, according to the pattern shoMm ns in the gospel, were to be left free for the work of aggression upon the world of unbelievers ; but the policy of the Churches generally has reversed the divine order. They have limited the preacher’s field— cir- cumscribed him — merged the herald in the pastor, and taught those who ought to live piously by their personal faith and communion with God, and through active labor in their local sphere for the benefit of others, to be dependent, and therefore feeble and inefficient. The sheep ought to do their own graz- ing, and not wait to be fed by hand. The Methodist Church, in order, as it is assumed, to compete with other denominations, has largely modified her peculiar system, and by every modifi- cation enfeebled herself. Almost every extension of the pas- toral term is a loss of aggressive power — of the real efidciency of the ministry in building up the Church— without adequate compensation in the conservation of her members. This is not the place to discuss the question now agitating the Church in some sections ; nevertheless, the thoughts which follow may prove suggestive, and help to a right settlement. “ Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” ISTothing but an itinerant ministry can execute this command. So the apostles seem to have understood it, and, though few in number, they well nigh fulfilled the commission in their day. The history of the Church all along has vei’ified the general idea of the indispensableness of the itinerancy, in that rehgion has been stagnant and declined when the ministry lacked aggressiveness, and progressive when they left their nests and stretched into “ the regions beyond.” The mission- ary operations of the day is the great representative fact of the Christian religion now ; and the signs of life and fruitfulness at home are but the reflex results of zeal expended abroad. ISTo Church can prosper that does not work outside of her private Wesley as an Itinerant. 289 iuclosures. The attempt to preserve and perpetuate herself ■without enlargement and succession, made sure by aggressive zeal and enterprise, ■will be at the cost of spiritual po'wer, and sooner or later of life itself. As a rule and a policy the settled pastorate (and, of course, all approximations to it are subject to the same discount) is maintained and defended by ■views which, unwittingly per- haps, nevertheless effectxaally, interfere with those spiritual in- fluences that alone give power to preaching and stability to profession. “ Hot by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the* Lord,” is an expression which affirms a principle in the administration of grace that is not to be confined in its ap- plication to the terms employed, but extends to every affiliated thing that is made a ground of reliance for religious results. The primary, all-absorbing object of the Christian ministry is, or ought to be, the conversion of sinners. The Church should recognize and conform to this idea in her plan of service as di- rectly as the preacher himself. How the end proposed is to be reached purely and exclusively by the Spirit’s demonstration and power. Hence every thing, however harmless or even de- sirable in itself abstractly considered, which intervenes in the preconceptions of the Church as necessary or even auxiliary to the success of the word, forestalls the divine plan, grieves the Spirit, and dooms the ministry to defeat ! The notion that to be useful a preacher must know the peo- ple and be known by them — that there must be reciprocal fel- lowship, the result of acquaintance and social intercourse — that manner, style, and gifts must harmonize with the conventional tastes and aptitudes of the audience, is all a simple fallacy, plausible but delusive. Indeed, the better suited the people are in these respects — the more contented with the fitness and adaptation of the instrument and the human proportion of means to ends — the less likely is success. There may be mutual dehght and satisfaction between pastor and people, but there may be no re-vival of the work of God. The man in the pulpit 290 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. may be pioiis and consecrated, bnt, exalted and magnified by tbe estimate of tbe people as tbongb be alone were “ somewhat, ” a jealous God cannot give fruit to bis preaching witboirt seeming to indorse a vital error in tbe mind of tbe Church. Paul may plant, Apollos water, bnt God alone can give tbe increase. Tliere is a world of planting and watering going on, but tbe increase is not proportionate. “ Wliy ? ” is a great question. These modern Church arrangements remind one of the servant Gehazi with the prophet’s staff laid upon the dead child. There is no life till the Master come, and when he comes he will not operate till the room is emptied. The prophet must be alone with God and the dead. My observation is, that the most popular preacher — the man most desired by the Churches — is most frequently the least useful. The sermon which does not do the work of Christ upon the souls of men may be intel- lectually great, yet, in a true gospel sense, it is labor lost. In the history of the Church it is a suggestive fact, that commonly as a preacher grows famous the visible results of his labor diminish in number and value. Talents, reputation, influence, are aU elements of usefulness, and they would be effective if they were not complicated with fundamental errors which dishonor the Spirit, and thus provoke the Almighty to leave the Church to her idols. The Lord will not give his glory to another ; and when the Church undertakes to determine the time and the methods and the instruments by and through which he must work, if at all, no marvel if an offended God resents the impertinence and de- clines copartnership in the scheme. Many a good man is cur- tailed in his usefulness by the adulation of the people, by their dependence upon him, making flesh their arm instead of shut- ting themselves up to faith in God. The opinions and the feelings, the affections and the confidence, which stand like a wall between the preacher and the Spirit, forbidding his co-operation lest he patronize an unscriptural, mischievous error, are all fostered by long, pleasant association, and they Wesley as ak iTiNEEAiirT. 291 mar tlie efficiency of the pulpit and dilute the piety of the Church. Mr. Wesley’s plan of subpastors under the name of “class- leaders,” among whom the Church members were parceled out for a stated weekly meeting and for general oversight, met the necessities of the case, both as to loving guardianship and disci- pline, while yet the preachers had time for study and travel, and daily ministrations to the outside world. As one of the grand sequences of this order of things, well nigh every public service was signalized by the conversion of sinners. The Church looked for this result, prayed for it, and felt that the service was largely a failure without it. The preachers ex- pected it, chose their subjects accordingly, and pressed the truth to this issue. Can any body tell why it is that in these days so many sermons of good men are barren of good results ? In view of the genius and mission and promises of Christianity — the Pentecostal example, apostolic times, and the exploits of our fathers — “ these things ought not so to be.” Mor would they, if all parties had not given up those dominant, vitalizing convic- tions as to the nature and privileges of the Church and the spe- cial functions of the pulpit, and substituted them by human ideas and methods and dependencies, such as time, mutual ac- quaintance, protracted services, and all that personal influence which is supposed to cluster about the long-known and much- loved pastor. The secret of power is in divine truth, the prayer of faith, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost. These cannot be supplemented. Hor do they need it. If we attempt it we offend, repel the blessing, and defeat ourselves. At this very point the faith of the Church is at fault. It does not “look to God alone, with self-distrusting care,” excluding all secondary helps, and grasping the divine agency as efficient and sufficient. When Moses, ‘instead of speaking to the rock as directed, smote it with his wonder-working rod, although the water burst forth, God, conceiving himself to be dishonored before the people, punished the sin by the death and burial 292 The Wesley Memorial VoLmiE. of the offender in the wilderness. We must learn to honor God, (the truth of his word,) and cease to lean to our own understanding, to our pet theories, and chosen instruments. The itinerant system, as originally intended and as carried out for a long time, by its very nature and methods precluded all those subtle, insidious ideas and influences which accompany every departure from the old self-denying, cross-bearing way, and always come in to undermine the more spiritual view, and so adulterate the faith of the Church. Conceding the flexibility of the system, its power of adapta- tion to all real demands, the judgment of the writer has de- murred to every material infraction of the plan which compels frequent changes of ministers. Indeed, one of the leading advantages of the itinerancy is in the free circulation of the gifts, grace, and aptitudes of the ministry. A strong, rich congregation cannot monopolize their favorite. The circuit may compete with the station. The city and the country peo- ple may share alike in the revolutions of time. The chief, special talents of the brethren in various ways are sown broad- cast. ISTo preacher, though personally very popular, suits every body. He may be God’s messenger to some, but he is not an apostle to all. If faithful, Tiis work in a given place is soon accomplished, and he should go to another where like subjects await his coming. Confine him to one appointment, and you doom him to glean when he might have reaped, and rob him of the sheaves he would have gathered in another field.* If Methodism would perpetuate her glory, let her stick to her ensign. A city appointment, a fine parsonage, a good salary, * Other advantages the itinerancy has over the settled pastorate. If the ap- pointment run but for one year, (and cannot be continued longer than two or three years at most,) the Church has the strongest guarantee that she will receive the very best energies of her ministry, and the very cream of their labors. For, to the man truly called of God to save souls, what can* be a greater incentive to earnest and effective labor than the thought that in one short year he may be, to all intents and purposes, dead to the people of his charge ? Hence the true itinerant must ever feel, more than the settled pastor, that whatever he does for his people must be done quickly and with all his might. — Editor. Wesley as an Itineeant. 293 polisiied society, and an admiring congregation, are very pleas- ant, perhaps too pleasant for the highest spiritual development of the incumbent. It is a hard saying, it may be, but eliminate the element of self-denial from the ministerial life and labor — make it attractive to ambition, tempting to avarice, comfortable for sloth — then we may prepare to write “Ichabod” upon our temples. “ Leaving father and mother, and wife and children, and houses and lands,” meant something, as our Saviour said it ; and the effort to harmonize the not doing these things with the full discharge of ministerial obligation is a hazardous ex- periment. Contrasting itinerancy with every plan, the compara- tive results ought to settle the question as to which is most efficient in extending the kingdom of Christ. The facts ex- clude debate. The evils of a long-continued pastorate are so great, and so inherent and inseparable, as very often to necessi- tate the very changes the theory and system proposed to avoid, and with this immense disadvantage, that there is no place for the ejected and no applicant for the vacancy. Mr. "VY esley’s itinerant life is without a parallel in the history of the Church. The work he performed is one of the marvels of human endurance and of providential support. He illus- trated his own ideas, and exceeded ah his followers in travels, sermons, and results. He could not be idle. He demonstrated the possibihties of his system by a zeal that never flagged, and an enthusiasm that warmed his age. Hone of his sons have equaled him in incessant movement, unwearied toil, and extent of operation. He saw itinerancy in all its phases, exhausted its trials, tested all its capabilities, and, in despite of its weari- ness, exposures, and privations, left it a legacy to his people. It is consecrated by wisdom, age, and success. Let us main- tain it in aU. its integrity, and send it on unimpaired to the gen- erations to come. 19 WESLEY AS A POPULAR PEEACHER W ESLEY’S character, so interesting in private life, is only fully unfolded in the vast theater of his public activity. 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 England those imperishable seeds which con- tained the germs of a great future. In presence of the almost fabulous success that crowned his labors, a question occurs which seems at flrst sight an insoluble enigma. How did he, the Oxford graduate, who was all his life long a devoted stu- dent of the classical authors, and who read on horseback the original of Homer and Yirgil — how did he become the street- preacher, the popular orator of the masses ? Love for souls, that pure and noble passion enkindled in the heart by the love of Grod, 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 revealed great qualities in Wesley, of which a military commander might well have been proud. Indeed, 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 unconquera- ble tenacity which have brought such success to English colo- nies. He vanquished the ill-will of the people by a persever- ance which stood the test of all kinds of opposition. What gave his preaching so much of originality was his per- fect frankness. It may be truly said of Wesley that he “spoke as one having authority.” He never flattered his audience; Wesley as a Popular Preacher. 295 sometimes, indeed, as he tells ns himself, he “ spoke strong, rough words ; ” he knew nothing of the art of disguising his thoughts, in order to render them more acceptable. His con- cise and expressive language aimed directly at its object, and said exactly what he meant. Many instances have been given of the almost magical etfect produced on the minds of the peo- ple by his incisive utterances. 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 en- ter 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 keen eye that seemed to pierce to the depths of his being. It must not, however, he supposed 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 admira- bly qualified for his mission as a popular preacher. Besides that eagle glance and that flowing and flexible voice, he pos- sessed qualities of mind most highly valued by the people, name- ly, clearness and precision. Hone knew better than he did how to familiarize the loftiest truths to the lowliest minds. Hone knew better how to employ a sprightly repartee or a happy expression, so that when a long harangue would have failed in its object, the witty proverb penetrated hke the point of a sword. But let us endeavor to form a just idea of Wesley’s oratorical ability. In the open street, and in the pulpit of the University of Oxford, the style of this great preacher was simple and level to the understanding of every individual. His reasoning was logical and nervous ; and, having once admitted his premises, you were carried away in spite of yourself, and compelled to accept the consequences he deduced from them. His argu- 296 The Wesley Memorial Yolhme. mentation flowed in a full stream, but it was not circuitous, and did not overflow its proper channels. It was not over- loaded 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 prin- cipal aim of the discourse. His sole business was to produce conviction ; hence he put himself face to face with his oppo- nent, and never neglected to answer his objections, generally showing how contrary they were to common sense. His aim was direct ; he despised circumlocution, and never mistook rhetorical artifice for argument. Though a profound logician, Wesley was far from being a wearisome dogmatist. Let him be compared with Tillotson or Barrow, and it will be easy to understand the vast progress preaching has made through his influence, and the great revo- lution he has effected in a department that had remained sta- tionary since the sixteenth century. He did 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 dreamed of disputing. He daringly confronted those subjects which were the most strongly controverted, and at the same time, in his view, the most funda- mental to Christianity. The subjects of which he treated were among the loftiest and gravest that can be brought into the Christian pulpit ; yet they were stated with so much frankness, resolved into their simplest forms with such admirable ease, expounded and discussed with such marvelous lucidity, that the hearer, however uncultivated, was captivated and subdued, and with difficulty withstood the running fire of such power- ful and burning eloquence. The rhetorical style of Tillotson and his imitators resembles those heavy batteries which, plant- ed on the heights of some lofty citadel, await the approach of the enemy, and only prove their efficacy when he complacently ad- vances within the range of their fire. W esley, on the other hand, resembles the light artillery composed of field-pieces, which Wesley as a Popular Preacher. 297 follow the enemy to his farthest intrenchments. His sermons were generally short his sprightly and compact diction always proceeded straight forward ; his vivid thoughts came clearly before the eye of the mind, and frequently took the form of an aphorism, which engraved 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 for- merly known only to the initiated, and denominated logic. He had a real respect for the people, which is utterly wanting in those preachers who talk to them as if they were children, giv- ing 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 only in some regards inferior to Whitefield. For, besides this logical faculty of which we have just -been speaking, he possessed an incisiveness of speech which was lacking in Whitefield, so that he sometimes carried conviction to hearts that had remained unmoved by the appeals of his eloquent friend. John Helson 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 as he had mounted the platform,” he says, “he stroked back his long hair, and turned his face toward 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 preach- * Wesley’s sermons in the open air were often more than an hour — not unfre- quently as much as three hours — in length. 298 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. ing that liis arguments were constantly interrupted by aj)peals to the conscience and the heart. No sooner had he by thor- ough discussion discovered and dislodged a stone from the quarry of truth, than as a wise master-builder he began work- ing it into its place in the spiritual edifice. While his con- temporaries resembled a body of antiquarians, painfully occu- pied in collecting a store of rusty armor wherewith to estabhsh a museum, Wesley no sooner lighted upon these disused weapons than he remodeled them for present use and turned them against the foe. He never forgot that he had to do with souls whom he must save from the wrath to come. When he ai’gues — as may be seen in his printed sermons — it is not to exhibit the frivolous spectacle of a brilliant theological or phil- osophical tournament ; it is to establish upon immovable found- ations 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 he throws into his appeals an extraordinary power, and this habit, together with that of the employment of a great number of scriptural expres- sions, not formally cited, but inwrought into the texture of his periods, communicates to his sermons an archaic tinge as well as a sahent 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 renova- tion 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 Wesley’s must have been a great one. Com- pare the Anglo-Saxon race with another at the same epoch, Wesley as a Populae Peeachee. 299 crowding around those worldly abbots who were sucb favor- ites at Yersailles, and one may well ask, Where in the latter is the hfe, the vigor, the future, in a word, which distinguished the former ? The one, polite and amiable, will hear no gospel except that of the Yicar 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 AS AN EDUCATOE. I NDISCE.IMI1TATE eulogy is but little honorable to the eulogized, and less to the eulogist ; but a correct portrayal of the ambitions and accomplishments of a good leader among men may be of service to all who are inclined to “ go and do likewise.” A portraiture of John Wesley and his work that should omit a proper description of what he did as an educa- tor would be so incomplete as to be practically false. Educa- tion was a large part of his life’s great work. Observe his qualifications for it. He was a highly accom- plished scholar. From early childhood to the age of twenty- three he was a pupil “ under tutors and governors,” passing through all the various grades of scholarship, from the primary school to a fellowship, and almost practically to the headship, of a college, in the most famous University in the world. He lost as little time, perhaps, as any man known in history ; none from youthful indiscretions, almost none from want of health, and had early reduced his life to systematic industry. He was placed in the Charter House School, London, at the age of ten ; entered Christ Church College, Oxford, when seventeen ; received the degree of M.A. at the age of twenty-four; and for nine years was a fellow of Lincoln College, where, some of the time, by the choice of the professors, he was vice-rector. This alone would indicate that he was a proficient in the university studies then pursued, in the Greek and Latin languages and literature, in the dialectics of Aristotle, in the history and phi- losophy then embraced in the ordinary college curriculum. After his election to the fellowship he pursued his studies systematically and earnestly for several years, adding to his previous acquirements German, French, Italian, Spanish, Wesley as ait Educatoe. 301 Hebrew, and Arabic, and some study of the matbematics, embracing Euclid and the writings of Sir Isaac Hewton. He could converse readily in Latin and German, and con- duct cburcb service in Frencli and Italian. He was an orig- inal observer, a close student, a general reader, and a ready speaker. Sucb a man must bave bad strong convictions about education. It would be natural, indeed, for bim to entertain a prejudice in favor of schools. His “idols of tbe tribe” would be likely to be books and established forms of pedagogic culture. What sympathy 'could sucb a man bave with tbe untutored thought and speech of rustics ? He never talked their dialect ; from early childhood he had never eaten their bread. But for- tunately, nay, rather, providentially, his earhest years were spent under a thatched roof, and he also became the subject of a radical Christianization, deeper and more thorough than had been common in his generation, which made him feel that he was brother to every human being, and that the great object of his hfe should be to win as many as he could irrespective of all earthly distinctions, as trophies to Christ. It was not poverty, nor love of adventure, that drove him from the most beautiful classic retreats in the world to a vil- lage of log huts in the edge of the American wilderness. He was free to choose between several comfortable posts in his native land ; high honors were fairly within his reach. He had had successful experience as a curate of two or three parishes ; the rectorship of Epworth was supposed to be within his reach.* But God had a greater mission for him, and in- spired him with a restlessness never to be satisfied till he should find his place. We, therefore, soon see this Fellow of Lincoln College, who has never known, any labor but that of a student, now a * The only parish of which he was ever the rector was Christ Church parish, Savannah, Georgia. He left Savannah to claim the wide world as his parish. — Editor. 302 The Wesley Memorial Volume. chaplain among the heterogeneous population gathered from several nations in the then infant colony of Georgia. Here the university Fellow immediately opened a school and em- ployed for it a regular teacher. He himself gave religious instruction to all the pupils weekly. He also estabhshed an- other school, which met on Sundays, in which he and others gave instruction on the Bible and practical religion. This was really a Sunday-school, established forty-three years be- fore Hobert Raikes, who was then a babe in his mother’s arms, opened a similar school in Gloucester, England. This school was held in the church, and had the best elements of a modern Sunday-school. Its instruction was religious, not secular. The story of Wesley’s brief life in Georgia and his return to England is well known. He returned, not to the University, though he still held his fellowship, nor to assume the limited duties of a parish. He was soon the subject of a religious ex- perience that more fully satisfied him, and concentrated his energies as never before. Then at the age of thirty-five, after all his long preliminary preparation, scholastic and religious, he was to enter upon a work the visible effects of which were to be as boundless as the world and as lasting as time. His preparation for his great work was about as long and thorough as was that of Milton for his. I have seen an original portrait of John Wesley, taken short- ly after this time to satisfy the solicitations of one of his local preachers, who brought it to America and preserved it in his family, and it is now in the museum of the Syracuse Univer- sity. With well-rounded features, not so prominent as in later years, with his own abundant locks slightly tinged with gray, the picture is much like the ideal which painters have given to the beloved disciple, John. It was at this time that Wesley began to manifest his strong interest in education, not, as some would say, second only to religion, but actually one with and inseparable from it. Wesley as an Educator. 303 His long experience in Lincoln College, wliere Le had not been idle, but in addition to professional lectures and presiding over the rhetorical and logical discussions of the students, be bad pursued special courses of study, and given particular instruction to pupils, and bis experience and observation in America and Germany, prepared him for the demand that was about to arise. Had be undervalued education, or — while be saw and felt its inadequacy alone to meet the demands of the individual heart or of the Church — bad be not by example and precept earnestly encouraged it among his people, it is certain that the Hetbodist Societies would not long have held together, and the great revival which be introduced would have rapidly subsided, and probably have bad no historian. In this paper there is room only for a presentation of the general features of bis educational work. Hotbing would be added to the correctness and vividness of the picture by present- ing the detail. All competent to appreciate it can fill out the history for themselves. As early as 1740 be obtained possession of a school at Kings- wood, which, with some changes of forms and situation and enlargement, has existed from that day to this. What a cata- logue of worthy names its records present! After 1748 Wes- ley’s interest in the school at Kingswood greatly increased, for at that time it was enlarged, and systematic efforts were made for the instruction of the children of the itinerant preachers. The motto of America’s oldest college is “ Christo et JEccle- sicB.” The inscription on the front of the old Kingswood school was, “7b Gloriam Dei Optimi Maximi, in Usum Ecelesioe et Reij>ubliGGe ; and in Hebrew letters, “Jebovab- Jireb.” Immediately after the enlargement of this school Wesley entered upon bis work of educational authorship. Eight years before he had published a tract, written, indeed, by another man, in which the study of Latin and Greek, and the ordinary education of the day, are spoken of with not a little disappro- 304 TirE Wesley Memoktal Volu.aie. bation and sarcasm ; but when be came to lay down for bis own school courses of study, be provided for tbe study of En- glish, French, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, geography, history, rhetoric, logic, ethics, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, physics, and music. He employed six masters or professors, and insti- tuted an original method which probably made it the best school of the grade in England. It failed to be generally recognized as such only because it belonged to a sect then every- where spoken against. To provide for the wants of this school John Wesley himself prepared several text-books. The first was “A Short Latin Grammar,” soon followed by “A Short English Grammar,” which, thirteen years afterward, was much enlarged and improved. The publication of this short Latin grammar really marks a new epoch in the study of Latin. Previous to that time the Latin grammars employed in England were all in the Latin lan- guage, useless without a living teacher, and really made the study of the language unnecessarily difficult and unpleasant. But this example, then set by Wesley, is now universally followed. This is but one instance of many in which the striking and, fearless originality of Wesley is seen. Hiebuhr has been styled the father of philosophical history, because in his lectures, de- livered at Berlin, in 1810, he subjected the strange stories of the old Latin historians to criticism, and drew the line between the mythical and the true ; but Wesley, in his journal, as early as 1771, in his remarks on Hooke’s ‘‘Homan History,” shows that he had already formed the same opinion. And now, when Wesley came to write “A Short Roman History” of 155 pages in 1773, and also “ A Concise History of England,” from the earliest times to the death of George III., in four volumes of, respectively, 335, 359, 348, and 292 pages, he evinced the same critical acumen and recognition of the victories and failures of peace as well as of war which have since his time revolution- ized the style of historical writings. I do not claim that Wes- ley’s grammars of the Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and French Wesley as aist Educator. 305 languages, and his histories, deserve to be ranked with the best later productions ; but simply that they were pioneers, not only superior to, but generically different from, any that preceded them, and also like those which now enjoy the approval of the best scholars and practical educators. In the writing of educational text-books, as in the establishment and improve- ment of Sunday-schools, the publication of tracts for the people, the commendation of the disuse of intoxicants, the establish- ment of an itinerant ministry yet held under strict regimen, and in several other things, he anticipated the thoughts of later times, and originated forces and machinery which now enjoy general, if not universal, approval and use. He was able, usually, also to make at least a few, sometimes many, perceive that he was ri 2 :ht. It is due to truth to observe, that notwithstanding his varied scholarship he did sometimes manifest a sj^mpathy with those who undervalued the ordinary university curriculum of study of his day, and expressed himself in favor of condensing the study of Latin and Greek into less time, and of devoting more attention to science, ethics, logic, and practical knowledge. But the books which he wrote, and the courses of study which he laid down for the college at Kingswood, show what his real convictions were. He was too great a man to be always consistent with himself, except on the broad principle of professing what he believed : but often he rectified his observations, and discarded and changed opinions, according to evidence and investigation. His interest in education never abated nor diminished, hut rather increased in his later years. In addition to the grammars and histories above mentioned he puhhshed, in 1153, what he called “ The Complete English Dictionary, explaining most of those hard words which are found in the best English writers.” This was two years before Dr. Samuel Johnson published his great English Dictionary, which shows that Wesley was attempting to fill an actual 806 The Wesley Memorial Volume. demand. But thongli Johnson’s Dictionary just then appeared, "Wesley’s Dictionary reached a second edition in 1764:. Fora few years nearly all of Wesley’s publications were educa- tional. He prepared editions of selections from several class- ical writers, with brief original notes. The first was entitled '■^Mathurini Corderii Colloquia Selecta. In Usum Juven- tutis ChristianoB. Edidit Ecclesioe Anglicanm PresbyterP This was followed by his ‘■Plistoria et PrcBcepta^' ‘•Pnstruc- tiones Pueriles'’’ and editions of Selections from Sallust, Ovid, Phsedrus, Erasmus, Cornelius Hepos, Juvenal, Persius, and Martial. In all there were six small volumes of Latin authors. He also wrote an original work on elocution, the oldest we have seen in the English language, entitled, “ Directions concerning Pronunciation and Gesture,” which, though condensed, con- tains about all that one really needs to know to speak efficiently before the public, so far as manner is concerned. He was especially opposed to vociferation and ranting. That practiced parliamentarian and critic, Horace Walpole, having listened to one of Wesley’s sermons, pronounced him “wondrous clever, but as evidently an actor as was Garrick.” The preacher was too rapid and too enthusiastic to suit Walpole’s taste. Another school book prepared by Mr. Wesley was “A Com- pendium of Logic,” originally of only 33 pages, but in suc- cessive editions greatly enlarged. This book also is worthy of notice as a pioneer in the English language. His small work on Electricity, based on the discoveries of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, which up to that time the British Royal Society had not deigned to notice, though afterward it gave to them and their author great attention, illustrates two facts in Wesley’s character — his promptness to see new truths in science as well as in religion, and his fearlessness in publishing his opinions whether the public approved or not. He seems to have spent many hours in original experiments in electricity. His work on electricity was followed by one that cost him much of his leisure time, if he had any “ leisure,” as its preparation was pro- Wesley as aist Educator. 307 tracted tlirougli many years. This was entitled, “ A Survey of the Wisdom of God in the Creation; or, A Compendium of ISTatural Philosophy.” In five volumes. This large and truly valuable book was published in his old age, and for many years had a wide circulation. Among his educational books may be mentioned an “ Extract of Milton’s Paradise Lost, with Hotes,” which also reached a second edition. Let any one collect these books, original and edited, to- gether, and calculate the study and labor requisite to prepare and write them ; and then let him consider that during every week while he was preparing them Wesley preached on an average thrice a day, and that during those years he traveled thousands of miles, mostly on horseback, and that at the same time he was preparing other books, practical, homiletical, con- troversial, and attending to the immense detail that must have come before him, and one may form some conception of the prodigious ability and industry of the man. But we draw this imperfect picture, not to eulogize the ability and industry of this remarkable man, but to show what seems hitherto to have been overlooked, that he deserves a very high rank among educators. He attempted too much both in relig- ion and education to produce any one book that, on its own merits alone, will be recognized as a masterpiece in literature. Many of his writings were designed to serve a temporary pur- pose, and only his fame as one of the world’s greatest men will perpetuate their memory ; but they were original, appropriate, strong, efficient, and completely served their purpose. They opened the way for their successors. Others, solely or principally devoted to education, have entered the field and supplied the demand with works more accurately and fully prepared ; but W esley first felt the de- mand in many instances, and first supplied it for the thousands of pupils which the great religious revival of the eighteenth century had created. Hothing so stimulates the intellect as true Christianity. A revival always fills the schools. Science 308 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. and Christianity are sisters. And in this revival religion and education had the same teacher. It is noticeable, too, that nearly all of Mr. Wesley’s educa- tional books passed through several editions. This alone would have been a great honor. The provision wliich he made for the education of the preachers, even after they had entered Tipon their office, de- serves mention also as a novelty, and as the foundation of a practice still largely observed both in Great Britain and Amer- ica, and wherever Methodism extends. While, therefore, it must always be understood that the chief work which God permitted Wesley to aecomjdish was to orig- inate and largely to direct the great revival of primitive Chris- tianity in modern times, it should also be noted that he shone more as a scholar even than as a divine, and that he was no less a pioneer in education than in ecclesiastical organization. If he deserves a rank second to none among the leaders in the Church, at least with such men as Wiclif and Luther and Augustine, so, also, for fertility of invention and commanding influence on succeeding generations, he deserves to rank among educators with Milton and Locke and Pestalozzi and Froebel, and others the most useful and famous of his own and other lands. We must not fail to notice that the high estimation of men- tal discipline and instruction entertained by him has exerted an abiding influence on all the religious denominations that have sprung from his labors. Kingswood school has expanded and been multiplied into colleges, theological schools, and aca- demic institutions of every grade. Every Methodist body in Great Britain and her colonies, in the other nations of Europe, in the United States of America, and in all the mission flelds, recognizes its duty to provide for and encourage schools.* * Edward Everett, in Lis day, said that there was no Church in the United States so successfully engaged in the cause of education as the Methodist Church. — Editor. Wesley as an Educatoe. 309 In John Wesley there was a wonderful combination of qual- ities well balanced. His liberality and candor were prevented from degenerating into latitudinarianism, his love of order into ecclesiasticism, and his zeal into fanaticism, by what he himself called “ common sense,” and also by a high degree of harmoni- ous culture controlled by an abiding consciousness of the love of God. Methodism was so original and radical in its convictions and modes of operation, so inclined to cast aside what seemed to be useless or impediments, so bent on immediate effects, that at first many of its chief men were disposed to undervalue the discipline of the schools. It was providential that John Wes- ley was a man of thorough culture, and that he had the power to discriminate between the substantial and the accidental in education as in religion. He was, therefore, conservative and refoi’matory ; one of the most successful promoters and im- provers of education of the age in which he lived. 20 WESLEY AND HIS LITEKATUEE * I N a work professing to bring out all the aspects of Wesley’s many-sided life, bis use of the press and his voluminous contributions to the literature of his age must not be forgotten. In a brief paper upon this subject it should be premised that he was not by choice an author. The all-pervading consecra- tion of his days to his life-work of evangelism prevented his adoption of literature as a profession, and deprived him both of the leisure and of the will to graduate among the prizemen of letters. All he wrote was subordinate to his supreme design, and not a little of it was wrung from him by the necessities, con- troversial or otherwise, which arose in the progress of his work. Still, impressed as he was that God had sent him upon a mis- sion of testimony, and casting about for all possible means of usefulness, he could not overlook the press^that mighty agent which molds, for weal or woe, so large a portion of mankind. It is not, therefore, surprising that he began eaidy to write and to compile, in order that he might at once enlarge the constit- uency to whom he could speak about the things of God, and secure that permanent influence by which printing perpetuates mind, and by which the appeal or entreaty goes plaintively pleading on long after the living voice is hushed in the silence of the grave. There was something in the state of things around him which operated as a constraint in this regard. England, in the reigns of the first two Georges, had fallen into a sad state of religious degeneracy. If it be true that the literature of any age is a mirror in which the spirit of the age is reflected, the * The writer cheerfully acknowledges his indebtedness to a series of articles on Wesley’s Use of the Press, from the pen of the late Kev. S. Komilly Hall. Wesley and His Literature. 311 image presented of the early Georgian era is not “ beautiful ex- ceedingly.” Pope’s pantheism divided the fashionable world with the bolder infidelity of Bolingbroke. The loose wit of Congreve was said to be the “ only prop of the declining stage.” Smollett and Fielding were the stars in the firmanent of fiction ; and of hterary divines, the most conspicuous were Swift and Sterne. Young wrote his “Yight Thoughts” about the same period, but his life was not equal to his poetry. He who sang with rapture of the glories of heaven had a passion for the amusements of earth, and he exhibited the “ prose of piety,” which he reprobates, by his undignified applications for prefer- ment ; applications so persistent as to ehcit from Archbishop Seeker the rebuke, that “his foidune and reputation raised him above the need of advancement, and his sentiments, surely, above any great desire for it.” The literature of the Churches, properly so called, was in some aspects equally degenerate. It was a Hterature of masculine thought, of consummate ability, of immense erudition, and of scholarly and critical taste. To this the names of Warburton, Jortin, Waterland, and especially Butler, bear sufficient witness. But while there was much light, there was little heat. Those were great hearts which were felt to throb in the works of Howe, of Barrow, and of the Puritans, but in their successors the heart element was largely wanting. Spiritual religion — the informing soul of Church hterature — was hardly a matter of belief ; indeed, in some cases it was a matter of derision. The doctrine of justification by faith, that articulum stantis vel cadentis ecclesicB, was cari- catured as a ’doctrine against good works in not a few of the treatises of the time. Lower motives were appealed to by popular divines. “ Obedience, moderation in amusements, prayer, resignation, and the love of God,” were enforced iu discourses preached in St. Paul’s and in Oxford, “ on the ground of the reasonableness on which they rest, and the advantages which they secure.” Shaftesbury’s “Yirtue its own Reward,” was thus echoed from metropohtan pulpits — 312 The Wesley Memorial Volume. “Virtue must be built upon interest, tliat is, our interest upon the whole.” There was,' indeed, a narrowing of theolog- ical thought until it was almost circumscribed by questions of evidence, and, as has been well said by Dr. Stoughton, “ Mira- cles were appealed to as the seals of Christianity in the first century, but the work of the Holy Spirit on the souls of men in the eighteenth was pronounced an idle dream.” It may well be conceived that upon a fervent soul like Wesley’s, just awakened to the importance of spiritual things, and longing to employ every available resource in his Mastei^’s service, the sense of the influence of the press, and the conviction that it was being abused, or at best worked for inferior uses, would be an obligation to labor for its rescue, and for its supreme devotion to the cause of Christ. The singleness of his aim in authorship is a marked characteristic. He wrote neither for fame nor for emolument, but solely to do good. The rationale of his life may be given in his own re- markable words : “ To candid, reasonable men, I am not afraid to lay open what have been the inmost thoughts of my heart. I have thought, I am a creature of a day, passing through life as an arrow through the air. I am a spirit come from God and returning to God ; just hovering over the great gulf till, a few moments hence, no more seen, I drop into an un- changeable eternity.” Thus consecrated, he desired to attain and utilize all knowledge, and he adds, “ what I thus learn, that I teach.” The same spirit led him to be independent of any affectation, whether of subject or style : of set purpose he cultivated plainness, “ using words easy to be understood.” “ If I observe any stiff expression I throw it out, neck and shoulders.” “ I could even now [in his old age] write as floridly and rhetorically as even the admired Dr. B , but I dare not ; because I seek the honor that cometh from God only. I dare no more write in a fine style than wear a fine coat. But were it otherwise — had I time to spare — I should still write just as I do.” Whether this estimate of his own power Wesley aild His Literature. 313 to rival Blair or Massillon be correct or not, (and diversity of opinion on that point is not treason,) the complete subordina- tion of tbe scholar and the critic, of the man of ciilture and the man of taste, to the one purpose of extensive usefulness, cannot fail to win the admiration of right-thinking minds ; displaying, as it does, a heroism of self-abnegation which could mark only one of the highest styles of men. Dr. Johnson says, “ A voluntary descent from the dignity of science is, perhaps, the hardest lesson that humility can teach.” This voluntary descent John Wesley made that he might benefit and bless the world. The first time he ventured to print any thing, in 1733, he published a “ Collection of Forms of Prayer” for his pupils at the University, and for the poor who were visited by the early Methodists at Oxford. He wrote on, amid incessant toil and travels, well-nigh without an interval, for more than fifty years, making a recreation and a privilege of his labors, until, at eventide, almost with his dying breath, he lingered in the Beulah-land to express a desire “that his sermon on ‘ the Love of God ’ should be scattered abroad and given to every body.” Few but those who have studied the matter have any idea either of the number or of the variety of Wesley’s writings. To enumerate his works would be a tax even upon a book- worm’s memory. Their titles would swell into a good-sized catalogue, and the variety of subjects touched upon in his original or selected volumes would almost suggest an encyclo- pedia. Reckoning his abridgments and compilations, more than two hundred volumes proceeded from his fertile pen. Gram- mars, exercises, dictionaries, comj)endiums, sermons and notes, a voluminous Christian Library, and a miscellaneous monthly magazine, tracts, addresses, answers, apologies, works polem- ical, classical, poetic, scientific, political, were poured forth in astonishing succession, not in learned leisure, but in the midst of the busiest fife of the age — for the industrious writer was an intrepid evangelist and a wise administrator, a sagacious counselor and a loving friend; gave more advice than John 314 The Wesley Memorial Voluiue. Newton ; wrote, more letters than Horace Walpole; and man- aged, a wise and absolute ruler, the whole concern of a Society which grew in his life-time to upwards of seventy thousand souls. It is necessary, if we would rightly estimate Wesley’s use of the press, to remind ourselves that he wrote under none of those advantages on which authors of note and name float themselves nowadays into renown. There was but a scanty literary appetite. The voracious love of books, which is char- acteristic of the present age, did not exist. Here and there were those prescient of its coming, who dreamed of a time when a cry should arise from the people, waxing louder and louder until it became as the plaint of a nation’s prayer, “ Give us knowledge, or we die.” But these were the seers of their generation, and they were few. The masses had not awakened from the mental slumber of ages. The taste for reading had to be created and fed. Even if men had wished to make ac- quaintance with master-minds, their thoughts were only given forth in costly volumes beyond the means of the poor. Though there had been some improvement since those days of famine, when “ a load of hay ” was given “ for a chapter in James,” nothing, or but little, had been done to bring whole- some literature within the reach of the hamlet as well as of the hall. So far as we can ascertain, the Jlrst man to write for the million, and to publish so cheaply as to make his works ac- cessible, was John Wesley. Those who rejoice in the cheap press, in the cheap serial, in the science-made-easy, which, if he so choose, keep the working man of the present day abreast of the highest thought and culture of the age, ought never to forget the deep debt of obligation which is owed to him who flrst ventured into what was then a hazardous and un- profitable field. The man who climbs by a trodden road up the steeps of Parnassus, or drinks of the waters of Helicon, will surely think gratefully of him whose toil made the climbing easy, and cleared the pathway to the spring. The harvest-man, who reaps amid the plenty and the singing, has not earned half Wesley aet> His Literatuee. 315 tlie reward due to Mm who, alone, beneath the gray wintry sky, went out for the scattering of the seed. We claim for John Wesley, and that beyond gainsaying, the gratitude of all lovers of human progress, if only for his free and generous use of the press, for the loving purpose which prompted him to cheapen his wealth of brain that others might share it, and for the forecasting sagacity which led him to initiate a system of pop- ular instruction which, with all their advantages and with all their boast, the present race of authors have scarcely been able to improve. In noticing a little more in detail the nature of John Wes- ley’s works we feel bewildered with their variety. He deals with almost every useful subject, and, considering his incessant public labors, the wonder cannot be repressed that he wrote so much, and that he wrote, for the most part, so well. His writing of tracts — short essays, narratives, letters, or treatises, which could be read without much expenditure of time — was a favorite occupation with him. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge was in existence before he began, and one of the objects of its foundation was to disperse, both at home and abroad, Bibles and tracts on religious sub- jects. Fifty years later another society was started, with a similar object and name, but on a wider basis, and with a freer sphere of action. It was not, however, until the close of the century, that tract societies, as such, came into being ; and though, strangely enough, the jubilee memorial of the Relig- ious Tract Society makes no mention of his name, John Wesley was a diligent writer and a systematic distributer of tracts fifty years before that society was born. In 1745, the year of the Stuart rebellion, he says : “We had within a short time given away some thousands of little tract? among the common people, and it pleased God thereby to provoke others to jealousy ; insomuch that the Lord Mayor had ordered a large quantity of papers, dissuading from cursing and swearing, to be printed and distributed among the train-bands.” 316 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. Wesley’s preachers -were furnished with these short, plain messengers of mercy, as part of the equipment with which their saddle-hags were stored. Regarding “ a great hook,” as he quaintly said, as “ a great evil,” he used these “ small arms ” with great effect and perseverance throughout his unusu- ally lengthened life. Every thing he wrote was practical and timely. Particular classes were particularly addressed ; A Word to a Drunkard, to a Sahhath-hreaker, to a Swearer, to a Street- walker, to a Smuggler, to a Condemned Malefactor ; A W ord to a Freeholder, just before a General Election; A Word to a Protestant when Romish Error was especially Rampant and Dangerous ; Thoughts on the Earthquake at Lisbon, “ directed, not as I designed at first, to the small vulgar, hut the great, to the learned, rich, and honorable heathens, commonly called Christians.” These show that, while his quiver was full, his arrows were not pointless, and they were “ sharp in the hearts of the King’s enemies ” all over the land. The circumstances under which some of the tracts were writ- ten invest them with much interest, while they illustrate the character of the man of one business, and show that one of his secrets of success was to be frugal of time as well as of words. He got wet through on a journey, and stayed at a halting-place to dry his clothes. “ I took the opportunity,” he says, “ of writing A Word to a Freeholder.” At an inn in Helvoetsluys, in Hol- land, detained by contrary winds, he took the opportunity of writing a sermon for the magazine. After a rough journey of ninety miles in one day, he required rest. ‘‘ I rested, and tran- scribed the letter to Mr. Bailey.” “ The tide was in,” in Wales, so that he could not pass over the sands. “ I sat down in a lit- tle cottage for three or four hours and translated ‘ Aldrich’s Logic.’ ” These are but samples of his redemption of time for high practical uses, and of the conscientious generosity with which he crowded his moments for God’s glory with works of usefulness and honor. Of his poetical publications it is not needful to write at Wesley and His Liter atuee. 317 length. They have spoken their own eulogy, and are still speaking it, in so many thousand hearts, that they need no elaborate praise. John Wesley is not credited by his critics with much imagination, but he had that even balance of the faculties from which imagination cannot be absent, though it may be chastened and controlled by others. He was wise enough to know that “a verse may strike him who a ser- mon flies and that as a ballad is said to have sung a mon- arch out of three kingdoms, the power of spiritual song has often been of the essence of that “violence” which “the kingdom of heaven suffereth.” Hence he began early to print collections of hymns, (the earliest known having been compiled at Savannah, and published at Charleston, during his stormy residence in Georgia,) and followed these, at intervals, by poetical publications for the space of fifty years. Among these were Moral and Sacred Poems ; Hymns for Children ; Hymns for the Use of Families; Epistles; Elegies; Funeral Hymns; Extracts from Herbert, and Milton, and Young; Hymns with Tunes Annexed ; and Doctrinal Controversies Versified. The intensest pathos wailing forth in the “ Cry of the Reprobate,” the most caustic sarcasm lurking in the Hymns on God’s Everlasting Love ; patriotism finding vent in “ Song on the Occurrence of a Threatened Invasion.” Wars, tumults, earthquakes, persecutions, birthdays, festivals, recre- ations, were all improved into verse. This summary will suf- fice to show the fertile variety of topics to which the sacred lyre was strung. Many of the verses were but of hmited and temporary interest, but the supply for the service of song in the house of the Lord could not fail to present it- self to the foresight of the great evangelist as a pressing church necessity which must be adequately met. Hymnology may be said almost to have had its rise, as a worthy provis- ion for worship, with Watts and Wesley. Tate and Brady had been substituted for Sternhold and Hopkins, but with a vigorous church-hfe these faint and fading echoes of the 318 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. strains of the Hebrew Psalmist were felt to he insufficient. Isaac Watts first realized the need, and did much to supply it. Then Charles Wesley was raised up, endowed with the poetic genius, and enlivened with a cheerful godliness which found themes for its loftiest exercise. The hymns of both, and all others that were deemed evangelical and worthy, were gathered by the taste and skill of John Wesley, and under his prudent censorship, into a series of hymn books such as the Church of Christ had never seen before. The most cov- etous seeker after fame needs covet no higher than to have sent forth lyrics like these, treasured in the hearts of mul- titudes as their happiest utterances of religious hope and joy, chasing anxiety from the brow of the troubled, giving glow- ing songs in the night of weeping, and, in the case of many, gasped out with the failing breath as the last enemy fled beaten from the field. His homiletic writings, consisting of some hundred and forty sermons, were carefully revised and prepared for the press in some of those quiet retreats where, as it would seem, mainly for this purpose, he snatched a brief holiday from per- petual toil and travel. In the retirement of Kingswood, or under the roof of the Perronets, or at Hewington, or Lewis- ham, he transcribed his well-weighed words. He regarded him- self pre-eminently as a preacher : this was the work for which he was raised up of God, and to this all else was subordinated : but he wished a longer ministry than could be compassed in sixty years, and accordingly the truths which, when uttered on Kennington Common or in the Moorfields had produced such marvelous effects, were revised and systematized, that they might preach in print to generations who lived too late to be subdued by the quiet earnestness of the speaker’s voice. Wes- ley’s sermons may be said to have been the earliest pubhshed system of experimental religion. The press had been used largely for printing sermons before ; critical light had been let in upon obscure passages of Scripture ; scholarly essays abound- Wesley and His Liteeatuee. 319 ed ; hondletic literature was ricli in funeral sermons, the im- provement of passing incidents, and arguments for the external defense of the faith ; hut no such plain, clear, pungent, practi- cal exhibition of the whole method of God’s dealing with a sinner had ever enriched the literature of the English language. He was anointed to prophesy to a congregation of the dead, and he spake of the truths by which the dead can live, and spake with a prophet’s singleness, self -unconsciousness, and power. His expository widtings comprised “Hotes” on the Old Tes- tament and on the Hew. It could hardly be that he could overlook, in his search for useful methods of doing good, helps to biblical interpretation and criticism. As in every thing he wrote, the nature and limits of his work were defined by the needs and leisure of those for whom he especially wrote. Hence he announces his design to be “ barely to assist those who fear God in hearing and reading the Bible itself, by showing the natural sense of every part in as few and plain words as I can.” Again, “I have endeavored to make the ‘Hotes’ as short as possible, that the comment may not obscure or swallow up the text.” Hot only did he study the means of the poor who could not purchase elaborate commentaries, and the lack of culture of those who were not able to understand them ; he wrote briefiy and suggestively, with an educational design. “ It is no part of my design to save either learned or unlearned men from 'the trouble of thinking. If so, I might, per- haps, write folios, too, which usually overlay rather than help the thought. On the contrary, my intention is to make them think, and assist them in thinking.” His Hotes on the Old Testament are mainly an abridgment of Poole’s “Anno- tations,” and Matthew Henry’s “ Commentary,” and are so condensed as greatly to detract from their value. The notes on the Hew Testament were begun in the maturity of his powers, on the 6th January, 1754. His health had partially broken down under his exhausting labors, and he was ordered 320 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. to the Hotwells, Clifton. There he began his work ; a work which he says he should never have attempted if he had not been “ so ill as to be unable to travel and preach, and yet so well as to be able to read and write.” Incidental references in his journal show how painfully he toiled to elicit and express the true mind of the Spirit in the word. Doddridge’s “ Fam- ily Expositor ” and Heylin’s “ Theological Lectures ” were carefully read, all the passages were compared with the orig- inal text, a task for which his own accurate knowledge of Greek eminently qualified him, and several improvements on the received version were suggested which have found favor with competent critics. By far the most valuable help, however, in his work, w'as furnished by the “ Gnomon Hovi Testamenti ” of the celebrated John Albert Bengel. Wesley became interpen- etrated with the spirit of Bengel’s teaching, and it colored his exposition. He was, indeed, the first to recognize the claims of the great German critic to the notice of English theologians, as Bunsen and others have acknowledged. Eive editions of the “Hotes” were published in John Wesley’s life-time, and they largely eontribiited to maintain his early preachers in the soundness of the faith. Hartwell Horne — no mean judge — gives high praise to them as being always judicious, accurate, spiritual, terse, and impressive. By their incorporation into the trust deeds of Methodist chapels, in which they are referred to, (along with certain sermons,) as the authorized articles of standard belief, they have secured, so long as British law is respected, the doctrinal integrity of the English Methodist Church. W esley used* the press for educational purposes to a great extent. They utterly misconceive his character who suppose that he was an abetter or favorer of ignorance, or that he un- duly depreciated the intellectual, and unduly cultivated the emotional, part of the nature. Few men in any age have done more for the mental emancipation of their fellows. He was systematically giving both secular and Sabbath-school Wesley and His Literature. 321 instruction to children in Savannah when Robert Raihes was in his infancy. He had systematized education there before Bell and Lancaster were horn. When his ministry was suc- cessful among the masses, if he found the people boors he did not leave them without the means of improvement, and was prodigal in his endeavors for their benefit. Wesley had not the large advantage which association affords to philanthro- pists now. He was almost a single-handed worker. Publish- ers who had an eye to quick returns would hardly look at a series of educational works, so sparse and ill-prepared was the market for such literary wares. But Wesley was determined, to send the school-master abroad, trusting that under the provi- dence of God he would gather his own scholars. He would uplift the masses, though they themselves were inert, and even impatient of the experiment. Hence he prepared and pub- lished grammars in five languages, English, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. He printed, also, expurgated editions of the classics, which, as the “ Excerpta ex Ovidio,” might be properly placed in the hands of ingenuous youth. A “ Com- pendium of Logic,” clear and admirable, also issued from his pen. Under the signature “A Lover of Good English and Common Sense,” he published “ The Complete English Dic- tionary,” which, in its way, is curious and valuable. An “ H. B.” is on the title page, to this effect : “ The author assures you he thinks this is the best English Dictionary in the world.” The preface is a literary curiosity, and is worth re- printing in extenso as a specimen of racy wit and modest assurance. It runs thus : To THE Reader. As incredible as it naay appear, I must allow that this Dictionary is not published to get money, but to assist persons of common sense and no learning to understand the best English authors; and that with as little expense of either time or money as the nature of the thing will allow. To this end it contains, not a heap of Greek and Latin words just tagged with English terminations, (for no good English 322 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. writer, none but vain and senseless pedants, give these any place in their writings;) not a scroll of barbarous law expressions, which are neither Greek, Latin, nor good English ; not a crowd of technical terms, the meaning whereof is to be sought in books expressly wrote on the subjects to which they belong; not such English words as and, of, hut, which stand so gravely in Mr. Bailey’s, Pardon’s, and Martin’s Dictionaries; but most of those hard words which are found in the best English writers. I say most, for I purposely omit not only all that are not hard, and which are not found in the best writers — not only all law words and most technical terms — but likewise all, the meaning of which may be easily gathered from those of the same derivation. And this I have done in order to make this Dictionai’y both as short and cheap as possible. I should add no more, but that I have so often observed the only way, according to the modern taste, for any author to procure com- mendation to his book is vehemently to commend it himself. For want of this deference to the public several excellent tracts, lately printed, but left to commend themselves by their intrinsic worth, are utterly unknown or forgotten ; whereas, if a writer of tolerable sense will but bestow a few violent encomiums on his own work, especially if they are skillfully ranged in the title-page, it will pass through six editions in a trice; the world being too complaisant to give a gentle- man the lie, and taking it for granted he understands his own per- formance best. In compliance, therefore, with the taste of the age, I add that this little Dictionary is not only the shortest and cheapest, but likewise, by many degrees, the most correct, which is extant at this day. Many are the mistakes in all the other English Dictiona- ries which I have seen; whereas I can truly say, I know of none in this. And I conceive the reader will believe me, for if I had, I should not have left it there. Use, then, this help till you find a better. Besides these grammars and this dictionary Wesley ventured into the domain of the historian. He wrote a short Eoman history, and a concise history of England in four volumes. He had many qualities which fitted him for this particular work. A calm, judicial mind ; a sensitive taste, which could separate, almost without an effort, the precious from the vile ; a loyal love of constitutional government, as he understood it ; and, above all, a reverent insight wliich saw God moving in history Wesley and His Literatuee. 323 to the working out of his own plans, whether by vessels of wrath or instruments of deliverance or mercy, are advantages not often found in combination in the same individual. Later in hfe he also published an ecclesiastical history on the basis of Mosheim, correcting what he deemed erroneous, and appending a “ Short History of the People called Method- ists,” the more necessary, as in Maclaine’s translation of Mo- sheim, Wesley and Whitefield figured in the list of heretics. Hatural philosophy and electricity (the latter science at that time just passing out of the region of myth into the region of acknowledged discovery, and Franklin, its prophet, looked upon by the scientific world rather as a Pariah than a Brah- min) also engaged his attention, and he tried to popularize them. Fragments on ethical and literary subjects, on memory, taste, genius, the power of music ; remarks on recently pub- lished works, or works of standard interest, all tending to familiarize the masses with elevating and improving subjects, proceeded at intervals from his diligent hand. Indeed, it may be fearlessly affirmed that in the forefront of those who de- serve to be remembered as the educators of the race, his name should be recorded — a brave pioneer who ventured, ax in hand, to make a clearing in the forest, with no friends to cheer him on, and but for whose early and patient toil the highway to knowledge, upon which so many are easily and gladly walk- ing, would have heen delayed in its construction for years. Connected with this use of the press for educational pur- poses ought to be mentioned the powerful aid which his writ- ings afforded to the creation of a healthy public opinion on sanitary and social matters, and in reference to existing evils whose foulness was but half understood. While as a practical philanthropist he had no superior, dispensing food and help and medicine, caring for the outcasts who “ sacrifice to gods which smite them while “ Stranger’s Friend Societies,” dis- pensaries, and orphan houses grew up around him — the comely expressions of his goodness- — he was directing, from his quiet 324 The Wesley Memoeial Yoltoie. stady, tte silent revolutions of opinion. His great warm heart beat tenderly for suffering humanity, and against every evil which degraded the body, or dwarfed the mind, or cursed the soul, he wrote with warmth and freedom. He pitied the har- lot, and pleaded for the downtrodden slave. He denounced, in ready and eloquent words, domestic slavery, cruel intemper- ance, and other social ulcers which eat out the vigor of national life. His political economy, if not philosophically sound, was practically uplifting and charitable. Ho regard for class inter- ests tvas allowed to interfere with his one purpose of doing good and bettering the individual, the nation, and the world. For the healing of the sick he disregarded the prejudices of the faculty, and though wits make merry at his “Primitive Physic,” no medical works of that day are more free from folly or empiricism. For the simplification of necessary legal documents he wrote so as to incur the wrath of the lawyers, whose “ villainous tautology ” moved his righteous anger ; and in Church matters he denounced pluralities and absenteeism as vigorously as the most trenchant Church reformer in the land. He cheered philanthropists, like Howard and Wilberforce, in their arduous work, and they blessed him for his loving words. There is scarcely an active form of charity now blessing man- kind which he did not initiate or dream of ; scarcely an ac- knowledged good which he did not strive to realize. In fact, he was far beyond his age, and his forecasting goodness pro- jected itself, like a luminous shadow, upon the coming time. Of Wesley’s polemiGal writings it were not seemly, in an article like this, to speak at length. He was not naturally in- clined to controversy, and personally was one of the most pa- tient and forgiving of men. He framed his United Societies on the principle of comprehension ; any could be Methodists who accepted the essentials of the Christian system, and lived godly and peaceable lives; and though he warred ceaselessly against sin, he was tolerant of intellectual error, except so far as it was connected with or tended to sin. In matters of mere w ESLEY AND HiS LiTEEATURE. 325 opinion he displayed the broadest liberality, and avoided the too common mistake of making a man an offender for a word. In comparatively early life he records that he spent “ near ten minutes in controversy, which is more than I had done in public for months, perhaps years, before.” Later he says, “ I preach eight hundred sermons a year, and, taking one year with another for twenty years past, I have not preached eight sermons upon the subject.” The reference is to mere opinions. He was not likely, therefore, needlessly to embroil himself, nor to enter upon controversy without constraint of over- mastering motive, or that which to him seemed to be such. His first controversy was with his former friends, the Moravians, among whom he thought he discovered a dangerous mysticism in sentiment, and some unworthy license in practice ; but the interest of this was hmited, and it is now forgotten. The three great controversial subjects which engaged him were, first, to repel the slanders and correct the mistakes which were current about himseK and his work. To this end he wrote and pub- lished his “ Appeals to Men of Reason and Religion.” These earnest and dignified defenses deserve to be mentioned by the side of the Apologies of the early Church. In the first Appeal, after noticing and dealing with objections, he appeals to men who pride theinselves on their reason, as to the unreasonable- ness of an ungodly life, thus wounding them with arrows taken out of their own quiver. The second is almost wholly on the defensive in the first part ; the second part is a fearless and scathing exposure of commonly practised sin ; and the third restates the defense, and reiterates the rebuke of transgression. Wesley’s second controversy gave rise to his largest and ablest contribution to controversial literature — ^his treatise on “ Origi- nal Sin,” in reply to Dr. John Taylor, an acute and eminent Hnitarian minister of Horwich. In this work he treats his op- ponent with uniform courtesy, while he freely handles and does his best to demolish his scheme. He considers the subject first in relation to the state of mankind, past and present. After the 21 • 326 The Wesley Memorial Volume, historical review, which he confirms by a black list of corrob- orating facts, he proceeds to the scriptural definition and proof of the doctrine, dealing with his opponent’s method of dealing with Scripture. He then answers Dr. Taylor’s answers to writers who had contended with him before, and gives length- ened extracts from these writers where he judged them worthy of quotation. Dr. Taylor had answered others, but to Wes- ley’s treatise no reply was forthcoming. The third and most voluminous controversy in which Wesley engaged was the Calvinistie one, in which the Hills and Toplady on the one hand, and Wesley and Fletcher on the other, were doughty combatants for a series of years. The good men who tilted at each other’s shields, sometimes with rude assaults, have long since met in the land where they learn war no more, and have doubtless seen eye to eye in the purged vision of the Hew Jerusalem. It were idle, nay cruel, to revive these controver- sies now. For the purposes of this paper it need only be af- firmed that Wesley did not wrangle about trifles. “Religious liberty, human depravity, justification by faith, sanctification by the Holy Spirit, universal redemption ” — these were the truths which .he explained with convincing clearness, and de- fended with indomitable energy, and with a temper which, if not absolutely unruffled, rarely forgot the counsel, although terribly provoked to do so, — “Be calm in arguing, for fierceness makes Error a fault, and truth discourtesy.” A large portion of Wesley’s contributions to the literature of his time consisted of his abridgments of the works of other men. These number one hundred and seventeen, inclusive of the Christian Library, ■ which consists of fifty volumes. Per- haps a more unselfish boon was never given by any man in any land or age. It was a largeness of intellectual and spirit- ual wealth flung royally out for the masses, without thought of personal gain or grudge of personal trouble. Wesley’s pur- "Wesley akd His Literature. 327 pose Tvas to bring to the notice and within the reach of his Societies and others the best works of the best minds on the best subjects, that by the light of this sanctified intellect “ sons might be as plants grown up in their youth, and daughters as corner-stones polished after the similitude of a palace.” In this Christian Library the great Christian minds of the gen- erations are brought together. Clemens, Ignatius, and Poly- carp-^St. Ambrose, Arndt, and John Fox — Hall, Leighton, Patrick, and Tillotson — are parts of the renowned company. South, Cave, Manton, Cudworth, and Jeremy Taylor, are in friendly companionship with Charnock, Howe, Flavel, Baxter, and Owen. Brainerd and Jane way lay bare their spiritual ex- periences. Chief Justice Hale and Young are pressed into the service, and authors from foreign lands, such as Pascal, De Eenty, and Bengel are naturalized for the same liberal and useful end. The experiment, as has been well said, “ had never been attempted before, and has never been surpassed since.” His miscellaneous works were numerous, and so various as to defy classification. On whatever topic it seemed to him that the people needed guidance he was ready to offer it ; he provided for them instruction and counsel on the great prob- lems of hfe and its more serious duties, and did not forget, either in his poetical selections or in “ Henry, Earl of More- land,” to indulge them with morsels of lighter reading for their leisure hours. All mention of the Journals has been reserved to the last. They must be studied by any who would see the man. They are his unconscious autobiography. His versatility, his industry, his benevolence, his patience under insult, his indif- ference to human honor, his single-mindedness, his continual waiting upon providence, (which involved him in inconsisten- cies which he was not careful to reconcile, and which glorious- ly vindicate the disinterestedness of his life,) his culture, his courtesy, his combination of the instincts of a gentleman with the blunt honesty of a son of toil, his time dignity, his woman- 328 The Wesley Memorial Volume. ]y tenderness of feeling, his racy wit, his discriminating criti- cism, his power of speech, his power of silence, all the elements which go to make up the symmetry of a well-compacted charac- ter, — if any want to find these let them go, not to the pages of his biographers, who from various stand-points and with much acuteness have told the story of his life, but let them gather what he was and what the Avorld owes to him from these records, as he daily transcribed them, in which he has shown himseK, as in a glass, with the self-unconsciousness and trans- parency which only the truly great can afford to feel. We need not anticipate the world’s verdict. It has been already pronounced : — “Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control. These three alone lead life to sovereign power.” The slander was hushed into silence, and men woke up to know that a prophet had been among them ere yet he had passed from their midst. A life of such singular blameless- ness and of such singular devotion is a rich heritage for any people. He was not covetous of any fame but God’s ; but fame has come to him, notwithstanding, and sits upon his mem- ory hke a crown : — “ The path of duty was the way to glory. He that, ever following her commands. On with toil of heart and knees and hands. Through the long gorge to the far light has won His path upward and prevailed. Shall find the toppling crags of duty scaled. And close upon the shining table-lauds To which our God himself is moon and sun. Such was he: his work is done; But while the races of mankind endure Let his great example stand Colossal, seen of every land.” JOHN WESLEY AND SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. J OHX "WESLEY’S love of cHldren was proverbial, Robert Southey being the witness. The poet says : “ When I was a child I was in a house in Bristol where W esley was ; run- ning down stairs before him with a beautiful little sister of my own, he overtook us on the landing, where he lifted my sister in his arms and kissed her. Placing her on her feet again, he then put his hand upon my head and blessed me.” Little did the stranger know that that boy was to become the poet laureate of England, and one of his biographers. Well might Southey say in after years, his eyes glistening with tears, and his tones softened by grateful and tender recollec- tion, “ I feel as though I had the blessing of that good man upon me still.” It is a beautiful picWre ; many knew it to be true ; children were always welcome, and “ never in his way.” His knowledge of their wants and ways made him interested in their concerns, and that interest was a key to the affections of the little ones. In olden time rules were strict, and parental maxims some- what rigid; but the training of John Wesley was such as to bear its fruit in after life, and make him avoid the austere toward children that he might win their confidence by love. At his early Epworth home his mother was his teacher, and she began to educate very early. “ At one year old he was made to fear the rod, and to kiss it when he cried,” and that passion might be controlled, “ his very crying was only allowed in softened tonesP As he grew to be a boy he was only allowed three meals a day, and eating and drinking between meals was strictly for- bidden. He was one of the younger of nineteen children, and, 330 The Wesley Memorial Volume, though nine had died, there were enough left to make the rule of early retiring press hard upon him, for since all had to be in bed by eight o’clock, his turn would probably come very early. Two other rules were in force, one good, the other doubtful ; “Never give a child what it cried for; and never allow any one to sit by the cot after the child was put to bed.” This child had nerves which were finely strung, and great fears held possession of his little heart ; he cried for fear ; no help came, and he paid the penalty in after life of wonderful illusions, credulities, and dreams. Religion, however, was the foundation of all teaching in that household ; the children were taught to pray as soon as they could speak, and they were taught what prayer was. It is said that rudeness was never seen among them ; and on no account were they allowed to call each other by their proper names without the addition of brother or sister, as the case might be. School was kept for six hours a day, and psalms were sung at the beginning and close, after which one of the elder children took one of the younger and read to them from the Bible and heard the evening prayer. This was the home teaching of the sons till they were sent to school in London ; and one who ob- served the order of the Epworth family said, “Never was there a family of children who did theif mother greater credit.” And what a mother was she ! She trained her son for the Lord ; she watched his youthful follies ; she prayed continually for his safe-guiding as weU as for his safe-keeping. She followed him with her letters, with her entreaties, and her counsels, and she rejoiced in her life in London shortly before she died, that she might “ establish, strengthen, and settle ” him ; and when she died John was, indeed, the chief mourner who stood by the open grave in Bunhill-fields and dehvered that wonderful sermon to the assembled multitude. It was his filial act which placed a stone at the head of her grave, to record some- thing of her worth : John Wesley and Sunday-Schools. 331 “In sure and steadfast hope to rise, And claim her mansion in the skies, A Christian here her flesh laid down ; The cross exchanging for a crown.” The peril of the great city was soon found by John Wesley, to whom his father wrote in 1715, when he was at the Charter House School, “ I hope now I shall have no occasion to remem- ber the things that are past ; and since you have for sometime bit upon the bridle, I have now joy in thee, my son.” It is sad to be informed by him, that at the age of twenty-two he had to write ; “ Till now I have had no religious friend, but I begin to alter the whole form of my conversation, and am set in earnest upon a new life. I set apart an hour or two for religious retirement ; I watch against all sin, whether in word or deed ; I begin to aim at and to pray for inward holiness.” Thus it was, that from the age of ten to the age of twenty- two, the restraints of home being cut away, the experience of many young men of godly families was partially the experience of one of God’s holiest and most useful servants, at least so far that there was a marked lessening of religious influence and power. All this discipline prepared the way for the fuU sympathy of his mind with childhood and youth, which was shown by Mr. Wesley from the beginning of his ministry, leading him to enforce earnestly family religion and school instruction. In 1745 he wrote his “ Instructions for Children, addressed to all Parents and School-masters,” in which he treats upon the true principles of Christian education, and that these should be in- stilled into their minds as soon as they can distinguish good from evil. He then furnishes lessons in the form of a cate- chism, and we there see the old family rules of his own home peeping out when he exhorts teachers, that “ they who teach children to love praise, train them for the devil ; and they who give children what they like are the worst enemies they have.” 332 The Wesley Memoeial Yolttme. His knowledge of the hearts of children leads him in his well- known sermons on “ Training Children ” and “ Family Relig- ion ” to say, “ the wickedness of children is generally owing to the fault or neglect of their parents.” And further, “ that the souls of children should be fed as often as their bodies.” His “ lessons ” are taken from Moses, and are fifty-four in number. These he commends to his preachers, saying, “ Beware how you tend these deep things of God ; beware of that common but accursed way of making children parrots instead of Chris- tians. Regard not how much, but how you teach. Turn every sentence every way, and question them continually on every point.” How the personal influence of Wesley and Whitefleld all over the country, and the instructions of the former to his preachers, must have opened the way for the great Sunday- school movement of later years. Of those organizations he says, at the age of eighty-one years, when he preached at Bing- ley, in Yorkshire, on July 18, ITSl, “Before service I stepped into the Sunday-school. ... I find these schools springing up wherever I go. Perhaps God may have a deeper end therein than men are aware of. Who knows but that some of these schools may become nurseries for Christians ? ” This is Mr. Wesley’s first mention of these schools in his Journal; and he caught the idea with wonderful precision. Robert Raikes had started his school in Gloucester in 1181, and in 1784 Wesley says of the Leeds school: “The plan is this; boys and girls are kept separate. There are four inquisitors who spend the afternoon in visiting the twenty-six schools, to seek the absentees in the public streets. The masters are mostly pious men who are paid from one to two shillings a Sunday for their services. The expenses of the first year were £234.” Yisiting Oldham, he says, “ The children clung around me ; the streets were lined with little children, and such chil- dren as I had never seen till now. After singing, a whole troop closed me in and would not be content till I had shook Joim Wesley and SuisrDAT-ScHOOLS. 333 each of them by the hand.” At Bolton, where he preached at Easter, 1785, he wrote : “ Some five hundred Sunday-school children present ; such an army got about me when I came out of the chapel that I could not disengage myself from them.” Well may all this display of infant zeal have called forth the prediction and the prayer of the aged saint. He could not fail to remember his own early efforts in his school for colliers’ children, at Kingswood ; in his school at the Foimdery, in Lon- don, from 1742, under the direction and tuition of Silas Told ; and earlier still in his parish at Savannah, in 1736, where he had commenced the work which Eaikes was permitted to V accomplish in England more than forty years afterward. Bishop Stevens, in his “ History of Georgia ” has made this record of Mr. Wesley’s earliest efforts in school work : “As a part of Joha Wesley’s parochial labors he established a school of thirty or forty children, which he placed under the care of Mr. Del- lamotte, a man of good education, who endeavored to blend religious instruction with secular learning; and on Sunday aftei'noon Wesley met them in the church before evening service, heard the children recite their catechism, questioned them as to what they had heard from the pulpit, instructed them still further in the Bible, endeavoring to fix the truth in their understandings as well as in their memorie.s. This was a regular part of his Sunday dutie.s, and it shows that John Wesley, in the parish of Savannah, had established a Sunday-school fifty years before Eobert Eaikes originated his noble scheme of Sunday instruction in Gloucester, and eighty years before the first school in America, on Mr. Eaikes’ plan, was established in the eity of New York.” To whomsoever we are indebted for the first thought of Sunday-schools, to God only would we give all the praise, for such a work could only be an inspiration from him. The Sunday-school is now a great fact, one of the most potent for good on the face of the earth. Its influence controls the con- science and guides the will of nations ; and from America and England the system of Sunday-schools is being extended all over Europe, and by the aid of missionaries to people in every country on the globe. 334 The Wesley Memorial Volume. On the rolls of our Sabbath-schools are the names of millions I of scholars ; and the godly unpaid teachers are counted by hundreds of thousands. The results cannot be registered ; no pen of the statist can figure them ; the record is on high ! A century of Sunday-school work is just closing, and we are about to celebrate the completion of that period ; but the world has not yet seen the power of the Sunday-school. Had he lived so long, no one would have more rejoiced at the glorious results of Sunday-school labors during a century than would John Wesley. WESLEY JEGE PAE DE PEESSENSE. Paris, ce 19 mril^ 1879. A M. LE PASTEUR Matthieu Lelievre, ISTimes : Mon CHER Monsieur: Yous m’apprenez que I’on prepare aux Etats-Unis, a la grande memoire de Wesley, un monument plus durable que ceux de pierre on de marbre. Ce monument doit etre un livre, dans lequel tontes les diverses fractions du cbristianisme evangeliqne exprimeront leur respect et lenr sympatbie pour ce puissant serviteur de Dien. C’est a ce titre que voiis m’avez demande de joindre mon temoignage an leur. Je le fais avee empressement, dans la mesure on je le puis, c’est a dire en me contentant d’nn simple temoignage d’admi- ration et de gratitude ; car, je ne suis pas capable d’essayer une caractdristiqne de cet illnstre serviteur de Dien, illnstre malgre Ini-meme, I’bnmilite etant I’un de ses traits distinctifs. Les Eglises metliodistes d’Ameriqne ont eu bien raison de faire appel a la cbretiente evangeliqne tout entiere, car un homme comme Wesley Ini appartient, tout en ayant marque son oeuvre d’une empreinte particuliere, par I’influence generate et con- siderable qu’il a exercee sur I’Eglise contemporaine. Laissant de cote ce qui se rapporte plus specialment aux Eglises que portent son nom, et, qui ont bien raison de demeurer fideles a leur caractere propre, tant que n’a pas sonne I’beure de la grande fusion, dans la synthese elargie d’un cbristianisme complet — heure qui me parait devoir coincider avec celle des dernieres consommations— je releverai quelques uns des grands services rendus par Wesley a la Reformation tout entiere. Tout d’abord, au point de vue doctrinal, il a reagi contre la scbolastiqiie dogmatique, dans laquelle s’etait figee la seve gene- reuse du seizieme siecle, et il a restaure I’element moral, la lib- 336 The 'W'esley Memorial Volume. erte liumaine sacrifice au dogme de la predestination absolue, sans tomber dans I’erreur pelagienne. Je ne m’arrete pas aiix consequences, qui ont ete tirees de cette revendication an sein des Eglises wesleyennes, et, sur lesquelles je n’ai pas a me pro- noncer ici. Je retiens senlement cette grande affirmation dn fibre arbitre, en dehors de laquelle, je declare ne pas comprendre une lutte serieuse centre le pantbeisme contemporain, et cette insistance snr la saintete, qui etait bien necessaire en face d’une orthodoxie plus disposee a rassurer I’ame qu’a la stimuler a la lutte. En second lieu, Wesley, sans rompre prematurement avec I’Eglise officielle, a ete I’un des plus puissants initiateurs de la vraie notion de I’Eglise, qui la fait reposer, non sur la naissance, mais sur la foi personnelle, et I’amene, sans detroner le minis- tere, a une large pratique du sacerdoce universel, du sacerdoce laique. Cette premiere reforme ecclesiastique portait d^ns son sein I’independance de la societe spirituelle vis-a-vis de I’etat : aussi, a la seconde generation, le wesleyanisme a-t-il presque partout rompu le lien avec le pouvoir civil. En troisieme lieu, Wesley a donne le plus magnifique elan au mouvement missionnaire, sans separer la mission du dedans de celle du dehors, car c’est une vraie mission qu’il a entre- prise avec Whitefield dans les terres dites chretiennes. Je ne connais rien de plus admirable que cette propaganda ardente, infatigable dans les deux mondes, suspendant les multitudes aux levres de ces vrais apotres qui, pour employer I’expression d’un de leurs plus fideles disciples, le Rev. Arthur, portaient oraiment une langue de feu, et, dans le siecle de Voltaire et de Bolingbroke, ramenerent de vraies Pentecotes. Ils ont ete les initiateurs d’un reveil general qui s’est produit dans tout le protestantisme. Les os secs se sont ranimes a leur voix, qui a ete en ten due par toute la terre. La mission interieure a enfante la mission exterieure, qui lui a du cette incomparable expan- sion, la gloire de I’Eglise evangelique du dix-neu-vieme siecle. Grace a eux et a leurs emules, I’ange de 1’ Apocalypse a vrai- Wesley Jtjge pa.r De Pressense. 337 ment repris son vol sous tons les cieux pour porter I’Evangile eteruel aux peuples de toutes langues. Enfin, car je me borne a indiquer ces idees sans les develop- per, Wesley a fait descendre de nouveau I’Evangile des hauteurs plus ou moins glaeees d’une sorte d’aristocratie religieuse. II I’a porte aux desherites, aux ignorants, aux esclaves. On a pu ^re de nouveau : “ L’Evangile est annonce aux pauvres.” Les partisans d’une religion comme il faut, lui en out fait un re- proche, et lui out dit comme Celse au christianisme primitif : “Yousne vous occupez que de cette tourbe de carrefour, de tous ces miserables qui sont le rebut de I’humanite.” Wesley am’ait pu repondre, comme Origene dans sa replique immortelle au philosophe grec : “ C’est vrai ; nous nous preoecupons de ces miserables pour les relever, parce que vous n’y avez pas pense. Nous representons rm Maitre qui a dit : ‘ Je ne suis pas venu pour ceux qui sont en sante, mais je cherche tout ce qui est perdu ! ’ ” II faudrait maintenant, mon cher Monsieur, montrer toutes ces grandes idees vivantes dans la personne de Wesley, re tracer cette fignre si noble, cette vie d’infatigable devouement. Ce n’est pas en vous ecrivant que je le ferai, car je n’ ai garde d’oublier que vous etes un de ceux qui nous avez le mieux fait connaitre ce grand chretien, grand surtout parce qu’il redit du fond du coeur avec Jean Baptiste : “II faut qu’il grandisse et que je diminue.” Sans donte vos Eghses, comme toutes les fractions de la chretiente, ont eu leurs imperfections et leurs etroitesses. J’avoue franchement que ma pensee a besoin de plus d’air et d’espace que I’orthodoxie du reveil, qu’il soit wesleyen, lu- therien, ou reforme. Chaque epoque recoit des lumieres nou- velles de Celui qui s’appeUe le Soleil de justice et de verite. Je souhaite seulement que ces lumieres soient penetrees d’une flamme aussi ardente qui celle que anima les Peres de nos Eglises. Les grands serviteurs de Dieu, qui nous ont quittes, sont comme des Elies enleves dans un char de feu. II faut ramasser, non 338 The Wesley Memokial Yolume. pas leur linceul, qui represente la part des infirmites et des erreurs humaines, dont il faut bien se garder de faire des tradi- tions mortes — mais leur mantean ; je veux dire, ce qni sym- bolise leur activite large et feeonde. C’est le seul moyen pour les Elisees de continuer les Elies. Croyez, cber Monsieur, a ma baute estime et a mon affectueux devouement, E. DE Peessense. WESLEY JUDGED BY DE. DE PEESSENSE. Pakis, April 19, 1879. To THE Ret. Matthew Lelievke, Ntmes. My Deak Sik : Ton tell me that a monument more lasting than one of stone or marble is being prepared in the United States to the grand memory of Wesley. This monument is a book in which the various evangelical communions will express their respect and sympathy for that powerful servant of God. Wherefore you ask me to join my testimony to theirs ; and I eagerly do so in the measure of my abihty, confining myself to a simple testimony of admiration and gratitude. For I am not able to attempt a characteristic of this illustrious servant of God, illustrious in spite of himseK, humility being one of the traits which distinguished him. The American Methodist Churches have done well to appeal to Evangelical Christendom generally, for a man such as Wesley, although his work bore a special stamp, belongs to it by the wide and deep influence which he exercised over the contemporary Church. Leaving aside what more particularly regards the Churches which bear his name, and which are right in remaining faith- ful to their own principles, so long as the hour has not struck for the grand fusion in the widened synthesis of a perfected Chris- tianity — which hour methinks will coincide with the end of all things — I shall point out a few of the great services Wesley rendered to reformation generally. In the first place, as regards doctrine, he reacted against scholastical dogmatics, in which the noble sap of the sixteenth century had been congealed, and, without falling into Pelagian error, he restored the moral ele- ment — human hberty — which had been sacrificed to the dogma of absolute predestination. I pass over the conclusions which 340 The Wesley Memorial Volume. have been drawn from this claim by the Wesleyan Churches, and on which I have not here to pronounce. I only mark that grand affirmation of the free-will — without which I declare I do not comprehend any serious wrestling against contemporary pantheism — and that insistence on ‘holiness which was a neces- sity in presence of an orthodoxy more fit to reassure the waver- ing soul than to excite it for the struggle. In the second place, Wesley, without prematurely breaking with the Established Church, was one of the most powerful initiators of that true ecclesiastical notion which establishes the Church, not on birthright but on personal faith, and, without dethroning ministry, teaches her to practice universal priesthood — lay priesthood. This first ecclesiastical reform carried in itself the independence of the spiritual society toward the State ; consequently, as early as the second genera- tion, Wesleyanism had nearly every-where freed itself from civil power. Thirdly, Wesley gave the most magnificent impulse to mis- sionary movement at home and abroad ; for that was a true mission which he undertook with Whitefield [in Georgia] in a so-called Christian land. I know nothing more worthy of admiration than the ardent propaganda, indefatigable in both worlds, of those time apostles on whose hps crowds hung spell- bound, and — to speak in the language of one of their most faithful disciples, the Rev. William Arthur — who had tongues of fire, and in the age of Voltaire and Bolingbroke produced true pentecosts. They were the means of beginning a general revival of Protestantism. At their voice — which is gone into all the earth — the dry bones revived. The home mission brought forth foreign mission, which has been followed by that incomparable expansion, the glory of the evangelical Church in the nineteenth century. Thanks to them and their associ- ates, the angel of the apocalypse has indeed resumed his flight in the midst of heaven to carry the everlasting gospel to every tongue and people. Wesley Judged by Dr. De Pressense. 341 Finally — for I am merely pointing ont these ideas without unfolding them — Wesley brought down the gospel anew from the rather icy summits of a religion of aristocracy. He took it to the disinherited, to the ignorant, to the slaves. It might again be truly said : “ The gospel is preached to the poor.” The followers of a fashionable religion have made this a reproach to him, saying, like Celsus to primitive Chris- tianity: “You only attend to those cross- way mobs, to those miserable creatures who are the refuse of humanity.” Wesley might have answered, like Origen, in his immortal reply to the Creek philosopher : “ True, we employ ourselves to restore those miserable people, because you have not thought about them. We represent a Master who said : ‘ I came not for those who are whole, but I seek all who are lost.’ ” Now, dear sir, all these grand ideas ought to be shown alive in the person of Wesley, and that noble figure, that life of un- wearied self-denial, ought to be delineated. I cannot do this in a letter to you, for how can I forget that you* are one of those who have best acquainted us with this great Christian — great, just because, like John the Baptist, he said from his in- most heart : “ He must increase, and I must decrease.”- Surely, your Churches, hke all other Christian communions, have had their imperfections and their narrow-mindedness. I frankly confess that my thought wants more air and space than the orthodoxy of revival can give, whether Wesleyan, Lu- theran, or Heformed. Every epoch receives fresh light from him who is the Sun of Righteousness and truth. I only wish that this light be penetrated by so ardent a flame as that which animated the fathers of onr Churches. The great servants of Cod who have left us are like so many Elijahs taken up in a chariot of fire. We must pick up, not their shroud, that is to say, their infirmities and errors — which we must be careful not to make dead traditions of — but their .mantle, by which I * Pressense has reference to Lelievre’s most admirable “ Life of Wesley.” — Editor. 22 342 The "Wesley Memoeial Volume. mean every tiling tliat represents their wide and fruitful activ- ity. Only thus will the Ehshas be the continuators of the Eli- jahs. I am, dear sir, Your affectionately devoted E. DE Pkessense. EPWOETH. I. M 0THEE,LA!N'D across the sea, Home of bards and sages, Crowned amid the ages, Shrines annumbered are in thee. Where the pilgrim reverently Stands like one upon a shore. Looking far the billows o’er ; Waiting till the echoes float From the wastes that lie remote ; So we lean, with ear attent, For some winged message sent. II. In the distance here we stand ; — ’Tis a deep devotion. Mother isle of ocean. Speaks a blessing on thy land. For thy heroes, strong of hand. Brave of heart, the ages through ; ’Tis a shining retinue, Thou hast given for the lead Of a world in restless speed ; Seas are wide, but chains of gold Bind us each, the Hew and Old. 344 Tide "Wesley Memoeial Volume. III. Where the Trent with easy flow Seeks the Humber, gliding, Winding oft, and hiding. Through the “ levels ” rich and low, There a manor long ago Rose beyond, on heights of green. Looking down the river sheen ; That is Epworth, parish old, Of a date that is not told ; — Hence the echo o’er the sea, Worthy theme of minstrelsy. lY. Parsonage of Epworth ! where Came there brighter angel. With a glad evangel? Hever on the burdened air Was a sweeter breath of prayer. Than the words by priest intoned. When the mother, love-enthroned, Gave the new-born one caress. With God’s seal of blessedness ; — Write that mother’s queenly soul, England, on thy royal scroll ! Y. Thatched the cottage where he dwelt, Shepherd and protector, Epworth’s saintly rector; Dim the chancel where he knelt, ’Heath the mossy tower that felt Epwoeth. 345 Shock of storm, and sunlight kiss, Pointing from the world that is To the higher towers of gold, In the glory manifold ; Bless St. Andrew’s with its chime, Eehc of the olden time ! VL From the parish of the priest, Hnmble in its story. Spread a wave of glory ; Like the day-star in the East To the daylight broad increased ; TiU a morning song is heard Like the carol of a bird ; Song of prisoned souls unbound Rising all the wide world round ; Palaces have heard the strain. And the lowly keep refrain. YII. Epworth hath its legends old ; Tales of ancient Briton,— Chivalry unwritten, — Deed of Dane and Saxon, told ; But no dauntless chief or bold Gives the manor such renown, Gives its beauty such a crown. As the knight with shield and lance, Leading on the world’s advance From the river isle Axholme, Over land and ocean foam. 346 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. VIII. Epworth born, and Oxford bred, Strident, fellow, master, Thence a world-wide pastor ; Where the rubric had not led. There his parish field was spread ; Mid the Newgate felons bold. On the Moorfields, temple old. Where the Kingswood colliers met, While he spread the gospel net ; Wider than a bishop’s see. His a priesthood by decree. IX. Westward rolled the glory -wave With the wave of freedom ; As from ancient Edom Came the mighty One to save. So the stalwart and the brave Entered through the forest doors. Trod the great cathedral floors. With their arches old and dim. Where, as from the cherubim. Fell the beauty and the gold With a rapture never told. X. Now the marble tells his fame Where the kings are sleeping. Guards the meanwhile keeping Watch o’er his illustrious name; While his words, an angel flame. Epworth. On the breath of morning fly With a trail of victory, From the rock of Plymouth old, To the western gate of gold ; Yale to vale, and State to State, Polls the song “ free grace,” elate. XI. Lo' we add another shrine. With a new hosanna. In the far Savannah, Where he came with zeal divine, ’Mid old trails of oak and pine ; Where the red man darkly trod. Where he blindly worshiped God ! Here we drop our gifts of gold ; — ’Tis a tale forever told. Of the old colonial time. As he stood in early prime. XII. Where the brave Pulaski fell. With a shaft upKfted, For the hero gifted. Let the shade of W esley dwell ; Let this fond memorial tell. Of the royal brotherhood, Ransomed all by Jesus’ blood ; From all lands of earth are we Hither brought from every sea ; One dear land is ours — the best ; One dear cross— our pledge of rest. 348 The Wesley Memokial Volume. XIII. On to old and distant climes, O’er the wild Pacific, Speeds the light omnific ; Hark, the hiirried crash betimes Of the old embattled crimes, ' In the Tycoon’s crowded isles, ’Mid the Rajah’s palace piles ; From zenana and bazar , Hear the “ Amen ” rising far ; See the guns dismantled stand. Spiked by Christ’s own princely hand. XIY. Through the Flowery Kingdom wide, Up its river passes Thronged with teeming masses. O’er the mountains which divide Dynasties of wealth and pride ; Lands of Caliph, Czar, and Khan ; In the shade of V atican ; ’Tis the same old conquering charm, ’Tis the heart made strangely warm ; Swifter than the Moslem’s sword Flies the everlasting word. XV. Onward is the sacred march Through revolted regions, Filled with hostile legions ; Wild sirocco storms but parch All the way to victory’s arch ; Epworth. 349 “ God is with us,” best of all ; He will smite the bastion wall ; We shall write upon the bells Of the horses, as he tells, “ Holiness ” for his renown. His the glory and the crown. XYI. ’Tig a birth-song we have sung ; Whispered as we listened. When a babe was christened; When the parish bells were rung. And two souls together clung. Child and mother. Onward time ! ’Tis a battlefield sublime ; Turn the kingdoms ; islands wait ; Chimes the jubilee elate ! — Parish of the world ! behold ! Christ is crowned with stars of gold. WESLEY AND WHITEEIELD. T he title of this paper might, under other circumstances, lead readers to expect a great deal more than we propose to attempt. A full discussion of all that is involved in the names Wesley and Whitefield would form a history of the great religious movement of the last century, of which, under God, they were the chief promoters. It will readily be seen, however, that a chapter in this Memorial Volume on the sub- ject of these two mighty men must simply exhibit them in their relation to each other. In the history of the English nation and of the Christian re- ligion the two names are inseparably linked together. Some great men seem to have had no associates, of equal name and fame, engaged with them in their work. We sometimes com- pare the names of Paul and Silas, or of Paul and Barnabas, yet this is as we mention sun and satellite together, rather than as we speak of two twin stars. Wiclif did his work alone. We couple no other name with that of John Calvin, or of Jonathan Edwards. Butler thought out by himself the glorious argument of his imperishable “Analogy.” John Mil- ton’s soul was “Like a star, and dwelt apart.” On the other hand, there are names which, despite of dissim- ilarities, we associate with each other. Luther and Melanchthon are a familiar instance. These two men were in all their men- tal and moral idiosyncrasies “ wide as the poles asunder,” but they were co-equals, associates, fellow-helpers, in some respects the complement or correlate of each other. The union of their names is natural, and will, no doubt, be perpetual. In like manner the names of Wesley and Whitefield stand Wesley and Whitefield. 351 together on the page of history. To the initiated, who under- stand the difference between the two men, and who know of the separation which took place early in their public history, this union may appear unnatural, and it is more than possible that on both sides some followers of the one may not think he is honored by being classed with the other ; but, rightly or wrongly, the two names are braced together, and we believe will be so even to the end. The association, too, we believe, is quite natural. The differences between them were important if not vital ; but they were inward. To the outside world the connection and resemblance were much more apparent than the divergence and the dissimilarity. Th ny live d in the same era and were both identified from the first with the same relig- ious movement. Both bore the nickname “ Methodist,” which the happy genius of some scoffing collegian invented after “ Sacramentarian,” “ Bible-moth,” and “ Bible-bigot ” had been tried. Some doctrines which were repudiated with vehemence by the ecclesiastics of their day they held in common, and these each continued to preach after they had pronounced very opposite opinions on the doctrine of the divine decrees. Both were eminent preachers, and both were distinguislied by a splendid irregularity in the way in which they exercised their ministry. In their early life they were intimate and endeared friends, and in their early labors they were close associates. The junction of their names on the page of history, under such circumstances, was to be looked for, and let high Calvinist or low Arminian like it or not, they must reconcile themselves to it, for it is inevitable and unalterable. If we are asked which of the men should be reckoned the greater, perhaps our safest answer would be, “We are not careful to answer thee in this matter.” We are taught by the apostle not to glory in one Christian teacher over another, on the principle that all the qualifications and endowments of min- isters in general are for the benefit of the Church of God. “AH things are yours.” Hence, if we could not give a com- i 352 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. parative estimate of these two men without seeming to despise or depreciate one of them, we should certainly hesitate ere we expressed an opinion. But as we devoutly reverence the mem- ory of Whitefield, Ave may, perhaps, be permitted to say that we think Wesley was incomparably the greater man. We re- gard him as the master spirit of the last century’s revival. In some things Whitefield undoubtedly led the way. He was the first to perceive the simplicity Avhich was in Christ. Wes- ley continued as a ritualist and a legalist long after Whitefield had obtained peace in believing. Hot till after Wesley’s mel- ancholy visit to Georgia did he experience that “ strange warm- ing of heart ” which was his induction into “ the peace which passeth all understanding.” Whitefield had passed from death unto life while yet at the University. Whitefield, when access to the pulpits of the Church of England was denied him, was the first to go to the highways and hedges to compel men to come in. Wesley felt some reluctance to follow his friend’s example. He verily thought within himself, at an earlier pe- riod of his history, that it Avas almost a sin for souls to be saved out of a church ; and now he had a shrinking from the unwont- ed step which Whitefield had taken. He knew, however, how to crucify the fiesh, and he resolutely made himself more vile for his Master’s sake. We think that Whitefield more fully emancipated himself from Church of England trammels than Wesley ever did. He had no brother of intense Church pro- clivities impeding his movements toward freedom. However we account for it, Wesley, to his latest day, showed a predilec- tion for the Established Church. A terrible indictment against the Church of England could be easily framed from the writ- ings of J ohn W esley, yet he was a Churchman to the last. His followers in England are often reproached for their alienation from the Established Church, and they are told in good set terms that in leaving the' Church they departed from the spirit and counsel of their founder.* These taunts would be * See Dr. Eigg’s “ Wesley and the Church of England ” in this volume. — Editor. Wesley and Whitefield. 353 difficult to meet if Methodists regarded their founder as infal- lible, or maintained the duty of following him in every thing ; but men may have the highest admiration of a Christian hero and yet be faithful to their Lord’s command, “ Call no man master on the earth.” In the matters named we may acknowledge that Whitefield had the pre-eminence ; but after aU, we give the palm without hesitation to Wesley. His greatness grows upon us. Study his character and life, and he will loom larger and larger upon you. Dr. John Campbell had an inveterate dislike to the form of church polity set up by W esley. He had more than one controversy with its upholders, but his veneration for the man Wesley "s^^as so great that he declared his belief that he would yet be regarded as the greatest Englishman that ever lived. This opinion will appear extravagant to many, but it will be thought less so by and by, when martial glory, high rank, intellectual greatness, will be thought less worthy of honor and distinction than turning many to righteousness and widening the bounds of the kingdom of God. We have said that Wesley and Whitefield had much in com- mon in the doctrines they preached. Still it was unity in di- versity. In the funeral sermon he preached for his friend, Wes- ley summed up the fundamental doctrines on which White- field every-where insisted as consisting in the new birth and justification by faith. On these “ good old-fashioned doctrines,” as Wesley described them, the two friends thought and spoke the same, and cordially agreed. So far there was “ no schism in the body ” of Methodist teachers. But with these doctrines on which they were in unison, Whitefield preached dogmas which Wesley rejected with all the energy of his nature. The friends of Whitefield would not, indeed, admit that Wesley had drawn a full or faithful portrait of their deceased leader. Un- conditional election and the perseverance of the saints were with Whitefield matters of high importance and paramount belief. These ought to have been included in any summary of his doc- 354 The "Wesley Memoeial Volume. trinal tenets. Perhaps they ought. No doubt Whitefield was a thorough-paced Calvinist; but Wesley showed his good taste by shunning, in the funeral sermon, what had been matter of controversy between him and his sainted friend. Had he alluded to them at all he could not well have avoided stating his disbelief of them ; and had the peculiarities of Calvinism been touched on, what could have been expected from him who embodied those peculiarities in the famous formula, that some will be saved do what they will, and the rest will be damned do what they can. Kegret is sometimes expressed that Wesley and Whitefield should have separated. We cannot say we share in the regret. Matters being as they were, separation was natural, unavoidable, desirable. “ How can two wallt together except they be agreed?” Union no doubt is strength, but then it must be union, not simply juxtaposition or nominal association. White- field might deplore Wesley’s publication of his sermon on gen- eral redemption : Wesley might blame Whitefield for men- tioning names while attacking what he considered doctrinal errors : but these mutual criminations and recriminations were needless. What men believe to be a part of the counsel of God they must proclaim. Continued unity of action to Wes- ley and Whitefield, therefore, was only possible on the conceal- ment of their personal sentiments on matters of grave concern- ment. To men of such ardent zeal and high conscientiousness suppression of the truth was impossible. Some attempts at compromise and healing the breach, no doubt, were made. That in seeking to promote reconciliation Wesley “leaned too much toward Calvinism,” we beheve, on his own confession ; but fire and water cannot be made to coalesce. The systems of Calvin and Arminms, in agreement up to a given point, are utterly at variance beyond that point, and the yawning chasm between them cannot be bridged over. Even now we do not see how, in a connectional system, the “ five points ” of disa- greement could be left an open question. Men can preach 'VVeslet and Whitefield. 355 Oiirist wlietlier they be Calvinists or Arminians, but it is better for them to do it from different pulpits. /O^espite tbeir doctrinal divergence there can be no doubt /that these two saintly men retained an earnest affection and (^teem for each other. What Whitefield would have felt, or bow be would have acted bad be lived to know of the con- troversy that broke out after the pubbcation of the Minutes of Conference for 1770, can only be a matter of conjecture. With bis avowed Calvinism, we cannot suppose that be would have sympathized with the saintly Fletcher in bis defenses, but neither will we believe that be would have homologated the unprincipled assaults of Toplady. The splendid legacy left to the Church of God by the vicar of Broadbembury in bis magnificent hymn, “Rock of Ages, cleft for me,'’ will endear the name of Toplady to all lovers of sacred song, but our admiration would be higher if we were ignorant of the low scurribty, the unmeasured abuse, which be poured out on the devoted bead of an aged and venerable servant of God. Wesley had to endure the pelting scorn of half an age, and some of the vilest things uttered concerning him were spoken by those who thought themselves the peculiar favorites of Heaven. Christians are the salt of the earth, and they were the salt of the salt. Happily Whitefield died in the year when this embittered controversy had its origin. He was taken away from the evil to come. In doctrinal accuracy we give the pre-eminence to Wesley. We are far from saying that he sounded all the depths of the truth of God. And we readily admit that his teachings may exhibit some slight discrepancies ; yet we know of no interpret- er whose doctrines commend themselves more to our judg- ment and conscience as in harmony with the word of Script- ure and the facts of human experience. Hor do we expect 356 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. tliat with the lapse of time his system of theology will be greatly improved upon. Poets may sing “ Ring in the Christ that is to be,” yet if the Christ of the future has to he a true Christ, then he is the Christ that is now. We do not believe that the funda- mental doctrines of Christianity, in Avhich the Church of God has believed from the beginning, will ever he disproved. Rob- inson, the pastor of the Pilgrim Fathers, said that God had much truth yet to break out of his holy word. We do not doubt it. But the truth yet to be found in Scripture cannot contradict the truth which it has already made plain. We cannot believe in a revelation that does not reveal ; and we be- lieve that the faith of the future will very largely be that which we find in the sermons and treatises of John Wesley, and the hymns of his gifted brother. As preachers it is not easy for us to compare the two men. Oratory can hardly be judged of at second-hand. Both were great preachers. Wesley was the more logical, Whitefield the more eloquent. Yet it seems a mistake to suppose that Wesley was a calm and dispassionate preacher, to whom a sermon was only like a little fireside chat. He counseled his preachers not to scream, yet he himself could at least be vehement. His preaching pace was not always an amble or a canter ; he some- times rode his steed at a fiery rate. In courage, physical and moral, the two men were equally remarkable. They could face a mob, they could resist a world. There are many men of known and tried courage Avho would quail before an angry crowd. The waves of the sea, when tem- pest-tossed, are terrible in their pitiless power, yet holy Script- ure classes them with the tumult of the people : “ Which still- eth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.” This tumult Wesley and Whitefield could brave. Their moral courage was as marked as their physical bravery. Raillery, taunts, opposition, vituperation, Wesley and Whitefield. 357 none of these things moved them. To their faith they added courage. Had they not, then, humanly speaking, the great revival of the eighteenth century could not have taken place. In singlemindedness the two men were alike. Ho one can doubt the entire devotedness of them both to God. The zeal of God’s house ate them up. If they had ambition — the last frailty of great minds — it was of the most noble and commend- able kind. Their ambition was to honor their Master and ex- tend his kingdom, save souls from death, and hide a multitude of sins. That some grains of earthly alloy were mingled with the fine gold of their religious zeal we may admit, for they were men. Yet, on the whole, we believe that Church history of any age, of all ages, would find it difficult to produce two men of more apostohc character and spirit. They were dead to the world, they gloried only in the cross. To them to live was Christ, and to die was gain. Paul would have hailed them as brethren beloved, like-minded with himself, fellow-workers for the kingdom of God. They were both successful preachers. In this matter it may be done to men according to their faith, but not always to their puremindedness and zeal. Piety is not the sole requisite to ministerial success. There is such a thing as aptness to teach, and sanctified sagacity in turning men to God. Hot every man wise unto salvation is wise in winning souls. God had given this wisdom to both Wesley and Whitefield in large measure. They each turned many to righteousness. How many were converted to God through their instrumentality the day shall declare. In one week of Whitefield’s life we know he received a thousand letters from persons who, through his preaching, were awakened to spiritual anxiety. This cir- cumstance was without precedent in the history of the Church, and probably had no parallel in the subsequent life of White- field. Yet it shows the amazing spiritual power that attended his preaching, a power not confined to that pver-memorable week. Wesley’s preaching was also attended with amazing 23 358 The Wesley Memorial Volume. power from on high, and many souls will be the crown of re- joicing of each, in the day of the Lord. In one thing Whitefield was obviously inferior to Wesley. He did not possess the organizing faculty. Wesley was distin- guished for it almost beyond any other man. Whitefield was a spiritual force, an impulse ; Wesley was this, and a wise master-builder besides. We are far from thinking that every great religious leader that arises should seek to perpetuate his name by the formation of a new sect. The divisions of Prot- estantism are undoubtedly its weakness, and we long to see its breaches healed ratlier than widened and multiplied. We com- mend Charles H. Spui-geon, that, wielding the mighty influence be does in England, he founds no sect of Spurgeonites, but re- tains bis place in the rank and file of the Baptist ministry. Yet even he has thought of conserving his work by new meth- ods and new organizations. His Pastor’s College was notably an innovation, and its annual gatherings bring together a num- ber of men all bound, no doubt, to the denomination, but bound by peculiarities to each other. We hojDe that the fruits of Whitefield’s ministry were not lost, though he did little to bind his converts together. Churches, both old and new, gath- ered many of* them into their communion. Wesley saw the importance of watching over the souls that had been brought to God by his own labors and those of his “ fellow-helpers to the truth.” Pie saw, too, how the work of God could be ex- tended by the employment of men who, it might be with small culture, birt much shrewdness and abundant zeal, could labor in word and doctrine. Hence his class-meetings, his leaders, stewards, and itinerant preachers. Hence the formation of a system which has spread over the English-speaking world, laid hold of portions of the continent of Europe, invaded Hin- dostan, is known in the isles of the southern seas, and is making converts to-day in China. We may not all approve of the precise form which Methodism assumed in the hands of its founder. The exclusion of the laity from its supreme counsel Wesley and Whitefield. 359 soon led to agitation, npheavals, and convulsions. Botli in En- gland and America, Cliurclies in the direct line of descent from Wesley have found it needful to remedy what they thought was an original defect of their constitution. Yet this must be said for Wesley, that, unlike the paper constitutions of the first Fi'ench Revolution, he devised a form of government that Avould work. And what a tribute, to the constructive genius of the grand old man, that, amid all changes that have been adopted, and divisions that have taken place, the distinctive characteristics of his system are retained in every Church that claims to he of Wesleyan origin. There is a homogeneity in all the branches of Methodism ; having affinities with all Chris- tian Churches, they have special affinities with each other. “Lo, the people shall dwell alone.” ISTor is there the least likelihood of these pecuharities being lost, although, no doubt, modifications will take place. In all probability, while sun and moon endure. Churches will exist which trace their pater- nity to the venerable Wesley. Whether Wesley or Whitefield was the more intense man we do not know ; but certainly Wesley was a wiser man than his friend. Whitefield was a preacher, and so was Wesley. But Wesley was also an acute logician, an able scholar, an accomphshed hymnist, and a discriminating critic. Some of Wesley’s views wei’e far in advance of those of Whitefield. We will not specify Wesley’s political opinions. These are certainly not to our taste. Few Englishmen of any type could be found now who would defend his views and utterances on the subject of the American War of Independ- ence. On the subject of slavery, however, how clear and ad- vanced were his views ! Once and again he denounces it in the strongest terms ; and it is interesting to think that “ In age and feebleness extreme, ” he wrote to William Wilberforce, encouraging him to persevere in his benevolent hut Herculean task. Whitefield, on the other 360 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. hand, held property in slaves. Some men with strong vision are yet color-blind. Briefly we have compared and contrasted these two great names. Yet, be it ever remembered, they never regarded themselves as rivals, and perhaps would scarcely approve of us weighing them against each other in the critical balance. Cer- tainly we have cause to thank God for them both, and our thankfulness will be best shown by trying to follow their precious example : — “ Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time.” JOHN WESLEY AND HIS MOTHER. the study of the marvelous fact of Methodism in Church history certain names occur to you, and the persons repre- sented by these names pass and repass before your mental eye. Of course, the chief figure in the picture is that extraordinary man, second to none since the great apostle to the Gentiles. Grouped around that central object of attraction are several whose names shall be as imperishable as the system which, under God, he was instrumental in organizing, and wliich to-day is more vital with spiritual power than ever before. In this picture appears Charles Wesley, the sweet singer of our Methodist Israel, who rendered invaluable services to the great religious movement known as Methodism. To-day his influence as a Christian poet of the highest order is recognized in the fact that his hymns are sung in every land and in every section of the Church of Christ. While there is sin to be repented of, while there is pardon to be rejoiced over, and heaven to be anticipated, the penitential, praiseful, and rap- turous hymns of Charles Wesley shall be sung to earth’s remotest bound. Hear the center of the group stands the seraphic John Fletcher, the saintly man, but powerful con- troversialist and defender of the generous gospel proclaimed by the fathers, and now by the sons of Methodism in every part of the habitable globe. There, on the same canvas, appear George Wliitefield, and Adam Clarke, and Joseph Benson, and Vincent Perronet, and many of lesser fame too numerous to mention. And there, too, appear the saintly women of earlier Methodism, Susanna Wesley, and Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, and the Lady Maxwell, and Mary Fletcher, and Hester Ann Eogers, and Elizabeth Ritchie, and 362 The Wesley Memoeial Voltoie. many others, Avhose holy lives, godly examples, and pious offices were its chief est glory. The two central figures of this splendid picture — the sainted founder of Methodism and his equally sainted mother — claim our undivided attention. Can we think of the women of Methodism without re- membering that woman who, above all others, had most to do in fashioning the character of our illustrious founder ? My eye rests with peculiar satisfaction upon the queenly form of that “ elect lady,” whose infiuence upon John Wesley and upon Methodism cannot be overestimated. The mother of John Wesley was a woman of singular beauty, of rare character, and of extraordinary intellectual accomplishments. Method- ism owes a debt of gratitude to Susanna Wesley which can be paid only by fidelity to the principles which have made Meth- odism a power, if not a praise, in all the earth. Susanna Wesley, to indicate her influence over her son, has been called the foundress of Methodism. That we may see the influence of this richly-gifted woman upon her son, let us glance at her remarkable history. In Stevens’ classic “History of Methodism” the reader may see a portrait of Mrs. Wesley which is a study for an artist. She was one of the most beautiful women of her day, or of any day. It was a sta'tely, commanding beauty, giving evidence of great mental and moral power. In her girlhood this power displayed itself in a choice which led her to abandon the Puritan Church of her father for the Church of England. Her father, knowing her thoughtful turn and great determination, did not exercise his parental authority in com- pelling her to go with him to a non-conforming Church. It is, however, in the parsonage, as wife and mother, that she shone with brighter luster. As a wife she was independ- ent in thought and vigorous in action in her own sphere, but religiously recognized the headship of her husband. When Mr. Wesley was from home Mrs. Wesley felt it her duty to keep up the worship of God in her own house. She John Wesley and His Mother. 363 not only prayed for, but with, her family. At such times she took the spiritual care and direction of the children and servants upon herseK, and sometimes even the neighbors shared the benefit of her instructions. This, in one case, led to consequences little expected, which showed a remarkable trait in the character of this extraordinary and excellent wom- an. The account was first published by Mr. John Wesley, who remarks that “ his mother, as well as her father and grandfather, her husband and her three sons, had been in her measure a preacher of righteousness.” Some neighbors happening to come in during these exer- cises, and being permitted to stay, were so pleased and prof- ited as to desire permission to come again. This was granted ; a good report of the meeting became general ; many requested leave to attend, and the house was soon filled — more than two hundred at last attending ; and many were obliged to go away for want of room. As she wished to do nothing without her husband’s knowl- edge and approbation, she acquainted him with the meet- ing, and the circumstances out of which it arose. While he approved of her zeal and good sense, he stated several ob- jections to its continuance. To his objections she wrote in substance as follows : — I heartily thank you for dealing so plainly and faithfully with me in a matter of no common concern. The main of your objections to our Sunday evening meetings are; first, that it will look particular; sec- ondly, my sex ; and lastly, your being at present in a public station and character. To all of which I shall answer briefly. As to its being particular, I grant it is; and so is almost every thing that is serious, or that may any way advance the glory of God or the salvation of souls, if it be performed out of a pulpit, or in the way of common conversation; because in our corrupt age the utmost care and diligence have been used to banish all discourse of God or spiritual con- cern out of society, as if religion were never to appear out of the closet, and we were to be ashamed of nothing so much as of professing our- selves to be Christians. 364 The Wesley Memoeial Yolujme. To your second I reply, that as I am a woman, so I am also mistress of a large family. And though the superior charge of the souls con- tained in it lies upon you, as head of the family, and as their minister ; yet in your absence I cannot but look upon every soul you leave under my care as a talent committed to me, under a trust, by the great Lord of all the families of heaven and earth. I thouglit it my duty to spend some part of the Lord’s day in reading to and instructing my family, especially in your absence, when, having no afternoon service, we have so much leisure for such exercises ; and such time I esteemed spent in a way more acceptable to God than if I had retired to my own private de- votions. This was the beginning of my present practice ; other people coming in and joining with us was purely accidental. Your third objection I leave to be answered by your own judgment. If j'ou do, after all, think fit to dissolve this assembly, do not tell me that you desire me to do it, for that will not satisfy my conscience; but send me your positive command, in such full and express terms as may absolve me from all guilt and punishment for neglecting this opportunity of doing good when you and I shall appear before the great and awful tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ.* • Sucli was the spirit of the earnest Christian worker, and yet the submission of the godly wife ! Mrs. Wesley was the mother of nineteen children. Her means were slender, but her energy, tact, and wisdom were better than thousands of gold and silver. Home was her providential sphere for Christian as well as for maternal serv- ices. The parsonage was a school as well as a home ; the mis- tress of the house was teacher as well as mother, and with a discipline bordering upon severity, yet promjjted by love, she taught and trained her numerous progeny as few families have been educated at home. Mr. Wesley, doubtless, see- ing his wife’s special talent for the work, wisely left it to her, and seconded her efforts in every possible way. Ever after the fire in which their home was consumed, and from which John, while a child, was almost miraculously rescued, the mother felt that he was spared for some great purpose, * See Moore’s “Life of Wesley” and “Wesley’s Journal” for a fuller text of this letter. — Editoh. JoHK Wesley and His Mothee. 365 and therefore devoted special attention to his character and studies. When John Wesley left home for school or college, his loving mother followed him with a watchful sympathy and a judicious counsel that molded his character and helped to fit him for his great destiny, and w’hich was highly prized by him down to his latest breath. We see the wealth of her mind, and the religious turn of her thoughts, not only in her wise and motherly letters to John, but in her more formal compositions, such as her exposition of the Creed. She was prepared to meet the spiritual difficulties of her son, and to direct and encourage him by preceptive teachings of the highest order. Indeed, she seemed to combine the wisdom of a professor of divinity with the beautiful tact of Christian womanliness and tender motherhood. To her John Wesley looked, and never in vain, for help and sympathy which stood him well in times of perplexity. There is some doubt as to the time of her conversion. Dr. Clarke and others believing that it must have occurred in early fife, while, on the other hand, persons likely to be as well in- formed and as deeply interested, place it in the evening of life’s day. This, doubtless, is based upon the incident of that special sacrament, in the observance of which she was filled with th(‘. Holy Spirit. “ In receiving the sacrament from her son-in- law, Mr. Hall, when he presented the cup with these words, ‘ The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for you,' she felt them strike through her heart, and she then knew that God, for Christ’s sake, had forgiven her all her sins.” Ho one, I think, can read Dr. Clarke’s “Wesley Family” without regarding Mrs. Wesley as a true child of God from early life. The blessed privilege of knowing of our acceptance in the Beloved was a strange doctrine in those days, and many struggled along in comparative gloom, not daring to rejoice in the witness of the Spirit. The experience of blessing in the sacrament was likely that of a baptism of the Holy Ghost, 366 The Wesley Memorial VoLmiB. giving her a sweet and more unmistakable evidence of conscious salvation. All the evidence of salvation that could be seen in a holj every-day life was evinced in the walk and conversa- tion of Susanna Wesley. The following sentiments from her own pen will establish the point beyond controversy : If to esteem and have the highest reverence for Thee — if constantly and sincerely to acknowledge thee the supreme, the only desirable good, be to love thee — I do love thee ! If comparatively to despise and undervalue all the world contains which is esteemed great, fair, or good — if earnestly and constantly to desire thee, thy favor, thine acceptance, thyself, rather than any or all things thou hast created, be to love thee — I do love thee ! If to rejoice in thy essential majesty and glory — if to feel a vital joy overspread and cheer my heart at each perception of thy blessedness, at every thought that thou art God, and that all things are in thy power — that there is none superior or equal to thee, be to love thee — I do love thee ! In these reflections and meditations the reader will see something of the mind, the spirit, the heart, and the piety of Susanna Wesley. Of her last moments her son John gives the following account : — I left Bristol on the evening of Sunday, July 18, 1742, and on Tuesday came to London. I found my mother on the borders of eternity; but she had no doubt nor fears, nor any desire but as soon as God should call, to depart and be with Christ. . . . About three in the afternoon I went to see my mother and found her change was near. I sat down on the bedside; she was in her last con- flict, unable to speak, but I believe quite sensible. Her look was calm and serene, and her eyes fixed upward while we commended her soul to God. From three to four the silver cord was loosing, and the wheel breaking at the cistern ; and then, without any struggle, or sigh, or groan, the soul was set at liberty. We stood round the bed and fulfilled her last request, uttered before she lost her speech: “Children, as I am released, sing a psalm of praise to God.” . . . Almost an innumerable company of people being gathered together, about five in the afternoon I committed to the earth the body of my John Wesley and His Mother. 367 mother to sleep •with her fathers. The portion of Scripture from -which I afterward spoke -was: “I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw' the dead small and great stand before God; and the books were opened. And the dead w'ere judged out of those things w'hich were written in the books, according to their works.” It was- one of the most solemn assemblies I ever saw or expect to see on this side eternity. We set up a plain stone, inscribed with the following words: — Here lies the body of Mrs. Susanna Wesley, the youngest and last surviving daughter of Dr. Samuel Annesley. “ In sure and certain hope to rise, And claim her mansion in the skies, A Christian here her flesh laid down, The cross exchanging for a crown. “ True daughter of affliction, she, Inured to pain and misery. Mourned a long night of griefs and fears — A legal night of seventy years. “ The Father then revealed his Son, Him in the broken bread made known ; She knew and felt her sins forgiven, And found the earnest of her heaven. “ Meet for the fellowship above. She heard the call, ‘ Arise, my love ! ’ ‘I come,’ her dying looks replied. And lamb-like, as her Lord, she died.” Dr. Clarke tvas utterly dissatisfied with, the epitaph, and with that sentiment in the poetry : “ A legal night of seventy years.” The doctor makes out a clear case of spiritual life be- fore the season of special blessing at the table of the Lord. John Wesley and the movement called Methodism may be studied and understood without reference to his father ; but it would be impossible to do so without recog-nizing the place and power of the mother. More than any other, she restrained and guided her illustrious son in the wonderful work to which God had manifestly called him. What would Methodism have been in the absence of lay 368 The Wesley Memorial Volume. preaching? It could never have accomplished what, under God, it has been enabled to do, without its powerful aid. But for the emphatic advice of Mrs. Wesley to her son, and but for his respect for his mother’s judgment, it is hard to imagine what might have been the result. Perhaps the most irregular part of Mr. Wesley’s conduct was his employing lay preachers — persons without any ordination by the imposi- tion of hands;' and the fullest proof that we can have of Mrs. Wesley’s approving most heartily every thing in the doctrine and discipline of her son was her approval of lay preaching; or, to use the words of her father-in-law, John Westley, of Wliitchurch, “the preaching of gifted men without episcopal ordination.” This began in her time, and she repeatedly sat under the ministry of the first man, Mr. Thomas Maxfield, who attempted to officiate among the Methodists in this hitherto unpre- cedented way. It was in Mr. Wesley’s absence that Mr. Maxfield began to preach. Being informed of this new and extraordinary thing, he hastened back to London to put a stop to it. Before he took any decisive step he spoke to his mother on the subject, and informed her of his intention. She said, (I have had the account from Mr. Wesley himself,) “ My son, I charge you before God, beware what you do; for Thomas Max- field is as much called to preach the gospel as ever you were.” This one thing in the life of Mrs. Wesley renders her wor- thy of the grateful remembrance of all who have derived spiritual benefit from the lay preachers of Methodism. John Wesley was a very devoted son, and felt, as his mother advanced in years, that he must take his father’s place in caring for her, and smoothing her passage to the tomb. There never lived a more self-denying mother than Susanna Wesley. Here is an incident which equally reflects credit on mother and son. John Wesley, when a young man, was in- vited to go out upon a mission to the Indians of ISTorth America. He at once and firmly declined. On being pressed for a statement of his objection, he referred to his recently widowed mother, and to his own relation to her, in these touch- ing words : “ I am the staff of her age ; her chief support and JoiCN" Wesley and His Mothee. 369 comforter.” He was asked what would be his decision were his mother agreeable to such a thing. Hot thinking that such a sacrifice could be made by his mother, he at once said, that if his mother would cheerfully acquiesce in the proposal, he would be led to act upon it as a call from God. The ven- erable matron, on being consulted, gave this memorable re- ply : “ Had I twenty sons, I should rejoice if they were all so employed, though I should never see them more.” Earely has history recorded the names of such a couple. It is a high compliment to say that they were worthy of each other. It is little wonder that Adam Clarke, in his enthusiastic admiration of Hrs. ’W’esley, said : “ Had I a muse of the strong- est pinion I should not fear to indulge it in its highest fiights in sketching out the character of this superexcellent woman.” Who can glance over the Methodist world to-day, and see its stately churches, its crowded congregations, its vast mis- sionary operations, its Sunday-schools with millions of scholars, and its educational institutions of every grade and for both sexes, without looking back over the record of its limited his- tory, and wondering at the stupendous result ? If God ever raised up a man for a great work, God surely called and sent forth John Wesley to be the organizer and leader of the hosts of Methodism ; and if God ever prepared a handmaid of his to be the mother of one specially commis- sioned and qualified to revive his Church, God surely raised up Susanna W esley to be the mother and spiritual guide of the great reformer of the Churches in the eighteenth century. Much as John Wesley saw of the goodness of the Lord in the salvation of sinners, and in the gathering of the saved into societies, he was permitted to see little as compared with what has been accomplished since his death. Though dead, he still liveth and speaketh in the system which he originated, in the hymns which he sung, and in the glorious doctrines which he preached, “not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.” 370 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. In the impartial review of John Wesley and his mother, we are constrained to acknowledge that more, far more than any one else, she not only influenced her honored son as to his own character, but also stamped the impress of her discipline and doctrinal views upon the Methodist system. In many of John Wesley’s opinions we see the reproduction of his mother’s teaching, as revealed in her letters to him. Every Christian wife and mother throughout Methodism should make the life and character of Susanna Wesley a con- stant study, and the good effect would soon be manifest upon the discipline of our families, the welfare of our children, and the piety of our Churches. The distinguished son and no less distinguished mother are reaping the rich reward of their consecrated lives in a “ better country, that is, a heavenly.” JOHN AND CHAHLES WESLEY. S John and Charles Wesley were united in heart and aim A and work while living, so are they united in immortality of fame and glory. If John was the head, Charles was the heart, of Methodism. As Providence destined John Wesley to orig- inate and perpetuate the great Methodist revival, the organizing faculty was given to him in large measure, and men were raised up for all departments of the work. The student of the his- tory of those times can never cease to wonder at the constella- tion of talents that revolved around John Wesley as a center. But aU were utilized by his master mind. Humanly speaking, John Wesley’s work would have been a comparative failure without the luminous minds, the heroic hearts, and fiery tongues providentially prepared for the epoch. All this assemblage of stalwart strength, splendid genius, and rapt piety, would have soon consumed itself in the fires of fanaticism or chilled itself in the frosts of formalism, if a commanding mind had not been providentially furnished to give coherency and perma- nency to the movement. W e never weary of reading and re- reading the deeds of heroism of the colleagues of W esley. But they can scarcely be considered apart from John Wesley with- out destroying or obscuring their historic significance. Among the coadjutors of John Wesley, Charles Wesley must ever hold the pre-eminent place. These two were so related and interdependent that the historic John Wesley could scarcely have existed without Charles, and Charles Wesley could scarcely have become the lyric soul of Methodism but for his brother’s methodizing mind, that made Methodism possible as a continued system. These two brothers were double stars, whose lights cannot 374 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. well be spared. They have inner and vital and organic rela- tions that do not appear at first sight. The Omniscient Provi- dence raised up these brothers as fellow-workers, one and in- separable in spirit and aim. They exerted a reciprocal infiuence, which made each a more complete instrument for the working out of the grand and gracioEs designs of Providence. Consider this wonderful and beautiful relation of the illus- trious brothers. Charles was a divinely ordained agent and helper of John Wesley. 1. Charles Wesley was, the helper of John in their years of struggle for so/ving faith. Their legal service, their gloomy dispensation of the law, their period of asceticism and penance and struggle, was long and terrible. But for the union of these sympathetic hearts in mutual faith, Methodism perhaps had never been known as a force in history. 2. ChaJlesWesley was the first called '•‘■Methodist J Associated with his band of earnest souls in Oxford University, he was using all means of grace, all self-denial, all deeds of charity, in order to find the peace of the gospel. But this band, ear- nest as they were, would, in all probabihty, have dissolved, had not John Wesley returned to Oxford at the right time, and placed himself at their head. 3. Charles.^ some days earlier than his brother was made a happy partaker of sawing faith. We know not how different might have been the currents of modern Church history if Charles Wesley’s conversion had not occurred as it did and when it did. Their biographers tell us that the joyous conver- sion of Charles greatly encouraged his brother John, and in a few days he, too, rejoiced in like precious faith. Without this clear, triumphant conversion of Charles, as a prototype for all Methodism, John might have stopped short of his sublime pos- sibilities, and Methodism, if existing at all, might have been a mere revised system of theology. 4. Charles Wesley was the first preacher of the new faith. The true Methodist evangelism was begun by Charles Wesley John and Charles Wesley. 375 wliile John Avas in Germany. The testimony of Charles in pnbHc and private Avas folloAved by happy conA'ersions amid shouts of exultation, so characteristic of Methodism from the first. Who can estimate the influence upon J ohn W esley of these evangelistic tours of Charles in the gloAv of his earliest love ? The effects of the preaching of Charles Avere Avonderful, and doubtless influenced all the subsequent revival movement. 5. The enthusiasm of Charles was a help to John Wesley. A great general is both brave and prudent, but more pru- dent than brave. Without some coadjutors Avho are more brave than prudent, the best general can scarcely succeed in a diflieult and perilous campaign. Charles Wesley kneAv nothing of prudence or caution in his Avarfare against the hosts of sin. He dashed into the enemy’s ranks like a AvhirlAvind. But the incarnate AvhirlAAund Avas needed in that heroic period. Mar- shall Hey himself Avas not more brave than Charles Wesley. It is but reasonable to believe that John Wesley could not have Avon his first decisive victories Avithout the dash and daring of his brother. John’s philosophic coolness needed the contact and contagion of the flaming enthusiasm of Charles. Method- ism is doubtless indebted to Charles Wesley for someAvhat of its hopefulness and buoyancy of spirit. That such a great, gloAving smrl should have poured itself into Methodism in its plastic period Avas no accident, but a part of the particu- lar plan AA^hose unfoldings haAm been the wonder of modern Church history. 6. Charles Wesley was the companion and friend of John Wesley for three fourths of a century. Through a long life of eighty years Charles Avas the trusted, true, and intimate friend of his illustrious brother. W e shall never be able, with the mathematics of earth, to calculate the debt of John Wes- ley and of Methodism to Charles Wesley for his sympathetic companionship and unchangeable friendship through the first half century of Methodism. If ever man needed intelligent and sympathetic companionship, surely John Wesley needed it 24 376 The WESLEr Memorial Volume, amid all his unparalleled trials, perplexities, and persecutions. Again, we express the doubt whether John Wesley would have achieved his colossal work as a reformer without his learned and lion-hearted brother Charles, whose faith and friendship never failed. 7. Charles Wesley's chief glory ^ as co-worker with his brother John, was his gift of lyric poetry. While John Wesley put the new theology into logical forms for all future time, Charles versified the doctrines, and sang them to his generation and all generations. As Luther’s Reformation was carried all over Germany on the winged words of song, so the Wesleyan Ref- ormation was assured of success when all England and Amer- ica began to sing Charles Wesley’s hymns. Very few, com- paratively, read John Wesley’s exact statements of doctrine, but the millions sing Charles Wesley’s no less exact statements of doctrine in his wonderful hymns. These hymns immedi- ately commanded the admiration of the cultivated and the sym- pathy of all. Strange as is the statement, Methodism is better known through Charles Wesley than through its illustrious founder. Millions every Sunday sing or hear sung the burn- ing words and breathing numbers of Charles Wesley, while John Wesley, the founder, is less directly known by the masses. Such was the work of Charles Wesley as the coadjutor of his brother ; such the influence he exercised on his brother, and for his brother. But this influence, as we have seen, was recip- rocal. Charles owed an immeasurable debt to his brother. Without John Wesley’s clear, crystalline mind, Charles could never have formulated and enunciated the new faith. His poetry might have been brilliant, but his theology, without the microscopic criticism of his brother, could not have been trusted. John Wesley was a natural and trained theologian, and soon shaped his doctrines into transparent formularies which had an incalculable influence in guiding the soaring gen- ius of Charles. We accordingly are not surprised to read of the criticisms of John on the poetry of Charles. JoH3T AND Charles Wesley. 377 To prepare Charles Wesley for his sublime mission provi- dence brought together most favorable influences and agencies. And why should not providence reveal a solicitude in prepar- ing this chosen vessel of mercy and benediction for the millions of earth? 1. Charles Wesley was fitted for his mission hy inherited genius. The Wesley family, in point of genius, was, perhaps, the most remarkable family of modern times. It has been said that “ no drop of blood in the whole Wesley family, in all its branches, was destitute of genius. For generations they were poets, musicians, preachers, and scholars.” But we may add, the full effervescence of this ancestral genius was found in Charles Wesley. It is both rational and scriptural to believe that the godlike gift of genius was bestowed on him expressly to make it possible for him to achieve his high mission as the chief singer of the Methodist revival. 2. He was fitted for his mission hy rare scholarship. His thirst for knowledge was insatiable. His scholarship was mar- velous.* God gave him this sublime aspiration for knowledge to make it possible for him to do his work for the ages. With- out his rich, elegant, and exact culture he could not have been fitted for his mission as hymn writer for all classes of minds. 3. He was fitted for his mission hy God-given pangs for sin. His work was the task of writing words for all hearts and for all time. It behooved him to suffer in all points like his brethren. The Holy Spirit unveiled the horrors of sin to his inner vision. Ho man can sympathize with heart-pangs till he has felt the same. Ho man can express the horrors of convic- tion for sin till he can speak from the depths of his own expe- rience. Charles Wesley was made to feel all this for himself and for the millions whose experience he was destined to inter- pret in immortal song. 4. He was fitted for his mission hy an experience of the joys of salvation. The bold imagery of prophet and psalmist was * “ He was a thorough scholar iu classical and biblical literature.” — Abel Stevens. 378 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. more than poetry to him. To his glad heart the “trees clapped their hands,” and “ the hills were joyful together.” The tri- umph of his soul over the guilt and gloom of sin was ecstatic and complete, fitting him to sympathize with souls in loftiest heights, and to sing their joys for them. Charles Wesley could never have tuned his harp to sing so sublimely of the joys of salvation if he had simply heai-d or read of them. He must first feel them and then express them. When his heart- strings quiver with the melody of heaven his harp-strings must sound responsively. He sings because he must sing. He sings as the birds sing — for very joy. Ho saint can climb so high as not to be able to sing his joys in the hymns of Charles Wesley. 5. He was fitted for his mission as the lyric interpreter of the inner life hy a wondrons gaze and grip of faith. His nervous verses are “ vital in every part ” with an all-pervading and all-conquering faith. His faith was the special gift of God, and made him more than a match for all tasks, all toils, and all trials. It was fitting that it should be so. He was destined to sing for the millions who need words to voice their struggling, conquering faith. 6. He was fitted for his mission hy great afitictions. We can conceive of his exemption by providence ’ from all bitter afiliction, personal and domestic. But this would have unfitted him for half his mission as the interpreter and singer of the griefs of the worshiping millions whose devotions he was des- tined to voice in immortal hymns. Thus the Omniscient Provi- dence sent grievous afflictions to blight his home, and then sent grace to bear all in patience and sweetness of soul. Thus his heart was tuned to sing of the cup of bitter grief, and then of the cup of sweetest consolation. 7. He was fitted for his mission hy fierce persecution. All that will live godly in Christ Jesus must and shall suffer perse- cution, more or less. And they need a fitting hymn to utter their complaint, their faith, and their victory. Chaides W esley John and Chaeles Wesley. 379 felt the cold steel of persecution enter his own heart. But it only wounded his heart to cause it, like the spice-tree, to shed a sweeter aroma. Those who insulted and persecuted Charles Wesley with such relentless fury knew not that they were the occasion of htting him to sing with a new melody the grace that triumphs over men and devils. 8. He was fitted for Ms mission ty wondrous knowledge of Bible truth and language. His poetry was not inspired by Homer and Virgil. It was not sentimental, like that of Watts. It was not philosophical, like that of Addison; but it was intensely and singularly scriptural in spirit and language and metaphor. His soul was filled and fired with scriptural truth. The attentive reader will wonder how exactly Charles Wesley can confine the rushing tide of his emotions in the Scripture channel, expressing all things in the language and imagery of Scripture. In many of his hymns verse after verse is a mosaic of Scripture gems. 9. He was fitted for his mission by an inexhaustible fertil- ity of mind. His poetic fountain was perennial. There seemed to be no bound, no end, to his power to produce poetry. Poems blossomed forth from his soul as easily as blossoms are shed from an orchard in spring-time. On every occasion, grave or gay, a poem was ready to pour itself out in a fervid torrent in crystalhne thought and musical numbers. Hever did a lyric poet write so much and so well. After publishing ten volumes duodecimo, he left ten more in manuscript. And if some poems were confessedly superior to the rest, none of his produc- tions were without a spark of the genius that has immortal- ized his name. 10. Lastly., Providence, by a happy blending of all brilliant gif ts, fitted him for his mission as the sweet singer of the nevj evangel. Watts was and is Wesley’s only rival. This is gen- erally admitted. But in all the elements that make the Chris- tian lyric poet, Wesley is superior. Indeed, Watts generously admitted the superioi’ity of Wesley in his famous eulogy of 380 The Wesley Memorial Volume. Wesley’s “Wrestling Jacob.” The great difference between Wesley and Watts is in the experimental character of Wesley’s hymns. Watts describes Christian virtues and sentiments as a looker-on; Wesley expresses them as from the depth of his own being. Watts hymns his aspirations; Wesley does this and more, for he expresses h.\?> fruition of the gladdening grace of the gospel. Wesley goes as far as Watts up the “mount of redeeming love,” and then goes on and up till he ceases to climb, and soars away into the skies. Watts sings sweetly as the caged bird; Wesley sings as the bird free, and winging his flight heavenward. Watts was more of a general poet; Wesley was more of a lyric poet for the Church. Watts was more of a poet of nature ; Wesley was more of a poet of grace. Watts was a poet of the old prophetic dispensation; Wesley was a poet of the new pentecostal dispensation. Watts was the poet of aspiration' Wesley was the poet of inspiration. Watts was the poet of hope; Wesley was the poet of fruition. A sinsjle stanza from each will reveal the contrast. Watts loohs longingly toward the summit of Pisgah, and sings : Could we but climb where Moses stood, And view the landscape o’ei', Not .Jordan’s stream, nor death’s cold flood. Should fright us from tlie shore. Wesley has already climbed the mountain top, and sings : The promised land, from Pisgah’s top, I now exult to see : My hope is full, O glorious hope I Of immortality. Now, all these gifts of mind and heart and grace God gave to Charles Wesley to prepare him for his place as the hymnist of the new theology. His collections of hymns have been published to the number of millions of copies. They are found in all the Protestant hymn books throughout the Chris- Joim AND Chaeles Wesley. 381 tian world. They are translated and sung in heathen lands. These wondrous lyrics — depicting the pains of the penitent, the raptures of the pardoned, the triumphs of the tempted, and the beatific visions of the dying — will live, and must ever live, while man shall need words to express the deepest and loftiest experiences of the immortal soul. Such was Charles Wesley — the trusted companion of his illustrious brother John, the first preacher of the new evangel, the seraphic saint in life, the fairest efflorescence of Wes- leyan genius, and of all the Christian lyric poets of modern times, the prince.* * “He (Charles Wesley) was the first member of the ‘Holy Club’ at Oxford; the first to receive the name of Methodist ; the first of the two brothers who ex- perienced regeneration ; and the first to administer the sacraments in Methodist societies apart from the Church ; . . . the first, and for many years the chief, man to conduct Methodist worship in Church hours, which he did to the last in the London chapels. ... As a preacher he was more eloquent than his brother. — Abel Stevens. “Many of Wesley’s hymns are bold, daring, and magnificent. — Milner. “I would give all I have ever written for the credit of being the author of Charles Wesley’s unrivaled hymn ‘Wrestling Jacob.’” — Isaac Watts. “I would rather have written that hymn of Wesley’s, ‘Jesus, lover of iny soul, Let me to thy bosom fly,’ than to have the fame of all the kings that ever sat on the earth. It is more glorious. It has more power in it. I would rather have written such a hymn than to have heaped up all the treasures of the richest man on the globe. He will die. His money will go to his heirs, and they will divide it. But that hymn will go on singing until the last trump brings forth the angel band ; and then, I think, it will mount up on some lip to the very presence of God.” — Henry Ward Beecher. “ It may be affirmed that there is no principal element of Christianity, no main article of belief, as professed by Protestant Churches ; that there is no moral or ethical sentiment peculiarly characteristic of the Gospel ; no height or depth of feeling proper to the spiritual life, that does not find itself emphatically and pointedly and glearly conveyed in some stanzas of Charles Wesley’s hymns. — Isaac Taylor. “A body of experimental and practical divinity. — John Wesley. “No poems have been so much treasured in the memory, or so frequently quoted on a death-bed. — Robert Southey. “For fifty years, Christ, as the redeemer of men, had been the subject of his effective ministry and of his loftiest songs, and he may be said to have died with a hjrmn of Christ upon his lips,” — Thomas Jackson. 382 The Wesley Memorial Volume. “ His last sickness was long, but was borne with ‘ unshaken confidence in Christ, which kept his mind in perfect peace.’ He called his wife to his bedside, and, requesting her to take a pen, dictated his last but sublime poetical utterance : ‘ In age and feebleness extreme, Who shall a sinful world redeem? Jesus, my only hope thou art, Strength of my failing flesh and heart ; O could I catch a smile from thee, And drop into eteruity I’ ” The above notes have been added by the Editor. — Abel Stevens. PEOYIDENCE OF GOD IN METHODISM. A GREAT river may be traced to a single fountain, but the fountain itself is a stream from some other source. The springs of the Amazon and the Mississippi are merely outflows of water-courses that are hidden from the eye, and, on emerging from the bosom of the earth — the secret place of Omnipotence — they bring from the darkness those mighty forces which sweep them onward through fertile lands to the awaiting sea. We speak the language of the eye when we say that the river originated at such a point of latitude, for it was flowing in another realm before we had knowledge of its geography. So, too, with providential movements. The circumstances attending them are exposed to view while their causes He concealed beneath the surface. If we consider only their proximate som’ces, we may explain them to the intel- lect of observation. But this is partial. It is as unsatisfy- ing to insight as to faith, since it leaves the core of the inquiry untouched. In all this world’s affairs instinct is res- olute in finding out the beginnings of things. ISTor is the in- stinct unrewarded. Second causes repay the backward search. Only the lowest utilitarianism — the animal brain in the senses — is content with explanations that stop on the outside. A very meager philosophy of esthetics would that be which taught us to admire the chisel that carved the Apollo Bel- videre of the Yatican, without reference to the ideal of thought whence the statue came. And equally impoverishing to all our higher nature is that sort of reasoning which sends us from the majestic oak to the little acorn, and then, by not showing the power of the Creator couched in the acorn itself, fails to complement the first impression of grandeur. 384 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. Where religioxis revolutions are concerned, the method of investigation which seeks to understand their original sources is all the more important. Such revolutions, sublime in character and infinite in results, cannot be located among phenomena that simply address the intellect. Reaching be- yond mere thought, they appeal to the mind, to the whole spiritual nature, and hence the claims of sentiment and feel- ing, both as to modes and ends of culture, must be taken into account. If history were one of the earliest media of divine manifestation — if it were j^laced under the guardianship of the Almighty, and deemed worthy of direct inspiration — it would surely commend itself to our careful and painstaking study, now that God has resigned it to the hands of men. And where Christianity, as the main factor in any particu- lar history, is directly involved, it becomes us to feel the pressure of a supreme obligation to search the annals of the past as those who would “justify the ways of God to men.” Moreover, these historic providences, working out their issues on vast arenas, and incorporating them into the hereditary laws of society, are the conjoint products of divine and hu- man agency. As such they become bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh ; and as such they go, without abatement or ex- aggeration, into the common stock of a race under God’s training. Only in tliis sense does history speak with a voice of infinite meaning. It tells us of God in the past, that we may see him in the present and expect him in the future. To comprehend Methodism as a great religious movement, we must trace the antecedent operations of providence, by which it became possible for this system to assume a certain organic form. The distinctive shape it put on, the place it took among the foremost economies of the age, and the marvel- ous influence it has exerted, cannot be referred to any happy conjuncture of circumstances. By no accident was England its birthplace. The cradle, the nursery, the parental home, were made ready for its advent. Ancestral traditions whispered Pkovidence of God in Methodism. 385 some siicli development of providence; and if no prophecy sounded the note of near approach, the signs of the times en- couraged large expectations. The instincts of private hearts — the instincts, too, of society, which statesmen rarely notice till they are published in actions — pointed clearly enough to an era close at hand when a vast religious and social change would occur. Had not materials been slowly collecting for an edifice that should shelter the homeless multitude — wanderers, exiles, and outcasts? And what was needed now but an architect skilled to find the corner-stone from which the structure should rise in symmetry of parts and stateliness of proportions ? Hor was it a matter of chance that the eighteenth century, which witnessed the rise and rapid progress of Methodism, fur- nished a field for its activity. The field, indeed, was broad, open, and diversified. It included mountain heights and ob- scure valleys ; hidden solitudes and thronged thoroughfares ; hamlets and cities. Within its range were found the ancient seats of metropolitan refinement, and not far distant the abodes where barbarism lurked undisturbed. Almost side by side stood the mansions of the rich and the huts of the poor ; the libraries of the student and the workshops of the mechanics ; cathedrals and universities ; factories, dock-yards, foundries, and coal-pits ; alike in this, that they were outwardly united in the gothic variety of modern civilization, while wanting a supreme force to give them a unity more solid and compact. But this great field that the England of the eighteenth century present- ed had been prepared by Providence for the occupancy of Meth- odism. Had Wesley appeared at any time in the seventeenth century he could have found no sphere like that which he so successfully fiUed. For during that period English society ex- isted by force of extremes ; the most startling contrasts were every-where the current form of life ; all opinions were con- victions, and all convictions were in the state either of an armed truce or of violent hostility. Long after the civil war had ended, Christianity still dwelt in camps that frowned sullenly 386 Thj: Wesley Memoeial Volume. on one another. By chronic necessity each religious organiza- tion stood in martial attitude. This was mainly owing to the fact that in those days men could scarcely hold decided views on spiritual subjects without being the fierce partisans of polit- ical measures. The union of Church and State was no worse than the union of Christianity and hate, as they were then un- naturally connected. If under such anomalous circumstances Methodism had sprung up in England, how could it have es- caped the fate of other Christian bodies ? But all this was changed in the eighteenth century. Mo longer was England the England of Elizabeth, or of Cromwell, or of Charles II. The Bevolution of 1688, that placed William and Mary on the throne, put an end to divine right, and like- wise to hereditary right, except as determined by law ; and from that day English sovereigns have been such by act of Par- liament. If this was the triumph of old-time political instincts — England’s historic past shaped to suit the present — it also brought back the clear common sense, the vivid every-day wis- dom, the broad-minded sagacity, the sturdy virtues and the noble temper of liberality, which were native to the blood of Anglo-Saxons. Once more England’s greatest intellects were reinstated in their high seats of dominion, never again to be denied their authority over mind. Then it was that the true career of Bacon, Shakspeare, Milton, Bunyan, Stillingfleet, Baxter, Taylor, Hooker, and Tillotson, began. Business had resumed its old channels and carved out new ones for the fiow of commerce. Enterprise was all aflame with enthusiasm. If Watt did not appear with the steam-engine, nor Adam Smith with the “Wealth of Mations,” till the latter half of the cent- ury, the industrial energy of the country was fully aroused, and the way was fast opening for the genius of Brindley, in 1761 ; for Hargreaves, in 1761 ; for Crompton, in 1776 ; and for Arkwright, in 1768. The strong giant, wearied by years of bloody struggle and intestine strife, had stretched his limbs for an interval of repose on the renewing earth, and now he had Peovidence of God iisr Methodism. 387 arisen migiitier than before, girded for conquests surpassing all former achievements. But although England was making such strides on the pathway of empire, her progress was not without heavy clogs that the previous century had fastened on her strength. Chief among these oppressive evils was England’s moral and spiritual condition. If in 1721 king and people could rejoice in “ peace with all powers abroad, at home perfect tranquillity, plenty, and an uninterrupted enjoyment of all civil and relig- ious rights,” it was certain that their mutual congratulations could not extend beyond industrial prosperity. ISTeaily every other aspect of the times was painful to thoughtful minds, and the more so as the contrast was sharp between material progress and religious decay. Parliamentary corruption, organized into a system, dispensed with the palliation of impulse and the plea of temptation, and recommended itself to public favor no less by the cool audacity of its logic than by the expertness of its practice. It only blushed when it failed, and never repented except on the score of shortcomings in success. Amid the scenes of those days — the days of the second George — Walpole, who was as subtle in sagacity as he was unscrupulous in the use of means to carry his purposes, stands forth as a conspicuous figure. He was literally truthful when he declared, “ I am no reformer ; ” and if there be doubt whether he said, “ Every man has his price,” no one w'ould have been surprised had he uttered it. Lord Chesterfield, in the interludes of politics, was busy transforming sensuality into a fine art. If these men were not exact types of upper English society, unquestionably they were exponents of some characteristic qualities which had then the support of fashion. Turning to religious interests, we often see the prelate sunk in the politician ; while the clergy, for the most part, were “ the most remiss of their labors in pri^ vate, and the least severe in their lives.” Green quotes Mont- esquieu as saying of the higher circles of England : “ Every one laughs if one talks of religion ; ” and at a later period 388 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. Hannah More writes : “We saw but one Bible in the parish of Cheddar, and that was used to prop a flower-pot.” To the intellect of the senses the signs of the times' — espe- cially during the first quarter of the eighteenth century — were gloomy enough for despair. Beneath an inert religion, the philosophy of sensation was practically in league with the creed of materialism. The pendulum of opinion and theoretic mor- als played between Hobbes and Locke. If all metaphysical sj)eculations were drifting toward a yawning gulf, the main idea of many as to the Church was, that of a safeguard against Popery. With this idea they were content. Beyond it they saw little or nothing. Pulpit speech was thin, hesitant, and broken, and the voice of praise lacked the deep inspirations of sacred song. Toward any high ideals the public mind was not only indifferent, hut insensate. Literature had lapsed into an after-dinner pleasure. Richardson had not yet come to reform and elevate fiction, nor Hogarth to satirize folly and vice with deeper cuts than those which marked the engraver’s plate.* Despite all this, tokens of better days were not wanting. The middle-class — then as before and since — was holding on to good old English traditions, and looking prayerfully and trustingly for a mighty change in the posture of affairs. There was a Jordan with its baptismal waters, though it emptied its current into a Dead Sea. Sheltered spots there were, past which this Jordan flowed ; nooks of beauty, glebe and glade not unknown to history and poetry, resting-places for sandaled pilgrims, cloisters for holy meditation, libraries in which the pen thrived at its blessed work, homes where the domestic spirit of the Anglo-Saxon retained all its hereditary virtue and tenderness, parishes and pulpits in which Christianity was still the religion of Christ and his atoning cross. One of these was Ep worth, a name now famous in the world. It was the home of the Rev. Samuel Wesley, father of * Hogarth finished the “Harlot’s Progress” in 1731; Richardson published “Pamela” in 1741. PeovidejSTCe of God est Methodism. 389 Jolin "Wesley, the founder of Methodism. He was a minister of the Established Chnrch, a most earnest and spiritual man, truthful and sincere and heroic, a piece of incarnate granite, yet most kind and loving, pliant in his own hands when convic- tions and impulses seized him, but immovable by others if his mind was made up ; a strong and varied thinker and writer, cult- ured as well as educated, and withal far more liberal and cath- olic in his s}Tnpathies than some critics have represented him. To what seem to have been hereditary qualities of nature Sam- uel Wesley added traits of character distinctly his own. Like his grandfather, Bartholomew Westley, and his father, John Westley, he had an impressible and energetic temperament, full of latent force, and capable of intense action. Like them, he was deeply interested in public matters and held stanchly to the creed in which he believed, whether political, ecclesias- tical, or doctrinal. All three, Bartholomew, John, and Samuel, were ministers of the gospel, men of university education, and fine position. The blood improved as it went on, for Samuel appears to have been the ablest man of the three, having an intellect of broader compass and of fuller contact with the movements of the age. His literary labors were remarkable. Smith’s “History of Wesleyan Methodism” states that “be- sides a great number of smaller but respectable poems, he dedicated his ‘Life of Christ,’ in verse, to Queen Mary; the ‘ History of the Old and Hew Testament ’ to Queen Anne ; and his grand and elaborate Latin dissertations on the ‘Book of Job’ to Queen Caroline. After this he ‘plunged into the depths of Oriental philosophy and literature,’ to prepare him- seK for a new edition of the Hebrew Scriptures on an original plan.” Besides these works he projected a scheme for the evangelization of the East. That he was an educated thinker, in the best sense of the phrase, cannot be doubted ; and that his moral sympathies were as acute and active as his intel- lectual powers were versatile and commanding is also certain. Of transmitted qualities in human beings our knowledge is 390 Tjie Wesley ME:\roEiAL Volujie. scanty and imperfect. A veil hangs over the subject inwrought with hieroglyphics, and we have only glimpses of light and interpretation. Yet who can fail to detect the large thought and generous impulses of the father in his son John — a beautiful presence that abode within him, and a surviving power of strength and greatness after the father’s death ? The indomitable Yuli and dauntless courage, resting upon a temperam.ent competent to sustain them in any crisis of hazard ; the spontaneous delight in activity ; the missionary spirit of brotherly heljDfulness ; the love that gathered into its fervent soul all the forms of humaneness, philanthropy, and Christian charity ; the alliance of tongue and pen in the serv- ice of Christ ; have not these descended from ancestral heights to the founder of Methodism, and gained momentum as they sought a lodgment in his nature ? Add to these certain char- acteristics of his mother, Susanna W esley ; her skill in practi- cal affairs, the keen insight and the achieving hand, the happy union of wisdom and sentiment, the quick sense of providence and the instinct of trust ripened into faith, the sweetness of her self-denial and the touches of chastening that brought out the full beauty of her maternal soul — how much of all this was re- produced in John Wesley, and how finely it blended with the father, Samuel Wesley, in his temperament and nature and character ! John Wesley was born June 17, 1703, and he died March 2, 1791! If his life began with the opening years of the century it continued nearly to its close. Few lives have evei run so uniformly with a century, and fewer still have done so much to make their century memorable. Passing over his early years, his university education, labors in Georgia, return to En- gland, visit to the continent, all the experiences and struggles that coalesced to form his young manhood, let us view him in 1740, when the Methodist Society became a distinct organ- ization. On the surface his position and attitude seem strange, if not somewhat eccentric. His natural tastes and inclinations Pkovidekce of God in Methodism, 391 are not in harmony with his circumstances, and yet these cir- cumstances press him more and more out of himself ; so that Mesley, with his richly-endowed mind, with his large scholar- ship and culture, and especially with his love of order and rev- erence for Church authority, finds himself being transformed into a new Wesley, a most unconventional person, a companion and associate and kinsman of humble souls, and a zealous sym- pathizer with the Pauline spirit that sought the evangelization of the world. If the philosophy of the senses could explain this phenomenon, it would cease to be the philosophy of the senses. But, assuming Providence, and the influence of the Holy Ghost on the heart, it all becomes perfectly explicable. Silent and unconscious accesses were found to his inner life ; he was slowly and radically changed ; he was revolutionized, and he was a wonder and a mystery unto himself. Well that it was so ; for had it been otherwise, he would never have be- come the foremost of modern reformers. Sensibility to Providence and to the Spirit’s operations forms the basic constituent of a great Christian leader. The two are always one in every gifted man called to such a work. Hature — God in nature — supplies the instinctive sensitiveness to unsen- suous impressions ; and this native sensitiveness to imagination and ideal impulses was gradually matured in Wesley until it became a wise and well-poised sensibility. Yet the reactions would often set in. To preach in the open air cost him a severe conflict with himseK. His friend Hervey resisted the glaring innovation. He lost other dear friends — Whitefield, Gambold, and Stonehouse — on other issues, and his brother Charles was shaken as to this policy. Moreover, he was sorely perplexed as to the responsibility involved in building chapels, nor could he see where he might find helpers in the manage- ment of the Societies. But never were the words in M. An- gelo’s sonnet more fully verified : — “ Just as tlie marble wastes, The statue grows;” 25 392 Tub Weslet Memorial Volume, for wliile lie was severely tried in giving up his Iligh-Clinrch principles, in abandoning the most charming associations of his young manhood, in resigning his favorite pursuits, and in separating from cherished companions, he was undergoing the best possible discipline for the attainment of that most marked individuality which shone so resplendently in his subsequent career. Personality, in its free and original type, is the rarest of human developments. Vot one man in ten thousand ever reaches the consciousness of his real life. In itself it is a most occult thing, and our modes of life are such that it is constantly retreating to those hidden vaults which chamber the future soul and conceal it from discernment. But Wesley was taught him- self, made to see and feel himself, made to realize himself, made to use himself ; and thus he was qualified, by tlie co-operations of Providence and the Holy Spirit, for the wonderful service that he rendered to the world, when the world needed, more than any other providential gift, a man trained just as he was trained. The occasion soon presented itself for Wesley to learn an- other lesson under the tuition of Providence. Like all reform- ers, he drew many of his greatest ideas from the past, his con- structive skill displaying itself in the shape he gave those ideas in adapting them to his object. For instance, the conception of societies as adjuncts to the Churches in the work of evangeli- zation dates much farther back than Wesley’s times. The “ Society for the Reformation of Manners' ” was first estab- lished about the year 1677.'^' According to Bishop Burnet, such * Wesley’s Societies, however, differed widely from the “Society for the Refor- mation of Manners,” which was begun in the reign of King William, was irregularly continued through the reign of Queen Anne, was defunct from IISO to lIoV, and was revived in 1757 by the Methodist movement. They equally differed from the “Society for Promoting' Christian Knowledge,” founded in 1699, and from the “So- ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,” founded in WOl. The Methodist Societies, though not in name, were, in many regards, from the first truly a Christian Church. When Wesley adopted lay preaching and lay ordination, his Societies became in /aci the Church of his own ideal. Wesley did not so intend, nor did he ever admit that this was so. But Lord Mansfield was right when he declared that “ ordination is separation,” and in this opinion Charles Wesley concurred. — Editor. ProvidejN'ce of God nsr Methodism. 393 societies had been active in good works, and had enlisted men like Dr. Beveridge and Dr. Ilorneck, in tlieir support. Tyer- inan states, that “ the religious societies were altogether com- posed of members of the Church of England ; the Reformation Society was composed of members of the Church of England, and of other Churches as well.” In 1698 Samuel Wesley preached an able and most pungent sermon before the “ Society for the Reformation of Manners,” wherein many thoughts like these occur ; “ The sword of justice uo longer lies rusting and idle, but is drawn and furbished for the battle, and glitters against the enemies of God and of our country. . . . Let us often read the lives of martyrs. , . . Forbid none from casting out devils, because he follows not with youP If, now, these societies had set before John Wesley examples of wide and varied usefulness, it was eminently wise in him to adopt a principle of action that had been fully tested. The obligation was the more stringent because of the fact that the clergy had set themselves against the religious movement he was conducting. There was no hope that the English Church would take care of his converts. His course, therefore, was in the natural order of events ; it was simply inevitable ; and he had either to abandon his work or give it a secure organization. And now arose one of the most embar- rassing questions of his career. It was the question of lay preaching. Once more the personal conflict began ; the old prejudices returned; and the Wesley of Oxford sternly con- fronted the Wesley of the highways and the open flelds. How could he tolerate lay preaching? Yet how could he go on without it ? This time, as often before, it was no choice of his, but the will of Providence that over-ruled him and the past in him. Certain it was that the wine had again to be drawn ofi from the lees, and, in this critical moment, a delicate but well-nerved hand ■svas ready to aid in the task. Hothing could have been more fortunate than that the issue came up in the case of Thomas Maxfleld. Maxfleld was one 394 The Wesley Memokial Volume, of the early fruits of Wesley’s ministry in Bristol, and now he labored in London, meeting the society, praying, advising, ex- horting, enjoying God’s blessing, and having signal favor with the people. Maxfield began to preach. Wesley heard of it and hurried to London, intent on stopping such a disorderly proceeding. “John,” said his mother, “he is as surely called of God to preach as you are.” The same wise guide said to him, “ Examine what have been the fruits of his preaching, and hear him also yourself,” and he accepted the advice, yielded his prejudices, and took another step from the shades of the past into the light of the future. At this point his career weaves itself again into his father’s history, since nearly fifty years before Samuel Wesley had urged the same measure on the attention of the English Church. Providence honors blood. A bud in an ancestor opens into a flower in his de- scendant and soon swells into fruit. In this case the good results were not only immense but singularly various. Almost the entire ec'onomy of Methodism grew out of this decisive ac- tion in using lay preachers. Classes and leaders, contributions of money, the conference, and the itinerancy, rapidly followed. So that we may safely affirm that the suggestive force which supplied the ideas embodied in the system of Methodism sprang from Thomas Maxfield’s preaching. Let us pause a moment and examine Methodism. It was the child of providence, and never was offspring more like its parentage. The form, the step, the hand, the eye, the voice, all reduced to earthly conditions and adapted to human rela- tions, show the original source of its life. But it may be profitable to analyze this idea of providence, and see the el- fements which make its constituents : for if revelation has its evidences, its proofs internal and external, its methods of satis- fying reason and preparing the way for the true faith of the heart, so has providence in the affairs of men. Any thing is sheer mysticism — unworthy of credence — that cannot be sub- stantiated in some shape to the open and candid minds of mem Peovidence of God in Methodism. 395 First of all, then, the battle of the Reformation had been fought out in England. After every sign of conflict on this issue had disappeared upon the Continent, the struggle was flercely protracted in England. Puritanism, as a religious, ecclesiastical, and political influence, had run through all its stages. One platform of principles had been demolished for the erection of another. One phase had succeeded another, till its fertility of aspects had been exhausted. A Puritan of Eliza- beth’s age had little in common with Cromwell, and a Puritan under Charles II. would have been a stranger and a foreigner to a Puritan of 1688. High-Church and Low-Church parties had gone through vicissitudes and changes equally remarkable. Calvinism and Arminianism had been Anally detached from party politics ; and Rome, Geneva, and Holland were no longer inflammatory watch-words. The evil in these warring systems, excited to intensity by the state of the country, had expired, or, if not dead, had sunk into inertness. The good elements, so fatally held in abeyance, had survived and taken a prominent form in English thought and life. But we think it obvious that this very condition of things demanded some new religious organization. If not, how were the beneficent results of this terrible ordeal to be preserved? Various as these results were, they nevertheless had common quahties; but how were these to be aggregated and condensed in one massive force so as to reach England ? What was needed was, an institution that might gather up the fruits of a century’s growth and give them a divine perpetuity. We believe that Methodism was providentially ordained to be just such an institution, and, as a warrant for this belief, we appeal to its principles, its sentiments, its Catholic spirit, its deep sense of human brotherhood, its philanthropic heart, and, most of all because higher than all, we appeal to its reverence for God’s sovereignty, its homage to law, and its supreme trust in the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the means of recon- eihng God to man and man to God. / 396 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. Look at Methodism, and yon find all the best and noblest characteristics of Puritanism, separated from bigotry and cruelty, organized in its economy, and embodied in its living character. Look at it again, and yon see certain qualities that Puritanism never had— such as the milder virtues of the gospel, considerateness for the weakness of men, piety and compassion, tenderness for the erring, and the sympathies that bind men together. Its sensibility to truth has not been at the expense of its sensibility to love. With it charity is the “ greatest ” only because charity is the consummation in which faith and hope realize their completeness of scope and fullness of power. Look, furthermore, at its efiects on the middle and lower classes of English society, its infiuence in bringing them together, its force of assimilation, by means of which one of the most dangerous- consequences of a revolu- tionary century, namely, the estrangement of classes, was great- ly meliorated. Did Methodism retain for many years its con- nection with the Church of England ? That gave it an oppor- tunity to act on the religious condition of the Establishment. Did Whitefield separate from Wesley? Because of this, Methodism permeated the Dissenting Churches. If, politic- ally, the nation had advanced to high and solid ground — if the House of Commons had gained immense strength by reducing the power of the Crown — if state ministers had become minis- ters of the people — it seems indisputable that Methodism, as a complementary movement, did precisely for moral and spiritual interests what the House of Commons had achieved for polit- ical interests. It aroused the people. It made the people con- scious of themselves and their inherent capacity for growth. It elevated and ennobled the jjeople. Viewed in this light, the seventeenth century fashioned the gigantic mold in which Methodism was cast. Every student of ancient history knows how the Home of Pompey and the Senate, and the Home of Julius Csesar and the Democracy, were in long and deadly conflict. And he PeovidejS-ce oe God in Methodism. 397 knows, too, that a very difierent Eome, tlie Rome of Augustus Cffisar, emerged from tlie bloody struggle, and that it was tlie Eome of tbe Empire through which Christianity trod her pathway of triiunph. So, too, the England of the Puritan and the England of the Cavalier fought and bled. So, too, they passed away iu their relative attitudes and aspects. Modern England is neither the one nor the other, but the product of interaction and compromise. And it was just this condition of things that called for such a system as Methodism, and Providence answered the call. But this is not a complete statement of the facts. Suppose that we look forward instead of backward, and may we not ask if England could have with- stood, as she did, the shock of the French Revolution, had not Methodism wrought its soul into the masses of her population ? Yet another view offers itself. Here, on this western continent, England had her colonies. All sorts of causes — poverty, trouble, persecution, enterprise, philanthropy, religion — had operated to produce the tide that swept westward. Endicott, Winthrop, Penn, Oglethorpe, were very unlike as individuals ; but they were all Englishmen. First the Atlantic slope, next the Mis- sissippi Yalley, then the Pacific coast, the Horthern Lakes and the Southern Gulf — the whole was contained in Plymouth Rock and Jamestown. Standing face to face with the grand forms of nature, the contours and configurations of scenery every- where magnificent, men not only came to a new world, but to a world that made them new. Such elastic energy, such reso- lute will, such diversified heroism, such success in winning- fields and forests to the domains of civilization, have no par- allel in the historic fortunes of our race. And was there no providence in the origin of Methodism at a time when it could be transplanted to a most genial soil, take root, grow up with the States, expand with the population, and spread its branches till the spray of two oceans fell upon their foliage ? If Wes- leyan Methodism was so well adapted to modern England, what shall be said of the supreme fitness of American Method- 398 The Wesley Memorial Volume. ism to follow the pioneer, to penetrate the wilderness, to oc- cupy the territory by pre-emptive right of missionary ardor, and stand with hands and heart open to embrace the coming multitude ? Society advances under providential law. Modern society is characterized by the number and diversity of these laws, their action and interaction. Problems once simple are now com- plex. The chief difficulty in all systems and organizations is, to meet the multiplicity of interests which have to be consulted. Often these are at variance, or, if not in downright antagonism, they are hard to unite. The secret of power in any project seeking to act on a broad scale lies in its adaptability. To be adaptive, it must be plastic. To be wisely plastic, it must have firmness of texture no less than facility of accommodation. It must be, in all religious matters, conscientious before it con- siders expediency. By the conditions of success it must be- come all things to all men, which can only be when it is one thing toward God. ISTow, assuredly, Methodism has historically vindicated its claim as an institution of providence on the score of adaptation to circumstances most unlike. On the one hand, we have seen it exhibit its majestic strength in an old country. On the other hand, we have seen it develop the same energy, or even greater, in a new country. As an impulse, it was felt in the air that all men breathe ; as a sentiment, it attracted Cal- vinists ; as a principle, it drew thousands to its standard of faith. Speaking of the philanthropic jiower awakened in En- gland, and “ now spreading through the habitable globe,” Sir James Stephen says, ‘‘It was at this period that the Alma Mater of Laud and Sacheverell was nourishing in her bosom a little hand of pupils destined to accomplish a momentous revo- lution in the National Church ; and of this little band John Wesley was the acknowledged leader.” Green states, in his “ Short History of the English People,” that Wesley’s movement “ changed in a few years the whole temper of English society.” It is now generally admitted Peovtdence of God est Methodism. 399 that all modern efforts for prison reform, improvements in penal codes, popular education, cheap literature, Sunday- schools, and missionary enterprise, are largely due to "Wesley’s influence. Whatever the shape assumed by these benevolent labors, the touch of one creative hand was felt alike in them aU. There were “ diversities of operations,” but “ the same God which worketh all in all.” For, whether the fire is struck from the flinty rock, or drawn from the overhanging cloud, or released from the coal-beds in the deep earth, it is fire from the sun. It is clear, then, that Wesley was in living contact with the world at very many points. This distinguished him from all other conspicuous reformers. He had a more varied range than Luther. He had far more balance than Savonarola. He had not the exclusiveness of Knox. And he had a much truer and profounder insight than Loyola. Isaac Taylor says : “Hot one of the founders of Methodism was gifted with the philosophic faculty, the abstractive and analytic power.” And further : “Wesley reasoned more than he thought. . . . He was almost intuitively master of arts. . . . He had the irresistible force, or, one might say, the galvanic instantaneousness of the intuitions.” Such fine distinctions, even if accurate, are of no avail in practi- cal matters. It was the mind of Wesley, not the mere intellect, that gave him such sway over men. That he had wonderful capacity as well as ability cannot be questioned. A most com- pact brain he possessed, sensitive and extremely active, able to reach his constructing hand on short notice. At the same time W esley’s mind was comprehensive — his reflective and percep- tive powers were in close alliance. Whatever he acquired was thoroughly assimilated and became a part of his nature, nor did he give any thoughts to others without the stamp of his own individuality. The peculiar emotions that blend with the in- tellect and impart the highest vitality to its functions, were serving forces that never failed him. Along with these, he had the best educated body that we know of — nerves and mus- 400 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. cles tliat "were trained to military obedience. Too much blood seldom overstocked his head. lie came as near converting his physical frame into an intelligent automaton as any man an- cient or modern, and to this much of his usefulness was due. Free from sudden reactions — still more free from tyrannic moods — he was generally calm, self-poised, and full of healthy repose. Ills resources constantly grew, but they never out- grew his expertness in their management. Any instrument or agent that came within his grasp borrowed something from his discij)lined skill. The seed-producing force in his nature was amazing. Like all men whose genius is rooted in depth of character, he had a strong will, and he enjoyed using it. But he was not locked up in himself. Often, in many ways, he crucified self — the self of the intellect as weU as the self of the heart. Fie had the gift, one of the rarest among men, of hearing the voice of Providence in the voices of human souls. The suggestions of the humblest were never despised. Yet his final test of truth was the divine element which he detected in it, so that his mind was like a great dome, ojjen at the top for light to stream down fresh from the firmament. Looking at Methodism in its spiritual features, we must not forget to notice the sjjecial emphasis it laid on personal religion as the religion of consciousness. This has always been its most salient peculiarity. The sense of acceptance with God by the witness of the Holy Spirit has given Methodism a power not possible from any other source. "Without dwelling on its ad- vantages to the individual believer, we can scarcely estimate its value as a sj^ecific mode of thinking and feeling in bringing a body of Christians into the simplest but strongest unity. By unity we mean a very different thing from union. More than any thing else, this doctrine, when realized in experience, tends to produce a common sensibility which is sure to expand into a common sympathy. Imagine that Methodism ’ had established its social institutions with only a secondary ref- erence to this great truth : much of its strength would have PitoviuENCE OE God ie' Methodism. 401 been unknown, for it is this rather than other distinctive quali- ties which has created its fainilj heart. Coincident with this fact, and yet diffei’enced by its connections, we may add, that just such a religious consciousness as Methodism emphasizes is one of the most important present means of resisting the skepticism and materialism of the age. Mind is now threatened by the thralldom of the body. The science of the senses is the science of investigation, of analysis, and synthesis ; of blow- pipes and microscopes : and it is natm-al enough that when thinkers reject the testimony of consciousness, laugh at its dictates and scorn its intuitions, doubt and dismay should spread their appalling shadows over the entire realm of sacred things. Mo other result is possible. If Baal be reinstated as the sun god, our only worship will be the cry of despair. So it was on old Carmel, and so it must be in new America. Ap- proach man from the material side of the universe, and he is insignificant enough. Analogy, with its mighty logic and still mightier fascination, is turned into his worst enemy. Fellow- ship with brutes, or kinshij) rather, is soon reached. But change the method of approach, and all else is instantly changed. Draw near to the soul from the spiritual side of the universe, speak to its consciousness, and Christianity is the answering grandeur. And, in this view, Methodism may be regarded as occupying in the order of Providence a specialized sphere of activity. The long strife betw'een faith and disbelief . seems narrowing dowm to an issue betw’een consciousness and sense. In this event, Methodism is worth philosophic study in a new light. It may turn out that the prominence it has given to the religious consciousness may be found of unex- pected avail in the progress of this warfare. If so, wdll it not be remarkable that a system which has accomplished such vast good in the past should be even more a prospective providence, and that the broad wake of light which it has left behind it for well nigh one hundred and fifty years, should be far outshone by the splendor of the f utm-e ? 402 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. The sympathetic and diffusive element in Methodism, to which we have called attention, was largely due to the Pauline mode of preaching that Wesley and his helpers adopted. The same thing is true of the Methodist ministry as a body. Taken as a whole, they choose more of their texts from St. Paul’s writings than ministers of other Churches. Their theology is thorough- ly Pauline. Their spirit is St. Paul’s spirit. Their buoyancy, freedom, and hopefulness, ally them with the Apostle to the Gentiles, and they have much of his chastened independence and steady heroism. But it must not be forgotten tliat the hymns of the Wesleys, John and Charles, had very much to do with this wonderful extension of Christ’s kingdom. Luther knew the power of hymns. So did Cromwell. But it re- mained for the W’^esleys to develop their full excellence and give it the widest range of influence. Methodism has a “ hymn book ” of its own, a complete hymn book, a library of song, a rich and beautiful anthology from the garden of the Lord. If thrown on its own resources for the language of praise, Methodism could chant every strain that the human soul can breathe forth to Heaven. These hymns are not lyric meditations, but fresh and genuine outbursts from hearts over- flowing with emotion, the emotion rising evermore into affection. Hot a touch of vitiating sentimentality is in one of them, and they are as free from the effeminate fancy and tainted sensu- ousness of recent spiritual songs, as they are from the formal starchness of the older hymns. All forms of doctrine, experi- ence, and holy living, they embody in words appropriate, varied, and vivid. Hor is their genius ever put forth at the expense of piety. Charming as is their beauty, it never exists for its own sake, but as a vestment woven with reverential art to clothe a far higher substance. How many voices tliey have, even as the voices of Pentecost ! Whatsoever in penitence is subduing to pride and self -trust; whatsoever in the first gush of pardon, and peace, and joy seeks expression in rapture ; whatsoever gathers upon our lonely hours, and upon the Providence of God in Methodism. 403 hours of trial and sorrow and bereavement ; whatsoever wails in the miserere of life, or exults in its jubilate^ these are aU here, to lift the soul to the throne and its Christ. Tlie little children swell out hosannas in the sweetness of these hymns, and manhc>od and womanhood pour forth halleluias in their rhjdhmie gladness. If the royal psalmist perfected Judaism in the psalms, the "Wesleys, and especially Charles, gave the final touch of strength and grace to Methodism by means of these hymns. Had Methodism done nothing else but produce these articulations of every thought and feeling in Christian life, who could measure the indebtedness of the Church to its genius and its consecration to such a task % Though we cannot yet say, “ Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world,” we cannot doubt that the day is not far distant when it will be said, “ There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.” WESLEY AND THE EVIDENCE WKITEHS, ESSAYISTS, AND OTHEES. T he religions apathy or indifferentism which all parties are agreed settled on the English Church and people near the middle of the eighteenth century, bade fair to end in gen- eral, if not uniyersal, unbelief. The unchristian spirit in which the Deistical, Trinitarian, and Bangorian controversies were conducted, even by the orthodox defenders of the Christian religion ; the Church abuses — pluralities and non-residence ; the prostitution of Church patronage to State purposes ; the sub- serviency of the clergy to king and court, their absorbing devo- tion to 23olitics, their guilty share in the political corruptions of the times, their political sermons, their cold essays on mo- rality, their disregard of pastoral duties, their antijjathy to all that is emotional in religion, and their exclusive reliance on arguments from reason and nature — on the external evidences of revelation to the utter neglect, if not rejection, of that inter- nal evidence which the Holy Spirit witnesses to the human soul whenever Christ crucified is faithfully preached ; — these things, and others like them, to say nothing of Bie worldli- ness and irreligious lives of the great majority of the clergy, had well-nigh sapped the foundations of Christian faith and hope, and delivered over the English people to deism, if not the dethronement of Cod from the government of the universe. In this emergency, the man who, under God, more than any other, saved the English Church and people from spiritual paralysis, if not from spiritual death, Avas John Wesley. Had it not been for the timely Methodist reactionary move- "Wesley and the Evidence Weitees. 405 ment, the National Church and the ISTonconformist Churches of England were in danger of being borne, bj the deistical and free-thiuhing writers of the century, into the more gloomy and perilous regions of atheism. It was well that Methodism arose and won many of its victories before the more pro- nounced Gei’man skepticism and French atheism came to the aid of those who were seeking to overthrow the defenses of Christian faith. Happily for Christianity in England, those continental antichristian forces came too late to effect the con- quests they intended. For John Wesley had already greatly revived the English Church, and rescued it from its gravest perils. If this had not been, dark would have been the day for the Christian religion in England, if English deists and English free-thinkers, triumphant over evangelical Christian thought, had joined their victorious battalions to the proudly defiant and conquering legions of German skeptics and French atheists. But, while this is so, we do not say that enlargement and deliverance would not have come in some other way ; but we d6 say, that John Wesley was the Heaven-delegated instrument by which evangelical Christianity was preserved to England. Ho doubt if Wesley had not been divinely sent, or if, having been divinely sent, he had been faithless to his high mission, the great Head of the Church would have raised up some other to do the work. But, as Moses was the Eleaven-appointed deliverer of the Hebrews from their bondage in Goshen, so Wesley was the special instrument chosen of Heaven to deliver the English Church and people in the eighteenth century. Hor do we mean to say that Wesley, single-handed and alone, wrought out the great revival. But we do mean to say, with kfr. Lecky, that “ beyond all other men it was John Wesley to whom this work was due with Mr. Overton, John Wesley “ stafids pre-eminent among the worthies who originated and conducted the revival of practical religion which took place in the last century;” with Mr. Gladstone, Wesley gave “the 406 The Wesley Memorial Volume. main impulse out of which sprang the evangelical move- ment ; ” with Dean Stanley, Wesley “ was the chief reviver of religious fervor in all Protestant Churches, both of tlie old and the new world ; ” with Isaac Taylor, “ the Methodist move- ment is the starting point of our modern religious history,” and “ the field preaching of Wesley and Whitefield is the event whence the religious epoch, now current, must date its com- mencement ; ” with Dr. Stoughton, “ the rise and progress of Methodism may be regarded as the most important ecclesiastical fact of modern times, and that Methodism, in all its branches, is a fact in the history of England which develops into large and still larger dimensions as time rolls on ; ” with Mr. Abbey, “the Methodist revival marked a decided turn, not only in popular feeling on religious topics and in the language of the pulpit, but also in theological and philosophical thought in general;” that while “William Law in his own way and among a select but somewhat limited body of readers, Wesley in a more practical and far more popular manner, . . . gave a death-blow to the then existing forms of Deism ; ” that Meth- odism “ stirred the sluggish spiritual nature to its depths ; it awoke the sense of sin and an eager longing to be delivered from it ; ” and that “ to the age and Church in general its quickening action was scarcely less important ;” with Robert Southey, Wesley is “the most influential mind of the last century, the man who will have produced the greatest efiects centuries, or perhaps millenniums, hence, if the present race of men should continue so long;” and with Mr. Curteis, Wesley (unless we except Mr. Fletcher) “ was the purest, noblest, most saintly clergyman of the eighteenth century, whose whole life was passed in the sincere and loyal effort to do good.” In ascribing so much to Wesley’s influence on the religious thought of the age, we intend no disparagement of the illus- trious men who, in the deistical and trinitarian controversies, defended against deists and Socinians, the orthodox Articles of the English Church. We may, indeed, admit almost all that Wesley astd the Evidence Whiteks. 407 Mr. Overton, vicar of Legbonrne, claims for them in The En^ glish Chuj'ch in the Eighteenth Century, the recent and verj able work of Mr. Abbey and himself. In vol. ii., chap, ii., Mr. Overton thus introduces the Methodist movement : — The middle part of the eighteenth century presents a somewhat curi- ous spectacle to the student of Church history. From one point of view the Church of England seemed to be signally successful ; from another, signally unsuccessful. Intellectually her work was a great triumph, morally and spiritually it was a great failure. She passed not only un- scathed, but with greatly increased strength, through a serious crisis. She crushed most effectually an attack which, if not really very formida- ble or very systematic, was at any rate very noisy and very violent ; and her success was at least as much due to the strength of her friends as to the weakness of her foes. So completely did she beat her assailants out of the field that for some time they were obliged to make their assaults under a masked battery in order to obtain a popular hearing at all. It should never be forgotten that the period in which the Church sank to her nadir in one sense was also the period in which she almost reached her zenith in another sense. Seldom has the history of any Church been adorned at one and the same time with greater names than those of But- ler, and Waterland, and Berkeley, and Sherlock the younger, and War- burton, and Conybeare, and other intellectual giants who fiourished in the reigns of the first two Georges. They cleared the way for that re- vival which is the subject of these pages. It was in consequence of the successful results of their efforts that the ground was opened to the heart-stirring preachers and disinterested workers who gave practical effect to the truths which have been so ably vindicated. It was unfor- tunate that there should ever have been any antagonism between men who were really workers in the same great cause. Neither could have done the other’s part of the work. Warburton could have no more moved the hearts of living masses to their inmost depths, as White- field did, than W^'liitefield could have written the ‘Divine Legation.’ Butler could no more have carried on the great crusade against sin and Satan which Wesley did, than Wesley could have written the ‘Analogy.’ But without such work as Wesley and Whitefield did, But- ler’s and Warburton’s would have been comparatively inefficacious, and without such work as Butler and Warburton did, Wesley’s and Whitefield’s work would have been, humanly tpeahing, [italics ours,] impossible. 26 408 The Wesley Memokial Volume. The qualifying words in italics make it possible for us to agree, in the main, w'th Mr. Overton. “ Plumanly speak- ing,” it was “ impossible ; ” divinely speaking, it was not. Wesley’s and Whitefield’s work was pre-eminently spiritual; the work of the great Church writers was intellectual ; or- thodox, perhaps, it was, but still intellectual. The work of Wesley and Whitefield was a revival of spiritual Christianity ; it was divine, in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. It stirred the inmost depths of the human soul ; it changed men’s hearts ; it reformed their lives ; it restored them to the image of Him who created them in knowledge, in righteousness, and in true holiness. The work of the others, though intellectually “ a great triumph,” was morally and spiritually “ a great fail- ure.” It was “ icily regular,” but “ splendidly null.” It left the English Church and people in a worse spiritual condition than before the heated and bitter controversies began. “ Intel- lectually ” the argument may have been with them ; but “ mor- ally and spiritually ” it was with their opponents. The latter result must ever be the case when the Christian pulpit and press conduct religious controversy as the Christian pul2:)it and press conducted the deistical and trinitarian controversies in the eighteenth century. While, then, it may be true that ‘‘ without such work as But- ler and Warburton did, Wesley’s and Whitetield’s work would have been, humanly speaking, impossible,” it may be ques- tioned whether, after all, the work of the latter was not more hindered than advanced by the work of the former. Whatever assistance Warburton previously may have given to Wesley, it is certain that, if Wesley’s work was advanced by Warburton’s letters to Des Maizeaux and Dr. Birch, in 1738, and by his fierce onslaught on Wesley, in 17G3, it was because a gracious providence overruled for good the scurrilous assaults of Will- iam, Lord Bishop of Gloucester. But, of course, it is not about these later exploits of Warburton Mr. Overton is writing. And yet one may, perhaps, be pardoned for mentioning them, Wesley akd tile EvroEisrcE Weitees. 409 inasmuch as they were suggested by the thought that "Wes- ley’s work without Warburton was impossible. Mr. Overton had in mind Warburton’s “Divine Legation” and Butler’s “Analogy.” Great works they are, especially Butler’s. But did they revive the nation ? If they so silenced assaults on the Christian religion that its enemies had to carry on the conflict “ under a masked battery,” was the Church made the purer by the victories of her champions ? Did any transforming, regen- erating power attend their utterances? The unanimous testi- mony of contemporary authority is, that the age grew worse and worse ; that if intellectually the work of these great theo- logians was a signal triumph, morally and spiritually it was a signal failure. Surely, from every stand-point it may be said, the more lifeless the Church the more difficult the work of re- vival ; the more irreligious and practically ungodly the nation, the more difficult the work of reform. And of all difficult tasks, humanly or divinely speaking, the hardest of all is to revive a Church which has settled on the lees of a cold and icy indifferentism, however rational its faith or orthodox its formularies. But, however this may be, no one will ques- tion what Mr. Overton has added : “ The truths of Christian- ity required not only to be defended, but to be applied to the heart and the life ; and this was the special work of what has been called, for want of a better term, ‘the evangelical school.’ ” But, more than this, it may also be questioned whether more credit has not been given to the evidence writers than they deserve. "We have already alluded to their exclusive reliance on arguments from reason and nature, and to their neglect of the internal evidences of Christianity — to their contempt for the emotional or whatever savors of enthusiasm. And we have before seen that Mr. Abbey claims that it was Law and Wesley — not Butler and "Warburton — who gave the death-blow to the eighteenth century forms of deism. What he says is so much to the point that we give it somewhat at 410 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. length. We quote from vol. i, chap, ix, “Enthusiasm,” in his and Mr. Overton’s “ English Church in the Eighteenth Century.” “About the time ‘When Wesley’s power Gathered new strength from hour to hour,’ theological opinion was in much the same state in England as that described by Goethe as existing in Germany when he left Leipsic in 1Y68; it was to a great extent fluctuating between an historical and traditionary Christianity on the one hand and pure Deism on the other. William Law in his own way and among a select but somewhat limited number of readers, Wesley in a more practical and far more popular manner, did very much to re- store to English Christianity the element that was so greatly wanting — the appeal to a faculty [the italics are ours] with which the soul is gifted to recognize the inherent excellence^ the heauty, truths and divinity of a divine object once clearly set before it. Whatever may have been the respective deficiencies in the systems and teaching of these two men, they achieved at least this great resirlt ; nor is it too much to say [the italics are ours] that it gave a death-blow to the then existing forms of DeismP If Mr. Abbey is right, is it too much to say that Law and W esley accomplished more than the evidence writers, even in their own domain, were able to accomplish ? ETay, more ; is it too much to say that Law and Wesley did what the others utterly failed to do ? The great religious controversies of the age were “solely of an intellectual character;” and, instead of settling men’s minds and resohdng their doubts, “ dissemi- nated,” says the skeptical author of the “ History of Civilization in England,” “ doubts among nearly all classes.” Their only practical effect was to divorce theology from the department of ethics, and, by sowing more broadcast the seeds of uncertainty, weaken the restraints of morality, and give greater riot to licentiousness. And since, as John Wesley truthfully wrote, “ Deists and evidence writers alike were strangers to those truths which are ‘ spiritually discerned,’ ” is there any wonder that the Church which, in the middle of the eighteenth cent- Wesley and the Evidence Writees. 411 ttry, intellectually “ almost reached her zenith,” morally and spiritually “ sank to her nadir ? ” i But the gi’eat theologians of the eighteenth century were not the only persons who attempted to reform the nation and failedl Equally futile were the efforts of the essayists, paintei’s, philos- ophers, statesmen, and all others who attempted it till Wesley came. Addison and Steele in the “ Tattler” and the “ Specta- tor,” Dr. Johnson in “London” and “ Yanity Fair,” and Rich- ardson in “ Pamela ” Andrews, with their pens ; and Hogarth, with his brash, in the “ Industrious and Idle Apprentices,” and in the “ Harlot’s Progress,” boldly satirized vice, and turned against it the tide of wit which had been used by the comic dra- matists of the Restoration, and their successors in scurrility, to ridicule all that is pure and virtuous in man. The elder Wilham Pitt, in the House of Commons, in the House of Lords, and in the ministry, “ with that sense of honor which makes ambition virtue,” by an example of pure morals, incorruptible integrity^ and transparent disinterestedness, exalted the standard of polit4 ical honor, and gave such a rebuke to pubhc venality that rarely afterward did corruption in high places lift up its head. The blameless lives of King George III. and Queen Charlotte ex- erted in fashionable and aristocratic circles some influence for good, and tended to infuse a healthier tone of morality and religion. But all these influences were unavailing to change the character of the nation, or to revive a sleeping Church; Their effects were only partial, circumscribed, momentary. The renewing, transforming Spirit was needed. As well might the leopard attempt to change his spots or the Ethiopian his skin, as a nation by such influences alone to seek reform. Neither did the religious writers who, till Wesley came, exer- cised, as we have seen, the greatest influence on the times — (and illustrious names they were) Butler and Sherlock and Hoadley and Warbutton and Horsley and Waterland and Berkeley and Leslie and Leland and Doddridge and Watts — do much to change for the better the English Church and peo- 412 The Wesley Memokial Volume. pie. Essayists and poets and painters, however well meaning their efforts, tried it in vain. “ Taste and culture,” says Juha Wedgwood, “attempted to regenerate society, and failed.” Pitt and Burke and George III., and the ablest divines of the Establishment and Dissent, were equally poVverless. In spite of all their efforts, the age, as depicted by Mr. Pattison, was “ one of decay of religion, licentiousness of morals, public corruption, and profaneness of language — an age destitute of depth and earnestness, of light without love, whose very merits were of the earth, earthy.” What could cleanse this Augean accumulated mass of corruption? What voice could speak to these dry bones and command the return of sinews and skin and life? ISTo fountain but the fountain opened to the house of David for sin and for uncleanness could do the cleansing ; no voice but the voice of some Heaven-inspired Ezekiel could prophesy and say, “ Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones : Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live ; ” no breath, no spirit, but the Breath and Spirit of the Almighty could raise up from bleached bones “ an exceeding great army.” What was needed was the transforming, regen- erating, sanctifying Spirit, and a man called of God, as was Aaron, with lips toiiched with hallowed fire, as were Isaiah’s, and with the word of God as a burning fire shut up in his bones, as in Jeremiah’s. The boy rescued from the burning rectory at Epworth ; the young Fellow of Lincoln, and presi- dent of the “ Holy Club ” at Oxford ; the companion of the Moravians in the storm-tossed ship on the Atlantic ; the mis- sionary to the Indians of Georgia ; the persecuted rector of Christ Church Parish in Savaimah; the man who felt his heart “ strangely warmed ” that night in Aldersgate-street while listening to the reading of the preface to Martin Luther’s commentary on the epistle to the Homans, was divinely called, commissioned, quahfied, and sent to reform the Church of England, and do what the essayists and poets and painters and statesmen, and the learned doctors of Dissent, and the Wesley and the Evidence Writees. 413 CImrcli’s archbishops and bishops, and the nation’s king and queen, were utterly unable to accomplish. All that we have in this paper claimed for Mr. Wesley is now almost universally allowed. The good, also, which he at the same time did among the poor and the lower middle classes, is admitted to have been incalculable. But, while this is so, it is frequently asserted that Methodism, as a Church organism, is unfitted for the more educated and aristocratic circles. A very recent writer, for whose opinions we have very great respect, and whose judgment, perhaps, is as impartial as a clergyman’s of the Church of England can be, has said — as if it were the gravest charge against Methodism — “ It can never make any deep impression on the cultivated classes ; ” “ it can, at best, be only the Church of the poor and of the lower middle class- es.” If this be so, Mr. Abbey may be reminded that the same thing was true of the gospel in the times of our Lord and his apostles. As it was then, it may be now, that “ not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.” “ Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him ? ” If Methodism, in the eighteenth century, was adapted to the poor ■ — to the well-jiigh universally neglected poor — and, as neither Mr. Abbey nor any other Avill question, was adapted to them far more than was any other form of evangelicalism, did not Methodism, in a greater degree than any other Church, have the divinest sanction that the gospel gives ? In preaching specially to the poor, in lifting up the poor, in saving the poor, did not Mr. Wesley and his preachers prove that they had drank deeper into the spirit of Him who said, “ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor?” In an age when the gospel itself was most fiercely assailed and Christian faith put to its severest tests, Mr. Wesley and the Methodist preachers could confidently appeal to their successes among the poor as the most irrefra- 414 The Wesley Memorial Volume. gable evidence of tbe truth of the gospel. Bj preaching it to the poor and turning thousands of the most degraded and outcast from sin and Satan to God, they gave — far more than the evidence writers — the highest proof of its divinity and of their own commission to preach it. But it is further said by the same writer, “ Great, therefore, as was its moral and spiritual jjower among large classes of the people, Methodism was never able to rank among great nation- al reformations.” Before we give the answer to this, we ask, Is it true that Methodism “ can never make any deep impres- sion on the cultivated classes ; ” that “ it can, at best, be only the Church of the poor and of the lower middle classes ? ” Let us see. The conquests of Methodism in England among “ the cultivated classes,” however circumscribed, were greater than like triumphs of the gospel in the earlier days of the primitive Church. They were greater in London, in Bristol, and in Manchester, than in Jerusalem, in Nazareth, and in Capernaum ; in England, in Scotland, and in Ireland, than in Judea, in Achaia, and in Rome. But, after all, why were the triumphs of Methodism in England no greater among “the cultivated classes ? ” was it from any want of adaptation ? How is it, then, that outside of England, and notably in the United States, Methodism has shown equal adaptation to all — to rich and poor, to the learned and unlearned, to the high and the lowly ? In the United States, Methodism is found in all the learned professions, in the presidencies of colleges, in the halls of the national Congress, in the highest departments of State, and in embassies to courts of the most exalted of sovereigns ; nor has it been unrepresented in the mansion of the nation’s Presidents. There is good reason to assign for this. In the United States there is no State religion to allure by its prefer- ments. Methodism in the new world, on far more equal terms than in the old, entered into the work of winning souls. Like results to those in America, and far more significant, would have been witnessed in England, if Methodism had had no Wesley and the Evidence Weitees. 415 powerful State religion, no Establishment, to hinder its prog- ress. Remove this barrier — give to Wesleyanism an equal field — and see what progress it will make ! It is idle, there- fore, to say that Methodism “ was never able to rank among great national reformations.” What chance has Methodism, or any other Nonconformist body, when it comes into competition with an Establishment of such powerful patronage, such high social position, such boasted prestige, such prideful associations, such an historic past, such great revenues, and such splendid universities ? At this day, how many sons of the wealthier and more educated Methodists are enticed into the Establishment ! To mention one thing alone, what a power has the Establishment through its great universities ! To secure their degrees, to attain their fellowships, how many sons of wealthy Wesleyans have been drawn away from the Church of their Methodist fathers ! This thing alone has exercised a powerful influence against Methodism, and in the very line about which we are writing. Just as Pomponius valued the cognomen which he received from Athens more than his illustrious descent from Numa Pompilius ; as Marcus Tullius esteemed the praises of the Greek poet Ai’chias more than the honors of the Roman con- sulate ; and as the tyrant Nero prized the wreath which he won in a contest at Olympia above the imperial purple and diadem, so, at this day, there are Wesleyan preachers who prefer the degree of Master of Arts from Oxford or Cam- hridge to the highest honorary degrees conferred by the best American colleges. What, then, has prevented Methodism from taking “rank with great national reformations ? ” The question would better not be pressed, for its true answer makes far more against the Establishment than against Methodism. That the National Church did not comprehend Methodism is a graver charge than that Methodism did not absorb the National Church. It is a graver charge that the temple and the synagogue rejected the 416 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. Messenger of tlie Covenant and the Fulfiller of their Law, than that the promised Messiah failed to pervade the Jewish estab- lisliment with his spirit. It was a graver charge that the Porch and the Garden, the Academy and the Lyceum, condemned the preaching of the Cross as foolishness, than that the gospel of Christ was powerless to turn their proud disciples to the truth as it is in Jesus. The philosophers of Athens were more to be blamed for rejecting St. Paul, than St. Paul was for not con- verting them to the worship of “ the unknown God.” That a divinely-favored institution — such as Methodism by its mission to the poor and success among the outcast has proved itself to be — made no greater impression upon the Establishment is a charge that lies more heavily at the door of the Establishment than at the door of Methodism. That Methodism did not reach the cultivated classes and become a national reformation is because an institution such as is the National Church can never be wholly pervaded by a great revival. At least, never this side of a millennium — -nor even then, for the very causes which hasten a future personal reign of Christ on earth are at variance with the whole theory of a Church under the control of or in union with the secular power. A Church that admits so wide a latitudinarianism and so many self- seekers as a State Church necessarily must, can never ajD- proximate to any thing like a Church in which the multi- tude are of one heart and of one soul — where no man says that aught of the things which he possesses is his own — and where all with great power bear witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Many, very many, splendid examples of piety it will have ; but it must also ever have thousands who, having the form, deny the power of godliness. This is a gangrene to which a National Church more than any other must be liable. Self-seekers will always find a wide place in Establishments ; outside there will be but scanty room. But is it a fact that even in England Methodism has taken no hold on “ the cultivated classes,” and that it cannot “ rank Wesley and the Evidence Weiteks, 417 among national reformations ? ” Directly this may be so in part ; indirectly it is not so. Indirectly, but none the less surely, Methodism has affected the whole nation. The National Church has been largely pervaded by its spirit — notably the evangelical party which, at times, has been the dominant party of the Estabhshment. The non-conformist Churches have been awaked to new spiritual life by its teaching. The higher middle classes, the learned universities, lordly nobles, high- born ladies, and even the court itself, have all been more or less under the influence of Methodism. Whether a national reformation or not, the whole nation has been made the better by it. Its effects are felt all over England, and throughout all her dependencies. They are seen in the great evangel- ical enterprises which have made the first half of the nine- teenth century the most signal in Church history since apos- tolic times — in its benevolent and eleemosynary institutions, in its domestic and foreign missions, in its Sunday-school, Tract, and Bible Societies, and above all, in the enlarged Christian charity which binds more closely together Chris- tians of every name, of every land, and of every nation and color, and which has made it possible for thousands of dif- ferent denominations to unite on a common platform and for a common purpose — the salvation of souls and the subjuga- tion of the world to the cross of Christ. And thus did John Wesley, by his direct and powerful appeals to the demonstrating and witnessing Spirit, by re- claiming the outcast, by elevating the poor, by reviving the national and non-conformist Churches, and by reforming the nation, do incomparably more to prove the divinity of the gospel than all the evidence and other writers of the eighteenth century. i WESLEY THE WOEEEE. M ethodism is a result of great labor, a concentration of mighty religious forces. In it the facts of Christianity are organized, and its principles applied to human life. That it was founded with much care, both in respect to the wants of man and the spirit of the gospel, appears from the strength and simplicity of its structure, the grace and vigor of its de- velopment, the fervor and activity of its spirit, and the charac- ter and extent of its influence. While Methodism does not rest entirely upon the woi’k of John Wesley — while there are a thousand facts and circumstances clustering about it and attaching themselves to it, like the confluences of a great river system increasing its volume and momentum — still, in the highest degree of truthfulness and consistency, he must be its acknowledged founder. For the formulation of its doctrine, it depends largely upon the Church of England ; for much of its ardent faith and active holiness, upon the Mora- vians ; for its precision, in no small degree upon the character of the men who labored with Mr. W esley ; for its early and wide extension, upon great national and international movements — movements which created new nationalities on the one hand, and on the other annihilated ; pre-existing ones for the strength and free course of its principles, upon the character of the Wes- ley and Annesley families ; and, finally, for many of its most ad- mirable features, upon the domestic training of Susanna Wesley. It does not detract from the greatness of a reformer that the material for his work was already existing, and its foundation already laid. He who discovers congruities and affinities in facts and phenomena is often of more service to the world than he w'ho discovered the facts but was unable to bring them AVesley the Worker. 419 into practical use. Mr. Weslej was truly a great reformer, though he found helps in the reformation which he wrought. The evidences that he was destined to become a thorough and effectual laborer in the work of reform appeared in his early life. He seized every advantage which was offered to him, turning it to service that he might bless men and glorify God, and despising nothing that would make him wiser or better, ever seeking light from his parents, brothers, and friends, and trying all by the word of God. The labors of Mr. Wesley may be classified as follows ; — First. His work of self -improvement. Secondly. His work for others. In subduing the passions and appetites of the body, bringing all under subjection to the will of God, Mr. AFesley’s conduct reminds us of that of St. Paul. The rigid discipline under which he held fiis physical powers could have been maintained only by one whose heart was fixed more upon spiritual good than upon fieshly enjoyments. He allowed his body as much sleep as was requisite, and that quantity and quality of food and raiment that were necessary, but no more. As for rest, he said he found that in a change of labor. In early life he writes : “ I am full of business, but have found time to attend to my writing ... by rising an hour earlier in the morning and going into company an hour later in the evening.” In another instance, finding himself wakeful at nights, he believed it to be the result of giving too many hours to the bed : so he took one hour from the night, adding it to the day, experimenting for three or four days, until he had abridged his nights by as many hours ; and found that point of separation between the night and day, which left on the one side the length of time he required for sleep, and on the other that during which he was able to work. Recognizing the fact that “ bodily exercise profiteth little,” yet, for the sake of that little, he so exercised himself that in his body and spirit he might “glorify God, whether in eating or in drinking.” 420 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. His mental discipline was as severe and as systematic as his physical. His acquaintance with the laws of mind enabled him to marshal the faculties in perfect order, and to have all that was within him to praise the Lord. A course of study prepared by him for his own guidance, before he was twenty- five years of age, shows to what various subjects he applied his mind, and how he confined it to order and regularity. “ Mondays and Tuesdays were devoted to the Greek and Ro- man classics, historians, and poets. Wednesdays, to logic and ethics. Thursdays, to Hebrew and Arabic. Fridays, to meta- physics and natural philosophy. Saturdays, to oratory and poetry, chiefly composing. Sundays, to divinity.” With him the cultivation of the mind was subordinate to nothing excepting purity of the heart, and that in order to have all his powers consecrated to God. Had he lacked this rigid » mental discipline and large intellectual culture, he could not have established Methodism. The clarion call that was to sum- mon the sleeping formalist to action, and arouse the far-otf and neglected thousands, calling all to the way of faith and the witness of the Spirit, could allow no uncertain sound in those times of dreamy forgetfulness, open infidelity, and mis- guided religionists : it sounded the notes of reason as well as of excitement ; of philosophy as well as of love. It was not a time for superficiality or fanaticism to pass for religion. Ev- ery thing that showed signs of making innovations upon the established religion had to go into the crucible ; hence Method- ism was compelled to be open for the consideration and criticism of all men. It could not be placed under a bushel. Every point of doctrine and every tenet must be seen and read of all men. Who, of all the characters of his age — nay, of any age since that of the apostles — was better prepared for the accom- plishment of this great work than he, concerning whom the illustrious Dr. Johnson said: “I could talk all day and all night too with ” him ? — The man profuse in his readings, thor- ough in his studies, prudent in his conduct, orderly in his Wesley the Worker. 421 habits ; possessing zeal without rasliness, erudition without affectation, and holiness without hypocrisy? Mr. Wesley’s accomplishments would have given him a high place in any sphere of life which he might have chosen, military, literary, or political ; but with all his ability he laid himself upon the altar of our holy religion to be what God willed. As has been intimated above, the cultivation which he gave both body and mind had especial reference to the welfare of the soul. With him every thing was connected with religion, and religion with every thing. The state of his soul was always a subject of interest and inquiry. Self-examination was a duty of every day. It is to be doubted if any one ever subjected the heart to a more regular, searching, and candid examination. The deceitful heart does not readily turn inward to look at itself. Self-examination is one of its severest tasks ; but in Mr. Wesley’s case this seemed easy. Finding his religious state below that of a scripturally perfect man, he strove by various exercises to raise it to the desired standard, but found the righteousness which is of the law inadequate to the demands of the heart. He then consulted all the good persons with whom he met, and the works of good men, relative to the question of finding perfect peace. His correspondence with his parents on this subject shows how truly anxious he was. Hothing less than the fullness of God could satisfy him. His soul fainted, crying out for the living God. His heart was open to both man and God for correction and improvement in the highest sense. It is com- mon for men to pass through life with that character which the world gives them, so far as this is flattering, but he was willing to be known as imperfect that he might become perfect. When the peace and comfort of the Holy Ghost had filled his heart, his zeal was quickened and his energy doubled. He then entered fully upon the work of leading the world to the Lamb of God, that taketh away its sin. “ When thou art converted, strengthen thy bretliren,” and If ye know these things, happy 422 The Wesley Memorial Volume. are ye if ye do them,” were texts well understood by him, and highly exemphfied in his life. He worked for the conversion of others with the same inces- sant application, the same strong faith, the same frankness and earnestness, with which he labored to become himself like Christ. He considered no labor too great to be undertaken to relieve suffering humanity or glorify a gracious God. “ Dili- gent in business, fervent in Spirit, serving the Lord,” his labors were as diversified as they were useful : caring for the poor and neglected, alleviating their sulferings, and satisfying their wants ; instructing the ignorant, visiting those who were in prison, lifting up the head of the dejected ; administering to the wants of the sick ; cheering the dying with exhortations, prayers, and songs, as they crossed the flood. One of his biog- raphers says of him : “ In mercy to the bodies of men, his friend, Mr. Howard, was the only person I ever knew who could be compared to him.” With reference to his benevolence, it has been said that lie gave away every thing which he received excepting so much as was necessary to meet his obligations, resolving to be his own executor. Besides these blessings conferred immediately upon the bod- ies of men, he did a great amount of writing. His writings consist of both prose and poetry, and embrace several of the varieties of composition : letters, journals, compilations, com- mentaries, sermons, etc. Few men have associated so much writing with an equal amount of other labor. All of his writ- ings possess a high degree of character ; every-where demon- strating the principle of candor, order, and a design to glorify God. All manifest that spirit of care and appreciation of time which caused their author to remark, in reply to the re- quest, “Do not be in a hurry,” “A hurry ! Ho, I have no time to be in a hurry.” His great reasoning powers, patience, and comprehension, rendered Ifim eminently fit to conduct that line of defense Wesley the Worker. 423 always so necessary in religious reformations, and upon tlie pru- dent management of wliich so much depends. The high ground which Methodism had taken made it necessary that its controversies should be as purb as its character. Few men could have entered into its extensive controversies and con- ducted them with less selfishness or more godliness ; with a more candid acknowledgment of the merits of the arguments of its opponents, or with a more cordial invitation to have the defects of its own advocates pointed out. His arguments were clear, pungent, and forcible ; and are of great service to-day in the discussion of subjects to which they apj)ly. His sermons contain a spiritual richness which show them to be the composition of one whose heart was well informed con- cerning the gospel, and thoroughly prepared for the work by the Holy Ghost. In all of his sermons there are that depth of thoughtfulness, clearness of statement, fullness of experience, and acquaintance with the great subjects of human want and divine grace which we naturally expect in the words of the messenger of God to man. In preaching he was instant in season and out of season. All humanity had a claim upon him. In the streets or fields, in the wilderness or upon the ocean, wherever he could obtain hearers, he preached. These hearers might be the leaders of the very mob that was incensed against him, and determined upon either stopping his mouth or killing him ; they might be the wild red men, or the enslaved black men of America, or the nobility of England and the governors in America. He became all things unto all men. He says^ “Wherever I see one or a thousand men ranning into hell, be it in England, Ireland, or France — yea, in Europe, Asia, Africa, or America — I will stop them if I can; as a minister of Christ, I will beseech them in his name to turn back and be reconciled to God.” Preaching was one of his regular duties, common to every day. Like St. Paul, so far as in him lay, he was ready. To the world his preaching was as words of authority, in 27 424 The Wesley Memokial Volume. demonstration of tlie Spirit and of power, cutting like a two- edged sword, convicting and converting sinners to Ckrist. Thus in Great Britain and America he laid the foundations of Methodism deep in the hearts of men. In the fifty years of his itinerancy he is said to have preached more than forty thou- sand times, traveling more than four thousand miles annually. As the messenger of God he called to the thousands to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; they obeyed the call, and thus gathered around him as their leader and guide. Ex- * eluded from other bodies of Christians, they turned for strength to him who had been the means of enlightening them. This placed upon him new and weighty responsibilities — the organizing of these thousands, scattered over the British Isles and America. He had to discipline as well as indoctrinate them ; to become their counselor and defender ; to represent them and plead for them in the presence of the dignitaries of both civil and ecclesiastical courts ; to bear all the blame for exciting the people to irregular meetings, to meet all the oppo- sition which misguided Christians could instigate, the tongue of calumny invent, or an infuriated mob execute. He was charged, on the one hand, with being prompted to his great work by a love of money ; and on the other, with being controlled by the appetency for power. Only the few who were very closely associated with him, and who partook of his spirit, understood that the almost unlimited powei’ which he exercised over the Societies was not commen- surate with the equally unlimited duties which he had to perform in order fo preserve their proper equilibrium, and present them blameless before the throne of God. Had he faltered, the work of his life would have been paralyzed. Had he been less temperate than zealous, less prudent than powerful, he might have led his adherents and associates out to suffer the embarrassments of the votaries of Baal. Had his self-consciousness been greater than his godliness, he might have held them to himself, but at the same time have drawu Wesley the Workee. 425 them from Christ. O, Holj Ghost ! what canst thou not do for man to enable him to bear the burden and heat of the day ! to endure hardness as a good soldier ! Thou implantedst in Wesley the spirit of work, making him hke Him who “must he about his Father’s business.” Thou who preparedst him for the field, and the field for him, what wilt Thou not do for those who will not be “ weary in well-doing ! ” When we cast the eye over the field, the wide field now occupied and worked by five millions of living Methodists — when we think of the multiplied millions who have fallen asleep — when we begin to think of the incalculable service which Methodism has rendered in exciting the moving hosts of the Lord, under a hundred names, to hohness and to God, we can but exclaim. Surely the little one has become a thousand ! When we consider the firmness and depth which the Spirit of Christ, as taught by Wesley, has in the world, and when we behold the glory of the possibilities of this Spirit, we thank God for the great, indefatigable Wesley, the woekee. What he accomplished for man and God can be counted only in eternity. It is more glorious than the work of the con- .queror, more effectual than that of the statesman, more beau- tiful than that of the sculptor, more enduring than that of the author. Tea, it is of a more exalted character than all of these combined; it is connected -^ith the good work of faith in all ages, establishing upon earth that mountain of hohness which is to elevate the entire race up to the very throne of God itself. In that hfe preserved beyond the threescore and ten — to do such grand and glorious work, and to continue that work with vigorous mind and strong hand to the very end of life — there are to be found many beautiful examples and useful lessons. That orderly hfe, looking right onward, im- pressing every one with its characteristics of exactness, tem- perance, and faith, has given to Methodism a similar spirit. Without this order Wesley could not have influenced the 426 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. world nor glorified God to the extent that lie lias done. Had this element not been large in his constitution, there would not obtain that general uniformity and those common qualities in the divided Methodism of to-day. By a stricter attention to the holy and systematic manner of life and work of its truly great founder, Methodism would be brought into a closer and higher unity, and thus effect a thousandfold more good than it is doing. May these branches bring their work into a warmer asso- ciation, seize the favoring signs of the times, and, with Wes- ley’s zeal and faith, rush to battle to aid in conquering the world to our Lord and his Christ forever ! WESLEY AND ELETCHEE. I F John Wesley was the great leader and organizer, Charles Wesley the great poet, and George Whitefield the great preacher, of Methodism, the highest type of saintliness which it produced was unquestionably John Fletcher. FTever, per- haps, since the rise of Christianity, has the mind which was in Christ Jesus been more faithfully copied than it was in the Ticar of Madeley. To say that he was a good Christian is saying too little. He was more than Christian — he was Chi'istlike. It is said that Yoltaire, when challenged to pro- duce a character as perfect as that of Jesus Christ, at once mentioned Fletcher of Madeley ; and if the comparison be- tween the God-man and any child of Adam were in any case admissible, it would be difficult to find one with whom it could be instituted with less appearance of blasphemy than this excellent man. Fletcher was a Swiss by birth and educa- tion, and to the last he showed traces of his foreign origin. But England can claim the credit of having formed his spiritual character. Soon after his settlement in England as tutor to the sons of Mr. Hill, of Terne Hall, he became at- tracted by the Methodist movement, which had then (1752) become a force in the country, and in 1753 he was admitted into holy orders. The account of his appointment to the living of Madeley presents a very unusual phenomenon in the eighteenth century. His patron, Mr. Hill, offered him the living of Dunham, “ where the population was small, the income good, and the village situated in the midst of a fine sporting country.” These were no recommendations in the eyes of Fletcher, and he declined the living on the ground that the income was too large and the population too small. 428 TnE Wesley Memoetal Volume. Madeley had the advantage of having only half the income and double the population of Dunham. On being asked whether he would accept Madeley if the vicar of that j)arish would consent to exchange it for Dunham, Fletcher gladly em- braced the offer. As the vicar of Madeley had naturally no objection to so advantageous an exchange, Fletcher was insti- tuted to the cure of the large Shropshire village, in which he spent a quarter of a century. There is no need to record his apostolical labors in this humble sphere of duty. Madeley was a. rough parish, full of colliers ; but there was also a sprinkling of resident gentry. Like his friend John Wesley, Fletcher found more fruits of his work among the former than among the latter. But none, whether rich or poor, could resist the attractions of this saintly man. In 1Y72 he ad- dressed “An Appeal to Matter of Fact and Common Sense” to the principal inhabitants of the parish of Madeley, the dedication of which is so characteristic that it is worth quoting in full : “ Gentlemen,” writes the vicar, “ you are no less entitled to my private labors than the inferior class of my parishioners. As you do not choose to partake with them of my evening instructions, I take the liberty to present you with some of my morning meditations. May these well-meant efforts of my pen be more acceptable to you than those of my tongue ! And may you carefully read in your closets what you have, perhaps, inattentively heard in the church ! I ap- peal to the Searcher of hearts, that I had rather impart truth than receive tithes. You kindly bestow the latter upon me ; grant me the satisfaction of seeing you receive favorably the former from, gentlemen, your affectionate minister and obedi- ent servant, J. Fletcher.” When Lady Huntingdon founded her college for the train- ing of ministers, at Trevecca, she invited Fletcher to take a sort of general superintendence over it. This Fletcher under- took without fee or reward ; not, of course, with the intention of residing there, for he had no sympathy with the bad cus- TVeslet and Fletcher. 429 tom of non-residence, wLieli was only too common in his day. He was simply to visit the college as frequently as he could ; “ and,” writes Dr. Benson, the first head-master, “ he was received as an angel of God.” “ It is not possible,” he adds, “ for me to describe the veneration in which we all held him. Like Elijah in the schools of the prophets, he was revered, he was loved, he was almost adored. My heart kindles while I write. Here it was that 1 saw, shall I say an angel in human flesh ? I should not far exceed the truth if I said so ” — and much more to the same effect. It was the same wherever Fletcher went ; the impression he made was extraordinary ; language seems to fail those who tried to describe it. “I went,” said one who visited him in an illness, (he was always dehcate,) ‘‘ to see a man that had one foot in the grave, but I found a man that had one foot in heaven.” “ Sir,” said Mr. Yenn, to one who asked him his opinion of Fletcher, “he was a luminary — a luminary did I say ? — he was a sun ! I have known all the great men for these fifty years, but none like him.” John Mesley was of the same opinion ; in Fletcher he saw realized in the highest degree all that he meant by “Christian perfection.” For sometime he hesitated to write a description of this great man, “ judging that only an Apelles was proper to paint an Alexander ; ” but at length he pub- lished his well-known sermon on the significant text, “ Mark the perfect man,” etc., (Psalm xxxvii, 37,) which he con- cluded with this striking testimony to the unequaled charac- ter of his friend : “ I was intimately acquainted with him for above thirty years ; I conversed with him morning, noon, and night without the least reserve, during a journey of many hundred miles ; and in all that time I never heard him speak one improper word, nor saw him do an improper action. To conclude : many exemplary men have I known, holy in heart and life, within fourscore years, but one equal to him I have not known — one so inwardly and outwardly devoted to God. So unblamable a character in every respect I have not found 430 The Wesley Memorial Volume. either in Europe or America; and I scarce expect to find another such on this side of eternity.” Fletcher, on his part, was one of the few parish clergymen who to the end thor- oughly appreciated John Wesley. He thought it “shameful that no clergyman should join Wesley to keep in the Church the work God had enabled him to carry on therein ; ” and he was half inclined to join him as his deacon, “not,” he adds, with genuine modesty, “ with any view of presiding over the Methodists after you, but to ease you a little in your old age, and to be in the way of receiving, j^erhaps doing, more good.” Wesley was very anxious that Fletcher shoiild be his successor, and proposed it to him in a characteristic letter ; but Fletcher declined the ofiice, and had he accepted, the plan could never have been carried out, for the hale old man survived his younger friend several years. The last few years of Fletcher’s life were cheered by the companionship of one to whom no higher praise can be awarded than to say that she was worthy of being Fletcher’s wife. Hext to Susanna Wesley herself, Mrs. Fletcher stands pre-eminent among the heroines of Meth- odism. In 1785 the saint entered into his everlasting rest, dying in harness at his beloved Madeley. His death-bed scene is too sacred to be transferred to these pages. Indeed, there is something almost unearthly about the whole of this man’s career. He is an object, in some respects, rather for admiration than for imitation. He could do and say things which other men could not without some sort of un- O reality. John Wesley, with his usual good sense, warns his readers of this in reference to one particular habit, viz. : “ the faculty of raising useful observations from the most trifling incidents.” “ In him,” he says, “ it partly resulted from nature, and was partly a supernatural gift. But what was becoming and graceful in Mr. Fletcher would be disgustful almost in any other.” An ordinary Christian, for examj)le, who, when he was halving his likeness taken, should exhort “ the limner, and aU that were in the room, not only to get the out- I "Wesley and Fletchee. 431 Lines drawn, but the colo:;’ings also of the image of Jesus on tbeir hearts ” ; who, “ when ordered to be let blood,” should, “ while the blood was running into the cup, take occasion to expatiate on the precious blood-shedding of the Lamb of God who should tell his cook “ to stir up the fire of divine love in her soul,” and entreat his housemaid “ to sweep every corner in her heart ; ” who, when he received a present of a new coat, should, in thanking the donor, draw a minute and elabo- rate contrast between the broadcloth and the robe of Christ’s righteoxisness — would run the risk of making not only him- seK, but the sacred subjects which he desired to recommend, ridiculous. Unfortunately there were not a few, both in Fletcher’s day and subsequently, who did fall into this error ; and, with the very best intentions, dragged the most solemn traths through the dirt. Fletcher, besides being so heavenly- minded that what would seem forced and strained in others seemed perfectly natural in him, was also a man of cultivated understanding, and, with occasional exceptions, of refined and dehcate taste ; but in this matter he was a dangerous model to follow. Who but Fletcher, for instance, could, without savor- ing of irreverence or even blasphemy, when offering some ordinary refreshment to his friends, have accompanied it with the words: “The body of our Lord Jesus Christ,” etc., and “ the blood of our Lord,” etc. ? But, extraordinary as was the spiritual-mindedness of this man of God, he could, without an effort, descend to earthly matters on occasion. One of the most beautiful traits of his character was illustrated on one of these occasions. He had done the government good service by writing on the American Rebellion, and Lord Dartmouth was commissioned to ask him whether any preferment would be acceptable to him. “ I want nothing,” answered the simple- hearted Christian, “but more grace.” His love of children was another touching characteristic of Fletcher. “ The birds of my fine wood,” he wrote to a friend, “ have almost done singing; but I have met with a parcel of children whose 432 The Wesley Memoeial Volttme, hearts seem turned toward singing the praises of God, and we sing every day from four to five. Help iis by your prayers.” And again : “ The day I preached, I met with some children in my wood, walking or gathering strawbemes. I spoke to them about our Father, our common Father; we felt a touch of brotherly atfection. They said they would sing to their Father as well as, the birds; and followed me, attempting to make such melody as you know is commonly made in these parts [Switzerland]. I outrode them, but some of them had the patience to follow me home, and said they would speak with me ; but the people of the house stopped them, saying I would not be troubled with children. They cried, and said they were sure I would not say so, for I was their good brother. The next day, when I heard it, I inquired after them, and invited them to come to me ; which they have done every day since. I make them little hymns which they sing.” At an- other time, when he had a considerable number of children before him, in a place in his parish, as he was persuading them to mind what they were about, and to remember the text which he was going to mention, just then a robin fiew into the house, and their eyes were presently turned after him. “How,” said he, “I see you can attend to that robin. Well, I will take that robin for my text.” He then gave them a useful lecture on the harmlessness of that little creature, and the tender care of its Creator. What has thus far been said of Mr. Fletcher was said by me in the “ English Church of the Eighteenth Century ” — the very recent work of Mr. Abbey and myself. To that sketch I embrace the opportunity, which the editor of the “Wesley Memorial Yolume” has kindly given me, of adding a few words. And this I do, because, if one were merely to read the sketch detached from its context, he might naturally but erroneously assume that Mr. Fletcher, who is described as the highest type of saintliness, is held by me to have been a finer character than John Wesley, who is spoken of as the great Wesley and Fletchee. 433 leader and organizer. Those who have read the whole chapter in the “ English Chnrch of the Eighteenth Century,” will know that this is not the case. But, as others may not, for that cause, and also because this article is headed “Wesley and Fletcher,” a few additional remarks seem necessary on the relationship between these two remarkable men. God uses very different instniments to effect his purposes ; and it would be difficult to conceive a greater contrast, in many respects, than that which existed between John Wesley and John Fletcher. Of course all minor differences sink into in- significance when compared with the one great bond of union which attached them to each other. The love of God, and of man for God’s sake, was the grand motive power of both. To do all the good he could in his generation was equally the object of both. They were like two concentric circles, each revolv- ing in his own orbit, but both around the same center — and that center was Christ. It may be interesting to trace the working of these two very different types of Christian charac- ter, engaged — and most harmoniously engaged — in one common task. Some of the American readers of these lines may have crossed the broad Atlantic and visited the beautiful land which had the honor of giving birth to John de la Flechere. They may have sailed on the placid and lovely lake of Leman, which was so familiar to him. And if so, the contrast between the rough ocean and the calm lake must have occurred vividly to their minds. This contrast is no inapt illustration of the differ- ence between Wesley and Fletcher. As one traces the course of John Wesley, he is reminded of that ocean — its magnitude, its invigorating power, its occasional roughness, its aptitude to disagree at times with those who cross its surface. As one studies the character of Fletcher, he is reminded of the peace- ful lake, unruffled by a breeze, presenting the most charming scenery on all sides, hut now and then exposed to a storm, which seems strangely out of keeping with its general charac- 434 The Wesley Memorial VolujME. ter.* Some will prefer the ocean, others the lake ; so, some will prefer Wesley, others Fletcher. But as no one with an eye for the beautiful can help admiring the lake ; lo, no one with an eye for the morally and spiritually beautiful, can help admiring Fletcher. From all liis Christian contemporaries who knew that saintly man, there arose one universal chorus of praise. But many will find fault with the ocean ; and many of his contemporaries, whom Wesley would have been — nay! was — the first to own as true children of God,f found fault with the great reformer. Fie was sometimes, as his letters and re- ported sayings still show, rather rough ; but, just as almost every body is the better for a sea voyage, so almost every one was the better for intercourse with John Wesley; just as the sea breeze is always pure and bracing, though occasionally rude withal, so it was with him. lie may have been brought into collision with some, and rutfled them a little ; but his general infiuence was as healthful and bracing to the spiritual man as the sea-breeze is to the natural man. If the lake is more beautiful, the sea is the grander ; and perhaps even the relative magnitude of the two pieces of water represents not altogether unfairly the comparative greatness of Wesley and Fletcher. If it is harder to pick a fiaw in Fletcher’s character than in Wesley’s, yet the latter was decidedly the more inter- esting, the more suggestive, the more fruitful of good to the community at large. Fletcher could never have originated the work that Wesley did; he was not the born iniler of men that W esley was. W esley called Fletcher an Alexander ; but he himself was the true spiritual Alexander. Take him for all in all, none of the excellent men who worked with him, or under him — not even Fletcher himself — approached his stature. * Fletcher and the Calvinistic Controversy. \ Witness his noble testimony to his enemy Bishop Gibson : “ that good man who is now, I hope, with God : ” also, his repeated and almost enthusiastic encom- iums on William Law, etc. WESLEY AND DLAEKE. S o long as Methodistic memory and affection shall endure, so long shall the httle Irish town of Moybeg be remem- bered as the bh'thplace of Adam Clarke. The father of the eminent commentator was a “ man standing five feet seven, with good shoulders, an excellent leg, a fine hand, every way well proportioned, and extremely active.” He is also repre- sented to have been a superior classical scholar, whose repute was so high that there were few priests, clergymen, surgeons, or lawyers resident in the north of Ireland who had not been educated by liim. While the father of Dr. Clarke was of English origin, his mother was a descendant of the Scotch M’Leans, of Mull, in the Hebrides, a hardy race, and remark- able for muscular strength. Her learned son, who ever cher- ished a tender veneration for his mother, described her as “ sensible, but not beautiful ; as something above the average height, erect in person, graceful in her movements, and one who feared God.” At the time of the marriage of these honored parents the mother was a Presbyterian, and the father was an Episcopalian ; but these denominational preferences never in- terfered with the charm and harmony of their household. Thrice happy was the son blessed with such a parentage ! Like the mother of Martin Luther, Mrs. Clarke could not recollect with precision the year of Adam’s birth, but to the best of her recollection the event occurred in the year 1760. There was nothing in Dr. Clarke’s youth that gave promise of his future greatness. In this he reminds us of Luther, working with his father in the mines of Mansfield ; of Bloom- field, making shoes in a garret ; of Herschel, serving as a. British soldier ; of Davy, working as a wood-carver ; and of Whitefield, 436 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. as a waiter in liis mother’s inn. His mental powers developed slowly. He found it difficult to master the alphabet. Harsh words and sore chastisements failed to elicit his genius. His Irish schoolmaster called him a “ grievous dunce,” and a class- ^ mate ridiculed him as a “ stupid ass.” But this cruel mockery aroused him as from a lethargy ; the light of a better day dawned upon him, and all were astonished and filled with admi- ration at the marvelous change. His memory became capa- cious and capable of embracing all learning. His understand- ing resembled the tent in story : “ Fold it, and it was a toy in the hand of a lady ; spread it, and the armies of the Sultan reposed beneath its ample shade.” He ascribed this sudden change to a “ singular Providence which gave a strong charac- teristic coloring to his suhsecpient life.” From an unpromising intellectual beginning he rapidly rose to scholastic eminence, and his reputation spread wherever the English language was spoken. He was one of the few “ encyclopedic scholars ” of his age. He was more or less familiar with almost every branch of learning. By the most commendable industry and perseverance he became skillful in tlie Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Samaritan, Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, Persian, and Coptic lang-uages, and also most of the modern languages of Western Europe. He studied with care and profit nearly every department of literature and of physical science. His knowledge was at once multifarious and, in that age, surj^risingly accurate. His great abilities and vast ac- quirements w^ere honorably recognized by membership in the London, Asiatic, Geological, and other learned societies of his day. Although he is best known to the Church as a commentator, yet he was the sincere Christian, the faithful preacher, and suc- cessful revivalist. His conversion was thorough, clear, and pronounced. One of Wesley’s itinerants had penetrated to the north of Ireland, and among his hearers was Adam Clarke, then a lad of seventeen. Under the personal appeals of Thomas Wesley and Claeke. 437 Barker he was led to Christ. His distress of mind was intense. He seemed to pray in vain. His agonies increased, and were indescribable. As the hours passed his darkness deepened ; hope departed, des]3air took possession of his soul. But in his extremity he offered one more prayer to Christ ; his grief sub- sided, his soul became calm — all condemnation was gone. He was converted ; all was sunshine ; he was filled with ineffable joy- His call to the ministry was almost simultaneous with his conversion. He longed to tell what great things the Lord had done for his soul. Traveling on foot from village to village, he addressed his rustic neighbors with “ words that burn.” The zeal and success of the youthful exhorter attracted the notice of the circuit preacher of Londonderry, who wrote Mr. Wesley about the promising young Methodist preacher. The vener- able Wesley, with his rare sagacity, invited the Irish lad to attend the Kingswood school. When these two met Wesley inquired, “ Do you wish to devote yourself entirely to the work of God ? ” Clarke replied, “ Sir, I wish to do and be whatever God pleases.” W esley laid his hands on the young man’s head, prayed a few moments over him, and sent him to Bradford Circuit. Dr. Clarke was wont to call this his “ ordination,” and never wished any other. As a preacher and revivalist his popularity became at once universal. His congregations were immense, and he held the people speU-bound by the power of divine truth. He had the wisdom by which he turned many to righteousness, and was not content without visible fruits of his ministry. When he preached, the vast auditories were moved to tears, and many prayed aloud for mercy. The colliers of Kingswood, the mer- chants of Liverpool, and the literati of London melted under his preaching, and responded to his call to repentance. With him preaching was objective. He was an evangelist in the apostolic sense. His mission was to disciple the people. He expected fruit. He spake because he felt ; he felt because he 438 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. was endued with power from on high. He believed in super- natural aid and in supernatural results. Gifted with such a faith, no marvel that sinners were converted to Christ. “ Ac- cording to your faith be it unto you ” was the promise on which he relied when he preached the word of the Lord. Such, briefly, was the man — saint, scholar, and preacher — whom God had chosen to be an eminent coadjutor of Wes- ley. In the history of all great revivals God has employed a variety of talents. In the college of apostles we discover every shade of temperament and every variety of talent. In the great Germanic Reformation Luther and Melanchthon were strange opposites, yet, happily for the Church, the sup- plement of each other. So, in the wondrous revival of the last century, the same fact is observable in Wesley and his co-laborers. Howell Harris, of surpassing eloquence and power, in Wales; John Bredin, eminent for his sense and piety, in Ireland; John Fletcher, seraphic in spirit, analytical in mind, mighty in controversy, and Whitefield, that prince of pulpit orators, in England — each, in his sphere, greatly aided the Methodist movement. And another was to be added to Methodism’s band of illustrious workers, who, by his devotion, learning, and pen, was to fill a large sphere and leave an en- duiing impress upon his own age and the ages to follow. What Whitefield was to Wesley in pulpit eloquence, Clarke was to Wesley in learning and authorship. They were unlike in their mental structure, literary tastes, and in the character of their productions. Wesley was logical; Clarke was philo- sophical. The former was precise in his theological defini- tions ; the latter excelled in his generalizations. In direct logic, in accuracy of style, in transparent clearness, Wesley had no superior. While yet at Oxford he was esteemed a com- petent critic in the classic languages, and when but twenty- three he was Greek lecturer, and moderator of the classes in the university. His skill in logic was extraordinary, and ena- bled him in his great controversies to touch the very point Wesley and Claeke. 439 wiiere some fallacy lay, 'wliicli he uncovered to the confusion of his opponents. To whatever department of science and lit- erature he tmmed his attention he was commendably accurate and profound. He wrote on divinity, poetry, music, history, and on natural, moral, metaphysical, and political philosophy, with equal ability. Like Luther, he knew the importance of the press, which he kept teeming with his publications. His works, including abridgments and translations, numbered about two hundred volumes. Familiar with the classics, his writings are adorned with many of their finest passages ; acquainted with many of the modern languages, he became master of their noblest thoughts ; and, ever clear and strong as a writer, he seemed at home on almost every subject of learn- ing and general literature. As scholar and author, Clarke was not less accurate, but broader in his range of knowledge, and in Oriental scholarship he had the pre-eminence. In sacred hterature his knowledge was extraordinary, and his ability to communicate apparently inexhaustible. Wesley wrote for the common people. He could write a tract. Clarke wrote for the learned, and in folios. Wesley excelled as an ecclesiastical legislator and administrator. He was great as an organizer, and had “ a genius for government not inferior to that of Eichelieu.” He could comj)rehend and manage at once the outlines and the details of far-reaching plans. His Methodism fixes itself to the smallest locality with the utmost tenacity, and in its provisions reaches the ends of the earth, ever main- taining its unity of spirit and discipline. As one born to com- mand, he had the rare power of self-control and calmness of spirit, while he kept all around him in a healthy state of ex- citement and earnest work. Clarke’s was another part in the great religious movement. As a defender and expositor of the oracles, of God he holds, notwithstanding his acknowledged defects, a most distinguished position among the illustrious defenders and expositors of the word of God in the eight- eenth century. 28 440 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. Dr. Clarke, as we believe, was, jpar excellence, the coinmeii- tator of the Wesleyau movement. As a commentator he is best known to the Church and the world. In this is the immortal- ity of his name among men. His pre|)aration for that great work was something wonderful. He who would comment with greatest profit to others on the book of books must himself be the master of all books. What other book known to man is so comprehensive ? It is the history of histories, the biography of biographies, the philosophy of philosophies. It contains all that is fundamental and beneficent in jurisprudence ; all that is essential and beautiful in poetry ; all that is eternal and salutary in ethics. It is the only authentic record extant of the first twenty -five centuries of the human dispensation. It was written for universal man, whether his home is on the mount- ains or in the valleys ; whether he is a dweller at the poles or on the equator ; whether he is a nomad of the desert or a mariner on the stormy deep. The domestic, social, and na- tional relations of life are therein defined and sanctioned. Therein are enforced the duties of the individual — to him- self, to society, to God. Its chief import is with the deep, the indispensable, the everlasting religious concerns of man. It stands alone, sublime in its isolation, as the revelation of God to man, and is the only inspired biography of the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. To be the commentator of such a book requires a mind of the highest order ; learning varied, accurate, and profound ; and a devout spirit, ever living in communion with the All- Wise and the All-Holy One. The jjrejjaration which Dr. Clarke made for his life-work is something wonderful, and indicative of his apj^reciation of the task he essayed. He had made himself familiar with the great authors of antiquity, from Homer and Herodotus down to the Heo-Platonists of Alexandria and the Byzantine annalists. By patient applica- tion he became a master of Oriental learning. In his study of the Hebrew he mastered Bayley’s Grammar, read with zest ] Wesley aled Claeke, 441 Kennicott’s Hebrew Bible, and examined witb care Leigh’s “ Critica Sacra,” wherein he found the hteral sense of every Greek and Hebrew word used in the Old Testament and the Hew, with definitions enriched with theological and philosoph- ical notes, drawn from the best grammarians and critics. Grade’s Septuagint became his delight, which threw much light on the Hebrew, and which he read to the end of the Psalms, noting down the most important differences in the margin of a quarto Bible in three volumes. In reading Wal- ton’s Polyglot he felt the importance of a thorough knowledge of the Oriental Versions described in the Prolegomena, and immediately commenced the Samaritan text of the Pentateuch. He next appHed himself to the Syriac, and was soon able to consult the sacred text in that version. To study the book of Daniel with greater profit he turned to the Chaldee, and wrote out a grammar to facilitate his work. While residing in Bristol, on his second appointment to that city, in 1798, he applied himself to learn Persian, using Sir William Jones’ Grammar, and reading the gospels in the Persian version. To understand more accmately the Arabisms with which the book of Job abounds, he entered upon the study of Arabic, which, as a cognate of the Hebrew, ranks among the more strictly bibhcal tongues, and became, in his day, one of the most competent Arabic scholars in England. And to en- large his acquaintance wfith Oriental literature he acquired a knowledge of the Ethiopic and Coptic, and especially of the Sanskrit, which opened to hhn the treasures of Hindu learning. But other branches of knowledge demanded his attention to qualify him for his great work. To gratify his philosoph- ical tastes, he read with his usual ardor, Derham’s “Astro- Theology,” Bay’s “Wisdom of God in Creation,” and Cham- bers’ “ Encyclopaedia,” which masterly works disclosed to his ever-expanding mind the glory of God in the heavens and his wonders in the earth. Intent on beholding the Creator at 442 •The Wesley Memorial Volume. work, lie sought him in the chemistry of tlie universe and in the intricacies of comparative anatomy. And we may form some idea of his vast research and volu- minous reading, by the size and richness of his private library, which amounted to ten thousand printed volumes, and a large collection of ancient and Oriental manuscripts of immense value.* In the year 1826 he completed his “ Commentary on the Holy Scriptures,” a monument to his learning, industry, and piety. It was the work of forty years of patient application, and accomplished amid the faithful discharge of many public duties. Having written the last line of his long task on his knees, he cleared his large study table of its pile of antique folios, leaving but the Bible upon it, arranged his library, and again bowing at the foot of his well-worn library steps, gave thanks to God that he had been enabled to contribute to the explanation and vindication of divine truth, and that the toils of years were ended, f Of the healthful influence of that great Avork upon the Church, it is not easy to speak in terms of adequate apprecia- tion. It has spread its banquet of wisdom and love in untold Christian homes on two continents, and is found to-day in the libraries of ministers and laymen of all denominations. It has its defects ; but its excellences are many. In some things it has been excelled by those of more recent date, yet when it is remem- bered that it was “ begun, continued, and ended by one man, and that man engaged in the zealous and faithful discharge of so many public duties, instead of complaining that here and there it has a blemish, our wonder is rather excited that he should have brought it so far as he did toward perfection.” Eminent as they Avere in scholarship, it is no marvel that Wesley and Clarke commanded the attention and respect of the English nobihty. The great religious movement wherein they were engaged was designed by Providence to affect the * Etheridge’s “Life of Clarke.” \ Stevens’ “History of Methodism.” w ESLET AND ClAEKE. 443 opinions, the characters, and destinies of all classes of men. TtTiile it is an inexpressible joy to Methodists, on both sides of the Atlantic, that Methodism has touched and elevated the poor- est of the poor, and has also blessed with a new life the great middle classes of society, it is also true, it has enrolled among its most ardent and faithful adherents many who are well known in the higher walks of life. This was so in the beginning. The statesmen of his day found it convenient to secure the services of Mr. "Wesley in times of great national emergencies, and not a few of England’s nobility heard from his lips the word of the Lord gladly : and now, after the lapse of a cent- ury, his memory is perpetuated and his virtues are commem- orated by a monument in W estminster Abbey. It was, how- ever, reserved for Dr. Clarke to be recognized by a large num- ber of the English nobility, and by them to be courted and admired. He was invited to attend their sessions and their learned societies ; to mingle as a guest in their social gather- ings ; and he in turn received them as his guests in his own quiet home at Haydon Hall. He was honored with titles of which any man might be justly proud. Learned societies thought it an honor to number him among their members, and the British Government sought his services as an Oriental O scholar. And thus, while Wesley touched the lowest of the low, Clarke touched the highest of the high. By their learning, piety, and zeal, the Wesleys and Clarke foreshadowed the mission of Methodism, and to-day all Chris- tendom is singing their hymns or reading their commentaries. Whether from ignorance of historical facts or from secta- rian prejudice, or from both, certain writers have created the impression that the founders of Methodism were indif- ferent to learning ; that they were zealous, but not wise ; emotional, but not intelligent ; pioirs, but not scholarly. Sister Churches have graciously condescended to speak of Meth- odists as the pioneers of Christian civilization, well adapted to the rusticity of the frontier and to the inferior minds of 444 The Wesley Memorial Volume. rural districts ; while they have not hesitated to claim for themselves a mission to the cultured and the affluent. The history, however, of the Wesleyan movement, for more than a hundred years, is in proof that the worthy successors of the "W^esleys and Clarke were no less at home in palaces than in cottages ; in halls of learning than in cabins of illiteracy ; an that in every station in life they have made many converts Christ. “ Their line is gone out through all the earth, ana their words to the end of the world.” They have neither de- spised the poor nor neglected the rich. They have gone to universal man, created in the image of God and redeemed by the blood of his Son. While the chief concern of Methodism has been the salvation of the soul, free, full, and present, it has done more for the intellectual, social, spiritual, political, and religious advancement of man than any other branch of the Church of Jesus Christ. It has been a salutary power in the political history of England and America, and the present prosperity of those two greatest of Christian nations is largely due to the intelligent piety of the hundreds of thousands saved through its instrumentality. It has checked Romanism in its march of conquest ; it has successfully met in argument the advocates of infidel science ; and it has so modified Calvinism that the distinctive doctrines of Wesleyan Arminianism now form the popular theology of the day. Its measures of effi- ciency and success have been quietly adopted by other denom- inations whose prosj)erity has been commensurate with their acceptance of the spirit and teachings of John Wesley and Adam Clarke. To Dr. Newman’s paper on “Wesley and Clarke” we add the notes which follow. — EnrroR. “An itinerant preacher, without a spot on the fair escutcheon of his character; one of the most extensively learned scholars of the age ; a voluminous author ; the friend of philosophers and princes ; and a man intensely beloved by nearly aU who knew him.” — Luke Tyerman: “ Life and Times of John Wesley.” . . . “ The most eminent scholar, and one of the most effective laborers, of Methodism.” — Dr. Abel Stevens : “ History of Methodism.” . . . “ Since the time of Adam Clarke they [the Wesleyans] have not had Wesley and Clarke. 445 among them a single scholar who has enjoyed a European reputation.” — Mr. Buckle ; “ History of Civilization in Europe.” “ Clarke became as remarkable, after he had entered the Methodist ministry in 1782, for his exemplary discharge of pulpit and pa.storal duties as for the attain- ment of vast stores of learning.” — Dr. Stoughton : “ Religion in England under Queen Anne and the Georges.” “ Dr. Adam Clarke’s ‘ Commentary on the Holy Scriptures ’ is, on the whole, one of the noblest works of the class in the entire domain of sacred literature. — Dr. Etheridge: “Life of Adam Clarke, LL.D.” “ It is undoubtedly the most critical and literary, and at the same time the most spiritual and practical, of any work of the kind that was ever published in any living tongue.” — Samuel Dunn: “Life of Adam Clarke, LL.D., F.A.S.” “In point of erudition and acuteness it [Scott’s Commentary] is not equal to that of Adam Clarke. ... In solid learning he [John Wesley] was, perhaps, not equal to his friend and disciple Adam Clarke.” — Mr. Overton : “ The English Church in the Eighteenth Century.” . . . “There have arisen out of this body [the Wesleyans] some of the most able and distinguished individuals that ever graced and ornamented any society whatever. I may name one for all, the late Dr. Adam Clarke.” — Sir Launcelot Shadwell, Yiee-Chancellor, etc.: from his decision on the “Validity of Wesley’s Deed of Declaration.” “ The objects, besides many others, which seem to have occupied the greatest and most valuable part of your active life, cannot fail of being most interesting to the historian, the theologist, the legislator, and the philosopher. To these details I shall apply myself, and, as my heart and mind improve, I shall feel my debt of gratitude toward you daily increasing — an obligation I shall ever be proud to own.” — His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, in a letter to Adam Clarke. “ Ear from not acknowledging our worthy friend [Adam Clarke] as a genuine member of the Church, and of the Church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven, ... we will take him in our arms, we will bear him in our bosoms, and carry him into the presence of his God and our God.” — Wilberforce. “ Seeing you are such a man, I wish you were altogether our own.” — Dr. Bloom- nELD, Bishop of London, to Adam Clarke. ^ /i^axZ. dZoTUlU.'. ^ cX:rzi^2fez> (Z'^- k /: ,^4— -s^t ■^♦— f 0.<3T«^ ^t/T^ S^< o-^— ^ ».ir^ ^ /:S T' •C^ ■«- c Zf- •i c ^ f A ” M %-C^ /^ ^ o^yx'ix^A. ^ ‘i’X-'X^' C C &x£>i! /i 14^ ry / / ^ yLL^jy^y" ^ )'U< df^'^TTh 4 ^ t / /J ^ LjiA^^ ^ y^-Cr^ "^ 7 ^ ^SC-'on'yCt/iOL.t^ C(^--yx y^ J lUyL ^ i} 9~t9 / ^•Z frt^T»«»*» ^ s yyZ^ir^ y^Jdy^ >\^/i^el a hundred years ago had disappeared, not by denial but by lapse, from the majority of An- glican pulpits, is, I fear, in large measure, an historic truth. To bring it back again was the aim and work of the Evangelical reformers in the sphere of the teaching function. Whether they preached Christ in the best manner may be another question ; but of this there is now, and can be, little question— that they preached Christ; they preached Christ largely and fervently where, as a rule, he was but little and but coldly preached before. And who is there that will not say from his heart, “I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice?”— Mr. Gladstone. Much that has become characteristic of Evangelic Christianity had its origin in Lady Huntingdon’s drawing-room. . . . The fact of this relig- ious transmission, which connects the venerated names of Venn, Hewton, Scott, Milner, and other’s in no very remote manner with the founders of Methodism, might, to a reader of its historjq seem too conspicuous to be called in question ; nor does it very clearly appear what those manly and Christian-like feelings are which should prompt any parties at this time to deny it. A wiry task surely is it which those undertake who labor, thread by thread, to disengage the modern Episcopal Evan- gelical body from the ties of filial relationshijr to Wesley, Whitefield, and their colleagues. — Isaac Taylor. That great body of the Church of England which, assuming the title of Evangelical, has been refused that of Orthodoxy, may ‘trace their spiritual genealogy by regular descent from Whitefield. . . . The con- sanguinity is attested by historical records, and by the strongest family resemblance. The quarterings of Whitefield are entitled to a conspicu- ous place in the Evangelical escutcheon, and they who bear it are not wise in being ashamed of the blazonry. — Sir James Stephen; “Essays on Ecclesiastical Biography.” But let us look into the facts of the case. Has the Evangelical body, either in the eighteenth or the present century, ever denied that White- field and the Wesleys, and their coadjutors, were pioneers in the great movement which they took up ; that those good men bore the burden "Wesley aistd the Methodist Movejient. 679 and heat of the day, and blunted the keen edge of prejudice, which, would otherwise have assailed tTiem more vehemently than it did? Surely not. . . . But they apprehend that to trace back their genealogy to him [Whitefield] would be to abandon what they consider, rightly or wrongly, to be the strength of their position. They trace back their genealogy to Peter, and Paul, and John ; and afterward, in a direct line, to Augustine, and Anselm, and Wiclif, and Hooper, and Jewell, and Hooker. They think that “ much” — yea, most — “of what is character- istic of Evangelical Christianity ” had its origin, not in Lady Huntingdon’s drawing-room, but in a far less aristocratic apartment, even in the upper- room at Jerusalem, “where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews.” — Ovekton: Abbey and Overton’s ” Church of England in the Eighteenth Century.” Mr. Overton does not answer Isaac Taylor and Sir James Stephen. They had reference to the joint influence of Wesley and Whitefield on the piety and zeal, and to* the special influ- ence of Whitefield’s Calvinism, on the theology of the Evangel- ical party. So far as Peter, and Paul, and Augustine, and Anselm, and all the rest, and the upper-room at Jerusalem, are concerned, W esley and Whitefield could trace their “ genealogy ” from the same source, and by the same line. All that Mr. Overton says about the succession may be true, and yet it may be also true, as Mr. Gladstone writes, that Wesley has “the principal share of the parentage,” and Whitefield “ the particu- lar contour of the features.” Indeed, all tliat Mr. Gladstone, and Isaac Taylor, and Sir James Stephen mean, is fully admitted, as we shall see, both by Mr. Abbey and Mr. Overton in their truly great and noble contribution to the ecclesiastical history of England. All honor to men like Whitefield, who, by their burning words, their inexhaustible energy, and their nobly devoted lives, helped the party to raise its head again. Such credit the later Evangelieal party would gladly have accorded to Whitefield, but they rightly demurred to the acknowl- edgment that he was in any sense their founder. — Overton. In the senses Mr. Overton evidently has in mind, Wesleyan s and all Methodists demur to the acknowledgment that even 680 The Wesley Memoeial Volhme, Mr. Wesley is their founder. For they go hack of Peter and Panl, and the upper-room at Jerusalem, and claim that their sole Founder is Jesus Christ, the Eoek of Ages. But see what Mr, Overton admits : The difficulty — indeed, the impossibility [the italics are ours] — of dis- entangling Evangelicalism from Methodism in the early phases of both, confronts us at once when we begin to consider the cases of individ- U al S. — O VEKTON. This “difficulty,” or “impossibility,” rather, Mr. Overton will fully establish before we are done with this paper. It [the Calvinistic controversy] taught the later Evangelical school to guard more carefully their Calvinistic views against the perversions of Antinomianism. — Overton. Once [Henry Venn,] when asked about a young minister, whether he was a Calvinist or Arminian, replied: “I really do not know; he is a sincere disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is of infinitely more importance than his being a disciple of Calvin or Arminius.” In short, he was what was called a “moderate Calvinist,” a term which was much caviled at in the hot days of the Calvinistic controversy, but which really expressed the form which the Calvinism of the Evangelical school ultimately assumed. — Overton. While agreeing thoroughly with Methodist doctrines, (we may waive the vexed question of Calvinism,] they thoroughly disapproved of the Methodist practice of itinerancy, which they regarded as a mark of insubordination, a breach of Church order, and an unwarrantable inter- ference with the parochial system. — Overton. Not that John Wesley ever desired to upset the parochial system. From first to last he consistently maintained Ms position, [the italics are ours,] that his worTc was not to supplant, hut to supplement, the ordinary worh of the Church. This supplementary agency formed so important a factor in the Evangelical revival, and its arrangement was so characteristic of John Wesley, that a few words on the subject seem necessary. — Overton. Here we experience “ tbe difficulty of disentangling evangel- icalism from Methodism,” as applied “ to the cases of individ- uals.” The “ fathers ” of the Evangelical movement, says Mr. Wesley and the Methodist Move^ient. 681 Overton, were Hervey, Grimsliaw, Berridge, Boinaine, and Yenn. Every one of these, except Hervey, was in itinerant labors and in out-door preaching almost as abundant as Wesley and Whitefield. These divines [the Evangelicals] were mostly Oalvinistic, and so [on that account] stood apart [separated] from the Methodists, [the Wesley- ans.] — Perry: “A History of the Church of England.” They [the Evangelicals] gave no prominent place to the sacraments and ordinances of the Church. — Perry. Thus it seems that the Evangelical party — the party historic- ally distinguished from Wesleyan Methodism — was distin- guished from Mr. Wesley mainly by the high Calvinism of its first leaders. But even this divergence became less distinct ; and, in time, altogether disappeared. Its Bomaines and Top- ladys gave place to its Cecils and Scotts, who were themselves succeeded by those in whom scarcely any traces of the old Cal- Yunism remained. If this be so, is it not true that it was John Wesley who drove (what Mr. Gladstone calls “the hybrid”) Calvinism out of the Church of England pulpits ? In what else did Mr. Wesley seriously differ from the earlier leaders of the Evangelical party, or their successors, “ the good men of Clapham,” who met at the princely mansion of the Thorntons, to discuss philanthropic reforms, and devise larger plans for the conversion of the world ? Was it in his Church- manship? — Hot in that; unless it was, as some will assert, that he was more of a Churchman than they. Hearly all, if not all. Church of England writers claim that he was a loyal son of the Church down to his latest breath. In the opinion of some he was such a Churchman that, if he had lived to see these latter days, he would have anticipated the movements of tractarianism, and been the earliest and most pronounced leader of modern ritualism. Wesley would have found many of the Evangelical party to keep him company : Manning and Hewman, once its brightest lights, would have been his disciples and collaboratoi’s, at least for a time, and perhaps always ; for he might have saved 682 The Wesley Me^iorial Volume. them from Rome. “ Had the young Fellow of Lincoln,” writes Miss Jnlia Wedgwood, “died in his thirtieth year, we can imagine that the tradition which might have preserved to Ox- ford the memory of the little Society of which he was the head, would have presented itself as a dim foreshadowing of the religious movement connected with that university in our own day.” Was it in his views of ordination ? was it because he held that presbyters and bishops are of one order? — Stil- lingfleet and Lord King, and many others, both of the evangel- ical and the traditional Anglicans, past and present, have held the same opinion. Was it in his plan of itinerant preaching? — The fathers of the Evangelical party : Venn, Berridge, Romaine, Grimshaw, and Toplady, long vied with Wesley in itinerant labors and open-air preaching. Grimshaw was Wesley’s “assistant,” and had charge of a Methodist circuit; John Newton in a letter to Wesley ajjologized, on account of the feeble state of his health, for not being an itinerant preacher. Was it in Wesley’s plan of lay-preaching? — There is no one who believes that John Wesley was opposed to the pai’ochial system of the Established Church. The ablest Church writers of the present day tell us that Mr. Wesley only intended to supplement the labors of the parish incumbent. In sending forth laymen to read and expound the Holy Scriptures, what did Mr. Wesley more than the Archbishops and Bishops assem- bled at Lambeth, in 1866, when they restored to the Church the “ Order of Readers,” and afterward, by the laying on of their apostolic hands, consecrated them to the work of reading and expounding the word of God ? W as it in W esley’s insubor- dination to Episcopal authority ? — Several of the fathers of Evangelicalism were in iisdem armis — in the same condemna- tion. Nor have their successors been entirely free from the charge ; not if Mr. Gladstone reports them correctly when he tells us, that they have been “ in some sense rebellious,” and that in their scheme there has been “ a latent antagonism to express and important portions of the authoritative documents Wesley and the Methodist Movement. 683 of tie Churci of England.” Was it in his class-meetings, and band-meetings, and love- feasts ? — Not in them ; for some of the Evangelical fathers led Wesley’s class-meetings, and conducted Wesley’s love-feasts. There are episcopal writers who claim that Wesley by these only restored what was of scriptural authority, and common to the earlier Church and to primitive usage. Was it that Wesley would not have been in sympathy with their parliamentary reforms and evangelical work ? — If not, it would have been because he was far in advance of their foremost. “ His many-sided activity,” writes Mr. Lecky, “ was displayed in the most various fields, and his keen eye open to every form of abuse.” Now he laments “the glaring irregu- larities of political representation ; ” now he assails “ the costly diffusiveness of English legal documents ; ” now he is “ among the first to reprobate the horrors of the slave-trade ; ” and now he seeks “ to put down political corruption, the most growing vice of English society.” But, finally, was it because the Evangelicals preached Christ and Wesley did not? Did they hold up the cross before them, and Wesley thrust it behind him? Was the preaching of Christ — that which Mr. Gladstone says was their distinctive excellence — peculiar to the Evangelicals ? If it was, ask these men themselves from whom they learned the lesson ? Ask Toplady, who was awakened under a sermon preached in a barn in Ireland by one of W esley’s most illiterate lay-itinerants ! Ask John Berridge, who, after preaching many years without a knowledge of personal religion, was convinced by Wesley that we are saved by grace through faith! Ask Henry Yenn, who said that W esley’s “ words were as thunder to his drowsy soul,” and he wiU answer, “From John Wesley, the man so much endued with the spirit and power of Elias 1 ” Ask James Hervey, whose boast it was, that he would tell of Wesley’s “love before the universal assembly, and at the tremendous tribunal hear tbe Master say, ‘If others have turned their thousands, my servant Wesley has turned his ten thousands 43 684 The TTesley Memokial Volume. from the power of Satan nnto God.” Go and ask John ISTew- ton, and he will tell you that to John Wesley, as an instrument of divine grace, he owed more than to all others. What preacher of the eighteenth century, pre-eminently above all others, preached Christ ? The Yorkshire Methodist, John Nel- son, answers, “ The man who showed me the evil of my heart, and pointed out to me the remedy ; ” the Nonconformist, John Howard, the greatest philanthropist of his age, replies, “ The man who first convinced me of sin, and led me to the cross ; ” Dr. Lowth, Lord Bishop of London, answers, “ The humble Methodist preacher at whose feet 1 desired to sit in heaven ; ” George Whitefield, the greatest pulpit orator of the eighteenth century, replies, “ The man who, under God, was my spiritual father — who magnanimously spared me when I turned against him, and always had a warm place for me in his forgiving, lov- ing heart.” Ask the mighty throng of blood-washed Anglo- Saxons in glory, the first-fruits to God and the Lamb out of the great revival begun in the eighteenth century, and still going on in the last quarter of the nineteenth, and they with one voice, as the voice of many waters, will send answer back, “ John Wesley, the great Methodist Refokmek ! ” Now, then, is there any one who will say that there was — high-Calvinism excepted — any really insuperable ground of difference between John Wesley and the leaders of the Evan- gelical party ? But the successors did not remain true to the high-Calvinism of the founders. “Ultra-Calvinism,” as Mr. Gladstone writes, “ softened in their successors, and gradually disappeared.” And when this was done, no serious difference remained. Indeed, as we shall presently see, Mr. Abbey thinks that there was no insuperable bar in W esleyanism to compre- hension with the Church of England, even in the days when its ultra Calvinistic Evangelicals were pouring vials of wrath on the devoted head of John Wesley. This being the case, how much more easily might comprehension have occurred if ultra-Calvinism had been eliminated from the Established Weslet and the Methodist Movement. 685 Cliiirch. That it has been eliminated from the Chnrch was due, as no one will question, more to John Wesley than to any other. Hence, his influence upon the Evangelical party itself has been a profound and permanent influence. Wesley’s preaching, and the Calvinistic controversy, compelled the suc- cessors of the older Calvinistic Evangelicals to soften the harshness of the Geneva absolute decrees, or, in effect, to aban- don them altogether. Hot only, therefore, did John Wesley give “ the flrst impulse ” to the Evangelical movement, but he either modifled its distinctive theological dogma, or caused it to disappear as a differentia between pure Wesleyanism and Evangelicalism. And hence, “ the principal share of the par- entage ” is now far more distinctly “represented in the partic- ular contour of the features.” The child, at the birth, did not show its perfect likeness to the father ; but when fully grown it revealed the well-known family features, and unmistakably asserted its parentage. While the waters were comparatively naught, they seemed to indicate that they flowed from “ a group of pools ; ” but when Altered and freed from extraneous impuri- ties, the sweetness of the purifled waters pointed out the deep but clear and pebbly-bottomed spring whence they issued. The truth is, Mr. Wesley not only gave the flrst, and what Mr. Glad- stone calls the main, impulse to the Evangelical movement, but he has been, directly or indirectly, from flrst to last, the chief inspirer of whatever good it has effected. He was the restorer of spiritual life to all renewed Anglicanism. As the great revivalist of the eighteenth century, he stands equally related to his own immediate followers, the followers of Whitefleld and of Lady Huntingdon, to the Evangelicals and their suc- cessors, and to the whole body of the Anglican clergy and laity who have experienced the joy of pardoned sin. John Wesley, under God — to whom be all the glory ! — both in Europe and America was the restorer of spiritual life in the eighteenth century, and the chief inspirer of the great revival and all its gracious fruits, in all its manifold ramifications, whether in 686 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. Arminian or Calvinistic Methodism, Evangelicalism, Angli- canism, the I^onconformist Churches, the Scottish Church, or in the various Churches of America. Religion was undoubtedly at a very low ebb. In this all writers agree. . . But, apart from Methodism, zeal was out of fashion ; and irre- ligion and immorality flourished, not unrebuked, but unrestrained by any vigorous eS'orts of religious energy. — C. J. Abbey: Abbey and Overton’s “English Church in the Eighteenth Century.” In its beginnings it [Methodism] was essentially an agitation which originated within the National Church, and one in which the very thought of secession was vehemently deprecated. As it advanced, though one episcopal charge after another was leveled against it ; though pul- pit after pulpit was indignantly refused to its leaders; though it was on all sides preached against, satirized, denounced ; though the voices of its preachers were not unfrequently drowned in the clanging of church- bells; though its best features were persistently misunderstood and mis- represented, and all its defects and weaknesses exposed with a merciless hand, Wesley, with the majority of his principal supporters, never ceased to declare his love for the Church of England, and his hearty loyalty to its principles. — Abbey. The difliculties in the way of union and co-operation ought not to have been insuperable. . . . George II. always maintained that his min- isters should have taken his advice and made Whitefield a bishop. The rulers of the National Church would have done better still if they had taken Wesley into their confidence, and, without cramping her freedom of action by the limitations which necessarily attend the Episcopate, had candidly consulted with him. Except that he was sometimes inclined to be overbearing and despotic, Wesley was singularly adapted to the work, if he had been invited to undertake it, of so organizing the new So- cieties as to make them a substantive part of the fabric of the Church of England. It is not often that a great reformer^ [the italics are ours,] whose whole soul is possessed with one fervid idea, is also gifted with large fowers of system and with a great love of order. John Wesley, however, had, in a very eminent degree, this important qualification. No man of his day would probably have shown greater skill in suggesting modes by which an extended Church organization could be safely and practically introduced, [the italics ours,] without unduly disturMng the parochial machinery of the Church . — Abbey. Wesley wrote in one of his earlier works, and requoted in 1766: "Wesley a^td the Methodist Movement. 687 ““We look upon ourselves not as the authors or ringleaders of a particu- lar sect or party, but as messengers of God to those who are Christians in name, but heathens in heart and life, to lead them back to that from which they are fallen, to real, genuine Christianity.” The difficulties in the way of comprehending within the National Church men such as these, and societies formed upon such principles, ought not to have been insurmountable.. No doubt they would have been surmounted if the Church of England had been, at that date, in a really healthy and vigorous condition.— Abbey. Wesley was a true preacher of righteousness, and had the utmost horror of all Antinomianism — all teaching that insisted slightly on moral duties, or which disparaged any outward means of grace. — Abbey. It would never have been Wesley’s fault if the thought and feeling which gives ecclesiasticism its spiritual life, and which animates the ritual of the English Liturgy, had been neglected. — Abbey. And now that Calvinism had ceased to be the doctrine of more than a comparatively small section of the Church of England, his strongly marked Arminianism would have increased, or certainly not lessened, confidence in him, if he had once been accepted as the leader of a new movement within it. — Abbey. That there was a close relation [italics ours] between Wesley's preaching and the newly rising evangelical party in the Ghurch is also sufficiently dmious, . . . The relation between the two was very intimate. They arose out of the same causes, were fostered by similar influences, came into close contact, and were often confused one with the other, . . . Some of the evangelical leaders owed to the instrumentality of Methodism the deep re- ligious impressions they had received — Mervey from Wesley at Oxford, Top- lady from a Wesleyan preacher, John Newton from Whitejield . — ^Abbey. John I7ewton, as we have already seen, said — in a letter to "Wesley — ^that he owed more to John Wesley as an instru- ment of divine grace than to any other. Seeker, a favorable representative of the ordinary Churchmanship of his time, "was evidently much disturbed by the irregularities of Method- ism. But his later charges, as compared with his earlier ones, show how deeply he was impressed by it, and how great was the stimulus it gave to pious and thoughtful minds. In his third charge as Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1766, it had clearly contributed a good deal toward awakening him to the sense that, “We have, in fact, lost many of 688 The Wesley Memorial Volume. our people by not preaching in a manner sufficiently evangelical.” — Abbey. If the English Church had awakened a little sooner than it did to a fuller sense of its responsibilities — even if a few men of the type oi Samuel Coleridge or of Dr. Arnold had lived a little earlier, and had exercised in the cause their talents and their influence — the various bodies of Methodists might still have been English Churchmen. It is the more to be lamented that this was not the case, because a successful association of the two communions might have been most beneficial to both, each supplying the other’s lack. . . . The Church would have gained immensely by the comprehension of Methodism. It would have gained in it just what it most needed. But Methodism {supposing its action [the italics ours] to be not cramped thereby) would have been no less a gainer. — Abbey. In the England of the eighteenth century, [enthusiasm is now the subject,] when the force of religion was chilled by drowsiness and in- difference in some quarters, by stiffness and formality and over-cautious orthodoxy in others; when the aspirations of the soul were being ever bidden rest satisfied with the calculations of sober reason ; when proofs and evidences and demonstrations were offered, and still offered, to meet the cry of those who called for light, how else should religion stem the swelling tide of profligacy but by some such inward spiritual revival as those by which it had heretofore renewed its strength? If Wesley and Whitefield, and their fellow-workers, had not come to the rescue, no doubt other reformers of a somewhat kindred spirit would have risen in their stead — how or whence it is useless to speculate. Perhaps Quakerism, or something nearly akin to it, might have assumed the dimensions to which, a half century before, it had seemed not unlikely to grow. The way was prepared for some strong reaction. — Abbey. The soul and heart of all his teaching, [Wesley’s,] from which it chiefly gained its searching power, was the faith in a deliverance from, and a victory over, sin. He could appeal with pride, such as might worthily swell in an apostle’s breast, to the results which proved the moral strength with which he led the reaction against moralities. — Abbey. Nor is the high tone of Wesley’s moral teaching to be estimated only by its effects, or by his constant insistance upon outward as well as inward holiness. The dangers of Antinomianism were constantly present to his mind. He turned with alarm from the Moravians as soon as he saw in some of their congregations a tendency in this direction. Wesley and the Methodist Movement. 689 He promised never again to use intentionally the term “imputed rigliteousuess,” -when once he found the “immense hurt which the fre- quent use of this unnecessary phrase had done.” Much of his hostility to Calvinism arose from suspicion of its ethical bearings. He saw that his own doctrine of Christian perfection might be used to countenance the same error, and carefully sought to counteract the danger by teach- ing the possibility of losing the gift. — Abbey. It may ie said of Methodism [the italics are ours] that to many thousands of souls it was an unmixed Messing. It stirred the sluggish spiritual nature to its depths ; it awolce the sense of sin and an eager longing to he delivered from it. To the age and Church in general its quiclcening action was scarcely less important.^ as providing to a considerable extent the very stimu- lus and corrective which prevailing tendencies most required . — Abbey. The Methodist revival marked a decided turn, not only in popular feeling on religious topics and in the language of the pulpit, hut also in theological [italics ours] and philosophical thought in general. It was scarcely possible for those who had witnessed the effects of Wesley’s and Whitefield’s preaching to speak or write as if a linn conviction of Christian truth could proceed only from the logic of evidences. . . . Wesley never disparaged reason; but from henceforth inward feeling and spiritual discernment w'ere to reassume a place in the analysis of religious thought which for a long time had been denied to them. The arguments both of deists and of evidence writers rapidly became obso- lete, when it was felt that both one and the other — the latter even more than the fonner — had almost omitted from their reasonings facul- ties which might prove to be among the most imj)ortant of which human nature is capable, but which had been contemptuously given over to the speculations of so-called mystics and enthusiasts. — Abbey. About the time “when Wesley’s power Gathered new strength from hour to hour,” theological opinion was in much the same state in En- gland as that described by Goethe as existing in Germany when he left Leipsic, in 1768; it was, to a great extent, fluctuating between an his- torical and traditionary Christianity on the one hand, and pure deism on the other. William Law, in his own way, and among a select but some- what limited body of readers, Wesley, in a more practical and far more popular manner, did very much to restore to English Christianity the element that was so greatly wanting — the appeal to a faculty with which the soul is gifted to recognize the inherent excellence, the beauty, truth, and divinity of a Divine Object once clearly set before it. Whatever may have been the respective deflciencies in the systems and teaching 690 The Wesley Memorial Volume. of these men, they achieved, at least, this great result; nor is it too much to say [the italics are ours] that it game a death-hloio to the then existing forms of Deism . — Abbey. It is a fact patent to all students of the period, that the moral and religious stagnation of the times extended to all religious bodies, outside as well as inside the National Church. — J. H. Overton: Abbey and Overton’s “English Church in the Eighteenth Century.” If Law was the most effective writer, John Wesley was unquestionably the most effective worker connected with the early phase [the evangelical- revival is the subject] of the evangelical revival. If Law gave the first impulse to the movement, Wesley was the first and ablest who turned it to practical account. — Overton. But such an ascription [ascribing to Law the first impulse] seems to me incorrect. — Gladstone. Mr. Overton claims too much for the impression which Law’s “ Serious Call ” and “ Christian Perfection ” made on the mind of John Wesley at Oxford. Wesley afterward had to undo much of that impression before he was fitted for his great work. If Law deserves as much credit as Mr. Overton gives him, will he refuse what Isaac Taylor, and Sir James Stephen, and Mr. Gladstone have awarded to Wesley and Whitefield ? Will he deny to Mr. Wesley the credit of giving “ the first impulse ” to that part of the great revival called the Evangelical Movement, seeing that Wesley is directly not only the spiritual father of Wliitefield himself, but of Hervey, whom Mr. Overton calls “ the first in date of the Evangelicals proper,” of Henry Venn, and of John Hewton, and indirectly., of Toplady, Scott, and many others ? But let us follow Mr. Overton further, and we will see that after all he does not differ from Isaac Taylor and Sir James Stephen. “ Lady Huntingdon’s drawing-room ” is a great bug- bear to Mr. Overton. He cannot see how one could renew his spiritual life in “ Lady Huntingdon’s drawing-room ” — though, as he tells us, she was a lady who had “a single eye to her Master’s glory, a truly humble mind, and genuine piety ” — without impairing the vahdity of the apostolic orders received "Wesley aistd the Methodist Movemeistt. 691 from the “upper room at Jerusalem.” If John Wesley’s episcopal lamp was kindled by the episcopal breath of the nonjnring Law, we do not see why James Hervey’s and Henry Yenn’s, and John Hewton’s, might not have been set aglow and burning by the episcopal breath of John Wesley and George Whitefield. For all alike received their apostolic authority to preach the Gospel from the same upper room. Before proceeding, however, with our extracts from Mr. Overton, we take occasion to gratefully record our unqualified approval of his and Mr. Abbey’s great work. Its ability is unquestioned ; its impartiality is freely acknowledged. Indeed, except in a very few things — things which may be pardoned in Churchmen— its impartiality, as far as we can judge, is beyond praise. Neither is it necessary to vindicate the character of this great and good man from the imputations which were freely cast upon him both by his contemporaries, (and that not only by the adversaries, but by many of the friends and promoters, of the Evangelical Movement,) and also by some of his later biographers. The saying of Mark Antony: “ The evil that men do lives after them ; The good is oft interred with their bones,” has been reversed in the case of John Wesley. Posterity has fully ac- quitted him of the charge of being actuated by a mere vulgar ambition — of desiring to head a party — of an undue love of power. It has at last owned that if ever a poor, frail human being was actuated by pure and disinterested motives, that man was John Wesley. Eight years before his death he said, “ I have been reflecting on my past life ; I have been wandering up and down between fifty and sixty years, endeavoring in my poor way to do a little good to my fellow-creatures.” And the more closely his career has been analyzed, the more plainly has the truth of his own words been proved. His quarrel was solely with sin and Satan. His master-passion was, in his often-repeated expression, the love of God, and the love of man for God’s sake. The world has at length done tardy justice to its benefactor. — OvERTOir. The year 1729 is the date which Wesley himself gives of the rise of that revival of religion in which he himself took so prominent a part. It is 692 The Wesley Memokial Volume. somewhat curious that he places the commencement of the revival at a date nine years earlier than that of his own conversion; but it must be remembered that in his later years he took a somewhat different view of the latter event from that which he held in his hot youth. He believed that before 1738 he had faith in God as a servant; after that, as a son. At any rate, we shall not be far wrong in regarding that little meeting at Oxford of a few young men — called in derision the Holy Club, the Sacrament arian Club, and finally the Methodists — as the germ [the last italics ours — just what Richard Watson has said, and ■what we claim] of that great movement now to be described. Ho doubt the views of its members materially changed in the course of years; but the object of the later movement was precisely the same as that of the little band from the very first, namely, to promote the love of God, and the love of man for God’s sake ; to stem the torrent of vice and irreligion, and to fill the land with a godly and useful population. — Oveeton. There is but one clew to the right understanding of Wesley’s career. It is this : That his one great object was to promote the love of God, and the love of man for God’s sake. Every thing must give way to this ob- ject of paramount importance. . . . Moreover, it is fully admitted that Wesley was essentially a many- sided man. Look at him from another point of view, and he stands in precisely the same attitude in which his contemporaries and successors of the Evangelical school stood — as the homo unius libri, referring every thing to Scripture, and to Scripture alone. . . . It was precisely the same motive which led Wesley to the various separations which, to his sorrow, he was obliged to make from those who had been his fellow-workers. He has been accused of being a quarrelsome man, a man with whom it was not easy to be on good terms. The accusation is unjust. Never was a man more ready to forgive injuries, more ready to own his failings, more firm to his friends, and more patient with his foes. — Oveeton. It is thoroughly characteristic of the generous and forgiving nature of the man that, in spite of their diflFerences, Wesley constantly alluded to Law in his sermons, and always in terms of the warmest commenda- tion. . . . One is thankful to find that he did full justice to the good qualities of Count Zinzendorf. But as to his separation from the Lon- don Mora-vians, Wesley could not have acted otherwise without seriously damaging the cause which he had at heart. . . . This [Antinomianism, whiclT, as a plain matter-of-fact, Mr. Overton says, admitted even by the Calvinists themselves, did I’esult in the perversion of Calvinism] was Wesley ajstd the Methodist Movement. 693 obviously the ground of Wesley’s dislike of Calvinism, but it did not separate him from Calvinists; so far as a separation did ensue, the fault did not lie witli Wesley. ... In the slight collision into which he was necessarily brought with the evangelical clergy, he was actu- ated by no vulgar desire to make himself a name by encroaching upon other men’s labors, but solely by the conviction tliat he must do the work of God in the best way he could, no matter whom he might offend or alienate by so doing. — Overton. There were none who displayed any thing like the administrative talent that he did. From first to last Wesley held over this large and ever- increasing agency [his preachers and Societies] an absolute supremacy. . . , It certainly was an extraordinary power for one man to possess; but in its exercise there was not the slightest taint of selfishness, nor yet the slightest trace that he loved power for power’s sake. His own account of its rise is perfectly sincere and artless, and, it is honestly believed, perfectly true. “The power I have,” he writes, “I never sought ; it was the unadvised, unexpected result of the work which God was pleased to work by me. I therefore suffer it until I can find some one to ease me of my burden.” He used his power simply to promote his one great object — to make his followers better men and better citizens, happier in this life, and thrice happier in the life to come. If it was a despotism, it was a singularly useful and benevolent despot- ism, a despotism which was founded wholly and solely upon the respect which his personal character commanded. Surely if this man had been, as his ablest biographer [Southey; but Southey, as is now well known, retracted what he had said] represents him, an ambitious man, he would have used his power for some personal end. He would at least have yielded to the evident desire of some of his followers, and have founded a separate sect, in which he might have held a place not much inferior to that w'hich Mohammed held among the faithful. . . . But Wesley was no tyrant; he had no selfish end in view; it was literally “for their sakes [his preachers] that he ruled as he did;” and since he was infinitely superior to the mass of his subjects (one can use no weaker term) in point of education, learning, and good judgment, it was to their advantage that he did so. — Overton. . . . But some years before John Wesley uttered these memorable words [advice not to separate from the Church] had he not himself done the very thing which he deprecated ? Consciously and inten- tionally, No! a thousand times, no! but virtually, and as a matter-of- fact, we must reluctantly answer, Yes. Lord Mansfield’s famous dictum. 694 The Wesley Memorial Volume. “ Ordination is separation,” is unanswerable. When, in 1784, John Wesley ordained Coke and Asbury to be “ Superintendents,” and What- coat and Vasey to be “elders,” in America, Ae, to all intents and pur- poses, [the italics are ours,] crossed the Rulieon. His brother Charles re- garded the act in that light, and bitterly regretted it. How a logical mind like John Wesley’s could regard it in any other it is difficult to conceive. But that he had in all sincerity persuaded himself that tliere was no inconsistency in it with his strong Churchmanship, there can be no manner of doubt. Bishop Stillingjleet's “ Irenicon ” [the italics are ours] had convinced him that no particular form of Church government was prescribed in holy Scripture ; Lord King's Inquiry into the Constitution of the Primitive Church" had proved to him that “ bishops and presbyters were essentially of one order, and that, originally, every Christian congre- gation was a Church independent of all others." And so he wrote to his brother in 1780, “I verily believe I have as good a right to ordain as to administer the Lord’s Supper.” . . . His rectitude of purpose, if not the clearness of his judgment, is as conspicuous in this as in the other acts of his life. — Overton. One feature in Wesley’s character must be carefully noted by all who would form a fair estimate of him. If it was a weakness, and one which frequently led him into serious practical mistakes, it was, at any rate, an amiable weakness — a fault which was very near akin to a virtue. A guileless trustfulness of his fellow-men, who often proved very unworthy of his confidence, and, akin to this, a credulity, a readiness to believe the marvelous, tinged his whole character. “ My brother,” said Charles Wesley, “was, I think, born for the benefit of knaves.” It is in the light of this quality that we must interpret many important events of his life. His relations with the other sex were notoriously unfortunate; not a breath of scandal was ever uttered against him; and the mere fact that it was not is a convincing proof, if any were needed, of the spotless purity of his life; for it is difficult to conceive conduct more injudicious than his was. The story of his relationship with Sophia Causton, [Hopkey,] Grace Murray, Sarah Ryan, and last, but not least, the widow of Vazeille, his termagant wife, need not here be re- peated. In the case of any other man scandal would often have been busy; but Wesley was above suspicion. His conduct was put down to the right cause, viz. ; a perfect guilelessness and simplicity of nature. The same tone of mind led him to take men as well as women too much at their own estimates. He was quite ready to believe those who said that they had attained the summit of Christian perfection, though. Wesley and the Methodist Movement. 695 with characteristic humility, he never professed to have attained it himself. — O verton. But, after all, these weaknesses detract but little from the greatness, and nothing from the goodness, of John Wesley. Ee stands [italics are ours] pre-eminent among the worthies who originated and conducted the reciml of practical religion which tooTc place in the last century. In par- ticular points he was surpassed by one or other of his fellow-workers. In preaching power he was not equal to Whitefield; in saintliness of character he was surpassed by Fletcher; in poetical talent he was in- ferior to his brother; in solid learning he was, perhaps, not equal to his friend and disciple, Adam Clarke. But no one combined all these characteristics in so remarkable a degree as John Wesley; and he possessed others besides these which were all his own. He was a born ruler of men; the powers which, under different conditions would have made him “ a heaven-born statesman,” he dedicated to still nobler and more useful purposes. The good which he did among the poor, whom he loved, is simply incalculable; and his long life, which was almost commensurate with the century, enabled him to see the fruits of his labors. Among the poor, at least, he was always appreciated at his full worth. And one is thankful to find that toward the end of his life his character began to be better understood and respected by worthy men, who could not entirely identify themselves with the Evangelical movement. — Overton. It remained [italics ours] for the present generation to do justice to his memory ly giving a place in our Christian Walhalla among the great dead to one who was certainly among the greatest of his day. — -Overton. Methodism, in all its branches, is a fact in the history of England, which develops into large and still larger dimensions as time rolls on ; this must be felt by every impartial historian, whatever may be his own private opinions. — John Stoughton, D.D : “Religion in England under Queen Anne and the Georges.” The rise and progress of Methodism may be regarded as the most im- portant ecclesiastical fact of modern times., [the italics are ours,] and re- quires to be studied in relation to the Established Church of England, the old Nonconformist bodies, and the missionary interests of Chris- tianity throughout the world, by every one who would understand the religious history of the last hundred years. — Stoughton. In another respect the history of Methodism is important and suggest- ive. Methodism, like Puritanism, might have been, at least to a large extent, preserved as so much vital force within the National Church ; 696 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. but neither were allowed a place wilhin its precincts. By a hard, nar- row, unsympathetic, and exclusive policy, both these parties were forced into a position outside; and the same policy which ejected so many clergymen at the Restoration, and threw off the Wesleyan revivalists, also increased these sections of Dissent in point of numbers. At the same time this policy strengthened and developed the principles which the two sections embodied. At last it placed their followers in an atti- tude toward the Establishment far beyond what the leaders had ever contemplated. Of course, that policy was meant to strengthen and preserve the Church, but it had an opposite effect. It perpetuated and promoted Nonconformity. What was employed as a means of union and consolidation operated as a solvent, and separated from the rest the most [italics are ours] actvce elements of the Church's religion. This might have been foreseen in 1662 : they must have been blind indeed who did not perceive it a century afterward. — Stoughton. Methodism, as an organization outside the National Church, was the result of circumstances more than of design ; its development rose out of no fixed plan, but rather resembled the growth of the English Con- stitution. — Stoughton. A superficial likeness between the Society of John Wesley and the Society of Ignatius Loyola, has laid hold on some imaginations so as to mislead their judgment. The founder of Methodism, like the author of Jesuitism, was a man of rare administrative ability, and the extent, stability, and permanence of the system rival those of the Roman insti- tute ; the order and regularity of proceedings in the one case may be compared with the steady, methodical action of the other. There the likeness stops; divergences branch into contrasts. As to history, what has been said about the origin of Methodism in Wesley’s mind, and the discipline of circumstances leading to unanticipated consequences, pre- sents a story opposed to that of Jesuitism, which began with raising a new order, according to a definite plan framed from the beginning. The theory [italics ours] that Wesley determined on an ambitious scheme for rivaling other denominations is now exploded: that Ignatius Loyola designed to create a new institution is an indisputable fact. As to aims, Methodism sprung from a simple desire to save souls, however, in the estimation, of some of its critics, it may have involved fanaticism. It pointed to no political ends, it contemplated no intrigues for the attainment of social influence, it embraced no schemes of literary and scientific culture: such objects were compassed and prominently kept in view by the Jesuit Fathers. As to principles, Methodist doctrine is as AVeslet akd the Methodist Movement. 697 much opposed to those of Loyola, as Luther’s cloctriue is to that of Rome; and Methodist discipline, whatever the defects charged upon it, is thoroughly free from intolerance with regard to other denominations, its constant maxim having been, ‘ ‘ the friend of all, and the enemy of none. ” — Stoughton. The founder of Methodism now asserted autliority over the -Connec- tion which he had drawn together. Preachers had joined him volun- tarily ; he accepted their services, and superintended their work. Peo- ple had come to him for spiritual counsel and help ; he had arranged them in classes, and over them he maintained religious discipline. Every thing was freely done on both sides. It was a mutual compact ; nobody was enslaved; and those who did not like the arrangements were free to retire from the body. To keep things together a controlling power was necessary; this fell on Wesley as a burden, it was not sought l)y him as a privilege. — Stoughton. Among such men [Wesley’s lay-preachers] John Wesley, Fellow of Lincoln, a classical scholar, a learned divine, a man of accomplish- ments, spent the years of a long life on terms of intimate friendship ; and, while ruling them as their superior, he treated them as his brothers or as his sons. — Stoughton. In winding up what has been said respecting English Presbyterianism, it is sufficient to add, that with all the ability of its ministers, all the respectability of its congregations, all the culture of its society, and all the services which it rendered to science, literature and liberty, it did not advance in numbers or in power. So far from it, its history for fifty years was one of decline. The causes are obvious. A dry, hard, cold method of preaching generally marked the pulpit; warm, vigorous, spiritual life appeared not in the pews. No greater contrast can be imagined than between the Methodist and the Presbyterian preacher, the Methodists and the Presbyterian people. Tlie unction, the fire, the moral force, so visible in the one case, is absent in the other. Method- ism laid hold on the conscience of England ; Presbyterianism did not. The sympathy elicited there is found wanting here ; and no culture, no intellectual power, no respectability of position, could make up for; the lack of earnest gospel preaching and warm-hearted spiritual life. — Stoughton. It is vei-y remarkable that at this very time the denomination, [the Baptists — whose “spiritual torpor prevailed^” whose “religious faeul- ties were benumbed,” and among whom, adds our author, “there was thorough-going Antinomianism in practice,”] whether cognizant of it or 698 The Wesley Memorial Volume. not, really caught the bracing breeze which had come sweeping down the hills of Methodism over Baptist meadows, as well as Independent fields. — Stoughton. Methodism, both in Arrainian and Calvinistic forms, served to give personal religion ascendency over ecclesiastical government. . . . Meth- odism grew out of the feeling that religious experience, and the truth which produces it, take precedence of every thing else, and that to these primary objects all which is merely ecclesiastical must be kept in strict and lasting subordination. — Stoughton. Out of such an idea there arose another, namely, that in evangelical piety we are to look for a center and ground of union ; that men may differ in Church views and yet be one in spiritual sentiment. . . . From this manner of looking at the subject [that the Church is not identified with any one visible fellowship, but includes the whole “ aggregate of souls renewed by truth and affiliated to the divine Father”] there emanated a conviction that it is possible for persons of different de- nominations to co-operate in acts of charity, not only for temporal, but for spiritual objects. [Such co-operation between Christians of different denominations as issued in the great Missionary, Tract, and Bible So- cieties, the author contends, resulted from “ the memorable Methodist revival,” and never could have come from Anglo-Catholicism ; for] “Anglo-Catholicism identifies the visible with the invisible Church, orthodoxy with Orders, faith with early Creeds, spiritual life with the administration of Sacraments, and devotion, at least in public, with liturgical worship. . . . This conception is irreconcilable with the ideas which we discover in the folds of Methodism. . . . Nor is it sufficient to refer to the Anglo-Catholic theory alone. To some other theories this idea of union stood opposed. . . . Many Presbyterians, Independ- ents, and Baptists were so attached to their own Church ideas, that they could not see their w’ay at once to step out of inclosed vineyards to work on a broad, open common. . . . Sentiments of brotherly love, and a sympathetic desire to j)romote the common salvation, however, overcame in a great many ministers and laymen the objections they felt at first. . . . Gradually they came to see that some of the proposed methods of united activity involved no compromise of ecclesiastical principle, required no surrender of distinctive practices, and endangered no denominational interests. — Stoughton. Extra services, and particularly public meetings, mark a further change in the popular religion of the day. Before the rise of Method- ism, the Book of Common Prayer and the written sermon were the only Wesley and the Methodist Movejient. 699 forms of religious utterance within the pale of an English parish; and the meeting-house witnessed little or nothing beyond formal Sun- day discourses, the singing of Watts’ and Doddridge’s hymns, and the offering of extempore prayer. But Methodism carried preaching out of consecrated buildings into private houses, public halls, city streets, and village greens. It gave a new impetus to prayer-meetings on week- days ; it led to gatherings for religious conversation. Classes and love- feasts were not adopted by the old Dissent any more than by the orthodox Church ; but a tendency to social spiritual engagements beyond those of the stereotyped order was, doubtless, one of the effects produced by the Methodist revival. — Stoughton. I do not say he [Wesley] was without faults or above mistakes; but they were lost in the multitude of his excellences and virtues. — Anony- mous: Woodfall’s “Diary, ” London, June 17, 1791. We are not blind to his faults, but even these will be found to have sprung from the sincerity, openness, and native simplicity of his char- acter. — Dr. Dobbin. Was Wesley without faults? Not so; no man but “the Man Christ Jesus ” ever was. — L. Ttebman. But was he faultless ? If he had been, he would have been less ad- mirable to us, for the truest human greatness is in the combat with evil ; he would have been less suited for his great work, for to men rather than to angels has the Gospel been committed. The candid student of history will be able to find in all its records but few men who had fewer faults, however many he may suppose he finds who had greater abilities or greater virtues. — Abel Stevens. 44 THE WESLEY MONUMENTAL CHUECE 1Y86-1879. O UE. Methodism never mourned at such a funeral as that of Lovick Pierce ; it never can again : for he was born six years before John Wesley died ; he became an itinerant preacher during the Chi-istmas of 1804 ; he was the contemporary of Asbnry and M’Kendree; he lived through over three gener- ations of men ; and he was a preacher of the gospel of the the Son of God for seventy-five years. Wlien he mounted his horse, in January, 1805, and bade good-bye to his mother for the wide reaches of the Great Pedee Circuit, in South Carolina, there were but five or six millions of people in the United States ; when he died, in Sparta, Georgia, on Sunday evening, November 9, 1879, there were fifty millions. When he began his itinerant career the Indians were in Middle Georgia ; when he closed it, our white population, ever pushing westward, had stretched its advancing fines from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. He was befoBe steamboats, railways, tele- graphs, to say nothing of more recent and wonderful inven- tions. During his life-time the most' notable helps to the progress and civilization of the human race have come into use. When Lovick Pierce entered upon his work Methodists were counted only by thousands ; when he entered upon his reward they were counted by millions. There are more Meth- odists among the nations called heathen to-day, than were in England and America when Asbnry gave him his first appoint- ment. There are more Methodist preachers in Hindustan to-day than were in Great Britain and the United States when Lovick Pierce was “admitted on trial.” The Wesleyan Con- The Wesley Montemehtal Chhech. 701 ference in the Fiji Islands — and the Fijians were cannibals when he was in his prime — is nearly as strong in numbers as was Methodism in the TJnited States when he entered its ranks. It may be inentioned with propriety, also, that the greatest conservative and aggressive movements of the Church have had their beginning, or have taken on their strength, since onr translated father began to preach. The great Bible and Tract and Missionary Societies have been organized, or developed into power, since “ Providence gave Lovick Pierce to the human race.” Within his time the Church has begun to reahze her educational function, both in the founding of great schools, colleges, and universities, and in furnishing the people with sanctified literature. That wonder of modern rehgious life — the Sunday-school movement — has grown into a power that promises untold blessings to the world, since he began to “ call sinners to repentance.” He lived through the “ heroic days ” of the first period of American Methodist history ; he lived through the period of its more perfect ecclesiastical organization ; he lived to see Meth- odist Churches planted on every continent and on every chief island of the sea ; he lived to see universal Methodism, count- ing millions in its ranks, and drawing together in holy, fra- ternal love, gathering up its God-given energies for its grand- est achievements ; he lived to see — as in apocalyptic vision — the gray lines of light in the East that herald the dawn of the brightest and divinest day in its history. FuU of years, full of honors, trusted and loved through three generations, revered by millions of godly men and women, respected by his fellow-citizens of every class, prized of heaven and ripe for the harvest, he has “ fallen on sleep,” he has been “ gathered unto his fathers,” in the “ sure and cer- tain hope of the resurrection of the deacL” There was sadness in our Methodism, but not lamentation, the day he died. A mighty man and a prince in our Israel has been buried, but 702 The Wesley Memorial Volume. mingled with oxir tears are songs of victory. The noblest thing that a man can do is to live and die “ in the Lord ; ” and he whom they laid to rest in Columbus, Georgia, ISTov- ember 12, 1879, had “fought a good fight,” had “kept the faith,” had “ finished his course.” He has entered into rest ; he has won his triumph. If the Senate of Rome voted Caesar a triumph when he returned victorious from his wars, shall not the Church of God, although bereaved of a trusted leader, rejoice on the day of his triumphant entrance into the city of God, amidst the acclamations of the heavenly host ? What welcomes he has received ! How many thousands, helped to heaven through his ministry — how many veterans, his companions in arms, who toiled, and suffered, and triumphed with him through the campaigns of three quarters of a cent- ui’y, but who outran him to glory — have received him into the company of the redeemed ! We can but notice the coincidence in our long-delayed winter, in 1879, and his greatly prolonged life. It Avas near the middle of JSTovember, btit the songs of the harvest had not died away, and the woods and fields were still glorious in scarlet and purple and gold. Lovick Pierce lived among men for nearly one hundred years, but he was not* like a tree stripped of its foliage — naked and cold under wintry skies. His faculties of intellect and affection Avere marvelously spared to him, and when he died the reapers were still gathering the harvests of his fields, and there were only the autumn glories to tell us that the summer of his fife was over and gone. Plis last year among us, year of languishing though it was, was a year of usefulness. Many lessons of divine wisdom were given and received in his sick room ; and from that hallowed chamber there went forth to the Churches many epistles, rich in doctrine and consolation. As he lay on his bed of suffering, waiting for the coming of his Lord, the tree of his religious life bloomed and fruited anew. The Wesley Monumental Chlech. 703 The folloY'ing “Plea for the Wesley Monumental ” Chnrch in Savannah was written by the “ old man eloquent ” near the close of his long and beautiful life. The building of this Church was, from its beginning, a thing very near and very dear to his heart. With his own hands he laid its corner- stone, and with his prayers he consecrated it to God. Let universal Methodism, giving heed to Dr. Pierce’s “Plea for the Wesley Monumental Church,” resolve that this monument to Mr. Wesley shall be speedily completed. A PLEA FOR THE WESLEY MONUMENTAL CHURCH To ALL CALLED MeTHODISTS, GeEETING : Beloved Beetheen : — By reason of my great age and in- creasing infirmities, to say nothing of life’s uncertain tenure — being in the ninety-fifth year of my age, and the seventy-sixth of my active itinerant ministry — I am prompted to addi-ess you in this Memorial Yolume, that you may know my views concerning the Wesley Monumental Church, in Savannah, Georgia, now in rising progress to its final finish and dedica- tion to the worship of Almighty God. I do this in earnest hope that all Wesleyan Methodists every- where will put into it a nail, a brick, or a pane of glass. My principal reason for writing as I now write is, because I fear some persons may do themselves and us injustice by enter- taining false conceptions of underlying and prompting motives. The Monumental Church may be looked upon as a mere con- trivance to meet an exigency. I7o, my brethren, I can assure you it is not. I have been mixed up with the noble concep- tion of this monument to Mr. Wesley ever since it was pro- * The substance of the above “ Plea ” — to which I have prefixed an Introduc- tion written for me by Dr. Haygood — was originally presented by Dr. Pierce in the form of a petition to the late General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, held at Atlanta, Georgia, May, ISIS. It was subsequently pre- pared and given, in its present form, as Dr. Lovick Pierce’s contribution to the Wesley Memorial Volume. — Editor. 704 The Wesley Memorial Volume. jected ; had the honor to officiate in laying the corner-stone, and to participate in the memorable ceremonies of the occasion. It is intended to be a Monumental Church in honor of Mr. Wesley, as the apostle and founder of Wesleyan Methodism every- where, but eminently in America, where, at his own instance, it was first organized into a Church. That it should be at Savannah was providentially determined by the fact that Mr. Wesley, who afterward claimed the world as his parish, came to America as an evangelist, and began his evangelistic ministry in Savannah. There is the place for the Wesley Monumental Church. This Church was never thought of as a means of magnifying Southern Methodism, but universal Methodism. Hence we have appealed to all, even to Old England herself, the mother of Methodism, and every-where we have met with approval. We have judged it best to bring this grand enterprise before our millions of Wesleyan Methodists every-where, in Great Britain and Ireland, in Australia, in the Canadas, and in the United States, and wherever Methodism has a home, and ask for enough to complete the building. It will be a blot upon Methodists to let this Monumental Church grow old with its scaffolding around it. It is with great pleasure I state that this edifice is in a state of forwardness which renders its early completion certain. If the Wesleyan family will say so, it shall be completed. There is in this move what will furnish for devout minds, and all who love Wesleyan Methodism, occasion for enlarged faith in God’s provisional providence. I suppose for the hundred and thirty-six years that intervened between Mr. Wesley’s ministry in Savannah and the concep- tion of building a Monumental Church there in honor of his name, no one thought of it until the idea was happily con- ceived, in 1875, by the Eev. Alexander M. Wynn, of the South Georgia Conference, who was at that time pastor of Wesley Church in Savannah. At the very time when some nucleus was needed around which hearts rent asunder by •The Wesley Monumental Chuech. 705 ecclesiastical and civil war miglit come together again in fra- ternal union, comes up this Monumental Church. It cannot be that Methodists will fail to unite in thus doing honor to the memory of their great father and founder. From this attract- ive idea and its correlative issues began to flow the endearing sympathies of fraternal affection. Tour brother in Christ, Lovick Pierce. STATISTICS OF METHODISM. I lSr the earliest period of Methodism it was a part of the method of its founder to wiite down, for the information of all inquirers, every fact of imjDortance connected with the rise and progress of his Societies. “Minutes of Conversations” between Mr. Wesley and his ministers in them yearly Confer- ences were carefully printed, showing not only the doctrines and polity of the new movement which he supervised, and which was justly exciting public attention, but also noting its successes or failures in every department of its economy. This rigid system of statement in detail has given to Method- ism a statistical history far superior in variety, extent, and cor- rectness to that of any other religious denomination. That portion of the British Wesleyan Conference Minutes commencing with the Annual Conference of 17M, and closing with that of 1860, fills fourteen large octavo volumes, with an aggregate of 8,299 pages. The Minutes of the Annual Ses- sions of Conference since 1860 fill nineteen volumes 12mo., with a total of 7,688 additional pages, many of th'em in small type, of which a considerable portion is made up of carefully tabulated statistics. This grand total of thirty-three volumes includes the returns for one hundred and thirty-six years. The General Minutes of the Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church thus far issued cover the period from 1773 to 1879 inclusive. These Minutes make seventeen volumes, aggregating 10,387 pages. The gradual and ever-increasing extension of the records of the annual returns marks the con- stant growth of the Church in all departments of her work. Beginning with a Conference when the whole of American Methodism embraced only ten preachers, and five pastoral Statistics of Methodism. 707 cliarges, with 1,160 lay members, the first Minutes were cir- cumscribed in scope, and were correspondingly brief in extent. The whole records for the fii'st fifty-six years, covering the period from 1773 to 1828, inclusive, are included in the first volume, of 574 pages. The second volume includes the Min- utes of eleven years ; the third, seven years ; the fourth, six years; the fifth, four years. Beginning with* the sixth vol- ume, and with the year 1856, each volume is filled with the records of only two years, and recently, in order to include two yearly records within the proper compass of a single vol- ume, the type has been greatly reduced in size. The last vol- ume (for 1878 and 1879) contains 831 super-royal octavo pages, and of these 402 are filled with tabulated figures closely arranged, and in type so small that a single page contains six times as much matter as a page of this book. The General Min- utes of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, show a similar fullness and exactness of annual numerical returns. The writer has brfore him the Minutes for 1866 to 1869, 1874, 1875, and 1879. These (embracing the reports of nine years) fill 1,315 pages of similar size to those of the Minutes of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In addition to these volumes of “Minutes” are the “Jour- nals” of the General Conferences. Those of the Methodist Episcopal Church alone fill nine large octavo volumes, and fm’nish, in their reports and other records, a vast amount of connectional statistical information not contained in the Min- utes of the Annual Conferences. Those of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, report, with similar minuteness, the proceedings of nine quadrennial General Conferences, the last (that of 1878) making a volume of 280 octavo pages. To all these must be added the printed annual reports of the various missionary and benevolent organizations of these two great branches of Methodism. These reports embrace in their several departments a total of many closely-printed volumes of statistical information. Branches of Methodism, inheriting the 708 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. iisage from the parent Church, are all characterized severally by an ample statistical history. As already indicated, no de- nomination outside of the Methodist family furnishes statistical information approaching this, either in the scope of the topics or in the regularity, extent, and fullness of the current statis- tical returns. In correctness, as well as in scope and fullness, Methodist statistics are also far in advance of those of other denomina- tions in this country. While being far from perfect, (so that there is a desire in all directions among us for improvement,) they are so incomparably more reliable than those of other leading Churches, as to have secured the highest praise from the best statisticians of the age. Hon. Francis A. Walker, Superintendent of the last United States Census, in his official report of the same to the Secretary of the Interior, (and by the latter communicated to Congress, and by that body ordered published,*) says : Some of the larger religious denominations, either in consequence of their peculiar organization, or by reason of special efforts, maintain a careful system of reports and returns, and the statistics of such denom- inations are accordingly entitled to great consideration. Foremost among these is the Methodist Church, which, by reason of its episcopal form of government and its scheme of changing period- ically the pastors of Churches, is always in possession, as nearly as it would be possible to effect, of the true condition of its organization in all parts of the country to a late date. Dead Churches are not allowed to incumber its rolls, and consequently the lists of its several branches present their exact strength “for duty.” This denomination, therefore, affords a high test of the accuracy of the returns of the Census ; and, notwithstanding that it presents as much difficulty in enumeration as any other, the general correspondence between the statements embodied in the Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the principal branches of the Church, after making allowance for the known strength of certain minor branches which do not publish official returns, and the statistics * See “Ninth Census of the United States,” 1870. Mr. Walker is also Super- intendent of the United States Census of 1880, the returns of which have not yet been published. Statistics of Methodism. 709 of the denomination as given in the Census, is, taking all the States of the Union together, very decided. The slight differences that exist are sufficiently explained by differences between the dates of the returns and by the different rules of construction and classification which would naturally be adopted in doubtful cases by parties acting independently of each other. There are other denominations — one or two, notably the Baptists, of great importance — in which an absence of central control in the govern- ment of the Churches, and the want of a thorough system of reports and returns, deprive Church statistics of value. It is in respect of these, as a whole, that the discrepancies between the claims of the denomination and the results of the Census are greatest. In all such cases full and searching inquiry has been made; the recognized authorities of the Churches interested have been consulted, and assistant marshals have been called on to explain the discrepancy, and to review their own state- ments. Hundreds of letters have been written from the Census Office on the subject; thousands of Churches have been inquired for; and where differences, after all has been done, still exist, it only remains to be said that if this or that denomination has as many churches as it claims, the agents of the Census have not been able to find them. Mr. Walker’s official report, after furnisliiiig this kigli testi- mony to the correctness of our Methodist statistics, proceeds to show remarkable discrepancies between the Census returns and those made by several of the other denominations. The Baptists, he says, report for the year 1870 a total of 17,535 chinches, while the Census gives them only 14,084, a differ- ence of 3,061. Another denomination claims 3,121 churches ; the Census allows only 2,887 ; and another claims 3,753, while the Census allows only 1,445 ! In unanswerable argument Mr. Walker proceeds to show that in each of the cases the disparity arises chiefly, if not wholly, from the incorrectness of the returns made by the Church compilers. My own inquiries, made with as much thoroughness as possible, assure me of the general correctness of Mr. Walker’s conclusions on the subject referred to. I have now before me two Almanacs of the Protestant Episcopal Church for 1878. Both seem to be the work of competent compilers, and each, 710 The Wesley Memorial Volume. in the absence of the other, being issued by a well-known and respectable publishing house of that denomination, would be regarded as otbcially correct. And yet in the reports of mem- bers, as given in the Almanacs^ there is a discrepancy of over 20.000. Which is correct? The troubled inquirer is left to conjecture. The annual register of another denomination, issued since January 1, 1878, and giving the latest statis- tical summaries, contains two widely different “ official state- ments” concerning members, the discrejDancy being nearly 30.000. The statistician in search of correct figures is con- founded by such a showing, and retires from the investigation in despair. In the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in the Methodist Episcopal’ Church, South, every pastor is required to report each year to the conference secretaries, over his own signature, the statistics of his charge, revised to date ; and in case of his decease or absence the Presiding Elder is held responsible for such reports. The rej)orts are usually prepared in duplicate, one of the copies being forwarded to the Publishing House for insertion in the “ General Minutes,” and the other printed in the local conference minutes, for home circulation. This method of reporting and pubhshing each year, thus supple- menting the system in each pastoral charge of keeping the reg- ister of members by classes, and of revising the lists yearly, (and in many charges, quarterly, and even monthly,) secures a very remarkable degree of accuracy in the annual returns of the Church. While there are occasional and even unpardon- able mistakes in the reports of the pastors, and in some in- stances in those of the conference secretaries, (made chiefly in transcribing them,) they are much less frequent than some of our preachers have supposed. Indeed, the more careful and extensive the examination by any competent statis- tician, the more assuring will be the conclusion that our statistics are, comparatively, a marvel of general accuracy and excellence. Statistics ot Methodism. 711 METHODIST OEGAHIZATIOHS HISTORIC NOTES. The term “Methodist” was first applied to the Wesleys and their associates in 1729. The “ Holy Club,” at Oxford, of which Charles Wesley, then twenty-one years of age, was the founder, was composed of but four members, viz. : Mr. John Wesley, who was fellow of Lincoln College ; Mr. Charles Wesley, student of Christ Church ; Mr. Morgan, commoner of Christ Church, the son of an Irish gentleman ; and Mr. Kirkham, of Merton College. They were all young, earnest students and sympathetic religious inquirers. They met four evenings a week for reading the Greek Testament and the ancient classics, and on Sunday evenings for studying divinity. Them rigid adherence to method in their religious habits led to the appropriation to them, by outsiders, of the name “ Methodists.” The reference to them under this appellation was made in jest by a fellow-student. Charles Wesley dated his conversion on May 21, 1738; John’s conversion took place three days later, viz.. May 24, 1738. The first class-meeting was held in Bristol on Thursday evening, April 4, 1839 ; the first division of the Methodist Society into classes was made at Bristol, February 15, 1742. The first Methodist “United Society was organized by Mr. John Wesley in London in the latter end of the year 1739,” and consisted of eight or ten persons. One hundred years from that date the British Conference celebrated the Centen- nial Anniversary of Wesleyan Methodism, the special Thanks- giving service being held by direction of the Conference on Friday, October 25, 1839.* Mr. Wesley’s first sermon in the Old Foundery, London, after its being regularly opened as a place for public worship, was preached FTovember 11, 1739. His first watchnight service was held in Bristol, December 31, 1740. His first Methodist Conference was held in London, * The offerings in the British Wesleyan Connection aggregated about $1,080,- 000; in the United States, on the same occasion, the collections aggregated about $600,000. 712 The Wesley Memoeial Voltoie, June 25, 1744, consisting of John and Charles "Wesley, four other ordained English clergjnnen, and four lay preachers.* British Wesle 3 -an Statistics, 1880. — Number of districts, (in Great Britain, 34, in missions, 31,) 65 ; circuits, (in Great Britain, 721, in missions, 448,) 1,169; itinerant ministers, (in Great Britain, 1,914, in missions, 479,) 2,393; members, including probationers, (in Great Britain, 4Q2,502, in missions, 97,421,) 499,923 ; total ministers and lay members, 502,319. The numbers were reported from the various sec- tions of the work as follows Ministers Dis- Cir- Min- Lay Proba- and tricLs. ciiits. isters. Members. tioners. Members. Great Britain 34 721 1,914 376,678 25,824 404,416 Prance 1 7 8 1311 Germany 1 25 30 2,117 Italy 2 38 28 1,374 Spain and Portugal 1 5 8 336 Malta 1 1 2 100 South Ceylon 1 44 40 2,154 North Ceylon 1 27 27 857 Madras District, India 1 31 22 582 - 10,636 97,903 Mysore District 1 16 15 560 Calcutta District 1 6 8 143 Lucknow and Benares District. 1 5 6 64 Canton District, China 1 4 10 179 Wuchang District, China 1 3 8 174 South Africa 7 111 114 18,288 Western Africa 3 53 45 13.647 West Indies 7 72 108 46,082^ Total 65 1,169 2,393 463,466 36,460 •502,319 EECAPITULATION. Number of districts 65 Number of circuits 1,169 Number of itinerant ministers 2,393 Number of lay members 463,466 Number of probationers 36,460 Number of ministers and lay members 502,319 Number of Sunday-schools in Great Britain 6,376 Number of Sunday-school teachers and officers 119,911 Number of Sunday-school scholars 787,143 Number of volumes in libraries 744,293 Expenses of Sunday-schools $332,870 Number of Wesleyan day schools 851 Number of scholars in day schools 179,900 Expenses of Wesleyan day schools $1,088,645 * The four clergymen were, John Hodges, Henry Piers, Samuel Taylor, and John Meriton : the four lay preachers were, Thomas Maxfield, Thomas Kichards, John Beimett, and John Downes. Statistics of Methodism. 713 The British Conference collections in 1879 for Connectional Funds reached the following totals : For Foreign Missions $675,701 For Home Mission and Contingent Fund 172,724 For Theological Institutions 49,921 For School Fund 45,946 For General Education 42,292 For Children’s Fund 132,500 For "Wornout Ministers’ Fund 116,194 For General Chapel Fund 49,007 Total in 1879 for Connectional Funds $1,284,285 Raised in 1879 to relieve Church debts $213,275 Paid in 1879 for new Church edifices $1,916,220 The above is exclusive of the sum raised directly for pastors’ salaries and for Thanksgiving Fund. Thaxksgitikg Fttsd. — T his great Special Connectional offering was planned in 1878, and duly reported to the Conference in 1879. At first it was proposed to raise the sum of $1,000,000. This was soon raised to $1,200,000; later, to $1,500,000; and still later, fixed by the Confer- ence, at $1,575,000! On Kovember 3, 1880, the subscriptions to the Fund had already reached the magnificent sum of $1,497,470. Primitive aiethodi§t Cliurch. — The Primitive Methodist Connec- tion was organized in England in 1810. The first Society was composed of ten members, none of whom had ever been members of any other Church. Hugh Bourne, its founder, also began the organization of the Primitive Church in Canada and in the United States in 1844. The Sixty-first Annual Conference w'as held at Grimsby, England, commencing June 9, 1880. The official numerical returns (exclusive of Canada) gave the following summaries: 17 districts; 174,469 members; 1,041 traveling preachers; 14,244 local preachers; 10,220 class-leaders; 4,072 Connec- tional chapels ; 1,846 other preaching places ; 3,884 Sunday-schools ; 57,016 teachers ; 363,336 Sunday-school scholars, and 7,772 catechumen members. The value of Church property is over $10,000,000. Thirty-six ministers were received on probation. The members in Australia and New Zea- land number 7,689; in South Australia, 2,004; Victoria, 2,740; New South Wales, 1,300; Queensland, 578; New Zealand, 1,067. The new theological school at Manchester (costing over $30,000) has now twenty-two ministerial students. Thirty-three candidates for the ministry were accepted at Conference, 714 The Wesley Memorial Voluble, nietlioilist IVew Connection Conference. — This body was organized in England in August, 1797. The eighty-fourth Annual Con- ference was held in Staffordshire, England, June 14, 1880. Tlie statis- tics show : COTINTBIEB. Chapels. Societies. Circuit Preachers. Local Preachers. Members. Probationers. Sunday- Schools. Teachers. M 'o 03 England 426 415 166 1,086 25,393 3,755 425 10,796 76,126 Ireland 9 8 8 12 699 102 8 116 609 Australia 2 2 2 1 120 14 2 25 330 Cliina 41 26 4 39 809 260 14 14 185 Totals in the Connection . . 418 451 180 1,138 27,021 4,131 449 10,951 77,250 A Thanksgiving Fund of $100,000 was inaugurated, and $10,000 of it was subscribed at the Conference. It was proposed to give $37,500 to the Home Mission Fund, and the same amount to establish a Con- nectional Loan Fund. There are five English missionaries employed in China, one of them a medical missionary, assisted by twenty-eight Chi- nese assistant missionaries and catechists. IJnited Methocli§t Free Clmrclies. — This organization was formed in England in 1857. It was composed of the Wesleyan Method- ist Association (organized in 1836) and a large number of Wesleyan Re- formers, who dated their beginning in 1827. The following statistics were reported at the recent Annual Assembly: Itinerant ministers, including supernumeraries, 431; local preachers, 3,391; leaders, 4,349; members, 73,044; members on trial, 7,433; Sunday-schools, 1,345; Sun- day-school teachers, 26,919; scholars, 189,038; missionary contributions in 1880, about $90,000. Sible Christians. — This branch of British Methodism was founded in Cornwall, England, in 1815, by William O’Bryan, a local preacher. In doctrine and Connectional polity they are similar to the Wesleyans. They began their organizations in Canada in 1833, and have since organ- ized an Annual Conference there, with a publishing house and period- icals at Bowmanville, Ontario. The numerical returns report 84 circuits and home missions in England and 114 abroad; 307 itinerant preachers; 1,883 local preachers; 33,051 lay members; 53,450 Sunday-school schol- ars; and 9,860 teachers. Welsh Calvinistic Methodists. — These are the outgrowth of the societies organized by the followers of Whitefield in 1743. They Statistics of Methodism. 715 are Wesleyan in general usages, having conferences, etc., but are Calvin- istic in doctrine, and hence are not classed with Arminian Methodists. In 1879 they reported 565 ministers and 119,809 lay members. Wesleyan Reform Union. — This smallest of the English Wes- leyan Methodist branches was organized in 1848. The returns of 1879 report 19 preachers and 7,623 lay members. Methodism in Ireland. — Methodism was introduced into Ire- land in 1747 by Thomas Williams, who crossed the channel and preached in the streets of Dublin. A little later in the same year (August 9, 1747) Mr. Wesley preached his first sermon in Dublin. Irish missions were commenced by Dr. Coke in 1799. Irish mission schools were established in 1823. Charles Wesley bought the first “preaching-house” in Dublin soon after John’s first visit. It was at “Doljohin’s barn,” near the pres- ent Cork-street Chapel. The first Sunday-school was held in Cork in 1791. The One Hundred and Eleventh Irish Wesleyan Conference (the ninety-sixth annual) was held in Dublin, June 15-25. 1880. The next Conference is to be held in Cork, June 17, 1881, and is to be composed of one hundred ministers and one hundred laymen. Statistics. — Preachers, 247; districts, 10; circuits, 137; lay members, 25,186; Sunday-schools, 309, with 2,754 teachers and 24,440 scholars; collection for Home Mission and Conference Fund, $17,591 ; for General Mission Fund, $27,668; for Auxiliary Fund, $3,026; for Chapel Fund, $2,296; for General Educational Fund, $979; total Conuectional col- lections, $51,560. Wesley College, Dublin, (built at a cost of $102,475,) has 237 pupils. Belfast College has 288 pupils. The Conference resolved to raise a Thanksgiving Fund of $100,000, to be appropriated thus: Methodist Union Guarantee Fund, $10,000 ; Home Mission and Contin- gent Fund, $40,000; Methodist Orphan Fund, $5,000; Fund for the Education of Ministers’ Daughters, $15,000; to relieve debt of Wesley College, Dublin, $20,000 ; for theological department in Methodist Col- lege, Belfast, $5,000; for foreign missions, $5,000. Methodism in Australasia. — The first Methodist mission was opened in New South Wales (then a penal colony of Great Britain) in August, 1815. The first Annual Conference was formed in January, 1855. The Australasian General Conference was organized in May, 1875. The work is now divided into four Conferences, holding their annual ses- sions in January. Their sessions in 1880 were held as follows: New South Wales and Queensland, Sydney, January 21; Victoria and Tas- mania, at Melbourne, January 21 ; South Australia, at Adelaide, Jan- uary 20; New Zealand, at Dunledin, January 21. The statistics give the 45 716 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. following totals: Ministers, 423; local preachers, 3,763; Cliurch mem- bers, 66,905; adherents, 331,862; chapels, 2,128; Sunday-schools, 2,478; Sunday-school teachers, 13,648; Sunday-school scholars, 134,183. Included in these summaries are the following totals reported from the four missionary districts of Fiji, Samoa, the Friendly Islands, and New Guinea, viz.: 16 European and 78 native ministers; 30,999 Church members; 125,472 adherents; 42,950 Sunday-school scholars; 1,003 churches; and 397 other preaching-places. There are four colleges: Newing College, New South Wales; Horton College, Tasmania; Prince Alfred College, South Australia; and Wesley College, (Theological Institute,) New Zealand. The next General Conference is to be held in Adelaide, in May, 1881. The above are exclusive of the returns of the other Methodist CImrches. The recent census of New Zealand gave a total Methodist population in that colony alone of 35,975, of which 3,676 were Primitive Methodists. methodism in Sweden. — The Methodist Episcopal Church work was introduced into Sweden by John P. Larsson, under the supervision of Eev. O. P. Petersen, in 1854. Owing to the law against holding public religious services outside of the State Church, no organization was effected until 1864, when a mission was begun at Wisby, in the island of Gottland. In 1867 the work opened in Stockholm. The following are the statistical summaries for 1880: Districts, 3; native traveling preachers, 61; native local preachers, 79; lay members, 7,824; average attendance at public worship, 16,475; baptisms during the year, 200; Sunday-schools, 128; scholars, 6,436; church edifices, 47; halls and other preaciiing-places, 32; value of churclies, 462,325 crowns; collec- tions for Missionary Society, 6, 108 crowns ; for other benevolent soci- eties, 625 crowns; for self-support, 10,442 crowns; for church building and repairing, 9,385 crowns; total, 26,560 crowns. metliodism in France. — The first Wesleyan Societies were formed in 1790. The first French Methodist district meeting was held at Perrieres, April 20, 1820. The French Conference was organized in 1852. The twenty-eighth Conference was held at Le Vigean, July 1, 1880. Statistics: Preachers, 29; local preachers, 92; evangelists, 16; class- leaders, 92; lay members, 1,844; day schools, 9, with 355 pupils; Sun- day-schools,- 49, with 287 teachers and 2,559 scholars; number of attendants, 10,622; chapels, 162. Methodism in Germany. — The first Wesleyan preacher, C. G. Muller, organized societies in Wurtemburg in 1830. The Methodist Statistics of Methodism. 717 Episcopal Church was introduced into Bremen in November, 1849, by Dr. L. S. Jacoby. His first sermon was preached December 23, 1849. The first Sunday-school was organized in Bremen, and the German Book Concern started, in 1850. In 1856 the Methodist Episcopal Conference of Germany and Switzerland was organized by Dr. Jacoby, and included 9 traveling and 7 local preachers, 428 members, and 99 probationers. The first number of Der Evangelist was issued May 21, 1850. In 1854 Der Kinderfreund, the first Sunday-school paper, was started. The statistical summaries of the Methodist Episcopal Conference of Germany and Switzerland for 1880 are as follows: Itinerant preachers, 68; local preachers, 59; members in full, 9,444; probationers, 2,377; total lay members, 11,821; baptisms during the year, 846; Sunday- schools, 372; ofiicers and teachers, 1,522; Sunday-school scholars, 18,716. Our English Wesleyan brethren have one district in Germany, embrac- ing 25 pastoral charges, 30 traveling preachers, 35 lay preachers, and 2,117 lay members. Methodism in Norway. — The first Methodist missionary from the United States, O. P. Petersen, reached Norway in 1853. The Churches were organized into a Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1876. The statistics in 1880 were as follows: Circuits, 27; preachers, 32; local preachers, 16; full lay members, 2,588; probation- ers, 409; total lay members, 2,997; baptisms during the year, 221; churches, 22; parsonages, 3; value of churches and parsonages, 310,518 crowns; Sunday-schools, 42 ; ofiicers and teachers, 311; scholars, 2,285. Methodism in Denmark. — The mission work was successfully organized in 1858 by Eev. C. Willerup at Fredericshald. There were in 1879 : Missions, 1 ; local preachers, 4 ; preaching-places, 44 ; lay mem- bers, 712; baptisms during the year, 39; Sunday-schools, 14, with 59 teachers, and 696 scholars. The Conference collections aggregate $2,044. Methodism in Italy. — Methodism was first introduced into Italy by the preachers of the French Conference in 1852, and a Society was organized at Turin. The British Wesleyan missionary work was begun in 1861, and that of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1872. The latter Church reported in October, 1880: Missionaries, 1, assistant mis- sionaries, 1, native preachers, 16, total preachers, 18; full lay mem- bers, 570, probationers, 245, total preachers and lay members, 833: churches, 1, (in Rome,) valued at $19,000 ; parsonages, 1, valued at $3,000; Sunday-schools, 9; number of preaching-places, 14. The mis- sion publishes one paper, “La Fiaccola,” a montlily. Including the 718 The Wesley Mejioeial Volume. Wesleyans there were in 1880 in Italy 48 Methodist ministers, 2,932 lay members, and 44 churches. Two of these are in Rome and three in Naples. mietliodiism in Bulg'aria. — The Methodist mission work in Bul- garia was opened by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1857. Revs. Wesley Prettyman and Albert L. Long were the first missionaries. The statistics of 1879 report 2 American and 4 native Bulgarian ministers, 33 lay members, and 2 Sunday-schools. nietliodism in India. — The British Wesleyan Missionaiy Society opened its first mission in Ceylon in 1813, and in India proper in 1817. The present statistics of that society’s work are given on page 704. The Methodist Episcopal missionary work in North India was opened by Rev. William Butler, in North Bengal, in 1856. Rev. William Taylor opened a new mission in Bombay in 1872; and later, initiated extensive Church work in the leading cities of Southern India. So rapidly has the work spread in India that it is now embraced in two Annual Conferences, reporting in 1879 a total of 6 districts, 46 missionaries, 1,780 probation- ers, 2,907 members; total lay members, 4,687: 871 baptisms during the year; 38 churches, and 59 parsonages, valued at $222,072; 205 Sunday- schools, with 637 teachers and 8,993 members; 196 day schools, with 340 teachers and 7,097 scholars. Methodism in China. — The Methodist Episcopal mission work was opened in 1847 by M. C. White and J. D. Collins; that of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, South, was opened in 1848 by C. Taylor, M.D., and Revs. B. Jenkins and W. G. E. Cunnyngham; that of the British Wesleyan Missionary Society in 1852; that of the United Methodist New Connection in 1872. The United Methodist Free Churches have also a successful mission in China. Statistics . — In 1879 the Methodist Episcopal Church reported 3 missious', viz. : Foochow, Central China, and North China, with 25 American mis- sionaries and 12 assistants; 86 native f)reachers; 12 Bible women; 2,370 lay members and probationers; 266 baptized children; 25 day schools, with 370 pupils; 53 Sunday-schools, with 907 pupils; 59 chapels and 18 parsonages, valued at $54,901. In 1880 the British Wesleyan Church reported 2 districts (Canton and Wuchang) and 6 circuits, with 19 preachers and 353 full members. In 1879 the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, reported in China, 5 missionaries, 8 native preachers, 2 women missionaries, 6 Bible women, 19 Sunday-school and 11 day- school teachers, 97 Church members, and 186 scholars in Sunday-schools and 105 in day schools. Statistics or Methodism, 719 Methodiim in Japan. — In 1873 Rev. Dr. R. 8. Maclay as super- intendent, assisted by Revs. J. C. Davison, J. Soper, M. C. Harris, and I. H. Correll, organized the mission work of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Japan, with Yokohama as head-quarters. The statistics of 1879 gave the following summaries: Missionaries, 8; assistant mission- aries, 5 ; native helpers, 40 ; total agents of the Missionary Society, 53 : lady missionaries of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Ej)iscopal Church, 5, with 5 native assistants; lay members and probationers, 620; day schools, 7, with 346 pupils; Sunday-schools, 7, with 773 pupils; churches, 5, valued at $12,500; parsonages, 5, val- ued at $17,500. The Methodist Church in Canada has also opened a prosperous mission work at Tokio and Shidzuoka, Japan; but the latest reports of that work have not been received. Metliodism in Africa. — The British Wesleyans sent their first missionaries to Sierra Leone in 1811, and to South Africa in 1814. In 1880 the minutes of that Church reported a total of 7 districts. 111 cir- cuits, 114 preachers, and 31,935 full members. The Methodist Episco- pal Church organized its work in Liberia in 1833. The Liberia Confer- ence returns of 1879 show 4 districts; 18 preachers; 47 local preachers; 2,110 lay members; 29 churches and 3 parsonages, valued at $22,925; 30 Sunday-schools, with 221 teachers and 1,560 scholars. The United Methodist Free Churches have also a flourishing mission work in Africa, but the recent statistics are not in hand. ftlethodlsm in Mexico. — Under appointment of the Methodist Episcopal Church Rev. Dr. William Butler organized the mission work in the city of Mexico in the spring of 1873. In the same year the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, South, entered the same field, the early work being supervised by Bishop Keener. In 1879 the Methodist Episcoijal statistical summaries were as follows: Missionaries, 6; assistant mission- aries, 6 ; missionaries of Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, 4, assisted by 4 Bible women; missionary teachers, 12; Mexican preachers, 13; lay members, 544 ; pupils of orphan school, 70; day-school teachers, 24, with 473 scholars ; Sunday-school teachers, 33, with 479 scholars ; the- ological students, 7 ; churches owned by the mission, 5 ; other preaching- halls, 14; parsonages, 5; value of Church property, $94,400; collections during year, $4,253. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, reported in 1879 in the Cen- tral Mexican Mission 30 stations, 14 preachers, 531 members, and 15 Sunday-schools, 8 day schools, with 186 Sunday-school scholars and 720 The Wesley Memorial Volume. 105 scholars in day-schools. In its Central Mexican Mission, (along the Rio Grande,) 13 stations, 14 missionaries, 651 members, 4,800 church attendants, 25 Sunday-schools, and 472 scholars. nietliodism in Soutli America.— The first Methodist Church was planted in Buenos Ayres in 1835 by Rev. F. E. Pitts. There are now three principal missions, viz. : at Buenos Ayres, Montevideo, and Rosario. The latest summaries show 3 missionaries and 3 assistants; 6 missionaries sent by the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society. There were also 3 native preachers and 6 local preachers; 693 lay members; 3 churches and 1 parsonage, valued at $61,000; 12 Sunday-schools, with 58 officers and teachers and 770 scholars. In 1879 Rev. William Taylor visited the western coast of South America, and opened schools and missions in several of the principal towns in Peru and Chili, and a year later repeated this work in Brazil. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, has stations at Rio de Janeiro and Piracruca, with two mission- aries and 36 members. Metho(li§m in the United States. — The first Methodist Soci- ety in America was organized in New York in October, 1776, by Philip Embury, a Wesleyan local preacher. Not far from the same time Robert Strawbridge, also a local preacher, began preaching in Frederick County, Md. Two years later, on the last Sunday in October, 1778, the John-street Church (then named Wesley Chapel) was dedicated. The present Methodist organizations in the United States, with their latest reported statistical summaries, are briefly represented below. Methodist Episcopal Chukch. — Organized out of the previous Wes- leyan Methodist Societies at the “ Christmas Conference,” 1784. Statistics for 1879 : Annual Conferences, (in 1880,) 95 ; missions not included in An- nual Conferences, 8 home missions and 9 foreign missions; bishops, 13; itinerant preachers, 11,636; local preachers, 12,475; lay members and probationers, 1,700,302; adult baptisms duidng 1879, 63,218, infant baptisms during year, 56,565, total baptisms for year, 119,783; church edifices, 16,955; value of churches, $62,520,417; parsonages, 5,689; value of parsonages, $8,435,092; total value of churches and parsonages, $70,955,509; Sunday-schools, 20,359; officers and teachers, 217,967; Sunday-school scholars, 1,449,315 ; missionary receipts for the year, $551,859 30; Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, $66,843 69; Church Extension Board, $110,653 98; Freedmen’s Aid Society, $75,260 76; total Conference collections, $882,278 91. Methodist Episcopal Chijech, South. — This Church was organized at a convention of delegates from the Southern Conferences of the Meth- Statistics of Methodism. 721 odist Episcopal Clmrch, held in Louisville, Kentucky, May 1, 1845. The first General Conference was held in 1846. Statistics for 1879: Bishops, 6;* Annual Conferences, 39; missions not included in Annual Conferences, 3; itinerant preachers, 3,867; local preachers, 5,832; white members, 816,294, colored members, l,251,t Indian members, 4,931, total members, 822,476 ; total preachers and lay members, 832,175 : adult baptisms during year, 49,798, infant baptisms during year, 28,011, total baptisms during year, 77,809; Sunday-schools, 8,941; Sunday- school teachers and oflicers, 58,528; Sunday-school scholars, 421,137; collections for Conference Claimants, $66,833 62; collections for mis- sions, $129,713 47. The Church South has missions in China, Mexico, and Brazil. (See p. 711.) Other Methodist Episcopal Churches in the United States. — The space allowed for this article compels the writer to omit the his- toric and statistical notes prepared concerning the other branches of the great Methodist family in the United States, except such as are given in the General Summary of Metliodist Churches on page 714. Methodist Churches of Canada. — In 1828 the Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada organized in a separate jurisdiction from the Church in the United States. The Canada Wesleyan Conference in 1833 changed its polity and became affiliated with the British Wesleyan Conference. In 1874, by a union of the Wesleyan and New Connection Conferences with the Wesleyan Conference of Eastern British America, the Methodist Church op Canada was organized. The statistics of 1880 show 6 Annual Conferences, with a total of 1,182 traveling minis- ters, 861 circuits, 122,627 lay members, 3,486 preaching-places, 1,802 Sunday-schools, 16,216 officers and teachers, and 126,818 scholars. Soon after the Canada Conference (in 1833) became affiliated with the British Wesleyan Conference, about one twelfth of the body, with a number of preachers, declined connection with the latter body, and in 1834 reorganized the Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada. The statistics for 1880 furnish the following summaries: Annual Confer- ences, 3 ; bishops, 1 , districts, 10 ; itinerant preachers, 281 ; local preachers, 299; deaths, 307; members, 28,070; church edifices, 536; parsonages, 130; value of churches and parsonages, $1,372,510; number of Sunday-schools, 423; officers and teachers, 3,591; scholars, 25,119. ♦Exclusive of Bishop Doggett, who died October 25, 1880. f Most of the colored members have been absorbed in the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. 722 The Wesley Memorial Volhjie. GENERAL SUMMARY OF METHODISTS. The following summaries have been compiled from the latest official statistics reported by the several bi-anches of the great Wesleyan Meth- odist family. Those of the Methodist Episcopal Church are to January 1, 1880, and include the official numerical returns of the autumnal Conferences of 1879. Those of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, are for 1879. Those of the Canadian, British, and affiliating Confer- ences are for 1880. In two or tliree of the Churches the numbers of local preachers are “estimated ; ’’ but in each of those by distinguished members of large observation in the respective denominations. I. Episcopal Methodists in United States Methodist Episcopal Church Methodist Episcopal Church, South African Methodist Episcopal Church Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Colored Methodist Episcopal Church Evangelical Association United Brethren Union American Methodist Episcopal Church. . Total Episcopal Methodists in United States. ; 21,833 25,265 3,316,154 II. Non-Episcopal Methodists in United States Methodist Protestant Church 1,314 925 113,405 American Wesleyan Church 250 200 25,000 Free Methodist Church 271 328 12,642 Primitive Methodist Church 196 162 3,210 Independent Methodist Church 24 12,550 Total Non-Bpiscopal Methodists in U. S 2,056 1,610 166,807 III. Methodists in Canada. The Methodist Church of Canada 1,190 3,537 122,955 Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada 282 299 28,070 Primitive Methodist Church 96 270 8,222 Bible Christian Church 73 197 7.254 British Methodist Episcopal Church (Colored). . . . 41 20 2,100 Total Methodists in Canada 1,682 4,323 168,601 IV. Methodists in Great Britain and Missions. British Wesleyan Methodists in Great Britain. . . . “ “ Missions 1,914 18,711 402,520 485 5,600 96,824 Primitive Methodists 1,142 15,517 182,691 New Connection Methodists 177 1,149 30,853 Wesleyan Reform Union 18 611 7,728 United Free Methodists 431 3,469 79,477 Bible Christians (including Australia) 234 1,874 21,292 Welsh Calvinistic Methodists 565 1,560 119,809 Total Methodists in Great Britain and Missions 4,966 48,691 940,194 Itinerant Local Lay- Ministers. Preachers. Members. 11,636 12,475 1,700,302 3,549 5,832 828,301 1,418 3,168 214,808 1,500 2,500 190,900 638 683 112,300 839 585 112,197 2,152 154,796 101 22 2,550 Statistics of Methodism. 723 Y. Wesleyan Aefiliating Conferences. Itinerant Ministers. Local Preachers. Lay Members. Irish Wesleyan Conference 244 1,800 25,186 French Wesleyan Conference 29 1,844 Australasian Conference 433 3,771 69,297 Total in Wesleyan Affiliating Conferences. . . 706 5,571 96,327 Grand Total of Ministers and Lay Members. Methodists in Churches in United States 23,888 26,875 3,482,961 “ Dominion of Canada 1,682 4.323 168,611 “ Great Britain and Missions 4,966 48,691 940,194 “ Affiliating Conferences 706 5,571 96,327 Grand total of Methodists in 1880 31,242 85,460 4,688,093 Note. — Total Methodist population, (estimated,) 23,440,465. GENEEAL COMPAEATIVE EELIGIOUS STATISTICS IN UNITED STATES. Ministers. Lay Members. All Methodists in the United States, Jannefry 1, 1879 23,888 3,506,891 All Baptists in the United States 20,292 2,656,221 All Presbyterians ill the United States 8,301 897,598 All Lutherans in the United States 2,976 808,428 All Conp:regationalists (including Unitarians) 3,496 375,654 All Protestant Episcopalians (including Eeformed Episcopal) 3,147 321,367 All Universalists 711 37,500 Note. — In the number of Ministers here given the Local Preachers are not included. The Methodist Local Preachers (many of whom are ordained, and a large number have been pastors of Churches) number in the United States 25,498. The total number of Meth- odist preachers in the United States in 1879 (not including other countries) was 48,526. STEENGTH OF METHODISM BY STATES. The space in this volume appropriated to this article will not permit the insertion of tabulated statistics showing the strength of the Churches in the several States in the United States in comparison with other denominations. The writer has before him the official “ Census of the State of l^ew York for 1875,” recently issued by the State authorities at Albany, and as the figures therein were compiled by impartial agents, and are later by five years than any similar statistics from other States, they are selected and inserted in full. They show the relative strength of the various religions denomina- tions in the Empire State, and indicate a fair average class of facts which would appear in similar statistics from a consider- able number of the great States of the Union. Indeed, in some of the States, especially in the South and West, the 724 The Wesley Memorial Volume. aggregate strength of Methodism would appear to even greater relative advantage than it does in the State of New York. Denominations in State. Organ- izati’nb Edi- fices. Sittings. Member- ship. Property. Annual Amo’nt Paid for Salaries of Clergy, Ch’ch Edifices, with Lots. Other Real Estate, Methodist Episcopal 1,785 1,766 619.382 180,782 $14,566,397 $2,428,475 $1,137,886 African M. E 48 47 14,065 8,261 274,800 16,400 19,095 African M. E. Zion 5 5 2,075 111 20,700 600 2,100 Calviuistic Metliodist. . . . IT 17 4.975 1.090 74,51)0 8,060 6,294 Evangelical Association.. 60 60 17,595 5,786 437,200 49,6.10 83,935 Independent Methodist.. 1 1 175 5 1,000 50 150 Methodist Protestant 15 15 8,531 884 28,300 8,245 5,005 Primitive Methodist 2 2 900 205 48,500 8,000 1,500 Reformed Methodist 5 5 1,250 217 7.800 1,700 1,800 United Brethren in Christ 4 4 870 130 4,400 1,500 750 Free Methodist 89 85 22,685 8,716 234,260 27,700 80,538 Wesleyan Methodist 52 52 13,175 2,713 148,300 15,850 17,464 Total Methodist 2,033 2,059 700,678 198,900 $15,845,657 $2,561,120 $1,255,016 Baptist 823 812 813,653 100,886 $8,371,800 $643,375 $630,391 Freewill Baptist 109 102 29,850 6,051 284,600 43,225 38,190 Seventh-Day Baptist 26 26 8,305 8,335 76,150 5,475 10,178 Total Baptist 958 940 351,'80S 109,972 $8,732,550 $697,076 $678,759 Presbyterian 716 708 338.442 111,660 $16,590,300 $2,523,870 $950,770 United Presbyterian 65 55 24,970 9,015 564,100 86.625 61,710 Reformed Presbyterian . . 23 23 9,250 3,023 356,700 9.075 28,650 Total Presbyterian 794 786 872,662 123,698 $17,511,100 $2,619,570 $1,041,130 22 22 10,650 1,583 846.100 14,850 24 24 6,750 ‘987 68.650 700 Not specified 45 44 11J05 2,394 221,200 14,900 91 90 29,105 4,964 $635,950 $30,450 Protestant Episcopal .... 561 552 226,092 78,515 21,616,750 2,984,620 810,872 Congregational 258 257 107,847 80,922 3,210,300 402,700 265,045 Kefo’ecUDut.)Ch. in U.S. 237 235 109,815 85,397 5,770,298 2,168,325 801,240 Evangelical Lutheran 201 200 77,781 84,439 2,010,000 458,860 186.658 Union 147 147 43,515 7,747 682.100 20,950 87,796 Universalist 115 113 41,978 9,651 1,413,400 88,300 96,280 Christian Connection .... 102 100 28,555 6.270 247.920 25,500 34,991 Carapbellites 28 26 8,840 2,8,30 111,700 700 15,265 Second Adventists 14 13 2,992 609 28,150 3.425 8,250 United Evangelical Ch'ch 13 13 5,970 3,699 68,300 6,500 8,425 Reformed Church in U.S. 11 11 4.610 1,821 85,000 18,900 9,300 10 16 8,560 2,477 817,000 46,000 Moravian 10 10 2,515 663 163,400 20,250 5;300 TrueReformedDutch Ch. 7 7 2,120 244 73,500 2,000 8,900 New Jerusalem Church. . 7 6 1,575 200 158,800 5,000 8,100 8 8 2.000 326 35,000 2 2 880 40,000 2,900 Seventh-Day Adventists. 2 2 850 84 5,600 650 2 2 800 61 700 Advent Chris. Association 1 1 800 53 4,500 600 Roman Catholic 613 609 887,226 * 518,714 18,301,590 4,866,490 467,814 Jewish 46 43 25,446 5,775 3,536,500 65,500 79,590 Grand total in New York 6,320 6.243 2,537,470 1,177,470 $101,105,765 $16,491,385 $5,308,231 * The Roman Catholic Church counts in its membership the whole of its population — includ- ing men, women, and children, irrespective of practical religion or age. Hence the numerical returns of that. denomination are not to be considered in any equitable comparison between the leading Churches of the country. The remarkable relative success of Methodism thus far in this and in other countries imposes upon her ministers and members corresponding obhgations of continued loyalty to her “ doctrines,” “ polity,” and “ usages.” Hie signis vmcemus. APPENDIX. In 1875, while'the Rev. Alexander M. Wynn was pastor of the Wesley Church, in Savannah, Ga., he happily conceived the idea of building the Wesley Monumental Church. Mr. Wynn early conferred with his presiding elder, the editor of this volume, who gave to the scheme his unqualified commendation. Its warm approval by the Quarterly Conference composed of Wesley Church and Trinity Chitrch, was soon most heartily given. It was, from the first, decided to make the enterprise a connectional and ecumenical one, and that all Methodists, who honor the name of John Wesley, should be invited to take part in it. It was con- fidently believed that it would prove a pledge of fraternal union between the various branches of the great Methodist family, and bring them into closer fellowship. In this spirit the enterprise was begun, and in this S 2 jirit it has been steadily carried on. In our godly judgment, as we believe, no Church scheme was ever more fully baptized by prayer and faith, or begun with an eye more single to the glory of God, whose servant John Wesley was, and the general good of that Methodism which he founded and bequeathed to his followers. Solicited by the Quarterly Conference in Savannah, and urged by his presiding Bishop, George Foster Pierce, D.D., LL.D., the editor of this volume entered upon the task of uniting in this enterprise the Methodisms of the world. For two years his efforts were purely tentative — only a jjart of his time taken from his regular pastoral labors being devoted to it. This was kept up, at intervals, until the meeting of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, held at Atlanta, Ga., May, 1878. At that General Conference the Monumental Church received the unanimous approval of that great bodjq and the editor who writes these lines was appointed, commissioned, and sent to the various Methodisms of the world to solicit the co- operation of them all. In so doing the General Conference gave the highest assurance of the connectional and ecumenical char- 726 The Wesley Memoeial Toluhe. aeter of the work. For what sectional or merely local Church, by any possibility, could have secured such approval from the Gen- eral Conference 'i Thus commissioned, the editor began anew his labors, and with what success the following papers will show : I. Fkom thx Methopist Episcopal Church, South. To build a befitting monument in honor of our great founder we ask the friends of Clirist .and of Methodism evcrv-where to help us, believing that now is pre-eminently a fitting time, and that Savaimah is, beyond itll others, the place in America to erect such a Christian memorial of mutual fellowship, fraternity, and love. A. M. Wtss, P.astor "Vresley Church, Savann.ah, E. H. Myers, Pastor Trinity Church, Savannah, J. 0. A. Clark, Presiding Elder, Savannah District, Lovick Pierce, South Georgia Conference, Charles P. Deems, Church of the Strangers, Yew York City, J. Houmch, Secretary American Bible Society. E. Paine, George F. Pierce, H. H. Kavaxaugh, W. M. Wightman, D. S. Doggett, H. Y. M'Tyeire, J. C. Keener, Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The South Georgia Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, December, 1ST6, passed the following preamble and resolutions : TP/trreas, It is proposed to erect in the city of Savannah, Ga., a monument to the memory of John Wesley, the illustrious founder of Methodism, in the form of a beautiful and commodious church edifice, to be called the Wesley Monumental Church; and WAereos, Such a building has been commenced and is in course of erection, with the promise of completion at no distant day ; and ITAcretiis, This enterprise is one which appeals strongly to every Methodist heart, and should awaken a feeling of interest in every member of the Church which bears his honored name ; Besolvcd, 1. That the erection of such a monument meets with the cordial ap- proval of this Conference, and that we commend this enterprise to the favorable consideration of our ministers and members throughout the South Georgia Confer- ence, and bespeak for it their generous co-operation and assistance. 2. Tliat we gratefully recognize and appreciate the favor with which this enter- prise has been met by our brethren of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Wes- leyan Methodist Church, and the material aid which has been given by them. 8. That we commend to the generous sympathies of Methodists throughout the world the pastor of this Church, or any other person properly authorized to repre- sent its interests and solicit aid in bringing to a successful completion this fitting testimonial of our love and veneration for the memory of John Wesley. Appendix. 727 4. That the Presiding Bishop be requested to give Rev. Dr. J. 0. A. Clark such an appointment as will enable him to give a large part of his time to the interests of this Church. D. S. Doggett, Presiding Bishop. 5. D. Clements, Sea-etary. At the late General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, held at Atlanta, Ga., U. S. A., May 1-26, 1878, the following resolutions were heartily and unanimously adopted ; Resolved, 1. That the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in General Conference assembled at Atlanta, Ga., May 9, 1878, indorse the Wesley Monumental Church at Savannah, Ga., and commend it to Methodists the world over as an enterprise eminently proper and meeting our hearty approval. 2. That the bishops be and are hereby authorized, when they deem it expedient, to appoint an agent to represent this memorial church to Wesley, and to solicit the aid of Methodists every-where to bring it to an early completion. In accordance with the action of the General Conference, it was announced to the Conference that the Rev. J. 0. A. Clark, D.D., LL.D., was set apart and com- missioned for the special work contemplated in the above resolutions. Thomas 0. Summers, Secretary. To the Methodists of the United States, the Canadas, (Treat Britain, and Ireland, greeting : Know, therefore, that by the authority of the General Conference, and with the consent and approval of the College of Bishops, I, as the bishop presiding in the South Georgia Annual Conference, have appointed the Rev. J. 0. A. Clark, D.D., LL.D., agent for the Wesley Monumental Church at Savannah, Ga. Dr. Clark is an effective member of the South Georgia Annual Conference, a brother worthy and well beloved, and is hereby commended to your confidence, sympathy, and co-operation. Receive him in the name of our Lord ; and for the sake of our common Methodism and the name of the great and good Wesley — whom we venerate as you do — help him in the work to which he has been ap- pointed. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Signed by the authority of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, the College of Bishops authorizing and approving. George F. Pierce, One of the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Atlanta, Ga., U. S. A., May 25, 1878. Besides the above general commission a special commission was given to the Wesleyan Conference of Great Britain, which was presented to the Conference at Bradford. n. From the Methodist Episcopal Church. Round Lake, N. T., July 9, 1876. To whom these rrmy come, greeting : The bearer, the Rev. Dr. J. 0. A. Clark, by proper authority, represents the proposition of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in Savannah, Ga., to build in that city a Wesley Monumental Church. 728 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. We think the proposal a beautiful and very important one. We cordially com- mend it to all Methodists every-where, especially to those of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, and bespeak for it their sympathy and financial assistance. E. S. Janes, W. L. Harris, Thomas Bowman, I. W. Wiley, K. S. Foster, E. G. Andrews, Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church. At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Bound Lake Camp-meeting Asso- ciation, held at Round Lake, July 10, 18Y5, the following preamble and resolution were unanimously adopted : Whereas, It is contemplated to erect a Monumental Church at Savannah, Ga., to commemorate the scene of Wesley’s earliest and only labors in America, an en- terprise in which the whole family of Methodism throughout the world will be appealed to. Resolved, That we depart from a fixed rule of this Association, prohibiting all financial collections on these grounds, in this exceptional instance, which cjn never again occur, and that we heartily invite all like-minded to participate in this most filial and worthy undertaking, and to present their offerings to our esteemed brother. Rev. Dr. Clark, the representative of the Savannah Church. Joseph Hillman, President. W. S. Kelley, Secretary. At the Round Lake Camp-meeting a collection was taken up for the church in Savannah. The late Bishop Janes, then senior Bishop, introduced the subject in the name of the trustees of the Association, and headed the subscription, which was conducted by the Rev. Dr. Ives. Nearly .$1,500 was the result. There were also several special pledges. A gentleman of Troy promised the altar railing ; Mrs. Dr. Newman the Bible ; Mrs. Hillman the Hymn Book ; Mrs. Bishop Simpson the communion service ; and Mrs. Dr. Sewall, of Baltimore, pledged the ladies of the North to furnish the auditorium. In this work Mrs. Sewall will be assisted by Mrs. Governor Wright, of New York; Mrs. Dr. Newman, of New York ; Mrs. Hill- man, of Troy ; Mrs. General Fisk, of St. Louis ; Mrs. Bishop Simpson, of Philadel- phia; Mrs. President Hayes, of Washington City, and others. At a meeting of the Philadelphia Camp-meeting Association, held at Chester Heights, July 22, ISIS, the following action was taken: Resolved, That we assure Dr. Clark of our full sympathy in the Monumental Church to Rev. John Wesley. We regard this effort to perpetuate the memory of our illustrious founder under God as worthy of the aid and co-operation of all lovers of our common Methodism. We most cordially recommend Dr. Clark and the Wesley Monumental Church to the liberality of our friends and brethren here and in all parts of the country. J. B. M’Cdllodgh, Preside . T. A. Fernlet, Secretary. Appendix. 729 At the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at Baltimore, the following was given ; Baltimore, May 30, 1876. To whom these may come, greeting : We heartily approve the indorsement of the Wesley Monumental Church — now building in Savannah, Ga. — by our colleagues at Round Lake, July 9, 1876, and, with them, think the proposal “ a beautiful and very important one,” and cordially commend it to the sympathy and liberality of Methodists every-where, and espe- cially to those of the Methodist Episcopal Church. L. Scott, M. Simpson, G. Haven, S. M. Merrill, Jesse T. Peck, Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church. From the Fraternal Messengers of the Methodist Episcopal Church to the Wes- leyan Conference at Bradford, England : To the Methodists of Great Britain and Ireland, greeting : The Rev. J. 0. A. Clark, D.D., LL.D., a member of the South Georgia Confer- ence of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of the United States of America, with a commission from his General Conference, held at Atlanta, Ga., May, 1878, is endeavoring to procure from those who cherish the name of John Wesley, wherever they may live, contributions to aid in the erection of a substantial me- morial church in Savannah, Ga., where John Wesley lived and preached two years, and tried several of the methods afterward more fully developed in Great Britain and America. Dr. Clark’s enterprise has already reached a good degree of success, and in due time will, without doubt, be completed. Savannah is a large and growing city, and this church will be a memorial, and also practically and constantly useful. Numbers of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the North have contributed toward it ; and already the presentation of the object in different parts of our country has had a marked effect in reviving and deepening the , fraternity of the two great Methodist Churches in America. We shall be glad to see the memorial church completed by contributions from all lands where John Wesley’s work is known and admired. Thomas Bowman, E. 0. Haven, Fraternal Delegates from the Methodist Episcopal Church to the Wesleyan Conference of Great Britain, at Bradford, London, August 20, 1878. HI. From Georgia’s Senators and Representatives in the United States Congress. Washington, D. C., March 17, 1876. We, the undersigned, members of the Forty-fourth Congress from the State of Georgia, take great pleasure in recommending the Wesley Monumental Church, now building in Savannah, Ga., to the memory of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, and solicit for it the sympathy and financial aid of the people of these 730 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. United States every-where, north and south, east and west, believing it to be an enterprise eminently worthy, and pre-eminently calculated to develop and foster that fraternal spirit, the return of which to all parts of our common country all good men desire to see. T. M. Norwood, U. S. Senator, J. B. Gordon, U. S. Senator, Julian Hartridge, M. C., First District, William E. Smith, M. C., Second District. Philip Cook, M. C., Third District, J. E. Harris, M. C., Fourth District, J. H. Blount, M. C., Sixth District, W. H. Felton, M. C., Seventh District, Benjamin H. Hill, M. C., Ninth District. IV. From the President oe the United States op America. Executive Department, Washington, June 22, ISTS. My Dear Sir : I have the pleasure of introducing to you the Eev. Dr. Clark, of Georgia. He is a distinguished clergyman of the Southern Methodist Episcopal Church, and is about to go abroad in the interests of an enterprise connected with the Church. I will esteem it a favor personal to myself if you can aid him. Sincerely, R. B. Hates. Hon. John Welsh, Minister to England. V. From the Secretary op State op the United States op America. Department op State, Washington, D. C., June 26, ISYS. To the Diplomatic and Consular Officers of the United States : Gentlemen : I take pleasure in introducing to your acquaintance the Rev. Dr. J. 0. A. Clark, of Macon, Ga., who is about proceeding abroad on a commission from the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to the Wesleyan Conference of Great Britain. I beg to commend Dr. Clark to such courtesies on your part as may be in your power, not inconsistent with your official duties. I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant, W. M. Evarts. VI. From the Methodist Protestant Church op the United States. Ltnchburgh, Va., April 16, 1879. Eev. J, 0. A, Clark, D.D., LL.D. : Dear Sir and Brother : Allow us the pleasure of presenting to you the fra- ternal greetings of the Methodist Protestant Church in connection with your laud- able enterprise of erecting a memorial church in Savannah, Ga., and to assure you that our Church is sensitively observant, not only of every thing pertaining to our holy Christianity, but of every thing that relates to our cherished Methodism; and that in common with every other branch of the Methodist family, the mem- bers of the Methodist Protestant Church will be highly gratified with your com- plete success. Appendix. 731 The appropriateness of such a monument to the ministry of Mr. Wesley in Savannah must be apparent to all, and will be duly appreciated wherever Method- ism is known. For who can tell what Methodism owes to the providential asso- ciation of the Wesley brothers with the Moravian immigrants, who accompanied them in their mission to our American shores ? May our common Methodism never cease to be “ Christianity in earnest.” Yours in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, L. W. Bates, President. G. B. M’Eleoy, Secretary. VII. From the African Methodist Episcopal Church op the United States. Booms op the Bishops’ Council of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Baltimore, Md., April 25, ISYO. Having been informed — through the agency of the Rev. J. 0. A. Clark, D.D., LL.D. — of the purpose and plans of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to erect a monumental house of worship in the city of Savannah, Ga., commemorative of the life and work of the apostolic Wesley and our common Methodism, and deeming the enterprise admirably adapted to fraternize all the branches of the great Methodist family ; We, the Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, do hereby indorse the enterprise ; and, looking forward with pleasure to its ultimate success, we earnestly wish it God-speed. In testimony w'hereof we severally subscribe our names. Daniel A. Payne, Senior Bishop, Alexander W. Weyman, Jabez P. Campbell, James A. Shorter, T. M. E. Ward, John M. Brown. VIII. From the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church of America. Macon, Ga., December 18, 1878. We, the undersigned, take great pleasure in recommending the Wesley Monu- mental Church, now building in Savannah, Ga., as an appropriate and eminently worthy memorial of John Wesley, the founder of our common Methodism. W. H. Miles, J. A. Beebe, L. H. Holsey, Isaac Lane, Bishops of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church of America. IX. From the Methodist Church of Canada. Montreal, January 31, 1879. My Dear Dr. Clark ; The scheme to erect a memorial church in the city of Savannah has, from the very first, been to me full of interest, as tending to honor the name of the beloved founder of Methodism. For evermore is the name of 46 732 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. Savannah sacred in our Methodist annals as the place where the heroic spirit of Wesley began to be trained for that magnificent work which, under God, he subse- quently accomplished. I am confident that the sympathies of the Methodist Church of Canada are with you in your great and noble work. Wishing you every success, I am yours, etc., George Douglass, President of the General Conference of the Methodist Church of Canada. X. From the Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada. Belleville, Ont., Canada, January 17, 1879. Rem. J. 0. A. Clark, D.D., LL.D. : Dear Brother; The project of a Wesley memorial church in Savannah has my hearty accord. There is an inspiration to coming generations in monuments ; and to Methodists — indeed, to the Christian world — no more inspiring or instructive monument could be reared than a worthy church edifice at the center of interest of Wesley’s labors on the American continent, signalizing that thus far he had taken the world for Christ. With Christian and fraternal greetings, A. Carman, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada. XI. From the Weslevans of Great Britain and Ireland. The action of the British Wesleyan Conference, begun at Bradford, England, July 23, appears in the “ Minutes ” of the Conference, as follows : savannah memorial church. The Conference, having heard a statement from the Eev. Dr. Clark, of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, South, in reference to a project for building a memorial church to commemorate the labors of the Eev. John Wesley, at Savannah, Ga., cordially recommends this scheme to the favorable consideration and hearty sym- pathy of the Connection. In “The [London] Watchman” and in “The [London] Methodist Kecorder” the action of the same Conference was reported as follows : Dr. Clark, of the American Methodist Episcopal Church, South, gave an address on the subject of the John Wesley Monumental Church, which was being built in Savannah, Ga. He said he stood before them in the name and by the authority of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and he might also say, in reference to his special object in now addressing them, of the whole Methodism of the United States. They propose to build a Monumental Church to Mr. John Wesley, in Sa- vannah. They could not forget that it was in Savannah that John Wesley origi- nated the class-meeting and the Sunday-school. It was there, too, he was led to apprehend the doctrine of Christian perfection, and there his high-Church notions got their death-blow. It was at Savannah he gathered the children in Sunday- school nearly fifty years before Mr. Kaikes first conceived the idea in England. Mr. Wesley had to bless God in after years for having led him to Georgia. In Sa- Appendix 733 Savannali Mr. "Wesley’s name had done as much for the Episcopal Church as for Methodism, and his influence probably accounted for the evangelical views which were long characteristic of the Episcopal clergy of Georgia. Dr. Gervase Smith said he had listened with delight to the address. If the Con- ference could do any thing to further the object which Dr. Clark had in view, he should be thankful. The President, the Rev. Dr. Rigg, said that it was very desirable that Methodism should have a Monumental Church at Savannah, a church worthy of, and corre- sponding to, Mr. "Wesley’s work in Georgia. Dr. Smith then moved, which was seconded by Dr. Punshon and Dr. Pope, that the Conference heartily commend this undertaking to the kindly consideration of our people, which was unanimously agreed to. The President, addressing Dr. Clark, said : We are very glad to have had among us a representative of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. That Church has done wonders for the colored people of the Southern States, and has preserved Methodist doctrines and traditions with singular fidelity. The following editorial, from the pen of the Rev. John H. James, D.D., ex-Pres- ident of the Wesleyan Conference, and editor of “ The [London] Watchman,” ap- peared in that paper September 4, 1818 : THE WESLEY MONUMENTAL CHURCH IN SATAENAH. We have much pleasure in calling attention to the appeal of Dr. Clark relative to the erection of the above-named church. That appeal is so powerfully backed by the highest Methodist authorities, both in America and England, and is, more- over, in itself, so reasonable and graceful, that we can hardly doubt of its success. There is, perhaps, no episode in all our founder’s history more strangely or pain- fully interesting than that of his sojourn in Georgia, and his checkered and disap- pointing experiences there. He went out before he had attained to the clear and definite experience of spiritual religion, partly in the natural but delusive hope of finding rest to his soul while laboring for the conversion of the Georgia Indians. By the good providence of God he learned not a little of the nature of evangelical go'dliness on his outward voyage, but not enough to rescue him from the fear of death, or to appease altogether the unrest of his soul. He was destined to much vexation and disappointment, and to become the victim of a good deal of misrepre- sentation and calumny. These, however, were overruled for good, and were among the links of that mysterious chain which, soon after his return to England, drew him into the broader and brighter places of scriptural assurance and spiritual serenity and peace. Nor was his work in Georgia by any means wholly in vain. Had he done no more than bring the young under systematic religious instruction, that fact alone should have sufficed to immortalize his name ; for he anticipated by nearly half a century the plans and labors of Robert Raikes. But he did much more. Defective as was his knowledge of evangelical theology, it was far in advance of that of almost all his fellow-clergymen ; and he left the impress of that theology so clearly and deeply stamped that the Protestant Episcopal clergy of the State of Georgia have been singularly free from latitudinarianism on the one hand, and rit- ualistic superstition on the other. Indeed, this fact has operated unfavorably upon 734 The Wesley Memorial Volume. the extension of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Savannah. It seems to us a fair and reasonable ground for appealing to British Wesleyanism on the present occasion to remind them of the fact that Savannah was the sole scene of the per- sonal labors of John Wesley in the United States; and we hope that many will practically acknowledge how graceful would be the act of building a memorial church in honor and commemoration of the founder of Methodism in this sphere of his earliest missionary labor. Possibly this may be pooh-poohed as being pm-ely sentimental. Even if we were to grant that there is a good deal of this in it, the scheme would not much differ from a good many with which we are, and long have been, pretty familiar. But it has this feature in common with such enterprises generally — that, if it savors of sentiment in its origin, it is eminently and most benignly practical in its aims. It proposes to erect not only a sanctuary that, in its size and architectural excellence, shall be worthy of the great man after whom it is to be named, and of the great American Church, which is the most wonderful among the manifold results of his labors, but it is intended also to promote the work of varied and extensive Chris- tian education. These are objects dear to all true Wesleyans, wherever the attempt is made to carry them out ; and they should command the practical sympathy of British as of all other Methodists. The proposal comes recommended to us by another powerful consideration, namely, that it has had quite the effect of the olive branch between the Northern and the Southern Methodist Churches of the United States. The unhappy separa- tion which the question of slavery induced between the North and South a genera- tion ago has ceased to be a cause of strife between the two Churches ; and one of the first signs of the passing away of the mutual alienation then engendered has been the generous, warm, and brotherly reception given to the proposal by the highest authorities of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the liberal response rendered to the appeal of its Bishops by the members of that Church generally. Every one familiar with the disastrous results of the separation, and the feeling of intense mutual hostility which it engendered, will rejoice exceedingly at this cheer- ing token and presage of “ the healing of the breach ; ” and will be ready to foster it according to his ability. W e trust — nay, we have sanguine hope — that it may prove to be the bridge on which both parties may move forward, not only to per- fect accord, but to early re-incorporation ; and it is worth any one’s while to place a stone or a brick in a structure which is likely to help forward such a result. Some persons will inquire wonderingly, how it comes to pass that Methodists of America should think of asking British Wesleyans for help in such an undertaking. Well, the scale of the proposed undertaking is large enough to require cosmopoli- tan support ; and the uniqueness of the historical circumstances constitutes a justi- fication of the proceeding. _ Besides, let us remind our readers of the amazing gen- erosity which the Methodists of America have shown, in more instances than one, toward Wesleyan schemes on this side of the Atlantic — notably, in aid of some of the most recent and important projects for the consolidation and extension of Methodism in Ireland. Now, British and Irish Methodism are emphatically one. Both are under the supreme government of “ the Conference of the people called Methodists,” and ten Irish ministers are members of the body to which, in law, that designation belongs. Surely some practical return is due for all that transatlantic generosity. Surely the hearty and general support of Dr. Clark’s proposals by all Methodists in all parts of the world will be a worthy way not only of maintaining but of exhibiting “ the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The scattered Appekdix. 735 members and communities of other Churches are seeking to draw closer the bonds of mutual sympathy and fellowship. In some attempts having that object in view we are pained to see, that apparently it can only be attained by a degree of theological compromise which, however it may promote external uniformity, has in it no ele- ment or promise of real and vital unity. But here there is no such danger. The Methodist theology, all the world over, is singularly symtnetrical and uniform ; and a closer union and co-operation between the branches of the great Methodist family would be a real and a mighty gain to the cause of true unity. The Conference has heartily indorsed the scheme, which is emphatically com- mended by such men as the President, and Drs. Punshon and Gervase Smith ; all of whom know America well. For all these reasons, and for others which need not now be named, we commend the cause which Dr. Clark advocates to the sympa- thizing and generous support of the Wesleyan Methodists of Great Britain and Ireland. In “The [London] Methodist,” September 13, 1878, the Rev. J. Jackson Wray, its editor, wrote the following leader : THE JOHN WESLEY MONUMENTAL CHURCH IN SAVANNAH. The exhaustive and interesting statement made by our transatlantic visitor. Dr. Clark, to the members of the late Conference, and published verbatim in our col- umns, together with the unusually emphatic credentials which this worthy repre- sentative of Methodism in the Southern States enabled us to print in a later num- ber of The Methodist, renders it almost needless to call the attention of our readers to the important mission which has brought him to our shores. It is in- tended to erect a large and handsome Methodist church in Savannah, and to attach to it an educational agency which shall be of great and lasting service to the inter- ests of Methodism, and therefore of evangelical Christianity throughout the whole of the region round about. We do not hesitate to say, that there is good reason why British Methodism should not only be willing but eager to have part and lot in this important undertaking. In the first place, let it be remembered that the State of Georgia was the scene and center of John Wesley’s missionary labors in the United States. It was on his outward journey thither that important progress was made in his religious views and feelings, progress which had much to do with his full reception of the heavenly vision in after times. There he was in labors more abundant, under the influence of a constraining hunger for the truth and for the peace which it alone can bring, which appears to us to form one of the most im- pressively touching episodes in his remarkable history. There he anticipated the grand idea of Robert Raikes, and instituted a Sunday-school organization, the fore- runner and germ of one of the most glorious evangelic movements of the nineteenth century. There, too, John Wesley succeeded in laying the basis of so clear and distinct an evangelical Christianity that all the phases of thought and changes of opinion which have obtained since then have been unable to move the Church he established from the pure simplicity of the faith once delivered to the saints. In the second place, this idea of a Savannah memorial church has already done, and is stUl doing, very much to heal the'wound made by the separation in a past genera- tion of the Southern from the Northern Churches on the slavery question. Strong sympathy with the present movement has been shown by Bishops, ministers, and members of the Northern Church, and all the signs of the times point with hopeful 736 The Wesley Memoeial Volume. finger to the full reunion of the two in the bonds of amity and peace. We should count it an honor and a joy to be able in any wise to aid in the rewelding of the bonds of holy Methodistic brotherhood that have been too long asunder. In the third place, British Methodism may well be anxious to show a parental interest in and an earnest anxiety for the welfare of that most muscular and stalwart of all her children, the Methodist Church of America. Methodism all round the world is essentially one in doctrine, almost one in discipline, and certainly in aim ; and he is a true and genuine Methodist who strives heartily and constantly to bring all the sec- tions of this great religious family into intimate relationship each with the other. In many ways, and by many means, the mighty Methodism of the West has shown its interest in, and its esteem for, the old Church at home, and we should be thank- ful for such a practical opportunity of reciprocating such real affection and good feeling. Dr. Clark’s mission is to secure financial aid in England and Ireland for this grand memorial enterprise. Those of our leading ministers who have personal acquaintance with Methodism in America — men like Drs. Jobson, Pope, Punshon, and Smith — have indorsed the application. The Conference has passed a unani- mous resolution in its favor ; and we would sincerely hope that this respected dep- utation from the Methodist Episcopal Church. South, will return to his native land bearing abundant and tangible proof of the love, esteem, and good wishes of British Methodism for those across the Atlantic who bear the same name, honor the mem- ory of the same noble apostolic founder, are loyal to the same doctrinal formulas, and are engaged in the same glorious mission of spreading scriptural holiness through all lands. We wish God-speed to Dr. Clark in the accomplishment of his errand, and bespeak for him a kind reception and a hearty response from the “ Methodist Societies in Great Britain and Ireland.” In “The [London] Recorder,” September 2'!, ISYS, there appeared a strong address by the Rev, Dr. Gervase Smith, ex-President of the Wesleyan Conference, urging upon British Methodists the claims of the Wesley Monumental Church. Accompanying and introducing Dr. Smith’s address was the following leader, from the pen of its editor, the Rev. W. Morley Punshon, LL.D. : We earnestly ask the attention of our readers to a letter from the Rev. Dr. Ger- vase Smith, which we publish this week. It is exceptional for any scheme not directly conferential to be thus warmly advocated, but the circumstances, as the doctor says, are not only exceptional, but unique. A memorial church and schools to John Wesley in the city of Savannah ! There is something cosmopolitan, and inspiring also, in the thought. To devout students of the ways of God with man, how deep emotions are stirred, and holy recollections awakened, as the memories of John Wesley in Georgia rise before the eye of the mind ! A bootless mission, an unsatisfactory waste of time and labor, an ascetic experiment in a disastrous retreat, after the exhibition of a rigid auster- ity, and no small heroism of determined purpose — such are the conclusions to which many would come in reference to Mr. Wesley’s residence in Savannah. But who can doubt that all this discipline was part of a grand preparative process by which he was schooled through the “ uses of adversity ” for future usefulness and blessing ; by which he was taught sympathy, and patience, and self-renunciation, and courage — apostolic graces which the apostolical life, to which he was desig- nated, required. Appendix. 737 The Georgian era, no less than the subsequent experience, is the traditional her- itage of uniyersal Methodism. True, he was then a ritualist, a bigot, and a some- what severe and unbending neophyte in government ; but these were only the youthful exaggerations of great virtues. His ritualism was simply reverence gone mad for the time ; his bigotry was subdued by the wise Providence which ordained that his greatest blessings should come to him through chaimels which he would at one time have despised ; and the mortification of his Georgia failure taught him to govern more wisely, and impressed on him the truth which Church rulers are so slow to learn, that the compactest system is of infinitely less value than the fee- blest man. We repeat it; John Wesley was the better for his toil and travail in Savaimah, and that city ought to possess a temple to his memory to which all Methodism had gratefully contributed, and which will be more to the glory of God and to the fulfillment of his great life-work than the memories which now cluster only around “Wesley’s Oak” and “Wesley’s Spring.” In the “ Wesleyan-Methodist Sunday-school Magazine” for October, 18V8, the Rev. Charles H. Kelly, editor of the magazine, and Sunday-school Secretary of the Wesleyan Conference, with the full and hearty approval of Dr. Rigg, the President of the Conference, put the engraving of the Wesley Monumental Church, and accompanied it with the following editorial : WESLEY MEMORIAL CHURCH AND SUNDAY-SCHOOL IN SAVANNAH. Very properly it has been resolved to erect a suitable monument to the memory of John Wesley in the only city in America in which he was minister. The connection of Wesley with Savannah, though short, was eventful, and, though painful, it was interesting. As Methodists, perhaps we may be thankful both for its brevity and bitterness. Probably if it had been more agreeable to our founder, Georgia might have had a splendid missionary, and Savannah a very able and worthy citizen in Wesley ; but Methodism might never have been known, and Great Britain and the world would have suffered terribly in consequence. But God rules all things wisely. We are thankful that Georgia’s loss was Christendom’s gain. Now, after all these years our friends in Savannah propose to erect a monument to Wesley. Of what sort is it to be ? Wisely they have determined that it shall be a memorial church and Sunday-school of noble proportions, and admirably constructed. This is far better than having a great bronze or marble statue in some public place. That might be beautiful as a work of art, and commemorative, but it would con- tinue bronze or marble — it would be a dead thing ; but in this church and school there will be life. In them the work of Wesley will be continued. The gospel will be preached and taught. Living minds and souls will be wrought upon, and in each case a man or woman, youth or maiden, boy or girl, will go forth from the monumental building a personal monument of the blessedness of the religion of Wesley’s great Master. We do not wonder that the Savannah Methodists wish to enlist the sjunpatbies of aU members of the Methodist family scattered over the world in their enter- prise. They are very anxious that the Sunday-school workers and scholar.^ in Great Britain and Ireland should contribute one or two memorial windows for the auditorium- or the Sunday-school. A subscription of two hundred guineas will secure the first, and one hundred guineas the second. Will our Sunday-school V38 The Wesley Memoeial Volhiie. friends help this movement? Let them remember that John Wesley was, when at Savannah, a pioneer in Sunday-school work, for that he engaged in it in that city nearly fifty years before Kobert Raikes began his movement in Gloucester. Let us help, therefore, to adorn this monument where he did commence the school. A very little effort will insure immediate success. One collection even at the school doors would realize the whole amount. Let what is done be done quickly, as the Rev. Dr. Clark shortly leaves England. Contributions can be sent to the Rev. Dr. Clark, care of the Rev. Charles H. Kelly, Secretary of the Connectional Sunday- School Union, 2, Ludgate Circus Buildings, London, E. C. The Rev. Dr. James, in “The [London] Watchman,” October 16, IS'ZS, published two addresses to the Methodists of Great Britain and Ireland, the one, by Chancel- lor E. 0. Haven, a fraternal messenger from the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States to the Wesleyan Conference of Great Britain and Ireland, in the interest of the proposed Ecumenical Methodist Council ; and the other by the editor of this volume, in behalf of the memorial church in Savannah. In “ The Watchman,” of the same date, the leader given below was written by Dr. James: f DR. HAVEN AND DR. CLARK. Our readers will, we have no doubt, peruse the letters of these two distinguished men which we print on the preceding page. Dr. Haven’s letter relates to a subject which awakened considerable interest at the recent Conference in Bradford, in ref- erence to which subject the Conference appointed a committee to meet during the year to consider the proposal, and to report to the next Conference. We feel some difficulty in appearing, in any degree, to anticipate the discussions of that committee. It will meet in perfect freedom and confidence, and will give to the subject the thorough and respectful consideration which its own importance, and the great and weighty influence of the quarter whence the question comes, demand. There is something captivating to the imagination in the prospect of an “Ecumen- ical Methodist Conference.” Perhaps, however, there may be a good many who will think, as the doctor himself did awhile ago, that such gatherings are “ more ornamental than useful.” That aspect of the question will assuredly receive the attention of the committee, as will the practical as well as sentimental reasons which our much-esteemed correspondent urges in behalf of the proposal. Of one thing we may be sure, namely, that if held at all, such a Conference would be formed on an inclusive and not exclusive principle. There is considerable diversity of form, polity, and even ritual, among the various bodies of Methodists in the world ; and. each section would be duly represented. Moreover, no “ burning questions ” would be likely to produce fiery and angry discussion. At the present moment the ecclesiastical differences between the various forms of Methodism, which were once matters of such fierce controversy, are fewer and smaller than they ever were, and are likely to become fewer and smaller still. Theological con- troversy is out of the question. The simple and broad basis of Wesley’s first four volumes of “Sermons,” and his “Notes on the New Testament” has been sufficient to secure pretty complete doctrinal unity ; and on the vital truths embraced in the experimental theology of Methodism there is far more than merely substantial agreement. The questions with which an Ecumenical Methodist Conference would have to deal would be almost exclusively practical ; and we may entertain the sanguine Appendix. 739 hope that it would be highly promotive of that unity which distinguishes the Meth- odist Churches even now above all others, and creates among Methodists of every shade a family feeling all over the world. The spirit which originated the proposal in America, and in which it was commended to the British Conference by Dr. Ha- ven, will secure for it as favorable a consideration a.s possible ; and whatever may be the decision on the immediate question, we cannot doubt that good results will follow. ^ We could wish that Dr. Clark had had the opportunity of urging his case before such a Conference. We feel unbounded confidence as to what the result would be. It is very likely, indeed, that a Pan-Methodist Conference would have secured for our respected guest all, and perhaps more than all, that he so powerfully and eloquently pleads for in his speeches and letters. We beseech our readers to give his vigorous, eloquent, and fine-tempered letter the candid and attentive perusal which it so obviously deserves. We should be sorry indeed if he should return disappointed to Savannah. There can be no reason whatever why a world-raised monument should not be built in memory of him whose motto was, “ The world is my parish ; ” but very many reasons may be, and have been, given why it should. And if it should, surely no place is more appropriate than Savannah, where his first missionary labors be-' gan, and where, in spite of his personal disappointments, and apparent failure, he has left an evangelical savor which “ smells sweet ” to this very day. There is no little pathos in Dr. Clark’s eloquent appeal, and the spirit of British hospitality, as well as that of Methodist brotherhood, calls for a worthy response. The kind of tu quoque argument in which the writer indulges is perfectly just and true, and sets out what, if the circumstances and parties were reversed, would un- questionably be the action of American Methodists ; nay, what has been their action in more than one instance. Dr. Robinson Scott and Mr. Hazleton could each tell us with what warmth of sympathy and liberality each of their respective ap- peals was answered in the United States, though these appeals related to purely local matters. True, in one sense, the Wesley Monumental Church in Savannah is a local matter, and that city will derive the chief and abiding benefit. But it is fitting that every lover and admirer of John Wesley should have a brick in such a house. Our friends inform us that they are about to take their flight. We are sorry for it, but personal health and home duties make iri^psistible demands. We can only say, that their visit has been the cause of both pleasure and profit to multi- tudes of their fellow-Methodists in the United Kingdom. Our readers will follow them with kindly wishes and earnest prayers, and we trust that each of these be- loved and esteemed visitors to our shores will speedily see the realization of the object which is so dear to his heart. Xn. Feom the Methodist New Connection in England. Great Clower-street, Manchester, October 18, 18'79. Rev. J. 0. A. Clark, D.D., LL.I). : My Dear Sir : By the favor of our esteemed editor, the Rev. J. Hudston, I have received an intimation that you are engaged in an effort to raise a Wesley Monu- mental Church in Savannah, Ga. 740 The Wesley Memorial Yolhme. I think this a most worthy object, and you are at liberty to use the appended recommendation in any way you may think best. Yours very truly, James Ogden, President of the Methodist New Connection Conference in England. Dr. Clark is engaged in a movement to build a ATesley Monumental Church in Savannah, Ga. He comes with well-authenticated credentials, and I think his object a very worthy one. It will give me very great pleasure to know that our friends who have the ability assist in the furtherance of an aim so eminently worthy. James Ogden, President. Xin. From the United Methodist Free Churches of England. 16 Palatine Square, Burnlet, April 5, 1879. Reu. J. 0. A. Clark, B.D., LL.B. : My Dear Brother : In reply to your favor I beg to say, that I heartily concur in and sympathize with the proposed Wesley Monumental Church in Savannah, and in the memorial volume you are about to publish. I trust the British branches of Methodism ivill give it all possible sympathy and support. Such a memorial, sus- tained by all the branches of Methodism, must tend to strengthen the bands of friendship and good-will between the two foremost Protestant nations of the earth. Wishing you all success in your noble enterprise, I am, my dear brother, very truly yours, William Boyden, President of the Conference of the United Methodist Free Churches. XiV. From the Primitive Methodists op England. Whitby, England, April 14, 1879. My Dear Sir : Mr. Dickinson has forwarded your letter to me, and in reply I beg to say that as a Primitive Methodist minister I cordially approve of your pro- posal to erect a church in memory of the father of Methodism. But I am unable to write officially on this subject without the sanction of our Conference, which cannot be obtained before the latter part of June. As to your memorial volume, my engagements are so numerous between this time and June that it is impossible for me to contribute an article that would be of any service to you or credit to me. But I will forward your papers to our editor, and ask him to comply with your request. Praying God to bless your undertaking, I am, dear sir, yours very truly, Henry Phillips, President of the Primitive Methodist Conference. Appendix. 74-1 XV. From the Ret. Matthieu Lelietee, of the Methodist Chdech in France AND Switzerland. Nimes, France, February 8, 1879. Re:u. Fr. Clark: Dear Brother ; I read yours of Jan. 6th with the greatest interest. Your proj- ect of building a memorial church, in remembrance of Wesley, in the city of Savan- nah, Ga., where he preached, I considered from the first a capital idea. I likewise admire your intention of associating with the stone monument one of another na- ture, and of a more general interest. Your memorial volume will evidently be a very interesting work. The names of your associates and the subjects treated by them furnish a most enticing programme. I feel highly honored in occupying a small space in your book. . . . The subject which I shall choose is “Wesley as a Popular Preacher.” I shall write to Mr. Hocart to ask him to contribute to the work if he has time. I shall also be happy to try and get M. de Pressense into it. He never has had, I think, the opportunity of witnessing publicly in favor of Wesley. Perhaps he may be glad to avail himself of this one. Believe me, dear sir, yours in brotherly and Christian fellowship, Matthieu Lelievre. In bringing this work to a close the Editor will add that besides the Wesley Monumental Chukch, and the Wesley Memorial Volume, he has in view a Wesley Memorial Li- brary, and Wesley Schools in Savannah. As a nucleus of the first he received, while in London, five cases of books, which are among the most appropriate of the publications of the Lon- don Tract Society, The London Sunday-School Union, The Wes- leyan Sunday-School Union, and the Wesleyan Book Room. These books, the gift of these great religious houses to the Wes- ley Memorial Library, were conveyed, free of charge, by a Cunard steamer from Liverpool to New York, and by a steamer of the Central Railroad of Georgia from New York to Savannah. In respect of the second — Wesleyan schools in Savannah for the education of the children of the Methodist poor — the writer hopes that Methodist liberality, at no distant day, will establi-sh them in that American city where Wesley taught, and where Whitefield projected his Orphan House. In all this, and in all else he has said or done in connection with the Wesley Monumental Church, the Editor has sought not to glorify W esley, but W esley’s Master, and the work which Wesley’s Master wrought through him. He has aimed to con- tribute his mite toward preserving and strengthening the unity and purity of Wesleyan Methodism, believing that it is the most 742 The Wesley Memorial Volu^ie. efficient Church organism which God has ordained in these latter days for the conversion of the world. And of this he is per- suaded, through no boastful or sectarian spirit, but with grateful and devout recognition of the great work which the other evan- gelical Churches have done, and are still doing, for Christ and his Church. Indeed, the writer looks forward to the Methodist Ecumenical Council not only to strengthen the bands of the Methodist brotherhood of Churches, but to deepen and widen its catholicity toward all who, holding the head, are earnestly con- tending for the faith once delivered to the saints. All Meth- odists acquainted with our earlier Methodist history will recog- nize the truthfulness of the graceful tribute which Dr. Stoughton so recently paid to oiar Methodist Fathers when he wrote, “ lx WAS IjST this one pakticular, brotherly love, that the old Methodists were so mighty and invincible ; ” and they will recall the saying of their own Watson: “One fundamental PRINCIPLE OF Wesleyan Methodism is anti-sectarianism and a catholic spirit.” To the Ecumenical Council, also, the writer looks for the greater co-operation of all Methodists the world oyer in all evan- gelical work, for the wider spread of scriptural holiness over all lands, and for a reviyal of the Spirit’s work in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, broader and deeper than that which, under God, Wesley kindled in the later half of the eighteenth. To effect these great results may the Ecumenical Council — for whose meeting the Editor has long labored, and to which, with anxious interest, he has been long looking — be pre-eminently conducive. But he does not rest here. His desires and prayers have respect, in the meeting- of the Council, to the complete fraternization of those Methodist bodies, from which the causes of alienation have been providentially and happily removed; to the annihilation of every obstacle in the way of those that ought to be organically one; and to a more perfect union among themselves and with all the rest of those whose separate organisms are justified and demanded by good and sufficient reasons. And is it too much to hope — as an immediate, or ultimate, consequence of the meeting of the Council — that Methodist doc- trine will be so formulated that the Methodist standards, and the interpretation of the standards, shall be uniform among all the people called Methodists ? Is it too much to expect, as another Appendix. 743 result of the assembly, that all Methodists thenceforth, out of one and the same- hymn book, shall sing the songs which give the most faithful and harmonious expression to Methodist doc- trine and to Methodist experience ? Is it too much to hope that the various Methodisms shall be so one in doctrine, in usages, in polity, in spirit, and in aims, that transfers may be as natural and easy from one separate Methodist body to another as from one Annual Conference to another of the same body ? Is it too much to expect that even different organisms, whenever it can be conveniently done, shall unite in all their foreign mission work ? Is it too much to hope that all the different Methodisms, how- ever separated by geographical boundaries, by mountain barriers, or by intervening oceans, shall be so one in Christ Jesus the Lord, that in him the whole body fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every joint suppiieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, may make increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love ? May it not be devoutly wished that greater heed will be given to the almost dying words of Wesley to Ezekiel Cooper: “Lose no oj^portunity 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 them in vain ? ’ ” May we not confidently pray that all Methodisms may be such members one of another that if one suffer all shall suffer with it ; if one rejoice, all shall rejoice with it ; and if one be in need and call for help, all shall be willing to lend a helping hand, and all that are able be swift to “ perform the doing of it ? ” And may not the editor of this volume humbly but confidingly trust that at the Ecumenical Council he shall witness the sanction of assembled Methodism to his earnest and persistent efforts to secure a joint memorial of Methodism’s illustrious founder? The labors of the Editor are ended. He concludes this volume with the same prayer with which he closed its Introduction : Mat this book do bead good to souls, and lead many to THINK WHAT IT WAS THAT WINS ALL THIS RENOWN TO THE ONCE HUMBLE PREACHER, BUT NOW EXALTED SAINT, WHOSE LIFE AND WORK ARE COMAIEMORATED IN ITS PAGES! MEMBERS OF THE BUILDIHG COMMITTEE OF THE WESLEY MONU- MENTAL CHURCH, IN SAVANNAH, GA. EOBEET D. WALKEE, C. D. EOGEES, EOBEET M’INTIEE, E. B. EEPPAED, W. H. BDEEELL, C. H. CAESON. THE WESLEY MEMORIAL VOLUME ; OR, WESLEY AND THE METHODIST MOVEMENT JUDGED BY NEARLY ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY WRITERS, LIVING OR DEAD. EDITED BY Rev. J. 0. A. CLARK, D.D., LLD. The above is the title of a book soon to be issued from the press of Phillips & Hunt, New York. It is published in the interest of the Wesley Monumental Church, now building in Savannah, Georgia, the only city in America where Mr. Wesley had a home and a parish. The net proceeds from the sale of the book will be exclusively devoted to the completion of the church in Savannah. The book is made up of contributions by forty-two of the best writers of Europe and America. These are living writers, who have written able and elaborate articles on some subject relating to the life and labors of that many-sided man, John Wesley. Besides these, ex- cerpts are made from the writings of one hundred others, living or dead. The writers are not Methodists alone ; they represent nearly every branch of the evangelical Christian Church. The book is pronounced the most unique of its kind that has ever been given to the public. The names of the writers and the subjects on which they have written are a sure pledge of the ability with which the work is written and of the interest it will awaken. It is a work approved by every branch of the evangelical Christian Church. It illus- trates not only Metliodism, but the Great Revival of the eighteenth cent- ury, as it affected the whole work of God in Euroire and America. It is a beautiful and deserved tribute unanimously jjaid to the man who, under God, as Mr. Gladstone says, “gave the main impulse, out of which sprang the evangelical movement,’’ aud who, as Dean Stanley says, “was the chief reviver of religious fervor in all Protestant Churches, both of tlie Old aud New World.” The writers who have contributed articles especially for the volume are distributed as follows: ENGLAND. The Wesleyans of Great Britain and Ireland ai e represented by the Rev. Drs. Rigg, Pope, Punshon, Gervase Smith, and Jobson, the Rev. Luke Tyerman, and Mr. George J. Stevenson. The Methodist New Connection, by the Rev. Dr. William Cooke, and Mr. Thomas Austin Bullock, LL.D. The Methodist United Free Churches, by the Rev. Josejih Kirsop. The Church op England is represented by Dean Stanley, of West- minster Abbey; the Rev. 0. T. Dobbin, LL.D., of Trinity College, Dub- lin; and Mr. Overton, of the University of Oxfhrd. Mr. Overton and Mr. Abbey are the joint authors of the greatest Church History of the times — “The Church of England in the Eighteenth Century.” The Non-conformist Churches of England are represented by Sir Charles Reed, M.P., LL.D., president of the London Sunday-School Union and of the London School Board. Besides these articles, letters appear in the volume from Mr. Spur- geon, of the Tabernacle, London; Rev. Nevrman Hall, LL.B., of Christ Church Square, London; Mr. Lecky, the celebrated author of the “History of European Civilization,” etc., and of the “History of England in the Eighteenth Century;” the Rev. Dr. Ellicott, Lord Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol; and the Rt. Hon. Wm. E. Gladstone, the present Premier of England. FRANCE. France is represented in the work by the Rev. Matthieu Lelihvre, the author of a “Life of Wesley” that has been translated into nearly every language of modern Europe, and by the Rev. Edmond de PressensS, D.D., of the Reformed Church op Paris, and of the University of Breslau, author of “The Life of Christ,” and many other brilliant works. THE CANADAS. The Methodist Church op Canada is represented by the Rev. Dr. Potts, of Toronto, and the Rev. Dr. Douglass, of Montreal. The Methodist Episcopal Church op Canada, by the Rev. Dr. Webster, and by the Rev. Dr. Jacques, Chancellor of the Abbott Uni- versity, at Hamilton, Ontario. THE UNITED STATES. The Methodist Episcopal Church is represented by Bishops Simp- son, Foss, and Erastus O. Haven, the Rev. Drs. Abel Stevens, John P. Newman, and W. H. De Puy, and by the Rev. Dwight Williams, and the Rev. Isaac P. Cook. The Methodist Protestant Church, by the late Rev. Alexander Clarke, D.D., and the Rev. A. A. Lipscomb, D.D. The African Methodist Episcopal Church, by Chancellor B. F. Lee, L.B., of Wilberforce University, Xenia, Ohio. The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church op America, by Bishop Lucius M. Holsey. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, by Bishops Pierce, M’Tyeire, and Wightman, and by Drs. Lovick Pierce, Summers, Hay- good, and Clark. Library Bureau Cat. DO. 1137 Duke University Libraries D00730853Q Sa-K)OL OF R!ZL!C!ON