“To the Societies at Bristol.“My dear Brethren,—I was much comforted among you when I was with you last; finding my labour had not been in vain. Many of you I found rejoicing in God your Saviour, walking in the light of His countenance, and studying to have a conscience void of offence towards God and man. In order to assist you therein, suffer me to remind you of a few things, which, I think, are of no small concern, in order to your retaining the life of faith, and the testimony of a good conscience towards God.“1. For God’s sake, for the honour of the gospel, for your country’s sake, and for the sake of your own souls, beware of bribery. Before you see me again, the trial will come at the general election for members of parliament. On no account, take money, or money’s worth. Keep yourselves pure. Give, not sell, your vote. Touch not the accursed thing, lest it bring a blast upon you and your household.“2. Have nothing to do with stolen goods. Neither sell nor buy anything that has not paid the duty. No, not if you could have it at half price. Defraud not the king, any more than your fellow subject. Never think of being religious unless you are honest. What has a thief to do with religion? Herein mind not men, but the word of God; and whatever others do, keep yourselves pure.“3. Lose no opportunity of receiving the sacrament. All who have neglected this have suffered loss. Most of them are as dead as stones; therefore be you constant herein, not only for example, but for the sake of your own souls.“4. To the public, constantly add the private means of grace, particularly prayer and reading. Most of you have been greatly wanting in this; and, without this, you can never grow in grace. You may as well expect a child to grow without food, as a soul without private prayer; and reading is an excellent help to this. I advise you to read, in particular, constantly and carefully, the New Testament; ‘Lessons for Children,’which are all the choicest parts of the Old Testament, with short notes; ‘Instructions for Children,’ which are a body of divinity for plain people; and that golden treatise, ‘The Christian Pattern’; the ‘Plain Account of the Methodists.’ No Methodist ought to be without these, nor the ‘Primitive Physic,’ which (if you have any regard for your bodies, or your children) ought to be in every house. To all that can understand it, I recommend one book more, ‘The Preservative against unsettled Notions’; a book which, by the blessing of God, may help you from being tossed about with divers winds of doctrines. Permit me to give you one advice more under this head: do not encourage young raw men to exhort among you. It does little good either to you or them. Rather, in every society, where you have not an experienced preacher, let one of the leaders read the Notes, or the Christian Library. By this the wisest among you may profit much; a thousand times more than by listening to forward youths, who neither speak English nor common sense.“5. Let all of you, who have faith, meet in band, without excuse and without delay. There has been a shameful neglect of this. Remove this scandal. As soon as the assistant has fixed your band, make it a point of conscience never to miss without an absolute necessity; and the preacher’s meeting you all together one night out of two will be an additional blessing.“6. If you constantly meet your band, I make no doubt that you will constantly meet your class; indeed, otherwise you are not of our society. Whoever misses his class thrice together thereby excludes himself; and the preacher that comes next ought to put out his name. I wish you would consider this. Halt not between two. Meet the brethren, or leave them. It is not honest to profess yourself of a society, and not observe the rules of it. Be therefore consistent with yourself. Never miss your class till you miss it for good and all. And when you meet it, be merciful after your power; give as God enables you. If you are not in pressing want, give something, and you will be no poorer for it. Grudge not, fear not; lend unto the Lord, and He will surely repay. If you earn but three shillings a week, and give a penny out of it, you will never want. But I do not say this to you who have ten or fifteen shillings a week, and give only a penny! To see this has often grieved my spirit. I have been ashamed for you, if you have not been ashamed for yourself. Why, by the same rule that you give a penny, that poor man should give a peppercorn! O be ashamed before God and man! Be not straitened in your own bowels. Give in proportion to your substance. You can better afford a shilling than he a penny. This is more to him than that to you. Open your eyes, your heart, your hand. If this one rule was observed, throughout England, we should need no other collection. It would soon form a stock sufficient to relieve all that want, and to answer all occasions. Many of these occasions are now exceeding pressing, and we are nowise able to answer them; so that the cause of God suffers, and the children of God, and that without remedy.“7. This is, in great measure, owing to our not considering ourselves(all the Methodists) as one body. Such undoubtedly they are throughout Great Britain and Ireland; and, as such, they were considered at our last conference. We then seriously considered the heavy burden which now lies on our brethren in various parts. When we could hire no place that could contain the congregation, they were constrained to build; but hereby they were unavoidably involved in debt, some of them to the amount of several hundred pounds. The assistants were desired to lay this case before all our brethren in England, and to receive what each of them were willing to give, either at that time, or at Easter, or Midsummer. But the greater part of them thought no more about it. Four or five of them did, and brought in all about £200 at our last conference. This was divided among our societies who were most distressed; and all the assistants were desired, when they visit the classes at Christmas, to ask each particular person, poor or rich, ‘What will you give towards the relief of the brethren? Give either now, or at Easter, or at Midsummer; it is all one.’ If this be done in good earnest, I trust, in two or three years, all our societies may be out of debt. And by this shall all men know whose disciples we are, because we love one another.“8. I mention but one thing more. Let all, who are able, constantly attend the morning preaching. Whenever the Methodist preachers or people leave off this, they will soon sink into nothing.“I am, my dear brethren, your affectionate brother,“John Wesley.”[592]
“To the Societies at Bristol.
“My dear Brethren,—I was much comforted among you when I was with you last; finding my labour had not been in vain. Many of you I found rejoicing in God your Saviour, walking in the light of His countenance, and studying to have a conscience void of offence towards God and man. In order to assist you therein, suffer me to remind you of a few things, which, I think, are of no small concern, in order to your retaining the life of faith, and the testimony of a good conscience towards God.
“1. For God’s sake, for the honour of the gospel, for your country’s sake, and for the sake of your own souls, beware of bribery. Before you see me again, the trial will come at the general election for members of parliament. On no account, take money, or money’s worth. Keep yourselves pure. Give, not sell, your vote. Touch not the accursed thing, lest it bring a blast upon you and your household.
“2. Have nothing to do with stolen goods. Neither sell nor buy anything that has not paid the duty. No, not if you could have it at half price. Defraud not the king, any more than your fellow subject. Never think of being religious unless you are honest. What has a thief to do with religion? Herein mind not men, but the word of God; and whatever others do, keep yourselves pure.
“3. Lose no opportunity of receiving the sacrament. All who have neglected this have suffered loss. Most of them are as dead as stones; therefore be you constant herein, not only for example, but for the sake of your own souls.
“4. To the public, constantly add the private means of grace, particularly prayer and reading. Most of you have been greatly wanting in this; and, without this, you can never grow in grace. You may as well expect a child to grow without food, as a soul without private prayer; and reading is an excellent help to this. I advise you to read, in particular, constantly and carefully, the New Testament; ‘Lessons for Children,’which are all the choicest parts of the Old Testament, with short notes; ‘Instructions for Children,’ which are a body of divinity for plain people; and that golden treatise, ‘The Christian Pattern’; the ‘Plain Account of the Methodists.’ No Methodist ought to be without these, nor the ‘Primitive Physic,’ which (if you have any regard for your bodies, or your children) ought to be in every house. To all that can understand it, I recommend one book more, ‘The Preservative against unsettled Notions’; a book which, by the blessing of God, may help you from being tossed about with divers winds of doctrines. Permit me to give you one advice more under this head: do not encourage young raw men to exhort among you. It does little good either to you or them. Rather, in every society, where you have not an experienced preacher, let one of the leaders read the Notes, or the Christian Library. By this the wisest among you may profit much; a thousand times more than by listening to forward youths, who neither speak English nor common sense.
“5. Let all of you, who have faith, meet in band, without excuse and without delay. There has been a shameful neglect of this. Remove this scandal. As soon as the assistant has fixed your band, make it a point of conscience never to miss without an absolute necessity; and the preacher’s meeting you all together one night out of two will be an additional blessing.
“6. If you constantly meet your band, I make no doubt that you will constantly meet your class; indeed, otherwise you are not of our society. Whoever misses his class thrice together thereby excludes himself; and the preacher that comes next ought to put out his name. I wish you would consider this. Halt not between two. Meet the brethren, or leave them. It is not honest to profess yourself of a society, and not observe the rules of it. Be therefore consistent with yourself. Never miss your class till you miss it for good and all. And when you meet it, be merciful after your power; give as God enables you. If you are not in pressing want, give something, and you will be no poorer for it. Grudge not, fear not; lend unto the Lord, and He will surely repay. If you earn but three shillings a week, and give a penny out of it, you will never want. But I do not say this to you who have ten or fifteen shillings a week, and give only a penny! To see this has often grieved my spirit. I have been ashamed for you, if you have not been ashamed for yourself. Why, by the same rule that you give a penny, that poor man should give a peppercorn! O be ashamed before God and man! Be not straitened in your own bowels. Give in proportion to your substance. You can better afford a shilling than he a penny. This is more to him than that to you. Open your eyes, your heart, your hand. If this one rule was observed, throughout England, we should need no other collection. It would soon form a stock sufficient to relieve all that want, and to answer all occasions. Many of these occasions are now exceeding pressing, and we are nowise able to answer them; so that the cause of God suffers, and the children of God, and that without remedy.
“7. This is, in great measure, owing to our not considering ourselves(all the Methodists) as one body. Such undoubtedly they are throughout Great Britain and Ireland; and, as such, they were considered at our last conference. We then seriously considered the heavy burden which now lies on our brethren in various parts. When we could hire no place that could contain the congregation, they were constrained to build; but hereby they were unavoidably involved in debt, some of them to the amount of several hundred pounds. The assistants were desired to lay this case before all our brethren in England, and to receive what each of them were willing to give, either at that time, or at Easter, or Midsummer. But the greater part of them thought no more about it. Four or five of them did, and brought in all about £200 at our last conference. This was divided among our societies who were most distressed; and all the assistants were desired, when they visit the classes at Christmas, to ask each particular person, poor or rich, ‘What will you give towards the relief of the brethren? Give either now, or at Easter, or at Midsummer; it is all one.’ If this be done in good earnest, I trust, in two or three years, all our societies may be out of debt. And by this shall all men know whose disciples we are, because we love one another.
“8. I mention but one thing more. Let all, who are able, constantly attend the morning preaching. Whenever the Methodist preachers or people leave off this, they will soon sink into nothing.
“I am, my dear brethren, your affectionate brother,
“John Wesley.”[592]
This was plain speaking,—a pastoral address which even the Methodist conference of the present day would hardly have courage to imitate.
Another matter must have attention. Under the date of “December 1, 1764,” Wesley writes: “M. B—— gave me a further account of their affairs at Leytonstone. It is exactlyPietas Hallensisin miniature. What it will be, does not yet appear.”
“M. B.” was Mary Bosanquet. Either she or Wesley published, in 1764, a 12mo tract of twenty-three pages, with the title, “A Letter to the Rev. Mr. John Wesley. By a Gentlewoman. London. Sold at the Foundery, in Upper Moorfields.” The letter is dated “Laton-Stone, November 8, 1764,” and gives the reasons why Miss Bosanquet had fixed her home at Leytonstone, and the nature of her employment there. She and her friend Sarah Ryan had commenced meetings for reading and prayer; then, they obtained the service of some of Wesley’s preachers; and then two classes were formed. Thenshe took into her house a number of destitute orphan children, and engaged a person to teach them. The design was to fit them for good servants, and her endeavour was, “to inure them to labour, early rising, and cleanliness.” Three of them, who were eleven years of age, rose at four in the morning, and lighted the fires. At five, the others were called. When the lesser children were dressed, and had said their prayers, they went into the garden from six till half-past six o’clock, the elder ones being employed in making beds and cleaning rooms. At half-past six, they had household prayer; at seven, breakfast, “two or three upon herb tea, the rest upon milk porridge.” From eight to twelve, was spent in school; when, after a few minutes devoted to the exercise of prayer, the pupils all came to Miss Bosanquet, who read to them, and otherwise instructed them. At one, they dined; at two, school duties were recommenced and were continued until five. At six, they supped; and at seven went to bed. No one was allowed to give them toys; and their recreation was, either running in the garden for a quarter of an hour, or in watering the plants and flowers.
To feed, clothe, and educate such a number of children involved a greater expense than Miss Bosanquet had means to meet; and, hence, she put up a box in the hall with the inscription,—“For the maintenance of a few poor orphans, that they may be brought up in the fear of the Lord”; and, in this way, she obtained assistance for her Methodist orphanage. She was often in straits; sometimes her fund was reduced to a single penny, and she had considerable bills to meet; but, as in the case of the orphanage at Halle, and the present one at Bristol, help always came when needed.
Such was Miss Bosanquet’s “Pietas Hallensisin miniature.” Her tract is a rich, religious curiosity, strongly reminding the reader of the marvellous publications of Mr. Muller, and of August Herman Francke.
A list of the evangelical clergy of the country, to whom Wesley addressed his circular on union, is given in a previous page; but, remarkably enough, one name of considerable distinction is omitted,—the name of the Rev. Thomas Hartley, M.A., rector of Winwick, in Northamptonshire. Mr. Hartley was a friend of the Countess of Huntingdon, and of the Shirleyfamily. He was a man of learning; and of strong, cultivated mind. He was an earnest, devout, energetic Christian; an able, liberal, unbigoted minister; and an author whose style is clear and forcible, and sometimes eloquent; and whose valuable works are still well worth reading. Mr. Hartley, however, was a millenarian and a mystic. In 1764, he published an octavo volume of 476 pages, entitled, “Paradise Restored: or, A Testimony to the Doctrine of the blessed Millennium: with some Considerations on its approaching Advent from the Signs of the Times. To which is added, A Short Defence of the Mystical Writers, against a late Work, entitled, ‘The Doctrine of Grace,’ etc.”
To begin with the last work first. There can be no question, that Mr. Hartley was a most ardent admirer of Jacob Behmen, Dr. Henry More, Madame Bourignon, and Mr. Law. In the last paragraph of his Defence, he tells us that “Divine charity is the great compass by which the mystics steer; it is their very polestar; nay, their latitude, and longitude, and centre too: their employment and delight is love; their hearts and every pulse beat love; it is the element of their life, theirsummum bonum, and theirsummum totum. Perhaps the very angels stretch not farther into the vast expanse of love than some of these have done.” And then he proceeds to state that, in the exercise of this charity, some of them “hope that Jesus Christ will, in some remote age of eternity, by an omnipotent act of His love, reverse the sentence, which strict justice has passed on fallen men and fallen angels; and will give to them repentance, add to their repentance faith, and to their faith charity; that so, blessed again with the renewal of the Divine image, they may rise from their beds of penal, long enduring fire, to join the heavenly host, in praises to the eternal King; no longer peccable as before; but standing firm on the sure basis of never ceasing, ever grateful love. Amen.”
The Defence was professedly a reply to Bishop Warburton; and hence, though he says there are “many instances in Wesley’s numerous writings of injudicious and wrong applications of Scripture,” yet they are all used “seriously and in the fear of God.”
“Whatever be the errors and the faults of Wesley, he is an able minister, has been abundant in labours, and has turned many to righteousness;and therefore deserves honourable mention instead of scurrilous treatment. Had Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Wesley gone on to build up, as they laid the foundation, their adversaries would not have been able to stand before them; but here they failed, and fell into divisions, fierce disputings, and errors in doctrine; and their uncharitable censurings of others have brought more than double upon themselves; and yet I lay not this to the charge of all the Methodists. What cause had Mr. Wesley, among others, for that obloquy he pours on these excellent men, the mystics, who teach the way to Christian perfection on surer principles than he has yet done, and, I believe, attained to higher degrees of it? What is most excellent among the Methodists comes the nearest to what is laid down in their spiritual writings; and had Mr. Wesley studied them more himself, and brought his hearers acquainted with them, they might not have stopped so short as, in general, they have done, but have grown up into a higher stature of Christian life and Divine knowledge.”
“Whatever be the errors and the faults of Wesley, he is an able minister, has been abundant in labours, and has turned many to righteousness;and therefore deserves honourable mention instead of scurrilous treatment. Had Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Wesley gone on to build up, as they laid the foundation, their adversaries would not have been able to stand before them; but here they failed, and fell into divisions, fierce disputings, and errors in doctrine; and their uncharitable censurings of others have brought more than double upon themselves; and yet I lay not this to the charge of all the Methodists. What cause had Mr. Wesley, among others, for that obloquy he pours on these excellent men, the mystics, who teach the way to Christian perfection on surer principles than he has yet done, and, I believe, attained to higher degrees of it? What is most excellent among the Methodists comes the nearest to what is laid down in their spiritual writings; and had Mr. Wesley studied them more himself, and brought his hearers acquainted with them, they might not have stopped so short as, in general, they have done, but have grown up into a higher stature of Christian life and Divine knowledge.”
Wesley read Mr. Hartley’s strictures. What was his reply?
“March 27, 1764.“Dear Sir,—I thank you for your remarks on that bad performance of the Bishop of Gloucester, which undoubtedly tears up, by the roots, all real, internal religion. Yet, at the same time, I cannot but bewail your vehement attachment to the mystic writers: with whom I conversed much for several years, and whom I then admired, perhaps, more than you do now. But I found, at length, an absolute necessity of giving up either them or the Bible. So, after some time, I fixed my choice, to which I hope to adhere to my life’s end. It is only the extreme attachment to these, which can account for the following words (in your Defence): ‘Mr. Wesley does, in several parts of his Journals, lay down some marks of the new birth, not only doubtful, but exceptionable; as particularly where persons appear agitated or convulsed, under the ministry; which might be owing to other causes rather than any regenerating work of God’s Spirit.’“Is this true? In whatonepart of my Journals do I lay down any doubtful, much less exceptionable, marks of the new birth? Innopart do I lay down those agitations or convulsions as any mark of it at all; nay, Iexpressly declarethe contrary, in those very words which the bishop himself cites from my Journal. I declare, ‘these are of a disputable nature; they may be from God; they may be from nature; they may be from the devil.’ How is it, then, that you tell all the world, ‘Mr. Wesley lays them down in his Journals, as marks of the new birth’?“Is itkind? Would it not have been far more kind, suppose I had spoken wrong, to tell me of it in aprivatemanner? How much more unkind was it, to accuse me, to all the world, of a fault which I never committed!“Is itwisethus to put a sword into the hand of our common enemy?Are we not both fighting the battle of our Lord, against the world, as well as the flesh and the devil? And shall I furnish them with weapons againstyou, or you againstme? Fine diversion for the children of the devil! And how much more would they be diverted, ifIwould furnish my quota of the entertainment, by falling uponyouin return! But I bewail the change in your spirit. You have not gainedmorelowliness or meekness since I knew you! Oh beware! You did not use todespiseany one. This you havegainedfrom the authors you admire. They do not expressangertowards their opponents, butcontempt, in the highest degree. And this, I am afraid, is far more antichristian, more diabolical, than the other. The God of love deliver you and me from this spirit, and fill us with the mind that was in Christ! So prays, dear sir, your still affectionate brother,“John Wesley.”[593]
“March 27, 1764.
“Dear Sir,—I thank you for your remarks on that bad performance of the Bishop of Gloucester, which undoubtedly tears up, by the roots, all real, internal religion. Yet, at the same time, I cannot but bewail your vehement attachment to the mystic writers: with whom I conversed much for several years, and whom I then admired, perhaps, more than you do now. But I found, at length, an absolute necessity of giving up either them or the Bible. So, after some time, I fixed my choice, to which I hope to adhere to my life’s end. It is only the extreme attachment to these, which can account for the following words (in your Defence): ‘Mr. Wesley does, in several parts of his Journals, lay down some marks of the new birth, not only doubtful, but exceptionable; as particularly where persons appear agitated or convulsed, under the ministry; which might be owing to other causes rather than any regenerating work of God’s Spirit.’
“Is this true? In whatonepart of my Journals do I lay down any doubtful, much less exceptionable, marks of the new birth? Innopart do I lay down those agitations or convulsions as any mark of it at all; nay, Iexpressly declarethe contrary, in those very words which the bishop himself cites from my Journal. I declare, ‘these are of a disputable nature; they may be from God; they may be from nature; they may be from the devil.’ How is it, then, that you tell all the world, ‘Mr. Wesley lays them down in his Journals, as marks of the new birth’?
“Is itkind? Would it not have been far more kind, suppose I had spoken wrong, to tell me of it in aprivatemanner? How much more unkind was it, to accuse me, to all the world, of a fault which I never committed!
“Is itwisethus to put a sword into the hand of our common enemy?Are we not both fighting the battle of our Lord, against the world, as well as the flesh and the devil? And shall I furnish them with weapons againstyou, or you againstme? Fine diversion for the children of the devil! And how much more would they be diverted, ifIwould furnish my quota of the entertainment, by falling uponyouin return! But I bewail the change in your spirit. You have not gainedmorelowliness or meekness since I knew you! Oh beware! You did not use todespiseany one. This you havegainedfrom the authors you admire. They do not expressangertowards their opponents, butcontempt, in the highest degree. And this, I am afraid, is far more antichristian, more diabolical, than the other. The God of love deliver you and me from this spirit, and fill us with the mind that was in Christ! So prays, dear sir, your still affectionate brother,
“John Wesley.”[593]
Five years after this, Wesley published the thirteenth number of his Journal, in which the following entry occurs.
“1764, February 5.—I began Mr. Hartley’s ingenious ‘Defence of the Mystic Writers.’ But it does not satisfy me. I must still object—1. To their sentiments. The chief of them do not appear to me to have any conception of church communion. Again: they slight not only works of piety, the ordinances of God, but even works of mercy; and yet most of them, yea, all that I have seen, hold justification by works. In general, they are ‘wise above what is written,’ indulging themselves in many unscriptural speculations. I object—2. To their spirit. Most of them are of a dark, shy, reserved, unsociable temper; and are apt to despise all who differ from them, as carnal, unenlightened men. I object—3. To their whole phraseology. It is both unscriptural, and affectedly mysterious. I say, affectedly; for this does not necessarily result from the nature of the thing spoken of. St. John speaks as high and as deep things as Jacob Behmen. Why then does not Jacob speak as plain as he?”
“1764, February 5.—I began Mr. Hartley’s ingenious ‘Defence of the Mystic Writers.’ But it does not satisfy me. I must still object—1. To their sentiments. The chief of them do not appear to me to have any conception of church communion. Again: they slight not only works of piety, the ordinances of God, but even works of mercy; and yet most of them, yea, all that I have seen, hold justification by works. In general, they are ‘wise above what is written,’ indulging themselves in many unscriptural speculations. I object—2. To their spirit. Most of them are of a dark, shy, reserved, unsociable temper; and are apt to despise all who differ from them, as carnal, unenlightened men. I object—3. To their whole phraseology. It is both unscriptural, and affectedly mysterious. I say, affectedly; for this does not necessarily result from the nature of the thing spoken of. St. John speaks as high and as deep things as Jacob Behmen. Why then does not Jacob speak as plain as he?”
It has been already stated, that Mr. Hartley was, not only a mystic, but a millenarian; and we feel it right to add, that his “Paradise Restored,” making 356 pages, octavo, is, by far, the most sober, sensible, scriptural, and learned work on the millennium that it has been our lot to read. He professes to show “the great importance of the doctrine of Christ’s glorious reign on earth with His saints”; and maintains that “it was typified in many of the Levitical institutes; was foretold and described in numberless places by the inspired prophets; was made the subject of many precious promises inthe gospel; was delineated in the Revelation of St. John; and was received as an apostolical doctrine by the primitive Christians, according to the testimony of several of the ancient fathers,” as St. Barnabas, St. Hermas, Justin Martyr, Irenæus, Tertullian, Origen, and Lactantius. He further argues, that the doctrine received the sanction of the Council of Nice, called by Constantine the Great, and composed of bishops from all parts of the Christian world; and that it is embodied in the Catechism of King Edward VI., which was revised by English bishops, and published, by royal authority, in the last year of King Edward’s reign.
His arguments, to illustrate the importance of the doctrine, are, to say the least, exceedingly ingenious and able, but far too elaborated to be condensed in a work like this. His theory is substantially the same as that of the millenarians of the present day; without, however, many of the minute whimsies which foolish and fanatical people attach to it. Having, as he thinks, established his doctrine, Mr. Hartley proceeds to answer objections; and concludes with a chapter on “the signs of the times.”
It is difficult, and almost impossible, in our limited space, to give the chief points of Mr. Hartley’s millenarian creed; but the following are some of them:—1. That Christ will come a second time, and will set up a kingdom, andvisiblyreign on the earth for a thousand years. 2. That, during this reign, His saints will be raised and be restored to the perfection of the first man, Adam; and earth all over will be made a copy of the primeval paradise. 3. That, during this millenarian theocracy, saints will flourish, and sinners be in absolute subjection: hostility and discord will cease, and all things harmonize in unity and peace. 4. That some of the saints will be crowned and sit on thrones; some be set over ten cities, and some over five; some will sit at table with Christ, and others serve; some follow Him whithersoever He goes, and others come periodically to worship in His presence. There are other topics on which Mr. Hartley claims the right to hold a private opinion; but which he does not attempt decisively to prove: such as—1. The duration of this holy empire. 2. Whether the administration of it will be under the constant abiding presence of our Lord’s visible humanity, or only occasionalmanifestations of it; whilst the government for the most part may devolve upon apostles and patriarchs, as His viceregents, under the immediate influences of His Holy Spirit. 3. Whether the universal conflagration will be before or after the millennial reign. 4. Whether the subjects of this kingdom will consist only of the saints who are living at the time of Christ’s second advent, and of some others, as martyrs, who will then be raised from the dead; or whether there will not be a continued succession of the redeemed ones raised, according to their order and time. 5. Whether the account of Gog and Magog, spoken of in Revelation xx., may not be understood to mean that, “as a great part of the world never heard of Christ, and yet the gospel was to be preached in all the world, for a witness to all nations,—so those, who have died in ignorance of the Christian dispensation, will be raised to spend, in the uttermost parts of the earth, another period of probation; they will have the gospel preached to them by emissaries from the millenarian kingdom; many will believe, be converted, and have their portion with the saved; but many will be seduced by Satan, on his enlargement at the end of the thousand years; will invade Christ’s glorious kingdom; and will be destroyed by fire, as mentioned in the Revelation.”
These are a few of the salient points of Mr. Hartley’s learned and able book. Why are they enumerated here? Because, in substance, they were held by Wesley. Wesley read the book, and read it with approbation. He writes to the author: “Your book on the millennium was lately put into my hands. I cannot but thank you for your strong and seasonable confirmation of that comfortable doctrine: of which I cannot entertain the least doubt, as long as I believe the Bible.”[594]
With such a statement, in reference to such a book, there can be no doubt, that Wesley, like his father before him, was a millenarian, a believer in the second advent of Christ, toreignon earth, visibly and gloriously, for a thousand years.
This is a matter which none of Wesley’s biographers havenoticed; and, yet, the above is not the only evidence in support of it. In his letter to Dr. Middleton, published in 1749, he refers to the millenarian creed of Justin Martyr, namely, that, at Christ’s second coming, the martyrs will be raised, and, for a thousand years, will reign, with Christ, in Jerusalem, which will be then rebuilt, enlarged, and richly adorned, according to the prophets (Isaiah lxv.); and that, at the end of the thousand years, there will be a universal resurrection, in order to the final judgment. These were the views of Justin Martyr;[595]views which, Wesley says, Justin deduced from the prophets and the apostles, and which were also adopted by the fathers of the second and third centuries. In fact, “to say, that they believed this, was neither more nor less than to say, they believed the Bible.”[596]There is also a remarkable article in Wesley’sArminian Magazine, for 1784 (page 154), on “The Renovation of all Things,”—in which it is argued, that, according to prophetic promises, there will be a middle period “between the present pollution, corruption, and degradation” of the earth, “and that of a total, universal restoration of all things, in a purely angelical, celestial, ethereal state;” and that, in this middle period, “between these two extremes,” the earth will be restored to its “paradisaical state,” and be “renewed in its primitive lustre and beauty.”
These are facts in Wesley’s history with which the reader must deal as he thinks proper. It is no part of our present plan, either to defend or condemn Wesley’s doctrines; but simply and honestly to supply the incidents of his wondrous history. There is no evidence to prove, that Wesley held many of the wild whimsies of the millenarians of the present age, or that he ever pretended to fix the date of Christ’s second coming. “I have no opinion at all,” said he, “upon when the millennial reign of Christ will begin; I can determine nothing at all about it; these calculations are far above, out of my sight.”[597]Still, Wesley was a believer in the certainty of such a reign; and so was Fletcher, as we have already seen; and so was Wesley’s friend, the vicar of Bexley,Mr. Piers;[598]and so seem to have been the writers of some of the hymns in the Methodist hymn-book. The following are quotations from the book, published by Wesley himself, in 1787.
“Lo! He comes with clouds descending,Once for favoured sinners slain!Thousand, thousand saints attending,Swell the triumph of His train.Hallelujah!Godappears on earth to reign.”“O might we quickly findThe place for us designed!See the long expected dayOf our full redemptionhere!Let the shadows flee away;Let thenew-made world appear!High on Thy great white throne,O King of saints,come down!In theNew JerusalemNow triumphantlydescend;Let the final trump proclaimJoys begun, which ne’er shall end.”
“Lo! He comes with clouds descending,Once for favoured sinners slain!Thousand, thousand saints attending,Swell the triumph of His train.Hallelujah!Godappears on earth to reign.”“O might we quickly findThe place for us designed!See the long expected dayOf our full redemptionhere!Let the shadows flee away;Let thenew-made world appear!High on Thy great white throne,O King of saints,come down!In theNew JerusalemNow triumphantlydescend;Let the final trump proclaimJoys begun, which ne’er shall end.”
“Lo! He comes with clouds descending,Once for favoured sinners slain!Thousand, thousand saints attending,Swell the triumph of His train.Hallelujah!Godappears on earth to reign.”
“Lo! He comes with clouds descending,
Once for favoured sinners slain!
Thousand, thousand saints attending,
Swell the triumph of His train.
Hallelujah!
Godappears on earth to reign.”
“O might we quickly findThe place for us designed!See the long expected dayOf our full redemptionhere!Let the shadows flee away;Let thenew-made world appear!High on Thy great white throne,O King of saints,come down!In theNew JerusalemNow triumphantlydescend;Let the final trump proclaimJoys begun, which ne’er shall end.”
“O might we quickly find
The place for us designed!
See the long expected day
Of our full redemptionhere!
Let the shadows flee away;
Let thenew-made world appear!
High on Thy great white throne,
O King of saints,come down!
In theNew Jerusalem
Now triumphantlydescend;
Let the final trump proclaim
Joys begun, which ne’er shall end.”
Was Wesley right in this, or was he wrong? This is a point which those who are learned in theological disputes must be left to determine. References may be made to his notes on Revelation xx.; and to his sermons on “The Great Assize,” “The General Deliverance,” “The General Spread of the Gospel,” and “The New Creation”; and, in some of them, statements may be found scarcely harmonizing with the millenarian theory; but these are matters which we leave to those who take a deeper interest in the millenarian theory than ourselves. We have tried to furnish facts, and must now pass to something else.
In 1764, as in former years, the press was not idle in its attacks on Methodism. The following pamphlets belong to this period. 1. “A Sovereign Remedy for the Cure of Hypocrisy, and Blind Zeal. By an Enemy to Pious Fraud,”—a shilling production, which assailed the Methodists with more fury than force. 2. “The Methodist Instructed: or the absurdity and inconsistency of their principles demonstrated. In a letter to the Brethren at Gravesend. By Philagathus Cantabrigiensis.” 3. “Enthusiasm Delineated: or, the absurd conduct of theMethodists displayed. In a letter to the Rev. Messrs. Whitefield and Wesley. By a Blacksmith.”
Besides these, there was also issued a small 12mo volume of 103 pages, with the title, “A Conference, between a Mystic, an Hutchinsonian, a Calvinist, a Methodist, and Others. Wherein the tenets of each are examined and confuted. By William Dodd, M.A., prebend of Brecon, and chaplain in ordinary to his majesty.” So far as Wesley is concerned, the object of Dr. Dodd is to prove, that Wesley and the Methodists arerealseparatists from the Church of England. “They have broken loose from all obedience to their ordinary; they have entirely leaped over all parochial unity and communion; they have built and continually preach in conventicles, under a licence, as Dissenters; they disuse the liturgy of the Church of England; they preach in all places without reserve; and, what is worst of all, and a source of innumerable evils, they employ and send forth laymen, of the most unlettered sort, to preach the gospel, without any authority from God or man. After all this, to hear such men disclaiming separation has something in it so double and offensive, as to raise the indignation of every serious and reasonable Christian.” It is further alleged, by his majesty’s chaplain, at that time one of the most popular preachers in London, that “Wesley fights against everybody. Indeed, not only is his hand against every man, and every man’s hand against him, but his own hand is also against himself. His writings abundantly contradict themselves; and it would be no hard matter to setJohnagainstWesley, andWesleyagainstJohn.”
Others, besides Dr. Dodd, took the liberty of accusing Wesley of self contradiction. The reader will remember that, in 1755, the Rev. James Hervey published his “Theron and Aspasio,” having previously sent the first three dialogues to Wesley for his revision. In the year following, after reading the entire work, Wesley wrote a long letter to Hervey, giving, with his accustomed brevity, his criticisms on the whole.[599]In 1758, he published this critique, in his “Preservative against unsettled Notions in Religion.” Hervey wasgreatly mortified and offended; and, at once, set to work, to reply to Wesley, and to defend his “Theron and Aspasio.” In this instance, he submitted his manuscript to Wesley’s old antagonist, the Rev. William Cudworth. Hervey died on Christmas day, 1758,[600]almost before his work was finished, and certainly before it had received its final revision. Cudworth was extremely anxious to have it published, and wrote to the dying man to that effect. Hervey’s answer, ten days before his death, was the following.
“December 15, 1758.“Dear Mr. Cudworth,—I am so weak, I am scarcely able to write my name,“James Hervey.”[601]
“December 15, 1758.
“Dear Mr. Cudworth,—I am so weak, I am scarcely able to write my name,
“James Hervey.”[601]
On the evening before he died, his brother asked him, “Whether he would have the letters to Mr. Wesley published after his death?” He answered, “By no means, because he had only transcribed about half of them fair for the press; and because the corrections and alterations of the latter part weremostly in a shorthand, entirely his own, and which others would not be able to decipher. Therefore, as it is not a finished piece, I desire you will think no more about it.”[602]
Notwithstanding this request, however, the work was published, it is said surreptitiously, in 1764, and again, by Hervey’s brother, in 1765, in a 12mo volume of 297 pages, with the title, “Eleven Letters from the late Rev. Mr. Hervey, to the Rev. Mr. John Wesley; containing an Answer to that Gentleman’s Remarks on ‘Theron and Aspasio.’ Published from the author’s manuscript, left in the possession of his brother, W. Hervey. With a preface, showing the reason of their being now printed.”
What was the result of this? Of course, Hervey’s letters are highly Calvinistic; but they are not abusive. He hits hard; but he does it fairly and respectfully. He contends, that many of the sentiments which Wesley condemned in his critique on “Theron and Aspasio” are sentiments which Wesley himself had openly avowed; and that others had been greatly misunderstood by him. The most personal and offensive remarks are the following.
“Your objections have rather the air of a caveat, than a confutation. You seem to have forgotten, that propositions are not to be established, with the same ease, as doubts are started; and therefore have contented yourself with a brevity, which produces but little conviction, and more than a little obscurity.”[603]“When you add ‘pleasing sound to James Wheatley! Thomas Williams! James Relly’! I am quite ashamed of your meanness, and grieved at your uncharitable rashness. How unworthy is such a procedure, either of the gentleman, the Christian, or the man of sense!”[604]“Mr. Wesley, cased in his own self sufficiency, esteemeth all the aforementioned evidences as mere nothings. He totally disregards them. Reason, grammar, precedents, are eclipsed by his bare negative; and vanish into an insignificancy not worthy of notice.”[605]
“Your objections have rather the air of a caveat, than a confutation. You seem to have forgotten, that propositions are not to be established, with the same ease, as doubts are started; and therefore have contented yourself with a brevity, which produces but little conviction, and more than a little obscurity.”[603]“When you add ‘pleasing sound to James Wheatley! Thomas Williams! James Relly’! I am quite ashamed of your meanness, and grieved at your uncharitable rashness. How unworthy is such a procedure, either of the gentleman, the Christian, or the man of sense!”[604]“Mr. Wesley, cased in his own self sufficiency, esteemeth all the aforementioned evidences as mere nothings. He totally disregards them. Reason, grammar, precedents, are eclipsed by his bare negative; and vanish into an insignificancy not worthy of notice.”[605]
These are the worst specimens we can find, and would probably have been expunged, if Hervey had lived to send his letters to the press himself.
It was impossible for Wesley to allow the publication of Hervey’s eleven letters to pass in silence. Accordingly, atthe beginning of 1765, he printed “A Treatise on Justification, extracted from Mr. John Goodwin; with a preface, wherein all that is material, in letters just published under the name of the Rev. Mr. Hervey, is answered.” 12mo, 215 pages.
In his preface, Wesley states, that the reason why he printed his letter to Hervey, in his “Preservative,” was, because he had “frequently and strongly recommended” “Theron and Aspasio,” and deemed it his duty to point out what he disapproved. When he heard, that Hervey was about to answer him, he wrote requesting to see the manuscript before it was published, remarking, that if he did not return him privately a satisfactory answer within a year, he should have his free consent “to publish it to all the world.” Wesley continues:
“In this prefatory discourse, I do not intend to answer Mr. Hervey’s book. Shall my hand be upon that saint of God? No; let him rest in Abraham’s bosom. When my warfare is accomplished, may I rest with him till the resurrection of the just! I purpose only to speak a little on the personal accusations which are brought against me. The chief of those are twelve:—1. That I assert things without proof. 2. That I am self sufficient, positive, magisterial. 3. That I reason loosely and wildly. 4. That I contradict myself. 5. That I do not understand criticism and divinity. 6. That I have acted in a manner unworthy a gentleman, a Christian, or a man of sense. 7. That I am impudent. 8. That I deny justification by faith, and am an enemy to the righteousness of Christ. 9. That I am an heretic, and my doctrine is poisonous. 10. That I am an antinomian. 11. That I teach popish doctrine. 12. That I am a knave, a dishonest man, one of no truth, justice, or integrity.”
“In this prefatory discourse, I do not intend to answer Mr. Hervey’s book. Shall my hand be upon that saint of God? No; let him rest in Abraham’s bosom. When my warfare is accomplished, may I rest with him till the resurrection of the just! I purpose only to speak a little on the personal accusations which are brought against me. The chief of those are twelve:—1. That I assert things without proof. 2. That I am self sufficient, positive, magisterial. 3. That I reason loosely and wildly. 4. That I contradict myself. 5. That I do not understand criticism and divinity. 6. That I have acted in a manner unworthy a gentleman, a Christian, or a man of sense. 7. That I am impudent. 8. That I deny justification by faith, and am an enemy to the righteousness of Christ. 9. That I am an heretic, and my doctrine is poisonous. 10. That I am an antinomian. 11. That I teach popish doctrine. 12. That I am a knave, a dishonest man, one of no truth, justice, or integrity.”
We are bound to say, that Wesley puts the accusations too broadly. For instance, it is not fair to say that Hervey calls himimpudent, aknaveand adishonest man. Hervey was too gentle to be capable of using such appellatives; and it was not just for Wesley to put them into Hervey’s mouth. Hervey had a high respect for Wesley, and Wesley loved Hervey as a father loves a son. It was a mournful, miserable occurrence when the two friends misunderstood each other. It was a mistake for Wesley to write his critique on Hervey’s “Theron and Aspasio,” in terms so laconic and apparently dogmatical; but, of course, his time was too much occupied to write at greater length. On the other hand, it was an equal mistake for Hervey to permit his extreme sensitiveness to take such offence as to sink into a sort of sulky silence, withoutseeking a friendly explanation. It was a blunder for Wesley to publish his critique, in his “Preservative,” for it was really no adequate reply to Hervey, but mere hints of what a reply ought to be, the hints being couched in language which friends might easily understand, but which enemies might easily misinterpret. And then, finally, though Hervey’s eleven letters are ably written, it was a great misfortune, that he himself did not live long enough to give them a finishing revision; and it was an almost unpardonable breach of trust, as well as a grave impertinence, for either his brother, or William Cudworth, or both united, to revise what Hervey had left unrevised, and then, contrary to his dying injunction, to commit it to the public press.
The truth is, there can be little doubt, that William Cudworth was far more anxious for the letters to be published than Hervey was; and it is more than possible, that some of the most offensive expressions used were not Hervey’s, but were interjected by Hervey’s too zealous friend. Be that as it may, it is only fair to add, that Cudworth died in 1763,[606]and therefore about the time when the surreptitious edition of the letters was published, if not actually before it. These facts will help to explain Wesley’s closing paragraph.
“‘And is this thy voice, my son David?’ Is this thy tender, loving, grateful spirit? No, ‘the hand of Joab is in all this!’ I acknowledge the hand, the heart, of William Cudworth. I perceive it was not an empty boast, which he uttered to Mr. Pearse at Bury, before my friend went to paradise,—‘Mr. Hervey has given me full power to put out andput inwhat I please.’ But he too is gone hence; and he knows now whether I am an honest man or no. It cannot be long, even in the course of nature, before I shall follow them. I could wish till then to be at peace with all men; but the will of the Lord be done! Peace or war, ease or pain, life or death, is good, so I may but finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.”
“‘And is this thy voice, my son David?’ Is this thy tender, loving, grateful spirit? No, ‘the hand of Joab is in all this!’ I acknowledge the hand, the heart, of William Cudworth. I perceive it was not an empty boast, which he uttered to Mr. Pearse at Bury, before my friend went to paradise,—‘Mr. Hervey has given me full power to put out andput inwhat I please.’ But he too is gone hence; and he knows now whether I am an honest man or no. It cannot be long, even in the course of nature, before I shall follow them. I could wish till then to be at peace with all men; but the will of the Lord be done! Peace or war, ease or pain, life or death, is good, so I may but finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.”
This was dated November 16, 1764; and well would it have been if the matter had ended here; but, after this, Dr. Erskine rushed to the rescue; and, to enlighten the darkness of the Scotch Methodists, republished Hervey’s letters, with a venomous preface of his own. Then, good old JamesKershaw, one of Wesley’s itinerants, a man of no mean mind, printed, also at Edinburgh, “An Earnest Appeal to the Public, in an honest, amicable, and affectionate Reply” to Erskine’s preface. Erskine again took up the cudgel, and published a “Defence” of his preface,—a defence in which Wesley was more violently attacked than ever. And then, to consummate the whole, in 1767, Walter Sellon let off his anger in a shilling pamphlet, entitled “An Answer to ‘Aspasio Vindicated, in Eleven Letters’: said to be wrote by the late Rev. Mr. James Hervey.” To say nothing about the answer itself, which however might have been more polite without being less powerful, Sellon’s preface is a perfect tempest of wrathful indignation. Who can justify the following furious effusion respecting Hervey? “Mr. Hervey was deeply sunk into antinomianism; and had he lived much longer would, in all probability, have donemuch mischief. Managed by W. Cudworth, thatweakman drew his pen, dipped inantinomian venom, and wrote with theutmost bitternessagainst his friend, to whom he lay undervariousandgreatobligations.”[607]Or the following, in reference to Hervey’s brother, and the surreptitious edition of the letters? “That edition wasplannedin thebottomless pit,inspiredby theprince thereof, and published by aknave. And you think it your duty topatroniseall therailing,scurrility,antinomianism,blasphemy,lies, andlewdness, contained in that book, and to make your brother’s namestinkto the latest posterity! Aworthy brother, truly!”
Mr. Sellon meant to serve Wesley; but he mistook the right way of doing it. The above is slang slander, not sober statement. Mr. Sellon was a good man, and possessed of considerable mental power; but it would have fulfilled his purpose better, if, before writing his preface to the “Answer to Aspasio Vindicated,” he had gone back to Kingswood school, and taken lessons in Christian courtesy.
The results of this wretched fracas were: 1. In Scotland, Wesley’s doctrines were stigmatized and rejected as foul and dangerous heresies; and the progress of Wesley’s Methodism was effectually retarded for the next twenty years. And,2. In England, the squabble culminated in the memorable Calvinian controversy, which ostensibly sprung out of the conference minutes of 1770, but which really originated in the facts above recited. Fortunately, Wesley then had Fletcher, instead of Sellon, for his champion; and, unfortunately for the Calvinistic party, the only man at all competent to enter the lists with John Fletcher was James Hervey, who, twelve years before, had been removed to that better world where controversial strife does not exist.
Wesley had great faith in the power of books; and made it one of the duties of his itinerants to promote the sale of his own publications. Hence the following, addressed to Thomas Rankin.
“Bristol,September 21, 1764.“Dear Tommy,—I sometimes wonder, that all our preachers are not convinced of this: that it is of unspeakable use to spread our practical tracts in every society. Billy Pennington, in one year, sold more of these in Cornwall, than had been sold for seven years before. So may you, if you take the same method. Carry one sort of books with you the first time you go the round; another sort the second time; and so on. Preach on the subject at each place; and after preaching, encourage the congregation to buy and read the tract. Peace be with your spirit!“I am your affectionate friend and brother,“John Wesley.”[608]
“Bristol,September 21, 1764.
“Dear Tommy,—I sometimes wonder, that all our preachers are not convinced of this: that it is of unspeakable use to spread our practical tracts in every society. Billy Pennington, in one year, sold more of these in Cornwall, than had been sold for seven years before. So may you, if you take the same method. Carry one sort of books with you the first time you go the round; another sort the second time; and so on. Preach on the subject at each place; and after preaching, encourage the congregation to buy and read the tract. Peace be with your spirit!
“I am your affectionate friend and brother,
“John Wesley.”[608]
Hence again the following, in reference to the work already mentioned.
“London,November 2, 1764.“My dear Brother,—At the request of several of our preachers, I have at length abridged Goodwin’s ‘Treatise on Justification.’ I trust it will stop the mouths of gainsayers concerning imputed righteousness; and teach them to speak as the oracles of God.“I desire you to read the proposal and preface in every society within your circuit; then enforce it, as you see best, both in public and private conversation. Spare no pains. Exert yourself. See what you can do. Give this proof of your love for the truth, for the people, and for your affectionate friend and brother,“John Wesley.”[609]
“London,November 2, 1764.
“My dear Brother,—At the request of several of our preachers, I have at length abridged Goodwin’s ‘Treatise on Justification.’ I trust it will stop the mouths of gainsayers concerning imputed righteousness; and teach them to speak as the oracles of God.
“I desire you to read the proposal and preface in every society within your circuit; then enforce it, as you see best, both in public and private conversation. Spare no pains. Exert yourself. See what you can do. Give this proof of your love for the truth, for the people, and for your affectionate friend and brother,
“John Wesley.”[609]
Wesley’s publications, in 1764, were fewer than usual.
1. “An Extract of the Rev. Mr. Wesley’s Journal, from June 17, 1758, to May 5, 1760.” 12mo, 106 pages.
2. “A Short History of Methodism.” 12mo, 11 pages. He begins by stating, that many of the accounts given of the Methodists were as remote from truth as that given by a gentleman in Ireland, namely, that “the Methodists are the people who place all religion inwearing long beards.” He then proceeds to notice the rise of Methodism in the Oxford university; the mission to Georgia; the separation of Whitefield; then the separation from Whitefield of William Cudworth and James Relly, both of them “properly antinomians, absolute, avowed enemies to the law of God;” then the springing up of Venn, Romaine, Madan, Berridge, and others; and then the schism of Bell and Maxfield. He concludes:
“Those who remain with Mr. Wesley are mostly Church of England men. They love her articles, her homilies, her liturgy, her discipline, and unwillingly vary from it in any instance. All who preach among them declare, ‘We are all by nature children of wrath. But by grace we are saved through faith; saved both from the guilt and from the power of sin.’ They endeavour to live according to what they preach, to be plainBible Christians. And they meet together, at convenient times, to encourage one another therein. They tenderly love many that are Calvinists, though they do not love their opinions. Yea, they love the antinomians themselves; but it is with a love of compassion only. For they hate their doctrines with a perfect hatred; they abhor them as they do hell fire: being convinced nothing can so effectually destroy all faith, all holiness, and all good works.”
“Those who remain with Mr. Wesley are mostly Church of England men. They love her articles, her homilies, her liturgy, her discipline, and unwillingly vary from it in any instance. All who preach among them declare, ‘We are all by nature children of wrath. But by grace we are saved through faith; saved both from the guilt and from the power of sin.’ They endeavour to live according to what they preach, to be plainBible Christians. And they meet together, at convenient times, to encourage one another therein. They tenderly love many that are Calvinists, though they do not love their opinions. Yea, they love the antinomians themselves; but it is with a love of compassion only. For they hate their doctrines with a perfect hatred; they abhor them as they do hell fire: being convinced nothing can so effectually destroy all faith, all holiness, and all good works.”
Such was Wesley’s manifesto concerning the Methodists in 1764.