ABSTRACT OF SOUTHEY'S LIFE OF WESLEY. (Concluded from Page 298.) DIFFERENCE of opinion had occasioned disputation and dissension among the brethren of Fetter-Lane during Wesley's absence at Bristol. One Shaw, a layman, insisted that a priesthood was an unnecesary and unscriptural institution. Such a teacher found ready believers; and the pro priety of lay-preaching was contended for by one party in the Society, and opposed by another. But in spite of the opposition headed by Charles Wesley, a Mr Bowers began to preach, and some other innovators declared, that they would no longer be members of the Church of England. Whitefield, who had taken part with Charles Wesley in these disputes, having been refused admission to the pulpit of Islington by the churchwarden till he produced a licence, interpret ed the prohibition as a manifestation of the divine favour to preach in the church-yard. Soon after this innovation, which, he says, his Master by his providence compelled him to do, he went out to Moorfields, where, in consequence of public notice, a great multitude had assembled to hear him. This place," from the situation of the ground, and the laxity of the police, had now become a royalty of the rabble, a place for wrestlers and boxers, mountebanks, and merry-Andrews; where fairs were held during the holidays, and where at all times the idle, the dissolute, and reprobate resorted; they who were the pests of society, and they who were training up to succeed them in the ways of profligacy and wretchedness.” Preaching here was, as Whitefield observed, attacking Satan in one of his strong holds. He stood upon a wall, and addressed a great crowd without interruption. His favourite ground upon week days was Kennington Common, and both there and at Moorfields, he had sometimes fourscore carriages, and from thirty to forty thousand persons on foot gathered to hear him. At these preachings he always collected for the Orphan house, and received more halfpence from his poor auditors than a man could carry away. No fits or convulsions had as yet been produced under Whitefield's preaching, though he delivered the same doctrines as Wesley, and with greater vehemence of manner. But as soon as Wesley began, after his return from Bristol, the symptoms re-appeared with their usual violence. At Wapping, the second day after his arrival, while " weary in body and weak in spirit," he preached from a text which turned up by chance. heard began to call upon God with strong were torn with a kind of convulsive mo- Mr Southey mentions a great number of instances of a similar kind, under the head of what he calls "Extravagancies of the Methodists;" but we shall not enter into any farther detail on that subject in this place, as we believe our readers will be perfectly satisfied with specimens which have been already adduced. Wesley and the Moravians had not clearly understood each other when they coalesced. They attributed his proofs of the work of grace to the effect of animal spirits and imagination, and his soul was sick of their sublime divinity. "Their practice," said he, "is agreeable to their principles lazy and proud themselves, bitter and censorious toward others, they trample upon the ordinances of Christ: "I see no middle point wherein we can meet." "Vain janglings pursued him every where;" and he resolved to effect an entire separation. For direction in this, as in other weighty matters, he had recourse to bibliomancy, and had his intention determined by turning up these words, What is that to thee? Follow thou me. He had also previously taken a large building in Moorfields, which had been a foundery for cannon during the civil wars, and for some time after the Restoration. He then remodelled the bands, relieving them from that perpetual disputation by which they were wavered if not weakened, and separated from the society in Fetter-Lane with the minority. "We gathered up our wreck," says Charles, "rari nantes in gurgite vasto, floating here and there on the vast abyss; for nine out of ten were swallowed up in the dead sea of stillness." Some attempts were made by both parties to bring about a re-union, but without success. And after the breach had been formally announced, Count Zinzendorff published an advertisement declaring, that he and his people had no connection with John and Charles Wesley. Soon after this a dispute arose between Wesley and Whitefield concerning the tenets of Calvin. The latter could never acquiesce in the doctrine of perfection, the free, full, and present salvation from all the guilt, all the power, and all the in-being of sin; and maintained those of election and irreversible decrees. And as the former was, at that time at least, of a pugnacious spirit, a separation became next to inevitable. The dispute was keenly maintained on both sides, and the separation was hastened by the zeal of Whitefield's adherents. A man of the name of Cennick was particularly zealous in enforcing Calvinism in opposition to Wesley. He had been employed in the school at Kingswood, and also in lay preaching, and was withal of a strong mind and resolute spirit. His opposition was the more cutting, as he had been his chosen assistant in the work in which he had embarked. But Wesley knew well the art of preserving his authority; and with that view, when the Band Society in Kingswood came together prepared for a discussion of their opinions and conduct, they were astonished at hearing themselves addressed in a manner which amounted to excommunication. In consequence of this, Cennick, with about half of the members, withdrew. At this time Whitefield was on his way the second time from America, and seems, by the letters which he wrote during the voyage, to have anticipated a separation. This disunion from the Moravians, on the one hand, and from Whitefield, on the other, was favourable to Wesley's ambition, inasmuch as it made him the sole head and single mover of the sect which he now began to form and organize. One step drew on another. Exclusion from the pulpits of the establishment drove him to field preaching. This, in a climate subject to great and sudden vicissitudes, led to the erection of meeting-houses. These again required funds and ministers. And as few clergymen could co-operate with him, he found it necessary to admit the practice of lay-preaching. The ad mirable adaptation of the means to the end, which the system of Methodist discipline displays, is not the result of prospective wisdom, but was slowly developed and assisted in its progress by accidental circumstances. For defraying the debt incurred by the building in Bristol, it was proposed that each member in the society should contribute a penny a week till the whole was paid. The contribu tion of the class money-thus began, and the mode of collecting it afterwards improved to a perfect system of inspection. When Wesley returned to London, he explained to his leading disciples the great difficulty he had hitherto experienced of properly knowing the people who had put themselves under his care. They agreed, that there could be no better way to come to a sure knowledge of every individual than by dividing them into classes, (each consisting of eleven persons,) under the direction of those who could be trusted, as had been done at Bristol. Thenceforth, whenever a society of Methodists was formed, this arrangement was followed: a scheme for which Wesley says "he could never sufficiently praise God, its unspeakable usefulness having ever since been more and more manifest." At first the leader visited every member of the class in his own house; but in a short time it was determined that every class should assemble weekly. Itinerancy was also taken up without foresight, but as the natural consequence of the course in which the Wesleys were engaged. This practice was not new, but had been long in disuse in England, and was, therefore, regarded as a novelty. The first example of lay-preaching was set by a Mr Bowers. When Whitefield had finished a sermon in Islington Church-yard, Bowers got up to address the people. The same person, afterwards preaching in the streets of Oxford, was laid hold of by the beadle. The propriety of this innovation was disputed; but Wesley had raised a spirit which he could not suppress, and, therefore, endeavoured to give it a useful direction. The lay brethren were at first permitted to read, pray, and exhort; but the transition from expounding to preaching was easy. During Wesley's tours, a person named Maxfield was appointed to exhort the Society in London. He, " being fervent in spirit and mighty in the Scriptures, greatly profited the people." Multitudes crowded to hear him: "he began to preach; and the Lord blessed the word." This system was in a manner anticipated by a person named Nelson, a Yorkshire mason. He was the son of pious parents; married early and happily; and lived a while with his family in peace, plenty, and love. But he became unhappy from the fear of judgment. From the church he went to hear dissenters, Roman Catholics, and Quakers, without comfort; so returned to the church again. He heard Whitefield in Moorfields; "he was to me," says Nelson, "as a man that could play well on an instrument." At length he heard Wesley. "Oh!" says he," that was a blessed morning for my soul. This man can tell the secrets of my heart. He hath not left me there, for he hath showed me the remedy, even the blood of Jesus." He refused to work at the Exchequer on Sunday. "Religion," said the foreman," has made you a rebel to the king." "No, Sir," he replied, "the greatest enemies of the king are the Sabbath-breakers, swearers, and drunkards, for they pull down God's judgments both upon king and country." The work was not pursued on Sunday, and Nelson rose in the opinion of his employer. He rejoined his family at Birstall, and began to exhort his neighbours; he collected a large congregation, and then wrote to Wesley, telling him what he was VOL. VII. doing. Wesley replied that he would see him in the ensuing week. He came, and found both a preacher and a congregation raised up without his interference. This was his first expedition to the north, and he preached in Newcastle, and the neighbourhood, with the same success as in other places. He visited Epworth, the place of his nativity, and stood upon his father's grave, and preached to the people; and there were few places where his preaching was attended with greater or more permanent effects. Methodism had now assumed a regular form, and its furious symptoms had subsided. But Wesley continued to preach" the doctrines of instantaneous regeneration, assurance, and sinless perfection." These tenets, promulgated by unlettered men with all the vehemence and self-sufficiency of fancied inspiration, gave very great and general offence; and taken in connection with the supposed Jacobitism of Wesley, excited mobs which beset him and his preachers wherever they camc. Their long and toilsome journeys, in like manner, subjected them to much privation, as well as fatigue, curious instances of which are recorded in their journals, one of which we shall venture to quote. • Bro "At the commencement of his errantry, he had sometimes to bear with an indifference and insensibility in his friends, which was more likely than any opposition to have abated his ardour. He and John Nelson rode from common to common, in Cornwall, preaching to a people who heard willingly, but seldom or never proffered them the slightest act of hospitality. Returning one day in autumn from one of these hungry excursions, Wesley stopt his horse at some brambles, to pick the fruit. ther Nelson,' said he, we ought to be thankful that there are plenty of blackberries, for this is the best country I ever saw for getting a stomach, but the worst that ever I saw for getting food. Do the people think we can live by preaching?' They were detained some time at St Ives, because of the illness of one of their companions; and their lodging was little better than their fare. All that time,' says John, Mr Wesley and I lay on the floor: he had my great-coat for his pillow, and I had Burkett's Notes on the New Testa ment for mine. After being here near three weeks, one morning, about three o'clock, Mr Wesley turned over, and finding me awake, clapped me on the side, saying, • Brother Nelson, let us be of 3 E good cheer, I have one whole side yet; for the skin is off but on one side." " Vol. II. pp. 52–54. Mr Southey has devoted three chapters of his book to notices and anecdotes of Wesley's lay-coadjutors, most of whom were very singular characters. Along with many other eccentricities, they were men who literally took no thought for to-morrow. "To remedy this evil, it was at length agreed, that every circuit should allow its preacher three pounds a quarter, to provide himself with clothing and books." It afterwards became necessary to make some provision for the wives of itinerants. For many years the stated allowance was four shillings a week; an additional twenty shillings a quarter was afterwards granted for every child; and when a preacher was at home, the wife was entitled to eighteenpence a-day for his board. The education of the children of preachers next claimed the attention of the founder. "Ought not the Society," said Wesley, "to supply what the parent could not, because of his labours in the gospel?" A school was accordingly built in the middle of Kingswood, three miles from Bristol. It was of a size to contain fifty children, besides masters and servants, with a room and a study for Wesley's own use. The children were to rise at four, summer and winter; to spend the time till five in private, in reading, singing, prayer, self-examination, and meditation. "From five till seven they breakfasted and walked, or worked, the master being with them, for the master was constantly to be present; and there were no holidays, and no play on any day." "The school hours were from seven to cleven, and from one to five: eight was the hour of going to bed; they slept in one dormitory, each in a separate bed; a master lay in the same room, and a lamp was kept burning there. Their food was as simple as possible, and two days in the week no meat was allowed. The things to be taught there make a formidable catalogue in the founder's plan; reading, writing, arithmetic; English, French, Latin, Greek, Hebrew; history, geography, chronology, rhctoric, logic, ethics; geometry, algebra, natural philosophy, and metaphysics. No oman author was to be read, who had lived later than the Augustan age, except certain selec tions from Juvenal, Persius, and Martial." The bounty of Lady Maxwell, one of his converts in high life, ena bled him to establish this school. She was of the Brisbanes in Ayrshire, was married to Sir Walter Maxwell at the age of 17; at 19 was left a widow; and six weeks after the death of her husband, lost her son and only child. This lady gave Wesley L. 500 to build his school; and when she understood that a debt of L. 300 had been incurred, she gave him that sum also. It need scarcely be added that the strict rules of discipline were found almost impracticable, and had afterwards to be somewhat relaxed. "Provision had thus been made for the maintenance of the preachers' families, and the education of their sons. A Conference, to which Wesley, in the year 1744, invited his brother Charles, four other clergymen, who co-operated with him, and four of his lay preachers, was from that time held annually, and became the general assembly, in which the affairs of the Society were examined and determined. They began their first meeting by recording their desire, that all things might be considered as in the immediate presence of God; that they might meet with a single eye, and as little children who had every thing to learn ; be examined to the foundation; that every that every point which was proposed might person might speak freely whatever was in his heart; and that every question which might arise should be thoroughly debated and settled.' There was no reason, they said, to be afraid of doing this, lest they should overturn their first principles: for, if they were false, the sooner they were overturned the better; if they were true, they would bear the strictest examination. of this Conference, to visit none but the They determined, in the intermediate hours sick, and to spend all the time that re mained in retirement; giving themselves to prayer for one another, and for a blessing upon this their labour. With regard to the judgment of the majority, they agreed that, in speculative things, cach could only submit so far as his judgment should be convinced; and that, in every practical point, each would submit, so far as he could, without wounding his coned, a Christian could not submit to any science. Farther than this, they maintain to council, bishop, or convocation. And man or number of men upon earth; either this was that grand principle of private judgment on which all the reformers proceeded. Every man must judge for himself; because every man must give an account for himself to God.' But this prin 66 ciple, if followed to its full extent, is as "In reference to himself, as the person in whom the whole and sole authority was vested, Wesley called his preachers by the name of helpers; and designated as assistants those among them who, for the duties which they discharge, have since been denominated superintendents. It soon be came expedient to divide the country into circuits. There were, in the year 1749, twenty in England, two in Wales, two in Scotland, and seven in Ireland. In 1791, the year of Mr Wesley's death, they had increased to seventy-two in England, three in Wales, seven in Scotland, and twentyeight in Ireland. Every circuit had a certain number of preachers appointed to it, more or less, according to its extent, under an assistant, whose office it was to admit or expel members, take lists of the societies at Easter, hold quarterly meetings, visit the classes quarterly, keep watch-nights and love-feasts, superintend the other preachers, and regulate the whole business of the circuit, spiritual and temporal." Vol. II. p. 201. "The rules of a helper are strikingly characteristic of Wesley, both in their manner and their spirit. 666 1. Be diligent. Never be unemployed a moment: never be triflingly employed. Never while away time; neither spend any more time at any place than is 2. Be serious. Let your motto be, Holiness to the Lord. Avoid all lightness, jesting, and foolish talking. "3. Converse sparingly and cautious- 4. Take no step towards marriage 6. Speak evil of no one; else your word, especially, would eat as doth a canker. Keep your thoughts within your own breast, till you come to the person concern ed. 7. Tell every one what you think wrong in him, and that plainly, and as soon as may be, else it will fester in your heart. Make all haste to cast the fire out of your bosom. 8. Do not affect the gentleman. You have no more to do with this character than with that of a dancing-master. A preacher of the gospel is the servant of all. 9. Be ashamed of nothing but sin; not of fetching wood (if time permit) or of drawing water; not of cleaning your own shoes, or your neighbour's. 10. Be punctual. Do every thing exactly at the time: and, in general, do not mend our rules, but keep them; not for wrath, but for conscience sake. 11. You have nothing to do but to / save souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work. And go always, not only to those who want you, but to those who want you most. 12. Act in all things, not according to your own will, but as a son in the gos pel. As such, it is your part to employ your time in the manner which we direct; partly in preaching and visiting the flock from house to house; partly in reading, meditation, and prayer. Above all, if you labour with us in our Lord's vineyard, it is needful that you should do that part of the work which we advise, at those times and places which we judge most for his glory."'" Vol. II. pp. 202-201. The preachers were restrained by the Conference from entering into trade,-from publishing any thing in verse or prose till it was corrected and sanctioned by Wesley, and from mak❤ ing or vending drops, pills, balsams, or medicines of any kind. They were not to preach oftener than twice on a weck-day, or three times on the Sabbath; and they were advised to begin |