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Jabez Bunting JA BEZ B U N T I N G A GREAT METHO DIST LEA DER I D . REV. MES H RR N R G D O G . JA A IS , T HE M D ETHO IST BOO' CON C ERN . N EW 'OR ' C I CI AT I N NN . P R E 'A C E N o o ne can feel more deeply than the writer how inadequate is the little book he h a s i written , when crit cally regarded as a life - sketch of the greatest man o f middle Methodism , to whose gifts and character organized Wesleyan Methodism throughout the world owes incomparably more than to any other man , With more Space a better book might and ought to have been made . But to bring the book within reach of every intelligent and earnest Methodist youth and ’ o f every working man s family , a very cheap volume was necessary , and therefore a very small one . The writer has done his best, w accordingly , to meet the vie s of the Metho dist Publishing House in this matter . He knows how great and serious are some o f the deficiencies in this record ; especially 6 Pre fa ce o n i the side of Methodist Fore gn Missions , hi as to w ch he has said nothing , though Jabez Bunting in this field was the prime and most influential organizer in all the early ’ years of o u r Church s Connexional mission work and world -wide enterprises The subject was too large and wide , too various and too complicated , to be dealt with in a section of a small book . It is , besides , the - - ever various and far reaching theme , in these later as in earlier times of our Church l history , of those universa ly extended public hi missionary meetings w ch Dr . Bunting may be said to have taken the chief part in o a re rganizing , and which now more than ever before prized and sustained in our - Methodism of to day . ME H R . JA S . IGG C O N T E N T S C H A P . I NTRODU CTION ' H A N L' MA H I . OU T D E AR N OOD I I . MACCLES 'I ELD I I I . E AR L' MIN I STR' I N LONDON A I V. A MET H OD I ST LE DER LI NE O ' D EVELOP MENT I C H A A E AN D I 'LU E CE V . R CT R N N I N T R O D U C T I O N D U RI NG the first half o f th e la st century y Dr . Bunting was , by universal consent , recog nize d as the most influential minister o f his o wn h Church and as occupying a very hig , no t if the highest , place among the Noncon f N o t o r m ist leaders of his o w n time . that o r f he sought such recognition , ever a fected the style o r manner of a Nonconformist leader ; the preferment was informal , but was his by general consent . He was providentially destined to great ness as a leader of his fellows , but yet he was born in a low social position . Nor did he attain to eminence as a Church leader by any great stroke o r special method o f his o w n . In his youth , indeed , his talents and scholarly diligence had raised him to a position and prospects which would have warranted the 9 I 0 Intro duction confident expectation for him o f a high professional career ; but he sacrificed that position , with all that it promised , for con ’ science sake , to enter upon the hard work , and still harder poverty , with which was very Often coupled at that time more than o f a little social ostracism , that were the lot of a Methodist itinerant preacher a hundred years ago . From this beginning he won his way, in after life , by modest and devoted service, first to the confidence and high appreciation o f his fellow labourers as Metho di st preachers, and afterwards to the general esteem a nd admiration o f evangelical workers in every class of society . As Wesleyan Methodism grew into wider and still widening acceptance and influence, his fame and l personal influence continual y increased . The reluctance o f a modesty which welcomed work and service , but in his earlier years f i shrank from o ficial position and distinct on, w a s overborne by the appreciation o f his r i breth en, both Older and younger ; unt l at dl u length, while still in mid e life, he co ld not but accept the position for which he w as providentially destined, and, as the leading o f o w n minister his evangelistic Church , was I ntroduction lifted into pre - eminence among the evan eli a g c l communities o f England . He was elected President o f the Wesleyan Conference while still in the prime of his life , and by — r e - election held that office four times in 1 820 1 828 1 8 6 1 8 . , , 3 , 44 His funeral was an occasion of almost national mourning . JA BEZ B U N T I N G CHAPTER I 'OU TH AND EARL' MANHOOD I T will be my first attempt , in this Sketch ’ of Dr . Bunting s youth and earlier manhood, to trace in slight outline the course o f his life, before he was called to the Christian ministry . Jabez Bunting was of Derbyshire parent a o f age . His father was tailor Monyash , o f in the Peak the county , who moved to — Manchester in middle life a man o f feeble physique , but a Christian man . He was a Me th o distf wh o knew the value o f a good ‘ education and , though he was poor, he sent s - his o n to the best day school in Manchester . I 3 I 4 J abe z Bunting His wife, whose maiden name was Mary R edfern, was a superior woman, a godly fo r r Methodist , much esteemed her Ch istian principles and firm good sense . ’ The story o f Jabez Bunting s life begins properly with the visit to Monyash Of a Methodist preacher of more than ordinary gifts for his itinerant vocation, John Bennet . —o r o ld He described his circuit , in Metho u l u —a s o n e dist vernac ar , his ro nd hun dred and fifty miles , in two weeks, during - which he preached thirty four times , besides ’ meeting the Societies and Visiting the — Sick Derbyshire , Lancashire, and Cheshire being the principal scenes o f his labours . This evangelist visited Monyash, where R Mary edfern heard him preach , and so sh e was impressed by the word , that forthwith j oined the Methodist Society and became thenceforth a devoted follower 1 o f Wesley . 1 h t r f o hn B en n et in a r t th e Th e is o y o J is , p , ’ h to r o f o hn W e e b e ca e o f B en n e t m a r is y J sl y , us s r ia e w th G r a ce M r r a w h o b u t fo r th e O o t o n g i u y , , pp si i o f h b r o ther Ch a r e w o ha v e b e co m e th e w e is l s , uld if f o W B enn e t b eca m e a n d fello w h elp er o J hn esl e y . h m in o r Me tho t o flsh o o t kn o w n in th e ea d o f a dis , L a n ca shir e a s In d e p en den t M e th o dis ts . I 6 J abez Bunting r o f Collegiate Church , now the cathed al that 1 8 th o f city, on the July following . The father died before he was an old man, but by sending his so n to the best school in Man o f chester, where the sons professional gentle in f men received their education, he did , e fect , ’ determine the development o f his son s mind and character , and put him on the line of intellectual progress and social cu lture and elevation , which , combined with the influence Of the Spirit and fellowship Of Wesleyan i Method sm, and the converting power of true i rel gion , led to the remarkable history and world - wide influence which made Jabez Bunting the greatest leader o f Methodism in the century that followed the death of Wesley . The School in Manchester was conducted ni by a Presbyterian mi ster, and among the scholars w a s the son o f the eminent physician and publicist , Dr . Percival , at that time the most distinguished citizen of Manchester and o ne o f the most celebrated men o f scientific culture and general knowledge in ’ England . Young Percival and the tailor s so n - were class mates and intimate friends, s h a d and, as a con equence , when the boys , Youth a nd Early M a nhood I 7 ni dis fi shed their course at school , in fine ’ o f so n regard social prejudices, the tailor s o f .
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