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can feel more eeply than the writer how inadequate the little book he written when crit cally regarded as a life sketch of the greatest man mid e 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 every working man s family a very cheap volume was necessary and therefore a very small one The writer has done his best accordingly to meet the vie s of the Metho dist Publishing House in this matter
He knows how great and serious are some the deficiencies in this record especi lly the side of Methodist Fore gn Missions 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 Church s Connexional mission work and world w de 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 ever various and far reaching theme in these later as in earlier times of our Church history of those universa ly extended public missionary meetings w ch Dr Bunting may be said to have taken the chief part in rganizing and which now more than ever before prized and sustained in our Methodism of to day

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NTROD TION

O T R N OOD
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R INI TR IN ONDON

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INE E E O ENT

R TER N EN E

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N the first half century
Dr Bunting was by universal consent recog as the most influential minister his
Church and as occupying a very hig if the highest place among the Noncon leaders of his time that he sought such recognition ever a fected the style manner of a Nonconformist leader the preferment was informal but was his by ge eral 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 special method his In his youth indeed his talents and scholarly di igence had raised him to a position and prospects which would have warranted the

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co fident expectation for him 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 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 his fellow labourers as Metho st preachers and afterwards to the general esteem a miration evangelical workers in every class of society As Wesleyan Methodism grew into wider and still widening acceptance and influence his fame and personal influence continual y increased The reluctance a modesty which welcomed work and service but in his earlier years shrank from o ficial position and distinct on overborne by the appreciation his breth en both Older and younger unt l at length while still in mid e life he co ld not but accept the position for which he providentially destined and as the leading minister his evangelistic Church was

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ifted into pre eminence among the evan communities England He was elected President the Wesleyan Conference while still in the prime of his life and by election held that o fice four times
His funeral was an occasion of almost national mourning

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will be my first attempt in this Sketch of Dr Bunting s youth and earlier manhood to trace in slight outline the course his life before he was called to the Christian ministry
Jabez Bunting was of Derbyshire parent age His father was tailor Monyash in the Peak the county who moved to Manchester in middle life man feeble physique but a Christian man He was a knew the value a good education and though he was poor he sent

his the best day school in Manchester

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J b z Bu ing

His wife whose maiden name was Mary edfern was a superior woman a godly
Methodist much esteemed her Ch istian principles and firm good sense
The story Jabez Bunting s life begins properly with the visit Monyash Of a Metho st preacher of more than ordinary gifts for his itinerant vocation John Bennet He described his circuit in Metho 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 isiting the Sick Derbyshire Lancashire and Cheshire being the principal scenes labours This evangelist visited Monyash where Mary edfern heard him preach and was impressed by the word that forthwith joined the Methodist Society and became thenceforth a devoted follower

Wesley

his y h is p his y h sl y us s i h Mu y pp si i his h l s uld h if f ll h p h sl y

h d M h dis sh

I

d p d M h dis s

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J bez Bunting

Collegiate Church now the cathed al that city on the July following The father died before he was an old man but by sen ng his to the best school in Man chester where the sons professional gentle men received their education he did e fect determine the development his son s mind

and character and put him on the line of intellectual progress and social c ture and elevation which combined with the influence Of the Sp rit and fellowship Of Wesleyan Method sm and the converting power of true rel gion led to the remarkable history and world wide influence which made Jabez Bunting the greatest leader Method sm in the century that followed the death of Wesley
The chool in Manchester was conducted by a Presbyterian mi ster and among the scholars the son the eminent physician and publicist Dr Percival at that time the most distinguished citizen of Manchester and the most celebrated men scientific culture and general knowledge in England Young Percival and the tailor s were class mates and intimate friends and as a con equence when the bo s

You h E ly M hood

fi shed their course at school in fine regard social prejudices the tailor s entered the family Dr Percival probably the most refined and truly liberal household in Manchester As Dr Percival s valued pupil and amanuensis his son s intimate friend the friend also then and thereafter through life of his daughters the trusted and beloved inmate Of that charming and cultivated household Jabez finished his edu cation as English citi en gentleman and a professional man He was a member that household when he was convert d as a Christian believer in the strictest evangelical sense He was still a member the same household when he o fered himself the ministry Of the people called Methodists and was accepted probation This took place in the last year of the eighteenth cen tury Jabez Bunting being at the time twenty years of age
Jabez Bunting remained the valued friend
Dr Percival through the life of that eminent man who appointed him his execut rs He was the friend and corre sometimes the counsellor the daughters after their father s death The

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remarkable tone and aspect of gent eman y and scholarly breeding which sting ished Dr Bunting in after life and made him always at home in good society whether of higher lower rank was no doubt largely

due to his intimate association as a youth with Dr Percival and his family The clear and pure English free from all note pro whether country cockney which he spoke and his excellent style equally manly and scholarly as a speaker and writer must also have been due very much training as Dr Percival s pupil and secretary He gave up his hopes and more than fair prospects as a medical student the poverty and wearing labours a Metho st itinerant preacher But all

that he had learned from Dr Percival and all that he sacrificed when he enlisted as servant and soldier of Christ in the life of a Methodist preacher served directly to prepare him his calling as a Christian minister and an evangelical leader in the Wesleyan Methodist Church
The boy Jabez had as a matter course in that primitive period of Wesleyan Metho been trained o y in Methodist

You h E ly M hood

doctrin and ru es go y life but as an attendant at the morning service the parish church where he had been baptized by the parish clergyman But he had also from chi dhood gone with parents to the Methodist preaching house his mother carry ing him from a very early age not on y to the preaching in the evening but to the in the afternoon evening a means grace in which the early Metho dists specially delighted
On this latter point hung a matter importance his after life Whilst Joseph Benso the preacher divine and tator was stationed at Manchester the boy who by this time had fu ly arrived at an age moral accountability and indeed bright intelligence was still received with his mother into the quarterly the Society though by rule none but decided believers earnest seekers after Christ and His salvation were admitted by show a proper ticket that peculiarly sacred and confidential service When Mr Benson however had removed from Manchester to another circuit and Mr Mather an able cotch an and the most influential

J b z Bu i g

and exact in scipline among the min sters One who like Benson himself had been elected and indeed then President of the Conference succeeded Benson as super of the Manchester Circuit fused to al ow Jabez by this ti e a youth in teens to accompany his mother to his sacred Society gathering This circumstance made a great impression on the boy as it had deeply touched his mother The result his definite decision for Christ and His service to use Methodist lan uage full and convinced conversion In later life he said Many attribute their conversion to their having attended a attribute mine having been shut
This was a lesson all his life to who in fter years had need guard sacred y the lesson for his Church fir y though patiently and eq tably maintaining its rules Of Christian order and principle
The lad received a note a ission trial into the Metho ist Society the Wesleyan Methodist Church September being fifteen years age At the same time his and life long friend James Wood joined the Society and after

You h E ly M hood

fi ing many trust in Methodism died in its fellowship having founded an family which to this day c eaves to the same Church serving it with stead fast loyalty James Wood was eminent citizen Manchester and the first president the Manchester Chamber Commerce he was also a county magistrate Through all his more mature life he was also a class leader as well as a local preacher in the Methodist Church
It is proper here to note that though
Dr Percival whilst a Presbyterian by profession was like most the
English Presbyterians this period an Arian in his professed creed nevertheless when his pupil had taken the step entering the Methodist ministry he sent him a kind and cordial letter and with it a generous gift to enable him buy books to help him in his studies for his vocation He was nearly connected by marriage with the eminent Irish divine Archbishop Magee whose learned and able work the cardinal

u i f lif i u d s s i is y d isi

if M h u h d si

pi i u l

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Christian doctrines Atonement and for many years the most generally v lu standard authority on that g eat When a copy that work was needed f Mr Benson s as Metho st e tor an the work being out print was to procured Dr Percival took great pains obta n the o y copy as it would seem co d be had through his kind the Archbishop and sent it to his form secretary for his use on behalf Mr and the Metho ist Book oom That M Bunti g s religious in uence was in the family Dr Percival may be inferred from the fact that nearly all members the large fam ly circle becan serious adherents the Church and remained through life retaining the end their warm friendsh p for the ather s secretary and executor
It might have been anticipated from position w ch Jabez Bunting occupied the fam ly of Dr Percival that his cour for the future was plain before him He w already kno n as a young and Methodist a fact which raised a ainst in the min his

J b z Bu ing

his connexion with Dr Percival and to his professional position tho always a Methodist Such a future inde was a more natural and probable outlook him according business possibilities prospects than any other Nevertheless deliberately turned away and took up work and profession a Metho st itiner preacher with the overty the so ial and the severe toil and contin self which such a calling could but involve knowing full well all that meant himself and the continued ha ship that would be the lot his mother sisters In doing he left the obvious easy path the di ficult and and at all events the hard and self denyin lot a Methodist preacher It is to explain understand this result in other way than by recognizing the call Providence higher than earthly intere and reasons to leave all and becom minister Of Christ s gospel to the com people England by what me and instrumentality he was led to convi tion that he was alled to becom Methodist home mission ry such

You h E ly M ho d

in earliest aspect was his vocation is an interesting and instructive i quiry
It may be presumed to begin with that the influence his excellent and devoted m ther had much to do with her son s deliberate choice the work and life a Methodist itinerant preach r From the time when under the influence Mr Mather he joined the Society the mother who had taken him in earliest years to the Metho dist preaching and the must have borne him continually in her mind and on her heart as belonging Christ and Metho and her example and influence must have laid deep hold him He her Jabez and looked forward to his fulfilling in a high and holy sense the word of Scripture which had dwelt in her mind and her heart Accord ngly when as a mere youth he began to deliver addresses young people and to take an interest in their conduct and pursuits his mother would naturally begin surmise what work Christ her might be called upon to Besides which his father s house was situated very near to the superintendent minister s house in Oldham Street Chapel ya the inmates which

J b z Bu ing

Mr Percival Bunting informs us in t volume from which I have already quot took kin y to their neighbour s polite a promising who went in and dwelling almost at his pleasure Thus drank in influences higher stronger a more congenial than even the stu es a the society with which he became at the home of his schoolfellow and frie and in the circle w ch Dr Percival the centre Such influences drew him increa ing strength and ith growing sp rit inspiration to ards the work the min stry as a Metho st preacher with its toil and worl y disadvantages
When he was but a boy seventeen notable and was as it were prophetic his future vocation that he became t founder A Society the acquirement religious nowledge consisting young m the Metho st Connexion in the rules of which composed and written by himself were contained in a book lent his and biographer Among the the Society was improvement in religio knowledge experience and practice a very sixth meetin was to be em loyed

Y u h E ly M hood

exercises wholly and distinctly of devotion The minute book of this Society records what was probably his first attempt to expound Holy Scripture Thursday morn ing the minute reads Brother being etained by indisposition the president
Bunting read the first chapter Of the
Epistle to the omans which a forded matter conversation J
A little later in this early stage Methodist circuit organization in Manchester we find Jabez Bunting still in his teens taking an active part in the working the Prayer Leaders Association Manchester Metho which in e fect was a branch the
Methodist home missionary agency of that time for bringing awakening gospel truth into contact with the working classes throughout the country In Manchester this agency was powerfully worked and in Jabez Bunting was its secretary appears from a document he left behind entitled A Plan the Metho st Sunday Evening Prayer meetings in Mancheste the September uarter a relic which bears the signa ture Jabez Bunting
Church Street

ecretary This plan ives the names

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    Methodist Missions and Popular Literature Martin Wellings I am very grateful for this opportunity to present a paper today, and thus to make a small contribution to the most important and significant work you are doing on the history of the MMS. This project has been dear to the heart of the Connexional Archives and History Committee for a long time now, and we are excited and encouraged by all that is taking place. Both the process and the outcome will make a major contribution to Methodist history, to the history of missions and to the history of the worldwide Church. Having said that, I have to confess that missionary history is not really my field. I have much more to learn from you than you have to learn from me! I am here mainly because Professor Walls is very persuasive, and not because I believe that I have a huge expertise in the area of missions and popular literature. The work that I have been able to do in preparation for today has served to remind me of my limitations, as well as to make me more aware of the sheer scale and richness of the subject before us. I hope that some will be inspired to take this further, and that those who do not arise inspired will at least awake refreshed. In his initial invitation, Professor Walls was very generous in his comments on a paper I presented some years ago on William Arthur, and it is with Arthur that I wish to begin today. I do so because his life, career, writings and reputation open up many themes which will be fruitful for the consideration of Methodist missions and popular literature.

  • Chosen by God: the Female Itinerants of Early Primitive Methodism

    Chosen by God : the Female Itinerants of Early Primitive Methodism : E. Dorothy Graham A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts of the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY E. Dorothy Graham AUTHOR’S NOTE When reading this thesis it is as well to remember that it was written 25 years ago and that styles of presentation and type have changed over time. Further information has been gleaned resulting in some of the original observations and comments needing to be up-dated. In addition there are several important points to be noted. 1. The Wesley Historical Society Library is now located in The Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History, Oxford Westminster Institute of Education, Oxford Brookes University, Harcourt Hill, Oxford OX2 9AT. [ www.wesleyhistoricalsociety.org.uk] 2. More information relating to some of the female travelling preachers has come to light, so the original Biographical and Additional Biographical Appendix is no longer included within the thesis. Readers are advised to follow the web-link to Chosen by God: A list of the Female Travelling Preachers of Early Primitive Methodism (Graham, E. Dorothy, 2010, Wesley Historical Society, Evesham) which is given after the Appendices. E. Dorothy Graham April 2013 1 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged.

  • Proceedings Wesley Historical Society

    Proceedings OF THE Wesley Historical Society Editor: REV. WESLEY F. SWIFT. Volume XXXI June 1958 THE INTERPRETATION OF JABEZ BUNTING (Jabez Bunting: born 13th May 1779; died 16th June 1858) N the centenary year of Jabez Bunting's death it seems worth while to consider what he has suffered at the hands of historians. I The bitterest controversy surrounded him in his life, and has never quite ceased since he died. This article makes no claim to be an exhaustive review of the literature of the subject, but only to indicate tentatively the main lines which interpreters of Bunting ha ve followed. One cannot really decide how wide a public was reached by \i\Tesleyan studies of Bunting in the nineteenth century. Almost in his own lifetime he had occupied the central place in the third and final volume of Dr. George Smith's History of Wesleyall Jfethodism. Smith had known Bunting personally, and had written in his defence during the Fly Sheets controversy. But by I86I, when he finished his task, Smith felt free to be more critical, and his general conclu­ sion, that the apparent failure of Bunting's career had its roots in personality, not policy, established one of the major themes of the interpretation of J abez. But Smith's work seems to have had very little influence on the later Free Church summaries of \i\Tesleyan nineteenth-century his­ tory. This was probably because Smith wrote before the introduction of a lay, representative session into the Wesleyan Conference: he was both free and willing to defend the ministerial Conference, and his book accurately represented the mind of the majority in mid­ Victorian Wesleyan Methodism.