John Wesley the Methodist
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CQPYR16MT- 130 John Wesley the Methodist A Plain Account of His Life and Work By a Methodist Preacher With One Hundred Portraits, Views, and Facsimiles New York : Eaton & Mains Cincinnati : Jennings & Graham Copyright by lATON & MAINS I903 —— 1 CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. A Race of Preachers. The Wesley Ancestry. —The First John Westley. —Samuel Wesley, Poet Preacher. and —Susanna Annesley. —Piety and Culture. Page 1 CHAPTER II. The Epworth Household. Epworth in Lincolnshire. —The Wonderful Mother. —Pecuniary Diffi- — culties. "A Brand Plucked from the Burning." 25 CHAPTER III. The Gownboy of the Charterhouse. A Friendly Duke. —The Charterhouse School. —John's School Days. The Epworth Ghost. —The Brothers at Westminster 39 CHAPTER IV. The Crisis at Oxford. A Freshman of Christ Church. —No Religious Friends. —Letters from Home. —Choosing a Profession. —The First Convert. —Fellow of Lincoln. —Curate at Wroote 51 CHAPTER V. The Holy Club. — Charles Wesley Begins It. "Methodists." —John Wesley Its Father. "Men of One Book."—Works of Mercy and Help.—The Oxford Methodists. —Whitefield. —Death of the Epworth Rector. —Re- served for a Better Appointment 6S S — 4 Contents. CHAPTER VI. To America and Back. The Missionary Spirit—Oglethorpe's Philanthropic Colony.—John Wesley, Missioner to Georgia. —The High Churchman at Savan- nah. —Moravian Influences. —The First Methodist Hymnal.—An Unhappy Ending Page 83 CHAPTER VII. The New Birth, Whitefield's Revival Fire. —Peter Border's Influence. —Charles Wes- " - ley's Happy Day. —John Wesley's Heart Strangely Warmed."— A Spiritual Revolution 95 CHAPTER VIII. Revival Preaching. "Jesus, the Sinner's Friend, Proclaim." —"By Grace Are Ye Saved." A Happy New Year. —Whitefield Calls Wesley Out of Doors. Shouts in the Camp. —The Old Room at Bristol. —The Foundry for Gospel Artillery. —Wesley's Chapel in City Road. —Wesley's House ............. 105 CHAPTER IX. Society and Class. No Solitary Religion. —The First Society. —A Layman's Notion. —An Unspeakably Useful Institution. —The General Rules. — Quar- terly Tickets. —Mother and Son. —"Jack May Excommunicate the Church." —Braving the Bishops. — " I Look upon All the World as My Parish."— Preaching from His Father's Gravestone. —Death of Susanna Wesley 121 CHAPTER X. Lay Helpers. — ' Wesley's "Irregularities." ' oul-saying Laymen."—Cennick, Hum- phreys, Maxfield. — "He is as SurelyCalled of God to Preach as You Are." —John Nelson, of Birstall. —The Extraordinary Call of Women. —Mary Bosanquet and Others 142 — Contents. 5 CHAPTER XL Two Sorts of Methodists. Whitefield's Calvinism. —Arminians. — " The Queen of the Metho- dists." —Trevecca College. —Lady Huntingdon's Connection.— Time Heals the Wounds. —Whitefield's Candle Burns to the Socket Page 153 CHAPTER XII. Wesley Faces Mobs. The Wednesbury Riots. —Before the Magistrate. —A Noble Champion. —"Always Look a Mob in the Face."—Stoned at the Market Cross. —Causes of the Disturbance. —Quieter Times 169 CHAPTER XIII. In Conference with the Preachers. An Ecclesiastical Statesman. — The First Conference. —Notable Con- ferences. —One-man Power. — "Christian Democracy." — Early Discipline. —Circuits 182 CHAPTER XIV. Doctrinal Wars. Antinomianism. —The Minute of 1770. — Fletcher's Checks. —The Hills, Toplady, and Berridge. — Wordy Wars 199 CHAPTER XV. Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Island Visits. — " The Dairyman's Daughter." —Irish and Irish-Amer- ican Methodism. —Shamefully Treated. —The Palatines. —Wesley in Scotland. —A Dash into Wales 212 CHAPTER XVI. The Work Beyond the Sea. Methodism in 1769.—An American Offshoot. —Shall Wesley Go? Political Pamphlets. —Wesley to Lord North. —A Calm Address. —A Methodist Episcopal Church for America 223 — 6 Contents. CHAPTER XVII. Traveler, Preacher, and Philanthropist. Wesley's Travels. — Hia Preaching Power. —The Last University Sermon.—A Pioneer of Benevolence. —Temperance. —Sunday Schools. —The Press. —Hymns and Tunes Page 231 CHAPTER XVIII. Setting His House in Order. "Thou Art the Man ! "—Methodist Clergy.—The Swiss Recruit. Fletcher's Proposals. —The Deed of Declaration. —The Ordina- tions. —The Rubicon Crossed 26' CHAPTER XIX. The Passing of John Wesley. An Active Octogenarian. —Welcomed in Ireland. —Triumphal Prog- resses. — "I Do not Lack for Labor." —Last Open-air Sermon. The Last Text.—A Last Letter.— "The Best of All is, God is with Us !" 28, CHAPTER XX. The True John Wesley. John Wesley's Appearance. — His Habits. — His Temperament. —His Tact. — His Love of Children. — His Unhappy Matrimonial Expe- rience. — His Wit and Humor. — His Freedom from Selfish Ambi- tion. —Asbury's Tribute 30; LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. John Wesley. After the Portrait by J. W. L. Forster. Photogravure. Frontispiece Rev. John Westley, M. A Page 13 Rev. Samuel Wesley, M.A., Rector of Epworth 15 Susanna Annesley, before her marriage to Rev. Samuel Wesley 17 Birthplace of Susanna Wesley. 20 A Part of Lincolnshire 23 Church of St. Andrew, Epworth 26 Glimpses of Epworth 28 The Gateway of Lincoln Castle 31 The Brand from the Burning 33 The Present Epworth Rectory from the Garden 36 Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham 40 The Charterhouse 42 The Great Dining Hall, Charterhouse 44 A Gownboy 45 " " Staircase to the Haunted Chamber 47 Entrance to the Charterhouse 49 A Letter from John Wesley at Oxford to the Treasurer of the Char- terhouse 52 The Front of Christ Church College, Oxford 54 Transcript by Adam Clarke of a MS. Record Written by Samuel Wesley 61 Wesley's Rooms, Lincoln College, and the " Wesley Vine " 63 Sketches of Lincoln College 65 Rev. John Wesley and His Friends at Oxford 71 Bocardo, the Prison, Oxford 74 A Lesson for the Holy Club 77 Grave of Samuel Wesley, Sr., in Epworth Churchyard 81 The Newspaper Notice of the Wesleys' Departure for America 85 Memorials of the Wesleys in Georgia 88 A Fragment of Romance 92 Peter Bohler 98 Streets Associated with the Conversion of the Wesleys 100 Nettleton Court, off Aldersgate Street 102 . 8 List of Illustrations. View of Herrnhut Page 106 Plan of Holborn 107 Hannam Mount, Kingswood 108 Scenes about Old Kingswood no The " Old Room in the Horsefair " 112 The Foundry Chapel, Moorfields, London 114 Vicinity of City Road and Foundry in Eighteenth Century 115 Wesley's Chapel, City Road, London 117 Interior of City Road Chapel 118 Wesley's House, City Road, London. 119 A Quarterly Ticket 123 A Quarterly Ticket, 1764. 125 A Quarterly Ticket, 1765 126 A Quarterly Ticket, 1789 127 The Rev. Samuel Wesley, Jr 129 Wesley Preaching on His Father's Tomb in Epworth Churchyard. 133 Methodism in Wesley's County, A. D. 1903 138 Monument to Susanna Wesley, City Road, London 140 Grave of Susanna Wesley, Bunhill Fields, London 140 John Nelson 146 John Nelson's Birthplace 147 Mrs. John Fletcher (Mary Bosanquet) 149 Cross Hall 151 The Rev. George Whitefield, A.M. 155 Selina, Countess of Huntingdon 159 The Last Resting Place of Lady Huntingdon 162 Trevecca Farmhouse, Trevecca College 164 The Whitefield Cenotaph 167 John Wesley, the Founder of Kingswood 172 Weslev Preaching at Bolton Cross 177 The Press Gang 180 The Rules of an Assistant 184 " The Hole in the Wall " 186 The Old Chapel, Derby, 1765 188 Barnard Castle Chapel, 1765 190 William Shent's House 192 The Modern Kingswood School, Bath 193 John Wesley's Study, Bristol 194 Facsimile of an Agreement Made by the Preachers in 1752 197 J. Fletcher, Madeley 202 Contemporary Portraits of Wesley 203 Rev. Augustus Montague Toplady 207 Rev. Rowland Hill 209 Poor Old Ireland 214 Views in Aberdeen 217 House in Carnarvon , , 220 . List of Illustrations. 9 The Old Boggart House, Leeds Page 225 Wesley Chapel, " Old John Street Church," New York 227 The First Methodist Chapels in Maryland 229 Title-page of Wesley's '• Calm Address " 232 The Ordained Missionaries to America 235 John Wesley Preaching at Gwennap Pit 241 Pulpit of St. Paul's, Bedford 245 Glimpses of St. Mary's, Oxford 247 The Broad Walk, Christ Church, Oxford 249 West Street Chapel, London. 251 The Orphan House, Newcastle 253 Some of Wesley's Preaching Places .• 255 Cover and Contents of the First Number of the Arminian Magazine. 257 Wesley's Editorial Salutatory 258 John Wesley's Shorthand Writing , 260 Title-page of Wesley's First Tune Book 262 Wesley's Favorite Tune, by Lampe 263 Rev. Charles Wesley, A. M 265 John Wesley at the Age of Sixty-three 269 Shoreham Church 272 The Birthplace of John Fletcher, Nyon, Switzerland 275 Madeley Church and Vicarage 277 Part of a Letter from John Wesley to John Fletcher 279 Certificate of Robert Gamble as Elder 281 Contemporary Portraits of John Wesley 2S3 The High Church, Hull -. 286 Wesley's Study 287 The Last Entry in Wesley's Cash Account 289 The House at Leatherhead in which Wesley Preached His Last Sermon 290 One of Wesley's Last Letters, February 5, 1791 . 291 Furniture which Belonged to John Wesley 293 Wesley' s Last Hymn 294 John Wesley's Deathbed (from the Painting by Parker) 296 Key to the Painting " John Wesley's Deathbed " 297 Mask of John Wesley 299 Tomb of the Rev. John Wesley 300 Wesley's Tablet in City Road 301 John Wesley (from the Painting by Jackson) 305 Wesley's Field Bible, with case 3°8 The Title-page of Wesley's Field Bible 309 Mrs. Pendarves " 311 Mrs. John Wesley 3 r 4 Memorial Tablet to John and Charles Wesley in Westminster Abbey. 316 The Wesleyan Centenary Statue, City Road, London 318 Seal of John Wesley 319 — You are the heirs of great traditions. You stand in a noble succession. But— " They who on glorious ancestry enlarge Produce their debt instead of their discharge." You have done so much that you are under awful responsibilities to the nations in which your societies are already planted, and to the nations to which you have still to make known the unsearchable riches of God's grace.