CHAP. XIX. METHO DISM. " of God;" a superstition precisely similar to those of sortilege and ordeal in the darkest ages. In the spirit of those ages also were his monkish austerities; at one time he entirely left off meat and wine; he attempted to sustain life by bread only; he thought it meritorious to sleep on the floor rather than in a bed. * Yet let me observe, that these errors cannot fairly be imputed to Wesley's own maturer years, or, still less, to the great body of his followers at that time. In 1738, Wesley returned to England after an absence of above two years. Meanwhile, the little society he had left at Oxford had continued to grow and thrive. It had even struck root in London, and an association, formed on its principles, used to meet in Fetter Lane. Whitefield, having been ordained by Bishop Benson, soon attracted much notice by the eloquence, the enthusiasm, and the indiscretion of his sermons; and the same path was followed by Wesley with equal zeal and superior abilities. The first instance of field-preaching was by Whitefield to the colliers at Kingswood, near Bristol. These poor men had been left without any place or means of religious worship, so that to address them from the summit of a green knoll instead of a pulpit was scarcely a matter of choice. Well might the preacher's heart exult when he found, in a few weeks, twenty Wesley's Journal, October 20. 1735, January 30. 1736, &c. XIX. thousand people gathered round him from their CHAP. coal-pits*, and saw, as he says, the white gutters made by the tears which plentifully fell down their black cheeks! Negligent indeed must have been the reapers, where there was left so much to glean! The practice thus begun from the want of a Church was soon continued from a different necessity; when the extravagancies of the new preachers caused most of the regular pulpits to be closed against them. "I could scarce," says Wesley, "reconcile myself at first to this strange way." He still earnestly wished to adhere to the Church; in fact, both he and his brother Charles had at this time so much horror of schism as to form a project (most properly checked by the Bishops) for the re-baptizing of Dissenters! But the fever of fanaticism was now upon him, and transported him to many things of which his calmer reason disapproved. Like all enthusiasts, he began to consider the most ordinary and trifling occurrences as miraculous manifestations of a special Providence. Thus, for example, on one of his journies, dining at Birmingham, he omitted, as was his wont, to instruct the servants who had attended him, and a violent hail-storm having ensued when he left the town, he believed it a divine reproof * Whitefield's Journal, March 25. 1739. + Journal, March 29. 1739. But on the 1st of next April, he observes, that "our Lord's Sermon on the Mount is a pretty "remarkable precedent of field-preaching." METHO DISM. XIX. METHO * CHAP. for his neglect! When, on the contrary, a shower passes by him, Wesley repeatedly interprets it as á special Providence in his behalf. Any thing DISM. seemed to him more probable than that the elements should roll on their appointed course for the regulation of seasons, and the sustenance of millions! Any thing seemed more probable than that there should not be a miracle! At this period, also, Wesley lent his ear to certain convulsions and ravings that began to seize some of his hearers, especially the female portion of them. They used to fall prostrate to the ground, to gnash their teeth, to rave and struggle, and in some cases to declare themselves possessed by evil spirits; and Wesley believed it! Many instances of this kind are recorded in his Journals. On another occasion, whilst he was preaching, great laughter prevailed amongst the congregation. This he thought clearly supernatural. "Most of our brethren and sisters "were convinced, that those who were under this "strange temptation could not help it. Only "Edith B. and Anne H. were of another mind, being still sure any one might help laughing if "she would. This they declared to many on Thursday, but on Friday God suffered Satan to "teach them better. Both of them were suddenly "seized in the same manner as the rest, and laughed whether they would or not, almost with"out ceasing. Thus they continued for two days, 66 Wesley's Journal, March 16. 1738. "a spectacle to all, and were then, upon prayer CHAP, "made for them, delivered in a moment."* XIX. DISM. Charles Wesley, however, was less credulous; METHOand sometimes detected an imposition, where his brother could only see a miracle. Once, when he was preaching at Kingswood, he saw a woman distorting herself, and calling out as if in agony; he quietly told her that he did not think the better of her for it, and she immediately became quite calm. Another woman, at Bristol, when he questioned her in private, respecting her frequent fits, at length owned that they were for the purpose of making Mr. Wesley take notice of her. In many other cases, the convulsions were no doubt real and unfeigned; the effect of austere fasting or of ignorant fanaticism; of an empty stomach, or an empty brain. Moreover, almost from its birth, the new society was rent asunder by a violent schism. It had hitherto acted in communion with the Moravians, a sect recently founded in Germany, but whose English followers had engrafted fresh singularities on the parent stock. From an extremity of religious zeal, these Moravians had come round to the same point as those who lack it altogether. They made a jest of religious observances, such as going to church or to the sacrament; for they argued, he who has not faith ought not to use these things, and he who has faith does not want them. * Wesley's Journal, June 21. 1740. DISM. CHAP. One Moravian even went so far as to say, while XIX. discoursing in public, that as many go to hell by METHO- praying as by thieving.* Wesley naturally protested against these fanatics; they were also condemned by the chief of the sect in Germany, and the union between the Methodists and the better Moravians might perhaps still have been preserved. But Wesley, according to his usual system of drawing lots, under the idea of consulting Providence, had fallen upon the text, "What is that to thee? Follow thou me;" and from that moment thought himself bound to oppose all reconciliation. A still more important breach for the Methodists next arose, when their own house became divided against itself. Whitefield, a man younger in years, and inferior both in learning and talents to Wesley, had hitherto treated him with almost the deference of a pupil, and in their correspondence at this time calls himself" a child, who is willing to wash your "feet." They differed, however, on the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination. "What is there "in reprobation so horrid?" asks Whitefield. 66 How," exclaims Wesley, "the elect shall be "saved do what they will! The rest shall be "damned, do what they can!" An ample discussion on this mysterious subject failed to reconcile them; but seeing the evil of fresh divisions, and anxious to afford no triumph to their common adversaries, they wished to refrain from preaching * See Wesley's Works, vol. ii. p. 100. ed. 1809. |