1767 Age 64 derision so called, desire to be distinguished from other men. By these marks, do we labour to distinguish ourselves from those whose minds or lives are not according to the gospel of Christ.' "Upon this, 'Rusticulus,' or Dr. Dodd, says: 'A Methodist, according to Mr. Wesley, is one who is perfect, and sinneth not in thought, word, or deed.' "Sir, have me excused. This is not according to Mr. Wesley. I have told all the world, I am not perfect; and yet, you allow me to be a Methodist. I tell you flat, I have not attained the character I draw. Will you pin it upon me in spite of my teeth? "But Mr. Wesley says, the other Methodists have.' I say no such thing. What I say, after having given a scriptural account of a perfect Christian, is this: "By these marks the Methodists desire to be distinguished from other men; by these we labour to distinguish ourselves.' And do not you yourself desire and labour after the very same thing? "But you insist: Mr. Wesley affirms the Methodists, that is, all Methodists, to be perfectly holy and righteous.' Where do I affirm this? Not in the tract before us. In the front of this, I affirm just the contrary; and that I affirm it anywhere else is more than I know. Be pleased, sir, to point out the place; till this is done, all you add, bitterly enough, is brutum fulmen; and the Methodists, so called, may still 'declare,' without any impeachment of their sincerity, that they do not come to the holy table trusting in their own righteousness, but in God's manifold and great mercies? The above is an important letter, were it for nothing else than showing that Wesley preached a doctrine he himself did not experience. For above thirty years, he had taught the doctrine of Christian perfection; but he here flatly declares, that, as yet, he had not attained to it: he taught it, not because he felt it, but because he believed the Bible taught it. Wesley was anxious to visit his societies in the sister island. Ireland sorely needed his societies, and his societies needed him. As an instance illustrative of Ireland's ignorance and superstition, at this period of Wesley's history, it may be stated, that there was then a lake, in the county of Donegal, visited by about four thousand pilgrims, from all parts of Ireland, every year, many of them being the proxies of wealthier people, who, at a small expense of cash, discharged their sins, by employing the feet and knees of their poorer neighbours. The lake was about a mile and a half square, and had, in the centre of it, a small island, on which were built two chapels, A Holy Lake, in Ireland, 599 and fifteen thatched dwellings for the accommodation of priests 1767 and penitents. The stay of each pilgrim in the holy island Age 64 was from three to nine days, and his diet, during his visit, oatmeal and water. His penance was, to walk; without shoes and stockings, on a path of sharp and rough stones, not daring to pick his steps, for this would prevent the remission of his sins at the soles of his feet, the proper outlet; and would also divert his attention from the ave marias and pater nosters which he had to mumble in his piercing pilgrimage. Besides this pedestrian penance, he had to make the same sort of journey on his uncovered knees; and then to take his position in a narrow vault, and there sit with his head bowed down, for the space of four-and-twenty hours, without eating, drinking, or sleeping, and all the while repeating the prayers prescribed by his father confessor. To prevent the danger of a nap, each pilgrim penitent was furnished with a pin, to be suddenly inserted into his neighbour's elbow, at the first approach of a drowsy nod; and, to complete the whole, each one was taken to a flat stone in the lake to undergo a scouring; after which, the priest bored a hole through the top of the pilgrim's staff, in which he fastened a cross peg; and gave him as many holy pebbles from the lake as the poor dupe cared to carry for amulets among his friends. Thus scoured and fitted out, the man, with priestly and pious pomp, was then dismissed; and, with his shillalah converted into a pilgrim's cross, became an object of veneration to all who met him.1 A journey to Ireland now is thought a trifle; but in Wesley's days it was otherwise. Wesley's purpose was to embark from Bristol; but, on arriving there, he found that there was no ship large enough to take his horses. Accordingly, he had to hurry from Bristol to Liverpool, where the same disappointment awaited him that he had met at Bristol. A third time he started, and now hastened from Liverpool to Portpatrick in Scotland; and here, on March 29, he was fortunate enough to find a vessel of sufficient size to carry him and his equine friends across the channel. Three weeks elapsed, however, from the time he left London to the time he left Portpatrick. Of course the interval was not spent without preaching. At 1London Magazine, 1766, p. 90. Age 64 1767 Wednesbury, where, six months before, he had left one of his Wesley spent four months in Ireland, from March 30 to On March 31, he met the society at Belfast, where the At Newry, when he began to preach in the market house, his congregation consisted of four persons besides himself. He writes, however: "A good number assembled before I had done, only none of the gentry; they were hindered by a business of more importance,-dressing for the assembly!" It was about this period, that the following expensive item was, with conscientious solemnity, entered in the Newry circuit stewards' book: “A lash for Mr. Wesley's whip, 3d.”3 On April 10, he writes: "I preached at Portadown, a place not troubled with any kind of religion. I stood in the street; the people gathered from all sides; and, when I prayed, kneeled down upon the stones, rich and poor, all around me." "April 15.-I rode to Armagh. Half an hour before the time of preaching, an officer came, and said, 'Sir, the sove reign' (or mayor) 'orders me to inform you, you shall not preach in this town.' In order to make the trial, I walked to the market house at six. I had just begun when the sovereign came. He was talking very loud, and tolerably fast, when a gentleman said: 'Sir, if you are not allowed to preach here, Mr. you are welcome to preach in Mr. M'Gough's avenue.' M'Gough, one of the chief merchants in the town, himself showed us the way. I suppose thrice as many people flocked there, as would have heard me in the market house. So did the wise providence of God draw good out of evil!" Soon after this, the archiepiscopal city of Ireland had not only a Methodist society, but a Methodist meeting-house, measuring fourteen feet by twelve, unceiled, and with a thatched roof,-a contrast to Armagh's cathedral.1 At Swadlingbar, Wesley found a lively congregation of plain country people, "as simple and artless as if they had As soon as he begun lived upon the Welsh mountains." preaching, a papist commenced "blowing a horn"; but "a gentleman," says Wesley, "stepping up, snatched his horn away, and, without ceremony, knocked him down." When A similar fisticuff scene occurred at Kilfinnan. Wesley commenced preaching, a young man, "a kind of Mr. gentleman, took great pains to make a disturbance. Dancer," Wesley's travelling companion, "mildly desired him to desist; but was answered with a volley of oaths and a blow: one of the town then encountered him," says Wesley, "and beat him well." At Athlone, Wesley opened a new chapel, which had been built by Mr. Simpson, a magistrate, in his own garden, and at his own expense, with a chamber over the end of it, for the accommodation of the preachers.2 "Here," he says, "I rested for four days, only preaching morning and evening. I would willingly have gone to church, but was informed, there had been no service for near two years, and would be none for a year or two longer, the inside of the church wanting to be repaired!" Upon the whole, Wesley was not satisfied with the state of "There is," says he, "a considerable his societies in Ireland. 1767 Age 64 1 Irish Evangelist, Jan. 1, 1861. Ibid. vol. i., No. 11. Age 64 1767 increase of the work of God throughout the province of Ulster. There is some increase in Connaught. In some parts of Leinster there is an increase. But in Munster, a land flowing with milk and honey, how amazing a change is there, for the worse, within a year or two." 1 The following letter to his brother refers to the same subject, and also to the societies in England. "ATHLONE, June 21, 1767. "DEAR BROTHER,- For some time, I have had many thoughts concerning the work of God in these kingdoms. I have been surprised, that it has spread so far; and that it has spread no farther. And what hindered? Surely the design of God was, to bow a nation to His sway; instead of which, there is still only a Christian here and there; and the rest are yet in the shadow of death; although those, who would profit by us, have need to make haste, as we are not likely to serve them long. "What, indeed, has hindered? I want to consider this. And must we not first say, Nos consules? If we were more holy in heart and life, thoroughly devoted to God, would not all the preachers catch our fire, and carry it with them throughout the land? "Is not the next hindrance the littleness of grace, rather than of gifts, in a considerable part of our preachers? They have not the whole mind that was in Christ; they do not steadily walk as He walked. And, therefore, the hand of the Lord is stayed; though not altogether. Though He does work still, it is not in such a degree as He surely would, were they holy as He that hath sent them is holy. "Is not the third hindrance the littleness of grace in the generality of the people? Therefore, they pray little, and with little fervency, for a general blessing; and, therefore, their prayer has little power with God. It does not, as once, shut and open heaven. Add to this, that, as there is much of the spirit of the world in their hearts, so there is much conformity to the world in their lives. They ought to be both burning and shining lights; but they neither burn nor shine. They are not true to the rules they profess to observe; they are not holy in all manner of conversation. Nay, many of them are salt that has lost its savour, the little savour they once had. Wherewith then shall the rest of the land be seasoned? What wonder, that their neighbours are as unholy as ever? "But what can we do to remedy this? I wish you would give an attentive reading to the minutes of the last conference, and see if it will not be worth our while to enforce them with all our might. We have weight enough, and can enforce them. I know not who can and will when we are gone. Let us now fix things on as firm a foundation as possible, and not depend upon seeing another conference. 1 Wesley's Works, vol. xiii., p. 345. |