Fanatical Methodists. 461 present also, at the next meeting after that, which is mentioned by Mr. Dodd and Mr. Thompson, in the Public Ledger. The same things which they blame I blame also; and so I told Mr. Bell the same evening. I was in hopes they would be done away, which occasioned my waiting till this time. But now, having lost that hope, I have given orders that they shall meet under my roof no more. "JOHN WESLEY.”1 "February 9, 1763. SIR,-I take this opportunity of informing all whom it may concern— 1. That Mr. Bell is not a member of our society; 2. That I do not believe either the end of the world, or any signal calamity, will be on the 28th instant; and 3. That not one in fifty, perhaps not one in five hundred, of the people called Methodists, believe any more than I do, either this or any other of his prophecies. "I am, etc., 66 "JOHN WESLEY.”2 Christian perfection, for a season, took the place of Church separation. The Methodists, for years past, had been on the point of declaring themselves Dissenters; now they were not unlikely to become fanatics. From the first, Wesley had taught the doctrine of Christian perfection; but now some of Wesley's followers were in danger of attaching to that doctrine whims which Wesley never sanctioned. Besides, is there not truth in the statement of Dr. Whitehead, a man well qualified to judge: "The doctrine of perfection, or perfect love, was undoubtedly taught among the Methodists from the beginning; but the manner in which it was now preached, pressing the people to expect what was called the destruction of the root of sin, in one moment, was most certainly new; I can find no trace of it before the period at which I have fixed its introduction"? 3 Wesley's annoyance was great, and his forbearance with the London fanatics exposed him to the censure of his friends. John Downes, in a letter to Joseph Cownley, wrote: "I consider the follies and extravagance of the witnesses as the devices of Satan, to cast a blemish upon a real work of God. The more I converse with the solid ones, the more I long to experience what they do. It is a state worthy of a Christian. As to the follies of the enthusiasts, Mr. Charles hears every 1 London Chronicle, Jan. 15, 1763. 1763 Age 60 1763 he alone ended as he first began; and, from 1735 to 1791, a Age 60 period of five and fifty years, lived not the enviable life of a settled pastor, but the homeless life of a wandering evangelist, and devoted his health, energies, and talents to a work resembling his who said, "I am a debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians"; "so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ." At the commencement of 1763, Wesley was in the midst of the fanatical troubles, chiefly created by Bell and Maxfield. The following letters refer to these affairs. They were all published in the London Chronicle. "SOUTHWARK, January 6, 1763. "SIR,-One Bell, said to be a Lifeguardsman, holds forth to an assembly, near Hanover Square. He is supposed to belong to the Methodists; but he advances things which many Methodists abhor. Nevertheless, his delusions spread. Many of his followers think themselves perfect, and declare they shall never die, 'because,' as they say, 'our dear Lord, who certainly will come a second time, is at the door, and we shall see Him come.' "God only knows where this folly of Mr. Bell's may end, if not soon stopped. Soon after the Reformation in Germany, many sprung up who held that they were perfect; they despised authority, and declared Christ was at the door (as Mr. Bell does) to destroy the world. Many of them, men and women, worshipped naked, and appeared so in the streets of Amsterdam and elsewhere, declaring that, as clothes came in only in consequence of sin, so they being free from sin were to wear none. " IMPARTIALITY.”1 "WINDMILL HILL, January 7, 1763. "SIR,—When I returned to London two or three months ago, I received various accounts of some meetings for prayer, which had lately been held by Mr. Bell and a few others. Some highly applauded them; others utterly condemned; some affirmed they had done much good; others that they had done much hurt. This convinced me, that it was requisite to proceed with caution, and to do nothing rashly. The first point was to form my own judgment, and that upon the fullest evidence. To this end I first talked with Mr. Bell himself, whom I knew to be an honest, well meaning man. Next, I told him they were at liberty, for a few times, to meet under my roof. They did so, both in the society room at the Foundery, and in the chapel at West Street. By this means, I had an opportunity of hearing them myself, which I did at both places. I was 1 London Chronicle, Jan. 8, 1763. 1 Fanatical Methodists. 461 present also, at the next meeting after that, which is mentioned by Mr. Dodd and Mr. Thompson, in the Public Ledger. The same things which they blame I blame also; and so I told Mr. Bell the same evening. I was in hopes they would be done away, which occasioned my waiting till this time. But now, having lost that hope, I have given orders that they shall meet under my roof no more. "JOHN WESLEY."1 "February 9, 1763. SIR,-I take this opportunity of informing all whom it may concern1. That Mr. Bell is not a member of our society; 2. That I do not believe either the end of the world, or any signal calamity, will be on the 28th instant; and 3. That not one in fifty, perhaps not one in five hundred, of the people called Methodists, believe any more than I do, either this or any other of his prophecies. "I am, etc., "JOHN WESLEY.”2 Christian perfection, for a season, took the place of Church separation. The Methodists, for years past, had been on the point of declaring themselves Dissenters; now they were not unlikely to become fanatics: From the first, Wesley had taught the doctrine of Christian perfection; but now some of Wesley's followers were in danger of attaching to that doctrine whims which Wesley never sanctioned. Besides, is there not truth in the statement of Dr. Whitehead, a man well qualified to judge: "The doctrine of perfection, or perfect love, was undoubtedly taught among the Methodists from the beginning; but the manner in which it was now preached, pressing the people to expect what was called the destruction of the root of sin, in one moment, was most certainly new; I can find no trace of it before the period at which I have fixed its introduction"? 3 Wesley's annoyance was great, and his forbearance with the London fanatics exposed him to the censure of his friends. John Downes, in a letter to Joseph Cownley, wrote: "I consider the follies and extravagance of the witnesses as the devices of Satan, to cast a blemish upon a real work of God. The more I converse with the solid ones, the more I long to experience what they do. It is a state worthy of a Christian. As to the follies of the enthusiasts, Mr. Charles hears every 1 London Chronicle, Jan. 15, 1763. 1763 Age 60 1763 week less or more. Why his brother suffers them we cannot Age 60 tell. He threatens, but cannot find in his heart to put in execution. The consequence is, the talk of all the town, and entertainment for the newspapers." 1 Charles Wesley, in a letter dated February 1, 1763, remarks: "Sad havoc Satan has made of the flock. What they will do after my brother's departure, I leave to the Lord; for I dare not think of it. I gave warning four years ago of the flood of enthusiasm which has now overflowed us; and of the sect of ranters that should arise out of the witnesses. My last hymns are a further standing testimony. Tell Christopher Hopper, I reverence him for his stand against the torrent." 2 This was well, so far as it went; but it would have been considerably better, if Charles Wesley had joined with his warnings and vaticinations his active cooperation to stem the torrent of which he had prophesied. Wesley wrote to him on February 8, saying: "The sooner you could be here the better; for the mask is thrown off. George Bell, John Dixon, Joseph Calvert, Benjamin Briggs, etc., etc., have quitted the society, and renounced all fellowship with us. I wrote to Thomas" (Maxfield), “but was not favoured with an answer. This morning I wrote a second time, and received an answer indeed! The substance is, 'You take too much upon you.' 1"3 Charles evidently declined to come to his brother's help; hence the following extracts from two other letters, dated respectively February 26 and March 6, 1763: "I perceive, verba fiunt mortuo; so I say no more about your coming to London. Here stand I; and I shall stand, with or without human help, if God is with us. That story of Thomas Maxfield is not true. But I doubt more is true than is good. He is a most incomprehensible creature. I cannot convince him, that separation is any evil; or, that speaking in the name of God, when God has not spoken, is any more than an innocent mistake. I know not what to say to him, or do with him. He is really mali caput et fons."4 A fortnight after this, Wesley wrote as follows to the Countess of Huntingdon. 1 Methodist Magazine, 1794, p. 565. 3 Wesley's Works, vol. xii., p. 116. 2 Ibid. 1794, p. 566. 4 Ibid. vol. xii., pp. 116, 117. Wesley's Friends desert him. "March 20, 1763. "MY LADY,-By the mercy of God, I am still alive, and following the work to which He has called me, although without any help, even in the most trying times, from those of whom I might have expected it. Their voice seemed to be rather, Down with him, down with him; even to the ground!' I mean (for I use no ceremony or circumlocution) Mr. Madan, Mr. Haweis, Mr. Berridge, and (I am sorry to say it) Mr. Whitefield. Only Mr. Romaine has shown a truly sympathising spirit, and acted the part of a brother. As to the prophecies of these poor wild men, George Bell and half-a-dozen more, I am not a jot more accountable for them than Mr. Whitefield is, having never countenanced them in any degree, but opposed them from the moment I heard them; neither have these extravagances any foundation in any doctrine which I teach. The loving God with all our heart, soul, and strength, and the loving all men as Christ loved us, is, and ever was, for these thirty years, the sum of what I deliver, as pure religion and undefiled. However, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved! The will of the Lord be done! 'Poor and helpless as I am, Thou dost for my vileness care, 463 "I am, your ladyship's servant for Christ's sake, "JOHN WESLEY." Wesley thought he had one friend left, though only one, in Mr. Romaine; but in this he was mistaken. Hence the following, written within a week after the above. "LAMBETH, March 26, 1763. "MADAM,-Thanks to your ladyship for your kind remembrance of me in your last. Enclosed is poor Mr. John Wesley's letter. The contents of it, as far as I am concerned, surprised me; for no one has spoken more freely of what is now passing among the people than myself. Indeed, I have not preached so much as others whose names he mentions, nor could I. My subject is one, and I dare not vary from it. A perfection out of Christ is with me all rank pride and damnable sin. Man cannot be laid too low, nor Christ set too high. I would therefore always aim, as good brother Grimshaw expresses it, to get the old gentleman down, and keep him down; and then Christ reigns like Himself, when He is all, and man is nothing. 1763 Age 60 "I pity Mr. John from my heart. His societies are in great confusion; and the point, which brought them into the wilderness of rant and madness, is still insisted on as much as ever. I fear the end of this delusion. As the late alarming providence has not had its proper effect, and per 1 "Life and Times of Countess of Huntingdon," vol. i., p. 329. |
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