CHAPTER VI
THE MISSION TO GEORGIA
ON October 2 1st, 1735, John and Charles Wesley sailed for
Georgia. A charter had been obtained from George II. in June,
1732, creating the narrow strip of country between South Carolina
and Florida into a British colony. It lay between the river
Savannah on the north and the Alabama on the south, with a coast
line of rather more than sixty miles. This territory was vested
in twenty-one trustees, of whom Colonel (afterwards General)
Oglethorpe was the chief. As a member of Parliament, he had
interested himself greatly in the sufferings of small debtors,
and had obtained a committee to inquire into the state of the
prisons. Many unfortunate debtors were thus released. Oglethorpe’s
practical sympathy led him to devise some means of support for
his new constituency. The colony was thus founded for the benefit
of the poor, and he became its governor. Parliament voted £io,ooo,
the Bank of England £10,000, and before long £36,000 was raised
to carry out the work.
In February, 1733, one hundred and twenty emigrants, under
the care of Oglethorpe, reached the spot where Savannah now
stands. A year later, a party of Protestants, driven out from
Salzburg, in Germany, because they had renounced popery, settled
in the colony where England had offered them an asylum. Some
Scotch Highlanders and Moravians followed. The emigrants with
whom the Wesleys sailed were the fifth company that went to
find a home in Georgia. Oglethorpe had returned to England after
spending a year in the colony, bringing with him some of the
Indians of the district, whose visit helped largely to increase
public interest in the whole scheme.
Dr. Burton, of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, was one of the
trustees for the colony. He was no stranger to the Oxford Methodists,
and urged them to undertake a mission to Georgia. Oglethorpe,
who had been a friend and correspondent of Samuel Wesley, was
also anxious to secure the co-operation of his sons. John Wesley
sought advice from his brother Samuel and from William Law.
He also went to Manchester to consult his friend Clayton. Thence
he travelled to Epworth, to lay his plan before his mother.
Her answer was, “Had I twenty sons, I should rejoice if
they were all so employed.” Wesley therefore expressed
his willingness to undertake the mission on September i 8th.
He was sent out by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
in Foreign Parts, who allowed him fifty pounds a year. His motives
in accepting this mission were a sincere desire to work out
his own salvation and a longing to preach Christ to the Indians.
He imagined that the pomp and show of the world could have no
place in the wilds of America.
Charles Wesley, much against the will of his brother Samuel,
accepted the position of secretary to the Governor. He was ordained
just on the eve of the voyage. Benjamin Ingham, at John Wesley’s
express request, accompanied the brothers. Charles Delamotte,
the son of a Middlesex magistrate, could not bear to be separated
from Wesley. His family were greatly opposed to his going out,
but at last granted a reluctant consent. These were the four
friends who sailed in the Simmonds. At Westminster, on Tuesday
afternoon, October 14th, they took boat for Gravesend, where
their vessel lay. Dr. Burton, Mr. Morgan, and Mr. James Hutton
accompanied them. Charles Morgan was the brother of their early
friend who had broken the ice for the Wesleys at Oxford, and
induced them to visit the prisoners and the sick. It is pleasant
to find him filling his brother’s place in this farewell
scene. Mr. Tyerman says that he and Kirkham, after the Oxford
days, “drift away into the great ocean of forgetfulness
and leave no trace behind them.” Wesley’s journals
show, however, that he visited Morgan near Dublin in July, 1769.
James Hutton had been introduced to the Wesleys at Oxford,
whilst there on a visit. He invited the brothers to stay at
his father’s house in Westminster when they came to town.
The Huttons lived in College Street, next door to the house
in which Samuel Wesley resided whilst usher of Westminster School.
When John Wesley came to London, a sermon he preached to the
conversion of young Hutton and his sister. James Hutton greatly
wished to go to Georgia, but his parents were not willing for
him to take a step which would interfere so much with his business
prospects. Morgan and Hutton remained at Gravesend on Wednesday
and Thursday. Each day the friends received the Lord’s
Supper together.
The Sinzmonds lay for a week at Gravesend after the party went
on board. Mr. Oglethorpe thoughtfully assigned them two cabins
in the forecastle, in order that they might have more privacy.
That which the Wesleys occupied was of good size, so that the
four friends could comfortably meet together in it to read and
pray. They found twenty-six Moravians on board, going out to
the colony under the care of David Nitschman, their bishop.
As soon as his friends returned to London, John Wesley began
to learn German in order to converse with them. The Methodists
were now busily employed. They rose at four and went to bed
between nine and ten. Every moment of the day was mapped out.
The first hour after they rose was given to private prayer;
then they read the Scriptures, and compared them with the writings
of the primitive Church. Breakfast was ready at seven. Public
prayers were at eight. The friends then separated to various
studies until noon. John Wesley learnt German. Charles wrote
sermons. At twelve they met to pray and devise plans for the
good of themselves or their fellow-passengers. Dinner was at
one. John Wesley then talked with the passengers about religion
until four o’clock, the hour for public prayers. From
five to six was spent in retirement. At six, supper was served.
John Wesley then read in his cabin to a few of the passengers,
and at seven attended the Moravian service. The friends spent
another hour together, and then lay down to rest on their mats
and blankets. Neither the roaring of the sea nor the motion
of the ship could disturb their well-earned rest.! It is evident
that the little company of Methodists were as devoted to their
work in board ship as at the University.
Besides the crew and the Germans, there were about eighty English
passengers on board. The Simmonds was a vessel of two hundred
and twenty tons, under the command of Captain Joseph Cornish;
the other vessel, the London Merchant, also chartered by the
trustees, was about the same size. Her captain was called John
Thomas. One of his Majesty’s sloops, the Hawk, Captain
~. Joseph Gascoigne, which had been ordered to proceed to Georgia
for the defence of the colony from the Spaniards, sailed with
them, but soon parted company under stress of weather. Mr. Oglethorpe
was to have sailed in the Hawk, but he preferred to stay with
the emigrants. He spared no pains to secure the comfort of his
company. When the weather was fine he visited the London Merchant
to see that all on board were properly cared for. The. Methodist
party dined at Oglethorpe’s table. There were two hundred
and twenty-seven passengers in the two ships.
The vessels were detained at Cowes till December ; 10th. Charles
Wesley, who was known to the clergyman, preached three or four
times in the church during the five weeks spent here. At last
they were able to set sail with forty vessels that had been
becalmed like themselves. Their voyage was a succession of storms.
John Wesley,~ ashamed of his unwillingness to die, asked himself;
“How is it thou hast no faith?” The good impression
already made on his mind by the humility and devotion of the
Moravians was increased by their fearlessness in the tempest.
He found that they were delivered from the spirit of fear, as
well as from pride, anger, and r~e~Wliflit’ they were
singing a psalm the sea broke over the vessel split the main
sail in piece and poured in between the decks as if the great
deep had already swallowed them up. The Germans calmly sang
on. Even the women and children were not afraid to die. Their
spirit made the deeper impression on Wesley because the English
passengers were trembling and screaming with terror. It was
too good an opportunity to be lost. He went about among his
own countrymen trying to show them the difference between him
that beareth God and him that dareth Him not.
On the 5th of February, 1736, the Simmonds sailed into the
Savannah river. Next morning, at eight, the emigrants set foot
on American soil. Wesley and his friends knelt down with the
Governor to thank God for their safety amid all the perils of
the sea. Mr. Oglethorpe then took boat for Savannah, leaving
the emigrants to assemble on shore and await his return. Next
day he was with them again. Mr. Spangenberg, a Moravian minister
from Savannah, came with him. Wesley sought his advice about
his own work. Spangenberg asked him a few questions. His first
inquiry, “Does the Spirit of God bear witness with your
spirit that you are a child of God?” surprised Wesley
so that he did not know what to answer. The German observing
this, asked, “Do you know Jesus Christ?” He paused,
and said, “I know He is the Saviour of the world.”
“True,” was the reply; “but do you know He
has saved you?” Wesley answered, “I hope He has
died to save me.” Spangenberg only added, “Do you
know yourself?” Wesley replied, “I do.” “But
I fear they were vain words,” is his comment. Wesley’s
heart gave to this faithful friend. He made many inquiries about
the Moravian Church at Hernhuth, and spent much time in the
company of the German settlers.
The scene of Wesley’s ministry was the town of Savannah,
which lay on an eminence forty or fifty feet above a bend of
the fine river, which at that point was about a thousand feet
across. The settlement was a mile and a quarter in circumference.
It had forty houses, all of the same size, belonging to the
first settlers, and a hundred to a hundred and fifty built more
recently, some of which were two or even three stories high.
Their planed boards and a coat of paint gave an air of comfort
to these homes.* The Court House served as a church. Wesley
found Mr. Quincy, the minister whom he was to succeed, still
in Savannah, so that he did not get possession of his wooden
parsonage until the middle of March. He lived on board the Simmonds
for three weeks; then he and Mr. Delamotte lodged with the Germans.
During these first weeks Wesley had some pleasant intercourse
with the Indians, who gave him a very hearty reception. He hoped
that God had a great I work for him to do amongst them.
On Sunday, March 7th, Wesley began his ministry at Savannah
by preaching on the Epistle for the day, the thirteenth chapter
of the First Epistle to the Corinthians. He described the death-bed
of his father at Epworth, and another death-bed which he had
seen in Savannah. The people crowded into the church, and listened
with deep seriousness and attention to their new pastor. Such
was the general interest awakened by his ministry that ten days
later a ball arranged by a gentleman had to be given up. The
church was full for prayers, whilst the ball-room was almost
empty. The influence which he exerted may also be seen from
another incident. A lady assured him when he landed that be
would see as well-dressed a congregation as most he had seen
in London. Wesley found that she was right. He soon began to
expound the Scriptures which relate to dress with a forcible
application. From that time he saw neither gold nor costly apparel
in the church. The ladies of his congregation were generally
dressed in plain linen or woollen.t About seven hundred people
were under his pastoral care.’ Savannah itself had about
518 inhabitants.t The Parsonage, which comfortably accommodated
Wesley and his friends, had many conveniences, with a good garden.
Charles Wesley and Ingham went on to Frederic; a hundred miles
south of Savannah; John Wesley and Delamotte remained in Savannah.
Before the end of the month Wesley had arranged weekly Communion
and morning and evening prayers. Delamotte had begun to teach
a few orphan children. Their work was interrupted by the arrival
of Ingham from Frederica with news of Charles Wesley’s
painful situation. Neither the form nor the power of godliness
existed among the settlers there. They had slandered Charles
Wesley to the Governor, and Mr. Oglethorpe had weakly allowed
himself to deal most harshly with his secretary. Charles Wesley
was denied even the commonest comforts, and his life was in
peril through the malice of his unscrupulous enemies. John Wesley
and Delamotte started in haste to Frederica, whilst Ingham remained
in charge of the church and school at Savannah. The troubles
at Frederica were greatly relieved by this visit, but little
could be done in such a soil. By the middle of May business
brought Charles Wesley to Savannah, and John took his place
for five weeks in Frederica. He laboured with great zeal, but
with small success. After Charles Wesley sailed for England
in August, 1736, John Wesley spent some days in Frederica. He
found less prospect than ever of doing good. Many of the people
were “extremely zealous and indefatigably diligent”
to hinder the work, and few of those who were of a better mind
durst show their feeling for fear of the displeasure of the
opponents. He says, “After having beaten the air in this
unhappy place for twenty days, on January 26th, 1737, I took
my final leave of Frederica. It was not any apprehension of
my own danger, though my life had been threatened many times,
but an utter despair of doing good there, which made rue content
with the thought of seeing it no more.”
Wesley’s labours were now confined to Savannah. He had
less prospect than ever of preaching to the Indians, for which
purpose alone he had gone to America. The trustees for the colony
had appointed him minister of Savannah without his knowledge,
but he only consented to hold that post until the way opened
for his mission to the heathen. The serious parishioners had
importunately urged him to watch over them a little longer till
some~ one could supply his place, and he was the more wil1ing
to accede to this request because the Indians were engaged in
wars, which left them no time, they said, to listen to the Gospel.
At the end of February, I7~7, Mr. Ingham started for England
to enlist fresh workers~ for the mission. By his hands Wesley
forwarded a letter of thanks for the parochial library sent
out by Dr. Bray and his associates to Savannah. In it he gives
an account of the school which Mr. Delamotte conducted. There
were thirty or forty children, who learned to read, write, and
cast accounts. Before morning school, and also after the work
of the day was over, Delamotte catechised the younger children;
in the evening the older scholars were instructed. Mr. Wesley
catechised all on Saturday afternoon, and on Sunday before
evening service. Immediately after the Second Lesson a select
number of the scholars repeated their Catechism in the church.
Wesley afterwards explained and applied what had been repeated
both to the children and the congregation. Some of the boys
in Delamotte’s school were inclined to despise those who
came without shoes or stockings. Wesley, therefore, took his
friend’s post, and went to his work barefoot. The boys
were amazed, but Wesley kept them to their books, and before
the end of the week had cured them of their vanity. The pains
taken with the children bore good fruit. On Whit Sunday, 1737,
four of them, who had been carefully trained every day for several
weeks, were admitted to the Communion at their own earnest and
repeated desire. Their zeal stirred up many of their companions.
The children began to attend more carefully to the teaching,
and a remarkable seriousness appeared in their whole behaviour
and conversation.
Wesley’s later Sundays in America were full of work.
He read prayers in English from five to half-past six, at nine
in Italian to a few Vaudois. From half-past ten to half-past
twelve he had an English service, with sermon and Communion.
At one he held a French service, at two instructed the children,
at three read evening prayers. After this Wesley joined with
as many as his largest room would hold in reading, prayer, and
praise, and at six attended the Moravian service, “not
as a teacher, but a learner.” On Saturdays he read prayers
in French and German in two neighbouring settlements. In cases
of serious illness he visited the sick every day. His work in
Savannah won him general respect. He says that he had ease,
honour, and abundance—what he neither desired nor expected
in America.
A fortnight later the storm began to burst. On Sunday, August
7th, he says, “1 repelled Mrs. Williamson from the Holy
Communion.” This lady was the niece of Mr. Causton, the
storekeeper and chief magistrate of Savannah. During the voyage
to America, Mr. Oglethorpe had been much struck with Wesley’s
ability, and felt that if it were not for what he regarded as
his religious enthusiasm, he might greatly help him in the colony.
He tried, there.. fore, to get Wesley married. Miss Sophia Hopkey,
Mr. Causton’s niece, was the lady whom he thought most
eligible. She was beautiful, elegant in her manners, and intelligent.
Wesley was introduced to her a month after his arrival in Georgia.
Miss Hopkey afterwards went to Frederica. John Wesley wrote
about her to his brother on March 22nd. “1 conjure you,”
he says, “spare no time, no address or pains, to learn
the true cause of the former distress of my friend. I much doubt
you are in the right. God forbid that she should again, in like
manner, miss the mark. Watch over her; help her as much as possible.
Write to me how I ought to write to her.” *
When Wesley visited Frederica in October he found that tier
religious life had suffered much in that uncongenial place.
“Even poor Miss Sophy was scarce the shadow of what she
was when I left her. I endeavoured to convince her of it, but
in vain; and to put it effectually out of my power so to do,
she was resolved to return to England immediately. I was at
first a little surprised, but I soon collected my spirits and
remembered my calling.” After speaking of his efforts
for the people he adds: “My next step was to divert Miss
Sophy from the fatal resolution of going to England. After several
fruitless attempts I at length prevailed; nor was it long before
she recovered the ground she had lost.” The young lady
became his comforter when the Governor returned from an expedition
and took no notice of Wesley. When he mentioned this to her
she sad, “Sir, you encouraged me in my greatest trials;
be not discouraged yourself. Fear nothing; if Mr. Oglethorpe
V 11 not, God will help you.” Two days later they took
boat together for Savannah. They were six days on the way. Mr.
Wesley significantly describes it as “a slow and dangerous,
but not a tedious passage.”
Miss Sophy took every opportunity of being in Wesley’s
company. She begged him to assist her in her French, and when
he was laid by with a fever, brought on by his yielding to Oglethorpe’s
wish that he should show the people that he did not consider
it wrong to eat animal food, she waited on him day and night
during his five days’ illness. She consulted Oglethorpe
as to the dress which would be most pleasing to the young clergyman,
who disliked all gaudy attire. Henceforth she always dressed
in white. In December, 1736, Wesley advised her to sup earlier,
and not immediately before she went to bed. He says, “She
did so, and on this little circumstance what an inconceivable
train of circumstances depend I—not only ‘all the
colour of my remaining life’ for her, but perhaps all
my happiness too, in time and in eternity.” So far all
seemed to favour a marriage between Wesley and this young lady.
On February 5th, however, difficulties arose. It was not till
another month had passed that Wesley became convinced that he
ought not to marry Miss Hopkey. His friend, Mr. Delamotte, asked
him if he intended to marry her, and plainly showed him the
lady’s art and his own simplicity. Delamotte’s suspicions
led Wesley to consult the Moravian bishop who had come over
in the Simmonds. Bishop Nitschman said that the matter needed
to be carefully weighed, but expressed no opinion at the moment.
Some time after Wesley resolved to lay the case before the Elders
of the Moravian Church. When he entered the house where they
were assembled he found Delamotte with them. He explained the
purpose for which he had come. The Bishop answered that they
had considered his case, anc~ asked whether he would abide by
their decision. Wesley, after some hesitation, replied that
he would. “Then,” said Nitschman, “we advise
you to proceed no further in this business.” Wesley meekly
said, “The will of the Lord be done.” He behaved
with great caution, though he clearly saw what pain the change
in his conduct gave to Miss Hopkey. He determined, by God’s
grace, to pull out his “right eye.” But he could
not yet find courage for the painful task. The lady, however,
helped him. She became engaged to Mr. Williamson, one of the
settlers, a young “man of substance,” * on March
8th, and married him four days later. The husband, to quote
Wesley’s description, was “not remarkable for handsomeness,
neither for greatness, neither for wit, or knowledge, or sense,
and least of all for religion.” Wesley made the following
entry in his journal: “On Saturday, March 12th, God being
very merciful to me, my friend performed what I could not.”
Wesley’s trouble threw fresh light on Ezekiel’s
bereavement. He had often thought the command not to mourn
or weep at such a loss was one of the most difficult ever given,
but he never really understood the difficulty till now, when,
“considering the character I bore, I could not but perceive
that the word of the Lord was come to me likewise.” Forty-nine
years afterwards the sorrow was still fresh in his mind. “I
remember when I read these words in the church at Savannah,
‘Son of man, behold, I take from thee the desire of thine
eyes with a stroke,’ I was pierced through as with a sword,
and could not utter a word more. But our comfort is, ‘He
that made the heart can heal the heart.’” It was
a severe trial. Wesley had walked with Mr. Causton to his country
lot on March 7th, and plainly felt that if God had given him
such a retirement with the companion he desired, he might have
forgotten the work for which he was born, and have set up his
rest in this world.
Before long he saw that it was well he had not followed his
own inclination. Mrs. Williamson was not so pious as he had
supposed. On July 3rd he told her of some points in her behaviour
which he thought reprehensible. She was extremely angry, said
that she did not expect such treatment from him, and at the
turn of the street through which they were walking home from
the Communion service abruptly left him. Next day Mrs. Causton
expressed regret for her niece’s behaviour, and wished
to have Wesley’s objections in writing. He furnished these,
and also wrote kindly to Mr. Causton. Five weeks later Wesley
repelled Mrs. Williamson from the Communion. She had not expressed
her regret for the faults which he had pointed out, nor made
any promise of amendment. The storm now burst. Up to this time
Wesley had worked in Savannah with great success. The people
loved him; his services were well attended, and everything prospered.
It is not correct to speak of his mission in Georgia as a failure.
But all was changed by this faithful exercise of discipline.
Mr. Causton was determined to revenge what he regarded as the
insult offered to his niece. Wesley refused to answer for his
conduct in a purely ecclesiastical matter before a civil court.
Nevertheless he was summoned to appear. A grand jury, carefully
chosen from those likely to condemn Wesley, found ten bills
against him. He was charged with speaking and writing to Mrs.
Williamson without her husband’s consent, with repelling
her from the Communion, with not declaring his adherence to
the Church of England, with dividing the service on Sundays,
and with other matters. The first count alone was of a civil
nature, and Wesley had a complete answer to that. He had only
written once to Mrs. Williamson since her marriage, and that
at Mr. Causton’s request, in reference to those things
in her conduct which he disapproved. Wesley attended six or
seven courts to answer this charge, but his enemies were careful
to allow him no opportunity to clear himself. Twelve of the
grand jurors who dissented from the finding of the majority
sent a statement to the trustees of the colony, in which they
clearly answered all the charges. As to repelling Mrs. Williamson,
Wesley had often declared in full congregation that, according
to the rubric, he required previous notice from any one desiring
to communicate. He had actually repelled several persons for
non-compliance. The other matters were either misstatements
or concerned points entirely outside the province of the grand
jury. The protesting minority was composed of three constables,
six tithing-men, and three others. If the jury had been constituted,
as it ought to have been, of the four constables and eleven
tithing-men, no bill could therefore have been found against
Wesley. An account of the colony, published in 1741, shows Causton’s
tyranny and insolence in a very clear light. He threatened juries,
contradicted his colleagues on the bench, and was perfectly
intoxicated with power. He was, in fact, a man of no position
or character, who had left England because of some charge in
connection with the revenue.
When it became clear that he would not be allowed to justify
himself, Wesley consulted his friends whether he should not
return at once to England. He was not able to preach to the
Indians, and felt that he could do Georgia greater service by
representing the true state of things to the trustees than by
remaining at Savannah. His friends all agreed that he ought
to go, but not yet. This was on October 7th. Meanwhile his enemies
continued to plot against him. On November 22nd, Mr. Causton
went so far as to read some affidavits to Wesley, in which it
was stated that he had abused Mr. Causton in his own house,
calling him a liar and a villain. All Wesley’s friends
now felt that the time for his departure had come. He at once
told Mr. Causton that he intended to leave Savannah immediately,
and put an advertisement in the Great Square stating that he
would shortly sail for England, and asking that those who had
borrowed books ‘from him would return them as soon as
convenient. On December 2nd, two hours before he was to set
out for Carolina, the magistrates sent for him, and told him
he must not leave the colony, because he had not answered the
allegations. Wesley easily disposed of this frivolous attempt
to put him in the wrong, and refused to give bail for his appearance
at their court. They then issued an order requiring all officers
of the colony to prevent his departure. This step was simply
taken to save appearances; the magistrates were only too glad
to be relieved of the presence of a faithful reprover whom they
could neither silence nor intimidate. As soon as evening prayers
were over, about eight o’clock on Friday, December 2nd,
1737, Wesley took boat, with three friends, for Carolina, on
his way to England.
Mr. and Mrs. Williamson and their son, who was intended for
the Church, are mentioned by a correspondent of the Gentleman’s
Magazine, who seems to have met them some years before at their
house in Smith Street, Westminster. This writer had gone out
to Georgia as a boy in the same ship as Mr. Williamson. He lodged
at Mr. Causton’s, attended Wesley’s early morning
prayers, and tells us that he himself was not insensible to
the beauty and virtues of Miss Hopkey. Wesley had gone out as
a missionary, with an allowance of L50 from the Society for
the Propagation of the Gospel. He did not wish to accept even
this small amount. He sent the trustees an account of a year’s
expenses for Mr. Delamotte and himself; which, deducting extraordinary
charges, such as the repairs of the Parsonage and journeys to
Frederica, amounted only to £44 4$. 4d. He wished to take nothing
more than this, but yielded to the advice of his brother Samuel,
who pointed out it might be unjust to his successor to refuse,
and that he might give his stipend away as he thought good.
During the troubles of his last weeks in Savannah ten pounds
arrived from the Vice-Provost of Eton. Wesley says he had been
for several months without a shilling in the house, but not
without peace, health, and contentment. He had given up animal
food and wine before the Simmonds left Gravesend, and had confined
himself chiefly to rice and biscuit. This course he followed
in Georgia. Oglethorpe, as we have seen, once invited him to
dinner, and begged that he would show those who reported that
he held it wrong to eat animal food and drink wine that they
were mistaken. Wesley complied, and was in consequence seized
by a fever, which laid him aside for five days. With this exception
he enjoyed splendid health in Georgia. The warm climate entirely
cured him of the spitting of blood, which had lasted several
years He continued to eat little, and carefully limited his
hours of sleep. He was incessantly at work, visiting, preaching,
and teaching the children. He took part of the three hundred
acres of glebe land at Savannah to form a good garden, and fre
quently worked in it with his own hands. During his journeys
in the colony he often slept all night in the open air, exposed
to all the dews that fell; sometimes he was wet through with
dew and rain, but he never took any harm from the exposure.
He wore Indian shoes, and slept rolled up in a blanket. Though
he travelled through places infested with wild beasts, he would
never carry a weapon. He said that he had a cane to try the
depth of the rivers through which he had to wade, but would
not have a ferrule at the end of it lest it should look like
a weapon.t
After a trying journey of ten days, Wesley reached Charlestown.
The party lost their way in the woods, and suffered greatly
from cold and hunger. Mr. Delamotte, who had joined Wesley on
the way, stayed with him some days. He then returned to Savannah.
On the 22nd December Wesley went on board the Samuel, Captain
Percy, bound for England. One of his parishioners from Savannah,
a young gentleman who had been a few months in Carolina, and
a Frenchman, sailed with him. At first he suffered much from
the motion of the vessel, but a return to his old diet soon
relieved him, There were about twenty souls on board. All received
Wesley’s counsels kindly. He felt strangely reluctant
to speak to them at first, and even went among the sailors for
several days intending to do so without being able. At last
he took courage, and spoke to every one on board. To the Frenchman,
who had no one else with whom he could converse, Wesley read
and explained a chapter in the New Testament every morning.
He also taught two negroes and instructed the cabin-boy. His
leisure was spent in abridging M. de Renty’s life, which
he finished on 6th January. The vessel met a hurricane in the
middle of the month, but made a good passage. On Wednesday morning,
February 1st, 1738, Wesley landed safely at Deal, at half-past
four.
This voyage was a time of great heart-searching. On Sunday,
January 8th,* Wesley was clearly convinced of unbelief. He had
not the faith in Christ that preserves from fear. St. Cyprian’s
Works, which he read during his voyage, delivered him from the
vain desire of solitude, by which he had long hoped to make
himself a Christian. He was still troubled by the fear of death.
He had shown his faith by his works, giving all his goods to
the poor, and following after charity. But if a storm arose,
he began to doubt. What if the Gospel were not true, if all
his zeal and suffering had been in vain? “I went to America
to convert the Indians, but oh! who shall convert me?”
This was the burden of his soul in the hour when fear of death
terrified him. He closes his Georgian journal with that painful
summary of the lessons of his mission :—“ It is
now two years and almost four months since I left my native
country in order to teach the Georgian Indians the nature of
Christianity. But what have I learned myself in the meantime?
Why (what I the least of all suspected), that I, who went to
America to convert others, was never myself converted to God.”
He speaks, as St. Paul spoke to the Corinthians, of his labours
and sufferings, but confesses that these did not entitle him
to be called a Christian. He had learned in the ends of the
earth that he was fallen short of the glory of God. He now desired
with all his heart to find that faith which would deliver him
from fear and doubt, and bring the sensible assurance of acceptance
with God.
The blessing for which Wesley longed was near at hand. We cannot
altogether accept his statements in this review of the past.
He himself saw things in their true light some years later,
when, in republishing his journals, he added four brief notes.
“I, who went to America to convert others, was never myself
converted to God,” is his statement. His note, “I
am not sure of this,” expresses the feeling with which
we read his words. “I am a child of wrath,” is his
groan on the ocean. “I believe not,” is the later
verdict. “I had,” he says, in another note, “even
then the faith of a servant, though not that of a son.”
The blessing of confidence in God, which he craves, is truly
described as “the faith of a son.” Wesley was only
able to read his own history aright when all things had become
new. He was still in darkness, but yet a few more steps, and
he knew the joyful sound, and walked in the light of God’s
countenance.
Whitefleld, who landed in Georgia on May 7th, 1738, bears emphatic
testimony to the results of his friend’s mission. “The
good Mr. John Wesley has done in America is inexpressible. His
name is very precious among the people, and he has laid a foundation
that I hope neither men nor devils will ever be able to shake.
Oh that I may follow him as he has followed Christ.”
