INTRODUCTION

THE greatest historian of the eighteenth century, who I has brought to his task clear insight and unlimited resources of learning, has devoted one of his most interesting chapters to “The Religious Revival.” He thus expresses his deliberate judgment on the far-reaching results of Methodism :—“ Although the career of the elder Pitt and the splendid victories by land and sea that were won during his ministry form unquestionably the most dazzling episodes in the reign of George II., they must yield, I think, in real importance to that religious revolution which shortly before had begun in England by the preaching of the Wesleys and Whitefleld.” • Mr. Lecky’s verdict is substantially approved on all hands. The late lamented J. R. Green f says: “The Methodists themselves were the least result of the Methodist revival. Its action upon the Church broke the lethargy of the clergy.

But the noblest result of the religious revival was the steady attempt, which has never ceased from that day to this, to remedy the guilt, the ignorance, the physical suffering, the social degradation of the profligate and the poor.”

No one can tell what the fate of England would have been but for the Great Revival. Mr. Lecky assigns to Methodism a prominent place among those influences which saved this country from the revolutionary spirit which laid France in ruins, and shows how “peculiarly fortunate” it was that the vast extension of manufacturing industry in the later part of the century had been “preceded by a religious revival which opened a mainspring of moral and religious energy among the poor, and at the same time gave a powerful impulse to the philanthropy of the rich.”

Such considerations appeal to all students of English life. Mr. Lecky has not forgotten another side of Methodism—its work in the house of mourning and the house of death. Wesley’s rejoicing, “Our people die well,” reminds us that the influence on individual history is even more notable than the influence on society at large. One indeed laid the foundation for the other. Wesley was content to take the old method, the salvation of the world soul by soul

Three names stand high above the rest of the Methodist company. Whitefield was the orator, Charles Wesley the hymnist and preacher. John Wesley was the central figure, “who embodied in himself not this or that side of the vast movement, but the very movement itself.” Whitefield died twenty years before Wesley, and a large part of his strength was given to America; Charles Wesley’s active itinerancy only lasted about eighteen years; but for half a century John Wesley was the best-known man in England. He never ceased to devote himself to the work with the same energy he showed at the beginning of the field-preaching. Wesley is one of the most interesting figures in religious biography. “Few things,” Mr. Lecky says, “in ecclesiastical history are more striking than the energy and the success with which he propagated his opinions. He was gifted with a frame of iron, and with spirits that never flagged.”

Wesley’s life will therefore never cease to fascinate all readers, as it fascinated Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He belongs to the universal Church. One community bears his name; all Churches have caught his spirit. Erroneous views of his character are gradually losing ground. Southey himself was convinced of his mistake in describing ambition as one of Wesley’s ruling motives, and no one would venture to repeat the charge. Other errors still hold their place. Miss Wedgwood speaks of Wesley’s “cold self-sufficiency,” and says that his brother Charles “was of a richer and softer nature” than he. Others have represented him as harsh and austere. The tribute of his friend Alexander Knox and the testimony of his niece, Miss Wesley, show him, however, in the most attractive light—a man born to love and to be loved. For him there was no happy home, as for his brother; but if he had married Grace Murray, Miss Wedgwood’s comparison would not have been possible. As to the charge of self-sufficiency, we must remember that Wesley was left done at an early stage of the Revival There is abundant evidence that he yearned for congenial fellowship, but that also was largely denied him. What could he do but brace himself for his mission Must his very fidelity be turned into an occasion of reproach

In preparing this volume, no available source of information has been neglected. The aim of the biographer has been to set the character and work of one of the greatest benefactors of his country and the world in a light which may attract general readers, and lead others to catch the spirit which moved the great evangelist. On disputed topics the writer has endeavoured to express his own views in such a way as to give no cause of offence to reasonable men of any party. Some important and interesting particulars have been gleaned which are found in no previous Life of Wesley, so that the book will not, it is hoped, be without interest for all students of the Evangelical Revival. As far as possible, obligations to other workers are acknowledged in their proper place. The Rev. Dr. Rigg and Mr. G. J. Stevenson, author of the “Memorials of the Wesley Family,” who have read the proof-sheets and made many valuable suggestions, have laid the writer under a debt which he can scarcely hope to repay. Special thanks are also due to the Rev. Andrew Stone, of Lincoln College, for some interesting facts about Wesley’s life at Oxford.