WESLEY’S JOURNALS

WESLEY’S journals form the finest picture that we possess of the Evangelical Revival in its whole compass and extent. His own history and the history of Methodism are alike found in those wonderful pages. Letters and papers embedded there preserve some of the most important incidents in the life of the Epworth parsonage. The persecutions and labours of his preachers and members there described show how many humbler workers shared the enthusiasm and the reproach of the Wesleys. The journals, however, are not merely a history of the Great Revival and of Wesley’s life; they also form a storehouse of information about English manners during the eighteenth century. The modes of travel, the perils and hardships of the road, the aspect of English towns, the characteristics of English society, are all illustrated here. Wesley’s extensive reading and his fine critical insight also make his journals a treasure-house of literary notes. His epitomes of books, with salient facts told in one or two bright sentences, his keen criticism or warm commendation, must have been an intellectual stimulus to hosts of readers who would never have heard of such subjects had it not been for his luminous remarks. His Societies thus had the full benefit of his wide and judicious reading. Jeremy Taylor’s “Holy Living and Dying” first led Wesley to take a more exact account of his time. He wrote down in a shorthand diary the way in which he spent every hour. His time of rising, his preaching, his studies before breakfast, all labours of the day in fact, were faithfully recorded here. On the first page of these diaries he always wrote, “I resolve, ‘Deo juvante’— "1. To devote”(to retirement and private prayer,) “an hour morning and evening—no pretence or excuse whatsoever.

"2. To converse xara Qeon" (in the sight of God); “no lightness; no eujtrapelia" (jesting). Moore says that this diary was in after-years distinct from his journal The preface to the first published journal, however, states that the variety of scenes which Wesley passed through during his mission to Georgia induced him to transcribe the more material parts of his diary, adding here and there such reflections as occurred to his mind. In this way the journals were prepared. The earlier parts were published in the interest of Methodism, that the calumny and slander then rife might be silenced by a plain narrative of the facts as to its founding and its purpose. The complete journals, still preserved in twenty-six bound volumes, have never been printed. Copious extracts were made by Wesley himself and issued in twenty-one parts, the successive installments being eagerly expected by a host of readers. The first entry of the published journals is on October 14th, 1735, when Wesley took boat to join the Simmonds; the last, on October 24th, 1790, describes his services at Spitalfields Church and St. Paul’s, Shadwell.

The literary criticisms are well illustrated by Wesley’s trenchant judgment on Machiavel, whom he read on his return from Savannah in 1737. He says, “In my passage home, having procured a celebrated book (‘The \Vrks of Nicholas Machiavel ‘), I set myself carefully to read and consider it. I began with a prejudice in his favour, having been informed he had often been misunderstood and greatly misrepresented. I weighed the sentiments that were less common; transcribed the passages wherein they were contained; compared one passage with another, and endeavoured to form a cool, impartial judgment. And my cool judgment is, that if all the other doctrines of devils which have been committed to writing since letters were in the world were collected together in one volume, it would fall short of this; and that should a prince form himself by this book, so calmly recommending hypocrisy, treachery, lying, robbery, oppression, adultery, whoredom, and murder of all kinds, Domitian or Nero would be an angel of light compared to that man.” When he read Mandeville’s “Fable of the Bees,” in April, 1756, Wesley felt that “Machiavel had been far outdone. The Italian only recommends a few vices, as useful to some particular men, and on some particular occasions; but the Englishman loves and cordially recommends vice of every kind, not only as useful now and then, but as absolutely necessary at all times for all communities !"

Wesley’s freedom from prejudice and breadth of view may be illustrated by two other critiques. In riding from Evesham to Bristol in August, 1742, he read over the Life of Ignatius Loyola,t “surely one of the greatest men,” he says, “that ever was engaged in the support of so bad a cause. I wonder any man should judge him to be an enthusiast. No; but he knew the people with whom he had to do; and setting out (like Count Z—) with a full persuasion that he might use guile to promote the glory of God or (which he thought the same thing) the interest of His Church, he acted in all things consistent with his principles.” Wesley’s comment on “The History of the Puritans” is another of those calm, judicial summings-up which must have helped so largely to promote a true understanding among his people of the problems of religious history. lie says, “I stand in amaze: first, at the execrable spirit of persecution which drove these venerable men out of the Church, and with which Queen Elizabeth’s clergy were as deeply tinctured as ever Queen Mary’s were; secondly, at the weakness of those holy confessors, many of whom spent so much of their time and strength in disputing about surplices and hoods or kneeling at the Lord’s Supper.” Baxter’s “History of the Councils,” which he read in August, 1754, led him to use strong words: “What a company of execrable wretches have they been (one cannot justly give them a milder title) who have almost in every age since St. Cyprian taken upon them to govern the Church ! Flow has one Council been perpetually cursing another, and delivering all over to Satan, whether predecessors or contemporaries, who did not implicitly receive their determinations, though generally trifling, sometimes false, and frequently unintelligible or self-contradictory! Surely Mahometanism was let loose to reform the Christians! I know not but Constantinople has gained by the change.” The history of the Church of Scotland called forth the forcible remark, “The work of God does not, cannot need the work of the devil to forward it. And a calm, even spirit goes through rough work far better than a furious one."

Wesley’s reading was of wide compass. We catch glimpses of him in the library of his own college and of the Bodleian at Oxford. He also seems to have availed himself of the books be found in the homes of friends in all parts of the country. In Ireland he studied local histories, so that he was in full sympathy with the surroundings of the people. Anson’s and Cook’s voyages, Rollin’s and Robertson’s histories, and kindred works were read and noticed in his journals. Philosophy and divinity were carefully studied. Wesley also took a lively interest in science. Huygens' “Conjectures on thel Planetary World,” which he read on the way from Canter-’bury to London, convinced him that the moon was not habitable. Everything was set at the service of his Societies. He translated a beautiful story from Ephraim Syrus, whom he considered to be “the most awakening writer of all the ancients,” for their benefit, and did his utmost to awaken among them a love of knowledge.

His historical criticisms are singularly interesting., Wesley doubts “whether Judas claims so hot a place in hell as Alexander the Great,” whose deliberate murder of his old friend Clitus “was a virtuous act in comparison of his butchering poor Philotas and his good old father, Parmenio, and even this but a little thing compared with the slaughter of thousands, both in battle and in and after taking cities, for no other crime than defending their wives and children.” He was convinced of the innocence of Mary, Queen of Scots, and pronounced Elizabeth “as just and merciful as Nero, and as good a Christian as Mahomet.” Mr. Woodrow’s “History of the sufferings of the Church of Scotland” led him to say of Charles II., “Bloody Queen Mary was a lamb, a mere dove, in comparison of him!” Mr. Walpole’s “Historic Doubts” convinced him that Richard III. was extremely handsome, and was clear from all the atrocities laid to his charge. Whatever may be said of these opinions, they must have helped to stimulate historic inquiry. Wesley’s singularly candid mind was always open to receive fresh light on every subject.

Poetry has its fair place in these criticisms. On September 5th, 1769, he notes that he read over large part of Homer’s Odyssey during his Cornish journey. He had always imagined it was like Milton’s Paradise Regained, “the last faint effort of an expiring muse.” He now found out his mistake. After alluding to some blemishes, he adds, “But his numerous beauties make large amends for these. Was ever man so happy in his descriptions, so exact and consistent in his characters, and so natural in telling a story He likewise continually inserts the finest strokes of morality (which I cannot find in Virgil); on all occasions recommending the fear of God, with justice, mercy, and truth. In this only he is inconsistent with himself: he makes his hero say ‘Wisdom never lies,’ and—.

'Him, on whate'er pretence, that lies can tell, My soul abhors him as the gates of hell.'

Meantime he himself, on the slightest pretence, tells deliberate lies over and over, nay, and is highly commended for so doing, even by the goddess of wisdom.” Wesley commonly read history, poetry, and philosophy on horseback, having, as he said, other employment at other times.* When he travelled in his own carriage in later life, he always took books with him. He thus spent ten hours a day as retired as if he had been in a wilderness.

When he was not travelling, he never spent less than three hours, often ten or twelve, alone.’

Wesley in early life seems to have been a connoisseur of pictures, but he soon denied himself every luxury to help the starving poor. One art-criticism is worthy of Ruskin.t In August, 1780, he says, “While I was at Bath, I narrowly observed and considered the celebrated Cartoons, the three first in particular. What a poor des:gner was one of the finest painters in the world! I. Here are two men in a boat, each of them more than half as long as the boat itself. 2. Our Lord, saying to Peter, ‘Feed My sheep,’ points to three or four sheep standing by Him.

3. While Peter and John heal the lame man, two naked boys stand by them. For what Oh, pity that so fine a painter should be utterly without common sense !" After preaching at Winchester in October, 1781, he went with great expectation to see the celebrated painting in the cathedral of the .“ Raising of Lazarus.” “I was disappointed,” he said. “I observed—i. There was such a huddle of figures, that, had I not been told, I should not ever have guessed what they meant. 2. The colours in general were far too glaring, such as neither Christ nor His followers ever wore. When will painters have common sense”

The journals are crowded with entries which throw light upon the England of the eighteenth century. At Allandale Town in 1748 he mentions that he had a very large congregation when he preached near the Cross, “it being the general pay-day, which is but once in six months." He was at Ainwick in 1753 on the day when ixteen or seventeen youths who had completed their apprenticeship were made free of the Corporation. These unfortunates were compelled to walk through a great bog, expressly preserved for this purpose, which took some of them up to the neck, and many of them to the breast. In May, 1765, he was amazed at the honesty of Londonderry. Such a thing as theft was scarcely heard of. No one hesitated to leave his house open all day, and the door on the latch at night.

Few men watched the growth of towns so carefully as Wesley. In April, 1755, he describes Liverpool as one of the neatest, best-built places he had seen in England. “I think it is full twice as large as Chester; most of the streets are quite straight. Two thirds of the town, we were informed, have been added within these forty years. If it continue to increase in the same proportion, in forty years more it will nearly equal Bristol The people in general are the most mild and courteous I ever saw in a seaport town, as indeed appears by their friendly behaviour, not only to the Jews and Papists who live among them, but even to the Methodists (so called).”’ Bath has also an honourable place. He thought that there were no buildings in England like those recently erected in that city. They had not only added a second Crescent, with two beautiful rows of houses, near Ludstown, but a whole town on the other side of the city, which was swiftly increasing every day. Birmingham in 1790 seemed three times as large as when he saw it fifty years before.t

Wesley availed himself of every opportunity afforded by his itinerant life to see the fine scenery or the historic Scenes of the country. His visits to the Land’s End must Serve as an illustration of his interest in the grand sights of nature. After service one Sunday evening in September, 1743, he says, “We went down, as far as we could go safely, toward the point of the rocks at the Land's End. It was an awful sight! But how will these mel away when God ariseth to judgment! The sea between them does indeed ‘boil as a pot.’ ‘One would think the deep to be hoary.’ But ‘though they swell, yet can. they not prevail. He hath set their bounds, which they cannot pass.” • Fourteen years later he was there again.t “We rode to the Land’s End. I know no natural curiosity like this. The vast ragged stones rise on every side, when you are near the point of land, with green turf between, as level and smooth as if it were the effect of art. And the rocks which terminate the land are so torn by the sea, that they appear like great heaps of ruins.” When he was eighty-two, he clambered down the rocks to the very edge of the water. “I cannot thinkl but the sea has gained some hundred yards since I was here forty years ago.”

Westminster Abbey was familiar ground to Wesley. We catch a pleasant glimpse of him there in March, 1771, with a friend from the country, to whom he was showing the tombs. A few years before he had taken a “serious walk” there. “What heaps of unmeaning stone and marble ! But there was one tomb which showed common sense, that beautiful figure of Mr. Nightingale, endeavouring to screen his lovely wife from death. Here indeed the marble seems to speak, and the statues appear only not alive.” This entry throws light on the later visit.

"The two tombs with which I still think none of the others worthy to be compared are that of Mrs. Nightingale and that of the Admiral rising out of his tomb at the resurrection day. But the vile flattery inscribed on many of them reminded me of that just reflection,- If on the sculptured marble you rely,

Pity that worth like his should ever die !

If credit to the real life you give,

Pity a wretch like him should ever live!”

In December, 1780, we find him at the British Museum with some friends who had begged him to accompany them. “What an immense field is here for curiosity to range in! One large room is filled from top to bottom with things brought from Otaheite, two or three more with things dug out of the ruins of Herculaneum. Seven huge apartments are filled with curious books, five with manuscripts, two with fossils of all sorts, and the rest with various animals.” He adds a comment that lays him open to criticism: “But what account will a man give to the Judge of quick and dead for a life spent in collecting these “ Sir Ashton Lever’s museum, which he visited the previous January, greatly interested him. He thought that for natural curiosities it was not excelled by any museum in Europe. All the beasts, birds, reptiles, and insects were so admirably arranged and preserved, “that if you saw many of them elsewhere, you would imagine they were alive. The hippopotamus in particular looks as fierce as if he were just coming out of the river; and the old lion appears as formidable now as when he was stalking in the Tower.”

Wesley found time to make one curious experiment. On the last day of 1764, “remembering how surprisingly fond of music the old lion at Edinburgh was,” he determined to try whether this was the case at the Tower. He went there with some one who played the German flute. This friend “began playing near four or five lions; only one of these (the rest not seeming to regard it at all) rose up, came to the front of his den, and seemed to be all attention. Meantime a tiger in the same den started up, leaped over the lion’s back, turned and ran under his belly, leaped over him again, and so to and fro incessantly. Can we account for this by any principle of mechanism Can we account for it at all” A pleasant half-holiday this for the busy itinerant!

Wesley’s interest in natural history is familiar to all readers of his journals. Nothing escaped his notice. In 1774 Wesley rode from Glasgow to Greenock with two of his preachers. One of them, Thomas Rutherford, had often travelled that road, but when Wesley asked him the name of a gentleman’s seat, he was compelled to say that he did not know. The old man taught his young friend a fine lesson. “When I can learn nothing else,” he said, “I like to learn the names of houses and villages as I pass them.” Between Northampton and Towcester, in October, 1773, be met with the largest elm he ever saw. It was twenty-eight feet in circumference, six feet more than one there was some years before in Magdalen College walks at Oxford. The passion for gardening had now taken firm hold of England.’ At Mr. Gordon’s curious garden in Mile End, “the like of which, I suppose, is hardly to be found in England, if in Europe,” t Wesley learned the real nature of the tea-tree, and gives a careful description of the difference between green tea, Bohea, and Paraguay. He had seen the most celebrated gardens in England, but gave the palm to Mr. Hoare’s at Stourton.~ At Dumfries in 1788 II he found five very large public gardens, which yielded greens and fruit in abundance. When he was first in Scotland, he says that “even at a nobleman’s table, we had only flesh meat of one kind, but no vegetables of any kind; but now they are as plentiful here as in England.”

Pages might be fifled with Wesley’s descriptions of his visits to noblemen’s seats and other mansions in all parts of the kingdom. He was familiar with all the great houses of England: Wentworth House, the splendid seat of the Marquis of Rockingham, Lord Salisbury’s seat at Hatfield,f the Duke of Abercorn’s in Ireland4 and Hampton Court, “far the finest palace which the King of England has,” he visited in the later years of his life. His friends in Bristol took him, in September, 1788, to see Blaise Castle and Lord Clifford’s seat near King’s Weston.Il Such visits were happy breaks in his constant round of labour. One Irish proprietor wins a high tribute. In May, 1787, Wesley took a walk with some friends to Castle Barnard. The improvements made by its owner had given it, he says, almost as pleasant a situation as Rockingham House, in Yorkshire (evidently “Wentworth House," the seat of the Marquis of Rockingham). “Mr. Barnard much resembles, in person and air, the late Sir George Saville. Though he is far the richest person in these parts, he keeps no racehorses or hounds, but loves his wife and home, and spends his time and fortune in improving his estate and employing the poor. Gentlemen of this spirit are a blessing to their neighbourhood. May God increase their number!”

Wesley’s journal shows that he visited Lord George Gordon, in answer to two urgent messages from that unfortunate nobleman begging for an interview. On Tuesday, December 19th, 1780, he spent an hour with him in his room at the Tower. The conversation was upon Popery and religion. Lord George seemed well acquainted with the Bible, and had quite a library of books in his apartment, :~ “I was agreeably surprised,” Wesley says, “to find he did not complain of any person or thing; and cannot but hope his confinement will take a right turn, and prove a lasting blessing to him.” In June, 1787, he writes, “I had the pleasure of a conversation with Mr. Howard, I think one of the greatest men in Europe. Nothing but the mighty power of God can enable him to go through his difficult and dangerous employments. But what can hurt us, if God is on our side”

Remarkable instances of genius were especially interesting to Wesley. His tribute to John Downes has been already given. In May, 1776, he saw at Carlisle “a very extraordinary genius, a man blind from four years of age, who could wind worsted, weave flowered plush on an engine and loom of his own making, who wove his own; name in plush, and made his own clothes and his own tools of every sort. Some years ago, being shut up in the organ-loft at church, he felt every part of it, and afterwards made an organ for himself, which, judges say, is an exceeding good one. He then taught himself to play upon it psalm tunes, anthems, voluntaries, or anything which he heard.t I heard him play several tunes with great accuracy, and a complex voluntary. I suppose all Europe can hardly produce such another instance. His name is Joseph Strong. But what is he the better for all this if he is still ‘without God in the world’”

The varied extracts we have given may illustrate the wide range of Wesley’s interest in men and things. He was learning to the last day of his life. The burden of all the Churches, which rested on him for half a century, never destroyed his vivacity nor weakened his interest in men and things around him.