1738

An Unexpected Return [1]

COLLEGE STREET, January 2, 1738.

DEAR BROTHER, -- From my soul I congratulate you upon your latest glorious treatment; nor do I less envy you. It is now that you begin to be a disciple of Christ. I have just read over the returned papers without any emotion but that of joy. Had I even resolved to have set up my test, your present trial would have broken my resolution and forced me back to America, to partake with you in your sufferings for the Gospel. Such you may most assuredly reckon, what you now labor under (I should rather say, what you now rejoice and glory in), for it is not the mixture of infirmity that can prevent God's accepting you as endured for His sake. If you have the testimony of a good conscience, your sufferings are interpretatively His, and human wisdom can never dispute you out of it. We know that worldly and even partially good men, the strangers as well as the enemies to the cross of Christ, observing some fallings in God's children, ascribe the whole of their persecutions to those only. The scandal of the cross with them is ceased, the reproach of Christ no longer subsists, the contrariety betwixt His light and darkness, betwixt His spirit and the spirit of the world is at an end, and our conformity to our persecuted Master is all resolved into want of prudence. In vain do we press them with the plain words of Scripture, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution; the disciple is not above His Master; if they have persecuted Me they will also persecute you,' and a thousand others. Experience only can convince them that the sense of these scriptures is literal and eternal. But this I need not tell you. You know the absolute impossibility of being inwardly conformed to Christ, without this outward conformity, this badge of discipleship, those marks of Christ. You marvel not, as if some new thing happened unto you, but rejoiced in tribulation, as knowing that hereunto you are called, and can only be made perfect through these sufferings.

These are the trials that must fit you for the heathen, and you shall suffer greater things than these! When your name is by all cast out as evil, and it is not fit for such a fellow to live; when you cannot live among them but are driven out from your own countrymen, then it is your time for turning to the Gentiles.

That time may still be at a great distance; as yet the bridle is in their mouths, and all the arrows they shoot out are 'bitter' words. But stay till those words are credited and seconded by actions, till he that hitteth hitteth no longer, but the whole storm burst upon you and the fiery trial commences; and then will be shown how you have learned Christ, and whether you are chosen to teach Him to the heathen.

You remember the case of Athanasius contra mundum. The charge brought against him was worth bringing; treason, murder, and adultery at once! I wonder no more is said against you: the devil himself could not wish for fitter instruments than those he actuates and inspires in Georgia. Whatever he will suggest they will both say and swear to.

I am housed with G. Whitefield, my brothers Hall and Hutton, and a long list of zealous friends. God has poured out His spirit upon them, so that the whole nation is in an uproar. Tell dearest Charles be assured that in our way at London where we found his sisters, Brother William and mother exceedingly zealous for the Lord of Hosts. William has raised a party for God at Cambridge. These are already stigmatized for Methodists. We see all about us in an amazing ferment. Surely Christianity is once more lifting up its head. O that I might feel its renovating spirit, and be thereby qualified to diffuse it among others! I trust you pray without ceasing for me. I long to break loose; to be devoted to God to be in Christ a new creature.

Brethren, pray for us.

CHARLES WESLEY, WESTLEY HALL, GEORGE WHITEFIELD, JAMES HUTTON, ISAAC BURTON, JOHN HUTCHINGS, JOHN DOBLE, JONATHAN HARRIS, JAMES HABERSHAM.

THE FIRST YEARS OF THE REVIVAL MARCH 7, 1738, TO NOVEMBER 14, 1741

To Lady Cox [2]

OXON, March 7, 1738.

MADAM,--Some days since, I was shown several queries [Given at the close of the letter.] which had been sent to Bath, and an answer to them, intended to have been sent likewise. But I could not approve of that answer, it seeming to me to savor too much of the wisdom of the world, which they will never know how to be enough afraid of who have seen what havoc it makes, even among the children of God. I will therefore answer them myself with all simplicity and without any regard to the judgment of the world; as knowing that, if my words do not appear foolishness to the world, it is because there is nothing of the wisdom of God in them.

A plain account of the beginning of the sect inquired after was printed two or three years since. [Probably the Defense mentioned in Green's Anti-Methodist Publications, No. 1. See p. 135.] To which need only be added that, though some time after Mr. Morgan's death my brother and I were left alone, yet this loss was overbalanced the following year [The same year. Morgan left Oxford on June 5, 1732, and died on Aug. 26. Wesley met Clayton on April 20, 1732, and asked him to his room at Lincoln College. ‘At the first opportunity I acquainted him with our whole design, which he immediately and heartily closed with.’ See letter of Oct. 18, 1732.] by our acquaintance with Mr. Clayton. With him, several of his pupils, and afterward some of mine, joined together in the labor of love; to whom were soon added Mr. Broughton, Ingham, Whitefield, Hervey, whose zeal stirred up many others not to be ashamed of their Master or His words, even in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.

But in the beginning of the year 1735 it pleased God to break us in pieces again, and to scatter us, not only throughout England, but almost to the ends of the earth. My brother and I were first called into the country, and then sent with Mr. Ingham into America. Neither were we suffered to be long together there: one, before his return home, being driven to New England; another being called into Pennsylvania; and I only remaining in Georgia. Meanwhile Mr. Broughton, Whitefield, Hervey, and the rest of our friends were dispersed each a several way. So that, at my return to Oxon [He was in Oxford for a day on Feb. 17, and again on March 4, where Charles was recovering from pleurisy. Peter Bhler was there, and on Sunday the 5th Wesley was ‘clearly convinced of unbelief, of the want of that faith whereby alone we are saved.’ See Journal, i. 439, 442.] this month, I found not one of those who had formerly joined with me; and only three gentlemen who trod in their steps, building up one another in the faith.

To any one who asketh me concerning myself, or these, whom I rejoice to call my brethren, what our principles are, I answer clearly: We have no principles but those revealed in the Word of God; in the interpretation whereof we always judge the most literal sense to be the best, unless where the literal sense of one contradicts some other scripture.

If it be asked whether they ' do not imagine themselves to have certain divine impulses, like the divine inspiration of the Apostles,' they answer: (1) There never was a good man without a divine impulse; and let those who will not believe this on St. Paul's assertion go to the heathen Cicero for the same information. Yet (2) They learn from the oracles of God that ' the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,' which every Christian is to expect, is different in kind as well as degree from the inspiration of the Apostles. It does not enable him to speak new tongues or to work outward miracles; therefore it is different in kind: neither does it give the same measure of holiness; therefore it is different in degree. But (3) They believe the change wrought by it in the heart to be equivalent to all outward miracles; as implying the selfsame power which gave eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, and life to the dead.

The language wherein they talk of these mighty works is that of the Spirit whereby they are wrought. They call, for instance, a person thus changed ‘regenerated, born again, a new creature’; and in all other cases endeavor to express spiritual things in spiritual words, as being assured there are none like them, quick and powerful, full of light and life. Yet they are not ignorant that to the world, which knoweth not, neither can know, the hidden meaning of those expressions, they ever from the beginning did appear cant and jargon, and will do so to the end.

If it be asked ‘whether they do not talk of extraordinary notices and directions to determine their actions,’ they say: Yes, they do. As to extraordinary directions, they do not doubt but in extraordinary cases, too difficult to be determined by reason, as perhaps depending on many future contingencies, and yet too important to be left undetermined, God will, if applied to by fervent prayer, ' give a perfect lot. And to extraordinary notices....’ [Here the manuscript breaks off. Other ‘Queries Respecting the Methodists,’ bearing date 1741, will be found in the Works, xiii. 509 - 11, which seems ultimately to have led to his Short History of the People called Methodists (pages 303 - 82 of the same volume).]

Queries sent to Mrs. Bethel at Bath.

Do not the Methodists, --

1. In writing and speaking, use canting language

2. Do they not frequently talk of extraordinary notices and directions to determine their actions, &c.

3. Do they not imagine all or some of them have certain divine impulses, like the divine inspiration of the Apostles

4. Do they not impose on themselves and others certain duties and works at certain times and after certain manners -- as, to fast, abstain from meats, rise at midnight, &c.--otherwise than is appointed in Scripture, or without such appointment

5. Do they not form themselves into a sect, distinguish themselves from other Christians Have not some of them set up conventicles, &c.

6. Do they not require voluntary poverty in their members

7. Do they not despise marriage

To James Hutton [3]

OXON, March 26, 1738.

Enclosed I send the key of my brother's bureau. [Probably at James Hurtoh's house, near Temple Bar.] In one of the drawers are all my papers. Among them are several relating to Captain Watson. [Captain Watson, who owned an estate adjoining the Cowpen, four miles away, was confined for nearly three years in Savannah. Wesley was his friend and helper. After he was set at liberty, Wesley admitted him to Holy Communion, 'being fully satisfied of his integrity as well as understanding.' See Journal, i. 397-9; and Diary, 186, 237, 242, 320.] Out of these pray take Jo. Coates' affidavit, and the certificates of Elisha Foster, Thomas Salter, and a third signed by about forty persons concerning Mr. Watson's sound understanding (not that signed by me). These, and no more, when you have taken attested copies of them, deliver as soon as possible to Mrs. Watson. Lose not an hour. Mr. Campbell [Campbell had possibly returned from Savannah. See Journal, i. 188d 319d; viii. 3o9.] will tell you where she lives, whom I wish you would bring acquainted with Mr. Fox. [Journal, i. 448.] Dear Jemmy, adieu.

Let me know by next post whether you can and will receive the money, and inquire when Mr. O. goes. I cannot write to him till I hear from you. I have not trusted myself to say any more.

Sunday night.

C. W.

To his Brother Charles [4]

OXON, April 28, 1738.

DEAR BROTHER, -- If this reaches you at London, I wish you would pay Mrs. Hutton [Mrs. Hutton, of College Street, Westminster, with whom he often stayed.] (with many thanks) what she has paid for my letters and washing. And buy for Mr. Kinchin [Charles Kinchin, Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Rector of Dummer, and one of the Oxford Methodists. See Journal, i. 443-8; and letters of Sept. 10, 1736 (heading), and Dec. 1, 1738.] a pair of leathern bags .as like yours as possible. I wanted much to have seen you before I set out, and therefore stayed to the utmost extent of my time. [Charles had been at Bexley with Henry Piers, and returned to London on the 27th. See letter of May 17, 1742.] My sister is much better. Could not you bring with you a few of Mr. Corbet's Thoughts If so, call at the little hut [About eighteen miles from Oxford, on the London Road. On April 27, 1738, on his way from London to Oxford, his Diary states: ‘11 At the hut, conversed' (Journal, i. 457); Oct. 10, 1738, at 10.30, he was at the hut, where he conversed (ibid. ii. 84).] where the coach usually stops to let the passengers walk, on the brow of Stokenchurch Hill, and give one to the old man. I promised him a little book when I called there in my last walk to town. Adieu!

To James Hutton [5]

OXON, April 28, 1738.

MY DEAR FRIEND, -- This thing I do; I still follow after, if haply I may attain faith. I preach it to all, that at length I may feel it. [According to Bhler's counsel on March 5: ‘Preach faith till you have it’ (Journal, i. 442).] Only may I never be content with any other portion!

I left two little books (which I want, as well as my shoes) at your house [He left London on the 26th, and returned on May L on account of his brother's health. He found him at Hutton's house (Journal, i. 458), where he had removed from his father's on the 28th (C. Wesley's Journal).] --A. M. Schurman and Corbet. If my brother is gone, you will buy the leathern bags for Mr. Kinchin. [See previous letter. Stephen Kinchin was his brother, for whom he and John Wesley went to Manchester in March, and brought him back to be entered at Oxford.] I think he says they cost but half a guinea. But if it be more, it will be repaid with thanks. The shop at Charing Cross is the place.

Stephen Kinchin got hither a day before me. I will send you word before I begin another journey. Commend me to all our friends. Adieu.

Pray give our brother Bhler [Bhler left for Carolina on May 4. It was probably a letter for one of Wesley's friends in America.] the enclosed, to be delivered with his own hand.

To William Law [6]

LONDON, May 14, 1738.

REVEREND SIR, -- It is in obedience to what I think to be the call of God that I, who have the sentence of death in my own soul, take upon me to write to you, of whom I have often desired to learn the first elements of the gospel of Christ.

If you are born of God, you will approve of the design, though it may be but weakly executed... If not, I shall grieve for you, not for myself. For as I seek not the praise of men, so neither regard I the contempt either of you or of any other.

For two years (more especially) I have been preaching after the model of your two practical treatises; and all that heard have allowed that the law is great, wonderful, and holy. But no sooner did they attempt to fulfill it but they found that it is too high for man, and that by doing ' the works of the law shall no flesh living be justified.'

To remedy this, I exhorted them, and stirred up myself, to pray earnestly for the grace of God, and to use all the other means of obtaining that grace which the all-wise God hath appointed. But still, both they and I were more and more convinced that this is a law by which a man cannot live; the law in our members continually warring against it, and bringing us into deeper captivity to the law of sin.

Under this heavy yoke I might have groaned till death, had not an holy man, [Peter Bhler. See Law's reply in Journal, viii. 320-3.] to whom God lately directed me, upon my complaining thereof, answered at once: ‘Believe, and thou shalt be saved. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with all thy heart, and nothing shall be impossible to thee. This faith, indeed, as well as the salvation it brings, is the free gift of God. But seek, and thou shalt find. Strip thyself naked of thy own works and thy own righteousness, and fly to Him. For whosoever cometh unto Him, He will in no wise cast out.’

Now, sir, suffer me to ask: How will you answer it to our common Lord that you never gave me this advice Did you never read the Acts of the Apostles, or the answer of Paul to him who said, ‘What must I do to be saved’ Or are you wiser than he Why did I scarce ever hear you name the name of Christ never, so as to ground anything upon ‘faith in His blood’ Who is this who is laying another foundation If you say you advised other things as preparatory to this, what is this but laying a foundation below the foundation Is not Christ, then, the first as well as the last If you say you advised them because you knew that I had faith already, verily you knew nothing of me; you discerned not my spirit at all. I know that I had not faith, unless the faith of a devil, the faith of Judas, that speculative, notional, airy shadow, which lives in the head, not in the heart. But what is this to the living, justifying faith in the blood of Jesus the faith that cleanseth from sin, that gives us to have free access to the Father, to ‘rejoice in hope of the glory of God,’ to have 'the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost' which dwelleth in us, and ‘the Spirit itself beating witness with our spirit that we are the children of God’

I beseech you, sir, by the mercies of God, to consider deeply and impartially, whether the true reason of your never pressing this upon me was not this -- that you had it not yourself; whether that man of God was not in the right who gave this account of a late interview he had with you,--'I began speaking to him of faith in Christ: he was silent. Then he began to speak of Mystical matters. I spake to him of faith in Christ again: he was silent. Then he began to speak of Mystical matters again. I saw his state at once.' And a very dangerous one in his judgment, whom I know to have the Spirit of God.

Once more, sir, let me beg you to consider whether your extreme roughness, and morose and sour behavior, at least on many occasions, can possibly be the fruit of a living faith in Christ. If not, may the God of peace and love fill up what is yet wanting in you ! -- I am, reverend sir,

Your humble servant.

To William Law [7]

LONDON, May 20, 1738.

REVEREND SIR, -- I sincerely thank you for a favor I did not expect, and presume to trouble you once more.

How I have preached all my life; how qualified or unqualified I was to correct a translation of Kempis, and translate a preface to it; whether I have now, or how long I have had, a living faith; and whether I am for separating the doctrine of the Cross from it; what your state or sentiments are; and whether Peter Bhler spoke truth in what he said when two beside me were. present -- are circumstances on which the main question does not turn, which is this and no other: Whether you ever advised me, or directed me to books that did advise, to seek first a living faith in the blood of Christ

You appeal to three facts to prove you did: (1) That you put Theologia Germanica into my hands. (2) That you published an answer to The Plain Account of the Sacrament. And (3) That you are governed through all you have writ and done by these two fundamental maxims of our Lord — ‘Without Me ye can do nothing,' and 'If any man will come after Me, let him take up his cross and follow Me.’

The facts I allow, but not the consequence. In Theologia Germanica I remember something of Christ our Pattern, but nothing express of Christ our Atonement. The answer to The Plain Account I believe to be an excellent book, but not to affect the question. Those two maxims may imply but do not express that third — ‘He is our propitiation through faith in His blood.’

‘But how are you chargeable with my not having had this faith’ If, as you intimate, you discerned my spirit, thus:

(1) You did not tell me plainly I had it not. (2) You never once advised me to seek or pray for it. (3) You gave me advices proper only for one who had it already; and (4) advices which led me farther from it, the closer I adhered to them. (5) You recommended books to me which had no tendency to plant this faith, but a direct one to destroy good works.

However, 'let the fault be divided between you and Kempis.’ No: if I understood Kempis wrong, it was your part, who discerned my spirit under that mistake, to have explained him and set me right.

I ask pardon, sir, if I had said anything disrespectful. -- I am, reverend sir,

Your most obedient servant.

William Law replies [8]

May 1738.

SIR, -- Without the smallest degree of disregard either to you or your letter, I had not sent you an answer to it had it not been for the part of it where you say there were two persons present with Mr. Bhler and myself. There were two persons present, but not one witness; for we spoke only Latin, and they both declared to me they understood not Latin.

I mentioned not your qualification for translating Kempis with the least intention to reproach either your design or performance, but only to show you that it deeply engaged your attention to those very truths which you suppose you were a stranger to through my conversation.

If you remember the Theologia Germunica so imperfectly as only to remember ‘something of Christ our Pattern, but nothing express of Christ our Atonement,’ it is no wonder that you can remember....

I put that author into your hands, not because he is fit for the first learners of the rudiments of Christianity who are to be prepared for baptism, but because you were a clergyman that had made profession of divinity, had read as you said with much approbation and benefit the two practical discourses and many other good books, and because you seemed to me to be of a very inquisitive nature and much inclined to meditation. In this view nothing could be more reasonable than that book, which most deeply, excellently, and fully contains the whole system of Christian faith and practice, and is an excellent guide against all mistakes both in faith and works. What that book has not taught you I am content that you should not have learnt from me. You say the two maxims I mention may imply but do not express, ‘He is our propitiation, through faith in His blood.’ Is not this, therefore, a mere contest about words and expressions When I refer you to these two maxims or texts of Scripture, will you confine me to them alone Does not my quoting them necessarily refer to every part of Scripture of the same import When Christ says, ‘Without Me ye can do nothing’; when the Apostle says, ‘There is no other name given under heaven by which we can be saved’; when he says, ‘We are sanctified through faith in His blood’ and ‘through faith in Him,’ is there anything here but a difference of words, or one and the same thing imperfectly and only in part expressed

I mentioned not the answer to the Plain Account, &c., as a proof of the manner of my conversation with you, but of my faith in Christ as the Atonement for us by His blood at this time, which is what you directly questioned and called upon me for.

You number up all the parts of my letter, which are only speaking to the same parts in yours, as things entirely beside the point. If they are not to the point in mine, how came they to have a place in yours, which was written under divine direction Why did you give me occasion to speak of things that needed nothing to be said of them Had you said but one thing, I would have spoke to nothing else. In your first letter I was blamed for not calling you to such a faith in Christ as strips us naked of our own works, our own righteousness; for not teaching you this doctrine — ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with all thy heart, and nothing shall be impossible to thee.’ This is the faith in Christ which all Mystical spiritual books are full of. What you have heard from me on this head of faith in our former conversations would make a volume; but because I appealed to a text of Scripture, ‘Without Me ye can do nothing,’ you have quitted this faith. And now you say this, and no other, is the question: whether I ever advised you ‘to seek first a living faith in the blood of Christ.’ But, sir, this is not the main question of your first letter; had you had only this question to have proposed, you would not have written to me at all. But if I tell you that you conceived a dislike to me, and wanted to let me know that a man of God had shown you the poverty and misery of my state--if I tell you that this was the main intent of your letter, you know that I tell you the truth.

To come to your, &c. &c ....

But this matter, it seems, now is of no importance.

I was a stranger to him, received him friendly, listened to him humbly, consented to his instructing me; I said not one single syllable of any doctrine of religion, Mystical or not. We presently parted, in all appearance friendly. He passes a sentence of condemnation upon me as in a poor miserable state, which lay open to his eyes. This man of God told nothing of this to myself, but goes away to another man of God, and invents and tells things as false as if he had charged me with picking his pocket; and, what is well to be observed, this judgment passed upon me is founded upon those very things which are thus false and wholly his own invention. This other man of God confirms this sentence as spoken by one that he knew had the Spirit of God, and in obedience to a divine call is obliged to let me know....

Who made me your teacher or can make me answerable for any defects in your knowledge You sought my acquaintance, you came to me as you pleased, and on what occasion you pleased, and to say to me what you pleased. If it was my business to put this question to you, if you have a right to charge me with guilt for the neglect of it, may you not much more reasonably accuse them who are authoritatively charged with you Did the Church in which you are educated put this question to you did the Bishop that ordained you either deacon or priest do this for you did the Bishop that sent you into Georgia require this of you Pray, sir, be at peace with me.

W. LAW.

To a Friend [9]

[LONDON, May 24, 1738.]

Oh why is it that so great, so wise, so holy a God will use such an instrument as me! Lord, ‘let the dead bury their dead’! But wilt Thou send the dead to raise the dead Yea, Thou sendest whom Thou wilt send, and shewest mercy by whom Thou wilt show mercy! Amen! Be it, then, according to Thy will! If Thou speak the word, Judas shall cast out devils.

I feel what you say (though not enough), for I am under the same condemnation. I see that the whole law of God is holy, just, and good. I know every thought, every temper of my soul ought to bear God's image and superscription. But how am I fallen from the glory of God! I feel that ‘I am sold under sin.’ I know that I, too, deserve nothing but wrath, being full of all abominations, and having no good thing in me to atone for them or to remove the wrath of God. All my works, my righteousness, my prayers need an atonement for themselves. So that my mouth is stopped. I have nothing to plead. God is holy; I am unholy. God is a consuming fire; I am altogether a sinner, meet to be consumed.

Yet I hear a voice (and is it not the voice of God ) saying, ' Believe, and thou shalt be saved. He that believeth is passed from death unto Fife. God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'

Oh let no one deceive us by vain words, as if we had already attained this faith ! By its fruits we shall know. Do we already feel ' peace with God' and ' joy in the Holy Ghost' Does ' His Spirit bear witness with our spirit that we are the children of God' Alas! with mine He does not. Nor, I fear, with yours. O Thou Savior of men, save us from trusting in anything but Thee! Draw us after Thee! Let us be emptied of ourselves, and then fill us with all peace and joy in believing; and let nothing separate us from Thy love, in time or in eternity!

To his Mother [10]

AMSTERDAM, June 19, 1738.

DEAR MOTHER,--I stayed at Stanton Harcourt till Sunday (the 11th instant) in the afternoon. Thence returning to Oxford, I learned that Mr. Ingham was expected to set out on Monday or Tuesday. Therefore I left Oxford on Monday morning, and in the evening met with him and Mr. Tltschig, who were to embark the next morning. On Tuesday (the 13th) we took ship and fell down to Gravesend; many of our acquaintance bearing us company thither, two of whom were determined to go on with us, whithersoever it should please God to call us. We set sail from Gravesend on Wednesday, lost sight of England about four in the afternoon, and before seven the next morning saw the coast of Holland. About eight we entered the Meuse, and, sailing by Brill, [Brielle. See Journal, vi. 417n.] between ten and eleven came to Rotterdam.

Never did common fame more grossly vary from the truth than in the English accounts of Holland. They tell us of a dirty, slovenly, unpolished people, without good nature, good manners, or common decency; whereas the very first thing that must strike every one that has eyes, and that before he has gone an hundred yards from Rotterdam Haven, is that this is the cleanest place he ever saw in his life, there being scarce a speck of dirt to be seen either on the doors or steps of any of the houses or on the stones of the street. And all the natives he meets, whether men, women, or children, are of a piece with the place they live in; being so nicely dean from head to foot, both in their persons and clothes, as I have seen very few in my life even of the gentry in England. There is likewise a remarkable mildness and lovingness in their behavior. All you meet on the road salute you. Every one is ready to show the way, or to answer any questions, without anything of the English surliness. And the carriage as well as dress of all the women we have yet seen is exactly modest and altogether natural and unaffected.

On Thursday in the afternoon we left Rotterdam. The road we traveled in for several miles was a continued arbor, and as dean (excepting a very little dust) as a gentleman's parlor, or indeed his table, need be. We lay that night at Goudart [Gouda.] (being eight in all, five English and three Germans). On Friday morning (after having seen the great church there, famous for its painted glass) we set out again, and were surprised more and more at the pleasantness of the road. Walnut-trees shaded it for many miles; and the little houses stood so thick on either side, that it seemed like walking through a train of villages. The hedges were exactly cut all along, and all the houses neat almost to an extreme. In the afternoon we came to Ysselstein, where we were received with open arms by the Baron Watteville and the Church which is in has house. There are about twenty (beside children) in that little community, and their number increases daily, who are of one heart and one soul and have all things in common. Saturday the 17th (my birthday) was their monthly Thanksgiving Day. From about two in the afternoon till nine at night, the time was spent in prayer, praise, and such other exercises as became those who were ‘all filled with the Holy Ghost.’ Many strangers were present, with some of whom we set out in the Track-skuyt early in the morning, and went by Utrecht through a country which is, as it were, all one garden to Amsterdam, about thirty miles from Ysselstein.

A physician, who had lived some years at Herrnhut, carried us to his lodgings, where we design to stay one or two days. Both he and the master of the house are full of faith and love. Oh may our Lord give us more and more of their spirit! From hence (if God permit) we shall go by Frankfort, where Count Zinzendorf now is, to Herrnhut.

Dear mother, pray earnestly for me, that all things may work together for my good, and that by all God would build me in the faith which is in Christ Jesus !--I am

Your affectionate and dutiful Son.

James Hutton can send any letter to me, if it be writ before the middle of July o.s. Else I shall probably be on my journey home.

To his Brother Charles

COLEN, [Cologne.] June 28, 1738.

DEAR BROTHER, -- You will send my mother, wherever she is, her letter by the first opportunity.

By the conversation I have had with the Brethren that journey with us, as well as with those at Ysselstein and at Amsterdam, I find the judgment of their Church is: (1) That we ought to distinguish carefully, both in thinking and speaking, between faith (absolutely speaking), which is one thing; justifying or saving faith, which is a second thing (and ought to be called, not faith absolutely, but always justifying or saving faith); the assurance of faith, where we know and feel that we are justified; and the being born again, which they say is a fourth thing, and often distant in time (as well as in the notion of it) from all the rest. (2) That a man may have, and frequently has, justifying faith before he has the assurance that he is justified.

My dear brother, pray (you and all the brethren) for us, that all things may work together for our good, and that we may be more and more rooted in faith, joyful through hope, and grounded in charity. Adieu.

To his Mother

COLEN, June 28, 1738.

DEAR MOTHER, -- We left Amsterdam on Thursday evening last, and, coming to Utrecht in the morning, walked thence through a most pleasant and fruitful country to Beurn, a walled town belonging to the Prince of Orange. Hence on Saturday we went, partly by land, partly by water, to Nimwegen, the last town in Holland, strongly fortified with a triple wall and ditch; and having walked three or four hours through a double row of trees, which ran (mostly) through large cornfields, we took up our lodging an hour short of Cleves. Sunday, 25th, we made a short journey after our morning service, and, lying by the middle part of the day, in the evening came to a convenient lodging; only that, after the manner of the Lutherans, they were fiddling, singing, and dancing in the next room till we went to bed. The next day we found, by the crosses everywhere set up, we were got out of the Lutheran electorate, as well as by the convents, many of which were in every city and some in the country we passed through. Yesterday evening we came hither. It is the ugliest, dirtiest town I ever yet saw. There is neither form nor comeliness belonging to it. The great church itself is mere heaps upon heaps, -- a vast misshaped or rather no-shaped building, with no regularity or proportion within or without; many of the stones broken, the windows dusty and full of cobwebs, and the pavement less clean than that of many English stables. This afternoon we are to set out by water for Mentz, [Mayence.] forty-eight hours from hence, and eight hours only distant from Frankfort, where Count Zinzendorf now is.

God has been pleased greatly to bless us hitherto, continuing us all in health and cheerfulness and love to one another; which, with all other good gifts, we trust He will confirm and increase in us day by day. Before you receive this I hope you will be placed, according to your desire, [She was spending her time among her children.] where you may serve God without distraction from outward cares, till He takes you to Himself. O pray for me, that He would sanctify all I meet with to me, and give me fully to believe in the Son of His love, and to have a right judgment in all things. -- I am, dear mother,

Your most affectionate Son.

To his Mother

UTPH, July 6, 1738.

DEAR MOTHER, -- Soon after I had finished my last to you, we left Colen in the passage-boat, and traveled slowly four days upon the Rhine, through a double range of rocks and mountains, diversified with more variety than ever painter could imagine: some were smooth, as if polished by art; some rough, abrupt, and ragged, as if torn by a fresh earthquake; some, again, were quite bare, others clothed with grass, others with trees, corn, or vines. On Sunday in the evening we came to Mentz; and on Monday before noon to Frankfort, where the father of Peter Bhler (lately with me at London and Oxon) received us with all kindness. About one o'clock on Tuesday we came safe to Marienborn, a small village seven hours from Frankfort, where Count Zinzendorf has hired for three years (till one is built a few miles off on his own land, which is already begun) a large house, and tolerably convenient, which lodges the greatest part of the small congregation here.

The Count received us in a manner I was quite unacquainted with, and therefore know not. how to express. I believe his behavior was not unlike that of his Master (if we may compare human with divine) when He took the lit fie children in His arms and blessed them. We should have been much amazed at him, but that we saw ourselves encompassed with a cloud of those who were all followers of him, as he is of Christ. Eighty-eight of them praise God with one heart and one mouth at Marienborn; another little company at Runnerburg, [Ronneburg.] an hour off; another at Bdingen, an hour from thence; and yet another at Frankfort.

I now understand those words of poor Julian, [‘The progress of Atheism has been principally owing to the humanity evinced by Christians toward strangers. The impious Galileans provide not only for those of their own party who are in want, but also for those who hold with us.’ (Julian to Arsacius, Sozomen's Ecc. Hist. chap. xvi.) The saying ‘See how these Christians love one another’ seems to be found first in Tertullian (Apologeticus, chap. xxxix).] ‘See how these Christians love one another.’ Yea, how they love all who have the faintest desire to love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity! Oh may He sanctify to us their holy conversation, that we may be partakers of the spirit which is in them--of their faith unfeigned, and meekness of wisdom, and love which never faileth!

Dear mother, forget not often to desire this for

Your dutiful and affectionate Son.

To his Brother Charles

UTPH, July 7, 1738.

DEAR BROTHER, -- I am now with the Count, at his uncle's the Count of Solms, five or six hours from Marienborn; and have stole an hour to let you know that hitherto God hath been very merciful to us in all things. The spirit of the Brethren is beyond our highest expectations. Young and old, they breathe nothing but faith and love at all times and in all places. I do not therefore concern myself with smaller points that touch not the essence of Christianity, but endeavor (God being my helper) to grow up in these after the glorious examples set before me; having already seen with my own eyes more than one hundred witnesses of that everlasting truth, ‘Every one that believeth hath peace with God and is freed from sin, and is in Christ a new creature.’

See therefore, my brethren, that none of you receive the grace of God in vain! But be ye also living witnesses of the exceeding great and precious promises which are made unto every one of us through the blood of Jesus. Adieu. [Charles Wesley endorsed this letter ‘Panegyric on Germans.’]

To his Brother Samuel

UTPH, July 7, I738.

DEAR BROTHER, -- God has given me at length the desire of my heart. I am with a Church whose conversation is in heaven, in whom is the mind that was in Christ, and who so walk as He walked. As they have all one Lord and one faith, so they are all partakers of one Spirit, the spirit of meekness and love, which uniformly and continually animates all their conversation. Oh how high and holy a thing Christianity is! and how widely distant from that (I know not what) which is so called, though it neither purifies the heart nor renews the life after the image of our blessed Redeemer!

I grieve to think how that holy name by which we are called must be blasphemed among the heathen while they see discontented Christians, passionate Christians, resentful Christians, earthly-minded Christians--yea (to come to what we are apt to count small things), while they see Christians judging one another, ridiculing one another, speaking evil of one another, increasing instead of bearing one another's burdens. How bitterly would Julian have applied to these, ‘See how these Christians love one another’! I know I myself, I doubt you sometimes, and my sister often, have been under this condemnation. Oh may God grant we may never more think to do Him service by breaking those commands which are the very life of His religion! But may we utterly put away all anger, and wrath, and malice, and bitterness, and evil-speaking.

I was much concerned when my brother Charles once incidentally mentioned a passage that occurred at Tiverton. ‘Upon my offering to read,’ said he, ‘a chapter in the Serious Call, my sister said, “Who do you read that to Not to these young ladies, I presume; and your brother and I do not want it.”’ Yes, my sister, [Mrs. Samuel Wesley.] I must tell you, in the spirit of love, and before God, who searcheth the heart, you do want it; you want it exceedingly. I know no one soul that wants to read and consider deeply so much the chapter of Universal Love and that of Intercession. The character of Susurrus [‘He had a mighty inclination to hear and discover all the defects and infirmities of all about him.... If you would but whisper anything gently, though it was ever so bad in itself, Susurrus was ready receive it.’ (Law's Serious Call, chap. xxi.) See letter of Oct. 30 to his brother.] there is your own. I should be false to God and you did I not tell you so. Oh may it be so no longer; but may you love your neighbor as yourself, both in word and tongue, and in deed and truth!

I believe in a week Mr. Ingham and I shall set out for Herrnhut, about three hundred and fifty miles from hence. O pray for us, that God would sanctify to us all those precious opportunities, that we may be continually built up more and more in the spirit of power, and love, and of a sound mind!

--I am, dear brother,

Your most affectionate friend and Brother.

To his Brother Charles

HERRNHUT, August 4, 1738.

DEAR BROTHER, -- Thus far God has greatly helped us in all things. An account of the people here you must not expect till we come face to face, when I hope we shall part no more. Oh that, after I have proved all things, I may be enabled throughy de t dafta, [Phil. i. 10: ‘approve things that are excellent.’] and, calling no man master, in faith, practice, and discipline, to hold fast that which is good!

Salute our brethren in London and Oxford by name, and exhort them all, in the name of the Lord Jesus, that they love and study the oracles of God more and more, that they work out their salvation with fear and trembling, never imagining they have already attained or are already perfect; never deceiving themselves, as if they had now less need than before to be serious, watchful, lowly-minded; and that, above all things, they use great plainness of speech both with each other and towards all men: d paa, t t e, faese t ea p pta p. [See 2 Cor. iv. 2.]

My dearest brother and friend, I commend you to the grace of God, to be more and more renewed in the image of His Son! Pray ye all for me continually! Adieu.

To the Rev. Mr. Charles Wesley,

At Mr. Hutton's, Bookseller,

Near Temple Bar, London, England.

To James Hutton

HERRNHUT. August 4, 1738.

MY DEAR BROTHER, -- I hope you and those with you stand fast in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and are in no wise shaken from your purpose of declaring His goodness to the children of men. Ye are a few of those whom He hath chosen to be witnesses of the merits of His death and the power of His resurrection; and ye cannot too largely or too boldly declare the things He hath done for your own souls. If ye have, indeed, found mercy through His blood, you must 'use great plainness of speech'; not as Moses, and the judaizing Christians still among us, who put a veil over their face, to the intent that the glory of the Lord should not shine, which ought to shine in the eyes of all men. Many, indeed, will blaspheme, even though Paul speak, and speak only the words of truth and soberness. But ought Paul, therefore, to forbear speaking ' We have not so learned Christ.' Many also will persecute and revile you and say all manner of evil of you, for His name's sake. Why, then ye are heirs of the blessing; then the Spirit of God, the Spirit of glory, shall rest upon you. Then rejoice and be exceeding glad, that ye are partakers of the reproach of Christ; and when Christ, which is your life, shall appear, ye shall also appear with Him in glory.

We are here compassed about with a cloud of witnesses that the Ancient of Days waxeth not old; that His arm is not shortened, but still worketh mightily in and for those that believe. All of these are living proofs that Christianity, as its Author, is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; that the same gifts are still given unto men, the same holiness and happiness, the same freedom from sin, the same peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. These likewise bear witness with one accord that there is but one way under heaven given to men of attaining to a fellowship in these great and precious promises--namely, faith in Him who loved us and gave Himself for us, and bare our sins in His own body upon the tree; and also that ‘whosoever seeketh this findeth,’ so he seek it humbly, earnestly, and perseveringly, absolutely renouncing all his own righteousness as well as his own works, and coming to Christ as poor, miserable, and naked!

My dear friends, be lowly, be serious, be watchful. Let not any pretence to mental make you slack in vocal prayer. Be good stewards of the manifold grace of God. And the God of peace and love be with you even unto the end!

Be not forgetful of praying much for

Your weak brother in Christ.

To Arthur Bedford [11]

LONDON, September 28, 1738.

REVEREND SIR, -- 1. A few days ago I met with a sermon of yours, said to be written against me. It is entitled The Doctrine of Assurance. When I first read those three propositions there laid down, -- ‘(1) that an assurance of salvation is not of the essence of faith; (2) that a true believer may wait long before he hath it; and (3) that, after he hath it, it may be weakened and intermitted by many distempers, sins, temptations, and desertions,’ -- I thought there was nothing herein but what I both believed and preached. But in going on I was convinced of the contrary; and saw clearly that, by this one phrase, ‘assurance of salvation,’ we meant entirely different things: you understanding thereby ‘an assurance that we shall persevere in a state of salvation’; whereas I mean no more by that term than ‘an assurance that we are now in such a state.’

2. How easily, then, might a short question have prevented this whole dispute and saved you the trouble of a mere ignoratio denchi for almost forty pages together! As to the assurance you speak of, neither my brother, nor I, nor any of our friends that I know of, hold it; no, nor the Moravian Church, whose present judgment I have had better opportunity to know than the author of what is called your Catechism. I dare not affirm so much of this assurance as that ‘it is given to very few’; for I believe it is given to none at all. I find it not in the Book of God. Yea, I take it to be utterly contrary thereto, as implying the impossibility of falling from grace; from asserting which fatal doctrine I trust the God whom I serve will always deliver me.

3. That assurance of which alone I speak, I should not choose to call an assurance of salvation, but rather (with the Scriptures) the assurance of faith. And even this I believe is not of the essence of faith, but a distinct gift of the Holy Ghost, whereby God shines upon His own work and shows us that we are justified through faith in Christ. If any one chooses to transpose the words, and to term this, instead of the assurance of faith, the faith of assurance, I should not contend with him for a phrase: though I think the scriptural words are always the best; and in this case particularly, because otherwise we may seem to make two faiths, whereas St. Paul knew but of one.

4. This pfa pste, [Heb. x. 22: ‘The full assurance of faith.’] however we translate it, I believe is neither more nor less than hope; or a conviction, wrought in us by the Holy Ghost, that we have a measure of the true faith in Christ, and that, as He is already made justification unto us, so, if we continue to watch, strive, and pray, He will gradually become our sanctification here and our full redemption hereafter. This assurance I believe is given to some in a smaller, to others in a larger degree; to some also sooner, to others later, according to the counsels of His will. But, since it is promised to all, I cannot doubt but it will be given to all that diligently seek it. I cannot doubt but all ‘who truly believe in Christ Jesus and endeavor to walk in all good conscience before Him, will in due time be assured that they are in a state of grace, and may persevere therein unto salvation, by the Holy Spirit enabling them to discern in themselves those graces to which the promises of life are made, and bearing witness with their spirits that they are the children of God.’

5. Now, I beseech you, sir, to consider calmly whether it be I or you who hath broken the royal law of charity. Being informed that I and some of my friends were in a fault, you did not go and tell your brother of it between you and him alone; you did not tell it to the elders of the Church only; but at one step to all the world. You brand us at once with spiritual pride, enthusiasm, false doctrine, heresy, uncharitableness; with crude, indigested notions, of dismal consequences, because we would fain set ourselves up to be the heads of a party. You declare that we 'serve not the Lord Jesus Christ, but by fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple; that we have swerved from faith and a good conscience, and turned aside unto vain jangling, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what we say nor whereof we affirm.' You say we ' consent not to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, nor to the doctrine which is according to godliness; but that we are proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words. ‘In short, that we are ' men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth.’

6. O sir, how could you possibly be induced to pass such a sentence, even in your heart, till you had done us the common, heathen justice of hearing us answer for ourselves How, then, was you induced to declare it to all mankind, especially when those you were to declare hateful to God and man were those of whom you had once hoped better things, even things that accompany salvation--yea, whom you had received as sincere though weak brethren, and strengthened their hands in God What evidence, less than hearing them with your own ears pronounce the words laid to their charge, could constrain you so to judge of them, much more so to speak of them; since your words cannot be recalled, but must remain a stumbling-block to the weak, a grief to the lovers of peace and union, and a triumph to the enemy

7. It is not I, or my brother or our friends, who cause or foment divisions and offences. With us (glory be to God) is no anger or clamor or bitterness or evil-speaking. We avoid, as we would avoid the fire of hell, all envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings; and follow after lowliness, meekness, and love, with all that seek the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. And with this end it is that I have written now; hoping that, if in anything I do err from the truth, you will restore me in the spirit of meekness, that I may again give God thanks on your behalf, and have a fresh instance of your readiness to support the weak and comfort the feeble-minded. To do which, after the ability which God giveth, is also the desire of, reverend sir,

Your obedient servant.

To the Moravians at Marienborn and Herrnhut [12]

LONDON, September 1738.

MY DEAR BROTHER, -- I cannot but rejoice in your steadfast faith, in your love to our blessed Redeemer, your deadness to the world, your meekness, temperance, chastity, and love of one another. I greatly approve of your conferences and bands, of your method of instructing children, and in general of your great care of the souls committed to your charge.

But of some other things I stand in doubt, which I will mention in love and meekness. And I wish that, in order to remove those doubts, you would on each of those heads, (1) plainly answer whether the fact be as I suppose; and if so, (2) consider whether it be right.

Do you not wholly neglect joint fasting

Is not the Count all in all Are not the rest mere shadows, calling him Rabbi, almost implicitly both believing and obeying him

Is there not something of levity in your behavior Are you in general serious enough

Are you zealous and watchful to redeem time Do you not sometimes fall into trifling conversation

Do you not magnify your own Church too much

Do you believe any who are not of it to be in gospel liberty

Are you not straitened in your love Do you love your enemies and wicked men as yourselves

Do you not mix human wisdom with divine, joining worldly prudence to heavenly

Do you not use cunning, guile, or dissimulation in many cases

Are you not of a close, dark, reserved temper and behavior

Is not the spirit of secrecy the spirit of your community

Have you that childlike openness, frankness, and plainness of speech so manifest to all in the Apostles and first Christians

To Benjamin Ingham [13]

OXON, October 13, 1758.

TO MY DEAR BROTHER, -- God hath been wonderfully gracious to us ever since our return to England. Though there are many adversaries, yet a great door and effectual is opened; and we continue, through evil report and good report, to preach the gospel of Christ to all people, and earnestly to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. Indeed, He hath given unto us many of our fiercest opposers, who now receive with meekness the ingrafted word. One of the bitterest of them could have no rest in his spirit till, on Saturday, the 30th of September, he was compelled to send for me, [For Mr. Jennings, see Journal, ii. 80d.] who knew him not so much as by face, and to tell me the secrets of his heart. He owned with many tears that, in spite of all his endeavors, he was still carnal, sold under sin; that he continually did the thing he would not, and was thereby convinced of the entire corruption of his whole nature; that the very night before, after the most solemn resolutions to the contrary, he had been guilty of gross drunkenness, and had no hope of escaping, having neither spirit nor strength left in him. We fell on our knees, and besought our Lord to bring this sinner unto God, who through His blood justifieth the ungodly. He arose, and his countenance was no longer sad; for he knew, and testified aloud, that he was passed from death unto life, and felt in himself that he was healed of his plague. And from that hour to this he hath had peace and joy in believing, and sin hath no more dominion over him. Mr. Stonehouse [George Stonehouse, Vicar of Islington, had shared the Wesleys' convictions (Journal, i. 460). Mr. Sparks, a visiting minister at Newgate, is often referred to in C. Wesley's Journal for 1738; he invited Charles Wesley to go with him and preach to ten malefactors under sentence of death; they gave them the sacrament, and went with them to Tyburn. John Hutchings, of Pembroke College, was one of the company who met Wesley soon after his return from Georgia (Works, viii. 349) who were ‘resolved to be Bible Christians at all events, and, wherever they were, to preach with an their might plain, old, Bible Christianity’; Wesley was much confirmed by his experience (Journal, i. 457; W.H.S. v. 151): Hutchings was also present at the lovefeast in Fetter Lane on Jan. 1, 1739, with the Wesleys, Whitefield, and others (Journal, ii. 121). Mr. Combes was at Oxford (ibid. ii. 84—8d); he walked there with Charles Wesley (see C. Wesley's Journal, i. 131). Mr. Wells, of Jesus College, was another Oxford friend (Journal, ii. 87--8d); on May 31, 1738, Charles Wesley sent him a plain account of his conversion; he heard John Wesley's sermon in St. Mary's on Aug. 24, 1744, and sat just in front of Charles Wesley, ‘but took great care to turn his back upon me all the time, which did not hinder my seeing through him’ (see C. Wesley's Journal, i. 75, 76, 83, 98, 380). For Gambold's experience, see Tyerman's Oxford Methodists, pp. 175-6.] hath at length determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and to preach unto all remission of sins through faith in His blood. Mr. Sparks also is a teacher of sound doctrine. Mr. Hutchings is strong in the faith, and mightily convinces gainsayers, so that no man hitherto hath been able to stand before him. Mr. Kinchin, Gambold, and Wells have not yet received comfort, but are patiently waiting for it. Mr. Robson, [See letter of Sept. 30, 1735.] who is now a minister of Christ also, is full of faith and peace and love. So is Mr. Combes, a little child, who was called to minister in holy things two or three weeks ago. Indeed, I trust our Lord will let us see, and that shortly, a multitude of priests that believe. My brother and I are partly here and partly in London, till Mr. Whitefield or some other is sent to release us from hence.

Pray for us continually, my dear brother, that we may make full proof of our ministry, and may ourselves stand fast in the grace of our Lord Jesus; and, as soon as you can, send word of what He is doing by and for you.

To the Church at Herrnhut

OXON, October 14, 1738.

TO THE CHURCH OF GOD WHICH IS IN HERRNHUT, JOHN WESLEY, AN UNWORTHY PRESBYTER OF THE CHURCH OF GOD IN ENGLAND, WISHETH ALL GRACE AND PEACE IN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Glory be to God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for His unspeakable gift ! for giving me to be an eye-witness of your faith and love and holy conversation in Christ Jesus ! I have borne testimony thereof with all plainness of speech in many parts of Germany, and thanks have been given to God by many on your behalf.

We are endeavoring here also, by the grace which is given us, to be followers of you, as ye are of Christ. Fourteen were added to us since our return, so that we have now eight bands of men, consisting of fifty-six persons; all of whom seek for salvation only in the blood of Christ. As yet we have only two small bands of women--the one of three, the other of five persons. But here are many others who only wait till we have leisure to instruct them how they may most effectually build up one another in the faith and love of Him who gave Himself for them.

Though my brother and I are not permitted to preach in most of the churches in London, yet (thanks be to God) there are others left wherein we have liberty to speak the truth as it is in Jesus. Likewise every evening, and on set evenings in the week at two several places, we publish the word of reconciliation, sometimes to twenty or thirty, sometimes to fifty or sixty, sometimes to three or four hundred persons, met together to hear it. We begin and end all our meetings with singing and prayer; and we know that our Lord heareth our prayer, having more than once or twice (and this was not done in a corner) received our petitions in that very hour.

Nor hath He left Himself without other witnesses of His grace and truth: Ten ministers I know now in England who lay the right foundation--' The blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin.' Over and above whom I have found one Anabaptist, and one, if not two, of the teachers among the Presbyterians here, who, I hope, love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, and teach the way of God in truth.

O cease not, ye that are highly favored, to beseech our Lord that He would be with us even to the end, to remove that which is displeasing in His sight, to support that which is weak among us, to give us the whole mind that was in Him, and teach us to walk even as He walked! And may the very God of peace fill up what is wanting in your faith, and build you up more and more in all lowliness of mind, in all plainness of speech, in all zeal and watchfulness; that He may present you to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that ye may be holy and unblameable in the day of His appearing.

To Dr. Koker [14]

OXON, October 14, 1738.

I have delayed writing till now, in hopes I might have had an opportunity of transcribing the papers [Papers brought from Herrnhut. See letter of Nov. 22, p. 268.] you desired before I wrote. But I find I cannot have time for this yet, it having pleased God to give me full employment of another nature. His blessed Spirit has wrought so powerfully, both in London and Oxford, that there is a general awakening, and multitudes are crying out, ‘What must we do to be saved’ So that, till our gracious Master sendeth more laborers into His harvest, all my time is much too little for them.

May our blessed Lord repay sevenfold into your bosom the kindness showed to us for His name's sake! That you may be found in Him, not having your own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, is the earnest prayer of, dear sir,

Your unworthy brother in Christ.

To his Brother Samuel [15]

LONDON, October 30, 1738.

DEAR BROTHER, -- That you will always receive kindly what is so intended I doubt not. Therefore I again recommend the character of Susurrus, [See letter of July 7, p. 251] both to you and my sister, as (whether real or reigned) striking at the root of a fault of which both she and you were, I think, more guilty than any other two persons I have known in my life. Oh may God deliver both you and me from all bitterness and evil-speaking, as well as from all false doctrine, heresy, and schism!

With regard to my own character, and my doctrine likewise, I shall answer you very plainly. By a Christian I mean one who so believes in Christ as that sin hath no more dominion over him; and in this obvious sense of the word I was not a Christian till May the 24th last past. For till then sin had the dominion over me, although I fought with it continually; but surely then, from that time to this it hath not, such is the free grace of God in Christ. What sins they were which till then reigned over me, and from which by the grace of God I am now free, I am ready to declare on the house-top, if it may be for the glory of God.

If you ask by what means I am made free (though not perfect, neither infallibly sure of my perseverance), I answer, By faith in Christ; by such a sort or degree of faith as I had not till that day. My desire of this faith I knew long before, though not so clearly till Sunday, January the 8th last, when, being in the midst of the great deep, I wrote a few lines in the bitterness of my soul, some of which I have transcribed [Journal, i. 415-16.] ; and may the good God sanctify them both to you and me! --

‘By the most infallible of all proofs, inward feeling, I am convinced, --

‘1. Of unbelief; having no such faith in Christ as will prevent my heart's being troubled, which it could not be if I believed in God and rightly believed also in Him.

‘2. Of pride throughout my life past; inasmuch as I thought I had what I find I had not.

‘3. Of gross irrecollection; inasmuch as in a storm I cry to God every moment; in a calm, not.

‘Lord, save, or I perish! Save me, --

‘(1) By such a faith in Thee and in Thy Christ as implies trust, confidence, peace in life and in death.

‘(2) By such humility as may fill my heart, from this hour for ever, with a piercing, uninterrupted sense, Nihil est quod hactenus feci [ Kempis's Imitation, I. xix. I: 'What I have been hitherto doing amounts to nothing.']; having evidently built without a foundation.

‘(3) By such a recollection that I may cry to Thee every moment, but more especially when all is calm (if it should so please Thee), "Give me faith, or I die ! Give me a lowly spirit, otherwise mihi non sit suave vivere” [Terence's Heaut. III. i. 73: ~ ‘May life itself no longer be pleasant to me.’] Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! e ad, s .’ [Luke xviii. 39: 'Son of David, have mercy upon me.']

Some measure of this faith, which bringeth salvation or victory over sin, and which implies peace and trust in God through Christ, I now enjoy by His free mercy; though in very deed it is in me but as a grain of mustard-seed: for the pfa pste -- the seal of the Spirit, the love of God shed abroad in my heart, and producing joy in the Holy Ghost, ' joy which no man taketh away, joy unspeakable and full of glory,'--this witness of the Spirit I have not; but I patiently wait for it. I know many who have already received it--more than one or two in the very hour we were praying for it. And, having seen and spoken with a cloud of witnesses abroad as well as in my own country, I cannot doubt but that believers who wait and pray for it will find these scriptures fulfilled in themselves. My hope is that they will be fulfilled in me: I build on Christ, the Rock of Ages; on His sure mercies described in His Word; and on His promises, all which I know are yea and amen. Those who have not yet received joy in the Holy Ghost, the love of God, and the plerophory of faith (any or all of which I take to be the witness of the Spirit with our spirit that we are the sons of God), I believe to be Christians in that imperfect sense wherein I may call myself such; and I exhort them to pray that God would give them also ‘to rejoice in hope of the glory of God,’ and to feel ‘His love shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto them.’

On men I build not: neither on Matilda Chipman's word, [Apparently the woman who dreamt that a ball of fire fell upon her, and burst and fired her soul. See Priestley's Letters, pp. 88-90.] whom I have not talked with five minutes in my life; nor on anything peculiar in the weak, well-meant relation of William Hervey, [A younger brother of the Rev. James Hervey, who in June 1737 was looking out for a trade and a master to set yourself to' in London. Hervey spent the winter of 1751-2 in Miles Lane, London, with William, who was with his brother when he died in 1758. See Tyerman's Oxford Methodists, pp. 213, 26o, 322-3; and letter of March 2o, 1739, to James Hervey.] who yet is a serious, humble-acting Christian. But have you been building on these Yes; I find them more or less in almost every letter you have written on the subject. Yet, were all that has been said on ‘visions, dreams, and balls of fire’ to be fairly proposed in syllogisms, I believe it would not prove a jot more on one than on the other side of the question.

O brother, would to God you would leave disputing concerning the things which you know not (if, indeed, you know them not), and beg of God to fill up what is yet wanting in you! Why should not you also seek till you receive ‘that peace of God which passeth all understanding’ Who shall hinder you, notwithstanding the manifold temptations, from rejoicing ' with joy unspeakable, by reason of glory' Amen, Lord Jesus! -May you and all who are near of kin to you (if you have it not already) feel His love shed abroad in your heart by His Spirit which dwelleth in you, and be sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of your inheritance. -- I am

Yours and my sister's most affectionate Brother.

To Connt Zinzendorf

LONDON, October 30, 1738.

May our gracious Lord, who counteth whatsoever is done unto the least of His followers as done to Himself, return sevenfold unto you and the Countess and all the Brethren the many kindnesses you did unto us! It would have been a great satisfaction to me if I could have spent more time with the Christians that love one another. But that could not be now, my Master having called me to work in another part of His vineyard. Nor did I return hither at all before the time; for though a great door and effectual had been opened, the adversary had laid so many stumbling-blocks before it that the weak were daily turned out of the way. [See Journal, ii. 75; and also previous letter.] Numberless misunderstandings had arisen, by reason of which the way of truth was much blasphemed; and hence had sprung anger, clamor, bitterness, evil-speaking, envyings, strifes, railings, evil surmisings, whereby the enemy had gained such an advantage over the little flock that ' of the rest durst no man join himself unto them.'

But it has now pleased our blessed Master to remove in great measure these rocks of offence. The word of the Lord runs and is glorified, and His work goes on and prospers. Great multitudes are everywhere awakened, and cry out, ‘What must we do to be saved’ Many of them see that there is only one name under heaven whereby they can be saved; and more and more of those that seek it find salvation in His name. Their faith hath made them whole. And these are of one heart and one soul. They all love one another, and are knit together in one body and one spirit, as in one faith and one hope of their calling.

The love and zeal of our brethren in Holland and Germany, particularly at Herrnhut, hath stirred up many among us, who will not be comforted till they also partake of the great and precious promises. I hope, if God permit, to see them at least once more, were it only to give them that fruit of my love, the speaking freely on a few things which I did not approve, perhaps because I did not understand them. May our merciful Lord give you a fight judgment in all things, and make you to abound more and more in all lowliness and meekness, in all simplicity and godly sincerity, in all watchfulness and serious-ness-in a word, in all faith and love, particularly to those that are without, till ye are merciful, as your Father which is in heaven is merciful! I desire your constant and earnest prayers that He would vouchsafe a portion of the same spirit to

Your much obliged and very affectionate

But unworthy brother in Christ.

To Count Zinzendorf, At Amsterdam.

To Benjamin Ingram and James Hutton [16]

LINCOLN COLLEGE, November 16, 1738.

MY DEAR BRETHERN INGHAM AND HUTON, -- Be ye strong in the Lord and in the power of His might! There begins to be a little revival of His power here also. The few gownsmen who meet love one another and press forward toward the prize of our high calling. But I fear they do not all build on the true foundation; for some seem still to be establishing their own righteousness, as the joint cause (at least) with that of our Lord, of their acceptance with God. Charles Kinchin stands clear of this charge, and is full of love for souls and of prayer. But neither (I fear) does he speak the truth as it is in Jesus. For he (as our brother Hutchings) mightily insists, both in conversation and preaching, that no one can be justified without knowing it, and that none is born again or has saving faith till he has the full assurance of faith, continual joy in the Holy Ghost, and the immediate witness of the Spirit with his spirit. Oh when will our Lord give us to be of one mind and one soul, to speak and think the same thing!

This evening I begin reading to a little company in St. Clements, and on Tuesday evening (if God will) to one in St. Giles. But what meant Mr. Fox [Mr. Fox had been in the city prison, and went with Wesley and Kinchin to Manchester in March 1738. It was at the Society in Fox's house (April I) that Wesley could not confine himself to forms of prayer. Mrs. Fox's experience is referred to in Journal, i. 457. Richard Morgan (ibid. viii. 264) read the Bishop of Man's Catechism to two inquirers every other day at their house in 1735. Mr. and Mrs. Fox wished to go to Georgia. Morgan says: ' Mr. Fox and his wife, especially the former, are most zealous Christians.... I read every Sunday night to a cheerful number of Christians at Mr. Fox's.' Charles Wesley writes on Aug. 28, 1738: ' Rejoiced at Mr. Fox's, with Mr. Kin-chin, Hutchtrigs, and other Christian friends.' See letter of Nov. 24 to Fox.] by talking of leaving Oxford Ye have need to send ten men full of faith to us rather than to take one from us. Besides, Mrs. Fox is the very life and spirit (under God) of all the women here that seek our Lord. And if the adversary designed to blast at once all hopes of an harvest for God among them, he could not take a more probable way than now at this critical time to remove her from them. 'But he can't live at Oxford.' No, nor anywhere else, as he is now burdened with debt. But let his debts be paid, and then see what he can do. If that be not enough, we will pay his house-rent for a year or two. But at all hazards let them not go hence while our Lord's work in this place so loudly calls upon them to stay. Speak, my brethren, of this immediately.

I have four- or five-and-thirty other letters to write, [The great correspondence of a lifetime was already in full flow.] so can say no more. Send us word how our Master works in London. I am dead and cold. O pray much for

Your affectionate, heavy brother in Christ.

Hymn-books (bound and unbound) and Prayers should be sent immediately, and two Intercessional Offices. [See letter of Dec. 1. Evidently needed for their Society meetings.]

To Dr. Koker

OXON, November 22, 1738.

My desire and prayer to God is that the glorious gospel of His Son may run and be glorified among you, as it doth among us, and much more abundantly. I should rejoice to hear what our Lord hath done for you also. Is the number of believers multiplied Do they love one another Are they all of one heart and one soul Do they build up one another in the knowledge and love of our Lord Jesus Christ May He multiply your little flock a thousand-fold, how many soever you be! May He fill you with all peace and joy in believing! May He preserve you in all lowliness of spirit! And may He enable you to use great plainness of speech both toward each other and toward all men, and, by manifestation of the truth, to commend yourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God!

Even to this hour I have not had one day's leisure to transcribe for you the papers I brought from Herrnhut [See letter of Oct. 14.]: the harvest here also is so plenteous, and the laborers so few; and it increases upon us daily. Verily the Spirit of the Lord hath lifted up His standard against the iniquity which hath overspread our land as a flood! O pray ye for us, that He would send more laborers into His harvest; and that He would enable us, whom He hath already sent, to approve ourselves faithful ministers of the new covenant, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report! In particular, let all the brethren and sisters who are with you pray that God would warm with His love the cold heart of, dear sir,

Your much obliged and very affectionate brother in Christ.

To Isaac Lelong [17]

OXON, November 22, 1738.

Do not think, my dear brother, that I have forgotten you. I cannot forget you, because I love you; though I can't yet love any one as I ought, because I can't love our blessed Lord. [See sect. 25 of letter in Dec. 1751 to Bishop Lavington.] My heart is cold and senseless. It is, indeed, an heart of stone. Oh when, when will He take it out of the midst of me, and give me an heart of flesh! Pray for me, and let all your household pray for me--yea, and all the brethren also, that our God would give me a broken heart and a loving heart, an heart wherein His Spirit may delight to dwell.

May our good Lord repay you all a thousand-fold, and especially our brother Decknatel, for the love you showed to us! How does His gospel prosper at Amsterdam Are believers multiplied, and is His grace mighty among them Is their name yet east out as evil (for that must be next), and do men despitefully use you and persecute you I want you to say a great deal to me of it. But, above all, I want you to pray a great deal for

Your poor, weak brother.

PS.--Pray write soon. I should be glad to write to and hear from you at least once a month. Grace be with you all. Amen.

I thank you much for your letter. I wish to hear from you often. Will you send my letters to our dear brethren You see how long they have been delayed: December 31, 1738.

To Richard Viney [18]

OXON, November 22, 1738.

After a long sleep, there seems now to be a great awakening in this place also. The Spirit of the Lord hath already shaken the dry bones; and some of them stand up and live. But I am still dead and cold; having peace, indeed, but no love or joy in the Holy Ghost. 0 pray for me, that I may see and feel myself a sinner, and have a full interest in the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world!

To Mr. Fox [19]

OXON, November 24, 1738.

DEAR MR. FOX, -- Mrs. Badger earnestly desires you would procure her a trumpet to help her deafness. Mrs. Ford would not have any of the tea Mrs. Cleminger brought, because it is very bad.

Charles Kinchin, Charles Delamotte, Mrs. Ford, Mrs. Hall, Mrs. Fox, and my brother desire me to speak their judgment (as well as mine) concerning your removal to London.

The reason for it, you say, is this: ‘You can't maintain your family at Oxford.’ To this we answer: ‘You have not tried what you can do, when you are clear in the world (which Mr. F--- promises) and should you live in your house rent-free (for that we will take care).’ If you desire only food and raiment for yourself and family, you have all reason at least to make the experiment for a while whether Providence will not give you these at Oxford when you have these helps which you had not before.

The reason against her going hence is as evident as it is weighty. We have no one here like-minded. She is the very life (under God) of all her companions here; nor could the enemy devise so likely a means of destroying the work which is just beginning among them as the taking her away from their head. Which, then, is dearest to you, the interest of Christ or your own O consider this question deeply, and the good God direct your heart! Pray for

Your affectionate brother.

To James Hutton [20]

Oxon, November 24, 1738.

DEAR JEMMY, -- First let us get trifles out of the way. My brother left behind him almost all the things I wanted, which I desire may be sent without fail by the very next carrier, viz.--

A gown, cassock, and sash.

The papers which my brother put into the little box which has the key in it.

My eight cups, teapot, sugar-basin, and slop-basin.

Have you paid Mrs. Turner for the tea and sugar bought when Brother Richter was with us

The three New Testaments, 2d. Hymn-book, Italian Grammar, Dictionary (from your father's), German Dictionary, and the little . . . German book, and Newcomb's Psalms.

Many here would buy hymn-books and the sermon on Faith; send them, therefore, with the rest.

I do very exceedingly disapprove of the excluding women when we meet to pray, sing, and read the Scriptures. I wish it might not be done before we have talked together; at least, unless you first fix a night for them to come by themselves -- which I firmly believe will give more offence.

Send us word how the word of God prospers among you, and how the fierceness of men turns to His praise, that we may rejoice together. You will show Mr. Fox what is on the other side. Are not your own flocks and herds enough, but must you have our little ewe lamb also

To James Hutton [21]

OXON, November 26, 1738.

MY DEAR FRIEND, -- If the time for the women's meeting apart be fixed before they are excluded from the general meeting, I have no more to say on that head.

I gave our brother Shaw the names of six female bands settled already. Why do you speak of the settling some as a thing still to be begun Have you suffered those to fall in pieces again Or has no thought at all been taken about them

Doubtless too much caution cannot be used in the admission of strangers.

What is proposed as to casting lots concerning a president seems liable to no exception. But you seem to design him (if there should be one) just nothing to do. Would not that [require] more particular consideration

I have thought much (my brother is out of town with Mr. Wells) of the monitors, [See Wesley's account of the discipline of the Church at Herrnhut, Journal, if. 50, 53. The monitors were eleven in number. Some were known to be such; others were secretly appointed, and, if need were, could admonish in the love of Christ even the rulers of the Church.] and am very much afraid that design is not right; and that for several reasons. First, it seems needless. Every man in my band is my monitor, and I his; else I know no use of our being in band. And if anything particular occur, why should not the leaders (as was agreed before) delegate a monitor pro tempors Secondly, I doubt it would be hurtful; and, indeed, many ways: by lessening the care of every member for every other, when so great a part of his care was transferred to another; by lessening mutual freedom, and making it in one instance unnecessary; by setting aside the commandment of God, 'Thou shalt in any wise reprove thy brother,' [See Lev. xix. 17.] by depriving thee, i.e. every one beside the monitors, of the improvement and reward of so doing. Thirdly, I have seen it has produced these effects. Sin (as they esteemed it) was suffered in me at Savannah, first seven months, afterwards five months, without one breath of reproof; notwithstanding the command of God, notwithstanding earnest, continual entreaty on one side, and solemn, repeated promises on the other. And how could this be Why, there were stated monitors to reprove. Others, therefore, judged reproof to be a thing quite out of their way. But I fell not under the care of the monitors. Therefore I might have gone unreproved to this hour had not John [Wesley evidently refers to John Martin Boltzius, the minister of the Saltzburghers, whom he had refused to admit to the Lord's Table in Savannah because he was not baptized by a minister who had been episcopally ordained (see Journal, iii. 434). He speaks (ibid. i. 181) of reading Drake's Anatomy with ‘John.’ Boltzius had told, Wesley of something he thought wrong in his conduct, and had been reproved for doing so by those who thought he had usurped the office of the monitors.] reproved me; for which (as he could not deny) he was roundly reproved himself. Lastly, a general monitor commissioned by God to reprove every one of his brethren you have so long as you have any priest or deacon among you. Therefore methinks this point might be reconsidered.

‘They that speak stand up’ I don't understand. If I do understand it; I doubt of the propriety of it.

Is the book and letters sent to Mr. Rook I believe the letter mentions money to be received of him, and sent hither as soon as may be.

Nothing is done here yet. We are only beginning to begin. All the Scriptures direct me to think of suffering. I fear not that, but my own heart.

Be not in haste, my dear brethren. Determine few things at a time, and those with the deepest deliberation. You know, we are blind children; and if it is our Father who leads us by the hand, He leads gently.

We all remember you, and much desire to be remembered by you all. Let my dear brother Ingham and you pray very much for

Your affectionate brother.

To James Hutton [22]

OXON, November 27, 1738.

Your scrip, Jemmy, comes next. As to the point of the women, we are agreed. As to the monitors, I have one more doubt. I believe bishops, priests, and deacons to be of divine appointment, though I think our brethren in Germany do not. Therefore I am tender of the first approach towards ‘pastors appointed by the congregation.’ And if we should begin with appointing fixed persons to execute pro officio one part of the pastoral office, I doubt it would not end there. My dear brother, this may seem of little weight to some of our brethren, especially when urged by one so weak as me; and they may think it deserves no other answer than ‘He hath not the Spirit.’ But our brother Bray hath. I refer you to him and all the brotherhood, or such a number of them as you judge proper.

My brother, suffer me to speak a little more: if as a fool, then as a fool bear with me. I believe you don't think I am (whatever I was) bigoted either to the Ancient Church or the Church of England. But have a care of bending the bow too much the other way. The National Church, to which we belong, may doubtless claim some, though not an implicit, obedience from us. And the Primitive Church may, thus far at least, be reverenced as faithfully delivering down for two or three hundred years the discipline which they received from the Apostles, and the[Apostles] from Christ. And I doubt....... were among them who [Letter torn.] .......

To his Brother Samuel

OXON, November 30, 1738.

I believe every Christian who has not yet received it should pray for the witness of God's Spirit with his spirit that he is a child of God. In being a child of God, the pardon of his sins is included; therefore I believe the Spirit of God will witness this also. That this witness is from God, the very terms imply; and this witness I believe is necessary for my salvation. How far invincible ignorance may excuse others I know not. But this, you say, is delusive and dangerous, because it encourages and abets idle visions and dreams. It encourages, true--accidentally, but not essentially. And that it does this accidentally, or that weak minds may pervert it to an idle use, is no objection against it; for so they may pervert every truth in the oracles of God, more especially that dangerous doctrine of Joel cited by St. Peter: ‘It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.’ Such visions, indeed, as you mention are given up: does it follow that visions and dreams in general ‘are bad branches of a bad root’ God forbid I This would prove more than you desire.

To James Hutton [23]

I am to thank somebody (I suppose my brother James) for some very good tea.

OXON, December 1, 1738.

DEAR JEMMY, -- The box I have received from the carrier, [See end of letter of Nov. 16.] and the parcel by the coach, and (which is best of all) two letters by the post. Our brother Ingham should stir us up as often as he can. I can but just say us gownsmen. For Charles Kinchin went to-day, and there is none besides that joins with my brother and me cordially. Indeed, you should write to Mr. Hutchings. How can any who truly desire the enlargement of our Lord's kingdom approve of his and Mr. Kinchin's both being shut up in a little village when there is so loud a call for both (if it could be) at Oxford

The case of the monitors [See letters of Nov. 26 and 27.] is past; so let it rest. Only I cannot approve of that circumstance, which you may probably think the most necessary of all--the forbidding the person reproved to answer. First, because I doubt it may be a snare to many weak consciences, who may think (as I do in several cases) that it is their duty to answer. Secondly, because it naturally tends to beget or increase, even in the strong, that Mystical silence which is the very bane of brotherly love. For my own part, I never should be willing to reprove any one without hearing him answer for himself. Nor do I find any scripture that forbids it, either directly or by clear inferences -- though it may have ill effects. The impatience of hearing it seems to be a very unchristian temper.

Indeed, my brother, you have no need to multiply forms of any kind. The standing up at speaking is a ceremony used neither at Herrnhut nor among any of the Brethren elsewhere. At meal-times especially it appears quite contrary to common sense, and is surely likely to be attended with more ill consequences than it is supposed proper to remove.

Are we members of the Church of England First, then, let us observe her laws, and then the by-laws of our own Society. First, secure the observance of the Friday fast. Then I will fast with you, if you please, every day in the week. Only let us except Sundays and the solemn festivals, to fast on which is contrary (to say no more) to laws of our own Church.

Thanks be to God in Christ, I have no more anger than joy. But we are all young men, though I hope few of you are so young in spiritual, experimental knowledge as

Your poor brother.

Could not you purchase for me half a dozen Bath-metal tea-spoons

Editor’s Introductory Notes

[1] This letter from Charles Wesley was written whilst his brother was on his way back to England. His return came upon Charles as a great surprise. He writes in his diary for February 3, 1738, ' In the afternoon news was brought me at James Hutton's that my brother was come from America. I could not believe till at night I saw him. He comes, not driven away, but to tell the true state of the Colony; which according to his account, is truly deplorable.' Next day Charles writes, 'I informed Mr. Oglethorpe of his arrival. He was very inquisitive into the cause of his coming; said he ought not to have returned without the Trustees' leave.' On February 8 Wesley told the Trustees that about 100 idle persons had left the Colony within two months. The Colonists had been able in the previous year to grow enough corn to meet the needs of half the people. The Colony he said was very healthy; the Salzburgers had cultivated 150 acres. Charles Delamotte, the 'dearest Charles' of the letter, stayed in Georgia till June 2, when he sailed for England. Whitefield, who had set sail for Georgia on January 5, 1738, from Gravesend, gave him 15 for his passage, which the Trustees refunded. William Delamotte, who had been led to Christ in 1737 in his twentieth year, was an undergraduate at Cambridge who often left the University to carry on his studies at Blendon, and have helpful intercourse with the Rector of Bexley, Mr. Piers. See Journal, i. 109-11. James Habersham, born at Beverley in 1712, sailed with Whitefield; he entered into business in Savannah, became President of Georgia in 1769, and died in 1775.

James Hutton wrote to Wesley on January 3, 1737: ' I have now opened a shop, and am entering myself into a new world; you will suit your prayers accordingly. I too bear part of the reproach of Christ I hope. As I do not sell Plays, and as the London and Oxon Methodists come to my house and sing Psalms audibly, against the peace and quiet of the neighborhood, I am stigmatized as mad, Presbyterian, fanatic; but I bless God I mind not the foolish words of simple men. I pray they may be converted. I am just at Temple Bar amidst the fiery darts of the devil. Your brother has been of great help to me; so has Mr. Hall and Mr. Whitefield. My sincerest love attends Charles Delamotte. I rejoice in what God has done for his family. I congratulate you on your sufferings, and almost wish you the glorious red crown of martyrdom. I must conclude, Your servant, JAMES HUTTON.'

[2] Lady Cox (or Cocks), of Queen Square, Bath, was one of Whitefield's earliest converts there. Walter Chapman writes to Wesley on September 3, 1736: 'My Lady Cocks and sisters are now in Oxford; and they desire their best services to you, and wish you good luck in the name of the Lord' (Tyerman's Oxford Methodists, p. 363). In 1738, when Whitefield sailed for Georgia, Lady Cox gave 50 for the poor of Georgia, and her sister, Mrs. Bridget Bethel, 100. Lady Cox also contributed five guineas to the Orphan House in Georgia. (Tyerman's Whitefield, i. 106, 349.) See letter of April 16, 1739.

[3] The last paragraph is a note written underneath Wesley's letter by his brother Charles, who was ill at Oxford. On April 3 he resigned his position as Secretary. Oglethorpe, who replied on the 12th offering to get it supplied if he would retain it, left on June 26. See C. Wesley's Journal, i. 84.

[4] John Corbet's Self-Employment is Secret was published in London in 1681, with 'a Prefatory Epistle by Mr. John Howe.' The title-page describes the second part as ' Thoughts upon Painful Affliction.' ' Notes for Myself ‘fill twenty of the seventy-five pages in the little book (5 in by 3 in.). Wesley had been acting on one of them with the old man on Stokenchurch Hill: ' When thou hast an opportunity of speaking a word for the good of another's soul, defer not the doing of it till another time.' Richard Baxter, with whom he had lived for some time, preached Corbet's funeral sermon. Corbet was ejected from Bramshot in 1662, and was minister at Chichester when he died in 1682.

[5] Eukleria, the biography of Anna Maria Van Schurman (1607-78), was written in 1673, and a continuation of it in 1683. Wesley reread the Life of this learned and saintly Dutch lady on the way to Derking, on February 14, 1774, and describes her as' perhaps a woman of the strongest understanding that the world ever saw. And she was likewise deeply devoted to God.' See W.H.S. iv. 206.

Wesley had met Peter Bhler in London in February. He was then twenty-five, had studied theology at Jena, and had just been ordained by Zinzendorf for work in Carolina.

[6] Wesley had eagerly studied Law's Christian Perfection and the Serious Call. He says (Works, viii. 366), ‘I had objections to almost every page’; but ‘they convinced me more than ever of the exceeding height and breadth and depth of the law of God’ (Journal, i. 467). For twelve years Law had been one of his chief mentors.

This letter speaks volumes for Wesley's sincerity and frankness. He tells his old master how his teaching had broken down in practice. As to the last paragraph, Canon Overton says that Law had ‘an asperity of manner, a curtness of expression, an impatience of everything that appeared to him absurd and unreasonable,... which made most men with whom he came into contact rather afraid of him.’ In his reply Law reminded Wesley of his edition of Kempis, and asks that the fault of not leading him to faith might be divided between them. He also said that he had put into his hands 'the little book of the German Theology.... If that book does not plainly lead you to Jesus Christ, I am content to know as little of Christianity as you are pleased to believe.' The fact remains that, till they met Peter Bhler, the Wesleys had not found the way of faith.

For Wesley's criticism of some of Law's later writings, see letter of January 6, 1756.

[7] The corrections in the copy of this important letter show with what care Wesley prepared his reply. A facsimile of it is given in Telford's Life of John Wesley, where on pages 103-8 the correspondence with Law is discussed. Charles Wesley visited Law twice in 1737, and on August 10, 1739, went to see him with his friend Bray (see his Journal). When Charles told him his experience, he replied, ‘Then am I far below you (if you are right), not worthy to bear your shoes.’

[8] Law's answer to the letter of May 20 is in the possession of Dr. Williams's Library; and we are indebted to the librarian for allowing us to make a copy of it, and to Mr. Stephen Hobhouse for calling our attention to it. It is the first time, so far as we know, that it has been printed as given here.

[9] The Journal (May 22, 23, 24) says: ' Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I had "continual sorrow and heaviness" in my "heart"; something of which I described, in the broken manner I was able, in the following letter to a friend.' The name of this 'friend' has not yet been discovered. It may have been Gambold, Kinchin, Miss Molly Kinchin, or Clayton. The last paragraph points to someone who, like himself, was seeking rest. The letter vividly describes the turmoil of his mind before the great light came to him on the evening of May 24 in Aldersgate Street. See Journal i. 475-6.

[10] Wesley set out for Germany on June 13, 1738. He had made up his mind in Georgia to do so, and saw that the time had now come. He hoped that conversation with the Moravians would be a means of establishing his soul. lie reached Rotterdam on the 15th. See Journal, i. 482-3; and for an account of the visit, ii. 3-63.

Wesley's three letters to his mother from Germany help us to trace his journey from England to Marionborn, where he met Count Zinzendorf; they are full of details which must have given much pleasure to her and to the members of the family with whom she was staying. The scrupulous cleanliness of Holland greatly appealed to Wesley.

[11] The Rev. Arthur Bedford, M.A., was Chaplain to the Prince of Wales and to the Haberdashers’ Hospital in Hoxton. His name appears in the list of Georgia Trustees. Wesley went to see him on October 6, to tell him of the harm he had done by his ‘very weak sermon’ on the Doctrine of Assurance, preached in St. Lawrence Jewry, August 13, 1738 (see Green's Anti-Methodist Publications, Nos. 3 and 130). Wesley refers to him on March 18, 1781, as ‘a person greatly esteemed fifty or sixty years ago for piety as well as learning.’ He was curate at St. Nicholas's, Bristol, about 1690 (Journal, if. 82, vi. 306), and afterwards Vicar of Temple Church, Bristol. See a remarkable letter from him in the Arminian Magazine, 1782, pp. 425-9, about Thomas Perks, a skilled mathematician and a man who invoked spirits.

[12] ‘Soon after my return to England I began the following letter to the Moravian Church; but, being fearful of trusting my own judgment, I determined to wait yet a little longer, and so laid it by unfinished.’ See letters of August 8, 1740, and February 2, 1745, sect. I. 5 (to Thomas Church).

[13] Benjamin Ingham, one of the Oxford Methodists, went with Wesley to Georgia; but came back in 1737. He accompanied Wesley to Herrnhut in June 1738, remained there for a few months when Wesley returned to England, and afterwards joined the Moravians. He married Lady Margaret Hastings in 1741, and died in 1772. See Journal, i. 106n.

[14] John de Koker was a physician in Rotterdam, who walked an hour with Wesley on the way to Gouda, and with whom he stayed on his return from Herrnhut. He translated some of Wesley's tracts into Dutch. See Journal, ii. 4, 63; iii. 445-8.

[15] Samuel's reply in excellent spirit is given in Priestley's Letters, pp. 88-90.

[16] Wesley was in Oxford from November 11 to December 11. Charles came by coach on November 22, and stayed till the same date.

[17] Isaac Lelong was one of the friends Wesley made at Amsterdam in June (Journal, ii. 91n, 102d). His historical account of the Brethren is referred to in Zinzendorf's Life, p. 247. Mr. Decknatel, who Wesley says ‘suffered us to want nothing while we stayed’ there, was a minister of the Mennonists, and had translated into Low Dutch part of the Herrnhut Hymn-book (Journal, ii. 6).

[18] Richard Viney, a ladies' stay-maker, was introduced to Zinzendorf by Wesley in 1738. Viney stayed at the Foundry in London, traveled with Wesley, and was invited by him to the first Conference in 1744. Extracts from his manuscript Diary for that year are given by Marina-duke Riggall in W.H.S. beginning with vol. xiii. 78. He was at Ysselstein when this letter was written. See Journal, ii. 3n; and letters of January 22, 1744, and October 4, 1758.

[19] Mr. Fox was in London. The Diary refers to this letter (Journal, ii. 104). The little Oxford Society met in his house or in Wesley's rooms at Lincoln College. His brother and Charles Delamotte (who was his guest) felt how important it was that Fox should remain in Oxford, and were prepared to make proper financial arrangements to secure this end. This letter was written on the back of that to James Hutton. See letter of November 16.

[20] Wesley needed his gown and cassock, and had to entertain friends. The inquiry about the tea shows his scrupulous care for others; and the reference to A Collection of Psalms and Hymns and his sermon on Salvation by Faith, printed by James Hutton, bears witness to his use of the Press to help forward the Revival. Both had been published in i738. His desire for news about the work in London also appears in Journal, ii. 108; and his attitude towards women members is a sign of his broad-minded position. See next letter.

[21] James Hutton wrote on November 23 to say that at a general meeting of the bands (in Fetter Lane) it had been found that some were ensnared 'by the too familiar intercourse at Societies with young women.' It was decided that the women should meet by themselves, and that two monitors be appointed, ' whose business will be to tell every one what faults are observed in him'; that lots should be cast for the choice of a president of the meetings, who would only ‘see to the execution of what shall be determined by the whole Society'; and also 'that leaders and other officers wait and serve at lovefeasts; that they that speak stand up, and no one speak till he sat down.’ Hutton said: ‘I will send Mr. Wells’s money with a parcel of books, directed to some of you speedily.’

[22] John Bray was a brazier in Little Britain, near Smithfield. In his house Charles Wesley found peace on Whir Sunday 1738. Byrom was very much pleased with his conversation and behavior.

[23] Dummer is the ‘little village.’ It had about four hundred inhabitants. John Hutchings was apparently assisting Kinchin, who writes Wesley on October 9, 1739, about a sermon he was going to print: ‘Mr. Hutchings has perused the whole. I shall have him at Dummer while I am absent.’ See Tyerman's Oxford Methodists, pp. 363-70; and letter of February 16, 1737.

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