“Pembroke, August 23, 1788.
“My dear Brother,—If you are persuaded, that such a promise (which is the whole and sole cause of the breach at Dewsbury) is binding, you must follow your persuasion. You will have blame enough from other persons; my hand shall not be upon you. If I can do you good, I will; but shall certainly do you no harm. George Whitfield is the person I choose to succeed you. I wish you would teach him as much as you can without delay.
“I am, with kind love to sister Atlay, your affectionate brother,
“John Wesley.”
Thus did Wesley dispose of his book steward’s mischievous promise; his pert nomination of Joseph Bradford as his successor; and his whimpering prayer that Wesley would not punish him for his naughty tricks.
It is hardly necessary to insert the whole of the correspondence. Suffice it to say, that Wesley requested Atlay, before he left, to employ “one or two proper persons to take an inventory of all the books in the shop and under the chapel,” so that George Whitfield might know what was put into his care. Atlay’s reply to this was the following.
“London, September 20, 1788.
“Reverend and dear Sir,—We have almost this moment finished our job of taking the stock; and, as near as we can tell, your stock is this day worth £13,751 18s. 5d., according to the prices fixed in the catalogue. However, you may be sure it is not less than that. Most of these are saleable things. You will be sure to find sale for them, if you live; and, if not, they will be of equal value to those to whom you leave them.
“I am, etc.,
“John Atlay.”
Atlay went to Dewsbury on September 24, and took possession of the chapel built with the money of Methodists. We have before us a number of Mr. Pawson’s letters, written at this period, and in reference to the Dewsbury unpleasantness. Pawson went, and preached to the discontented Methodists; and spent two days in endeavouring to put them right; but without effect. Mr. Mather was “highly offended” on account of this; and Mr. Atlay wrote to Pawson “a thundering letter.” Under date of September 16, 1788, Pawson says:
“You see the blessedness of striving to make peace. The assistants of the neighbouring circuits are to preach in the streets at Dewsbury, in their turns. This is pain and grief to me. To preach in opposition, Methodists against Methodists, is painful beyond expression. I believe all might have been prevented by loving, prudent preachers. We have had a few unworthy men among us, who have been a great burden to us and to the people; but we do not lay them aside. Therefore, the people will oblige us to do it, by making deeds like that at Dewsbury. Some of our preachers do not live near to God, and do not endeavour, by reading and prayer, to render themselves acceptable to the people. But now it seems as though the people would make them look about them a little.”
From other unpublished letters, we learn that Atlay and Eels[655] had large congregations; that they had taken with them the whole of the Dewsbury society, except a good man and his wife, of the name of Drake; and that one of the trustees soon became a bankrupt, and was said to have squandered a considerable amount of Atlay’s money. Difficulties speedily ensued; hence the following, extracted from a letter dated
“Birstal, December 18, 1789.
“... Mr. Atlay and Mr. Eels cannot supply the places they have at present. They want another preacher, but cannot get one. They have tried to get Mr. Holmes, who left us last conference, but he is engaged to Sheerness, as the society there is divided. Besides, I understand, they are all for the Church, and utterly against separation, ordination, etc. The devil can no longer set the men of the world against us; but he is trying a much more effectual way, setting the people and preachers one against another.
“John Pawson.”[656]
Thus did Mr. Atlay really set up an imperium in imperio. He called himself a Methodist; and yet was setting Methodism’s founder at defiance. Not content with taking possession of the Dewsbury circuit, he went to Shields, and there, and in Newcastle, and other places, founded separate societies. At length, he and his friend Eels quarrelled. Hence the following.
“Birstal, May 17, 1791.
“... Mr. Atlay and Mr. Eels have differed and parted. Mr. Atlay is gone to London, and whether he will return to Dewsbury is quite uncertain. I believe very few desire or expect it. He has treated Mr. Eels in a very unkind and unbrotherly manner ever since he came to Dewsbury, and Mr. Eels was determined to bear it no longer. The trustees had a meeting, and determined that Mr. Eels should stay; and be, in every respect, equal to Mr. Atlay. They are greatly displeased with Mr. Atlay’s conduct, as well as with his doctrines. He has got deep into Mr. Manners’[657] opinions, and says that he has believed them these twenty years. Mr. Eels is very friendly, and I believe most sincerely wishes a reconciliation, and I hope will endeavour to bring it about.
“John Pawson.”[658]
William Eels died within two years after this. In the meantime, the Dewsbury trustees began to entertain “shocking opinions” of their friend Atlay; and in September, 1792, sent for Pawson to effect a reunion.[659]
We need not pursue the subject farther. Here we have the rise, the progress, and collapse of the Atlayite rebellion. We could give a number of Atlay’s letters, showing that, in 1789, he coquetted with Alexander McNab, and tried to secure the co-operation of James Oddie. But the traitorous book steward has already occupied more space than his worth deserves. We only add, that, to all his other faults, he added that of circulating the most infamous reports reflecting on Wesley’s moral character;[660] which extorted from Wesley the following characteristic “Word to whom it may Concern,” inserted in his Magazine for 1790, just after the appearance of Atlay’s pamphlet on the subject.
“In August, 1788, Mr. Atlay wrote me word, ‘I must look out for another servant, for he would go to Dewsbury on September 25.’ So far was I from ‘bidding him go,’ that I knew nothing of it till that hour. But I then told him, ‘Go and serve them’: seeing I found he would serve me no longer.
“He sent me word that I had in London £13,751 18s. 5d., stock in books. Desiring to know exactly, I employed two booksellers to take an account of my stock. The account they brought in, October 31, 1788, was:
‘Value of stock, errors excepted, £4827 10s. 3½d.
‘John Parsons,
Thomas Scollick.’
“Why did John Atlay so wonderfully overrate my stock? Certainly to do me honour in the eyes of the world.
“I never approved of his going to Dewsbury; but I submitted to what I could not help.
“With respect to Dewsbury House, there never was any dispute about the property of preaching houses, that was an artful misrepresentation; but merely the appointing of preachers in them.
“If John Atlay has a mind to throw any more dirt upon me, I do not know I shall take any pains to wipe it off. I have but a few days to live; and I wish to spend those in peace.
“London, Feb. 25, 1790.
“John Wesley.”
These are long, perhaps tedious, statements; but they are not without interest, as helping to illustrate the life and character of Wesley. His career was a long continued scene of trouble. Mobs assailed him first; then parsons and pamphleteers; then his friends, the Calvinists; and, last of all, his vexations were chiefly those occasioned by some of his own faithless followers.
Not to return to Dewsbury, it may be added here, that, at the conference of 1789, the preachers subscribed £206 towards the erection of a new chapel; and Wesley issued two circulars, stating the case to the Methodists in general, and asking their assistance. After mentioning that the former chapel had been built by the contributions of the people, (the trustees themselves not giving a quarter of what it cost,) he continues:
“Observe, here is no dispute about the right of houses at all. I have no right to any preaching house in England. What I claim is, a right of stationing the preachers. This these trustees have robbed me of in the present instance. Therefore, only one of these two ways can be taken; either to sue for this house, or to build another: we prefer the latter, being the most friendly way.
“I beg, therefore, my brethren, for the love of God; for the love of me, your old and well-nigh worn out servant; for the love of ancient Methodism, which, if itinerancy is interrupted, will speedily come to nothing; for the love of justice, mercy, and truth, which are all so grievously violated by the detention of this house; that you will set your shoulders to the necessary work. Be not straitened in your own bowels. We have never had such a cause before. Let not then unkind, unjust, fraudulent men, have cause to rejoice in their bad labour. This is a common cause. Exert yourselves to the utmost. I have subscribed £50. So has Dr. Coke. The preachers have done all they could. O let them that have much give plenteously! Perhaps, this is the last labour of love I may have occasion to recommend to you; let it then stand as one more monument of your real gratitude to, my dear brethren, your old, affectionate brother,
“John Wesley.”[661]
We now return to the conference of 1788. These were not the only things to try Wesley’s patience. An effort was made to set aside the itinerant plan in Scotland,—a plan to which, as already shown, Wesley attached the utmost importance. This evoked the following letter to Lady Maxwell.
“London, August 8, 1788.
“My dear Lady,—It is certain, many persons, both in Scotland and England, would be well pleased to have the same preachers always. But we cannot forsake the plan of acting, which we have followed from the beginning. For fifty years, God has been pleased to bless the itinerant plan; the last year most of all; it must not be altered, till I am removed; and, I hope, it will remain till our Lord comes to reign upon earth.
“John Wesley.”[662]
To the same effect was another, written three months later, and addressed to Jasper Winscomb.
“London, November 8, 1788.
“Dear Jasper,—William Cashman advised you like a heathen. Mr. Valton deserves pay, as well as you do. But he does not want it, and, therefore, scorns to take it, knowing the poverty of the land.
“I am glad to hear so good an account of the Isle of Wight. The work of God will flourish, there, if it be steadily pursued.
“No preacher ought to stay either at Portsmouth, or Sarum, or any other place, a whole week together. That is not the Methodist plan at all. It is a novel abuse.
“I am, dear Jasper, your affectionate brother,
“John Wesley.”[663]
On the 10th of August, Wesley set out for Wales and the west of England; generally preaching twice a day, and on the Sundays thrice, and everywhere to crowded congregations.
On the 28th of September, he returned to London, and, two days after, went off to Norfolk. The remainder of the year was employed, as usual, in the metropolis and the surrounding counties.
These were not pleasure trips; but made in wintry weather, in frost and snow; the veteran of eighty-five preaching almost daily, both night and morning, and attending to a thousand things which demanded his attention.[664] He writes.
“December 10, and the following days, I corrected my brother’s posthumous poems; being short psalms, and hymns on the four gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles. They make five volumes in quarto, containing eighteen or nineteen hundred pages. Many of them are little, if any, inferior to his former poems, having the same justness and strength of thought, with the same beauty of expression; yea, the same keenness of wit on proper occasions, as bright and piercing as ever. Some are bad; some mean; some most excellently good. They give the true sense of Scripture, always in good English, generally in good verse; many of them are equal to most, if not to any, he ever wrote; but some still savour of that poisonous mysticism, with which we were both not a little tainted before we went to America. This gave a gloomy cast, first to his mind, and then to many of his verses; this made him frequently describe religion as a melancholy thing; this so often sounded in his ears, ‘To the desert!’ and strongly persuaded in favour of solitude.”
What had Wesley to say respecting himself? He writes.
“About this time” [December 15] “I was reflecting on the gentle steps whereby age steals upon us. Take only one instance. Four years ago, my sight was as good as it was at five-and-twenty. I then began to observe, that I did not see things quite so clear with my left eye as with my right; all objects appeared a little browner to that eye. I began next to find a little difficulty in reading a small print by candlelight. A year after, I found it in reading such a print by daylight. In the winter of 1786, I could not well read our four shilling hymn-book, unless with a large candle; the next year, I could not read letters, if wrote with a small or bad hand. Last winter, a pearl appeared on my left eye, the sight of which grew exceeding dim. The right eye seems unaltered; only I am a great deal nearer sighted than ever I was. Thus are ‘those that look out at the windows darkened’; one of the marks of old age. But, I bless God, ‘the grasshopper is’ not ‘a burden.’ I am still capable of travelling, and my memory is much the same as it ever was; and so, I think, is my understanding.”
Thus did Wesley take stock of himself.
On Christmas day, he preached at four o’clock in the morning, in City Road, again at eleven, and in West Street in the evening. On the last Sunday in the year, he had an exceedingly large congregation in Allhallows church, Lombard Street; and, concerning this, there is an anecdote worth relating. The sermon was for the benefit of forty-eight poor children belonging to St. Ethelburga society. “Sir,” said Wesley to his attendant while putting on his gown, “it is above fifty years since I first preached in this church; I remember it from a particular circumstance. I came without a sermon; and, going up the pulpit stairs, I hesitated, and returned into the vestry, under much mental confusion and agitation. A woman, who stood by, noticed my concern, and said, ‘Pray, sir, what is the matter?’ I replied, ‘I have not brought a sermon with me.’ Putting her hand on my shoulder, she said, ‘Is that all? Cannot you trust God for a sermon?’ This question had such an effect upon me, that I ascended the pulpit, preached extempore, with great freedom to myself, and acceptance to the people; and have never since taken a written sermon into the pulpit.”[665] “A word spoken in due season, how good is it!”
Wesley’s publications, in 1788, have all been noticed, except his Magazine; and, concerning this, it is not needful to say much. There are, as usual, six new sermons from the venerable editor’s own pen: namely, On Reproving Sin; The Signs of the Times; Man; The Ministry of Wicked Ministers; Conscience; and Faith.
Wesley concludes the first of these thus:
“I have now only a few words to add unto you, my brethren, who are vulgarly called Methodists. I never heard or read of any considerable revival of religion, which was not attended with a spirit of reproving. I believe, it cannot be otherwise; for what is faith unless it worketh by love? Thus it was in every part of England, when the present revival of religion began about fifty years ago. All the subjects of that revival,—all the Methodists, in every place, were reprovers of outward sin. And, indeed, so are all that, being justified by faith, have peace with God through Jesus Christ. Such they are at first; and if they use that precious gift, it will never be taken away. Come, brethren! In the name of God, let us begin again! Rich or poor, let us all arise as one man! And, in any wise, let every man rebuke his neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him!”
Wesley’s sermon, on attending the ministry of unconverted ministers, would never have been written, had he not been pressed by the objections of Methodists, and yet determined to prevent their leaving the Established Church. Its arguments are specious, not sound. It might puzzle the simple minded Methodists; but it would not convince them they were wrong. It was a feeble attempt to get converted people to sit under an unconverted ministry. We conclude with one extract.
“It has been loudly affirmed, that most of those persons now in connection with me, who believe it their duty to call sinners to repentance, having been taken immediately from low trades, tailors, shoemakers, and the like, are a set of poor, stupid, illiterate men, that scarce know their right hand from their left; yet, I cannot but say, that I would sooner cut off my right hand, than suffer one of them to speak a word in any of our chapels, if I had not reasonable proof, that he had more knowledge in the holy Scriptures, more knowledge of himself, more knowledge of God and of the things of God, than nine in ten of the clergymen I have conversed with, either at the universities, or elsewhere. Undoubtedly, there are many clergymen in these kingdoms, that are not only free from outward sin, but men of eminent learning, and, what is infinitely more, deeply acquainted with God. But, still, I am constrained to confess, that the far greater part of those ministers I have conversed with, for above half a century, have not been holy men,—not devoted to God,—not deeply acquainted either with God or themselves.”
Such was Wesley’s reluctant confession; and yet, to prevent what he called a separation from the Established Church, he elaborately persuades the Methodists, that they ought to receive the sacraments from these men; instead of requiring them at the hands of the converted artisans, who had preached so successfully, and who, according to Wesley’s own confession, were, even in point of scriptural knowledge, the superiors of the unconverted gentlemen, trained in colleges, and made priests or deacons—not by Christ,—but by bishops!
[606] Four letters, standing for Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ Presbyter Johannes: “John, presbyter of the Church of England.” Wesley, in early life, sometimes used this signature in writing to his brother.
[607] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 359.
[608] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 437.
[609] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 438.
[610] Ibid. p. 438.
[611] Ibid. p. 439.
[612] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 440.
[613] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 441.
[614] “The Allens of Shiney Row,” p. 59.
[615] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 442.
[616] Methodist Recorder, Dec. 5, 1861.
[617] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 445.
[618] Methodist Magazine, 1788, p. 543.
[619] Manuscript letter.
[620] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 449.
[621] Ibid.
[622] Mrs. Fletcher’s Life, p. 251.
[623] Manuscript letter.
[624] J. Pawson’s manuscript letter.
[625] Methodist Magazine, 1845, p. 111.
[626] Methodist Magazine, 1797, p. 553.
[627] Memoir of Mrs. Knaggs.
[628] Methodist Magazine, 1836, p. 492.
[629] Memoirs of Spence, p. 26.
[630] Ibid.
[631] It ought to have been eighty-sixth.
[632] Black’s Memoirs, p. 219.
[633] Bulmer’s Memoir, p. 4.
[634] Smith’s “Methodism in Ireland.”
[635] Ibid.
[636] Manuscript letters in Mission House.
[637] Ibid.
[638] Ibid.
[639] A proposal to ordain him. See Methodist Magazine, 1845, p. 112.
[640] Manuscript letters in Mission House.
[641] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 298.
[642] James Wray was a member of Wesley’s legalised conference. After travelling six years in English circuits, he now went, as an ordained missionary superintendent to Nova Scotia. It is a curious fact that the Nova Scotians objected to him, not only on the ground of his want of learning, but because he was an Englishman! On hearing of this, Wesley, in an unpublished letter, wrote: “O American gratitude! Lord, I appeal to Thee!”
[643] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiv., p. 343.
[644] Cowper had recently published “The Task,” and was now employed in his translation of Homer. In another letter, Wesley says: “I think Mr. Cowper has done as much as is possible to be done with his lamentable story. I can only wish he had a better subject.”
[645] Except in the case of the psalms, where about thirty are discarded, and about sixty mutilated. The propriety of this may be fairly doubted.
[646] See Nott’s Bampton Lecture, 1802.
[647] The Wesleyan, Nov. 4, 1846.
[648] As a curious specimen of the way in which things were managed in the early days of Methodism, the following extracts are given from “The Dales” circuit book, whose accounts extend from 1765 to 1791.
| s. | d. | ||
| “1765. | Dec. 7. Thomas Rankin. Two meals, and horse one night | 1 | 0 |
| 1766. | March 29. John Ellis. Six meals, and horse three nights, shirt washed, and pennyworth of paper | 2 | 10 |
| ” | Sept. 28. Jeremiah Robertshaw. Twelve meals, and horse four nights, and shirt washing | 5 | 3” |
The reader can calculate how many meals a day were allowed to these godly men, and how much per meal. Besides these allowances for board, each preacher was entitled to receive, as quarterage, for himself £3; and, for his wife, if he had one, £2 10s.
[649] The contingent fund, raised by the yearly collection in the classes, was originally intended to defray law expenses, and to pay, or reduce, chapel debts. In this year, 1788, the income of the fund was £1203 7s. 1d., out of which was paid for law expenses, £37 4s. 2d.; for chapels, £106 15s. 0d.; and for the deficiencies of the preachers and their families, £433 18s. 1d. It was high time for Wesley to take action; though his effort to correct the evil was without effect.
[650] In a 12mo pamphlet, published in 1788, and entitled, “A Reply to what the Rev. Dr. Coke is pleased to call ‘The State of the Dewsbury House,’ being a Vindication of the Conduct of the Trustees of that House,”—it is stated, that the questions proposed to Wesley by Mr. Heald were: (1) “If the conference should neglect to supply the house with preachers, would it be understood to remain the property of the conference, or would the trustees have a power to provide for themselves? (2) If any preacher, sent them, should be found guilty of immorality, would the trustees have a power of rejecting him?” It further states, that the trustees had, in Wesley’s own handwriting, a paragraph to the effect that “the assistants and leaders were to be the proper judges” of a preacher charged with immorality. This certainly clashes with Wesley’s letter, given hereafter, and dated July 30, 1788.
[651] “The State of Dewsbury House.” By Dr. Coke.
[652] By the kindness of Mr. Robinson, of Dewsbury, we have before us a copy of the original trust deed, from which we learn that, if, after a vacancy, Wesley or the conference refused or neglected, for the space of forty days, to appoint a preacher; or if the preacher appointed should “not conduct or conform himself to the satisfaction of the trustees or, the major part of them, it should be lawful for the said trustees, or such major part, not only to displace such preacher, (after giving him one month’s previous notice thereof in writing,) but also to appoint such other preacher as they should deem more proper, and better qualified to benefit the society.” The deed is dated January 31, 1788, and the names and occupations of the trustees are as follows.
[653] Mather’s “State of Dewsbury House.”
[654] “Letters by Rev. J. Wesley and Mr. John Atlay.” 1790.
[655] By some strange oversight, William Eels, at the conference of 1788, was left without an appointment; and, at the time of Atlay’s arrival there, was actually at Dewsbury, endeavouring to make peace. Hearing of this, and mistaking Eels’ motive, Mr. Mather impetuously took steps to prevent his preaching in other Methodist pulpits. “This was the only cause of his uniting with John Atlay.”—(Pawson’s manuscripts.)
[656] Unpublished letter.
[657] Nicholas Manners was one of Wesley’s itinerant preachers from 1759 to 1784. He was an able man. His heresy, in substance, was, that, in consequence of the work and death of Christ, all men are born in the same state as that in which Adam stood previous to his fall.
[658] Unpublished letter.
[659] Pawson’s manuscript letters.
[660] We have, in manuscript, his most malignant slander, but prefer withholding it. No wonder John Atlay wrote, in a letter to Mr. Merryweather, of Yarm, in 1785, “You know I never mount high in profession of grace.”
[661] Methodist Magazine, 1790, p. 103.
[662] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 328.
[663] Methodist Magazine, 1859, p. 247.
[664] Among other places, he preached at Sevenoaks, and is said to have used these words: “When a sinner is awakened, the baptists begin to trouble him about outward forms, and modes of worship, and that of baptism. They had better cut his throat,” etc. Whether the exact words were used we have no means of knowing; but a warm controversy sprung out of the affair. Mr. William Kingsford issued “A Vindication of the Baptists from the Criminality of a Charge exhibited against them by the Rev. Mr. Wesley.” This was answered by T. C., supposed by Kingsford to be the Rev. Mr. Coleman. (Query Thomas Coke?) And this was replied to by Kingsford in a shilling pamphlet, bearing the title, “Three Letters to the Rev. Mr. Wesley, containing remarks on a Piece lately published, with his approbation, and Three Challenges to all the Methodists in the Kingdom.” The whole thing was “much ado about nothing.”
[665] Methodist Magazine, 1825, p. 105.