those whom he could collect to hear them, probably | which he was placed. But we too often find in dis

in order to confirm this; and Mrs. Williamson was prevailed upon to swear to and sign a paper containing assertions and insinuations injurious to his cha

racter.*

The calm courage of the man who was thus so violently and unjustly persecuted, was not, however, to be shaken. "I sat still at home," says Mr. Wesley, "and I thank God, easy, having committed my cause to him, and remembered his word, 'Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.'"+

putes, that the constructions of others on what had been said, are reported as the very words we have spoken; which I suspect to have been the case here. Mr. Causton, however, sufficiently discovered the motives that influenced his conduct in this business.

"Twelve of the grand jurors now drew up a protest against the proceedings of the majority, to be immediately sent to the trustees in England. In this paper they gave such clear and satisfactory reasons, under every bill, for their dissent from the majority, as effectually did away all just ground of complaint against Mr. Wesley, on the subjects of the prosecution."

"He attended the court holden on November the third; and again at the court held on the twentythird; urging an immediate hearing of his case, that he might have an opportunity of answering the allegations alleged against him. But this the magistrates refused, and at the same time countenanced every report to his disadvantage; whether it was a mere invention, or founded on a malicious construction of any thing he did or said. Mr. Wesley perceiving that he had not the most distant prospect of obtaining justice; that he was in a place where those in power were combined together to oppress him; and could any day procure evidence (as experience had shown) of words he had never spoken, and of actions he had never done; being disappointed, too, in the primary object of his mission, preaching to the Indians; he consulted his friends what he ought to do; who were of opinion with him, that by these circumstances Providence did now call him to leave Savannah. The next day he called on Mr. Causton, and told him he designed to

The magistrates made a show of forbidding him to leave the colony; but he embarked openly, after having publicly advertised his intention, no man interposing to prevent him; one leading object of these persecutions, being to drive him away. His sermons had been too faithful, and his reproofs too poignant, to make his continuance desirable to the majority of an irreligious colony.

As the sitting of the court drew near, Causton used every art to influence the grand jury; and when they met, gave them "a long and earnest charge, to beware of spiritual tyranny, and to oppose the new illegal authority which was usurped over their consciences.' Mrs. Williamson's affidavit was read; and he then delivered to them a paper, entitled, a List of Grievances, presented by the grand jury for Savannah, this day of August, 1737. In the afternoon Mrs. Williamson was examined, who acknowledged that she had no objections to make against Mr. Wesley's conduct before her marriage. The next day Mr. and Mrs. Causton were also examined, when she confessed, that it was by her request Mr. Wesley had written to Mrs. Williamson on the 5th of July; and Mr. Causton declared, that if Mr. Wesley had asked his consent to have married his niece, he should not have refused it. The grand jury continued to examine these ecclesiastical grievances, which occasioned warm debates till Thursday; when Mr. Causton being informed they had entered on matters beyond his instructions, went to them, and behaved in such a manner, that he turned forty-two, out of the forty-set out for England immediately."+ four, into a fixed resolution to inquire into his whole behavior. They immediately entered on that business and continued examining witnesses all day on Friday. On Saturday, Mr. Causton finding all his efforts to stop them ineffectual, adjourned the court till Thursday, the first of September, and spared no pains, in the mean time, to bring them to another mind. September 1. He so far prevailed, that the majority of the grand jury returned the The root of all this opposition no doubt lay in the list of grievances to the court, in some particulars enmity of his hearers to truth and holiness; but its altered, under the form of two presentments, con- manifestation might be occasioned in part by the taining ten bills, only two of which related to the strictness with which he acted upon obsolete branches affair of Mrs. Williamson; and only one of these of ecclesiastical discipline, and the unbending manwas cognizable by that court, the rest being merely ner in which he insisted upon his spiritual authoriecclesiastical. September 2. Mr. Wesley address-ty. In the affair of Mrs. Williamson, he stands pered the court to this effect: As to nine of the ten in- fectly exculpated from the base motives which his dictments against me, I know this court can take enemies charged upon him; but in the first stages, no cognizance of them; they being matters of an it neither appears to have been managed with pruecclesiastical nature, and this not an ecclesiastical dence, nor a proper degree of Christian courtesy. court. But the tenth, concerning my speaking and His enemies have sneered at his declaration, that, writing to Mrs. Williamson, is of a secular nature; after he left Georgia, he discovered that he who and this, therefore, I desire may be tried here, where went out to teach others Christianity, was not the facts complained of were committed.' Little a Christian himself; but had he been a Christian answer was made, and that purely evasive. in that full, evangelical sense which he meant ; had he been that which he afterwards became, not only would the exclusion of Mrs. Williamson from the sacrament have been erected in another manner, but his mission to Georgia would probably have had a very different result. His preaching was defective in that one great point, which gives to preaching its real power over the heart, "Christ crucified;" and his spirit, although naturally frank and amiable, was not regenerated by that "power from on high," the first and leading fruits of which are meekness and charity.

"In the afternoon he moved the court again, for an immediate trial at Savannah; adding, that those who are offended may clearly see whether I have done any wrong to any one; or whether I have not rather deserved the thanks of Mrs. Williamson, Mr. Causton, and of the whole family.' Mr. Causton's answer was full of civility and respect. He observed, Perhaps things would not have been carried so far had you not said, you believed if Mr. Causton appeared, the people would tear him to pieces; not so much out of love to you, as out of hatred to him for his abominable practices.' If Mr. Wesley really spake these words, he was certainly very imprudent, considering the circumstances in + Ibid.

• Journal

In the midst of his trials, Mr. Wesley received very consolatory letters from his friends, both in England and in America; and there were many in + Ibid.

Whitebead's Life.

one

Georgia itself, who rightly estimated the character and the labors of a man who held five or six public services on a Lord's day, in English, Italian, and French, for the benefit of a mixed population;-who spent his whole time in works of piety and mercy, and who distributed his income so profusely in charity, that for many months together, he had not shilling in the house." His health, whilst in America continued good; and it is in proof of the natural vigor of his constitution, that he exposed himself to every change of season, frequently slept on the ground, under the dews of the night in summer, and in winter with his hair and clothes frozen to the earth. He arrived in London, Feb-power and love, as well as from the guilt, of sin. ruary 3d, 1738, and notwithstanding his many exercises, reviewed the result of his American labors with some satisfaction:-" Many reasons I have to bless God for my having been carried into that strange land contrary to all my preceding resolutions. Hereby I trust he hath in some measure 'humbled me, and proved me, and shown me what was in my heart.' Hereby I have been taught to 'beware of men.' Hereby God has given me to know many of his servants, particularly those of the church of Hernhuth. Hereby my passage is open to the writings of holy men, in the German, Spanish, and Italian tongues. All in Georgia have heard the word of God; some have believed, and began to run well. A few steps have been taken towards publishing the glad tidings both to the African and American heathens. Many children have learned 'how they ought to serve God,' and to be useful to their neighbor. And those whom it most concerns have an opportunity of knowing the state of their infant colony, and laying a firmer foundation of peace and happiness to many generations."

of conscience.-But he goes on with this interesting history of his heart.

"I was early warned against laying too much stress on outward works, as the Papists do, or on a faith without works, which, as it does not include, so it will never lead to, true hope or charity."* Here he manifestly confounds the faith by which a man is justified, which certainly does not "include" in itself the moral effects of which he speaks, with the faith of a man who is in a justified state, which necessarily produces them because of that vital union into which it brings him with Christ, his Saviour, by whom he is saved from the

"I fell among some Lutheran and Calvinist authors, whose confused and indigested accounts magnified faith to such an amazing size, that it quite hid all the rest of the commandments."+

CHAPTER IV.

THE solemn review which Mr. Wesley made of the state of his religious experience, both on his voyage home, and soon after his landing in England, deserves to be particularly noticed, both for general instruction, and because it stands in immediate connection with a point which has especially perplexed those who have attributed his charges against himself, as to the deficiency of his Christianity at this period, to a strange and fanatical fancy. By the most infallible of proofs, he tells us that of his feelings-he was convinced of his having no such faith in Christ" as prevented his heart from being troubled; and he earnestly prays to be "saved by such a faith as implies peace in life and death." "I went to America to convert the Indians; but O, who shall convert me! Who is he that will deliver me from this evil heart of unbelief? I have a fair summer religion; I can talk well, nay, and believe myself, while no danger is present; but let death look me in the face, and my spirit is troubled, nor can I say, 'To die is gain.'

'I have a sin of fear, that when I've spun My last thread, I shall perish on the shore."" He thought, therefore, that a faith was attainable, which should deliver him entirely from guilty dread, and fill him with peace; but of this faith itself, his notions were still confused. He manifestly regarded it generally, as a principle of belief in the gospel, which, by quickening his efforts to self-mortification and entire obedience, would raise him, through a renewed state of heart, into acceptance and peace with God. This error is common. It regards faith, not so much as the personal trust of a guilty and helpless sinner upon Christ for salvation and all the gifts of spiritual life, but as working out sanctifying effects in the heart and life, partly by natural, partly by supernatural process, and thus producing peace

This is perhaps a proof that he did not understand these writers, any more than he did the Moravians in Georgia, who failed to enlighten him on the subject of faith, although he saw that they in fact possessed a "peace through believing," which he had not, and yet painfully felt to be necessary. The writers he mentions, probably represented faith only as necessary to justification; whilst he conceived them to teach, that faith only is necessary to final salvation.

"The English writers, such as bishop Beveridge, bishop Taylor, and Mr. Neison, a little relieved me from these well-meaning, wrong-headed Germans. Their accounts of Christianity I could easily see to be, in the main, consistent both with reason and Scripture."+

Beveridge would have met his case more fully than either Taylor or Nelson, had he been in a state of mind to comprehend him; and still better would he have been instructed by studying, with as much care as he examined Taylor and Law, the Homilies of his own church, and the works of her older

divines.

The writings of the fathers then promised to give him further satisfaction; but to them he at length took various exceptions. He finally resorted to the Mystic writers, "whose noble descriptions of union with God, and internal religion, made every thing else appear mean, flat, and insipid. But in truth they made good works to appear so too, yea, and faith itself, and what not? These gave me an entire new view of religion, nothing like any I had before. But, alas! it was nothing like that religion which Christ and his apostles lived and taught. I had a plenary dispensation from all the commands of God; the form ran thus, 'Love is all; all the commands beside are only means of love; you must choose those which you feel are means to you, and use them as long as they are so.' Thus were all the bands burst at once. And though I could never fully come into this, nor contentedly omit what God enjoined, yet, I know not how, I fluctuated between obedience and disobedience. I had no heart, no vigor, no zeal in obeying, continually doubting whether I was right or wrong, and never out of perplexities and entanglements. Nor can I at this hour give a distinct account how or when I came a little back toward the right way; only my present sense is this: all the other enemies of Christianity are triflers; the Mystics are the most dangerous of its enemies. They stab it in the vitals; and its most serious professors are most likely to fall by them. May I praise Him who hath snatched me out of this fire likewise, by warning all others that it is set on fire of hell."s

He was, however, delivered from the errors of the Mystics, only to be brought back to the point Ibid.

* Journal. + Ibid. * Ibid.

from which he set out; but his humble conclusion from the whole shows that the end of this long and painful struggle was about to be accomplished:he was now brought fully to feel and confess his utter helplessness, and was not "far from the kingdom of God."

"And now," says he, " it is upwards of two years since I left my native country, in order to teach the Georgia Indians the nature of Christianity; but what have I learned myself in the mean time? Why, (what I least of all suspected,) that I who went to America, to convert others, was never converted myself. I am not mad,' though I thus speak; but 'speak the words of truth and soberness;' if haply some of those who still dream may awake, and see, that as I am, so are they.

God, that through the merits of Christ, my sins are forgiven, and I reconciled to the favor of God. I want that faith which St. Paul recommends to all the world, especially in his epistle to the Romansthat faith which enables every one that hath it to cry out, I live not; but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.' I want that faith which none has, without knowing that he hath it; (though many imagine they have it, who have it not;) for whosoever hath it is freed from sin; the whole body of sin is destroyed' in him: he is freed from fear, having peace with God through Christ, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.' And he is freed from doubt, ‘having the love of God shed abroad in his heart, "Are they read in philosophy? So was I. In through the Holy Ghost which is given unto him; ancient or modern tongues? So was I also. Are which Spirit itself beareth witness with his spirit, they versed in the science of divinity? I too have that he is a child of God.' "* studied it many years. Can they talk fluently upon spiritual things? The very same I could do. Are they plenteous in alms? Behold, I give all my goods to feed the poor.

A spirit thus breathing after God, and anxious to be taught "the way more perfectly," could not be left in its darkness and solicitude. A few days after his arrival in London, he met with Peter "Do they give of their labor as well as their sub- Bohler, a minister of the Moravian church. This stance? I have labored more abundantly than they was on February 7th, which he marks as "a day all. Are they willing to suffer for their brethren? much to be remembered," because the conversation I have thrown up my friends, reputation, ease, which he had with Bohler on the subject of saving country; I have put my life in my hand, wander-faith, a subject probably brought on by himself, first ing into strange lands; I have given my body to be opened his mind to true views on that subject, notdevoured by the deep, parched up with heat, con- withstanding the objections with which he assaultsumed by toil and weariness, or whatsoever God ed the statements of the Moravian teacher, and shail please to bring upon me. But does all this which caused Bohler more than once to exclaim, (be it more or less, it matters not) make me accept- "My brother, that philosophy of yours must be able to God? Does all I ever did, or can know, purged away." At Oxford, whither he had gone say, give, do, or suffer, justify me in his sight? yea, to visit Charles, who was sick, he again met with or the constant use of all the means of grace? his Moravian friend, "by whom," he says, "in the (which, nevertheless, is meet, right, and our bound-hand of the great God, I was clearly convinced en duty;) or that I know nothing of myself, that of unbelief, of the want of that faith whereby I am, as touching outward, moral righteous- alone we are saved with the full Christian salvaness, blameless? or, to come closer yet, the hav- tion." ing a rational conviction of all the truths of Christianity? Does all this give a claim to the holy, heavenly, divine character of a Christian? By no means. If the oracles of God are true, if we are still to abide by the law and the testimony,' all these things, though when ennobled by faith in Christ, they are holy, and just, and good, yet without it are 'dung and dross."

"He was now convinced that his faith had been too much separated from an evangelical view of the promises of a free justification, or pardon of sin, through the atonement and mediation of Christ alone, which was the reason why he had been held in continual bondage and fear." In a few days he met Peter Bohler again-" who now," he says, "amazed me more and more, by the account he gave of the fruits of living faith, the holiness and happiness which he affirmed to attend it. The next morning I began the Greek Testament again, resolving to abide by the law and the testimony,' being confident that God would hereby show me whether this doctrine was of God."

"This then have I learned in the ends of the earth, that I am fallen 'short of the glory of God;' that my whole heart is 'altogether corrupt and abominable,' and, consequently, my whole life; (seeing it cannot be, that an evil tree' should bring forth good fruit;') that my own works, my own sufferings, my own righteousness, are so far In a fourth conversation with this excellent man, from reconciling me to an offended God, so far from he was still more confirmed in the view, "that faith making any atonement for the least of those sins is, to use the words of our church, a sure trust and which are more in number than the hairs of my confidence which a man has in God, that, through head,' that the most specious of them need an atone- the merit of Christ, his sins are forgiven, and he ment themselves, or they cannot abide his right- reconciled to the favor of God." Some of his obeous judgment; that having the sentence of death jections to Bohler's statements on instantaneous in my heart, and having nothing in or of myself to conversion were also removed by a diligent examiplead, I have no hope but that of being justified nation of the Scriptures. "I had," he observes, freely 'through the redemption that is in Jesus;' I "but one retreat left on this subject: Thus, I grant have no hope, but that if I seek, I shall find the Christ, God wrought in the first ages of Christianity; but and 'be found in him, not having my own right- the times are changed. What reason have I to eousness, but that which is through the faith of believe he works in the same manner now? But, Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.' on Sunday, 22d, I was beat out of this retreat, too, "If it be said that I have faith, (for many such by the concurring evidence of several living wit things have I heard from many miserable comfort-nesses, who testified God had so wrought in themers,) I answer, So have the devils-a sort of faith; but still they are strangers to the covenant of promise. So the apostles had even at Cana in Galilee, when Jesus first 'manifested forth his glory; even then they, in a sort, believed on him;' but they had not then 'the faith that overcometh the world?' The faith I want is 'a sure trust and confidence in

selves, giving them in a moment such a faith in the blood of his Son, as translated them out of darkness into light, and from sin and fear into holiness and happiness. Here ended my disputing. I could now only cry out, 'Lord, help thou my unbelief!'"

Journal

Whitehend's Life.

Journal