Furm THH LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES •ary THIS BOOn rORMRRLY BELONGED TO THE FRlVATi: LIBRARY CHARLES HALLETTE JUDSON. LL D Class BuoK THE LIFE JABEZ BUNTING, D.D., NOTICES OF CONTEMPORARY PERSONS AND EVENTS. BY HIS SON, THOMAS PERCIVAL BUNTING. VOL. I. NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE. 1859. ^ ^ TO "Tilt: riiOPLii cAixKi) Mr.TnODiSTS," TO WHOM JAUKZ liL-NTING OWKD SO 3IUCH, AND IN AVIIOSC VELLOWSIIIP AND SERVICE HE LIVED AND DIED, Tins RECORD OF lUS LIl'E AND LABORS IS GRATEFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. 653720 PREFACE. Toward the close of my father's public life, it was his inteution, frequently expressed, to look over his papers, and to destroy all which might furnish materials for his biog- raphy ; and, when casual allusions were made to the possi- bility of such a record, he often threatened that he would haunt the man who should attempt it. As age crept upon him, however, and he felt himself unequal to heavy labor, other thoughts took possession of his mind. He gradually resigned himself to the conviction that the story of his life and labors must be told, and, after much hesitation, he took steps accordingly. By his will, dated in 1852, he desired his two elder sons to examine all the papers, letters, and correspondence in his possession at the time of his decease, and privately to de- stroy such portion thereof as, in their judgment, it might be expedient so to dispose of, leaving his executors to exercise their discretion as to what use should be made of the re- mainder. This bequest seemed to convey an intimation of his own wishes on the subject. Ilis eldest son, of whose character and talents he was justly prou(J, was a minister in the con- nection to which he himself belonged, and, should that son survive, and feel competent to the undertaking, from him might be expected this last of countless offices of fihal rev- erence and affection. After my father's death, his family naturally turned their VI PREFACE. cjcs in the same direction ; none with iflorc anxiety than myself. The uncertain state of my brother's licalth, how- ever, and the pressure of duties which apjieared to him to be indisjx'nsable, induced him positively to decline the task. It was then for me to consider whether I durst undertake the necessary toil and responsibility. Unaccustomed to sus- tained literary cflbrt, and occupied with a han\ssing profes- sion, I too should have left my honored father's memory to be embalmed by those who did not bear his name but for various and weighty considerations, some of them of a prac- tical character. Of these the chief was that the papers could not be placed in the hands of any other j>erson until they had undergone the scrutiny and partial destruction di- rected by the will, and had thereby been diminished both in number and in interest, and that this could not be accom- plished without long delaying the publication of a Memoir. In my ease, however, the processes of examination, and of preparing what was deemed suitable for the press, might be carried on simultaneously. It was farther to be considered that I could make .some u.sc even of papei*s which must be ultimately destroyed. That I was a son did not di.scourage me; for, if love is blind, so is justice; and, assuming that my conjecture as to my father's own wi.shes were correct, his faultless judgment had pronounced against the objection. Nor did I think that Jabcz Bunting's biograjiher must nec- essarily belong to his own profes-sion, since no man more diligently sought the co-operation of the laity in every de- partment of religioiis service not exclusively clerical. I knew, too, that I might rely with confidence ujwn the faith- ful advice and kind assi.stance of my father's oldcv'^t and wis- est friends, I submit myself readily to candid criticism, anG A 2 X CONTENTS. CHAl'TER VI. TUAISIXO FOR THE sr.UVICE OF MKTIIODISM. Ministers in curly Life. — Murlin. — I'nwwm. — ^Lcc. — Thomiwon. — Taylor. — Kuor. — Adam Clarke. — Bradbiirn. — Matlicr. — Uutlicr- ford. — BarlK.T. — Tlie Coniu-ctiDiial Disputes of 17;»."> and 1707. — Jalx-z Banting's Interest in thera. — Their liftcct ujmn his Opinions and Poli- cy rageC'J CHArTEK VII. CALL TO TIIK CIIULSTI.VN MINISTRY. A Local Preacher. — His Doiilits and Decision. — First Sermon. — Trial Ser- mon. — E.\erciscs as to his Call to the Ministry. — Correspondence with Mr. Mather. — Letter announcing his IntL-ntion to Dr. Percival. — Re- ceived on Trial at the Conference of 1799 89 CHAPTER VIII. rROnATIOS FOR Tin: MINISTRY IN THE OLDHAM CIRCnT. Commencement. — John Oaulter. — Timidity. — Devotcdness to Study. — MLs- cellaneous Ciirres|)ondence of Jiil>e/. Bunlinjj, Thomas PiTston, Georpc Burtpointmcnt to Macclesfield. — E.vtcnsive Circuit. — Dillicultics. — Mr. and Mrs. Allen. — Colleagues. — Jeremiah Brettcli. — Thomas Hutton. — Jo- Pt'lih Entwisle. — Georpe Morlcy. — Methodism in the manufacturing Dis- tricts. — Correspondence of Jalttz Buntin;;, Cicorjic Marsilcn, (laulter, and James Wood. — Oftcr of an Incumhency in tlie llstalilishcd Ciiurch. — Let- ters to a Fcllow-jirohationer and to Mr. Wliituker. — Dr. McAll. — Farther Corrosp)ndcncc with Dr. Disney Alixandcr, Uoiurt I^>mas, Richard Recce, and f)thcrs. — Labors at Macclesfield. — Thouplits of Marriape. — Memoranda in reference to it. — Enpapement. — Sarah Maclardie. — Ordi- nation. — Discussions as to his next ApiMiintment. — Were his Orders TaJld? 120 CILM'TF-K X. Hl« EARLY .MINISTRY IN LONDON. Collcapucii. — Jr«eph Taylor. — Benjamin Rhodes. — William Mylen. — Goorpp Slf)ry. — Dr. I^-ifehild's Recrdleetions of Jnliez Buntinv''s first Ap- pearance in the Metro|Milis. — First Portion of Diary sent to Miss Maclar- die. — Committ<'e of I>)ndon I'reachcrs. — Early-morninp S•r^■ices. — The Penitents' MeetinR. — Dr. .lames Hamilton. — The EIo(|uenie of the Pul- pit and «t Let- ter before his Marriage.— Ordinary Duties in the Study and the Puljiit, and among the Flock !"'•* CHAl'TEU XIL EARLY MINISTKY IN LONDON Conclude J. Marriage. — Letter of Condolence to Mr. Entwislc. — Difficulties at the Book- room ant] as to Missions. — Bold Measures. — Connectional Finance. — Young Ministers in the Metropolis.— The Eclectic Review.— John Foster. —Triennial Api.uintmcnts.— Henry Moore.— Death of Dr. Percival.— An old Preaclier's Wife. — Disputes as to Singing.— Defense of Evangelical A rminianism.— Difficulties in accepting an Invitation to Manchester. — Earlv Opinions on the State of Connectional Literature and on the Edu- cation of the Methodist Ministry.— Earliest Publication.— Close of his first Career in Loudon -03 CIIAPTEll XII L HIS EARLY MINISTKY IN MANCHESTER. Ajipointment to tlic Manchester Circuit.— Colleagues. — .Tames Wood. — John Keynuld^.— William Leacli.— Water Gritlith.— Jabez Bunting's Re- turn to svstemaiic Study. — Rirtli of his eldest Son. — Correspondence. — A Secession from the ^Lanchester Society. — Methodism in London. — The Conference of 180G. — Election as Assistant Secretar}-. — Letter to the Commissioners of income Tax.— Mode of suj.porting the Methodist Min- i^tr)-.- Tiiomius Ilartwell Horne. — Periodical Meetings of the Metho«list Ministers.— Robert Newton. — The Poor of the Society. — Letter from Rodda.— The Conference of 1807 239 CHAPTER XIV. Ills EARLY MINISTRY IX SHEFFIELD. Appointment to the Sheffield Circuit.— Colleagues.— Death of bis infant Daughter.— Ministers' Meetings. — Tiic Training of Candidates for the Ministry.— Samuel Bardsloy. — The Location of Ministers.— Conference pf isos! — E.lward Hare. — .James Daniel Burton.— Edmund Grindrod. — Nightingale's "Portraiture of Methodism." — His Death-Ix-d. — The Teaching of Writing in Sunday-schools. — Letters from Griffith and Rob- ert Newton. — The Sacraments in Jersey. — Codification. — Methi>dist Xll CONTEXTS. Ministers nml rorinh Apprcnticog. — The RiKht of nttcnding the Confer- ence. — Cunforcncc nf hsO'J. — Hirth of his iccond Dauf;htcr. — Reminis- cences by Robert Ncwiou's Widow Page 2G8 CIIArrER XV. IMS KAItl.Y MtXISTUV AT I.IVKIII'OOL. Appointment to LivcrjKHil. — William Brmnwcll. — .Iiimos Buckley. — Suc- cfs.'ifui Ministry. — Corrc.sjK)ndcncc. — Ills own Letters n.s to tenchinp Writ- ing on the Sabbath. — Lcttirs from Moore on miscellaneous Topics. — Dr. Mupee's Attmk upon the Mothodists. — The Cjise of IJriphoasc Chapel. — Manapcnicnt of tlie Conncctionul Funds. — Thomas Hnnkin's Bequests.— The Death of Robert Iyord Sidmouth's Bill. — Richard Watson. — The Use of Ornnns and of Liturgies. — The Confer- ence of 1811 307 APPKN DIX. A. Translation from the Latin of John Passernt 040 B. Mercantile Ar^'umcnts ajrainst cleansinR the Stn-ets of Manchester 352 C. The Lawfulness of bearinj^ Arms in defensive Warf^irc 354 D. How far is a Person sanctified at the time he is justified? 355 I'^. Directions concerninp I'rayer and l'rayer-mcetinp< 358 F. Samuel Bradburn, with Notices of Dr. Bunting;, by the Rev. Isaac Kcelinj: 3C1 G. Minutes of a District Mcetinj: held at Manchester in IT'JG 300 II. A few plain and free Thou^'hts by the late Rev. Rol)crt I^>mas 308 I. List of the Texts of Dr. Buntinf^'s Discourses prepared before he left Macclesfield 370 J. Notices of the late Mrs. Buniinn 874 K. Extracts from a Statement of Facts and Observations relative to the late Separation from the Methodist Society in Manchester 379 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING, D.D. CILU*1^EU I. PARENTAGE AND KIXDRED. Of humble Origin. — Tlic Toak of Derbyshire— Birth of liis Ptircnts.— Tn- trodiiction of Methodism into Derbysliirc— Jolin Rennet.— The first Ser- mon at Cljclmorton.— The Marsdens.— Tiic Loma.ses.— Grace Murray.— John Nelson.— William Grimshaw.— William Darney.— Conversion of Mary Iledfern.— Joseph Redfcrn.— William Buntiu},'.— Mary Buntinp's last bay.?.— Jabcz Bunting's Sisters.— Filial Piety.— Letters to and from his Mother. Of my fatlicr's ancestors, so far back as I can trace them, the lieraids can tell me nothing. I read in quiet church-yards, in the Peak of Derbyshire, the simple story that they were born and died. In that secluded district, a land of moor and mist, they tilled the soil, or wrought painfully beneath the ground for the sustenance denied them by its sterile surface. In 1745 the young Pretender marched across the county, ex- pecting, on his route to the metropolis, to receive the homage of the aristocracy of England. But the rustics who stared at the strange sight of an invading army were soon freed from fear. Within a week thoy watched its wild retreat, and the failure of the last attempt to force the fortimes of the house of Stuart. During the year just named, my grandftuher, William IJint- ING, was born at Monyash, a small village of gray stone, which, witli its old church set in lime-trees, Hes slee])ily in a hollow near the road by which the traveler passes from Bu.xton to Newhaven. My grandmother, ]\Iauv Kedferx, was then a child five years old, at Upper Iladdon, some three miles distant. 1-i THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. It Avas Acry soon after licr birth that the first Methodist ])rcaohers began their mission in the Peak. Wesley had sent them, not so much to the masses, ah-eady partially supjaUed with Christian ordmances, as to those " who needed them most ;" and on many a broad parish, and into many a dark hamlet throughout the land, the doctrine of a personal, happy, and active religion ilashcd as with the brightness of a new rev- elation from heaven. In this " age of great cities," let not the claims of the few and destitute be forgotten — of the plain, im- I^ressible country-folk, who still form the strength and staple of the English people. Such was one of the latest counsels be- queathed by Jabez Buntixg to his successors in the work of Methodism. David Taylor, Lady Huntingdon's butler, Avhom she had sent to itinerate through Leicestershii'e, extended Ms labors into the adjoinmg coimties. Durmg a considerable period he preached hi Sheffield ; and, Avhile there, John Bennet, of Chin- ley, in Derbyshire, a yomig man of good education, btit of un- settled habits, who had come to enter a horse for the races, went, with a friend, to hear what the preacher might say. The sermon did not produce any impression on him ; but he followed his companion into the vestry; for mere courtesy's sake, asked Taylor to come and see his parents ; and Avas not a little annoyed when the invitation was eagerly accepted. He did not wish to be teased about religion ; and he knew that Dr. Clegg, the minister of the family, though a Dissenter, disUked all irregular movements. So he did all he could to get rid of the engagement. But the Methodist preacher Avas not to be thwarted ; and, after a ludicrous game of hide-and-seek, suc- ceeded in paying his miwelcome visit. Within a short time Bennet was a zealous apostle of Methodism. In 1743 he bc-r came formally connected with Wesley. "Many doors," he writes, in 1750, "are open for preaching in these parts, but can not be supplied for want of jjreachers. My cii'cuit is one hmid- red and fifty miles in two Aveeks, during Avliich time I preach thirty-four times, besides meeting the societies and visitmg the sick." Derbyshire, Lancashire, and Clicshire were the princi- pal scenes of these arduous labors. One sermon by John Bennet AVTOught great Avonders. Soon after he became a preacher, Thomas Bennett, an inhal)itaiit of PARENTAGE AND KINDRED. 15 Chelmorton, two niiles from Monyash, spoke of him to some yomig men of his acquaintance. " When I was a yoimg man," said he, " the ' Pmitans' came and preached at Townend" (the princijjal house of the village), " and the people were much af- fected by them. There is a man called John Bemiet who preaches much in the same Avay, and the people are affected under him in the same manner ; and, if you will get your fa- ther's barn, I Avill invite him over." John Bennet came and preached accordingly ; and the father and his four sons, togeth- er with a man named Lomas, received the truth. All were steady and active Methodists to their lives' end. John Mars- den, the eldest of the brothers, became a friend and an adviser of Wesley, and settled in London principally that he might be near him. " If there be a Methodist in England," said Wes- ley, " it is John Marsden, of London." Men on 'Change mark- ed his sober au" ; and a caricatm-e of the leading cotton-dealers in the metropolis portrays him as bending liis knees in prayer. The late John Thornton, of Clapham — Richard Cecil tells the story — wishing that a man so steady should extend his busi- ness, offered to lend him ten thousand pounds on Ms personal security ; but he declined to accept the kindness, because he feared that new cares might ruffle the stilhiess of his spirit. " There is nothing," he said on his death-bed, " betwixt me and the kingdom of heaven." Among the descendants of him and of his three brothers I trace five clergymen of the Established Church, one of them a professor in an English Univei'sity, and holding high Cathedral preferment, and another the able histo- rian of the Puritans, not yet placed in the position his talents deserve ; the late George Marsden, for sixty-five years a Meth- odist preacher, and twice president of the Conference ; John Marsden, who died at Manchester, full of years and of good works ; and the respective wives of the venerable Richard Recce, for sixty-three years a preacher, and twice president ; of that meritorious student and author. Dr. James Townley, also president ; and of Richard Bealey, of RadclifFe, in Lanca- shire. Jewels not less precious are to be found m the casket of the Lomas fimily. To omit all reference to those who, hav- ing " used the office of a deacon well," have " purchased to themselves a good degree," the grandson of him of that name who was converted mider the first Methodist sermon at Chel- 16 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. morton was Robert Lomas, a minister remarkable for his sound judgment, incty, and zeal. His distinguished son,* still living, is the fourth president I have occasion to mention in this con- nection. John Bonnet either adopted what are called Calvinistic ten- ets, or found out that he already held them ; separated hunself from Wesley and his societies, and became the minister of an Independent church in Cheshire. And here the tale of his use- ful life might end but for one memorable event. Grace Mur- ray, a widow residing at Newcastle-upon-T^-ne, young, beauti- ful, and well-educated, was one of Wesley's OAvn converts. He appomted her to be the matron of the Orphan House in that town. Subsequently, at his request, she proceeded through the northern counties to meet and regulate the classes of female Methodists. Like other itinerants of those days, she traveled on horseback. An old man once told how he saw her take her leave at a house-door in Yorkshire. Her horse stood waiting. She came out. A glance of her eye quickly told her all was right. No man might touch, even to help her, for she was on God's errand ; so she laid her hand upon the conscious beast, and it knelt to receive her. She sprang lightly into the saddle, waved her arm, and, as m a moment, was out of sight, and the old man saw her no more except in dreams. I do not know whether Wesley ever saw her set out on a jour- ney, but none will venerate his memory the less that he would fain have married her. Charles Wesley, however, and George Whitefield Avere opposed to his marrying at all. John Bennet had once been sick of a fever, and slie had waited upon him ; and, " from that period," he thought that " she was given to him for a wife." Now he came, not unwillingly, to the rescue, and, without any communication with Wesley, reaUzed his im- pression. Wesley poured out the sorrows of his heart in a long stram of passionate verse. Nearly thirty years after her husband's death, Wesley, who, it is said, had never mentioned her since the marriage, went, at lier own request, to see her. He never named her again. She died at Cliapel-en-le-Frith, * " Quern er/o citni ex admiratione diUgere ccepisscm, qnod evenire contra solet, vtarjis admiratns sum jioslquavi jieyiiUis insj)exi." — Pliny, lib. iv., cpist. xvii. A friend supplies me with this apt quotation in allusion to my old tutor. PARENTAGE AND KINDRED. 17 Derbyshire, ill 1803, and my father preached her funeral ser- mon on Psahn xxvii., 13, 14. " The day before she died" — I quote from a manuscript which he read after liis sermon — " she raised herself into a very solemn attitude, and, with most striking emphasis, delivered, m^ the following language, her dying testimony to the truth as it is in Jesus : ' I here declare it before you that I have looked on the right hand and on the left— I have cast my eyes before and be- hind — to see if there was any possible way of salvation but by the Son of God, and I am fully satisfied there is not. No ; none on earth, nor all the angels in heaven, could have wrought out salvation for such a smner. None but God himself, taking our nature upon Ilim, and dohig all that the Holy Law re- quired, could have procured pardon for me, a sinner. He has Avrought out salvation for me, and I knoAV that I shall enjoy it forever.' " The annals of early Methodism in Derbyshire suggest the mention of another remarkable name. John Nelson, stone- mason and preacher of the Gospel, whose published journal will be read with pleasure by all lovers of the English tongue, as it was written by Bimyan and by Defoe, was one of the first itinerants in the county. " I went into the Peak, to preach at Monyash," he writes in his journal (edition 1852, p. 80, 81), " when a clergyman, with a great company of men that worked in the lead mines, all being in hquor, came in just as I began to give out the hyimi. As soon as we began to sing, he began to halloo and shout, as if he were himting with a pack of hounds, and so continued all the time we sang. When I began to pray, he attempted to overturn the chair that I stood on; but he coiild not, although he struck so violently with his foot that he broke one of the arms of the chair quite ofi". When I began to preach, he called on liis companions to pull me down ; but they replied, ' No, sir ; the man says nothing but the truth ; pray hold your peace, and let us hear what he has to say.' He then came to me himself, took me by the coljar of my shirt, and pulled me do\Ani ; then he tore down my coat-cuffs, and attempted to tear it down the back ; then took me by the collar, and shook me. I said, ' Sir, you and I must shortly ap- pear at the bar of God to give an account of this night's work.' He replied, ' What ! must you and I appear before God's bar 18 TUE LIFE or JA13EZ UUNTING. together?' I said, ' As sure as wo look one aiiotlicr in the face now.' He let go my throat, took my IJible out of my haml, and, turning it over and over, said, 'It is a right IJible; and, if you preach by the S])irit ol'God, let me hear you preach from this text ;' -which was, ' Wisdom strengtheueth the wise more than ten mighty men in the city.' I got up, and began to preach i'vom this text ; and, wlien any oiVcred to make a noise, the miners said, 'Hold your peace, or we will make you; and let us hear what he will make of the parson's text.' As I went on, the parson said, 'That is right ; that is trne.' After a while lie looked round, and saw many in tears ; then he looked at me, and went away, leaving me to finish my discourse in peace. All the rest of the circuit I had peaceable meetings, and the Lord kept still adding to the number of His children." William GRnisiiAAV, too, Vicar of Haworth, was an early evangelist in Derbyshire. Charlotte Bronte's Biography has, in our time, made his dwelling a })lace of fashionable pilgrim- age. But, for nearly a century, men gray and grave have taken their sons and their sons' sons to see the lone stone village on the Yorkshire IMoors where dwelt one of the bravest and most liund)le spirits that ever graced the English Church; where the terrible but tender i)reacher, in the rough, ]ilain language which a scholar only knows hoM' to use, warned his ]iarisliioners to "flee from the wrath to come," or sat Avith them, at the feet of the Wesleys, Whitefield, Romainc, and A^enn, as they stood "on the broad platform," beneath the shadow of the church; and whence "he was followed to the grave ))y an immense multitude of souls, with the most aifectionate sighs and tears."* Kor must I omit all reference to the name of William Dar- xi:y, ])robably the first Scotchman Avho became a IMethodist itinerant jtreacher; the fires of whose youth, rekindled at the altar of the great revival, burned with a bright and steady flame during a long period of extensive labor. Yet he had his weaknesses, most of which he exhausted upon a volume of ex- ecrable doggerel, now fortunately very scarce. I can not find a better verse in it than the eightieth of one hundred and four, in the iirst coin])osition in the book; and, ceitainly, it ajipro- priately concludes these notices : • "Would that Rome Birks, Hftinilton, or Arthur uould roUcrt, nrrnnpc, and ]>ut)lish tlic nmttrinls still available fur ihc lJiojrrai)hy of this intrepid cliurcliman and Mclliodist ! PAKENTAGE AND KINDKED. 1".J " Now many jjlaccs here and there Do loiij; to hear the soiiml, , And multitudes in Dcrln-shirc Have the llcdecmcr found." Mary Rcdforn, my lather's mother, was the first Methodist of her lamily. She was awakened (once for all, I crave leave to use my own ^Methodist mother-tongue) rather by the sight than by tlie licaring of a strange man, who stood in the village street at Monyash, and earnestly exhorted sinners to repent- ance. Her lot in early youth had been hard, and she had done her duty well ; for her mother was hopelessly infirm, and she, the eldest sister, had been the nurse and guardian of eight younger children. Yet she contrasted the manifest sincerity of the man she Avatched with her own conscious want of a wor- thy aim m Ufe, and was first startled, and then subdued by the reflection. Street-preacliing has now become common. Who knows what good — or evil — may be done by the manner, air, and obvious aim of the preacher ? But Mary Kedfern's conversion was to be connected still more closely with the missionary spirit of Methodism. And with what a mission ! "^. 13. We have a pressing call," say the Minutes of the Conference for 1769, "from our brethren at New Yoek, who have built a preaching-house, to come over and help them. Who is willing to go ? "yl. RiCHAED BoARDMAN and Joseph Pilmoor. "(2- l-^- Wh^'^t can we do farther in token of our brotherly love ? "^, Let us now make a collection among ourselves. "This was immediately done ; and out of it fifty pounds were allotted toward the papnent of their debt, and about twenty pounds given to our brethren for theii- passage." One afternoon, soon after this Conference, Richard Board- man, with some portion of the twenty i)ounds ui his pocket, traveled, on horseback, through the Peak of Derbyshire, on the road from his previous circuit in the Dales of Yorkslm-e and of Durham, by way of Bristol, to Xew York. When he reached Monyash, he asked whether there were any Methodists in the place, and was directed to a cottager, Avho gladly received him for the night. Of course he preached. Who can wonder that, 20 TJIE LlFi: OV JAHEZ BL'NTINlJ. as lie )>urstio«l his solitary journov, the heart of the missionary to Anieriea, saS MK INDKKO, AND ENLAIKiE MV COAST, ANI» THAT Think hanu mi»;ht ijk with mk, am> that Thou woili>- EST KEEP ME FKOM EVIL, THAT IT MAY NOT C.IHEVE ME ! AnD God gkanted uim that which he KEtiUESTKD." (1 Chrou., iv., 9, 10.) This was his text Avhen he ]>reaehod that eveniii!?; "and (iod granted him," even then, in tit nK-asurc, "that whieh he re- quested." From that seiTiion 3Iary liedfern '' learned the way of God more jierfeetly ;" and she soon afterward foun»l "peace with God." The " sorrowful" name in the text thus became associated in her mind with her hitxhest "Joy and irladness ;" and, ten years afterward, she trave it to her tirst an«l only son, a soleimi record of her pious gratitude, and a presage, not then understood, of liis future character and history. She became at once a very firm and lively Methodist. Tier first class-leader was Thumas Lomas, whose father heard John lii-nnet jirc-at-h at C'hcluioiton. At home, where she was the real mistres.'i, she stood stanchly by her new profession. She threw the j>laying cards of her gay brother George into the fire in the sight of him and of. liis comj»ani(tns. Alterward slie tended him, as he died slowly of constunjition, and ]>ut into his lijis the words of penitence and prayer. Her fatlu-r, taught, or left untaught by the clergyman wliom Nelson route«l, became her bitter )»ersecutor. IJut she maintaineartcd. I think of my praiulfather's hap])icr lot when I read this hMter, breatliin*; rather a inutlicr's care for a sick cliild than ft hoy's rou^li kiinhicss for his father. It ilhis- trates, also, the writer's characteristic attention to the smallest details of whatever busiuess he took in hand. 1 .sulyoui ex- tracts only. " >ranrhc'stcr, July 1st, 1797. "Mv vv.XK SiSTEK, — This letter will be conveyed to you by our dear and hiirhly-valued father, who intends to set out for Macclestield to-niijht in" (illegible) '' coach. ^ly luicle would doubtless inform you that I wrote to liim on Thui-sday even- inir, to acfjuaint him and you that the jouniey to liimconi, which was lirst thoui;ht of, was i^iven u]} by the advice of Dr. Pereival, and an excursion to Macclestield determined upon in its stead. The reasons which induced Dr. I'crcivid to prefer Macclesfield to Kunconi my father Avill explain to you. The l)rincipal of them were that, since, if my father had tronc to Jiimcorn, my mother must necessarily have accompanied him, the al)sence of them l)oth would have ])roduced very great and inmecessary inconvenience at home; that my father's mind would liave been on that aeeomit so uneasy and dissatisfied as perhaps to ])revent any good elU-cts from the journey ; and th.at at Macclestield he would have the advantage of your nursing and attention, and l)e among those with whom he could 1)0 free, and of whose kindness he could avail himself to procure for hini any little thing he might want, without any luixiety or fatigiu' to hinjself. " Vou will perceive how weak and low my father is now re- duced. Dr. iVrcival, however, tells nu- that, by the assistance of gf»od air, which he will enjoy at ]NIacclestield vastly better than at Manchester, together with nourishing diet, and some strcngthcnireg medi<-ines which he has prescribed, tin-re is nnieh probability that his health will be, in time, consily «lctacheil from this world." A short time l)efore his death, he sent for some young men to sing and pray with him. lie sang with them the Htan7.a.s — "The dying Christian to his Jsour' PARENTAGE AND KINDRED. 25 — which Alexander Pope little thought woukl feed the faith of many a dying Methodist. Tiien he hfted his arms up out of llic bed, and, with what voice was left to him, exclaimed, "Glory be to God! (^jory be to God! This is thirty years' Methodism ! l<]scaped hell and won heaven ! "What a won- der!" His children, "even to the third gi-iieration," bless his memory. His widow survived him about sixteen years. He left be- liind him liis humble furniture and some cottages, which were sold for less than two hundred pounds. My grandmother car- ried on the business with the assistance of a foreman, but he played her false, and she soon gave it up. Then, with the help of her children, she struggled on as she could. She became the victim of chronic rheumatism. Six weeks before her death she went to bed for the last time, and there lay, conversing and singing about Christ and heaven until her end. During the last night of her life she thought she saw (perhaps she did see) George Slater and Peter Jackson, pious friends long de- parted, at the foot of her bed, and talked to them as if mani- festly present. She solemnly connnitted her family, and espe- cially her little grandson, into the hands of God. So she died, with her Bible and Wesley's Hymn-book imder her pillow, on tfie twenty-ninth of August, 1813. She was a woman of excellent judgment, quick jierception, firai will, and very active habits ; and, if somewhat haughty, ■was yet of a generous and tender spirit. Grace subdued her pride, and sanctified her various faculties to the service of God in her own vocation. Some still live who remember her as "a widow indeed;" respected, because unjiretending; and punc- tual in her attendance at Oldham Street Chapel ; a tall old woman, in a long black cloak, and with a bonnet of the invert- ed coal-scuttle shape, a peculiarity for which the Methodists were indebted cither to the Society of Friends or to the Mora- vians. She left two daughters, AUce and Eleanor. The latter died unmarried. The former became the wife of the late Kev. Thomas Fletcher, who survived her, and died a few weeks be- fore my father. His great modesty, and the comparative weak- ness of his voice, prevented his taking that jilace in the Meth- odist connection to which his good sense and learning justly entitled him. But in hard circuits he fultilled an honorable Vol. I.— B 26 THE LIFE OF JAUEZ BUNTING. course. To tlio last ho n-atl, every mominp, a oh.apter in tlic Hebrew lUMe. His (inly eliiM, the l\ev. John FK'teher, also a faithful Methodist minister, has furnished nie with many of the .statements which are woven into the ]>recedini; narrative. Many ])roofs still exist of my father's reverential love for his mother, liefore his marriajxe he re<:jularly j^ave her one half of his income, which, hoard and lodi^ini^ heini; provided for him wherever he chanced to reside, never amounted to twenty pounds a year. In his poorest and most i>inihinLj days after- ward, if, indeed, they can be distinguished from the rest, he took ui)on him the sole charge of eking out her scanty re- sources, so as to i)rovide her with comforts at le.-ist etjual to his own. The charge of the mnnarried sister also was a heavy load, but cheerfully bonie. His letters to liis mother are long, written with more than usual care, that her old eyes might read them easily, and brim- ful, not so much of si-ntinu'nt as of news which would interest her, about Methodism, public events, and the jjrecious details of domestic life. I give a specimen of those written before his m.irriage, and a few senteuces from another sent to her after he had become :i father; and I add one of her letters to him .'uid t<» his young wife. The critics will not blame me fi»r in- troducing into this chapter sonii- rt-terences to a later period. " Lon me for good, h.ad a safe, and, upon the whole, a ple.asant journey to I^ondon, where I arrived before ten o'clock on the Thursday night. I was met at the inn where the co.acli stops by ]\Ir. .lerram, the general steward, who conducte*! me to his hotise in Wood Street, Cheapside, where I :ini to reside for ;i lew days, till some rc- jiairs an«l improvementH are comj)lete«l in the house at City Koad. For the same reason, ]Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, n« well :i8 Mrs.TavIor's mother, who lives with them, are oltligee found in or about T.rmdon. I PARENTAGE AND KINDRED. 27 am iiarticiilarly jdcascd with my own apartments, lusidcs an excellent lodging-room, there is an adjoming study, very pleas- ant and retired, and well furnished 'with proper cupboards for the reception of books. In these respects I never was so con- venient ly anut the blessing was a rich one. The child liimself cherished it ; and, in later years, often told how he used to liear Wesley preach, freqiu-ntly on Easter Simdays, and at si.\ o'clock on the Ibllowiug mornings ; and, these early services ended, to watch his rrslii|). It wa'* during the year beibre that in which my father left school that his conversion took pliU'O. To tlio |>arficnlars of this event ma:iy in his own and in other ehurchen will listen CONVERSION. 37 willintxly ; and it is possible that some who seldom read relig- ious biograpliies may ponder, uot without advantage, what is now to be written. Every man deals in his own way with God, "the Father of the spirits of all flesh," and with the truths which concern the everlasting future. Here is the case of a man of sense and station, of extreme caution, and of sensitive truthliilness, Avho testified, by lip and life, for more than sixty years, that he had acquainted himself with God, and was at peace. The grace sealed to him and to his parents at the old church in :Manciiester, when they ])resented him ui holy baptism, rested blessedly upon tliom all. The parents kept their vow, and God graciously kept Ilis covenant. They had, for the child, re- nounced "the devil and all his works,- the vain pomp and glory of the world, with all covetous desires of the same, and the car- nal desires of the flesh, so that" he would " not follow nor be led by them;" and they therefore separated their son, as they could, from worldly vanities ; set the love and service of Christ before him as the real pleasure and purpose of life ; and, taking his hand in theirs, walked steadily, and as of course, toward heaven. Probably he never had any other ])revailing thought than to go with them. And, accordingly, "the angel which redeemed" them "from all evil" blessed "the lad;" their "name," "and the name of" their " fothers," was " named on" him ; and, ver- ily, he grew "into a multitude in the midst of the earth." Yet the grace of the initiatory sacrament, though sure and present, was, in its very nature, but the ])ledge of a greater, and that a conditional blessing. " Before the child" knew " to re- fuse the evil and choose the good," grace itself could not effect- ually influence the choice. Before a will, conscious, intelligent, and free, possessed either scope or power, and the sense of ac- comitability had created the obligation to account Avith God, grace had been expended in vain in the eftbrt to make a babe into a saint — a puny creature, scarcely able to realize the sim- plest facts of being, into its best and holiest t}-pe on earth. I conclude, therefore, that, in any such meaning of a plain but much controverted term as the ]>rimary laws and conditions of spiritual reUgiou warrant, my father was not regenerated in baptism. His conmmnications on the subject of hi^ religious experience 38 THE LIFE VV JABEZ DL'NTIXQ. wrro virv liw lunl liiiif. The prayer ami liyinn copied into his nu'iiioraiKhim-hook, and the soV)cr ])reachin^s in his lather's attii-, are tlie only hudits tlirown u))()n "the sweet reHpuusness" of his thildlid. We know iiothint; ofliis i-arly conthets with evil; of the instances in wliich he yieldeil, or ofliis partial and unperfect victories. But God be thanked that neither upon his good repute when yountr, nor upon a wakeful conscience when the last account drew near, did there ever rest the " danuied spot" of jtrofanity or of vice I His i>arents i)raycd and waited; jirayed with an earnestness and a faith none the less that he was " yet a child." Who could tell lu>w soon the light niis^dit dawn whicli should reveal the dauns, alike ini]»erative, of (iod's holy law and ofliis bless- ed Ciospel? Mothers, and some fathers too, know surely when the old, short stories, wliich touch with ecjual charm the infant and the savage, begin to tell ; when lips which lie has never soiled relax and (juiver with a new emotion; and titful eyes, now gay, now serious, but lived at last in steady wonder, drop tears of tender sadness into bosoms shaken by a tunmlt of grati- tude, hope, and joy. There was a fnst time wiien 31ary Bunting and her s(»n Jabez thus eonununed and clave together; wlien she found the key of his young heart, fitted it — Oh, how gently I — in the ready wards, then tremblingly turned it round, and found the priceless treasure wliieh years of tt>il and j)atience, none too many, lia there. Her son hae two words, while round them thronged the godly, pouring into their wounds '"oil and wine." * I am not sure that the M.S. j)reparations for this sermon arc in exist- ence; but I liavc a ])rinted report of it ns jireached in London in 1837. The .sentences to which I refer, illustrated, as I well remember, by Acts, ii., 37-43, do not ajipear at any length. The jircicher's thoughts seem, in this in.stancc, to have been soon turned into another channel. I subjoin the pa.s- sage : "You must also pi^'c this rea.son with /nar — not the fear of cowardice, against which the aj)0stle was guarding. Do not be afraid of those officers of justice who are at the door, and intend, it may be, to haul you to j)rison. Do not \>c afraid of the lions to which you may be east. It is not the fcnr of cowardice, but the f-ar of reverence, to which you are exhorted. In other words, 'Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.' Cherish, haliiually, rev- erential views of Uod. When you come to talk about your religion, then, indeed, have you a goml reason for bringing this reverence into special ex- ercise. Give an answer in meekness and in fear. Perhaps there is no one word in our language which so well includes all which, I think, is meant lo be included in this term /ear, as it is used, not only in this pas-sage, but in others, as the word serious. Be ready to give an answer to every man that asks you; but do it witli meekness and humility; do it withjieriousnes-s — 8erir>uHness of si)irit, scrioiisnt'ss of manner, seriousness of expression. lu talking abfouf prj- iiics and the aflairs of this world with wisdom and in moderation, Imt never indulge in a spirit that belongs to the ludicrous in any thing that concerns the soul, and the va-st relations of man to fJod and to eternity. (Jh, it is pitiful to be sjMirting when men arc talking al)out these momentous things! Religion and the hope of heaven may be joyous adairs to you, but there was One whom the whole business made serious enough. It is a very joyous thinp to you to have the blessing of jiardon and of peace with (lod, and a CONVERSION. 41 sentiments reflected the scenes and impressions of liis own awak- ening. Many were at that time " adtlcd to the Lord," who he- came the strength and the ornament of Methodism in Manches- ter. And Jabez Bunting called Joseph Benson his spiritual father. He did not, however, at once join the society, or experience the comforting and renewhig power of religion. I can well understand his ditliculties. He was never forward to reveal the emotions and exercises of his inner man. The work of the Holy Spirit upon his heart was neither superficial nor, distinct- ively, sentimental. Once convinced that the time had come when he was solennily required to accept or to refuse the mer- cy of the Gospel, he would regard it as a duty to ponder well what he would do, and he would set about doing it, as Richard Alleine Aveightily says, in " the most serious frame possible, suit- able to a transaction of such high importance." This is not the place to discuss the pretensions of modern and systematic re- vivalism. It is clear, on the one hand, that agencies for pro- moting the conversion of men which are not expressly enjoined by the Word of God are less likely to succeed than those which rightfully claim that warrant. On the other, it is certain that He who " would have all men to be saved," in His divine pity for those who "are ignorant and out of the way," often fetches them home to His flock by messengers and means which an en- lightened piety would scarcely dare to sanction. Is not the les- son this — that those modes of doing good which all admit to be legitimate should be plied with so much tVcquency, constan- cy, and zeal, as to render a recourse to all others needless? In the days of which I am speaking, the regular, authorized, and well-tried methods were employed ; but even" they, in their earliest action, produced, as they do now, very various results. "Who docs not recognize, in the circle of his most valued Chris- tian friends, those who, in a hurry of surprise and sorrow, sub- mitted themselves to God, and who have never broken fealty ? Generally speaking, however, men of my father's cast of char- acter must liave more time and culture. Upon such a previous test is imposed. ^len may come to Christ without going throuo-h the sate of His Church ; but the Church is the best delightful consciousness of communion with Him, and the full expectation of one day being with Him, but remember that it cost your Savior His blood." rj TlIK LIFE OF JABKZ lU'NTING. roail to Him. .\iiil the test of union witli the Churcli acts, not arltitraiily, hut as of itsi-lf su]»)>l\ini^ a fair and sinipK' nicKle of tiiitliiiLj out whether we are in earnest for salvation. Tiie Churcli is the home of the heuUliy, hut the liosj)ital for the siek. To go there is to confess our siekness, our faith in the treatment there observed, and our desjtuir of other metliods of liealing; and thus the ))rofession of religion l)eeoines of the substance of ri'ligion itself To this test my father did not inunetliately submit. There were, jierhaps, ililficullit's in his way ]>eeuliar to the Chureh witii whieh, if with any, he was to unite himself. Chureh-membership, in all ecclesiastical communities, is the rec- ognized right to sit down at the table of the Lord. AVhilc all Churches, 1 believe, admit this jjroposition, each ha.s its own mode of recognition. The Methodists require, as a general rule, tliat tlic candidate, or admitted member, shall join a " cla.s.s" — a meeting held weekly, at which each who attends is expect- ed to give a statement of n-ligious experience, and (in which, perhaps, consists the chief virtue of the instituti) to receive the coimsels and encouragements of one of tluir number, not, in- deed, known as a pastor, but charged to direct and guide a.s a "leader." From sueh disclosures as this discipline requires, I ean easily l>elieve that a mind like my father's would, in tho first instance, and not unnaturally, ncoil. Of course, I do not Htay to vindicate a system whiih, tried for more than a century, h:i.s tended more to the jiurity :md conqiactness of the Method- ist i»eople th.m any other peculiarity of their order. A circumstance very trilling in itself l)rought him to deci- sion. The Love-feast, a nu-eting \\here, alst), unchr the direct jiresidency of the p.istor, and nndi-r smh control as he may think lit to exercise, religious experience is related, is anotlu-r of the institutions of .Methodism. .\l these meetings, which have survived many bitter libels, l)read :md w.ater are )»:irtaken in c-onnnon by the peoph- jiresent. The ticket of membership with the society, given to all who meet in class, or a sjtecial note from the minister, is tlio only ]>ass|>ort for adult j)ersons; but young children are often taken to enjoy tlie novelty or va- riety of the service, and, in tlie case of very little ones, the bread — alw.ays so niaractice. The first occasion of the kind after his arrival saw Jabez Bunthig shut out. Ilis mother seized the opportunity. Perhaps even she was not aware of the effect produced upon him by Benson's l)reaching. " I do not know what you tlunk of it, Jabez," she said, " but to me it seems an awful thing that, after having been carried there'' (probably she thought of the time when she had carried him to the Cliapel for Wesley's blessiug), " you should now be excluded by your own fault." He once said in a meeting of the kind, " Many attribute their conversion to their havuig attended a Love-feast ; I owe mine to having liecii shut out of one." Both the fact and his relation of it strikingly illustrate his religious experience and habits. His mother left him ; but, again to use his own words, " the blow was struck in the right place." She, a happy Christian, "went up with the multituy the ri'vcaling ami i)crsuatling Spirit; he saw ami kmw thai God, for Christ's saki', both could and would partlon and arropt hin> ; with every jiower and I'acuhy of soul and spirit, he "ventured himself on Clnist," and was conseiously pardoned and accepted ; or, as ]\Iethodists love to say, in i»hrase which the Bible has made ready to their hand, he "was set at liberty." Having' " nuich lonriven," he "loved much." His heart was " enhni^ed, iullanietl, ami filled" with new and intinite aftections. lie was "turned about" "from sin to God." lie had a new will, and a new conunand of it ; his desires, courses, and pursuits, his entire Ufi' — "all things" — be- came "new." Tliis Avas his conversion. Infancy and childhood had, indeed, been full of irracious thoutrhts, and of eaniest wishes to be religious; aiul the medi- tative boy had always intended, at some not distant period, to become so; l>ut, until now, he had not solved the one great problem of the soul's prol)ation. Thoutrhts, wishes, and inten- tions had not ripened into acti«)n, because he tumid '■^ )iot serve the Lonl (iod." Now they were "brought to good effect." "A sinful man" — one who had sinned, an indebted to the unele before named for an increase of his fortune, an extensive librai*}', and the bent of his choice to the medical profession, Sacriticintr, from con- Pcientious ol)jections to subscription, his desire to enter an En- jrlish University, he matriculated at EdinburLTh about the year 17G1. There he was admitted to iietpieut intercourse with Hume, of Avhose talents and maimers he has recorded his ad- miration; and with Kobertsun, in the family of whose sister, Mrs. Symes, he resided duriuLT two winters. There, also, he contracted lasting; fiicndships with I lay irarth. Falconer, Aikin, and l\'j)ys, all of whom achieved distinction in his own profes- sion. Throu<;h tliese connections, lie .availed liimsclf of the at- tractive but dangerous society of the Scottish metn^polis. One year, too, was spent in London, \\ here " an almost patenial and filial regard'' was formed between him and the Lord Willough- by de I'arham, a nobleman of great inlluence and of various ac- comi»lishments. His house was the resort of the most eminent men of the 7,aner his marriage, he removed to Manelu-sler. In that ••ily he pursiied, for nearly forty years, a professional career, which, for honctr, iisefulness, ami general success, lias seldom been ]»aralleled in the ))rovinces. Sir (leorge IJaker urged him to ofTer himself as a candidate for fellowshijt in the College of Physicians, and held out to him the templing bait of becoming the first fellow not educated at an English University; ])Ut the pressure of business dehiyed the apjdication until the mf)tive of advantage ceased to operate. He was elected Fellow of the Koyril Societies of Edinburgh and of Paris, and a member of the Medical S<»ciety of London, of the Anu-rican Academy of Arts, of the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, MEDICAL EDUCATION. 47 and of other learned and scientific bodies. Among his friends and correspondents lie numbered Franklin, the then Lord Lans- downe, Lord JNIonboddo, lJisho])S ]>urgess and Watson, Dean Tucker, Pair, Price, Paley, Beattie, John Howard, Madame Necker, Haimah More, and a host of other persons famous ui their generation. To his good offices with Robertson, Priest- lev was hidebted for his diploma from Edinburgh. His volu- minous writings, publislied, some in the Transactions of Socie- ties, and many separately, on Medical, Moral, Mental, Political, and Social Science, were extensively read in England and on the Continent, and still possess a Avell-recognizcd value. His " Medieal Ethics," in particular, remains the standard work on that subject. The impression made l>y one of his Moral Tales ujjon De Quuicey and his young sister is recorded in the auto- biography to which I have before referred. Distinguished men in his own neighborhood and from abroad clustered around him. Manchester owes to hini the foundation of its Literary and Philosophical Society, since made illustrious by its connection with the name of Dalton ; and the refomi and permanent estab- lishment of its truly Royal Infirmary. An attempt which he made to found a College of Arts, for the improvement of young men engaged in connnercc and in manufactures, did not receive l)ublic support. L'nder his auspices, a Board of Health, in the transactions of which I have reason to believe my father took an active interest, was formed about the year 1*796, and did something to commence the improvements which have changed that once dirty city into one of the cleanest in the empire.* He was a warm supporter of Will)ertbrce in the earliest at- tempts to suppress the slave-trade, and the first Parliamentary petition from the provinces against that infamous traffic was Avritten by his pen. His ophiions on secular and ecclesiastical politics were very moderate. He wrought earnestly for the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, maintauiing, on the authority of Lord ^lans- field, that "Protestant Nonconformists are not imder the con- nivance, but the express protection of the law, and that their modes of worship are in the fullest sense established ;" and drawing a distinction between "the claims of Roman Catholics * Probably my father's first composition for the press was written in refer- ence to this subject. It will be fouiul in AjipcnJix R. 4» Tllh: LIFE OF JABEZ BrXTIN'O. and those of the Protestants to trust nml power," even though the t'ornu-r sliall " acknowledj^fe alk't^iaiioc to the state," because ''their reh^^ion is subversive of the established reUgion of the country ; that is, the Church of Enghuid, the Kirk of Scotland, the Quakers, and all orders of Protestant Dissenters authorized by law ; and the connnunity has the same right which an indi- vidual I'lijoys of j»ossessing and i)roviding for the security of its own religion." lie ajiproved "• the liturgical form of worship." " I feel," he wrote, " an abhorrence of taction, a reverence for our Constitution, and gratitude for tlic civil and religious priv- ileges wc enjoy; but I conceive that power is always disposed to enlarge its boundaries, and that it shouKl be watched with tenii)erale but seduh)us attention." Two of liis sons matricu- lated at the English Universities. " I am a Dissenter," he says, in a letter to Paley, on the subject of subscription, "but actu- ated by the same spirit of Catholicism which you profess; an Establishment I appro\ e ; the Church of England, in many re- S2)ects, I honor; and I should think it my duty instantly to en- ter her communion, were your plan" (that of a comprehension) "carried into execution." Paley's letter in rei)ly states that ca.sy moralist's view of the conditions of subscription : c. illar of Christi.an doctrine." He settled down into tin- theological system of his childhood. Hut his writings contimially Ijetray that intense opposition to all fixed standards of belief which, in minds less candid than his, Ko often leads to a sullen aiirobably from some early and ingrained error as to the conditions ujjon which only its blessed teachings reach the mind .and heart of man. He fre- quently attended the ministry of the late Kev. Dr. Barnes, at what is now the Unitarian Chapel in Cross Street, Manchester, in the days to which I have already referred, when the odor of file old evangelieal doctrine still clung to i)reachers and to meet- ing-houses no longer reputed orthodox. In such places, rich and ancient melodies, fraught with the Psalms of David, in the (piaint version so justly dear to the children of the Kirk,* or with the precious hymns of Isaac AYatts, still bore up to heaven the worship of, here and there, a hidden saint, and solemnly tes- tified to the mass of drowsy hearers against the hesitation or the positive declension of the pulpit. And, so recently as eighty years ago, Dr. Barnes could wrestle with the consciences of his people in strains like these : " God is my Avitness that my soul earnestly longs for your souls' welfore ; I have not a wish in my breast more strong, more fervent, more constant than this. I woxdd fain approve myself to God as a successful preacher of the Gospel of Christ. If, at some seasons, I have been willing to hope my labors have not been entirely in vain, at others I have l)een discouraged and affected, and ready almost to imagine myself a useless cipher in a cause in which, if I know my own heart, my whole soul is sincerely, though, alas! too imperfectly, too negligently en- gaged. Alas ! my friends, forgive my fears ; I should be glad to find them false ; but I have been afraid that the work of con- version is much at a stand among us. The thought of this some- times pierces my very soul. I have asked, "What shall I do ? * James Montpomery once said to me that, heartily admitting the great superiority to all others of Cliarlcs Wesley's Ilymtis, ho still loved best ^'the loild-bee-Uke-immnur" of the words aad music of liis own Moravian worship. Vol.. I— C 50 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. M'hat shall I say? what subject shall I choose? IIow shall I rouse that stupid conscience, -which seems proof against every alarm V How shall I sj)eak, so that not a slee|)er shall remain among us ?" And, again, speaking of the 1 icdemption by Christ Jesus, " Do you, my dear friends, understand the titness, the rea- sonableness, the beauty, the kindness of the plan ? Here is the very hinge, the fundamental beauty and glory of the Gospel. I wish you to understand and to feel it ; if you understand it aright, you must feel it — poAverfully feel and admire it. God has given His ' only-begotten Son, Jesus,' the Brightness of His glory — His Beloved Son — He has given Him to die for your sins ; and in this He has at once displayed the greatest hatred of the sin and the greatest mercy to the sinner. It is designed at once to humble and to support the Christian ; to humble him, first, under the sense of his own guilt, and then to raise him up in the joyful assiu'ance of pardon and ivconciliation. Oh ! where is the wretch whose heart does not overflow with inex- pressible gratitude — whose soul does not swell with a rapture too great for words to utter, too high for the tongue of an angel to declare ! I have, my friends, often been alanned and grieved at the unconcern which so many discover for the ])eculiar doc- trine of the Gosj)el of Christ. I should be unworthy the name I bear as an embassador of Jesus if I Avere unconcerned in a matter in which His dignity, and the good of the souls of men, are so much at stake. I have endeavored to lay before you the wisdom, and beauty, and titness of this plan ; if you see and feel it in the same manner in which my heart sees and feels it, you will not be able to contain the rising emotions of wonder and love ; you will feel a heart-compelling power in the doctrine of the Cross beyond the force of language to express. Alas ! I well know that an attempt to exjdain it to one who has never felt it is, and must be, forever in vain. No. You nuist be hum- bled, you must be laid low under the conviction of guilt, you must have pa.ssed through the discipline of a broken and con- trite spirit, and then, I will venture to affinn, you will feel and acknowledge a something — a Divine, inex])ressil)le something in that scheme which will be matter for your constant admiration and hope in this world, and for your constant meditation and praise in the world to come. Oh, my brethren, my soul is full ; I could with pleasure stay here. You will bear me witness that MEDICAL EDUCATION. 51 this is my favorite subject. I have built my eternal hopes upon it. Here I stand, blessed be the name of God, firm and daunt- less. I see, I feel tlie stamp of heaven. That God gave His only-begotten Son appears to me the highest possible display of infinite Avisdom, and of infinite, matchless, boundless love. Je- sus is the sinner's Friend, the sinner's Hope. 'Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift.' " INIy father always expressed the comfortable hope that such teachings, though counteracted by formal statements of doctrine with which they seemed to him wholly inconsistent, disclosed a state of opinion really, though indistinctly evangelical on the part of the venerable preacher, and of his own friend and ben- efactor, Dr. Percival. In the case of l)oth of them, he loved to think that dangerous error was not fatal; but it Avas because the " Name that is above every name," even if confessed with faltering hps, never fails to reach the ear of the all-merciful Fa- ther, and to draw down a quick and saving virtue. And there ■were ripe and clustering evidences that a change not human had passed upon the heart of Dr. Percival, in his devoutness, self-command, habitual sweetness of temper, pious submission to heavy sorrows, expansive charity, and reverence for the Word and Day of God. As to the Sabbath, a quotation fi-om a letter to his eldest son, then at Oxford, will illustrate both his strength, and what I presume to consider as his weakness. And how great a contrast it presents to the sentiments and practices of the " rational Chiistians" of later times ! "Manchester, February 10th, 1785. " My dear Son, — I approve very much of the Conversation Society you have estabhshed. Such institutions promote the spirit of study by the emulation which they excite ; and, while they heighten the zest for knowledge, they give accuracy and permanency to our acquirements. But I lament that you de- vote a part of Sunday to pursuits foreign to that day. Relig- ion and ethics, considered in an intellectual view, hold the first rank in dignity among the sciences, and to be defective in a systematic acquaintance with them is disgraceful to a scholar and a gentleman ; but, regarding them as a rule of life, and the foimdation of all our future hopes, they have a pre-eminence, beyond comparison, over every other species of learnuig. With 62 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. such scntimcjits, it has hocn my cronoral jirarticc to set apnrt Suiulavs to the most important of all studies, ami 1 have i'.\i>o- ricnccd very beiulicial elVeels iVum this reguhition. It has pjreatly (liversitioil my studies, has oflcn checked the sallies of levity, and strcmxthencd all the j^ood impressions of a virtuous and jtious edui-atinn. You know I am free from any supersti- tious veneration lur times and seas(»ns; but every oftiee recjuires some stated order in its performance. I do not meaii to rec- ommend the discussion of moral or theological topics at your nu-etings, for such dissertations among yro- priety of assembling on some other day of the week, if you can easily prevail with your friends to comjily with such a pro- poBal." Dr. Pcrcival died in September, 1804, and was interred at the j)ari>h church of Warrington. Parr wrote liis epitaph; and J)r. Thomas Magee, who married his niece, and who sub- sequently became Archbishop of Dublin, and author of the Dis- courses on the Atonement, paid just tribute to his memory in the Monthly Magazine Ibr 1h()4. The j)apers of the decea.sed were betpieathed to his son Edward and to my father as his literary executors, and in 1807 his collected Works were pub- lished in four volumes, prefaced by an elegantly-written Mem- oir. The good Providence of (Jod jilaccil .Tabe/. Hiuiting, when about sixteen years of age, under the care of the excellent man whose course, character, and ojtinions I have thus rapidly sketched. Edward I'ercival had taken a great liking to his clever companion; the sehoolroonj was very near Dr. Percival's house; the two boys went in and out together; the tailor's son attract e«l attention and sym))athy ; anf pe not Idamed." It wouhl be ungrateful n(»t to refer to the influence which wa« exercised over Dr. I'ercival's i>upil by the excellent and accomplished lacace in the year 1819. "I have no Sjnrit ual i^ains,''^ he said, when the last languors crcjit over his weary frame, " and that is something for a dying man to feel." Three of his children sleep ui Binstead Church-yard, in the Isle of Wight. Edward, his eldest son, an officer in the Bengal Artillery, closed his life with the words with which David closed the twenty-third Psalm; Thomas, the next in age, with those of Job — "I know that my lledeemor hvcth ;" and Anjie, a married daughter, quoted fiom the same Psalm as that which had cheered the death-bed of her eldest brother — " Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me." The grave of Elizabeth Sophia, " sixth and last- surviving child," and of her first-born, is sealed with this text — " To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." * One favored lady claims Dr. Percival and Archbishop Mapce as her ancestors, and as her husband the great Protestant orator of Liverpool. Another descendant is married to a near connection rf "the good arch- bishop," John Bird Sumner, notwithstanding differences of rank, order, and opinion, the property and pride of all the Churches. Two grandsons, collaterally sprung from the famous Nonconformist. Oliver Ileywood, have represented their native county in Parliament. The third generation, in the same line of descent, bids fair to rival the earnest philanthropy and public usefulness of those gone by. DO THE LIFK VF JAUKZ BUXTIXO. CILVPTER V. RELIGIOUS AND INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS. fJoncral Traininp undor Dr. Pcrtival. — Influonccs on his Cliamctor and Opinions. — liclipiuiis Improvement. — Formation of a Society for the Ac- quirement of Knowledpe. — Rules. — Bond of Association. — Menihers. — fcjuhjects discussed. — Essays written for the Society. — First Exposition of Holy Scripture. — The Prayer-mcctinp at James Ashcroft's House. — His End. — Jabez Bunting's first public Exhortation. — A Trayer-lcadcr. — Manchester Sunday-evening rraycr-mcetings. The four years spent Avith Dr. Percival were the only inter- val between my father's school-days and a very loni:^ and active j)nblie life. Keli^^iously and intt'llectually, ihcy made him what he became; but the precise modes in which he improved them arc left very much to conjecture. It is known, however, that he read largely with and to his master ; wrote otlcn and volu- minously, at his dictation, upon all sorts of topics, secular, eth- ical, and religious ; atlende«l such courses of lectures, on sul>- jects ]iroj)er or incident to his new jirofi'ssion, as were accessi- ble to him in a provincial town ; exerciseut seldom does a youth makt- tin- best uSe «tf the society of the aged. My father enjoyed and prized the signal advantage of constant intercourse with a mind acute and vig- orous, steadied and Htrung up to its best possible achievements RELIGIOUS AXD INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS. 57 bjalonfT and various oxix'riciu'o of men ami things. I'robably it was under such auspices that he acquired, so soon and so remarkably, that almost iiuiltless accuracy of judgment (no one Avill \mderstand me as si)caking of any particular opinions) — that supremacy of the i»ure reasoning faculty over every other l)0\ver and bias of the soul, which all who studied my father's mental character agreed to recognize. Nor can it be doubt- ed that tlie benefit was derived as much from points of differ- ence as from points of union between the jihysician and his l>upil. With all his reverence for Dr. Percival, Jabez Bunting must have felt the need of continual and severe caution. By how much the former was devout and earnest in the profession of his religious faith, by so much it would tincture the whole course and current of liis ideas ; and, on subjects of religion, the boy's training and conscience had put him ever on his guard ; so that much would need careful weighing and strict sifting ; not in the fierce and fickle temper of a doubter, but in the spirit of a man avIio durst not loose his hold of truth. Yet many of Dr. PercivaPs precise opinions moulded very percep- tibly those of which Dr. Bunting Avas tlie expounder and the advocate during a long pul)lic life. From him, I doubt not, he derived that accurate appreciation of the nature, lunits, and ad- vantages of political freedom which, taking form and color, but form and color only, from the quick events of an age crowded with histories, made him, as distinguished from those whose opaijue and marble prejudices no light can penetrate nor even earthquake shake, now a somewhat advanced Liberal, then a stern and thorough Tory, and, not imfretpiently, both in one. As for religious liberty, the standard sentiment of the tolerant Arian Dissenter, he taught his young disciple well the right, but more the duty of maintaining it ; and, in order to its main- tenance, of adopting the principle boldly as a whole, and to its uttermost logical extent, thus only defining and hedging it from other })rincii)les bordering closely on it, but with no com- munity of either soil or product.* And an invaluable prepara- * I h.avc heard of a M.insion House dinner at which an honored friend of mine, a wise and wary leader of Metropolitan Dksent, who had just spoken to the toast of "Religions Liberty," was astonished to find Imw much more clearly and courageously the case was put when Dr. Bunting also rose to respond. The Baptist waxed eloquent on the right of every man to hold C 2 58 TIIK IJFK OF JABEZ lU-NTINT,. tiou for one wlu) was to lake a prominent part in public atluirs was the candor which })crvaf my father's own patient and generous nature — was, I doubt not, greatly strengthened by observing its constant i)racticc on the part of his master, and, like all other moral discipline, exercised !U»d matured the intellect. Much has been told me of my father's steady, earnest, and unassunung i)iety during this period of his life. All the while that his mind was on the strain for improvement, his heart was kept right Avith God. No Diary, indeed, registers his daily ex- periences, or the laint remeud»rances of his nightly dreams. "The secret of the Lord" was with His servant who feared him, and it was well kept — kept as He who m.ide us all meant men of my father's mould to keep it, hid in tlie silent depths of the spirit ; talked about, indeed, in sacred confidence, to those to whom also it had bi'cn intrusted, autl sometimes testified as a fact, not for show, but for use, to those who could not muler- stand it ; but, so far as I can learn, he never vexed and tossed his own soul, or disturbed the faith and peace of others by ref- erences to casual and transient feelings which a foggy moniing may j)roduce and a gleam of sunshine scatter. Of the reality and strength of religion, action is, in such cases, the only, as in all eases it is the truest test. Long before his conversion, :ui impression liad rested on liis mind that he should one day enter the Christian ministry. Tlii> im|»ression would, no doubt, exert a great iiilliu'iice \i\mn tlie choice and conduct of his studies during the four years of his engagement with Dr. I'ercival. It is plcisant t«> nurk that, while it did not iu any degree divert him from the one profes- sion.'d pursuit to which presi-nt «luty and prospects urged him, his commonjtlace bo(»ks bi-tray tlu- constant and pi-rhaps irr<'- sislible bias of his mind to subjects directly bearing on the sacred calling. hi* own ripiniont ; the Methodist, on hi.i riRht to propRjjnto them. Hut tho latter rxpntintcd on tlii; HnvinR of a Ilnpti.tl. When, in isl.^, n ilc{iiita(ion fn»ni tlini l»<)cly waited upon I^»rd (Jn y on the fcuhject of the Indiii Hill, *' Lihcrty V) hold i;* n'> lil'oriy iit nil, fir ynu can not hinder nic," snid An- drew Fuller to ihn iiNlnni'hcd Whig nnhlemnn. RELIGIOUS AND INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS. 59 In 170G, a boy of seventeen, lie hecamc the founder of "A Society for the Acciuirenieiit of rehj^ious Knowledge, consist- iiif^ of young men of the Methodist connection in ^Manchester," the rules of which, written by himself, and of his own composi- tion, appear in a book which has been kindly lent to me. The objects of the association were, "improvement in religious knowledge, experience, and jiractice ; and, secondly, a conse- cpient increase both of the dispositions and of the qualifications which arc essential for extensive usefulness in the Church of Clirist and in the world at large." It was prescribed that the society should meet once a week, and that, at these weekly meetings, each member, in rotation, should bring forward for consideration some subject of a religious nature, and communi- cate his own ideas upon it in writing; or he might propose passages of Scripture or quotations from religious books for ex- planation. Every sixth meeting was employed " in exercises wholly and directly of devotion." "To this end," says the paper from which I quote, "let each member relate his religious experience, as in a general band or love-feast, but with a particular reference to the eflects of this institution on his mind; stating, after a cai-eful examination, on the one hand, whether he has found it to answer those bene- ficial purposes of instruction and editication which iirst induced its establishment, and whether he has been able, by the Divine aid, to escape those dangers to which such societies are doubt- less exposed, and by which they have heretofore been rendered curses instead of blessings ; and freely acknowledging, on the other hand, if he be conscious of any declension in grace, of any decrease in simplicity and earnestness, or of any loss of the life and power of godliness. Let it be remembered that the in- tention of this society is not to unhinge and to unsettle, but to confirm and to establish the faith of its members in those re- ligious principles which, as Methodists, they have alrea«ly seen reason to adopt and profess, as well as to capacitate them for defending their tenets against opponents by a fuller knowledge of the arguments, from Scripture and reason, which have con- vinced their own minds, and overcome all objections or cavils to the contrary. Let the utmost simplicity be constantly pre- served, so that, while the business of the society is conducted with perfect order and regularity, there maybe as little as pos- 60 THE LIFK OF JABEZ BUNTIXO. sililc of awkward and uiuu'ci'ssary lonnality. I^ct all nnbocom- iii<; and iniprojior k-vity c»f spirit lu- avoiiUd \\itli |n'culiar vij^i- lanco, and repressod, if it should ariso, liy ilio solemn thought, ' Thou, (iod, sccst mc !' " Tht-n tluTo follows the "Bond of Association," in the ToUow- ing terms: "We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, luiiii; earnestly desirous to embrace every opjiortunity of religious improve- ment, arc of opinion that an institution, on the i)lan laid down in the foregoing rules might, if jirojterly conducted, be made liighly useful to us for that end ; because, "1. It is at once our absolute duty and our invahud)le j>rivi- lege to cultivate, by every means in our power, the rational and moral faculties with which God has graciously endowed us. For those faculties arc all talents tf> be improved, and the de- linrtf of the talent is itself a suflicieiit rail iipon us to use it. The supply of the means is the recjuisition of the duty. " 2. The more perfectly our lioly religion is known and under- stood, the nutrc amiable and reasonable it will appear; so that a fuller knowledge of it may justly be ex)»e(tcd to j>roduce a more cheerful obedience to its laws, and a stcailier reliance on its truths, (iuilt of any kind is universally alU>wed to be ag- pp-avated by a ]>rivious knowledge of duty, which principle presupposes ami iniplii'S the advantage of kiu)Mlcdge in order to practice. "3. The more clearly we comprthcnd the nature and design, the evidences and doctrines of Christianity, and the high sanc- tions by which it is enforced, the better (jualified sliall we be- come for extensive usefuhu'ss in |»romoting its saving influence among our fcljow-crcaturis ; and we trust that to this increase of abilitv for doinij good, an increase ol'thc disposition and de- sire will not fail to be superadded. *' 1. The jtursuit of religious knowledge is ns agreeable as it is jtrofit.able; and, by furnishing a source of ]ileas»ire in the higliest degree* rational and pious, may be, tuidi-r ( Jod, no in- considerable mean of counteracting those allurcnuiits to fash- ionable anany. " We are aware, however, of the dangers which may attend such an institution. But the liability to abuse is no sound ar- gument against the use of it ; and, although these possible dan- gers will call for particular and unwearied vigilance to obviate them, yet we conceive they would by no means justify us in giving uj) an undertaking which promises advantages so many and so desirable. " By these and other weighty considerations, we are led to form, and ice do hereby form ourselves into a society for relig- ious improvement, on the })lan pointed out in the preceding rules, by which we agree to be governed so long as we shall continue to be members. We will, by all means, promote the honor and success of the institution; and we eamestly beseech the God of all grace so to bless our undertaking, that we may 62 THE LIFE OF .TAREZ nUXTIXG. each become wise unto salvation, ami wise to win souls. These are our two praml and eomnion objects. And wc will endeav- or to try all our knowledge by the apostolic to.vt : '77ie Wis- dom from above /.< }>un\ jMarftihlt\ 4irtir, the other against Infant Ba])tism ; in doing this all the time was taken uj) ;" "The State of Adam before the Fall ;" " The Witness of the Spirit ;" " Confonnity to tlie World ;" " Marriage" — again by " Brother Westhead," " which was discoursed upon by the brethren, and left for far- ther discussion;" " Is God the .Vuthor of Sin?" "The Eternity ofllellTonnents;" "How is Faith the Gift of God ?"— these and other matters sharpened the wits ot the young disciples. After " Brother Bunting" went to his first circuit, he attend- ed very few meetings of the society, and it ai>pears to have come to a speedy end. " Brother Ashton not coming prepared with his subject, that passage of Scripture, 'Be ye wise as ser- pents and harmless as doves,' was conversed upon by the breth- ren." " Brother Ashton being absent, Brother Hull proposed for consideration, ' Is the brute creation imnaortal ?' " " The reg- 64 TUE LIFK UP' JABKZ HINTING. ular subject not beint; Itnmiilit forwnnl, that passage of Scrip- ture, ' Cast not yctur jiearls before swine,' " was considered. "Tlie jiassage ot" Scripture wliieh relates to the destruction ot" the children by the bears was considered ;'' w hieh, with a few more discussions on " The Millenniiun,'' " The Origin of the Soul," and "ThoOritjin of Evil," terminated a course of nearly four years' somewhat comprehensive ranije of topics. Tlu' meetings were held sometimes at live o'clock in the morning, and at others at lialf past eight in the evening. My father wrote cojiiously in preparation lor some of the dis- cussions Avhich took jjlace at this society. Three elaborate es- says are still extant; one "On the Freedom of the Will," con- sidered December 15th and 2L'd, 17!»G; the second, "On the Benefits, Dangers, and Duties resulting from the Institution of a Society for Keligious Imjjrovement," a kind of inaugural ad- dress, read, rather too late, on April 2Vth, 1707; the third on Amusi'iuents in general, with particular references to Theatrical Entertaimnents, Operas, the Circus, Cards, and other games of chance. Dancing, Balls and Assemblies, Masquerades, Cock- fightings, Horse-races, and the ]»erusal of Novels and Plays — read on November 'j;{d and :{()th, 171(7. He also read, in De- cember, 1790, and altir he had gone t<» his first circuit, a paper on "the best Means of discovering the Will of (Jod, being an abridgment of a Paper on that Subject found at length in Pike and Havwiird's 'Cases of Conscience.' " The length of these documents ])reclur<»ther Kea being detained by indisposi- tion, the j)resident, .1. liunting, read the first chapter of the Epistle to the Komans, which aflbrded matt«r for con\ers.a- ti..n." A minute dated Decendter 14th, 1707, also coimects itself with the earliest exerci.ses of his talents in the de|)artn>ent he so long occupied. "It was unanimously resolved, (1.) That, • A|iiK:iiilicc.H C nii'l D. RELIGIOUS AND INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS. 65 as it is one of tlie great and common objects of this institution to promote an increase of tlie dispositions and qualifications es- sential to extensive usefulness, it is highly desirable that we should imite, as a body, in the prosecution of some plan by ■\vliich Ave may evince our ardent desire to win souls, and have an op])ortunity of bringuig into use and exercise that degree of spiritual knowledge, whatever it be, which, by Divine help, we have accpurcd. ('J.) That the in-ayer-meeting in Cross Lane, which a few members of this society have for some time past carried on, appears to furnish us with such an opportuni- ty, and that we will conscientiously embrace it by attending in rotation, Avith such other Christian friends as may join us in this good work. {'.].) That, for this j)urj)Ose, a plan be pre- pared previously to Thursday, the 21st instant, to be then laid before us for examination and adoption." A " Plan for Attendance on the Meeting in Cross Lane" was proposed and adopted at the next meeting. Five-and-twenty persons, generally in detachments of four, were appointed to attend on successive Sunday afternoons, and groui)ed together are the names of William Birch, James Wood, John Marsden, Edward Wcsthead, and Jabez Bunting ; and, again, those of Tiobert Barnes, George AVoollam, James ]Morris, and Jabez I>unting ; the first of those last-mentioned reminding me of a man of whom my father often spoke as an example of Christian activity and zeal, and whose son and namesake has honorably distinguished himself in his native city. This prayer-meeting was held at the house of one James Ashcroft, a mechanic, then a Avell-meaning man, but a fanatic. Ilis fellow-workmen used to laugh at his profession of religion. One day their mockery was more than usually keen, and he grew angry. " I do love Christ," he shouted, '' and I can burn for Ilim ;" Avith which words he thrust his hand into the fire, and held it there until he thought his testimony complete. But his Avas an " aguish Ioac," if it Avas ever real ; and, tAventy years afterward, this same man, his son, his brother, and one William Ilolden, Avere convicted, at the Lancaster Assizes, uj)on evidence Avhich their OAvn admissions elicited, of a murder connnitted in open day upon two Avomen, at Pendleton, near Manchester, Avithin half a mile of the house Avhere the prayer-meeting had been held. All the prisoners had pleaded " Not giiilty ;" and 66 TIIH LIFE OK JAUEZ BL'NTlN(i. ^vlicn the vcnlict was given, James Aslicroft, being demanded why judguK'Ht of deatli should not be i)assed upon him, said, *' Bec-ausi' so many hes liave been told ot* tis ; and I pray that God Ahnighty would even now send down upon that table the auLrels of those nnu'dered women to testify of our iimocencc." The three other conviets gave similar repHes ; and, when the h\st had finished, all eried aloud, " Yes, we are all innocent, and ire shdll die di<-lut He shall say, I tell you I know you not whence ye are." "• IJut what ! is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing V" "Some fell ui)on stony jjlaces, where they had not much earth ; and forthicith they sprung vj)^ because they had no deepness of earth ; and when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away." " Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." "Which of these passages furnishes the solution of this strange story ? It was at James Ashcroft's doorway, one Sunday afternoon early in 1798, that my father first addressed a congregation on religious subjects. He stood up, and, after singing and prayer, delivered a short extemporaneous exhortation, without a text, to such passers-by as the service itself, or the speaker's youth, induced to stop and listen. During the sittings of the Confer- ence in ]\Lanchester in 1849, he passed and noted the place, and related the story of the murderer. In the mean time, he had become a regular " prayer-leader." In those days, the main strength and eftbrts of zealous young Methodists were spent upon the adult rather than upon the yoiuig, and Manchester was pei-vaded by a system of prayer- meetings, held principally after chapel-hours on Sunday even- ings, by means of which the water of life, fresh from the fount- ain of the sanctuary, Avas carried to large multitudes of peo])le who themselves never fetched it. Small companies were collect- ed together, generally in cottages, and the simple services at- tracted ready and general sym])athy. Short hymns, short prayers, and short but earnest addresses — exercises suited, not to the stated worship of the Church, but to the awakening of ignorant and careless smners — roused the attention of the peo- ple, and a respect for religion was induced where its power was imknown or but little felt. At these meetings, too, many who 68 THE LIFE OF JAUEZ lirNTIN(;. lonpi'd for llio privilctjcs of the SaLbatli, but, busy, ])crsccnte(l, or ashaiiu'il of ragm'ler :u)d more extensive, and bores more deeply and directly into the lowest strata of society. It is not the casual, nor even the periodic-al ^ isit, however use- ful, of the hired missionary, but the erection in every lane an Church Street, Secretary," would be placed in the Appendix, but that the size of the sheet forbids its insertion. It bears the names of two hundred and twelve prayer-leaders, the llower of the society, who regularly \isited sixtv-fom- j»laceH in the town and in its iniinediati- neigh- borh()od. I conjecture that tlu' "Kulcs of the Manchester Methodists' Praver-meetings," and, in tin- same little piunphlet, the " Direc- tions concerning Prayer ancnJix E. TRAINING FOK THE SERVICE OF METHODISM. 69 CILVTTER VI. TRAINING FOK THE SERVICE OF M^ETHODISM. Ministers in cnrly Life.— Murlin.— rawson. — Lcc— Thompson. — Taylor. — Uoilda. — lIoiipiT. — A Jam Clarke. — Bradburn. — Mather. — Kutlier- fi^.rd. — Barber. — The Connectional Disputes of 1705 and 1797. — Jabez Bunting's Interest in them. — Their Eflcct upon his Opinions and rolicj-. TiiKiiE were other preachers besides Joseph Benson whose ministry and pa.stor:il care, Liit, .above all, their ch.ir.ictcr and example, trained Jabcz Bunting for the service of ]\Iethodism. But how upon my narrow canvas are so many figures to be crowded ? Murlui, Pawson, Lee, Thompson, Taylor, Kodda, Hopper, Bradburn, Clarke, ]Mather, Rutherford, and Barber, to say nothing of others, very useful in their day, but whose indi- vidual labors h.ave left an impression on posterity less distinct and lasting, were all stationed in the Manchester circuit during the period of my father's childhood and youth. IMiKLiN, " the weeping prophet," who lies in Wesley's grave; Pawsox, a remarkable inst.ance of a moderate capital of natural gifts so luisbanded, improved, and consecrated as to enrich and bless, to an incalculable extent, both its possessor and thous.ands who came within his influence — some of whose dying expres- sions were, " Christ died for me. I am mounting to the throne of God ! Where would you have me go ?" " Tommy Lee," whom Grimshaw first employed as an itinerant, and who was as well mobbed, and as often beaten, stoned, and duekcd as any man of his time, besides being once painted all over for the truth's sake ; Thomas Taylor, clever, confident, hard-working, but al- together humble and innocent, who, when stationed in Glas- gow, "• frequently desired" his " landlady not to provide any thing for diimer, and, a little before noon," dressed himst-lf " and walked out till after dimier," and then came home to his ''hun- gry room with a hungry belly," while " she thought he had dined out somewhere, and" he " saved his credit ;" and whose brave words, uttered in a sermon preached the night before he died — " I should like to die hke an old soldier, sword m hand" 70 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. — Ptriu'k a chord iipon the linrjt of Montixoincry wliich will vi- brato whili' tiinc ondurt's ;* Kouda, a Cornish num>r, saved by tlie interference of a pood Cjuakcr from being impressed and fient to the Havana, and, by the fact of his having knelt to jiray, from being crushed to atoms in tlie nunes, and who died, after loiii; vi'ars of l:iV)or, of '' a long succession of damp beils ;" CuKisToruEK IKuTKK, elo(juent, energetic, and clVectiN c, \vhticnl Works, edition 1S.")0, jmRC 30.">. t " I eon liny l>ut little alxiut the controversy between the Cnlvininn breth- ren nnd the Armininns. I believe Christ tnsted death for cverj- man ; but I do not love contention ; I nin no disiuitnnt ; I then-fore leave i>oleniical divinity to men of learning, nbilitiex, and exi>ericnce. I can only say, I have l>een j;realiy liuinlil'd for my sin. I know in whom I have believed. I know God is love. I know it by exj)crience. He hath loved me, and given His Son for nie. I have jKinec with God, through faith in the lilood of f'hrifit. I nm nt peace with nil the saints, with all who love the Iedestal, and fixed in its true position, conspicuous in the gal- lery of connectional heroes. But upon my fatlier, as upon most other Methodists of that day, no preacher, as such, except Benson, created an impression stronger than that produced by Samuel Bkadbirx. lie was a child ten years old when first he heard him jireach. After- ward, when himself on probation for the ministry in the Old- liam Circuit, he was in the habit of Avalking into Manchester and back again, some fourteen miles, and that on the Saturday evening, for the purpose of listening to Bradburn's week-night sermons. The })iography of this extraordinary man, attempted by a daughter, immediately after his decease, under circum- stances of great discouragement, has yet to be written. I can but hastily sketch its more striking features. The son of a common soldier, and bom at Gibraltar in 1751, his mother, when he was an infant, took him away from school because she found it inconvenient, or thought it needless to spend three halfpence a week on his education. His father, when serving in Germany, had become acquainted with the Methodists who fought in the battle of Dettingcn, and whose lives form an interesting chapter in the history of Christianity in the army. The result was, that, though he did not formally join them, he began to lead a new life, and trained his thirteen children in the fear of God. He settled at Chester ; and his son Samuel, apprenticed to a cobbler, became also " an absolute slave to tiie devil and sin." 72 THK LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. One evoniiip, however, " in the close of the year 1 V69," wliile tlio youth " was niakiiifj a few cursor)' remarks on the season, antl looking at some tleeayeil flowers in a garden adjoining the house" he worked in, he was suddenly eonviiice(l of the evil of his doings. He sneaked haek to the Mi-lhodist ehaj»el ; "fju'^ted to an extreme;" "roamed about the fiehls till the wind and rain almost caused the skin to peel oflfhis cheeks;" "often put his feet in cold water, and sat on the side of a ditch till the pain nearly took away his senses; and read religious books, but daily grew more wretched." f^o, when he had tried every other way, he was shut up to the true one. "I exclaimed, ' Lord Jesus Christ, Thou didst die for sinners ; if there be yet mercy for me, oh ! reveal Thy love in my ])oor tormented heart.' This I said in the bitterness of my soul." He found jH-aee with God, and joined the society. After many temptations and ex- periences, such a.s commonly befall men of sanguine tempera- ment, his ))iety acquire«l some solidity, and he began to preach. M:uiv, and none more than himself, doubted his call; and he determined to e<»ns\ilt Fletcher, at MadiKy, who told him to "go forward in the name of the lv life connnence the extracts from his Journal whicli have been disclosed to the public eye; a most suggestive record of the sj)iritual man, conflicting constantly witii strong natural passions, with adverse fortimes, and often with the Titings, they arc rich in a sound, philoso]ihical, and thoroughly evan- gelical theology, and sparkle with eloquence and beauty. Nor can I omit a passing reference to the rare accom])lishmeuts and kindly charities of a man often misunderstood and always underrated, but whose serene good- nature, pellucid frankness, noble independence, and unrivaled conversrflion- al powers made him the delight of those who enjoyed his friendship. One specimen of his many clever sayings will suffice ; and I give it, notwithstand- ing I h.avc no sympathy with the opinions which dictated it. " I have heard," he said, "of a young curate who was so fond of the Thirty-nine Articles that he wished there were forty. For my l>art, they alw.iys remind me of the 'forty stripes save one.'" Some bejiutiful sonnets, written by Dr. Hamilton, and dated at Leeds, appeared some years ago in Blackwood's Magazine, and were attributed bv "Wilson to Mich.tcl Thomas Sadler. Vol. I.— D 74 THE LIKi: OF JAIJKZ KUNTINT!. name slKMild not apponvoii the ininutos of the year. Few 8ur- vivc wlio wituesseil llie scene — the heart-ccriet' t»t' those who sat in jiultrnient on a l\Uher " overtaken in a Ihult," and the deep, intjenuous jiciiilcnce ot" the oflender, as he bk-ssed (lod tor llie disfijdine Avliiih hail puiiislied liis dtVeuse, and even thanked tlic men upon whom the duty of detecting and of reporting it had fallen. After the interval of a year he was restored to liis jtrojv cr standing. But, though he continued to travel for eight or ten years more, and never lost his inHuence in the pul]»it, his Journal tells of a broken spirit, of i)ecuniary straits, and vi' many l)odily infirmities. Yet there runs through the whole of it a strain of genuine, if imperfect jtiety. His mind decayed before his body died ; but the last truths he understood were those Avhich he had so jiowcrfully i)reached, and his end was peace. Ills name stands godtather to many queer sayings and doings for which it is not resjxMisible ; but the man still survives iu some stories unquestionably true. iSuch was one related by my father. During the session of the Conference of 1791, four months after Wesley's death, I>radburn preached before that venerable body. He referred pathetically to their recent loss, to the danger of fatal disunion, and to the necessity of a com- mon and hearty adherence to the faith and discipline of Meth- odism. Gradu.iUy he kindled into the highest oratory; and, anxious to make the best of the ertect he felt he had ]»roduced, raised his voice, and appealed to those «if liie preachers jirescut who intended to stand by the ''old plan" to rise and testify it. Every ])reacher in the chapel sprang at once upon his feet. There was a solemn silence, broken shortly by a cry from the gallery, " Ili're's a woman in distress." "■ Hold your tongiu', you fool !" screamed l>radl)urn, indignant tlial attention siionld l>e thus diverted from his real object. None dared to smile; but all knew that the benefit of the sermon was irreparably lost, mor« by his own than by any other internqttion of the current f>f thought and feeling. On an«»ther occa.sion Uradbinti n-qmsled my lallier, tlieii in his first circuit, to attend at the minister's house in Dale Street, Manchester, at a specified hour. His summons was ol)eyeastor main- taining a stately gravity, and interfering only when both strove to talk at once. They soon saw how ridiculous the scene Avas becoming, and rose to retire. Bradburn thanked them for the profit atf»)rdcd to liiraself and to his friend, and bowed them to the door, chuckling, on his return into the room, on the success of iiis endeavor to stay an evil not imconmion among professors of religion.* Alexandku Matiiek, or as, when young, he Avrotc his name, M'Mather, though worthily commemorated by ]\Ir. Jackson, can not be passed by with a simple reference in the Biography of Jabez Bunting. Born at Brechin in 1733, he Avas carefully trained by his parents in the fear of God, and shared in the ed- ucational advantages which the i)iety and wisdom of John Knox insured as the birthright of every Scotchman. So well had ho been taught, that, when he grew up, lie " was an utter stranger to the vices connuon among men," As was Avont, he learned the Assend)ly's Catechisms by heart ; and when he " was at the Latin school, the master, every Lord's day, after the service, used to hear Avhat could be remembered of the sermons, and to ju-ay Avith his scholars." " Under one of his prayers," says Mather himself, " when I Avas about ten years old, I Avas struck Avith strong convictions, and these never quite left me, and I always retained a desire to be a Christian." In the year '45, " out of a childish frolic," he jomcd a party of the rebels ; was present, as I infer from his narrative, at the Battle of Culloden; and, after the defeat, made his Avay back again as fast as he could. His mother, Avho had gone in search of him, met him on the road ; but his fother refused to let liim come into the * I had received an impression that, at times, when my father waxed boldly oratorical, his eloquence, in some of its qualifies, resembled thiit at- tributed by tradition to Bradburn. The Rev. Isaac Keeling has favored mc with a letter, in answer to an inquiry directed to this subject. The limit.s necessarily assigned to this chapter forbid its insertion here in full, and to abridge a ])aper so rejiletc with interesting detail and practical wisdom is out of the question. I therefore place it in the Appendix (Appendix F), where its own merits, not less than the reputation of its sagacious VTiter, will -f- < ure for it an attentive ]>eruia!. <0 TIIK LIFE OF JAUEZ IILNTINCJ. house, and own intuiineil ajfaiusl liiin.* Manlictl between a lile v{ musketeers, he was taken hetore the eoinniantling ollieer, who, after askiui^ him many questions, ordered him to go home. Thither he went ; but, instead of beinjx sent again to school, the father employed him in his own business of a baker. When eiL,diteen years old he went to IVrth. An aecjtuiintanee asked him to ijo with her to the " Eitisc()|»:il meeting." ''It alVeeted me nuK-h, and from that time 1 attended it whenever I could; and I can not but say it was of great nsc to my soul, and ha.s j)roved so ever since." Probably the going to the E)»iscoiial meeting at I'erth was the result of the exju'dition to Culloden, and both gave a bias to blather's subsequent opinions as a lead- er among the Methodists. In 1 752 he -went to London, and oo- eui>ied himself in his trade; but, as he was a "foreigner," his master was summoned to (iuildhall, and obliged to put him away. lie soon found other emjiloyment. In ITo.'l, a fellow- townswoman, resident in London, and whom he had known as a child, sought liim out, and they were soon married. They seem to have lived a very steady life, and she enjoyed the com- forts of religion. The same year he entered the service of Mr. Marriott, a zealous Methodist. Here he i'ound what he "had long desired, a family wherein was the worship of (lod." "This stirred me to be more earnest in seeking Him." " I have some- times gone to my knees when I was going to l»id, and have con- tinued in that position till two o'clock, when I was calletl to work. Hilt I could liiid no ])eace, nor could I till what hinder- ed, unless it were the baking of pans, a>< they called it, on ►Sun- days." He woidd gladly have refrained from this ; but then ho mu'^t have lel\ his place. This he resolved to do " as soon as Christmas w.as over." I^Ieantime he h:id no rest; and though lie went to the "Holy Coniiiiunion," and "found some conj- fort," the sense of his guilt in profaning the Sabbath soon took it away. On the Monday morning he gave his master warning. Tlie old Methodist ".akers, but noth- • In rftum fnr whi«li tinnnliirul iK'Imvior, the wm, wlicn n Methodist prcochcr, firuvided for llio cooifort of tlic fullicrV liust yenis. TUATXINfl FOR THE SERVICE OF METUODISM, 77 iug could be coufluJed. Al'terward he asked the advice of " our brethren at the Foiindery," then the one Methodist chapel in London. "After he liad taken all these steps," proceeds ^latlier, "more than I could reasonably expect, he told nic, ' I have done all I cau, and now I hoi)e you will })e content.'" Mather thanked his master, and told him he could not stay m his service. " But I continued in prayer ; and on Sunday even- ing, after family worship, lie stopped mc and said, ' I have done to-day what will i)lease you. I have staid at home, and told all my customers I will no more bake on a Sunday.' I told him, ' II' you have done this out of conscience toward God, be ai>sured it will end well.' " And so it did. Marriott became wealtiiy ; lived to attend the ministry of his apprentice, changed into his Ruperhitendcnt, and for a long scries of years dispensed ex- tensive charities. Ilis son was one of Wesley's executors ; and liis grandson, Thomas Marriott, who died childless, and appoint- ed my father one of his executors, bequeathed many thousands of pounds to Methodist objects. Mather was taken by his master to the Foundery, at which his wife, when she heard of it, was very angry. Xevertheless, she went M'ith him, though much afraid of his being drawn into some ^vrong way. " John Nelson preached an alarnnng discourse, which I hoped would affect her much ; but, on the contrary, she was much disgusted, saying, ' He has shown me the Avay to hell, and not the way to get but of it.' But I thank God He has shown me that Jesus Christ is the way." Then they went to a class-meeting ; but his careful heljimeet never helped him in a hurry. " I was much pleased and refreshed ; but she said, 'Tiiey had all agreed what to say, in order to catch us.' " Then Wesley came to town, and JNIather heard him preach. " It was the first time I ever heard or saw you. Under that sermon God set my heart at liberty." Husband and wife soon joined tlie society. It was not long before Mather thouglit that God had called him to preach ; and, after he and his religious companions harayer, ho mentioned the subject to Wesley, who quietly told him, "This is a conunon tem])tation to young men. Several have mentioned it to me ; but the next thing I hear of them is that they are married, or upon the point of it." " Sir, I am married already." " Care not for it, but seek God by fasting and prayer." " This I have 78 TUE LIFE OF JABEZ 13UNTING. done." AVhcvouixtn AVcsley strongly " recommcnclcd patience and perseverance therein." Wesley soon sent him to preach, and very diligently did he toil. " After hasting to iinish my bnsiness abroad, I have eome home in the evening, changed my clothes, and run to preach at one or another chapel ; then walked or run back, changed my clothes, and gone to -work at ten ; wrought hard all night, and I)reached at live next morning. I ran back to draw the bread at a quarter or half an hour past six, wrought hard in the bake- house till eight, then hurried about with the bread till the aft- ernoon, and perhaps set oft' at night again." Wesley fixed his eyes upon this perfervid Scotchman, and in 1756 proposed that he should go with him to Ireland as a trav- eling preacher. Mather was quite willing, if the stewards would provide his wife with four shillings a week during his absence ; but the funds of the society would not allow them to make the pledge. So he remained at his business for another year, when, his wife's maintenance being secured, he commenced his itiner- ancy by walking a himdred and fifty miles to Epworth, in Lin- colnshire. He rose to immediate distinction in the comicction, and for forty-three years endured hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, watched in all things, did the work of an evangelist, made full proof of his ministry. Wesley ordained him, and chose him to advise and assist him in the management of the affairs of the connection, so that he was known fur a consider- able period as "Wesley's right-hand man." Benson portrays him as a preacher: "He had very clear and just views of the truth as it is in Jesus, in all its branches ; and his })reaching was peculiarly instructive, and very forcil)le and impressive. lie Avas never at a loss fur abundance and variety of edil'ying mat- ter ; and, had he had the aid of a classical education, his dis- courses, through abetter arrangement, would have ap])eared to much more advantage. His api)rehension was peculiarly (juick, his genius fertile, aneing naturally a man of strong passions, and divine grace having softened and humbled his heart, he generally felt himself the truths he deliv- ered to others, and, in consequence thereof, his hearers felt thein too." And Pawson describes his wisdom, fidelity, aiul tender- ness a.s a pastor of the flock in words whicli, with the note ap- TRAINING FOR THE SERVICE OF METHODISM. 70 pended to them in Jackson's " Lives,"* may be read with mucli advantaG^c. " That he was highly acceptable wherever he Avas stationed, all, I believe, will acknowledge ; and as none could exceed him in diligence, so he was, in general, very useful. The Lord attended his labors with an abundant blessing. It may easily be learned in what circuits he was stationed from the time he breaks off his narrative till he finished his work upon earth, by those who Avill take the trouble to look mto the min- utes of our several Conferences. And therefore, as I am not able to say what particular success attended his labors in those circuits, I shall waive relating that here. However, as from the year 1791 to 1794 he was stationed at Hull, and the three fol- lowing years at Manchester, and in the year 1797 at Leeds, I beg leave to observe that in all those places there was a con- siderable revival of the Avork of God. Many persons in those cu'cuits were awakened, and brought to the saving knowledge of God in a short time. This work was attended with some ir- regularities, and much noise and confusion. On such occasions, indeed, there are never wantmg headstrong and imprudent per- sons, who have far more zeal than discretion. These would take the work out of the hands of God into then- oavti, and drive the people forward much faster than they can go, and persuade them to profess faith before their judgment is rightly uiformed concerning the nature of faith, or their conscience awakened to a sense of sin, and, by so doing, ruin the work of God. These hot-headed persons generally look upon all to be gold which gUtters, and account all to be enemies to the work of God who are not a.s rash and as ignorant as themselves. Hence it requires no small degree of prudence, as Avell as courage, to withstand them, and to preserve others from runnu^ into their error. Mr. Mather, having had large experience in the diiFerent ways in which the Lord generally carries on His Avork, acted Avith Avon- derful prudence ; and, as he was a man that Avould use his aii- thority AAdien occasion reqiiired, he resolutely insisted upon proper order being kept in those prayer-meetings, Avhich Avere Avell attended, and in Avliich much good Avas done. By this means he preserved the work from that reproach and contempt AA'hich, in some other places, Avere brought upon it, Avhere de- cormn and regularity were not maintainec'. In the mean time, * Vol. i., p. 422-424. 80 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. he took great care of, and tvoatod Avith remarkable tenderness, those -svho professed faith iu Christ, and who were so suddenly and powerfully brought out of darkness into light. He well knew that these new-born souls required much nursing; that, however lively or happy they might appear to be for the pres- ent, yet they were in general exceedingly ignorant and quite imestablished ; and, therefore, he not only took abundance of l)ains with them himself, but he also was careful to appoint them to meet with those leaders mIio, he knew, would carefully and tenderly mstruct them. Accordingly, many of this descrij)tion were preserved, and continue steady at this day, who, hi all probabiUty, if those means had not been used, would have soon turned back mto the world again." Benson describes a visit to him on his death-bed in the year 1 800. " lie then expressed himself in the most clear, perthient, and feeling manner conceniing our redem])tion by Christ, and of his whole dependence being on this alone." " iVfter this he spoke concerning the Methodist connection in a way which showed how nuich his soul was wrapped up in the prosperity of it, and gave us many cautions and advices, urging us especial- ly to attend at the Conference to the state of the poor i)reach- ers, many of whom, he said, he knew to be in great want and distress." One of the last of his " heavenly breathings" was this : " O Jesus, whom I have loved, whom I do love, in whom I delight, I surrender myself unto Thee." Of WiLLiA3i Thompson, the first president of the Conference after the death of Wesley, fewer traces arc to be fovmd than of any of his eminent contcmi)oraries. For forty years an itiner- ant preacher, he gained a constantly increasing influence in the connection, and especially over his brethren in the muiistry. He was born in the North of Ireland iu 1V33 ; brought up, I believe, a Presbyterian ; and, during the earlier part of his pub- lic career, was frequently resident in Scotland. Like other young Methodist ])reaehers who enjoyed that advantage, he acquired, l>y a close observation of the position, attainments, and habits of the national clergy, both princii)les and feelings, which elevated the tone of his nihid and added to his means of usefulness. From his training when a boy, or from the expe- rience of his after-life, he received im])ressions hi favor of the I*resbyterian poUty which were not forgotten by him in the settlement of the constitution of Methodism. In the discus- TRAINING FOR THE SERVICE OF METHODISM. 81 sions of the Conference he distinguished himself as a clear and ready speaker, and his counsels were well-timed, wise, and moderate. He died at Birmingham in 1799. My father used to speak of the old man's gravity of speech, spirit, and de- meanor, and of the advantages he himself had derived from his example and ministry. Thomas Rutherfokd, born in Northumberland in 1752, whose father was a native of Scotland, was also brought up after the godly fashion of pious Presbyterians ; got by heart, when a child, Willison's Prayers for Children ; was wonderful- ly impressed at a sacrament ; and longed, above all tilings, to be a mmister. He too learned, when resident in the land of the Covenant and of the parish school, how to read and to think ; and, on the testimony of his friend and brother-in-law, Henry Moore, his abiUties were very considerable, and his man- ner of preaching peculiarly energetic and aftecting. John Baebee, another fruit of Derbyshire Methodism, was a wild, untaught, untoward youth, but gave early tokens of noble frankness, manly independence, and fearless decision of character. Mr. Greaves, a Methodist, went to Hope Fair for the purpose of liiring a man-servant. Few were present that day ; and, after waiting long, he hired John Barber, as the best man he could find. He had scarcely engaged him, however, when a friend told him that the lad was an inveterate swearer. He went back, and extorted a promise, sacredly kept, that his new servant would never SAvear again. Barber Avas converted; learned to weave, that he might have his time more at his own disposal ; .studied hard ; and, in the long run, became an itm- erant preacher. He was t\nce elected president of the Con- ference, and died while sustaining that office in the year 181G. In the pulpit he was plain, forcible, and exceedingly apt in the quotation of Scripture. I do not gather that liis manners ever received a very high polish ; but his sense and sincerity over- came all defects of this kind, and perhaps few men ever left be- hind them a deeper impression of true and tender kindness of heart. When quite a child, I was astonished to see my father Aveep over the letter Avhich announced the death of his old pastor and friend. He followed him to his grave at Portland Chapel, Bristol, preached his funeral sermon, and acted as one of liis executors. D2 82 THE LIP^E OF JAIJEZ BUNTING, Under the teaching and iuHuence of men such as I have thus very imperfectly described, the youth, Jahez Bunting, grew rajjidly in personal piety, in the clear apprehension and con- viction of the Christian iaith, and in a firm attachment to the doctrines and discipline of jNIethodism. His fiither's house was but a few yards distant from that occupied, from time to time, by the superintendent preachers of the circuit ; they took kiiully to him, and foresaw liis future greatness ; and he went in and out of their dwelling ahnost at his pleasure. It was his grateful companionship with them which begat in him a rev- erence for age, never lost. Even when he himself had groAvn into an old man, it was pleasant to see how he insisted upon a projjer deference being paid to ministers like Sutcliiie, Reece, James Wood, Entwisle, Gaulter, Edmondson, IMorley, and Marsden — fathers who may be fairly considered as liis own contemporaries, but in whose forms and faces he traced the Avell-remembered images of the guides of his youth. These notices of Jabez Bunting's early training would be very incomplete if another class of circumstances were not re- corded. He was twelve years old ^\hen AVeslcy died. Then burst forth the storm to which I have already alluded, and the mutterings of which had disturbed the peace, though they had never shaken the confidence of the great founder of INIethod- ism. My father watched it with growing intelligence mitil it had spent its fury. Of an eager disposition, and naturally apt at the solution of questions of practical difficulty, he noted ev- ery jjliase and change of the controversies of that period as they rose; he acquired a thorough insight into their nature and meaniug; lie became familiar with their essential ])rinci- ples ; and he laid up a store of facts, precedents, and opinions which were of "great and lasting service to lum during the whole of liis subsequent course.* * Yfft lie did not always tisc the materials he possessed. A notable ex- amjilc of this, perhaps arising from a failure of memory, very unusual with him, occun-cd in reference to the dispute as to the visitatorial powers exer- cised in cases of cmerKeney by ministers specially assemliled in District Committee. From 1827, wlicn such a visitation was held in Leeds, down to the time of my father's rctiromcnt from public life, no subject excited so much conncctional strife and a^^'itation. It was deemed very important on nil sides to ascertain bow the ]tromoters of the settlement of 1 T,)~) themselves understood and administered the system as thereby regulated. My father TRAINING FOR THE SERVICE OF METHODISM. 83 Benson, Mather, and Thompson, the three master spirits of the time — I am speaking of their influence uj^on the ecclesi- astical politics of the connection — were successively superin- tendents of the Manchester Circuit during the period com- mencing Avitli the year 1791, and ending with the year 1799. Tlie great preacher, indeed, almost becamd a martyr for tlie firm but heaUug counsels whicli he, with his two brethren, con- sistently advocated during the continuance of tlie earlier dis- sensions, A tribunal to which no courtesy can attribute either legitimacy or wisdom, even though Coke, Bradburn, and Moore sat upon it, pronounced that he had separated himself from the Methodist connection. Mather, too, was abundantly abused; nor did Thomj^son escape annoyances, Avhich must have deep- ly gi'ieved his gentle spirit. And Manchester was a great seat and centre of strife. I can not doubt that these circumstances fixed the young man's eye with earnest intensity upon the events to which I am now adverting. His sense of justice, his devotion to his own spiritual guides, and his natural cleai*ness of perception, and consequent appreciation of the right and of the wrong on either side, would all stmiulate, and from time to tune increase, the interest he took in jiublic afliliirs. It was during Benson's superintendency that the sacrament- al controversy began, and during that of Thompson the con- test which took its name from Alexander Kilham ended. Mather administered the circuit during the last and worst pe- riod of the former strife, and staid long enough to encounter the commencement of the latter. No wise man nowadays reads the copious Uterature which then deluged the connection imless he have some important practical end in view, and be gifted with inexhaustible patience ; and hence, I think, it has arisen that the Methodists of these times are, to some extent, ignorant of the obhgations they owe to the three great men whose names I have thus grouped to- had in his possession, but I believe he never quoted, the minutes of a meet- ing of a District Committee held in Manchester in 1796. They M'cre print- ed for general circulation, and a copy of tliem will be found in the Appen- , dix. (See Appendix G.) Unless Holy Scrijjturc have established, for all times, places, and circumstances, a uniform platform of church government (and Methodists do not profess to vest their ecclesiastical policy upon anv jus divimim'), I do not see how the general reasoning of this document can be refuted. 84 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. gethcr. They undoubtedly settled the dispute about the sac- raments, and so prevented a ruinous catastroplie. Benson clave strongly, in his individual preferences, to the original plan of a society within a Church. Thompson, on the other hand, saw clearly, and, I conjecture, did not regret, that successive de- partures from that i)lan had already forced the connection ihto a i)osition of practical indej)endence. Mather, sympathizing with Benson's Avishes, had arrived slowly at Tliompson's con- clusions. Other raeu of the day, of great talent and mfluence, either caught hastily at the easy idea of a separation, popular with the masses of the people, or vacillated between opposite principles. But the three, after years of contest, and after con- sulting all mterests and opinions, reconciled contending parties, and framed the outlines of a system true both to the essential spirit and to the imperative demands of Methodism. Let due - honor attend the memory of all the leading actors in those stir- ring events, but let the three " ciders" who " ruled" so " well be counted Avorthy of double" reverence. More than others, and often in bold resistance to hosts of powerful opponents, they, by their comprehension of the genius of the system — their decj) sense of the importance of the trust confided to them by Wesley — their pastoral yearnings after the flock as a whole,* however divided in uiterest and feeUng — their foresight, judg- ment, and temper — preserved and even compacted the great " Work of God," still " called Methodism." * "Wliat if their cflbrts had failed, and the i)artj' strongly ojiposed to separation from the Churcli of Enghmd had been alienated from the con- nection ! The list of the names of its ])rincii)al leaders, when read in the li^ht of the subsequent history of the body, is well wortli study. Among tliem arc those of Matthew Mayer, William Marsdcn, Daniel Burton, John Marsden, .Tames Ilcald, AVilliam Carvosso, LawTence Frost, Peter Kaye, Michael Asiiton, John Ilallam, George Urling, John Coliinson, Ilen-cy Walklato Moo]>lo, iinpiUii-nl lor al)soluto indopcMulcncc, on tlu' otlu>r. The loriiu'r class luKl slrii'lly to Wesley's loni; and latest declaration, that his jireacliers Avero mere lajnncn, incompetent to assmnc the ministerial office; while tljc separatists either took the low tjronnd of deny in t; that the mere disjiensation of the sacraments implied any sncli assnmjition — a notion never very seriously maintained — or stood l)oldly upon the l)road facts of their position, and daimeil the rights which it involved. When the dispute was accom- modated, it was arranged for ])eace' sake ; and neither did the adherents of the old ])lan admit, nor did tlie party whieli en- joyed the substantial fruits oV victory care to contend, that the preadiers were or miglit be ministers. That (piestion was re- garded, if regarded at all, as ])urely tlieoretical, and it was hoped that time would settle it. But the regulation which forbade the use of the term " reverend" was preserved, as wa.s also the somewhat aml)iguous declaration that "the distinction between ordained and unordained preachers shall be dropped." The settlement of 1795, therefore, when that of 1798 came on, by no means favored any very formidable pretensions on the part of the ministers of the body. Nor did the people occupy a position better calcidated to secure their interests. If the min- isters were but newly recognized as such, the peopli' became, as by a stroke of the pen, mem]>ers, not of a society, but of a Churcli. Not one in a hundred knew that there had been a Kevolution. They had got the sacraments, and th.'\t was all they w.'inteil. And it would almost a])pi'ar that, when the lay otiicc-bearers — the f>nly class of the laity which ti>ok any man- ifest concern in the matter — argued rivileges, they took it for granted that those privileges would be safer in their hands than in those of the people themselves and of their mini>^t('rs. It is well that the Conl'erence Ibrinecl an ojiposite opinion. Under the ])ressurc of difiiculties stjch .as these a Constitu- tion was framed, which, fertinent quotations from the writings of Dr. Robertson and of Alexander Kilham, and complains of "the secret distribution of money;" of the jicople being gov- erned by the- preachers ; then, agam, of the people being gov- erned by the trustees ; of Wesley's Deed-Poll ; of lawyers (e. ultil<(', xii., ■■■- TN.Kni |("iiMiii. F^fi-. of Manclicslor. CALL TO THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 95 32; Matthew, xi., 28; Romans, vi., 17; Numbers, x., 29; 1 Timothy, iii., 16; Liiko, xxiv., 34; PhUippians, iv., 19; and Jude 20, 21, I gather from these that the matter of his preach- ing was chiefly consolatory and hortatory ; bi;t that he ah-eady aimed at that exhibition of exact and hmiinons theology, com- bined with what should be practically and immediately effect- ive, which so remarkably distinguished his subsequent mm- istry. His name appears on two "Plans," preserved by himself, of the Manchester Circuit during the period between Febru- ary and August, 1799. On the first it stands last but one on the list of preachers. Above it are those of Holland Hoole, the father of Dr. Hoole — the latter for nearly twenty years Dr. Bunting's able and faithful colleague in office, and his as- siduous and welcome friend and visitor " in the time of old age" and in his dpng moments — and of some of his associates in the society I have described in the fifth chapter — John Hey- Avood, George Burton, William Bennett, James Wood, and Solomon Ashton. Mr. Thompson and Mr. Barber sign certifi- cates on the two documents successively : ^' The bearer here- of, Jabez Bunting, is an approved local preacher here, and may be employed as such wherever he comes." At the Quarter Sessions held at Salford on the 10th of April, 1799, he "came before the justices present," and took the oaths and declaration "svhicli entitled him to the protection of the law " as a Dissenting minister ;"* a formahty which af- terward stood him hi good stead in time of peril. * Then, as now, the law did not permit him to take them as a Methodist minister. It sanctioned, as Lord Mansfield held, his pnhlic teaching, inas- much as, on condition of his taking thct^aths, it insured to him certain ex- emptions from the ordinary duties of citizenship. But it compelled him to take them as a Dissenting minister; not caring — [de minimis non curat lex.') — to recognize the distinction between a man always ready to avow his conscientious hostility to the national establishment, and one, not unfriend- ly to it, willing, for the sake of doing good, to admit the simple fact of un- conformity. As though Lord Clyde, in quieting the provinces of India, should insist upon each rebel's declared hate of British rule as the price of amnesty! A question occurs to me, in connection with these remarks, which I do not know how to answer. Since Nonconformists generally ac- cept from the state for their ministers certain privileges as and because they profess themselves to be Dissenting ministers, why should those who object ta Chiuch-rates refuse exemption from a tax, if exemption be offered upon 96 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. Now light dawned upon him, and lie was willing patiently to ponder '' the path of" his " feet." A fragment only remains of a paper written when he had made a partial experiment of his new voration. " I. To tlie first question" — its nature may be easily inferred — " I think I may reply m the affirmative. On a serious con- sideration of this question in August last, notwithstanding a deep sense of my deficiency in point of religious knowledge, of my want of time for theological study, and of my youth, in- experience, unfaithfulness to God's grace, and littleness of faith and love — notwithstanding these discouraging circumstances, I was induced to engage in the Avork by considcrmg the want of laborers ; the general duty of using every talent ; the pre- sumption that arises, from the education and otlier means of information with which Providence has favored me, of my be- ing, in some degree, not unqualified for the work ; the deep- rooted and long conviction of my mind that I ought to preach ; and, lastly, the opinion of those friends Avhom I have consulted on the subject, and of others, who all seem to approve of the attempt. Since that period I have spoken in pubUc six times, and, tliough still very sensible of my insufficiency, am confirm- ed by cxi)erience in my former decision, viz., that I am called of God to preach. My own soul has sometimes been blessed in the emplojment, and, I have reason to think, the souls also of them who heard me. My friends are unanimous in advis- ing me to proceed, and seem satisfied as to my call; and tlie conviction of ray own conscience that it is my duty is stronger than ever. " II. But, this question being decided, another equally per- plexing and important arises, viz.. Shall I officiate only occa- sionally as a local )>reacher, or shall I devote my Ufe entirely to the service of God and His Church, by resolving to abandon Himihir terms? And this question remimls mc of another. If wc nrc to liavc an act of ParUiiment cnalilinR a majority of rate-payers in any parish to jiroliilnt the sale of intoxicating drinks within that j)arisli, wiiy sliould not a like majority preserve the ri^ht to lay a Church-rate? The j.rinciple contended for is the ni7/ of tlie majority ; and I suj)pose tha friends of the Maine-law movement wouhl he as much vexed if the majority refused to shut up a dram-slio]) as tlie supi»orters of Ciuirch-rates now ftsel when the majority stops the ])arish clock or silences the Sabhath mus-ic of church-bells. CALL TO THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 97 the study of medicme, and to engage, at some future period, as a traveling preacher ? " For the negative it may be urged — " But here the paper ends. * Another memorandum, more complete, deals with this " per- plexing and important" matter : "1. The Avork is unspeakably important, and requires great talents, cultivated by great application, and by more diligent theological study than I have been able to j^ursuc. I am, therefore, exceedingly ill quaUfied for an employment which demands such extent of knowledge. " 2. My small proficiency in the Divine life is another most weighty objection against my indulging the idea of any such change in my destination. " 3. My constitution of body is by no means strong, and is ill fitted to bear the fatigues and inconveniences of an itinerant life. " 4. My education and studies have been for some time reg- ulated by the idea of my being destined to practice physic, and if I now abandon that idea I shall lose the fruits of much labor ; I shall have put my friends to much useless expense ; whereas, by pursuing my present plan, with advantages and prospects of success such as I possess,! may hope to have it in my power to show my gratitude to an aged mother, and my affection to my yomig sisters, by rendering them that support and assistance for which they have a just claim upon me. " For the affirmative I should consider, " 1. The want of laborers. " 2. The duty of being as extensively useful as possible in the vineyard of my Lord. " 3. The deeivrooted and long-continued conviction of my mind that a dispensation of the Gospel is committed to me, and that ' woe is me' if I do not spend my hfe in preachuig the Gospel. " The opinion of all friends whom I have consulted, and of more of whose opinions I have heard, and es])ecia]ly the advice of those who know from experience what the situation of a Methodist preacher is, namely, JNli*. Thompson, jMr. Barker,* and Mr. Marsden, * The late Kev. Jonathan Barker, then stationed in the Manchester Cir- VoL. I.— E 98 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. "After seriously Aveit^liing tliese considerations, I am clear that, notwithstanding my mifaithfulness and insutliciency, I shall be more useful, more holy, and more happy in the situa- tion of a ^Methodist i)reacher than in any other, and that, there- fore,! ought to look forward to it. "Here my mind for some time rested; but on the 11th of November, 1798, Mr. Barker advised me seriously to consider whether it would not be better to bring the matter to an issue at once, and to go out as an itinerant at the Conference of 1799. In December, 1798, or January, 1799, Mr. Thompson, our superintendent, strongly urged me to the same purpose.* I am now, therefore, involved in as much anxiety as ever to know whether I ought to wait until August, 1800, or to com- ply with the otfer made by Mr. Thompson of gohig out in 1799. " For the former plan is urged, " 1. That I am but a yonng man, and should not have com- pleted my twenty-lirst year in August, 1799, and therefore could not, perha))s, be received Avith sufficient res})ect ; and, " 2. I am yet but a young jyreachcr, and have had but very little practice in the work. I should, therefore, find it very difficult to fliee large and numerous congregations, to which I had never before been accustomed. " 3. ]My stock of skeletonsf is yet so small that I should find it difficult, if not impossible, to avoid sameness and repetition when I had to preach to the same congregation several times in a week. " 4. I am as yet imaccustoraed to preaching more than twice a day in or near Manchester. How, then, would my health bear the fatigue of ])reaching three or four times, adtled to that of traveling perhaj)S many miles? " C)m the other hand it may be observed, " II" I stay another year in my i)resent situation (as I must, if I stay at all), the difficulties above mentioned will be very cuit, n man who nbandoncd prospects of affluence, and worked long and steadily as an itinerant jircacher. * It was one of the last services he rendered to the Church. Tie left the circuit iluririK tlie following month of Ajiril, and died in May. t I hope the youn^ medical student's use of this term will not he mis- taken hy any innocent reader, who may casually open the volume at this CALL TO THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 99 little removed. My oppoi'tunities of exercising are so limited that, if pramce be essential to any improvement, I must go somewhere else to attain it." But here, again, the MS. breaks off. Mr. Mather was consulted, and in a letter, addressed in Feb- ruary, 1799, "to Mr. George Marsden, Methodist Chapel in Macclesfield," evidently remembering how " common" a "temptation" it Avas "for young men to Avish to preach," writes Avarily as follows : " N.B. — The case of Mr. Bunting requires much considera- tion, as his all depends iipon it. It seems almost for eternity and time. Much, therefore, depends upon the clear conviction of his owTi mind. If this can not be at rest unless he devotes himself to the Avork of God, and he is at liberty to abandon all Avorldly hopes of ever becoming acquainted AAdth a profession* that AA'ill be gentle bread at some not A^ery distant period, the matter is ended. He alone should judge and determine in this case, as he only is likely to feel the good or bad effects in this point of vicAV. There can be little doubt of his bemg received into the work on trial, as you and others Avould recommend him. I Avould, therefore, request that he should lay the mat- ter before the Lord, and ask his friends to do the same in ear- nest 2)rayer, until the AA'ill of the Lord should be known." My father himself then addressed Mr. Mather : " Dear and iioxored Sir, — My friend, Mr. George Mars- den, sent me, some time ago, an extract of a letter from you. It appears that he had AA'ritten to you concerning my going out next Conference as a traveUng preacher. Accept my best thanks for the consideration you have bestowed on my case, and for the advice you haA^e so kindly given me on this, to me, most important subject. I noAV thuik it my duty to lay the Avhole matter before you, and hope your goodness Avill excuse this intrusion upon your time and attention. "EA'er since my conA'ersion to God in the year 1794, and, indeed, for a much longer jjeriod, I haA^e been strongly im- pressed Avith an idea that I should be called to tlie Avork of * Mr. Mather broufrht up his own son to it, of which bold action, on the part of a poor Methodist preacher, Jlr. Tawson, sixty yeare ago, thought it necessary ty render an cxvhination and a defense. 100 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. the ministry. This impression continued to follow mo ■with siieh increasing Ibree that, after much prayer and (#nsider.ation, and after taking the ojnnion of my Christian friends, I thought it my duty to make the attempt, which I did, with much fear and trendiling, in August last. The conviction tliat 1 am called to preach has ever since been more and more clear ; and, encouraged by the mianimous oi)inion of my fi'iends, and espe- cially by the advice of Mr. Thompson, Brother Iley wood, and others of our local preachers, I have exercised my httlc talent as often as opportunity has occurred ; not, however, without frequently feeling such fears and anxieties, and such a con- sciousness of my inabiUty, that nothing but a sense of duty could have induced mc to persist. "It was in November last that Mr. Barker first proposed to me to go out as a traveling preacher at Conference. This proposal Mr. Thompson soon afterward repeated, and strongly advised mc to comply, as did also Mr. Barber, Mr. Marsden, and other friends. I have seriously weighed the subject, and liave made it a matter of earnest and continual prayer from that tuue to this. On the one hand, I consider my youth (being now only about twenty), the little progress I liavo made in the ways of God, my unfaithfulness to Divine grace, my inexperience and want of practice in preaching, and the niis])eakable importance of the work ; and these reflections al- most deter me from entertaining the idea. On the other hand, I consider the danger of shrinking from what, after all, I can not help tlunking to be my duty, and of refusing to comply with Avhat seems to all my friends to be the call of Providence. On the whole, therefore (though with much fear of running before I am sent), recollecting the promises of Divine support and assistance, and that my sufficiency must bo in God, I think the conviction of my mind is clear tliat I ought to com])ly with the pro])osal ; that I can never l)e at rest unless I devote my- self wholly to the work of God ; and that the life of a IVIetho- dist ]ireachcr, all circumstances considered, is that in which I shall Ijc most holy, liap})y, and useful. "P>om one of the considerations above mentioned, viz., my inexperience and Avant of ])ractice in ))reacliitig, I have often llionght it would be belter to stay another year, and to go out in August, 1800, at Avhich tune, with (lie blessing of God, I CALL TO THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 101 might be more fit for taking a circuit. Sucli a determination, indeed, I had ahnost made in my own mind ; but I could not rest while I thought of adhering to this resolution ; and, upon reconsidering the matter with my friends, I think I have seen reason to alter it. You are aware that I now live in the house of Dr. Percival, of Manchester. The last time I spoke to him on the subject, the plan he recommended me was this : that I should stay wath him till midsummer, 1799; that I should then prosecute my medical studies for a year in. London or Edinburgh; and, in the year 1800, return and settle in Man- chester. Now, sir, to spend a year from June, 1799, in finisli- ing my medical education, -with the fixed intention of aban- doning medicine forever in August, 1800, would be a most mijustifiablc waste both of time and of money, to which my conscience, and my duty to a widowed mother and tAvo sisters, would hardly allow me to consent ; and, even if Dr. Perci\al, whose kindness to me is almost paternal, were willing to alter his plan — for "\ve never entered into any absolute agreement, either written or verbal — and w^ould permit me to stay with him in Manchester another year, it would stiU be a waste of time ; for I atn here so unavoidably confined, and so much de- barred from opportmiities of exercising, being obliged to attend the doctor as an amanuensis almost as much on Sundays as on other days, that I should not have much more 2>i'actical ktiotol- edf/e of preaching a year hence than I have now. At least, I might improve myself more in three months, were I in a cu*- ciut, than I could in twelve while I remain here. " As to abandoning my hopes of nicdical success, though not one young man in ten, perhaps, has so flattering prospects in that way as myself, I can, blessed be God, freely and cheer- fully give them up, if He calls for the sacrifice. Gold is dust compared to souls ; and if, through mercy, I may be happily instrumental in brmging souls to God, I trust I am content to forego all worldly advantages, and to sufier for Him, by His grace, the loss of all things. " From the above statement, you will perceive, sir, the deli- cacy of my situation M-ith respect to Dr. Percival. I do not see how I can, with propriety, inform him of my resolution to leave his family, unless I have as much certainty as the nature of the case will admit of niy bemg received and appointed to 102 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. a circuit at tlic next Conference. Another difiiculty arises also with respect to my dear mother and sisters, to whom (my father being dead, and I iiis only son) my occasional presence and assistance are almost essentially necessary. " Having thus inireservedly laid before you all the circum- stances of my case, I have only to apologize for the length of this letter, and to request that you will be kind enough to favor me with an answer to the three following queries, viz. : " 1. Do you, on the whole, advise me to go out at the next Conference ? " 2. If so, how far may I depend on being admitted upon trial at the Conference, pro\dded I be satisfactorily recom- mended by the Quarterly and District meetings ? " 3. Would it be impertinent for me to request and to hope that, for the first year, I may be sent to some circuit at such a moderate distance from Manchester as would admit of some occasional visits to my mother ? " I beg my very affectionate respects to Mrs. M., and shall be glad to hear that she, yourself, and your son William are in tolerable health. Begging an interest in your prayers that the Lord may direct and helj) me, I am, dear and honored sir, your very affectionate and much-obliged servant, " Jabez Bunting. " P.S. — Please to indulge me with your answer in a post or two, that I may make my decision before our Quarterly meet- ing, which is fixed for Monday next." The folloAving is Mr. Mather's reply, addressed to " Mr. Buntmg, No. 33 Church Street, Manchester :" "London, March 22d, 1799, " My dear Brother, — Yours (before me) fully silences all the fears I suggested to Mr. Marsden, as it proves you have had full counsel, and are come to a fixed determination upon the business hi hand. " I send this hasty line that I may be no let to your })ro- ceeding regularly, as your Quarter day is on Monday, and the rather as I see no reason now to suppose your requests will not be fully agreed to. Meantime, give my love to all my brethren, the traveling preachers, with all my other friends CALL TO THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 103 and brethren in Manchester, as if named, to whom I wish great" {illegible) " and much prosperity. Tell Brother Hey- wood he took a kind of French leave : I made sure of seeing him again to say farewell. Our love to him. " Remember me to your mother and sisters, to whom I hope you will ever prove a dutiful child and affectionate brother. Pray for your (who is jomed by his in love to both, andi^ar- ticularly your uncle Josepli) ever ready servant in Christ, "A. Mather." A letter to Dr. Percival, announcing his intention to enter the ministry, concludes the notices of this period. *'Dear and honored Sir, — I have for some weeks past wished to mention to you in person the subject of this letter, but liave always found myself unable, from a variety of pain- ful feelmgs, to perform that task. I am therefore compelled to ta^e this mode of communicating what it would be culpable in me longer to conceal, viz., that I have it in contemplation to abandon the study of medicine, and to enter into the ministry among the Methodists. " This intention, I trust, is the result of mature and impar- tial consideration, and of a full conviction that the proposed change in my destination will essentially promote the happi- ness and usefuhiess of my future life. The most serious obsta- cle to my decision has been the fear that I should not obtain from you that concurrence and approbation which I anxiously wish on this, and on every occasion, to possess. I hope, how- ever, that, should you think me to have erred in my views, and disapprove of my conduct, you will nevertheless do me the justice to believe that I am influenced solely by a sense of what appears to be my duty. "The period at which, if it suit your arrangements, I should wish to be at liberty, is the middle of next July. But I shall be solicitous, on this point, scrupulously to consult your con- venience ; and, if you particularly desire it, I shaU certainly think myself bound in justice to stay with you another year. " It is w^th emotions of unspeakable regret that I look for- ward to so speedy a termination of my present connection with you. I have spent in your household the happiest years 104 THE LIFE OF J.iBEZ BUNTING. of my life, and shall never cease to entertain a most gratefnl and aliectionate rcsjject for you, Mrs. Percivul, and your whole family. " IlaviuGj thus prepared the way for a conversation Avith you on this subject, I have only to add my warmest thanks for the ahuost paternal kindness Avith which you have honored me, and to subscribe myself, dear sir, your most obUged and aftection- ate servant, J. Bunting. " P.S. — ^For the present, permit me ] ]ir ^.j, f . to request that you wiU conceal the I Xn72ol/^ 1799." contents ot this letter. Dr. Percival, as was to be expected, was not very avcII pleased with the change thus announced; but he very kuidly acqui- esced in it ; and my father, havhig passed through the usual examination to which candidates for the itinerancy were then subjected, was received by the Conference of 1 799 as a " preaph- er on trial," and appointed to the Oldham Circuit. I have thus given the narrative of my fl^ther's call to the ministry almost entirely in his own words, and I make no apol- ogy for pubUshing all he has left behhid him on the subject, even at the expense of some repetitions both of thought and language. Sincerity, caution, self-denial, modesty, humility, decision — these are the qualities wliicli strike me as most ob- servable in all he wrote about it, whether intended for perusal by others, or for the assistance of his own judgment and mem- ory. Inote, too, his strong sense of the obligation of filial and other relative duties, and the subdued and healthy tone of the allusions to his own religious experience. PROBATION IN THE OLDHAM CIRCUIT. 105 CHAPTER Vin. PROBATION FOR THE MIISTISTRY IN THE OLDHAM CIRCUIT. Commencement. — John Gaiiltcr. — Timidity. — Devotedness to Study. — Mis- cellaneous Correspondence of Jabez Bunting, Thomas Preston, George Burton, Edward Percival, John Hepvood, the Steward of the Liverpool Circuit, William Black, Dr. Percival, Solomon Ashton, John Crook, and John Gaulter. — Labors and Success at Oldham. — The Burtons of ]\Iid- dlcton. It was in the month of August, 1799, that Jabez Bimting walked to Oldham, the principal place in liis first circuit ; his only luggage bemg a pair of saddle-bags, hmig over his shoid- der, containing his necessary wearmg-apparel, and the books required for immediate use. Many a Methodist preacher's whole fortune had, before that day, been carried in hke man- ner, the readiest being the best means of transport for those who spent half their lifetime on horseback. Joseph Redfern, his uncle and class-leader, walked with him out of his mother's door, and for a considerable distance on the road. The old man's heart was full, and at a lone spot by the wayside he knelt down, asked God's blessing, gave his own, and parted. My father's first superintendent was John Gaulter, then a minister of fourteen years' standing; president m 1817; a hard-working pastor for eighteen years after his election to that office ; and then a happy, " worn-out" " supernumerary" until 1839, when he died in honor and in peace. My father's own hand has recorded upon his tombstone, in the burial- groimd attached to City Road Chapel, that " he was a man of much natural genius and talent, and had acquired, by reading, large stores of mformation ;" that " his piety was active, ar- dent, and devout, and his pubHc ministry laborious, impressive, evangehcal, and eminently succe^ful in the conversion of shi- ners to God," while '' in his pastoral relations and fimctions he was diligent, afiectionate, and useful." The -minutes of the Conference testify that " his character generally presented a E 2 106 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. fine union of intellectual power, devotional feeling, affectionate sensibility, and practical diligence." I may add that he was one of those great men to whom the Church, when they are about to embark in its service, owes rightfully the advantage of a systematic trahiing, and who, for want of it, arc prevent- ed from doing full justice to themselves and to their work. It was in the pulpit only, however, and there m respect chiefly of the formal arrangement and nice finish of his discourses, that any defect Avas observable ; but there, and every where else, a glow of kindly genius played about him, whicli, together "with a pleasant, innocent, and imselfish egotism, identified, but, at the same time, endeared him to his many friends. " I have road every book in the Enghsh language," he said, one day, m Conference ; but he was put to instant confusion by the in- quiry, I think, of Mr. Blanshard, the book steward, Avhether he was master of" Tom Thumb." My father writes to him in the year 1800, after Mr. Gaulter had left Oldham: "I need not re- peat here what I said in Leeds, and what you well knoAV, that your presence at the openmg in Delph is a sme qua wo??, and will not, on any account, be excused. We could neither sing, nor pray, nor preach, nor beg, nor eat, nor smile, nor sleep witliout you." He was a thorough gentleman, and his wife a lady, and imder their roof my father niissvd none of the amen- ities he had enjoyed in Dr. rercival's household. No Avonder that my father's final record of hhn was an expression "of ten- der and respectful love." The old man, on his side, was fond of boasting that Jabcz Bunting was " one of my lads." My fatlier has preserved his i)lans for the whole period of his itinerancy. Tliat for the Oldliam Circuit was not printed, Init, having been made by the superintendent, was copied out by his colleague for his OAvn use. There were but ten places on the "round," the farthest of which Avas distant six miles only. Very few specific traditions can l)e collected as to his histo- ry during the period of his residence at Oldham. It is still told, however, hoAV, after a week-night service in a cottage at Suddleworth, soon after Ins arrival in the circuit, he held anx- ious talk Avith the good man of the house (ju-obably it Avas William Greenwood) before he Avent to bed, and expressed his fears that "he should not bo able to find materials to hold out even for six months ;" and how, locked up in the " prophet's PROBATION IN THE OLDHAM CIRCUl'l\ 107 room" the whole of the succeeding day — his meal-tinies forgot- ten by the good people below, because a frightful flood swept through the vale, and forbade their thinking of any thing but their lives and goods — he came down late m the afternoon, all unconscious of the stir, and set off" to his next place. Li this circuit, too, he first " stood by his order." When some ques- tions Avere mooted in the Quarterly meeting, during the discus- sion of which the preachers were expected to retire, he boldly refused to do so ; and it was declared by one astonished and angry brother that " a good old rule had that day been set aside to please that proud son of Adam, Jabez Bunting." This pleasant episode remained for many years recorded in the cir- cuit-book, but has been torn out. Six weeks after he got into his circuit he corresponded with his recent pastor, Mr. Barber, then removed to Rotherham. I think both letters worth preserving. "Oldham, Sept. 23d, 1799, " My deak Sir, — Though I intended speedily to avail myself of the privilege of your occasional correspondence which you kindly offered to me when I left Manchester, yet I should not so soon have troubled you with a letter but at the desire of my honored mother. She has never received any acknowledgment for the board of Mr. and Mrs. Shelmerdine during the Confer- ence. As her circumstances will not permit her, on this occa- sion, to act uj) to her feelings and wishes, she is under the un- pleasant necessity of requesting your mterference. Perhaps a line from you (if possible, by return of post) to the person who promised you to defray the expense of this business, remindmg him of his engagement, and urgmg him to the immediate ful- filhnent of it, would be the best way of terminating the mat- ter, and it would be esteemed as a particular obhgation both by my mother and myself. " I have now been nearly six weeks in this circuit, and, upon the whole, have been agreeably disappointed. I fully expected that the first three months, at least, would have been a season of uninterrupted darkness and discouragement. I bless God, He has been ' better' to me ' than mv boding fears.' Thouo:h I have had trials and exercises unusually severe, I have also re- ceived micommon consolation and support, and, at some times. 108 * THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. my work has been inexpressibly delightful to me. Tlie most distressing temptation that now assails me arises from my nei- ther seeing nor hearing any striking or lasting fruit of my ht- tlc labors. Perhaps, however, I am too impatient in this, and I live in hope that I shall not long be permitted ' to labor ui vain, or spend my strength for naught.' Through the mercy of God, I am more than ever satisfied as to my call to the work, and am fully persuaded that my decision in this matter was agreeable to the Divine will. This clear conviction that I am hi the way of Providence tends more than any thmg else to encourage and support me, for I can not doubt that the path of duty will ultimately be that of happiness and success. I think that the following hues accurately express the breathings of my soul : ' O may I every mourner cheer,' etc.* " We have a tolerable prospect of good being done in most parts of our circuit. Our congregations in general are upon the increase, and many of the people are ahve to God. Wc want, however, more of what, in Manchester, they call the spir- it of the revival ; more of a willingness to let God work in His owm way, and to become co-workers with Ilim, however con- trary that may be to our own preconceived notions of order and propriety. In this point I am rather unpleasantly situated, owing to the divided sentuncnts of our people ujwn these sub- jects. But I desire to do and know the whole will of God. " I have thus fully opened my mhid to you, in the hope that you will favor me with such advices and directions as I may seem to need. A letter from you Avould be truly acceptable. Mr. Gaulter joins me in love to you ; and I remain ever, earn- estly begging your prayers, and with affectionate respects to Mrs. Barber, my dear sir, your obliged and unworthy brotlier and servant, Jakez Bunting. "P.S. — The ]\ranchester folks are highly gratified with Messrs. liradl)urn and Coo])er, and arc likely to go on well. Dr. Coke is there tliis evenmg, and will l)e here to-morrow, on * The whole stanza, written by Cliarles Wesley, runs as follows : "O nii^lit I CVC17 moitmcr cheer, And troiilile every heart of stone ; Save, untlcr Thee, the souls that hear, Nor lose, in scekint; them, my own; Nor l)asely from my <;illin>; fly, But for Thy Gospel live ;iud die !" PROBATION IN THE OLDHAM CIRCUIT. 109 Ids "way to Ireland. Give me leave to ask your opinion of the doctor's Commentary, and whether it would be worth my while to subscribe for it. At present, I have none but Wesley's and Hammond's on the New Testament; the former too concise, and the latter too entirely critical to satisfy a Biblical student." " Rotherham, October 24th, 1799. " My very dear Brother, — 4: ^ :|i ^ ^ " I am glad to hear that the Lord has been better^ to you than your fears, and that you have fewer trials and more hap- piness than you expected. This is the Lord's doing, and ought to encourage you to trust in Him, and excite you to praise Ilim. The Lord knows whereof we are made, and remembers we are but dust ; as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear hun. As you are fully satisfied respectmg your call to the work, and that you are where Providence would have you to be, you must leave the time of fruit to the Lord. " We are sometunes ready to think no good is doing unless sinners are aAvakened and converted to God; but this is an error ; for good is done when the weak are strengthened, the tempted succored, the wavering confirmed, and the children of God fed with food convenient for them. And this, per- haps, is of as much, if not of more importance than the awaken- ing of sinners. At the same time, remember that some men are particularly called to this work, and you may be one of that nmnber. I am fully convinced that what our friends at Manchester call the spirit of the revival is the spirit in which we should all five if Ave wish to be useful. " But you will find that many of the rich, and all the luke- warm Methodists wUl be against it, because they want a re- hgion and a mode of worship that will meet the approbation of the world. If oin* ancestors had regulated their opinions and conduct according to the judgment of the world, what would the Methodists have been at this day ? I am afraid that those of om- friends who are so desirous of having the good opinion of the world have already missed their way, for no religion will please them biit that of their oyn\ stamj). I would therefore have you to form your notions from the word of truth, and not from what this or that man may say on the 110 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. sul)ject. Dr. Coke's Coinmcntary (as far as I am ahle to judge of it) is likely to be the best extant ; but you must consider the price, and the length of tune it will be in coming out. " "SVe arc very peaceable in our circuit, but at i)reseiit have no remarkable work of God. jNIy colleague* is a truly good man, and acceptable to the people, and I hope will be useful. "iPlease remember me to your mother and all inquiring friends, as opportunity may serve. I am, my dear brother, your truly affectionate J- Baebek." The iate Rev. TuoiLVS Pkestox, a very steady laborer in Christ's vineyard for nearly forty years, had been stationed in Manchester durmg the preceduig year, but had removed to the Edmburgh Circuit. He writes to my father from Dimbar on March 11 ih, 1800: " I am very fond of Scotland, for the many opportunities I enjoy of makhig improvement in usefid knowledge. Our cir- cuit is different from most in England ; we have but three places where we preach on a Simday — Edinburgh, Dalkeith, and Dunbar. The preachers in Edinburgh and Dalkeith change every fortnight at Dmibar, which is twenty-seven miles east of Edinburgh. AVe stay for three months, except the superintendent, who stays only about one month. Here I liave to preach live times a m eek. I take a walk out by the sea-side before V)reakfast, and then sit down to read till three or four o'clock in the afternoon. Divinity, Ecclesiastical His- tory, Grammar, and Logic take up my time for the present. I lind it is not an easy matter to become a soimd diviire. To skim over the surface may be done without much trouble ; ]>ut I am more than ever convinced that to bo a workman needing not to be ashamed can not be attamed without study, pethod, taste, and application. The people of Scotland, for the most i)art, are a knowing, sensil>le people, but there is not that depth of i)iety which knowledge requires to keep it in its proper jjlacc. But there is no necessity that a ])reaclier should drink into their spirit ; and the more he is spiritual in his con- versation, the more he is respected by them. I V)elieve the Lord hath called me to the work of the ministry ; but I often tremble at the thought. Imi)ortant trust! to have the care * Tlic lalc Kcv. Charles Gloync. PKOBATION IN THE OLDHAM CIRCUIT. Ill of souls — souls immortal, and bought with the blood of Christ ■—souls that must stand before the Judge of all, and meet me Defore Ilim — souls that must be acquitted or condemned by the very word I i^reach ! Never court poiiularity. Always seek the good of souls ; and, while your eye is smgle, you will not only have the approbation of God, but also of good men." From a letter addressed by my father to his friend Edward Percival, then at St. John's College, Cambridge, and dated April 18th, 1800, I extract as follows: "You are perfectly right in supposmg that Oldham is not ' the birth-place of gen- ius.' I am not, however, by any means destitute of agree- able society. Mr. Gaulter, my colleague and superintendent, in whose house I dwell, is a most pleasing and iutelhgent com- panion. My situation, on the whole, is a very comfortable one, but it is doubtless made more so than it otherwise could be by the clear conviction of my mind that I am in the path of duty, and that my present profession is that in which I can be most happy and most useful. Tlie improvement in my health has been great indeed, and may be ascribed to the good air, and to the constant exercise on horseback which I am compelled to take. I rejoice most cordially in the accounts which your letter conveys, and which have been confirmed from other sources, of your health and happiness at Cam- bridge. Your introductions to Mr. Smyth and others Avore peculiarly fortunate and valuable. A collegiate life is emi- nently favorable to the attainment of literary and scientific ex- cellence, and I am sure you will not fail to imjDrove its advan- tages. Last week I read ^vitli great pleasure Mr. Hall's Ser- mon on Modern Lifidclity. The discourse does him much honor, both as to its matter and its composition, and justifies the high character you had given him as a preacher. The Baptists of Cambridge seem to be particularly fortunate m the choice of their ministers. Mr. Hall's predecessor, Robert Rob- inson, was a man of uncommon genius,* though perhaps a lit- * So also thoxi^lit one of my fiither's most excellent friends. After quot- ing in a metropolitan pulpit some of Robinson's writings, he proceeded : "Poor Robinson! He was a preat man, but he fell into heresy. Great men are in great danger. The Lord presen-e me I" My father himself once said in the course of a sermon, "We dojiot hold with that insinuating but highly dangerous writer, Robinson, formerly of Cambridge, that every man who understands the Gospel has a right to preach it." 112 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. tie too violent iu the expression of his Nonconformist princi- ples." In the April of this year his friends James Wood and George Burton, both already local preachers, took a preaching tour in Yorkshu'e. It seems that both then intended to enter the min- istry, a circumstance of great interest to those who watched Mr. "Wood's subsequent career. " Surely," Mr. Burton writes, " there is no emplojTiicnt under heaven so excellent and profit- able as that of preaching the glorious Gospel of Christ. We seem to be both determined to get quit of the world as soon as we can, to be engaged in the good work together." John Heywood, another member of the Young Men's So- ciety in Manchester, had already commenced his itinerant course m the Macclesfield Circuit, but the state of his health compelled hmi soon to abandon it. My fother writes to him on May 5tli, 1800. I give a very few extracts. Tlie writer's connection, in later life, with the Evangelical Alliance, and with public affairs generally, entitles them to notice. After giving other reasons why he could not comply with his friend's wish to meet him in Manchester on an assigned Wednesday, he proceeds : "It was my turn on the days you were there to be at Tun- stead and Mosely, and on the Wednesday Mr. Gaulter and myself were previously engaged to duie with Mr. Coles, a Cal- vinist minister in that neighborhood, together with Mr. Black- burn, the Independent minister of Delph, and Mr. Ilargreaves, a Ba})tist minister of Ogden. With these gentlemen we have for some time kejrt up a friendly connection, meeting at each other's houses once a month, and discussing, after dinner, some theological subject. This plan, if properly conducted, may, I think, upon the whole, be entertaining and })r()litable. Mr. Gaulter :uid myself are most decided Arminians, and, there- fore, all disputed points are carefully excluded from our con- versation, though, if they were not, there would be little danger of their converting us to their creed. On account of various imtoward circumstances, it is not at present in my ])owcr to change with you ; I do not yet, however, give up the idea, though I am unable to fix any time for carrying it into execu- tion. AVhenever I can with propriety accomplish it, I shall be glad to seize the opportunity. I confess, however, I am much TROBATION IN" THE OLDHAM CIRCUIT. 113 afraid of the Macclesfield pulpit and congregation, and I hardly know whether I dare make the attempt. There seems to have been a very general, and, indeed, a very just alarm throughout the kingdom, occasioned by Mr. Taylor's proposed Bill* for amending the Toleration Act. I am happy to assure you, on the authority of two letters I have received — one from Mr. Taylor himself, dated April 15th, the other dated April 29th, from his attorney, Mr. Ward, of Durham, who is a steady Methodist — that the measure is, for the present, at least, aban- doned. On the same authority, I learn that a still severer bill, threatened to be introduced by some members of administra- tion, is also dropped. The Lord reigneth. JVli*. Bradburn con- tinues to recover from his late dangerous indisposition. I heard his charity sermon on Easter Simday; and, though he said many excellent thmgs in an excellent way, I did not tliink that he did justice either to his OAvn talents or to his subject. This is partly accounted for by what I have since learned, that he preached m exquisite pam, arising from the gout, which had then commenced its attack upon him. "We have considerable prospects of success in Middleton. Our congregations and so- cieties are still on the mcrease. Send me all the news you can. To a Methodist, nothing which concerns Methodism can be un- interesting." Toward the close of the year the steward of the Liverpool cu-cuit sought my fother's consent to his bemg stationed there after the ensuing Conference. I give a specimen of countless repUes to suuilar applications. "July 17th, 1800. " Deae Sir, — I regret that various urgent engagements have prevented me from returnmg a more early answer to your obhg- ing letter. My best thanks are due to the brethren at Livei'- pool for the request they have been pleased to address to the Conference respectmg me. Your cu-cuit is, on many accoimts, a most desirable one to a yoimg man, and the only personal objections I feel to it arise from two circumstances : first, a fear * " Sammy" Hick's Life contains a lively narrative of the inten-iews of that excellent but eccentric man ^nth Mr. Michael Angelo Taylor on the subject of this bill. My father made a copious abstract of the bill in his own handwriting. 114 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. lest so inexperienced a preacher as myself should not be able to minister witli sufficient acceptance to congregations so respect- able and intelligent ; and, secondly, the situation of my mother, who is a widow and hves in Manchester, and to whom my oc- casional presence and assistance in the management of her family concerns will be necessary durmg the ensuing year. I ought also to mform you that the affectionate people among whom I now labor have petitioned the Conference not to re- move me from my present station. On the whole, however, I cheerfully submit myself to the direction of Providence and to the appomtmeut of the Conference, earnestly praying that the will of the Lord may be done. I am, dear sir, with great re- spect, most affectionately yours, Jabez Buntixg." A letter from Dr. Percival to my fiither, and his reply to it, confer equal honor on both the writers : " My dear Feiend, — You are soon to remove from Oldham, and in a new situation may not have what you now enjoy there — a library to considt for your improvement. Permit me, there- fore, to request your acceptance of the mclosed bank-note for the purchase of such books as may be peculiarly interesting to you in your present theological piu-suits. Assure yourself of my sincere and cordial concern for your welfare, and that I shall always rejoice in an opportunity of promoting your hap- piness and advancement in life ; for I am, with true esteem and attachment, your most affectionate friend, " Tiios. Pekcival. "Friday, May 1st, 1801." " Saturday EveninR, 7 o'clock. " My dear and iionoeed Sir, — I am at a loss for words to c^:>ress tlie sense I feel, as of your many past favors, so espe- cially of tlie recent proof of your goodness. The letter with whicli you have just lionored me, and its very liberal inclosure, have made the strongest iinin-essions of gratitude on my mind, and it will ever affbrd me the highest satisfiiction to evuico tliat gratitude by any little offices of respect and affection which it shall be in my power to render to you or your excel- lent fainily. I nuich regret that, on the present occasion, my urgent professional duties prevent me from atteudhig you as PROBATION" IN THE OLDHAM CIRCUIT. 115 regularly as I should wish. But, for the kind indulgence with which you have received, both now and formerly, my imperfect services, and for the generous jjresent wliich demands from me this note of acknowledgment, acce}3t the warmest thanks of, dear and honored sir, your much obliged and ever affectionate humble servant, J. Bu^TrxG." During tliis year my father formed a lastmg friendship mth the late Rev. William Black, then on a visit to this coimtry from the scene of his arduous laboi's in British North America. Of the now strong and active Methodism m the eastern prov- inces of that unportant portion of the empire he is justly re- garded as the foimder. While he Avas attending the Confer- ence in London, my father wrote to him at some length ; but in this, as in other cases, I quote but a few sentences. "Oldham, July 30th, 1800. " My letter will, at least, be accepted as an expression of that warmth of Christian affection and esteem which I shall ever feel toward you. Unworthy as I am of your friendship, I trust that a blessed eternity will confirm and perfect the attachment which my present short acquaintance with you has inspu-ed, and that, however separated on earth, we shall together spend an everlasting existence. There are few pomts of view in which heaven appears to me more desirable than when it is considered as the general assembly and Church of the first- bora ; the conunon home of all the excellent of the earth, col- lected from the east, from the west, from the north, and from the south, made much more excellent than they were, and united to each other in the most close and endearing intimacy. There to meet again Avith those who were here our companions in the kingdom and patience of Jesus ; there to recommence the mutual exercises of a pure and holy friendship with the for- mer associates of our earthly pilgrimage; to renew our ac- quamtance with some Miiom here we only casually and tran- siently knew ; and to be for the first time introduced to the ac- quaintance of others of the Lord's redeemed, whom, perhaps, we never saw or heard o*f— these are ])rospects of the most pleasing and anuuating natm-e. When I think of them, I bless the Father of my spirit that ever I was born, and rejoice in the 116 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. liopc of the glory wliicli sliall be revealed. The Conference lias, I suppose, by this time, made some considerable progress in the dispatch of its business. Many petitions have been of-'^ fered up to God for Ilis blessing on your deliberations. The fast-day on Monday was observed ui this circuit Avith much solemnity, and our nieetmgs for prayer were well attended." In a letter addressed to his friend Heywood on August 5th, 1800, he expresses his satisfaction with his o^^^l appointment for a second year to Oldham, and tells the news he had re- ceived from Conference. " A law was unanimously passed, of which I much approve, prohibiting theatrical smgers from be- ing employed m our chapels. After a warm and long debate, it was determined by a large majority to send, as a tlistinct body, an address of congratulation to the king on his late es- cape from assassination. The speakers were, for it, Benson, Bradburn, etc. ; those againat it, Clarke, Moore, Rutherford, Jenkins, Bradford, Gaidtcr, etc. The subjects of noisy meet- ings and female preachers were discussed at great length." I note how readily Benson had adapted himself, in the course of five years, to the idea of " a distinct body." " Brother Solomon Ashton," another member of the Young Men's Society, had now been sent into the Lancaster Circuit, and wrote a long account of his troubles: "At my first en- trance in this circuit all seemed dark ; no horse, no friend ; full of reasoning in my own breast ; thus on foot I went." Then he describes tlie ])laces to which his Aveary w\alks were direct- ed, including Kendal, Sedbergh, and Settle: eighty-two miles, and eleven sermons, the first week; I'orly-tliree miles, and nine sermons, the second ; and iifty-nine miles, and seven sermons, the third ; the fourth being principally spent in Lancaster. "This was my first month's work on foot. The fatigue of walking and talking, rain by day, dani]) beds by night, ete., have caused me to sufi'er very much in health. AVlielher I shall l)c able to stand traveling is matter of doubt. Through grace I am resolved to die in tlie Jiarness.'''' " One of oiu* Iriends oflered the loan of a young horse, but I was not willing to receive it until it li:v«l l)een in llie hands of sonu' breaker. It has killed itself. I have now Itouglit one." Every thing at once takes a happier turn. " Our congregations are very much PROBATION IN TUE OLDHAM CIllCUIT. 117 increased ; our prospects brighten ; we have joined thirty. God is yet with us. Yoiu's in endless love," etc. From Binningham, early in 1801, John Crook, the "apos- tle of" Methodism in " the Isle of Man," wrote to my father a pathetic and an affectionate letter, relating his own many in- firmities, and the impoverished condition of the people in that circuit. "The society is so poor here that the steward has ^run m arrear with Mr. Suter eight pounds for diet-money for us ; and things are so had that I know not when he can be })aid." Alexander Suter was the sujierintendent, and the fa- ther of a son bearmg his own name, whose subsequent resi- dence in Hahfax made that town a home to every preacher that visited it, and whose genial and hosj)itable hearth Avas a centre of intelligence and hapiiiness. Mr. Gaulter had left the circuit at the Confei'cnce of 1800, and was succeeded by James Rogers, the story of whose con- version and call to the ministry is related in the volumes to which I have before alluded. He was a man of great respect- abihty both of talent and of character ; but his health soon broke down, though he contmued to itinerate. " Wliat in- jured my constitution a second time," he narrates, "was a journey which I took to the Isle of Bute when I was stationed at Edinburgh. I was hard j^ut to it for food ; and, ha^-ing nothing that I could relish, I employed a poor woman to gath- er for me a kind of shell-fish, about half the size of cockles, which was my chief support mitil I was able to return to the main land." He married tAvo saints in succession; and per- haps the death-bed of his first wife, as recorded by himself, taught lessons as well calculated for general use as those con- veyed by the " Life and Letters of Mrs. Hester Ann Rogers," which have attamed so large a circidation. He was one of the few who witnessed the last moments of "Wesley. My father again observed in him the grave and godly spirit of an old Methodist preacher. Mr. Gaulter writes to his yomig friend early in 1801 in a very triiunphant tone, stating that he had received a letter from Dr. Coke, who was then in America. He says, " The doctor brings strange things to my ears : a ^Methodist preach- er of the name of Lyall (so his name is spelled in the American minutes) is chosen the chaplain of the Congress. The doctor's 118 TUE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. own words arc, ']>rothcr Lyall, one of our ciders, lias been elected lately chaplain of the Congress by a great majority. He preaches in the Congress Hall, in Washington, on Sun- days.'* What a rise from obscurity to notice, from contempt to honor ! The good doctor is flushed with delight, and it cer- tainly forms an epoch in the history of Mctliodism. Perhaps I may yet live to see my friend Bunting a doctor, and chaplain to an imperial parhament. My i)rayer shall ever be. Give us not honor without grace. I am happy to hear that Mr. Bunt- ing appeal's with his accustomed honor in the pulpit. We have had the Kev. Miss Barritt here;f and, as usual, a mighty stir ! and, consequently, a nxmiber of professions of conversion ; and, as you may believe, we are neither worse nor better for it. In one of our country societies we have a pleasing work. I liave seen few such : all the marks of the finger of God arc in it." Mr. Gaulter then rejoices " in the financial revolution in Leeds. It was time each preacher's Avife had four guineas per quarter, each child two guineas, each servant twelve guineas" (a year), "and the weekly allowance for every preacher eleven and sixpence. This many of the people have long desired. When shall I see you ? Do come over. I need not say there is not a man in England I love so well." My father never regretted the two years he spent in Old- liam. The ])cople were })laiii, simj)le, and hearty, and there were a few Methodist families of the more intclhgent class of inhabitants. The circuit then stretched over the bleak hills and uito the romantic valleys which divide Lancashire from Yorkshire, and both mountaineers and dalesmen had a keen * I can not but think of tlio name and talents of anotlicr Anu'rican Meth- odist minister, tlic IJcv. W. II. Miihurn, tlio lilind ciiajilain to tlic American ConpresH, wiiosc recent visit to this country excited so prcat an interest, and whom I had the jdeasurc of introducinp; to my father. t A prcadiinR Lady, very famous in hor time, and undoubtedly very use- ful. I heard the late Rev. William Atherton, that somewhat ])eculiar, but thorouj;hly honest, kind-hearted man, and very able preacher, deliver a fu- neral sermon on the occasion of the death of the second Josc])h Taylor, of whom more hereafter. "God often works by stranjjc instruments," said the jireacher, with all i)Ossible solemnity. "Balaam was converted by the l)rayinK of i" as**) nnd Peter by the crowinp of a cock, and our lamented i>rother by the preachinp of a woman one Good-Friday morning.' Tliis "woman" was Mary Barritt. PROBATION IN THE OLDHAM CIRCUIT. 119 relish for what they thought a good sermon. They ■were very proud of theu' young man ; and lie won their affection also, not only by his exercises in the pulpit, but by his habitual serenity and composure, as well as by his amiability and diffidence. The circuit, in later years, lost much by not attempting to gain more. But, nearly tifty years after he left it, my father had the great gratification of preaching at the re-opening of the old chapel, much enlarged ; and that effort lias created another, of which an additional chapel is the result. Wliile resident in Oldham, he preached six hundred and twenty-eight times in liis OAvn circuit, and twenty-two tunes out of it, nearly all the latter being charitable occasions. I have named Mr. George Burton. He was the son of Daniel Burton, of Middleton in this circuit, a gentleman of the ancient Methodist type, whose daughter, Mary Burton, became the Avife of my father's friend, James Wood, and was for many years a pattern of Christian excellence to ladies in superior station. Other sons were James Daniel Burton, who died on his rapid rise to popularity and usefulness as a Methodist preacher ; the Rev. Dr. Burton, minister of All Saints' Church, Manchester ; and Jolm Burton, best knoAATi as of Middleton, who waits, in the cloudless twihght of the eve of life, for his reward, " not of debt, but of grace." His son, John Daniel Burton, after rendering many services to Methodism, received an early rec- ompense. To no family, except to his o'sati, was my father bound by more affectionate and lasting ties. 120 TnE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. CHAPTER IX. PROBATION FOR THE MINISTRY IX THE MACCLESFIELD CIRCUIT. Appointment to Macclesfield. — Extensive Circuit. — Difficulties. — Mr. and Mrs. Allen. — Colleagues. — Jeremiah Brettcll. — Thomas Ilutton. — Jo- seph Entwislc. — George Morley. — IMethodism in the manufacturing Dis- tricts. — Correspondence of Jabez Bunting, George Marsden, GmJter, and James Wood. — Offer of an Incumbency in the Established Church. — Let- ters to a Fellow-probationer and to Mr. Whitaker. — Dr. McAU. — Farther Correspondence with Dr. Disney Alexander, liobert Lomas, Richard Reece, and others. — Labors at Macclesfield. — Tlioughts of IVIarriage. — Memoranda in reference to it. — Engagement. — Sarah IMaclardic. — Ordi- nation. — Discussions as to his next Appointment. — "Were his Orders valid ? By the Conference of 1801 my father was appointed to the Maccle.'>tiel(l Circuit, distant from JNIanchcster about twenty mOes. Tliis was a very wide field of action. Three weeks were occupied by the usual round of the itinerant preachers, wliich embraced a considerable portion of tlie Peak of Derby- shire, and of what is now known as tlie Northern Division of Cheshire. Tlie rides throule Memoir by his son,* can forget Joski-ii Entwislk? He w.as born in Manchester, of parents who regularly at- tendeil l>r. Harnes's ministry, and served his apprenticeshij) to Mr. Charles Wood, the founder of the family of tliat name which, five-and-twenty years ago, gave two members to the Legishituri", and himself a zealous Methodist. .lolni Taylor, the foreman of the business, was the chief means of the young apprentice's connection with the Methodists. Mr. Kntwisle felt tlie unplcasnnt i-ffoots of tlioir opposition in viirious places. I otwon-cil that |H.Tsuns of irrc;;iilar conduct, und honu* that Imd hccn excluded from the society, bccimiu the uctivc apj-nts of tiiis now system of opjiosition. Every effort was made, by pum])hlets and niisrepresentations, to aliennto the prcarhent and |«'()|>lc from earh other. Hut, not Ixinp al»le to chanjjo ih'" povernment of the Metlmdist Ixniy, all wiio aduptod the new M>tem WKin left u». I have ol»»cr\-ed tliat divisions have occurred from the hepinning among the Methodist ho>t those who make them. If persons arc not ^ali-tficil, they should quietly withdraw ; and if they can preaeh or hear n purer doctrine, and cBtablish iM'ttcr rules, and walk by them, they will have the Divine sanctinssed tbrouph thesf? troubles with many painful f<'elinpi. but with the afTcctiunato DupiKirt of ■ pious and established people in Sto«k|K)rt." • Sec'ind edition ; Lave learned to distinguisli between the personal comfort with which my ministrations are peribrmcd and their usefiihiess to my hearers. There is often, I beUeve, nuich of the latter, where there is bnt little of the former." The Yomig INIen's Society in ^Manchester appears to have been partially revived early in 1802. ]Mr. Wood Avrites to my father, " We had our meethig yesterday morning, when our old subject was resmned. Mr. K. L." (Robert Lomas, then a min- ister in the Manchester Circuit) " Avas our president. He is truly a great acquisition to our meeting; the more I know of him, the more I am convinced he is a great and good man." This " old subject" was discussed in a paper which I place in the Appendix ;* the rather so, because it is one of the few spec- imens preserved of Mr. Lomas's poAvers as a logician and as a divine. The neit letter in the series, written by my father to Mr. Wood, contains the followmg paragraph : " I have lately had much of ]Mr. Ilorue'sf company, and, as my knowledge of liim becomes more intuuate, my esteem and affection for him pro- portionably hicrease. He has various cccentrieilies ; but he is, after all, in my opuiion, a man often thousand. I Avish he Avere a Methodist preacher, and he, in return, Avishes me (Avould you believe it Y) a clergyman. See hoAV Ave differ ! AVe have had some long and interesting conversations on this point. I Avill tell you all particulars Avhen avc meet. I Avrite this in confi- dence." These " long and interesting conversations" took a practical form, and, in course of time, the incmnbency of a large Church in Maccleslield Avas offered to my father, with the promise that episcopal orders should be ])rocured for him. He promptly rejected all such overtures. Not that his con- Bcience Avould, mider all conceivable circumstances, have pre- vented his embracing them. He must have hesitated long, in- * See Appendix II, nt the end of this vohinie. t The Kev. Melville Home, then incumhent, in siiceession to David Simp- son, of Christ Chnrch, Macelesfield. In early life he had been an itinerant Methodist prcaelier, a curate with Fleteher of Madeley, and a chai.Iain at Sierra Ix;one. lie was an elocjuent advocate of the Chiinh Missionary So- ciety about the time of its formation. Some notices of him, which need not now be read in the controversial sjiirit in wldch, very properly, they were written, arc to be found in the "Methodist Mogazinc" for 1810. PROBATION IN THE MACCLESFIELD CIRCUIT. 129 deed, before he declared an entire approval of the language of some of the offices contamed in the Book of Common Prayer, especially if he had regarded them as tests of opinion, and not simply as foi'nudaries of devotion, necessarily unsystematic, and always capable of being corrected, explained, and harmonized by fixed standards of belief* The truth was that, in respect of usefuhiess, he must have lost more than he could have possi- bly gained by conformity ; and there were ties of honor, grati- tude, and aftection wliich held him firmly to the Church to which his parents belonged. Trained under its influence, and an intelligent believer in the truth and purity of its system, he never saw any reason for change. Nor was he forgetful of the lessons which the history of the connection taught him. A re- cent writerf has shown— I think conclusively, and to the silenc- ing as well of regretfid Churchmen as of complainers within our own borders — that the separation of a society such as that of the Methodists from the commimion of any estabUshment in which it may take rise is a matter of necessity, even Avhere it is not a matter of choice. But, three quarters of a centmy ago, the Church of England, it must be admitted, put down Meth- odism, or tried to do so, Avith a hearty good-will. Beaten open- ly, imcondemned, the new sect was thrust, not into prison (the age provided none for such oftenders), but out of the pale of ecclesiastical citizenship ; and there, where he found himself, my father was content to stay, if with no feeling of resentment, yet with no desire to return. K privilege and position Mere lost, liberty M-as Avon ; and, having been born free, he chose it rath- er. What a parish is the world ! As to Eiiiscopacy, I believe my father rejoiced just as much to see it prevail among the Methodists of America as he would have deplored any effort to introduce it among those in England. When its exclusive claim, as preferred l)y some members of the Anglican Church, was urged upon him, he examined it once for all, and dismissed * I do not think that he would have felt less hesitation if he had been re- quired formally to profess his assent to all and every thinp: contained in the ser\-ice-book published by John Wesley. He strongly condemned the abbre- viation of the Psalms, and he repudiated, as utterly unscriptural, the prin- ciple on which it wns vindicated. Like Adam Clarke, he always preferred to use the Book of Common Prayer rather than the abridgment of it some- times used in oiu- Sundav- morning worship. t ^Ir. Colqnhoun. F2 130 TIIK 1,1 FIO OF .lAlJKZ UrNTlNn. it. It ncvoT raisf*l his aiiiirr nor galled his ]>iiile. When he saw whole annios turn out to meet its rn_ir_u't';ters only by Conferences lield annually. This is a legal objection, which no nuui in the connection can answer. 2. So soon as the report of a change, which so materially aftects the itineraint ])lan, shall be circula- ted, we may exi)ect discontent, ])amphlets, and the return of confusion, which may give occasion to some fat-tious dema- gogue to promote another division. 3. A change in some sta- tions mu5t take jilace every year. AVho must direct them? The chairman, or the whole district 'i If the whole, how many meetings must we have in the year ? 4. Our Conferences are, in the hands of God, tlie means of brotherly imion. 5. Bien- nial Conferences will call such a munber of the ])reachers to- gether that the expense will nearly equal Annual Conferences."' I insert the next letter at length ; it is address.ed to Mr. John Whitaker, an attendant at tlie Methodist Chapel, and the fa- ther-in-law of tlie late Kev. Dr. M'All, of ^Manchester :* * Between whom .nnd my father an intimacy existed, which was founded upon tlieir mutual recognition of i-ignal excellences. The young Independ- 132 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. "Macclesfield, SatuiJay Eveninp, 8 o'clock. " Dear Sir, — On calling at Mr. Allen's this evening, I found a parcel direct cd to nie, which, I am informed, comes from you. The ins])ection of its contents occasions no small surprise. With so generous a donation (if, indeed, I am right in suj»pos- ing that it is designed as a donation) 1 never before was hon- ored, and I feel that I ought not to lose a moment's time in thankfully acknowledging this ex}>ression of your esteem. "As a Methodist preacher, I consider myself to be emphat- ically a stranger and a pilgrim upon the earth, and liave buried all hopes and all desires of worldly prosperity. My wants are few and simple, and I am at present happy in serving a peoj)le whose regular and ordinary provision comfortably supj^lies them. I can, therefore, with truth declare that such instances of private liberality as that which I have this night received are, on my part, wholly imsought and miexpected. Your pres- ent is not, however, on that account, the less acceptable. Val- uable as it is in itself, its value is greatly increased in my esti- mation, as it strongly assures me of your Christian respect and friendshij). " On such occasions as the present, I am most dcej)ly im- pressed with gratitude to God and to my friends, and most sincerely ashamed of myself, that I so little deserve and so in- adequately repay the kuidness I experience. May the recollec- tion of that kindness excite and animate my hiunble endeavors to be better and to do better in future ! May it more and more endear to my heart a service which hitherto I have found ' j)rof- itable to all things!' And may He for whose sake I know it is that such friendly attentions are bestowed on me, condescend to acknowledge and reward them ! cnt minister at IMaccl'sfuld had hoard of tlie rejiutation of the youiip Meth- odist minister wlio had fornu-riy labored there, and when, afterward, the two resided at the same time in Manchester, an introduction soon took I. but of tlic attempt. My father's nffeetionate tiibutc to Ilia memory will bo found in his Biography by the late Dr. Wardlaw. PROBATION' IN THE MACCLESFIELD CIRCUIT. 133 "I judge from the handwriting of the du-ection, and from other circumstances, that to you also I am indebted for another kind present which was sent to me a week ago, and for Avhicli I intended to take the tirst opportunity of returning, in person, my best tlianks. " You will pardon me for saying so much on this snbject ; I can scarcely pardon myself for saying so little. But I feel sen- timents which I am at a loss how to express, and will, there- fore, conclude my letter. Believe me when I add that it has been dictated by the full and grateful heart of, dear sir, your obliged and aifectiouate friend and servant, J. Buntixg."^ I quote again from a letter to Mr. AVood : " Mr, Recce spent a night with us on his way to Manchester. He preached for me on, ' Unto you,' etc., ' shall the Sim of Righteousness arise,' etc. The sermon was not one of his best, yet only a good preacher could have delivered it. I think with you that he is much improved by the fire and vehemence he has -caught from BraniAvell ; and I like it the better in him, because he has too much good sense to become a servile imitator. My dear friend, suffer even from me the word of exhortation. Walk humbly and closely with God ; and let it be your endeavor — as it shall, by the grace of our Lord Jesus, be mine — to retain, or, if Ave have in any measure lost, regain our first love, simphcity, holi- ness, deadness to the world, and zeal for God. As we origin- ally received Christ, so ought we to walk m Him. The more I see of Methodists, the more I am convinced that their great danger, at i)resent, arises from the temptations they are under to drink into the spirit of the world, which, whatever plausible forms or modifications it may assimie, is an irreconcilable enemy to the spirit of devotion. I think we are never safe but Avhen we guard agauist the ai)pearance of this evil, and, for conscience' sake, refuse to. be ' conformed to this world,' not merely in tilings sinful, but even, sometimes, in things indifferent. When we are a singular — a peculiar people, the hedge of scorn and ridicule which encompasses us is, happily, uistrumental ui keep- ing us at a distance from the danger of trespassing into forbid- den paths." To Mr. Marsden my father writes, " You will oblige me by telling me frankly the whole history of the separation of Bux- 13-1 TIIK I-IKK OF JABEZ BUNTING. toil Iroin Alacflt'stlc'ld. Was it fairly and oju'iily proposed and carried at the tjuarterly nieeting? Did the IJiixtoii Irieiids tlien declare tliat they ])reterred union with this circuit, even tlioui^li they ct)uld only have preaching from us once a fort- nii;ht, ami that they Avould 1)e content with local i)reacliors on the other Sunday? Did they know of the ])r<»])osed se)>ara- tion ; and initxht they have Lei'U heard aijaiiist it ii' they chose?" I note this early instance of his regard lor popular constitution- al rights. During the whole of my father's residence in Macclesfield he maintained a correspondence Mith Mr. Disney Alexandi'r, theii a surgeon at Halifax, hut afterward a ])hysician in W:>kefii'ld; a man of great taste and of considerable accpiirements, Avho, liaving been recovered from skei)ticism,* had become a Meth- odist and a local jireacher, and had ])ul)lishcd " ]?easons for ^Methodism," hut who ultimately aoiirdaloue were duly returned. I am sorry, but not much surjirised that they disappointed your ex- pectations. Have you seen the Sermons of Saurin in French? Some of those not yet translated by Kobinson or Hunter ])Os- sess, I am told, pre-cn)inent merit, es])ecially one on the >«e\v IJirtli, and three on the danger of di-laying our conversion.! Those on the latter subject (a subject, in my opinion, of all oth- ers most necessary to be insisted upon in tlic jiresent state of llie religious world) ]\Ir. Home is now translating for the bene- fit f)f his congregation, and I havi' some lio|ic that, aiti'r using ihem in his ])ulpit, he will conunit them to thi' j)ri'ss. I jx-r- ceive fn^n the monthly lists of loreign jtuldieations that a great vanety of French sermons lias been n-cently imported, chieily l»y (ienevese jtreachers. I should like to kiunv sonu'thiiig of their character and merits. Can you give me any iiifonnation ♦ Sec tlic nrcoiiiU in tlic Ainiiiiiun Mapnziiio for I TOO. t ThcHf nnd otlwr hciinon.s of Saurin wire afl< rwiinl trnnslat«iil)li.Hlic'd liy llit- late Kcv. .I()sc|)h SntclilVc. A.M.. a man of ^rcat hfniity of mind and cxcellenfc of rliaractcr, nnd wlinso Commentary on lli() Holy Srrii)tnrcB lins met with inuth deserved acceptance. PROBATION IN THE MACCLESFIELD CIRCUIT. 135 concevnincf them ? I am mucli obliged and gratified by tlie ac- count you liavc transmitted to me of tlic i)lan of your sermons on the Evidences. I greatly wish to have the ojjportunity, wliich you kindly promise, of perusing them at length. Your outline 1 think a very good one. I am glad that you avoid entering into any long detail of objections, and of answers to them. Such details in the pulpit, I am afraid, oftener do harm than good. A dithculty may be urged and explained in a few words, but very fully, which it would require great length of time to solve; and many will understand and remember this difficulty, who, for want of the requisite patience and attention, will neither comprehend nor retahi the solution. Phiinly and forcibly to state the positive CAndences, and in a brief, yet full and connected manner, is, to my mind, a better way of defending the truth against the cavils of opponents than to attempt the cntUess task of providing niiimte and particular replies to every objection which ignorance or prejudice may suggest. By the former plan we shall often prevent such objections ; by the lat- ter Ave can, at best, but cure them. We ought, perhaps, to copy, in this particular, the conduct of the first preachers and Christians, who, it should seem from the Acts of the Apostles, confined themselves, in general, to a plain statement of the doctrine of our religion, and of the prophecies and miracles to which it appeals, and took little pains to reply to objections. The disjjlay of truth is the best refutation of error, the surest antidote to falsehood. I am in possession of the little tract of Clarke to Avhich you refer, and unite Avith you in thinking it to be a masterly production. His remarks on the hiseparable con- nection bctAVcen the moral excellency of our Savior's cliarac- ter and the truth of His miracles are peculiarly forcible. I rec- ollect no Avriter on the subject Avho has done so much justice to this branch of the evidence, by shoAvmg the absurdity of those Avho, Avhilc they profess to admit and admire the former, reject and deny the latter. Yet it has sometimes struck me, on reading this pami)hlet, that the author should, m the coiu'se of liis argument, have taken more notice, and made more use of that part of it Avhich it has, of late, become usual to term'the peculiar doctrines of Christianity ; for it seems to me that, with- out adverting to these, the Gospel can not be displayed in its full glory and excellence. If the Socinian vicAV of Christianity 130 TliE LIFE UF JABEZ BUNTING. is just — if it is only tlic injunction of moral duties, enforced by ;i flearor revelation of future ri'wards and punislunents than had 1 If fori- ln-iii niadf, I own I should see littU' in it worthy of such luiraculojis intcrlV-rcncc as it lays claim to. There wants in that scheme the diynus ruulire /loduji^na Dr. White, I think, in the Notes to his Hampton Lecture, has well argued. The vast a))paratus of ])ro|>hecics and miracles ein]tloye«l for its in- troduction a)>pears to be more extensive and laborious thiui the end in view required or justified: But, if Christianity is con- sidered as a scheme for the salvation of creatures whom sin had degraded and ruined, by the mediation of an Incarnate Deity, the whole system then assumes a credible and consistent form, and becomes evidently worthy of Ciod to contrive and estabhsh by means so graiul ami extraordinary. In the j)oint just referred to, the tract of your neighbor, 3Ir. Fawcctt, writ- ten five or si.\ years ago, has the advantage of Mr. Clarke's." Some jtassages in a letter to iSIr. ^Marsden furnish notices of what was wont to be done at that stage of the crystallization of Methodism. "The jireachers of this «listrict nu-t last week at Northwich. A good deal of conversation took place about the stations for the district, and a rough sketch was made for the assistaiu'o of our representative. I was put down for ]5urs- lem along with Mr. l>arl*er. "^rhe Welsli Mission is still aston- ishingly successful. Some of the most serious clergy, who en- courage the mission, if any of our preachei's are present, are in the habit of desiring them to stand by the conmumion-tables, and to give out our hynms while the sacrament is administer- ing." My fathi-r comnu'nces a eorrcspondiiu-e with .Mr. Loimms in the Ibllowing terms: " Mftcclosfield, .Inni- Dili, 1808. "My vkuv I)i:ak Huotiikic, — Indolence in tlu- discharge of epi.slolary duties is uwv of my easily-besetting sins: a circum- stance this of which I think it right to give you notice in the first letter which I write to yoti, that you may not be surprised if, in the course of our future correspondence, you should some- times have reason to crtinplain of it. 'i'o such an ftccnsional <-orrosjK>ndenco I hwtk forward with great jtleasure; :uid the Iiojk; f)f lu'ing benefited :uid edified by your fref|iU'nt connnuni- cations Avill, T think, induce me to strive vigorously agaiust my PROBATION IN THE MACCLESFIELD CIRC r IT. 137 natural aversion to the use of my pen. In all respects, I be- lieve, I am more in clanger from sloth and inactivity than from any thinuf else. I a|)i)rc)\ e, admire, and love what is good, but I do not pursue it with sulficieut eagerness and perseverance. My exertions are too languid and transient to be very success- ful. I want energy and uniformity. Tell me wliat means I shall adopt in order to attain to that holy violence wliich takes the kingdom of heaven as by storm. As a Christian and as a l)reaeher, I leel myself e(]ually detieient in that strength which would render me mighty through God to be good and to do good." Mr. Lomas andMr. Rcece corresponded ^^^th eacli other and with my father as to certain movements at Leeds and ]Man- chester on the part of the " Kevivalists ;" a class which, about this period, again occasioned considerable uneasiness to the fa- thers of the connection, and to the nujre intelligent and pious of the jimior preachers. "William Brainwell, a man eminent for holiness, and for the gifts which, rightfully used, insure min- isterial success, openly espoused the cause of this party untU their conduct ended in a miserable schism. lie was stationed in Leeds, and ]Mr. Kcece writes to Mr. Lomas : " If a RevivaUst must be su])i)orted by one ]»reacher and two leaders in opposi- tion to three preachers and fifty leaders" (of the three so oi> posed were Barber and Recce), " when he tramples the rules of our society imder his feet, and that merely because he is a Revivalist, Revivalism will soon ruin Methodism." " Divisions in the Church of Christ," writes Mr. Lomas to my fatlier, "are awful, and I would do all I could, with a good con- science, to prevent them; but I think the time is conie for the Methodist preachers to bestir themselves, and to do all tlicy can for the honor of the religion of Christ as taught and ejiforced among themselves. I think thev must now ' arise or be forever fallen) " Mr. Entwisle Avrites to him from the Stationing Committee of 1803: "You are doA\ni for London, and, if you go, are to live with Mr. Joseph Taylor. How this came about I will fully ex- plain to you when I see you. But ^Ir. Benson seems determ- ined you shall go there." My father was now ra^)idly completing liis term of tour years' 138 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. probation, and lie had well and diligently improved it. He de- voted himself exclusively to the studies and engagements di- reetly relating to his ne^v voeation. The puljiit received his first attention, nut so much because its chums \\ ere instant and almost daily, as because he knew that the secret of ministerial influence lies chiefly there. This idea was kept uppenuost, whatever interest he took in tlie private departments of pastor- id labor, or in the welfare of the connection generally. He never missed an opportunity of hearing a sermon. Service dm-- ing church-hours not having been yet introduced mto the Meth- odist Chapel, he was able frequently to attend the vigorous min- istry of ]Mr. Ilorne, and he communicated occasionally at his church. He read largely in general theology, including the pid^hshed sermons of both old and modern preachers. He carefully copied and preserved skeletons and sketches of ser- mons. He extracted from his general reading every thing that could suggest topics or materials for ))ublie discoiu'se. He tried his hand at amending other men's compositions. His own i)rep- aratious were full and elaborate, and were suV)jecteil to contin- ual revision. But of these I speak with dittiilence. At least one vohune of them will i)robably meet the i)ublic eye. He was very diligent in his attentions to the sick and aged of the flock, and particularly so to its younger members. To tlicse his services were rendered eminently useful. He busied him- self, in strict subordination, however, to his sui)erinlendent min- isters, with every part of the tinancc and general business of the circuit. The letters from which I have (pioted are evidence of liis anxiety to master all questions allectingthe connection as a whole. They also show a steady inq)rovcmcnt in i)ersonal re- ligion. J)iiring tlic four years oi" trial he ])r(:ichcd thirteen hundred and l"orty-fight times. At the end of the second year (and I can not carry the accomit farther) he had nearly a hundred ser- mons ready for use as lie might recpiirc them. His jdan seems to have been to ]>reacli each one at difterent places in tlie cir- cuit in rapid succession. Among his ])a])ers arc notes of out- door ]ireaching. He had already become very ]>o].ular, and paid frequent visits lo other circuits, under limitations which his own good sense and the discretion of his superintendents very i)ro]jerly iiii]»osed. I can not but observe with interest a PROBATION IN THE :^ACCLESFIELD CIRCUIT. 130 memorandum of a sermon preached at the liouse, in or near Leeds, of Mrs. ]Mather, tlien a Avi(h)\v. For tlie benefit of any interested in tlie information, a Ust of some of tlie texts upon wliieli he prepared sermons will be found in the Appendix.* Every Methodist preacher, when his probation has ended, and he is fully received and recognized as a minister, but not before, is entitled to charge the connection Avith the maintenance of a wife. The regulation is easily vindicated when exi)lained. For the candi(hite's own sake, it is exi)edient, except in very f^pecial circumstances, that his attention should be exclusively devoted to the duties and studies of his vocation; besides which, no man of honorable mind will expose a woman wliom he really loves to the results of possible failure. To the connection, the arrangement secures all the advantages which the probationer derives from it ; and it is far easier to deal faithfully with the case of an unmarried man, than with that of one who has doub- led his responsibilities. When the period of trial has been honorably jDassed, all parties derive benefit from the speedy, if prudent marriage of the young minister. He settles doysii at once to the business of life, with all its spnpathies and inter- ests, and finds in the joy and solace of his home the readiest assistant of his work abroad. Let all who know the admirable women who cheerfully endure the hardest straits of the Meth- odist itinerancy testify how truly I speak on this subject. I find traces so early as the conclusion of 1802 of a friend- ship which, in my father's case, ripened into love and marriage. But the history of his decision is recorded by liimself, and I think it should not be kept secret. It sujiplies many sugges- tions to young ministers whose thoughts may be similarly oc- cupied ; and it is a striking exhibition of the writer's charac- teristic qualities. The foUoAving is slightly abridged from a memorandum found among his papers : " There are two questions to be seriously considered before I make my final decision on the most important busmess which has so long occupied my thoughts and so deeply interested my most tender afi:cctions. May God gracioitsly direct my paths, and enable me to judge aright ! " I. The first question is general ; viz., ^hall Imarry^ or taTce any step toward marriage^ at present? Is it my duty, or con- * See Appendix I, at the end of this vohimo. 1-10 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUXTIXG. sistcnt with my duty, to cngago in such a rchition at all? Will it ])roinott' the glory of God and my wclthrc? Shall I jtroba- bly he as lu)ly, hap|»y, and useful in a married as I may be in a tiiugle state? " For the affirmative it may be urged, "1. It must be the will of God that persons in general should marry at a proper time. The jiresent constitution of man and of the world is such as to prove that Provich'uce intended this ; and evident Providential intention is as binding as explicit pre- cept. The general law of God, therefore, enjoins matrimony as matter of obligation in all ordinary cases ; so that every per- son is providentially bound to marry, if he can not plead some special ground of exemption. May it not be (juestioned whether tinnecessary celibacy is not a sinful counteraction of the i)ur- poses and plans of Divine Providence ? St. Paul's advice to the Corinthians does not evince the contrary; for it was given in a time of violent persecution, and is expressly limited to what he calls the in'esent ilixtrcss. To understand it as a pre- cei>t of general and permanent aj^plication would be to make the God of Kevelation contradict the God of Providence. Nay, Scripture itself declares that 'it is not good to be alone,' and that 'marriage is honorable in all.' ****** " Late marriages are, in many other rcs])ects, inconvenient ; and can I accuse myself of improper haste or eageniess if I think of accomi>lishing such a purpose by the time I shall be twenty-five years of age? " A Methodist preacher without wife, and without any home of his own, has many inconveniences and difficulties to bear, of which one married is wholly divested, ^{y comfort, there- fore, as well as my piety, would, T lliiiik, be promoted l»y a j)ro])er miiun ol"this nature. "While I delay this l)usiness, my choice being unfixed, my mind will, of course, be unsettle(l, and I shall be li:d>le occa- sionally to much ))erplexity and exercise, which would be r'scaj)eroper representations. "5. It is highly prt)bable that some of her connections would dissuade her from ac(|uiescing in my project, and that some of my friends, who do but i)artially and insufliciently know her, would severely condenm my choice. But is it not right, while, in Ibrming our judgment, we pay proper regard to the advice of others, ullinuUely to judge and decide for ourselves? " 6. In becoming my wife, she would certainly be exposed to some hardships, and inconveniences, and ju-ivations, to wliieh, in her present situation, she is a stranger ; yet if, on a fair state- ment of these, she be willing to take me ' for better, for worse,* are they any reasons wliy I should lose so eligible an opportu- nity of procuring the comforts and blessings of conjugal friend- ship? And, even as it respects herself, this objection will be of less force if she liave at command any j)roi)erty, which, by adding to our income from the connection, would contribute to multijily our conveniences. " On the whole, my judgment now sjicaks decidedly the same language which my aftection has long suggested ; and I feel my mind at liberty, yea, I trust, divinely led and inclined, to take the first oi»i)ortunity of i)rofcssing my attacluncnt, and soliciting a favorable answer. Whatever be the event of this intended aj)plicalion, O Lord, my God, my Father, my Friend, l)rej)are me for it, and sanctify it to my present and eternal good ! J. B. *' OrrdVs Wr/f, yimr Llndow Side, Macclcsjicld\^ Circuit, Juhj lilt, 1803." > A very few weeks after this ]k\]h'v was -Nmtten, my father was bt'trotheil to the dear antl lionoreut men of great si:)iritual wisdom courted her company ; timid young ])reachers sunned and strengthened themselves in the light of her lovhig and sa- gacious comisels, and faltering Christians waited for a smile from her bright and kindly eye. At the Conference of 1803,my Mher and twenty-eight other young 7nen stood in the front seats, round the gallery of Old- ham Street Chapel, Manchester; the i[»lace where AVesleyrlmd blessed him ; to Mhich his mother had taken him, Sabbath after Sabbath, when a child ; and where, jirobably, he had formed his first -snsh to serve God. Mather and ''l''lioni])Son had '"fallen asleep;" but Benson \vas there. Joseph IJradi'ord, Avho saw Wesley die, Avas in the chair; and about him sat Coke, the first Joseph Taylor, Kutherford, Pawson, Bradburn — blessing God " for the love Avhich the preachers manifested, and for restoration to a j)roper name among them" — Eiilwislc, AValter (iriflitli, Uarbcr, Cl.-irkc, Ifob- crt Lomas, James Wood, James Rogers, 'J'homas Taylor, Jolni Crook, and, indeed, a Avliole college of apostles. By my father's side on either hand, there ranked Robert Newton, Leach, Bin- der, "William Edward ]Miller, Claxton, Xeedham, Slack, Isaac, Garrett, and Gilpin, to name some only of the candidates to be " received into full coimcction," or, as it would have been call- ed in other churches, to be solemnly set apart to the Avork and PROBATION IN THE MACCLESFIELD CIKCUIT. 147 office of the holy ministry. The Church, as well as its minis- ters, Avas there, represented by a huge congregation of praying- men and women, to witness and approve the act. His mother sat in her own quiet corner ; and one become dearer still hid herself in the general crowd, to hear vows more sacred only than those which were soon to be pledged to herself. Search- ing questions are put to those who stand up there. Each re- plies for himself; and, in the tone and manner of the answer, a quick observer often reads a character and casts a horoscope. Every candidate Avas asked that night, "Are you resolved to devote yourself Avholly to God and His work ?" And when Jabez Bunting's turn came, and, w^ith a serious modesty, he said, '■'• I habitually do,''^ the old men exchanged looks, and lift- ed up their hearts in hope and prayer, "and great grace was upon them all." The night before this solemn consecration to the mmisterial office, he had written (it was the third time that week) to Miss Maclardie': "The Conference tliis morning, after a long and warm debate, confirmed, by a considerable majority, my ap- pointment for London. I beUeve it is of God, and am very sor- ry that the Manchester people should have occasioned so much trouble about me. My mind is at present much pained in con- sequence of what passed on this subject. Such overstrained importunity about an individual makes one the object of imi-' A'ersal attention, and the topic of general conversation. It may, moreover, excite the envy and jealousy of those Avhose labors happen to be less acceptable to the people ; and it is productive of real injury to him whom it seems to honor, by raising to too high a pitch the exjiectations of those among whom he may afterward be called to exercise his ministry. After what has occurred concerning me at this Conference, I must be possess- ed of talents gigantic indeed in order to answer the ideas which the petitions of Manchester, Liverjiool, and London will tend to excite in the minds of those who may hear of the affiiir. I am greatly mortified and distressed. Pray for me, I beseech you, that the God of all grace and comfort may lielp and direct me. I now need, more than ever, the sui^plies of the Holy Spirit. This forenoon Mr. Roberts proposed that, in order to prevent all farther altercation about London or Manchester, I should go to neither place, but to Bath. This motion, also, was 14^ THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. ovemilecl, but not till my feelings had been again most painful- ly affected by the awkwardness of my situation. By the pres- ent decision I mean resolutely to abide, and to prohibit all fai'- ther ai»}>Ucations from my friends here by an absolute refusal to come to Manchester ; a step this, Avhicli, till now, I could not see it my duty to take. The good Lord prepare us to be true lielpmates for each other ; companions, not only in the cares and pleasures of life, but in the kingdom, and patience, and triltulation of Jesus! May Me both grow in grace, and give all diligence to be found of God in peace, without spot and bhuneless! To-morrow will be to me a most important day. To be publicly and solemnly admitted into the ministry ; by one u-revocable act to abandon all secular pursiiits, and to de- vote my body and soul, my health and strength, my tinie and talents, my studies and labors, to the service of the Church ■which Christ hath bought with Ilis own blood — that is the business which hes before me. Oh, may my eye be smgle, my mind suitably affected by the important occasion, and my whole sub.seiiitiiK'nt by the Lord Jesus as a ]>cr])etual institute. He liclii'ved also lliat, as a rule, the order ought itself to provide for its own contiiniance, wliile he admitted of exceptions in spe- cial cases, where the ap]>lication of the rule was imi)ossible. Yet farther, he believed that apostoUc precedents sanctioned the use of the imposition of hands as a soli-nm and fitting cir- cumstance, but not as an essential part of the rite ofonlination. lie did not believe in the exclusive validity of episcojial ordi- n.ation, nor did he concern himself to trace the precise jiedigrec of any Presbyter or Presbytery who discharged the function of ordaining, ]>rovidcy necessary implication, ordained — from Wesley hmiself. lie re- jected the figment of the indelibility of orders. IMinisterial powers and functions, ui his view, belonged to the office, and not to the person sustaining it. Proved crime or incomijetency justified and demanded exclusion; and entii'e incapacity for duty, providentially occasioned, was always an excuse for en- gagement in secular avocations, and sometimes an imperative call to it. But I tm-n to other subjects. CHAPTER X. niS E.VELY MI>aSTRY IX LONDON. Colleagues. — Joseph Taylor. — Benjamin Rhodes. — William Myles. — George Storj'. — Dr. Lcifchild's Recollections of Jabez Bunting's first Ap- pearance in the Metropolis. — First Portion of Diary sent to Miss Maclar- die. — Committee of London Preachers. — Early-morning Services. — The Penitents' Meeting. — Dr. James Hamilton. — The Eloquence of the Pul- pit and of the Bar. — William Jay. — Persecution of the Methodist Sol- diers. — Letter from Dr. Percival. — Intercourse with Joseph Buttcrworth. — Wesley's private Library. — Letter fi'om Entwisle. — Counsels to an in- tended Wife, — Joseph Taylor on Song-singing. — The Christian Observer. — William Huntington. — The Claytons. I HAVE ah'eady described " what manner of entering in" the yomig minister had when ho arrived in London in August, 1803.* Joseph Taylor, the first of that name who adorns the annals of Methodism, and in M'hose house he resided; Rutlierford, one of his former pastors; Benjamin Rhodes, and William Myles, were his colleagues. Benson also took up his permanent resi- dence in the metropolis as the editor of the Magazine. Creigli- ton was the clergyman who officiated at the Cha[)el in City Road; George Story, the general editor; Wliitfield, the book- steward ; and Rodda, another well-remembered pastor, a su- pernumerary, or retired minister. This appointment was varied, during the second year of his continuance in the circuit, by the substitution of Entwisle for * Sec letter to his mother, chapter i., p. 28. 150 TILE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. Myles, ami of Joseph Ilallani for Rhodes ; aiid Mr. Lotnas "was added to the stafl'of the Book-room. JosiiPU Taylok, Avho had been formally ordained by Wes- ley, and who had just vacated the presidential chair, was then a minister of twenty-six years' standing, and labored for eight- een years more, closing his career in lts;30. Excessive zeal dur- ing his earlier ituieraney had injured his health, and frequent illness had given to his appearance and exercises in the puli)it an air of physical feebleness. But he had all the faith and more than the love of an Old Testament patriarcli. The qualities which most commended him to those who knew him in old age" were industry, punctuality, integrity, strict self-denial, and an almost lavish benevolence ; virtues of high separate value, and, when combined, certain proofs of general excellence and sta- bility of character. Bexjamix Kiiodes, though placed imder Mr. Taylor's super- intendency, had traveled many years longer, as, hideed, had Rutherford. In those days ministerial seniority did not, with the same regularity as in ours, carry with it the chief charge of a circuit. Wesley, niore tlian most administrators, adoj)ted the princij)le of " the riglit man in tlie right place ;" and knowing well that, as a rule, no man can be expected to possess pre- eminent merit as at once preacher, pastor, and superintendent, wliile on the other hand, co-i)astoratcs, properly arranged, se- cure the competent discharge of every function, allotted each "son in the Gospel" to the post in wliich his special talent would be best occupied. Wesley's immediate successors fol- lowed his example. Would that the people, who now in- creasingly interfere with the appointment of ministers to cir- cuits, always exercised the same sound discretion! I read in the face of Kluxh's, as his portrait a]»pears m the second volume of the Arminian Magazine, characteristics which his own mod- est record of his life does not suggest, but which I should ex- pect to find in the author of the "•Hymns on the Kingdom of Cln-ist," in the Supplement to Wesley's Collection. [P. 583, 584. J In the heart, as on the brow of the writer of these stanzas, there must have dwelt a solemn and a lofty piety, an earnest evangelism, and a patient longing for the coming of the triumphant Savior. He died in 1815. William Myles, one of the historians of Methodism, never HIS EAliLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 151 lost the ardor and simplicity which at once told he was an Irishman. He traveled nearly iifty years with acceptance, and was one of the eight }>reachers a])pointed by Wesley's will to occupy the pulpit of the Chapels in City Koad, London, and in King Street, Bath. Dr. Beecham, liis biographer, did not regard his talents as of the highest order ; but, like many others of that race of ministers, though lacking the advantage of an early and a systematic education, he had given both to liis mind and manners the best culture of which they were otherwise capable. As men of my age remember hun, he was venerable, grave, and gentlemanly, submissively fond of his wife, and sternly opposed to all seceders from Methodism. The respect universally felt for him did not prevent his friends from practicing on his good-nature. A brother asked him one day, " Who was the father of Zebedee's children ?" Myles pon- dered well the question, and replied, " I believe it is not re- vealed." lie died in 1828. Robert Southey, in his Life of Wesley, has sketched, as only he coiild sketch, the life and character of George Stoky. Himself a patient student, he knew how to prize the energy with which Story had tried, in early life, to emulate the various erudition of the murderer, Eugene Avam; an erudition re- corded by authentic tradition before Bulwer wrote his won- derful tale, and Hood one of the most powerful compositions in the language. Coleridge, too, has speculated upon Story's case in two cm'ious notes to Southey's narrative.* But the * Of a man who moulded so many of the greatest minds of his time, and whose rich poetry haunts the car with its delicious melody, and the heart with its mysterious pathos, one speaks with respectful modesty. But I recommend any who shall refer to the two notes in question to compare them one with the other, and both with Coleridge's own experience, as related by himself in Oilman's Life of the philosopher and poet, p. 2t5-254:. His disciples can not hide, and it is very dilBcult to extenuate, the terrible history of their master's confessed slavery to a sensual vice. And who can discern, in the most fervent aspirations of Methodist piety, a higher or a truer standard (would that he had known how to aim at it !) than the misty critic of " Sinless Perfection" sets before the eye rather of his fancy than of his faith ? It is time that some writer disposed of Coleridge's pretensions to expound the philosophy of religious emotion as clearly and as succinctly as Mr. Rigg has already dealt with his theological system. ("Modern Anglican Theology." London: A. Ileylin, 1857.) Some interesting no- 152 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. laureate nUcrapts in vaiu to clear Story from tlic charge of entlmsiasiu at the expense of other Methodists. Among all the developments of human thouglit and passion contained in the volumes consulted by Southey, there are none more pecul- iar than that -which his favorite exhibits. Had the " Life of Wesley" been revised a second time, it is probable that South- ey's truth-seeking spirit would have attahied more perfectly its object. It is certain that, toward the close of his life, his generous, though still nuAvorthy estimate of "Wesley himself rose much higher, though the recent editor has not so informed the public. Was tlie Curate of Cockermouth ignorant of the f^ict, or does he retain prejudices reproved by the whole history of his father's oj^inions, and by the common sense and knowl- edge of the age? I am indebted to my venerable friend, the Kev. Dr. Leif- child, "for some Avise and interesting notices of this period of my fatlier's life, extracted from a paper of which farther use will be made. " My recollections of Dr. Bunting," he writes, " carry me back to his first appearance, after his appointment to the liOn- don Circuit, in the pulpit of the Wesleyan Chapel inCitylload. lie was known in the provinces as a young preacher of great promise, and a more than ordmary curiosity was manifested to hear hhn on his coming to minister among us. Among us I say, for I was then a regular attendant at that place of worship, and a member of the Wesleyan Society. In jierson lie was tall and slender, of a somewhat pale, but thoughtful and serious countenance, and dressed in the plain but neat attire of the Wesleyan minsters. lie stood erect and firm in the pulpit, self-possessed and cahn, but evidently impressed with the so- lemnity of what was before him. On announcing the hymn to be sung at the commencement of the service, and repealing it, verse by verse,* we were struck by the clear and command- ing tones of his voice ; and, when he bowed his knees in prayer, such was the fervency of liis strains, and tlie propriety, com- ])rehf'nsiveness, and scriptural character of his language, as to tires of Colcrid(,'n contained in Dr. LeifcliiM's Life of Josojili IIiif,'hes, of Battcrsca, are wc'll worthy of jierusal. * Dr. Leifcliild doubtless means by two lines at a time. The mode lie names has not yet received conucctional sanction. HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 153 carry with liim, to tlie tlirone of the Great Being whom he was addressing, tlie hearts and the understanding of the whole assembly. The sermon that followed was of the same charac- ter ; short in the exordium, natural and simple in the division, and terse in style, but powerful in argument and appeal. There was little of action and less of pathos,* but a flow of strong and manly sense, that held the audience in breathless attention till it came to a close. "Such was Dr. Bunting's first appearance in the pulpits of the metropoUs, and such the commencement of liis ministerial labors among us. After this I heard him frequently, following him from place to place where he ministered for the purpose, and was always both pleased and profited. I paid the closest attention to the matter of his discourse and to the style of its composition. I was charmed and delighted, while I was in- structed. Never before had I heard such preaching. Other preachers, indeed, excelled him in some points, but none that I had ever heard equaled him as a whole. There was in him a combmation of all the requisites of a good preacher, but in such equal proportion and happy adjustment that no one ajv peared prominent ; nor was there any marked defect, to detract from the general excellence. It was not any thing jirofound or original in the matter that fixed the attention, but, like his great contemporary, Robert Hall, he clothed the well-known topics of discourse with a propriety and felicity of diction that gratified and instructed, without any of those startling concep- tions and miheard-of illustrations which distinguish the ad- dresses of the celebrated author of the ' Essays,' the late John Foster. The plans of his sermons surjirised no one by their novelty or ingenuity, but were always most natural, and such as would have suggested themselves to any thoughtful mind, wliile the discourses themselves were such as partook of all the sermonizing peculiarities of the period. There were divisions and subdivisions, with formal exordiums and perorations, which yet were redeemed from every thmg like tameuess and insipid- ity by the distinctness and energy of the thoughts and expres- * This allusion to want of pathos somewhat surprises me. But my hon- ored friend is describing inijiressions formed more than fifry years ago. Or, perhaps, a heart so full of evangelical tenderness was not easily satisfied with any expression of it. G2 154 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. sious. You saw no deep emotion in the speaker, no enthusi- astic bursts of passion,* nor brilliant strokes of imagination, but you perceived a marked attention riveted upon him while he spoke, which never flagged nor decreased in its intensity- till he closed and sat down. I can not describe the cadences of his voice, which combined in it a sharpness and a sweetness that I have never met with in any other, and that yet dwells upon my ears. " I ought not to omit to mention the beneficial results of his ministry. To many it was ' the power of God' to their ' salva- tion.' One of my own sisters was an instance of this. She afterward became as partial to hun as I myself was, and re- ceived that blessing, through his instrumentality, which trans- formed her character and adorned her life imtil its peaceful and happy close. "He could not but be aware of my frequent appearance among his auditors, and, on that account, favored me with his notice, often allowhig me to walk home with him, after the services, to his own residence, and discoursing with me by the way in the most friendly manner. It was on one of these oc- casions that I ventured to mquire of him how he had attained to that remarkable readiness and accuracy in speaking which I, in common Avith many others, had so constantly observed. He replied that he was not aware of such lacility and exactness; but that, if it were so, it nmst arise fi'om a habit he had formed at a very early period of expressing himself on every topic, however trivial or common, in the fewest and most suitable terms he could find. Thus was produced one of his great \)C- culiarities. He was never at a loss for a word exactly suited to the thought. I remember, on one occasion, accompanying some students for the muiistry to hear him on a week-day even- ing, Avith a challenge to detect, if it were possible, such a dis- crepancy. On a comparison of notes afterward, it was fomid that not a single instance of the kind could be adduced. "He showed great candor and liberality of feeling toward olliei-s of dificrent sentiments from his own m all those matters of religious faith and practice that do not touch upon any thing essential or fundamental. As a proof of this, I may state that, of all his colleagues in the circuit at that time, he was the only * Again I suggest tlie ay for living in the episcopal palace and occupying head- quarters. The leaders' meeting resolved a few weeks ago that it should be given u^), and converted into a prayer meeting; but, to gratify the prejudices of two or three, it is continued. However, it is not in vain humbly to wait upon God. At 6 o'clock P.M. I preached to a goodly company at Bow from Acts, xiii., 38, 39, bemg particularly requested to speak on the sub- ject of Justification. A gentleman, whose name is Buttress,* and who lives in Spitalfields, had oflered me his company, which, of course, I accepted, and was glad that I did. I found him an agreeable and intelligent fellow-traveler. He tells me that, dur- ing the three years of Mr. Adam Clarke's residence in London, he Avas his almost constant attendant. Mr. Clarke used to call him his satellite, and very justly, for he walked with him six thousand miles, heard him preach nine hmidred sermons (eight himdred and ninety-eight of which were from different texts), and supped with him, after their evening excursions (either at Mr. Clarke's or at his own house), about six hundred times. Mr. Buttress is a good deal comiectcd with the evangelical ministers of the metropolis in the Chm-ch and out of it, and gave me more information about them than any person I had before met with. " Wednesday^ September 28th. I have not been out of the house to-day. I read the second part of Huntington's ' Bank of Faith.' Whatever be this gentleman's talents, I fear his spirit is not that of the Bible or of Christ. He boasts too much, and manifests somethmg which I can not distinguish from pride and citlpable levity. But perhaps I am mistaken. 'Tis well that I wrote my letters yesterday, for I am not capa- * For fifty-five years a much esteemed friend of my father, and still sur- viving. 172 THE LIFK OF JAliEZ BUNTING. bio of very dose :i[)i)licatiou lo-day. My licad :u-1k'S sadly, and uiy spirits arc low. 'Is any atlliclod? let him i)ray.' i) Lurd, let Thy tSjfirit help my iulirinities, aud support the leebleuess of my mind ! " Thursdaij Eccning^ September 2dth. I spent an horn- this forenoon in examining the eontents of Mr. Wesley's library. The title of one vohimo could not but attr.aet my notice midcr present circumstances : ' A Treatise on the Cumbers and Troub- les of Marriage; intended to advise them tlteit may, to shun them ; tliem. that may not, well and patiently to hear them.' If I had a little more leisure, perhaps I might give this book a perusal ; for, though the first piece of advice comes now too late for me to follow, probably I may some time stand in need of the second. '■'■ Friday Eceniny, September SOth. My mind to-night is more than usually aliectedby a sense of the mercy and forl)ear- ance of my God toward me. I ani greatly cncom'agcd to hope in Ilim; greatly ashamed of my proneness to wander; and greatly desirous to set out afresh in the i)ath of cntu'e devoted- ness to His service. •' 'O Thou who kill'st and iiiak'st alive, Ti) mc Thy (luickcning junver impart ; Thy grace couvey ; Thy work revive ; Retouch my lips ; renew my heart ; Forth, with a new commission, send ; And all Thy servant's steps attend.' " Satitrcleiy Nooji, October 1st. The preachers do not meet tliis week, so I have had the forenoon to myself — a great priv- ilege. T am ([uite at a h^ss what text to iix upon for to-morro\s' evening. In this respect, also, it is needful to implore Divine inHuence, that we may be guided aright." October 1st, 1803,]\Ir.Kntwi.sle writes to him, "We hope for better d.ays in Macclesfield. Two regulations have Lately taken ))lace, which, if [»roj»erly attended to, will be useful. We h.avo agreed to have a leaders' meeting once a m(»nth for si)iritual conversation, etc. Last Friday but one Avas the first. Most of the bretln-cn were present. I spoke to every irnVn ikinentary to tliosc of the Church of Enpland. ins EAKLY MINISTIIY IN LONDON. 175 Exliausted as I am, I can procure no substitute for tlic morn- ing ; so I must say good-night, and go to rest, that I may wake hi time. ^'■3fondai/ Eocning^ October 3c7. Rest I could get but verj- little of last night, and I lay awake long enough before the time of preaching. At 5 o'clock I went into the vestry, and found not a soul i)resent. By-and-by three persons aj^peared. By the time I had sung twice and prayed, four more arrived. As I did not find my mhid in preaching cue, I read to them the Sermon on the Mount, and expounded a few passages as I pro- ceeded ; and good Dr. Hamilton concluded. People in general are much more alarmed about an invasion than heretofore. I hear the Jews in London are forming themselves into a Vol- unteer Company, a circumstance without a parallel. Their liigh-priest, also, has compiled a prayer specially adapted to the present exigence, wliich is to be used in all their synagogues. " The ' Clu-istian Observer' has of late months taken several opportunities to attack the Weslcyan Methodists as schismat- ics and enthusiasts. What they say in that work this month about our late minute against Avomen preaching has some weight. More stress ought to have been laid on what I judge to be the exjn-ess prohibition of that practice by St. Paul. But their vague insinuations in another article about our enthusi- astic pretenses to mspiration, etc., are immanly. Mr. Benson strongly urges me to draw up a short defense of our general character and doctrines against these insinuations for insertion in our Magazine. They deserve a little lashing ; but let not my hand be upon them ! Mr. Rutherford is very kind and af- fectionate toward me. He has not forgotten our former ac- quaintance in Manchester. To me he was very useful, almost at the commencement of my religious life. My turn to-nin-ht was Hoxton, but, to oblige Mr. Benson, I took his place at Queen Street, and preached from Jer., viii., 22. Messrs. Myles and Rutherford, who sat exactly opposite to me, rather embar- rassed my proceedings. After preaching I met the band-lead- ers, as customary once a month, to examine their band-papers, to admit new members, etc. Those who meet in Band in Lon- don all pay something weekly, as in their classes, which is re- ceived from the leaders at these meetings by an officer called the ' band-steward,' and distributed by him to the poor. At 176 TIIK LIFE OF JABKZ 15UNTING. G o'clock, my frioiiJ Mr. IJlackLiirnc, from Saddlewortli, and a London niinistor of the name of Atkinson (who is a tutor in Hoxton Acadfmy), called on me according to a]iiiointment, and we went together to hear Mr.IIimtington in Monkwell Street. I was considerably disappointed. He is not so mnch of tlie orator, nor was he so much to-night of the rank Antinomian as I expected. I see nothing in liis maimer that accounts for liis amazing celebrity, and am more and more convinced that, of all contemptible tilings, popular panegjTic is one of the most con- temptible, and oftener misapplied than deserved. Mr. Hunt- ington has great readiness in quoting Scripture, and, in the course of a long sermon, brought forward much sound and val- uable divinity, mixed with very little Iroth, and not delivered with much animation. I noAV almost wish I had heard Mr. Jay instead, though I by no means think that my time has been uselessly em})loycd. I was invited to suj) with Mr. Blackburne at tlie house of Mr. Wilson, in Finsbury Place, a gentleman of great influence among the Evangelical Dissenters. Seldom have I spent an hour so agreeably or more edifying. Though I am firmly attached to Wesleyan ]\Ietliodism as the system of doctrir.cs and of disci])line, which I tliink is, as a whole, more ecri2)tural and prhnitive than any other now existing; yet there is not, I believe, a man upon earth who more sincerely vener- ates than I do the image of God in persons of diiferent senti- ments and denominations, or who more readily embraces in Christian allection good men of all descriptions. And this catholic charity I feel to be perfectly consistent w ith my own peculiar attaclnnents and ])rcdilections. '"'' Wednesday Eveninff^Oct. 5(h. The wliole of this forenoon was sj)ent in my study, chiefly in my accustomed devotional exercises, I feel that 1 shouM be culpably wanting in gr.-iti- tude to Ilim from whom all blessings How if, in recording this day's incidents, I omitted to nu;ntion the unusual j)rofit and pleasure which resulted from my ])rivatc approaches to Ilim this morning. I fit the Avord to be most )»recious, and Ilis favor to lie better than life, and had more than wonted t-nlarge- ment of heart while engaged in intercession for tlie world, the Church, the ]\rethodist connection, the circuits 1 have left, and that in which I now am, and for various friends and beloved connectifius, on whoso account God forbid that I should ever cease to pray. HIS EARLY MIXISTRY IN LONDON. 177 " Saturday Evening^ October 8th. It fell to my lot to-night to exhort at the Penitents' nieethig. I could procure no sub- stitute, find therefore reluctantly attempted it. I had Aery lit- tle freedom or comfort in speakuig. I addressed myself chiefly to those persons who are not so thoroughly awakened as to produce that seeking of the Lord ' Avith the whole heart' which is necessary in order to our finding Him ; whose penitence is sincere so far as it goes, but not sufficiently deep, lively, and habitual. " Siindatj^ Oi-toher ^th. At 'lO I read prayers, as usual, at Spitaltields, and i)reached to a large congregation from 1 Peter, iii., 15. I had resolved not to dhie out to-day, but was per- suaded to return home with Mrs. liovatt, under the idea that I might have as much retirement there as in my own room. We found, however, several friends, one of whom. Miss , a very young but very sermon-lovhig lady, I Avas glad to accompajiy to Eastcheap Chapel, to hear Mr. Clayton. I had heard, from good judges, the highest character of Mr. Clayton's talents as a preacher, and I was not disappointed. There is somethhig Avonderfully pleasing to me in his manner. It is easy, serious, dignified, and highly impressive. His elocution is animated and manly, but very different from the florid, tinsel oratory Avhich distinguishes many of those Avho are called popular preachers. Mr. Clayton is popular indeed, but not among the populace. In his matter to-day there Avas nothing new or un- connnon. The sul)ject Avas the duty of confidence in God in the present ])erilous times. But any thing said by Mr. Clayton is said so Avell as to become strikmg and interesting. I am more and more convinced that my character in the pulpit is too much that of a declaimer, and too little that of the Chris- tian preacher; but ' Kome Avas not l)uilt in a day.' I must try to be more Aveighty and solid. Mr. Clayton, as a parent, is highly honored of God. He has tAvO sons ab'eady in the min- istry, and another at Haxton Academy, Avho is likely to be as great an honor to it as his brothers and father. After all, I like our o^nl system and people best. If otliers have more brilUant displays of talent in their assemblies, I think Ave have, in general, most of the spirit of true and Uvely devotion." With the son then at the academy, the Rev. John Clayton, Avho, since 1803>has commenced and completed a mhiisterial II 2 178 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. course of o;roat lionor and success, for which ho still lives to be grateful, my father afterward formed a cordial friendship. The three brothers have all been known as refined English gen- tlemeu, effective jtreachers, and devout and catholic Christians; of a school ■which, by its steadfiist loyalty to the old theology, and to those essential principles of Protestant Nonconformity which modern politics have, perhaps, tended somewhat to ob- scure, long retained the Puritan hold u})on the middle order of society in this coimtry. Far distant be the day Avheu that hold shall be weakened. It is not probable that the last century will repeat itself, or that the Dissenting Clnu-ches, were they unhappily to l^ecome unevangelical or torpid, Avould be again informed Avith the vital spirit of an unsectarian Methodism. Congregationalism must now keep its oa\ti adherents by the means Avhich won them. If it fail to do so, I fear that neither our own conmiunity, nor tlie Establishment, Avith all its new and active forces, will collect them again into the common fold. Dissenters, in large numbers, have come to regard the Church of England as an enemy, and our refusal to cherish tlie same feeling has made us more or less odious in their eyes, and thus prejudices have been formed against both Churchmen and Methodists which might thwart our best-intended etlbrts. That "there is room for us all" is a small concession. The world can not do without any of us. "Abram said imto Lot, 'Sep- arate thyself, I i»ray thee, from me;'" and Lot "chose him all the ])lain of Jordan." They j»arted because their very union, gendered strifes, and because the goodly land found plentiful pasturage for both. Our case but partially resembles theirs. Our divisions (not necessarily "unhap])y") must continue; for attemjtts at uiiiibrmily iinbitter, if they do not create ditfcr- ences ; but the plain lies before us "as Sodom, and like unto Gomorrah." O that the "very small remnant" would spread itself all over the wild and wasted wilderness, toiling in its sev- eral detachments luitil the desert beconu' as the garden of the Lord — none of us with either heart or time for contention ! HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 179 CHAPTER XI. EARLY MINISTRY IX LONDON — Continued. Farther Extracts from Diary. — The Tersecutions in Jamaica and at Gibral- tar. — Mr. Fennc'll. — James Lackinp;ton. — Henry Foster. — Benson and the Christian Observer. — George Burder. — Dr. Steinkopff. — Joanna Sonthcote. — First recorded missionary Sermon. — Prospects of National Inva.sion. — Richard Cecil. — State of Methodism in London. — Last Let- ter before his Marriage. — Ordinary Duties in the Study and the Pulpit, and among the Flock. I RESUME tlic extracts from the journals and correspondence of this jieriod. " Tuesday Evening., October \Mh. This day I hoped to en- joy uninterrupted retirement, but had scarcely entered upon my Avork when I was obliged to quit it in order to accompany Messrs. Taylor, Benson, Butterworth, and Allan to meet Mr. Hardcastle and Mr. Reyner, two leading members of the [Lon- don] Missionary Society, on the Jamaica and Gibraltar busi- nesses. After reading various documents from the parties con- cerned, and also a letter from Mr. Wilberforcc containing his advice, the gentlemen agreed to take up the tAvo cases sepa- rately, and to make two distinct apiDlications for reUef. The Jamaica affair is to be brought on first, and Messrs. Allan and Butterworth are to draw up a memorial respecting it, to be presented to the king in council, stating the inconsistency of the persecuting law lately passed there with the spirit of the Constitution and Avith the rights of British subjects, describing the imprisonments, etc., Avhich our missionaries and others have suffered in consequence of it, and praying his majesty to refuse his royal sanction to it. In this application the Wesleyan Meth- odists are likely to be johied by the several missionary societies of London and Edinburgh, both of the EstabUshment and out of it, so that there probably Avill be a sufficient combination of influence to secure its success. In the Gibraltar affair there is more difficulty. From several circumstances, there appears to be a systematic intention and desire to prevent the spread of ISO THE LIFE OF JAEEZ BUNTING. truth and piety in the army. Mr. Wilberforcc and Mr. Thorn- ton are somewhat timid; I\[r. Ilardcastle hesitates, and foars nothing can be aeoom])lishcd. Our friends, however, are re- solved to attempt sometliing. Tlie mode of appUeation is not detenuined. Probably they will try to get the ear of the king liimself by means of Lord Castlercagh. It was four o'clock before we got home from the meeting. On my return I wit- nessed an incident whicli greatly ailected me. A pious clergy- man, from the vicinity of Newbury, had called to see me. While waiting my arrival, a letter had been brought to hhn from a friend in his neighborhood, informing him that at a meeting held in his house by some Methodists, on IMonday evening, accorduig to custom (since he left home), his wife had fomid peace with God, and Avas iilled with joy in beheving. Mr. Fennell* (for that is the clergyman's name) was quite ovcr- * This ]Mr. Fenncll must not be confounded with him of tliat nnrao whose niece, or rather wliosc wife's niece, was Charlotte Bronte's mother. Every hody is tired of corrcctiufj; the mistakes and indiscretions of tlic daughter's clever but random bioj:;rai)her, else she might be informed that the Mr. Fennell of whom she writes was a Methodist local preacher at the time Miss Branwell was married to Mr. Bronte, and she might be asked by what an- achronism in taste she ventures to speak of "the fanaticism of a. ^Yhitc- field." At the time of Mr. Bronte's marriage, ^Ir. Fennell, although not a minister, was the house-governor and one of the tutors of the Wesleyan school for ministers' children at Woodhouse Grove, near Bradford, in York- shire, and from that place the ha])py pair proceeded to the wedding, the bride borrowing a white lace veil for the occasion, because part of her gar- niture had been lost on its passage by sea. Subsequently Mr. Bronte acted, more than once, as classical examiner at the same establishment. My un- cle, Mr. Fletcher, was engaged there as head master during Mr. Fennell's residence. Miss BranwcU belonged to the Methodist family of the Carncs, of Fcnzancc, the latest rejiresentativc of whicli, Joseph Carne, F.R.S., was distinguished yet more liy his steady ])iety and uniform attachment to the Church in which he was trained than by his attainments in scienoo, and by his high general jiositlon in his native county. John Carne, his brother, a man of accomplislied mind, a very elegant writer, and a devoted Wesleyan, became well known to the world of literature some thirty yeai-s ago by his "Letters from the East" and by other ]iiiblieations. A set of the Method- ist Magazines from the commencement formed jiart of Miss Branwell's mar- riage dowry, and, doubtless, awoke Charlotte Bronte's love of the marvel- ous, and kindled into a flame the latent fire of her genius. I can imagine her reading the story of Karl Ferrers, and jmring over the engraving of my lord the murderer just cut down from the galhiws, and ])Iaced in his coilin. I am bound to add that my uncle always s])oke of Mr. Bronte in terms of HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 181 whelmed as he read the letter. Indeed, he could not finish the reading of it hhnself, but desired j\[r. Taylor to read it to him. I never saw a man so bedewed Avith tears of joy. ' Ever shice my own conversion,' said he, ' I have been praying, night and day, that God would also bring my dear -wife into the way of peace, and now how strangely has He ansAvered my i)rayei'S durhig my absence from home ! I am more overjoyed by this mtelligence than I should have been by the receipt of a king- dom !' He begged that we would all unite with him m return- ing thanks to God for his great mercy. This gentleman, too, has suffered for Christ's sake. He has been lately exj^elled by his rector fi'om a curacy in Berkshire ' for preacliing the Ncav Birth so much.' He is quite a Methodist m sentiment, and says that he will live and die by the doctrines of Wesley and Fletcher. We have just received a most extraordinary ac- count from Mr. Williams, of Dursley, m Gloucestershire. Near Thornbury, hi that circuit, the celebrated bookseller, Lackmg- ton, has purchased an estate, upon Avhich he at present resides. When he Avas a poor man he was a Christian and a Methodist. Since he became opulent he has been an avowed infidel, of the Avorst and most iu:pudent sort. His ' Life,' published by him- self, is designed to laugh at all experimental rehgion, and to represent the professors of it as knaves or fools. This apos- tate, hoAvever, is reclaimed, and has become a zealous advocate for the Bible and for Methodism. He has sent to London a large order for books, Avliich he wants to assist him in Avriting a recantation of his former errors. Refiection on the rumous effects produced by the infidel system among the Continental nations, several late publications in defense of Revealed Rehg- ion, Dr. Whitehead's 'Life of Wesley,' some of Wesley's Ser- mons, and Fletcher's ' Portrait of St. Paul,' are the means to Avhich, under the Divine blessing, Mr, Lackmgton ascribes his recovery from so dreadful a state of mind. 'Is not this a the highest esteem, and did not recognize the picture of liim which his daughter's friend has drawn for the public amusement. It is the fashion just now to gibbet the fiithcrs and the wives of great literary celebrities, and men who affect to rule tlie manners and morals of the age, and who dictate oracular "Plousehold Words, " forsooth ! record the infirmities of women they have vowed to cherish with little less coolness than if they were de- scribing the points of a horse. 182 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTIXG. brniKl ]ilnckod out of t lie fire?' In coiitirniation of the above account, a friend of mine has seen a letter from Lackington to an old fellow-apprentice, whom he had been the instrument of making as vile an infidel as liimself, full of penitent recantations and pious admonitions. There is joy in heaven of a more than common kind over every such sinner that re2)entetli." Lackington's " Life" and his " Confessions" have been re- printed. The former, a filthy libel upon all godliness, made the recantation of it by the latter a remarkable event. But this "was one of the cases in which an avowed rej^entance fails to restore the reputation of the i)cnitent. He retained some connection with the Methodists until his death, and built and endowed two chapels. But his money did small service. Though there can be little doubt of his sincerity, his was a mind such as, even whgji renewed, continually betrays the coarseness of its essential elements. " Wednesday Evening, Oct. \2th. This morning at 5 o'clock I said something extempore to ten or twelve jieople from 1 Cor., ix., 2G. Of my small audience, three were local preachers, and one a clergyman. Dr. Hamilton, as usual, supplied all de- ficiencies on my part by his fervent and most aftecting su))pli- cations. We dined to-day with Mr. and Mrs. Ilovatt, Mr. ISto- ry, and Mr. Whitfield, at Mr. Ilankin's ; a very pleasant party. As I had been closely employed from half })ast 4 till half i)ast 1, my mind was. fagged and disposed to be melancholy; but ]\Irs. Ilovatt's lively conversation entertained me in spite of myself. I have not laughed so much since I came to London, How- ever, I think it was not unseasonable nor injurious. Mr. Tay- lor sang for us some deliLrlitful Scotch tunes, and, after prayer, we jjarted as merry as Christians wish to be. I had to preach at Snowsfields in the evening : my text was Heb., iv., 14. I am doomed to have clerical hearers, the thing of all others which most annoys me. IMr. Winkwoilh, the rector of the parish, sat just before me to-night. However, I spoke with great comfort to myself. " JMday, Oct. Mth. This morning I set out toward Surrey Chapel to hear !Mr. Jay, of Bath, but on .arriving at St. Paul's perceived that it was already past 11 o'clock, and that I should be too late; so I returned liome to City Jvoad, and found it profitable to attend our usual intercession meeting at 12 o'clock. HIS EARLY MINISTRY IX LONDON. 183 At half past 3 we dined at Mr. Mortimer's, in Fleet Street ; in every respect a most agreeable visit. Mrs. Mortimer talked less than I Avished. Dr. Whitehead, who Avas one of our party, was at first very silent, but, after a little broaching, entertained and instructed us.* I left the company for an hour, which I spent with Mr. Butterworth on the business of the Memorial on this Jamaica Persecution, and then returned to tea. I had a long, wet, disagreeable walk afterward to Wapping, where it was my turn to conduct the national prayer-meeting. In my way homeward I stepped into St. Antholin's, Watling Street, and heard part of a sermon from the famous Mr. Foster,! who appears to be a plain, judicious, sound preacher, but nothing more, if what I heard was a proper specimen. Mr. Benson's letter to the Christian Observer is so bulky, yet so good, that it Avould suffer by abridgment, but could not be inserted in any periodical Avork. We had a good deal of diversion Avhile help- ing him to contrive a title for it. That agreed upon is ' The Methodist Inspector Inspected, and the Christian ObserA'er Ob- serA'ed.' Mr. ButterAvorth attended Avitli the Memorial respect- ing Jamaica prepared yesterday, Avhich Avas approved, and Avill be sent to Lord Castlereagh this evening. The title of Mr. Kendall's Essays struck me as I passed a bookseller's Avindow. I fear they are not Avorth much. Some of the hymns on Gen- eral Redemption (in Wesley's Collection) impressed me greatly, and, as you Avere once half a Calvinist, I thought I should like to knoAV your opmion of them. " Sunday Evening, October, 16t/i. This morning Mr. Creigh- * Mr. Mortimer, a hearty hut eccentric Jlcthodist, was the father of the late excellent Rev. Thomas Mortimer, for many years a very popular cler- gyman in London. The Memoirs of Mrs. Mortimer, by Mrs. Bulmer (John Mason, London), have obtained considerable circulation. Dr. AVhitehead was one of the biographers of Wesley t " The Rev. H. Foster was a plain and deeply pious man, without any peculiar decoration of taste, st3-le, or eloquence in his pjeneral preaching. His ministrations were much valued, chiefly on account of their heart- searching and experiment.il character. On certain subjects, so great was his solemnity of manner, especially when discoursing upon death and eter- nity, that the late Mr. ^Yilberforce used to say that he was on those occa- sions the most eloquent man he knew." — Eclectic iN'oto ; or, yotes of Dis- cussions on religious Topics at the Meetings of the Eclectic Society, London, during the years 1798-1S14. Edited by John H. Pratt, M.A., Archdeacon of Calcutta. Nisbet. 1856. 1S4 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. tou road prayers, and I proadiod at City Koad from 1 Tiinotliy, iv., 8. My sermon, and my ieelini^s in the delivery of it, were of the middling kind — neither so good nor so bad as at sonic other times. I received tlic Lord's Sujipcr afterward. In the afternoon I was going to hear ^Nfr. Clayton again, but, fearing that I should be too late, turned into the Pavement Chapel, ilooiiields, and heard Mr. "Wall on haA'ing God for our God. At G I preached at Wapping. My text was Isaiah, Iv., G. I ■was quite out of ]ireaching tune ; but the love-feast afterward made, I hope, full amends for the ])overty and l)arreuncss of the sermon. Low and discouraged as I Avas, I felt my mind raised and comforted. It was by far the best meeting of the kmd that I have yet attended in London. The speaking was rational, judicious, and scriptural, yet very lively and simple. And now I am at home, sadly dissatisfied Avith myself, but lioi)ing and resolving to dd better, if the God of all grace Avill but condescend to aflbrd me His help. " Wednesday, Oct.ldth.* "We liad a tolerable congregation this forenoon at Deptford. ^Nly text was Zeph., ii., 3. I have reserved ])art uf the same subject for the evenhig. Our good friends had a prayer-meeting in the chapel at 3 o'clock, but I thought it best to spend the afternoon alone, and found it profitable. I think I have experienced somewhat of the sjiirit of the day. I am humbled and affected by the sincere per- suasion and conviction that I am one of the chief of those sin- ners whose ingratitude and abuse of mercies have exposed our coimtry to the threatened judgment. But 'there is forgive- ness with Thee.' O 'pardon my ini(]uity, for it is great.' "While preaching in the evening, I had much comfort and lib- erty of utterance, attended too, I humbly trust and believe, with some holy tmction in tlie a]tiilieation of my subj(>et. 1 have always been haunted, as a i)reacher, by the drunkards. Instances of this might be adduced in my last circuit; and to- night an officer in the Volunteers who was ])resent, and who, from his conduct, I conclude must have been ti])sy, came to me as soon as I had concluded, very politely acknowledged the pleasure and instruction of the evening, and insisted on my acc(i)ting half a crown ! I could not escape his importu- nities otherwise than by compliance; sf>, to avoiil making a * A iKitioilnl fa.sl-(l:iv. HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 185 bustle in the chapel, I took his iiioucy, iuforinmg luni tlmt I would uive it to tlie poor. '•'• Fi'idaij J^ix^nliKj^ Oct. 2l6(. I wrote aiid read most of this morning, then went to Surrey Chapel to hear JMi*. Jay. But I suppose he has left town, for there Avas another gentleman in the pulpit, who spoke so low that I could hear scarcely any thing of what he said. lie was ex'i^oimding some part of the Ilevelation. I was in my study all the afternoon, and this evening preached at Saffron Hill to about forty poor people. My text was Rev., iii., 20, from which I was enabled, in words more than usually plain, and with feelings unutterably tender and airectionate, to call smners to repentance, and to offer them mercy and salvation. O that I could always feel, in preaching, the spirit I felt to-iiight ! " ' O may Thy bowels yearn in nic, Whene'er a wauderinf? sheep I sec, Till Thou that sheej) retrieve ! And let me in Thy Sinrit cry, ^V^ly, sinner ! ■wilt thou perish, Avhy, When Jesus bids thee live ?' This verse is the prayer of my inmost soul. '■^Saturday Evening., Oct. 22d. Mr. Taylor has delivered an interesting exhortation in the Penitents' meeting on the subject of patient waiting for God. What he said was designed to illustrate and defend that sentiment, ' Dare not set thy God a time.' The ojiposite practice he strongly condemned, though he allowed that the Lord sometimes condescends to the weak- ness of such as adojjt it. This is a delicate and difficult subject to discuss in i)ublic, but it was treated very judiciously. "tStoidit]/, Oct. 23d. At 10, after reading prayers, I preached at Queen Street, from Hebrews, xi,, 26, on ' The Reproach of Christ.' After dining at Mr. Middleton's, I went with Mrs. M. to Fetter Lane to hear Mr. Burder. He disappointed us ; and some stranger, no orator, suppUed his place, I dare say, as well fis he could." My father did not tlien know the gentleman whose name he thus mentions, the late Rev. George Burder, one of tlje secre- taries of the London Missionary Society. When he became acquainted with him as a man and as a preacher, full of prim- itive simpUcity and zeal, he cherished for him a profound affec- 180 THE LIFK OF JABEZ BUNTIXCr. tlon and respect. With Mr. l>urder's son, also, the liev. Dr. Ileury Forster Burder, a model Christian ])astor, my father be- came happily intimate. "Several times," Dr. Burder writes me, " he favored me by preaching most powerful and excellent sermons, as did also that great and good minister of Christ, Richard Watson, with whose friendship I was favored, and whom I greatly revered and loved. To be thus favored with the i)ublic services of these two most talented, most useful, and most honored servants of our Lord and Savior I regard as a distinguished privilege, and highly did my congregation appre- ciate their ])Owerful and impressive sermons. It was also grat- ifying to nie that for many years the anniversary meetings of the "NVeslcyan Missionary Society for Hackney were held in my chapel, and it was a pleasure to me to comply Avith the request to preside on those occasions. Is there not a serene delight in the exercise of Christian love ? I remember that many years ago I heard Dr. Bunting preach, I think at Queen Street Chapel, on the parable of the Prodigal, and, in my judgment, it was the most powerful, the most impressive, and the most touchmg dis- eourse I ever heard on that striking parable." My father i)roceeds : " I had the pleasure of Mr. and Mrs. liutlerworth's company to Chelsea. i\Iy text Avas Romans, viii., 2, which I had several reasons for selecting. Though my mind Avas in a very good frame, and I felt much of the Divine l»resence, I preached with pain and difficulty. For many Sun- days past, after the forenoon service, I have been troubled with an unusual degree of headache. To-night the ]xnn was so vio- lent that I could scarcely speak at all. Duiing the love-feast it gradually abated, but it has left me low and exhausted. This has been a long day ; and now, at nearly twelve o'clock,! con- elude Have us ever in Thy holy keeping, C) Shepherd of Isi-ael ! ''Mo?idai/, Oct. 24(/i. This morning I received a present of Jay's second vohmie from Mr. Critcldey, together with an in- vitation, which I shall decline, to become a corresponding mem- ber of the Philological Society, established at .Alanchester by :Mr. A. Clarke. Having nowhere to i)reacli this evening, I have quite enjoyed my retirement. For the sake of half an hour's relaxation, I stepped into Mr. Whitefield's Tabernacle, and lieard some very noisy gentleman declaim violently upon 2 HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 187 Chron., vii., 14. I was glad to hear his zealous i)liilii'>pics agahist Antuiomianism, though I was at a loss to reconcile them with some high notions before advanced. " Tuesday^ Oct. 25th. I preached this morning at 5 o'clock to exactly the usual number of hearers, from Rev., iii., 20, If any good is done by these morning lectures, it will be all clear gain over and above my calculations and expectations. A pray- er-meeting would be far more profitable to us all. I have been closely employed all day in my study, and preached this even- ing at Grosvenor Chapel, from Luke, xv., 2. This has been a good day in spiritual matters. ' Bless the Lord, O my soul !' " Wednesday^ October 2Qth. I preached this evening at Spit- alfields on ' building up ourselves on our most holy faith ;' was much complimented by some, who must be either hj^socrites or simpletons, for what, I know and am sm-e, was a very poor sermon. I have spent about three hours in my study to-day, m endeavoring to proA^de for the people ' things new and old.' '■'■Thursday^ October I'tth. This morning I finished the revisal of an excellent pamphlet, chiefly written by Mr. James "Wood,* which Mr. Benson had requested me to examme, and, if I liked it, to prepare for the press. It is entitled ' Directions and Cau- tions addressed to the Class-leaders in the Methodist connec- tion,' etc. It is well executed, and hkely, I think, to be of great use to the body. I have made it as coi'rect as I thought it pos- sible to make another person's work, imless I had Avritten it wholly over again. A tract on this subject has been long a desideratum in Methodism. Xo preacher should be stationed in London who has not traveled at least a dozen years. A young man just entered into the nihiistry is here too much di- verted from those studies which he ought then especially to pursue by public business of importance, to which he can hard- ly refuse to attend, but which materially interferes with that private improvement which at his time of Ufe is so essential. I have now at least three weeks' hard work of this kind before me, which will swallow up all my leisure. Besides other mat- ters, I am urged by Mr. Benson to transcribe more than one hundred pages, for the Magazine, from Dr. Magee's Discourses on the Atonement. This valuable work is now out of piint, * Tlie minister of that name, of whom some notice will be given here- after. ISS THE LIFE OF JABEZ IJUXTING. tliough a lartre edilion Avas but lately imblishcJ. I borrowed a coi»v of it for ]\Ir. J>. from Dr. Percival, whose relative Dr. Magee married;* and I would rather not t^end it to a comnum transeriber, les^t it should be injured. However, I ean but be doing something ; and if any way I can serve God's Church, it is an honor and privilege Avhich I do not at all deserve. I dined about three miles from town, at the country house of Mr. Smulius,f between Kingsland and Newuigton. Mr. S, is a very sensible, well-informed man, and one of the first merchants in tlie city. His vnfe was a INIiss Smith, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. They have some of the most engaging children I ever saw. One little boy, just beginning to talk, is a perfect beauty, and un- commonly interesting in his manners. If I were rich, and his parents poor, and willing to transfer hun, I would adopt lum. Mr. Steuikopft", a clergyman of the Lutheran Establishment, who is lately come to be minister of the German Church in the ' Savoy, was of our party. He seems to be a truly pious man, and of a most amiable spirit. There is something so heavenly in his countenance as to recall to my mind the idea I have formed of the visage of his comitryman, Mr. Fletclier, whom lie appears to resemble also in unaflected hmnility of deportment. He gave me a very pleasing account of the celebrated Lavater, with whom he was i)crsonally intimate. I have paid few vis- its since I came to London from which I ha\ e derived more social enjoyment, intellectual improvement, and Christian edi- fication. ''Friday Khjlit, October 28t/i. We had very good meetings for prayer both at noon aiid at night. I have seldom found it more easy or more sweet to pour out my soul unto God in the ].ublic congregation than this day. Mr. Benjamin Sadler, from' Leeds, Mr. Uingeldaubeu,t the German minister, and Dr. White- * I liavc licartl my fatlior tell how, when the lady was the wife of a yoiiiif:; clerfryman, she said she should "never bo satisfied until she ironed her hus- band's lawn sleeves." She lived to enjoy that jileasurc. t See his Biography, well worth perusa'l, in the Weslcyan ]\Iethodist l^Ia^- azine for l.Sr.S. Prdbably he was the first of the tliousands of Swedish Christians who, directly cir indirectly, have, l»y Methodist instrumentality, found the ]ieacc and jiower of rcli^^'ion. X See ]). 1G8. liinReldauben's zeal and success as a missionary in South- cm India are still had in remeniljrance. In 1S12 he had bai.tized about seven hundred converts. So long as he abode in his jiruiicr vocation he was Ills EAKLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 189 head, took tea Avith us. We were much mterested in their con- versation. Mr. Sadler tells me that the notorious Joanna South- cote, late of Exeter, is now at Leeds. She has abandoned the system of Richard Brothers, and set up for herself. She says that she is the bride, the Lamb's wife, mentioned in the Rev- elation, and such as beUeve her testimony she seals, by means of red wax, to the day of Redemption. Some hmidreds in Leeds have been thus sealed of late. ' Any thing,' said a good man, ' does Avith the devil, and any thing ^vii\\ the Avorld, except faith and repentance.' " The folloAvcrs of this miserable im- postor still possess some mfluence in a Lancashu-e borough en- franchised by the Reform Bill of 1832. They are not noAA^, I presume, sealed with red wax, but are knoAVii by their large Avliite hats, long beards, and coats of peculiar cut. A deceased friend of mine Avas greatly indebted to their assistance for the long retention of his seat in ParUament. They are unobtrusive citizens, and have a weary look, as if tired of waiting. '■''Sunday JVir/ht, October 30th. This morning I walked to Deptford, and preached in the forenoon from Jer., A'iii., 22, A\'ith considerable comfort and liberty of mind ; AAdiether with any success, the Great Day will best determine. I dined with Mr. Evans and his family — ^very pious, well-informed, and agreeable people. Most of the afternoon I spent in trymg to raise out of the depths of despair a poor backsUder, AA'hose body God has permitted to fall from a lofty building, in order, perhaps, to ac- complish the restoration of his soul. The whole scene was profitable, though melancholy, and surely God was in om* midst. Oh, it is an evil and a bitter thing to Avander from the fold of the Good Shepherd. So prone as my heart has been to back- sUdc, I Avonder that I have not long ago been filled Avith my OAATi Avays. But I am a child of many and peculiar mercies ; and God is Love ! Before the CA'eniug service I had to bury the corpse of one who died well. This circimistance, perhaps, contributed to increase the congregation, Avliich was \inusually large ; and I gave a faitliful (and, I think I can add, an affec- utterly regardless of his toils and hardships, often dining contentedly on the coarse grain boiled for the food of horses. "No man knowcth of his sep- ulchre unto this day;" but ere he died he doubtless stood on some Mount Nebo, and saw the Canaan of millennial gloiy, and the rest -^vliirb - n^ -pvnm- ised to himself. — South India W/'sionary Conference, 185S. 190 TJIE I.IFE ^^tF JABEZ BUNTING. tiunato) ■warning against trifling with religion. Tlic text was Luke, xvii., 32. Oil, may I never be the tritler I reprove! I fear sometimes that I am but half awake. As there were sev- eral friends from town, I walked home with them ; to shorten the journey, and the night being calm and light, I ventured to cross the water. One of my companions in travel M'as a young man, who atiectionately inquired for , mider Avhose minis- try he was brought to God two years ago. The sermon which he said was particularly useful to him was on Phil., iii., 20, 21 ; a sermon, by-the-by, which heard me once })reach in Old- ham Street, and of Avliich he stole the substance and arrange- ment. '■'■Monday Evening^ Oct. Z\st. I was last night more restless than usual after Sunday's work. At half past 2 this morning it seemed impossible that I should sleep ; so I rose, and heard IMr. Taylor, at 5, preach an excellent sermon on the pleasures of religion. The rest of the day I spent in my study ; but, in spite of repeat.ed eiForts, I found myself incajiable of much close application to any thing. I have no headache, nor any other positive ailment, but am dull and listless, the result, I sup- pose, of last night's sleeplessness. I was accompanied to Snowsfields in the evening by a Mr. Grant, a gentleman with whom I became acquainted only on Saturday, and whose histo- ry is somewhat extraordinary. lie is a man of inde))endent l)ropcrty, of uncommon intellectual and literary abilities, and ex])resses himself more elegantly and classically in conversation than almost any man I ever heard. lie has for many years been seeking rest for the sole of his foot, and finding none. He has l)een a Churchman, a Socinian, a Quaker; and, last of all, being (lisai>p()inled in his eflbrts to obtain ])eace of mind, he gave up all religion, and was fast verging toward inlidelity. All along he appears to have been a sincere inquirer after truth, though, perliaps, not always faithful. lie Avas brought uj» to tlie law, and was adv:uitage(Misly settled in it, but, from con- scientious motives, abandonee] his ])r()fession, believing the in- discrimmate* exercise of it to be inconsistent Avith strict integ- * As, indeed, is the indiscriminate exercise of any jtrofession. It is a vul- gar error to suppose tlint the attorney is bound to accept wliatcver retainer may be offered to liim; nor docs any Christian gentleman who jiractices at the bar dcflji^ M"; Imnds with ill-rnttrii f.iin. niS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 101 rity aud benevolence. Of the real Gospel of Clirist, as of Meth- odism, he knew nothing, till about six weeks ago he met with ]VIr. Fletcher's writings, by rcaduig which he was deeply and fully convinced of sin, and brought into great distress of mind. One morning, after agonizing alone in })rayer for three hours, he was completely delivered from guilt, and received an assur- ance of pardon. xVnd now he is in a new world. He knows not hoAv to express himself in our phrases, but liis account of his experience and views is astonishingly rational, scriptural, and striking. To all the simplicity and humility of a new-born babe in Christ he unites the most exquisite and refined good sense. Altogether there is something very singular in him and about him ; he is very desirous to be useful, and seems quite prepared for extensive service; but Ave can not help thiukhig that he is raised up for some special purpose. For his sake, I preached from 1 Peter, iii., 15, and never had more Uberty in speaking. But I must retire to rest, that I may rise to preach at 5 in the morning." I can collect no farther information as to this interesting man. " Wednesday Evening^ ]SFov.2d. I finished at Queen Street my sermon on Hebrews, xi., 26. After the service, as usual on the first Wednesday of every month, we had a meeting of the leaders for spiritual conversation only. Several interesting sub- jects were well discussed — subjects of an experimental kind. The most judicious speakers were Mr, Middleton, Mr. Francis, Mr, Butterworth, and Mrs. Mortimer. The last-named individ- ual, at my desire, concluded by prayer. She has admirable tal- ents, Wlien I consider the spirit and abilities of many of its leaders, I cease to wonder that the Queen Street society should so much excel all others m the London Circuit. The Lambeth society ranks next to it. '•'■Thursday, November 3d. I preached this evening at Lam- beth from 1 Timothy, iv,, 8, and met the leaders, by whom I was detained till nearly 10 o'clock, partly in talking about a new chapel, which is much Avantcd, and partly in examining a poor woman accused of dishonesty. The case was complicated, but her guilt Avas proved, and ended in her expulsion from the society, '■'■ F)'iday, JSfovember Wi. I have spent all this day in close confinement to my study, partlv in Avriting, and partly in read- 192 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. ing the pcrioclicfil works of the month. I have also been in- (liu'cd, by tlie celebrity of a pamphlet on the state of })oliticaI parties (which has, in the course of a few weeks, ]tassed to a sixth edition), to peruse its contents. It is said to be written by Lord Ibiwkesbury ; is an able defense of Mr. Addington's administration, and discloses several facts of recent occurrence. I forgot to notice above my attendance on two prayer-meet- ings, viz., at twelve and seven, this being the monthly fast for the nation. " Sunday^ N'ovemher Gth. At Spitalfields this morning I read prayers as usual. I preached from Jude, 20, 21 : 'Praying in the Holy Ghost,' etc. Blessed be God for His gracious pres- ence and assistance! For the first time since my coming to London, I have this day succeeded in my attempt to dine at home on the Lord's day, and have had great comfort hi so do- ing. At 3 o'clock I went to the Scotch Church, London Wall, and heard a sermon on the Resurrection of Christ by Mr. Young, the successor of Dr. Hunter. His voice is musical, and his action easy, graceful, and modest. But the sermon disap- l)ointed me. It was too apparent that he had, to use the Scotch phrase, Wtcn-aWy mandated it, and was only repeating from mem- oiy. Tlicre was too evident an attempt at oratory, and the discourse itself was bare and commonplace, unworthy of a man who preaches only twice a week. Yet, somehow or other, I Avas pleased, and not unedified. At G I had to preach a mis- sionary sermon at the New Chapel. ]\Iy text was INIark, xvi., 15, which admitted of a very easy and natural application to the subject of missions, at the same time that it enabled me to introduce topics of general concern to the congregation them- selves. I j)reached a long sermon with great enlargement of heart, and with more than common utterance and animation. O that the etlects may prove that there was much of the mic- tion of the Holy One! '■'■Monday^ N'ovemher 1th. Messrs. Rodda and Whitefield have dined with us, and spent the afternoon; but T Avas obliged to leave their company, though both pleasing and improving, in order to comply with Mr. Benson's earnest request by perus- ing, with a critic's eye and with a critic's pen hi my hand, his iiiMnuscrijit against Dr. Hales and the 'C'hristian Observer.' I have preached tliis evening at Wap)ting on 1 Timothy, iv., 8. HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 193 " Tuesday^ November %th. The morning has been Avholly employed in the revision of Mr. Benson's pamphlet, partly here, and partly at his own house. I must finish this work on Thurs- day when I return from Hammersmith and Brentford, whither I am going this afternoon. " Tuesday Evening^ November 8th. I have preached this evening for the first time since my arrival in London in a dwelling-house. My text was Acts, iii., 26. I am informed that ministers certainly expect some immediate attempt to in- vade us on the part of the French. These are awful times. The Lord's hand is certainly lifted up, and on whom it will ul- timately fall we can not tell. Happy are they who have pro- tection, written with God's own hand, and ratified by His most solemn oath. Such may well have strong consolation as have Jehovah for their refuge. " Thursday, November lOth. I walked from Brentford this morning, which has robbed me of much time, so that I have not done much to-day. At the New Chapel this evening I preached from Zephaniah, ii., 3, a subject which I feel strongly inclined to speak from now, in hope that it may enable me to make some improvement of the present circumstances of our country. While at prayer, before preaching, in my room, I felt imusually poor, and needy, and empty, and lifeless, and was afraid I should have a comfortless season in public. But in public prayer, in preaching, and in the meeting of the bands, I was greatly helped and quickened, and praised God for the consolation. " Friday, November 1 1 th. This is a very sickly season. I scarcely hear of or meet with any one Avho is so perfectly and iminterruptedly "well as myself. This is Thy doing, O Lord; may it be marvelous in my eyes ! On my retm-n from the city to-day, I called to see a dying woman, eAddently ignorant of herself and of God, but much afraid of death. How foolish the conduct of those \^'\\o leave the great work of salvation to the close of life ! Their folly was particularly impressed on my mind while I was speaking to this lady. ' My soul, come not thou into their secret,' nor imitate their example ! God grant that I may be habitually prepared for that which may any mo- ment occur ! We have had good meetings for prayer at 1 2 and 7. If any thing save this country, it will be the prayers of Vol. L— I 194 TIIH LIKE OF JABEZ BUNTING. the righteous, who now, among all denominations, so zealously unite their eftbrts in this way. ' Fighting without prayer,' says a prelate of ibrmer days, 'is atheism, just as jiraying without lighting Avould be presuinj)ti()n.' Someliow or other, my ser- mon on Mark, xvi., 15, struck the })eople much, and 1 have been repeatedly importuned to print it, which I have as repeatedly refused. This morning it was brought forward at our meeting, and stated as the request of many that the preachers would lay tlicir connnands on me. Several Avere very urgent ; and if Mr. Taylor and Mr. Story had not espoused my right to judge for myself, I should have been overpowered by numbers. I have given no ])romise, and am, for many reasons, fully resolved to avoid it, if possible. It is too soon for me to turn author. You doubtless recollect the plan of the sermon as preached at Macclesfield. I request your serioj(s judgment of it, and your advice what to do if I should be farther urged on the business. My inclination and my judgment are equally against publica- tion ; though, if I nuist ])rint any of my sermons, I know not that I could select one more pi'oper on the whole. ♦' Saturday Eceninrf^ Kovemher 1 2th. Mr. Benson spoke most admirably in the Penitents' meethig to-night on 'Now is the accepted time, and now is the day of salvation.' He is a truly great man, and an able minister of the New Testament. An- other week is gone forever. To me it has been a week of temptation; and to-day I fear I have been chargeable with a siuiul disposition to wander from the central source of bliss. ' Oil, when shall all my wamlorinps end, And all my thoughts to Thcc-ward tend?' Lord, hasten the perfect day ! '•'• Sunday Eoenhifj^ Kovemher VMh. This forenoon T read prayers at SnowsHelds, and ])reached a charity sermon for the I.enevok'nt or Strangers' Friend Society. This is a most use- ful institution, and I had the ])leasure to iind that the collection was a very large one. But I am afraid of acquiring too good a character as a jiublic beg[,Mr, lest I shoidd l)e employed in that line of ministerial duty too frccjuently. My text was Ga- latians, vi., \). After dining T Avent to Mr. Townsend's* Chapel ♦ The Inic Rev. .John Tnwnsend, of Bermondsey, uncle of the Into Rev. Dr. Townsend, Trchendary of Diiihain, the devout, learned, and laborious .nuthor of the Historical and Chronological Arrran;^'cmcut of the Old and New TcElam-jnt?. Ills EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. i\)5 ill Jamaica Row, lioi)iiit^ to lioar liiin, but I was disappointed. I preached at Rotherhithe in the evening from 1 Timothy, i\-., 8, but had not much comfort or enk^rgcment. " 27iursdai/, November \1th. In the evening I went to Peck- ham, and })rcached from 1 Timotliy, iv., 8. I felt a great de- sire to be the instrument of doing my hearers some good, and of making some sahitary impression on their minds. God grant His eftectual blessing to what was said ! I liave this night completed my first tour of the London Circuit. It is twelve Aveeks since I entered this great metropoUs. Hitherto the Lord hath helped me ! '•'• F)'iday^ Noviemher 18th. The former part of this day was spent wholly in my study. Our national prayer-meeting this evenuig was but thinly attended ; yet the great Master of As- semblies was there — sensibly there, I venture to say, notwith- standmg the insinuations of the ' Christian Observer' to the discredit of the doctrine and phrase of sensible influence from the Holy One. '■'■ Saturday, November 19 fh. To-morrow morning the use of our pulpit in the City Road Chapel is to be granted to Mr. jNIadan, a Calvmist* mhiister, in order to preach a funeral ser- mon for Mr. Dewey, the gentleman whose death, in consequence of an unfortunate accident occurring during a mock-fight of the Volunteers near Highbury, has been so much noticed in the pubhc papers. I was busy writing this evening, and did not go to the Penitents' meeting. " Sunday Evening, November 20th. My ajipointmcnt this forenoon was for Grosvenor Chapel, where I preached from Zcphaniah, ii., 3. I dined with j\Ir. Brown, who formerly re- sided in Manchester, and was intimately acquainted with my father long before I was born. ' Thine own and thy father's * The use of the word " Calvinist" in reference to evangelical Dissenters was very common among the Methodists fifty years ago. Points of doc- trine were much more thought of than points of ecclesiastical order. Even in these days we talk of a- " Socinian" or of a " Unitarian" minister with- out knowing or indeed caring any thing about his theory or practice of chm-ch government. INIy father used the ordinary language of tlie time. Yet there is nothing to prevent a Calvinist from being a private member of the Methodist society. With one such man, who, by his zeal and liberality, commenced a work which ended in the establishment of an extensive cir- cuit, my father was well ac-quainted. 196 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BU^"TI^■c;. friend forsake not,' is a precept of Scripture ■wliich ought to be obeyed. 3Iay I never forsake my father's God! This Avould be an act of still greater ingratitude and weakness. At P.M. I preached at Lambeth on Jeremiah, viii., 22, and afterward met the society. The former part of this day I found it very good to wait upon God. Li the evening I was not quite so comfortable. But 'my times are in Thy hand' — my limes of special consolation and enlargement; and I am content that they should remain in His hand, and be subject to His appoint- ment. Physic is sometunes quite as necessary as cordials are at other seasons. '■^ Jlondai/, JVbi'embcr 2lst. This morning brought me a let- ter from my dear mother, conveymg the welcome intelhgence that my elder sister has been again persuaded to meet in class. I hope she will set out afresh ui the good ways of God. I have finished my abridgment of ' Dr. Magec on Atonement and Sac- rifice,' Avhich has swallowed up so much of my leisure of late. I feel my mind relieved as from a heavy burdei?, but I must not complain, as perhaps these extracts, when printed, may long survive him that made them, aud be doing good Avhen I am mouldering in the grave. I sometimes wonder where that grave will be. But when, how, and where we must die, are circumstances alike inscrutable, and aKke of inferior import- ance, if we do but live and die well." If my fither had looked out of the window of the room in which he wrote these words, he Avould have seen, Avithin twenty yards of him, the very spot where his precious remains are now interred. How near are we all to our graves, and how simple will be the solution of many questions winch vex our thoughtful hoiu's ! " Tuesdai/ Jrorjiuif/, JVova/ihcr 22d. I preached this morn- ing at 5 on ' Praying in the Holy Ghost.' A short text and a slender congregation justified a short sermon, and the two doc- tors — Hamilton and Caddick — filled up the hour profitably in prayer. " Tuesdffi/ J:Jecni)if/^ N'ovonhcr 22d. This afternoon we had a violent storm of wind and liail, accompanied with thunder and lightning. Nevertheless, I walked to Kentish Town, and preached there Irom Psalm Ivii., 1. Mr. Cordeux was my com- panion home, and made this lonesome walk more safe and more agreeable. Ills EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 197 " Wednesday Evening^ Ifovemher 23(7. I resolutely refused all invitations for to-day, and tried to make good use of my re- tirement. At 7 o'clock P.M. I preached at Queen Street from Titus, ii., 12, and met the leaders afterward. " T/iursday Ecening^ November l^tli. The forenoon of to- day was spent in visiting a few of the society at this end of tlie town. The afternoon was occupied in reading. At 5 I went by appointment to take tea at Mr. Thomas Hunter's. He is Calvinistic in his sentiments, and an enthusiastic admirer and panegyrist of Mr. Komaine as an author. To some of Mr. R.'s works he chiefly owed, under God, his first religious consola- tions. Mrs. H. is a decided Methodist in her opinions. Both were very friendly, and Avalked with me to Chelsea, where I preached from 1 Timothy, iv., 8. '•'•Friday^ November SOth. This morning I held a long con- versation with Mr. Butterworth on many interesting siibjects, private and public ; then attended the prayer-meeting in the morning chapel. Surely so many prayers for our coimtry can not go unanswered. " Saturday^ 6 d'clocl^^ December \st. This forenoon was spent as usual in the Preachers' meeting. Mr. Entwisle's ex- cellent Essay on Secret Prayer is to be inserted in the March Magazine. This afternoon I have been reading a very famous work by Mr. Eden (noAV Lord Auckland) on the Principles of Penal Law, which has pleased and edified me. The doctrines of it may, by analogy, be applied to confirm, on natural grounds, the eternity of future punishment, with a view to which dogma of the Christian faith it was that I engaged in the perusal of this law-book. '■''Monday^ December 5th. I bless God that I continue bet- ter, and, indeed, am nearly as well as usual. I was at Gros- venor Chapel yesterday, but only met two classes, as Dr. Ham- ilton prohibited my preaching. In the evening we went (that is, Mr. and Mrs. Middleton and myself) to hear Mr. Cecil, and I have not taken any fresh cold. Mr. C. preached an excellent sermon on Temptation. My expectations from him had been raised very high by the perusal of his biographical Avorks ; and as to his matter I was not disappointed. His manner was not such as I had supposed. In that respect, he is inferior to my favorite, Mr. Clayton. I understand that the sennon of last 198 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. nifjlit was a very fair aixl accuvato specimen of liis jjencral l»iTacliiii,u:. If so, I lliiiik he lias tlie faults common to many Cah inists. lie sets the .staiulard of Christian experience and enjoyment much lower than the Scriptures do, and does not take' sufficient pains to make strong and immediate impressions on the consciences of the unawakened. On the whole, I Avas very much delighted, though I acknowledge the justice of a critique on Mr. Cecil as a preacher, made in my hearing by ]\Ir. Symons, a pious clergyman. He said, ' Mr. Cecil is a very Avise preacher. He is a second Book of Ecclesiastcs. Yet I should Uke him better, and he would do more good, if he were rather a second Epistle to the Romans.' To-night, after a tedious but perhaps profitable exclusion from it for a week, I hope again to take the pulpit. I am expected to preach at Queen Street, and am imwiUhig to disappoint the congregation, especially as my face is nearly well. " 2'ucsday, December Gth. I sat most of this forenoon at Mr. Butter worth's, hstening i)artly to his account of a long conver- sation which he had on Friday with Mr. Wilbcrforce on the subject of the Jamaica IVrsecution Act, and ])artly to the ac- count given by Mr. Cami»bell (our own missionary lately im- prisoned there, Avho, to avoid confinement for life, has lied to England, and is now in London) of the grievous sufferhigs in- llicted on him for iireachhig the Gospel to negroes. In the afternoon I went by coach to Dei)tford, and have preached there on Titus, ii,, 12, " Friday, December Qth. I sat an hour this morning at Mr. Buhner's. ]\[rs. B. is not only a very i)ious, but a very accom- plished lady.* I have met with few women that equal lier in point of extensive iulnnnation. At noon 1 allciidctl ilie inter- cession-meeting, and in the afternoon acconqtaiiii'(l .Mr. Taylor to difl'erent parts of the city to meet classes. It was nearly o'clock bef<»rc we reached home. '■'■ Su/i(h(>/, December 11///. I arrived at Woohvich alxiuf 10 this morning, and have jireachcd thicc times, and givi'U tickets to all the society there. iMy texts were Hebrews, xi., 24; 1 Tunothy, iv., 8 ; and Acts, iii., 26. In Woolwich alone, of all the i)laces in the London Circuit, they require the same ])reach- * Sec "Sclcrt Lottcrs of Mrs. Annt-s IJulmcr, witli an Introduction and Notes, by the Kcv. "\V. M. Bcnting." 1842. Simpkin and Marsluill. HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 199 er to ofliciate three times in one day. This has been the hest Sab))ath I have had for some time. I have been favored with considerable enlargement and comfort. I accepted a kind in- vitation from Mr. Bakewell, of Greenwich, whither I walked after service, and spent an agreeable hour with this pleasing and amiable family. Though I have had much more labor to- day than ever before fell to my lot since I left Macclesfield, I feel very little weariness compared Avith what I used to expe- rience from sunilar exertions: a proof that my health and strength are improved. Blessed be the Giver of all good gifts ! '■'■ 3Ionday, December 12th. All the politicians are, at pres- ent, full of the correspondence relative to the Prince of Wales. My opinion, if I have any, is that the prince's ofl'er is more zealous than prudent, and that the pubhc good requires, under pi'csent circumstances, that both the king and the heir-apparent should sacrifice their private feehngs, however noble and com- mendable, by avoiding dangers of actual warfare, at least till the last extremity. At the critical moment of invasion, if the chances of war should prove fatal to both (a possible case, if they be actively engaged), the coimtry would be greatly em- barrassed when left to the government of a regency, as the crown would be left to the young Princess Charlotte of Wales. Whatever other reasons may have operated to produce the re- fusal of the i)rince's desire, I think this one is sufficient to just- ify it ; only it would certainly have applied with equal force to prevent his appointment to a colonelcy of dragoons, and to prohibit the king himself from taking the command of the army, as he has announced his design to do. Lackington has become, like St. Paul, a preacher of the faith which once he de- stroyed. It was to me unaccountable that he does not buy up all the remaining copies of his ' Lile,' and so prevent the sale. If he do not this, I shall begin to think that his pretended re- cantation is all mere cantation.^ * He did try; but the copyright did not belonp to him. Of course, he was but occasionally employed in prcachinp, and that in a destitute neij^h- l>orhood. Not very long ago I heard a young man rebuked in a Friend's meeting in terms which often recur to the memory. Possibly he was of doubtful reputation. He had scarcely begun his testimony, when a grave elder rose and said, "We shall be better jileascd if thou'lt be quiet." How soothing the stillness which immediately fell upon the assembly ! 200 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. '■'■ 3fo7i(lay Evenhiff^ December V2tlt. I lian. Mr. Entwisle writes him in May, 1804, '•' I saw at . He introduced the business of the Book-room ; but, as com- pany was present, I could say little : however, he expressed his decided opposition to , and observed that our Book- steward should be a compassionate brother, that could feel for liis brethren, etc. I said nothmg in reply, judging it imi)roper before the ladies. But I can not see why an agent of the Con- ference in book aftairs should be compassionate ; I think he ought to be accurate and sternly just." In answer to an invitation to travel in the Iluddcrsfield Cir- cuit after the ensuing Conference, my father writer : '' If I were at liberty to choose my own circuit, I should, perhaps, at my tunc of life, greatly prefer Iludderstield to London ; for, though we certainly have more external comfort la-re than in most other places, I do not consider this situation to be, on the whole, desirable or advantageous to a young man. We have peri)etually so much public business upon our hands, of a kind which does not occur in country circuits, that there is little or no time left for the purposes of study, which, to one in my cir- cumstances, is a serious inconvenience. But I have various reasons to believe that our excellent and valuable friends in the metropolis generally expect and wish me to stay with them another year, and that they intend, at their next Quarte-rly meeting, to propose a petition to Conference with that view : I shall, in such a case, feel it my duty to be, as on every former occasion, Avholly ])assive, and to sid^mit the decision of the busi- ness entirely to (jod and to my brethren." Mr. Kntwisic writes about this ])eri<)d, with an account of the Macclesiield District meeting: "At 5 next mornhig, ^Fr. West* gave us a plain, useful sermon on Isaiah, xxxiv., 10. lie is quite an original ; says smart and striking things in a plain way, and is lively and animated. Our business Avas conduct ed in the usual way. In discussing the inquiry, 'Is there any ob- jection,' etc., we considered it as it respects moral conduct, doctrines, discipline, and abilities, taking each particular sepa- rately." ♦ Fallicr of tlic President of tlie Conference in 1858. HIS EARLY MINISTRY IX LONDON. 213 The next extract introduces my father into a wider and more influential spliere of action. He writes to my mother, then at Margate, under date of July 2d, 1804 : "This mornmg I preached, at 5, on ' Being sealed with the Holy Spirit.' At 8 o'clock I went to Mr. Taylor's, Hatton Garden, to attend the committee for the Review, and, strange to tell, on the motion of Mr. Burder, was called to the chair ; so I assumed, as Avell as I could, the air and attitude of a man of consequence, and got through the duties of my office, in my own opinion at least, very respectably. The gentlemen present stared with admiration when I told them that I had preached at 5 o'clock. Calling at Guildhall on my way home, I stepped for a while into the Court of King's Bench, and was amused with the pparrings of Garrow and Erskine : I then found a common hall of the city assembled to choose two new sheriffs. Several gen- tlemen were put in nomination, among whom M'as our friend, Mr. Marriott.* Fortunately for his purse, the majority of votes was in favor of two other persons." The Review alluded to in the precedmg paragraph, origi- nally intended to be called " The BibUothecal Review," was subsequently established as " The Eclectic." Mr. Butterworth first brought the subject before my father's attention by intro- ducing to him the late Mr. Apsley Pellatt, with the injmiction that, " for many reasons, the business must remain a profoimd secret." Of the gentlemen invited to attend the meeting for its establishment, two only, Jabez Bunting and the late Rev. Thomas Roberts, were AYesleyan ministers ; eight of the twen- ty-nine laymen summoned were connected ^nth the Methodist society ; Josiah Pratt is the only clcrgpnan whose name ai> pears on the list ; and the venerable Dr. Steinkopff is the only survivor ; Greatheed, the friend of Cow|3er, was the chairman of the committee. The first trustees were Mr. Burder, the late Rev. George Collison, of Hackney, William Alers, Apsley Pel- latt, and Jabez Bunting.f The agreement constituting the * One of John Wesley's executors, and the son of the b.akcr -nho first took Mather to "the Fonndery." + A circular, issued soon after the commencement of the Review, con- tains a strong recommendation of it, signed by Jerram, of Chobham, and by Basil Woodd, distinguished leaders of the Evangelical party in tlie Church ; by Fawcett, Hughes, and Dr. Kyland, among the Baptists ; by Simpson, Pye 214 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTIXG. trust i^rovidod that tlio ])roiits, if any, sliould bo paid to tlic Britisli and Foreign Jiible ►Society. It wass farther agreed that the intended Review should "be conducted upon the principles of the doctrinal Articles of the Church of England," farther defined as " the doctrines t»f the Trinity in Unity ; the vicarious Atonement of C'lirist ; Kegeneration by tlie Holy Spirit ; Justi- iication by Grace, through Faith ; Obligation of obedience to the Moral Law ; Existence of the soul separate from the body ; The Kesurrection of the Dead; the Everlasting happiness of the l)eliever, and Everlasting punishment of the imj)enitent." It was stijjulatcd, also, that upon the committee there should lie two members of the Established Church, two Independents, one Baptist, and one Wesleyan Methodist. My father's talent for the details of business — how acquired I am at a loss to say — was put hito requisition, and calculations of expenditure and of probable income and profit, prepared ^^ ith nuich care, are found among his papers. I infer, from his active and prominent conncctioii with this undertaking, that, though he was a stranger in the mctro|)olis, and a very young man, he already commanded great resjject and influence, and that many without liis own pale had learned to value the soundness of his judgment, and his mastery over delicate and diflicult subjects. Tlie wisest representatives of metropolitan Xonconformity, together with a section of the Evangelical party in the Church of England, miited, for the first time, Avith the Wesleyans, to defend and to promote religion upon the basis of a common creed. The event was novel in the history of Methodism, from which its distinctive theology, and, jx'Hiaps, .also its (juick and uncx})ected spread, had repelled Christians of other communions; some from a Avholesome fear of heresy, and some from a pardonable fear of rivalship. The young Methodist preacher, Avho was thus brought into close union with strange but friendly brethren, "well sustained the ch.aracter of tlu; body to which he belonged. I refer not so much to his general abilities or to the suavity of his manners, as to the strong Christian sense with wliich liis mind always seized, as in :i moment, upon the essential doctrines taught in Holy Scripture; ])utting .aside for their sake, as i\\v, season or Smith, and Dr. Williams, Conprcgational ministers ; by Nicol .ijid Waiif,'!!, of the Presbyterians ; and by Benson, Clarke, and Jenkins, Metliudists. niS PJAKLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 215 the purpose miglit require, other not unimportant trutlis, wliicli many good men did not see in the light in which lie saw them, or could not see at all. The undertaking, it is well knoAvn, did not succeed. The services of some of the best men of the thne Avere enlisted ; but it Avas A'ery hard, in those days, for })ious Calvinists to believe that any Avho denied the Decrees, in their Genevan sense, knelt humbly as themselves at the sovereign Savior's feet for all spir- itual influence and i)0wcr. The KevicAV ceased to be catholic AAdien it impugned the principles of evangelical Arminianism, and that event soon happened. Other causes of dissension quickly folloAved. The character of the age Avas altogether un- favorable to schemes of healthy and generous compromise. I have hinted at the tem})tation to jealousy Avhich Methodism presented to stricter Nonconformists. But there Avas a still more serious difHculty. The frozen Establishment had begun to thaAA^, and, Avaking and Avarming into conscious life, had stretched its limbs, had begun to look about it, and, discovering its poAvers, had displayed them in the sight of friend and foe. " The common people" always " heard" it " gladly ;" and its parochial system gaA^e it a quick, firm, and smiultaneous grasp upon the entire country. No Avonder, then, that those Avho thought they discerned in all state churches a tendency to evil rather than to good, Avere startled Avhen they saAv the Church of England in doAvnright earnest, and Avould not feign friendship Avhen they felt nothhig but suspicion and dread. So it came to pass that, Avhen this " strong man" became a rejoicing competi- tor in the race for usefulness, and Methodism, running all the faster, yet breathed out a Avelcome, bade him play iliirl}-, and wished him quickly at the goal, the old Dissent stopped and questioned, sa}'ing noAV that the strange racer carried too much weight, and noAV that he had undue advantage ; all Avliich little heeding, he Avent on his Avay, and, as many think, got a full cen- tury's start of those Avho tried to hinder him. But may all Avin ! John Foster Avas one of the first to foretell that the KevicAV Avould fail to preserve its distinctive feature of catholicity. "What a stupid thing it Avas," he says to the editor in 1808, " to begin a thmg on such a plan !" But Foster did much to create the difficulties Avhich he thought the founders ought to have foreseen. Had his influence and talents been exerted in 210 TIIE LIFE OF JABEZ UUNTING. favor of the scheme, there can be Utile «hml)l tliat it •would have answered. The truth is, that the men ^vhose fancied fully he condemned were, in this instance, as wise as himself, and a little more amiable. It is often right to make experiments, tliough little hope of their success may be indulged ; and it is not for those who frustrate that success to comi)lain of the ef- fort. Foster has wittily said that " the Methodists are the Chi- nese of Christianity." It is certain he was one of its Tartars. From this failure my father learned a lesson which he never forgot. In subsequent life he always very cautiously weighed, though he did not always refuse to join in, projects for which some one of the Churches of the faithful was not distinctly re- sponsible, and which it did not pursue by its own denomina- tional methods. He dreaded lest what were intended as man- ifestations of union should prove occasions of discord, and he thought that the parts separately would accomplish more than could the whole combined. There were cases, however, of united action not open to any doubt, and the opportunities thus aftbrded he eagerly embraced. The Bible Society did, cheaply and elfectively, the work of all the churches. City missions, too, though within the range of his objection, were practically exce])ted from it. "Within the same exception came also cer- tain pressing claims for the promotion of the Gospel abroad, ■which no denominational society was i)repared to meet. The Evangelical Alliance, as he always strenuously maintained, served its great and final ]iuri)Oseby the constant exhibition to the Avorld of the substantial unity of the Church. He listened with affectionate deference to his illustrious friend, Thomas Chalmers, when he sununoned that body to some aggressive action ; but the call awakened fear rather than sympathy. Each case, such as that of the Madiai, in which action was taken, was considered by my father upon its own abstract and ])eculiar merits. He would, have been deeply grieved if the inlluence, not to say the existence, of the Alliance had hcon en- dangered by any attemjjt to compass objects foreign to its orig- inal design. Nor did he ever see why churches should form confederations in order to effect any ]>uri)Osc which Christians formed into churches were already liiliilling, if with some in- centives from sectarian zeal, yet chiefly out of love to their common Savior and Head. HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 217 My father again addresses Mr. Marsden: "Tlie long-talked of Jamaica business has ended less favorably than we hoped it would. Tlie old law is, indeed, fully re})ealed by the refusal of his majesty's assent to it. But the tidings of that refusal, when sent to the Colonial Legislature, were accompanied with the sketch of a new act on the same subject, which the Lords' Committee of Privy Coi;ncil for Trade and Plantations recom- mended to their adoption, and which, if carried into eifect,will be still more injurious to Toleration than that which was before proposed. As this sketch was not officially made known to us, nothing can be done in this stage of the business ; but if it be passed into a law, our opposition may then be renewed, and perhaps with more probability of success, in consequence of the recent change of administration.* Under such threatening circumstances, it is our comfort to be assured that the Lord reigneth ; and that when, by His overruling Providence, He has strangely made the wrath and malice of man to serve His righteous purposes and to promote His glory, the remainder of that wrath He will efiectually restrain. Our district met last week but one. Mr. Taylor is chosen by a large majority to represent the district in the Stationing Committee ; but the brethren agreed to suggest to that committee the j^ropriety of admitting Mr. Benson also, in Dr. Coke's absence, as the rep- resentative of the foreign missionaries, several of whom are come home, and will want circuits. Mr. Taylor stays a second year, of course, and ex officio. Messrs. Rutherford and Rhodes arc expected to remove. The Quarterly meeting has detciin- ined to petition for ]\Ir. Myles, Mr. Ent^wisle, and myseli", as mar- ried preachers, and to ask for two single men. This Avill com- l^lete their iisual number of six preachers. Of Mr. Benson's stay as editor, etc., they will be very glad, but they are re- solved (from a wish, they say, to make no precedents danger- ous to itinerancy) to consider him, and Mr. Loraas also, should he be united with Mr. Whitefield in the Book-room, as the serv- ants of the Conference only, not of the circuit. They therefore refuse to grant Mr. B. any longer the allowances of a preacher, or to reckon him one of their six ; but, m consideration of the Sunday services of the editor, they will undertake to pay two * Mr. Pitt had just resumed power. • Vol. I.— K 218 TIIE LIFE OF .TAHKZ nrNTIXG. or three additional wives.* I lit nr Mr. .Ins, Ikadford me^ms to come lii'iv. In that ease, he will occuity tlie Siiitaltields hou.se, and I must remove. I am perfectly willing to go or stay, as Providence and the Conference (which to me is the organ of Providence) may appoint. WIjo knows but I may be fortu- nate enough to have you for my bishop, in some quiet York- shire circuit V" Writing to a friend, my father says : " You have been, I find, in the wans of late. My private opinion certainly is, that if Mr. could quietly and comfortably have remained with you, it would liave l)cen highly desirable. As there is so seri- ous and resi)e(table an ()p])osition, however, if I were he, I would absolutely, and at once, ri'sign all claims of the kind. Indeed, I believe a great majority of the Conference will de- cidedly oppose all triennial a])pointments. In some cases I think they would do good; in others they would do harm; and I begin to l)e of ojiinion that, as the Conference can not distinguish between the Ibrmer and the latter cases without subjecting themselves to the clamor which any imputation of partiality would immediately e.\cite, nor without giving fresh occasion for strifes and jealousies among both preacliers and jjcople, they had better revive and enforce their old rule. I grant that, in some instances, this will be hard; but such is the present state of the world and of human nature, that the iimocent must often suffer for the guilty, and the wishes of the good mu.st be thwarteil in order to prevent the working of corruption in the Itad." I add here that my father's experience soon taught him the advantage, as a rule, of triennial appointments; but he always approved and advocated the check which the Methodi.st Con- stitution imposes tipon the practice, l)y re(|uiring, in all ordi- narv cases, the hearty concurrence of the (Quarterly meeting. An itinerancy like ours absolutely rctjuires that, the wishes of the peoj>le being first fully st:iteartly to his desire to examine closely the practical working of Methodism in various circumstances, and partly to his per- ce))tion that a man in his j)eculiar position was keenly watched, and, in some cases, not without jealousy. He had now completed his lirst year's residence in London. Occasional references have appeared in his letters to the mul- tiplicity and laboriousness of the ordinary work of the circuit. Dr. George Smith, in the seeond volume of his History of Meth- odism,* has ])rinted the Plan for the last quarter of 1S03, from which it will be seen that the circuit extended "from Twick- enham to Tilbury, about thirty-eight miles, and from Mitcham to Barnet, nearly twenty miles." The names of thirty-one chapels and preaching-places appear on this Plan. In these my father preached two lumdred and sixty-three times; but his usual course Mas interrujjted l)y his wedding trip, and was shortened by the holding of the Conference in London in 1804. During the year he kept every appointment in his circuit ex- cept on the occasion of his marriage, and on one Sabbath spent at Margate. To his ordinary duties were added various public conccnis. I have spoken of his labors at the Book-room and for the mis- sions; and his letters refer to long transcriptions from Magee for the use of the Magazine, and to other services rendered to its editor. I have no evidence that he was ]>resent at the meeting at Avhich the British and Foreign Bible Society was formed, but he took some part in its earUer proceedings. Jo- seph Lancaster's plans for the education of the people also en- gaged his close attention, and in the then state of the question, especially as it aftected his ovn\ denomination, commanded his ♦ London : Longman and Co. 1858. 220 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUKTING. ^varnl approval. They were the occasion of the only move- incut, on a large scale, and in a right direction, in Avhich Non- conformists conld at that time partici])ate. The th-st Quarterly meeting of the local preachers held dur- ing this year, gave rise to a decisive declaration of my father's strong conviction as to the necessity of an order of men sepa- rated exclusively to the work of the ministry, and that his brethren, the itinerant preachers, and himself, constituted such an order. It had been the custom, I do not know how long, to call over the names of the ithierant and local preachers in succession, and to inquire into each man's character, orthodoxy, and general ability. When my father's name was mentioned, he rose and protested, insisting that such an investigation as to himself and his brethren in the ministry formed no ])roper part of the functions of that meeting. " When I am tried," he said, " I will be tried by my peers ;" and he argued that an in- quiry which might issue in a trial, or, ])ossibly, in immediate degradation, ought also to be conducted by his peers. The practice was never resumed m his presence, and I believe it has fallen into entire desuetude. At the Conference held in 1804, Henry Moore was appointed president, and Dr. Coke, who had returned from America, secre- tary. Henry Moore, the friend and biographer of Wesley, was born near Dublin in 1751. He acquired hi early life the habits of a scholar; but his education, which it Avas intended to com- plete at the Dublin University, was interrupted by the death of his father. He states, when telling the story of his youth, that he was bound apprentice to a carver, whom he also calls an artist. He went to reside in London, and became very gay : "Tlie I*arks, Vauxhall, lianelagh, and especially the theatres, of which I was a ]»assi(»nate admirer, (|uitc intoxicated me, so that the name of Garrick in a i)lay-bill would make my heart vibrate with delightful anticipations." He returned to Dub- Hn: "The sight of the University had a ])ainful effect upon me; I sometimes attended the College C]iai)el, and often took a melancholy walk in its beautiful park." 7\gain he went to London, and occasionally attended at Methodist Chajjcls. He heard Charles Wesley preach ; " but his vehement and, what my folly pronounced, his headlong elocution, did not suit that HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 221 cold attention Avhicli was all I could then give to the ministry of any man, although, with respect to him, every sentence seemed an aphorism." He also frequented the Lock Chapel, where he heard De Coetlogon and Madan. The word he heard seriously impressed him. Again he sought his native land. He fell into a dispute about Calvinism, and his oppo- nent urged him to read St. Paul's Epistle tcf the Romans : so he sat down to read Burkitt's Commentary. " But how shall I describe the change wrought in my mind while rapidly, and with almost breathless attention, going through that Epistle, without taking in one word of the Commentary ? Tlie doc- trine which I wished to explore vanished from my remem- brance. I discovered that which I needed much more, Salva- tion by Grace, through Faith." He sought for farther hght, and went to hear Smyth, an archbishop's nephew, who was announced to preach in the Methodist Chapel. " How great was my disappointment ! A layman, with his i^lain coat, when I expected the gown, ascended the pulpit." The preacher was Samuel Bradburn. " The sermon throughout was highly impressive, and some parts of it came home to my case." Soon afterward he found peace Avith God, joined the society, and began to preach. Wesley sent him into the Londonderry Cir- cuit in 1779, and, having watched his course, and taken the measure of his talents, appointed him, in 1784, to the London Circuit. Coke was anxious that he should be ordained as a bishop for America, but Wesley absolutely refused. Moore attended Wesley in his study at 5 o'clock every morning, read the letters, and answered many of them. Wesley " had very much forgotten his French, which was still fresh with" Moore ; " and he received many French letters." Moore traveled with him during the winter, and " was never absent from him on the journey, night or day." "He had always books Avith him in the carriage, and used sometimes to read his oAvn excerj)ta of the classics to me." Charles Wesley AAashed Moore to take orders in the Church of England ; but John Wesley cut the matter short by taking part, in conjunction Avith two other Anglican Presbyters, in ordaining his 3'oung companion. As it turned out, this was a mistake. Other preachers, Avho, in like manner, receiA^ed or- ders, never regarded them, after Wesley's death, as haAung 222 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. created any veal distinction between tliemselves and their brethren ; but Moore ever and anon stood upon his rights. In 1786 he was appointed to DubHn ; ])ut two years afterward Wesley evmced his great attachment to liini by agam station- ing him in London, and in 1790 in Bristol, where Wesley spent almost as much time as in the metropolis.* By Wesley's will, the right to prc-Tch at his clinpel in the City Koad, London, and to appoint preachers for his chapel in King Street, Bath, was given to four clergymen and to eight of his preachers. Of these latter only two had been ordained by himself: INIoore was one. He accounts for this exceptional mode of appoint- ment, in the case of these two chapels, on the theory that Wes- ley had confidence that these twelve men would maintain the system of itinerancy so far as these chapels were concerned. Be this as it may, the powers conferred by the will were quietly ceded to the Conference as soon as Wesley died. It was felt to be impossible to reconcile such an irregular plan of action with the general system of itinerancy. During the disputes which followed, Moore warmly espoused the side of the sepa- ratists from the Church of England ; more, as I gather from his biograi)hy, in reliance on his own ordhiation than as con- tending for the common rights of his brethren. Against those provisions of the Constitution which were enacted in 1797 he veliemently protested. But his well-deserved reputation as a theologian ; the power of his " profound, luminous, and sen- tentious" preaching ; the gravity and stateliness of his de- meanor; his quiet humor, kindling sometimes into si)arkling wit : his creneral force and weight of character; and AVeslev's recorded confidence in his integrity and Avisdom, all ])laccd liim, for many years, in the foremost ranks of the connection. His crotchets did not l)econie i>rominent until they had lost power to hurt. lie made a fruitless eilbrt to occupy, inde- pendently of the Conference, AVesley's own pulpit and house. For a time he resolutely o]iposed the formation of the Wes- ♦ In a IcUer from Wesley to Moore, dated "Diimfiics, June 1st, 17!)0," ho says, " So I am upon tlic holders of Enp;hind once aRiiin. My sij;ht is mucli as it w.is; hut I doubt I shall not recover my strcufith till I use that nohic medicine, preaching iii the morninp." To think of carly-morninp preaching curing the ailments of a man in the eighty-eighth year of his age I HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 223 leyan Methodist Missionary Society, though afterward he be- came one of its heartiest friends. He could not, or would not, believe that the candidates for the ministry ought to be trahied in a theological institution, and, accordingly, in 1835, his name was, with his consent, used against the Conference in the liti- gation which resulted from the proceedings taken by the Rev. Dr. Samuel Warren. Subsequently he politely offered ordina- tion to the entire body of his brethren. After a long period of vigorous and self-possessed old age, he died in 1844. His friendship with my father was for many years firm, frank, and affectionate, except at times when the latter asserted the au- thority of the Conference over one of Wesley's favorite sons.* Their personal intercourse, however, was terminated when some gathered around Moore in his later days who did much to cheer and comfort him, but whom my father could not meet without danger of unpleasant collision. His biography of Wesley is a valuable contribution to the liistory of Methodism, but it is in some places tinctured with his own peculiar views, and especially with those of them which affected his personal position. His sermon on the Epistle to the Romans, the ripe result, no doubt, of his first impressions vrhen readmg it, is regarded by competent judges as a master-piece in its own class of pulpit composition. The sermons pubUshed in a sepa- rate volume have not obtained such a circulation as to create any general opinion of their merits. He was the intimate friend of Alexander Knox, whose father and mother were Methodists in his first circuit, as also of Mary Tighc, the au- thoress of " Psyche ;" considered, by a judge no less competent than Sir James jNIackintosh, as the best poem in the language composed by a female writer. I can not hope that this sketch has done Mr. Moore full justice, but I think the portrait is sub- stantially true to nature ; if not, I have failed to convey the * The history of the "Bible Christians," sometimes improperly called Brianites, one of the minor sects of Methodists, and prevailing chiefly in the West of England, supplies a remarkable incident. Tiieir founder, to whom many of thcni were placed under the strongest religious obligations, clearly and contumaciously violated their rules. They firmly resisted him, and ultimately dissolved their connection with him, thougli their contribu- tions still make his old age comfortable. This fact was related to me by Mr. James Thorne, one of their ministers, to whose name I can not refer but in terms of affection and respect. 22-i THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. pleasant impi'cssion produced upon me by the striking appear- ance, sagacious sayings, and constant, condescending kindness of one oi" the greatest and most venerable men wlioin it \v:is ever my privilege to know. A letter from Miss Percival, dated "September Tth, 1804," announced the death of my father's early benefactor. "My dear Sir, — You will doubtless have been apprised of the very melancholy and afflicting event which has hajipened to this family. The fortitude and resignation with which my mother has supported herself are truly admirable, and I trust that Ave have all endeavored to call forth that strength of mind of which we have lately lost so exalted a pattern. In your sympathy Ave feel confident ; and it will, perhaps, afford you some gratification to learn that my dear father has mentioned you in his papers in the kuidest terms. The following is an extract from one of these papers that I allude to. 'It is my earnest request that my excellent friend, Mr. Jabez Bunting, will assist my dear son, Edward Cropper Percival, in the ex- ammatiou of my manuscript letters and jnajters, ibr the )nu*- pose of selecting what should be preserved, and of destroying whatever may be useless or improper to be kept. In their secrecy and discretion I have complete coniidence.' My fa- tlier has also directed a mourning ring to be sent to you." In Yc\)]y to a lettei" on the same mournful occasion, received from Mr. Edward Percival, my father wrote on September 15th, 1804: "Mv DEAR Sir, — When your letter arrived at City Road I wa.s unfortunately absent, so that it lay there some time be- fore I received it. Acce])t this as my ajiology for not having sooner rej)lied to its contents. Of the decease of my most honored and cver-to-bc-venerated friend I had not before been apprised. The melancholy intelligence greatly affected my mind. Be assured that I cordially syn)j»athi/.e with Mrs. IVr- cival, yourself, and ycnn* whole family. After sjiending in his household four of the hapjiiest years of my life, and enjoying 80 many opportunities of witnessing his manifold excellences, it is impossible that I should hear of the removal of so exalted HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 225 a character from our world without emotions of Uvely regret. Indeed, not to lament his departure as a most painful dispensa- tion of Divine Providence Avould argue a criminal insensibility to his worth, and a cuIiDable ingratitude for the benefits de- rived from his society and example. But, while we feel as men, let us submit as Christians. From the animating doc- trines and momentous discoveries of that Gospel in which your father was so firm a believer, and of Avhich he Avas occasional- ly so able a defender, we shall derive the most effectual relief and consolation under such trying bereavements. Let us thank God that we are not left to mourn like those who are Avithout hope. Life and inmiortality are brought to clear and certain light ; and we now not only trust, but know, that death is not an extmction, but a mere change of being. May I take the liberty of requesting from you, when you write, some farther particulars as to the time of your excellent father's death, the nature and duration of his previous illness, etc. ? It docs, in- deed, afford me the highest gratification to find that I am so kindly mentioned in your father's papers. His friendly re- membrance of me I always estimated most highly, but I am doubly grateful for this last honorable expression of it. With respect to the examination of the manuscripts, you have doubt- less anticipated my determination. 'The earnest request' of one to whom I am under everlasting obligations I certainly could not think of refusing, especially on this affecting occa- sion. I shall be happy to comply Avith it as soon as possible, by rendering you every assistance in my poAver. At present I am almost unavoidably confined in London by the illness of one of my colleagues in the ministry, but in about a month or fiA-e Avecks hence, if no unexpected occurrence prevent, I can conveniently visit Manchester for the purpose of aiding you in the execution of your trust. I shall be glad to be fiivored Avith a fcAV lines by return of post, acquainting me Avhether this pro- posal meets your aj^probation, or suggesting any other plan that you may prefer. I am at a loss to conjecture Avhat length of time tlie business Avill require. Perhaps you can give me some information on this point. "Will five or six hours a daA', if regularly devoted to this employment for the space of a fort- night, be sufticient ? I must beg you to present my respectful compliments and most sincere condolence to Mrs. Percival and K2 226 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUXTING. the family in Mosley Street. With great pleasure I received the intimation of the fortitude and resignation displayed by your excellent mother." A letter to my mother, dated October 18th, 1804, written at Manchester, where he had conmienced the examination of Dr. Percival's papers, records his first visits to two eminent men. "Daylight appeared just as we entered Birmingham. I immediately visited Mr. Moore, who was exceedingly kind and friendly." And again : " I have also spent an hour with Mr. Clarke, and Avas exceedmgly charmed Avith him. I have promised to supply his place at Oldham Street on Sunday and Monday evenings." So also on Monday, October 22tl, 1804: " I again returned to Mrs. Percival's, and staid there till 5 o'clock ; then spent an hour most agreeably with the great and good Adam Clarke in his study; drank tea at my mother's; heard part of Mr. Clarke's sermon at Oldham Street, and final- ly walked over to Oldham. The journey Avas rendered more pleasant by Albiston's society, who walked with me half the way. I arrived about 10 o'clock; sat half an hour at Mr. Marsden's, where I found Mr. and Mrs. Greaves, and then went to my old friend INIr. Abbot's, where I was received, as usual, most cordially. Next forenoon, at half past 10, I preached from Acts, iii., 26 ; dined at Mr. Marsden's, and arrived in Man- chester about half past 4. I drank tea at Mr. Wood's, and preached in Oldluun Street to an amazing crowd of hearers, with tolerable liberty, from Job, xxii., 21. After hearing j\Ir. Clarke deliver an interesting exhortation to the society, I re- turned, in company with Mr. Daniel Burton, to Mr. Wood's, where avc supped, and then went home to my mother's, to close a fatiguing yet not unpleasant day." A short extract from a letter written by an aged i>reacher, whose name I have already mentioned with honor, will show what sort of women were the Avives of men like him. By "clearing the books of her name" Avas intended the AvithdraAv- al of all claims upon the lunds of the connection in resj»cct of her personal maintenance. At that time those funds Avere ex- ceedingly embarrassed; and the mode in Avliich the alloAvances formiiiisters' Avives Avere recorded in tlie minutes must have offended the feelings of any gentle av on uxu. niS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 227 " Shepton, December 1st, 1804. " I suppose you had not heard of the death of my wife's fa- ther, who died about a month since, after a short iUness, on his return from a wateruig-place. He has very kindly remember- ed us, and has left us (what I would not choose to mention to any but yourself, as I know you love us) a little more than two thousand pounds. This will help to make a few inconveniences here very convenient to us, and Avill also help us, now and then, to make the hearts of some poor people glad, and this will be a special pleasure to us. This will also help my wife to clear the books of her name, which she always uitended on this event." The year 1 805 commences with a letter to Mr .Wood. " What harebrained work has been going on lately at ! Much as I detest some of the abominations which have been wont to defile the sanctuary there, it is impossible not to condemn the violent method which, if my information be correct, has been taken to suppress them. Wliat say the Manchester critics to the ' Eclectic Review ?' The sti*f)ng passage in the first num- ber, which intimates that Calvinism is unanswered and unan- swerable, is a grievous departure from the professions of Ca- tholicism contained in the Prospectus and in the Preface. I believe some apology for it will appear in the second number." The strife to Avhich the former part of this letter refers has lost all its importance ; but my father's allusion to it shows thus early his opinions in reference to siich questions. It had been the practice at that the hymns sung during the evenmg service, immediately before the sermon, should be selected from a hymn-book not authorized by the Connection ; and the times were often such as the chief part of the congregation could not sing. Nor was this all : " the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, jisal- tery, and all kinds of music," soimds not incompatible with a ceremonial religion, and harmonizing well with the worship of a " golden image," were, in this instance, statedly employed, in distracting variety, in the spiritual exercises of the Christian sanctuary. This was the class of abominations to Avliich my father alludes. The second minister on the circuit, objecting very properly to these courses, interfered to prevent them, m defiance of the injunction of his superintendent, and by modes 228 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. Avliich, Avlictlier wrong f'l" I'iglit in themselves, gave great um- brage to the congregation, wlio loved " to have it so." The re- sult was some four or live months' violent dislurbance of the society, ami great scandal in tlie town and neighborhood. The trustees intimated some intention to avail themselves of an un- usual provision in their Trust Deed, and to prevent the minis- ter from occui)ying the ])ulpit ; whereupon he, whose acts had created the confusion, claimed the protection of a special Dis- trict raeetuig. Adam Clarke, the chairman, wrote to the su- perintendent accordingly, announcing his intention to summon that tribunal, imless the trustees should rescind their resolu- tions. The trustees peremi)torily refused to do so. Ultimate- ly the matter Avas settled, tln-ough the intervention of tlie Dis- trict meeting, at its annual session in May, by an-anging that the preacher might choose such a hymn as appeared in botli the regular hymn-book and in that objected to, the tune being jeft to the choice of tlie choir. The succeeding Conference inquired into the whole aftair, and passed a series of regulations hitended to put a stop to all such practices as had prevailed at the ])lace in question. My father's verj^ strong language proves how thor- ouglily he sympathi/x'd Mith the decision of the Conference. But he condemned the conduct of the minister, who, in oj^josi- tion to the judgment and advice of his superintendent, had chosen his own time and modes of raising and of carrying on the contest. It was the individual act of a man bound not to act individually ; the assertion of individual conscience against law, which the same conscience had selected as its guide. The passage in the first number of the "Eclectic Review," referred to in the letter last quoted, gave my father great con- cern, and he addressed a letter to the editors M'hich I think well wortliy of ])rcservation. "To mi: I'^DiTOKs ok thk Eclectic Revikw. "Gentlemen, — 1 take the liberty of addressing you on the subject of an article which ap))ears in the first number of your work, and of which some fric-ndly ex)>lanation seems to be re- quired by tlie res])ect which you owe both to your own jjrofes- sions of universal candor and to a considerable number of your theological readers. " The article to which I allude is your review of Dr. Law's niS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 229 sermon, preached before the University of Cambridge. You inform us that one of tlic examples by which the preaclier ilhis- trated liis general position relates to the eonsistency of the lib- erty of man with the foreknowledge of God. On this subject, it is observed that the question at issue is, ' Wherein does the freedom of the will consist ?' that Dr. Law's answer seems to be, ' In its self-determining power ;' but that Mr. Edwards and the modern Calvinists would reply, ' In its acting without com- pulsion, and choosing or refusing, according to the strength or weakness of the motives presented to it.' You farther remark, ' This is the system which Dr. Law attacked and refuted.' And then follows the passage, with some parts of which, in my opin- ion, your Arminian readers have reason to be dissatisfied. ' Of late,' you say, ' we have observed,' etc., as far as ' can bestow.' — Eclectic Hcvieio, p. 69.* " Now, gentlemen, to the first two sentences of this quota- tion I have nothing to object. Even a candid Arminian, though he may, on the Avhole, decidedly prefer his own hypothesis, will readily allow that the Calvinists have a great deal to say for themselves, and that persons discover a culpable ignorance of what they have actually said on the difticult point to which you refer who ' load Calvinism with CA-ery opprobrium,' and 'look down on it with sovereign contempt.' But jjermit me, gentlemen, to ask you, Is not the necessity of liberal and re- spectful forbearance on this abstruse and long-controverted question mutual, and 1)inding on both parties ? Will not every candid Calvinist allow that his scheme also, though to him it appears decidedly superior to every other, is, however, attended with some difliculties, and that Arminians 'have a good deal to say for themselves ?' And, if he has carefully perused their * The whole passage runs thus : " Of h\te we have observed, in gentlemen of Dr. Law's seiithnents, a disposition to load Calvinism with every oppro- brium, and to look down on it with sovereign contempt. But, if they would peruse Edwards on the Freedom of the Will, and his book on Original Sin, with fairness and candor, they would be constrained to admit that the Cal- vinists have a great deal to say for themselves. These two books of Ed- wards's have been in the world half a century without an answer ; it is, therefore, certainly full time for the champions of the opposite system to sit down and confute them. The man who shall do it to the satisfaction of im- partial believers will be entitled to the highest honors which the republic of letters can bestow." 230 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. writings, will he not concede, in his turn, that it hetrays a want of intbrniatiou to ' load their system with every o]iprobriiun,' or to 'look down upon it with sovereitjn contetni)t V "It is on the tjrouud thus stated tliat I venture to oljjcct to the two concluding sentences of the passage I have cited. They seem to some to contain expressions rather too bold and tri- lunphant. I do not suppose that you designed to commit your- selves as parties in this controversy at the very commencement of your work. But has not the language you adopt too muc-li the tone and style of polemics ? Does it not appear to throw down the gauntlet, and to breathe the spirit of defiance against Arminians ? For the character of Mr. Edwards, both as a Christian and an author, I entertain the highest respect. Ills work on Free Will is, not without reason, selected, as contaui- iug the strength of the cause whicli it su])ports. But your as- sertion that it has ' been in the world half a century without an answer' demands some explanation. Perhaps it only means that, in your judgment, that treatise has never been well or sat- isfactorily answered. This opinion I question not your right to entertain, but I doubt the propriety of involvhig your Keview in the responsibility connected with so victorious an avowal of it, after your Prospectus has promised ' a general and universal candor respecting subjects on which the best and wisest of mankind are divided,' and after your Preface had declared, ' Things in which we difler from eacli other avc agree to leave undecided.' "If the assertion under consideration was meant to imjjly that the arguments of Mr. Edwards on Free Will have never l)een answered at all, I beg leave to remind you that, when they were detailed and enforced by Mr.Toj^lady, they were fully ex- amined by Mr. Fletcher, \'iear of INladeley, in a tract entitled 'A Kejjly to the j)rinripal .Vrgunu'iits in favor of Absolute Ne- cessity,' Avhieh is reprinted in the seventh volume of his works. But perhaps you only meant to assert that, whatever attention may have been pai tion, or, in other words, because we think that Jesus Christ in such a sense died for all men, that all men through Him may (we do not say will or must) be saved. As to any persons 232 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. called Arminians wlio, though they agree with us on this point, deny the nionientous verities before mentioned, we disclaim all resi^onsibility for their errors, and protest against that inaccurate classification which would rank us with I'elagians, Arians, So- cinians, or, in tine, with any who deny the total misery of man bv nature, or ascribe his recovery to any other source than the free and unmerited grace of God in Christ. From the posi- tions of Edwards in his book on ' Free Will' we do indeed dis- sent, but with his leading doctrine of Original Sin we cordially agree. " On these principles, gentlemen, and with sincere wishes for the success of your excellent undertaking, I have the honor to subscribe myself, An Oktiiodox Arminian." On April 1st, 1805, my father addressed the following letter to his friend Mr. Wood, then the Steward of the Manchester Circuit. "My dear Friend, — Being absent from home when your letter arrived, I received it only three days ago. I must begin this answer to it by expressing my grateful acknowledgments to the persons who composed your late Quarterly meeting in Manchester for the good opinion which they entertain of me, and for the api^lication with which they have honored me. But I fear, and, indeed, I am sure, that they very much overrate my qualifications for the important situation whicli they wish me to occupy among them. The kindness of the request, however, in connection with the similar partiality which some of them have formerly discovered, demanded my serious attention to their proposal, and I will, with all frankness and simplicity, de- tail to you my thoughts oh the subject. " My social feelings strongly incline me to wish for such an appointment. To be so near to my dear mother and sisters would certainly be a high gratification to me, and might enable me to contribute, more efVoctually than I otherwise could, to the comfort of the former, under the pressure of infirmities and declining years. JVIost of my other intimate friends and con- nections, too, are in Manchester or its neighborhood, and I should greatly prize the opportunity of spending a year with one whom I so greatly respect as yourself. HIS EARLY MimSTRY IN LONDON. 233 " My public feelings are decidedly against such an appoint- ment. I must be allowed to know the state of my own minis- terial attainments much better than others can, and I am satis- fied that they are not at present such as they should be before I am stationed for Manchester. I am a very young man and a very young preacher. My Manchester friends have not forgot- ten me as the boy they once knew ; nor are my qualifications for the pulpit, be they in themselves what they may, suflicient- ly matured to secure for me, in my native town, that permanent attention and respect, which are, in my judgment, almost essen- tial to the due reception and complete success of ministerial exertions. Destitute, in a great measure, both of personal in- fluence, and of that consideration which is conferred by age and well-cultivated talents, I think it is too soon for me to appear in Manchester as one of their stated preachers. Some years hence, if spared, I may, through Divine assistance, be more likely to fill that station with advantage to the people, with some degree of credit to the ministry, and with pleasure to myself. My personal feelings, also, lead me to shrink from the appointment proposed. I have somehow contracted an uncon- querable aversion to all large towns. I think them very un- , friendly both to intellectual improvement and to spiritual pros- perity, especially in the case of a young preacher. Manchester is to me particularly objectionable. My acquaintance there is already too large, and, if I be stationed in it, will of necessity become still larger. I fear I should be ol)liged to be often in company, either in my own house or in those of others, when I ought to be in my study, and to live more in public than I can ever bring myself to do with comfort. There is another thing which to you, in confidence, I can state. You Avell know that the cast and character of our minds are materially influenced and moulded by the external circumstances in which we are placed. A young man who is fixed, year after year, in those very promment situations which call him much into publicity and activity, is in danger of becoming insensibh^, and by slow degrees, too public and too active. His temptations to pre- sumption and forwardness are multiplied. I do, therefore, se- riously think that a small, obscure, coimtry circuit would be better for me than a large town, esiDccially as my constitutional disposition is more ardent than is, perhaps, at all times consist- 23-i THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. cnt with the meekness and gentleness of Christ. I am prone to think aiul s])eak Avith an excess of decision and energy. If I am providentially ])laced in a station such as those before al- luded to, I seem bound to enter, with all my soul, into all the duties and all the business connected with it. But this creates occasions of temptation, and I am jealous as to the effect of such exposures on the moral habitudes of my own mind. " You now know, my dear friend, how I thmk and feel on the subject of your letter. You will therefore perceive that I can not say, as you desire, I have no objections to be fixed in Manchester. However, on the whole, I think it best, though not without some scruples to the contrary, to be, as I hitherto have been, quiet and passive in these matters. If it be still thought proper to petition for me, and the Conference make the appointment, though I shall have many doubts as to the wisdom of their decision, I shall then have none as to my own duty to comply with it. In that case, I shall enter on my work with much fear and trembling indeed, but witli Inunble hope that the way of Providence will ultimately be (if I be not wanting to myself) theway of profit and advantage. So far as I can at present judge, I must leave the business with God and my brethren. You Avill be so good as to communicate such of the particulars as you may deem proper (the M'hole w^ould be too tedious and uninteresting), together with my best love and re- spects, to all whom they may concern. May the good Lord Himself choose our inheritance for us all, and determine, from year to year, the bounds of our habitation !" The next extract I insert is valuable, both as recording the history of his opinions, and as, perhaps, in one respect applica- ble to the present circumstances of the connection. Yet a can- did writer is not noAV able to account for the com])arative scar- city of elaborate and learned books from the pens of AVesleyan ministers. The letter is addressed to Mr. Marsden. "London, June 24th, 1805. "I agree with most of your observations on the Eclectic Review. There certainly is a considerable defect in point of literary ability, and that in a degree which even the total fail- ure of Mr. Hall's expected assistance, much as that fiiilure is to HIS EARLY MIXISTRY IN LONDOX. 235 be lamented, can by no means sufficiently explain. As to Ar- minianism, I think they have been, on the whole, as candid as could reasonably be expected. If they refrain from direct at- tacks, it is as much as should be required from a corps whose members are principally avowed Calvinists. Since your letter was Avritten, they have, I think, redeemed their character, with respect to the Wesleyan Methodists, by their strictures on Da- vies's Sermon, and by their panegyric on Mr. Fletcher. The only violation of their professed liberality toward us occurred in their account of Dr. Law's Sermon, and in their refusal to insert the letter of 'An Orthodox Arminian,' which was sent to them in consequence of their false assertion that Edwards on the Will was never answered. That ' Orthodox Arminian' was myself. Mr. Greatheed expressed to me great regret for the admission of the obnoxious paragraphs, but was afraid of offending his Reviewer by a formal recantation. As to their adverting to their own ' Avriters,' this seems to me to be una- voidable. On controverted subjects, if they mi;st be amicable, they, of course, will say as little as possible ; and on theolog- ical or literary subjects in general, we have very few writers to whom they could advert. This strikes me as one great defect of modern Methodism. It makes very little use of the press, that powerful engine, for promoting its tenets or advancing its interests. That mode of influencing public opinion, and of sav- ing souls from death, we grossly neglect ; a neglect, however, which is one out of many evils resulting from an uneducated ministry. Do not mistake me: I am no friend to colleges or academics ; but I do think that some regular, systematic j^lan ought to be adopted with respect to the young preachers dur- ing their four years of probation, which, without interruj^ting their pulpit labors, Avould make them more accurately and thoroughly acquainted Avith divinity as a science, and qualify them for more extensive and permanent usefulness. On the whole, I think the Eclectic Review deserves patronage, as it is the only work of the kind in which either infidelity or hetero- doxy of the worst sort is not introduced, and, therefore, the only one which can with safety be recommended to young peo- ple, or to readers in general." On July 1st, 1 805, my father again writes to Mr. "Wood : 236 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. "My very dear Friexd, — Yoii will sec l)y the inclosed sermon that I have been persuaded to turn autlior. I request your acceptance of a copy, as a small proof of my rlffectionate remembrance of you, and of my confidence in your friendly dis- positions toward me. " I think I have made up my mind to sacrifice all my per- sonal feelings and inclinations by consenting to come to Man- chester if the Conference deem it proper to appoint me. This I have intimated in answer to applications from Birmingham, Blackburn, Leeds, Wakefield, and Sheffield. I can now do nothing more to prove the respect I am disposed to pay to the importunities of my Manchester friends. May the Lord Ilini- seli" direct and decide ! To Him I cheerfully commit my cause. Mr. Jenkins, in a letter received from liim last week, tells me that my call, in his opinion, is to Sheffield. How prone we are to i)lead Divine authority in favor of our OAvn views and wish- es ! You tell me, in almost the same words, that my Provi- dential call is to Manchester. Now ' who shall decide when doctors disagree?' My answer is, God and the Conference, who to me, in this business, are God's rejn-esentatives. "Your Quarterly meeting is, I suppose, now over. I am desirous to know what your proceedings were on the subject of petitions to Conference. If they have altered their minds about me, j^'ay be fiiithful, and inform me of it. You will par- ticularly oblige me if you will favor me, l)y return of post, Avith all the details of what passed on this business. It is of some consequence to me to knoAV Avhom, if I come to Manchester, I am likely to have for my fellow-laborers. " Am 1 right in concluding, from the information I have re- ceived, that though the jtrinted Plan frequently rcfjuires your preachers to offieiate, Avhen in town, thrice on the J^ord's Day, it is, however, contrary to the usual practice, and will be nei- ther desired nor expected of me ? This is a material circum- stance. In addition to our own services, I preached a third time yesterday, in order to oblige ]Mr. Dan Taylor, the General Baptist. The consequences I have felt most of the night, and I am exceedingly Mondayish this morning. " Has Dr. Alexander returned to the society ? I will trouble you with the delivery of a coj)y of my sermon to him, and also Avith one for Albiston, and one for Mr. Clarke, avIio, I hope, Avill HIS EAKLY MINISTKY IN LONDON. 237 accejjt it as a small acknowledgment in rctui-n for his obliging present of the Discourse to the Philological Society." My father's first residence in London terminated in August, 1805. He had preached two hundred and sixty-nine times during the second year of his appointment. With the excep- tion of the period of his visit to Lancashire upon the occasion of Dr. Percival's decease, he was absent from his circuit for one Sunday only ; nor did he leave for the Conference until after the first Sunday in August. During the year he became in- creasingly engaged in tlie labors and responsibilities attondino- the public business of the connection. He took a lively interest in the Society for the Suppression of the Slave Trade. A club for the purchase and circulation of periodicals and pamphlets, of which he was the founder, familiarized him with the lighter literature of the time. So frequently as his avocations Avould permit, he attended at the House of Commons in the days when Pitt and Fox flourished. He was an occasional visitor, also, at the meetings of the Eclectic Society (see note, p. 183), which were held in the vestry of St. John's, Bedford Row, and of which John Newton, Cecil, Daniel Wilson, Pratt, Henry Foster, Samuel Crowther, Basil Woodd, Simeon, Abdy, Venn, and Goode (the fiither of the learned controversiaUst of that name), together with the elder Clayton and John Goode, of the Dissenters, Avere members. I am not sure whether it was here, or through some other channel, that he became acquainted with Henry Martyn. Of his happy and instructive association with the fathers and founders of the London Missionary Society he always spoke in the most grateful terms.* Lideed, he seems * At the jubilee meeting of the London Missionary Society, held in 184-t, in the course of his speech he thus expressed himself: " I am only pledged to a few sentences. The first of these must be to beg permission, on this memorable occasion, to renew the expression of my great personal esteem for this society. That esteem is mingled with no small measure of the feel- ing of gratitude. It is known to some here that a considerable portion of my public life has been spent in connection with the subject of missions and in their service. So far as home operations are concerned, I have in that ser\-ice had unutterable pleasure, for which I thank God. The subject of missions can not but be highly gratifying to every mind that has any love to our Savior, and any sense of the value of human souls. It is true that missionary directors, committees, and societies have often many jtains, but they have also many joys. I have had pleasure of many kinds, of which one has been the ])lcasure of association with some of the best men, some 238 THE LIFE OF JAJ3EZ BU^'TING. to liavo regarded liis temporary sojourn in the metropolis not only as affording liini large and various opportunities of useful- ness, but as a means of training his powers for the subsequent service of Methodism iu the Provinces. It was shortly before lie left London that he was induced to publish one of the very few sermons which he committed to the press. His friend, Mr. 13urder, had i)reached the lirst anniver- sary sermon of the Sunday School Union at one of the Wesley- an chapels, and my father delivered the second at an Independ- ent meeting-house. Its title was, " A great Work described and recommended ;" its text, Xehemiah, vi., 3. The topic gave no scope for theological discussion or for impressive appeal to individuals ; but the sermon, owing, I conceive, to the reputa- tion of the preacher rather than to any extraordinary merit, passed through several editions, and still commands a sale. It combines the excellences of full and clear statement, lucid ar- rangement, and an admirable English style. I have been struck, also, with its extensive and accm*ate quotation of au- thorities, so characteristic of the preacher's miwillingness to form any ojjinion until he had ransacked all sources of informa- tion, and of his desire to obtain for it, when formed, a sanction other than his own. Its testimony in favor of an education for the children of the poor distinctly and doctrinally religious is emphatic and complete. He had not as yet formed the opinion that, in England, denominational effort is, upon the whole, the best means of securing it. My father's general position had now become one of imex- ampled rarity. He had been engaged in the mhiistry for six of the excellent of the earth, who have been similarly bccnpicd. • Bat for ull my pleasure in connection with missionary service I nm mainly and es- sentially indebted, nndcr the Providcnte of God, to the London Missionary Society. It was my f,Teat privilego, from an early period, to have the op- portunity of attending most of its meetings. I refer to those held in Hab- erdashers' Hall, before Kxeter Ilnll was thoupht of, and to some meetinps on a very small scale held at the Castle and Falcon, Alderspatc Street. These were the initiative, the preparatory meetings. It wius what I heard at those meetings, and the statements to which I listened from the lips of excellent ministers, who, from time to time, jircached your annual sermons, that, under the blessing of God, kindled in my heart whatever of a mission- ary Fjiirit I have enjoyed. I therefore tender to this society, in my declin- ing years, the expression of that high respect and gi-atitude which the rec- ollection of my earlier years is calculated to inspire." HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN MANCHESTER. 239 years only, even if tliose of liis probation be included ; but he left the metropolis regarded by those who Avatched events as the future leader of his own Church, and as its ablest rei)re- sentative to other Churches and to the general public. The talents and acquirements of Adam Clarke had, indeed, secured for him a high position in the body, and Avere its ornament in the eyes of those without ; but he was already, in purpose and preparation, devoted to the great literary labor of his life, and to it, ere long, every thing else became subsidiary. My father's vocation was different, and he had now entered ujion it with the certainty of distinction and of usefulness. What a strange interruption of his course would it have been if the press-gang, which seized him one afternoon on his journey to preach at Deptford, had put him on board a man- of-war, and had given him a turn of service in his majesty's navy ! He was physically and morally courageous, and, had chances fovore(i him, would have made an excellent admiral ; but the production of the certificate given him by the Salford Quarter Sessions in IV 98 put a stop to his promotion after he had served his country as a prisoner for some five or sLx hours. I believe that his most angry opponents, during a long and somewhat stormy hfe, entertained for him, in their cool mo- ments, no worse wish than that the certificate had not been forthcoming. CHAPTER Xm. HIS EARLY MIKISTEY IN MANCHESTER. Appointment to the Manchester Circuit. — Colleagues. — James Wood. — John Reynolds. — William Leach. — Water Griffith.— Jabez Bunting's Re- turn to systematic Study. — Birth of his eldest Son. — Correspondence. — A Secession from the Manchester Society. — Methodism in London. — The Conference of 1806. — Election as Assistant Secretary. — Letter to the Commissioners of income Tax. — Mode of supporting the Methodist Min- istry. — Thomas Ilartwell Home. — Periodical INIeetings of the Methodist Ministers. — Robert Newton. — The Poor of the Society. — Letter from Rodda.— The Conference of 1807. By the Conference of 1805 my father was appointed to the Manchester Circuit, comprising a district of country now di- vided into the five circuits in that city, the Altrincham Circuit, 240 THE LIFE or JABEZ BUNTING. and a ]K>rtioii of the Leigh Circuit. Tlip plans ])rovided also for regular services ibr the soldiers in the harraeks. His col- leagues Avere James Wood, John Reynolds, and William Leach, the first being succeeded the second year by Walter Gritfith. Of all these worthies my notices must be brief. James Wood was born in 1751, commenced his itinerancy in 1773, and retired from active service in 1826. He died in 1840, having survived five hundred of his brethren who had entered the ministry subsequently to himself. His parents were orthodox Dissenters, but a change of pastor induced them to attend the parish church, where, some years before Methodism had penetrated the neighborhood, the Gospel was preached with much simplicity and power. It produced a strong, though transient impression on their son when a child eleven years old. In his seventeenth year he became con- nected with the Methodists, and was soon afterward soundly converted. Never Avas man more distinctly called to the oftice of the ministry.* He received a strong impression that he must begin to preach on a certain day, and, when that day came, a clear necessity demanded the eftbrt. This peculiar dealing with him took jjlacc more than once, and he began to officiate regularly ; but, though he met Avith great success, he doubted his call, and ran aAvay to a strange city, where he joined the society, but buried his talent. Here, he tells, one Avhom he had never seen before, and Avhom he never saAV after- Avard, met him in the street, and said to him, " Young man, Avhat are you doing? You have fled from the Avork of the Lord : I Avas Avarned of you last niglit in a dream. Go home, and preach the Gospel." With some hesitation, he obeyed the sinnmons, returned home, and soon afterAvard became a traveling preacher. He Avas a man of great good sense, and his eminently judicious ministry Avas chaiacterized also by much tenderness. But he OAved his high position in the con- nection chiefly to a natural Avorth and Aveight of character (an licirloom in some families) Avhich, im])roved and sanctified by Divine grace, made him even in youth, but especially Avlien he had acquired large knoAvledge and experience, " an example of the believers in Avord, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, * Sec nn admirable biopp-apliy of liim, written ))y liis son, the l.nte Kev. Robert Wood, in the Weslcyan Methodist Magazine for J 812. niS EARLY MINISTRY IN MANCHESTER. 241 in faith, in purity."* He was elected president in 1800, and again in 1808. Indeed, he was one of that class of ministers Avhose age, wisdom, sobriety of spirit, gravity of demeanor, and long, anxious, and active engagement in every department of connectional labor would seem to entitle them to a monopoly of that venerable office. My father visited him shortly before his death, and heard some of his latest expressions of desire for " the conversion of the families of Christians," and that " the English nation" might " become truly rehgious, and, so, universally useful." The last sentence he was able to utter told how, during a Aveary old age, he had been sustained under the privation of public ordinances, and of some other accus- tomed means of spiritual comfort. " I have meat to eat that the world knoweth not of." The memory of Johx Reyxolds is preserved in the grateful recollections of the Church, and of a family unusually large, but otherwise only in the notices of his decease, and in the customary tribiite of resjDect paid by the Conference.! He died in the ninety-second year of his age ; the last, I believe, of the Methodist preachers who wore the hat which betokens the clerical order. In his case it covered locks of glistening snow. William Leach, who was twice my father's colleague, se- cured the respect and warm aifection of all his fellow-laborers. The story of his life is well told by one of his daughters,^ and is ably supplemented by a sketch of his character, by the Rev. George Browne Macdonald. He was " a good superintendent," in a higher sense than is sometimes conveyed by the use of the phrase. He took care that those to whom it properly be- longed looked well after the temporal aflairs of the societies, or, in cases of neglect, provided competent successors ; but he never did their work for them, nor fidgeted himself, and har- assed every body about him, with the endless details of cir- * Since writing the above, I have referred to the character of Mr. Wood as given in the minutes of the Conference, written, doubtless, by some Min- ister who knew him well. He quotes the very text which occurred to me, who, when a child, received my first impression of Mi\ Wood's distinctive qualities. t See the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine for 1854 and 1855. t Ibid, for 1858. Vol. I.— L 242 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. cuit management. Jlimself lie gave "continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word" and to those pleasant exer- cises of pastoral visitation and oversight which are the special duties of the Christian eldership. AV ALTER Griffith, avIio Avas, perhaps, while he lived, of all my lather's brethren, his dearest and most valued friend, was born in Tipperary in 1761. He was convinced of sin imder the ministry of Joseph Pilmoor, Richard Boardman's compan- ion to America, He learned the way of peace from Thomas Tlutherford ; found it, and was admitted upon trial, as a trav- eling preacher, in 1784, John Crook being his first superin- tendent. Before he had traveled two years, Adam Averell, then in deacon's orders at Athlone, but afterward a useful Methodist minister, and, later still, the head of an extensive se- cession from the Irish connection, and Znchariah Worrall, who labored till his death among the people of his first choice, were both converted by the instrimientality of the young evangelist. Similar, if not equal results attended his ministry in the case of the rector of a parish in the neighborhood of Colcraine, who had the good sense to be his constant hearer on the week- nights. Mr. Griffith remained in Ireland, a burning and a shining light, imtil the year 1794, and then oficred himself for service in the West Indian colonies, but was detained in En- gland by the illness of his wife, to whom he had been united about seven years. She died in 1795. Ho early secured and uniformly kept a chief place in the counsels and aifections of the English Methodists. In 1813 he was placed at their head. He finished his course in 1S25. With the constant cheerful- ness and ready wit which characterize his nation, he miited more happily and consistently than most other men, a godly Keriousness of speech and spirit; the whole winning, without effort on his part, or limit on that of his associates, tlieir con- fidence, esteem, and love. In the pulpit and on the platform, his appearance w;is in the highest (U'gree cornniaiuling and im- pressive, and the aspect of liis countenance attractive and se- rene. Even before time could do its office, character had fashioned his entire presence into the dignity of venerable age. "His pre;iching" — I quote from the niimites for IS25 — "was eminently evangelical, experinjental, energetic, and fruitful," Its simplicity and fervor ec^ually deserve record. T'robably no HIS EAKLY MINISTRY IN MANCHESTER. 243 minister the connection has yet seen luiderstood more thor- oughly, or expounded with more clearness and unction, what are conmionly regarded as the distinctive features of the the- ology of Wesley. In his teaching, the much-mistaken doctrine of assurance was the simple exegesis of the saying of St. John — that summary of the philosophy of religion — " We love Him because He first loved us ;" for it implies the knowledge of His love to us ; and this knowledge can be given to us by none but His owni Spirit. As Griffith thus defined the tenet, he recognized the privilege it describes as the heritage of " all saints." Formal statements might vary. Creeds might per- plex what they were intended to explain. But the ground of acceptance, always the same, and the sense of acceptance, dif- fering only in degree, must be common to all who feel they love God. It followed that, in contending for the direct agen- cy of the blessed Spirit in the revelation of forgiving mercy, and for the creation thereby of the true Christian life, divines of Griffith's school were led to study more closely, and more reverently to magnify the other works and Avays of the same almighty Agent. What could not He effect by such a mean upon the heart and habits with which He deigned to deal? And was it not He also who had begun the "good work," calling, awakening, and convincing those Avhom He thus re- generated ? If so, while, on the one hand, it might fairly be demanded from Calvinistic theologians that no limit but that of human infirmity should be placed upon His sanctifying grace ; on the other, an identity was discovered with them in their opinions, and in much of their termmology, as to the processes preparatory to conversion. If they sjiokc more fre- quently of these processes, while Methodists were accustomed to dAvell rather on the accomplislmient and perfection of the change itself, both Avere agreed as to the absolute necessity of DiA-ine influence, and as to the sovereignty of the Will Avhich dispenses it. It is certain that my father's brotherly intercourse with Mr. Griffith during the period of their co-pastorship in Manchester was of great seiwice to the former. Joseph Cook, a preacher stationed at Rochdale, had attacked, Avith more A-iruIence than ability, Wesley's published opinions on "the Witness of the Spirit," and Griffith, Hare, and Bunting, near neighbors, and 244 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BL'NTING. devout students of Scripture, poiukTcd deeply the theology in Avhieh tht'V had heen trained. Gritlith moulded, though he the proposals of the preachers and of the leaders' meetmg. They jjositively object, among other things, to allow that one of the preachers shall have the ])rivilege of attending and conducting the North Street Inmd. On Tliursday night the business will be linally dcciiled. It is a ])ainful occurrence, but Mill, I doubt not, be best upon the wliole, as a schism from the body will be a less evil than a schism in it." The j»assage just quoted introduces me to the first of a series of controversies in which it was my lather's lot to be engaged, within his own communion, during a long ministerial life. Reference has already been made to a l>arty which had iV»nned itself in the Manchester Society, under the aus]»ices of ]\Ir. Broadhurst and of his friends.* This jiarly had sejiaratcd it- * Vncp.H 01 and l.*^'. HIS EAllLY MINISTRY IN MANCHESTER. 247 self in 1800, but had been again received into fellowship upon terms which checked, and ought to have terminated, all irreg- ularities. But " strange lire" is not easily put out ; and the ministers on the circuit, gradually ceasing all effort to extin- guish it, and regarding division as inevitable, concerned them- selves chiefly to preserve in unity and peace those who were not committed to the movement. " I have no written memo- randa that I know of," says Mr. Jenkins, who had been super- intendent in 1803, " but the articles of agreement I well remem- ber. They were the following : First. No one should be ad- mitted into the baud (so called) without producing a society ticket, or a note from an itinerant preacher. (It was stated particularly that the meeting, with respect to admission, should be on the same footing as our love-feasts.) Secondly. That an itinerant preacher should attend and direct the meeting as often as we could make it convenient. But it was added that these regulations should be introduced, not abruptly, but grad- ually, and that Mr. Broadhurst should, for two or three Sun- days, stand at the door, and prevent those only from going in whom he judged improper, and should give notice of the regu- lations agreed on, and that then they should be enforced with all strictness. Mr. Broadlmrst entered on his work, and we put North Street band in our Sunday plan. Mr. IlearnshaAV attended once or twice, and Mr. Pipe once, or perhaps twice ; but the people were so exceedingly irregular and ungoverna- ble, that, without saying any thing to them, we, concluding their reformation hopeless, gave them up, and only resolved to keep our authority in our own meetings, wliicli wo did. We thought that our attending their meeting gave it a counte- nance, and was an inducement to many to go Avho seldom went at any other thne. We thought, also, that there was a danger of leading hundreds of our people, who had but little opportu- nity of obtahiing better information, to think that the Revival Band, and such meetings, Avere a part of Methodism, seeing that the preachers themselves attended and conducted them. We therefore changed our plan of operation ; not through any cowardice or fear of consequences as it respected ourselves, but from a free consideration of the means of obtaining the great end, the promotion of the cause of God, under the name of Methodism. We thought, first, by keeping our authority in- 248 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. violate in all our own meetings ; secondly, letting the people see, on all proper occasions, that ■vve disa]>proved of the peculiari- ties of the i)arty, and that they were contrary to Methodism; thirdly, keeping the leaders of the party in their proper place in the Leaders' meeting ; fourthly, makuig no one a new leader who was known to go to that band ; and, lastly, the promo- tion of our own bands at the same hour as nuich as possible, would be the most eftectual way of bringing them to nothing, without injuring the society. It Avould not be plucking up the tares, but draining the moisture from the root, and preventing the sun from shhiing on them ; so that they must, supposmg the means to be continued, ultimately, though not innnediate- ly, Avither aAvay. I went on steadily on this plan, though I di- vulged my reasons, I think, to none, except Mr. Clarke, Mr. Ilearnshaw, Mr. Wood, and Mr, Redfern. But we had, every week, additional reasons to thmk we were right, and that the others, by having their full liberty, would soon be infamous and come to nothing, while avc saved all who were worth hav- ing. I throAV these hints together, and I pray and trust the Lord will direct in every step for the best. Be.firm, but calm; hard arguments in soft words." The dissentients at length broke out into open mutiny, and the contest became narrowed to a spccihc issue. Was it ex- l)edient, or even right, that there should be indiscriminate ad- mission to a meeting held for the relation of Christian experi- ence? The ministers of the circuit, su])ported by a very large majority of the leaders, decided this question in the negative. Tlie ojjposers, in the first histance, appeared to aj^prove of this conclusion ; but they insisted that persons appointed by them- selves, and not by the Leaders' meeting, should determine Avhat persons it was j)roper to admit, declining, at the same time, all farther discussion. A friendly conference, however, was sought and obtained, at which the banner of rebellion Avas again un- furled ; and it Avas frankly declared that, in future, no minister would be ])ermitted to conduct the obnoxious meetings. "In conversing on the reason of their tlillering in opinion, one of the friends pleaded that the plan of conducting the meeting in North Street had been of long continuance, and, therefore, ought not .to be altered; to Avhich it Avas answered that, by the same mode of reasoning, every heresy and schism Avhich HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN MANCHESTER. 249 has evei" sprung \ip in the Christian Church ought to have con- tinued to this day ; that the point is not how long a thing has continued, but whether it be according to the Word of God." " It was ftirther urged that great good had been done in that meeting, and tliat, therefore, the plan of general admission ought not to be altered. To this it was answered that, admit- ting some good had been done in it, yet it was certain also that much evil had been done ; that many persons had been there- taught to believe themselves to be both justified and sanctified, Avho, in fiict, were not awakened to a sense of their guilt and misery, and that many well-meaning persons had been so dis- gusted at the manner of conducting the meetings as to keep away from all the Methodist places of worshij) in the town. It was added that neither the good nor the evil resulting should direct our conduct, but the Holy Scriptures. On all occasions, but more especially in what respects the worship of God, we must have recourse ' to the law and to the testimony.' " No accommodation of the disjjute was possible, and a volun- tary separation immediately ensued. In some passages of " A Statement of Facts and Observations relative to the late Sepa- ration from the Methodist Society in Manchester, affectionately addressed to the members of that Body by their Preachers and Leaders," my father's hand may be traced in them ; at all events, in the way of revision. Some extracts are therefore placed in the Appendix,* which, if I am not mistaken, state, Avith admi- rable clearness, some important principles. Not imjirobably, it was during this period that my lather fully matured his own views on the series of general questions involved in the local dispute. The more those views are studied, the more justly and gratefully will future Methodists appreciate them. There are two tests by which the conduct of a public man, in seasons of controversy, may be fairly tried. The one is the principle itself for which he contends ; the other, its consistency with other principles, to Avhicli, by position or direct profession, he stands honorably j^ledged. I am quite content that my father's conduct in the present case shall be strictly scrutinized. The separatists formed themselves into a distinct connection. I have not time to write their entomology. In 1808 they num- bered sixteen congregations, all in Lancashire or Cheshire, with * See Appendix K at the end of this rohime. L2 260 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. some twenty-eight preachers, and had found out " that a Gos- pel nimistry is of Divine appointment, Jesus liaving first ap- 2)ointed the apostles to the important work, and authorized them to set apart others also successively to the end of time." Some remnant of them still exists. I once knew a very good man who professed to belong to them, and who was accustom- ed to preach ; but, beyond all possibility of mistake, he had gone " a warfare at his own charges." The best of the sect gradually merged, it may be conjectured, in the congregations soon afterward formed by a body, of whom it is a real pleasure to speak Avell, but to whom it is difficult to give its proper name. The connnon appellation of Kanters I, not less than they, should consider as insultmg, since it makes i)rominent ex- travagances which, perhaps, can not be wholly avoided in those classes of society among Avhich cliiefly they labor ; yet the title of " Primitive Methodists," Avhich they have formally adopted, savors of injustice to the mother Church. The same name has been adopted by those seceders from the Wesleyan Connection in Ireland who still ])rofess to be both Churchmen and Meth- odists. It speaks Avell for the moderation of the great mass of John Wesley's followers that both the very regular and the very irregular parties who have left them thus claim to be " Primitive." Probably neither is right. Mr. Hopwood, an intimate friend of my father, -when he re- sided in London, writes to him as follows on a subject which excited Adam Clarke's solicitude more than fifty years ago, and which is still one of anxious concern. " A few weeks ago, Mr. Clarke, after conferring Anth his brethren, the traA'cling preach- ers, called the local and community* preachers together, to lay before them the state of the society in London, which he con- sidered on the increase, not by persons awakened and convert- ed in London, but rather by those, ah-eady Methodists, coming to reside there. Under this impression, the friends assembled were unanimous in determining that something ought to be done to serve the city of London ; and that, if its inhabitants Avill not come to our chapels to liear the word of life, avc ought, if possible, to carry the Gospel to them. To effect this is a sub- ject of serious consideration. All that api)cars practicable at * The community preaclicrs, n, class unknown by that name out of Lon- don, were, i)ropeily speaking, cxhortcrs. HIS EAKLY MINISTKY IN MANCHESTEE. 251 present is earnest prayer to God to make our way prosperous, and to open rooms, in eligible parts of the town, for prayer and preaching, as circumstances may ofier. On this j^lau, Golden Lane, Friars' Moimt, and Drury Lane Schools are opened for preaching at 6 o'clock on the Lord's-day evening. At the same time, a large warehouse in Lombard Street, Fleet Street, fitted up by Mr. Butterworth, was opened as a preaching-room by Mr. Clarke last Lord's-day. Several other rooms have been opened for the same purposes. May the great Head of the Church crown with success these feeble attempts !" Li many of the letters written to my father from London about this time there are notices of the great attention excited by Adam Clarke's preaching, and of the heavenly unction which attended it ; but he used his authority as superintendent, and, in order to secure time for his literary pursuits, preached on the Sunday and on two nights a week only. His colleagues cheer- fully acquiesced in this arrangement, and deserve, therefore, some of the credit which attaches to the result of his studies. It is i^leasant also to read, in these same letters, testimonies from such persons as Joseph Entwisle and Mrs. Mortimer to the talents and acceptableness of the late venerable Jacob Stan- ley, then a minister of eight years' standing. Mr. Morley writes to my father : " As to myself, I am striving to be diligent in the work of the Lord. I formerly thought, perhaps I may make such improvement as to be satisfied with myself. But I find myself as defective as ever. Do help me by your advice and your prayers. If I did not love my work, I should be unhappy indeed, for I am fully emj^loyed. To use our friend Birchinal's expression, I have but little 'time to think,' and yet I must read ; though, perhaps, if I read less and thought more, it would be more to my advantage. Yesterday week was a good day. It was the first day I had had wholly to myself (except a few Saturdays) since I have been in the circuit. At Lane End we are low, but in all the principal places the good work is reviving. I shall never cease to be thankful for the visit you paid us last August ; and others be- sides myself have cause to remember it. The sermon you preached at Newcastle was blessed to many. A man who fives in a neighboring village, and who was much inclined to drunk- enness and Deism, was convinced of sin that morning. In at- 252 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. tempting to give mc an account of the sermon, and of its effect npon him, he said, ' Oh, what a sarment that was ! Every Avord cut.' JSince then he has johied tlie society, and has preaching in his house. Several of his neighbors are awakened, and 1 hope much good will be done." Father Jeremiah Brettell evidently never forgot George Lu- kins and the evil spirits which dwelt in him.* In 1806 he transmits some curious matter. " We have one little phenome- non. Mrs. Wilshaw, in the Banwell Circuit, frequently preach- es for her husband, and has lately visited two or three places in the circuit ; and she was very popular indeed. I might also add another, in the reclaim of three notorious sinners in this circuit ; one under the ministry of Mr. and Mrs. Wilshaw (for they both preach one sermon ; he begins, and she finishes it), and the other two were strangely pursued and threatened by devils in human shape, till, in the issue, they Avere constrained to come to Christ. I have conversed with each of them, and their account is uncommonly smgular. Happy should I be to see many more thoroughly frightened from their sins, and brought to feel true repentance." " Having seen before," says Mr. Entwisle, " the sad conse- quences of religious dis2)utes and divisions in Christian societies, I felt a considerable degree of anxiety on the receipt of your account of the breach in Manclicster ; attended, however, with a hope that it would be best in the end. Your printed state- ment proves to me that the division is not an evil ; and the manner in which the whole aftair has been conducted does hon- or to the persons concerned, and aifords proof to the world that even religious disputes may be conducted with meekness and wisdom. Mr. Wood was one of the most i)roper men in the connection to settle such a business. I am inclined to think that the division has taken place at the right time ; and the long forbearance of the i)roachers and leaders, with the concessions frequently made to the malcontents, for peace' sake, leave them Avithout excuse. Yet I tliink all these tilings, taken together, distinctly mark out our line of conduct in future, i. y him. To whatever * This reckoning did not include any estimate of the vahie of the furnish- ed house provided for him by the society. 256 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. privations it may cxixise him, it possesses obvious advantages. The apostolic rule, rigorously defined and acted on, is protect- ed against those who i)rotess to go beyond it, but who tliink a great deal more of Avliat they jiay than of what tliey get, and who dole out the same miserable stipend to tlieir famishing teacher, whatever may be tlie extent or peculiarity of his do- mestic engagements. All kinds of ministerial talent, too, are, on this ])lan, fairly considered and dealt with : the facile ora- tory of the idol of the county town has no better claim than the modest learning or the pastoral diligence which flourishes in the country district ; a consideration of great imjiortance in the case of a connection of ministers where the comfort of each is necessary to the welfare of the whole, and Avherc jealousies so readily " spring up and trouble." The system, moreover, takes away some inducements which tempt unworthy men to pursue the sacred calling. Without finding fault, then, Avith the adop- tion of other methods ])y other Christian communities, or by separate Churclies, my fatlier clung firmly to the preservation among the INIethodists of the original theory and practice of that body. His experience liad shown him that, Avhcrc these were relaxed and salaries paid, the comforts of his brethren were abridged ; and he deprecated any innovations which should, even in appearance, widen the distinction between the more popular and the less acceptable classes of them. He counted it little less than treason if any Methodist minister sought an advantage for himself which in i)rinciple was not ap- plicable to the entire fraternity. It is my province to state rather than to vindicate my fiithcr's opinions on this subject ; but there are two objections to them which ought to bo met. The first is one of mere detail. If the innnediate Avants only of a minister and of liis family are to be sujiplicd, how is he to provide for " a rainy day" — for the failure of health, for old age, and for the dear ones he must one day leave beliindliim? Theoretically, all these difficulties are removed by the financial systc^m of tlie connection. The in- valid, and the laborer too tired to Avork, as also their surviving AvidoAvs, receive pensions from the society; and alloAvances are made for the maintenance and education of their children until they are, or ought to be, able to helj:) themselves. We can not make any boast as to the amount of tliese pensions. It is not HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN MANCHESTER. 257 to our credit that we do not so much as pretend to find more tlian about one half of the amount which we deem necessary for the purpose, leaving the ministers to obtain the rest from their own fund ; this latter fed chiefly by their own contribu- tions, saved out of allowances barely sufticient for their daily subsistence. The payment of some six or seven guineas a year out of the scanty pittances (scanty in fact, if not in relation to the means of their flocks) allowed to many of them in aid- receiving circuits, is an injustice and an anomaly, against which the son of a minister, Avho was often sorely straitened to make ends meet, may be allowed respectfully to protest. I have the strongest conviction that it is not generally known and under- stood. But there is a second objection to the principle of sustentation as opposed to that of remuneration. It will be asked. Are there no prizes in the Methodist connection ? The answer is both negative and aflirmative. There is no very considerable diflerence, looking at every aspect of the case, between the amount received in one circuit and that received in another. The position which insures the larger amount of allowance often requires a still larger amount of expenditure. The minister at Banff and the minister in London must prac- tice an equal economy, and the chances are that they may, ere long, change places. Yet there is an aflirmative answer also. Differances do exist so far as money, and the advantages it purchases, are concerned, and the companionship, and other means of enjoyment and improvement to be found in one sta- tion vary greatly from those to be found in another. Hitherto the history of the body has shown that these furnish incentives quite powerful enough to excite a healthy competition. But I may be allowed to doubt hoAV far such excitement is of any great or permanent service. I admit the natural and lawful operation of inferior motives ; but they Avill prompt to little that is good if the highest motive be wanting, and, where that exists, the absence of the other will not be felt. And how cheerfully are all privations borne ! Mr. EntAvisle, now stationed at Rochester, thus writes to my lather in Sep- tember, 1806: "During the five days I am at Sheerness, I preach five times and meet three classes, which contain nearly half the society ; we do the same at Rochester ; a most excel- lent plan, in my opinion. I expect, when all improper persons 258 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. are left out, and Sittingbournc taken from us, we shall be re- duced in numbers to about three hundred and forty. How- ever, I feel such a degree of res])onsibnity to Gud and to my bretliren, and such a conviction of the utiUty and necessity of the old Methodist discijiline, that I am resolved, in the fear of God, to re-estabhsh it ; and I am happy to find that this will be agreeable to our leading friends, who will unite with me in the work. Tliis is a bare pasture as to money matters. They are generally working people. I must expend, as I calculate, sixty pounds of my own private property this year. The Lord be praised that I liave the means of providing pudding, clothes, and learning for my dear children !" I can not omit all reference to a letter, couched in terms of ardent gratitude, written about this time by a yoimg minister whose orthodoxy had been impugned at the preceding Confer- ence, but to whose higli character and abiUties my father had, in the time of need, borne cheerful testimony. It was some- times said of Jabez Bunting that he so exerted the influence which he gradually acquired in the connection as occasionally to depress real merit. This was one of countless cases in which, Avitliout doubt, he employed it to favor great, but, as yet, undistinguished excellence. The minister referred to ran a long course of unpojjularity with the many, but of signal es- teem on the part of the discerning few. He was frigid in manner, and n()t very free of speech; l)ut those who Avere con- tent to Avait while his thoughts struggled for expression, ibund in his ministrations rich treasures of evangelical truth and feel- ing, dug deeply out of God's own Holy AVord, and wrought with artistic skill and fervor. My father conthuied to be his steady IViend, and never suffered him to be gi-ieved or the conneetion to be degraded by his a])])ointnient to any circuit where his j)eculiar gifts could not find fit, if narrow exercise. I do not record his name. Those Avho knew him Mill know his portrait. My father, when resident in London, had formed a cordial riiendsliijt with a young man, then known chiefly to :i few Methodists in Lambeth, with whom lie was united in Church fellowship, but Avhose name is now honorably distinguished both in Europe and in America. Li liis own department of literature, England has no son whom she owns more proudly HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN MANCHESTER. 259 than Thomas Hartwcll Ilorne. A letter addressed to my fa- ther toward the close of 1806 rmis as follows : " With this I forward for your consideration a copy of the plan I adverted to in my last hastily-Avritten note. As that copy has been lost, I had no alternative but to draAV up another, de novo^ from my rough memoranda — a task of some time and labor, which I by no means regret, inasmuch as I have thus been favored with an opportunity of introducing some additions and corrections, which, m my apprehension, render it as j^erfect as a plan of such a nature can well be. You w^ill, perhaps, think my design too bold — too comprehensive to be successfully executed by an individual layman. Referring you to my views and motives as expressed hi my note of the 25th ultimo, I would only add that, having meditated upon the subject, and considered its various branches, I have sometimes thought I had sketched out too much for one person to execute. Mr. Edwards, who is convinced of the practical utility of the plan, has, in fact, suggested that so extensive an undertaking might be achieved better by the united exertions of two individuals. And who so fit as yourself, if you can command sufficient time for such a pursuit ? I should rejoice in such a co-laborer in a work which, I am persuaded, is calculated to be of permanent utility to the Christian Church. Such an undertaking demands much reflection ; but, in the event of your being at leisure for the purpose, mutual arrangements might be made for carrpng the design into effect, which the lunits of this will not allow me even to hint at. Mr. Edwards is of 0]nnion that it would not be advisable to announce it to the booksellers at present ; but, w^hen any final arrangement is made as to the mode of exe- cuting the proposed edition of the Bible, he intends to make serious efibrts to bring it forward. "NYhen you have fully weighed the matter, may I beg the favor of a fcAV remarks, addressed to me either under cover at Mr. Edwards's, or di- rectly to me at Mr. Butterworth's ? I have, m fact, abandoned the law (as I think I intimated when you were lately in to^ni), and have taken a confidential appointment with an estimable friend, which is of a multifarious nature, but to me it is cer- tainly most agreeable, and it leaves me some hours every day for literary pusuits. I have nothing that I can offer worthy of your perusal. My time has of late been closely occupied hi 260 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. finishing two or llirce laborious indexes (one ol' tlieni :i Latin one to some records for government). I have, liowever, much, very much cause lor gratitude that 1 have been preserved, with some shght exceptions, in health and strength of mind and body, amid some very severe domestic vexations, and that I am enabled to encounter severe nocturnal exertions. I have the pleasure to inform you that at length the lease has this evening been signed by the landlord and trustees of an eligible spot of gromid on which to erect a chapel for our Lambeth congrega- tion and society. It offers a prospect of extensive usefulness. To-morrow evening the service will commence at half past 6, after which such of the trustees as are present Avill be called upon to confirm their subscriptions,* after which the members and other friends, of whom by no means an inconsiderable luunber have been invited by letter, will be called upon to give, according to their ability. AVe do hope and trust they will do liberally toward this ' great work.' Our Sunday-school consists of about two hundred and thirty children, of whom it is intended to take the whole to the cliapel when erected ; a more grateful cilice to teachers, as well as chilcb-en, than the taking a small number at alternate i)eriods to Laml)etii Church, where they are unavoidably but indifierently acconnnodated. We arc encouraged greatly in our work l)y the reformed con- iluct of the unruly, and the orderly deportment, in general, of the rest ; but, what is of infinitely greater moment, we have reason to believe that some of them have received good im- pressions to good purpose."! "♦A Riibscription was entered into by those present at Mr. Biittcrwortli's this cvciiinfr, whicli nninunteil to X"741 r>s." t Tlu- venerable writer will forgive nie if, lest I should break the eonti- nuitvof my narrative, I jdaee in a note, ralher than in the text, his own in- tercstinj; connnentnipon a letter written by him iifty-two years af^o. In an- swer to an ajiplication for leave to make use of his eorres])ondcnee, ho writes: "Yon take no liberty in writiuK to me. After a laborious and act- ive litcrarj- career of sixty years, I am now, at the ape of seventy-nine and a quarter, oblij,'ed to k'vc up literary cnpaRements, and am thankful that I can yet be of a little service to others as a sort of ehamlwr-coiinsel. I hope that this communication may not be nnacceptablo to you. I repret that I have no letters of my revered friend, the Rev. Dr. liuntinp. To say the truth, I had quite forpotten that I had ever consulted him on literary top- ics ! I thank you for communicatinp the three letters, now returned in a sppnratc envelope. You will make any use of cither of them, as you ihink JUS EAIUA' MINISTRY IN MANCHESTEH. 2G1 In December, 1806, my father -welcomed into the world his second child and eldest daughter, shortly afterward baptized proper. The res angusta domi early led me to literature as an auxiliary means of sujiport. My earliest publication was ' A brief View of the Neces- sity and Truth of the Christian Kevelation;' the result of notes written in my cif^htcenth year, and it was published in 1800, in my nineteenth year. I was then most anxiously reading to find out the truth. Eventually it led nic, through Divine grace and mercy, to the diligent and prayerful study of the Scriptures, and finally to my undertaking the 'Introduction to the Study' of them, by which I am chietly known, having been spared forty years since its first publication; and I have been permitted, or, rather, Di- vinely favored, to know that my work is as useful now as it ever was. The Lord be praised for this distinguished mercy ! I now come more immedi- ately to the occasion of the letters which were written to Dr. Bunting. Pre- viously to my undertaking the Introduction, I had sketched a pro'spectus for an edition of the English Bible, in which the Books of the Old and New Testament should be inserted clironologically, and with a biblical comment- ary ; that is, one in the veiy words of Scripture. A general Introduction was to be prefixed ; which growing in my hands, I finally dropped the idea of a biblical commentary, and bent all my eftbrts to the ' Introduction to the Critical Study of the Holy Scriptures,' the first edition of which was pub- lished in June, 1818. Toward the close of the first volume, I sketched a plan for arranging the Books of the Old and New Testament chronologic- ally. This arrested the attention of a young and vigorous scholar, the late Rev. Dr. Townscnd, Canon of Durham. Having been educated at Christ's Hospital (where I received the rudiments of classical learning between 1789 and 1795), Mr. Townsend called upon me, as an old 'Blue,' for my coun- sel, as he proposed to undertake such a work. Being at that time deejily engaged in combating the cft'ects of infidelity, I was but too happy to give liim my best advice, and also the materials I had collected for an improved Harmony of the Four Gospels. In due time Mr. Townsend produced his truly valuable Harmonies of the New and Old Testaments, with learned notes, in four volumes Svo : the whole, I am persuaded, being much better executed than I could myself have done it. And, just now, the Bible, with a strictly biblical commentary, has been jniblished in three handsome quarto volumes, with maps, etc., by the Messrs. Bagster. It appears to me most admirably done. I do not know who the editors are. No one person could have accomplished such a work. In fact, it supersedes every work which has been published, containing parallel references at length. The last time I had the jileasurc of meeting your venerable father (I think) was in 1853, at the Mansion House, where he had been respectfully invited to be present at a missionaiy meeting of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and I had the great satisfaction to see him treated with the regard due to his years and station, and comfortably seated on the platform. As Dr. Bunt- ing published so little, what think you of annexing, by way of appendix to your memoirs, the sermons heretofore printed?" 2(32 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. by Ml'. Griffith as Sarah Maclardic. She was a \ cry tender himb, and tlic Good Shcplierd soon c^athcrcd her in His arms. I tind iu the correspondence abont the ck)se of 1800 and the commencement of 1807 notices of the estabUshment by ray Di- ther of periodical meetings between himself and those ministers iu his immediate neighborhood in -whose aftcctiou and judg- ment he felt special confidence. It seems to have been his wish that they should converse freely together, not so ranch on Chnrch economics and arrangements as about the topics exclusively appropriate to their vocation. These conferences w-ere held at Manchester and at the adjacent towns, as con- venience allowed, and were immediately followed by watch- night services, which the people were invited to attend. One of them took place at Rochdale on April 8th, 1807. There is no account of the private conversations of the assembled preachers, but it appears from my father's text-book that iu the evening he discoursed upon Mark, vi., 6 ; a subject he fre- quently selected on occasions which he deemed of special im- portance. Griffith, Marsden, Macdonald, Martindale, Ilare, Morley, Timothy C'rowther, Townley, Sutcliffi^ Samuel Taylor, and Denton, ministers from Manchester, Kochdale, Halifax, Bury, Blackburn, Stockport, Macclesfield, and Newcastle-un- der-Lyne, were among iiis auditors. The meetings were fre- quently repeated. Would that some such plan were possible and common in our own time! The intercourse, so beneficial to themselves, their i)eopIe, and the general interests of Meth- odism, between Methodist muiisters, even in the same circuit, will, in this age of hurry, inevitably become less intimate as the calls upon ministerial attention nniltiply, unless great pains be taken to avoid so great an evil. ]\Iy father, one of the bus- iest men in the connection, made it his study, during his entire course, to familiarize himself wdth those with whom he was as- sociated in the ]>ast()ral charge. "I am delighted," says Mr.Entwisle, "with your new ])lan, and long for an opportunity of enjoying the Itencfit of it. I wonder it has not been thought of, and, indeed, become gen- eral before this time. It certainly is calculated to do much good both to i)rcachers and ]>eo])le. Conversations on our most important doctrines and discij)line, etc., will keep alive in the minds of the preachers a sense of their importance; and HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN MANCHESTER. 263 sermons and exhortations delivered under such views and feel- ings are sure to be folloM'ed with the Divine blessing. The doctrines preached by Messrs. Wesley, Grinishaw, etc., in the beginning, accompanied with the power of the Holy Ghost, did wonders. And the same truths are now eqally important, equally necessary, and may be equally efficacious. Primitive Methodism I admire ; and, I think, I come nearer than ever to that standard. I resolved, when I came into Kent, to preach, in the most feplicit and direct manner, the pecidiar doctrines of the Gospel. By so doing, my own soul has been imusually blessed, my views enlarged, my zeal for God and the salvation of souls increased, and my labors, glory to God alone ! crown- ed with success beyond Avhat I have known before. The ac- count you give of your meeting at Manchester, Oldham, etc., would lead me almost to envy your situation, were it lawful. But I have learned in every state to be content. I mentioned the plan to William Vipond (a man of a thousand, I assure you, both for jiiety and abilities*), and he earnestly wishes that we may follow your example." In the spring of this year the effort was renewed to engage my father's services for the Sheffield Circuit. Mr. Holy ad- dressed a letter to him on the subject ; but Robert Newtox, then on a visit to Manchester, was commissioned to advocate the case in person. Two or three years before this period (I can not fix the precise date), my father, sitting in the Confer- ence, was pleasurably startled by the entrance of a tall young man, whose person, singularly handsome, was rendered yet more attractive by the imusual costmne in which he presented himself. The coat lacked the true canonical cut, which for- bade the appearance of an angle ; and not a few must have contrasted the general plainness of their own habiliments "with the yellow buckskins and tight top-boots which the yoiing minister was the first, and, I believe, the last to exhibit in that grave assembly. But in this guise there sat down among them — quite unconscious that the garb he usually wore in a circuit, where the horse did only less ser\'ice than his rider, was at all pec\iUar — a man who was thereafter to become pre-eminently famous as a preacher and an orator, and still more so for the warm and healthy beat of his large Methodist heart, for the * See Memoir of him in the Methodist Magazine for 1810 and 1811. 264 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. sjiotless consistency ol" his ministerial character, and for his strict and nice attention to the pro])rieties of his peciiUar po- sition. jMy fatlier often told how, Avhen he first saw the stran- ger, his heart yearned after liim, and liow he resolved to seek an early intimacy. The story of that long, laborious, and tri- umphant course has been so admirably told, that any attempt to epitomize it would be presumptuous.* It is closely inter- ■\voven with that of my father. Doubtless, on the occasion of Robert Newton's visit to Manchester, to secure 4iis friend as his colleague at Sheffield, their knowledge of each other was increased, and their mutual affection established forever. Similar invitations came from Liverpool, Bristol, York, Leeds, and other places. It is observable that the invitation from the town last named came from the trustees, and not from the Quarterly meeting. I believe no reply was returned to it. To the letters from other places, as indeed to the ef- fective advocate from Sheffield, an answer, almost uniform, was given, declining to make any engagement whatever. Among other efforts in the Manchester Circuit was one to increase the fund devoted to the relief of the poor of the so- ciety. A i)rinted letter, addressed to the congregations, was issued by the ministers and stcAvards, announcing the substi- tution of a quarterly public collection for that previously made monthly, and requesting periodical private subscriptions. The claims of the poor of " the household of fiith" were powerful- ly stated: "They are the brethren of the Savior himself; the living images of Ilis former poverty." The exclusion of ]\Ieth- odists from the sphere of the operations of the " Strangers' Friend Society" was mentioned with something like approval ; but my father subsequently thought, probably because special plans of heli)ing the Methodist poor Avere not successful, that this exclusion was no longer justified. He considered that funds to which members of the body so liberally contributed should not be subject to any limitation whatever as to the ob- jects of the ]nd>lic bounty, least of all to one Avhich in appear- ance, if not in iact, bore hardly upon those whose relationship to us was so close and tender. A very notorious name noAV appears in my narrative, to be * "The Life of the Rev. Robert Newton, D.D., by Thomas Jackson. London: John Mason." ins EARLY MINISTRY IN MANCHESTER. 266 dismissed Avithout any observation. I quote the passage in AV'liicli it occurs for tli'e purpose of showing the interest which my father was already known to take, not only in the Church, but in the world around Imn. "I have lately been printing for the Princess of Wales," writes his friend, Mr. Edwards, at that time a well-known publisher in Crane Court, Fleet Street, "the proceedings and correspondence relative to the inquiry into her conduct, of which I should be glad to send you a copy, as I think it Avould be a gratification to you to go through it. But at present, at least, I can not, as it is not to be published, notwithstanding I have printed two editions of it. It is an- 8vo of 350 pages, and contams the whole of the very heavy charges against her, together with her defense, and a number of letters to and from his majesty on the business, altogether forming a very curious and interesting pamjjhlet. I think she acts wisely not to piiblish it, as, in my opinion, it would not acquit her in the public mind. The copies are very securely deposited in the possession of the present Chancellor of the Exchequer, and not one lias gone abroad. I have been offered large sums for a single copy if I would part with one, but I have refused every application. A copy of this work will be counted a great curiosity. If I should hereafter find myself free to give you a sight of it, I shall cheerfully do it, and shall consider you among those of my friends whom I would first oblige in this way." Mr. Hartwell Home again addresses my father on April 8th, 1807. "So long a time has elapsed since I received your let- ter, and the kind strictures on my Prospectus, that my memory will not inform me Avhether I have yet acknowledged them. If not, I have to thank you for them, and to say that the idea of giving critical annotations, and also of arranging the Books chronologically, is relinquished. I had an interview with Messrs. Cadell and Davies yesterday on the subject, who expressed their approbation of the outline, and proposed to submit it to a critical friend, in the event of whose approba- tion they intimated a wish to treat with me, so that in the course of two or three months some decisiA'e arrangements (I hope) will be made. The expense can not be less than i!2000, on which account I was induced primarily to offer it to those booksellers ; and such is the wayward fancy of the public, that VoL.I.— M 266 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. the respectability of the bookseller reflects credit on the au- thor or editor. I can scarcely iind time for any recreation whatever, liardly even the pleasure of writing so fully as I could wish to you, my dear sir, whom we do hope to see once more settled in London." Mr. Kodda thus breathes one of his latest blessings on the cause and people he had served so faithfully : " Does my dear friend, on his knees, ever remember an old, worn-out, good-for- nothing pilgrim ? If not, let these dull hues stir ixp thy pure mind by way of remem'brance. I can now preach little, pray Httle ; but my mind, in general, is in a praying frame, and He that reads the heart will not cast out the prayer of the desti- tute. I have said enough, perhaps too much, of myself. God has in wisdom and mercy bestowed a diversity of gifts, that every one of the hearers may receive a suitable portion in duo season. How does Ilis work prosper among and aromid you? Are sinners converted and saints edified ? I long to hear of the flourishing state of our Church ; though I can contribute so little to its prosperity, yet I wish it good luck. I must live and die saying of genuine Methodism, ' Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity Avithin thy palaces! May salvation be inscribed on thy walls and bulwarks, and on thy gates praise ; may thy ministers be filled with the Holy Spirit, clothed with righteousness ; and may all the people put on the white linen of the saints; may thy rehgious society ever maintain that purity and simplicity of doctrine and disci])line that have hith- erto distinguished thee from those who say they are Jews, and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan ; and may our Israel dwell alone, and not be reckoned among the nations ! Then shalt thou be as the salt of the earth, a city on a hill that can not be hid.' ]\Iy good Avife desires a kind remembrance to Mrs. B, and yourself: she often says of you Avliat David did of Goliath's sword." jNIy father's first ministry in Manchester closed Avith the Conference of 1807. Tlie ])ublished miinites of that assembly contain evidences of his anxiety to introduce, gradually, some changes in the administration of the aftairs of (lie connection, and to make the system more regular and intelligible. Among the changes, originating, I believe, eliiefly Avith him, are rules providing that no person not competent to the regular minis- HIS EAKLY MINISTKY IN MANCHESTER. 267 try should be employed in any mission at home or aljroad ; in- sisting on the immediate emancipation of slaves belonging to any minister in the West Indies or to his Avife ; recognizing still more clearly the distinction between preachers formally set apart to the ministry and those still upon probation ; re- quiring the attendance of all probationers at Conference for personal examination ; regulatuig the jurisdiction of the Con- ference, considered as an appellate court rather than a court of first instance ; and providing for the due order of the proceed- ings of that body. Som'e financial arrangements, also, evident- ly received his revision. This year, too, a prerogative was recognized as belonging to the president which hitherto had been exercised as matter of necessity and usage : he was au- thorized to supply, from the Ust of probationers approved by the Conference for that purpose, all vacancies in circuits or mis- sions which might occur during the period of his office. During the two years of my father's residence in Manches- ter he i)reached four hundred and fifty-seven sermons. The traces of his ministry are distinctly perceptible in the present flourishing condition of Methodism in that city. But from such facts as can, at this distance of time, be adduced in evi- dence, I infer that, while his preaching was very vigorous and successful, his usefulness was, perhaps, greater in other depart- ments. Many young men were then connected Avith the soci- ety, some of them the friends of his youth, Avho were rapidly acquiring wealth and social influence. To these his counsels were, at such a period, of the greatest possible service. lie not only fostered their piety, but he strongly impressed upon their character and opinions the stamp of his owm distinctive excellences. In their lives of active and consistent goodness he multiplied himself; and in not a few of their children, whether by natural or spiritual descent, he still survives. Man- chester owes to his labors much of that steady attachment to Methodism which has been so often and so severely tested, and which, considering the character, habits, and rapid and enormous increase of its population, is matter of both surprise and gratitude. It was meet that the place of his birth should be the scene of his early labors, and should thus preserve their enduring record. 268 TUE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. CHAPTER XIV. HIS EARLV IMINISTRY IN" SHEFFIELD. Appointment to the Sheffield Circuit. — Colleagues. — Death of his infant Daughter. — ^Ministers' Meetings. — The Training of Candidates for the IMinistry. — Samuel Bardsley. — The Location of Ministers. — Conference of 1808. — Edward Hare. — James Daniel Burton. — Edmund Grindrod. — Nightingale's "Portraiture of Methodism." — His Death-bed. — The Teaching of Writing in Sunday-schools. — Letters from Griffith and Ilob- ert Newton. — The Sacraments in Jersey. — Codification. — Methodist Ministers and Parish Apprentices. — The Right of attending the Confer- ence. — Conference of 1809. — Birth of his second Daughter. — Keminis- cences by Robert Newton's Widow. Two of my father's colleagues in tlie Sheffield Circuit, to which he was ai^pointed by the Conference of 1807, were men to whom he was already warmly attached ; in the case of John Barber, by early obhgations, before adverted to ; and in that of Robert Newton, by a friendship whose least charm was novelty. Isaac Clayton, also a co-pastor, was, as I have al- ways understood, a modest and meritorious mniister, but the popular estimation of his talents did not always obtain for him, during his subsequent course, positions of the same considera- tion as that Avhich he now occupied. To say notliing of the contiguity of Sheffield to Manchester and to Maccleslield, higher motives induced my father's grate- ful acceptance of this appointment. So to speak, he breathed his native air ; for the bracing Methodism which had wafted spiritual health and vigor to the cottage homes at IMonyash, took Aving from the town where he noAV resided, and had fos- tered there a hardy race of veterans, of form and countenance such as he had always loved to look upon. The elder Long- den, Holy, and Sniith — Beet, Ilarwood, and IMoss, Avere types of a larger class of Yorkshire Metliodists ; ])lain, serious, and steady ; well-to-do in this world, but living wliolly for tlie next ; cordially affi:;ctionate to Christ's cause, ministers, and poor, and earnestly active in doing good. But a great trouble came upon liim ere lie had been many UlS EARLY MINISTRY IN SnEFFIELD. 269 days in liis circuit. " Amid many mercies," he writes to liis mother on the 3d of September, 1807, " we have also had some painful exercises since we saw you ; but, blessed be God, the occasion of them is now, in a great meas'iu-e, removed. Our dear little Sarah has had a violent attack of erysipelas ; but the complaint appears to be subdued, and we hope she will soon be as well as usual." Soon afterward he writes agaiii : " My DEAREST Mother, — Two weeks ago you received, I suppose, by Mr. Martin, a letter from me, informing you of the illness of our dear little Sarah. I then hoped that she would soon be better, and I have been waiting from that time to this in almost daily expectation of being able to announce to you that she was out of danger. But alas ! my expectations were delusive, and my hopes in that respect are now forever frustrated. It is my painful task to acquaint you that the dear, dear girl is no more an inhabitant of this dying world. She exchanged it for that in which there is no more death this morning at about half past 9 o'clock. Since Tuesday last we have all thought her considerably reheved, and no longer ago than yesterday were m high spirits concernmg her. She appeared to receive food with more appetite than at any time since her seizure, and the inflammation seemed to be rapidly subsiding. Our only remaining fear was lest a cough, which had for several days been troublesome, should be the hooping-cough, caught from William, and lest her strength should sink under her compli- cated ailments ; yet the return of her appetite and her general appearance led us to indulge better prospects. But about 11 o'clock last night her breathing became very laborious, and we perceived that some change had occurred. She never closed her eyes during the night but once, and that only for a short time, and about 9 o'clock the symptoms of mimediate dissolu- tion were very evident. Her departure was in the easiest and gentlest manner we could desire, the Lord being merciful unto us ; and, at the hour before named, she took her flight to heaven, without a sigh or a struggle of any kind. ' Of such is the kingdom of heaven.' In our present disconsolate situation, under this visitation of Providence, you ■s\all excuse a long let- ter. I wish you were here, to weep with those that weep. I hope you, and all our dear friends, will pray that our heavy afiliction may be sanctified, and that avc may be graciously sup- 270 11 IK LIFK OF JABEZ BUNTING. ]>orted under it. I have not spirits for writing more tlian Is necessary .at present, and will, therefore, thank you to send this letter to Mr. Wood, 3Ir. ]\lars(len, and Mr. (irithth. Their friendship for us we know to be such as will interest them in the intelligence of an event to us so mournful, and will secure for us their sympathy and their prayers." On the 29th of September he again writes to his mother on the same subject : " Blessed be God, we are as well as we can expect to be after our melancholy bereavement. My dear wife was, as you suppose, deeply aliected by a loss to her so pecid- iarly afflictive ; but, through mercy, has in some measure re- covered her serenity, and is striving with me to say, ' The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken aAvay ; blessed be the name of the Lord !' But, though we do endeavor to submit ourselves imto God, it is impossible to describe the strange feeling of desolation wliich our minds still do, and must long experience. I trust the dispensation Avill do us nuu-h good. Our dear child was buried on Wednesday morning, the ir)ili instant, in the groiuul adjoining to our new chapel, Avhicli is ojijtosite to the house we now live in, and will be .anion of my inotlier'.s HIS EAKLY MINISTRY IN SHEFFIELD. 271 solitary liours. I heliove iny father took possession of the otli- cr. There lies before me, in his handwriting, a sheet contain- ing thirty-nine epitaphs, transcribed from various authors, and one or two of his own composition, out of which he selected that Avhich Avas placed upon her tomb-stone. It was the text he had quoted in the letter to his mother announcing the de- cease. The first thought awakened by his sorrow gave him the most lasting comfort. To Mr. Wood he writes: "A great part of our melancholy history since we left Manchester you have already learned from the letters which I addressed to my mother, "We liave had many mercies, it is true, Avhich it would be a crying sin to for- get ; but the loss of our dear little girl damps all our earthly joys, and will long be felt by us as a most painful bereavement. It is impossil)le to describe the sensations of desolation wliich wc feel. But I hope we do not murmur, though Ave sorrow; and that Divine grace enables us not to faint. My dear wife Avas much obliged to Mrs. Wood for her friendly letter, AA'hich she purposes soon to ansAA'er. She is as Avell as can be expect- ed, and unites Avith me in best loA'e to you both, and in grate- ful acknoAvlcdgments of many kind offices received from you during our residence in Manchester, Avhich Ave shall ahvays re- member, and wish Ave had any adequate means of requiting. But AA'hat you have done you did for the Lord's sake, and Ave pray that He may bless you and yours AA'ith all the mercies of the NcAV Covenant. Wc have the prospect of being A'ery com- fortable in our ncAv situation. The circuit seems to be as agi*ee- able as most, and the people are disposed to shoAv us much kindness. I an\ almost entirely at home, and need sleep out only tAVO nights in eight Avecks. I am exceedingly pleased Avith all my colleagues, and I hope I shall be more and more satisfied that I have a commission from God to the people of these parts." A letter to my mother gives an insight into my father's dcA'otional habits and domestic affairs, as avcU as into the state of public feeling at this period. INIy grandlather Maclardie had giA'en my mother some fcAv hundred pounds on the occa- sion of her man-iage. " Poor ! Iler case is really de- serving of commiseration. I Avish she may get the poAver and comfort of true religion before she go hence to be no more 272 THE LIFK OF JABEZ BUNTING. peon. T lliiiik yon slionlil talk freely rnul jihiinly to her on tliis most important otall subjucts. I tliou^lit seemed to be somewhat seriously impressed by liis late aeeident. Is it so? If it be, you will doubtless improve tlic occasion. I liave been more than usually led to thuik of him, and to pray for liim, Mith reference to his best interests. Tiie i)urchase of the house involves so matiy considerations,4hat it will be better, as I ho])e so shortly to be on the spot, where I can learn all particulars, to defer till then the farther discussion of the matter. To be sure, the state of i)ublic aflairs is such as almost unavoidal)ly to sucjgest some doubts as to the stal)ility of the govei-nmenl securities. But whether change would increase security is another question ; and buildings create a great deal of trouble." Ministers' meetings, such as had been held in the Manchester District, were introduced by my father into Sheflield. I find notes of his j)reparations for one of them. " Ju>lilication and forgiveness are s\iionymous terms. Publican's case. It im- plies favor and acceptance. 'Acce])ted in the Beloved.' Just- ification implies God is at peace with us. Is MIic love of God shelace." "Wesley himself entertained thoughts of providing for a want which was felt very early in the history of the connection, but Adam Chu-ke seems to have been the first to form a distinct project. In 1806 he consulted with his brethren in the London Circuit, and a ]tai)cr on the subject was prepared, which Mas read to the Conference of that year, and to several eminent lajTTien. The Conference referred it, for consideration, to the body of the preachers, assembled at their next anmial District sity, when an aiK»i"cnt is bronplit, tell you oven the mood and fipure where- in it is proposed, or corai)lete an eiithynionic ? Tc rli.aj)s they do not so much as understand the term : supply the j.rcniise which is wanting, in or- der to make it a full eateporical syllonisni. Can one in ten of then) demon- strate ft ]irol)lem or tlieorem in Euclid's Elements, or define the common terms used in metaphysics, or intdlicildy explain the first principles of it? Wliy, then, will tlicy pretend to that learning which they are conscious to themselves thev have not? nay, and censure otliers who have it not, and do ilot pretend to' it? Where arc sincerity and candor fled?" — WorLs, vol, viji., p. 210. HIS EARLY MINISTRY IX SHEFFIELD. 277 meetings ; but little more Avas heard of it. " About a gram- mar-school or acadeuiy," writes Alexander Suter in his pri\ate meuaoranda of the Conference of 1800, "Butterworth sent a letter on the subject, in Avhicli are very indifferent reflections. Bradburu said, ' It is a grand trick of the devil.' " And again, in 1808, " farther believes that Clarke, -when he Avent to London, never intended to leave it ; his friends labored for that. Hence the plan of education was set on foot, at the head of Avhich he was placed." " Brother Bardsley* told us that, when he read of the titles, etc.," given to Adam Clarke, " his heart sank within him, and that he believed Clarke would leave us : God showed it him before last Conference ; for he dreamed that he saw him in a Cathedral, in a prebend's stall, and that he looked with great coolness on Brother Bardsley, etc." These- specimens will show how thoroughly the horror of a " carnal ministry" prevented some of the most excellent of the preach- ers from sympathizing with the proposed plan, and how Clarke himself was thought capable of having been prompted in its conception by unworthy motives. When my father's attention was first directed to the subject, he entertained a strong objection to the idea of a college or an academy, and was anxious to devise some other means of meet- ing the emergency. lie became gradually, but firmly convinced that a collegiate institution was necessary. His opinions, how- ever, must not be misunderstood. He never contended that it Avould be Avise to attempt the systematic education of every man Avhom the grace and providence of God had called into * Bardsley, a man of larpc and fleshy frame, vras, as frequently happens in such cases, a child in simplicity and sweetness. In 1818, after fifty years' service, he and his friend Francis "Wripley, a sturdy veteran who had" kno^\Ti him from his youth up (each, in his turn, the oldest preacher in the connec- tion), left the Conference at Leeds with the intention of traveling together some portion of the way to their respective circuits. Arriving at a country inn, they took tea, and then sat in the door-way watching the departing light. Their conversation was heard by none but themselves ; but an au- tumn evening — the full harvest gathered in by the tired laborer, and the welcome rest at hand — must have reminded them of their own course well- nigh spent, and of the repose so needed and so near. Bardsley felt ill, and pi-oposed to retire for the night. His friend went with him toward his bed- room. Bardsley's strength failed, and he sat down on the topmost step ; then thi'ew his arm round Wriglet's neck, saying, " Jly dear, I must die," and "was not, for God took liim." 278 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. tlic Methodist ministry. There were exceptions to the general — the almost nnivorsal nilo. Some ])l.'mts sicken in a hot-house, however iniM tlie lonipcrature. Far distant be tlie day 'svlien the rigid enforcement of a wise and necessary system shall ei- ther exclude Irom the Christian muiistry, or cramp and cripple, when engaged in it, any man whose original constitution of nund or body, or settled habits of thought or action, make such a training inex])edient ! Humanly speaking, the preachers to tiie masses must still, to a large extent, spring from them. Let us not shrink from the testimony that God has always chosen many of His best instruments from the humbler classes of so- ciety ; and that, while He imparts the needful gifts, it is for the Church to cherish and mature them, with a constant reference to His design in giving them, and to their various nature and adaptation for use. Cidture will, in most cases, im])rovc both the flower and the fruit ; but if culture would weaken or de- stroy the plant, let it grow wild. Let it blossom in some dis- tant desert, or brighten some wilderness at home, and the true lover of all God's Morks Avill revel in its beauty. And I have seen wild-flowers which showed well in terraced gardens, l)e- neath the shade of stately palaces, and by the side of all that art could do to deck the i)ampered earth with delicate or gor- geous hues. My father watched the indications of opinion and of feeling, but for a long time he met with very little to encourage his wishes. The prudent policy of waiting for general concur- rence in a measure, many of the objections to which ju-oceeded from a ermanently established. A second subject of anxiety .about this jieriod was the ]K'r- manent locatif)n of ministers who had before been actively en- gaged in the itinerancy. The ])rinciple of location, in some eases, was, indeed, already established. Tlie literary undertak- ings of the connection nupiired agents with sjjccial qualifica- tions, and, when such agents were scarce, tlu're was no alterna- tive but to give them a iixed )»osition. So nmst it always be, as my fatlier, a zealous aastor, neither he nor IlLS EAKLY MINISTRY IN SUEFFIELD. 279 liis people "will allow his time and energies to be occupied very largely in duties in which they have no special and immediate concern, however great may be their counectional interest. Men, therefore, Avho undertake these general de])artments of labor, must be exclusively devoted to them ; and if, after trial, peculiar iitness be ascertained, the advantages of original apti- tude and of acquired experience must never be sacrificed to any considerations of routine, still less to any feelings of jealousy. As departments extend, the truth of these observations has be- come increasingly apparent. But a serious evil threatened the connection at the time of which I am writing. Adam Clarke's was not the only case in which a minister of great talents and influence showed symptoms of impatience with the weary de- tails of itinerant life, and, without any very clearly stated ex- cuse, on the ground of failing health or of other obvious inca- pacity, sought a station, if not of greater ease, yet certainly of more freedom and quiet. The steady laborers trembled at these precedents, and the mischief Avas peremptorily stopped. Clarke, indeed, imder circumstances Avhich were so pecuUar that it is scarcely possible to anticipate their recurrence, retamed a certain standing on the list of efficient ministers after he had ceased to travel, but I am mistaken if the latter pages of his life are read Avith as much pleasure as the earlier portion of the story. Many, who listened to him Avith delight on the Sab- bath, ill brooked his appearance on the folio Aving morning at the Surrey Institution, more like a servant to the lecturer of the day than a Methodist preacher and a great biblical scholar. The feeling among the ministers, too, Avas one of sincere regret. One ancient man, Avho had never heard of Rymer's Medera, records in his journal his horror of a Methodist preacher giA'ing his days and nights to " Rhyme's JPhcedra." Possibly this notice of these circumstances has not any particidar present interest, but it is Avell to know the ditfieulties through Avhich our fathers passed, and the sjiirit in Avhich they met them. Let no man hope to command the confidence or to sway the counsels of the Methodist connection unless, in one fomi or other, strictly itin- erant, or strictly serving the true and only objects of the itin- erancy, he share the labors, trials, privations, sympathies, and rewards of every other minister of the body. My father Avrites to liis friend Mr. Wood m IMarch, 1808: 280 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. " Now that we are more accustomed to this place, and to the people and their maimers, we feel comfortahle, and prohahly should he very hai)py could we entirely divest ourselves of those gloomy recollections of our domestic loss, which will of- ficiously mingle with all our enjoyments, especially while we continue to he so conversant with the scenes where that loss was first so acutely felt. The society at large we think more deeply pious than any we have before seen, and, at the same time, Avhat I hardly expected, more free, as a whole, than most others from the extravagances and follies of enthusiasm. I feel a high degree of pastoral aflectiou and esteem for them. ' The best of all is, God is with us.' We arc now busy in the quar- terly visitation, and have reason to believe that there is a great mcrease, both of numbers and of piety, in various parts of the circuit." My father accepted an invitation to remain in the circuit dur- ing a second year, and, in the first draft of the stations, his name appeared accorduigly, with Mr. Myles for his new superintend- ent. Bradburn was put down elsewhere ; but his eccentricities still eclipsed his virtues, aiul a vigorous opposition was made to the appohitment. It was therefore changed for Sheifield. Then, and for the only time during his entire course, my father interfered decisively as to his OAvn station, and, without raising any public discussion, conveyed to preachers of influence in the Conference his resolute determination not to take the cure of souls in conjunction with any minister in whose uniform and manifest consistency of character and of demeanor he was un- able, for any reason, to ])lace implicit confidence. Stockport Avas assigned to him ; and, having easily succeeded in inducing my mother to sacrifice every consideration of personal conven- ience to that of his usefulness and honor, he fully expected to laboi- in that town. But the people at Sheffield most pathetic- ally and efiV'Ctually remonstrated, and my father returned to them, with Myles, Edward Hare, .James Daniel Burton, and Edmund Grindrod as his colleagues. I have reason to believe that my father did not take any very prominent part in the proceedings of the Conference in question. He seems to have dei)ended for influence upon private sugges- tions to the princii)al ministers of the body. For these, their frefiucnt consullnlinns of his o)>inioT) fiiniislu'd many opportu- i Ills EARLY MINISTRY IN SHEFFIELT). 281 nitics. The legislation of the year supi^lied improvements which, doubtless, he assisted to originate. Fimds for the relief of embarrassed chapels (confined, however, to the several dis- tricts in which such funds might be established), and an addi- tional school for the education of the ministers' children, were the two chief projects of the time. The latter resulted, some years afterward, in the establishment of the institution at Wood- house Grove, near Leeds. The former was ultimately matured into the present very admirable and effective connectional jjlan. Between a conmion effort for relief and exertions limited to particular districts, there could be Httle difficulty in deciding, since the united strength of the body can always work with far greater power and precision than can the strength of the mem- bers separately. Times have not changed as to methods of relief, but, as to purposes of increase and of enlargement it is a question demanding serious attention whether, in the cases of the metropolis and of other densely populated places, the gen- eral fund ought not to be supplemented by societies contem- plating local objects only. My fatlier Avas of opinion that Lon- don, especially, and its suburbs, with their crying necessities, and vrith doors thrown wide open to Wesleyan agencies, had lone: claimed the self-sacrificuag liberalities of those who are privileged to reside in it. The hmit to Avhich this volume must bo confined already warns me that any fiirther notices of my father's colleagues must be very brief. Yet I can not be quite silent as to Hare, Grindrod, and Burton, with whom he now for the first time became closely connected. I have already had occasion to speak of the public services of EdWxVRD Hare, a man of great intellectual vigor, a soimd and able preacher, a ready and practiced writer, and altogether one of the principal worthies of the denomination which claims him as its own. Placed in very early life under the tuition of Joseph Milner, of Hull, he left school for the sea, and served his apprenticeship in the Mediterranean trade. On his return from a voyage, and during a season of extraordinary rehgious influence he was converted to God. He began to preach on shipboard, and in foreign ports, Avhere the vessel chanced to lie. Twice in the course of one voyage taken prisoner by the French, he landed, after his second release, on the coast of Cornwall, 282 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. ami walked the journey home, a distance of two Inindred and lit'ty niik's, with httle otlicr sustenance than bread and water. He* abandoned a seafaring life, listened to the silent voice which called him to the ministry, and gave himself to study and to prayer. Benson was attracted by his piety and talents, and, a temporary vacancy occurring in the York Circuit, sent him to iill it. After labormg tAvo years he was stationed in London, and there Benson, finding that the youth still retained some knowledge of the Latin and the Greek, acquired when a child, took him under his own training, and thus conferred upon him a lasting advantage. He labored wdth great acceptance and success for nearly twenty years. A fuller memorial of his cliaracter and course, and the touchmg story of his early de- cline and blessed end, may be read in the biography prefixed to his Pulpit Remains, enriched by his wife's judicious and tender rccofd of his many domestic virtues. His valuable contributions to the theology of Methodism "•a\-e large promise of what was to be expected from him had his life and literary labors been prolonged, and will well repay the perusal of modern students. "For," writes his widow, " lie was of an intrq)id si)irit, ingenuous, and disuiterested. His sennons were not only compact in themselves, but connected pne with another, so that every one who, Avith a clear under- derstanding and a retentive memory, attended his ministry during his station on a circuit, might discern in his preaching a well-digested and wisely-arranged body of divinity." Might not his example, in this rcsjiect, be more generally followed, and to great advantage ? Perhaps it is not Aery often that Wesleyan co-pastors can, like Edmondsou and Treftry at Roch- ester, arrange for united courses of systematic teaching ; but less of ignorance, and of indifference to theological science, and to the ix'iiefits which it secures, would exist in our <'ongrega- tions, if individual ministers could be induced to declare " the wliole counsel of God," not desultorily and as by chance, but on some regular and coni])rehensive plan. If a common scheme of preaching could be aosed to attach to a permanent ministry be secured, without pacrifu'ing the constant freshness and healthy excitement at- tending a fri'(|uent change (jf ministers':' HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN SHEFFIELD. 283 My father and Mr. Hare were closely attached to each other, and becnnic constant correspondents ; and the deep sympathy and kmdncss felt by tlie survivor were strongly manifested to his friend as he drew near the close of life, and, after his death, to his widow and children. In hiin Methodism lost its ablest controversialist ; but it was found that, when his hand no longer plied the pen, fewer occasions arose for its employ- ment. So iar as my father's influence extended, literary dis- cussions Avith " them that are without" were, as much as possi- ble, avoided ; and, during seasons of internal dissension, a thousand swords leaped from, their scabbards to defend the constitution against all assailants. James Daniel Burton, of the family of that name to which I have before alluded,* was awakened as, on his return from a surreptitious visit to the theatre, he met the bearers of a corpse exposed to public view. His position- in life and the delicacy of his training did not prevent his hearty consecration of himself to the Methodist itinerancy. He was an animated, pleasing^ and impressive preacher, and a prudent and conscientious shep- herd of the flock, gladly availing himself, in the latter capacity, of the means of liberality placed at his disposal. After laboring diHgently for ten years his strength was spent, and in about two years more he finished his course. I think of Samuel Pearce, of Birmingham, when I read the account of his regrets and hopes as he felt that his work on earth Avas done, and Avaited for the day when the rest of death should also end, and the ceaseless service of a new and pei'fect life begin. " I now consider death," he Avrites, "as a friendly messenger, that tells me I must go to ray future home ; as tlie herald that proclaims my release from this prison-house of clay ; as the instrument that breaks tlie shell of mortality, and lets out my soul to take her wing through the ethereal heavens, till she reaches the celestial mansion prepared for her, and mingles with saints and angels. I desire to depart and to be with Christ ; with Him I love above all creatures ; Avith Him avIio loved me beyond all parallel, all claim, all praise ; who hath redeemed me by His blood, canceled all my sins, rencAved me in the spirit of my mind, sustained me Avith the bread of life, and saved me from a thousand snares. Oh, hoAV I could enlarge upon His bounty ! Page no. 284 THE 1,1 rE OF JABEZ BUNTING. Yet I should fail lo Ull the mensuro of His love. All I ooiiM say would be but as au atom to the globe, a point in the com- pass, a ray of light in the full blaze of day. Oh, my beloved wife, my bosom friend, the desire of my eyes, and the choice of my lieart ! — oh, my children, tender in age, and passing through a world of sin, and trouble, and difficulty, must I leave you? Must I see you no more till you, hke me, have passed the stream of Jordan ? Yes, most probably I must soon be parted from you. But, Margaret, do I not leave you among friends Avho will use every means to comfort you ? Do I not leave you and our little ones under the especial care' and pro- tection of heaven ? Many happy years I hoi)ed to spend with you on earth ; many plans of future usefulness I hoj)ed to exe- cute. I was laboring hard to prepare a work which, while profitable to myself, I thought would be bciu-ficial to others ; but l)y death the purposes of my heart are broken off. I do not on this account complain, because God can inspire others ■vTith the same views and purposes better qualified to accom- 2)lisli them, if necessary ; and if not necessary, it is better they continue miaccoinplishe*!." The particulars of Edmuxd Gri>'drod's life and services have been recorded by Dr. Hannah,* and are fresh in the rec- ollection of modern Methodists. He Avas one of those men whose merit is but slowly recognized, and never so clearly as when readier talents are of little use. The massivcness of his good sense gave it certain i)icturesque air to an intellect not otherwise furnishing any remarkable object of study, while the strength and steadiness of his character never failed to justify the coiifideiu-e of his friends, and to command the respect of his <>])p()neiits. Not one oi' my father's coiitein]>()i'aries was more thoroughly imbued with his i»rincij»les and feelings, or in seasons of anxiety and conflict rendered him more zealous and efl^ectivc! aid. So thoroughly were their relations miderstood, that some, who durst not encounter the one, were not unwill- ing to taunt the other with servility of si)irit, and with copy- ing, more closely than was consistent Avith individual symi)a- thies and oi)inions, tliose of the master-mind to which he owed his training. My father knew the value of his friend, and, as in other cases, never permitted either folly or faction to de- * Weslcynn Methodist Mngnzinc, 1840. HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN SHEFFIELD. 285 prive him of a hearty and well-trusted fellow-laborer in the one work of his life. Grindrod's Avorth, when lie was gone, was tried by the best of all tests — the generally admitted want, in seasons of embarrassment and of peril, of his judicious coun- sels, calm temperament, accurate information, and unbounded love of Methodism. His " Compendium of the Laws and Reg- ulations of Wesleyan Methodism" is by far the best guide yet l)ul)lished to the administration of the system, and the reposi- tory of the most correct and best classified information for the use of general inquirers. The corresjiondence of the year 1808-1809 was very volu- minous, suggestmg some topics which my limits again warn me to avoid. Many subjects occupied the attention of the minis- ters of the connection. It is very evident that a spirit of rest- lessness, if not of dissatisfaction and distrust, was somewhat extensively prevalent among them. I confine myself to those subjects Avhich are connected with my father's indi\idual his- tory and opinions. Joseph Nightingale, author of the " Portraiture of Method- ism," gave no little trouble at this time. His book excited considerable attention. Gurncy, afterward Baron of the Ex- chequer, confidentially told some leading Methodists that its ef- fect upon the men with whom he' mixed at the bar and in gen- eral society was exceedingly disparaging to the character of the connection. Opponents highly lauded it ; and it Avas felt that the blow had been aimed with much dexterity. The " Xew Annual Register," on the other hand, reviewed the book with great severity, introducing some allusions to the writer's personal history, which, however true, were by no means flattermg. Nightingale commenced legal proceedings, and recovered damages ; he then threatened the publishers of the " Eclectic Review," in which Dr. Mason Good had Avritten a condemnatory article, and of the "Methodist Magazine," which, of course, had concurred in the censure. Benson Avas seriously frightened ; not so much so, howcA-er, as Samuel Tay- lor, a mmister of great excellence and simplicity, to whom some of the statements Avere not indistinctly traced. Parkcn, the editor of the "Eclectic," corresponded Avith my father, and the latter took a journey to IVIacclesfield for the pm-pose of obtain- ing cA-idence of facts Avhich he kncAV had been correctly stated. 286 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. and wliich ^v^'^c required for the purposes of the defense. Ul- timately tlie artair was (piieted ^vith<)ut fartlier exjtosure of XiLrhtiniiale, or annoyanci- to l*arki'ii, IJeilson, or Taylor. One nit^ht, about fifteen years afterward, my father was ha.st- ily summoned from his editorial desk in London to go and see a dyinjx man. It was none other than Nightingale, who had been suecessively a Unitarian, a INIethodist, a seceder from ^Methodism {o a little sect in Maeelesfield, now forgotten, Avho called tlieniselves Kevivalists, a Quaker, and again a Unitarian, but wlio now, when death and judgment loomeil darkly before him, trembled on account of sin, and sought cageMy the mercy of the Gospel. Even in his vile caricature of 3Iethodism he had thrown away some compliments u])on my father's talents and character, and into his hands he had given his ticket when he abandoned, not without some gentle compulsion, the Meth- odist Society. Now he sought services which were gladly rendered, and successive visits stirred, almost painfully, the yearnings of my fatlier's ]iastoral heart. This sheaf also he will bring with him. Nightingale's last testimony need not be discredited : " Others may, for aught I know, have found refuge in what is called ' Rational Christianity.' To their own master they stand or fall ; I (juarrel with no one ; my time is too short, my bodily strength too weak, to enter into the intricacies of religious disi)ute^ I embrace, therefore, a moment's remaining strength to beg of you, for myself, to ])rotest, before the rehg^ ions public, against all doctrines of faith in which the great, and leading, and incontrovertible doctrine of Divine Influence, a-i generally taught liy evangelical Ciu-istians, does not form an essential point. If a knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of sins can be obtained; if a man can be able to say that he feels the love of God shed abroad in his heart — that Christ dwelleth in him, the hope of glory — that his sins are ])ardoned, and that he can call (iod his reconciled Father; if he can have the spirit of adoption so as to cry 'Abba, Father;' if he can know that he is j>assed from death unto fde, being born again of the Spirit — if all this can take ])lace without a cordial recep- tion of the iloctrines of the Trinity, the Atonement, and those other great doctrines usually cfinnected therewith, then I would gladly say to such a one, This is the way, walk thou in it. Hut I am compelled, so far as I feel my own soid concerned, with HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN SHEFFIELD. 287 all the seriousness and earnestness of a clying man, to attest that I Juive made the cyperbnent., and it has failed.'''' An extraet i'rom a letter of Robert Newton is interesting, as showing the character of the writer, and as giving some ac- count of his lirst attempt, when a minister of nine years' stand- ing, to superintend a circuit. It is dated " Huddersficld, September SOtli, 1808. " Yesterday morning I received yotir very welcome epistle, and am obliged by the invitation which it contahis. To Mr. Claj-ton and myself the temj)tation will, I believe, be irresisti- ble, especially as it happens that we can spare a night or two at that time better than for several weeks to come. Mrs. New- ton, I hope, will accompany us ; but poor Bess" — (his eldest child) — " must stay at home, as it Avould be troublesome to take her so far when our stay must be so short. We are all gratified to hear of your prosperity; but Clayton desires me to say you must not think to compare yourselves with us. "We do not i)lod in the lower regions among smoke and dirt : we move in the higher walks of life, and live next-door neighbors to the skies. From these pure regions, however, we look down Avith sAinpathy on those who arc doomed to dwell in the smoke of Shcfiicld ! The truth is, we are all very hajipy in our new situation. The people here know how to appreciate the excel- lences of !Mr. Clayton : he is not only acceptable, but popular. We are expecting to see good days ; the country is full of in- habitants, and our congregations are very large. You will be sm-prised when I inform you that Methodist disciplme is total- ly unknown in this circuit. The leaders in this town have never been met, except once or twice, during the last three or four years : the society has not been met at all ! We have a band meeting every Saturday evening, l)ut any body is allowed to be present, as there is no one to stand at the door ; nor are there any private bands in the town. We arc determined to attempt to bring things imder Methodistical regulations; I hope we shall not fail in the attempt. Yesterday we held our Quarterly meeting. I found myself imder the necessity of en- forcuig discipline, and proposed to the leaders the application of our rule respecting the penny per week. A leader and local preacher rose when I had done, and said he would forfeit his 288 THE LIFE OF JABE2 BUNTING. head if tliat rulo were over acted upon in that circnit. We had a ^icat deal wf sj»eeeliilication on tlie suhjeet; at last the leaders alnu)st uiilniiniously agreed to do their best. We liave had some conversions, and have added :ihout sixty lo the soci- ety since we came into the circnit. " Yours in Christ Jesus, Robert Newton. " Mr. Clayton begs I will present his most superlative love." A letter to a brother minister introduces a topic which dur- ing this year occasioned much imeasiness to the Methodist ministers at Sheffield. Before their appointment to the circuit, it had been the practice to teach the art of writing in Sunday- schools, to Avhich the Methodist name Avas attached, and Avhich were chiefly supported by Methodist liberality ; and, when ob- jection was taken, grave questions arose between the active managers of these schools and the authorities of the circuit as to the nature and extent of the control Avhich the latter might rightfidly claim over the former. This was the second great struggle of my father's pubUc life. The practice Avas very prevalent in the north of England, and its impropriety was not yet clearly seen, even by many excellent ministers. My father writes as follows : " Mr. Iley's arguments against teaching writing on the Lord's day are too bulky to be inclosed in a letter. If an opportunity occur of transmitting them by a friend by Avhom tliey can be safely and speedily restored to me, I will gladly send them. I do think that even your apol- ogy for that ])ractice (the best apology for it I have seen or heard) is very insufficient. My conviction of the evil resulting irom it, on the whole, is so strong, that if I thought my feeble voice had any chance of being heard with effi>ct, I would con- scientiously ])»d)]ish to the connection my objections, and my protest against it. I^ut when so many wise and good men ap- prove of the custom, and others who condemn it keep their disa})probation to themselves (though their influence, if exert- ed, could not fail to procure attention lo their reasonings), \ feel imwilling to do or say any thing except in my own pri- vate and local si)here of action. Excuse this frank avowal of my diflerence in opinion. If, by Lancaster's i)lan, children can be taught to write while learning to read the Scriptures, and irtliiil ].!;iii be feasible in Sunday-schools, my scruples would HIS EARLY MIXISTllY IN SHEFFIELD. 289 be greatly relieved. But I think that reading, and tliat only with a view to religious imrposcs, should be the ol)ject exclu- sively aimed at by the teachers and learners, otherwise the sanc- tity of the day is violated, and a due reverence for it, as Di- vinely appropriated to religious uses, is gradually sapped and undermined." Among my Other's papers is found an " Outline of the Ar- gument against teaching the Art of Writing on the Lord's day," which sufficiently explains the process by which he ar- rived at his own conclusions on the subject."* "I. The appointment of the Sabbath is not ceremonial, but of moral obligation. From the beginning, long before the Jewish dispensation commenced, God, as Creator, sancti- fied, as well as blessed, the seventh day. The fourth com- mandment refers to it, not as a new institution, but as one * As was usual with him on such occasions, he first formed, and then fortified his own judgment by an extensive and a minute examination of the authorities on the subject. His extracts from the writings of many emi- nent men are in existence. The general question of Sabbath-obsen-ance has assumed vast consequences in our own time ; and, while it has elicited many unanswerable defenses of the opinions and practices of godly profess- ors in all ages of the Church, on no subject have the writers in reply adopt- ed a train of reasoning more shallow and disingenuous. It is really amus- ing to note how the authority of half a dozen great names is quoted, not always very honestly, and how little names, never heard of Ijut when they serve this purpose, are dressed up for the occasion. I quote one extract by my father from the "Weekly Instructor" of October, 1811, with his preface to it. "In answer to the questions, Why so strict under the New Testa- ment Dispensation? and, What harm is there in some little deviations from this strictness by reading, writing, visiting, traveling, etc. ? ' That the re- ligious observance of the Lord's day, if it is to be retained at all, must be up- held by some public and visible distinctions. Draw the line of distinction where you will, many actions, which are sitnate on the confines of the line, will differ very little, and yet lie on the opposite side of it. Every trespass upon that reserve which public decency has established breaks clown the fence by which the day is separated to the service of religion. These liber- ties, however intended, will certainly be considered l)y those who obser\-e them not only as disrespectful to the day and institution, but as proceeding from a secret contempt of the Christian foith. Consequently, they diminish a reverence for religion in others, so far as the authority of our own opinion or the influence of our example extends, or, rather (says Dr. Palcy), so far as either will seiwe for an excuse of negligence to tliem who arc glad of any neighbor's sentiment and conduct to justify and uphold them in their wick- edness.'" Vol. I.— N 290 THE LIFE OF JAJJKZ J5UNT1NG. already established: ^ lie member ihc Sabbatli day to keep it holy.' "II. This original a])j»ointnK'iit of tlie Creator, confinncd by the Decalogue, is binding on all to whom it is made kno^ni. "III. To 'sanctity' and 'keep holy' the Sabbath day arc phrases which can not mean less than tlie separation of it from all secular uses whatever, and the dedication of it, Avhole and entire, to religious services; to such uses as directly tend to l^romote spiritual interests, the salvation of our own or others' souls, and the preparation of ourselves or others for eternity. Those who deny that the phrases in question imply this may be fairly challenged to state what they do mean. " IV. Writing is, in all its direct and immediate uses, a sec- ular art. The religious use of it is at best remote, contingent, and indirect. The design of children in learning it, and of mas- ters in teadung it, is chiefly, if they will confess the truth, the temporal advantage of it. " V. Therefore it ought to be taught in the six days allotted to us for secular purjioses ; not on the seventh, reserved for si)iritual exercises. "VI. The case of reading is very different from that of writing. It is in order to quahfy children for ])erforming an express and indispensable duty, that of searching the Scrip- tures, that they are taught to read. This is a spiritual good, an appointed mean of grace and salvation. " VII. Those passages bi the New Testament which explahi the fourth commandment are aAvfully abused when brought to prove the virtual repeal of it. Those passages do vindicate works of mercy, though not directly religious, when they are works of great and immediate necessity; such as the recovery of human beings from sickness, or the preservation even of animal life from dangers which, if not instantly counteracted, would occasion its total extinction. But the art of writing is not necessary, in any such degree, either to health or life. The necessity of teaching it on Sundays has l)een rather as- serted than provetures, and in such instruction and exer- cises as are directly and evidently of a ix-ligious nature. In all new schools iiereafter established among us, let this jilan b(^ uniformly followed.' In answer to Q. 20 of last Minutes, that relating to attendance at Conference, we observe that, if oin- work continue to increase rapidly, some change of system will in a few years ])e un:ivoim Mrs. New- HIS EARLY MINISTRY IX SHEFFIELD. 301 ton Avliicli relates partly to tins period. Tliough it refers to other periods also, earlier and later, and makes mention almost as frequently of my mother as of my father, I can not persuade myself to break the continuity of the narrative. The Methodist community need not be reminded that Robert Newton's widow still survives ; but the record which, in her eightieth year, she has written on this occasion, will excite a yet livelier interest in her Avelfare, and will elicit many a hearty prayer to iVlmighty God for the increasing comfort and honor of her last days. " The third year after our marriage," writes Mrs. Newton, "I returned from Glasgow by way of London. My dear hus- band was about to attend the Conference there. I hoped that the introduction of him to my friends in the metropolis woi;ld remove the prejudice they had formed against Methodism, and would restore me again to their favor. My wishes were ful- filled. My friends said we were born for each other. It was during my visit there that, after taking a walk one day with Mrs. , we turned into one of the vestries connected with City Road Chapel. The Conference was then sitting ; and my companion was informed that her husband was about to be stationed, not, as she expected, in some part of London, but elsewhere. Poor Mrs. felt this exceedingly, and became very warm on the subject. An interesting young lady stand- ing by, after a few ineifectual attempts to console her said, ' Well, if my husband were ordered to some other station by the Conference, I should think it right to acquiesce without murmuring.' 'You!' said poor Mrs. : 'it becomes you to say so resignedly, when you well know^ there is such a strife to obtain and retain him.' I hked the sentiment of the young- lady, and inquired who she Avas ; and was answered, ' The re- cently-married wife of Jabez Bunting.' This was the first time I heard your father's name with any interest ; and it was not till we had been two years in Rotherham and one in Sheffield that we became personally acquainted. Mr. Bunting succeed- ed Mr. Ilaslam in Sheffield : Mrs. Ilaslam was ill, and could not at once remove with him to his new circuit ; and the late 3Ir. Holy and his kind lady requested your father and mother to be their guests. Soon after their arrival I niade my first call, and with more interest than I usually felt on such occasions. Shall I tell you of our first introduction — so perfectly charac- 302 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. toristic of your clear motlior? Mr. Bimtiiii; had his foot on a chair, and she was stitching a loop tliat had failed in liis black silk stocking, on liis then remarkably finely-formed leg — much admired in those days, when trowsers were woi'n only by sea- men. The footman announced my name, and Mrs. B. desisted froni lier work for a few moments, and we shook hands. Then, with one of the looks peculiar to her, half droll, half serious, she f^aid to me, ' Do you mend your husband's stockings ?' Of course, I answered in the affirmative. ' Oh, well, then,' she said, ' I Mill finish my job,' and in a few minutes Mr. Bunting and she were conversing with me rather as old friciuls than as those so newly introduced to my acquaintance. On i)arting, I said I hoped we should meet oilen ; and your mother replied, ' I have no objection to be very thick with you.' Such was our first meeting. They removed as soon as possible to their house in Carver Street, in which street avc also resided. The yoxmgest child was taken ill, and in a few days after your fa- ther came in a distressed state of mind, and requested me to go to Mrs. Bunting, for he feared the poor child was dying. I joined them immediately, and found your mother with the babe on her knee, evidently in the latest struggle. I thought of my own one child, and had no difficulty in joining my tears with theirs. A few hours, and their first girl Mas gone ; and, mitil after lier funeral, I spent the morning and afternoon Mith the sorroM'ing parents, and at dusk they returned M'ith me to tea, and M'e parted only M'hcn it M'as time to retire for the night. Thus passed the first Aveek of their bereavement. Your fii- ther's first etlbrt after the child's death Mas to obtain its like- ness before it M'as removed from his sight. I sat by the artist much of the time Avhile he attempted the sketch, and unclosed its little eyes to sliow their lovely blue. Thus M'as sealed an intimacy that caused ns much ])leasure in our early life, and that contimied to the end. The society in Sliefiield M'as very, very ]iospital)le, and invitations for dinner, tea, and sup))or were so general, that M'e agreed to decline all visits on the Sabbath, and engaged to spend the evenings of that day al- ternately at each other's houses. This arrangement continued, and, I think, Mithout any interruption, during IJie year Ave spent together in Sliefiield. Our dear husbands enjoyed the I'elaxa- tion of cheerful comerse and of mutual Christian feeling, some- HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN SHEFFIELD. 303 times mixed Avith tlic little marvels of our children's prowess during the week, and the social meal after their Sabbath toils, for they had usually had long walks or rides, preached three times, and attended to their other duties as Methodist mhiis- ters. Our frequent meetings at each other's houses, and at the tables of our kmd friends in Sheffield, did not allow many days to pass without spending some hours together, and your mother and myself seldom walked out on busmess or on i^leas- ure aloiie — when on pleasure, often accompanied by our nurses and children, who kept within our view, and were an ever- pleasing topic of conversation. Plans for their future benefit were proposed and discussed with the earnestness of youthful mothers who had yet all to learn on the subject of education, and the difficult task of subjecting a mother's feelings to con- victions of duty. While happy in havmg found such a com- panion as your mother, I was still more so in being under the ministry of your father, whose beautifully clear manner of ex- pounding the Word of God, and then of bringing it to bear on my religious feelings, was such a^s I had not previously met with, while in our friendly parties abroad and in our family intercourse his conversation was uniformly serious and in- structive. Like his ministry in the pulpit, every word had its proper place, and every sentence might have been digested previously, whatever was the subject of discourse. Sometimes your dear mother's uncontrollable wit suddenly disturbed our gravity; but he was never seen otherwise than in his own proper character as a minister of the Gospel of Christ. I thought I could perceive in him a natural warmth of temper, and secretly admired the power of grace in its subjection, though he was ever earnest where the cause of religion was endangered. If I ever saw him warm, it was in reference to the desecration of the Sabbath, as to which he was painfully opposed. Would we had more such advocates in this day of strife on the subject ! I remember, Avhen in Sheffield, I had taken my child into a field behind the house during the time her nurse was at chapel. I casually mentioned having done so at our evening's social meeting, when he rather sharply re- proved me, not for the thing itself, but for the example. 'If Mrs. Newton be seen walking about during Divine service, what Methodist need refrain from a like indulgence? ' Thus he oO-i THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. spoke; and inv own dear husband smiled ai)provingly. I saw they were right, :nid that I ought to abstain IV^m the aj)})ear- ance of evih It has liad an inthience on mv (hu'ing iny king life, and I now pity the Christian who can not enjoy the duties of the Sabbath, and iind in them a relaxation after the six days' toil of the preceding week. I need not say your father was popular in Shefheld. He was ahvays so ; but his ministry was evidently greatly valued for its efficiency. The two friends, Xewton and Bunting, went in unison of spirit to their work, and not only every Sabbath, but on many evenings during the week, met and tallced over the cares of the circuit and the mercies of the day, concluding with family worship. After a year thus spent Ave found it a trial to se])arate. AVe removed to Iluddersfield, and they remained another year in Sheffield. For the two years following our intercourse was mterrupted; but we still had sometimes an interview with your father Avhen engaged in occasional services, and he came to christen our oldest boy in the chapel at Ilolmlirth. It was a time of great intei'est to tlie kind friends there. Never shall I forget the fervency of his prayer for the child at the conclusion of the service. From Ilolmlirth we removed to London, and in the course of our sojourn there Mr. Bunting was called to ba])tizo our next child in the Ilinde Street Cha2)el. I almost forgot the delicate state of my health while I conversed, with my dear husband and with him, of old times and of future prospects. 3Iy health induced my dear husband to remove to a country station. It was about the time of the iirst missionary meeting at Leeds, and from Mr. Bunting at that time I had an account of tlic commencement of a Avork tliat lias been, and is increas- ingly, of such importance in the Churcli. One short year be- fore I had the pleasure of entertaining Dr. Coke, who, with my husliand, had been (I should think) on his last begging expe- dition before lie left for India, so soon to be called up higher, and to leave his consecrated work in other hands. For sever- al years subsequently to 1815 our residences were widely dis- tant ; but in 1824, when we were in Salfurd, i\Ir. Bunting came to Manchester, and Ave renewed our friendly intercourse. INIany of our children Avere then come to an age Avhcn avc could no longer amuse ourselves Avith their little Aveakncsses, but Avere treMiblinirly alive to our OAvn resjionsiliilities and lo tlieir fu- HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN SHEFFIELD. 305 turc welfare. • IVIany wove tlie conversations Ijctween yonr mother and myself on subjects so interesting. Our next meet- ing as neighbors Avas at Liverpool. Her health was declining, but I little thought I should so soon lose my early friend. The last time I saw her she was very ill in Liverpool, and, though Ave did not api)rehend danger, your dear Other's spirits Avere very low, and she Avas painfully learning the hard lesson that to do God's Avill Avas over, and to suffer it Avas begun. I have only to record my remembrance of her uniform moral Avorth. FcAv kncAv her more intimately than myself. We Avere of dif- ferent temperaments. Your mother's Avit was often irrepressi- ble, but it Avas never frivolous ; and, Avheu her heart Avas laid most open to the inspection of her friends, it Avas found on the side of true religion and of the strictest honor. She once said to me, 'I should hate myself if I thought my frivolity had given pain to any one.' My disposition Avas A'cry different : I Avas romantic, sentimental, and grave; and our mutual friendship seemed to mould our differences into AA'hat Avas good for both. "\Ve never differed in opinion but Avith rencAved friendsliip as its consequence. Thus far of your dear father's partner in early life. Her cheerfulness tempered his solemnity, but never stood in the Avay of right. His mind Avas honored by all Avho IcncAv him, and rightly appreciated by his Avife. He Avas ever a Avarm Methodist. Perhaps I have thought that his enthusi- asm, as I first kncAV him Avhen young, became not less pure in consequence of his connection in later days Avith the Evangeli- cal Alliance, breathing a sublime feeling of unity with all avIio love the Master. I have also thought that the mutual friend- ship of our husbands Avas favorable to their respective charac- ters. Your father's solid, mathematical Avay of thinking and speaking checked the exuberance of my dear husband's imagin- ation and livelmess. Both Avere called into the ministry at the same time, and botli became Avhat is called popular. What is more to be valued, by the instrumentality of both, young as they Avere, the Church Avas edified and multiplied. 3Iy oavu husband, your dear mother admitted in one of our friendly controA'ersies, preached at times A'ery great sermons, but she added, ' My husband never preaches a little one.' I could not contradict her, though I did not, at the moment, quite relish the imputation conveyed. It has ever been pleasant to me to 30G TUE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. feel assured tliat tin.' iVieiulsliip of our Iiusbaiids continued un- abated to the end of one life, and I doubt not the recollection of its early formation and long continuance gratefully remained on the mind of the other during his few remaining years. Our families were dis})ersed, but were never heard of, in weal or woe, but with warm interest on both sides. I have Uved re- tired for some years, and have seen Uttle of your dear father, of his children, or of the respectable lady who solaced his lat- ter days ; but his children are never mentioned in my hearing without producing a warm interest in their i)resent and future welfare, and a recurrence to some of the many conversations I have had Avith their dear mother on their hopes for this life and for that to come. That mother and the fathers of. our children are gone. I remain alone. No, not alone; for the Husband of the widow and the Father of the fatherless is ever near me. May Jabez Bunting and llobert Newton and their children's molliers meet in heaven !'' While stationed in the Sheffield circuit my father preached on five hundred and sixteen occasions. I conclude the chapter with James Montgomery's estimate of the general character of his ministry: "lie is a great man: he delivers the most im- portant scriptural truths in such a way as to make them appear plain and familiar ; so much so, indeed, that some of his intelli- gent hearers are occasionally almost tempted to believe they could themselves do what he does with so nuich apparent ease ; yet they are very nuich mistaken ; for that very simplicity of language, which involves so much fullness and fitness of tliought, shows also how perfectly the preacher has attained that ' art to conceal art,' which is the result of successful study. I heard liim constantly when he Avas stationed at Shetlield several years since, and still remember many of his sermons." UlS EAKLY MlNlSTliY AT LIVEKrouL. 307 CHAPTER XV. HIS IlAELY MINISTRY AT LIVERPOOL. Appointment to Liverpool. — William Bramwell. — James Buckley. — Suc- cessful Ministiy. — Correspondence. — His own Letters as to teaching Writ- ing on the Sabbath. — Letters from Moore on miscellaneous Topics. — Dr. Magee's Attack upon the Methodists. — The Case of Brighouse Chapel. — Management of the Connectional Funds. — Thomas Rankin's Bequests. — The Death of Robert Lomas. — The Conference of 1810. — Dr. Clarke's Commentary. — Letters from Edward Hare and Robert Newton. — The In- fluence of Trustees over Church Management. — Lord Sidmouth's Bill. — Richard Watson.— The Use of Organs and of Liturgies. — The Confer- ence of 1811. At Li\erpool, to wliicli tOAvn my father removed soon after tlie Conference of 1809, he was placed under the supermtend- ence of William Bramwell, succeeded, during the second year, by Joseph Entwisle. James Bogie and the elder Theophilus Lessey Avere his colleagues, the latter subsequently exchanged for James Buckley. These names must be passed over in al- most total silence. Bramwell has been before mentioned, and his occasional disregard of those laAvs of order and of peace Avhich are essential to the unity and usefulness of the Church can never obliterate from its grateful memory his deep piety and fervent zeal. A biography might still be written of him which should exhibit his example to the imitation of the Meth- odist people, without, on the one hand, any enthusiastic eulogy of his defects, or, on. the other, too much effort to conceal them. In the delineation of the character of good men, it is well to state it just as it is. The most obvious errors, while they show the natural tendency of the mind, show, also, and make conspic- uous, the better quahties, innate or ingrafted, Avhich, on the Avhole, prevailed. The stern and ascetic revivalist at Liver- pool, someAA'hat apt to believe that great gifts and great graces Avere never bestOAved upon the same minister, soon found out that his young colleague Avas at least as zealous as himself, and Avas delighted Avith the visible success Avhich attended the com- mon labors of the co-pastorate. Even as to his OAvn Avonder- 308 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. fill power of storming the consciences of careless sinners, Bram- MC'll rejoiced to know tliat ho did not stand alone, or, indeed, ])re-eniinent among tliem. For iu)tices of ]iO(;iK and of Lkssey, the latter name render- ed more famous by the son than by the father, I must refer to the usual channels of information. Both were of longer min- isterial standing than my father, and, though he contracted for them a lasting respect, no very close intimacy resulted from tlie connection. It was otherwise in the case of James Buckley, who be- came, and to the time of his death continued, one of my father's most affectionate and trusty friends. To those who were fa- miliar Avith Buckley's reiinemcnt both of manner and of char- acter, it was a surprise to hear that he sprang from an obscure family in a district of Lancashire, Avhich, during his childhood and early training, was as imcivilized as could be found in Christian England. But he inherited the good sense and shrewdness of his race; and, when grace polished the diamond, it Avas Avorthy of a better setting than the conditions and con- tingencies of the Methodist itinerancy sometimes ])ermitted. Ilis brethren, hoAVCA'er, loA'ed him, and kncAV his Avorth, and, by their influence, he Avas introduced to j»ositions of great import- ance, Avhich he ahvays Avorthily sustained. His settlement in South AVales, after forty-tAvo years' service, removed him from general observation, and inferior men of his standing are bet- ter knoAA'n to this generation. The last Conference he attend- ed Avas that Avhich commemorated the centenary of ^Methodism. lie Avas j»resent at the Sacrament of the Lortl's Suppi-r, admin- istered, as is usual, at the close of the session. The same even- ing he fell ill, and in a few days "the end" of the "upright" man Avas once more acknoAvledged to be "peace." The two years s))ent by my father at Liver j>ool among a kind and an intelligent i)eo])le Averc some of the hapj)iest of his early ministry. Though yet young, he had felt his groimd. His ])OI)ularity as a ])reacher, and his high connectional position — ]>cihaj)s, more than both, the s( niggles through Avhich he had ])assed in his preceding circuit — had forced on him some know 1- edge of his ])OAvers, and, by increasing his sense of responsiltil- ity, had put liim upon more A'igorous effort to serve the Church. The local results are, to a large extent, liarvested in Paradise. HIS EARLY MINISTRY AT LIVERPOOL. 300 Some, however, who, by liis "mouth, lieard llie word of tlie the Gospel" and beheved, "rcniahi to this jirescnt;" and, hav- ing long studied the life of their spiritual father, have now learned the impressive lessons of his death. I have read of the funerals of barbarian chiefs round which were gathered not only their own mourning kinsmen, but those also of multitudes of murdered slaves ; slain, if to give a deeper pathos to the jHiblic sorrow, yet chiefly to surround the spirit in another world with the "pomp and circumstance" to which it was accustomed here. So " the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel," and Super- stition ■WTites its most touching fictions in letters of blood. But, "in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, at His coming," how stately a retinue will attend him who has recently de])arted! — the triumphant Savior, indeed, claiming as His own, and gath- ering around His blessed Person not only " the Avhole, family" of the " children" " given" Him, but every " good and faithful servant" recognizing the converts of his uidividual ministry as his " glory and joy." Extracts from my father's correspondence must now be still fewer and more brief. It refers to almost every conceivable subject. The spiritual and financial state of the connection ; tidings from former circuits; news of events of national con- cern ; applications for assistance on charitable occasions ; spec- ulations in theology; offers to cxi)lain the Book of the Revela- tion ; strictures on sermons, on the pulpit-mamier of the preach- er, and on the dress or demeanor of himself and his wife, in- fimts, and domestics ; suggestions as to the pointed application of discourses to persons who were to be brought to hear them ;* challenges to public discussion by all kinds of petty * Take a. specimen: "Did I not feel in my own mind a certainty that you would kindly pardon the liberty I am taking in thus addressing you, I should not presume to trouble you. I will rely on your good-nature to ex- cuse mc when you consider the motive by which I am actuated. I have lately had a conversation with a friend of mine (an officer in the ), and have at last so fiir got tlie better of his almost unconquerable jircjudices as to have obtained his ])romise to accompany mo this evening to Street Chapel. Knowing something of his disposition, I presume to trouble you with his symptoms, which you will notice or not, as seems best to your better judgment. lie is much ]irejudiced against the Methodists. He is loyal to his king, I believe, but doubts their loyrdfy; has a good share of personal consequence and jiride, nnd seems to believe religion well enough oiO THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. sectaries, backcil by all kinds of threats, entreaties, and entice- ments ; communications from young preachers inviting notice, and asking advice as to the conduct of their studies; conject- ures, exitectations, and sometimes expressions of anxious de- sire as to the future statit)ns of ministers ; stories of small feuds between great men, forgotten by the parties tliemselves before tlie ink was dry ; inquiries as to the price of timber at the port, clieap chapels being in requisition ; endeavors to ascertahi the character and circumstances of the Avriters of begging-letters, for the guidance of cautious givers at a distance; strictft/ ])ri- vate inquiries as to the eligibility of young ladies for the itin- erancy ; projects of all sorts of institutions, literary, benevolent, and religious ; solicitations of patronage from authors as yet unsuccessful, and from very enterprising publishers ; announce- ments of births, marriages, and deaths, of persons known and unknown, of all ages, and in all quarters of the globe, each re- quiritig a suitable and immediate reply of congratulation or of condolence — this is a very imperfect index to the letters which lie before the biographer of any man who occupied a position such as that now filled by my father. Some have spoken to me since I began to write these volumes as if the examination of his papers, accumulated during sixty years, must necessarily for the vulgar; boliovcs himself as pood as other peo])le ; allows it would bo as well not to pet drunk quite so often or to swear so mueh ; seems to have no fear but he will go to heaven ; does not want common sense. I think ho seemed most to notice what I said of religion increasing instead of dimin- ishing our comforts, and that it did not forbid us to smile. I fancied he listened with a good deal of attention, and a tincture of alarm, at what I said of the certaintj- of death and judgment, and the happiness of heaven or the torments of hell, and that wc must choose one or the other. He ar- sures mc that, when he gets old, he shall probably consider this sort ( f things, but that ylace called Needless Alley." The exclusively clerical management of the connectional funds again occupied, about this period, nnich of my father's consideration, and it is the sulyect of correspondence between hira, Barber, Griffith, Entwisle, and Marsden. It was, I believe, discussed at the ensuing Conference, but the feeling against change was still too powerful to be easily overcome. He sub- HIS EARLY MINISTRY AT LIVERPOOL. 823 raitted, in his letters to his friends, some proposals for the fuller publication of the connectional accounts, which received their unanimous sanction ; but even these failed to secure the sym- pathy of the Conference. It is easy to guess at some of the reasons for this indisposition to alter the existing state of af- fairs. Very few of the ministers cared to concern themselves with finance, and those who really wished to understand it had not, generally speaking, been trained to any practical knowl- edge of the details of business. The strife and obloquy, too, which had attended the discussion of such questions in 1V97, made every lover of peace very anxious to avoid them. And, to crown these diificulties, there was the standing disadvantage that the true position of the clergy was not yet clearly defined and understood. The control of the connectional funds was an important element of power, especially durmg times of agi- tation ; and while there was any miccrtainty in the tone of con- nectional feeling as to a point so material to the very existence of Methodism, some cautious men, who thoroughly sympathized with my father's general opmions, did not know what was the first step to take in carrying them into efi:ect, and would do nothing lest they should do wrong. It was his policy, on the other hand, to promote simultaneous improvements in all di- rections. Let the entrance into the ministry be still dUigently guarded ; let all the ancient usages of mutual inquiry and su- pervision, of itinerancy, and of sustentation,* be sacredly pre- * Above all, the ancient usage of itinerancy. My father would never have listened with approval to any scheme which gave to one of several min- isters in a circuit the exclusive or preferential occupancy of any pulpit with- in its bounds. Such plans are attempted with the best intentions, and in the hope that a particular class of preaching will attract the poor to deserted sanctuaries, oc the rich to new chapels in fashionable neighborhoods. All honor to the zeal which conceives and executes these new contrivances ! But are they not irreconcilably opposed to the principle which has worked so long and well ? The virtue of the Methodist system lies not only in the pe- riodical change, but in the constant variety of ministers ; and the genius and eloquence, or the honest fervor which captivate all kinds of hearers, must be mixed, and, at all events, in no excess, with other modes of thought, ex- pression, and manner, quite as necessary to the gathering and consolidation of churches, and to the attainment of the great ends of the Christian min- istry. While some other Nonconformists are seriously considering how they may best secure the inestimable advantages of a co-pastorate, let us not lightly part with them. How are the just claims and commendable feelings 324 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. served ; let the standard of literary, tlieoloj^ical, and religious attainment be made higher and more uniform ; in short, let the ministry he such as sliould command, ■without controversy or reluctance, the recognition anrol)ably i)n)mote the glory of God; and tin; l)reuchers evidently i)aid much attention to what he said." Then Mr. Marsdeu refers to the decease of one of my father's kindest friends. " You have also heard of the death of Mrs. iVlleu" (of Macclesfield). "She was 'an IsracUte indeed, in whom there' was 'no guile.'" The Conference of 1810 met in London, and Benson was for tlic second time elected president. I have the means of dis- tinctly tracing my father's share in the legislation of the year. " The solemn designation of our young preachers to the work of the Christian ministry among us, by their formal admission into fidl connection," which, by a recent regulation, had been permitted at District meetings, was ordered for the future to take place only at the Conference. The chairmen of districts were directed not only to examine very minutely in their Dis- trict meetings all persons proposed to travel as ministers, but to make a special written report of the opinion of the District meeting respecting them as to health, piety, ministerial abili- ties, belief of our doctrines, attachment to our discipline, and freedom from debt and other secular encumbrances. The preacher, also, A\ho reeonnnended any candidate was required to do so in writing. A s})ecial effort was agreed upon in order to provide for the large debt of tlie connection, collections tor less general objects being for the time restricted ; and farther arrangements Avere made for the better transaction of the bus- iness of the Conference. The publication of the first part of Dr. Clarke's Conunentary, containing the startling discovery that the tempter of our Mother Eve recommended himself to her good graces in the form of a baboon, was the first event of connectional interest which occurred after the Conference. The general world only laughed, while critics emln-aced a rare o])])ortunity of exercis- ing their special vocation. One old INfethodist preacher dealt very summarily with the new theory. IMr. JJarber writes, "Will you have any objection to London next year, if Provi- ing share in its government ; and, if per- sons were to be found possessing these qualities, it was desira- ble that their services should be enlisted, even though they did not fiU any public position distinctly religious. In these cir- cumstances, trustees, whose exclusive influence was greatly to be deprecated, became, when united with others, a most valua- ble resource. Not necessarily leaders, or local preachers, or otherwise officially engaged in spiritual duties, they were, if private members of the society, the fittest representatives of the body of the people. None had made greater sacrifices of money, time, and continuous exertion ; none had undertaken greater burdens ; and so none had more fully pledged them- selves to a thorough and life-long adherence to the estabhshed order of things. Very gradually, therefore, biit with a very decided purpose, my father promoted the measures which gave to trustees, possessing the qualification of membership, a legiti- mate share in the administration of the aftairs of the society. I believe that in 1852, v^'hen he had, to a great extent, retired from public life, he approved more heartily of the changes which secured this object than of any others then made. They recognized the principle that all the talents of all the members of the Church are to be employed for its advantage, and so were popular without being democratic, and not only safe, but 332 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. salutary. These remarks Avill not eommciul tliemselvcs to those who discover in tlie New Testament a well-defined plat- form of Chun-h n of abstract justice, or to be diverted from di-aling Avith it by any motives of tem])orary ex- pediency. Thomas Thompson too, then a meml)er of the Leg- islature, was a local ])reacher, as was also Thomas Allan, to Avhose name and ])rofession I have before adverted;* and the proposed measure not only threatened the general interests of the ccjnnection, but seriously impinged u])on the rights of their particular order. These gentlemen, together witli ]\Ir. 15utter- worth, who in this solitary instance swerved from his allegiance * Sec i)age 209. HIS EARLY MINISTRY AT LIVERPOOL. 833 to liis brothor-in-law, Di-. Clarke, carried through the " Coin- luittee of Privileges" a scries of resolutions against the bill. A vigorous opposition was organized, and was at its full height, when Lord Sidmouth, Lord Eldou himself concurring, consent- ed that the bill should be read that day six months. The min- isters of the Manchester District received the summons to ac- tion while they were assembled at their annual District meet- ing. After a discussion of the question, my father embodied the result in a document "which 1 give at length. The hajid of Dr. Percival's pupil may be distinctly seen hi it ; but it is guided by experience, and by a prevailing regard to the special inter- ests which it strove to aid. I consider the paper to be an ad- mirable specimen of the characteristic qualities of the writer. " At a Meeting of the Regular Methodist Ministers in the Connection of the late Kev. John Wesley, stationed at pres- ent in the Manchester District, and assembled at Liverpool on Thursday, May 23, 1811, it was unanimously resolved, " I. Tliat liberty of conscience, comprehending the freedom of public assemblies for religious worship and instruction in such forms and under such teachers as men shall for them- selves approve, is the inalienable right of all men, and that m the peaceable exercise of this right, as well as of the farther right of peaceably communicating their o^nl religious views and opinions to all Avho are willing to hear them, they are not justly amenable to the authority of the civil magistrate. " 11. That we consider these rights as having been solemnly recognized and legally secured to British subjects by the letter and S2)irit of the statute commonly called the Toleration Act; a statute to Avhich tens of thousands have long looked with grat- itude, and which is, in om- opinion, a most essential part, and one of the strongest bulwarks of our glorious Constitution, as estabUshed by law at the period of the Revolution of 1G88. "in. That the facilities which have been thus afforded for religious worship and instruction have powerfully contributed to the improvement of public morals, and to the promotion of industry, subordination, and loyalty among the middle and in- ferior orders of the commimity ; and that to this high degree of religious liberty, under the blessing of Divine Providence, the preservation of this happy country from the horrors of that revolutionary phrensy which has so awfully desolated the na- tions of the Continent is principally to be ascribed. 331 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. "IV. That our oonfulcncc in the continuance of those rights, wliich are legally seeured to us as our constitutional Lirthright by the Act of Toleration, has been greatly conlinncd by the repeated declarations of all our nionarchs, from the time of Wil- liam the Third, in favor of religious liberty ; and especially by the ever-memorable assurance of our present venerable and be- loved sovereign in his first speech from the throne, that it was his ' invariable resolution to maintain the Toleration ina'io- late;' and that 'thereUgious rights of his subjects were equal- ly dear to him Avith the most valuable prerogatives of his crown ;' an assurance with wliich his majesty's conduct toward. us has hitherto uniformly accorded. " V. That we view with the greatest alarm and concern a bill which has been lately introduced into the House of Lords by a nobleman whose general character wc highly respect, which Ijill we consider as tending to restrict and diminish those long- established privileges which are specified in the foregoing res- olutions. "VI. That the said bill, if passed into a law, will materially abridge the uncpiestionable right of British subjects to judge and decide for themselves concerning the competency of those rehgious teachers whom they conscientiously ])refer, and there- fore voluntarily support ; that it will be a grievous hardship upon the regular itinerant ininisters of our connection (who, though not 2yGt">^^(inently appointed to separate congregations, are yet wholly devoted to the Christian ministry), by depriv- ing them of those exemptions, not merely from pains and ])en- alties, but also from military and other secular duties, which, on the ground of the i)ublic utility to be derived from their la- bors, the law, as it now stands, has Avisely granted to ])crsons who are constantly and exclusively cmi>loyed in the work of religious instruction ; that it will reiulcr it very difficult and ex- ])ensive, and in many cases altogether impracticable, to obtain legal i)rotcction for the numerous body of our occasional preachers and exhorters^ Avho not only form a very useful part of our society, but whose services are essentially necessary as local auxiliaries to the regular itinerant ministers, in order to supply the various chapels and meeting-houses in which our congregations assemble for Divine worship ; that it Avill be a serious violation of that confidence which has been reposed in HIS EARLY MINISTRY AT LIVERPOOL. 835 the laws of their country by the trustees of our numerous chap- els, who have expended large sums of money, and signed se- curities to a very considerable amount on account of the said chapels, o?i the faith of the Act of Toleration, and Avith the fullest reliance that our present system, as allowed by that act, M'ould remain undisturbed ; that it will open new sources of litigation, and furnish to the ill-disposed the occasion and the means of obstructing and oppressing tlieir peaceable fellow-sub- jects by capricious examinations and vexatious delays ; and that, by establishing a principle of interference in matters of conscience, it may become a 2irececle)it for future and fatal ex- periments against our religious liberties. " VII. That the restrictions proposed in the said bill are as unnecessary as they would be injurious, because the instances of abuse on which they are professedly groimded have been few in number ; because the recurrence of such abuse has been, in part, already prevented by some recent legislative enactments ; and because the Methodists in particular have exjilicitly pro- hibited (by a regulation which they voluntarily adopted in the year 1803) the application of licenses, procured imder the Act of Toleration, to the purpose of obtaining exemption from mil- itary or parochial duties by any persons in connection with them who are not wholly employed in tlie Christian ministry. " Vin. That the proposed bill is, in our judgment, radically objectionable, being, as it seems to us, erroneous in its princi- pie, unconstitutional in its spirit, and certainly calamitous, if jjassed, in its operation ; that no modification of it can reconcile us to its adoption ; that, as religious rights are justly deemed by a very great body of the people of England to be their best and dearest rights, to which they are most ti-emblingly alive, the probable consequences of any measure by whi(,-li those rights appear to be infringed are at this eventful period most earnestly to be deprecated. "IX. That we heartily approve of the intention whicli is generally entertained by our societies, congregations, and friends througliout this district to prepare immediate petitions to the Legislature against the bill now pending. " X. That we cherish the highest confidence in the wisdom and justice of Parliament as to the success of our petitions against so obnoxious a measure ; but that, should our expecta- 386 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. tious be unhappily disappointed, we shall esteem it to be our indispensable duty to appeal, for the protection of our rights in the last instance, to the liberal principles and legal preroga- tives of his royal highness the prince regent, encouraged by his gracious declaration that it is his resolution to ' deliver up the Constitution unaltered' (and consequently the Toleration invi- olate) ' to his royal father,' and fully persuaded that this illus- trious prince will never sanction a system of restriction so marked by innovation, so contrary to the tolerant spirit of his majesty, and so productive of dissatisfaction and distress to no inconsiderable proportion of his most loyal and most faithful subjects. . " XI. That these resolutions be printed and extensively circu- lated ; and that copies be respectfully transmitted to the depii- ties m London appointed to guard the civil rights of the Dis- senters, to the committee of Protestant Dissenters appointed at the meeting lately held at the London Tavern, and to the Protestant Dissenting ministers in this county and its vicinity. " XIL That a subscription be immediately opened, or collec- tions made in every circuit of this district to defray the ex- penses of carrying these resolutions into effect." There are some respects in which it is interesting to compare these resolutions with those which issued from the connection- al authorities in the metropolis. While the conmiittee there abstained " from all observations on the abstract rights of con- science," and complained simply of the jeopardy to which their own community was exposed, my father knew, and was careful to declare, that all denominations of Nonconformists must, as to toleration, stand or fall together. The committee, too, while recognizing distinctly the " regular preachers who are wholly devoted to the functions of their office," refrained from adopt- ing the clear phraseology as to local i)reachers which my father, in dealing with definitions for the guidance of the Legislature, thought it indispensable to use. I do not think that in this or in any other case he sacrificed to truth and duty the respect and affection wdiich he bore to that important body. It is cu- rious to observe, also, how he declines to commit himself to the assertion of the committee, that " a large i)roportion of our so- cieties" considered "themselves members of* the Established Church," and to the opinion that no legislative explanation of HIS EARLY MINISTRY AT LIVERPOOL. 837 the existing laws of toleration was necessary. lie differs from them, moreover, in their declaration that " not a shadow of a charge is brought against om- very numerous body." His ar- gument is that the " mstances of abuse" " had been few in nmn- ber ;" that " their recurrence" had been, " in part, already pre- v'ented" by Parliament; and that the Methodists themselves had, by internal regulation, sufficiently provided for the case. The events just narrated were connected with an incident which forms an important epoch in my father's history. "Wliile this matter was jjending," writes Mr. Jackson,* "they," Jabez Bunting and Richard Watson, "had both been preaching in Stockport one Sunday, and met on their way to Manchester m the evenmg, when Lord Sidmouth's Bill be- came the princii^al subject of conversation. They acknowl- edged that, if this bill were to pass into a law, it would be ru- inous to the Methodists, whose mmistry is itmerant, and that it would be very injurious m its operation upon the Dissenters generally. The meeting of these two eminent men appeared to be casual, but subsequent events proved it to be one of those Providential arrangements which forcibly impress every devout and observant mind. Their interview led to a pure and lasting friendship, from which great advantage was derived both to themselves and to the cause of religion. Little did they then imagme that, in future years, they should be successfully asso- ciated together in plans of extensive usefulness, and especially in the furtherance of the missionary cause. At Mr. Bmiting's request, Mr. Watson wrote an able and stirring letter, which appeared in the 'Manchester Exchange Herald' of May 23d, 1811, on the subject of Lord Sidmouth's Bill. At that time the Dissenters were not duly alive to the evils vnih which this measure was fraught, and a strong statement of the case was deemed necessary to rouse their opposition." Richard Watson's biographer has not too highly estunated the advantages Avhich resulted from this ncAV intimacy. Each friend found in the other what neither had found before, and that in connection with habits of inquiry and of thought which had led to an almost perfect identity of theological opuiion, and with a kindred sj^irit of evangelical enterprise. * "Memoirs of the Life and Writiugs of the Rev. Richard Watson," p. 102, 103. VOL.1.— P 338 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. Nearly a generation lias jiassed away since TJicharfl Watson, in the very ]>rinK' of his strengtli, linisla'd a course of honor and of usefuhicss ])ccuUarly his own, and which none who knew liim ever aspired to emulate. lu many cases we hold converse with the illustrious dead by means which they them- selves have furnished to posterity, or by narratives which, to general ability of treatment, and to minuteness of significant detail, have added the charm of sympathy with the departed, and the power to awaken and diliuse it. But neither liis.own ])ublished works, nor the funeral discourse delivered by my lather, nor even Mr, Jackson's comprehensive Memoir, convey to the reader uulamiliar with Watson an adequate conception of the majesty of his person, demeanor, speech, and entire in- tellectual and moral character. It would be difiicult to de- scribe him either by comparison or contrast with other great men of his own time and profession. If recourse be had to other Churches (and no name can be dishonored by the men- tion of it in this connection), it must be admitted that he lacked much of the fire, force, and fullness of Thomas Chalmers ; of the rhetorical art and finish of liobert Hall ; and of tlie sagac- ity and penetration which distinguish the Avritmgs of John Foster ; but his genius soared as high as that of the great Scotchman, and with a steadier wing ; lie had more of pro- fundity and breadth of thought than the eloquent Baptist at Leicester; and with his ])ulpit exercises Avas mingled a strain of solemn and often pensive sentiment, reminding one of the essayist's best compositions, Avhen lie dealt Avith topics which neither roused his anger, nor provoked his irony, nor j^robcd the sullen dejiths of his desponding nature. Thus far I have spoken of Watson as a ])reacher. As a man of various power, probably neither of the Bai)tists was his equal. IVrhajts it would be more correct to say that in the case of neither of these did circumstances make a demand upon latent faculties equal to that which tasked the industry and efibrts of the Meth- odist. Not to si)ecify other ])articulars, both Hall and Foster acquired an early rei)Utation as writers ; an ii-reparable calam- ity in most cases, a misfortune in all. Quotations are more frequent from the sermon which Hall first ])ul)lishetl than from any of his other discourses ; and the interest which will always be felt in Foster centres in him chiefiy as the author of the niS EARLY MINISTRY AT LIVERrOOL. 839 Essays. To Chalmers, Watson's most enthusiastic admii'crs nuist readily concede the palm. Yet in this case, also, circum- stances must be well weighed. It was nature that endowed Chalmers with that rare union of subtlety with strength of in- tellect, and of both with practical wisdom ; with his suggestive imagination and intense energy, and with the boundless chari- ties of his magnanimous spirit. But "what a training did lie receive, not so much from the education common to the clergy of his native land as from the great events of his individual history ; from his " new birth" into religious consciousness and life, at an age when the characters of most men have been formed forever ; from the felt responsibility of an mipreccdent- cd and suddenly-acquired influence in the coimcils of a jjopular Church, and over the fortunes of an intelligent nation ; and, in the crisis of his career, from the strain made upon his concen- trated abilities when ho argued with statesmen and defied Par- liaments, and made law itself quake and mumble as he stood l^resent to listen to its utterances, all tlie while wielding majoi-- ities who lost their all so surely as they followed his lead ; combating with stolid or mgenions ecclesiastics ; and, as these duties fomid scarce and scanty interval, putting forth his hand to sway the wills and passions of vast multitudes of men brist- ling with impatient zeal for their religion : he just as able to control a crowd as to expose the fallacies of a cabinet or to con\'iucc a s}Tiod of divines ! Three men of our own denomination have, during the first half of the j^resent century, stood conspicuously above the rest of their brethren. Robert Newton's reno^Ti rests upon qual- ities which do not fairly bring him -w-ithin the range of com- parison with the other two. He stood alone — the prince of Methodist preachers to the common people. Kor between Jabez Bunting and Richard "Watson must the points of resem- blance or of contrast be defined too rigorously, nor Avith any other view than to assign to each his more distmguishing ex- cellences, and to glorify God in both. The former had at his command a greater variety and extent of information, and Avas surpassed by no man in clearness and promptitude of concej)- tion ; in precision and luminousness of definition and of state- ment ; in force, dexterity, and exhaustiveness of argument ; in sweeping energy and boldness of appeal ; and, above aD, in 8-iO TIIE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. that towering strength of will which, combinccl witli the qual- ities just specitied, creates the capacity for the juanagemeut of men and for the conduct of atlairs. But Watson trod daily, with stately yet familiar air, the higliest walks of truth, and not seldom presumed into the " heaven of heavens" itself, and breathed " empyreal air ;" so that he often spake rather as one haunted by the memories of things which he had heard, but ^\•hich it was " not lawful" for limi to utter, than as one yet " in the body." In council he pronounced — and that, gener- ally, with great wisdom — much oftener than he attempted to discuss ; nor was it always obvious whether he conveyed the results of a judgment exercised and matured by close study of the question, or prompted by the necessities of the occasion only. His heart was full of sympathies, but perhaps they were with ideas and with things rather than with men ; for his was a proud spirit, and had been bruised at a time when it could liardly bear any touch but that of Him who made it. Yet how vivid is the recollection of that lip, now curling with scorn, and now quickly composed into placidity, and now relaxing into a heavenly smile ! There Avere times when ill health and the in- dulgence of a desperate avidity for medicine told their tale in alternate reserve and impatience, but never to the poor or to the consciously feeble-minded. Every body wondered at hun; and, if but few could get near enough to love him, some came within the circle, and felt how i)leasant it was to surrender themselves to that strange fiiscination which invests the most trifling particulars of the character and habits of men truly great with an almost absorbing interest. So they used to watch him bore holes into his hats and shoes to let the air in ; and to wait, Avhen he spoke, to catch his very few provincial- isms of pronunciation ; and to try to hear his casual talk with circuit stewards when they called upon him in a fuss, or with Irightened local preachers as they walked liome with him after service in country places. But his end ! IIow did the creat- ure and the sinner humble himself in the sight of the holy God, yet the saint "take hold of" the "strength" of the "faithful Creator," and rejoice in an assured and everlasting peace with Him ! Shall we ever " see his like again ?" God knoweth ! There are survivors who still, in not unfrequent dreams, see him in the pulpit, or walking in the streets, or stretching his HIS EARLY MINISTRY AT LIVERPOOL. S41 long liinbs, half sitting aud half recumbent, in his chair by the fireside; and when they Avake, it is to reflect that, if his short but splendid career has found no parallel, perhaps none has been needed ; and to pray that the gifts still continued to the Church may be improved as his were, and consecrated with his simphcity aud intensity of purj^ose to the honor of the Savior and to the welfare of mankind. My father writes to Mr. Grmdrod on the 30th of May, 1811 : " I have now to thank you for several very kind and welcome letters, and to entreat your pardon for my seenung inattention to them. I never was so fully and extraordinarily occupied as I have been this year, partly by unusual public avocations, partly by the frequent iUness of our children, and partly by the severe and protracted affliction of my mother. Another year I hoj^e to enjoy comparative retirement, and consequently to have more leisure for friendly corresi^ondence. It is doubtful where my lot will be cast. Bradford and Bristol I have de- clined. Wakefield, too, is rather farther from Manchester than I Avish to go while my mother fives, which it now seems prob- able that she may do for at least some months longer. Mr. BartholomcAV, I hear, desires Huddersfield, and, from his char- acter and circumstances, he has a right to be indulged. The only alternative seems at present to be Halifax or Prcscot, to either of wliich I have no objection. I have had a letter from Mr. Asliforth, which removes all difficulty about Sunday woi'k, so that, imless Mr. Cooj^er urges his prior claim, Halifax is my most probable destination. I am not anxious. The Lord will direct. It is now time to give you such intelligence as I chance to possess. Our District meeting was held last week. The most interesting topic of discussion Avas the conduct to be pur- sued respecting Lord Sidmouth's Bill. Our vicAvs on that sub- ject you Avill learn from the printed resolutions, of which I sent you a copy on Saturday. Those resolutions, Avith a co- pious abstract of the debate, have just been published in a pamphlet. Many friends, we thought, would be glad to haA^e some permanent memorial of this interesting struggle : and the profits of the sale will defray our local expenses on the occasion. Mr. Gaulter goes to the Stationing Committee ; and we request that Mr. Taylor, haAdng traveled fifty years, may also attend. We Avish the frequency of love-feasts in coimtry 842 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. places, and tlio practice of some local preachers who administer the two sacraments, to be considered by Conference, AVe wish no preacher to be received on trial who has not passed through the regular meetuigs. We propose that all the preach- ers, when admitted into full connection, shall be solemnly or- dained by imposition of haiuls." "I tliank you for your resolutions^" writes Mr. Ilare, "on Lord Sidmouth's Bill. AVheu we are calm, we shall perceive that ^ome conditions may reasonably be required by- a govern- ment which grants exemptions to ministers dissenting from the Establislmient. But Avhat those conditions should be I do not exactly perceive, nor is it for us to suggest." Reference has been already made to a discussion about the placmg of an organ in one of the chapels in the Liverpool Cir- cuit. This discussion was renewed with much eagerness dur- ing the last few months of my father's residence there. A new chapel was in the course of erection, into which many persons wished to introdiice not only an organ, but the use of the Sunday morning service of the Church of England, Both ■were innovations at Liverpool, though organs had been permitted in a few cases elscwliere, and though the reading of the ser- vice, either in full or in an abridged form, always sanctioned by Mr. Wesley when service was performed in our chapels in England during Church liours, was the subject of a sti^ong reconnncndation by the Conference in one of the Articles of the Plan of Pacification. It can scarcely be alleged that my father approached, free from all pre^^ous bias, the subject of the employment of instru- mental music in Christian worshii). lie had no ear ibr music ; and it has been seen how he denounced the " abominations" which had crept into some of our sanctuaries, where a variety of instruments was used. To such an extent had this evil grown in some cases, that the enjoined exercises of intelligent and si)iritual i)raise gave ])lace to an elaborate musical per-" formance ; and this unseemly violation of the decency and good order of the house of God became the most prominent and often the best-esteemed portion of its engagements. Where this extreme had not yet been reached, good taste and devo- tion were often not less slioclced by the rcAeries of a ])]ayer ujiuu a single instrument, generally a bass-viol 5 ^v]licll, beiund HIS EARLY MINISTRY AT LIVERrOOL. 343 the back of the preacher in the pulpit, or boldly confronting him, looked quite as important as himself, and seemed to claim an equal right to conduct the service. Many a contest, and, I grieve to say, many a parley, did the Conference hold with this strange intruder, now challengmg and then conceding his pretensions ; until, at last — for it would not do for a Confer- ence to fight a fiddle — he obtained a passive toleration, and, Sabbath after Sabbath, kept wild and wanton carnival. My father never liked him ; but Avhat was to be done ? It was not the mind of either Jolm Wesley or of his comiection, that the use of instrumental music for religious purposes was absolutely unlawful, or always inexpedient. And thus, often, the choice lay between an abomination or a nuisance on the one hand, and on the other the authorized use of one instru- ment, consecrated by ancient ecclesiastical usage and associa- tion, and by a certain obvious appropriateness to the worship of the Christian sanctuary. My father preferred the latter alternative. But, as to things which he held to be indifferent, the law of peace prevailed over all other considerations ; and his first inquiry uniformly was whether permanent imity would be promoted or endangered by a change. Upon the subject of the liturgy, he laid claim to an absolute impartiality. When he first engaged m the ministry, the nov- elty of reading the Morning Prayers was for a while somewhat distasteful to him ; but practice overcame this reluctance, and his experience in Methodism ultimately made liim a decided friend to the general use of them. His opmions must not be mistaken. On the abstract ques- tion, perhaps, they agreed with those held by Presbyterian au- thorities. With them — I quote from Dr. John G. Lorimer's edition of Dr. Miller's " Manual of Presbytery" — he did " not consider the use of forms of prayer as in all cases unlawful," but he did " object to being confined to forms of prayer." He went farther than this, however ; for he thought that, where a congregation could be induced to concur in a mode of worship which united the advantages of aLitiu-gy and of extemporane- ous address to God, the case of the people and the general pm*- poses of worship would be better served than by an adherence to one of those plans only. When, therefore, the Liturgy was used in the earUer ser\dce of the Sabbath, though not even then 344 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. to the exclusion of free prayer, while extemporaneous exercises only Avere acloiHed at later ser\-ices, his views and wishes -were fully met. One recommendation of a Liturgy to his judgment wns the obhgation it imposes upon the body of the congregation to join manifestly and audibly in public worship, thus abolishing all idea that the minister sustained to them any priestly office or relation, and placing him and them in acts of prayer and praise on one common level before God. Frequent neglect of duty on the part of the people, and occasional slovenUness on the part of the minister, did not afiect the question. The former was generally the consequence of the latter, and this miglit be remedied by the diffusion of more correct views, and by the prevalence of a higher tone of religious feeling. Tlie general principle being settled, no doubt existed as to the particular form to be adopted. Whatever objections may be raised, and however grave, to some other offices of the Church of England, its " Order for Morning Prayer" has com- mended itself to the judgment and piety of most classes of Christians. Its earnest exhortations to repentance ; its acts of penitence and faith ; its formal offer of the " great salvation ;" its solemn songs of praise, generally in words " which the Holy Ghost teacheth ;" but sometimes, and not unfitly, in language sanctified by ancient piety and genius ; its orderly exhibition of the vmadultcrated truths of Scripture ; its simple creed ; its humble petitions — each heart that knows its own bitterness finding vent in the common cry of a sinning and suffering race ; its frequent use of the Lord's own form of prayer — for He only knew what was in man, and could help him to tell it to His Father and our Father, to His God and our God ; its cathohc intercessions; its devout thanksgivings; its mutual benedic- tions* — ^these form the staple of the devotion of the English * " Though the practice -n-oiild ill accord with our conventional manners," says Dr. Guthrie, in his rccently-iiuhlished volume of Discourses, " that have often more of art than of nature, I think, considering the day, the iilacc, the purpose of the assembly, it were a beautiful and apjjropriato thing when min- ister and people meet in the house of God, to meet after the manner of Boaz and his people ; the minister, on appearing in the pulpit, saying. The Lord he with you ; and the people responding. The Lord bless thee." Tlic gen- erous heart and unrivaled genius of my honored Presbyterian friend have led him to pay an undesigned tribute to one excellency in the forms of the niS ExVRLY MINISTRY AT LIVERPOOL. 845 people, wherever tlicy worship, and by Avhatever name. It matters not where the ohserAer of national predilections may chance to go — to the cathedral or the minster, at some high festival, when deans keep drowsy state, sometimes with a cer- tain air of rubrical pedantry, not always without an unseemly imitation of the odious rites of popery ; or to quaint and quiet country churches ; or to huge, unsightly buildings in large towns, to Avliich nothing but a conscientious preference of the Established religion could attract so many worshipers ; or to square " tabernacles ;" or to modern " meeting-houses," fur- nished like some smart citizen's drawing-room ; or to Meth- odist chapels, plainer or more ornate ; or to village barns, to which rude piety repairs to pray — on all the si:)eU of the old familiar service lies, often with an imrecognized jDotency ; now " said or sung" after the strictest pattern of ecclesiastical pro- priety ; now murmured by the few uncouth peasants of a ham- let ; now quoted largely, and with kindling fervor, by the white-haired pastor of a flock of Nonconformists ; now read, with more voice and gesture than elsewhere, by a godly Meth- odist i^reacher, or wrought into his own unfettered devotions ; and now importunately raised to heaven, incoherently it may be, and in detached sentences, as memory can command their use, by the voice of some j^oor sinner who sues for a present and a conscious pardon in an obscure gathering for prayer and fellowshii). But my father always and strongly discountenanced any at- tempt to enforce the use of even this form, however advan- tageous, upon Methodist congregations. When any large pro- portion of a congregation, deprived of what it considered a privilege, was eager to obtain it, it was his practice to recom- mend them to wait until the erection of some new chapel might enable them to gratify their desire, without introducing an in- novation, and arousing the spirit of strife. In no one case dur- ing his ministry did he depart from this course. On the other English Church. If it had been present to his recollection, he would read- ily have commended it. Not, indeed, at the commencement of the service, but before minister and people lift their voices in consecutive prayer to God, they breathe a blessing on each other. How "good and pleasant" is this " unity !" " The Lord be with you !" says the minister ; and the echo falls sweetly on his ear, "And with thy Spirit!" P2 346 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. liaiid, lie thought Httlc of the foresiglit and good sense of those Avho discountenanced or dismissed sucli forms when once they li;\d met witli general acceptance. Yet here also he submitted himself to the law of i)eacc. The (juestion of the Liverpool organs Mas discussed at the Conference of 1811. My father distinguished himself greatly in the debate. The case of the ncAv chapel presented an appro- priate sphere for the operation of his general prmciple ; and, in the case of the existing chapel in Pitt Street, it was his opin- ion, founded on personal observation, and anii)ly justified by subsequent facts, that the objectors to the organ would gladly submit themselves to the decision of the Conference, should it prove adverse to their wishes. The Conference sanctioned the introduction of both organs, and no mischief followed. Mr. Entwisle, the superintendent, to wliom the local discus- sions caused no little anxiety, consulted Dr. Clarke previously to the Conference. He denounced the organs, but gave an em- phatic testimony as to the use of the Liturgy. " With re- spect," he says, "to tlic introduction of the Liturgy of the Church of England, this book I reverence next to the book of God. Next to the Bible, it has been the depository of the pure religion of Christ ; and, had it not been laid up there, and es- taljlished by acts of Parliament, I fear that religion wmild, long ere tins, have been driven to the wilderness. Most devoutly do I wish that, whenever we have service on the forenoon of the Lord's day, we may have the prayers read. This service contains that form of sound words to which, in succeeding ages, an a])])cal may be successfully made for the establishment of the truth professed by preceding generations. Had it not been, under God, for this blessed book, the Liturgy of the En- glish Church, I verily believe Methodism had never existed. I see ])lainly that, where we read these pi-ayers, our congrega- tions become better settled, better edilied, and ])ut further out of the reach of false doctrine. Introduce the Chureh service in God's name; not in any abridgment^ but in the genuine original. Give my love to the blessed people in Liverpool, and tell them that this is the conscientious advice of their old serv- ant and most hearty well-wisher." Of the Conference held at Sheflield in 181 1, Charles Atmore, a man of popular talents, recommeudcd by a pleasant delivery, niS EARLY MINISTRY AT LIVERPOOL. 347 and by some polish of diction and demeanor, was appointed president. His " Metliodist Memorial," a record of the lives of the earliest preachers in the connection, is evidence of his lively interest in it, and contains much mteresting and instruct- ive matter. Copious notices of him are to be found in the Wesleyan Methodist Magazme for 1845. The legislation of the session was not unimportant. The labors of local preach- ers were placed more directly under the control of the sui^er- intendent, and both they and probationers for the ministry were more strictly restrained from administering either of the sacraments. It was directed, also, that the superintendent should inquire, at least twice a year, into the moral character and official diUgence of all the class-leaders, a regulation wliich, I fear, is considered obsolete ; but which, as enforced by John Barber in the Bristol Circuit about four years afterward, re- sulted in great benefits to the societies in that city. But, above all, during this Conference a principle was estab- lished, to which I have repeatedly adverted, and the adojUion of which must be attributed mainly, if not exclusively, to my father's patient and judicious exertions. It had become neces- sary to acquire a second school for the education of ministers' sons. Yorkshire was selected as the most favorable situation. It was the largest pecuniary enterprise ia which the Conference had ever engaged. Yorkshire Methodists were sensible, hearty and liberal, and it was obvious that their services in the man- agement of this secular concern might be turned to good ac- count. So six gentlemen of that county were placed u})on the committee "appointed to superintend the fittmg up and fur- nishing of the academy, and to prepare it for the purposes of education." I believe no opposition was offi3red to this impor- tant measure. All that Dr. Clarke had to say, as he left the l^latform of the Conference ere its close, was to beg that not a single tree on the estate about to be purchased might be cut down. Wise men sometimes concern themselves greatly about trifles, while revolutions pass unobservedly before then* eyes. APPENDIX. A, page 34. A Translation of a Poem on Nothing, from the Latin of John Pas- serat, Regius Professor in the University/ of Paris. Now on this festive day the new-born year Its sceptre o'er the world begins to rear. Their wonted gifts the Kalends now demand, But ask in vain from my impoverish'd hand. Hath, then, the Muses' stream forgot to flow? Is the Castalian spring at last so low, That this glad morn can no salute obtain, Nor meet a welcome from the poet's pen 1 Rather my muse, through paths unknown before, What nowhere is shall labor to explore ; And, while she searches all her hidden stores. And o'er the treasures of fair Fancy pores, Lo ! she finds Nothing ; and she joys to find A theme to dire oblivion long consigned. Nor be my new-discovered gift despised, Or, as a worthless present, meanly prized ; For Nothing can outshine the brightest gems; Nothing than gold still higher value claims. Then to this song attend ; with favor hear ; For with this gift the Muses hail the year. I sing what all the ancient bards forgot — A subject new, which 'scaped their deepest thought. For all things else Achaia's sons have told. And Rome's famed offspring labored to unfold. Yet Nothing has remained till now unsung Or by Ausonian or by Grecian tongue. Through every clime which Ceres views from high Beneath the surface of the spangled sky. Through every land which the wide waves embrace, This one great truth in all you well may trace : Nothing exists without a cause or source, Nothing forever will preserve its force ; Nothing is unexposed to Death's arrest ; Nothing with constant happiness is bless'd. 350 APPENDIX A. But, if to Nothing majesty divine And godlike power we justly may assign, Render to Nothing, then, ye sons of earth, Honors supreme, like His who gave you birth ; For Nothing pleases more th' enraptured siglit Than the gay .Spring, or Sol's benignant light. Nothing is fairer than the liowery fields, And than the western breeze more comfort yields. When raging Mars 'mid blood and tumult reigns, Nothing inviolably safe remains. Nothing in peace its every right obtains. Nothing security by treaty gains. Who Nothing has may safely rest at ease, And, spite of thieves or fire, remain in peace. His niind by suits at law is ne'er oppressed. Such anxious cares are strangers to his breast. He who, with Zeus, subjects his all to Fate, Which of its fixed decrees will ne'er abate, Nothing, as wonderful and great admires, And, as a gift replete with bliss, desires. And to know Nothing was the selt'-same good As the Socratic sect taught and pursued. Nor is that sect, indeed, still quite expired ; That is the knowledge now by most desired : Than this no study youth more highly prize : The veriest fools in this would fain be wise. Who Nothing knows will soonest wealth obtain, And to the height of honors best attain. And, when the grave Pythagoras forbade His followers ever upon beans to feed, The sage, t' express the precept's large extent, And how minutely far th' injunction went, Used a like term with that, in times of yore, Which mighty Nothing 'mong the Latins bore. Many by arts alchemic try to obtain The wishcd-for stone, through sordid hope of gain, Who, on the wond'rous secret quite intent. When, all in vain, their whole estates they've spent, At last, when toil and losses harass, then Find Nothing, and, though found, still seek again. No measure yet, whate'er, did ever know The vast extent of Nothing right to show ; And, if a man can number Afric's sands, Nothing to him innumerable stands. APPENDIX A. 851 Nothing escapes the sight and piercing ray Of splendid Phoebus, genial king of day ; For Nothing a still higher station hears Than Phcebus' self, and higher than the stars. And you, O Memmius, though by all confessed To be with an uncommon genius blcss'd, Though all the depths of science you explore, And to know Wisdom's secrets nobly soar, E'en you, good sir, whom all a wonder deem, Still to be ignorant of Nothing seem. Yet Nothing shines more splendid than the suns, Or pure ethereal flame, or lucid moon. Nothing, of substance and of color void, May still be touched, and by the eye descried. Nothing, though deaf, can hear; though dumb, can talk ; And, without wings and feet, can fly and walk. Nothing can swim 'mid streams of liquid air. Although devoid of place and motion there. Mankind from Nothing greater blessings draws Than wise Apollo's healing labors cause. Let no one, then, when pierced by Venus' darts, Try charms, or spells, or such like magic arts. Nor yet ascend the mountain grass to crop Which grows on Ida's highly favor'd top. Nothing assistance and advantage gains From love's destructive wounds and cruel chains, And, e'en if Charon over Styx transports, Nothing can still recall from Pluto's courts ; For Nothing can o'er Pluto's heart prevail, And cause the fixed decrees of fate to fail. O'er Phlegra's plains, poor Tityus, destroyed. Now feels, when stripped of all his dear-bought pride. That to give wounds more fatal Nothing knows Than Jove's dire thunders, urged against his foes. Beyond the bounds of this terrestrial sphere Nothing extends. Nothing the gods, too, fear. But why should I my theme so far exhaust 1 "Virtue herself by Nothing is o'erpast. Nothing, in short, is greater still than Jove, The king of men below, and gods above. But now 'tis time to stay my trifling muse. Lest, if she should continue so diffuse. My song on Nothing, being Nothing worth. Should only to deserved disgust give birth. Jabez Bunting. 352 APPENDIX B. This poem from Passerat was translated in three school exercises : the first against Monday, the 'Jth of December, 1793, as far as the forty-sixth line inclusive ; the second against Tuesday, the 10th, from the forty-sixth to the eighty-second inclusive ; and tlie last against Monday, the 16th, from the eighty-second to the end. J. B. B, page 47. Mercantile Arguments against cleansing the Streets of Manchester. Mr. Printer, — I have often been surprised to observe the supineness with which the extreme filth of the streets of Manchester has been so long endured. A nuisance so apparently disgraceful ; so offensive and disagreeable ; productive of so much inconvenience and trouble ; and, finally, so injurious to health and life, by laying the foundation of numer- ous and fatal diseases, would rouse, one should think, the most spirited exertions for its speedy removal. That such exertions have not been used, for an object which might so easily and cheaply be accomplished, can not be imputed to any want of zeal for the general good in a com- munity eminent for its opulence and public spirit. And it would be un- just to charge a criminal inattention to salubrity upon the inhabitants of a town which has the honor to support several charitable institutions for the restoration of health, and in which a recent philanthropic association for the express purpose of. preventing diseases has been liberally patron- ized under the title of a Board ok Health. But a motive has occurred to me which seems of sufficient magnitude to account for the patient sufferance of the evil above mentioned. In a commercial town, the interests of the different branches of trade ought assuredly to prevail over every other consideration ; and the following calculations will fully evince how much those interests are affected by the present miry state of our public streets. Suppose the number of inhabitants to be 70,000, and that of this num- ber 40,000 are persons whose business requires them frequently to walk the streets ; then it may be fairly maintained that the inconvenience, which has, in this paper, been pointed out, must annually benefit the cev- cral classes of tradesmen nearly in the proportions set down in the fol- lowing table : 1. Shoemakers : from the extraordinary wear of 1 pair of shoes per annum, by 40,000 persons,^ at Gs. per pair, on an aver- age JC12,000 2. Ditto: from the extraordinary demand for boots, half boots, clogs, and pattens 500 3. Hosiers and Stocking-weavers : from the extraordinary wear of two pair of stockings per annum, by 40,000 persons, at 3.J. per pair, on an average 2,000 APPENDIX B. 353 4. Tailors : from the sale of gaiters^ of which we may allow at least 1000 extraordinary pairs, at 3^. each X'150 5. Clothiers, Mercers, Drapers, Tailors, etc. : from the inju- ry done to wearing apparel by splashing in winter and the aug- mented dust in summer,etc 1,000 6. Apothecaries, Druggists, Nurses, etc. : from the extraor- dinary applications for medicine and medical advice and attend- ance during sickness, in consequence of the insalubrity of the filth 1,500 7. Upholsterers, Brush-makers, Coopers, etc., etc. : from the damage done to carpets and other furniture by dirt conveyed into houses, and from the increased consumption of brushes and other articles used in cleaning houses 1,000 8. Soap-boilers and Washer-women : from the large addition to the business of the wash-house in consequence of stockings and other apparel, especially that of females, necessarily dirtied by the mire 5,000 N.B. — The washing of stockings alone, reckoning an addi- tion of 10,000 pairs, weekly, from the filth of the street, amounts, at Id. per pair, to .£2166 13^. id. per annum 33,150* 9. To the foregoing estimate should be added the annual ex- penditure of the country tradesmen, market-people, and occa- sional visitors, arising from the same cause, which might be justly rated at a sum nearly equal to that of the inhabitants, but must certainly greatly exceed one half, amounting, therefore, to 16,575 49,725 10. I can not omit to subjoin, as an important object of ex- penditure, though perhaps it may be considered as a deduction from the foregoing calculations of commercial benefits, the loss of labor by confinement from colds, consumptions, rheumatisms, and other disorders, contracted by standing and walking in the wet and miry streets 1,000 jC50,725t It is an old and generally-received observation, that a penny saved is a penny got. But, in the present enlightened state of the world, we properly treat antiquated and vulgar maxims with contempt. Let us therefore, my fellow-citizens, cheerfully acquiesce in the weighty rea- sons here advanced, and generously persevere in wading through dirt and filth, since it appears that an expenditure of so many thousands per annum will be thereby produced, to the manifest encouragement of trade, * This sum total is -nTong by just ten thousand pounds ! So much for statistics ! t And this, therefore, by fifteen thousand pounds. 35-1 APPENDIX C. aiul to ilie great benefit of tlic poor manufacturers and others in these hard times. J. B. JSovcmber 22d, 1796, C, page 64. The Lawfulness of bearing Arms m defensive Warfare. 1. The arguments which were stated in the papers read at our last meeting will warrant the assertion that, in case of emergency, every man who possibly can ought to come forward in any way whatever in which his services are most likely to be successful ; trusting in the Providence of God to keep him from those spiritual dangers which attend this pain- ful but necessary duty, and to give grace according to the day. 2. At present, however, it would seem that the danger does not ap- pear to government to be of so innninent and pressing a nature as to call for an immediate and universal arming of the mass of the people. If this were the case, some plan would doubtless have been proposed which would render such a universal arming practicable. Till the executive government of the country deem it necessary to require the adoption of some such plan, I think religious persons in general are not particularly called upon to come forward in any way, much less in the way of joining battalions of regular soldiers or corps of vohmteers. 3. If, however, the cause of religion is very likely to sufler any mate- rial injury from the refusal of a professor of religion to join our volunteer establishments, then I think lie ought conscientiously and cheerfully to join them in the common defense, altiiough some circumstances attend- ing those establishments may be so unpleasant to a pious mind as to make him rather hold back than otherwise till the necessity of his arm- ing should be more apparent. Servants in particular, whose employers importune them to come for- ward, should not manifest any improper backwardness, lest the odium of disaffection should be cast on those who support a religious character. When we do not rush into situations of spiritual danger rashly and unnecessarily, but are placed in them by Providence, we have a right to expect the peculiar blessing of God to preserve us in those situations; and if we continue to watch and pray, steadily resisting temptation, and keeping a single eye to God's glory, so that our zeal for our country's honor and happiness is not tainted and marred by any intermixture of improper motives and principles, the promise of preserving grace shall be " yea and amen" to us. Will it be said that the defense of the country ought to be left to worldly and unregenerato men, and that men truly serious and religious should abstain from taking any part in the contest? Are tliey, in this sense, to " stand still and see the salvation of God," if indeed God means APPENDIX D. 355 to save us, or to see with equal indolence and unconcern, if ruin is to be our lot, the destruction of the freedom and independence of tlieir coun- try, the removal of their religious privileges, the violation of tlieir per- sons and properties, and, at last, to receive, when the good-will and pleasure of some furious and licentious soldier shall think fit to inflict it, the fatal poniard that shall dismiss them from the stage of life 1 If this be Christian doctrine or Christian practice, well may infidels triumph. No Deist surely ever invented a more atrocious libel against the Gospel of Him who is " the Lion of the Tribe of Judali" as well as " the Prince of Peace." If revealed religion takes away that right of self-defense which the God of Nature has conferred, and which natural religion has sanctioned ; if Christianity unmans mankind, and prohibits the fulfillment of the social duties ; if the love of our country is inconsistent, according to the Bible scheme, with the love of God, then the Christian cause is lost. But we " have not so learned Christ." Infidels, indeed, have often urged this very objection to our religion ; but, by an appeal to the oracles of our faith and to the practice of the faithful, it has been shown that the objection is ill founded. No man has such strong and forcible motives as the real Christian to abound in every good word and work, whether to his friends, his coun- try, or his fellow-creatures in general. Acting from conscientious con- siderations, and taking into his enlarged estimate a view of the injury which threatens the cause of God, he has grounds of resistance on which none but he can stand, and inducements to fortitude which none but he can feel. His sources of consolation, too, are greatest in the time of trial, and he is best prepared for every event. D, page 64. Hoio far is a pcrso7i sanctified at the time he is justified?* In order that this question may be satisfactorily answered, it is requi- site that some determinate meaning should be affixed to the icxms justi- Jication and sanctification. 1. By justification is meant that gracious and unmerited act of God whereby, in consideration of the Atonement and Intercession of Christ, He absolves and acquits the penitent believer fi'om the guilt and punish- ment of past sin, pardons his past transgressions, receives him into His favor and family, and treats him with the same regard and favor as if he were actually righteous or just. 2. Sanctification is a general term which signifies the being made pure and holy. This includes two ideas : I . Separation from the world and sin ; 2. Dedication and devotion to God. * It will be remembererl thnt this pnperia inserted here to illiustrate the iviitei's "powers of thought aud style" at a very early age. 356 AITENDIX D. Sanctification used in tliis pcneral sense, evidently admits of various degrees. A man may be more or less separated Ironi sin, and more or less given up to God. It is equally evident that every justified person is in some degree sanctified. Jle is so sanctified, at least, as is allowed on all hands, as to be separated or freed from all outward sin, which he has learned to lice from as from the face of a serpent; and he is so far sanctified, at least, as is likewise allowed on all hands, that his life, in its general course and tenor, is a life of devotion to C4od : to please and glorify God is the gen- eral, ruling motive of his soul. The term " sanctification," however, is frequently used in a less gen- eral and more limited sense, and is used among the Methodists to ex- press that operation of the Spirit of Grace which completely removes the natural antipathy to God and holiness, utterly subverts the natural ascendency and dominion of the flesh over the spirit, and frees a man- from every part of that carnal mind which is enmity against God ; in other words, a man is said to be sanctified when he is so filled with love to God, and with love to man for God's sake, as utterly to subdue and extinguish all unholy tempers, aflections, and dispositions. In this limited sense I conceive the term sanctification is used in the question before us, which, therefore, may be stated thus : Wiien a man is justified, is he so far sanctified as to be totally freed from the carnal mind ? Or thus : When a man receives the Spirit of Adoption, which gives him the knowledge of salvation by the remission of his sins, is he so far renewed in the spirit of his mind as to love God with a supreme affection, and, by that love, to be purified from all imholy tempers ? and maintain the negative of these questions. They assert that, though a justified person is in part sanctified, he is not so far sanctified as to experience the utter destruction of the carnal mind. His heart is still the seat of unholy tempers and dispositions. He feels the risings of anger, peevishness, pride, etc., which he often finds it hard work to subdue. He is often, by these contending principles, tossed up and down ; sometimes happy, and sometimes cast down ; sometimes alive to God, sometimes lukewarm and careless. 13ut, when he comes to God a second time by faith in Christ, he is delivered from the remains of the carnal mind; he, for the first time, loves God with all his heart; and this " perfect love casts out" not only all tormenting " fear," but all anger, pride, and every other wrong disposition and temper. In support of this view of the subject, they say, I. These two branches of conversion, justification and sanctification, arc entirely distinot from each other in their nature. The one consists in the reception of mercy fi)r the past, the other in the reception of such a degree of renewing grace as purifies the soul, and enables it to live to God for the time to come. Now, that justification and sanctification are distinct in their nature, is not denied ; it is only contended that God nev- APPENDIX D. 357 er eflects the one work without the other ; that, whenever a man is just- ified, he is also delivered from tlic carnal mind ; and that these two works together constitute Conversion, or the New Birth. II. They allege a passage, 1 Cor., iii., 1, where the Apostle calls the Corinthians "babes in Christ," "■carnal.'''' To this it is answered, 1. That it may be a strong oratorical expression, not intended to be under- stood as positive assertion, but as a caution and warning. 2. That a person who has been once delivered from the carnal 7nind may never- theless occasionally yield to temptation, and be guilty of some carnal act ; but this docs not prove that he was never fully renewed, but that he has, in some degree, fallen from grace, and needs again to be renew- ed. 3. The apostle, in this same chapter, tells the very same persons that they are holy, " the temple of God.''' 4. A single passage of Scrip- ture, like this, can not be urged to prove any point of doctrine, unless its meaning were clear, express, and unequivocal, which is by no means the case. III. They urge the experience of many thousands of Christians, who, while in a justified state, have felt the existence of unholy tempers ; they have felt themselves to be proud, revengeful, angry, etc. ; but, coming afresh to God, they have been instantaneously and fully delivered. That many persons who have been clearly justified do, some time after their justification, feel evil tempers, is matter of fact ; but the point is. Have not these persons lost some degree of their '■'■first love V At the time when God first converted their souls they felt none of these evils. Their hearts overflowed with pure love. But, by not walking sufficiently in the exercise of faith, by unwatchfulness, or by neglect of prayer, they have, in a degree, relapsed, backslidden from God. They have, there- fore, need to be again renewed and cleansed ; and, if they see this need, and come again as at first they came, God does speak the second time, " Be clean.'" But this does not prove that they were never cleansed be- fore, any more than my hands having been dirty last night, or my hav- ing washed them this morning, proves that they had always been dirty till this morning, or that they had never, in all my life, been washed be- fore. Having thus answered the arguments alleged to prove the negative of the question, those who maintain the affirmative advance the following reasons : I. It is surely allowed that a justified person, if he were instantly to die, would go to heaven. But, on the supposition that this justified per- son is unholy, if the carnal mind be not fully removed, how can he see the Lord 1 Can light dwell with darkness ; a depraved and unrenewed sinner with a pure and holy God ? II. If a man is not fully delivered from evil tempers when he is justi- fied, and if that deliverance must necessarily be a subsequent work, how happens it that, in the New Testament, there are no instances of it re- o5b APPENDIX E. corded'? For instance, we read of St. Paul's being convinced, and we read of his being converted ; but we nowhere read of his feeling, in a few mouths or years after conversion, the remains of a carnal mind, or of his being suddenly and powerfully delivered from them. Is it not a fair inference that, at his conversion, he was both justified, and so far sanctified as to be freed from the carnal mind, and that he held fast this great salvation, and, having never lost it, did not need to have it restored to him ? And if St. Paul held fast the purifying love imparted at con- version, why may not we 1 III. Allowing, for argument's sake, that justification and sanctification are distinct works in point of time as well as of nature, at what distance of time from justification is it possible to attain sanctification 1 In twen- ty years'? Then why not ten, or five, or one? Why not in one month, or week, or day ? Why not in one hour or half an hour? If in half an hour, why not in one minute after"? Till these questions are answered, no reason appears to contradict the idea that conversion, in the fullest sense of that term, is, in point of time, one ivor/i, though in point of na- ture it consists of two distinct parts — ^justification, and such a degree of sanctification as to be freed from all the carnal mind. Thus " old things" are done away — old evil tempers, as well as the guilt and con- demnation of old sins — and "all things become new:" not only is the man's condition, character, and denomination changed, so that the heir of hell and child of Satan becomes a child of God and heir of heaven, but, at the same time, his whole frame and constitution of mind are also changed. He has not only a title, but a meetness for heaven. And so, his nature being changed, both the witnesses are joined, the Spirit of God and his. lie may, however, lose his first love ; he may; by un- watchfulness, quench the operation of " the Spirit of burning," which alone could cleanse or keep him clean ; by this means evil tempers may again have dominion over him. In this case, let him see his need of being again cleansed ; let him come by faith to the fountain opened, and he may again be thoroughly and instantaneously purified. E, page 68. Directions concerning Prayer and Prayer-meetings. 1. Let us endeavor to have a constant sense of the attributes of the Almighty deeply impressed upon our minds, in order to prevent trifling and frivolous expressions from proceeding out of our mouths. 2. Let us remember that wc, unworthy, sinful, depraved, and rebellious creatures, have authority to approach our Sovereign and Creator by one " new and living way" only, the Lord Jesus Clirist. 3. Let us keep the lamp of Divine life burning with great brightness in our own souls, remembering that our prayers will languish and droop in exact proportion to the state of our own souls. APPENDIX E. 359 4. Let us never, or as seldom as possible, begin to pray in public with- out having obtained a previous and secret interview with God. By this means we are ready to enter into immediate converse with Him, without the passing of much introductory ceremony, which, however necessary to ourselves, may be unprofitable to others. This direction is, however, in a great measure, or totally, superseded by living in a continual spirit of prayer. O desirable state ! O " rejoice evermore, pray without ceas- ing," and " in every thing give thanks !" 5. Let us never pray long at one and the same time. In prayer-meet- ings this is sadly too frequent, but is very unpleasant and uncdifying. Not one in a thousand is qualified to pray for twenty minutes (though many do, and presume themselves able to continue a longer time) without using many very irksome and tedious repetitions And if, in prayer-meet- ings, there should not be a sufl[icient number of people to fill up the usual time with ten-minute prayers, let the same persons exercise two or three separate times rather than continue long at one and the same time. But this direction must admit of particular cases of indulgence. If a person should, as Dr. Watts somewhere remarks, be led out of his general usage by some uncommon communication or comprehension of Divine goodness while in the office of prayer, it would be criminal indeed to desire to con- tract the then widened range of agonizing prayer or of ardent praise. G. In like manner, let us never sing long at one time. Three or four verses at the opening of a meeting, with a single striking verse, or two short ones, between every prayer, are quite sufficient. Variety is very pleasing ; it engages the faculties of attention, and may thereby lend some degree of force to the wings of our affections. 7. Another direction has often appeared extremely necessary, viz., that every prayer-leader should store in his memory a variety of verses of hymns, suitable to the circumstance of entering upon prayer, which should be given out extempore, without being compelled to have recourse to a book, and to make the people wait till it be turned over to find something proper for the occasion The singing for the middle, and not for the be- ginning of the meeting, is here intended ; and surely any one must dis- cover that a verse or two so delivered has generally a much happier ef- fect. 8. It will be well for one who can read properly to read sometimes a short, striking chapter, or part of one, or a chapter out of the Christian Pattern,* or a section out of Mason's Remains. 9. Let us never attempt affected or lofty expressions, to make our- selves thought of highly by man. God hateth this with a most perfect hatred. ^Yhat ! can we, shall we, dare we go into the presence of that incomprehensibly wise and powerful Being, the Almightv, with such sin- ister intentions, or think to captivate his ear with elegant sentences and high-dressed diction 'i ' Let us shudder lest He sweep us from His pres- * By Thomas i\ Kempis. 360 APPENDIX E. ence into eternal darkness for our strange presumption. '■'■God be merci- ful to inc, a ^/?i?ic?"," is an example of simplicity worthy of imitation, and recommended to us by Christ himself. 10. If we are not already delivered from all evil jealousies about prec- edency — about another praying belbre or better than ourselves, let us not cease to recjuest a deliverance at the Lord's hands from such uncom- fortable and unchristian surmisings. 'Tis good to take contentedly the lowest seat. '■''God resislcth the proud hut givcth grace to the humble.'''' 11. Never hold jirayer-meetings in the house of any persons of doubt- ful character, or of such as do not live peaceably with their neighbors. 12. Let us always endeavor to present ourselves in every public duty of religion, yea, and private also, in the spirit of faith and of full expecta- tion ; and, if our hearts be right in the sight of God, we shall never be wholly disappointed. When we have labored in prayer, and have nei- ther seen nor felt any fruit of our labor, let us not rest ourselves contented as though the Lord's presence had been evidently among us. 'Tis an unpleasant symptom when we are not pained at our own unprofitableness. I am informed of one person (and I trust there are more) who, when he has labored in public, and has not discovered the happy effects of Divine power accompanying his labors, is often so troubled in spirit as not to be able to sleep the succeeding night, but rises during the frequent intervals of interrupted rest to wrestle with the Lord in prayer. Would to God that every Christian man possessed the same earnest and laudable zeal ! However, sure it is that self-examination and secret prayer are the cer- tain handmaids to public usefulness and to private happiness. 13. Let us never use expressions in prayer without a feeling sense of what we are saying, remembering that God assuredly discerns our hy- pocrisy and insincerity. Let us say whatever we may or can, much or little, with fluency or with stammering, but let it be from the heart. Far better for us only to groan in secret than to tell the Lord in public this tale or the other, when we are conscious it is not so in reality. Paul says, " I u-ill pray ivith the Spirit ;" and the Spirit of the Lord is sin- cerity and truth. 14. And, lastly, there is a custom introduced into some prayer-meetings of applying loud Aniens, etc., to the confessions, prayers, or praises of another, when it is evident that some persons so doing do not attend to the expressions just delivered. Now, as this may hurt some weak minds, it should, if possible, be avoided, while we labor to '■^pray not only tcith the Spirit, but xoith the understanding also."" But yet, let none conclude from hence that the practice of joining hearty Amcns is altogether im- proper. No; hear Gouge on the Whole Armor of God, printed IGIO, fully to the purpose : " The ordinary way and the best way for people to manifest their consent when a person is praying is with a distinct and audible voice to say Amen. This was commanded, Dcut., xxvii., 15, etc. ; and, accordingly, it was practiced, Nch., viii., G. It is a sound well be- APPENDIX F. 361 seeming God's public worship, to make the place ring again, as we speak, witli a joint Amen of the people. The Jews uttered this word with great ardency, and therefore used to double it, saying, Amen — A?ncn. Neh., viii.,6." It is requested that this may be put into the hands of such as are ac- customed to exercise in prayer-meetings ; and the Lord give His blessing with it ! F, page 75. Samuel Bradburn, with Notices of Dr. Bunting. THE REV. ISAAC KEELING TO THE BIOGRAPHER. Bii will be allowed J'or every Club <\f Twelve or Twenty-five Suh60eii!Keb. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. The life oi J a: UC SOUTH! HN Hi MONAl I IBRARY FACILITY AA 000 728 691 7 'A''','j',j':'/,' ''''■ .;•''■''