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, an<l shall be 
 dealt with, at all events by my Methodist readers, jus well as 
 I deserve. It is by way of ex jilanation, therefore, and not
 
 PREFACE. vii 
 
 of apology, tliat I add one observation. My chief aim has 
 been to make the work interest inL*", and, as reflecting my fa- 
 ther's opinions, usefid to his own religious community ; but 
 I have not forgotten that his name and reputation extended 
 beyond it. 
 
 With the original view of avoiding delay, the first vol- 
 ume is now published separately, not without hope that it 
 may elicit suggestions which may make the second more 
 worthy of its subject and of the public favor. Until that 
 volume shall appear, I postpone the expression of my warm 
 gratitude for the prompt and hearty aid received from so 
 many quarters. 
 
 Manchester, May 5th, 1859.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 lARENTAGE AND KIXOnED. 
 
 Of humble Oripin.— The Peak of Derbyshire.— Birth of his Parents.— In- 
 troiluetion of Methodism into Derbyshire.— Joiin Bonnet.— The first Ser- 
 mon at LMiehnurtoii.— Tiio Marsdcns. — The Lomiuscs. — Grace Murray. — 
 John Nelson. — William (Irinishaw.— William Darney. — Conversion of 
 Mary Uedfern.— Joseph Rcdfcrn. — William Buntinp. — Mary Bunting''* 
 last bays. — Jabcz Bunting's Sisters.— Filial Piety.— Letters to and from 
 his Mother Page 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 INFANCT — CHILDHOOD — SCHOOL-DATS. 
 
 Birth. — "Wesley's Blessing. — Fragments of Autobiography. — Schoolmasters. 
 — Marchant. — Clarke. — Hartley. — Bruadhurst. — Pope. — Course of 
 Study. — Compositions in Prose and Verse. — Interest in Public Affairs. 
 — Appearance. — Schoolboy Frolics. — Early religious Habits. — Dr. Cor- 
 nelius Baylcy. — Preachings in his Father's Garret. — Persecutions and 
 Successes at School 30 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CONVEKSIOS. 
 
 Baptism. — Early Training. — Joseph Benson. — Hesitation about joining So- 
 ciety .—Decision. —James Wood.— First Ticket of Membership 3G 
 
 CILU'TER IV. 
 
 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 Dr. Percival's Birth. — Education. — Professional Career. — Public Life. — 
 Works.— Political Opinions.— Religious Teneti;.— Dr. Barnes.— Dr Per- 
 cival's Piety.— Letter as to the Sabbath-day.— Death. — Jabcz Bunting's 
 Connection with Dr. Percival. — Medical Education. — Manners. — Dr. 
 Percival's Descendants. — Dr. Edward Percival.— His Children 45 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 RELIOIOCS AND INTELLECTCAL PROGRESS. 
 
 General Training under Dr. Percival. — Influences on his Character and 
 Opinions. — Religious Improvement. — Formation of a Society fur the Ac- 
 quirement of Knowledge. — Rules. — Bard of Association. — Members. — 
 Subjects discussed. — R-says written for the Society. — First E.xposition of 
 Holy Scripture. — The Prayer-meeting at James Ashcroft's House. — His 
 End. — Jabez Bunting's first public Exhortation. — A Prayer-leader. — 
 
 Manchester Sunday-evening Prayer-meetings .">G 
 
 A 2
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAl'TER VI. 
 
 TUAISIXO FOR THE sr.UVICE OF MKTIIODISM. 
 
 Ministers in curly Life. — Murlin. — I'nwwm. — ^Lcc. — Thomiwon. — Taylor. 
 — Ku<l«ln. — IIoiij>or. — 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 
 Burt<m, Edward Percival, John Ilcywood, the Steward of the LivcqKxil 
 Circuit, William Black, Dr. Percival, Solomon Ashton, John Crook, and 
 Jolin Gaultcr. — Labors and Success at Oldham. — The Burtons of Mid- 
 dleton 105 
 
 CIIAl'IKK IX. 
 
 PROBATION FOR THE MINI.STKY IN THE MACCLESFIELD CIRCCIT. 
 
 Ai>pointmcnt 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 <if the Bar. — William Jay. — Persecution of the .Melhodi-.! Sol- 
 dier*. — Letter from Dr. Percivnl. — Intcrcourcc with Joseph Buttcrworth.
 
 CONTENTS. XI 
 
 Wesley's private Library. — Letter from Entwislc. — Counsels to an in- 
 tended Wife.— Josej^i Taylor on Sont;-binj;ing.— Tlic Ciiristiun (Jbscrv.r. 
 —William Huntington.— The Claytons r.iRe 1 1'J 
 
 CIIArTEU XL 
 KAULY MisiSTiiY IS LONDON — Continued. 
 Farther Extracts from Diary. — The I'ersccutions in Jamaica and at Gibral- 
 tar. — Mr. Fennell. — James Laekingtou. — Henry Foster. — Benson and 
 the Christian Observer. — George Burder. — Dr. Steinkopff. — Joanna 
 Southeote. — First recorded missionary Sermon. — Prospects of National 
 Inviision. — Kicliard Cecil. — State of Methodism in London. — La.>«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 Iy<imas. — The Conference of 1810. — Dr. Clarke's 
 Commentary. — Ix-tters from Kdward Ilarc and Robert Newton. — The In- 
 fluence of Trustees over Church Mana^^cment. — I>ord 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, sa<l<U'iU'«l hy tlie rt-fent loss of his wife, dwelt de- 
 voutly on M«»nls like these: " Am) .Tahiti: was moue hoxoka- 
 
 BLE THAN IMS mamiltEX ; AND HIS MOTHKIl CALLEP HIS NAME 
 JaBKZ, saving, UeCAUSE I HAKE HIM WITH SOUKOW. AXD Ja- 
 «EZ CALIJCI) ON THE GoD OF ISKAEI^ SAYING, Oil THAT TuOU 
 AVOII.DKST HI.I->S 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 maintaine<l a steadfast coui*se. 
 And the hearts of those who had listened to the jireaching 
 of the stone-mason m«'lt«'<l within ihem when that same clergy- 
 luan, returning fmm duty oiu- dark Sabl»alh night, and, as was 
 whispcreil through all the country si«le, blindly dnmk, was 
 thrown liy his horse down a fi-arful 7or into l.ark-llill Dale, 
 and if, roused by mortal agony, he crie<l for help, was heard by 
 noiH- but the merciful (if»d in heaven. 
 
 While the jMTsecut i«»n lasted, h<»wever, Mary He<lfern w:is 
 greatly harassed. Once she left her home, and walk<'d th(! 
 thirtv niilcH to Manchester; but conscience soon sent her back
 
 PARENTACK ANT) KIXPREI). 21 
 
 again to work ; and it was not luitil after her niotlier's death 
 that she went ))criuaiiently to reside in that place. Tliere she 
 entered into scrvicr, lirst, with Mr. Brocklchurst, a j)hiin Meth- 
 odist tVoin Clu'lniortnn, a\1io had risen io great afHucnce, at 
 whose huuse she often waited uj)on ^Ir. Wesley ; and afterward 
 with Lancelot Harrison, and probably with other preachers, at 
 their rooms connected with the i)reachini^-hoiisein Birchin Lane. 
 Her father also removed to Manchester, and lor some time she 
 again took charge of his family. 
 
 Her brother, Jose])h Ivedfern, too, followed her. lie had al- 
 ways been a.s a child to her. She took liim to ehurcli and 
 chapel, and talked tenderly to him about his sonl, and he be- 
 came an eminently holy and useful man. He repaid in full his 
 sister's khidness ])y fond attentions in after years to his young 
 nephew. He died well ; and God's blessing was upon his de- 
 scendants, two of whom honorably sustain the pastoral office 
 in the Established Church. Two of his children emigrated to 
 Canada, and l)ecame zealous Methodists there; and it is through 
 the marriage of one of these with an excellent missionary, the 
 late Kev. liichard Pope, that my father traced a distant con- 
 nection with the family of that name in the West of England, 
 which has made so rich a contribution to the ranks of the rising 
 Methodist ministry. 
 
 La 1778, Mary Kcdfern, after a long courtship, was married 
 to William Bmituig, then settled as a tailor in Manchester. 
 The notices presei-ved of him are scanty. In person he was 
 tall and thin, pale-faced, and very bald. He is described by 
 some as a man of great shrewdness, by others as not of strong 
 intellect. He, too — it is not known by what means — had be- 
 come tirmly attached to the new sect. It is said that he warm- 
 ly espoused the cause of the first French Revolutionists ; but 
 this svTiipathy was shared by many tailors and by some philos- 
 ophers. There is no doubt that he Avas, even in those days, a 
 thorough IJadical. But he kej)! his poHtics to himself, and was 
 known to the Avorld aromid him only as a quiet and a godly 
 man, who worked hard for his family, with but little profit. He 
 had been bom a t^Wu, and had suftered much during his ap- 
 prenticeship ; and the gossijis said it was therefore that in his 
 fifty-first year he began to droop. I collect some information 
 as to this period from a letter addressed to Ins eldest daughter
 
 22 THE LTFK OP JAHEZ BUNTTXO. 
 
 hy lior hrnllicr, tlicii :\ youth of ei^litocn. Etlniiind liurkc 
 waiU'il 1»ittcrly at liis son's crravc-sidi' that lir was ])ayintx tliose 
 satTcd ollic'is c)l" alVection which himself ou;;ht to have reeeived 
 from the dej>artcd. 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, consi<lcrably re- 
 stored. This jilan, however, will re<piire constant care and dil- 
 igence. When you consider the uns|»eakable value of my fa- 
 ther's life to otir f:imily in the present circumstances, I am sure 
 you will do all that lies in your power to preserve it; and that
 
 PARENTAGE AND KINDRED. 23 
 
 you will spare no jciiiis in jtroourin^ hiia siuli accommodations 
 as will make him eomlortable, and in persuading him to use all 
 means that are likely to be ofserviee to him. 
 
 " My uncle's rooms" (illepble) " close and confined fur 
 
 my father in his ])i-esent state. We must, therefore, earnestly 
 request you to make iiKiuiry without delay for a bed in a more 
 airy situation. The neighborhood of jNIr. SimjisoiTs church 
 wovdd answer excellently Avell, if you could procure a proper 
 and comfortable place. Perhaps John Bcrcsford could let you 
 have a bed ; but, as my father is micommonly weak and low 
 when he rises in the muniiufr, I fear he would not, at first, be 
 able to walk back again to my uncle's. If you could meet with 
 accommodations any where very near the town, as, ihr instance, 
 just on the road-side leadmg to Manchester, it would be by 
 imich the best. Perhaps, hoM'ever, it will be advisable for him 
 to In-eakfast at the house where he lodges. You might go to 
 him about eight or nuie o'clock in the mornuig, taking Avith 
 you a little tea and sugar, and so make him his breakfast. He 
 might then walk to my micle's, about ten or eleven o'clock, 
 witli tolerable ease. But of these things you vriW judge ac- 
 cording to circumstances ; only I look upon it as essential that 
 an airv' situation should be somewhere fixed upon as soon as 
 possible ; on Monday at the farthest. Pray do not neglect this. 
 " Dr. Percival wishes my father to have new milk, Avarm, if 
 possible, from the coav, every morning and night. This Avill 
 easily be accompUshed, if the family Avhere you jirocure a bed 
 for him keep coavs. At any rate, you may, one Avay or other, 
 contrive to get it. He may drink it, in the morning, half an 
 hoiu: before his breakfast, and in the CAening at any time most 
 couA^enient. Pray i)ress it upon him Avith eaniestness and con- 
 stancy. 
 
 "Ma' father's food should be light and easy of digestion, and, 
 
 above all, as nourishing as possible A little Avine would be 
 
 useful. You must endeavor to persuade him to send for such 
 little things as he may Avant, and to strive to take food and 
 other nourishment as he can, 
 
 " With respect to Avalking out, you nmst get him into the 
 air as much as you can Avithout fatiguing him. Perhajis little 
 and short walks, frequently repeated, Avould be most serv-icca- 
 ble. Caution him against taking cold.
 
 24 TIIK LIFE OK .IA15EZ lU'NTIN'G. 
 
 "I hnvc now to state our very earnest and particular request 
 that you will be jieculiarly nttt-ntive to adnunister to liini liis 
 niedicini's witli re«^ul:irity :ui(l perse verancc 
 
 *' You must without fail Svritc to us evt-ry cithor day at least, 
 to let us kuow how my lather goes on. ^^'rite by the Loudon 
 coach to-morrow evening two or three lines, to inform us how 
 he bore his journey. We shall then exiH-ct a farther account 
 of him by Juhn Beresford on Tui-sday, and by IJamelt on 
 Thursday and Saturday. You must nut disajipoinrus in this 
 respect. If any matt-rial eiiange take place in the train of hi.s 
 symptoms that requires farther advice, let me know as Boon as 
 you can. 
 
 " I ouglit to liavo before said that I ^^ ill send the prescrip- 
 tions for the various medicines, that you may get them renew- 
 ed when done. They must not be omitted on any account ; 
 and, as my father will jierhaps be averse to have them renewed, 
 you must aftectionatcly ])C'rs»iadi' him to it. 
 
 *' I liave now disi-hargcd the mehuu-ludy duty of giving you 
 Buch advice and directions as seemed necessary respecting our 
 dear and honored jtarent. To thi* kind and righteous Provi- 
 dence of God, and to your affectionate care, "wc now commit 
 liim; not without much anxiety, but with fond and eager hope 
 that the inians he is now about to use will be blessed by (iod, 
 and that, in a short time, he will return to us with amended 
 :md improving health. In that case, let us reeeive him as re- 
 stored to us by the merciful disj)ensation of (Iod, and be thank- 
 ful to the I'an-nt of mereies for so invaluable a gift. Above 
 all, Jjray much for him, for itu', for yourself', ami for us all, that, 
 however tried, or afflict e<l, or se]»aratcd lure, we ujay all meet 
 at l.'ist, to ])art no nuire forever. 
 
 " IJelieve me, dear Alice, with mialterable and cordial at- 
 tachment and lijve, your frieml and biodier, 
 
 ".I ami:/, ikxTiNO. 
 
 "P.8. — Pray read this letter to my inule.'' 
 
 My grandfather ditil within three nuwith'^ after this letter 
 wan written. It is said that "his spirit hail beconu' remarka- 
 l>ly «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. 
 
 " L<m.I..n, Mcndav, Atip. 2nili, iSttJ. 
 
 "Mv DEARKST MoTiiKK, — I got into the TiUgraph .at Mac- 
 clesfield last "SVednesd.ay evening n little before niiu* o'clock, 
 and, bv tin- good h.aml of (Jorl uj>on 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 oltlige<l at pres- 
 ent to take u[) tlieir alxxle in the house of .•» friend. 
 
 "Our Hituation at tiieCity Koad Chapel is cxcciMlingly pleas- 
 ant, open, and air}', and, perhaps, more likely to be favorable to 
 health than most that could 1>e 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 an<l comfortably circumstanced before. 
 
 " I have not seen enough of the circuit to form any pro])er 
 judgment concerning it. From the little I have seen, I thuik 
 I shall be happy in it. My fellow-laborers are all very kind 
 and friendly ; and as to the London ^Methodists, if those with 
 wlu)m I have already become acquainted are a specinu-n of the 
 rest, I shall be (juite charmed with their spirit and niamiers 
 when I am grown more familiar with them, and when the pangs 
 of separation from my beloved friends and connections in your 
 part of the world have begun to abate. At present, my feel- 
 ings are unavoidably those of 'a stranger in a strange land.' 
 But I hope in time to acquire greater fortitude, and with more 
 ease to reconcile my affections to my duty. Li the mean time, 
 I endeavor to console myself with the ])rospect of that better 
 world, where those divided in time shall be united for eter- 
 nity 
 
 "I shall be impatient to receive a letter from you. .As you 
 will receive this on Wednesday morning, can not you send one 
 by Mr. Goodall the same day, under cover to ^Ir. Allen at Mac- 
 deslield, who will get it ibrwarded to me inunediately ? 
 
 " I saw James Ridings and Mr. Browne yesterday, after 
 preaching at Queen Street Clia])el. They both welcomed me 
 to London with great affection, and desired that, Avhen I wrote 
 to ^Manchester, I would jiresent their kindest remembrances to 
 you, and to my sisters and Uncle Joseph. 
 
 "The ]ieop]e here are far less alarmed about the threatened 
 invasion than they are m the country. I meet with noliody who 
 is under any very serious alarm. However, they think it best 
 to be jirepared for every possible case, and therefore are volim- 
 teering their services to government on all sides. Great num- 
 bers of friends have joined the different corps that are firmed. 
 
 "Tliis letter will be conveyed to Manchester by Mrs. Bur- 
 ton and Mrs. INXouncey, whom I was suqirised to find in the 
 vestry last night when I had done preaching. I shall ^\Tite 
 again soon. At present I know not what I can add but that I 
 am, through mercy, in perfect health, and that I remain, with
 
 28 THE LIFK OF .lAnKZ BUNTING. 
 
 mialtcrabic afloction to you, niid m ith llie tcndcrest love to my 
 dear sisters, uiieles, etc., your ever dutiful sou, J. Bintin*;. 
 
 " P.S. — Best respects to Mr. Yates, Mv. Albiston, and all that 
 inquire." 
 
 " ShcflReld, Sept. 29th, 1807. 
 
 'Oh' rtE.VREST ^loTllKK, — "We were very iiuieh oblii^ed to 
 /Vliec lor her letter of the loth instant, and glad to hear that 
 you were all in tolerable health, and that your recent indispo- 
 sition, in particular, was in a p:reat measure removed 
 
 "AVillinni,* avc trust, is doing well. We have got a j)lace 
 for him and Sarah, the elder servant, at Crooks, a village a mile 
 and a half from us, which is said to have the best air in all this 
 neighborhood. He was much better while there, and is only 
 come home for a day or two, during the bustle of quarter-day, 
 at which Sarah's assistance was w.anted. The rain prevented 
 his return this afternoon, l)ut we purjiose sending him again in 
 the morning. He is in high spirits, and, were it not for an oc- 
 casional fit of coughing (which, however, is not frequent nor 
 violent), and for his being grown thinner than usual, we should 
 not know that he aile«l any thing. We have little doubt that, 
 by the blessing of God, hi- will get rid of his hooping-cough be- 
 fore the winter sets in Avith severity ; and I hope you will see 
 him in January a fine, stout lad, as lieretofore. He has cut his 
 eye-teeth. I forgot to tell you that jioor- Sherryf cut three 
 teeth the week she died 
 
 " We have the jirospcct of being very comfortable here. The 
 circuit is agreeable; and Me arc from home only two nights at 
 most in eight weeks. But the best of all is, we have reason to 
 think the Lord is and will be with us. We are exceedingly 
 hajijiy in my colleagues; and in Mr. and Mrs. Newton, especial- 
 ly, we have two most agreeable and friendly neighb(»rs. Wiite 
 very soon. Why not on Friday, in which case ^Ir. Owen, the 
 bearer of this, wouM bring me your answer on Saturday ? Wo 
 unite in love to you and my dear sisters, J. lirNTi.NC. 
 
 "P.S. — William has lu-en plaguing me to give him a pen; 
 80 I will guide his hand, an<l he shall write to ^ou. 
 
 "William Madardie Jiunting's love to grandmother .and 
 aunts." 
 
 ♦ His eldest son. t The pet name of a baby ho had lost.
 
 PARENTAGE AND KIXDIIEI). 29 
 
 [Without date; but written ahout 1804.] 
 
 "My dear Jabez axd Sai-wVU, — My neglect of writing is 
 not because I forgot you — no; but, knowing the great fa- 
 tigue, botli of body and mind, wliich for a long time you must 
 have had, I thought it no matter to add to your exercise, as I 
 had tlien nothing of importance, and as you heard by one or 
 another that we were still in the land of the living. I thank 
 you for your kind remembrance of me, so often as you do, I 
 could indcctl wish that my house was nearer; but you know it 
 is my hajipuiess to be resigned to what kind l'ro\ idence has 
 denied. I wish I was more thankful to God that He has placed 
 you among the i^rinces of Ilis people, and my prayer to God is 
 that you may be found faithful. 
 
 " I heard by several of tlie preachers that you was poorly, 
 and Avas very uneasy. I had rather always know the truth at 
 first. 
 
 " I did but see Mr. Lomas this morning, so I can not now 
 say all I wish to say. I am myself, through mercy, as well as 
 I can expect. Your sister Alice has been poorly most of the 
 sunmier, and Eleanor, of late, has not been very Avell." 
 
 After my father's death, I found, in a private drawer of an 
 old bureau, some papers which he had marked as " very par- 
 ticular." Among them Avere his iiither's last ticket, and the 
 letter announcing his mother's death. One of the latest walks 
 he took was to see the spot Avhere, in the very centre of the 
 busy Ufe of Manchester, the two lie quietly and lovingly to- 
 gether, behind the chancel of St, James's Chm'ch.
 
 oO TilE LIKE OF JAJJEZ HUNTING. 
 
 CllAFrEU II. 
 
 INF.^^CY^-CI1ILDII00D — SCIIOOL-DxVTS. 
 
 Birth. — Wesley's Blessing. — Fragments of Aut()l)iopraj)hy. — Schoolmastei-s. 
 — Marchant. — Clarke. — Hartley. — Broailhurst. — I'ojie. — Course of 
 Study. — Conijiositions in Trosc and Verse. — Interest in Public Affairs. 
 — AppcaranL-e. — Sfhoulboy Frolics. — Karly religious Habits. — Dr. Cor- 
 nelius Bayloy. — rrcachiugs in his Father's Garret. — Persecutions and 
 Successes at School. 
 
 Jabiiz Buntixg was born at tlie house of liis fatlicr, ui Xcw- 
 ton Lane, Manchester, on the evening of Ascension Day, May 
 13th, 1799, and was baptized at tlie collesxiate and parish (now 
 the Catliedral) chin-cli of tliat city on tlie istli of July follow- 
 ing. 
 
 The only record which has been preserved of his infancy is 
 that, when he wa.s very youiii;, his mother presented him to 
 Wesley in Oldham Street Chapel, and that the old apostle (who 
 wonld remember her as having waited n])on him, not long be- 
 fore, at ]\Ir. IJiocklehiU'st's house) devoutly blessed him. There 
 was nothing mmsual in this circumstance, for little children 
 were commonly taken to Wesley as he traveled through the 
 laud. I>ut 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 <lcpaiiurc, in liis carriage, on the accus- 
 tomed round of labor, lie saw hiiu so depart, Ibr the last 
 time, in 1 790. 
 
 The first notices of his ednc'itiftu are to be found in "Jabe/. 
 Ibniting's accomit-book, bought June 'J5th, 17H7." This is a 
 manu.scri]»t in his own handwriting, even then remarkably good, 
 containing Rtatements and examjtles of the juincip.il rules of 
 arithmetic, the last being Practice. The sentences are careful- 
 ly punctuated. 
 
 About eighteen months afterward, farther particulars are 
 gathered from a little book, also written by liimself.
 
 INFANCY — CHILDHOOD — SCHOOL-DAYS. 31 
 
 "J. B, left Mr. Marchant's school January the 8th, 1789, in 
 the ninth year of my age, -who always acquitted liis trust to- 
 ward nie in a manner Avorthy of esteem. Tiic lOtli, went to 
 Mr. Clarke's. Bec^un the year with the same branches as be- 
 fore, viz., Arithmetic, English Grammar, and reading the En- 
 glish Speaker. The first rule Avith Mr. Clarke was Reduction." 
 
 The same book contains the following entries : 
 
 " At the end of this quarter" (that ending in March, 1 789) 
 "I am in l*ractice. I think I am" ['■'■ soi/ieichat''^ struck out, 
 and written over it] " a little improved in the various branches 
 of learning mentioned p. 1, especially in Accounts." 
 
 "At the end of this quarter" (that ending hi June, 1789) "I 
 Avas in Exchange with America and the West Indies." 
 " Commentaria. 
 " Jabez Bmiting. 
 
 ""Wednesday, January 8th, 1792. 
 
 " I again begui a memorandum-book, -which I have so long 
 discontinued. Mr. Clarke having left Manchester about Mich- 
 aelmas, 1789, 1 Avent to Mr. Hartley, of Princess Street, with 
 Avhoni I continued till near Christmas, 1791, when, he Ukewise 
 leaving the tOAvn, I was again obhged to change my school. 
 However, on the day above-mentioned I made a beginning with 
 the Rev. Mr. T. Broadhurst. It may be here necessary to i)re- 
 mise that I have gone through Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, 
 Mensuration of Superficies and Solids, and Conic Sections ; Uke- 
 AAase have done something at Latin, having gone over the Ac- 
 cidence, construed about eight chapters of the Latui Testa- 
 ment, and corrected some exercises of bad Latin, extracted 
 from Clarke's Exercises. 
 
 " Mr. Broadhurst professes to teach nothing but Mathemat- 
 ics, the Classics, Geography, etc., and he thinks it better that 
 I should attend to Lathi only, as I had not even learned the 
 S}Titax. The order of the day in general is as follows : Fore- 
 noon, repeat the tasks assigned over night, and shoAv exercises 
 from Exempla Minora ; translation from Cornehus Nepos, or 
 read back a translation into Latin, construe a portion of Cor- 
 nelius Nepos, and parse. Afternoon, construe from Cornelius 
 Nepos, and sometimes a task from the Eton Graimnar. Hours 
 of attendance, nine to tAvelve forenoon, and two to five after- 
 noon. I suppose a writing and account master Avill be in the
 
 32 THE LIFE OF JAHEZ lUNTINC. 
 
 school. Fcl). 24lli. Tliis aftonioon, alter li:iving gone again 
 over the ^Vocidencc, I began the Syntax: two rules for my 
 morning's repetition; four, because the rules are so short. 
 Afterward the length of the repetition is left, to Mr. Broad- 
 hurst's (liscretiun. 
 
 ''^larch. — We have now begun to learn (ieography from 
 Guthrie: generally two lessons j)er week. I also began to con- 
 strue Julius C:esar instead of Cornelius Nepos. In Latin I am 
 improved much, and think our parsing one chief cause. I be- 
 gan French likewise, and use IVrrin's Grammar. I get this 
 Thursdays and Saturdays, and one night per week. Mr. Fell 
 Ukewise began to come to teach us to Avritc,from twelve o'clock 
 till one." 
 
 Side by side with these fragments of autobiography his ac- 
 counts are entered, with the saiiu' minute accuracy which he 
 cultivated during all his lifetime. They show the purchase of 
 a Greek Granunar and Fables toward the close of ^larch, 1792. 
 Here and there a text of Scri])tiire and a verse of a hymn are 
 introduced : 
 
 "Teach me Thy truth, O Lord, and guide me in th.e way "v- 
 erlasting." 
 
 " Make me Thy heavenly voice to hear, 
 And let nie hive to pmy, 
 Since God will lend n j;riicious ear 
 To what a child will say." 
 
 Before he was eleven years of age he had heard liis own 
 voice in public. "The following jiieces," says a printed pro- 
 gramme before me, " will be recited by the young gentlemen 
 educated at the Connnercial :iiid Mathematical School, Man- 
 chester, in the assembly-room at the hotel, on I'riday, iHth of 
 December, ITsD;" .and there follows a list of pieces, comprising 
 "The Choice of Hercules, in seventeen parts," in which" Hunt- 
 ing" is to figure; an«l " Philosophical Melancholy, by Thom- 
 son," which he is to recite. A similar j^rogranunc, for the fol- 
 lowing year, names hiiu as the principal ])erformer in "The 
 Pr.aisc of Philosophy, in eleven jiarts;" mid in ''Cnto's Senate, 
 in five parts;" after which he is to prunoinice " Adlierlial's Ail- 
 dress to the Koman Senate." 
 
 In those days the schoolmaster must liave foimd Manchester 
 a very bare pasture ; for at Christmas, 1 792, Mr. Broadhurst, un-
 
 INFAXCY — CIITLDirOOD — SCHOOL-DAYS. 33 
 
 dcr whose cliarije tlie preceding extracts leave tlie boy, like 
 Clarke and Hartley, left the town. The following letter mtro- 
 duces my father's next and last i)receptor: 
 
 " Mr. Bunting^ Church Street^ Manchester. 
 
 " Sir, — You have your son, a youth of promising parts, \m- 
 dcr the care of Mr. Broadhurst, who is going to quit his school 
 next Christmas. As I expect to succeed him, you will do me 
 a great favor in permitting me to have the same care of him as 
 you have favored Mr. Broadhurst with ; you may be assured 
 of my best endea^■ol•s for your son's improvement, and the most 
 aftectionate attention which the relation in which I may be 
 placed to him can justly claim. 
 
 " As Mr. Broadhurst knows me Avell, to him I refer you for 
 any information you may want concernmg me ; and, with the 
 request that you will acquaint me whether I may depend on 
 your countenance and favor, I remain, sir, your most obedient 
 servant, Joiix Pope. 
 
 "New College, Uackncy, near London, Oct. 19, 1792." 
 
 To Mr. Pope's school, accordingly, Jabez Bunting was sent. 
 This gentleman was what Mas then called a Presbyterian min- 
 ister, and supplied a chapel at Blackley. There can be no 
 doubt, however, that his theological opinions were very difter- 
 ent from those with which the term Presbyterian is historical- 
 ly associated. Broadhurst, also, was a nunister of the same 
 communion. IIow it came to pass that peo])le so strict as were 
 my grandparents intrusted the education of their child to men 
 who, out of school, at least, were preachers of Arianism, I do 
 not know. It is iiiir to surmise that, if competent instruction 
 were to be had at all, tlie choice lay between the ancient gram- 
 mar-school, at which, perhaps, seventy years ago, a Methodist 
 boy might have met with little ftivor, and the best school kept 
 by a Dissenter. And it is certain, as I shall have occasion to 
 show, that the lapse from orthodoxy of many of the Presbyte- 
 rians m England was at that time neither so great nor so well 
 understood as it afterward became. But all turned out well 
 for the pupil. Mr. Pope was an excellent scholar, and an apt, 
 laborious, and aflectionate teacher, and was strict both as to 
 the quantity and quality of the work he required to be done. 
 
 B2
 
 3-i THE LIFE OF JABEZ BL'NTIXG. 
 
 My falluM- oiijoyoil tlio bi'iu'til of liis trainincj for nearly three 
 years. The Septuaixiiit ami llio (ireek Testament ; the Cireek 
 anil Latin classics; Entjlish, Greek, and Latiii composition, both 
 ill prose and verse; the translation of French; the Psalter in 
 Hebrew; the correct and emphatic readini? and recitation of 
 Eniilish; (Tcography, Astronomy, and the elements of Natural 
 Philosophy, were all included in the vurrh-nhnii throujfh which 
 he passed. The Bible Avas used as a schoolbook, b^lt probably 
 without much pains being taken to explain its meaning, or to 
 draw from it any but the most general lessons of morality. 
 
 The young student AA'as very diligent, and many comi)Ositions, 
 still extant, attest his progress. Those in English prose have 
 much of tlie accuracy, chasteness, and freedom which marked 
 liis mature style. His verses in the same language, wlien, un- 
 der fear of the rod, he Avandered out of jjrosc, Mere tasteful and 
 correct; but, though he eventually ])ossessed a high oratorical 
 genius, even a son can not detect in thes^ft, his enforced exer- 
 cises, any genuine poetry. With some hesitation, and solely 
 Avith the Avish to please the curiosity of intimate friends, I place 
 one of his metrical translations in the Appendix.* An exceed- 
 ingly rea<ly penman, he Avas in the constant habit of extracting 
 into books, and on scraps of pa})er, Avhatever, in the course of 
 Lis general reading, struck liim as Avorthy of preservation. The 
 engagements of the school Avould not leave liim much time for 
 Avork of this kind; but he seems to have gained access to the 
 magazines and newspapers of the day, and to have taken a live- 
 ly interest in public all'airs. His a))iK'arance about this time has 
 been described to me by a venerable survivor.f He Avas above 
 the lieight of most boys of liis age; |)ale and delicate-looking; 
 and, though jiossessing very shajK-ly legs, of feeble and uncer- 
 tain tread and Avalk. lie shot up (juickly, and sloojjetl; and 
 there Avere times when the garments of olive-colored velveteen, 
 wliicli wliould have clasj)ed his dark-gray stockings at the knee, 
 refused the meeting. He Avas very modest and courteous. In- 
 deed, the Ixjys Avith Avhctm he mixed at school Avere much his 
 su])eriors in Avorldly position; ami this state of things, though 
 it never made him servile, naturally fostered his humbler vir- 
 tues. In the list of his schoolfelloAvs are the names of liayley, 
 
 * Aiipt-ndix A. 
 
 \ Tlionias Duvcnj)ort, Es<i., of Withinpton, near Mnnchester. 
 
 1
 
 INF.VXCY — CHILDHOOD — SCHOOL-DAYS. 35 
 
 Smetluirst, Harrison, Percival, INIarslancl, Touchett, Philips, and 
 Kobiiisoii, then, and some of them still, borne by families of 
 great consideration in Manchester. Mr. Pope's terms were six 
 giimeas a }'ear, and were thought very high. It is remembered 
 that, when not liard at work, the boy, Jabez Bunting, was fond 
 of frolic ; and those who knew him intimately in later life can 
 readily beheve it. Knocker-tying on a dark night was a favor- 
 ite sport. The friend before alluded to has described some ad- 
 ventures of this kind, when unwelcome discovery led to the in- 
 stant dispersion of the offenders, who afterward reassembled at 
 the somul of a i)reconcerted signal. He tells, also, how my fa- 
 ther indidged in tricks, such as schoolboys love to ])ractice upon 
 easy-going masters ; how, not very quickly or often, he was 
 found out ; and how Pope, mstead of flogging him, used to take 
 him out of the door of the school and of the sight of the other 
 boys, and, placing the cheeks of i)receptor and of pupil in loving 
 contact, beseech the lad not to tease liim any more.* 
 
 His parents took liim regularly, every Sabl)ath, during one 
 period, to St. Thomas's Church, on Ardwick Green, and during 
 another to St. James's Church, m George Street. The Manches- 
 ter Methodists of those days resorted chiefly to the church last 
 named. Its minister was Dr. CorneUus Bayley — the same who 
 made "Wesley " sick of reading Hebrew -wnthout points ;" whose 
 Granunar of that language Adam Clarke, his fellow-usher at 
 Kingswood, bought with the half gumea he dug up in the gar- 
 den there, and who tried in vain to teach the sacred tongue to 
 the juvenile De Quincey.f He worked kindly with the Meth- 
 odists, and occasionally, when "Wesley preached at Oldham 
 Street Chapel, read prayers, and assisted him to administer the 
 
 * Among my father's books was a copy of Baskcrvillc's SalhiBt, with this 
 inscription — "J. Fopc. Mancun. 1793. Jany. 2Gth. Given to Master J. 
 Buntinp as a mark of respect for liis scholarship." 
 
 t In Mr. De Quincey's fascinating narrative of his young days in Man- 
 chester, there are some lively passages, rather at Dr. Bayley 's expense. But 
 the latter was a scholar and a gentleman, and had an ear and a heart, as even 
 his critic admits, sensitively tuned to poetry. The great master of composi- 
 tion seems sometimes to forget that the words which he moulds like wax will 
 last like marble. The passages, however, to which I now refer are chiefly 
 remarkable as raising a doubt whether the opium-eater ever heard of Charles 
 Wesley's hymns, though he relates that one of John Wesley's nieces was his 
 own sister's governess.
 
 36 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 sacrament of the Supper — often to thirteen or fourteen hiuidrcd 
 comnuniio.ints at a time. The service at clmrch was always 
 prt'cnUMl l)y one at seven o'l-loek in tlie chapel, and followeil 
 by aiKitljcr in the evenin<; at the same jdacc. 
 
 My father, by means of his attendance at church, became fa- 
 miHar, from liis earliest childhood, willi tlic Liturgy of the Es- 
 tablished Church ; and when, almost as sown as he could speak, 
 he began to ])reach in a garret at home, he jimictually doimed 
 one of his father's shirts over his own clothes, and read the serv- 
 ice for the day. He did not play at preaching, for he was al- 
 ways seiious and devout. Even then he ct)uld not tolerate a 
 disorderly congregation; and if his sisters, who were his onlv 
 hearers, laughetl, or were visibly imjiatient, he always sunnnari- 
 ly turned them out, and linisheil his exercise by himself. 
 
 At one school to which he was sent his schoolmates found 
 out that he was the son of a Methodist tiiilor, and vexed him 
 sorely with the double taunt. His )»arents conijtlaiiu'd, and the 
 master soothe<l them with the riport of the l)oy's talents, and 
 with the jiromise of his certain success. When success had been 
 won, things took a dilferent turn ; and the mother was greatly 
 pleased when the sons of persons in superior station knocked at 
 her door, and for some |)Urpose of pleasure or of ad\antage, in- 
 quiretl for " .Master .labez." 
 
 The name of J*ercival has been mentioned as that of one of 
 his companions .at the last school he attended. It was to his 
 intimacy with Edward Percival, the son of the late Dr. Thomas 
 Pcrcival, that he oweil his introduction to the father, and the 
 many bonelits •which resulted fmm tliat gentleman's patronage. 
 But there are earlier and more iiuportant matti is to l)e related. 
 
 ClIAlTi;!: III. 
 
 COXVKRSION. 
 
 Baptifiin. — Enrly Trnininp. — Ji.trj.li Bcnion. — TTosifntion nhont jdininp Ro- 
 riftj-. — Derision. — .Iiiiins WdoiI.. — First Ti<k<'i of M(iiil>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 thildli<K>d. 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<l laid uj> there. 
 
 Her son ha<l seen his twelfth birthday, ami "the dew" and 
 "the small rain" had thus distilled upon him ; but the clou<ls of 
 genuine rejientaiK-e had not yet gathcrcMl, and there were no 
 immediate tokens of the storm which was soon to shake, but to 
 settle liis spirit. But presently there came "a sound tif abund- 
 ance of rain." Soon .after the period just name«l, Joseph Ben- 
 Ho\ was stationed !fl tlu" Mrmclustt-r circuit, .and my father, in 
 usual course, atti-nded his ministry. That gnat preacher, al- 
 wnvH clear, Hoionin, and c<tnviiu'ing, and often heated into a ve- 
 hement ]»assinn f»f i»ower, n-ceived, at this timt% one of those 
 Hp«(i.il dispens.ations of lu-avenly miction which the histories of 
 lif.Iy ministers in .all clmrches reconl. AVesley was just dj-ad, 
 and trouble came f|ui(kly on ; and, while the strife of ecclesias- 
 tical politics wag<'<i fiercely roiiml him, Benson s.aw, more clear- 
 ly than most of his contemporaries, that the true and all-absorb-
 
 CONVERSION. 6d 
 
 in<x snlijoct of solicitude was not the frame-work and polity of 
 Methodism, but its jireservation as a great agency for convert- 
 ing the souls of men. There, then, he stood before his people, 
 from Sabbath to Sabbath, a ))ale and slender man, of a presence 
 melancholy and all Init mean, with a voice feeble, and, as he 
 raised it, shrill, and with a strange accent, caught in his native 
 Cumberland; his body benduig as beneath "the burden of the 
 Lord ;" his gesture uncouth, and sometimes grotesque ; the gen- 
 iral impression of the whole scarcely redeemed, at first sight, 
 bv the high, clear forehead, firm nose, and steady eye wliich his 
 portraits have preserved to j)Osterity. But the man was seen 
 no more when, having announced his message, he proceeded to 
 enforce it. Dr. Chalmers once said to my father concerning a 
 plain Methodist preacher, whose memory still Imgers pleasantly 
 in the hearts of many brethren and children m the Lord, and 
 who labored for some years in Glasgow, "I like your Geokuk 
 TuoMPSOX ; he goes about saving souls in such a bushicss-lik-e 
 maimer.'''' Benson, in higher degree, had this habitual pur]iose 
 and fiaculty. lie was a sound and learned expositor of Holy 
 Scripture ; and, in the ophiion of those competent to judge, his 
 Connncntary still perpetuates his usefulness,* Makhig the l)est 
 use of this prime advantage, he then resorted to, ai)plied, and 
 exhausted all the legitimate arts and powers of the Christian 
 pulpit. He explained, argued, and taught ; but he also warn- 
 ed, remonstrated, entreated, and wept ; until, often, throwing 
 down the weapons his spent strength could wield no longer, he 
 fell on his knees, and vented his full heart in reverent prayer, 
 while vast congregations quailed or melted under the spell of 
 this last appeal to a resistless energy, and, as with one voice, 
 i-i-ied— but not aloud — for instant mercy.f I heard my father 
 
 * I shouUl be unfaithful to my father's opinions, frequently and strongly 
 expressed, were I not to record the hiph estimation in which, without dis- 
 parapinp the labors of other devout and learned men within his own pale, 
 he personally held Joseph Benson's Commentary, a,< combining, more large- 
 ly than any other, and in better harmony, all the excellences of a sober and 
 thoroughly Wesleyan exposition of the sacred volume. 
 
 t What a scene was that, early in 170."), when Benson, the strife at Bris- 
 tol grown so fierce that his very position as a Jlethodist preacher w.is threat- 
 ened, went into Cornwall, and, after a long succession of sermons, found 
 himself so pressed, one day, by an eager crowd of out-door listeners, that he 
 begged those already converted to stand far off, and those as yet unsaved to
 
 40 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 preach more than once on tlie text wWu-h ])ids us always to he 
 ready to give a reason for our hope " with meekness and fear," 
 and he delivered the last sentences of the sermon with nuich 
 solenuiity of voice and manner. Tliey vividly described the 
 profound abasement and awe which rest subdiiinirly upon pro- 
 fessor and prui'anc, when special intluence accum[)anies the 
 preacliing of the Truth, and, " i)ricked in their heart," multi- 
 tudes intpiire, " Men and brethren, what must we do ?"* These 
 
 come within hcarinp I But all stood still, with feet jilantcd more firmly 
 than hcforc, and with eyes "fastened on him," as though he had been tho 
 anpel sent from heaven to put in his sickle and to rcaj) tlic ripe harve^st of 
 the earth. "What!" he cried, " all unconverted?" In a moment the ter- 
 rible conviction of sin, guilt, and danger ran like fire through the multitude, 
 and conscience-stricken sinners fell l)y hundreds, as if slain by thi>e 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 abf<ut religion, especially experinieiital religion. cauti<jusly avoid ev- 
 ery thing ImlicrouR. What has this to tlo with religion? Laiigh al>ouf 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 nia<le as to ple.ase simjile jialntes.* Accordingly, 
 
 • Forty years nfro, tlic "frnpmcntB tliot rcmnincd" used to l»o unit into 
 tho mini.otcr'fl hoti!<c for the rnniinnoiiu delectation of liis Imnfrry diildren. 
 I hope this very proiKT <'»i»toni in not dyirnr mit.
 
 CONVERSION'. 43 
 
 Mary Buntincf, never absent on such ooeaslons, was wont to take 
 lier son witli her, and the quarteily recurrcnci' of them was an 
 event to whicli lie looked forward with interest. It seems that 
 the regulation as to admittance had, during Benson's charge 
 of the circuit, been frequently relaxed, and my father, getting 
 well on hi his teens, had never yet been asked for his ticket. 
 But Alexander Mather came as the superintendent. Ilim I 
 must leave for the present, except to record that he was a strict 
 ilisciplinarian. He was shocked to hear that big boys, who had 
 not joined the society, Avere iii the habit of attendhig at the 
 Love-feast, and at once i)ut a stop to the i>ractice. 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 multitu<le 
 that kept holiday;" he into his closet, to think and to jiray. 
 He is now in Paradise, praising God for the transactions of that 
 hour. Not that then — and an Alleine supjilii's me with another 
 golden sentence — he "closed with God in Christ," but that then 
 he set about that strenuous and struggling effort to find for- 
 giveness, j)eace, and power, which the worst never made in 
 vain. lie, once for all, renounced sin ; bound himself to God's 
 sei-A-ice by holy purpose and resolution ; asked His mercy and 
 help ; pleaded His promises ; and, if with but feeble faith, felt 
 and groped after the one everlasting truth of Christ, "the pro- 
 pitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, Imt also for the 
 sins of the whole world," which, embraced ami realized as his 
 very o\\ni, should make him a loving .-uul rejoicing, and, so, a 
 regenerate creature. Standing on his father's door-step one day 
 soon afterward, he did embrace and reaUze it, as placed allur-
 
 44 THE LIKK OF JABKZ hvntixc;. 
 
 ingly A\itliin lii< rciidi l>y 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<l, remaining as he 
 had been, could not but sin — went "in peace;" of necessity, 
 choice, or habit, to "sin no mori-." And these were not mere 
 fancies, l)ut facts in the hist<jry of his nnnd and heart, as denion- 
 Btrable as those of his oiiter and corporeal life. Who, at all 
 events, will say that this statement oftliem is not rational, crecl- 
 ible, and consistent ? 
 
 He an<l another youth, "dear to him as his own soul," began 
 together to meet in class, and received their "Notes of Atbuis- 
 Hion upon Trial" into tin- ."MethcMlist Society at the "(Quarterly 
 Visitation" ma<le by the ministers of the circuit in September, 
 175)4. Fifty-s(*\en years aOerward hi- followed that freind to 
 tin- grave, and on the following Sabbath, in a \\w sentences at 
 the end of a sermon, conunemor.ited the virtJJcs and the graces 
 wluch no longer blcx)med on earth. The late .T.vmics Wood, of 
 Manchester, a ni-in of excellent sense, thorough integrity, affec- 
 tionate temper, and gentlemanly and geni.-il manners, stood just- 
 ly hi'.'h in tlic estimation f)fthe world, .and in the love and ad- 
 miration of his fellow-Christians. He anpiircd a large fortun. 
 in trade by means singularly just and lumorable ; was the fust 
 President of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, and bore
 
 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 45 
 
 the queen's commisiou for tlie county; and, as he rose to emi- 
 nence, anil alter he had risen, was an able and fiiithliil class- 
 leader and lay-preacher. To his counsels and liberalities my 
 father was lrc([ucntly and largely indebted, both itcrsonally, 
 and in reference to great plans of public usefulness. Joseph 
 Kedfern, before named as an uncle, was the leader of the class 
 to which the two boys joined themselves. From his dass- 
 ])aper, I find that my lather was very i)unctual in bis attend- 
 ance, but was too poor to keep the old ]\Iethodist rule. The 
 penny a week was regularly i)aid ; but, histead of a shilling, 
 only sixpence a quarter. 
 
 Since 1765, the tickets of membership have always been 
 printed in London, and circulated thence throughout the king- 
 dom. Each bears on it some short text of Scripture. The first 
 my father received was given him in Deccniber, 1794. I can 
 imagine him taking it home, and showing it to his mother, but 
 scarcely how she felt when she read it. It was a part of the 
 well-remembered prayer of Jabez, once more sealed in promise 
 up<in her only son — " Oh that Thou wouldest bless me indeed, 
 and that Thou wouldest keep me from evil !" 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MEDICAL EUL'CATIOX. 
 
 Dr. rcrcivul's Birth. — Education. — Professional Career. — Public Life. — 
 Works.— Political Opinions.— llelipious Tenets.— Dr. Harncs.— pr. Per- 
 cival's Pietv.— Letter as to the Sabbath-day.— Death. — Jabez Bunting's 
 Connection with Dr. Percival.— Medical Education. — Manners.— Dr. 
 Percival's Descendants. — Dr. Edward Percival.- His Children. 
 
 Dr. Tiio:«as PERavAL, the grandson and nephew of phy- 
 sicians bearing the same surname, who both practiced at War- 
 rington, was born in 1740. Deprived, when three years old, 
 of both his parents, Elizabeth, his eldest sister, became " the 
 mother of his understanding and manners." She adopted new 
 views of religion, and, quitting the faith and worshij) of the 
 Established Church, joined herself to a congregation of Arians. 
 He was educated, first, at the free grammar school of his native 
 town, and ai\erward at '* The Warrmgton Academy ;" an insti-
 
 4(J TIIK 1.1 KK OF .TAHKZ lU'XTINT,. 
 
 tutioii Idontifu'd with tlu' names of Dr, J<»lin Taylor, Priestley, 
 Gilbert Wakefield, Aikin, Enlield, and other persons of khidred 
 Bentiinents, whicli, al\er various suspensions or niigrati(»ns, has 
 now settled. in " Tniversity Hall," attaehed to the University 
 of Londiin. Here he distiiiL,'uislH'd himself in moral and intel- 
 lectual i)hilosophy. lie w;u> 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 <lay, and he s|iared no opportunity of introducing 
 I'ereival to their aei|uaintance and patronage. At the instanet? 
 of the same friend, he was, thoiigh the youngest jterson who 
 had ever received that honor, elected a Eelh)W of the Royal 
 Society. Subse<piently he took his degree at Leyden, and, after 
 a tour'm Holland and France, settled in Warrington, whence, 
 ill 1 7(>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. </., if a 
 person understand and believe every thing in tlie Articles, Lit- 
 urgy, and Homilies; if a persctn think every thing in them a.s 
 probable as the contrary ; if he understand some, but not all, 
 and assent to those understood ; if, not thinking any thing con- 
 tained in them to hv /(/rbitfi/at, lie yet regard some things as 
 not imperative, or as not good and useful, or as not reasonable; 
 or if tlie intention of the imposer of the test be res))ected. 
 
 I shall not incur any just censure if I speak }»lainly of Dr. 
 PcrcivaPs religious tenets. His sister and earliest teacher was 
 a convert to Arianism, and it is likely that she impressed lier 
 new views upon him, when a <'hild, with the usual ardor of a 
 proselyte. Afterward his faith in Christ i:uiity itself was shaken 
 by the i)eruHal of Hiune's Essay on Miracles ; but it was ha]ipi- 
 jy restored by the study of Bisliop Butler's Analogy, "a writer 
 whom he ever esteemed the chief |>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 aii<l repulsive dogniatism — a bigotry
 
 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 49 
 
 ■without object or excuse. Free thinkers are usually fast think- 
 ers, .and, so long as they quickly count the milestones, imag- 
 ine that their road surely leads to trutli ; are apt to be angry if 
 stopped, and become the more furious by how much the more 
 clearly it be shown them that they are taking the wrong di- 
 rection. 
 
 PercivaFs spirit, however, was very patient and tender ; and, 
 if he failed to find the truth, it was not for w.ant of a diligent 
 study of the Px^ok which contains it .all, but ]>robably 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 y<Hmg men are seldom 
 subservient to any good; but I M'ish to suggest to you the ]>ro- 
 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 ; an<l his rejmtation at school 
 8trengthene<l the good opinion formed of hinu The busy ]ihy- 
 sician, author, an«l j)liil:uithropi8t needed the aid of which th(^ 
 absence, and, ultimately, the <leath (»f his two elder sons, men 
 of great parts and promise, had deprived him; the more so, be- 
 cause the state of liis eyesight rendered him increasingly une- 
 •pi.'il to meet tlie «lemands of daily «luties. lie required a 
 fjuick, intelligent amanuensis; :md proposed, therefore, to Ja- 
 bcz Bunting's parents, that their son should continue his studies
 
 MEDICAL EDUCATION". 53 
 
 under his own eye, Icavn liis profession, reside in liis family, 
 and be the companion and assistant of his Uterary labors. This 
 offer, far exceeding any previous expectations for the youth, was 
 gratefully accepted. But his mother feared that his sojourn 
 under a strange roof might Avean him from her "own people," 
 now also liis. She stipulated, therefore, that he shouM always 
 spend the night at home, and thus gently detained liim under 
 the spell of domestic piety and the power of religious ordi- 
 nances. In process of tinu\ however, tliis precaution became 
 unnecessary, and was abanchtiied. 
 
 Considering that my father's ultimate vocation was the 
 Christian ministry, and that he was, almost at the commence- 
 ment of his career in life, to become an ecclesiastical leader, it 
 is impossible to repress a feeling of regret that he was not sub- 
 jected to courses of study more directly relating to the sacred 
 calling. He himself always mourned over his irreparable lack 
 of such an advantage. But Methodism at that time made no 
 provision for the training of its ministers ; and God directed his 
 ])aths. A legal education, had he received it, could scarcely 
 liave improved his naturally quick foculty of analysis and of 
 arrangement; his cautious, but strong and ready judgment; 
 and the simplicity, freedom, and force of his style, especially as 
 a public speaker; nor, in the then existing state of society, 
 would the hal)its and associations of students of the law have 
 been favorable either to his moral or to his mental progress. 
 But he was jilaced under the conduct of a scholar and of a man 
 of science. The knowledge proper to a profession of wide and 
 curious I'ange, but of an earnest and a kindly purpose, was 
 spread before an apt and incpiisitive mind, and was eagerly 
 pursued. The study of general literature nurtured his genius 
 and refined his taste. lie was taught the minutest details of 
 the art of composition. Above all, he was familiarized with 
 tlie consideration and discussion of public events, in their rela- 
 tion to order, happiness, and religion. 
 
 IMv father naturally possessed that exquisite modesty of mind 
 which is the main element of gentlemanly feeling. But in the 
 society of Dr. Percival, and of a constant succession of visitors, 
 an advantage to wliich he was unreservedly admitted, he ac- 
 quired that nice polish of mamier and propriety of speech 
 which made him feel himself at home in all circles, and gave
 
 54 THE LIFE OF .TAHEZ HUNTING. 
 
 him, in those in wWu-h he usnally mixed, a pleasant and easy 
 command. The Avriter of this record will not try to enforce 
 the lesson it sucrcjcsts. But, had he a son in course of trainini? 
 for the Methodist ministry, he would ask him to pause and 
 ponder. In jtastoral intercourse with the intelligent and rich, 
 but especially with the ignorant and i»oor, how f,'reat the value 
 of that calm self-possession, of that quick ol)senance of the 
 points which attract or repel, and of that willing nrbanity of 
 ai)i)roach, which are among the earUest aims of an enlightened 
 |)icty, hut Avhich only careful and conscientious practice can 
 ripen into habit ! And in no conununity more than in our own 
 does a manifest anxiety to please more directly tend to nseful- 
 ness. How many "otlcuscs" are avoided — oft'enscs which lead 
 to " strifes," and these to disastrous "divisions" — when the 
 tone of connnunication among ministers, co-jiastors of the same 
 flock, among the officers who regulate the minor dei)artments 
 of Church atfairs, and reciprocally between both classes, is uni- 
 formly considerate and courteous ! At a time when the jNIeth- 
 odist ministry is advancing so raj)idly to its true jiosition of in- 
 fluence in this coimtry — <>f p<n\ er, by Ciod's Idessing, to win 
 multitudes to Christ — it were nothu)g less than a calamity if 
 every possible auxiliary were not pressed into the service. The 
 desire, if " by any means," to " save some" will not despise the 
 use of aiijilianccs so simple, yet so iniportant as those of man- 
 ner and address. Wesley, indeed, in a meinorabli' saying, im- 
 plored his preachers not to " aftect the gentleman," telling them 
 that they had "no more to do with this character than with 
 that of a dancing-master;" and there have been cases, ])erhaps, 
 tjf an over-zealous compliance with the ]»recept. Hut it must 
 not be so inteq)rete<l as to deprive us (tf ihe benefit of his own 
 example, and of that of many of his associates ami inunediate 
 successors ; these latter, fashioned, as l)y miracle, into the sym- 
 metry of well-bred men. They coiumitted no rudi-Jiesses, neg- 
 lected no <)l)vious ]iroprieti«"S, affei-ti'il no c:irelessiu'ss in <irder 
 to hide conscious defects. One comprehensive canon ruled the 
 fpustion with them : "Giving no offense in (iny t/tini/, Xhai the 
 ministry l>e 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 la<lies of the family. They honored him with
 
 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 55 
 
 their friendsliip at n time wlien the kind and watchful eye (jf a 
 sensible woman, kept constantly upon an observant and sensi- 
 tive young man, acts at once as encouragement and restraint. 
 With the daughters as with their brothers, he cultivated a cor- 
 dial but respectfid intimacy, interrupted only as, one by one, 
 they, with a solitary exception, passed away from earth. With 
 the sole survivor, the youngest son, my father, after many years' 
 separation, had an interview a t'a^v months before his own death, 
 and to him he renewed his expressions of love and gratitude to 
 the friends of his youth. It can not be in any sectarian mood 
 that I state that nearly all Dr. Pcrcival's descendants still liv- 
 ing* are, as a result of the habit of personal and IVee inquiry so 
 warmly commended to them by his example, found in the com- 
 munion of the Estabhshed Church, and that many of them now 
 deceased enjoyed in the hour of departure those ministrations 
 of evangelical truth and power which that Church so abundant- 
 ly possesses. 
 
 Edward Percival, my father's early friend, after practicing 
 with much distmction as a physician in Bath, died in great 
 l>cace 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 ; exercise<l himself continually 
 in original composition ; studied men and manners, in the large 
 and various circle of friends and visitors to which he had ob- 
 tained so iortunate admittance; devoured newspapers; busied 
 liimself in thinking and talking about local and iiatioJial ]»olitics; 
 and, altogether, was, by the time he attaineii his twentieth 
 year, a man ripe for the business of life, with well-tried tools, 
 in well-skilled hands, ready for use in whatever kind of speeu- 
 hitive or practical Labor he might be called to follow. IJest of 
 all sciences, he had learned thoroughly how {(* work. 
 
 His intellectual jiowers had rapidly matured imder the favor- 
 l)le discipline to which they were stibjected. Young mindu 
 almost necessarily sharpen each other by nnitual converse and 
 svinjiathv. l>ut 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 })crva<le<l Dr. IVrcivaPs spirit, writings, 
 and acts. The habit of attentively considerini; what can bo 
 said on the other niile, and the circumstances and ])ossible mo- 
 tives of him who says it — the result, jjrimarily, <>f 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 an<l foolish annisements which t<to «inen draw aside the 
 young and unstable into forbi<ldeii paths. 
 
 ".1, The formation of a society expressly for tlie purpose is 
 a probable method of attaining these praiseworthy and import-
 
 RELIGIOUS AND INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS. 61 
 
 nnt objects, because it incites, by example and emulation, to ar- 
 dor and dilicjcnce of jmrsuit, and provides opportunities fur the 
 mutual comniiniicatioii of opinit)ns, in which ' thoutjlit begets 
 thought,' and truth, like lire, is jtut in motion by collision. 
 
 " 6. Sucli an association of Christian brethreJi, by making 
 them better acquainted with each other, encourages and en- 
 larges that communion of saints, which, while it draws closer 
 and closer the bonds of private and individual amity, is also a 
 very powerful ol)ligation to zeal and perseverance in religion. 
 For, as a personal attachment to the beloved companions of 
 their folly is, witli many, the chief uidiappy tie which retains 
 them in the service of sin, notwithstanding their full conviction 
 of the danger and misery in which that service involves them 
 — as such an attachment seldom fails considerably to obstruct 
 (and sometimes entirely prevents) the accom|jlishment of good 
 desires and resolutions in those wlio begin to throw oft* the 
 yoke of Satan, so it is hoped that the aftection of the members 
 of the pro])oscd society, one to the other, will strengthen and 
 confirm their love and attachment to that connnon cause which 
 interests and engages them all, and thus be a most eftectual dis- 
 suasive and preservative from backsliding. Mr. "Wesley, with 
 his usual terseness and force of expression, somewliere speaks 
 of a certain class of smners as ^ f/oinr/ to lull for company ;"" so, 
 among many other reasons which Christians have for going to 
 heaven^ they love one another so well that they are determined 
 to go thither /or C07ni>any. 
 
 " 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\ <ffnth\ ntH]f to he entreated., 
 full of mrrei/ and ;/ood fruit tt, without ]>4irti<illtij (or, as the 
 margin reads, irithout irra?if/finf/), and trithout hi/pocritoj. ' " 
 
 This document is signed by Jabez Hunting; by James Wood 
 and John Marsden, both of whose names have been already 
 mentioned ; by Edward Westhead, alti-rward of considerable 
 note among the 31anehester ^Methodists, a man of sterling worth 
 and of most generous and amiable temper, and the father of one 
 of the present members ior the city of York ; by William Ben- 
 nett, for nearly sixty years a minister in Nova Scotia ; by Ed- 
 ward Jones, almost forty years a minister, anil one of the ])rin- 
 cipal founders of Methodism in North Wak'S ; by Solomon Ash- 
 ton, afterward an Independent minister at Stockport ; by Josh- 
 ua Kea, George Ikirton, John lleywood, and James ]\Iorris, 
 early and intimate friends of my father ; and by Luke Gray and 
 John Worsley, who still survive. 
 
 The society seems to have ])roceeded very ])rospcronsly for 
 several years, discussing all soits of sultjects with considerable 
 courage. "The Being of (iod ;" "The Attributes of God ;" 
 " What is Eaith, and how it justifies ?" " \\'hat are the Motives 
 that induce Men to serve (iod?" "The I'roof of the Day of 
 (irace being past ;" "The ( )j)('rations of the Holy Spirit in the 
 S(jul of Man;'' "The Ereedom of the Ihunan Will," settled to 
 every body'n a|)j)rehension, after two discussions; "The Eall 
 
 of Man;" "The .Millemiium ; Phe Device's of Satan ;" "The 
 
 <^)ngin ;md Nature of Sin ;" "The NattU'e of the I'np.'irdonnble 
 Sin;" "The Crinu' of Apostasy, and the Sin unto I)e;ilh ;" 
 "The Benelits, Dangc-rs, and Duties restdting iVom the Institu- 
 tion of a Society for the Attainnu-nt of lieligious Knowleilge;" 
 " The Hidings of (iod'H Eace ;" " Self-<lenial ;" " Prayer ;" " The 
 Doctrine of the Atonement;" "What is Man?" "The Pas- 
 sions of the Human Heart ;" "The Duty of Ze.al and Activity 
 in ])romoting Piety;" "The Inunatcriality and Immortality of 
 the Soul;" "The Nature and Oflices of Conscience ;" "The 
 Conduct proper to be pursued by Young Men with regard to 
 ^Marriage" — by "Brother Westliea<l ;" "The Origin of the 
 Soul" — which perplexed them for three nights; "Proofs of the
 
 RELIGIOUS AND INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS. 63 
 
 Doctrine of tho Trinity, and of the Divinity of tlio Son and 
 Spirit ;" " The Sin of Evil-speaking ;" " Fashionable Amuse- 
 ments" — a paper read, in three parts, on three successive even- 
 ings; "The Doctrine of Providence;" " The Fourth Command- 
 ment ;" -'The Benefits of Affliction ;" "Friendship;" "The 
 Fear of .Man ;" "The Lawfuhiess and Expediency of a Chris- 
 tian's bearing Arms for the Defense of tlie Country against a 
 French Invasion" — two papers; "Is it proper and expedient 
 that Uehgious Persons should immcfUatchj come forward to 
 learn the Use of Arms, and in what Mode ought they to offer 
 their Services':'" "The Resurrection and (iloritication of the 
 Body;" "Tiie Combat between the Flesh and the Spirit;" 
 " The final Perseverance of the Saints ;" " The Perfection of 
 the Saints in Heaven;" "The Means necessary to be used in 
 ])romoting the Kevival of Keligion ;" "The Legahty of eating 
 Blood, or things strangled ;" "The Evidences of Christianity ;" 
 " The Man of Sin ;" " Is it lawful for Women to Preach ?" 
 "Contentment;" "Good Works;" "On the best Means of 
 knowing the Will of God in any case ;" " Is a Child born pure '?" 
 — a subject which Lord Palmerston had not then settled; 
 "Doth a Believer sin, and how far is a Believer sanctified when 
 justified V" — considered four nights, and recorded as dismissed ; 
 " The Duties of the Young ;" " the Church Catechism ;" " Were 
 the Apostles Converted Men before the Day of Pentecost ?" 
 " Baptism" — occupying three nights, on the last of wliich " two 
 pamphlets were read, one fV>r, 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 ])reclu<le8 the ])Ossibility of transferring to these 
 pages any such extracts from them as w duld illustrate the young 
 writer's powers of thought and style. Hut, without disturbing 
 the course of my narrative, I placi- in the .\])pendix* some sliort- 
 cr papers whieli will answer the same purpose. 
 
 Probably the niiiiule-book of tlu- society records his first at- 
 tcin]it to expoiu)d Holy Scripture. "Thursday morning, De- 
 cember '20th, 1700, l>r<»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<-l<irinf/ our hoiocencey Then James Ashcroft, 
 waving a handherchief, with a voice which shook the very 
 hearts of the by-standers, exclaimed, "• Glory be to God, we are 
 innocent, and we shall die innocent.'" Three days after they 
 were led to the scaffold. First llolden addressed the crowd, 
 strongly denying the Justice of the sentence; then, and in Hke 
 terms, David Ashcroft. The father then kissed his son ; but 
 neither spoke to the other nor to the people. All four, in their 
 last solemn prayers, appealed to the Great Searcher of hearts 
 that they were guiltless of the crime for which they were about 
 to suffer. This f)ver, they stood in grim array while the hang- 
 man pulled down upon tlieir faces the coverings which were to 
 veil their dying shame, and looked warily to see that the fatal 
 cords were surely tie<l. Then rose, as by some token before 
 agreed ujion, a dull and mufUed sound. The wretched crea- 
 tures sang, upon the brink of death, that same Psalm, with 
 words fnjm A\liieh trembling on his lips John Wesley went to 
 Paradise : 
 
 " I'll jtrnisc my Maker wliilc I've breath, 
 And, when my voice is lost in death, 
 
 Praise shall emjjloy my nohlcr powers ; 
 My days of jiraisc shall ne'er he i)ast, 
 While life, and thought — "♦ 
 
 Ilut here the drop fell. And those four startled, shuddering 
 souls took their forced leap into the gulf that yawned to meet 
 them ; an«l there were heard the dccj) gas]i and sigh of the huge, 
 gazing multitude; and then four dead bodies swimg heavily to 
 atid fro in the life-laden air of morning ! 
 
 We shrink naturally from believing that the last words of the 
 de|»arting are intentionally false, and for some time the popular 
 
 * The verse continues : 
 
 "And being last, 
 Or immortality cndnrcs."
 
 RELIGIOUS AND INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS. 67 
 
 feeling ran in tliis direction. And so, Avhcn it was rumored, long 
 afterward, that anotlior man, on his deatli-bcd, had cleared up 
 tlie mystery by declaring himself the only murderer, some im- 
 ])ression, not yet entirely eftaced, was again created that the law 
 had missed its proper victim. But all who read the records of 
 the trial, and are accustomed to weigh evidence, will feel a com- 
 fortless persuasion that James Ashcroft Avas an accomplice in 
 the bloody deed. " Lord, Lord, thou hast taught in our streets ! 
 l>ut 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'<l jtovcrty, liabitiially wi'iit without ihein, 
 hailed its dawn as its curlew sounded, and, while the bi'll ranj; 
 out the day, seized eaijerly its evening blessin<;. And great was 
 tlie advantage realized by those wlio led the humble devotions. 
 It was the drill of the jHivate ; it was that, and niueh more, to 
 those who w ere thereal\er to head the armies of Israel. These 
 came into close contact with tlic common i)eoi)le, and were 
 taught that jjrcciousness of common gifts; while, "by reason 
 of use," talents were developed, the best direction of them 
 gradually ascertained, piety deepened, and a healtliy glow of 
 encouragement and of hope thrown into the laborer's own 
 heart and around the expected service of a lifetime. City mis- 
 sions are a great modern institute; but the agency of whiclj I 
 now speak is something even simi>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<l 
 alloy of the standard of (iospel ordinances. And all of average 
 intelligence may, luidcr ])roiier regulations, engage in this work. 
 It riMpjires no jiecuniary <iutlay; it may be set about the very 
 next Sunday evening; and, evi-n when con<luctcd on the larg- 
 est scale, it is happily disencumbered of all that apparatus «.r 
 wheel and weight which imi)e<les so many efl'orts to do good. 
 *'A J'lan of the Metho<lists' Sunilay-evcniiig Prayer-meetings 
 in Manchester," for the cpiartcr comnu-ncing September, ITOs, 
 mid signed " Jabez IJunting, :i.'> 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 an<l Prayer-meetings," were jmblished 
 alMMit this period. The latter will be found in the Appendix,* 
 as containing much that is of j»ermanenl value; and 1 like their 
 good old Methodist flavor. 
 
 • Sec Ap|>cnJix 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, \vh<ise 
 written experience comprises a creed worthy to stand by the 
 side of those elaborated by councils of divines,f and whose 
 life was modeled upon the advice given to him in a moment 
 of peril by Wesley : ''Stand \\\nm the edge of this world, ready 
 to take wing; having your feet on earth, your eyes and heart 
 in lieaven" — these six their "own son in the Gosj)el," the ven- 
 erable Thomas Jackson, has embalmed,for tlie most part in their 
 own grave and simple language, in the three volumes of ''TIk 
 Lives of Karly ^Methodist Preachers," publishe<l at the Coimer- 
 tioiial IJook K-tablislinient in lt<;58; volumes which, to the great 
 
 • " Sonant of (Jml, well done I 
 
 Ufst from thy loved employ," etc. 
 Montjjomery's Po«>ticnl 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 I<ord 
 Jenuii Christ in sincerity. I desire to fidlow after pence with all men. I 
 hate Hin, and by the pracc of God I overcome it. I love holiness, the whole 
 mind that was in Christ, and I pursue it. Hy nil menus I follow on, if I 
 may nppnhend that fi)r which I was also npprchendcd of Christ Jesus. I 
 nim nt, wi»h, nnd prny f<«r, nil tlial prnce. glory, and immortality promised 
 br thf" Knther, nnd jirorurcd by the Son of His love. This I call Hible re- 
 ligion, genuine Christianity; nnd this religion I call mine. This I desire 
 to recommend to all men by preaching His word in the pulpit, in the hotise, 
 and in the way ; in si-nson and out of season, occording to my ability. 
 Without this religion, all names, notions, and forms, among all sectts and 
 parties, are but mi-re jmrnde nnd i<lle sliow. Without reiK-ntnnce, without 
 faith in the blood of Christ, without holiness of henrt nnd lifi-, withoiU lov( 
 to God nnd mnn. nil is nothing. Let nil men consider this well, and jirny 
 for, nnd seek after, this one thing needful, thnt they mny br- saved from »iD 
 io thin lif<', and fiom hell in the great day of the Lord Jcuua!"
 
 TUAIXING FOR THE SERVICE OF METHODISM. 71 
 
 loss of an age curious in the analysis of cliaracter, still linger in 
 their second edition. 
 
 Adam Clauke, the hard-headed, self-sustained, and resolute 
 Ilebridoan, with the large heart and lively genius of an Irish- 
 man ; the conscientious and pains-taking student; the various 
 scholar ; tlie preacher, careful, plain when most i)rofound, and 
 always evangelical, pointed, and earnest; the diligent pastor; 
 the good son, loving husV)and, fond father, and faithful friend; 
 above all — with some eccentricities of character and conduct, 
 and not without some grave errors of opinion — a godly, old- 
 fashioned, genial, and thoroughly lovable Methodist jireacher — 
 this great colossal figure, whose bold outline and fine propor- 
 tions ran never be hid by the crowds of little men who from 
 time to time have swarmed its sides and stood upon its shoulders 
 to be stared at. Dr. Etheridge has recently placed on a fitting 
 I>edestal, 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<ird," and to " be lunnble and 
 diligent ;" adding, " If you should live to preach the Gospel 
 forty years, and be the instrument of saving only one soul, it 
 will be w<»rth all your labor." In 17M he became a regular 
 itini-rant. 
 
 At this period <tf hi> 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 <lnrk demon of insanity itself IJut, wherever else he 
 f:ule«l or faltered, he never trod tin* pulpit-floor but with the 
 aMKured air of an habittial con<|ueror. He had a i)leasant and 
 eonnn.'inding person, an easy carriage, a voice excpusiti-ly mu- 
 sical, a ehar and coiiijireheiisive intelle<t, a ready and reti-ntive 
 nu'mory, and a <piick inventi<»n; while his style was jiure ruid 
 elegant, and the tone and manmr of his jireaching, as a rule, 
 very wann and afTectionale. IJut he had also that which none 
 of these alone, nor the whole combined, could funiish — the 
 sympathies and powers of a great natural orator. He supplied 
 to a considerable extent tin; cleficieiicies of his early education, 
 and what rcmaiueil were covere<l by the mantle of his genius.
 
 TRAINIXa FOR THE SERVICE OF METHODISM. 73 
 
 The secret of liis great popularity, Ijoth witliin and beyond the 
 borders of liis own church, is I'ully cxjilnincd, if to these, its le- 
 gitimate elements, be added a certain strange and savage hu- 
 mor, w-hich seasoned his discourses to the taste of the vulgar, 
 r:ither than commended them to the admiration of the intel- 
 ligent and pious. Yet great injustice would be done to his 
 reinitation were the idea conveyed that, in his best days, his 
 sermons were flavored very strongly with the cheap and coarse 
 condiments commonly retailed by the demagogue and the buf- 
 foon. There is a species of sarcasm, the use of which, even iu 
 the most sacred places and connections, is justitied by the pos- 
 session of the faculty to employ it, and by exact Scripture prec- 
 edents ;* and, when Bradburn was most himself, he handled with 
 dignity and effect that fomiidable -weapon. He must be taken 
 as a wliole, and as we are accustomed to take far inferior men 
 in our own day. His career was brilliant and useful ; and per- 
 haps more men longed, but durst not try, to preach Uke him, 
 than like any other preacher of his time. 
 
 His generosity, vivacity, and stem sincerity of character at- 
 tracted the universal love of his brethren ; and, after having 
 served the office of secretary, he Avas elected jiresident of the 
 Conference in 1790. Three years al\erward — the solitary in- 
 stance in our annals of an ex-president being so humbled — he 
 stood a culj)rit at its bar — (" wine" " biteth like a sei-pent") — 
 and received its solemn censure ; and it was ordered that his 
 
 * If any doubt this, let him read the puh]i«hcd sennons of the late Dr. 
 Ivichard Winter Ilaniilton ; volumes which, for the credit of the Congrcga- 
 tionalists, oupht to be republished in a chc.ip and jiopuiar form. The style, 
 indeed, is as unnatural as his great genius could invent ; but, like all his 
 other \>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)eye<l. 
 i'.radburn was sitting in conqiany with two agi-d women, juid 
 all wen- evi<lently waiting lor the young preacher's arrival. 
 " Now. ladies," sai«l he, " 1 knew you had a great deal to say
 
 TKAININCI FOK THE SERVICE OF METHODISM. 7o 
 
 about eat'h other, and tliat the opportunity would he very edi- 
 tyiiii;:, so I have sent for Mr. Bunling, iVuni Oldham, to enjoy it: 
 pray proceed." First one sister, and then the other, emptied 
 her well-stored budget of scandal and abuse, their ]>astor 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 "<lid not then speak one word, but soon aft- 
 er came int<» the shop and talke<l the matter over." The same 
 d.iy he went "to all of the trade in Shoreditth an<l Hishf»psg:ite 
 Without." All but two agreed at once to give up the Sunday 
 baking. He then called a meeting of master-]>.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 ha<l 
 set apart some days for fasting and i>rayer, 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, an<l his mcniury tenacious. J>eing 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 M<miiner, Thomns Thompson, Thomas Holy, Henry Longden, 
 Koger Crane, and William Came. And if, as I believe, the name of Hen- 
 ry Martyn's father aj)pears in the same list, what occasion might we have 
 lost of making our "i)oast in God" that the pattern missionary was trained 
 a Methodist! Thomas Thomjjson became a mcml)er of the Legislature, 
 and, under Wilberforce's banner, fought many a hard battlq for truth and 
 liberty. His son. General T. I'erronet Tliomjjson, is best known by his vig- 
 orous writings, and sustains the somewlnit rare reputation of being so thor- 
 oughly a Lilieral as to stand steadily cm the watch against the political 
 machinations of modern I'opcry. I can not claim him as belonging to our 
 community.
 
 TRAINING FOR THE SERVICE OF METHODISM. S5 
 
 The "Plan of Pacification," enacted in 1795, launched Meth- 
 odism as a Church ; but the ship rode the Avaters, not for war, 
 but for commerce ; and, if the flag of the Anglican Establish- 
 ment floated no longer at her mast-head, no rival or unfriendly 
 standard was hoisted m its place. But there arose another 
 contest, the necessary result of the former, and which was to 
 decide the places and pretensions of the crew that manned the 
 vessel. The former controversy " called a new Avorld into ex- 
 istence," and so, in some measure, " redressed the balance of 
 the old," while the other merely mapped a kingdom mto coun- 
 ties. The first was the religious event of the age ; the second 
 concerned the Church catholic oftly as it presented the novel 
 sjjectacle of a iDolity framed neither upon any exact and exclu- 
 sive precedents, nor even upon any very carefully defined prm- 
 ciples, but merely intended for use. The difllculties, too, of the 
 latter period were few and small as compared with those which 
 had preceded them. The strength of the connection — its pi- 
 ety, inteUigence, and general influence — was nearly all on one 
 side, and a short strife Avas ended by the secession of a scanty 
 minority. 
 
 Yet the second controversy involved questions of great im- 
 portance, and was conducted imder circumstances of consider- 
 able disadvantage to all parties interested in the result. 
 
 To aflirm that Wesley left behind him a Church without a 
 clergy would only be to allege an incontrovertible fact, namely, 
 that in his just and prudent anxiety to avoid, at least during 
 his o\\-n lifetime, the separation of his societies from the Church 
 of England, he had trusted to some providential arrangement 
 for the necessities which his death would reveal rather than 
 create. He had, indeed, by his own ordination of a few trust- 
 ed disciples, done something to meet the foreseen difficulties 
 of a state of transition. But that fact only occasioned another 
 anomaly, since it introduced among his preachers a disparity 
 of rank, Avith a marked difierence of functions, which, though 
 ine\dtable, was sure to peril their union. "We have seen that 
 these troubles Avere at length settled ; but they had been set- 
 tled by a compromise. The struggle had lain betAveen two 
 parties — those preachers who were opposed to farther sepai-a- 
 tion, and, alUed AA'ith them, large bodies of the trustees of chap- 
 els on the one hand, and preachers of much talent and useful-
 
 88 Tin; lifk of jabez bunting. 
 
 noss, anil :\ ccri-nt uuinlicr of ilio ]>oo]>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 <juestions afVecting pojnilar 
 j>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, f<tr more than sixty years, h. as attract- 
 ed tlu^ steaily and loyal attachment <tf the Methodist jicople. 
 Our flifrerences during that |»erioil have ln'cn settled, time nW- 
 ••r time, by a reference to the regulations enacted in 179.') and 
 1707. Those wlio liave thought that the sj)irit and essence of 
 them have been presented, have remained in cfjuimunioii with
 
 TRAINING FOR TJIK SERVICE OF METUODISil, 87 
 
 the body; tliose who liavo thouglit llie contrary, have left it; 
 and all have thus uiiilfd in testifying to the wisdom and mod- 
 eration (if the men to wliom we owe tliem. 
 
 I have referred to tliese events and discussions not only as 
 accounting for my father's early and able interference in the 
 management of connectional aftairs, but as furnishing some 
 clew to the formation of his opinions respecting them, lie 
 studied the reipiirements and aptitudes of Methodism at a 
 time when its struggling and imperiled condition elicited tlie 
 deepest solicitude of all who loved it, and he studied under its 
 best masters. More than this : at that time nothmg but its 
 spirit saved it ; and he drank dce|»ly of that s])irit. The anx- 
 ious, Iife-l(Hig concern of those who " naturally" cared for its 
 "state" — of those who owed "even their own souls" to its 
 founder, and who had undergone every kind of hardship and 
 of suftcring for its sake, possessed and pervaded every faculty 
 of his soul. He knew, better than most, the true place and 
 right value of a godly ecclesiastical order, and no man ever, in 
 his presence, touched the ark of the Methodist Constitution 
 without his strict scrutiny and his almost involuntary susjn- 
 cion. But for the machinery of Methodism, simply as such ; 
 for bustling legislation and petty economics; for "strifes of 
 words" and "vain jangling" about conformity to this or to 
 that more ancient institute ; for the rigidly logical proprieties 
 of things; and for dry precedents and abstract points in gen- 
 eral, my father never troubled himself, " no, not for an hour." 
 
 He carefully collected, while the controversies lasted, the 
 tracts and pamphlets which bore upon them. One printed 
 letter, circulated in 1796 by certain local preachers, trustees, 
 leaders, etc., " to their brethren in the Stockport Circuit," lies 
 before me. It contains i>ertinent 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. </., 
 " God forbid we should gain information by going to law be- 
 fore unbelievers!"); and of divers other things, which, "if 
 real" — but they seem to h.ave doubted it — were clearly dread- 
 ful " evils;" and winds \ip in that form of interrogative argu- 
 ment which only a practiced hand should venture to employ.
 
 88 THE LIFE OF JABEZ ]JUNTING. 
 
 Seven questions are aske<l. "Is it riglit that every society 
 should choose its own leaders and stewards?" that is, of 
 course, without the assistance of the minister. ^ly father has 
 written " No ;" and he has recorded a similar answer to a 
 question Avhieh he seems to have iniderstood, hut I do not. 
 The remaining queries have fairly puzzled him. He has left 
 them unanswered. 
 
 Such was young Jabez Bunting's traming for the faithful 
 service which he rendered to the Church during nearly sixty 
 years. He was Methodism's own loving and grateful child. 
 Young, and therefore quickly and easily impressed, he enjoyed 
 the preaching, the pastoral attentions, and the intimate society 
 of some of its best and ablest ministers, and that durmg a 
 period of its history when the resources of their wisdom and 
 piety were most demanded, and were put into the best and 
 most active exercise. His opinions and sympathies were thus 
 formed and fostered in circumstances favorable to early ma- 
 turity. His education had been various and systematic, and 
 well-calculated, on the whole, to prepare him for the extensive 
 sphere of Tluty he was so soon to till. He had seen much of 
 the Church, and, for his years, a good deal of the Avorld. And 
 liis opportunities and advantages had been diligently cultivated 
 and improved with a lively feeling of obligation to Him Avho 
 hail given them, and Avith a deep sense of the rcsi)onsibilities 
 Avhich they involved. I (juit the subject — many of its details 
 novel to myself — with regret, as one leaves a gallery where 
 liangs the portrait of a comely, happy youth fiist rising mto 
 manhood ; a f\ice that, though you did not know it, strangely 
 set your heart a beating; but — the thouglit flashed upon you 
 all at once — it was your dear and kindly father; the same who 
 sat but lately in his easy-chair by the waiin fireside, bending 
 in the benignant beauty of age; looking thoughtfully at you; 
 and — the old saint growing every day more like the Holy 
 Child Jesus — "both hearing" and asking "questions."
 
 CALL TO THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 89 
 
 CHAPTER Yll. 
 
 CALL TO TUE CHRISTIAN JIINISTRT. 
 
 A Locfil Preacher. — Ilis Doubts and Decision. — First Sermon. — Trial Ser- 
 mon. — Exercises as to his Call to the Ministiy. — Correspondence with 
 Mr. Mather. — Letter announcing his Intention to Dr. Pcrcival. — Re- 
 ceived on Trial at the Conference of 1799. 
 
 I UAVE already related how, early in 1V98, my father gave 
 an exhortation to an out-door congregation at James Ash- 
 croft's house in Salford. No doubt he had used the same gift 
 at the prayer-meetings which I have also described. But now 
 something more formal was expected from him, and his friends 
 urged him to try to preach. They would look forward to his 
 becoming an itinerant preacher ; but he took one step only at 
 a time ; and all that he seems to have resolved upon, when a 
 young man, nineteen years of age, was to employ himself as a 
 lay, or, as the Methodists call it, a " local preacher ;" still pur- 
 suing the study, with a view to the practice, of his profession. 
 Had this intention been fulfilled, he would have become one 
 of the very few physicians who have engaged in the double 
 duty of curing the bodies and the souls of men. 
 
 But he embarked in this subordinate sphere of usefulness 
 after long consideration and much pinyer, and m a truly hum- 
 ble frame of mind. On a sUp of paper I find the follo"\ving 
 memorandum : 
 
 " JPro. 
 
 " 1 . The want of laborers, specially such as are tolerably 
 intelligent and well-informed persons. 
 
 " 2. The general duty of using every talent that God has 
 imparted ; remembering that ' the supply of the means is the 
 requisition of the duty.' 
 
 " 3. The deep-rooted and long-continued conviction that I 
 am called to this work. 
 
 " 4. The opinion of those Christian friends whom I have 
 consulted, and that of others who aj)pear to expect it from me.
 
 90 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 " Contra. 
 " 1. ]\ry own deficiency in point of knowledge. 
 "2. My want of lime for religious study. 
 " 3. My youth and inexperience. 
 
 " 4. My unfaithfulness to God's grace, and my littleness of 
 faith and love. 
 
 "5. My rare opportiuiities of exercising. 
 
 " Lord, teach nie what Thou -wouldest have me to do ! 
 ''Augtist, 1798." 
 
 Probably most persons who read and balance these reasons 
 for and against his beginning to preach at so early an age 
 will, on the Avhole, concur in his decision. He had been, for 
 nearly four years, a steady Christian, and had, as we have 
 seen, been placed in a position where continual converse with 
 judicious and able ministers made him familiar with preaching 
 as an exercise. He must have discovered, too, by this time, 
 as clearly as he ever did, that he had the gifts which, if dili- 
 gently cultivated, would, by God's blessing, make him a suc- 
 cessful preacher. Al)ovc all, there lay, " deep-rooted" in his 
 heart, the conviction that he was called to this work. He did 
 not, indeed, know the full import of the call he liad received. 
 He was " inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon" 
 him the sacred " office to serve God, lor the promoting of His 
 glory and the edifying of his people." But, as yet, the Divine 
 monition iinju'cssed liinuonly Avilli the general duty of using 
 every talent that "God has unparted." Afterward, and as he 
 faithfully fulfilled this duty, he came to learn that the summons 
 contamcd a deeper meaning. 
 
 The i»rccedent sui)plied l)y his case, however, Avill not, I ]ire- 
 suinc, be (pioted in favor of em])loying in the serious business 
 of the j)ulpit raw and inexperienced converts, not " intelligent 
 and well-informed," and especially where tliere is no " want of 
 la])orers." Wesley never said a wiser thing than when he told 
 Mather, who, so soon as he knew the truth, Avislied to ])reach 
 it, "This is a connnon temptation to young men." To those 
 dee]»ly solicitous that Methodism should still wield with vigor 
 and effect the ancient i)owers of a ])reaclied (lospel, the (pies- 
 tion often presents itself whether our famiharity Avith that bless-
 
 CALL TO THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 91 
 
 ed ordinance never renders us careless as to the character and 
 qiialiiications of those Avho are permitted to engage in it. Eco- 
 nomically, we are dejiendent, to an immense extent, upon the 
 services of local preachers ; and I sjieak, not of the stars and 
 prodigies among that admirable class of men, but of its bulk 
 and body, and more especially of those who, in wide-spread cir- 
 cuits, and sometimes throughout half a county, emulate, at least 
 in zeal, self-sacrifice, and diligence, the labors of the regular 
 ministry, when I record my father's cordial appreciation of the 
 cheerfuhicss, ability, fidelity, and success with which those la- 
 l)ors are discharged. But, surely, our dependence upon this 
 great and necessary system should induce us to maintain, im- 
 prove, and guard it. Are "babes m Christ" never employed 
 in tasks beyond their strength, and those whose nutrition should 
 be the first care of the Church set to play at nurturmg others ? 
 Not that they are to be without suitable and suflicient exercise ; 
 but "out of the mouths of babes and sucldings" is chiefly "per- 
 fected" " praise" — the fresh and glowing testmiony which tells 
 of the continued presence of Christ in His Church. As the 
 powers of action gradually develop and mature, there are quiet 
 occupations, such as old Methodists were content to spend their 
 lives upon — the cottage; the sick-bed; the work-house; the 
 infirmary ; the prison ; and the prayer-meeting, with its unpre- 
 tentious word of warning ; and there is also the Sunday-school 
 — this, however, never to be entered without serious thought, 
 or m any spirit but that of an earnest evangelism. True, the 
 anxious pastor must seek out recruits for the pulpit as for other 
 departments of service, and, in particular, is tremblmgly alive 
 to the responsibihty of " committing to others also" the weighty 
 charge which he liimself sustahis. But fit candidates for the 
 pulpit will present themselves so long only as it shall continue 
 undegraded by the vanity, incompetency, or doubtfid piety of 
 existing occupants ; and as for the holy ministry, random guess- 
 es, and an easy carelessness in the choice of those who are to 
 fill it, would be the most certain symptoms of present declen- 
 sion and decay. Let us learn to think of the three or four thou- 
 sand congregations Avho every Sabbath-day receive the very 
 bread of life, or worse than nothing, from the hands of our lo- 
 cal preachers, if with a lively gratitude to God, and to the men 
 to whom He has given the heart thus to serve Him, yet with
 
 92 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTIXG. 
 
 the solieitiule -which they thoiaselvcs are, in many cases, the 
 first to feel, as to the preservation and imi)rovement of this vast 
 ao-ency of nsefuhiess. If official vigilance shoukl ever fail, and 
 the crowds of hungry souls dependent upon jNIethodisni for the 
 supply of their spiritual wants should be left unfed ; worse still, 
 if we should ever conic to give them stones for bread, or for 
 fish serpents, the burden of our ineftcctual repentance will be 
 like his of old, "Tliesc sheep, what have they done?" 
 
 My father has left behind luni a number of little books, con- 
 tainmg, " from the first day" imtil an advanced period of his 
 ministry, lists of the texts of his sermons, of the places where 
 he preached, and, in the earlier portion of the series, of the 
 names of various i)crsons present. I conjecture that these 
 names were recorded as being those of strangers, before A\hom 
 he was desirous not to preach again w^hat was substantially the 
 same sermon. But he was cautious as to tliis particular so long 
 only as his preparations for the pulpit were, hi his judgment, 
 few and very incomplete. In the zenith of his i)Ower as a 
 preacher he cast all such cautions to the wind ; and, while scru- 
 piilously avoiding repetitions, often eagerly desired, to the same 
 congregation, he chose, at the time, that very topic of discourse 
 which seemed to him best suited to the season or occasion. 
 When the cares of office pressed upon him, he took a still wider 
 latitude, and worked rather with tools ready for his use, and of 
 easy and familiar handling, than with those made in the hurry, 
 which, as to all things pertaining to the ])ulpit, his very soul 
 hated. 
 
 His first sermon was preached on the twelfth of August, 
 iVns, in a small cottage at a place called Sodom, on the road 
 from Manchester to Blacklcy. The text was the latter part 
 of the first verse in the fourteenth (•hai)ter of St. John's Gos- 
 pel: "Ye believe in (iod, believe also in Me." His IViends, 
 James Wood, John Hey wood, James Morris, and William AI- 
 biston, were present. The yellow, tattered manuscript of his 
 ]irc))arations i'or this occasion is still extant. I believe it fur- 
 nishes indications of his mature style and power in the pulpit, 
 and ])ossibly it may appear among the number of his ])ublish- 
 ed discoursdil. Mr. Wood, who watched his pulpit career with 
 a fon.l ]jride and interest for more than iifty years, always said 
 that the iirst essay in the cottage was never excelled, either as
 
 CALL TO THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 93 
 
 to its matter, maimer, or manifest effect. But it is suggested 
 by Mr. Jackson* that " this opinion was hastily formed, and 
 most probably arose from the feeling of surprise and thankful- 
 ness experienced on hearing his first pulpit effort, for no unin- 
 spired man ever attained to true eminence in preaching but by 
 a course of hard study and persevering prayer. No mere 
 youth, let his powers of mind and elocution be Avhat they may, 
 ever exercised a ministry like that of Jabez Bunting in the ma- 
 turity of his manhood." The experienced divine and preacher 
 speaks in the tone of kindly check and warning. I venture to 
 give a word of respectful encouragement to a class he had not 
 in his eye. How many cases have we all known of young men 
 Avhosc natural endowments to themselves, as to others, seemed 
 very few, but Avhose deep sense of duty, intense studiousness, 
 increasing acquisitions, and humble waiting upon God for His 
 succeedhig blessing, have placed them, comparatively soon, in 
 the first ranks of the ministry ! These pages will fail misera- 
 bly of their object if they do not, at least in this respect, sus- 
 tam the impression produced by Mr. Jackson's Aveighty say- 
 ings, and show that my father's early popularity and influence 
 were due, not so much to his rare talents as to liis careful cul- 
 tivation of them. And thus those in every position to whom 
 " much," and those to Avhom " little is given" — all, indeed, ex- 
 cept the men who, having little, think it so much that they do 
 not care to make the most of it, may learn a profitable lesson. 
 
 It is certain that my father's preaching attracted immediate 
 and general attention, although, as a local preacher, he only 
 filled the pulpit twenty-nine times, and that with but fourteen 
 sermons in his desk. He ofliciatcd chiefly in small preaching- 
 rooms either in Manchester or in the adjacent villages. His 
 twenty-third time of preachmg was at the " Cahdnist" Chapel 
 in Macclesfield, and the twenty-fifth to the twenty-ninth, in- 
 clusive, at Monyash and other places in the Peak. I hope his 
 mother went with him. 
 
 So early as 1784, John Pawson, then stationed in Manches- 
 ter, discerned that " some of the people were in great danger 
 of running into wildness." If the peril had ever quite passed 
 
 * "The Character and Dismission of the Prophet Daniel : a Sermon oc- 
 casioned by the Death of the late Rev. Jabez Bunting, D.D., etc., etc. 
 London: John Mason."
 
 9i THE LIFE OF JA13EZ BUNTING. 
 
 away, -whicli is aoubtriil, it had revived at the period cf my 
 father's entrance upon his course as a preacher. Francis Mar- 
 ris, then a young man from Hull, and afterward a pattern, dur- 
 ius? :^ long life, of sober godliness, liad, shortly before this time, 
 been tlie means of introducing the sense and i)racticc of piety 
 into the household of his employer, Mr. Broadluu-st, an exten- 
 sive draper. Ilis master and mistress, and a wliole host of 
 young men m their service, went, at his suggestion, to hear 
 Benson preach, and were converted. But they w^ere more 
 zealous than wise, and gathered round them a number of good 
 but ignorant persons, who pursued the most unlikely means 
 for promoting serious religion, whether in their own or in 
 other hearts. The chief resort of these people was to a room 
 called " The Band-room," built by the liberality of Broadhurst, 
 where, Avitli less likelihood of official oversight and clieck than 
 m the chapels, they pursued their own courses of action. The 
 good sense, liowever, of successive superintendents, who knew 
 that, whatever else was done there, some sound preaching 
 could not do any harm, supplied them with that ordinance ac- 
 cordingly. In this room my father preached the " trial-ser- 
 mon" which the usage of the body requires before the candi- 
 date is accredited as a local preacher. An excellent friend,* 
 Avlio was present on this occasion, has related to me the curious 
 scene which lie then Avitnessed. In the pulpit stood a very 
 slim, timid-looking boy, who gave out the ])reparatory liymn 
 in peace. Then Sister Broadhurst and ]5rother Dowley insist- 
 ed ujjon praying, and were both gratified. But Avhen a broth- 
 er, of name u)d<nown, sought to exercise in prayer for the third 
 time, the wrath of honest John Bnrkenhead, afterward a mis- 
 sionary for two years in the AVest Indies, was kindled, and he 
 shouted out, "It's time for the yoimg mfm to begin." So the 
 service proceeded Avithout farther interruption. In a very few 
 years these irregularities were stoi)ped, and i)artly by my fa- 
 ther's own counsels and exertions. 
 
 I shall gratify t)je curiosity of some by naming the texts of 
 the fourteen sermons wliich formed liis entire stock dining the 
 eleven months of liis emplo)nnent as a local preacher. Besides 
 the first, already t^iven, are. Numbers, xxiii., 10; Luke, ii., 10, 
 ] ) ; [>ul<e, ii., 14 J Isaiah, Iv., G; Titus, ii., 11, 1:5; T>til<(', 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 throu<rli the former district during the 
 stern winter seasons tried his constitution to the utmost. I 
 have commonly remarked that men accustomed to active intel- 
 lectual exercise are habitually either of keen or of very delicate 
 appetite. My father came Avithin the latter class; and the 
 rough dainties of the country, notwithstanding the hearty wel- 
 come which seasoned them, were often utterly rei^ulsive, and 
 still oftcner, when received in recii)rocal kindness, rather hurt- 
 ful than nutritious. Indeed, he would have perished of hunger 
 or of indigestion but for the wholesome bacon, and the thin, 
 soft oat -cake which were the ordinary diet of the people ; and, 
 to the last, these were among liis favorite luxuries. But his 
 liealth sank under the disciplijie; and he used often and grate- 
 fully to declare that he owed his life to the affectionate nursing 
 of Mrs. Allen, long ago departed. At the house of her husband 
 he Avas kindly accommodated, and treated as a sf)ii during long 
 periods of time together. JM r. Allen w as a hearty meml)er and
 
 PROBATION m THE MACCLESFIELD CIRCUIT. 121 
 
 friend of the society in Macclesfield. Some years ago he pur- 
 chased two houses for permanent occupation by mmisters. A 
 thousand other acts of kindness to the Clnu'ch, to its ministers, 
 and to the poor of the flock have embalmed his name and mem- 
 ory. My father continued in this circuit also for two years. 
 His colleagues, during the first, were Jeremiah Brettell and 
 Thomas Ilutton ; and during the second, Joseph Ent"\\isle and 
 George Morley. 
 
 Jeee^uah Brettell has been dead tliirty years. I remem- 
 ber him a tall, thin, and ancient-looking man, very neat in his 
 dress, and very affectionate in his manner. He was born in 
 1753, and Avas brought to a "serious concern for salvation" by 
 the teacliuig and example of his elder brother, an itinerant 
 preacher. After many dark and discouraging reasonuigs, " I 
 remember one evening," he says, in his owai brief notices of his 
 life, " when the moon was rising m her glory, musing uj)on and 
 singing those Hues of xVddison — 
 
 " * Soon as the evening shades prevail, 
 The moon takes up the wondrous tale, 
 And, nightly, to the listening earth, 
 Repeats the story of her birth.' 
 
 I felt a sweet and heavenly influence to rest upon my mind. 
 Suddenly this hope sprang up — God loves me, after all my wan- 
 derings from Him. Fear vanished ; peace flowed into my soul ; 
 and I was comforted with the con^dction that God loved me 
 through the atonement of His Son." Bradburn was stilled into 
 seriousness by looking at some decayed flowers, and Brettell 
 filled with hope and peace as the nightly heavens revealed to 
 him God's changeless ordinances, while Wesley's " heart" was 
 " strangely warmed"* into the life of love and hohness ere yet 
 the echoes of the anthem at St. Paul's had died away upon his 
 ears. Lessons these for all who despise tlie lieautiful, and in- 
 sist that a religion rich in sympathies shall steel itself against 
 its owTi instinctive yearnings after Nature, and after Nature's 
 interpreters. Music and the Arts !f 
 
 * Wesley's " Journals," vol. i., p. 103. 
 
 t "Monday, March 29," 1782, says Wesley (Journals, vol. iv., p. 223), 
 "I came to Macclesfield just time enough to assist Jlr. Simpson in the la- 
 borious sendee of the day. I preached for him morning and afternoon, and 
 we administered the sacrament to about thirteen hundred persons. While 
 
 VoL.L— F
 
 122 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 Brett ell began to " travel" in 1774. Thomas Mitchell, a vet- 
 eran itinerant gave him a friendly cantion at starting. "I nn- 
 derstand that you ai'e going to travel. You will sometimes be 
 a gentleman in the morning, and a beggar at night." He was 
 appointed to Epworth. " Before I set oft*," he says, "I bought 
 a horse npon credit of a preacher Avho was just going to Amer- 
 ica : fortunately for me the money was never demanded, nor 
 could I ever leai-n to -whom it was due." Horses were the 
 standing temptation of those times. Brettell records many 
 conflicts of mind, but states, " My apprehensions were the stron- 
 gest Avhen my horse and myself Avere in danger of sinking in 
 the bogs while crossing the fens." At the next Conference the 
 two brothers Avere sent to Ireland. "After visiting my native 
 place," the younger continues, "and taking leave of my friends, 
 we set off. And now the sale of my horse, Avhich I had upon 
 credit, served to bear my expenses to Ireland, and to procure 
 another there." In tAVo years he Avas thoroughly tired out, 
 imd suftered from a nervous ievcv ; but after six Aveeks of al- 
 most perpetual sleej) he began to recover, and became again fit 
 for Avork. He Avas present at the Leeds Conference of 1784, 
 Avhen "a little dispute took place bctAveen Mr. Wesley and four 
 of the preachers. Mr. Fletcher ajipeared as a peacemaker Avith 
 the preachers Avho Avere to blame; he talked with Ihem, and 
 fell on his knees before them; they were struck Avith his hu- 
 mility and affection, and Avere melted doAAm into a spirit of rec- 
 onciliation. In 1 785 Brettell Avas appointed to Bristol. " Here," 
 he Avrites, "I became more acquainted Avith jMr. Charles Wes- 
 ley, as he generally spent some months in Bristol cAcry summer. 
 This society Avas, at that time, I suppose, the most opulent in the 
 kingdom. Mr. Charles Wesley, being of High-Church princi- 
 ples, did not conceive hoAV the good AVOrk, begun in his day, 
 could be carried on Avithout the guidance of jtious clergymen. 
 When he met the society he used to exhort ihem to abide in 
 the Church, and ventured to say that, on his death and that of 
 his brother, the Methodist preachers would divide ; some Avould 
 
 wc were iulniinistcring, I licard a low, soft, solemn sound, just like that of 
 an TpAjJian liar]i. It continued five or six minutes, and so affected many 
 that they could not refrain from tears. It then gradually died away. 
 StranRC that no other organist (that I know) sliould think of this." The 
 organis' on ibis occasion was my grandfather, iEncus Maclardic.
 
 PROBATION" IN THE MACCLESFIELD CIKCUIT. 128 
 
 go into the Church, and otliors settle as Dissenting ministers ; 
 but the people must abide in the Church, and they would get 
 safe to land. He did not know the piety and stability of the 
 preachers so well as his brother did. When I heard him ad- 
 dress the society thus, I thought the people could not love us, 
 and felt somewhat discouraged. I had left a Uvely, affectionate 
 people in the North, and thought the society in Bristol, hearing 
 these reflections upon the preachers, must be very different. I 
 mentioned this to my colleagues, and they told me that Mr. 
 Charles Wesley had been long accustomed to speak in this man- 
 ner, and that few or none took any notice of it. But his re- 
 marks, no doubt, laid the foundation, in some degree, for that 
 partial separation which took place in Bristol a few years after, 
 when some alterations became necessary on the death of his 
 brother." 
 
 I must leave the Arminian Magazine for 1789 to tell how 
 Mr. Easterbrook,* Vicar of the Temple Church, Bristol, to- 
 gether with BretteU and five other vahant Methodist preachers 
 (two vicars and the precentor of the Cathedral declining the 
 contest), encomitered and defeated divers evil spirits, male and 
 female, which had possessed themselves of the body of one 
 George Lukins. St, Ambrose must have labored under some 
 mistake when he asserted that souls have no sexes. 
 
 In 1793 BretteU was stationed with Benson in Manchester. 
 " The good work prospered much under that man of God, Mr. 
 Benson. Many souls were awakened, and brouglit strongly to 
 knoAv and love God. At one time, in particular, when at the 
 Salford" (now called the Gravel Lane) " Chapel, an uncommon 
 unction attended the prayer after the sermon. He was led to 
 plead with God that every soul in that place might be saved, 
 and I believe e-sery one present was deeply affected under the 
 influence of the Divine Spirit," 
 
 Those who wish to know his thoughts at the termination of 
 his next appointment may read them in a note. They are 
 those of a Methodist preacher of the old school. f In 1801 he 
 
 * The only clerpj-nian nf whom I ever heard who had jircached in every 
 house in his parish. It was very extensive, but he aeeomplished the work 
 in two }'ears. 
 
 t "We had considerable trials from those who were degenerated bv Jac- 
 obinical politics, and zeal for a new system of religious government, and
 
 124 THE LIKE OF JAHEZ JUNTINC 
 
 ii'tireil from very active service, l)iit for ei<;litc(ii years more 
 he filled wi-ll the jteciiliar sphere of usefulness open to a sujter- 
 mmierary minister; the kind l)ut inotlicious counselor of his 
 sous in the CJosj)el ; the friend and visitor of the people, espe- 
 cially of those like himself, on the near look-out for heaven; 
 an occasional and always willinix preacher; and a jtattern of 
 mature and peai-eful LTodliness. Joseph Kntwisle visited him 
 in his last days, and mentitms two short sayinirs, each weighty 
 with great thoughts: "I am on the Foundation." "All is 
 peace within." 
 
 liut I must now s])eak very briefly of liim who wrote this 
 record. .Vml who that ever saw that beautiful face — a face 
 more angelic than even that of Fletcher, as conveying no idea 
 of a ]»ainful intensity of feeling — who that looks at it now, in 
 the faithful portrait prefixed to the admiral>le 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<ietJe((, as in all other eliurchen, but they have gen- 
 erally l»cen overrided fur p(K)d to the body at larpe. They have often cniucd 
 litipiiiai and unruly iM-rnon!i to Mepurate thc-mHelve-i, when the lenient disci- 
 plitic of the Ixxly could not easily have eflertetl ^o denirable an object. 
 NevcrthelciiH, diviiitunR in ('hri»tian HocieticH are, in themselves, a sore evil, 
 an<I a woe w denounced apain>>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 sancti<m ; if n<it, they will na certainly wither away. We ]>nssed 
 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 ; L<mdon : John Mason, IH.^I.
 
 PHOHATIOX IN THE MACCLESFIELD CIRCUIT, 125 
 
 preached his tirst sermon before lie was sixteen years of age, 
 aiul his last more than fifty-eight years afterward. Perlect 
 models an; rare; but, to those of his own type of character, he 
 may safely be i)resented as the pattern of a judicious, serene, 
 cheerful, and consistent Christian, and of a jtaius-taking and 
 useful minister, liut I should greatly wrong the reader of 
 these volumes if any fartlfer description of this eminent man 
 should prevent the perusal of one of the best pieces of ]\Ietliod- 
 ist biograjihy — I si»eak my fathers judgment — which a Church 
 rich in the lives of true saints has ])roduced. 
 
 In his Journal of the 24th of October, 1800, Mr. Entwisle 
 writes, "Rode over the dreary mountams to Oldham, and 
 dhied there with ]\Ir. Rogers. There I met -svith 'Mi: Jabe/. 
 Bunting, a townsman of mine. lie left great prospects in the 
 world, in the medical profession, to become a traveling preachei'. 
 He is going on his second year, is about twenty-one, is eminent 
 for good sense, piety, and ministerial gifts, and promises great 
 usefuhiess. Glory be to God !" 
 
 The acquaintance thus commenced ripened into a long and 
 happy friendship ; and we shall see that, thirty-four years after 
 the meeting at Oldham, Jabez Bunting's cautious judgment 
 selected Entwisle as the very best person the connection could 
 supply to be the first governor and i)astor of the Wcsleyan 
 Theological Institution. 
 
 I must speak still more briefly of George Moni.EV. His 
 biographer — and he deserves one — will one day describe, in 
 detail, liis dignified courtesy of manner, clear and vigorous 
 miderstanding, large and various knowledge, and continuous 
 and regular attention to ail departments of ministerial dutv- 
 My father always honored him as the founder of the first Wcs- 
 leyan Methodist Missionary Society. At an eventful crisis, it 
 was he who spoke the word wliich, ere long, planted a thousand 
 cluurhes, and civilized whole tribes ajid nations of mankind.* 
 
 * Mr. Morlcy orpanizctl the Leeds District for missionnrv objects, and so 
 oripin.-ited our present s}-stcniatic connectional cflort.-!. But simultanenuslv. 
 if not l)eforc tlic preat meetinp at Leeds, monevs were raised for the Metli- 
 odist Missions by a societ}- formed for the purpose in Bimiinphani. Tin; 
 founder of it was the Rev. Jolin F. England, now of Ilolsworthy, Devon, 
 who, havinp done this preat service to Christ's canse,. afterward labored 
 faitlifully as a Missionary in India. lie writes, " I had for some time sub- 
 scribed to the Church Missionary Society, but it stnick me as desirable to
 
 126 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 Thomas Hutton, my father's remaining colleague in the Mac- 
 clesfield Circuit, and always remembered hy him with great 
 aifoction, must be passed over here Avith such notice only as 
 might be given of Metliodist preachers generally of every race. 
 With gifts and graces carefully improved, they labor hard and 
 long ; they " turn many to righteousness ;" they die well ; and 
 they " shall shine as the brightness of the firmament," and " as 
 the stars forever and ever." 
 
 My father, when at Oldham, had dreaded even an occasional 
 exchange, which should lead to his occupymg the Macclesfield 
 pulpit. There was as much reason for this fear as any muiis- 
 ter need ever entertain. Macclesfield, like Manchester and oth- 
 er tOAATis in that district, was then rising rapidly into import- 
 ance as a great seat of industry, and, during tlie latter half of 
 the last century, Methodism seized as its own, though not Avith 
 a selfish exclusiveness, the places where men gathered thickly 
 too-ether. The historians of our country have failed to teU 
 how Methodism, Avith its sim})le agencies for the conversion of 
 the common people, attended upon the rise of the manufactm*- 
 ing system, and, in the dearth or famine of all other provision, 
 made safe and beneficial the vast and sudden increase of the 
 population and of its means of wealth. It happened according- 
 ly that, in such toAvns, many Avcre Methodists Avho had been 
 borne to affluence on the advancing Avave of commercial pros- 
 perity. At Macclesfield in particular, tlie Daintrys, the Ryles, 
 and families of like consideration — of the generations immedi- 
 ately succeeding those AA'hich founded their fortunes — Avere 
 among the most iutclligent attendants at the Chapel. I have 
 mentioned one name Avliich, no longer represented Avithin our 
 OAvn conmiunion, nobly sustains, in tlie Church of England, tlie 
 Methodist reputation for zeal, iidelity, and success. 
 
 I can glance but hastily at the correspondence of this period. 
 
 Soon after my fatlier's entrance into the circuit, he Avrote to 
 turn my mite into a Wcslcyan channel. Nothing of tlic kind existed in 
 BirminRhiim. Then why not originate one for ourselves ? The idea 
 warmed in my mind ; I broupht it before a circle of fine yonng men ; tliey 
 entered iieartily into the scheme; and wc began." These contributions 
 were forwarded to the Conference of 1814, with a letter signed "John 
 Yeates, AVllliam Drowley, C. Holt, Treasurers; J. F. England, J. Hard- 
 man, Collectors; Thomas Morgan, {Samuel llecley, William Ilarcourt, 
 Scrretnrics."
 
 PROBATION" IX THE MACCLESFIELD CIRCUIT. 127 
 
 Mr. Marsclen, then stationed in Manchester. After telling of 
 some local strifes, the writer proceeds : " What a strange Avorld 
 we live in ! and the Church of Christ itself, in its present state, 
 abounds with occasions of trial and vexation, from which there 
 is no adequate refuge but in the sanctuary of God. The per- 
 sonal enjoyments of vital religion, and a close private walk with- 
 God, are the only certam sources of pure and lasting pleasm-e. 
 Happy shall we be if the tumults of the world, and the various 
 agitations and perplexities of the Church, effectually teach us 
 this lesson, and lead us to seek our all of happiness in Ilini Avho 
 is our shelter from the tempest and our covert from the storm." 
 
 A pleasant letter from Mr. Gaulter relates the story of a visit 
 to the former circuit, Oldham. " is, as usual, busy in do- 
 ing nothing, but washing his hands in innocency." " Do not 
 be too anxious about your success. The Avork needs you, and 
 I Imow your health will not permit excessive labor. Take care 
 of the damp in the mountainous parts of your circuit, particu- 
 larly of the beds. I hope God will keep you." 
 
 To Mr. Wood my flither writes on December 11th, 1801 : " I 
 need not, I trust, assure you that I account your acquaintance 
 and intimacy to be one of those mercies which the God of mer- 
 cy has poured upon me in such rich abundance, and for which 
 I shaU forever bless Him. I think, and am sure, that hitherto 
 our friendship has been mutually profitable to us in the best 
 thmgs ; but let us labor that it may become more and more so. 
 Do you regularly and fervently pray for me ? This is an office 
 of brotherly affisction which I never — no, never — ^needed more 
 than now. I can with truth affirm that, when it is well with 
 me, I remember you ; and, indeed, you are never forgotten by 
 me. With respect to our heavenly Friend, I think I am begin- 
 ning to love Him more, and I do wish to serve Him better. My 
 mind has certainly been much quickened in its spmtual pur- 
 suits since I came into tliis circuit. There was, I confess with 
 shame, much need of a revival of personal rehgion m me, for I 
 feel that no dihgence in study, no ministerial acceptance or suc- 
 cess, no increase in knowledge, will compensate for the absence 
 of the power of godliness. I have been preaching to-night on 
 Phil., iv., 19, but have never had so dull and coinfortless a time 
 since I came hither. Perhaps this is to mortify my selfish de- 
 pendencies, and to teacli me that only ' the Spirit giveth life.'
 
 128 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 However, I l>ave 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'<l rciriincnt of as- 
 sertions on oni' ]v<s, and ot' assuin|)tions with one cyr, ho hard- 
 ly knew whcllu'r tlu' ral)l»U' or the soldiery disturhed him more, 
 liotli l)l<H-ked up the streets ami sto]iiKMl traile. Why nut have 
 sent for a jxtlieenian to (juiet the nioh ? 
 
 To a youni; tVieml in the ministry he wrote durinjjf this peri- 
 od, " I thank you for the information your letter affords nie 
 
 concerninLj the Circuits, ete. Such intelliufenee can not 
 
 but be interesting to me as a Methodist preacher, and may be 
 useful. Your hints about the talents of several of your neigh- 
 bors in the ministry are also acceptable. I wish to become as 
 ixenerally and ai-curately acfpiainted as I can Avith the ])rcaeh- 
 
 ers and circuits in our connection. 's lli;,dits of imai;ina- 
 
 lion are truly ludicrous ; and, indeed, I think that, in general, 
 the fewer excursions we make into the regions of metaphor and 
 allegory, the better it will be. Plain sense, exprcssid in plain 
 words, witlKMit any show of learning, or allectation of rhetori- 
 cal brilliancy, is most likely to be of ultimate use to our hear- 
 ers, (^tlier things may dazzle, but they seldom ilhnninate or 
 
 sanctify I see there must l)e some cf)rner of our letters 
 
 appropriated to matrimonial hints and explanations. Notwith- 
 standing yom- hint ;ibout the union ofjiiety and monev,' I 
 havi' some doubts whether the latter be so essential, or even so 
 desirable as you seem to supi)0se. In your case, at all events, 
 it is not either essential or of prime importance, as you will 
 have jirivate iiu-ome enough, in aid of yoin- rc-ceipts from the 
 connection, to make you comfortable any where, 'rhereforo, 
 unless, not content with competency, you are mad :ifter wealth, 
 which (iod forbid, you can not do lutltr than ilirect your at- 
 tention to our amiable friend. Miss , supposing that you 
 
 approve of her in all other respects. As to myself, all your wit 
 is foimtled on a mistake. I did not say, at least I could not 
 nie.in to say, that the chains arc not yet forged that nw toltind 
 me, but that none arc forged which have notually boiujd mo 
 at ])resent ; besides, it is not accinate to speak of A\ives as 
 chains," 
 
 To -Air. Woo(l my father writes again: " T*r:iy for me. I 
 necrl much help from (lod. I never in my life felt so much as 
 now niy absolute dependence upon his favor, smd the nothing-
 
 PROn.VTIOX IN THE MACCLESFIELD CIRCUIT. 131 
 
 ness of every created ^ood in the absence of the Creator. 1 
 trust I am making some progress in Christ's school. I wish 
 to submit to all His disci[iline and to learn all His lessons. My 
 Joys are now seldom rapturous, but they increase in solidity 
 ami steadiness. At all events, this God shall be my God." 
 
 To the same friend, recently married to Miss lim-ton, he 
 says: "The cares of life arc apt to divert the attention from 
 the care of the soul, and outward comforts, such as Providence 
 has granted to y»)u, too frequently allure the j)OSsessors of them 
 from God. I trust this Avill not be the case Avith you. I i)ray 
 that it may not ; and, as I am never likely to 1)e able, in any 
 other way, to testify my grateful sense of the obligations under 
 which your friendship has placed me, I will endeavor to do it 
 by acting toward you the part of a faithful friend, if I should 
 ever have the pain to see you, while busied about many things, 
 grow Aveary and faint in your mind concerning the one thing 
 needful. I entreat you to perfonii the same brotherly office 
 toward me, and to watch over me in love." 
 
 Soon afterward Mr. Gaulter discusses eonnectional })olitics 
 with him. " Now for biennial Conferences. 1. Annual Con- 
 ferences must be held in the Methodist connection so long as 
 the deeds of our preaching-houses are of any value. They rec- 
 ognize an authority to ai)point mini>;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<Iace. My father often crept into a corner of the e!ia|)el where his friend 
 ofliciatcd, and heard sermons which, in hrilliancy and friritient hreadth of 
 thoii;;ht, and in uniform fascination of voice and of manner, have seldom 
 been surpassed. M'All hail a morhiil horror of these visits, and, if he dis- 
 cerned the dreaded ])rescnce, woidd show si^ns of confusion and distress. 
 His wa.s a rare modesty, lie aimed at a standard which no man couKI at- 
 tain, and was asliamcd, not of the faiii!rf>. 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 a<lopted the opinions — per- 
 hajjs I ought rather to say the doubts — of the Unitarian sect. 
 The letters related almost exclusively to topics of preaching 
 and theology. I give an extract from one of my father's own 
 connnunications. 
 
 "The vohnnes of l>oiirdaloue 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«<l intn Kn- 
 Rlixli, nn<l i>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)e<l by endeavoring to fix now. What I have* often de- 
 tected in my own heart with res])ect to Miss , and am 
 
 si ill conscious of, confimis this view of things, especially if 
 connected with tlic probability that I must remove hence in 
 Au^'ust.
 
 PROBATION IN THE MACCLESFIELD CIRCUIT. 141 
 
 " On these and other accounts, I think the probability of 
 superior permanent useiuhicss, also, is against a much longer 
 celibacy, and in favor of some immediate eflbrts toward matri- 
 mony. 
 
 " On the other hand, it is to be considered, 
 
 " 1. Marriage will certainly bring with it new cares, and 
 must be expected, as is the case with every thmg human, to 
 have its trials and inconveniences. 
 
 " 2. There is always some danger of making a wrong choice, 
 which might render me miserable, and greatly obstruct my 
 usefulness. 
 
 " 3. Perhaps this step might not be quite agreeable to my 
 dear and aged mother. She might, in that case, fear lest such 
 a connection might too much wean me from her, and render 
 me less attentive to her comfort. 
 
 " 4. It may be questioned whether I might not piirsue my 
 studies to more advantage if I deferred all projects of this kind 
 a few years longer. 
 
 " 5. My health is not now robust : it has been delicate and 
 interrupted. Ought a man thus circumstanced to marry? Is 
 it right to engage a lady in a connection which, if I should 
 become an invalid, might prove burdensome and disagreeable 
 to her ? 
 
 " After the most deliberate consideration, accompanied with 
 solemn abstinence and prayer, my judgment is, that the balance 
 of argument is greatly in favor of matrimony as soon as conven- 
 ient. The first reason against it, if of weight at all, would be of 
 Aveight hi every case, and, by proving marriage to be generally 
 inexpedient, would contradict reason and Scripture. Besides, 
 inconvenience and trouble are not valid excuses for neglecting 
 what has apjicared in itself to be a general duty. The selfish, 
 indolent, and cowardly principle, from which these excuses 
 proceed, must not be tolerated by a Christian. The second 
 objection is one which can only apply to a particular person ; 
 not to the connection itself It ought to be kept in mind 
 when I come to the selection of an individual for a wife, but 
 can not be of suflicient force to prohibit me from forming the 
 relation at all. As to the third, I do believe that marriage, if 
 I happily meet vnth one whose views of filial duty and Chris- 
 tian piety at all resemble ray OAvn, will not either indispose or
 
 142 TUE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 iucapacitate nio for paying every proper and possible attention 
 to my mother. After considering the fourth, I am of ojsinion 
 that, when fully settled in life, I shall be able to pursue my 
 studies, not with less, but with more advantage than at i)res- 
 ent; and, at all events, if marriage be advisable in oi'der to 
 piety, the partial interruption of my pursuit of knowledge' 
 will be ultimately better than celibacy. As to the fifth objec- 
 tion, I think my constitution is not at all impaired ; with proper 
 caution, I believe my health will improve ; the occasional in- 
 terruption of it I am authorized to ascribe to local and tem- 
 porary causes ; and for seven months it has been uniformly 
 good. 
 
 " II. The second question is ^:)ar#^c^<?a?•, and relates not to 
 the general proj^riety of marriage in my case, but to the suita- 
 bleness of an individual. Is 3Iiss a projier person to be 
 
 addressed by me on the subject ? 
 
 " Some of the arguments in the affirmative are as follows : 
 
 " 1. I am not sure that she is eminently, but I believe she is 
 very sincerely and truly jjious. In marryhig her^if I can gain 
 her consent, I should not transgress that precept, ' Marry only 
 in the Lord ;' nor that, ' Be not unequally yoked with unbe- 
 lievers.' 
 
 "2. Her natural temper is, according to all the accounts I 
 have heard, and all the observations I have made, uncommonly 
 mild and good. This is a point of prime imi^ortance, and will 
 make up for many failings. 
 
 "3. She has assuredly great good sense; has been suitably 
 educated ; is well uiformed ; and very extraordmarily qualified 
 to be a helpmate to a minister in his studies and labors. 
 
 " 4. She has, apparently, good health, a sound constitution, 
 a vigorous frame, and a great floAV of spirits. 
 
 " 5. Her manners are polished and agreeable, so that she 
 would be fit for any of the various scenes and situations into 
 Avhich the itinerant life might call her. 
 
 " 6. She was brought up under the care of one who, I have 
 reason to suppose, has accustomed her to domestic habits, and 
 fitted her by practice for performing the duties of a wife in 
 
 domestic concerns. Since Mrs. 's death, she has had the 
 
 management of her father's house, which must have fartlier 
 tended to qualify her for the station in question.
 
 PROBATIOiSr IN THE MACCLESFIELD CIRCUIT. 143 
 
 " V. She has eminent talents for usefulness (e. g., in visiting 
 the sick), which, if joroperly directed, would render her agree- 
 able and profitable to our societies. 
 
 " 8. She has very few relative connections — none, I think, 
 which would materially harass or mcommode us in a religious 
 view, and as Methodists, if we were once united. 
 
 " 9. If I am not wholly deceived, there is some reason for 
 me to hope that our respect for each other is mutual. On my 
 side, indeed, that respect has long been ripened into conscious, 
 though concealed affection, and on hers, perhaps, it may amomit 
 to somethmg like predilection. The probability that my ad- 
 dresses might be favorably received is, to one in my public 
 station, and with my views of ministerial character and pro- 
 jjriety, an im^jortant inducement. 
 
 " 10. She has expressed, also, a considerable predilection for 
 the situation of a minister's wife, as favorable to those pursuits 
 in which her mind finds most delight. This predilection would 
 tend to reconcile her to many difticulties, and she would know 
 how to appreciate more justly the intellectual and religious 
 advantages which she would enjoy. 
 
 " On the other hand., though already so much her lover as 
 to be also her admirer, I can not but allow, 
 
 " 1. I have no proof, from any thhig I have seen or heard, 
 that her piety is deep^ though I think it is sincere and steady ; 
 yet, probably, in a more favorable situation and connection it 
 Avould grow. 
 
 " 2. Her attachment to Methodism is comparatively of recent 
 date, and the effects of the Calvinistic education w^hich she 
 received, upon her views and expressions, are not altogether 
 removed. 
 
 " 3. Her temper, from its extreme vivacity and cheerfulness, 
 is apt to become occasionally light and trifling. This might 
 easily affect a mind like mine with similar levity, the bane of 
 all spiritual rehgion. Or, if I avoided it myself, I should be 
 greatly pained and embarrassed on witnessing in her manners 
 and conversation those effects and indications of it which I, 
 who love her, and know the excellency of her general charac- 
 ter, might excuse, but for which others would not make even 
 proper and reasonable allowances ; yet, as she must be aware 
 that this is her peculiar besetment, doubtless she would strive
 
 144 THE LIKE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 and pray acrainst it, ami an increase of vital religion would 
 deliver her iVoni it. 
 
 "4. Her dress is at present by far too gay, and eostly, and 
 worldly; l)ut in this also, if she ai»prove my projtosals in all 
 other respeets, she would probably promise to make the neces- 
 sary amendment, on ]>roper 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 lionore<l woman to whom it re- 
 ft is w ith such warm but judicious allection. No single event 
 of his life, other than those of his conversion ami of his call to 
 the holy ministry, exercised u\)on his character an<l entire ca- 
 reer an influence so conducive to his happiness and success. 
 Of her I wish to speak in the language of others rather than in
 
 PROBATION IN THE MACCLESFIELD CIRCUIT. 1-15 
 
 my own, and tliat so as not to intrude the memorial oi'lier ])re- 
 cious virtues upon any to ■\vliom it may be less interesting than 
 the continued narrative of my lather's lil'e. The only comiect- 
 ed records of my mother's life and death which were ever pre- 
 pared are therefore placed m the Appendix.* They were hast- 
 ily written for the funeral sermon preached on the occasion of 
 her decease. I shall, however, hereafter quote from a docu- 
 ment which refers to Loth my parents, and some features of his 
 wife's character require the notice of Jabcz Bimting's biogra- 
 })hcr. 
 
 ►She liad seen mucli of the society of ministers. David Simp- 
 son, her pastor and chief s^jiritual adviser, miitcd in his own })er- 
 son the clergyman and the Methodist. AVith the Methodist 
 preachers, distinctively such, the frank and cheerful conversa- 
 tion, and the active charities of the young girl had made her a 
 special favorite. Mr. Smith, in whose family she resided for 
 some years, was an Independent, strongly Calvmistic, and emi- 
 nently gracious. Her intimate friend, Jane Dorothea Stephen- 
 son, between whom and herself frequent visits and a corre- 
 spondence passed during many years, was the daughter of the 
 incumbent of Olney ; and my mother was accordingly brought 
 into close coimection with the class of clergy with which the 
 name of that village is identified. She had thus acquii'cd a 
 lively interest m ministerial studies and pursuits ; a soimd and 
 healthy, if somewhat critical taste for preacldng ; and a catho- 
 hc knowledge and love of good men ; so that, when she was 
 married, two large and generous hearts united, and, by the 
 miion, mcrcased their s}'mpathies. Her reverence for her hus- 
 band prevented any interference with liis own peculiar work ; 
 but she had a ready tact in giving an impression where she 
 . would not venture to ofter an opinion ; and her tender regard 
 for his honor opened her ears, all attentively, to whatever al- 
 fected it. She reUeved hhn entirely from the j^ressure of all 
 strictly domestic affairs ; she husbanded well his small income 
 — small even when lier own was added to it; she was liis or- 
 nament in general society ; she presided with dignity and grace 
 over his hospitalities at home ; she searched out for hhn the 
 poor, those most rightful claunants on a minister's pious care 
 and charity ; she assisted him in his spiritual work by taking 
 * See Appendix J, at the end of this volume. 
 
 Vol, I.— G
 
 146 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 the ovcrsiglit of large classes of females, especially of such as 
 were young or feeble in the faith. As to the Calvinism, the 
 possible effect of ■which he so cautiously weighed before he 
 committed himself to the connection, she used i)layfully to 
 threaten hhu Avith a total relapse into it at times when things 
 went wrong — when the price of provisions was very high, or 
 leaders' meetmgs were very stormy. Her dress, about which 
 I must admit she teased liim during a com-tship wliich both 
 Avere glad to end, Avas, from motives alike of prudence and of 
 economy, adapted to the proprieties of her station. lie fore- 
 saw truly that her Aivacity would sometimes be misunderstood 
 in many of the circles in which it was her lot to move, but it 
 lit lip a perpetual sunshine in his heart and household. Her 
 strong good sense, and her readiness in the clear, apt, and 
 striking expression of her thoughts, sometimes frightened the 
 proper and the narrow-minded, and, of course, woimded the 
 jealousy of conscious inferiors. I>ut 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.se<iuent conduct correspond to the engagements into which 
 I shall then enter! !My spirits are oppressed by these things, 
 but ui God is my refuge and my strength. Be you His instru- 
 ment to relieve and help me." 
 
 Now is the time to ask whether my father was satisfied with 
 • tlie orders conferred in the manner I have stated. I may have 
 occasion hereafter to advert to his views on this question. 
 Meanwhile I give a brief answer. He beheved in the abstract 
 necessity of an order separated to the pastoral office, and in its 
 ;i|)])(>iiitiiK'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, ]>rovidc<l that he or it possessed a de facto right, 
 not noloriously usurped or wantonly exercised, to sustain the 
 office of the ministry. lie receiveil his own connnission from
 
 niS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 149 
 
 Coke, on any theory a Presbyter ; and — through those wliom 
 Wesley, also a Presbyter, had, whether of set purpose or l>y 
 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 <niiilirifations mentioned in the last note.
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 165 
 
 one who did not take offense at some alteration in my views of 
 doctrine and discipline, leading at length into a com'se of jjrep- 
 aration for the ministry in another denomination. Instead of 
 this, after hearing me once or twice in my early ministrations, 
 he said to me in the kindest manner, ' From some of your sen- 
 timents and modes of expression, I judge you would be more 
 happy in another connection than in ours, and equally useful; 
 at which I should rejoice.' " 
 
 I gain a fuller insight into my father's daily thoughts and 
 ways at this period than during any other portion of his early 
 life. For some four or five months the lovers in London and 
 in Macclesfield corresponded as lovers only do, and sent, each 
 to the other, a diary of what happened. Most of the letters 
 and journals are preserved, and I cull some extracts from those 
 he wrote, interweavuig with them extracts from other letters, 
 and interposmg here and there a passing comment. It may be 
 assimied that he addi'esses his intended wife, unless the contra- 
 ry be stated. 
 
 '■'• Augicst 26^A, 1803. This morning I attended the meeting 
 of all the London preachers, which is held at City Road every 
 Saturday, to fix the plans of the ensuing week, to transact the 
 incidental business of our own circuit, and to give advice to any 
 preachers from the country xoho choose to a/pply for itP The 
 words which I have placed in italics suggest the idea of a cen- 
 tral committee, of course, for coimsel only, which the necessities 
 of the connection then sanctioned, and which, I believe, never 
 ceased, in one form or another, to occupy my fiither's mind. 
 On the occasion of his election, for the third time, to the presi- 
 dency, he formally requested that a CouncU of Advice might 
 be appointed, to assist him, during the year, in the administra- 
 tion of connectional affairs, and to relieve him from indiWdual 
 responsibihty. 
 
 '•''Sunday Evening^ August 2%th. At V o'clock A.M.I heard 
 Mr. Taylor, at the City Road Chapel, from Micah, vi,, 6. After 
 preaching, several traveling and a great number of local preach- 
 ers breakfasted together, according to custom ; and, after con- 
 sultation and i^rayer, we all proceeded to our respective ap- 
 pomtments. What our local brethren in London are as preach- 
 ers, I can not tell ; but out of the pulpit they appear to great 
 advantage indeed, as pious, sensible, and Avell-read men. I went
 
 156 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 to Lambetli. I i)rcacliO(l from 1 Peter, v., T, witli considerable 
 comfort to myself, and, I humljly hope, Avith some profit to tlie 
 ])eople. I like very much the spirit and manners of the leading 
 members of the Lambeth society, with whom I had some con- 
 versation before and after the service. I tliiidc I shall be quite 
 charmed with the London Methodists when I can become more 
 ^miliar with them. I believe it is one of my faults to form at- 
 tachments too strong and tender for a man who is literally a 
 sojourner only, and a pilgrim, as all his fiithers were. Howev- 
 er, if warm friendships have their pains, they have their peculiar 
 pleasures also. This evening I have been at Queen Street. I 
 preached from Acts, iii., 26, with much comfort and enlargement 
 of mind. I was delighted to see so full an attendance after- 
 Avard at the Society meeting. This is here just as it ought to 
 be every where. 
 
 '■'■Monday Evening^ August 29th. I rambled for an hour 
 among the booksellers' shops in Paternoster Row, and at 
 Bajnies's was overpowered by temptation. I spent all the 
 money I had in my pocket, which fortunately was not much. I 
 ])reaclied at Hoxton, not at all to my satisfaction, from Romans, 
 viii., 2. What contributed, perhaps, to my embarrassment of 
 mind was the unexpected presence of Mr. Rodda, and of Mr. 
 Benson and his family. How completely are we dependent in 
 preaching, as in every other duty, on the influence of the Holy 
 One! My subject was one ])crfcctly familiar to me, and my 
 0A\Ti mind was previously in a good and spiritual frame, but yet 
 I wanted my usual liberty, because He who doeth all things 
 well and wisely withlield, for some good reason, that special 
 assistance which he often condescends to afford. Mr. Benson 
 very importunately urges me to prepare, for insertion hi the 
 next January Magazme, an accomit of my conversion, experi- 
 ence, and entrance into the ministry ; but, as this account would 
 contain nothing new or out of the common way, and as I sin- 
 cerely wish to avoid, rather than to court, publicity, I hope I 
 shall be excused from such a task. There is, indeed, an old rule 
 of Conference which requires it from the preachers who arc 
 ailmitted into full connection ; but, as others have broken it, 
 wliy may not I? 
 
 " Tuesday, August ?,Oili. I quite enjoyed my retirement the 
 former part of this day, and fomid it specially good to hold con-
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 157 
 
 verso with God. In praying for myself, for my clear S., for my 
 kind friends at Manchester and Macclesfield, and for the pros- 
 perity of the good work m this city and circuit, I had more 
 than usual access to God, and Avas greatly strengthened and re- 
 freshed. I was particularly led to implore the Divine forgive- 
 ness of all my sms of omission and commission as a man and 
 as a minister while in the circuit I have lately left, and I be- 
 heve that my prayer is heard, and that I am ' accei^ted in the 
 Beloved.' 
 
 '■'■Wednesday Evening^ August 31s^. I have preached at 
 Qi;een Street to a large congregation from Hebrews, iv., 14. I 
 afterward met the leaders, who are very numerous and respect- 
 able, in this part of the to-\\ai. In such a leaders' meeting I 
 never presided before. But Methodism here is, hke every 
 thing else, conducted on a large scale. They exceed all other 
 societies I ever knew in the hberal provision they make for 
 their poor. 
 
 " Sunday Eveyiing^ Septemher 4th. My texts to-day have 
 been the same as last Simday. I had fixed on others, but, 
 when I saw my congregation, I judged them imsuitable. In the 
 pulpit I had no considerable enlargement of mind, but I hope, 
 nevertheless, that somethmg was said which may appear to 
 praise, and honor, and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. 
 And now farewell to this Sabbath tUl the Day of Judgment ! 
 God be merciful to me, a sinner ! 
 
 '•'• 3Ionday Evening^ Septemher 5th. This has been a day of 
 much temptation and depression. O Lord, I am oppressed ; 
 midertake for me. 
 
 " Wednesday Evening^ Septemher 1th. This morning, after 
 breakfast, I had my box and bags, etc., conveyed to City Road, 
 where I have now taken up my abode. How soon I may be 
 dislodged by death, God only knows. May I be prepared for 
 every dispensation of Divine Providence! In this house, O 
 Lord, give peace ! May it be to me, and to all who are, or 
 shall be, my fellow-tenants of it, none other than the house of 
 God and the gate of Heaven ! And may I be ^jrepared more 
 fiiUy for the realms of bliss that are above ! Truly, in one 
 point, they treat us somewhat like apostles in this circuit ; they 
 work us tolerably hard. He that wants a quiet and easy life 
 must not come hither to find it. I believe it will be utterly
 
 168 TUE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 impracticable to study much here, a circmnstance still more 
 unpleasant by i'ar than tlie fatigue of our evenhig walks. The 
 only science we shall have luueh time to cultivate will be that 
 which consists in iinding the way from one street, and chapel, 
 and village to another. I have hitherto had no leisure at all to 
 tlmik of new texts, or even to mend many of my old nets, and 
 am therefore obhged to i)reaeh on those subjects which happen 
 to be at present most famihar to my mind. 
 
 " Thursday Evening^ Septemher 8th. I was so weary and 
 di'owsy this morning at 5 o'clock that, though I heard Mr. 
 Taylor gomg out to preach, I had neither curiosity enough, nor 
 piety enough, to rise and hear him. To-morrow I nuist be uj), 
 as it will be my ovai turn to conduct the early devotions of the 
 sanctuary. The whole of the forenoon was spent with Mr. 
 Taylor in meeting classes. At 4 P.M. I went to assist Mr. 
 Benson in givmg tickets in Little Tower Street, and at 6 P.M. 
 at the New Chapel vestry. City Road. At 7, Avithout much 
 time for previous prayer or other preparation, I made my first 
 appearance in the pulpit there. I was not violently shocked, 
 though the congregation was very large, and I\Iessrs. Benson, 
 Rankin, Rodda, Dr. AVhitehead, Dr. Hamilton, and other gen- 
 tlemen of the same description composed a i)art of it. My 
 text was 1 Peter, v., 7, which has, of late, become a favorite 
 subject. This has been one of ray best times as to freedom m 
 public duty since I arrived in London. I hope I may regard 
 this circumstance as a token for good. I afterward met the 
 Bands, but was rather disappointed in my expectations from 
 them. Such is the chronicle of this day's proceedings: how 
 uninteresting to others, yet how important to myself, if consid- 
 ered in connection with my future account to the Judge of 
 quick and dead ! 
 
 '■'■ Fridaij Evening, September Qth. I was very unfortunate 
 this morning. I did not rise, for I did not wake, after daylight 
 appeared, until half jjast 5 o'clock. The man promised to call 
 me at half i)ast 4, but did not. I never before connnitted such 
 a slothful blunder, sleeper as I am. However, it does not ai)i)ear 
 to have been of much consequence. They seem to have been 
 accustomed to such disappointments for some years ; so that, 
 when Mr. Taylor i)reached yesterday, and informed them that 
 they might expect me this morning, Mr. Lovelace, an old worn-
 
 IIIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 159 
 
 out barrister, coiild not heli) expressing his belief that ' now 
 there would be a revival in London, for there had been little 
 good done since the morning preaching had been discontinued, 
 and that the abandonment of this practice Avas the true cause 
 of the present war.' I counted the congregation as they came 
 out (for they held a prayer-meetmg), and foimd them just twen- 
 ty-one ; but this was an extraordinary number, nearly one half 
 of whom were drawn to the chapel by their curiosity to hear 
 the new preacher. Mr. Taylor could not scold me for my lazi- 
 ness, for he himself Avas overtaken in the same fault last Friday. 
 Another week is noAV nearly gone ; a week certainly of many 
 mercies, but a week of much inward exercise and frequent de- 
 jection. O Lord, arise, help and deliver me, for Thy Name's 
 sake. 
 
 '•'' Septemher 10(h. I am sorry to hear that you experience 
 such frequent dejiression of spirits. I am Avell quahfied to sym- 
 pathize with you. Ever since I became a preacher, I have been 
 particularly harassed, at tunes, by an unaccountable, irresistible 
 tendency to gloominess and dejection. I always find private 
 prayer and reading the Scrii^tures on my knees the best remedy 
 in my own case, and I earnestly recommend it to you. At the 
 same time, let us strive to cast every care upon God, and to 
 believe that he careth for us, and Avill order all things well. 
 I can not but be pleased to hear that you have disposed of your 
 gaudy cloak. Avoid ' the appearance of evil,' and ' give none 
 offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the 
 Church of God,' with tAvo or three other Scriptural sentiments 
 of like tendency, are maxims to Avhich, I doubt not, you Avill 
 endeavor to attend ui the article of dress. Some of the London 
 Methodists are by far too gay. Others are very plain. But, 
 though a private individual may be lost in the sm-roundmg 
 crowd, a preacher's wife is as a city on a hill, that can not be 
 hid. 
 
 " Saturday JVzg/it, September 10th. I returned from the city 
 just in time for the Penitents' meetmg at City Road. Mr. 
 Taylor, Dr. Hamilton, and Mr. Rankin prayed, and I Avas then 
 obhged, according to appointment, to ascend the pulpit and 
 address the people. All tlie Aveek I had looked forAvard to this 
 engagement Avitli fear and tremblmg, and I Avas very Ioav Avhen 
 the time of action arrived. But I looked to the Strong: for
 
 160 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 Strength, and got through better than I expected. I found it 
 best to fix my mind on some particular subject, and selected 
 'Tlie Marks or Fruits of true Conviction.' After all, I am sat- 
 isfied that I liave but little talent for this sort of general exhort- 
 ation. This meetmg is numerously attended by our most pious 
 and intelligent friends, and a special unction from the Holy One 
 appears to attend it. 
 
 "I am quite diverted by the comments which have been 
 made on my first sermon at the New Chapel. One says it was 
 a good sermon, but too labored, and that I study too much ; 
 another, that it was delivered Avith too much rapidity ; a third, 
 that there was too much use of Scriptural phraseology ; a fourtli, 
 that there was rather too much animation of voice and manner; 
 a fifth, that I shall suit London very well, for that I don't rant 
 and rave in the pulpit, but am calm and rational. This y\']nm- 
 sical diversity of opmions I have heard from different persons, 
 chiefly preachers, to-day. I feel very indillerent to human cen- 
 sure or applause. The great point is to stand ai)})roved of 
 God ; to hear my Master say, ' Well done ;' to give an accei)t- 
 ablc ' answer to Him that sent me.' " 
 
 Dn. James Hamilton, mentioned in the preceding para- 
 graph, and resident at this time in London, died in 1827, in 
 the 8Vth year of his age. A sketch, by Kay of Edinburgh, of 
 Joseph Cole, Hamilton, and Wesley, walking in the streets of 
 that city, preserves the memory of a long and intmiate friend- 
 ship between the two last-named wortliies. After having 
 served as a sm-geon in the Navy, and seen desperate fighting, 
 Hamilton settled at Dunbar, and, as Henry Moore records, 
 "joined the INIethodist Society without separating from the 
 National Church." " On his first marriage he not only made 
 the day, in trutli, a lioly-day, but brought his bride with liim 
 to llie prayer-meeting in the evening." He removed to Leeds, 
 and eventually to the metropolis. He practiced not more as a 
 physician than as a preacher and an evangelist. Two of his 
 sons held commissions in a Highland regiment: one died in 
 Egyj»t of a fever; tho other, after i-xc-hanging regiments, and 
 iollowing AW'lIington through the Peninsula, was mortally 
 Avounded. " I speak," says Moore, " as little as possible of the 
 advantages which lie derived fi'om the first Adam. To make 
 'a fair sliow in the flesh,' he well knew, was opposed to 'glo-
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 161 
 
 ry'mg in the Cross of Christ,' and therein we were perfectly of 
 one mind ; but having mentioned some gf those providential 
 advantages, there is one which, I think, I ought not to omit ; 
 I mean his personal appearance, deportment, and manners, 
 which would have adorned any rank in himian society. These 
 are gifts which call for the highest foithfulness, as they are em- 
 inently ' the savor of life or of death' to those who possess 
 them, as well as to those concerning whom they are exercised, 
 and especially in a reUgious community." " When he resided 
 at Leeds," says the apostolic James Wood, "he attended in 
 the vestry of the Old Chapel one day in every week, where the 
 poor liad full liberty to apply for his advice." I have seen hini 
 in the pulpit, tall, but with an habitual stoop ; m a plaintive 
 tone, and in imadulterated Scotch, pom'ing out his heart to 
 God and man. The blessing of his life-long excellence rests 
 manifestly upon his grandson, the Rev. James Parsons, of York. 
 
 Of the life of Kaukin, another of the many troj^hies of Meth- 
 odism in Scotland, liis own account will be found in the thii'd 
 volume of " The Lives of Early Methodist Preachers." 
 
 ''^Sunday Evening^ ^eptemher 11th. At half past 10 I read 
 prayers at Snowsfields Chapel, in the Borough, and jsreached 
 from 1 John, i., 9. I begm to feel a Httle more at home in the 
 pulpits of the metropolis and its vicinity than I did when I first 
 came. I dined with a Mr. Watson, near Rowland Hill's Chapel, 
 Surrey Road. The congregation were just coming out as we 
 passed the doors. What an immense crowd of gay people ! 
 But no wonder ; Mr. Jay had been their preacher. I must con- 
 trive to hear him while he is in town. At 3 o'clock I began to 
 give tickets at Rotherhithe. At 6 I preached there from Luke, 
 XV., 2, and was enabled, as Mr. Wesley used to phrase it, to 
 ' speak some strong, rough words.' After finishing the renew- 
 al of the tickets, I walked home ; Mr. Taylor came a httle after 
 me ; and* says this has been the hardest day's work he has ever 
 performed since he left Cornwall, many years ago. We tried 
 to rouse each other by singmgto Beaimiont's tune, to which he 
 is as partial as myself, 
 
 " ' O may Thy Spirit seal,' etc.,* 
 
 " O m.iy Thy Spii-it seal 
 Our souls unto that day ;
 
 162 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 but had not strength enough left to finish the verse. So we 
 gave it up, and began to talk about Macclesfield. Well, all is 
 right. 'Labor is rest, and pain is sweet,' for Ilini whom we 
 have the honor to serve in the Gospel of His Son. My Sab- 
 baths, though my most laborious days, are usually my best and 
 happiest days. The service of God is its o^vni immediate re- 
 ward. Yet I have need to say, ' Pardon the iniquity of my holy 
 things !' 
 
 '■'-Monday Emning^ September I2th. At 9 o'clock I went to 
 Cateaton Street, but had only my labor for my pains. Return- 
 ing by Guildhall, I stepped in and saw the lord-mayor, sheriffs, 
 recorder, etc., open the Quarter Sessions. I heard one trial for 
 a petty assault, which was not in itself at all interesting, but 
 was rendered important by the subsequent circumstances. The 
 witnesses for the prosecutor most explicitly and directly contra- 
 dicted those for the defendant, so that, on one side or the other, 
 there was the blackest perjury. This gave occasion, of course, 
 to the counsel (Knapp and Pooley) to display their ingenuity, 
 and they both spoke very ably. But how much more interest- 
 mg and dignified is the eloquence of the pulpit than that of the 
 bar !" 
 
 I am not sure that my fiither's comparison can be fairly in- 
 stituted. Between such forensic oratory as that to which he 
 listened and the genuine eloquence of the pulpit there is no re- 
 lation except that of positive contrast, while, on the other hand, 
 some sermons, in clearness of arrangement, lucidity of state- 
 ment, earnestness of spirit, and coutmuous aim at a well-defined 
 object, are immeasurably inferior to the speeches wliich are 
 heard daily in courts of justice. I speak not of petty wran- 
 glings in crimhial courts or at " Nisi Prius," but of tlie ap})oals 
 addressed to juries on great occasions, and especially of those 
 solemn argumentations with which astute lawyers, scholars, 
 and logicians ply the quick but cautious intellects of judges 
 on the bench. To me, who have conversed much with each 
 kind of eloquence, it has often seemed that those modei-n preach- 
 
 With all Thy fullness fill, 
 
 And then transport away ! 
 Away to our eternal rest, . 
 
 Away to our Kcdccmcr's breast!" 
 
 Wesley's Collection, p. 477.
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 163 
 
 ers who make it their study to ticlde " itching ears," might gain 
 much if they cultivated the simpUcity of speech without which 
 no man rises to high distuiction at the English bar. ■ We per- 
 plex ourselves greatly with the question why the pulpit, with 
 its long-estabhshed hold upon the superstition of the ignorant 
 and upon the reverence of the good, and with its various range 
 of momentous topics, makes an impression so comparatively 
 small upon the masses with which it deals. Beardless scioUsts 
 and bold adventurers try to revive and mcrease the popular in- 
 terest in preaching by degrading its dignity and by secularizing 
 its sacred themes, Avliile multitudes of well-meanmg clergy, of 
 all schools withm the EstabUshment, and of all sects ovit of it, 
 by some conventional mannerism of style or of deUvery, or by 
 the constant effort to produce startUng effects, or by vapid pret- 
 tinesses of phrase and figure, expect to storm the consciences of 
 sinful men, and to frighten or to cheat them mto piety. None 
 of these artifices will succeed. They are very ancient novel- 
 ties. The common people have always distrusted them ; and 
 plain sense nowadays stares, and asks wliy an honest man should 
 vulgarize the great thought of God, or search for thoughts more 
 true and telling ; or why, because the preacher stands some six 
 feet higher than his usual level, he should assume mmatural at- 
 titudes, speak m a false voice, gesticulate in a manner which, if 
 used at home, Avould scare his loving household ; or, worse than 
 all, attempt to woo dying sinners with the story of the dying- 
 Savior, m the modes practiced by a clever mountebank extem- 
 porizing at a country fair. A marked and constant simjyUci- 
 ^y^the test of sincerity in the pulpit ; the manifestation of the 
 truth, with manifest truthfulness of purpose — this of itself would 
 do much to excite the spirit of hearing. The advocate at the 
 bar is intensely sincere. He means to gain the cause ; and so 
 it is his prime business to he helieved ; and the wish breathes in 
 every look and word. How would the cool-headed judge sur- 
 vey him through the dctectmg eye-glass, if every gesture, tone,^ 
 and sentence were altogether unhke the man who used them ! 
 " Now they do it to obtain a corruptible cro^Ti." 
 
 '■'■Friday Evening^ Sept. 16tk. If I must give a true and 
 faithful account of the manner in which this day has been spent, 
 I must say that it has been almost wholly occupied in going 
 from place to place, to make calls of business and calls of friend-
 
 164 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 ship. I wcut, first of all, to deliver a letter from a friend in 
 Manchester to a sister of hers in liathbone Place, Oxford Street. 
 Tliis poor Avonuin had buried her husband only yesterday ; and 
 I spent a prolitable half hour hi conifortmg and praying with 
 lier. ' It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go 
 to the house of feasting.' Then to St. Martin's Lane, to sec an 
 old acquaintance of my father and mother. lie came original- 
 ly from the same place with them (Monyash, in the Peak of 
 Derbyshire), and is now a local preaclier among us. I had not 
 much personal knowledge of him, but remembered that precejJt 
 of Solomon, 'Thy own, and thy father's friend, forsake not.' 
 Then to Mr. Bruce's, in Aldersgato Street, where I dined and 
 took tea. Tliis is a most agreeable family, and we had much 
 pious, rational, and improving conversation. Then to Mr. Bul- 
 mer's, in Friday Street. This gentleman is a very leading man 
 in the society. I had several times seen him and Mrs. B. in 
 Lancashire. I suppose the j^etition from this circuit for me 
 was sent chiefly at his instance. Such have been some of my 
 peregrinations tliis day. I returned in time to begin the prayer- 
 meeting at City Road. There were many people, and much 
 of the spirit of praj'cr. I am more and more charmed with 
 the piety and fervency of Dr. Hamilton. His prayer to-night 
 would, I think, have affected and softened even an infidel, at 
 least for the time. Though I do not know that I could, with 
 jn'opriety, have avoided any of the visits I have made to-day, 
 yet I own that I review them with some degree of dissatisfac- 
 tion. I regret the time thus unnecessarily consumed, and hope 
 I shall not soon again be compelled to rob my study and my 
 books of so many leisure hours. I find that the bed Avliich 
 now stands in my room is that formerly occupied by Mr. Wes- 
 ley when he was in London, and on which he finished his tri- 
 umijhant course. This circumstance, small as it is, allbrds to 
 me, who am ' a bigoted 3Iethodist,^ considerable i)leasure. I 
 feel it an honor, of which I am uinvorthy, to be JMr. Wesley's 
 successor in any thing. 
 
 " Wednesday Momivg^ Sept. 2^.s^ I am unfortunate as to the 
 morning jjreaching. I was up in time, but, when I came to the 
 doors, found them so variously and so curiously locked, barred, 
 and chained, that I could not, for the life of me, open any one 
 of them. In order to save my character and credit, I called
 
 HIS EAKLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 165 
 
 tlirougli the gates to Dr. Hamilton, who was waitmg my ap- 
 pearance, and desired hmi to begin the service. At length the 
 servant came down and set me at liberty. I began preaching 
 to eight persons, and, when I concluded, could muster only 
 thirteen. My text Avas Psalm Ivii., 1. The preacher and his 
 sermon, dull as they w^ere, were apparently not more duU than 
 most of his audience. However, Dr. Hamilton prayed most 
 sweetly when I had done, and tliis well repaid me. I am glud 
 to have so good an account of your habitual frame and state of 
 mind. Your prosperity, spiritual as well as temporal, I most 
 ardently d(3sire, and daily pray for to the God of all grace. 
 Your chief danger, I think, arises from your natural vivacity. 
 This is in itself a great blessing, but it may degenerate into a 
 source of mischief and danger. Give yourself, my very dear S., 
 to much prayer, and learn, by habits of fellowship with God, to 
 be ' never less alone than when alone.' I have reproached my- 
 self for speaking in my last too strongly about your preceding- 
 letter. I forgot, at the moment, that you were writing to me, 
 and indulged yourself, on that account, in a degree of playful- 
 ness Avhich you would not have allowed imder other circum- 
 stances. But we are both so prone to err on that side that we 
 shall do w^ell to be on our guard. You know I am no cynic, 
 no advocate for ' sour godliness,^ as Mr. Wesley terms it ; but 
 I desire not to be found a trifler. We may laugh away m five 
 minutes that spirituality and heaverily-mindedness which we 
 may weep whole days and weeks before we fully regain. I 
 think you vn^ not be displeased by the freedom which I have 
 used on this subject. I shall be thanlcful to receive from you 
 any cautions and advices which you think I need. Watch over 
 me in love, and prove yourself, by telling me of all that you 
 think is wi'ong in me, a faithful friend. 
 
 " Wednesday Evening, September list. After finishing my 
 letters, I hastened to St. Mary Woolnoth, in Lombard Street, 
 and had the pleasure of seeing and hearing, for the first time, 
 the rector, Mr. Newton, ' venerable in virtues as hi age.' He 
 appears to be quite worn out, .and tottering over the brink of 
 the grave. His text was, ' Rejoice the soul of Thy servant.' 
 There was nothing particularly interesting m his sermon, ex- 
 cept as viewed in connection with the character and cu'cmn- 
 stances of the preacher. I love to hear old ministers. In the
 
 iOO THE LIFE OF JABEZ JiUNTING. 
 
 evening I preached at Stratford from 1 Peter, iii., 15. I liavc 
 traveleel like a gentleman to-day. I monnted the Stratford 
 stage at Whitechapel, as I went, and as I was ahont to return 
 I met Avith a London chaise, and rode hi it within half a mile 
 of home. Thus I have saved my slioes and my bones at the 
 expense of my cash. HoAvever, it cost me but eighteen pence, 
 and I do not intend to be often so idle or so extravagant. 
 
 ^'Thursday, SepUmher 22cl. This day has furnished no inci- 
 dent that deserves recording here. Yet Avhat a serious con- 
 sideration is it that every incident and occurrence of it is re- 
 corded in another place, and Avill be produced for me, or against 
 me, at the last day ! I had a holiday from preacliing this even- 
 ing, and heard Mr. Taylor, at City Road, from ' Hope maketh 
 not ashamed.' My mind was strangely and unusually disposed 
 to Avander. This I can not Avell account for, as I had been fa- 
 vored Avith considerable access to God in the course of the day, 
 and am not Avont to find much difficulty in fixing my attention 
 on any subject to AA^hich I wish to listen. 'Pardon, O Lord, 
 the iniquity of my holy things.' 
 
 '■'■Friday Evening^ ^Sejytember 22d. This morning I rose very 
 early, and linished my letters. I next indulged myself Avith a 
 half hour's lounge in the booksellers' shops. The Dissenting 
 ministers, I perceive, are quite before us Methodists in publi- 
 cations designed to stimulate the people to engage in the act- 
 ive defense of the country. Messrs. Hughes, Cooper, Fuller, 
 and many others of them, haA'e published sermons Avitli that 
 vicAV, preached to their respective congregations. From Sta- 
 tioners' Court I went to Surrey Chapel, and heard a sort of 
 lecture from IMr. Jay. He Avas not so animated nor so brilliant 
 as Avhen I heard him Ijefore, but very instructive and impress- 
 ive. Few preachers are able to extort tears from me ; but he; 
 conquered me, and dissolved me into tenderness while enlarg- 
 ing on the character and sufferings of the Ai)OStle Paul. When 
 I hear such preaching :is j\Ir. Jay's,I am ahvays ashamed of my- 
 self, and Avonder that ihe poo])l(! sliould ever like to listen to 
 my poor SAvashy* sermons. I feel I am too declamatory in my 
 mode of preaching. I Avant more Aveight and solidity. IIoav- 
 ever, while I am humbled, I am roused, and see the necessity 
 of increasing diligence, that I too, by the blessing of Cod, may 
 * " To s<cnsh. V. ?;., to luixko a prriif clatter or noise." — Johnson.
 
 niS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 167 
 
 become in due time ' a workman that needetb not to be 
 ashamed.' " 
 
 Septcmher 23<;?, my father writes to Mr. Wood, "The long 
 evenmg walks are indeed productive of considerable fatigue, but 
 they become more easy by custom, and hitherto my strength 
 seems to increase in proportion to the increase of my work. 
 What will be the state of my health in the winter, I can not 
 tell. At present I bless God I am quite well, and, if it please 
 Divme Providence to continue to me this mercy, I shall not 
 mhid the fatigue. It is my lot, and I beheve always will be, 
 to preach the Gospel ' in much w.earkiess ;' wearmess in the 
 service, not of it. We have no particular news either in the 
 poUtical or the religious world, excepting, indeed, that we have 
 just received accomits from Gibraltar that some of our pious 
 soldiers in that garrison are sufleriug grievous persecution for 
 attending Methodist preaching when not on duty. Two of 
 them, for this only crime, have received two hundred lashes ; 
 and one, Avho was a corjioral, is also reduced to the ranks. At 
 the tune our intelligence came away, another of our brethren 
 was under sentence of five hundred lashes. This matter is like- 
 ly to be very seriously taken up by several gentlemen in Lon- 
 don, since such military tyranny is completely illegal. In Ja- 
 maica, also, they continue to pass and enforce penal laws against 
 us. K the government here wink at these attacks upon rehg- 
 ious liberty, I shall begin to fear for the safety of the country. 
 God will avenge His Church on all her oppressors, wherever 
 He find them." 
 
 " Saturday Myht, September 24th. I was in time to dehver 
 my packet m Cateaton Street,* and to take tea at Mr. Ilovatt's, 
 in Bishopsgate Street. Several preachers were present, and 
 our party was pleasant and profitable. I was reproved sharply 
 for my taciturnity (a crime into which, I fear, I am not apt to 
 fall), and required to contribute my share to the conversation 
 in terms Avhich made me feel extremely awkward and fooUsh. 
 The Penitents' meeting is the best public ordmance I attend. 
 It was good for me, and for many, this night, to be there. Mr. 
 Benson concluded it by speaking very closely on the marks of 
 
 * The packets intended for my mother were, hy Mr. Rylc's considerate 
 kindness, forwarded in his parcels of goods to Macclestield. His London 
 warehouse was in the street nanied.
 
 168 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 sincere conversion. One of the marks he mentioned was ' an 
 earnest desire to avoid every thinu;- whicli may furnish occasion 
 or suggest temptation to sin.' Under this liead he said some 
 strong things to the ladies about gay and costly apparel, the 
 wearing of Avhich, he insisted, rendered their conversion sus- 
 picious, because it exjioses them to the temptation of pride and 
 self-complacency ; ■which tempers, if sincere, they would not 
 cherish, but resist. I did not know that I had sent you the 
 London plan. I will inclose the new one, which I have this 
 moment received from the press. I see they have given me far 
 more than my share of the work in the Ncav Chapel. This is 
 kindly meant, but I Avould rather have had only my own turns. 
 " tSunday Evening^ Sept. 2bth. Mr. Rankin preached this 
 morning from Psalm xxv. At our breakfast meeting which 
 followed, a Mr. Ringeldauben, from Germany, was introduced. 
 He is come to England for the purpose of being shortly sent 
 abroad, luider the patronage of the Society for Missions in 
 Africa and the East. I venerate greatly the zeal and i^iety of 
 those who thus abandon their country and friends in order to 
 evangelize the heathen. "When I look at their sacrifices and 
 exertions, I feel utterly ashamed of myself However, some 
 must stay in garrison, while others carry offensive war into the 
 territories occupied by the enemy ; and, on the whole, I do not 
 doubt that I am where God M'oidd have me to be. Mr. R. very 
 modestly requested that he might be appointed to some of our 
 country chapels; but I took him with me to Spitalfields, and 
 ])ublished him there for the afternoon. God bless him ! I love 
 liim for his work's sake. I spent most of the afternoon alone, 
 being too tired, and too anxious about my own Avork at Queen 
 Street in the evening, to go to any place of worshij). I Avas a 
 good deal i)cri)lexed about my Charity-sermon text, lieliig di- 
 vided between Gal., vi., 9, and Dent., xxix., 29, the only pas- 
 sages I had before used on like occasions. At length I fixed 
 on the latter. I have never been so fluttered by the sight of a 
 congregation as I Avas for about half an hour after I entered 
 the pulpit. After a Avhile I forgot my iears and embarrass- 
 ments, and spoke Avith considerable freedom. I am heartily 
 glad that it is all Ofvcr. Thus one Sabbath passes after another 
 in rapid, succession ; my last Avill soon arrive. Though I cer- 
 tainly have noAV more ties to earth than I formerly had, I still
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 169 
 
 feel that it can not arrive too soon, if it do but find mo ready. 
 Exhausted in body and mind, I lay me down to rest, ashamed 
 and disgusted with myself, but very thankful to God for the 
 comforts I enjoy. Good-night to all the world !" 
 Dr. Percival writes to my father under date of 
 
 *' September 2Gth, 1803. 
 " My dear Sir, — ^To your very affectionate letter I have only 
 time to make a short reply. But few words are necessary to 
 express the steady and cordial attachment which I retain, and 
 shall through life retam, for you. I rejoice that you have the 
 prospect of a happy settlement in London, Avhere you can not 
 fail to enjoy numerous opportunities of improvement. The 
 work of Dr. Magee on Atonement shall be dehvered to your 
 sister, to be forwarded to you foV the use of your friend. It 
 may be returned during the course of next month. I am in 
 daily expectation of a visit from Dr. Magee, and shall state to 
 him the particulars you mention. I believe his book is out of 
 print in Dublin as well as in London. He is at present so 
 much occupied with his Discourses on the Prophecies as not to 
 have leisure for a new edition of the treatise on Atonement. 
 He means to revise the whole, and will, probably, convert the 
 long notes into separate dissertations. I thank you for yovir 
 kind attention to my commission respecting Eden on Pimish- 
 ment. Pray continue to keep it in view, but do not give your- 
 self much trouble about it. My whole family unite in the 
 kindest regards to you, with your sincerely affectionate friend 
 and servant, Thomas Percival." 
 
 Liclosed in this letter I find a slip of paj^er addressed to 
 Miss Bimting : 
 
 " Be so good as to offer my most affectionate respects to 
 your brother, with my best thanks for Ms very acceptable and 
 obliging present. The third edition of ' Penal Law' is the last, 
 and that which I wanted. Lord Auckland informs me that his 
 bookseller could nowhere meet with a copy. Your brother has, 
 therefore, been fortimate in liis search. Yours, T, P 
 
 T3" 
 
 " Monday Evening^ September 2Qth^ I have had a long and 
 Vol. I.— H
 
 170 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 pleasant conversation with Mr. Butterworth, one of our lead- 
 ing men, who says the London people (meaning, I suppose, 
 himself and his particular friends) have not been for many 
 years so satisfied with their appointment of preachers, as a 
 whole, as they are this year, I consider acceptance, as well as 
 success, to be the gift of God, and am, therefore, thankful for 
 my share of it. But it will be well if they are profited as much 
 as they say they are pleased. Mr. Butterworth tells me he has 
 in his nund a project for raising a complete theological libraiy, 
 to be appropriated to the use of the preachers in London. He 
 says he can easily secure a few" hundred pounds, once for all, 
 to be applied to the purchase of it. Such a scheme, however 
 honorable to the proposer, is not so necessary, and would not 
 be so useful here as in country circuits. There is scarcely a 
 book of established merit which may not be borrowed in Lon- 
 don from some of our friends, and we have but little time for 
 those regular, close, and systematic studies which render the 
 privilege of consulting large libraries so valuable. On my way 
 home I again stepped into St. PauFs. What an astonishing 
 pile of architecture ! But the chanting of the prayers is very 
 bad. I have witnessed many extravagances in the prayer- 
 meetings, etc., of the persons called Revivalists among us, but 
 I never saw or heard any thing there so irreverent, so irra- 
 tional, so luiscriptural as these proceedings in St. Paul's. The 
 clergy of the Establishment have no right to throw stones at 
 us for tolerating Ranterism while such things are practiced 
 by themselves in their own cathedrals." [My father is speak- 
 ing of the careless and often ])rofane services of former days.] 
 " AVe have had a very busy afternoon. In order to expedite 
 the business of the Quarterly meeting, it is the custom for the 
 steward to meet the ]M-eachers a few days before, and to receive 
 and pay all the moneys from them or to them in private, so 
 that at tlie i)ul)lic mooting the accounts are only read and aud- 
 ited. This i)lan is a good one. It leaves more time for inter- 
 esting and useful conversation. Our business was concluded 
 but just in time for me to" run to Snowsfields, where T ])reached 
 from Acts, iii., 20, .niid met the leaders. I have not lost a min- 
 ute, yet it is now 11 o'clock, and I have promised to preach in 
 the morning at 5 o'clock. 
 
 " Tueftday Evening, Sept. 21 th. After a very sleepless night,
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 171 
 
 full of tossiiigs to and fro, I rose between 4 and 5 o'clock, and 
 preached from Romans, viii., 2. I again began my sermon to 
 eight jjersons, and again mustered thirteen at the conclusion. 
 This seems to be the ne 2^lus ultra^ beyond which the attrac- 
 tions of my morning eloquence can not avail. I view this serv- 
 ice as a work of complete supererogation. Mr. Taylor is 
 resolved that he will not engage m it more than once a week, 
 and advises me to be lilce-minded. None of the other ti'aveling 
 preachers will attend ; so that it is the tax which we have to 
 l>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 i<hi:il, and 
 closely examined them on the subject of ))rivate jirayer. The 
 following f|ueslifinH were ]trfipos('d to each: 1. 'Do yon make 
 a point of retiring for secret ]»rayer once r»r twice :i dav, be-
 
 UIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 173 
 
 sides ^lorning and evening devotion ?' Tliis wo all thought to 
 be a duty and a privilege, unless something extraordinary hap- 
 pened to render it impossible. 2. ' Do you not only ineulcate 
 the duty upon your members, but indi\idually inquire if thev 
 perform it r" If we can persuade leaders and people to mucii 
 secret i)rayer, we shall soon find the good eflects of it. I find 
 some of the leaders were not verj^ strict in their inquiries, and 
 it has been found that some, from whom better things were ex- 
 pected, have lived in the partial, if not general neglect of that 
 important duty. We are in reality just what we are before 
 God m secret. 'The secret acts of men, if noble, are far the 
 noblest of their lives.' The other thing alluded to is a plan for 
 tlie recovery of backshders. A number of our Ijrethren have 
 agreed to lay themselves out to reclaim the wanderers. Tlu- 
 town is divided hito districts ; two or three visitors in eacli 
 district. These intend to ^•isit them, pray with them, and 
 bring them to the means of grace; and, when they are judged 
 in a proper state to be readmitted, to recommend them to 
 meet with their former leaders. The brethren who have en- 
 gaged in this labor of love are to meet the preacher once a 
 fortnight, after Sunday-mornmg preaching, m order to bring 
 their report and receive advice. It certainly is a good design, 
 whatever it may produce. I know you will join me in pray- 
 ing, ' O Lord, send now prosperity !' " 
 
 " October 1st. Amid all, let us try, my best beloved, to be 
 mcreasingly attentive to the one great business of life— prep- 
 aration for eternity. This world, Avith all its connections and 
 enjoyments, must shortly pass away. Our existence here, 
 though justly compared to a shadow, is introductory to a 
 state of the most substantial happiness or misery, that shall 
 abide forever. « Seemg that ye look for such thuigs, be dili- 
 gent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and 
 blameless.' Let us redeem the time from unnecessary inter- 
 course with the world for the purpose of walking with God, 
 and conversmg with our Father who is in heaven. Let us 
 cultivate the true spirit of prayer. If it will suit you, I find 
 that I can generally set apart the hour between seven and 
 eight o'clock m the morning for meeting you at the footstool 
 of our common Friend. I trust His Providence has made us 
 acquainted, and that He Avill afibrd all needful direction as to
 
 174 TUE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 every thini; which concerns our future conduct and happiness. 
 Let us inij)ortunately and l.)ehevin<j;ly chiini His j)roniise — 'In 
 all tliy ways acknowledge Ilim, and lie shall direct thy i)at]is.' 
 I dined with Mr, and Mrs. Meredith, of Bishopsgatc Street. 
 Mr, and Mrs. and two Misses Rutlierford, with Mr. and Mrs. 
 Taylor, were of the i)arty, which Avas more pleasant than I ex- 
 pected. Miss Meredith and jNIiss Kutherford are musically in- 
 cUned, and entertahied Mr. Taylor hy ])laying and singing. 
 lie desired them to sing a favorite Scotch air in the words of 
 one of our hjanus. They wished to retain the words of a love- 
 song, to Avhich the music originally belonged, and asked him 
 whether he saw any harm hi those words. Ilis answer, I 
 think, desei'ves recording, as the maxim it contains Avill a])j)ly 
 to a thousand similar instances : " My children, you do "v\ell to 
 inquire, in the first jilace. Is there any harm in it ? But, if this 
 first question he answered in the negative, still there is a sec- 
 ond inquiry to he made, which must he answered in the affirm- 
 ative l^efore your use of that song can he justified. Is there any 
 good in it ?' 
 
 " Sunday Evening^ October 2d. I read prayers at Wapping 
 this forenoon (making, I believe, hut one blunder"'), and ])reach- 
 ed from Romans, viii., 2, which I had no thought of doing be- 
 fore ; but, while I was m the desk, I felt a strong inclination to 
 fix upon it; and, supposing that the impulse might possibly be 
 Divine, I yielded, tliough with some hesitation, resulting from 
 my having so fre(iuently spoken upon this passage of late. I 
 had a very good time. 
 
 " At the New Chapel in the evening, my text was 1 Timothy, 
 i., 18. This chapel, when crowded, is, I fear, too large for me. 
 The ne(^essary exertion of my voice quite overstrained it, and 
 I spoke jiaiiifully to myself, and j^robably not very ]»leasantly 
 to the ears of others. It was not ojie of my lia})inest eiforts 
 in the preaching way. Jiut ])erhaj)s God saAv it riglit to pun- 
 ish mc by withholding the wonted aids, in some measure, for 
 the want of tliat entire simplicity and singleness of eye which 
 would have made me somewhat less solicitous tlian I was 
 about my first appearance in the Sunday evening congregation. 
 
 * The reading; of the morninp scn-icc wns n novelty to him. In Oldham 
 nn<l in Mnrrlcsficld tlio cnpnp'inonts at the rlinpcl were still conducted OS 
 8Upi>kinentary 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 lia<l classes to meet 
 this ovi'iiiiii; 1)otli beiorc and after service at lloxton. My 
 text Avas Psalm Ivii., 1. I took supper with one ol" the lead- 
 ers, who lives in our o^^ti neighborhood. The circle of agree- 
 able friends continues to enlarge around nie." 
 
 Dec. \3(/t, 1803, my father writes to Mr. Marsden, speaking 
 of ]Methodisni in London, "I think we should do much better, 
 by the blessing of God, if two things could be accomplished: 
 one, an increase of the number of traveling preachers from six 
 to nine, or, at least, to eight.* Without this, some important 
 jjlaces, both in town and country, such as Snowsfields, Lam- 
 beth, Grosvenor Market, Chelsea, AYoolwich, Twickenliani, and 
 Brentford, will never have a fair trial. It is probable that at 
 the next Conference this will be done. 2. A division of the 
 circuit into two or three branches ; e.f/., London, Westminster, 
 and South w ark. In order to meet the prejudices of some re- 
 spectable friends against this measure (which is, in the opinion 
 of i\Ir. Taylor and myself, as well as of Mr. Benson and the 
 other ])reaclicvs who talked of it last year, abst)lutely essential 
 to the due administration of discipline), the Sunday plan might 
 still be general for all the town cha])els, and the pecuniary 
 concerns of the societies might all remain under the manage- 
 ment of one steward and one Quarterly Meeting ; but the su- 
 perintendency, which is a mere name at present, should be 
 divided between two or three jiersons, and there should be a 
 separate week-day plan for the ]n-eachers ajjpointed to each 
 district branch of the circuit. Till something of this kind be 
 adopted, there can be none of that uumaiL'nnl j}astors/iip and 
 oversifjJit of the flock which the New Testament enjoins as 
 universally necessary. Mr. Benson's own advertisement has 
 befoie Ihis informed you what improvements he intends mak- 
 ing in the Magazine. I wish he may ])erform all he has prom- 
 ised : he takes great pains ; and I liave no doubt that the work, 
 under his management, will be altered much for the better. 
 Materials for it crowd in from all ciuarlers. On this and other 
 accounts, I do think you had ln'tter withhold the Account of 
 the Conversion of a Deist : I will return it when I have an op- 
 portunity. Of ]\Ir. some suspicions are reported. All 
 
 * The number of members of society in London, ns returned at the Con- 
 ference of 1803, was three thousand six hundred and ciKbty.
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON, 201 
 
 persons enthusiastically or schismatically disposed are danger- 
 ous in our connection to its peace and permanency; and the 
 more pious in their general character, the more dangerous. I 
 have hardly room to answer your inquiries about Miss M. Our 
 acquaintance continues, and is likely some time or other to 
 result in one still more intimate. You married at the com- 
 mencement of a second year in the London Circuit ; whether I 
 shall follow your example in that point is, therefore, rather an 
 odd question. If I had your talents and popularity, perhaps I 
 may not have your influence, nor any influence sufticient to 
 procure, if I wanted it, a second year here. But more of this 
 some time else." 
 
 " Tuesdcnj Evening^ December IZth. I preached this morning 
 at 5 on ' Keeping ourselves in the love of God,' and foimd it 
 better to be there than I usually have done on these occasions. 
 I dined at 3 with Mr. and ]Mrs. Buhner, and had some most 
 interestuig conversation. At 7 I preached in the New Chapel 
 on Hebrews, xi., 24. 
 
 ''^ Wednesday Evening, December 14th. I have preached at 
 Stratford with more than common comfort on Jer., viii., 22, 
 and supi)Gd at Mr. Benson's on my return. By-the-by, this 
 liberty of staying out to supper, as well as many other lil;)erties 
 I now enjoy, will be abridged or abolished. But I think the 
 yoke Avill be easy, and the chains, though firm as adamant, will 
 be soft as velvet. 
 
 " T/iursdag, December loth. This day has been wholly spent 
 in my study ; only I just stepped into the chapel at V, and 
 heard Mr. Benson on ' Walking so as to please God.' 
 
 " Saturday, December 2Uh. I have to preach three times to- 
 morrow and read prayers ; twice in my own turn, and once at 
 the Xew Chapel at 5 in the morning for ]Mr. Taylor, who is 
 very poorly. All next week my places are to be supplied, that 
 I may be at liberty to attend to the affairs of the Missions and 
 of the Book Committee. 
 
 " Wednesday, December 2Qth. I am quite tired of the cares 
 of busmess, and shoidd be glad instantly to return to my ac- 
 customed duties. I find so bustling a life, spent in such em- 
 ployments, not very favorable to my spiritual interests. Pray 
 for me. I never needed help more." 
 
 12
 
 202 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUXTIXG. 
 
 " Manchester, Tuesday, 2 o'clock, January 17th, 1804." 
 (Tlicse are extracts froni my father's last letter to Miss 
 Maclardie before their marriage.) " On Thursday evening 
 next you may expect my mother and myself to arrive. Her 
 anxious desire to see, and jjcrsonally to know, before slie dies, 
 the intended "wife of her only son, prevails over every other 
 consideration, and she seems to anticipate with much delight 
 the expected interview. 
 
 " As to Derby, I am inclhicd to think, from particular local 
 circumstances, that my comi)liance might, perha2)s, do some 
 good. Nor do I feel any particular dislike, but rather the 
 contrary, to the idea of preaching on the evening of my wed- 
 ding-day. Perhajjs, in a religious view, it may even be desir- 
 able. On Sunday I was urged to preach at Salford in the 
 forenoon, and at Oldham Street in the evening, wliich I ac- 
 cordingly did, to very crowded congregations, and with as much 
 indifference to their censure or applause as I ever felt in my 
 life. I wish I may always be kept as ' single of eye and simple 
 of heart.' My first text was 1 Timothy, iv., 8; my second, 
 Hebrews, ii., 2-4. My sermons were, in my own opinion, 
 which you ask me to tell you, of the middle class as sermons, 
 and I thought I had more than common liberty and unction in 
 my exhortations and applications. I should not at all wonder 
 if my friend Wood be influenced, either l)y affection to me or 
 curiosity, or both, to come and sec us married. He has inti- 
 mated as much in an indirect way. Well, my dearest friend, 
 the time of our union now draws nigh. Before this time next 
 Tuesday I hojjc to have the honor and happiness (undeserved, 
 I deeply feel) of calling you 9nine. Let us on this occasion 
 give ourselves afresh to God, and then to each other by the 
 will of God. I trust this event will be the commencement of 
 a new era in my religious as well as in my domestic life. 
 When I look back to the years that are gone, I blush and 
 tremble to perceive Avliat a sinner and what a trifler I liave 
 been. Truly it is high time for me to awake out of sleep. I 
 shall now be more than ever responsible to God for my tem- 
 pers and conduct, I feel that, in giving you to mo, Divine 
 Providence lays me under sti'onger obligation than before to 
 be grateful and obedient, and that you, whom my influence, 
 example, and deportment may so jiowerfully aftect, as well as
 
 niS EAKLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 203 
 
 our common Governor, have a right to cxiject my most stren- 
 uous endeavors to be holy, devoted, and usefid. Lord, help a 
 helpless worm !" 
 
 Thus ends this series of notices of my father's early ministe- 
 rial course. His occasional letters to my mother are the only 
 resources, for the same kind of material, Avhich are now availa- 
 ble. He could give no greater proof of his deep love to her 
 than that he thus overcame his constitutional aversion to talk 
 about himself. There are no other journals extant. I do not 
 think that any other were written ; and through life he avoid- 
 ed the snare, uito which some great men have fallen, of main- 
 taining an extensive miscellaneous corrcsj)ondence. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 EAELY MINISTRY IN LONDON Coucludecl. 
 
 Marriage. — Letter of Condolence to Mr. Entwisle. — Difficulties at the Book- 
 room and as to Missions. — Bold Measures. — Connectional Finance. — 
 Young Ministers in the Metropolis. — The Eclectic Review. — John Foster. 
 — Triennial Appointments. — Henry Moore. — Death of Dr. Percival. — An 
 old Preacher's Wife. — Disputes as to Singing. — Defense of Evangelical 
 Arminianism. — Difficulties in accepting an Invitation to Manchester. — 
 Early Opinions on the State of Connectional Literature and on the Edu- 
 cation of the Methodist Ministry. — Earliest Publication. — Close of his first 
 Career in London. 
 
 On Tuesday, January 24th, 1804, Jabez Bunting was married 
 to Sarah Maclardie, at the parish church of Prestbury, near 
 Macclesfield. The same evening he preached, according to en- 
 gagement, at Derby, on 1 John, i., 9. The following Sabbath 
 he took his regular appointments m his own circuit, and at once 
 resumed his other usual duties. He thus details the circum- 
 stances attending his marriage in a letter to Mr. Marsden : 
 " Of the event to which I have just referred you have doubt- 
 less heard before now. It took place on the 24th of January, 
 at Prestbury. Mr. Heapy,* Mr. EntAvisle, Mr. and Mrs. Allen, 
 Messrs. Albiston and Wood, with my good mother from Man- 
 chester, Miss Hale,f and Mr. Maclardie, favored us with their 
 
 * The officiating clergyman, 
 
 t The lady's maternal aunt. She thought she could trace her descent 
 from Su- Matthew Hale.
 
 204 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 company on the occasion ; and I trust that He who once at- 
 tended a marriage at Cana in Galilee was also present with us, 
 to approve and to bless our union. Pray for us, that we may 
 never forfeit His approbation and blessing. Our proper liome 
 is at City Road, where, besides the room that regularly belongs 
 to me, we have the use of the large drawing-room on the sec- 
 ond floor. We dine with the family, but at other times are 
 alone. Our situation is therefore as comfortable as we can ex- 
 pect under such circumstances. But we have spent a month 
 since our arrival at Mr. Middleton's, and are now paying a sim- 
 ilar visit at Mr. Butterworth's. The hospitality and kindness 
 of our friends in London are truly great. But I beg pardon 
 for having said so much about myself and my concerns." 
 
 The Book-room — the establishment at Avhich the standard 
 publications of the connection are vended — was at this time m 
 trouble, and Mr. Lomas, who had, when yomig, acquired some 
 knowledge of secular concerns, was urgently invited to examine 
 into its atiairs. He sought my father's counsel. " You well 
 know, my brother," he says, after congratulating his friend on 
 his new relationship, " that in every state and place our God is 
 our All. Blessed be His name, He is still my own, and I would 
 not lose Him for all the world. What tliink you ? You are 
 my friend, and you are on the spot to see and hear what pass- 
 es : should I be in danger of losing Him among books, and fig- 
 ures, and toils, and scrapes in the Methodist Book-room ? Or 
 do you suppose I have a Providential call to go thither, at least 
 for a few weeks, if I could be spared from my circuit ? I can 
 truly say I have not sought this ; far from it ; nor do I think it 
 desirable for its own sake ; quite otherwise ; but I Avant to know 
 and to do the will of God by spending my time and strength 
 in that Avay which will bring glory to His name, and serve the 
 Methodist connection, which I love so dearly." 
 
 To his friend, Mr. Entwislc, whose wife had just died, my fa- 
 ther wrote a letter of condolence, from which I give some ex- 
 tracts : 
 
 "London, March 24tli, 1804. 
 
 " My very dear Friend, — Mr. Morley's kind letter, Avhich 
 arrived four or five days before yours of the 1 9th instant, brought 
 me the tidings which, though thoy did not surprise, deeply af- 
 fected and grieved me. I most tenderly sympathize with my
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. • 205 
 
 beloved friend in his heavy affliction, the poignancy of which, I 
 think, I know how to estimate, so far as it can be estimated by 
 one who lias not personally experienced a similar deprivation. 
 May that blessed Spirit who is, emphatically and by office, ' the 
 Comforter,' do His office for you ! As for me, I know not what 
 to say to you. I would gladly be, if I possessed the ability, ' as 
 one that comforteth the mourners ;' but, as balm itself may be 
 painfully applied, I fear lest I should, by any means, make to 
 bleed afresh that wound which I fain would help to heal. In- 
 deed, your present circumstances call rather for the comj)assion 
 than for the advice of those who love you ; especially as they 
 have good reason to believe that you have not your cordials to 
 seek in the very hour when they are needed. By a long and 
 familiar acquaintance wuth the best of books, you have been pre- 
 viously furnished with those views of Divine Providence, and 
 with those maxims of heavenly wisdom, from wdiich, through 
 the agency of the Holy Ghost, a good man derives such strong 
 consolations as dehght his soul in the midst of his most troub- 
 led thoughts. I rejoice exceedingly in the extraordinary sup- 
 port with which you have been favored from above on this 
 mournful occasion, and will not foil to pray for the continuance 
 of these Divine influences. And, surely, that grace which en- 
 abled our dear departed friend so gloriously to triumi^h over 
 the feelings of nature, the languors of disease, and the assaults 
 of death, can and will support her surviving partner, till he, 
 like her, shall be called to enjoy the crown for which he fights, 
 and the prize for which he riras. I also rejoice to find, from 
 your letters, that you are not inattentive to the many circum- 
 stances which contribute to alleviate the afflictive stroke, and 
 to render it more tolerable. The presence and assistance of 
 Miss Pawson, as your housekeeper, is a most happy arrange- 
 ment indeed both for yourself and for your children. She will 
 be a mother to them, for their mother's sake. Instead of mur- 
 • muring that one of your blessings has been taken away, you, I 
 doubt not, will rather labor to be thankful, first, that you were 
 permitted to enjoy that one for so long a time, and, secondly, 
 that, on its removal, you are still left in possession of so many 
 others ; for you still enjoy the comfort of kind relatives, the 
 pleasures of paternal love, and the warm esteem and attach- 
 ment of numerous friends, who, though they can not supply the
 
 206 • THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 loss of her who is £^ouv to Heaven, Mill, by tlieir sjnnpathy and 
 their prayers, help you to bear it. You still enjoy, above all, 
 the means of grace, an interest in Christ, and the hope of eter- 
 nal life. You still enjoy God ; and, though nothing could have 
 made up to you for the departure of the Creator, it is easy for 
 Ilim to make up to you for the removal of the most beloved 
 creature. And, even with respect to that departed object of 
 your best earthly aft'ections, you sorrow not as do others. You 
 have not only hope, but assurance in her death. Y^'ou know she 
 is not properly gone, but rather gone before ; removed, but not 
 lost ; for dying is not the termination of existence, but only the 
 exchange of worlds. You know, also, that the certiiinty of 
 your meeting again is indubitable ; that the time of that meet- 
 ing can not be very distant ; that, through the grace of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, it will be hai)py as well as speedy ; and, 
 finally, that it will be eternal as well as joyful. Here you were 
 often unavoidably separated from each other during consider- 
 able periods ; but your next meeting shall be your final one. 
 After that meeting (and your Lord saith, ' Behold, I come 
 quickly'), there shall l)e no parting kiss, nor shall you ever be 
 required to say agaui ' Farewell.' But I must stop. I have in- 
 sensibly enlarged on this pleasingly-painful subject much more 
 than I intended. You feel all these things, I am persuaded, 
 more forcibly than I can state them. But excuse my long let- 
 ter. I have not time now to make it shorter. I join with you 
 in wishing that Mr. Lomas may find his mind at liberty to ac- 
 cept the office of book-steward for two or three years. In that 
 time I think he would i)ut our concerns into a proper train, and 
 for a much longer period than that I should not desire so use- 
 ful a preacher to be hindered from regular itinerancy. Wheth- 
 er he accept the office or not, I am confident that he is riglit in 
 coming t<; us fi)r a few Aveeks now. Aided by the result of his 
 judicious and laithful investigations, I trust the Book Connnit- 
 tee will be able to pre])are for the Conference a more satisfac- 
 tory report of its concerns ui that line than has hitherto been 
 presented." 
 
 To Mr. ]\Iarsden my father says, " Lackingfon's 'Confes- 
 sions' afford to me satisfactory evidence of a real alteration in 
 his sentiments and opinions on religion. As to the conversion
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON, 207 
 
 of his heart, the sincerity of his repentance, the sufficiency of 
 liis contrition, and tlic reality of his return to Christ, I yet 
 stand in doubt. But I rejoice tliat he is, in any degree, altered 
 for the better. I fear the style and spirit of the work will not 
 do much honor either to Methodism or to Christianity. He 
 does not write as a pardoned or penitent prodigal ought. 
 What think you of our steps with respect to the missions ? 
 They were perhaps bold, but certainly necessary. Yesterday 
 we received the linal determination of the Committee of Privy 
 Council respecting the persecuting law in Jamaica. Their 
 lordships will disallow it, so that it, of course, ceases to be op- 
 erative ; but they have accompanied this decision with an inti- 
 mation that they shall recommend some other measure to the 
 Colonial Legislature in order to prevent abuses of the Tolera- 
 tion. What that other measure will be we can not tell. We 
 have had a great deal of trouble on this business, but to have 
 succeeded in any degree is more than an adequate recompense. 
 Messrs. Abraham Booth, Andrew Fuller, and Robert Hall, on 
 behalf of the Baptists, joined us in our applications. The oth- 
 er Dissenters stood aloof. We have pleasmg accounts from 
 Messrs. Mahy and Pontavice in France. They are maldng si- 
 lent progress in some country parishes of Normandy; but con- 
 cealment is essential to their safety and success, so that nothmg 
 must be published that would tend to make them objects of 
 attention to the present execrable government of that coim- 
 try." 
 
 The " bold but certainly necessary" steps in reference to the 
 conncctional missions adopted at this time require some ex- 
 planation. My father had very easily come to the conclusion 
 that the laity, equally with the clergy, are bound and entitled 
 to assist in the management of the temporal affairs of the 
 Church. Up to this period a contrary principle had prevailed 
 in Methodism. All parties to the constitutional settlement of 
 1795-1797 had contented themselves with providmg that the 
 accounts kept by the Conference should be duly reported to 
 the people xmder its charge. All local finances, indeed, includ- 
 ing those of chapels, were then, as now, under the sole control 
 of lay officers ; but the funds collected for the common pur- 
 poses of the connection were received and distributed by min- 
 isters onlv.
 
 208 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 It ■was inipossihlo tliat such a slate of tilings should long 
 continue; and, accordingly, so early as 1799, the Conference 
 introduced the lay element. But the circumstances of the case 
 shoAved that no new system was intended. Of their own pri- 
 vate Benetit Society, founded and sui»])orted by their own per- 
 sonal contributions, and, therefore, legitimately subject to their 
 exclusive management, the preachers composing the Confer- 
 ence elected a treasurer. But tliis was an exceptional appoint- 
 ment, and was not often, if ever, repeated. 
 
 Very soon after a body of the laity apj^car to have interest- 
 ed themselves in the pecuniary aifairs of the connection. A 
 " Preachers' Friend Society" organized itself in London in the 
 year 1799. Its objects were the "casual relief" of the minis- 
 ters and their fiimilics " when in sickness or otherwise distress- 
 ed." Its boimty was dispensed by a committee of seven per- 
 sons resident in London, of which committee no minister was, 
 or could be, a member. " Comitry members" might be pres- 
 ent at the meetings. Amiual reports were to be })ublished ; 
 at the end of which, cases Avere to appear, and statements of 
 the relief granted, concealing the names of the a))plicants. Tlie 
 first committee included the names of Buhner, Hamilton, Mid- 
 dleton, and Sundius ; Holy, Longridgc, and others were coun- 
 try members; iMarriott, Treasurer; and Butterworth, Secretary. 
 The Conference Avas at this time sorely straitened for money ; 
 but I confess I am sur^jrised that, instead of sanctioning, it did 
 not simimarily reject the scheme, with best thanks to its 
 promoters for their good intentions, but Avith an earnest Avarn- 
 ing against the mischiefs Avhich it threatened. It soon perish- 
 ed. A committee of the richer laymen of the body, distribut- 
 ing largesses at their OAvn discretion to the ministers of the 
 entire connection, Avas not an institute likely to acquire the 
 confidence of the i)Coi)le, or to preserve the stainless incorrupt- 
 ibility of the persons it Avas designed to help. No intelligent 
 Methodist can Avisli the ex])eriment to be rej)eated. Connuon 
 lal)ors; common certainty of maintenance; common interchange 
 of friendly oflices ; common sympathy and aid in trouble — thesy 
 be the common inlioritance of Methodist ministers to the end 
 of time ! 
 
 Tlic Conference of 1801 was the first to give substantial and 
 consistent form to the principle of lay interference. It A\'as
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY IX LONDON. 209 
 
 then enacted that the circuit stewards should Imve a right to 
 be present at the meetings of the district, and to advise at the 
 settlement of all financial matters. But, so unimportant was 
 this regulation considered, that, owing to the mistake of the 
 secretary, no mention of it appears in the minutes of the year. 
 It is to be found at the end of the Magazine for December. 
 
 The year 1S03 saw another change made in the same direc- 
 tion. Mr. Butterworth and Mr, Allan, both active and intelli- 
 gent Wesleyans, the latter a local preacher and a lawyer, had 
 directed their serious attention to the relations of the connec- 
 tion to the legislative and administrative acts of the civil pow- 
 er, and it was chiefly at their instance that, in the year last 
 named, the Conference appointed xi committee to " guard our 
 religious jirivileges in these perilous times," the majority of 
 which committee, as it happened, were lapnen. The idea of 
 representation , too, as being, in some cases, and in well-regu- 
 lated modes, expedient, was recognized, by placing upon this 
 committee " the general steward of the London Circuit for the 
 time being." With the single exception which occurred in 
 1799, thi ; Avas the first time that laymen were permitted to 
 engage in affairs relating to tlie whole connection ; and even 
 these ailairs were not properly or necessarily pecuniary.* 
 
 This was the germ of our present financial economy, though 
 those who planted it little thought hoAV high it would grow. 
 It was not possible, however, that Jabcz Bunting's clear com- 
 prehension of the present and foresight of the future should 
 fail to see in it the commencement of a new order of things 
 and the foundation of a new policy. But neither did he con- 
 jecture that this policy was to be, distinctively and emphatical- 
 ly, his o\m. 
 
 When he became a minister in London, the whole missionary 
 operations of the body had long been confided by the Confer- 
 ence exclusively to the charge and direction of Dr. Coke. That 
 
 * Of course, I am not referring to practices which prevailed during the 
 earliest history of the body, and which at this time had become obsolete. I 
 am aware that laymen interfered at the time of the settlement of 1795-1797, 
 but there was no constitutional warrant for their doing so. An acute in- 
 vestigator may also find in the first article of the Plan of Pacification some 
 faint traces of the idea of representation, but not in the sense in which the 
 term is used in the text, or in which the connection has subsequently adopt- 
 ed it.
 
 210 THE LIFK OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 zealous and distin^uislied elerg}'iiian liatl exercised f:^ront con- 
 trol over them before the death of Wesley, and, because his 
 will and wisdom had done so much to create this department 
 of the work, and his ])ersonal contributions and exertions had 
 done nearly every thini^ to sustain it, his superintendence of 
 it had been contuuied and confirmed, lie had given or beg- 
 ged all the money, and had been left to expend it as he chose. 
 In 1794 lie had rendered an account of his stewardship, which 
 showed that, up to that period, he had personally subscribed 
 more than nine hundred j)ounds, and had lent to mission chap- 
 els a sum much larger. But, between 1794 and 1803, no state- 
 ment whatever had been published ; so that, although every 
 body knew that he was a large creditor upon the fund, none 
 but lumsclf could have proved that he was not a defaulting 
 debtor. He Avas absent from England during nearly all the 
 period which elapsed between the Conference of 1 803 and that 
 of 1804, and, so far as the missions were concerned, his some- 
 what complicated money aftlurs Avere transacted by the Book- 
 steward, who, inasmuch as he Avas a minister, and had long 
 been more familiar with the duties of itinerancy than A\ith the 
 mysteries of trade, can not be severely blamed that his various 
 accounts, confused separately, were confused together, and lay 
 in a state of almost unintelligible entanglement. jNIr. Lonias, 
 we have seen, was called to the rescue of the Book-room; but, 
 until he should arrive, my father made a vigorous attempt to re- 
 duce things into order. Let those be thankful who have never 
 encountered such a task. What an acreage of ]')ai)cr ; and liow 
 ])rim and projicr did the figures stand, in long successive files, 
 like soldiers waiting for parade! But Avho should ascertain 
 their powers, conunand their evolutions, and lead them to 
 march and action V 
 
 And Avhat was to be done for the missions? C^)ke Avas 
 preaching through America, and his dei)uty had taken to his 
 ijcd. This, at all CA'cnts, Avas a clear case for the farther ajij)!!- 
 cation of the princii)le adopted at the preceding Conference; 
 and, accoi-dingly, the London ])reachers formed a committee 
 of "finance and advice," com])0sed of all the London ministers, 
 and of those same laymen Avhoni the Conference liad honored 
 Avith its confidence in reference to " our religious privileges." 
 This step Avas cautiously taken. Dr. Coke's authorized super-
 
 Ills EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 211 
 
 intendencc was left undisturbed; but he was not in England 
 to do his Avork. Money must be had; hxymen must lind it: 
 surely it was for them to say how it should be found, and to 
 advise, Avhen found, how it should be laid out ; and those lay- 
 men were selected to Avhom the Conference itself liad already 
 committed an important trust. This caution extended to the 
 minuter details of the arrangement, Marriott and Butterworth, 
 the Treasurer and Secretary respectively of "the Preachers' 
 Friend Society," were appointed to similar offices in connection 
 with the new committee. 
 
 The measures thus taken were duly announced by circular 
 to the several superintendents throughout the connection, and 
 my ftither's last-quoted letter to Mr. Marsden was one of many 
 modes in which he endeavored to sound the opinions of his 
 brethren whether a plan suggested by a special exigency could 
 be made part of a permanent system. Mr. Marsden's reply has 
 not come into my possession. Dr. Coke soon came back, and 
 I fear he was grieved at Avhat had j^assed during his absence. 
 At the Conference of 1 804, however, his powers were placed 
 under the check of a standing committee of " finance and ad- 
 vice," of which he was appointed president ; he was favored 
 with the assistance of a treasurer and of a secretary, both minis- 
 ters ; and annual reports were ordered to be published. These 
 were innovations enough at a time. No laymen were appoint- 
 ed officers, or even members of the committee ; and several 
 years elapsed before the principle of lay concern m the man- 
 agement of any of our connectional aftairs was farther recog- 
 nized. Shortly after the Conference the new coimnittee is- 
 sued a letter containing the following paragraph : " You Avill 
 perceive, from the minutes of the last Conference, that a com- 
 mittee of finance and advice has been appointed to assist the 
 general superintendent in the management of the missions. 
 The former committee has been dissolved. The Conference 
 was fully satisfied of the integrity, piety, and disinterestedness 
 of the whole conduct of the former committee, and return them 
 their thanks ; but tliey choose to manage the missions in future 
 only by their superintendent, and a committee chosen out of 
 their own body." So ended my father's first essay at develop- 
 ing the constitution of Methodism. It is doubtful whether ten 
 laymen in the body cared whether it did or did not succeed.
 
 212 TIIK LIFE OF JABKZ BUNTING. 
 
 But some of the veterans of the Conference were not a little 
 displeased at the young man's rashness, and were half afraid 
 that, in the person of the rising preacher and administrator, a 
 " Killuunitt''" had crept into the coimectit>n. 
 
 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:ite<l .and considered, the appoint- 
 ment of the ministers should rest with the C'onference. Hut 
 the system, fairly worke<l and curried out, gu.ards itself ag.ainst 
 the countless evils of intruding a minister whom events ])rovc 
 to be unfit for the sphere .alloltcl to him. Al the end of one 
 year all mistakes may easily be rectified ; and tin-re is a change, 
 • The nllowoncc* made to wives of mini«tcr» in other circuits.
 
 HIS EAKLY MINISTRY IX LONDON. 210 
 
 .iH of course, at the end of two years, unless there are clear in- 
 ilications of a wish to tlic contrary. This is one of the many 
 advantages of a pastorate whidi regularly varies, as compared 
 with one whose (.-hanges dc])cn(l upon the accidt-nts of events 
 or of o])inion. To tliose wlio discern its disadvantages, it is 
 enough now to say that the arrangement has worked well for 
 more than a century, and that it is not disparaged by the fact 
 tliat it draws largely on the self-denial of the clergy. Until 
 uiy f ithcr had traveled sixteen years, he never accepted an in- 
 vitation for a thinl year. This course of action I attribute 
 ]>artly 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<l to the <irr/tn)ie)its of Mr. Edwards, his book 
 has never been formally and exi)licitly attacked. Now, in my 
 ajtprehension, to answer an author's arguments is, in eflect, to 
 answer his book, whether his name, and the jiarticular pages of 
 his book, be or be not quoted. But still you are not strictly 
 correct. Mr. Edwards's treatise is formally and explicitly
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN LONDON. 231 
 
 named, and his theory fairly stated and zealously controverted, 
 in ' Thonglits on Necessity, by John Wesley, A.M. Second edi- 
 tion. London, IV 75.' 
 
 " I was exceedingly gratified, gentlemen, on the appearance 
 of yonr Prospectus, by the promise of a Review on principles 
 decidedly orthodox, yet uniformly catholic, and friendly to all 
 who hold those great truths which are the vitals and funda- 
 mentals of Christianity. This promise I still hope and believe 
 you intend to fulfill. The apparent deviation from it, which 
 has occasioned this letter, has probably proceeded from haste, 
 and will be candidly acknowledged, as it was, I doubt not, in- 
 advertantly committed. I am aware that much liljeral indul- 
 gence is due, on such occasions, to the conductors of a work 
 hke yours ; and though I was somewhat mortified, on the pe- 
 rusal of your Review, by a" seeming departure from your pro- 
 fessions, reflection soon suggested an apology for the language 
 you have used. Perhaps by Calvinism you chiefly mean, not 
 the mere peculiarities of Calvin on the subject of absolute pre- 
 destination and other kindred topics, but the grand system of 
 evangelical truths taught by that great man, in conjunction with 
 Luther and other reformers. These are truths which all seri- 
 ous Christians agree to hold as essential, however divided on 
 questions of only secondary and subordinate imijortance. If 
 Calvinism be thus identified, in your phraseology, with the glo- 
 rious Gospel of ' the great God, even our Sa-\aor, Jesus Christ' 
 — if you use that term as including the doctrines of Original Sin 
 and of Hereditary Depravity ; of Salvation by Grace alone ; 
 Justification by Faith in Christ's active and passive Obedience; 
 Regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and other similar truths nec- 
 essarily connected with these, the case is altered. I may still 
 doubt, indeed, the strict correctness -of your nomenclature, but 
 I no longer object to your decision and zeal. I no longer con- 
 demn your triumphant challenge to all opponents. Among the 
 ' champions of the opposite system' to this, God forbid that I 
 should ever be found. This system is unspeakably dear to nie 
 and to many others, who nevertheless are called Arminians be- 
 cause we believe in General rather than in Pai-ticular Redemj> 
 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 
 <lid not change, the sentiments of his two brethren. Mr. Hare 
 replied to Cook; and the utmost exactness of conception and 
 of statement was imjieratively needed, in order to worst a foe 
 whose subsequent history jtroved that a doubt of the possibil- 
 ity of any spiritual inlluence lay at the foundation of liis sys- 
 tem. It was at this time, I conceive, that my father ascertain- 
 ed more clearly the truth and the relations of the doctrine in 
 dispute. Thenceforth, if Fletcher's controversial statements 
 differ, here and there, a shade from the dogmatic teachings of 
 AVesley, Jabez Bunting adopted the latter as his own creed, 
 and preached, with greater freedom and force than before, the 
 Gospel of the Gracious Father and of the Atoning Son, but 
 also, as unspeakably im])ortant to lapsed and miserable nuui, 
 the Gos])cl of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 The intimacy formed as I have described was continued and 
 increased as the two friends attained yet greater maturity. 
 Four of my father's children — all, indeed, in whose case it Avas 
 possible — Avere receiveil by Grifllth into the Christian disciple- 
 ship in the Sacrament of Baptism. Death oidy interruj)ted a 
 friendship so close, and so mutually sweet and hel])ful. Upon 
 those who witnessed Griffith's last hours, his " doctrine" drop- 
 ped " as the rain," and his " speech" distilled " as the dew." 
 "Let all go," he cried, "but Clirist and heaven." Then, hav- 
 ing himself partaken of, and having administered to those 
 around him, the memorials of his Savior's death, he calmly 
 faced his own, and, body and soid preserved unto everlasting 
 life, went triuin))hantly to Paradise. 
 
 The relief given to my father by his release from the press- 
 ure (jf nu'tro])()]itan engagements was very grateful. He had 
 cherished large projects of study and improvement before a 
 short career in London taught him that his services were not 
 to be confined to the usual circle of ministerial usefulness. 
 Sooner or later, he was to become a ]tublic man. Now he 
 sought to improve the short ))eriod of intervening leisure so as 
 to tit himself for what lay before him. He resumed, according- 
 ly, the systematic pursuits Avhich had been interrupted, and es- 
 pecially that active, cvery-day discharge of tiie duties of a 
 Methodist preacher, Avhich is the best preparative for the gen- 
 eral R.-rvioe of M.thodism.
 
 HIS EARLY illN^ISTRY IN MANCHESTER. 245 
 
 Three months after his arrival in Manchester lie became a 
 father. There is a tradition that he was absent from the house 
 Avhen his eldest son -was born. On his return, and Avhen the 
 birth -was annoxmced to him, he fell on his knees, and jioured 
 forth one of those ])leasing prayers for "which, through life, he 
 was so remarkable, imploring, in particular, that, if God should 
 so will, the child might become a Methodist preacher. Then 
 came a rush of patei'nal pride and joy so great, that his friend, 
 Mr. Allen, reminds him that he had forgotten to seal the letter 
 which took the good news to Macclesfield. The first fond 
 wish of his fatherly heart was not denied to him. 
 
 I can only glance at the correspondence which comes with- 
 in this period. 
 
 In a circular from the preachers in London, with Adam 
 Clarke at their head, dated "Xovember 30th, 1805," I find 
 the first i:)reccdeut of the Methodists presentmg, in one sum, 
 the moneys subscribed by them for purposes of national be- 
 nevolence. On this occasion the contributions Avere devoted 
 to the Patriotic Fmid, raised for seamen and their widows 
 and orphans, in connection with the great naval engagements 
 of the time. 
 
 Mr. Entwisle writes to my father : " I fear we are not gain- 
 ing ground in London. I am confirmed in the opinion that 
 there are so many irons in the fire, and that so many things 
 with which publicity and show are connected engage the atten- 
 tion of our leading friends, who are very active in douig good, 
 that the work of conversion is hindered thereby. Every thing 
 must give way for the sake of great collections, etc. Mr. 
 Clarke and ]\Ir. Benson are fully of the same opinion, and Mr. 
 Clarke is quite distressed about it." 
 
 Mr. Taylor, my father's recent superintendent, thus writes 
 to liim from York on the occasion of the birth of his son : " He 
 can not be xi more useful member of society, nor a greater 
 blessing to his parents than I Avish him. ]\Iay the God of Ja- 
 cob bless the lad ! And, if the Lord shall spare him to grow 
 up, I pray that he may occupy the most holy and usefiil sta- 
 tion in life. If you mean to keep him, don't sufler hun to be 
 a rival to Christ in your hearts. Our God is a jealous God. 
 Are not the words of Parnell worthy to be had in everlasting 
 remembrance ?
 
 246 THE LIFE OF J.U3EZ BUXTING. 
 
 " * To nil but thee in fits he seemed to po ; 
 And 'twas my ministry to deal the blow.' 
 
 I am glad that you arc so agreeably iixed. I had not a doubt 
 but it Avould be the case. You are iii the very centre of your 
 friends, and have an extensive field of action before you. I 
 entertalii the highest o])inion of your colleagues, and liope you 
 ■will have a very prosperous year. Bui I still thuik as I did, 
 that you are out of your place, and that you ought to have 
 charge of such a circuit as this, or Bursloni, or Nottingham. 
 I am certain you have not sought those great circuits any more 
 than I have done, but you will never get out of them except 
 you become as stiff as an oak of a hundred years old. If my 
 wife and I contributed in the least degree to your comfort in 
 London, it gives us real pleasure. I thank you for thinking 
 we did any thing worthy of your notice. It will always give 
 me pleasure to serve you. Kodney" (the old gontloman's dog) 
 "got safe to York, and enjoys it much. He has a large yard 
 to play in." 
 
 In January, 180G, my father writes to my mother, then ab- 
 sent from home : " On ]Monday morning, at 7 o'clock, I met 
 the other preachers at Mr. Broadhurst's, in order to converse 
 with Mr. Broadhurst and his friends on the subject of the aj)- 
 prehcnded division. There is now no doubt that a separation 
 will take place. Three local ])reaehers and live leaders liave 
 already declared their resolution not to sul)mit tf> 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. <?., to pay a 
 sacred regard to established rule and order, Avith meek firm- 
 ness, leaving all consequences to God. Upon the exercise of 
 Cln-istian discipline in our societies our futiire usefulness great- 
 ly depends." 
 
 * Seepage 123.
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN MANCHESTER. 253 
 
 During the spring of 1806, Mr. Lomas, tlie book-steward, 
 made strenuous efibrts, with the vicAv of being reheved, at the 
 Conference, from his office, and of agam engaging in the usual 
 duties of the ministry. Ajiplication was made to several min- 
 isters to induce them to succeed him, but in vain. Mr. Lomas 
 therefore corresponded Avith my father on the subject of ap- 
 pointing a layman, and one was nominated and requested to 
 occupy the position. Eventually, however, Mr. Lomas remain- 
 ed in it. A subsequent regulation of the Conference seems to 
 imply that, unless the law be altered, a mmister only is ehgible. 
 
 A letter addressed by my father to my mother gives some 
 account of the Conference which this year assembled at Leeds. 
 " You will, perhaps, expect some Conference news, and I will 
 try to scrape together a few fragments. I heard Mr. Davies, 
 Mr. Sutcliife, and Mr. Clarke in Leeds on Smiday, and Mr. 
 Clarke also at Armley, a village in the neighborhood ; all ex- 
 cellent sermons. It was a remarkably good day. I have sel- 
 dom heard such preaching, or spent so profitable and pleasant 
 a Lord's-day. Monday evening, Mr. Benson preached on ' Be 
 thou faithful unto death,' etc. ; a very good sermon. Last 
 night Mr. Jenkuis discoursed on ' the foolishness of preaching,' 
 He burned and shone exceedingly. I had no notion that he 
 could rise so high. To-night Mr. Bradburn is preaching. Our 
 morning preachers have been Messrs. Fish, Bridgnell, and Hen- 
 shaw. When the Conference met on Monday, Mr. Clarke earn- 
 estly begged that, in choosing a president, none would throw 
 away their votes (as some had intimated it was their intention 
 to do) on him, for that a regard to his health, and other rea- 
 sons, would not permit him to accept the chair. The votes, 
 however, were, Clarke, twenty-three ; Benson, twelve ; Barber, 
 twelve ; Taylor, eight ; and, at last, Mr. Clarke was literally 
 dragged into the office,* which he fills, on the whole, very 
 ably. Dr. Coke was chosen secretary by a small majority. Mr. 
 Benson had nearly superseded him. It was then projDosed to 
 elect an assistant secretary, and, after an ineffectual struggle 
 on my part, I Avas compelled to take my seat in that character. 
 This is a real misfortune ; first, because it will occupy much of 
 my leisure hours, and materially diminish my opportunities of 
 hearing, preaching, seeing my friends, etc. ; and, secondly, be- 
 * See Dr. Etheridge's Life of Dr. Clarke, p. 211.
 
 254 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 cause it will compel me to tarry in Leeds till the very conclu- 
 sion of the Conference, if not a day or two longer. On the 
 other hand, I secure by it the advantages of occupying a capi- 
 tal station hi the Conference, close to the president's chair, 
 where I see and hear every thing, and of gaining considerable 
 information on our aflfairs." 
 
 It does not appear at whose instance my father was elected 
 assistant secretary. His capacity for business must have be- 
 come known to his colleagues, particularly when he resided in 
 London. Previous to this Conference he had rendered great 
 assistance to Dr. Coke, Avho for several years had acted as sec- 
 retary. Nor can my father's influence be traced on the legis- 
 lation of the Conference during this session. The most re- 
 markable transaction of the year was the appointment of home 
 missionaries to large districts of England, independently, to 
 some extent, of the well-tried circuit system ; an experiment 
 wliich, after a few years' trial, did not answer tlie cxi)ectations 
 formed of it. An important act of discipline was the trial and 
 expulsion of Joseph Cook, to whose heresies I have before ad- 
 verted. I can liardly picture to myself my father sitting silent 
 wliile the conversation on this topic proceeded, but there is no 
 evidence that he spoke on the occasion. He took part in some 
 grave discussions, and particularly in those on the question 
 whether the letter left by PaAvson for publication after his de- 
 cease should be published. This letter was too general in its 
 statements as to the existence in the body, and especially among 
 the preachers, of certain serious evils, and descended even to 
 the details of the dress of the preachers' wives. J\Iy father 
 proposed that the circulation of the document should be con- 
 fined to the preachers themselves. He liad the good sense to 
 see that, even were the comjilaints well founded, they nuist be 
 rectified within rather than without the Avails of Conference. 
 He spoke also on a case of discipline, and, in opposition to the 
 earnest recommendation of the president, urged that the oftend- 
 er sliould be dismissed. The iniblished minutes of the year 
 l^asscd under liis revision as assistant secretary, the first of a 
 series of tasks of the same kind which he performed, Avith more 
 or less of official responsibility, for nearly fifty years. Li each 
 such instance, every word and figure was scrupulously exam- 
 ined ; and scarcelv an error, hoAvever trivial, escaped his eye.
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN MANCHESTER. 255 
 
 IIo knew what heart-burnings the simple misprint of a name 
 might cause. Dr. Coke writes to him on the 31st of August, 
 " Many thanks for your perfectly exact journals." 
 
 Shortly after his return home, my father thus addressed the 
 Commissioners of the Income Tax : 
 
 " Gextlemex, — I avail myself of the permission which is 
 granted in the printed notices respecting the duty on proper- 
 ty, etc., to make the return of my professional income on a sep- 
 arate sheet. I am an itinerant preacher in the Methodist con- 
 nection, established by the late Rev. Mr. Wesley. The socie- 
 ties in that connection do not support their ministers, as is 
 usual among other religious denommations, by fixed and regu- 
 lar salaries, but by sundry small allowances, which difl;er con- 
 siderably in diiferent places, and which are varied from time 
 to time, according to the actual wants of the preachers, and in 
 proportion to the number and necessities of their families. This 
 peculiarity m our plan renders it difficult for me to give an ex- 
 act account of my income. But I hereby declare that, accord- 
 ing to the best of my judgment and belief, the various allow- 
 ances which I have received for the support of myself and my 
 fimily during the year which began August 5th, 1805, on which 
 day I left my last station in order to exercise my profession at 
 Manchester, and ending August 5th, 180C, did not amoimt to 
 more than eighty-three poimds.* 
 
 " I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant, 
 
 "J.IBEZ BUXTING." 
 
 The mode of providing for the maintenance of Methodist 
 ministers described in this letter will excite surprise in quar- 
 ters where it is not already understood. It commanded my 
 father's most hearty approval. The principle involved in it ap- 
 pears to be that they who preach the Gospel shall "• live" of 
 the Gospel, but that no gain or profit shall, by any possibility, 
 be made of the office of the ministry. Tluis explained, it pro- 
 vides also for the subsistence of those legitimately dependent 
 upon the minister ; but it is directly opposed to all idea of re- 
 mmieration for the service rendered l>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 .<Jtill nu)re contiguous to that 
 which it is intended to build for our use. We feel a mournful 
 pleasure in the idea that lier mortal remains lie so near to us. 
 Her mother and mysell", with Mr. Barlier, Mr. Newton, Mr. 
 Clayton, Mrs. Newton, and Mrs. Holy, attended them to the 
 grave. Wisliing to have some memorial of her which might 
 perpetuate to our minds the recollection of her countenance, 
 and enable us still to realize her, in some degree, as one of our 
 iamily circle, \vc employed an artist to mtike a drawing of lier 
 after her death. We hope it will l)e, when finished, a tolera- 
 ble, tl)ough not a perfect likeness. I need make no aj)ology to 
 you for these circumstantial details. You will feel an interest 
 in little )»articuhirs, the ri'lation of wliich wouM seem tedious 
 and foolish to others." 
 
 Very long and sadly did his mind dwell on this bereavement. 
 Three months alter it had occurred, he s.ays, in a letter to my 
 mother, then absent from home: "I am, I thank God, well in 
 health, but very dull. I sit and look at Sherry's picture till I 
 am miserable ibr want ol"some conversation to divert me irom 
 the melancholy recollections which it suggests." A little shoe 
 the l);ibf had worn was the constant coni]>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 
 she<I abroad,' etc., synonymous a\ ith the Spirit's witness? 
 Leaders; temporal concerns placed a good deal under llieir in- 
 fluence. People; visits to ])ersons excluded; regular visita- 
 tions ; renewal of tickets. Entire dedication to the ministry. 
 Opening new classes. Meeting of societies. Visiting the sick. 
 Prayer-meetings. Beat the head of every thing." 
 
 Griflith cfnnnu'nccd a fr('(|uont corresjjondcnce with his ab- 
 sent friend, and a letter from him refers to the general subject 
 of the last paragraph. 
 
 " Miinrhcstcr, February lOlh, 1S08. 
 "We held our meeting on Monday last. Besidt's the jireach- 
 crs in Manchester, we had the l)rethren from Stockport, Old-- 
 h.am, Rochdale, Bury, and Leigh, and a Mr. Coate from Ameri- 
 ca, whom you know. j\Ir. Thomas Taylor was not Avith us, 
 owing to tlie want of a conveyaiu'c, the canal being frozen up. 
 Our meeting was a good one, uj)on the Avhole. ]Mr. Coate 
 ju-eached, and was followed by Messrs. Shadfbrd, Crosby, Hare, 
 and IJobert Miller. The next meeting is fixed for Ai)ril Gth, 
 at Bochdale: ]Mr, Thomas Taylor, or Mr. IMarsden to preach. 
 The subject for conversation to be tlie Atonement. The sub-
 
 UIS EARLY MINISTRY IN SHEFFIELD. 273 
 
 ject of the sermon not mentioned. Since our conversation, I 
 liave tliouglit a good d6al upon the subject of faith, and u\)Ou 
 tlie confusion of our ideas respecting it. Docs not this confu- 
 sion arise from our too frequently confounding taith, as it is 
 ' the substance of tilings hoped for, the evidence of things not 
 seen,' -svitli faith as it is required of us, in order to our receiv- 
 ing the forgiveness of sins, or any other Gospel blessing? 
 That these are closely connected there can be no doubt, but 
 are they not, at the same time, distinct ? And is it not owing 
 to Avant of attention to this distinction that Ave sometimes ap- 
 pear to contradict each other, and even ourselves, by asserting 
 at one time that it is the gift of God, and at another that it is 
 our own work ? Give me your thoughts at large ui)on this 
 subject when you have a little leisure. I would only add that 
 Mr, Wesley seems to have considered it in the former sense 
 principally in his sermon on Hebrews, xii., 0, and in his two 
 sermons on Hebrews, xi,, 1, and that Mr. Fletcher seems to 
 consider it principally in the latter sense in his Essay on Truth. 
 In the former of these senses, must we not consider it as the 
 gift of God entirely ? And in the latter, must we not consid- 
 er it as our exercise of the gift of God, under the direction and 
 influence of the Giver ? You see I think of you in all knotty 
 cases. I often wish for you, especially when there is any thing 
 upon my mind respecting doctrines which I consider of import- 
 ance. But these vile bodies will not suffer tis to move from 
 Manchester to Sheffield, or from Sheffield to Manchester, as 
 rapidly as our thoughts can fly. Could Adam's body, think 
 you, move with this rapidity ?" 
 
 An extensive correspondence was maintained during the 
 current Methodistical year between my father and other lead- 
 ing ministers of the connection. Two subjects are introduced 
 in many of the letters, and evidently occupied the gravest 
 thoughts of those who sought most solicitously the welfare of 
 Methodism, 
 
 My father had already set his heart upon accomi)lishing an 
 object which it took a quarter of a century to carry — the sys- 
 tematic trahiing of approved candidates for the Methodist min- 
 istry. I have spoken of the opinions he cherished respecting 
 that ministry as deriving its authority from Christ, the Head 
 • ^ M2
 
 274 THE LTFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 of the Churdi, and its authentication from the Chnrcli itself. 
 He had a deep and humbling sense of the responsibilities of the 
 pastoral office, and, for that very reason, of the prerogatives 
 which, of necessity, and by strict Scriptural injunction, belong 
 to it. In this view, the [)rerogativt's were the consequence of 
 the resj)ousibility, and tliey wlio denied the one made light of 
 the other. I must again deal with tliis subject, and, as I hope, 
 in a spirit which shall give no just occasion of offense. But 
 here I have a particular })urpose. Prerogative raised the ques- 
 tion of fitness. Many intelligent ministers had, at the period 
 to which I am now referring, come to the conclusion that 
 claims which clashed so strongly with some popular systems of 
 Church government, as well as with the prejudices of the irre- 
 ligious multitude, must be sustained and strengthened, not 
 only by sound argument, and by high personal character, but 
 by the well-recognized competency of the i)ersous who pre- 
 ferred them. Assuming, then, as he had a right to assimie, 
 the piety and special designation of the men who, after suc- 
 cessive trials, had been "counted faithful," and were about to 
 be put into the ministry, my lather was deeply anxious to re- 
 move any degree of incapacity for the office. Gross and man- 
 ifest ignorance, or careless mdisposition to sacred studies, or 
 the vanity which too often attends them both, was proof of 
 moral as well as of intellectual disqualification in cases where 
 the opportunity of improvement had been afforded. To give 
 that opjiortuuity, therefore, was a clear duty, if for no other 
 reason, because it supplied a new and safe test of character. 
 He knew,'too, the mind of his contemporaries, and how many 
 of them dejdored their own deiii'iencies ; sometimes blushing 
 in the presence of their jieojde; and still oftener weei)ing be- 
 fore God. Nor could he mingle freely with some of them in 
 social and official life, or listen to their public exercises with- 
 out a strong and almost indignant sense of the jirivation of 
 whicli tliey had been the subjects. How many a genius might 
 liavc l)een trained and fostered — how many an understanding 
 taught and discii^lined — if due facilities had been timely fur- 
 nished ! The histories of the early ])reacher8, sometimes in- 
 stanced in ojiposition to these views, in no degree lessened 
 their force. The call was ])eculiar, and so were the prepara- 
 tions ; I speak not only of s])iritual aids, but of the diligent
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN SHEFFIELD. 275 
 
 and prayerful pursuit of "knowledge. Wesley was an accom- 
 l)]ished scholar, and the ^•ery ardor of his zeal made him anx- 
 ious that tlic agents he employed should not lack any clement 
 of success. "We have his own testimony as to the result of 
 his repeated exhortations to them. In his "Letter to Di*. 
 Rutherforth,"* in answer to an allegation that many of his 
 preachers were so ignorant as not to know that the Scriptures 
 were not Avritten in their mother tongue, he Avrites, " Indeed 
 they are not. Whoever gave you that information abused 
 your credulity : most of the traveling preachers in connection 
 with me arc not ignorant men. As I observed before, they 
 know all which they profess to know. The languages they do 
 not profess to know ; yet some of them understand them well. 
 Philosopliy they do not i)rofess to know ; yet some of them 
 tolerably understand this also. They miderstaud both one and 
 the other better than great part of my pupils at the University 
 did, and yet these Avere not inferior to their fellow-collegians 
 of the same standing (which I could not but know, having 
 daily intercourse with all the under-graduates, either as Greek 
 lecturer or moderator), nor were these inferior to the imder- 
 graduates of other colleges."f We have also more precise test- 
 
 * Works, vol. xiv., p. 3C4, 3G5. 
 
 f Sec how he retorts upon a similar antagonist on another occasion: 
 " The ground of this offense is as follows : Some of those who now preach 
 are unlearned. This objection might have been spared by many of those 
 who have frequently made it, because they arc unlearned loo, though ac- 
 counted otherwise. They have not themselves the very thing they require 
 in others. Men in general are under a great mistake with regard to what 
 is called the learned world. They do not know — they can not easily im- 
 agine — how little learning there is among them. I do not speak of abstnise 
 learning, but of what all divines, at least of any note, arc supposed to have, 
 namely, the knowledge of the tongues, at least Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, 
 and of the common arts and sciences. How few men of learning, so called, 
 understand Hebrew, even so far as to read a plain chapter of Genesis ! Nay, 
 how few understand Greek ! Make an easy experiment. Desire that grave 
 man who is urging this objection only to tell you the English of the first 
 paragraph that occurs in one of Plato's Dialogues. I am afraid we may go 
 fartJier still. How few understand Latin ! Give one of them an Epistle 
 of Tully, and see how readily he will explain it without his dictionary ! If 
 he can hobble through that, it is odds but a Georgic in Virgil or a Satire of 
 Persius will set him fast. And with regard to the arts and sciences, how 
 few understand so much as the general ])rinciples of logic ! Can one in ten 
 of the clergy (0 grief of heart I), or of the Masters of Arts in either Univer-
 
 276 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 imonies as to Hopper, avIio "regarded it a duty Avhich he csvcd 
 to himself, to God, and to the Church, to acquire some knowl- 
 edge of those languages in which the Scriptures were original- 
 ly written;" Cownley, who Avas said to have traveled "histo- 
 ry's enormous round," and liad mastered most of tlie books on 
 divinity, in the English language; Olivers, an acute and prac- 
 ticed logician, and a poet whose strains adorn and elevate the 
 hymnology of every nation which speaks the English tongue ; 
 Mason, well versed in the history of the world and of tlie 
 Church, and in anatomy, medicine, and natural history, and 
 whose " botanical collections would have done credit to the first 
 museum in Europe ;" Story, to whose multifjirious acquisitions 
 I have before alluded ; Black, Avho also studied the Scriptures 
 in the originals ; Thomas Taylor, who devoted his time before 
 breakfast wholly to his llebrcAV Bible, " comparing the text 
 wnth the Latin and English translations, consulting also the 
 Septuagint, and, at other times of the day, studied the Greek 
 Testament, the Latin authors, divinity, history, and ])hiloso- 
 phy ;" and Walsh, who, "if he was questioned concerning any 
 Hebrew word in tlie Old, or any Greek word in the New Test- 
 ament," " would tell, after a little ]iause, not only how often tlic 
 one or the other occurred in the Bible, b«t also what it meant 
 in every ]>lace." 
 
 "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 <leep solicitude {o attain the same object, at last received 
 its reward, and an institution, such as he desired to see, was 
 j>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 a<lv()cate for the itinerancy, was in 
 course of time convinced. The system creates its own excep- 
 tions. If the evangelist must also be the j>astor, 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 a<l<)i)ted, one of the great arguments in 
 favor of the Methodist system luiglit be materially strength- 
 ened; for Avhy should not the completeness and solidity su])- 
 l>osed 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 prove<l. All who really wish to learn it might 
 find one or two hours a A^eek — if not in the winter, yet in 
 the summer months — if on no other evening, yet on Saturday 
 evenings — for that purpose, and thus no jiart of the Lord's day 
 need be alienated from those employments directly religious,
 
 UlS EARLY MINISTRY IN SHEFFIELD. 291 
 
 which are sufficiently numerous and important to engross the 
 whole of that sacred day." 
 
 On the second question involved in the controversy my fa- 
 ther's opinions were equally decisive. The dispute ran not as 
 to this or to that particular polity. It raised much Avider is- 
 sues. In justice, and with a due regard to the general welfare 
 and to the will of Christ, Are institutions which avowedly aim 
 at the very same objects for which the Church itself Avas Di- 
 vinely established ; Avhich, to a large extent, absorb its best la- 
 bor and richest liberality ; and for the character and results of 
 which it nuist always sustain the primary responsibility, to be 
 subsidiary and friendly to it, or separate, independent, and hos- 
 tile ? Within our OAvn borders, this question is, as to its the- 
 ory, settled ; and if, in any cases, it has not also received a prac- 
 tical solution in conformity Avith that theory, experience has al- 
 ready shoAA'n, and Avill yet mcreasingly develop, the mischiefs 
 which attend so glaring an anomaly. 
 
 In the case of this contest, as in that of many others, my fa- 
 ther bore the brunt of the battle, and, by his steady adherence 
 to principle, his study and mastery of details, his vigorous and 
 eloquent advocacy, his cautious deahng Avith opponents and 
 with lukewarm friends, his Avillingness to endure personal ob- 
 loquy and insult, and his utter fearlessness of consequences, 
 gradually placed himself at tlie head of majorities, and ulti- 
 mately Avon the fight. In this instance the victory was not 
 final. The opponents abandoned the schools as to which the 
 question Avas first raised, enlisted in their favor the editorial 
 advocacy of James Montgomery in the " Sheffield Iris," and 
 commenced ncAv undertakings. But Ave shall see that, Avhen 
 my fother left the circuit, the contest was rencAved, and that a 
 general Avho did not choose to fight, if he himself must take the 
 chances of warfare, surrendered without a bloAv. It is still re- 
 served for some such self-denying minister as my fiither aa^is, 
 by sound argument, earnest entreaty, and commanding Chris- 
 tian influencc,^ to remove the last traces of the objectionable 
 practice. 
 
 From a letter AA'ritten by Mr. Griffith to my father, I find 
 that these discussions did not divert his mind from liis proper 
 study of Christian theology. " The httle time I have had since 
 the receipt of yours," says his correspondent, " and the manner
 
 292 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 in which my time is taken up here, prevent my giving you any 
 satisfactory answer to your question respecting the justification 
 of inlants. I woukl just say, generally, that it appears to me 
 that, where the Hcrijitures stop, our inquiries should stop also, 
 lest we be of those who pry into the 'secret things' of 'the 
 Lord our God.' From these Scriptures I learn the doctrine 
 of original sin ; and I find the doctrine agreeable to matter of 
 fact when I look at the sufferings, etc., of infonts. From these 
 Scriptures I also learn that inlants — dying in infancy — are safe, 
 and, therefore, have been justified, in the sense hi which justi- 
 fication is necessary to everlasting life. This is all that I know. 
 A multitude of puzzhng questions may be asked on the subject, 
 to all of which I can give no answer, because the Scriptures 
 have given me no information. Alas ! I have no time here for 
 MS. sermons. I feel it difficult to furnish the daily bread for 
 the day. Whenever I finish the sermon, which, Uke several 
 others, Ues unfinished by me, you shall have it, as I know no 
 man to whom I would expose my ignorance so readily as to 
 you. "We are busy about chapels. Snowsfields* is going on. 
 We have sent in proposals for the French Church in Spital- 
 fields, and thhik we shall have it." 
 
 A journey to the north of England, during the autumn of 
 the year 1809, luidertaken at Benson's almust imperative re- 
 quest, chiefiy for the purpose of opening a Chapel at ])urham, 
 introduced my father to the Methodists of that neighborhood, 
 M'ith many of Avliom he formed lasting friendshiiis. With the 
 elder ]Mr. Longridge, in ])articular, he corresponded for several 
 years, chiefly in reference to the one t()])ic which absorbed that 
 gentleman's pious care — the Christian training of Methodist 
 families. During this visit he preached also at Sunderland, 
 North Shields, South Shields, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. On 
 his return, the late Josejih Agar, whose memory will never be 
 forgotten by the Wesleyans of York, detained him in that city, 
 and compelled him U) give them a sermon. jNIr. Agar was cue 
 of the many old Methodists who, about this period of my fa- 
 ther's life, by the triistfulness they showed in his character, 
 talents, and fidelity to the cause they had loved so long, gave 
 him some confidence in his special competency and calling, and' 
 encouraged liini to j)l:iy maniiilly his j)art in life. 
 ♦ The Chnpel in Long Lane, Southwark.
 
 Ills EARLY MIXISTRY IN SHEFFIELD. 293 
 
 Although more than ten years had elapsed since the Sacra- 
 mental controversy was settled in England, it appears that it 
 still raged elscM'here. " Fifteen years suice," writes Mr. Reece, 
 " the Conference granted the Sacrament to the Channel Islands. 
 It has been administered in Guernsey ever since that time ; hut 
 Dr. Coke, having made a promise to the late dean that it should 
 not be administered in Jersey, has opposed it whenever the peo- 
 ple have repeated their request. An independent Church has 
 lately been formed there, and the ordinance is administered to 
 it, which has much alarmed the French preachers. They fear 
 that, if they do not stand on equal ground, our cause will be 
 ruined. Should not the doctor's opposition be overruled, and 
 the general decision of the Conference be acted upon in this 
 particular case ?" My father's reply to this question was im- 
 mediate. " Dr. Coke's unwarrantable promise to the Dean of 
 Jersey ought not, in my judgment, to deprive our societies in 
 that island any longer of their Christian and Methodistic priv- 
 ileges. I hope you will come forward, if necessary, at the next 
 Conference as their advocate. Tliere is no doubt that the de- 
 cision of our brethren will be in their favor." It is worth while 
 to mark how the refusal to treat Methodists as separatists from 
 the Church of England invariably operates for the benefit of 
 CongregationaHsm ; the assumption of authority by one emi- 
 nent minister; and the mode in which two young ministers 
 combined to assert the authority of the connection. 
 
 The published Minutes of the Conference for 1808 do not 
 contain any notice of an important resolution,* which directed 
 
 * If some private memoranda, taken at clivers Conferences during the ear- 
 lier part of this century, had come sooner into my possession, I sliould have 
 made more copious use of exceedingly curious records. It is impossible to 
 resist the temptation to insert one, dated 1802. During the session of that 
 year, Father Joseph Bradford denounced certain novelties in the dress of 
 the preachers' wives and children — "double, triple rows of buttons," etc.; 
 whereupon the spirit of one husband present was stirred within him. 
 "(^Vhcn these things were thus talked of," writes Mr. Suter, in a series of 
 panting parentheses, "I thought, if my Mary was but here, she would sure- 
 ly be again and more personally looked to, and truly spoken of, as a just and 
 proper model for all the preachers' wives in the connection, both as to her 
 attention to lier family and decency of dress, her attention to public means, 
 and her punctuality in attending. I farther thought that then was it seen 
 that her plain black bonnet, instead of being a cause of shame, would be an 
 ornament of honor and renown. Oh, my dear M., I thought, if you had
 
 20-i THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 James Wootl, llic ])rc'sidc'nt for the year, and liis colleagues, 
 Keeec and Lonias, to propaic a Digest oftlie llules of tlie Body. 
 Mr. Keoce writes to my father, '•'•Tlic' Digest goes on very slow- 
 ly, owing to the many other things Mhich Mr. Wood has to do. 
 Brother Lomas and I have performed the i)art allotted to ns 
 long since, and the wliole will be laid before tlie Book Conmiit- 
 tee. The Avork is divided into chapters, and each chapter into 
 sections. I give you a specimen : ' Chap. II. On Places of Wor- 
 ship and Official Characters. Section 1. Chapels ; 2. Preachers, 
 etc' When first we distributed the work, it was agreed that 
 each section should be introduced by a short address, illustra- 
 tive of the reasons and circumstances out ofwliich that part of 
 our economy arose, together with tlie design and tendency of 
 it. This, it was thought, would render the work more gener- 
 ally acceptable and useful, as many of our peoi)le, and some of 
 our preachers, know very little of these things. Mr. Wood is 
 now drawing uj) a long preface, Avhich he thinks will supersede 
 the necessity of these short addresses. Tliis I doubt, as Mr. 
 Wood's jireface will not contain that minute ami circumstantial 
 information which the others do. I doubt if the same ])erson 
 will ever read the preface more than once, whereas the others 
 will be frequently read when the rules are consulted, and thus 
 the end Avill be answered. I should be glad of your opinion on 
 the two plans, and the sooner the better," 
 
 Mr. Lonias addresses my father on the same subject: "I 
 write now to recjuest that you will give my love to Mr. Myles, 
 and ask him Avhether, in his researches among the records of 
 Methodism, he found any thing in print concerning the origin 
 of quarterly meetings ; and, if he did, Avhere it may be met with. 
 I Avill thaidv you to eonnnunicate his answer as soon as conven- 
 ient. We have made some progress in the Avork connnitted to 
 us by the last Conference, and hope to have it ready in time; 
 but, Avhcn Ave have done all that Ave have authority to do, the 
 
 lieaid the 1)cst of men and most i-cs|icctal)le of cliaractcrs talking as tlicy did, 
 and tlic licarty appioliatioji of tin; wliole body ]iiisciit (140 ])ieaeliers ; Mr. 
 Myles told rac so to-dny), n few excepted (Mr. A. sat hefuic me, Init Iiis 
 wife, etc.), you would never re])ent of beinp, as you Iour have hcen, singu- 
 larly jilaiii as well as sinf,'ulaily )jood. Oh, I tiiouf,'lit, may I and mine 
 stand as dear every way in tiiat day when the Jud^e eomes us I feel myself 
 and f.-ci for mine in tliis instance! O Heaven hel])!)"
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY IN SHEFFIELD. 295 
 
 work will need much improvement to make it what it should 
 be, a complete system of law for the government of the body. 
 And how shall this be accomplished ? Will it be done in pub- 
 lic Conference, or by a committee during the time of Confer- 
 ence ? Each of these is unlikely ; and I fear that, after all, the 
 work will not be such as I could wish." 
 
 To Mr. Reece my father replies : " I am much gi*atificd by 
 the specimen of the Digest Avhieh your letter contains. I hope 
 what has long been a desideratum in Methodism will now be 
 supplied. I think, and so do all the brethren here, that the in- 
 troductory remarks to each section should by all means be pre- 
 served, and that no general preface, however excellent, can su- 
 persede their utility. In many histanccs, the rules themselves 
 can not, by strangers, be well miderstood without some such 
 preliminary iustruction.- You have, if I mistake not, the prece- 
 dent of the American Methodists on your side, who, in their 
 Digest, published by Dr. Coke and ]\Ir. Asbury, have adopted 
 the same plan, or one nearly equivalent. Perhajjs some assist- 
 ance might be derived by you and your coadjutors from con- 
 sulting what the Quakers call their ' Book of Extracts.' It is 
 a small volume, the second edition of which was published in 
 1802, and contains an arranged body of extracts from the Min- 
 utes of their Yearly Meetings, composing together their present 
 system of Discipline. Almost any respectable Quaker in Bris- 
 tol Avould lend it you. Perhaps the plan which they adopted 
 for the examination and authoritative introduction of this Di- 
 gest of their rules, when it had been drawn up by their com- 
 mittee, might not be improper in our case. You will find it de- 
 scribed in the Preface." 
 
 When long experience had taught my flither the difticulties 
 of codification, he was much inclined to doubt whether it was 
 not better to rest satisfied with a Compendium such as Grind- 
 rod's, commanding general respect from the character of its 
 author, and capable of easy verification or correction by refer- 
 ence to authentic documents, than to attempt any official Di- 
 gest. Any systematic arrangement of our laws woidd reveal 
 redundancy as to some points, and a theoretical defectiveness 
 as to others, and thus a logical necessity would be created for 
 measures both of repeal and of enactment, which Avould prob- 
 ably occasion discussion and difficulty exactly in proportion to
 
 296 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 tlicir real Avortlilcssncss. Tliat strangers can not easily under- 
 stand our rules — the motive suggested iit'ty years ago l)y my 
 father — scarcely counterbalances this consideration. In ])iit- 
 ting out onr new shop-front, we may damage the foundation 
 of the building. One sometimes wonders what would be the 
 result if, during twenty years together, the Methodist people 
 were patiently to follow John "Wesley's advice, and simply to 
 keep our rules instead of trying to mend them. Codification, 
 it shoxdd be remembered, Avould create a necessity for amend- 
 ment, even were Ave all thus doing our duty. 
 
 The spring of 1809 brought with it a deluge of invitations 
 to my father from all ])arts of the kingdom in reference to his 
 next appointment. The circuit stewards of those days were 
 not perfunctory ofticials, and they asked, entreated, and im- 
 plored, invited, persuaded, and enticed him on all hands to 
 commit himself to some pledge on the subject. But he would 
 not make any engagement. Expressing a preference for Liv- 
 erpool, he assured all a})plicants that he would cheerfully labor 
 in any Circuit to Avhich the Conference might send him. I 
 conjecture that, in his anxiety to educate himself in the entire 
 system of JMethodism, ho felt considerable indifterence as to 
 the precise place of his ap])renticeship if only it ju'ovided him 
 witli a new held of observation and of usefulness. Two ex- 
 ceptions must be made to this statement. The distance of 
 Bristol from his mother's residence induced him to decline, so 
 far as lie had any voice in the matter, an invitation from that 
 circuit. The case of Bradford, it will be seen, rested upon an 
 entirely different ground. 
 
 A letter to Mr. iMarsden alludes to a subject which occasion- 
 ed my father a great deal of annoyance and labor. " We have 
 had a long and troublesome contest with our parish ofhcers, 
 who wished to fix a jiarisli apprentice Avith each of the three 
 married lu-eachers, and intimated their ])urpose to rencAV the 
 imposition at every Kucceeding change of preachers. As the 
 fine for each refusal is £10, this Avould have been, in fact, a 
 biennial tax of £30 on itinerancy as practice<l among us. ^Vfter 
 various consultations of counsel, memorials to magistrates, etc., 
 etc., Ave have at length, through a good Providence, arrived at 
 a satisfactory result. Much to the mortification of the over- 
 seers and their laAvyer, the bench unanimously decided that
 
 ins EARLY MINISTRY IN SHEFFIELD. 297 
 
 the preachers' lioiises should he liable only in their turn ^\ ith 
 other houses ; and that, to secure this point, the stewards, and 
 not the jireachers, should be rated, pay all assessments, and be 
 responsible for the apprentices. The officers, encouraged by 
 the case at York, have also assessed all our chapels very heav- 
 ily. But, disheartened perhaps by the failure of the former 
 l)lan respectnig apprentices, they have not, as yet, troubled us 
 with any actual demand for the chapels." 
 
 But by far the most interesting question of the year related 
 to the operation of the ju-ovisions of Wesley's Deed-poll. By 
 the terms of that instrument the Conference consisted of one 
 hundred ministers only ; but all the ministers permitted by the 
 District meetings to attend the Conference discharged its func- 
 tions, except only in reference to the election of the president 
 and of the secretary. Then arose the question as to the right 
 of attendance, which Avas regulated by successive acts of legis- 
 lation. Wlien the number entitled to attend increased to 
 something like two Inuidred, the elder ministers took alarm ; 
 they feared that their influence and strictly legal rights would 
 be destroyed by the power of adA'crse majorities. On the oth- 
 er hand, a strong jealousy was felt by the younger ministers 
 of any restriction of accustomed jirivileges. The subject was 
 discussed at the Conference of 1808, and was ordered to be re- 
 ported upon by the next ensuing District jneetings. Entwisle, 
 Griftith, Gaulter, the elder Jonathan Crowther, and Marsden, 
 were some of those who corresponded Avith my father on the 
 subject, and, though the tone of their communications was very 
 moderate, it is easy to see that no little danger of angry excite- 
 ment existed. A letter Avritten by my father gives some ac- 
 coimt of the proceedings of the District meeting held at Shef- 
 field. I have reason to believe that the minutes were drawn 
 up by himself, or at his instance, and Avere in accordance Avith 
 liis individual opinions. I subjoin extracts. Those Avho have 
 alleged that my father AA'as unfriendly to the rights of liis 
 brethren and to free discussion Avithin the Avails of Conference 
 Avill find they have been mistaken : " We Avish an annual report 
 of the fund to be sent to every member. We propose that 
 every preacher at Conference found guilty of grossly ncT^lectino- 
 to attend to the business AA'hich is transacted, or of absentino" 
 hhnself Avithout leave, shall be prevented from ntteiidino- for 
 
 N2
 
 298 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 four subsequent years, unless sent for. AVe disapprove of the 
 London plan for raisinp^ a district fund for chapels as imprac- 
 ticable and iuii)roductive. We propose that preachers received 
 even on trial shall have read and approved our doctrinal Min- 
 utes, and censure the precii)itancy with Avliich some, not duly 
 recommended, are taken out at the close of Conference. In- 
 stead of these hasty measures, we recommend greater attention 
 to the duty of ' praying the Lord of the harvest.' We advise 
 an inquiry into some reported gross violations of the rules re- 
 specting singing and music in our chapels. AVe do not thhik 
 it right that the young men, when publicly received into full 
 connection, should occupy so large a share of the time in the 
 relation of experience, but propose that a regular charge shall 
 be addressed to them, and the senior brethren imite in solemn 
 ])rayer. We thank Mr. Benson for inserting in the Magazine 
 the article from Macknight against female ])reaching; we wish 
 Mr. AYesley's opinion on the same side, ui his AVorks, vol. xix., 
 p. 2G1, to be republished by authority of the Conference; we 
 express our oi)inion that the practice is unscriptural, disgrace- 
 ful to our connection, and eventually more mischievous than 
 useful, and that it ought to be discountenanced. AA e inquire 
 also whether our AA'^elsh brethren do not sometimes employ a 
 woman to open their new chapels, and censure those preachers 
 who, instead of doing their ministerial Avork in person, are in 
 the habit of resigning their pulpits to their wives. AVe pro- 
 pose a minute to the following effect: 'The Coni'erence ear- 
 nestly recommend to the committees, superintendents, and 
 teachers of all Methodist Sunday-schools, to ado])t the plan on 
 which these excellent institutions were first established, and 
 which has been successfully tried at iVLuicliester, Lojulon, Brad- 
 ford, Sluflield, etc., etc. ; by teaching Avriting and aritlnuetic 
 on week-day evenings only, so that the Lord's day may be 
 spent in a regular attendance on worship, in reading or learn- 
 ing to read the Scrij>tures, 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:ivoi<lal)lc, and that then, perliaps, il would
 
 IIIS EARLY MINISTRY IN SHEFFIELD. 299 
 
 ho best to liave provincial Conferences, by uniting several of 
 our present Districts ; a general Conference for legislation, etc., 
 being held once in two or three years only. At present, we 
 think no material departure from the existing system is advis- 
 able: 1. Becau.se the inconveniences alleged are not yet so ur- 
 gent as to render a change indispensable ; and we think mere 
 experiments in legislation, uncalled for by jDressing necessity, 
 are dangerous. 2. Because the advantages of frequent and nu- 
 merous Conferences counterbalance the inconveniences, by pro- 
 moting brotherly love, by producing a uniuu of opinion and of 
 eftbrt, and by furnishing the junior brethren with their best 
 opportunities of studying the peculiar doctrines, discipliue, and 
 genius of jMethodism, Avith all which it is of importance that 
 tliey should be accurately acquainted at the earliest possible 
 period of their itinerancy, before anti-]\Iethodistical views and 
 liabits have been contracted. 3. Because the remedies pro- 
 posed for the alleged inconveniences last Conference (viz., the 
 restricting the number of attendants and votes by a new prin- 
 ciple of exclusion, applying to one particular class of })reachers) 
 would occasion worse evils than that which it professes to 
 cure ; would sanction a principle by which any other spiritual 
 usurpation or anti-Christian hierarchy might afterward be in- 
 troduced and defended ; would imply an vmscriptural and in- 
 tolerable attack on the ministerial character and equal rights 
 of the juniors in full connection, and Avould therefore be dis- 
 2)leasing to God, and dangerous alike to the peace and stability 
 of our connection." 
 
 Before my fother retired from public life, the numbers attend- 
 ing the Conference were twice as many as at the time these 
 minutes were written. But I believe that the only moditica- 
 tion which he would have suggested at the later period would 
 have been to omit that portion of them which contemplated 
 provincial Conferences. He became fully convinced that these 
 would be attended with serious disadvantages and with grave 
 perils. It is clear that, as ministers increase, and opportunities 
 of personal converse and friendship become less frequent, a very 
 strong case must be made out to justify any change of the 
 present system ; and, to say nothing of the legal and other 
 difficulties which would attend the alteration, it would seem 
 that no evils at present exist which may not be easily reme- 
 died without resortinc: to it.
 
 300 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 About this period of my father's history, it was the not un- 
 common practice of District meetings to discuss the condition 
 and requirements of the connection at hn'ge, and to embody 
 their opinions in miniites forwarded to the Conference. I see 
 no occasion for regret that this custom does not now generally 
 prevail. It is easy to see that projects of change affecting the 
 entire body will be freer both from personal and from local 
 bias, and will, therefore, be more likely to result in measures 
 of somid general policy, Avlien originated for discussion at the 
 Conference itself, or in eonuuittees intrusted with the several 
 departments of administration. 
 
 At the Conference of 1809, of which Thomas Taylor was 
 president, the question of attendance at the Conference was 
 left substantially in the position Avhich the minutes of the Shef- 
 field District meeting had recommended. Other measures of 
 the same session, relating chiefly to finance, had their origin in 
 my father's attention to that department of connectional af- 
 fairs. There are also traces of the results of my father's cor- 
 respondence with Mr. Longridge on the subject of family re- 
 ligion. I find, too, that the practice of giving a charge to the 
 young ministers received into full connection was established 
 at this Conference. A speech delivered by my father durhig 
 the earlier part of the proceedings secured for him the life-long 
 gratitude and afiection of the late Rev. David M'Nicoll. He 
 and one of his colleagues had, during the preceding year, " of 
 malice aforethought," and without the sanction of their super- 
 intendent, established a society for the mental improvement of 
 the younger members of one of their congregations. Grave 
 charges were preferred at the District meeting, and were trans- 
 mitted to the Conference. I can not believe that my father 
 Avas induced to palliate any very serious case of insubordina- 
 tion. If he did, I must plead as his apology the charm of his 
 first acquaintance with one of the most amiable and accom- 
 jdished men who ever encountered the toils of the Methodist 
 itinerancy. 
 
 One event only of any great domestic interest took place in 
 the second year of my father's residence at Sheffield. In De- 
 cember, 1808, his second daughter was born. Mr. Myles bap- 
 tized her by the name of her grandmother, Mary Redfern. 
 
 I have been favored with a communication fi-(>m 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 y<jung ])eople have no business to think on such melancholy 
 subjects, as it only hurts their spirits. Again entreating your forgiveness 
 for thus trespassing upon your time, and ])raying you may say something 
 that may penetrate to ids heart, allow me to subscribe myself," etc. I have 
 a great respect for the writer of this letter. But. as a rule, would it be wise 
 to try so to point public discourse as to strike individuals rather than clnss- 
 os ? There are popular preachers nowadays who are never haj)py except 
 when they are making some hearer believe that they know the deepest se- 
 crets of his conscience, and are able to assure him of his personal, fatal, and 
 inevitable doom. Surely what God has not told to them they can not tell 
 to others. And can any thing more deeply degrade the ordinance of 
 preaching than such random methods of trying to do good?
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY AT LIVERPOOL. oil 
 
 liave revealed to mc secrets -whidi not prudence merely, but 
 the honor of religion and of ^Methodism, would require me to 
 preserve inviolate. It is right that I should state, in one ex- 
 plicit sentence, that very few secrets have been discovered ; 
 and, with the exception of cases of evil which, sooner or later, 
 have become notorious, scarcely one of which even an uncan- 
 did reader could take mischievous advantage. Certainly the 
 correspondence might be published Avithout any imputation 
 upon the piu-ity and disinterestedness of the very large num- 
 ber of persons sustaining a Christian reinitation with whom my 
 father had to deal. 
 
 Letters from Hare and Grindrod became, from this date, very 
 long and numerous, and, though but few of my father's replies 
 are preserved, they were punctual and communicative. With 
 Griffith, Entwisle, and Marsden, the accustomed interchange 
 of information and of opinions still continued. 
 
 During the first few months of my father's appointment to 
 Liverpool, Hare's letters related chielly to the subject Avhich 
 had given my father so much trouble in his former circuit. 
 The advocates of teaching writing on the Sunday gathered 
 round Mr. Mylcs, and that easy superintendent not only con- 
 ceded the matter in dispute, but altered his own views, and, by 
 all the means which the Constitution placed Avithin his power, 
 and by some which he improvised for the occasion, favored the 
 few factious men Avhom my lather had successfully confronted. 
 Some of them had been dismissed from the society; but Mr. 
 Myles, within a fortnight after my fiither's removal, procured 
 the tacit consent of the leaders' meeting to their readmittance, 
 on condition that, for the future, they promised submission to 
 authority, and that they made a suitable apology to the minis- 
 ter Avho had left them for various acts of impertinence and of 
 mjury which he had suftered at their hands. Hare, who re- 
 mained in the circuit, together with Valentine Ward and Da- 
 vid M'NicoU, who had just arrived, after vainly plying the 
 chief minister Avith arguments and expostulations, deemed it 
 best to sit by in indignant silence, and to permit him to pursue 
 his OAvn course. The schools originally commenced in opposi- 
 tion to the judgment of the regular circuit tribunal were now 
 taken imder its patronage, and the protest so boldly made 
 against the violation of the Sabbath seemed, for the time, to 
 have been utterly throAvu aAvay.
 
 312 THE LIFE OF JA15EZ liUNTING. 
 
 The nialcoiitc'iils liad no difficulty in tendering a fresh adhe- 
 sion to tlie discipline of the eoiniection, hut they shrank from 
 the fancied degradation of apologizing to a defeatetl enemy. 
 There Avas no hojjc of inducing the leaders' meeting to disj)ense 
 with this condition, and the superintendent was at his wits' 
 end; so he wrote to my father, informing him that ho had 
 lieard, through 3Ir. Holy, that one of the persons concerned 
 was sorry if he had done any thing wrong ; ho])ing the apology 
 would be accepted ; expressing his wish to hear in reply ; and 
 concluding, " "We have had the best love-feast last Simday that 
 ever I saw in Sheffield, and yesterday Ave had a very peaceful 
 and loA'ing Quarterly meeting. My prayer is that the Lord 
 may be with us, and keep us from all evil." 
 
 If John Wesley himself had written such a letter as this to 
 my father, it Avould have been treated. by him with the silence 
 Avliich he observed on the present occasion. But to Mr. Hare 
 and to Mr. Holy he expressed himself hi terms Avhich are Avor- 
 thy of record. To the former he Avrotc, on December 23d, 
 1800, on the back of a communication Avhich he had received 
 from Mr. Holy : 
 
 "My veky dear BnoxiiER, — Having just received this let- 
 ter from Mr. Holy, I am inclined to re})ly, but think it best to 
 send you the letter first (having no time to copy the material 
 parts) and to request your advice hoAV to ansAver. Tliat ad- 
 vice is the more necessary, l)ecause I can not exactly under- 
 stand Avhat is the state of affiiirs in Sheffield. I Avish much to 
 have done Avith this painful business. It is useless to protract 
 the defense of one point Avlicn the main })ositious have been 
 treacherously surrendered. The idea that strikes me at pres- 
 ent is to tell ]\Ir. Holy that Avith him I am willing to communi- 
 cate on this subject, being conlident of the sincerity of his 
 iriendly professions, and satisfied that I am safe in trusting 
 myself to a correspondence Avith him ; that I am more than 
 ever convinced that Sunday-school Avriting is unlawful; that I 
 am confirmed in this oj.inion l)y the coucm-rent judgment of 
 such men as Benson, Moore, Wood, Joscj)!! Taylor, Griffitli, 
 Lomas, and almost all the leading seniors in our OAvn connec- 
 tion, and by that of some of the most respectable clergymen in 
 the Establishment and dissenting bodies in various parts of the
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY AT LIVERPOOL. 313 
 
 kingdom, wlio, liaving lienrcl of wliat lias passed, have volun- 
 tarily conveyed to me their sentiments of approval of our con- 
 duct, and of regret that what they consider as an awful abuse 
 of the Sabbath should be defended by any who profess Chris- 
 tianity; that even most of those who, if the subject had been 
 resumed and decided at our Conference, would have voted 
 against a minute requiring our people to abandon the practice, 
 "would yet have been heartily glad that the people themselves, 
 or a majority of them, should be brought, of themselves, and 
 "without the interference of the Conference, to exchange Sim- 
 day writing for week-day writing; that I consider some of the 
 measures pursued at Sheffield since the Conference to have be- 
 trayed toward our friends a spirit of downright, barefaced per- 
 secution, and that for conscience' sake, which is highly disgrace- 
 ful to the parties concerned in it, but worthy of men whose 
 only steady principle is policy, and Avho have notoriously sac- 
 rificed consistency and friendship to convenience and to fac- 
 tion ; that, however men may change, truth and the fourth 
 commandment change not ; and that I, as well as those who 
 acted with me, have the consolation of knowing that our work 
 is with the Lord, and our judgment not with our opponents 
 and calunmiators, but Avith our God ; that, as to that part of 
 
 the business Avhich is personal between and myself, it 
 
 Avas not I, but a full leaders' meeting, that made an apology to 
 me the condition of his readmission ; that, in point of fact, to 
 me he has yet made nothing like apology, but that I have not, 
 nor ever had, any personal ill-will toward him ; and that, if tlie 
 leaders themselves think proper to forgive him without his ful- 
 filling the condition of making an apology to me, I have no 
 disposition to obstruct the extension of their mercy to him. 
 Of my forgiveness he may rest assured, and of my best Avishes 
 for his present and eternal happiness. Will this do ? If it 
 Avill, shall I send it to Mr. Holy, or directly to the leaders ? 
 Will the latter plan of acting be imconstitutional, or do more 
 harm than good ? Write freely by return of post, and inclose 
 this letter in yours. You see my Avish. I Avould end the bus- 
 iness in a peaceable, yet bold, honest, and spirited Avay. 
 " I am, as ever, your very affectionate, J. Bunting." 
 
 To Mr. Holy he Avrote: "There is one part of vour letter to 
 Vol. I.— O
 
 31-i TUE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 ■which you probiiLly expect that I sliouM return some answer. 
 It relates to a topic -which is to me (.•xtreinely unpleasant, and 
 on which, in f\ict, I had determined that I would not again 
 M-rite at lar<;e to any person in Sheffield, unless regularly and 
 officially called upon to do so. Mr. Myles's letter I do not con- 
 sider as an official call. It did uot convey to nie the idea that 
 
 Mr. 's restoration is yet suspended, as you seem now to 
 
 intimate that it is, on my acceptance of an apology to be made 
 by him to me, but merely informs nic of the now measures 
 which have been adopted in the Sheffield school since Con- 
 ference — mentions, among other things, Avhat Mr. said to 
 
 you on the 20tli of September, and then simply adds, ' Thus 
 we have endeavored to end our Tinhap^jy disputes.' Of course 
 I inferred that those disputes were ended, and I had no dis- 
 position to revive them by discussing the justice or injustice, 
 the fitness or unfitness of that end. It is true, ]Mr. Myles does 
 say in his postscript, ' I hope you will accept of jMr. 's apol- 
 ogy.' But I have not yet received one single line of apology 
 
 from ]\[r. . lie has never Avritten to me at all since I left 
 
 Sheffield. Of mo, indeed, he and some others of his j)arty did 
 write to the Conference, making statements which were not 
 correct. But, notwithstanding this fresh attempt to injui-e me, 
 if he liad written to mc, as the leaders required, ho should still 
 have seen that, according to my former promise, I would not 
 have exacted from him any very hard or difficult concessions ; 
 and I can not help expressing to you some surprise that, if he 
 be so penitent as is represented, ho should not at once have 
 evinced that penitence by complying with the requisition of 
 the leaders' meeting, held July 17th, Avhich requisition runs 
 thus: 'Tli.'it he apologize to I\Ir. Bunting, if ^Mr. Bunting bo liv- 
 ing, for liis ill-natured and false insinuation concerning him in 
 the meeting of the leaders on Monday, May Sth,' Having then, 
 as yet, no official call to Avrito on this subject, I think myself 
 at liberty to decline any correspon(b'nce with Mr. IMyles re- 
 specting it. lie does me the honor, indeed, to intimate, in the 
 postscript above-mentioned, that he would be 'glad to liear 
 from' me ; but, considering that, if I AVTote to him at all under 
 present circumstances, some notice of this business would be 
 unnvoi(l;ible, I judged it best, on the whole, to c<;iisign it to 
 Kilence and oblivion ; and nothing but my great personal re-
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY AT LIVERPOOL. 315 
 
 spect for yourself would have induced me even now to enter 
 into this explanation of my conduct. By my God, and by those 
 who have known every thing connected with this aft'air from 
 its beginning to its end, I have no doubt that ray silence to Mr. 
 Myles will not be blamed ; it is no small proof of my wish to 
 ' follow peace with all men.' So much about not having an- 
 swered Mr. Myles's letter. As to Mr. , I must now farther 
 
 observe that it Avas not I, but a leaders' meeting (with only five 
 dissenting votes), who, of their own accord, and from their 
 full conviction of the false and injurious nature of the language 
 used concerning me in their presence, insisted on an apology 
 from him to me as one condition of his readmission. This 
 requisition of theirs, above exactly quoted, certainly demands 
 a mode of reparation very different from any thing which has 
 yet been offered. Now I have no power to annul the solemn 
 and repeated decision of a competent and Methodistical tribu- 
 nal, nor can I see it right to tease and weary them into a third 
 trial of the same cause after their regular and conscientious 
 adjudication of it. Yet you, as a friend, will say that, as I have 
 not, nor ever had, any personal ill-will to Mr. , if the lead- 
 ers themselves are of opinion that they can justly and right- 
 eously revoke their former spontaneous resolution, or alter the 
 terms and tenor of it, I have not the inclination, Avhatever right 
 I might plead, to arrest theoperation of their clemency. This 
 is for them to consider ; and be the responsibility theirs, not 
 
 mine. In any case, Mr. may rest assured of my hearty 
 
 forgiveness, and of my best wishes for his present and eternal 
 happiness. While I thus disclaim the intention of preferring 
 any appeal against any future proceedmg of the leaders' meet- 
 ing on that part of the business which is personal between me 
 
 and Mr. , I owe it to truth and conscience at the same 
 
 time to declare that, as to the grand point in dispute, my judg- 
 ment remains unaltered. I am more than ever convinced by 
 an examination of the Bible, and by an inquiry into facts, that 
 the practice of teaching writing and arithmetic on the Lord's 
 day is imnecessary, inexpedient, mischievous, and, above all, 
 imlawful ; that it is not a trivial evil, but in its consequences 
 and tendencies one of the most serious magnitude ; and that 
 an enlightened regard even to the temporal advantage, and 
 much more to the spiritual interests of the rising generation
 
 316 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 themselves, as well as our obligation to obey with literal accu- 
 racy the whole revealed law of God, would suggest that all 
 secular arts should be taught on week-day evenings only to 
 those who regularly attend for still higlier purposes ui the 
 Lord's-day schools. In this opinion I am confirmed by the 
 sentiments which were avowed at oiu- last Conference by Messrs. 
 Benson, Moore, Clarke, James Wood, Joseph T.aylor, Griffith, 
 Barber, Lomas, and others, especially of our senior teachers, 
 and by the concurring judgment of the most judicious and 
 pious clergymen of the Establishment and Dissenting ministers 
 of the greatest eminence in this kingdom ; some of whom, 
 having heard of what has been done and undojie at Sheffield, 
 liave within the last four months voluntarily communicated to 
 me their feelings of deep surprise and regret that what they 
 consider as so great an abuse of the Christian Sabbath should 
 be defended or practiced by any serious })eople. Such, then, 
 as was my opuiion, such is my opinion still ; for I trust in 
 God's mercy ever to save me from tlie guilt of sacrificing prin- 
 ciple to policy, conscience to custom, or consistency and friend- 
 ship to convenience and faction. Having thus told you, my 
 dear sir, all that is in my heart, Avilh that frankness which a 
 friend has a right to expect, and which becomes a man per- 
 suaded that he has God's unchanged and unchangeable com- 
 mandment on his side, I now take leave of the subject, sincerely 
 Aoping that not even the attention due to one whom I so much 
 respect as yourself will render it necessary ever again to recur 
 to it. AVhether you show to any other person this private 
 conmiimication written solely for your own eye, and designed 
 to explain and justify to your own mind my conduct and views, 
 must be left to your discretion. But I do most particularly 
 request and urge that, if it be shown at all, the whole of this 
 letter, and not any partial extract of its contents, may be di- 
 vulged. Excuse the trouble of this long epistle, which I do 
 assure you it can not be more unpleasant for you to read than 
 it has been for me to write ; and belicAe that I am, with my 
 own and my wife's aflfectionate regards to yourself, Mrs. IL, 
 and your daughters, with best love to all my Sheffield friends, 
 of Avhom I often think Avith much esteem, and Avith Christian 
 good-will even to my Sheffield opjioncnts, persecutors, and 
 slanderers, your obhged and very faithful friend and servant, 
 
 " J. BUXTING."
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY AT LIVERPOOL. 317 
 
 T\vo very characteristic letters from Mr. Moore, from which 
 I give extracts (but Avithout indorsing his opinions), relate to 
 controversies which subsisted between him and some eminent 
 laymen in the metropolis relative to his desire, and to their dis- 
 like, that he should be appointed to the City Road Circuit. It 
 appears that the subject had been mentioned at the preceding 
 Conference, and that my father's sentiments, as there express- 
 ed, were much to the writer's satisfaction. " I liave preached 
 at the NcAv Chapel, and there is at least no outward hostility. 
 But still my mind is very sore. I think it bodes no good to the 
 work or servants of God when such a process is needful for a 
 Methodist preacher respecting a Methodist chapel. I could 
 not, without losing a pure conscience, keep any preacher out 
 of any chapel to which I was appointed, unless an accusation 
 were preferred, and pending the regular hearing of that accu- 
 sation. I am certain the local preachers or leaders of London 
 would not suffer any of their body to be thus treated. They 
 would feel it as their own cause. Ought Ave not to have the 
 same feeling ? A superior feeling ? Our calling is the high- 
 est, and all nmst stand or fall Avith us. Yet my brethren Avould 
 ahvays consider it as a personal thing — as my affair. I ahvays 
 looked upon it as a bloAV at the root. I really fear that, Avhen 
 a fcAv are gone hence Avho kncAv Mr. Wesley and Avhat Meth- 
 odism AA'as, the Conference Avill become a very servdle assembly 
 — something like a Yorkshire statute — a place to be hired at. 
 What will the Avork be then ? Will it be the Avork of God ? 
 Who AA-ill ansAver for this imscriptural change ? I shall be hap- 
 py if this affair should make the preachers think, and operate 
 as a check to this creeping system of degradation. I have not 
 forgotten, my dear brother, your generous conduct at the Con- 
 ference. It had more than kindness in it. It tended to infuse 
 a good spirit. But I must have done." 
 
 And again : " I did not thhik of troubUng you so soon, but I 
 have ncAvs that will not trouble you, but give you joy. Last 
 Monday the case of the Brighouse Chapel Avas determined in 
 our favor ! It Avas decided in the clearest, most peremptory 
 manner, that the old Conference, as it Avas called, alone had the 
 right of appointing the mmisters Avho should occupy and enjoy 
 the premises for the purposes secured in the deed. I think I 
 see in this the daAA'u of good days. We need no more be sub-
 
 S18 TlIK LIFE OF JABEZ JiUNTING. 
 
 joct to the will of man than to the Avill of Satan. Sic volo, sic 
 jtibeo, sUt ])ro ratione vduntds! I have seen not a little of 
 this since I came hither, as well as in some other ])laces ; and 
 we seemed to have only the alternative to qnarrel or to be serv- 
 ile ; conscqnently, not be holy. What an alternative to a man 
 who loves peace, and is commanded to follow at^er it ! How 
 I have been sawn asunder by it, the Lord only knows. My jjoor 
 shattered nerves made the trial a lieavy one. I snpposc you re- 
 member that Mr. Sharp, one of the Brighousc trustees on our 
 side, put into the bill a clauu of Ids own to certjun buildings 
 erected by him on the premises. Ilis cause Avas not determined 
 in that absolute manner that ours was. It Avas ordered that 
 the parties should go before a Master, and show if those build- 
 ings Avere erected according to the trust ; and that it should be 
 decided in that Avay, and that they should be used according as 
 the deed ordains. A just decree! I can not but look ujjon all 
 this as floAving from the goodness of our Avise and holy God, 
 and that it is His intimation that Methodism should not be sec- 
 ularized. Puritanism Avas brought low by secular men ; so Avill 
 I\Iethodism be, if Ave are not faithful. I could say much to Avhat 
 you say about the right of our good and nu)dest iieoi)le to state 
 their desires to the Conference, if I thought the Avind did not 
 bloAV from the opposite point. I could lie at the feet of such 
 people forever. As to Sunday-schools, I have been some time 
 couA inced that, in the Avay they arc conducted, they operate 
 against the spirituality of the Church. I am quite confirmed hi 
 this since I came to London. What a figure do many make 
 lierein that arc utterly dead to God ! and, if a i)reacher me<hlle 
 Avith them, they are up in arras directly. Till I see better days, 
 I shall meddle Avith them as little as possible. I see no trem- 
 bling ' at God's Word' among them. I Avas much surprised at 
 your question to me concerning the dispute at Sheilield. I 
 knoAV nothing of the circumstances Avhich you mention except 
 from you. My advice Avas neither asked nor had. I only heard 
 that there had been much troul)le concerning Avhat Avas done 
 last year, but that the Conference having come to no determin- 
 ation, matters Avere brought l)ack to the old Avay by a consid- 
 erable majority. But, my brother, do not many of these per- 
 sons make uj) the majorities of quarterly meetings in choosing 
 preachers? The Conference has risen in re]»utatiou Avhh the
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY AT LIVERPOOL. 319 
 
 people here since their decision respecting rac. It was thought 
 they could not or dare not resist the gentlemen of the New 
 Chapel. My dear brother, can you think that I find any happi- 
 ness in being in London, and in such a fire, except that which 
 results from a consciousness of duty, and that public spirit which 
 the Lord requires in all his servants ? Liverpool ! Yes, it was 
 a heaven to me, even while contending against the Kilhamites ; 
 and so I trust it would be to me again. London is a purgato- 
 ry ; but I must not come out till I am called. The Lord is 
 with me.'' 
 
 Mr. Hart well Home Avrites to my father in December, 1809, 
 with an account of the literary engagements to wliich he is then 
 pledged, and thus concludes : " And now, my dear sir, give me 
 leave to ask, in my turn, what are your pursuits ? Do you in- 
 tend to add nothing to the literary stores of our country ? Some 
 go so far as to say that the religious Avorld has" some claim upon 
 the talents with which you have been endowed." 
 
 This letter was soon followed by an ajiplication from Mr. Ed- 
 wards, the publisher, to prepare a series of Notes on the Holy 
 Scriptures on a plan similar to that on which Benson was al- 
 ready at work. The very fact of this similarity was sufficient 
 to msure my father's prompt refusal, in which he was counte- 
 nanced by letters from Griffith and from Lomas. " Take time 
 to weigh the matter," -writes the former, "before you engage 
 with Mr. Edwards, or any other bookseller whatever. His urg- 
 ing you for an answer in a very few days ought to render you 
 tlic more cautious. He will, no doubt, be glad to get you to en- 
 gage in the work, and the more so as ' pecuniary recompense' 
 is no part of your object, and ' has not been stipulated in your 
 negotiation.' Why should it not? Why should you drudge 
 to fill his coffers ? If it would be both indecorous and in itself 
 improper in you to engage in any thing like a rival publication 
 to that which Mr. Benson is preparing, supposing your name 
 were prefixed to it, it Avould be more so, in my opinion, to pub- 
 lish one without your name. Concealment in matters of this 
 kind places an honest man in a very awkward situation. On 
 your part, you are utterly unfit for it. By nature and grace 
 you are too honest for conceahnent. Besides, I have no notion 
 that your secret would be kept. I have another objection to 
 your acceding to Mr. Edwards's proposal. I think you are cap-
 
 320 THE LIFE OF JAJ3EZ BUNTlXCr, 
 
 able of doing somt'thiiiL,^ belter tliuu furnishing such Notes as 
 Mr. Edwards wants. Begin and prepare full Notes upon the 
 Scriptures. This will aftbrd you all the advantages of Mr. Ed- 
 wards's plan, and many more. Keview and mature them ; and 
 in due time publish them, or dispose of them for the advantage 
 of your children, as Avell as of the public." 
 
 Mr. Lomas expresses similar views in one of the last letters 
 which he wrote to my father. "It appears to me that you 
 have come to a proper conclusion respecting Mr. Edwards's 
 work. Let us do all the good Ave can in our own way. Let us 
 do nothing that we are not Avilling should be known to our 
 brethren. But these are only my thoughts on the slightest con- 
 sideration of the subject, for I can not enter into any thing 
 deeply. Do favor me Avith another letter soon. Thank God, 
 I find my afiliction a great blessing to my soul. The Lord is 
 mine, and I am His, and am at rest. Peace be Avith you !" 
 
 To Mr. Grindrod my father Avrites on January 18th, 1810: 
 " I like Liverpool much better than I expected. It is an inter- 
 esting toAvn, and the people are most friendly and attentive. I 
 am on very good, but not intimate terms Avith all my Avorthy col- 
 leagues. Mr. BraraAvell is affectionate, but extremely reserved. 
 The Avork is noAV tolerably prosperous. At Michaelmas visita- 
 tion appearances Avere discouraging; Ave had no increase of 
 members at all ; but the Christmas cpuirter, by God's blessing, 
 produced an accession of nearly one hundred, besides making 
 up the deficiency by deaths, removals, and apostasies. God 
 send us still greater success ! We are about to build a fourth 
 chapel immediately in the neighborhood of Islington or the 
 London Koad. A handsome subscription is likely to be ob- 
 tained." 
 
 To his friend Mr. AYood my father Avrites, referring to a 
 controversy then raging in i\Ianchcster between the llev. Mr. 
 Smyth,* of the Established Church, and the late A'cnerablc 
 AVilliam Roby. " Mr. lloby's j)amphlet I have not yet read. 
 Accept my acknoAvledgments for your kind attention in send- 
 ing it. IIow coolly he Avrites ; and hoAV iiuich does this give 
 him the advantage over his oi)ponent! I hear ]Mr. Smyth is 
 
 * The " arclihishop's nephew" whom Henry Moore went expecting to 
 liear pre.ach in Dublin, l)nt Brailhurn prejiclicd in his stead. (See page 221.) 
 Mr. Smyth at tliis time licld an ineiimbcncy in Manchester.
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY AT LIVERPOOL. 821 
 
 preparing an answer. I liopc lie will be more guarded and 
 temperate. IMr. Roby's representation of Calvinism is Avell 
 calculated to hide the real difliculties of the system, and ought 
 to be refuted. Yet Mr. Smyth should not persist in charging 
 modern Calvinists with consequences which they disclaim. In 
 the statements which they themselves avow there is good and 
 sufficient ground of controversy. As for me, I am tired of war- 
 fare, and mean to be as quiet as duty will let me be. If I do 
 become a polemic, it Avill be, I think, on the Sunday-school 
 question. But, strongly as I feel the abominations Avhich are 
 done in the midst of us in that Avay, I am at present more dis- 
 posed, though with a doubting conscience, to ' sigh and cry' for 
 them in private than to attack them in public, until imperious- 
 ly compelled to do so." 
 
 Mr. Griffith had written, with Mr. Benson's sanction, request- 
 ing my father to reply to some observations contained in a note 
 to a recent publication by Dr. Magce. My ftither replies as 
 follows : "As to answering Magee, did you not know that, long 
 before you wrote to me, Mr. Benson had applied to Mr. Hare, 
 who has nearly completed the task? My aversion to author- 
 ship increases. Besides, I think such an assailant as Dr. Ma- 
 gee should have been met by one of our first men in point of 
 reputation, e. g., Mr. Benson, Mr. Moore, or Dr. Clarke. Of 
 Mr. Hare's talents I have a very high opinion, but as yet he is 
 miknown to the literary world. I did not see the obnoxious 
 note in Magee till ten days ago, and then only in a bookseller's 
 shop for a few moments. I am surprised at its acerbity. When 
 I knew something of him eleven years ago, he was a liberal 
 man, and spoke respectfully of Methodism. Who reviewed 
 'Home' in the Magazine?* Does he understand genuine 
 Methodism ? I think he wrote either in a hurry or in a mist." 
 The decision of the Master of the Rolls in the case of Brig- 
 house Chapel is adverted to with great triumph not only by Mr. 
 Moore in the letter from which I have already quoted, but by 
 * See Methodist Magazine for January and Febmaiy, 1810. The writer 
 ■vvas a clever man, but, though he was a respectable litterateur, he was not a 
 profound divine. Benson, however, no mean judge, had a very high opin- 
 ion of him, and says, in a letter, that the article in question was written by 
 a correspondent, of whose communications not one word was ever altered by 
 the editor. Hare was indignant both at the course of the argument and at 
 the want of lirecisiou in the use of terms. 
 
 02
 
 322 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTIXG. 
 
 many of my lallier's stated correspondents. The question in- 
 volved was exceedingly simple, and, liad it related to a private 
 instead of to a })ul)lic trust, would never have been disputed 
 between reasonable men. The appointment of ministers to the 
 chapel referred to was, by the Foundation Deed, given to the 
 Methodist Conference. At the time of its execution there was 
 but one body answering to that description ; but Avhen Mr. 
 Kilham, and two or three preachers with him, separated from 
 the parent connection, they too claimed to be a Methodist Con- 
 ference, and, on the strength of this pretension, the trustees of 
 Brighouse Chapel, and of other chapels similarly settled, ousted 
 the nominees of the elder body, and accepted those of the 
 younger. It was plain that the Conference intended was the 
 Conference in existence at the time the deed was made ; equal- 
 ly so that, the trusts being clearly expressed, and being capable 
 of execution, without violence to any paramount intention of 
 the founders, the Court of Chancery itself had no power to 
 alter them. But some very obvious pro]iositions puzzle those 
 who do not "svish to understand them, and it is often well that 
 they should be sifted through the intellects of great lawyers 
 and judges, and then authoritatively presented, in their simple 
 verity, to those Avho have doubted them. Such a service was 
 rendered in this instance. The fever of 1V97 was bcguming 
 to cool, and the new connection saw things distinctly the mo- 
 ment they were explained to them by the Master of the Rolls. 
 Every chapel which was worth claiming was shortly restored 
 to its original ])urpose. In this matter my father evinced both 
 liis caution and his Christianity. " The decision in the Brig- 
 house affair," he writes to Mr. Grindrod, " will be a terrible 
 blow to the Killiamites, and is a most important event in the 
 history of our connection, yet I hope we shall use our triumph 
 with moderation. It seems they have made a small division 
 at Birmingham, and, what is laughable enough, have taken a 
 room in a ]>lace 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 an<i contidence of the people. But, 
 at the same time, respect their rights ; secure their services in 
 every department not assigned by the New Testament exclu- 
 sively to the mmister or to the jjastorate ; relieve the clergy 
 from a burden MJiich was greater than they could bear, and 
 from wretched suspicions, ill-natured inshuiations, and bitter 
 calumnies ; and pour the light of noonday upon the smoulder- 
 ing fires of faction, so putting them out forever. These two 
 lines of action, so far from being diverse, Avere the two compo- 
 nent parts of one complete and comprelicnsive system ; and, as 
 each Avas steadily and prudently pursued, it promoted and se- 
 cured the other. 
 
 " Mr. Rankin died well," says Mr. Griffith, in a letter dated 
 May 30th, 1810, "but carried his peculiarities to the brink of 
 the grave. He has left something to every one of us : a medal 
 of the late Mr. Whitelield to Dr. Clarke ; his cocked liat to Mr. 
 Benson ; his wig to Mr. Kodda ; his short boots to Mr. Jenkins ; 
 his long boots to Mr. Johnson ; to me, his cane and cloak. 
 You will be sure that I have had q\iite enough upon my hands 
 at present, and shall have till Conference ; and I have not, 
 among all my brethren, a Bunting or a BroAvn* to help me, 
 and yet they are all excellent men. I am glad that there are 
 preachers who think for the connection," 
 
 During the next month, the tidings of the death of Robert 
 Lonias flew through the connection, and, upon those who knew 
 his Avorth, produced the impression of an irreparable loss. Per- 
 haps no man Avhom Methodism has produced resembled my 
 father so strongly in the union of some qualities seldom com- 
 
 of all the ministers in a circuit to be respected if any preference exist as 
 among themselves? Dare I add, Are these Innovations never "purchased 
 with money?" I feel sure my motive in adding this note will ohtain for it 
 a candid reading. At all events, I am persuaded I speak my honored fa- 
 tlier's mind. 
 
 * The late Rev. .John Brown, who had hnon stationed wldi I\Ir. firifhth 
 in Manchester, and by whose decease, in tiie twentv-niiith vcar of liis age, 
 tlie connection was deprived of an able and zealous minister. Notices of 
 him will be found iu the Metiiudist Magazine for 1811, and in the Minutes 
 for 1812.
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY AT LIVERPOOL. 325 
 
 billed, and each of the highest possible vahie to a Methodist 
 preacher. I refer to their coniiuon conversance witli, and in- 
 terest in questions of connectional finance, whicli yet they sub- 
 ordinated to the great spiritual work of Methodism. These 
 " outward things" were lelt to belong to " the house of the 
 Lord ;" and this relation induced and sanctified the attention 
 wliich Avas paid to them. Is there any danger, in our day, 
 that this relation may be forgotten, and that mere activity and 
 ability in the details of business may be rated at more than 
 their real worth? The necessities of the system can not be 
 denied. Heads must think, and hands must write, if either 
 our local or our general enterprises are to succeed ; and it is 
 sometimes a source of annoyance and of difticulty when, in the 
 Conference or the Quarterly meeting, the wise, eloquent, and 
 faithful preacher, or the diligent or experienced pastor, is una- 
 ble to conceal his indifference to financial aftairs, or his utter 
 incapacity to deal with them. But every talent has its own 
 place and value. Peculiar aptness for inferior duties will not 
 supply the lack of proper qualifications for the higher — strictly 
 speakmg, mdeed, the sole — work of the ministry. There is no 
 need, however, for the failure, in any respect, of any man in- 
 trusted with the Divine commission to feed and rule the 
 Church. In a community like ours, especially where the prop- 
 er functions of the diaconate are so well understood and so ex- 
 tensively discharged by the laity, an honest and enlightened 
 aim to accomplish the Avhole round of ministerial labor is uni- 
 formly successful. 
 
 So was it in the case of Robert Lomas — a Braincrd in self- 
 renunciation, and in the ceaseless, plaintive cry of his inmost 
 soul for the Divine sufiiciency; yet, when work was to be 
 done, however secular in its first aspect, alert, cautious, and 
 painstaking ; studious in the closet ; solemn and rousing in the 
 pulpit ; assiduous, tender, and skillful among the people of his 
 charge ; quick and accurate at the secretary's desk ; thrifty and 
 managing as a man of business ; all in the spirit of the seiwant 
 who knows not " at what hour" his " Lord doth come." And 
 He made " no long tarrying." " My dear brother," writes Mr. 
 Marsden, " how uncertain are all our prospects here, and in 
 what a land of shadows do we Hve ! Our dear Lomas is called 
 away in the very strength of his years. How mysterious a
 
 326 THE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 ProvidL'iioc, tliat :i man of so imuli p'u'ty, iiitcL^n-ity, and iiscful- 
 iic'ss should be taken from iis ! He was a pillar of Methodism, 
 and one that would ])avc stood firmly. In the Conference, I 
 always knew he would take that side of any question which 
 would most ]>rol)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- 
 <lence o))en the a\ ay V ii' you are Meary of being a cm*ate, I
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY AT LIVERPOOL. 327 
 
 will give up the bishoi)ric to you with great pleasure." This 
 was written by a minister who had traveled for twenty-eight 
 years to one of only eleven years' standing. " What do you 
 think," he continues, " of Dr. Clarke's Bible, and particularly 
 of what he says of the old serpent? Must we now say, 'As 
 Moses lifted up the baboon in the wilderness T etc." Hare 
 speaks in another tone. " What think you," he says, " of Dr. 
 Clarke's rational, talking baboon? I think that a rational 
 creature must be a moral agent, and that a moral agent fresh 
 from the hand of the Creator must be holy, and that the devil 
 might as easily enter into Eve as into his apeship, and might 
 as easily usurp the government of her soul as of that of the ra- 
 tional, free, and holy baboon." 
 
 On January 19th, 1811, my father addresses Mr.Marsden as 
 follows : " At our Quarterly meeting, the trustees of Pitt Street 
 produced their intended petition to the Conference for such a 
 modification of the rule against organs as would permit the 
 erection of one in their chapel to guide the singuag. It was 
 moved ' that the Quarterly meeting do concur with the trust- 
 ees in this petition.' After a debate of two hours, conducted, 
 on each side, on the whole, in a very brotherly way, and with 
 no small ability, the vote was taken, when thirty were for the 
 organ, and thirty-three against it. Here, I believe, the matter 
 will rest, at least for the present. One good has resulted from 
 the deliberate discussion of the subject : the brethren have 
 learned to exercise candor toward each other's sentiments, per- 
 ceiving that this is one of those points on which men may hon- 
 estly form very different opinions, according to their various 
 views of the intimations of Scripture and the suggestions of 
 expediency. We have a good Avork of God in Liverpool. 
 Very many have of late been brought to hear the Gospel, and 
 a considerable number have heard to purpose. But, though 
 the addition of new menibers has been large, the net increase 
 of the society last quarter was only fifty. AVe arc sanguine in 
 our expectations of a larger accession ere long. The Lord 
 grant us our hearts' desii'e ! I am reading with great pleasure, 
 and, I hope, improvement, the new edition of Milner's ' History 
 of the Church.' He is an able writer. Yet, in spite of his 
 constant reasonings in favor of Calvinism and diocesan Episco- 
 pacy as having existed nearly from the beginning, the facts
 
 328 TUE LIFE OF JABEZ BUNTING. 
 
 ■wliich even liis prejiulicos would not allow him to conceal have 
 confirmed me in my impressions in favor of the reverse. Are 
 you not pleased with Hare's Answer to Magee? I think it 
 excellent." 
 
 An extract from another letter written by Hare, gives an 
 example of his mode of dealing with theological questions. " I 
 am sorry to hear that any of our brethren scruple to speak of 
 purchasetl grace and glory. I. It strikes me as a Socinian re- 
 finement. II. The general tenor of the New Testament war- 
 rants our use of the term. Jesus Christ has regained for us 
 what we have forfeited, and has regained it by what the Scrip- 
 tures call ' a price.' III. The ' kinsman,' under the Old Testa- 
 ment, to whom belonged the ' right of redemption,' redeemed 
 not only the debtor, but his paternal inheritance. These things 
 "were ' a shadow of good things to come,' of Avhich ' the body 
 is Christ.' IV. (1.) There is no proof that Ephesians, i., 14, 
 means the Church. (2.) The apostle speaks tliere not of any 
 thing to be possessed by Christ, but throughout of what is, or 
 is to be, possessed by us. (3.) There appears to be something 
 in the hypothesis which si)oils the argument ; for what mean- 
 ing is there in my holding the earnest until another obtains 
 the entire possession ? (4.) The ' earnest' is ' the Spirit of 
 promise,' that is, the Spirit promised, not to the saints in Para- 
 dise, who wait for the redem})tion of the whole Church, but to 
 the believers on earth, who wait for the inheritance. (5.) The 
 purchased possession (that which is pm-chased, and which we 
 wait to possess) is then, I think, the inheritance itself. (G.) 
 This inheritance, therefore, in the sense of the Scriptiu*e nieta- 
 jjhor, is purchased, that is, obtained by virtue of the death of 
 Christ. (Verse iii., connected by the intervening verses with 
 verse vii.) If this be the sense of the expression in this passage, 
 the objection that the same language is not found elsewhere is 
 of no ibrce. I only show you how I would begin to think on 
 this subject." 
 
 Mr. Newton writes : 
 
 " ITolmfirth, March 7tli, 1811. 
 
 " My dear BROxnER, — It is very much the wisli of Itic ]ieo- 
 ple here, as Avell as of myself, that you Avould come oxvv to 
 open our new chapel on the iVth of April, i. e., the Wednesday 
 in Easter week. Do come if you possibly can, and give us a
 
 HIS EAKLY MINISTRY AT LIVERPOOL. 329 
 
 fiiir specimen of Methodism. I never Avtis in a circuit where 
 the week-night congregations Avere any thing Uke so hirge as 
 hi this. Last Bmulay night I went to a new j^lace, just at the 
 foot of one of our huge moimtains ; the house was soon crowded, 
 while great numbers were caUing aloud for admission. I de- 
 sired my colleague, Avho was present, to go and ask permission 
 to preach in the adjoining house ; he did so, and had the room, 
 though large, filled in a few mmutes ; so that we both preached 
 at the same hour, under the same roof, to two distinct congre- 
 gations. I liear great things of your amphitheatre chapel in 
 Liverpool. A man will need strong lungs to blow his words 
 from one end of it to the other. In Bradford and in Keighley 
 they are building chajjels nearly as large as the Carver Street 
 Chapel in Sheffield. To what will Methodism come in a few 
 years ?" 
 
 To Mr. Grindrod, then stationed in Bradford, my father writes 
 on the 6th of April, 1811 : "It wants but a few minutes of 
 post-time, and I have leisure only to beg that you will, by re- 
 turn of jost, tell me frankly, and without disguise, whether it 
 is with the full and hearty concurrence of Mr. SutclifFe and of 
 the otlicr preachers, that I have been desired to assist in open- 
 ing your chapel. Some circumstances make me suspicious that 
 all is not right in this business, and, till I hear from you, I can 
 not answer Mr. Fawcett's second obliging letter. I charge you, 
 as my friend, tell me the whole truth, as I would on no account 
 engage in such a work unless the preachers really and earnestly 
 desired it. It is a work in which I could not take any personal 
 pleasure." My father's suspicions Avere correct. The trustees 
 of the chapel in question were in open collision with the super- 
 intendent and the society as to the mode in which the Deed of 
 Settlement should be framed. In this case Grindrod fought 
 the first of many battles for Methodism with great courage and 
 prudence, and with an utter disregard of personal consequences. 
 Ultimately my father wrote to Mr. Fawcett, one of the trustees, 
 and for whom he afterward formed a high res^ject, in the fol- 
 lowing terms : 
 
 "Liverpool, April 10th, 1811. 
 
 " Dear Sir, — A friend from Manchester informed me a few 
 days ago of some very unpleasant circumstances which have
 
 330 TTIE LIFE OF JABEZ BUXTIXd. 
 
 oecurrc'd rc'si»('clinL( the Jiradtbrd Chapel. Were there no 
 other ilitlicuhies in the "svay, these circumstances alone make it 
 my dear and indispensable duty to decline complying -with 
 your request to assist Dr. Coke in o})ening your chapel." 
 
 Not long afterward my father wrote, peremptorily declining 
 an invitation to the Bradford Circuit. 
 
 It is jiot improl)al)le that this case at Bradford was one of 
 the incidents which induced my lather to consider Avell, and to 
 settle for his own guidance, the grave connectional question as 
 to tlie influence over tlie management of ecclesiastical affairs 
 which might be legithnately exercised by bodies of trustees. 
 During the lifetime of Mr. Wesley, and A\hile his power Avas im- 
 limited, this influence wa3 the only rival of his own, and when 
 he died it became the rival also of the Conference, as that as- 
 sembly, of necessity and by consent, assumed the duties which 
 he had discharged. The successive agitations which followed 
 his decease threw great weight into the scale of the Conference, 
 for the internal modifications of the system in which they re- 
 sulted were effected mainly at the instance of the people at 
 large, and vested officers strictly belonging to the societies, 
 and theref<n-e under the regulation and control of the. Confer- 
 ence, with large functions and authorities. Still, no very speedy 
 and sensible alteration took place in the general conduct of 
 affairs. In many cases, trustees themselves were the principal 
 ofticers of the societies ; in others, those who held oflice, as 
 stewards and leaders, did not care to act as such, but i)ermitted 
 old practices to continue. An instance of this, as to Leeds, had 
 occurred in my father's history. The trustees, and not the 
 Quarterly meeting of ministers, stewards, and leaders, were 
 the persons who invited my father to labor in that circuit. 
 Against a similar usage, which ])rev:iiled at Hull, Hare was, I 
 beheve, the first to make a (|iii(t Imt successful stand. My 
 father's experience in London, and his observation of what 
 jjassed during this ])eriod in other jilaces, led him anxiously to 
 ])romote the new connectional policy, which nia(h' the ministers 
 on the one hand, aiul the ollicers of the society on the othci-, 
 independent of the undue influence of trustees. It was plain 
 that these were merely the legal guardians of ])ro])crty, and 
 ought to deal with it with exclusive reference and in constant
 
 HIS EARLY MINISTRY AT LIVERPOOL. 331 
 
 suborcliuation to the great general object for whicli it had been 
 acquired, namely, tlie welfare of the particular society, and of 
 the whole body of the Methodists of which it was a part. Any 
 course of proceedhig which contravened this princii)le was en- 
 tirely repugnant to my father's views. He held that all rights 
 were duties under another name ; and whenever an attempt 
 Avas n\ade to violate rule, he always steadily resisted it. It 
 Avas not that a small portion of the machinery was broken or 
 deranged, but that, in consequence, the whole might be dislo- 
 cated and destroyed. Time rolled on, however, and expe- 
 rience increased ; and my father's keen eye foresaw that a 
 polity which gives substantial power to almost every man who 
 does a substantial service for the Church, needed vigilance in 
 another direction. Neither ability for doing particular kinds 
 of good, nor activity in doing them, necessarily implies such a 
 degree of interest in the general work of the Church, much less 
 such a degree of wisdom, prudence, and self-control as qualifies 
 men to take an absorl>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 <fovernment, much less to any who are in the 
 habit of pleading the analogy of the British Constitution in 
 favor of ecclesiastical democracies. They are written with a 
 diflerent purpose. The leader of the Methodists durmg the 
 last forty years was no lover of priestcraft, neither did he favor 
 the crait of any order of the laity. Let the gifts which qualify 
 for usefulness in the management of Church affi\irs be sought 
 wherever they are to be found, and systematically turned to 
 good account. In our day, as when St. Paul instructed tlie 
 Corinthian Church, gifts vary, in order that various works may 
 be done ; and, as the Methodists believe, neither are the i)ar- 
 ticular gifts of which I have been speaking confined to one 
 class, nor common to all of any class. 
 
 It was in the spring of this year that Lord Sidmoulli's inter- 
 ference Avith the question of religious toleration excited the de- 
 termined o])})ositi()n of all sects of Nonconformists. The Meth- 
 odists took their full share in the agitation, though circumstan- 
 ces did not favor the full and clear avowal, on their ]jart, of 
 the ])rincij)les which they almost unanimously held. Both Dr. 
 Clarke and Dr. Coke were then in London ; and their age and 
 reputation, and the access which both of them, and especially 
 the latter, had obtained to persons of political inlluence, neces- 
 sarily placed them at the head of the movement. They ])ro- 
 cured an interview with Lord .Sidmouth ; and, though he did 
 not talk them over to his o})inions, he convinced them of the 
 gopdness of his intentions, and they did what they could to al- 
 lay apprehension and to dumnish the force of the resistance. 
 Fortunately, they were not successful, Mr. Barber was not a 
 man to be misled on any <|uesti(>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. 
 
 B<itli, December lltli, 1S5S. 
 
 On the subjects of inquiry in your last favor I have lively remem- 
 brances, which I place at your service. 
 
 I heard Mr. Bradburn twice when I was a boy, and a few years after- 
 ward, while I was still very young. I first heard Dr. Bunting at New- 
 castle-under-Lyne, when Mr. Morley was the superintendent.* There 
 was nothing in Dr. Bunting's sermon or manner to remind me of Brad- 
 burn. There was nothing in common with them except the general re- 
 semblance that both were masterly, for the mastery in each was charac- 
 teristically distinct. Your father could not hear such men as Benson and 
 Bradburn frequently without having his habits of thought imperceptibly 
 influenced. Great contemporaries, who know much of each other, are 
 mutually and unconsciously acted upon, while still retaining their own 
 natural character as men of mind. But those who try to put on the 
 lion's skin are the ambitious dunces, the conceited asses. Men of j'our 
 father's stamp are eloquent, not by imitation, but from fullness of clear 
 thought and energy of feeling, with facility and power of expression. I 
 think that when Dr. Bunting " waxed boldly oratorical" he was nearer 
 to the manner of Benson than Bradburn. Benson and your father were 
 mighty in peroration, and addressed the conscience more especially than 
 I suppose Bradburn did. 
 
 When I first heard your father he had completed his sixth year of 
 traveling, and was leaving London for Manchester. He was pale, and, 
 though of full habit, appeared in delicate health. I was told he had al- 
 most fainted that morning. Perhaps he was exhausted by the labors of 
 the preceding Conference, which had just terminated. His preaching 
 reminded me of no one. It was like the calm, unrippled flow of deep 
 waters. It was an even, continuous stream of masculine sense, evincing 
 thoughtful piety, sagacious discernment, and copious information, ex- 
 pressed in pure, proper, transparent language, and delivered with unfal- 
 tering ease and quiet power. The text was either, " Let us hold fast 
 
 • See p. 251. 
 
 Vol. I.— Q
 
 362 APPENDIX F. 
 
 our profession," or " Let us hold fast the profession of our faith witliout 
 wavering;" but I think it was the latter. It surpassed all I had pre- 
 viously heard, and I have not since heard any thing superior to it. He 
 preached twice the same day at Longton, where one of his texts was, 
 " Secret things belong to the Lord," etc. I did not hear him there. 
 
 I first heard Mr. Bradburn at the opening of Durslcm Chapel ; the oc- 
 casion, as I have since been given to understand, of the accusation 
 brought against him by Peter Haslam. His voice was clear, his lan- 
 guage perspicuous and coherent, and, with the exception of some extrav- 
 agant sayings, his whole manner was self-possessed in a high degree. 
 
 His text was, "Is the Lord among us or not"?" I was then but a 
 schoolboy, and did not care much for plans of sermons. Indeed, then as 
 now, I had a strong dislike of preachers who are ever saying " in the 
 first place and in the second place," etc. I generally found that the 
 more their sermons had of formal and arbitrary method, the less they 
 had of natural and lucid order. But I remember the general character 
 of that discourse, which, excepting some impertinent sallies, was suffi- 
 ciently close to the text. 
 
 Before the sermon an anthem was performed. The Church-singers 
 had been engaged for the occasion. Tlicrc were various musical instru- 
 ments rather indifferently played. It is said that a performer who was 
 present, hoping to stimulate Mr. Bradburn to some curious and caustic 
 remark, such as he had heard of, had contrived to put some of the in- 
 struments out of tune. The singing of the anthem, which comprised a. 
 bass solo, was about as articulate as the voices of the flutes and fiddles. 
 Mr. Bradburn stood back in the pulpit during the performance, and when 
 it closed, stepped forward, and, looking down toward the singing pew, 
 said, with great gravity, " 1 suppose the Almighty might understand it, 
 but, for my part, I did not understand a word of it." 
 
 In an early part of his introduction he said, " Some of you have heard 
 it noised abroad that Bradburn is going to preach, and perhaps you think 
 you do me a great favor in condescending to come to hear me ; on the 
 contrary, I think I do you a very great favor in giving you the opportu- 
 nity of hearing me." 
 
 in applying the question in his text to the case of Methodism, he men- 
 tioned, among other tilings, the high-principled and steadfast loyalty ol 
 the connection ; and said, for his own part, though he was by birth a 
 Spaniard, he not the less held true allegiance to the king and constitu- 
 tion of Great Britain. His Spanish birth is explained in the Minutes 
 of 181G by the statement that he was born in the Bay of Gibraltar, and 
 that his parents afterward removed to Chester. In alluding to our doc- 
 trines as one of the cunuilativc proofs that tlie Lord was among us, and 
 mentioning, with others, the fall of man, he said, "Adam saw Eve was 
 fallen, and he was resolved to fall with her ; and who would not, that 
 loved a good wife?" He forgot that just then she was a bad wife ; but
 
 APPENDIX F. 363 
 
 perhaps he was of Dr. Clarke's mind, that a bad wife is better than none. 
 Either way, he would not spare his jest, though profane and unseemly. 
 When he came to speak of the collection, alluding to covetous and nig- 
 gardly people, who give little in proportion to their means, and that little 
 grudgingly, and adverting also to certain philosophical notions concerning 
 the infinite divisibility of matter, he said," A thousand such souls might 
 be made to dance upon the point of a needle without jostling each other 
 for want of room." 
 
 Some weeks afterward it was rumored that he would preach on a week 
 evening. I have since been informed that it was in consequence of Mr. 
 Haslam's notice of charges ; that he suddenly came over to see whether 
 Mr. Haslam could be induced to desist from pressing his accusation. 
 The congregation was thin, in consequence of the shortness of the notice. 
 I do not remember the text, nor any entire sentences of the sermon ; but 
 in this second instance I was exceedingly impressed with the majesty, 
 fluency, flexibility, and variety of his delivery. The style, also, was easy 
 and masterly. But that which left the most deep and permanent impres- 
 sion was the exquisite purity and beauty of his pronunciation ; words, 
 tones, cadences, all were at once manly and melodious. The phrase, 
 " His co-eternal Son," occurred several times, and I have never since 
 heard those words, or any others, pronounced with such majestic sweet- 
 ness. 
 
 Some years afterward, Dr. Townley told me that those who knew Mr. 
 Bradburn at his best, before a severe attack of fever which he had at 
 Manchester, never expected to see his equal in the fine combination of 
 oratorical powers, and that, after that fever, he was never quite himself, 
 either in the pulpit or out of it ; that his best efforts afterward were occa- 
 sionally lighted up with some flashes of his former splendor, but that, with 
 these exceptions, he was but the shadow of his previous greatness; that 
 the fever had left traces in his brain which unsettled the balance of his 
 mind, and rendered him incapable of those sustained and consistent exer- 
 tions of mental power which, in his best days, held his hearers, of what- 
 ever class, in a prolonged state of delight and astonishment. 
 
 I am afraid that, when he was degraded, a harsh thing was done, and 
 that he received hard measure. No doubt things were stated to the Con- 
 ference which, as dry matters of fact, could not be gainsaid, and which 
 filled wise and good men with grief and shame, and rendered the senti- 
 ment paramount that the morality of the body must be vindicated from 
 the scandal. Perhaps the point of view indicated to me by Dr. Townley 
 was not taken, and therefore the explanatory and mitigating considera- 
 tions it would have presented were not entertained. He could not ex- 
 plain for himself on that principle, and, had any one attempted to plead 
 for him on such a ground,' he would probably have repudiated the plea 
 with scorn and indignation. I suppose it did not occur to his judges to 
 pass from the moral to the mental symptoms, and to inquire whether there
 
 864 APPENDIX F. 
 
 were not indications of partial, yet permanent aberration, occasioned by 
 the long-continued delirium he had suffered a short time previously at 
 Manchester. One of the symptoms of partial insanity which I have ob- 
 served, as well as heard of, in certain cases, is a disregard of common 
 propriety, such as many of Mr. Bradburn's strange sayings in the pulpit 
 implied.' Stopping short of a definite opinion where there are grounds 
 of doubt, I yet do doubt whether, if the signs of mental disturbance in his 
 case had been a little stronger, or whether, if the case had been contem- 
 plated with the same intelligent charity which, in our time, has dealt so 
 considerately and tenderly with similar instances, there would not have 
 been a somewhat milder act of still needful discipline. The men of that 
 day did their best, according to the evidence before them. 
 
 Mr. Naylor* being the oldest preacher now traveling, and having only 
 commenced his itinerancy about or after that time, I infer that there is 
 no one left who was present at that Conference,^ and any account which 
 can now be obtained must be from hearsay. At present there is a con- 
 siderable number of racy anecdotes of Mr. Bradburn afloat in a tradition- 
 al form, which in another generation will cither have passed from even 
 secondary remembrance, or will have retamed currency in a mutilated 
 state. 
 
 I have been told that, a young man having asked his advice about preach- 
 ing, he gave it in one short sentence — " Stick to your text, though it should 
 be as dry as a stick." Some have thought this a very queer direction. 
 It was a dark saying, pithy and startling in expression, and demanding 
 consideration. He would be a foolish preacher who would choose a text 
 so dry. But I apprehend the meaning intended to be suggested was, 
 that, the text being chosen, the sermon throughout should be closely con- 
 nected with it, and nothing irrelevant be allowed. With the exception 
 of his proncness to unseasonable sallies of wit, his own practice seems to 
 have been according to his precept; while the plans and illustrations of 
 his sermons had the marks of genius in being natural, but not obvious. I 
 consider his fast-day sermon on Equality an extraordinary instance of 
 artistic skill : the plan being at once natural, surprising, and exhaustive ; 
 enabling him, without wandering from his text, to state and enforce the 
 chief parts of scriptural and evangelical truth, aud, at the same time, an- 
 swering the purpose of an indirect and dexterous clearing of himself from 
 the suspicion of holding French notions of equality, to which his early 
 admiration of the Revolution of 1789 had seemed to make him liable. 
 
 An instance of injudicious management of the voice on the part of a 
 young man at a district meeting led him to say, " Speak with your mouth, 
 
 • Whose namn can never Ije mentioned but with the liitiliet't honor as the only purviving 
 founder of the We.-leyan MieBionai-y Society, and as Imving "borne the burden and beat" 
 of an active itinerancy for nearly fifty-seven years. 5Iy father was wont to speak of the 
 exalted estimate he had fonncd of Mr. Naylor's incorruptible integrity and uprightness of 
 character. 
 
 t The Conference of 1802. See p. 73.
 
 APPENDIX F. 865 
 
 man," and to give a humorous caricature of the manner which he called 
 speaking from the stomach, but which is also speaking from the throat, 
 the words being sent forth with a strong guttural effort, the chest being 
 drawn in to expel the last portion of breath before the next inspiration ; 
 the whole process interfering with distinctness and ease of utterance, as 
 well as being injurious to the throat in particular, pernicious to the gen- 
 eral health of the speaker, and most disagreeable to the hearers. Many 
 of the cases of loss of voice, or " Clergyman's throat," would probably 
 have been avoided if the i)ersons concerned had been early attentive to his 
 precept, " Speak with your mouth, man." 
 
 I have heard of one of his delirious speeches at Manchester, addressed 
 to John Grant, who was sitting up with him during a part of his danger- 
 ous illness, and with difficulty restraining his feverish violence ; but it was 
 too wild and furious to be recorded, though so intensely and characteris- 
 tically energetic and vivid that, once heard, it can not be forgotten. 
 
 Since writing the above, it has come to my remembrance that he is 
 said to have once stated in substance, in his introduction to a morning ser- 
 mon at Leeds, that he had carefully studied the subject three times over : 
 First, he had been filling his mind with whatever seemed to be belonging 
 or related to the subject, or what, without impropriety or irrelevancy, 
 might he said; next, on account of the limits of the time, and of the 
 hearers' patience and power of attention, he had been considering, as to 
 the various topics and remarks which his text naturally suggested, lohat 
 need not be said ; and he had then been considering how he might best 
 place before them what was so appropriate to the subject, so important 
 and essential that it ought to be said. What a transformation would 
 be effected in many long discourses if preachers would pass the sub- 
 stance of their sermons through this highly rational and judicious proc- 
 ess! 
 
 It has been said that he professed to classify preachers according to a 
 graduated scale of five degrees, nearly thus: 1, excellent or admirable; 
 2, able or acceptable ; 3, respectable ; 4, tolerable ; and, 5, unbearable. 
 The mere enumeration of such classes should stimulate all who do not 
 despair of self-improvement to do all that is possible to obtain, on Brad- 
 burn's scale, a good degree. 
 
 My idea of him, as to his powers, has long been that, apart from his ec- 
 centricities and weaknesses, which I ascribe in a great measure to infirm- 
 ity, he was not a mere orator, but a man of fine and powerful genius, who 
 had rich and noble faculties, and had been diligent and successful in self- 
 cultivation. The Rev. John Reynolds, sen., informed me that, when Mr. 
 Fletcher was writing his Checks, Mr. Wesley sent Mr. Bradburn, then a 
 young man, to assist him in his village services ; and that Mr. Fletcher 
 frequently heard him preach, and gave him the valuable advantage of his 
 kind criticism and counsel. His own bold, easy, and correct English was 
 such as no man acquires without perseverence in a right course of means.
 
 366 APPENDIX G. 
 
 His diligence may be inferred from one of his reported sayings on leav- 
 ing jNIanchcstcr — that he had twelve hundred outlines of sermons un- 
 touehed (not used in preaching in that circuit) at the end of three years' 
 ministrations. 
 
 The result of such endowments, improved with such assiduity amid all 
 the hinderances and discouragements of a laborious and harassing voca- 
 tion, was, that to be comprehensive and lucid in arrangement ; beautifully 
 clear in statement or exposition ; weighty, nervous, and acute in argu- 
 mentation ; copious, various, and interesting in illustration ; overwhelming 
 in pathos — to wield at will the ludicrous or the tender, the animating, the 
 sublime, or the terrible, seem to have been habitually in his power. Too 
 often he was minded to indulge in the ludicrous and the sarcastic, for 
 which his own indirect apology was, that tiie more wit a man might pos- 
 sess, the more judgment would he need to control and direct it. 
 
 G, page 83. 
 
 Minutes of a District ]\tccting held at Manchester on Wednesday and 
 Thursday, the 30th of November and the \st of December, 1796. 
 
 Present — Alexander Mather, Thomas Taylor, John Allen, Benjamin 
 Rhodes, Jeremiah Brettell, Thomas Rutherford, Henry Moore, John 
 Booth, Timothy Crowther, John Gaulter, James M'Donald, Thomas 
 Wood, David Barrowclough, Robert Miller, John Denton, George Sykes, 
 Thomas Fearnley, George Morley, George INIarsdcn, Joseph Collier. 
 
 After solemn prayer, the meeting was opened by Mr. Moore, who gave 
 a pleasing account of those brethren who had been the cause of some un- 
 easiness in Liverpool last week being now reconciled to their brethren by 
 acknowledging their fault, expressing their sorrow for it, and engaging to 
 act in union with their brethren for the time to come. 
 
 It was then desired that the Salford Address, signed John Shore, dated 
 the 4th day of October, 1796, should be read. This being done, the fol- 
 lowing questions were asked : 
 
 Q. 1. Does this address concern only the society at Manchester, and 
 the preachers stationed there 1 
 
 A. It manifestly concerns the whole connection. 
 
 Q. 2. Is it proper that Mr. Mather should retain his office as Chair- 
 man? 
 
 A. Undoubtedly it is, as he was appointed to it by the Conference, 
 and is not personally concerned in the business upon which we are as- 
 sembled. 
 
 Q. 3. Who is appointed secretary 1 
 
 A. Thomas Taylor. 
 
 Q. 4. Shall the above address be again read and considered, paragraph 
 by paragraph ?
 
 APPENDIX G. 367 
 
 A. By all means. This was accordingly done ; and we were unan- 
 imous in our judgment that this address is calculated, 
 
 1. To deceive and mislead all those into whose hands it may come. 
 
 II. To make the minds of the people evil-affected toward the preach- 
 ers by false and unjust representations of them and their conduct. 
 
 III. That its authors and supporters have virtually renounced all con- 
 nection with the Conference by rejecting its rules, and, of consequence, 
 all connection with those who desire to submit to them. 
 
 Any who may desire to see these points fully proved, we refer to the 
 Protest published against the said address by the trustees, local preach- 
 ers, leaders, and stewards of the Manchester society, dated October 4th, 
 1796. That Protest was also read in the same manner, and approved of 
 unanimously, and it is recommended to the brethren to let it have a full 
 circulation in the societies. 
 
 Q. 5. What answer can be given to the three questions proposed by 
 our brethren who have signed the Protest? 
 
 A. 1. We are unanimous as to the justness of our rules as contained 
 in the Minutes of the Conference and in the Rules of the societies, and 
 we believe them not only designed, but well adapted to promote the wel- 
 fare and preserve the peace of the whole connection. 
 
 2. We ar^of one mind as to the power vested in the Conference, and 
 we approve of the account given of that power in the Manchester Pro- 
 test, viz.. 
 
 The power of the Conference is neither " usurped" nor wholly " del- 
 egated" by men, but is first given to them by God, in common with all 
 who are called by Him to the work of the ministry: Acts, xx., 28; 
 1 Thess., v., 12, 13 ; 1 Tim., v., 17, 19 ; Ileb., xiii., 7, 17 ; 1 Pe^er, v., 
 1-5. Secondly, it is a power inherent in themselves, as ministers who 
 have first formed themselves into a body, and made such rules as they 
 judged proper, first for the government and direction of that body, and, 
 secondly, for those who might desire to unite with them. This must 
 consequently imply a power of judging with whom they will (or will not) 
 hold this fellowship, viz., such as agree to be subject to these rules, and 
 so long as they are subject to them. There is also a power delegated 
 by the Deeds of the Chapels to those preachers who assemble in Con- 
 ference, to appoint, from year to year, who shall therein preach and ex- 
 pound God's holy word ; and, in some deeds, to perform the worship of 
 Almighty God as the same has been usual among the Methodists. Yet 
 these powers, so possessed or delegated, except in the first instance, have 
 been, by mutual consent of preachers and people, restricted — first, by the 
 Deeds of the Chapels ; secondly, by the Minutes of the Conference ; and, 
 thirdly, by the Pacific Plan of 1795. This proves that the preachers 
 are not " usurpers" nor " despots," as also that they have, since the death 
 of Mr. Wesley, made many rules in favor of the people ; and that they 
 do not consider themselves exactly in his place, as all who knew him are
 
 368 APPENDIX H. 
 
 fully aware he would not have submitted to the above agreements or 
 rules, even for the preachers, after his death. 
 As to the third question, 
 
 1. We must observe, as before, that those bretlircn who renounce the 
 Conference rules by that act virtually separate themselves from it. 
 
 2. That our Society Rules require that the members shall not speak 
 evil of ministers, and that they shall not rail at or revile any man ; and 
 by those rules all who thus offend are, after due admonition and forbear- 
 anee, ordered to be excluded. In this also we are unanimous, that those 
 brethren who signed that address, as mentioned above, are guilty in all 
 these respects, and in a higli degree ; that they are excluded by these 
 rules ; and tliat, as they have been admonished, and borne with for some 
 time, they ought, agreeable to many passages of Scripture, to be put away 
 from us. We shall only quote the following: Rom.,xvi., 17 : We be- 
 seech you, brethren, mark those that cause divisions and offenses con- 
 trary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and aiwid them. Titus, 
 iii., 10 : A man that is a heretic, that is, who is a party maker (see Mr. 
 Wesley's notes on the passage), after the first and second admonition, 
 reject. 1 Cor., v., 11 : If any tnan tcho is called a brother be — a rail- 
 cr, with such a one, no, not to cat. This we know your superintendent, 
 in conjunction with the leaders, might have done ; but as you desired 
 our advice before you thus proceeded, we advise you to use the same 
 tenderness and forbearance a little longer. If this do not engage t!iose 
 brethren to return, you have no alternative but to refuse them tickets at 
 the next visitation. Yet we propose to meet the leaders before we de- 
 part, that we may admonish those brethren in their presence, 1. That if 
 they be thus removed, they arc themselves the sole cause of that removal. 
 2. That they have now a fair opportunity of continuing with their breth- 
 ren on the following easy terras, viz.. That they lay all these causes of 
 dissension entirely aside, and, as they have done befoye, to act in union 
 with their brethren. This we entreat them to do for the Lord's sake, 
 for the good of their own souls, and for the comfort, harmony, and pros- 
 perity of the whole connection. 
 
 Signed by order of the Meeting, 
 
 A. Mather, T. Taylor. 
 
 H,page 128. 
 A few plain and free Thoughts, by the late Reverend Robert Lomas. 
 
 I judge that when the apostle, in the 8th of Romans, speaks of a car- 
 nal and a spiritual mind, he speaks o^ prevailing and general dispositions, 
 and not of occasional and transient emotions of mind. 
 
 I tliink he opposes the carnal to the spiritual mind, and the spiritual to 
 the carnal mind, and supposes that they exclude each other ; so that,
 
 APPENDIX H. 369 
 
 when the one exists, the other does not exist. It appears to me that, by- 
 being carnally minded, and being in the flesh, and minding the things of 
 the flesh, and being -after the flesh, he meant exactly one and the same 
 thing. 
 
 It seems also, by what he says, that the persons who were in the state 
 described by those phrases were dead, and could not please God. Ac- 
 cording to my judgment, he supposes and asserts that a believer in Christ 
 is not in such a state, but is translated out of it, into one wholly different ; 
 for he says of them, " But ye are" not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so 
 be," etc. 
 
 From this view of the chapter, I infer that a child of God is not car- 
 nally, but spiritually minded ; that he is not in the flesh, but in the spirit ; 
 that he is not dead, but alive ; that he is not at enmity with God, but 
 pleases God, and is accepted of Him ; and that he is not in a state of con- 
 demnation, but in a state of peace, and has peace in himself. But all 
 these propositions, you will remember, are used with reference to what 
 is prevailing and general in a child of God. 
 
 Some use the expression, the remains of the carnal mind in a believer ; 
 think it is quite scriptural ; and are surprised that any question should be 
 made concerning it. 
 
 I am a plain man, and my thoughts are free. On this subject I have 
 to say that if, by that expression, it be meant that a believer has any re- 
 mains of that carnal mind which is enmity against God, and that this is 
 in him at all times until he be wholly sanctified, I feel some objection to 
 it, for I do not believe it in that sense. But if it be meant only that a 
 weak believer, not living in the exercise of his faith, may be occasionally 
 too much under the power of carnal things, so as to be properly called 
 carnal for the time, as the apostle called the Corinthians on account of 
 their party matters, etc., I have not the smallest objection to it : a weak 
 believer, a child, an infant in grace, may be in such a state, and be a weak 
 believer still. 
 
 Yet more : if persons who use that phrase (and, by the way, I do not 
 know that I shall ever use it in any sense, for I suppose it convey^s a cer- 
 tain true iclea to many of our hearers) mean only that believers who are 
 not matured in grace have in themselves at all times, and occasionally feel, 
 a certain proneness or propensity toward that evil which prevailed over 
 them when they were dead to God and far from Him, which proneness 
 or propensity is the effect of a course of inward and outward sinful acts, 
 and from which proneness or propensity they may be freed by the grace 
 of God, and by the exercise of that grace in the way of godliness, I 
 heartily subscribe to their meaning, for I am fully persuaded of the truth 
 of this thing. 
 
 But probably some tenacious persons, fearing lest I should conceal 
 some heterodox notions under the cover of the word proneness or pro- 
 pensity, would urge me farther, and ask, " Do you think the child of God 
 
 Q2
 
 870 APPENDIX I. 
 
 ^vho has that propensity, and occasionally feels it, can go to heaven in 
 his present state 1 Must he not experience another essential change in 
 himself? Must he not be brought into a state of entire sanctification be- 
 fore he can see God ? Can any man see the Lord without holiness V 
 etc. And, as I do not wish to retain any thing erroneous, especially in 
 matters of experience, I might be glad of an opportunity of bringing my 
 sentiments to a farther test by replying to the above as follows : 1. I 
 am persuaded that no unholy thing can have place in heaven. I be- 
 lieve that there must be in us an entire'conformity to God, in order that 
 we may dwell with Him ; for I find it is impossible to walk with Him 
 on earth unless we be agreed with Him. 
 
 But, 2. I do not conceive that the proneness or propensity of which I 
 spoke has in it the riaturc of unholiness or sin ; for it has not any nec- 
 essary concurrence of the mind or icill of the believer at a?2?/ time, and, 
 by the grace of God, he may be saved from its poioer at all times. 
 
 Therefore, 3. I do not see the necessity of another essential change, 
 or change of nature, in the believer ; I can not see how it can be neces- 
 sary for him to pass into another state in order that he may enter into 
 the kingdom of God. 
 
 In my judgment, there are only two states, strictly speaking, in which 
 a man can be while in this world — a state of carnality and a state of 
 spirituality, or a state of life and a state of death, or a state of condem- 
 nation and a state of justification ; in other words, the state of a believer 
 who is translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of 
 God's dear Son, and the state of a sinner who abides in that darkness. 
 
 In my opinion, believers noio have eternal life, and are now, inasmuch 
 as they are children of God, and possessed of a new and Divine na- 
 ture, made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. 
 Unless this be granted, I do not see how it is possible to avoid the error 
 of those who say that, " if a justified person were to die before he were 
 wholly sanctified, he would go to hell and be damned." 
 
 I, page 139. 
 
 List of the Texts of Dr. Bunting^s Discourses prepared before he 
 left Macclesfield, placed in the Order of Preparation. 
 
 I. John, xiv., 1 : Ye believe in God, believe also in Me. 
 
 II. Num., xxiii., 10 : Let me die the death of the righteous, etc. 
 
 III. Luke, ii., 10, 11 : Fear not ; for, behold, I bring you glad tidings, 
 
 etc. 
 
 IV. Luke, ii., 14 : Glory to God in the highest, etc. 
 
 V. Isa., Iv., 6 : Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, etc. 
 Al., LIX. Titus, ii., 11-13 : The grace of God which bringeth, etc. 
 VII. Luke, xii., 32 : Fear not, little flock, etc.
 
 APPENDIX I. 371 
 
 VIII. Matt., xi., 28 : Come unto Me, all ye, etc. 
 
 IX. Rom., vi., 17 : God be thanked that ye, etc. 
 
 X. Num., X., 29 : We are journeying, etc. 
 
 XI. 1 Tim., iii., 16 : Great is the mystery, etc. 
 
 XII. Luke, xxiv., 34 : The Lord is risen indeed. 
 
 XIII. Phil.,iv., 19 : My God shall supply, etc. 
 
 XIV., LVIII. Jude 20, 21 : But ye, beloved, building up yourselves, 
 etc. 
 
 XV. Mark, xvi., 15 : Go into all the world, etc. 
 
 XVI. Gen., vii., 1 : Com^thou, etc., into the ark. 
 
 XVII. Luke, XV., 2 : This Man receiveth sinners. 
 
 XVIII. Matt., xxiv., 44 : Be ye also ready, etc. 
 
 XIX. Prov., iv., 7 : Wisdom is the principal thing. 
 
 XX. Psalm Ivii., 1 : Be merciful unto me, O God, etc. 
 
 XXI. 1 Thess., v., 25 : Brethren, pray for us. 
 
 XXII. 2 Kings, xviii., 5-7 : Hezekiah's character. 
 
 XXIII. Job, xxii.,21 : Acquaint now thyself, etc. 
 
 XXIV. Rom.jxiii., 11 : Now is our salvation, etc, 
 XXV., XXVI. Matt., xvi., 6 : Pharisees and Sadducees. 
 
 XXVII. Job, ii., 10 : Shall we receive good, etc. 
 
 XXVIII. Heb., ii., 13 : How shall we escape, etc. 
 
 XXIX. Gal., vi., 9 : Let us not be weary in well-doing. 
 
 XXX. Heb., iv., 14 : Seeing that we have, etc. 
 
 XXXI. Luke, xxii., 32 : When thou art converted, strengthen, etc. 
 
 XXXII. Psalm xxxiv., 19 : Many are the afflictions, etc. 
 
 XXXIII. Jonah, ii., 9 : Salvation is of the Lord : with a paraphrase of 
 chapters i. and ii. Two parts. 
 
 XXXIV. 1 Peter, iv., 18: If the righteous, etc. 
 
 XXXV. Rev., iii., 20 : Behold, I stand, etc. 
 
 XXXVI. Eccles.jviii., 12 : Surely I know, etc. 
 
 XXXVII. Matt.,v.,25, 26 : Agree with thine adversary, etc. 
 
 XXXVIII. Isa.,lxvi., 14 : The hand of the Lord, etc. 
 
 XXXIX. Luke, xiii., 6-9 : The barren fig-tree. 
 XL. James, v., 8 : Be ye also patient, etc. 
 
 XLI. Acts, xi., 26 : The disciples were called Christians. 
 
 XLII. Rom.,viii., 16 : The Spirit itself beareth witness, etc. 
 
 XLIII., XLIV. Psalm 1., 14, 15 : Offer unto God thanksgiving, etc. 
 
 XLV. lTim.,iv.,8: Godliness is profitable, etc. 
 
 XLVI. Matt., XX., I, et seq.: Parable of the laborers. 
 
 XLVII. Luke, xvii.,32 : Remember Lot's wife. 
 
 XLVIII.,XLIX. Phil.,iii.,20, 21 : Our conversation, etc. 
 
 L. 1 Peter, iii., 15 : Be ready always to give an -answer, etc. 
 
 LI. Ezek., ix., 4 : .Go through the city, etc., and set a mark on the men 
 
 that sigh, etc. 
 LII. 1 Peter, v., 10 : But the God of all grace, who hath called, etc.
 
 372 APPENDIX I. 
 
 LIII. Prov., xxiv., 10 : If thou faint in the day of adversity, etc. 
 
 LIV. 1 Peter, iii., 18 : Christ once suffered, etc. 
 
 LV., LVL, LVII. Luke, XV., 11-24 : Parable of the Prodigal Son. 
 
 LVIII. Jude, 20, 21 : But ye, beloved, etc. 
 
 LIX. Titus, ii., 11-13 : The grace of God, etc. . 
 
 LX. Epii., iv., 30 : Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, etc. 
 
 LXI. Zech., iii., 6, 7 : If thou wilt walk in my ways, etc. 
 
 LXII. 1 John, i., 9 : If we confess our sins, he is faithful, etc. 
 
 LXIII.,LXIV. Eccles.,xii., 1 : Remember now thy Creator, etc. 
 
 LXV. Heb., iv., 16 : Let us come boldly, eta 
 
 LXVI. John, i., 41, 42 : The calling of Peter. 
 
 LXVII. Psalm i. 
 
 LXVIII. 1 Sam., xii., 23 : Moreover, as for me, God forbid, etc. 
 
 LXIX. Rom.,i., 16 : I am not ashamed of the Gospel, etc. 
 
 LXX. Heb., vi., 12 : Be not slothful, but followers of them, etc. 
 
 LXXI. John, iii., 16 : God so loved the world, etc. (Altered from Bur- 
 der.) 
 
 LXXII. Heb., ii., 11 : Both He that sanctifieth, and they that are sanc- 
 tified. 
 
 LXXIII. Heb., ii., 10 : For it became Him for whom are all things, etc. 
 
 LXXIV., LXXV. James, i., 21 : Wherefore lay apart, etc. 
 
 LXXVL, LXXVII. Psalm x., 13 : Wherefore doth the wicked contemn 
 God, etc. 
 
 LXXVIII. 2 Kings, v., 19 : Naaman's cure and conversion. 
 
 LXXIX., LXXX. Heb., xii., 1 : Wherefore, seeing we also are com- 
 passed, etc. 
 
 LXXXI. Rom., viii., 2 : The law of the spirit of life, in Christ Jesus, 
 etc. 
 
 LXXXIL, LXXXIII. Zeph., ii., 3 : Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek, etc. 
 
 LXXXIV. Luke, ii., 15 : Let us go now even unto Bethlehem, etc. 
 
 LXXXV., LXXXVI. Col., iii., 11 : Christ is all. 
 
 LXXXVII., LXXXVIII. Psalm xciv., 19 : In the multitude of my 
 thoughts, etc. 
 
 LXXXIX. 1 John, v., 3 : This is the love of God, that we keep, etc 
 
 XC, XCI., XCII. Heb., xi., 26 : Esteeming the reproach of Christ, 
 etc. 
 
 XCIII. 1 Cor., XV., 10 : By the grace of God, I am what I am. 
 
 XCIV. 1 Thess.,v., 17, 18 : Pray without ceasing, in every thing give 
 thanks. 
 
 XCV. Heb., X., 23: Let us hold fast the profession of our faith, etc. 
 
 XCVI. Rom., viii., 32 : He that spared not his own Son, etc. 
 
 XCVII., XCVIII. Luke, xxiii., 42, 43 : The dying thief. 
 
 XCIX. Rom., vi., 22 : Being now made free from sin, etc. 
 
 C. 2 Peter, iii., 14: Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look, etc. 
 
 CI. Acts, iii., 22, 23 : Christ the prophet like unto Moses.
 
 APPENDIX I. 373 
 
 CII. John, X., 11 : I am the good Shepherd. 
 
 cm., CIV. 1 Thess., v., 19 : Quench not the Spirit. 
 
 CV. 1 Cor., ix., 26, or 1 Tim., i., 18 : The Christian warfare. 
 
 CVI. Isai., xxviii., 16 : Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, etc. 
 
 CVII. Titus, ii., 11-13, Part third : Looking for that blessed hope, etc. 
 
 CVIII. Heb., X., 35, 36 : Cast not away your confidence, etc. 
 
 CIX. Deut., viii., 16 : Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, etc. 
 
 ex. 1 John, iii., 2 : Beloved, now are we the sons of God, etc. 
 
 CXI. 1 Thess., v., 20 : Despise not prophesyings. 
 
 CXII. Heb., ii., 1 : Therefore we ought to give, etc, 
 
 CXIII. Rom., XV., 19: From Jerusalem and round about, etc. 
 
 CXIV. 2 Sam., xxiv., 13 : Now advise and see, etc. 
 
 CXV. Job, xvii., 11 : My days are past, my purposes, etc. 
 
 CXVI. 1 John, iii., 14 : We know that we have passed, etc., because 
 
 we love the brethren. 
 CXVII. Jer., viii., 22 : Is there no balm in Gilead ? etc. Why then is 
 
 not the health ? etc. 
 CXVIII. Joshua, xxiv., 15 : If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, 
 
 choose, etc. 
 CXIX. Psalm Ixxvii., 3 : I remembered God, and was troubled. 
 CXX. John, xvii., 15 : I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of 
 
 the world, etc. 
 CXXI. Acts, iii., 26 : Unto you first God, having raised up, etc. 
 CXXII. Luke, xxii., 31 : Behold, Satan hath desired to have you. 
 CXXIII. 1 Cor., XV., 29: Else what shall they do which are baptized 
 
 for the dead. 
 CXXIV. Gal., vi., 2 : Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill, etc. 
 CXXV., CXXVI. Jer., xiii., 17 : If ye will not hear it, my soul shall 
 
 weep, etc. 
 CXXVII. Jonah, i., 17 ; ii., 1-10. 
 CXXVIII. Acts, xiii., 38, 39 : Be it known, etc., that through this 
 
 man, etc. 
 CXXIX. Psalm xvi., 6 : The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant 
 
 places, etc. 
 CXXX. Acts, ix., 4 : Why persecutest tliou me? 
 CXXXI. 1 Peter, v., 7 : He careth for you. 
 
 CXXXII. Luke, xxii., 31 : Satan hath desired to have you. Part second. 
 CXXXIII. Psalm xxvii., 13, 14: I had fainted unless, etc. Wait on 
 
 the Lord, be of good courage, etc. 
 CXXXIV. 2 Sam., xx., 9 : Art thou in health, my brother? 
 CXXXV. Job, xxxiii., 19 : He is chastened also with pain. 
 CXXXVI. Deut., xxix., 29 : The secret things belong, etc. 
 CXXXVII. Neh., vi., 3 : I am doing a great work. 
 CXXXVIII. Rom., viii., 8 : They that are in the flesh can not please 
 
 God.
 
 374 APPENDIX J. 
 
 CXXXIX., CXL. Mark, vi., G : lie marveled because of their unbelief. 
 
 CXLI. 1 Sam., xxx., 6 : But David encouraged himself in the Lord his 
 God. 
 
 CXLII.jCXLIII. Prov.jiii., 17: Her ways arc vvaysof pleasantness, etc. 
 
 CXLIV. Rom., viii., 17 : If children, then heirs, etc. 
 
 CXLV. Jonah, i., ii. Part third. 
 
 CXLVI. Phil., i., 6 : Good work begun and perfected. 
 
 CXLVII. Heb., xii., 1, 2 : The Christian race. Part third. 
 
 CXLVIII. Isai., xliv., 21 : Israel not forgotten of God. 
 
 CXLIX. James, iv., 7: Submission to God. 
 
 CL. Psalm xx., 5 : In the name of our God we will set up our banners. 
 
 CLI. John, viii., 51 : Verily, I say unto you. If a man keep my say- 
 ing, etc. 
 
 CLII. Joshua, xxiv., 15, last clause : As for me and my house, etc. 
 
 CLIII. Luke, xii., 31 : But rather seek ye the kingdom of God. 
 
 J, page 145. 
 
 Notices of the late Mrs. Bunting. 
 
 The late Mrs. Bunting, whose maiden name was Maclardie, was born 
 at Macclesfield on the 26th of February, 1782. Her mother was re- 
 moved from her by death when she was only eleven months old, but, in 
 the immediate prospect of dissolution, gave strict injunctions as to the 
 religious education of her infant daughter, and specially recommended 
 her to the friendly and pastoral attentions of the Rev. David Simpson, 
 then the excellent and justly-eminent minister of Christ Church in Mac- 
 clesfield, who visited Mrs. Maclardie during her last affliction. The 
 charge thus solemnly imposed was to some extent fulfdled. During her 
 childhood and youth Miss Maclardie had generally the high privilege of 
 attending the public ministry of Mr. Simpson in the church just men- 
 tioned, and cherished to the latest period of her life the most reverential 
 and delifjhtrul reminiscences of a worship deojjly devotional in its forms, 
 greatly assisted, as to its decorum and impressive solenmity, by the rich 
 musical taste and judgment of her father (to which the venerable Mr. 
 Wesley, who occasionally ofTiciatcd for Mr. Simpson, has borne testi- 
 mony in one of his published Journals), and, above all, spiritualized and 
 made religiously effective by the evangelical piety of the minister and 
 of a very large proportion of his usual congregation. At the tirjie re- 
 ferred to, Methodism presented in the town of Macclesfield a beautiful 
 and, even then, somewhat uncommon development of its catholic spirit 
 and character. The preachers and members of the Weslcyan Society 
 generally wore constant hearers and communicants at Chri.st Church, 
 especially in the forenoon of the Lord's day ; while, on tiic other hand, 
 Mr, Simpson himself, and a considerable number of those members of his
 
 APPENDIX J. 375 
 
 congregation who were considered as the more strict and regular adher- 
 ents of the Establishment, were in the habit of frequently joining the 
 Sunday evening services of the Wesleyan congregation. This circum- 
 stance, it is presumed, gave rise to Miss Maclardie's occasional attend- 
 ance, even from her childhood, at the Methodist Chapel. She, however 
 always attributed her first effectual and saving impressions of religious 
 truth to the blessing of God upon the public and private ministrations of 
 Mr. Simpson himself. She also derived great spiritual advantage, in 
 consequence of her being placed, when fourteen or fifteen years of age, 
 under the care of the late Rev. Robert Smith, of Leek, a truly devoted 
 minister of the Independent denomination. In his family she beheld, in 
 himself and in Mrs. Smith, an edifying example, which had the most 
 happy effect on her youthful mind, and to which she often referred in 
 subsequent years as exhibiting one of the most impressive manifestations 
 of uniform and consistent piety which she had ever witnessed. On her 
 return from Leek to her native town, her religious views and feelings 
 were fixed and deepened under the renewed ministry and pastoral atten- 
 tions of Mr. Simpson. Her personal experience of the things of God 
 became clear and satisfactory. After painful convictions of her own sin- 
 fulness, and guilt, and danger, she was brought to the exercise of faith in 
 the sacrifice and atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ, and blessed with a 
 comforting sense of her interest in God's pardoning mercy and paternal 
 love. The minuter circumstances of that great and vital change in her 
 spiritual relations, and state of heart toward God, which distinguished 
 this important period of her life, can not here be detailed. They were 
 very distinct in their character, and were often related by her with much 
 feeling to her children, whose recollection of them is not only sweet and 
 comforting to their minds, but of substantial value and interest, as fur- 
 nishing them with a key to the peculiar cast of her Christian feelings and 
 habits. One striking evidence of her possession of the grace which 
 bringeth salvation soon appeared in the benevolent activity and zeal with 
 which, under the guidance and auspices of some experienced friends, 
 who saw the superior energy of her character, and were anxious to give 
 to it a beneficial direction, she engaged in most affectionate, assiduous, 
 and self-denying labors, such as became her sex and station, for the tem- 
 poral relief and religious welfare of others. Her impressions of the 
 misery and danger of the unconverted were exceedingly deep and stir- 
 ring, and led her to almost daily efforts for their rescue, either by visiting 
 the poor and sick, by reading the Scriptures, with accompanying counsel 
 and with prayer, to the ignorant and neglected, in their own humble 
 dwellings, or sometimes in the adoption, with reference to persons in the 
 higher walks of life, of certain indirect methods of admonition and in- 
 struction, which, though perfectly private and unostentatipus, might pos- 
 sibly result, she hoped, in the spiritual welfare of the parties concerned. 
 In some instances at least belonging to the former class of persons, there
 
 376 APPENDIX J. 
 
 was reason to believe that these pious toils were instrumental, in the 
 iianJs of God, of saving benefit, llcr zeal for the salvation of others did 
 not so absorb her as to make her overlook the primary duty of using 
 every scriptural means for the confirmation and increase of her own 
 piety ; for, under a conviction of the duty and privilege of a close and 
 regular Christian communion, she now formally united herself to the 
 Methodist Society, being about twenty years of age. 
 
 In January, 1804, she was married to her now bereaved and mourning 
 liusband, and from that time, more especially, devoted her entire feelings, 
 and energies, and talents to the cause of Christ among the Wesloyan 
 Methodists, in whose purity, peace, and success as a religious community 
 she felt a tender and unvarying interest ; always retaining, however, a 
 filial reverence for the Church of England, and particularly for its evan- 
 gelical ministers and members, and a spirit of cordial esteem and affec- 
 tion toward real Christians of every name. During the period of her 
 more public relation to the Wesleyan societies as the wife of a minister, 
 she was, in the London, South Manchester, Salford, and other circuits, 
 the leader of classes of females, all of which, with one exception, she was, 
 at the request of the preachers for the time being, the instrument of first 
 collecting together, and by whose members, respectively, her instructions 
 and prayers were highly valued. In other towns where slie was called 
 to reside she was ever intent on doing good, and, except when interrupted 
 by affliction, unwearied in labors of love and mercy. 
 
 Iler health was constitutionally good, in a more than ordinary degree, 
 until the autumn of 1827, when it began to fail. Since that period, with 
 scarcely more than one interval of any long continuance (tind that one 
 of very recent date), she was an almost constant sufferer, cither from the 
 actual pressure of agonizing pain, or from the exhausting effects of its 
 frequent paroxysms, or from the terror of its hourly-anticipated recur- 
 rence. Even during this dreadful ordeal, the characteristics of her nat- 
 ural temper, improved and sustained by the principles and consolations 
 of religion ; her vivacity and cheerfulness ; her unwillingness to give 
 trouble, and eagerness to minister to the comfort and joy of others when 
 not literally incapacitated l)y the intensity of her own pain, were con- 
 stantly apparent. 
 
 The interval of comparative exemption from violent paroxysms of suf- 
 fering, and of apparent restoration to a state of vigorous health, to which 
 allusion has been made, though, by leading her family and friends to hope, 
 alas ! too fondly, that the bitterness of death was past, it aggravated the 
 pang inflicted by the sudden and fatal termination of her returning dis- 
 ease, is nevertheless regarded by them with feelings of unfeigned thank- 
 fulness. The somewhat extended respite thus vouchsafed, and her tem- 
 porary recovery, of bodily and mental activity, afforded many occasions 
 for illustrating to their view the solidity and excellence of her Christian 
 character after all the trials which it had undergone ; and, above all, it
 
 APPENDIX J. 377 
 
 afforded to herself the opportunity, which there is now good reason to be 
 assured that she was divmcly led to value and improve, of calm and hap- 
 py preparation for the " change" which was so soon to " come." 
 
 The period m question, and especially the last months and weeks of 
 it, were marked by a growing devotion of spirit, by evident signs of 
 increasing profit and enjoyment in Divine ordinances, and by general 
 meekness and serenity of mind. There is now reason to think that, 
 since her return to London, not quite three weeks before her death, her 
 thoughts were specially directed to contemplate the great uncertainty 
 of earthly comforts, and the possibilUy of a sudden transition into eter- 
 nity. She has been since busily employed, partly in the orderly arrange- 
 ment of her domestic affairs, and partly in certain plans of private benev- 
 olence and kindness, in which her characteristic compassion for distress, 
 and especially for what was once affluence, now reduced to circumstances 
 of want and wretchedness, had induced her warmly to engage. The 
 last Sabbath of her earthly sojourn appears, from various circumstances, 
 which excited, even at the time, the observation of her husband and fam- 
 ily, to have been eminently a day of much holy feeling and enjoyment, 
 especially during the afternoon, which, according to her invariable rule, 
 she spent in retirement with her Bible and her God. There was some- 
 thing peculiar in her countenance and demeanor when, after that holy 
 exercise, s!ie rejoined the domestic circle, which indicated that her com- 
 munion during those hours of solitude and devotion had been with Christ 
 and with heaven. In the forenoon of Monday, September 28th, she left 
 her home with the intention of taking, with her husband, a short journey 
 into the country on one of those errands of friendly and benevolent serv- 
 ice for which she was ever ready. She was seized, before she pro- 
 ceeded far, by a violent attack of what has since appeared to be her old 
 and deeply-rooted malady, for the relief of which the usual remedies were 
 administered, and, as it seemed for a while, successfully ; but the parox- 
 ysms of pain soon returned with greater severity, and it was not until sever- 
 al hours of intense suffering had elapsed that she became more composed, 
 and at length appeared to fall into a deep sleep ; not, however, of a char- 
 acter materially different from that which, on many former occasions, 
 had been observed gradually to terminate in restoration to ease and com- 
 fort. Her last words were expressive of her sorrow for the trouble she 
 had given to her attendants. About four o'clock on the following morn- 
 ing, while her husband was preparing for her something which he hoped 
 might farther relieve her, she appeared suddenly to raise herself in 
 her bed, changed her position, again lay down, and died ! She exchanged 
 mortality for life and bliss eternal on the 29th of September, 1835, in the 
 fifty-fourth year of her age. 
 
 Sweet is the remembrance of her pietjs her tenderness, her active 
 charity, her conjugal and maternal love and assiduities, her many Chris- 
 tian graces. During the last year of her life the shadows of suffering
 
 378 APPENDIX J. 
 
 had passed away, and tlierc remained, undisfigurcd and beauteous, the 
 lineaments of a character maturing into heavenly brightness. Tlie fatal 
 termination of her long familiar disorder came on us by surprise ; but we 
 are inclined to believe, not only on general principles, but from certain 
 indications in her own case (which, however, were not so interpreted at 
 the time), that her mind was under preparation, special, deep, delightful 
 — perhaps at the last entrancing — which took her attention away from a 
 receding world, and left us without the consolation (the only consolation, 
 however, which is withheld from us) of her last testimony. How joyful 
 the surprise to a weary voyager, half slumbering in his berth, to be awak- 
 ened by the intelligence that what he had taken for a common swell of 
 the sea, such as he had experienced on many a stormy night before, with 
 yet no land in sight, is nothing less than the effect of a gale that has 
 driven the vessel suddenly into port, and of the agitation of the waves 
 near the shore, and that his father and elder brother, and many friends, 
 are already seen on the strand waiting to welcome him ! Such was her 
 joy. " Shortly ere she died" (to use the language of her husband, who 
 unconsciously saw her die) " she seemed to receive a sudden summons 
 to depart and be with Christ, and, by an effort of body as well as of mind, 
 she sprang up to attend it." 
 
 Perhaps some other record of what was admirable and exemplary in 
 the deceased may be deemed expedient hereafter ; at present, there is 
 time only for the following testimony of one who knew her long and well 
 (Mrs. Buhner). 
 
 " Mrs. Bunting was distinguished for great energy of character. Her 
 judgment was sound, and her principles well and strongly formed. She 
 was benevolent in purpose, and prompt in executing what her liberal heart 
 devised. Her kindness and activity in accomplishing a philanthropic ob- 
 ject surmounted difficulties, and disregarded those personal sacrifices to 
 which those arc exposed who undertake to advocate the cause of the af- 
 flicted and forlorn. Nor, while she sought to mitigate calamity, was she 
 unmindful of the sensibilities of those to whom she ministered relief: 
 there was a tact of courtesy and kindness which made her generous ef- 
 fort doubly felt. 
 
 " In the sorrows of her friends, when suffering under desolating and 
 afflictive dispensations, .she took a lively interest, and by modes the most 
 ingeniously and thoughtfully adapted to their circumstances endeavored 
 to alleviate their grief. Engraven on the tablet of the heart, the en- 
 deared remembrance of these soothing, delicate, and kind expressions of 
 her sympathy can never he obliterated from the grateful recollection of 
 those minds to whom her friendship was a solace in the hour of trial, 
 and who now unfeignedly lament her loss. 
 
 " Mrs. Bunting's religion was neither speculative nor sentimental ; it 
 was ba.sed upon the firm foundations of scriptural truth. It had its seat 
 in the understanding as well as in the heart, and its reality was evinced
 
 APPENDIX K. 379 
 
 by appropriate fruits. It was eminently practical ; free from mystical 
 abstractions or sectarian technicalities. It was evangelical and expan- 
 sive ; doctrinally and experimentally a deliberate, believing, and thank- 
 ful acceptance of the great scheme of mediatorial mercy, inducing that 
 reliance on it for salvation which brought established peace of con- 
 science, and gave stability and strength to hope. A life devoted to the 
 vigorous discharge of every social and domestic duty, with that habitual 
 piety of heart which led her to confide her best and dearest interests 
 to the gracious and parental government of God, and which, under cir- 
 cumstances of severe personal suffering, induced patient and submissive 
 acquiescence in the Divine will, these were the practical results of Chris- 
 tian principles, and the continued evidences of the genuine and sterling 
 nature of her faith. 
 
 " In conversation she was lively and intelligent, full of point and spir- 
 it, and on religious subjects showed much discrimination, and a quick per- 
 ception of the slightest deviation from the severe and simple majesty of 
 truth. This general impression remains as the result of long-continued 
 intercourse, which might have been confirmed l)y particular instances had 
 memory been charged with various conversations, which are now, alas ! 
 ef!liced. One of the most recent was on the subject of sudden death, in 
 which Mrs. Bunting acquiesced with her friend that, however desirable 
 a season of warning might be in order to complete an immediate prep- 
 aration, yet that the time and circumstances connected with that awful 
 change might, without anxiety, be left to the disposal of Divine wisdom 
 and love." 
 
 K, page 249. 
 
 Extracts from a Statement of Facts and Observations relative to the 
 late Separation from the Methodist Society in Manchester, affection- 
 ately addressed to the Memebrs of that Body ly their Preachers and 
 Leaders. 
 
 We shall now subjoin what we promised — our reasons for thinking that 
 indiscriminate admission to meetings for Christian fellowship is highly 
 improper. 
 
 1. We believe that such promiscuous admission of all who choose to 
 attend, without distinction of motives or characters, is a gross violation 
 of our Lord's precept in Matthew, vii., 6. Give not that which is holy 
 unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before sivine,lest they tram- 
 ple them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. This text we 
 understand as containing a general rule, applicable to a great variety of 
 particular cases, but specially and justly applicable to the case now under 
 consideration. And we could easily produce instances in which the pearls 
 of Christian doctrine and experience have actually been thus trampled
 
 380 APPENDIX K. 
 
 under their feet by profane sinners who have attended the meeting at 
 North Street for purposes of mirth and ridicule, and have afterward most 
 awfully abused wdiat they there heard. If it be said that the same ob- 
 jection hes against the public preaching of the Gospel to promiscuous 
 auditories, we answer that the two cases materially differ. Preaching is, 
 by Divine authority, expressly directed to mankind at large. But the 
 precepts which constitute our warrant for meetings of Christian fellow- 
 ship are as expressly limited within a much narrower sphere. We are 
 commanded to teach and admonish one another ; to comfort and edify 
 one another ; to confess our faults 07ie to another ; and to provoke one 
 another to love and good works. To his ministers God has said, " Go 
 into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.''' But where 
 is it written, "Go and relate all the particular details of your personal 
 experience in religious things to every creature V In public preaching, 
 the grace of the Gospel, and the consolations and promises which belong 
 to penitents and believers, are guarded against the profane prostitution of 
 others by suitable cautions and admonitions. But this point is not, and 
 never can be, sufficiently secured in meetings like these, where private 
 Christians are the speakers, many of whom are comparatively ignorant 
 and inexperienced. Public preaching is designed, among otlicr purposes, 
 to be the instrument oi producing penitence and faith, and is therefore 
 properly addressed to the impenitent and Christlcss ; but guch meetings 
 as those now under discussion in their own nature presuppose either pen- 
 itence or faitli in the persons who attend them, and are designed to en- 
 courage seeking souls, and to edify and confirm the faithful. Finally, 
 public preaching does not constitute any religious society or ecclesiasti- 
 cal union among those who hear it ; but meetings like that at North 
 Street do imply such union, and therefore ought to be accessible only to 
 persons entitled to expect the right hand of fellow^ship, and willing to 
 submit to those terms on which alone that fellowship can be scripturally 
 conceded. 
 
 In order to establish and vindicate the application here made of our 
 Savior's general rule, we shall quote the following passage from Mr. 
 Wesley's excellent Discourses on the Sermon on the Mount ; which 
 discourses, together with all the other writings of the venerable author, 
 we are glad to take this opportunity of recommending to your frequent 
 and careful perusal. 
 
 " Give not that which is holy unto dogs. The holy, the peculiar doc- 
 trines of the Gospel, such as were hid from the ages and generations 
 of old, and arc now made known to us only by the revelation of Jesus 
 Christ and the inspiration of his Holy Spirit, are not to be prostituted 
 unto these men who know not if there be any Holy Ghost. Not, indeed, 
 that the embassadors of Christ can refrain from declaring them in the 
 great congregation, wherein some of these may probably be. We must 
 speak, whether men will hear or whether they will forbear. But this is
 
 APPENDIX K. 881 
 
 not the case with private Christians. They do not bear that awful char- 
 acter ; nor arc they under any manner of obligation to force these great 
 and glorious truths on them who contradict and blaspheme, who have a 
 rooted enmity against them. Nay, they ought not so to do, but rather to 
 lead them as they are able to bear. Do not begin a discourse with these 
 upon remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost, but talk with them 
 in their own manner and upon their own principles. With the rational, 
 honorable, unjust epicure, reason of righteousness, temperance, and judg- 
 ment to come. This is the most probable way to make Felix tremble. 
 Reserve higher subjects for men of higher attainments. 
 
 " Neither cast ye your pearls before swine — persons making no pre- 
 tense to purity either of heart or life, but working all uncleanncss with 
 greediness. Talk not to them of the mysteries of the kingdom ; of the 
 things which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard ; which of consequence, 
 as they have no other inlets of knowledge, no spiritual senses, it can not 
 enter into their hearts to conceive. Tell not them of the exceeding 
 great and precious promises which God hath given us in the Son of his 
 love. What conception can they have of being made partakers of the 
 Divine nature, who do not even desire to escape the corruption that is 
 in the loorld through lust ? Just as much knowledge as swine have of 
 pearls, and as much relish as they have for them ; so nmch relish have 
 they for the deep things of God, so much knowledge of the mysteries of 
 the Gospel, who are immersed in the mire of this world, in worldly pleas- 
 ures, desires, and cares. Oh, cast not tliose pearls before these, lest they 
 trample them under their feet, lest they utterly despise what they can 
 not understand, and speak evil of the things which they know not." — 
 Wesley's Works [edition 1771], vol. ii., p. 346, et seq. 
 
 2. The promiscuous admission which has been practiced at North 
 Street is contrary to the general current of scriptural history and exam- 
 ple. Come hither, said David, all ye that fear the Lord, and I will 
 tell YOU ichat he hath done for my soul. In the days of Malachi, they 
 THAT FEARED THE LORD werc the pcrsous who spake often one to an- 
 other, and the Lord hearkened and heard, and a book of remembrance 
 ivas loritten. Our blessed Master, too, was careful to speak icisdom only 
 among them that were perfect. His gracious exertions for the salvation 
 of men were strictly governed by his own rule : whosoever hath, to 
 him shall be given, and he shall have more abundantly. He was wont 
 to reserve his most particular and most excellent communications for 
 those who were not only his hearers, but also his stated and avowed dis- 
 ciples, and who had previously attained to such a maturity of knowledge 
 in the first principles of his doctrine as disposed them to receive and im- 
 prove his farther and more luminous instructions. Among other instances 
 in which he has left us the example of this judicious and prudent reserve, 
 it may be sufficient here to quote one. When he was alone, they that 
 w'ERE ABOUT HIM loith the twclvc uskcd of him the parable. And he
 
 382 APPENDIX K. 
 
 said unto them, unto vou it is given to know the mystery of the king' 
 dam of God ; but unto tiiem that are without, all these things are 
 done IN PARABLES. With many parables, it is added, in the same chap- 
 ter, spake he the word unto them, unto the people at large, as they ivere 
 able to hear it ; hut luithout a parable spake he not unto them ; and 
 WHEN they were ALONE, hc expounded all things to his disciples. 
 Compare Matt., xiii., 11, 12, with Mark, iv., 10, 11,3-1. Evident traces 
 of similar discrimination and caution are to be found in the history of the 
 first Christians. Thus, at the day of Pentecost, the three thousand were 
 such as first gladly received Peter's word, and were then by baptism in- 
 itiated into the Church. And it is after such initiation only that they 
 are said to have been allowed to continue steadfastly, not merely in the 
 apostles' doctrine, but in their T^vivSite fellowship, and breaking of bread, 
 and prayers : Acts, ii., 41, 43. When Paul and Barnabas had preached 
 in the public synagogue at Antioch, after the congregation was broken 
 up the more serious and religious part of it followed them ; and to these 
 separately they spoke in a more particular and appropriate way, and per- 
 suaded them to continue in the grace of God: Acts, xiii., 14. And on 
 their return to the same place, after an excursion to Lystra and elsewhere, 
 they gathered the Church — not the mixed multitude, but the Church 
 together, and rehearsed all that God had done ivith them : Acts, xiv., 
 27. We entreat you, brethren, to read, compare, and consider these pas- 
 sages, and then to say whether the plan of promiscuous admission into 
 meetings for the declaration of religious experience, and for speaking 
 peculiarly on the deep things of God, be not, as we have asserted, con- 
 trary to the general current of Scriptural example. Oh, let us not at- 
 tempt to be wise or zealous above what is icrittcn ! Let us not, under 
 the idea of doing more extensive good, depart from the perfect pattern 
 of our Lord, or violate the perfect law of his holy word. If men will 
 not be converted by Moses and the prophets, by Christ and the apostles, 
 as regularly preached to them in the great congregation — if thoy will 
 not be brought to reflection and prayer by the stated methods of Divine 
 providence and grace, neither will they repent though we deviate from 
 God's appointed order and revealed will by permitting them, while im- 
 penitent, to associate with us in the Church. 
 
 3. Another objection to llic plan of indiscriminate admission is its total 
 inconsistency with the very nature, business, and design of those relig- 
 ious meetings to which we refer. They are meetings of the Church 
 for Christian fellowship, for the communion o/" Saints. Li them, the 
 special interests and concerns of Christ's family, the duties, promises, 
 consolations, trials, and prospects which are peculiar to the people of 
 God, as such, arc the grand subjects of conversation. But we ask, in 
 the name of Reason, what have aliens, and strangers, and enemies to 
 the commonwealth of our Israel to do with these 1 Christian communion 
 obviously belongs only to professed members of a Christian community.
 
 APPENDIX K. 383 
 
 For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, and what 
 communion hath light with darkness 1 And what concord hath Christ 
 with Belial, or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel 1 See 2 
 Cor., vi., 11-18. Can careless or profane sinners be expected to weep 
 with suffering or tempted saints^oxio rejoice with such as rejoice? Can 
 they take sweet counsel together with Christians, or say to them in the 
 language of Job, J ivould strengthen you loitk my jnouth, and the moving 
 of my lips should assaugc your grief? Can they show forth the praises 
 of God for having called those whose experience is related in their hear- 
 ing out of darkness into marvelous light? Can (hey offer the prayer of 
 faith for such as confess their faults that they may be healed 1 Alas ! 
 for all these duties of Christian fellowship they are totally unqualified. 
 They have neither ability nor inclination to attempt them. And why 
 should they be admitted to the privileges of our communion in Christ 
 who can not at all perform those mutual offices of brotherly love w^hich 
 it necessarily implies ? They are also as much unprepared to receive 
 for themselves, as they are unable to communicate to others, that good 
 which such meetings are designed and calculated to produce. Can they 
 be edified or built up in holiness who have never laid the foundation 
 even of repentance from dead works^, and much less that of faith toward 
 God ? Are they likely to be benefited by that strong meat, which belong- 
 eth, says St. Paul, to them that are of full age, who are known to reject 
 and nauseate even the milk of the Word? Ought the oil of heavenly 
 consolation to be poured upon consciences that were never w-ounded by 
 a sense of sin and danger? Does not such a practice tend to strengthen 
 the hands of the ungodly, to soothe and harden them in their iniquity, 
 and make them wallow like swine in their filthiness 1 Such promiscuous 
 admissions must, in the very nature of things, do much evil. Where 
 this plan is followed, many will be daubed with untempered mortar, and 
 steal those cordials to which they have no lawful claim ; the truly pious 
 will be often grieved, and hindered from comfortably w-aiting on God; 
 they who are qualified to speak most profitably and instructively will 
 feel themselves fettered and silenced ; and, in general, only those who 
 are the most inexperienced and the least judicious will care to open their 
 mouths at all. Thus that edification, which this mistaken and unscrip- 
 tural laxity is designed to increase and extend, is in fact materially 
 diminished by it ; actual mischief is effected where greater good was 
 intended ; the grand design of meetings for Christian fellowship is de- 
 feated, and the abuse of them by some unhappily leads others to under- 
 value and neglect them. 
 
 4. We object to the plan of indiscriminate admission because it im- 
 pedes the due administration of ecclesiastical discipline. This is an 
 express ordinance of God — as much His ordinance as the preaching of 
 the Gospel or the celebration of the Lord's Supper ; and whatever ma- 
 terially interferes with its regular exercise is, for that reason, unscriptural.
 
 384 APPENDIX K. 
 
 and highly injurious to the souls of men and to the interests of religion. 
 One grand object of this disciijline is to effect and maintain an open and 
 visible separation and distinction between the Church and the World ; 
 between those who do, and those who do not make a credible, consistent, 
 and public profession of serious religion. Under the Jewish economy, 
 lepers, and others whom the law pronounced to be unclean, were solemnly 
 and strictly excluded from the congregation, lest they should defile the 
 camp in which the Lord dwelt. In the days of Nehemiah, it is recorded 
 with evident approbation that they separated from Israel all the mixed 
 MULTITUDE. The neglect of such godly discrimination is mentioned by 
 Ezekiel as one of the heinous sins by which the anger of Jehovah was 
 excited against Jerusalem. Her priests have violated my law, and have 
 profaned my holy things ; they have put no difference between 
 THE holy and profane, neither have they showed difference betiveen 
 the unclean and the clean. Ye have brought into my sanctuary stran- 
 gers uncircumcised in heart and uncircumciscd in flesh, to be in my 
 sanctuary, to pollute it : Ezek., xxii., 26 ; xliv., 7. These and other 
 similar intimations of God's will, under the old dispensation, are abund- 
 antly confirmed by many express declarations of his pleasure which are 
 found in the New Testament. The members of the visible churches of 
 Christ are every where described as a distinct and peculiar society of 
 men, gathered out of the world, receiving one another in the Lord, united 
 by bonds of Christian love and order, and by that union, as well as by 
 the apparent sanctity of their tempers and conduct, distinguished from 
 the profane and unbelieving part of mankind. Now we ask. How can 
 this most reasonable and Scriptural distinction between the professed 
 disciples of Christ and those who are strangers, if not enemies, to his 
 cause, be possibly maintained, and rendered sufficiently visible and con- 
 spicuous, but by the strict e.\clusion of the latter class of persons from 
 meeting with the former in their private assemblies — in their assemblies 
 for such special exercises of piety and brotherly love as belong to mem- 
 bers of the Church alone, and as can not, from their very nature, be 
 common to saints and sinners, to the Church and the world conjointly ? 
 To confound or obscure, by indiscriminate admission to these holy as- 
 semblies, those differences which God himself has established, is no light 
 evil. " When the keys of the Church," says the great Baxter, " are 
 not used as they ought, to shut out the impenitent and wicked, nor to 
 difference between the precious and the vile, it bardcneth multitudes in 
 their ungodliness, and persuadcth them that they are really of the same 
 family of Christ as the godly are, because they are partakers of the same 
 holy "ordinances." Such laxity must tend, at least, to make men care- 
 less about entering into close fellowship with Christians, since it permits 
 them to enjoy many of tho.se outward privileges which belong to religious 
 society, without submitting to its wholesome restraints and scriptural 
 regulations. Every plan which increases this great evil, already too
 
 APPENDIX K. 885 
 
 fashionable among our congregation, we are bound in duty most strenu- 
 ously to discountenance, as equally detrimental to the Christian cause in 
 general, and to the spiritual interests of particular individuals. 
 
 Another important branch of Christian discipline consists in suspend- 
 ing or rejecting from all religious fellowship and intercourse those who 
 have formerly been acknowledged as brethren, if they fall into such gross 
 and scandalous sins as may call for public expressions of disapprobation 
 and censure, or if they will not receive, with becoming submission and 
 humility, those private rebukes and admonitions which the Church or 
 society, by its officers, may have deemed it proper to administer. The 
 following are a specimen of the various passages of Scripture which not 
 only authorize, but require such expulsions : / have written unto you 
 NOT TO KEEP COMPANY, if any man that is called a brother be a forni- 
 cator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a roller, of a drunkard, or an ex- 
 tortioner, loith such a one, no, not to eat. Put away from among 
 yourselves that ivicked person: 1 Cor., v., 11, 13. A man that is a 
 heretic, that is, as the context shows, a man that is factious and conten- 
 tious, and thereby promotes unnecessary schisms and divisions in the 
 Church, after the first and second admonition, reject: Titus, iii., 10. 
 If he, an offijnding brother, refuse to hear the Church, let him be unto 
 thee as a heathen man and a publican: Matt., xviii., 17. These pas- 
 sages sufficiently point out the duty of Christian societies to exclude 
 disorderly professors from their communion after due reproof, and they 
 also point out the conduct which ought to be observed toward persons 
 tlms excluded both by churches and by individuals. They clearly pro- 
 hibit all religious connection with them, until, by confessing their faults, 
 and by other evidences of sincere repentance, they are rendered fit to be 
 received anew into the communion of the faithful. How, then, is it 
 consistent with the holy discipline here enjoined to admit all persons 
 promiscuously, and, among the rest, persons excluded from the body for 
 scandalous immoralities, into meetings of the kind now referred to? Is 
 not this to keep company with them in the way most expressly forbid- 
 den ? Is such association with them at all calculated to show that we 
 view them as unworthy to be members of a Christian society, and con- 
 sider them as heathen men and publicans? Does it not rather render us 
 partakers of their evil deeds, and is it not, in effect, to abet them in their 
 crimes, and encourage them in obstinacy and impenitence? Such a 
 practice exposes religion itself, and religious people at large, to the oblo- 
 quies of the world, opens the mouth of those who are seeking occasion 
 to blaspheme, and lays a stumbling-block in the way of the weak and 
 inexperienced. Besides, this ill-judged and unscriptural tenderness is 
 real cruelty even to those whom it is designed to favor and indulge. 
 One object of ecclesiastical censures and expulsions is to promote the 
 repentance and restoration of the offisnder. Such exercises of discipline 
 against the unruly and disorderly are nothing less than means of grace 
 
 Vol. T.— E
 
 386 APPENDIX K. 
 
 when managed on the part of the Church with strict conformity to the 
 laws of Christ, and received with due consideration and liuniility on the 
 part of the unhappy persons against whom they are directed. They 
 are God's own ordinance, and God is ready to grant his blessing to ren- 
 der them clToctual. Hence St. Paul, when requiring the Corinthians to 
 inflict ecclesiastical punishment on the incestuous person, assigns this as 
 the reason and end of that punishment, that his spirit might be saved in 
 the day of the Lord Jesus. And when he commands the Thessalonians 
 to have no company with a disobedient and disorderly professor, he states 
 this as his motive for the injunction, that he may be ashamed. (1 Cor., 
 v., 5; 2 Thess., iii., 14.) But it is evident that this end of Christian 
 discipline is counteracted, and the proper effect and influence of it are 
 diminished, if not wholly prevented, by allowing among us a religious 
 ineeting conducted on th% plan of that in North Street. Persons under 
 the righteous censure of the body, and excluded from it on the fullest 
 proof of immoral or grossly inconsistent conduct, may easily obtain ac- 
 cess to this meeting. They may come to it as God's people cometh, 
 and sit in it as God's people. Their exclusion from us is but nominal 
 and apparent while so many of our own members and leaders thus per- 
 versely persist to hold fellowship with them. They are neither ashamed 
 nor humbled in consequence of their expulsion from us, for thoy still 
 enjoy their wonted facility of admission into one of our private assem- 
 blies. The edge of the sword of discipline is thus blunted. They laugh 
 at the censures for which they should have sorrowed and wept ; harden 
 their hearts against the Church and its ministers ; despise its reproofs 
 and admonitions, and turn into an occasion of additional sin and crim- 
 inality that which ought to have produced contrition, confession, and 
 conversion. If one such irregular meeting be tolerated in defiance of all 
 order — a meeting, too, for which there is no necessity whatsoever, which 
 was never established or sanctioned in the usual way by the body of 
 preachers and leaders, in whose appointment alone such meetings ought 
 to originate, and a meeting which materially interferes with our own 
 general band, held at the very same hour— if one such meeting, we say, 
 be tolerated, why not more 1 If the doors of one of our private assem- 
 blies be thus thrown open to every invader, with what consistency can 
 we refuse to wink at similar intrusions into all our bands, and love-feasts, 
 and sacraments'? And then what will become of Cliristian purity and 
 discipline ? or what arc we to do with many explicit declarations and 
 precepts of the Word of God ? It seems to us that the practice we arc 
 reprobating is in fact a direct, though we believe not an intentional, at- 
 tack on the kingly government of Christ in His Church. The advocates 
 for this practice are willing that he should teach them as a prophet by 
 the ministry of His word in public. They acknowledge him also as a 
 priest, and are desirous to be justified by His blood and sanctified by His 
 spirit. But when, as Ki.ng ok Zion and Hkad w tiir Church, he
 
 APPENDIX K. 387 
 
 commands all who will be his disciples indeed to testify their loyalty 
 and allegiance to him by openly separating themselves from the rebel- 
 lious and unholy — by joining themselves as regular members to some 
 orderly society and distinct community of Christians, according o the 
 plan of the New Testament, by submitting to the scriptural authority 
 and direction of those who are " over them in the Lord," and by avoid- 
 ing all needless familiarity, and, much more, all religious connection, all 
 unnecessary intercourse in holy things, with sinners, and worldlings, and 
 apostate professors — when Christ requires these proofs of love and at- 
 tachment, then they shrink, and hesitate, and remonstrate. This yoke 
 they are not prepared to bear ; this part of the Savior's burden they 
 can not be persuaded to carry. Then they talk loudly of natural rights 
 and of Christian liberty, as if, because we have no master on earth, we 
 had therefore none in heaven ; as if any man could have a natural right 
 to neglect or supersede the positive ordinance of Jesus Christ ; as if 
 Christian liberty consisted in a license to violate at pleasure the institu- 
 tions oi the Gospel, to trample on the discipline of the Church, and to 
 despise or vilify those by whom that discipline is conscientiously ad- 
 ministered ! We believe that the persons whose views we oppose are 
 not aware that such principles as these are implied in the practice which 
 they defend ; but, while we cheerfully render this justice to their inten- 
 tions, we can not but express our free opinion as to the anti-Christian 
 nature and tendency ot their conduct* 
 
 5. The last objection which we shall urge to the plan which has been 
 followed at North Street is its contrariety to Methodistical usages and 
 rules, It is a new and almost unheard-of thing among us ; an innova- 
 tion on the practice of the Christian Church at large, and an innovation 
 on the established regulations of Methodism in particular. The resolu- 
 tion of the leaders' meeting, in defense of which these arguments are 
 offered, does not impose any new rule of action. The refusal to admit 
 into our meetings for religious fellowship persons of whose moral char- 
 acter, or sincere desire to obtain instruction and salvation, we have not 
 satisfactory evidence, is a custom as old as the Methodist societies. The 
 rules which require it were in force, and were known to be in force, 
 when the brethren who now violate them first joined our body. To 
 those rules, therefore, as well as to all the rest, they have virtually en- 
 gaged to submit, so long as they should choose to continue members of 
 our society. These considerations alone ought to have convinced them 
 
 * On the subject of discipline we will again quote the words of Mr. Bazter; words homely 
 indeed, but forcible : 
 
 " Discipline is of great moment for the honor of Christ and his Church, that it may not 
 be as impure as the infidel world, nor a swine-sty instead of a society of saints ; and that 
 it may be known that Christ came not as deceivers do, to get Himself a number of follow- 
 ers as bad as other men, but to sanctify a peculiar people to God, zealous of good works, 
 and forsaking the world, the flesh, and the devil ; and to keep Christiana from the snare 
 and the shame of infection? and wicked associates; and, finally, to keep sin under open 
 disgi-ace."— Baxtee on Matthew xviii.
 
 388 APPENDIX K. 
 
 tliat, even if their proceedings could be proved lawful, they were, how- 
 ever, highly inexpedient. Was it not their duty to " give no" needless 
 "offense to the Church of GodV' Ought not individuals, where con- 
 science is not plainly concerned, to yield to the general wish and judg- 
 ment of their brethren "? Hath not the Lord required this, when he says, 
 " Obey thein who have the rule over you ;" and, " Submit yourselves one 
 to another in the fear of God ■?" Is it meet that the mani/ should be 
 governed by the few ; or that the feiv, if they think it right to remain in 
 connection with us, should peaceably subject themselves to the solemn 
 decisions of the ?nan]/ 9 Surely, the constant and long-established usages 
 of the society, even though they were not expressly sanctioned by Scrip- 
 ture, if strictly conformable to the sense and spirit of its general rules, 
 are not on slight grounds to be violated. This may be fairly inferred 
 from the words of St. Paul, 1 Cor., xi., 16 : If any man seem to be con- 
 tentious, WE HAVE NO SUCH CUSTOM, NEITHER THE ChUIICHES OF GoD. 
 
 We can not, very dear friends, dismiss this subject without remarking 
 to you that, for the sake of peace and union, we have long been silent 
 when perhaps we ought to have borne a faithful testimony against what 
 we could not cordially approve of. 
 
 For several years, some of our members in different societies have 
 appeared remarkably zealous in public worship, and have shown a dispo- 
 sition to assume the name of Revivalists ; but a wish to preserve the 
 union of the body induced us to check, with constant care, every destinc- 
 tion that in the least tended to a party spirit. A revival of genuine re- 
 ligion where it is low, and its extension where it is prosperous, will, we 
 trust, ever have our best wishes, and those friends who act according to 
 the Word of God our ready and cheerful co-operation. For some of 
 those persons above-mentioned we have a very high esteem, and had all 
 of them evidenced the same Christian temper, we should have heartily 
 rejoiced in the fruit of their labors. But in many of them there has ap- 
 peared a manifest want of genuine humility. Do they think soberly of 
 themselves, as they ought to" tliink? Do they ever doubt the strength 
 of their own judgment, or generally express themselves with becoming 
 modesty on religious subjects'? Are they easily entreated'? Do they 
 show an openness of mind to conviction ? We must witli grief declare 
 that we have had no proper evidence of such a spirit, although it be the 
 brightest ornament of the Christian character. 
 
 What has added to our fear that the preceding observation is but too 
 just, is the degree of censoriousncss which persons of this description 
 have shown. Christians and ministers of the Gospel, however eminent 
 for holiness, age, and usefulness, if they can not see things in the same 
 light with them, or can not go to all their lengths of noise and shouting 
 in the worship of God, are viewed by them as "dead professors," " formal 
 worshipers," " dry sticks," " dull souls," as " having nothing of the life 
 of religion," etc., etc., etc. Where is tlie love that hopeth all things?
 
 APPENDIX K. 889 
 
 Where are Christian candor and kindness ? If such be the fruit of what 
 some have falsely called a revival of religion, we pray the Father of 
 mercies to preserve all our dear people from it. 
 
 Nor can we approve of the noise and rant which have been encour- 
 aged by those persons in their religious exercises, because we conceive 
 them to be inconsistent witii that reverence which ought to be felt by 
 every one who approaches the majesty of heaven. The Holy Scrip- 
 tures call for fear and reverence in all those who appear before God in 
 his worship : Psalm Ixxxix., 7 ; Eccles., v., 1, 2 ; Hebrews, xii., 28,29. 
 If we loQli at the heavenly host as represented to the Prophet Isaiah 
 (chap, vi., 2, 3), and the effect which that representation had upon his 
 mind, we shall perceive that clear views of the Divine Being will pro- 
 duce a sacred awe, and abase the spiritual worshiper as in the dust before 
 him. But the ignorant, untimely vociferations of some persons who are 
 fond of noise, do, in our opinion, savor much of irreverence of spirit. 
 
 Our wish, desire, and prayer to God for you, our dear people, is, that 
 you may escape these and all other evils, and that you may be Christians 
 indeed in principle and practice ; in the Church, the family, and the clos- 
 et ; that you may, in all your transactions with men, adorn your Christian 
 profession, and shine as lights in the world. We ardently desire that 
 you may be clear as to your acceptance with the Father througli Christ, 
 and that the God of hope may fill you with all joy and peace in believing. 
 We beseech you, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies to him 
 a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, as your reasonable service. For 
 you, as a people, the Lord hath done great things ; but he is both able 
 and willing to do for you exceeding abundantly, above all that you ask 
 or think, according to the power that worketh in you. 
 
 While, therefore, we caution you against disorder and confusion, and 
 the evils which have been noticed, we wish you to be equally guarded 
 against lukewarmness and sloth. The religion of Christ is an operative 
 principle. Faith worketh by love. Hence we read of the work of faith, 
 the labor of love, and the patience of hope. Let us all unite in fervently 
 pleading with the Lord that his work among us may more than ever 
 prosper, and that his truth may universally prevail. Your expectation 
 of good has been raised by what you have lately known of the Savior's 
 love. You hope to see this society more pure, more united, and more 
 prosperous, than ever. May your hope be speedily realized ! This will 
 exceedingly rejoice the hearts of your affectionate brethren, 
 
 The Preachers and Leaders. 
 
 END OF VOL. I.
 
 |t^ Every Number of Harper's Magazine contains from 20 to 50 pages — and 
 from one third to one half more reading— than any other in the country. 
 
 HARPER'S MAGAZINE. 
 
 The Publishers believe that the Seventeen Volumes of Harper's 
 Magazine now issued contain a larger amount of valuable and at- 
 tractive reading than will be found in any other periodical of the 
 day. The best Serial Tales of the foremost Novelists of the time: 
 Levers' "Maurice Tiernay," Bulwer Lttton's "My Novel," 
 Dickens's "Bleak House" and "Little Dorrit," Thackeray's 
 " Newcomes" aud " Virginians," have successively appeared in the 
 Magazine simultaneously with their publication in England. The 
 best Tales and Sketches from the Foreign Magazines have been 
 carefully selected, and original contributions have been furnished 
 by Charles Eeade, Wilkie Collins, Mrs. Gaskell, Miss Mxj- 
 LOCH, and other prominent English writers. 
 
 The larger portion of the Magazine has, however, been devoted 
 to articles upon American topics, furaished by American writers. 
 Contributions have been welcomed from every section of the coun- 
 try ; and in deciding upon their acceptance the Editors have aimed 
 to be governed solely by the intrinsic merits of the articles, irrespect- 
 ive of their authorship. Care has been taken that the Magazine 
 should never become the organ of any local clique in literature, or 
 of any sectional party in politics. 
 
 At no period since the commencement of the Magazine have its 
 literary and artistic resources been more ample and varied ; and the 
 Publishers refer to the contents of the Periodical for the past as the 
 best guarantee for its future claims upon the patronage of the Amer- 
 ican public. 
 
 TERMS.— One Copy for One Year, $3 00 ; Two Copies for One Year, $5 00; 
 Three or more Copies for One Year (each), $2 00; "Harper's Magazine" and 
 " Harper's Weekly," One Year, $4 00. And an Extra Copy, gratis, for every 
 Chib of Ten Stibsoeibees. 
 
 Clergymen and Teachers supplied at Two Dollaes a year. The Semi-An- 
 nual Volumes bound in Cloth, $2 50 each. Muslin Covers, 25 cents each. The 
 Postage upon HAKrKR's Magazine must be paid at the Office where it is received. 
 The Postage is Thirty-six Cents a year. 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, Publishers, Franklin Square, New York.
 
 HAEPER'S WEEKLY. 
 
 A JOURNAL OF CIVILIZATION. 
 
 PRICE FIVE CENTS. 
 
 Harper's Weekly has now been in existence two years. Dur- 
 ing that period no effort has been spared to make it the best possi- 
 ble Family Paper for the American People, and it is the belief of 
 the Proprietors that, in the peculiar field which it occupies, no ex- 
 isting Periodical can compare with it. 
 
 Every Number of Harper's Weekly contains all the News of 
 the week, Domestic and Foreign. The completeness of this de- 
 partment is, it is believed, unrivaled in any other weekly publica- 
 tion. Every noteworthy event is profusely and accurately illustrated 
 at the time of its occurrence. And while no expense is spared to 
 procure Original Illustrations, care is taken to lay before the reader 
 every foreign picture which appears to possess general interest. In 
 a word, the Subscriber to Harper's Weekly may rely upon ob- 
 taining a Pictorial History of the times in which we live, compiled 
 and illustrated in the most perfect and complete manner possible. 
 It is believed that the Illustrated Biographies alone — of which about 
 one hundred and fifty have already been published — arc worth far 
 more to the reader than the whole cost ot his subscription. 
 
 The literary matter of Harper's Weekly is supplied by some 
 of the ablest writers in the English language. Every Number con- 
 tains an installment of a serial story by a first-class author — Bul- 
 vver's " M'ftat rcill he do luithlt?" has appeared entire in its columns; 
 one or more short Stories, the best that can be purchased at homo 
 or abroad ; the best Poetry of the day ; instructive Essays on topics 
 of general interest; Comments on the Events of the time, in the 
 shape of Editorials and the Lounger's philosophic and amusing 
 Gossip ; searching but generous Literary Criticisms; a Chess Chron- 
 icle ; and full and careful reports of the Money, Merchandise, and 
 Produce Markets. 
 
 In fixing at so low a price as Five Cents the price of their paper, 
 the Publishers were aware that nothing but an enormous sale could 
 remunerate them. They arc happy to say that the receipts have 
 already realized their anticipations, and justify still farther efforts 
 to make Harper's Weeklt an indispensable guest in every home 
 throughout the country. 
 
 TERMS.— One Copy for Twenty Weeks, $1 00; One Copy for One Year, $2 60; 
 One Copy for Two Years, $4 00 ; Five Copies for One Year, $0 Of); Twclvr Cop- 
 ies for One Year, $20 00; Twenty-five (.'opies for One Year, $40 ro. An Extra 
 Vo2>ii 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':'/,' ''''■ .;•''■''