The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-11-22

interference. 1t must have been at once a
surprise and disappointment to the young
Reformer. Instead of planting the faith
among the Indians, and stirring the colo
fasting, he left the American shores, al!
but driven out, without a single reclaimed
savage to witness his work, or grateful
Georgian to cherish his name. 1t would be
strange if q man of any candOur of mind
had kept faith in his own system after such
q downfall. ".H
While thus engaged, there is q reference
to curious love affair with o certain Miss
Sophy, so anomalous in the career of mis-
sionary preaching Jesus Christ, that did
not his biographers gravely relate them,
they would be thought q bitter satire on
the q" evangelical" system generally. The
lady Tilted Wesley, and, in his journal, he
says: "God commanded me to pull out my
right eye, and 1 determined to do so, but
being slack in the execution, on March II
my friend performed what l could not"
That is, Miss Soplly, on that day, put him
out of pain by marrying another Worthy
work for n missionary to the Georgians
Immediately after this episode, he records
in his journal:
IL is now Two years anu lOuE hOhViAS
since left my native country to teach the
Georgian Indians the nature of Christianl-
ty. But what have learnt myself mean
timef Why, what the least OF all sus-
pected, that I, who went to America to con-
vert others, was never myself converted TO
God.
Was this CLEAN of light reflected from the
bright eyes of the treacherous Sophy On
his return to England, he professed himself
converted for the first time, after long years
of labor in the " Gospel" This announce
ment astounded his hearers, and the Rev.
Mr.. Hutton called out:
"Have a care, Mr.. Wesley, how you de-
spise the benefits received by the two sa-
craments His wife, more ready wltted,
answered, with epigramm matte sharpness, "f
YOU were not Christian ever since knew
you, yeu were a great hypocrite, for you
made us all believe you were one "a re-
sponse which sums up what will be the
feeling Of most spectators on this difficult
| subject.
He formed a connection with the Mora
vians and visited them at Herrnhut:
He learned much from them, and he
learned that he could not be of them, or at
filia.e himself to their strange little hier-
archy, having no mind to acknowledge any
Pope but John Wesley in the world. And
the MoIavians had already their Pope in
the person of Zinzendorf. When he return
ed lie found his bands, though watched
over by his brother Charles in his absence,
had already got into trouble. They had
! begun to quarrel among themselves; and,
to mend matters, had fallen foul Of that
doctrine of predestnation which has driven
so many good Christians frantic.
He married u wealthy widow in middle
age: =,
cutting him with (of all things in the world)
her jealousy of the female correspondents
who are the invariable solace of such o
man. The woman did what she could tc
make his life II burden to him for twenty
wears, and then withdrew finally. No doub
his life was rutfied by this disturbance, bu
there is no appearance that particle o
love existed in him to give sting to tn
, irritation. He expresses himself we'll rit
of her in his Journal; yet confesses to him
: self that perhaps he had better not nav
written that letter which she had found ant
read. -,
, He died in 1871. The reader will bea
in mind that the foregoing sketch is fror
the pen of warm admirer. What is there G
inspiration in it to leave the true path an
e wander in the devious ways Of errorq
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