The Irish standard., 1900-12-15
John Wesley Royalist Who Bitterly Opposed
Independence of American Colonies.
He No Stronger Enemy of Republicansm in the State
Than in the Church Organized by Him.
Lambert Editor Of the New York Freemans
Throws Calcium Light the Britisher.

Baptist" of Nashville, the author Of
The Great Iron Wheel" says on page
154 of that book:
"Mr. Wesley wrote and preached in
scorn against all the principles of lib
erty for which Hancock, Washington
and Jefferson contcndcd, and did all
In his power to countcract the intlu-
cncc Of American and British mind
did all IN his power to urge on the
mother country to crush the infant
colonies. and destroy the traitors and
rebels--dd all that he could by his pen
and mighty influence over American
Methodists, to encourage them to aid
the tories here, or remain true to Eng
land"
We will quote some passages from.
the writings of John Wesley on when
Mr.. Graves based his conclusion 1t
is usual with Americans to refer to the
revolutionary fathers as patriots. Wcs-
Icy called them "malcontcnts." After
telling of nll the favors and bcnelts
the cOlonists had received from Great
Britain. Wesley says: III was not
long before that opportunity appeared.
The Stamp Act was passed and scnl
over to America. The malcontents
saw and pressed their advantages; they
represented il as Il common cause, and
by proper "niSSaricS spread their own
spirit through another and another col
ony. By iniammatory papers of every
people,
Further on in the same sermon lNo.
LNL) he says: "Probally that subtle
spirit lSntam hoped by adding to all
those vices ii. G.. wealth, pride, luxury,
sloth and wantolllcSs of the colonists)
| the spirit Of indrpendcncy, to have
overthrown the whole work Of God
ii. G., Mcthodsm, as well as the Brit
isl government in North America
Further on Wesley says: "rhc spirit
of indcpcndency, which our poet so
justly terms The glorious fault of an
gels and of gods (that is, in plain
terms, of dcvils), the same which so
many call liberty, is overrulcd by the
justice and mercy Of Cod
The words in parenthcsis in ,he
above paragraph are Weslcy's. Thus,
| according to him, the spirit of inde-
pcndencc which inspired Washington,
Jefferson, Hancock, Franklin and Pat
rick Henry and others to overthrow
the dcspotism of England and estnb-
lish this Republic, was the spirit Of
devils. These leaders Of colonists, in
spite of the cnmity and strenuous op-
position Of Wesley, accomplished their
work and founded our institutions.
And now, after Il century and n quar-
ter of successful operation, some noisy
disciples of this old Tory, like Bishop
GoOdscll and DR.. King, have the bras
sy impudcncc to set themselves up as
guardians par excellence OF institu-
tions which their founder opposed as
the work of devils.
We do not charge that the great
body of Mctllodists agree with Wcs-
ley on this point. Far from it. With
the exception OF a few loud mouthed
fanatics ana discord breeding notori-
ETY. seekers, like Goodscll and King,
we believe the Mcthodists are loyal to
our institutions, in spite Of the teach
ings Of the invetcratc Tory, John Wes-
ley. But in view of his teachings, the
Goodscls. Kings and others Of like in
tolerant spirit should be less bolster
o,ls less in evidence.
But to our quotations. While the
voice of Burke and Pitt plead elo-
Iucntly for humanity to the colonists
and John Horne Tooke was raising
funds to help the widows and orphans
OF the patriots who were murdered
by the Kings troops" at Concord and
Lexington, John Wesley was raising
money for the widows and orphans of
British soldiers who fell there. He
preached a sermon for that purpose
at Bctilnal-grccn. In it he thus de-
scribcd the situation in the Colonies
and the attitude of the Colonists who
were battling for their freedom:
"Rcason is lost in rage; its still,
small voice is lost in popular clamor.
Wisdom is fallen in til" streets. And
where is the place Of understanding?
1t is hardly to hc found in those PROV
inccS. Here is slavery indeed. most
properly So called. For the regular.
legal constitutional form &C govern
lnent is 10 more. Here is real. not
imaginary. bondage-nOt the shadow
of English liberty left. Not only no
liberty Of the press is allowed; none
dare to print page or a line unless