Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1903-08-01
JOHN WESLEY"
An Eloquent Sunday Sermon BY presi.
dent Stryker, of Hamilton.
tribute 10 John Wesley and the Influence Of
His Preaching Stands Ont Supreme
Above All Men OF His Age.

NEW York CITY.-Unon services Of
the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian and
Clinton Avenue Congregational churches
began Sunday morning i'll the edifce OF the
first narled. Tie Rev. DIR. Nj. w. Stryker.
President of Hamilton College, Clinton, \.
", spoke on John Wesley but used no
text. As will be seen, he paid an eloquent
tribute TO the influence of his preaching.
DIR. Stryher said:
Upon June II. 1903. that is, 200 years
ago, was born at Epworth, Lincolnshire
100 miles from London, and at about the
east centre OF England man whose in
iluence stands cut supreme above all the
men Of his age. lightweight years old. on
the ID OF March, 1871, he died. Thus his
life comprised nearly the whole OF the
eighteenth century. and under God II was
the most fertilizins and redeeming agency
toward the moral forces and accomplish
ments OF the nineteenth. And still the
world is debtor. and will ever he, to the
convictions and CONSIDERATIONS. the energies
and the efficiency OF that one man-Iohn
| Wesley. 4 mighty impulse and a potent
/ organization attested and attestS his SIN
gu!ar and recleative purpose and achieve
ment. We may well reckon with such
personality in considering the movement oi
| the modern word. Even the barest outline
records wonder and furnishes a corrective
To a hundred superficial PHILOSOPHERS AMI
/ Thousand shallow neg,ectS. " nile W es-
! icyans and Methodi>ts in all lands are recit-
! ing that story. let Us all. with them, who
! share like precious faith recall and re-
| joice, ponder and hope. For the elements
Of Ii are as deep the first principles OF
/ the Christian religion. and the fame and
/ forces OF il are the common possession OF
! all who hail the kingdom OF the Son OF
! God.
This man was born into home when
1 life IN an age that hated anything MORE
!
! mother that nurtured him was that Su sam
| nah Wesley 81 whom Adam Clark said that
4 he ncvcr saw her equal. His ancestry was
I of that Puritan stock and stuff whose hber
/ Of conscience had affirmed the real Eng
! land: its vigors and rigors had been lsupcr-
/ cedcd by TIE rcciudcscence OF ;he lvid
/ stuaris, hut. though ignored. it had not de
parted. aud in him and by him il spoke
I again and bore It's second harvest.
| Wesley BEGAN his work in the Fstab-
! lished and Episcopal Church. and though
by II he was soon deSp>cd and rejected he
loved it always and cherished its better
! part. For two Years he wrought ~ Geor
I GA. I'M; the Grand Jury 81 that co.omy in
! iicted HIM There he uttered shat notable
/ word. Il hope tn earn the sense OF the Cos
pei by preaching il. He came into close
/ touch with Moravians here and III Eu-
rope. Had that little body done nothing
else than directly To deeren and ny It's re-
action to enlarge .lchn Wesley ii had don"
! mighty work. But their narrownesS lie
/ cscapcd. While retaining their intensity.
f; Over the deep and critical experiences OF
/ his inner heart. with it, unusual oom5:Ea.
I ton of sonsitiveaess and decision. we viii
not pause They were basal. In them he
1 found the Light he followed to the end.
| See him at Oxford. lie was a student
intensely 50. SneciailyI and always of logic
and language. He fouhd in these an ample
! discipline: for language Is organized
| thought. An abe mister of five tongues.
| he learned compass and discrimination. In
his life he wrote Or edited go Yolumes.
At Oxford he was thhe centre of little
group of which HI Brother Charles. and
soon Whitfield, wre others. They began
to live, by rule an' meade their protest and
by !method-.all oitl'{ er al this tire Jealous
and even ultra Lpif onaiians. They were
called the "Godk qiub'' Bib,e Moths
| "Methodists.' opbrt br. m easily finds de-
e9lr!ier this same tlevotion had been called
Puritan
Consider that eighteenth century into
| which they came. 1t was a fccu.cat and
rowdy age. Read Thackerays Pour
Georges read Lccly's ample treatment
who saws ALI the dazzling episodes OF he
reign of George II. must weld in real i'm
porianee" to Afethodism. Hear Bishop
Butter (i736l. 1T i come to pass that
many assume Christianity to be purely ficti.
tious and no longer subject OF inquiry"
The general sentiment OF the church was
benrmned. torpid. stagnaIt-drv essay SER
mons were the vogue. Il .anguid and luke
warm moderation he'd SWAY read to hate
whatever mo,ested its sodden Indifferent
| ism. Look into the cartoons OF Hogarth
and see If the times he pictured did not
need the winds of God. Consider the We
neers OF Chesterfield and reckon if that
stilled and padded and fostering society
| n demand hn hraa u ~ t..f Drh
! lie life was debauched hy the coarse and
| frank corruption OF the ministry OF Robert
! Nalpo.e. Ii was Wesley more than all
| others who reused pubic conscience TO
rally about the stern and aggressive hon
esty OF Pitt-PItt. who rescued India and
: Germany. and America. II was Wesley
! who under God broke the moral drouth-
struck an artesian well lar into the sub
: stratum beneath the moraSs OF the desert
led the great reaction which made posi-
| he the reform and the power OF modern
England: made possible the revival of the
/ nineteenth century-Heler. and MARTIN.
/ nud kehie. and Iiddon. lie became an in
/ tnence 50 incidentally fertile and diifusive
! that To no other nan OF modern times save
Luther. II TO other Ergi;s,iman save Wv
/ cif. does the word owe - much. 1t
! pleased Mat hew Arnold. with an icy PHI
Istinlsni. to fiecr AZ Wesley and to disrsr-
! aye him n "a thjrd-clas, mind" But by
| wha; token this frosty estimate? In that
| drunken. unclean. inso,ent century. IVES
I ley'S i the brightest name whether his
I work i Judged by its width or its depth.
/ whether by its immediate or its permanent
Z results.
When conformity and noncoaformity
/ were alike moribund. he renewed the indi-
! vidualism OF the gospel message. personal
/ lied its appeal and rcdisco,orcd mankind,
! DO not forget that this starting point OF
modern religious history was within the
walls OF 4 co.egc. and lay in the devoted
rs. and relentless agg-essiyeacss Of a few
L.-n.
The work began in the open air. Whit
held. with his lively and unseitiSh charac-
ter and that womdrous,y emotional voice,
led tne way among the golfers OF Kings
Wool IN Cornwall. England was full OF pa
gan lav'rty. and this new departure TO-
wari e Submerged" and the forgotten
/ tins ii.'gian compu.sioa oi = zeal that a:c up
neeeet aud It's emhittermelts. broke once
Tor ali with the traditions OF apathy. Then
John Wesley >tormed Bristol town. Little
did men know. little did these men know,
what chord they had struck. as their In
domitabie fervor and uniniclmIttcnt ag-
erosion hurled out OF their way the things
that would have ohstructed them and once
more reached after the soul OF the common
man. Ii vas radical return to the sim
p!lcity OF Csris., and it had TO face the
frown and seoiiincs Of those who do always
resist Tie spirit OF what is real and uacom-
prcmiS ne The harvest was white and had
long lcoa uninterrupted The work was
born under the sky. baptized by the tears
OF the low!y. hailed by the new songs of
tens o. thousands under the dome OF God.
IL went with Christ after the lost sheep,
and swept the very dust for the lost Jewels.