The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-06-23

christ the Redccmer, TO a renewed Chris
tan life. The oxford movement. de-
tlares William Palmer, was the supple
ment Of We>lcy's great revival" Canon
Oyerton. whose knowledge OF Wesley and
I'll. work IS both comprehensive and
minute, j. equally emphatic.
They arc strangely ignorant Of the
breadth Of his mind and the variety OF
his numerous enterprises who imagine that
John Wesley was absorbed wholly in the
religious aspect Of society. He j. indeed
i bold preacher who follows him even
row lii his efforts to Christianize every
form OF human activity. The revival was
not only what Frederick Maurice termed
il. "a religious revolution. but TO quote
the words Of John Richard Green. it
changed in a few years the whole tenn
reI OF English society; It purified our lit
crature and our manner \ new phil
anthropy reformed our prisons, infused
clcmency and wisdom into our penal laws,
polished the slave trade and gave the
first impulse to popular education"
Nevertheless, John Wesley preached il
the churchyard rather than IN the church.
1t Is the founder of Methodism. not the
transformer of the Church of England,
tia fills the imagination. Strangely
enough he originated nothing. The idea
OF the Methodist societies and bands he
took from the Moravians; ms classes were
Suggested to him az d debt raising device;
MhItefield lc lin to outdoor preaching;
A.axfield began lay preaching; not even
the Holy Gu started with HIM, and the
itineraey was is old as Wycllf and older.
John Wesley's organizing genius was
GGoptive and adaptive, rather than IN
v~entive; his inclination was against in
49, ~ -, yp,. ..-a. 10 60, ,..,l+,
that wherever these appeared, his preju-
dices cIumbled. Directly his reason ruled,
he developed with amazing rapldlty the
possibilities OF each new scheme.
i was Wesley mother who persuaded
lam to listen to lay preaching before com.
ing to a decision. Upon that decision de-
pended great issues. For 1t is impossible
to consider the Protestant world of today
without considering Weslcy's lay helpers.
They were a mighty company III spite OF
manifold defects and OBJECTIONS. Witness
their deeds, their converse and their de-
scendants, among whom are some OF the
best and ablest of modern Englishmen and
Americans. They We're, to be sure, illlt-
crate, as Mr.. Moody, for instance, was
lilitclate. But Wesley himself became
then teacher and it was no idle boast
that they were better prepared for their
work than the average Clergyman. Their
great captains religious fervor never
dulled his intellect or injured his fine
ethical temper. To him Methodism was
an organized science, rather than an or
gained rapture. He taught his people
as We'll as his preachers. His helpers dis
trlbuted his numerous publications. These
covered a wide range of topics and were
as cheap as they were good.
I wish the people of England to know
their history" said John Richard Green
to his publishers, when they were fixing
the price OF his splendid book; it was a
noble echo OF John Wesley's preface to his
History of England; they sought, both
OF them, better rewards than revenue
Yet Wesley desired far more than il
clever people. He wished to bring science
and literature into the service Of love.
knowledge was to HIM practically what it
was to Bacon Theoretically mean for the
bettelmcnt OF mans estate. But the
ethical and the spiritual were supreme.
Hence he administered discipline with un-
f%lnchlng courage; his frank severity OF
speech seems even harsh, if one forgets
the kindly humor and the unfailing at
fcctlun which tempered every rebuke.
Macaulay and Buckle and Leslie Stephen
Lave lauded Wesley's genius for organiza-
ton and administration.
stephen alone of these has fully appre-
GATED the personal force of the man
whose conversion delighted Samuel John
son, whose quiet preaching fellcd strong
men, whose authority was at once unlim-
tied and un~cltlsh and whose dealing with
MS societies were as severe as they We're
successful. This required far more than
executive ability. 1t required that indie
scribable personal supremacy which is ex.
cfclscd for veal or woe by characters sc
Unlike as Paul and Caesar and Wesley
and Napoleon; Which IN Napoleon men
called daomonic but which in Wesley We
may rightly call divine. For no subse-
quent revelations have stained for pos
terlty the pure radiance IN which his com
panIons removed their strength.
True, his personal Dominion had it.
limits: ard these were reached whom tho
societies IN America and III England ella.
morcd for independence. For though
they accepted his M and hi,
theology, they refused to be merged and
submerged IN the establishment from
which their ruler would not separate. II
Is a mark of Wesley's greatness that he
sacrificed his wishes to his work; that he
sanctioned and furthered the independence
ie could not prevent. In this he take
rank with the greatest of statesmen tc
whom the salvation of the people * al
ways the supreme law, and this incon
slstcncy has continued him for al time
as the informing spirit OF McthodIsm
whose indirect influence IS direct as It
organized activity. And this Is an ines
: Unable boon. For just as the American
people can always turn to Washington
= Tor inspiration to nobler progress, so car
the Methodists of England and America
!, return to Wesley and find him grapplin:
with every difficulty that they are nov
confronting. He never reduced Chris
tIanlty to a frame of mind or a scheme o
/ doctrine, or a string of precepts OF ever
to q spotless negative morality. He in
sisted upon a perfect Christianity
upon perfection III love. Their
| IS at once ignorance and arrogance in tn
/ claim of newness for ideas about present
. salvation and the kingdom of God here
upon earth which were to John Wesle,
the commonplace OF essential Christiani
~. Evangelism meant to him seeking an
] saving the lost: but his societies were