that too great a latitude has been given to the principles of dissent, and who lament the absence of other securities, less liable to objection, to supply the place of those removed."* On the merit or demerit of Lord Sidmouth's measure, I shall say nothing. To adopt the language of Lord Stanhope in reference to it-"I would not talk of the Bill that is dead and gone; and it would be beneath a man of sense to quarrel with the carcase."+ The Methodists, I believe, Sir, will generally be found to have acted on the defensive. Were they to take up offensive weapons against the members of the Establishment, it would only be to return the compliment. When speaking of the Baptist Missionaries in India,-men whom I can never name but with feelings of gratitude and sentiments of respect, Mr. W. remarks, "We may very consistently admit, that their active perseverance has tended to meliorate the moral condition of the natives, without relinquishing our resolution to oppose them within the sphere of our influence. The same remark may be with equal justice applied to the Methodists." And why are the Methodists to be resolutely opposed? Because the system they have embraced is founded upon an erroneous interpretation of the Sacred Writings, is a needless deviation from the principles of the Established Church, and affords a most pernicious encouragement to the increase of fanaticism." How far this statement is correct will appear as we proceed. Mr. W. cites the opinion of Dr. Paley with peculiar satisfaction, and seems to place implicit confidence in his judgment. One of his quotations he ushers in with, "The following remarks of an admirable writer, in whom sagacity and judgment were happily blended, amply merit the attention of every reflecting mind." Remote, indeed, is it from me to deprive the Doctor of this meed of praise. Were his admirer to advert to the opinion he entertained of that people, whom it is his "resolution to oppose," it would perhaps have some + Page 20. * Page 15. + Speech in the House on the Bill. influence in inducing him to "relinquish" his purpose. "After men became Christians," says the Doctor, "much of their time was spent in prayer and devotion, in religious meetings, in celebrating the eucharist, in conferences, in exhortations, in preaching, in an affectionate intercourse with one another, and correspondence with other societies. Perhaps their mode of life, in its form and habit, was not very unlike the Unitas Fratrum, or that of modern Methodists."* Notwithstanding the very unfavourable opinion Mr. W. entertains of Methodism, he admits that it has been productive of good among "the lower classes" of society. He scruples not to say, "The indefatigable zeal of the preachers certainly produced a reform in the external conduct of many whom they addressed, and contributed to subdue their barbarism and excesses into comparative self-command and decency of deportment." But even this he saps the found ation of afterwards, by stating, "All they have accomplished, -too much, alas! for the comfort of society, has been to delude thousands by the dissemination of unfounded tenets"+ He continues, "And the only credentials to which they venture to refer, are the narratives of the calls they affect to have received from heaven to dispense the consolations of Methodism to a degenerate world, and the register of unhappy beings, in whom their unwearied efforts have produced an instantaneous conversion; a conversion which, in the estimation of all who retain possession of their sober faculties, can be designated by no other terms, than a sudden advancement from weakness to fanaticism, or from folly to madness." In other places he tells us, that Methodism has been of no utility to Christianity, that the good has only been incidental, and of no advantage to the community at large. From hence it may be inferred, that though Methodism has effected "a reform," that reform is "too much;" that the people had better have remained in a state "of barbarism and excess," than have been blessed with "self-command," and mani * Evidences of Christianity, vol. i. p. 27, 28, Edinburgh Edit. 1810. + Page 186, 167. | Page 18, 19, 20. fested "decency of deportment;"-that their "barbarism” was "weakness," and their "conversion" to "self-command," "fanaticism;"-that their "excesses" were "follies ;" and their change to "decency of deportment," madness;" and that this "advancement" to "self-command and decency of deportment" is of no "real advantage."* Without taking advantage of Mr. W.'s inconsistencies, of the astonishing facility he manifests in building and destroying, I shall take it for granted that he is sincere in asserting, "that he is not of the number of those who deny that the exertions of the Methodists have, in any shape whatever, been productive of good."+ That good, he states, is confined to the lower orders. These, he proceeds, "require a different mode of treatment from that which is adopted with the more fortunate part of the species.""Hence we may readily allow, without making any unreasonable concessions, that to persons of the character here described, incapable of feeling the mild persuasives of a more polished eloquence, and unable to appreciate the deductions of reason, the vehemence, the coarseness, and the over-strained ardour of the Methodistical teachers, might be accompanied with advantages in vain to be expected from any other source." Four particulars are here observable: 1. That the state of the poor demands aid. 2. That they have derived good from the ministry of the Methodists. 3. That the Methodist teachers are particularly qualified to instruct the poor. And, 4. That they may look in vain for such advantages from any other source,-from even "the mild persuasives of the more polished eloquence" of the clergy. Would Mr. W. deprive "the poor," who "have the gospel preached to them," of the instructions of the only persons qualified to teach them? And though they are of the "lower orders," to whom the Methodist preachers are said to direct their attention, have they not, in common "with the more fortunate part of the species," immortal spirits? Are those spirits not in danger of everlasting perdi* Page 192. + Page 18. + Page 19. tion? Did not Christ lay down his life for them? The more barbarous the lower classes are, the greater their excesses, the more imperious is the necessity of prompt and effectual relief. To this work "the Methodistical teachers" have no objection to apply themselves; leaving the higher orders to the clergy, for whose peculiar case their "polished eloquence" is so well adapted. The opinion which Mr. W. has been pleased to express on the remarkable fitness between the mode of instruction among the Methodists, and the moral condition of the poor, is not novel. I recollect meeting with it, some years ago, in Boswell's Life of Dr. Johnson; only expressed in more gentleman-like terms. After observing, "that the Established Clergy, in general, did not preach plain enough," the Dr. said, "Something might be necessary to excite the affections of the common people, who were sunk in languor and lethargy, and therefore he supposed the new concomitants of Methodism might probably produce so desirable an effect."* This sentiment, from the pen of Mr. W. is intended as a reproach; from the lips of Johnson, the highest compliment. It appears, from the Doctor's statement, that the clergy "did not preach plain enough," and consequently could not be understood; that the people "were sunk in languor and lethargy," and required reforming; and that the probability in favour of reformation was on the side of the Methodist Preachers. That this was the confirmed opinion of the Doctor is evident from another conversation which he had with Boswell, on the preaching and success of the Methodists. "Sir," said the Doctor, "it is owing to their expressing themselves in a plain and familiar manner, which is the only way to do good to the common people, and which the clergymen of genius and learning ought to do from a principle of duty, when it is suited to their congregations; a practice for which they will be praised by men of sense."+ We find him censuring the clergy also, to Mr. Grierson, for not attending to plainness-for paying too Vol. ii. 122, Octavo Edit. Boswell's Life of Johnson, vol. i. p. 435. much attention to polished periods and glittering sentences, which fly over the heads of the lower classes, without making any impression upon their hearts.* And, when speaking of unhappy convicts, he gave it as his serious opinion, that a Methodist Preacher, or even a Popish Priest, should be preferred to the regular clergy, for real usefulness to the persons thus condemned by law.+ In addition to the direct testimony of the Doctor in favour of the despised Methodists, it is stated that the venerable Bishop of Worcester, during his preaching, had observed a poor man remarkably attentive, and made him some little presents. After a while he missed his humble auditor, and meeting him said, "John, how is it that I do not see you in the aisle as usual?" John, with some hesitation, replied, "My Lord, I hope you will not be offended, and I will tell you the truth. I went the other day to hear the Methodists, and I understood their plain words so much better, that I have attended them ever since." The Bishop put his hand into his pocket, and gave him a guinea, with words to this effect, "God bless you; and go where you can receive the greatest profit to your soul."+ When the Methodists can procure such advocates as Dr. Johnson and the Bishop of Worcester, on this subject, they will have but little ground to fear the "Rector of Great Brickhill." These testimonies are adduced, more with a view to vindicate the calumniated Methodists, than to condemn the clergy. Thank God! the number of evangelical clergymen, much as they are the butt of Mr. W.'s displeasure, are on the increase. These, like the pillars of a mighty fabric, will prevent the Establishment from falling into ruin. Superior to the applause of men, they would shrink at the very idea of purchasing it with the mere tinsel of "polished eloquence," at the expense of general usefulness. Spenser, in his Shepherd's Calender, reproves the ambition of pastors, under the similitude of a person ascending a height; and + Ibid, vol. iv. p. 352. Dr. Haweis' Church Hist. vol. iii. p. 244. Ibid, vol. ii. p. 122. |