not be agreeable to the taste of modern Enthusiasts, must be owned to be grave, serious and pathetic, without fanatical flights.” To give solemn force to his exhortation, the author adds in an appendix a curious "Account of the Fatal and Bloody Effects of Enthusiasm; in a Case which was attended with the Murder of two persons, and the execution of four for those Murders." One of the most popular modes of assailing Methodism was in verse, usually mere doggerel; but these "poems," as they were often called, had a jingle which caught the ear of the people and won instant favor. In many a tavern and coffee-house they were recited amid peals of laughter, and the sharper the gibes at the poor Wesleyans the more uproarious the merriment. As is well known, some of Methodism's earliest and most signal successes were achieved in Bristol. In 1743 a small volume appeared on "The Progress of Methodism in Bristol, or, The Methodist Unmasked. Wherein the Doctrines, Discipline, Policy and Successes of that Novel Sect are fully detected, and properly displayed, in Hudibrastick verse." We are simply informed that it was written "By An Impartial Hand!" Whitefield and Wesley are referred to as we read how, "A set of men there are, I wist, "Their preaching is a gainful trade. "And this design, to carry on "Was undertook by George and John; "But who is John? Or who is George! "Each one is left to think at large." And then the author goes on in a right merry strain to "properly display" this novel sect. No less interesting than the attacks made on the Methodists are the replies which were sometimes called forth. Usually these were written by John Wesley, but occasionally we find one from the pen of a layman. In 1745 there was issued by a London printing-house "A Letter from A Private Person to his Pastor concerning the People called the Methodists." The spirit is most admirable. The case is presented in such a simple, practical, straightforward manner that it should have carried conviction to a candid mind. The entire letter is worth quoting, but a few sentences must suffice. The writer sums up the charges which his pastor, an Anglican clergyman, has brought against Methodism: "A mixture of Quietism and such strange confused stuff; and then persons fall into fits, and cry out; and then they have all joy and heaven in their hearts, and neglect their business," etc. Referring to the last item, the layman replies: "This charge seems to proceed merely from surmise, on account of their going to hear so often; whereas it is evidently known, many families that used to be sotting and quarrelling at ale-houses in the evenings, so as often to make themselves unfit for work in the morning, whereby they lived miserable; now after work instead of spending part of their day's earnings at the ale-house, do hear the preaching, and hereby their hearts are made so glad, that they can rise at five to hear the Word, and go cheerfully to work at six, and are better husbands on all accounts, and more happy than ever." Had the opposition to Methodism spent its force in pamphlets by petty scribblers or professional satirists, little harm would have been done. But when the Bishops assailed the new movement it cut both Wesley and Whitefield, especially the former, to the very quick. The trouble began with Whitefield. Even before his first voyage to Georgia the tone of his preaching had excited the suspicion of those who were eager to detect an "enthusiast." A year later, in 1738, on his return from Savannah, he called on the Bishop of London, who received him coldly and, quite forgetting the ardent temperament of the young man of twenty-four, complained that his published Journal was "tinctured with enthusiasm." A few weeks later the Bishop issued a pastoral letter to the people of the diocese "against lukewarmness, on the one hand, and enthusiasm on the other." A few harmless platitudes disposed of the first half of the subject; then the Bishop proceeded to the real business in hand, and began a tirade against the Methodists. Ten days later Whitefield's reply, calm, dignified, came from the press, just as he was embarking a second time for Georgia. At this the elements were loosed. It would not do for his Lordship to take notice of the reply, and so his clergy, especially the young curates, sprang to his defense. What a cry of indignant protest went forth against the Methodists! It is both humorous and pathetic. The title-pages of these pamphlets strongly remind us of the scare headlines of our yellow journals. Swearing, gambling, drunkenness, licentiousness, the flood of vice and crime that was sweeping over the land,-all seemed to be forgotten, and the religious "enthusiast," that being of dreadful mien, filled the sphere of vision. Whitefield was abroad, and so the storm burst full on Wesley's head. But he said nothing. He knew that when men spoke against him it was, as a rule, more from ignorance than malice. He tells us that one Sunday he "heard a sermon in the old Church at Birmingham which the preacher uttered with great vehemence against 'these hair-brained itinerant enthusiasts.' But he totally missed his mark, having not the least conception of the persons whom he undertook to describe." There were occasions, however, when Wesley became thoroughly aroused. In 1750 a pamphlet appeared with the title, "The Enthusiasm of Methodists and Papists compared." This was not the first time that Wesley and his followers had been likened to Romanists. A marked peculiarity of the anti-Methodist publications during the decade 1741-51 is that they contain so many references to a supposed collusion between the Methodists and the Catholics. This may be traced to the absurd rumor, invented about this time and maliciously circulated, that John Wesley was a secret agent of the Pretender, Charles Edward; that he kept two priests in his house; received large remittances from Spain; that Methodism was nothing more nor less than a scheme to create a strong party from among the poor of England, favorable to Charles; and that at the right moment the Pretender, backed by France and Spain, would land in Britain, be met by Wesley with 20,000 men, a new government established, and Roman Catholicism restored. Year after year these tales, kept alive by enemies who knew they were false, followed Wesley wherever he went, and there were always plenty of people foolish enough to believe them. Wesley made little or no attempt at refutation. But when, in 1750, after all fear of the Pretender had passed, there was published a pamphlet-anonymous indeed, but as Wesley suspected, and as it proved, written by no less a prelate than Dr. Lavington, Bishop of Exeter-comparing the Methodists with the Papists, and seeking to fan the flame of persecution against an innocent and defenseless people, Wesley was deeply stirred. The Bishop's attack was brutal. He began with the abrupt declaration that the "whole conduct" of Methodism was "but a counterpart of the most wild fanaticism of the most abominable communion in its most corrupt ages." He followed with a series of charges which it is difficult to think a man of his intelligence really believed. Wesley replied with a vigor which left no room for doubt as to how he felt. The Bishop had sarcastically alluded to the Methodist teaching concerning Christian Perfection. Wesley in his rejoinder said, "Of Christian Perfection I shall not say anything to you till you have learned a little heathen honesty." We can better appreciate how Wesley was aggravated when we recall that frequently the pamphlets written against him were supplied to the clergy in wholesale quantities, and by them distributed far and wide, and the false impressions created seriously retarded the Evangelical Movement. But Wesley was not a man to permanently harbor ill feeling toward any one. In later years he visited Exeter and attended service in the cathedral. He afterward wrote in his Journal: "I was well pleased to partake of the Lord's Supper with my old opponent, Bishop Lavington. O may we sit down together in the Kingdom of our Father!" As time went on, and Methodism gained increased prominence, it more and more became the butt of popular ridicule. If the followers of Wesley had only words of condemnation for the theater, the actors, on their part, let no opportunity escape for avenging themselves. As early as 1743 a company of Scotch comedians presented a farce entitled, "Trick upon Trick, or Methodism Displayed." This was followed by another burlesque called "The Minor," in which George Whitefield was introduced as "Mr. Squintum." This was acted in Edinburgh a few weeks after Whitefield's death, and even among the foes of Methodism it raised a storm of indignant protest. Later on "The Methodist," a comedy purporting to be a continuation of "The Minor," was published in London. On the title-page is the announcement, "As it was intended to have been acted at the Theatre Royal, but for obvious reasons suppressed." "Obvious" indeed, as a glance at the text will show. A more scurrilous piece of writing, blasphemous and grossly immoral, it would be hard to imagine. But though not presented on the stage there are indications that it had a wide circulation in book form. As the demand grew, especially among the upper classes, for satires on Methodism publishers found it profitable to bring out more expensive editions. In 1766 "The Methodist, A Poem," in handsome quarto, came from a London house. All the peculiar features of this "novel sect" are fully displayed. Of the lay-preachers we read: "The Bricklay'r throws his trowel by, "And now his customers he feeds "With prayers, with sermons, groans and creeds. "Sermons and flimsy hymns to weave; "The Waterman forgets his wherry "And opens a celestial ferry. "The Fishermen no longer set "For fish the meshes of their net, "But catch, like Peter, men of sin, "Sickens the soul? And is its state |