And added to all this, there was another trouble of a different kind, in which Wesley was involved as well as Whitefield. Dr. Lavington was bishop of Exeter, and was a fervent hater of the Methodists. He had recently delivered a charge to the clergy of his diocese, and some mischievous person had published a piece, which falsely pretended to be the same as that which the bishop had addressed to his assembled ministers. This fictitious charge contained such a declaration of doctrines as exposed Lavington to the stigma of a Methodist, and produced several pamphlets in reply and congratulation. His lordship was enraged; and advertised, in the public papers, that the pamphlet which had been affiliated upon himself was false; that the Methodist leaders were the authors of the fraud; and that, though there might be among the Methodists a few well meaning, ignorant people, yet the sect, as a whole, were deluded enthusiasts, and their teachers something worse than that.[38] Whitefield was accused as the principal, and the Wesleys were suspected as being his accomplices, in the spurious production. This was utterly untrue, but it occasioned Whitefield considerable annoyance. It so happened that the pamphlet had been sent to him in manuscript; but he denied its genuineness, and strongly condemned the injustice of its publication.[39] Still, the bishop persisted in his accusation. Lady Huntingdon wrote to him, assuring him that Whitefield and the Wesleys were innocent, and demanded a candid and honourable retraction of the charges against them. Her letter was accompanied by an acknowledgment, on the part of the printer, that no one was to blame for the publication except himself; and, that he received the manuscript from one who had no connection with the Methodists. His lordship maintained a sullen silence. The countess wrote again, declaring that, unless Lavington complied with her request, she would make the transaction public. This extorted a recantation, and an apology “to her ladyship, and to Messrs. Whitefield and Wesley for the harsh and unjust censures which he had passed upon them, and a wish that they would accept his unfeigned regret for having unjustly wounded their feelings, and exposed them to the odium of the world.”[40]
The prelate recanted and apologized; but, henceforth, he became the most bitter and implacable reviler that the Methodist leaders had; and, within two years, began to publish his ribald and infamous attack, entitled “The Enthusiasm of Methodists and Papists compared.”
Some good, however, arose out of this disreputable fracas. Among other pamphlets published, the following was one: “A Letter to the Right Rev. Father in God, George, Lord Bishop of Exeter. By a Clergyman of the Church of England.” The writer states, that he has no acquaintance whatever with either Wesley or Whitefield; but he had read their books, and rejoiced in their revival of the grand old doctrine of justification by faith alone. He then proceeds to defend them against three accusations—1. That they had left the Church. 2. That they refused to be under political government. 3. That, though their preaching was right in the main, they were immethodical in their practice.
The pamphlet is chiefly remarkable for its being a defence of the Methodists by a clergyman, who had no connection with the Wesleys. It breathes piety, but lacks power.
Having spent a week in London, Wesley set out, on September 12, for Cornwall. He preached to a “multitude” near St. Stephen’s Down, who were as silent as death, while he was speaking; but the moment he concluded, “the chain fell off their tongues. Never,” says he, “was such a cackling made on the banks of Cayster, or the common of Sedgmoor.” The St. Just society consisted “of one hundred and fifty persons of whom more than a hundred were walking in the light of God’s countenance.” At Newlyn, his congregation were “a rude, gaping, staring rabble rout; some or other of whom were throwing dirt or stones continually.”
On his return, he examined the Bristol society, and “left out every careless person, and every one who wilfully and obstinately refused to meet his brethren weekly. By this means the number of members was reduced from nine hundred to about seven hundred and thirty.” He got back to London on the 15th of October, and remained in town and its immediate neighbourhood till the year expired. A short excursion was made to Windsor and Wycombe, and also to Leigh. He likewise preached at Wandsworth, where a little company had begun to seek and to serve God, though the rabble had pelted them with dirt and stones, and abused both men and women in the grossest manner.
His time, however, was partly occupied in writing. He had already formed the project of publishing “The Christian Library.” Hence the following letter to Mr. Ebenezer Blackwell.
“Newcastle, August 14, 1748.
“Dear Sir,—I have had some thoughts of printing, on a finer paper, and with a larger letter, not only all that we have published already, but it may be, all that is most valuable in the English tongue, in threescore or fourscore volumes, in order to provide a complete library for those that fear God. I should print only a hundred copies of each. Brother Downes would give himself up to the work; so that whenever I can procure a printing press, types, and some quantity of paper, I can begin immediately. I am inclined to think several would be glad to forward such a design; and if so, the sooner the better; because my life is far spent, and I know not how soon the night cometh wherein no man can work.
“I am, dear sir,