Wesley did not get to Dublin till the 18th of July, in the evening of which day, he says, “I began expounding the deepest part of the holy Scripture, namely, the first epistle of St. John, by which above all other, even inspired, writings, I advise every young preacher to form his style. Here are sublimity and simplicity together, the strongest sense and the plainest language. How can any one, that would speak as the oracles of God, use harder words than are found here?”
During Wesley’s tour in Ireland, Whitefield arrived in England from America. His health was shattered; and, no sooner was he at home again, than he became the butt of malignant wit. Lloyd’s Evening Post published a long “Lecture on Heads,” in which Whitefield was caricatured as “the bell-wether of the flock, who had broken down orthodoxy’s bounds, and was now rioting on the common of hypocrisy”; and then followed a ribald harangue put into his mouth, and far too foul for quotation.
Wesley, also, in the same periodical, had his share of personal abuse; and was calumniated as the patron of a practice then in vogue, namely that of parties of religious people using cards, with Scripture texts, to ascertain their spiritual condition, and eternal hopes.[613] Both, however, were too accustomed to such scurrility, to suffer it to disturb their peace.
On August 2, Wesley embarked for England, and landed, at Whitehaven, on the 6th. He hurried to Newcastle; and, on Sunday, the 11th, preached thrice, held a covenant service, spoke for an hour at a society meeting, and rode nearly thirty miles. Pretty well, for a man more than threescore years of age.
On his way southwards, he preached at Sunderland, Durham, Yarm, Leeds, and Huddersfield. He then rode to Chester to preach in the octagon chapel, just erected, and said to be capable of containing from six to eight hundred people. At this period, Chester was included in the Manchester circuit, the society raising, by their united efforts, about a shilling per week for the support of their preachers.[614]
On August 20, Wesley opened his conference, in Manchester. The circuits in England at this period were twenty-five in number: namely—London, Sussex, Canterbury, Colchester, Norwich, Bedford, Oxfordshire, Wilts, Bristol, Devon, Cornwall (East), Cornwall (West), Staffordshire, Salop, Lancashire, Derbyshire, Sheffield, Epworth, Grimsby, Leeds, Birstal, Haworth, York, Yarm, The Dales, and Newcastle. It is a fact worth noting, that six of these circuit towns, nearly a fourth of the entire number, were in Yorkshire. In addition, there were four circuits in Scotland: namely—Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, and Glasgow; two in Wales—Glamorganshire and Pembroke; and eight in Ireland—Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Athlone, Castlebar, Newry, and Londonderry. To these thirty-nine circuits ninety-two itinerant preachers were appointed, twelve of whom were admitted, on trial, at the present conference.
This will give the reader an idea of the growth of Methodism, during the first twenty-five years of its eventful history; and it may be added that, while at the Manchester conference, of 1765, there were only ninety-two preachers for the whole of the circuits in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, there were, a hundred years later, in 1865, not fewer than one hundred and seventeen, for the circuits in the Manchester district only; in other words, the Manchester district, only, had, in 1865, nearly one third more ministers than the whole of the Methodist connexion had in 1765.
The proceedings of the conference may be gathered from the following synopsis of its minutes.
The connexional collection for the support of Kingswood school was ascertained to be £100 9s. 7d. The yearly subscription in the classes was £707 18s.; of which £578 was devoted to the payment of chapel debts; £38 17s. was spent in defraying law expenses, and the remaining £91 1s. was divided among the preachers who were in want. Rules were adopted for the management of the fund for the support of superannuated preachers, their widows, and their children. Many of the chapels being still deeply involved in debt, it was determined, that no new chapel should be begun, but by the advice of one of the assistants; and that no assistant should consent to a new erection without an absolute necessity. Some of the chapels already built were not vested in trustees, and several trustees of other chapels were already dead. To remedy these defects, a person was to be sent through England, to examine the deeds, and to appoint trustees where needed. In all future buildings, there were to be sash windows, opening downwards; but no “tub pulpits,” and no backs to the seats. Men and women were to sit apart everywhere; outdoor preaching had often been omitted to please societies or their stewards, but this was not to be done again; weeknight preaching, except in harvest time, was never to commence later than seven o’clock, and a lovefeast should never continue longer than an hour and a half, for every one ought to be at home by nine. Breaking bread to each other at lovefeasts, “a silly custom invented by James Wheatley,” was to be discountenanced, on the ground that it created much confusion. Some of the preachers were not “merciful to their beasts,” and it was directed, that hard riding should be abandoned, and that every one should “see with his own eyes his horse rubbed, fed, and bedded.” It was resolved, that members, removing from one society to another, should not be received, unless they brought a certificate from the assistant officiating where they left.
Other regulations were adopted by the conference of 1765. No preacher was to print anything without Wesley’s approbation. Societies and congregations were to be taught singing. The preachers were to meet the societies, bands, and children; to use intercession on Fridays; and to recommend fasting, both by precept and example. The people were to be urged to use family prayer twice a day; to be good economists; to guard against “little oaths, as upon my life, my faith, my honour;” and against little compliments, or unmeaning words. The members might “tenderly and prudently call each other brother and sister; but, as a rule, they talked too much and read too little, and ought to amend in this.” Many of them were “absolutely enslaved to snuff”; some drank drams; and the religion of most was usually too superficial. To remedy such evils, the preachers were enjoined, on no account, to take snuff or to drink drams themselves; and were to speak to any one they saw snuffing in sermon time, to answer the pretences that drams cured the colic and helped digestion, and to preach on the most spiritual subjects, and earnestly recommend private prayer, reading the Scriptures, and universal self denial.