It was now twelve years since Methodism was fairly founded. During that period, eighty-five itinerants had, more or less, preached and acted under Wesley’s guidance. Of these, one (Wheatley) had been expelled; six, Thomas Beard, Enoch Williams, Samuel Hitchens, Thomas Hitchens, John Jane, and Henry Millard, had died in their Master’s work; ten, for various reasons, had retired; and sixty-eight were still employed, namely:—
- Cornlieus Bastable
- William Biggs
- John Bennet
- Benjamin Beanland
- William Crouch
- Jonathan Catlow
- Alexander Coates
- Joseph Cownley
- William Darney
- John Downes
- Edward Dunstan
- John Edwards
- John Fisher
- William Fugill
- Nicholas Gilbert
- Paul Greenwood
- John Haughton
- Thomas Hardwick
- William Holmes
- John Haime
- William Hitchens
- Christopher Hopper
- Herbert Jenkins
- Joseph Jones
- Samuel Jones
- John Jones
- Thomas Kead
- Samuel Larwood
- Henry Lloyd
- Thomas Lee
- Thomas Maxfield
- John Maddern
- Richard Moss
- James Morris
- Jonathan Maskew
- John Morley
- Samuel Megget
- Thomas Mitchell
- James Morgan
- James Massiott
- John Nelson
- James Oddie
- William Prior
- John Pearce
- Edward Perronet
- Charles Perronet
- Jacob Rowell
- Thomas Richards
- Jonathan Reeves
- William Roberts
- William Shent
- Charles Skelton
- Robert Swindells
- Thomas Seacombe
- John Trembath
- David Tratham
- Joseph Tucker
- William Tucker
- John Turner
- Thomas Tobias
- Thomas Westall
- Thomas Walsh
- Thomas Williams
- Francis Walker
- Eleazer Webster
- John Whitford
- Richd. Williamson
- James Wild
Of this number, two were expelled, viz. Thomas Williams in 1755, and William Fugill in 1768; and forty-one left the itinerancy; thus leaving only twenty-five of the sixty-eight preachers employed in 1751, who died in the itinerant work. Several of those who left became clergymen of the Church of England, some Dissenting ministers, and some, on account of failing health or for domestic reasons, entered into business, but lived and died as local preachers. There is, however, another fact too notable to be omitted, namely, that, of the forty-one preachers who relinquished the itinerancy, six resigned in 1751, six in 1752, and twelve within four years after that.[154] This was a serious sifting; but the searching examinations of 1751, and the sacramental disturbances of the next five years, account for it.
As already stated, the case of James Wheatley led the Wesleys to resolve upon a thorough inquiry into the character and creed of all their preachers. The office fell upon Charles; and, for that purpose, he started for Leeds on June 28. He preached and visited all the societies on the way. At Worcester, the mob, with faces blacked, some without shirts, and all in rags, began to curse and swear, and sing lewd songs, and throw dust and dirt over both the preacher and his congregation, till they were covered from head to foot, and almost blinded.
The conference, for inquiry, was opened at Leeds, on September 11. It consisted of about a dozen preachers and three clergymen, and was begun by singing a hymn, which Charles Wesley seems to have composed for the occasion, and a few stanzas of which are here subjoined.
“Arise, Thou jealous God, arise,
Thy sifting power exert,
Look through us with Thy flaming eyes,
And search out every heart.
Our inmost souls Thy Spirit knows,