These were the principal writers who assisted Samuel Wesley, Richard Sault, and John Dunton in the publication of their Athenian Gazette. The history of the Athenian Society was afterwards written by Charles Gildon, and published in a folio of thirty-six pages. Gildon was a native of the same county as Samuel Wesley, and about the same age. He was educated at Douay for a popish priest, but, not liking the priestly office, he plunged into dissipation, and added to his financial embarrassments by an imprudent marriage at the age of twenty-three. Necessity obliged him to turn author, and he produced a variety of works in prose and verse. He died in 1723. Pope gave him a place in his “Dunciad;” but Dunton says he was well “acquainted with the languages, and wrote with a peculiar briskness which the common hacks could not boast of.”
Gildon tells us that the whole design of the Athenian Society was “not only to improve knowledge in divinity and philosophy, in all their parts, as well as philosophy in all its latitude, but also to commend this improvement to the public in the best method that can be found out for instruction. In their Gazettes may be found the marrow of what great authors have writ on curious subjects. The society have set learning in so fair a light, that, won with its beauty, every one must with eagerness embrace it. All the knotty points of philosophy, divinity, mathematics, &c., are formed into queries by the inquisitive, and answered by the society, who are not only men of parts, but also industrious to the highest degree. They are men of sense, and piety, and patience. Horace never had half the fatigue with the poetaster, as they must have had with both male and female impertinencies. One correspondent wishes to know whether any two men have the same number of hairs on their heads; another wishes to know whether it be lawful to eat black puddings; and another whether the devil takes a human form in foreign countries. There are hundreds of such questions asked and answered. Indeed queries came in so fast, that in the third number of the Gazette the public were requested to send no more till those already sent had received replies.”
Gildon then proceeds to give an account of the principal contributors. Of Samuel Wesley he says, “He was a man of profound knowledge, not only of the Holy Scriptures, of the councils, and of the fathers, but also of every other Art that comes within the number of the liberal. His zeal and ability in giving spiritual directions were great. With invincible power he confirmed the wavering, and confuted heretics. Beneath the genial warmth of his wit, the most barren subject became fertile and divertive. His style was sweet and manly, soft without satiety, and learned without pedantry. His temper and conversation were affable. His compassion for the sufferings of his fellow-creatures, was as great as his learning and his parts. Were it possible for any man to act the part of a universal priest, he would certainly deem it his duty to take care of the spiritual good of all mankind. In all his writings and actions, he evinced a deep concern for all that bear the glorious image of their Maker; and was so apostolical in his spirit, that pains, labours, watchings, and prayers were far more delightful to him than honours to the ambitious, wealth to the miser, or pleasures to the voluptuous.” Such, in substance, is Gildon’s character of Wesley. He adds, “It were to be wished that a great many of the clergy would have him in view, as a sure direction of their behaviour, since an imitation of his practical virtues would confute the profane enemies of that sacred body, by the most prevalent of arguments, example.”
Gildon was doubtless well acquainted with Wesley; and hence such a testimony is too important to be omitted.
It is impossible, in a work like this, to give a full idea of the vast and varied learning embodied in these old Athenian Gazettes. Error is confuted, and superstitions and follies ridiculed. Many of the most perplexing questions in divinity are discussed with great ability. Philosophy is handled with equal excellence. All sorts of questions relating to metaphysics, astronomy, mathematics, law, anatomy, and, even love and courtship, are answered with consummate care. It cannot be denied, that the work contains things which would now be deemed gross and indelicate; but some allowance must be made, on the ground that the literary tastes of the people were, at that time, widely different from what they are at present; and, it must also be observed further, that, in the articles bearing upon divinity, history, poetry, and natural philosophy, (upon all of which subjects Samuel Wesley may be presumed to have written,) there is not a line offensive to good taste, though, of course, opinions are expressed which may fairly be disputed.
Dr Adam Clarke writes, respecting the Athenian Oracle, “No reader can peruse them, (the volumes,) without profit; for although the authors submitted to answer questions of little or no importance, yet the work at large contains many things of great value. When I was little more than a child, an odd volume of the Athenian Oracle, lent me by a friend, was a source of improvement and delight; and now I consult this work with double interest, knowing the well-nerved hand, by which at least one-third of it was composed.”
We cannot state, with certainty, what articles in the Athenian Gazettes were written by Samuel Wesley; but, as he was the only clergyman in the Athenian Society, it may fairly be presumed that he answered all, or nearly all, the questions relating to divinity and to church history. He was also a poet, and there cannot be a doubt that many of the poetical pieces were likewise the productions of his genius.
In the indices of the Athenian Oracle, there is a list of about 2800 questions, and of these about 900 refer to theology and the history of the Church; so that it is not unreasonable to suppose, that one-third of the Athenian questions were answered by Mr Wesley. The following is a selection, and will tend to show the difficulties with which he courageously grappled:—
“1. Has every man an angel to attend him? 2. What was the cause of the fall of angels? 3. When did angels receive their first existence? 4. On what day did Adam fall? 5. Was Adam a giant? 6. Who was the first founder of Atheism? 7. What became of the ark after the flood? 8. Did the fall of Adam cause any alteration in his body? 9. Did Adam sin more than once? 10. What number of angels fell? 11. In what sense could angels eat? 12. Are there nine orders of angels? 13. How high was Babel’s tower? 14. Of what sort of matter will glorified bodies consist? 15. What language was spoken by Balaam’s ass? 16. Can the day of Christ’s nativity be found out? 17. Who was Cain’s wife? 18. What mark did God fix upon Cain? 19. Why was Christ not baptized till He was thirty years of age? 20. Are the torments of the damned visible to the saints? 21. Is the devil corporeal? 22. Does the devil know our thoughts? 23. Can the devil generate? 24. Why is not the name of God mentioned in the Book of Esther? 25. Have dead friends any concern for those alive? 26. Shall we know friends in heaven? 27. Are the ghosts that appear the souls of men? 28. Are the punishments of hell equal? 29. Who is the author of the Book of Job? 30. What language did our first parents speak in Paradise? 31. Were there any men before Adam? 32. Was Moses the author of the Pentateuch? 33. Why was man not made incapable of sinning? 34. Shall negroes rise at the last day? 35. Whither went the waters of Noah’s flood? 36. Did Peter and Paul use notes when they preached? 37. How is the prescience of God consistent with man’s free agency? 38. Was extempore prayer a primitive custom? 39. Are the marriages of Quakers lawful? 40. Whether would you choose to be a Quaker or a Papist? 41. Is repentance acceptable without sackcloth and ashes? 42. Is the soul of man pre-existent? 43. When was the surplice first instituted? 44. How do spirits speak? 45. Whether is the soul by traduction or infusion? 46. Which was the greatest sin before the flood? 47. Why is sprinkling in baptism more lawful than dipping? 48. Will souls be equally happy in heaven? 49. Was Socinianism in St John’s time? 50. What is the sin against the Holy Ghost? 51. Was there any shipping before the days of Noah? 52. When the soul leaves the body does she not put on another that is more subtle? 53. Whither went the ten tribes? 54. What do the Urim and Thummim signify? 55. Should women sit promiscuously with men at church? 56. Are there any absolute decrees? 57. Was not Abraham the first institutor of public schools? 58. Was not the creation of the world occasioned by the fall of Lucifer? 59. When do children begin to commit actual sin? 60. Do children suffer for the sins of parents? 61. Is dancing lawful? 62. What are Gog and Magog? 63. Are the torments of hell eternal? 64. Where is hell? 65. Was Melchisedec Christ, an angel, or a man? 66. Is it possible to live without the commission of sin? 67. Is the world eternal? 68. How far did the benefits of our Saviour’s death extend? 69. If Christ suffered for all men, how do you expound John xvii. 9? 70. Will the earth be destroyed or refined? 71. Is a Dissenter a schismatic? 72. What is that faith without which there is no salvation? 73. Can faith be attained without the assistance of grace? 74. Does God universally pardon on condition of believing? 75. How shall infants and deformed persons rise at the day of judgment? 76. May a man who has taken holy orders lay aside his calling? 77. Does a regenerate man commit sin? 78. Is it possible to fall finally from a state of grace? 79. Is baptism a means of regeneration? 80. Did Christ actually descend into hell? 81. Do the English come from the seed of Abraham? 82. Is heaven promised to a certain number? 83. Is there any certainty of salvation in this life? 84. Was it the will of God to create the world from all eternity?”
These are about a tenth part of the biblical and theological questions answered by Samuel Wesley in the Athenian Gazette, and are given here for a twofold purpose; first, to suggest to youthful readers topics to think about; and secondly, to show the difficulties courageously encountered by Samuel Wesley, and the curious and daring character of his studies.