John Wesley was now in the north of England; Charles Wesley was in Cornwall; Whitefield was in Devonshire; Spangenberg was in London; John Nelson was in Yorkshire. The Moravians were an organized body of Christians. The Calvinistic Methodists were formed into a connexion. And Wesley had large and flourishing societies in London; Bristol, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and other places. Somehow, Wesley formed a project for bringing the three communities into closer union with each other;and, for that purpose, proposed that a conference should be held in London.[67] He himself travelled from Newcastle; his brother Charles hurried from Cornwall; Whitefield came from Exeter; John Nelson trudged from Birstal. What was the result? Charles Wesley writes:—
“Gwennap, Sunday, August 7. My brother summoned me to London, to confer with the heads of the Moravians and Predestinarians. We had near three hundred miles to ride in five days. I was willing to undertake this labour for peace, though the journey was too great for us and our weary beasts, which we have used almost every day for these three months.
“Friday, August 12. By nine at night, I reached the Foundery. Here I heard the Moravians would not be present at the conference. Spangenberg, indeed, said he would, but immediately left England.My brother was come from Newcastle, John Nelson from Yorkshire, and I from the Land’s End to good purpose!”[68]
What did John Wesley say? To a Moravian, who, in 1746, taunted him with having opposed reconciliation and union, he wrote:—
“Alas, my brother! what an assertion is this! Did not I come, three years ago, in all haste, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne; and my brother, in five days, from the Land’s End, to a supposed conference in London?Was this standing out? But with what effect? Why, Mr. Spangenberg had just left London. None besides had any power to confer with us. And, to cut us off from any such expectation, James Hutton said they had orders not to confer at all, unless the Archbishop of Canterbury, or the Bishop of London, were present. There cannot be under heaven a greater mistake than this, that I ever did stand out, or that I do so now.There has not been one day, for these seven years last past, wherein my soul has not longed for union.”[69]
It is impossible to determine, with certainty, whether Wesley’s wish was for the Moravians, the Calvinistic Methodists, and the Arminian Methodists to be amalgamated into one connexion; or whether he merely wished that, by mutual explanations and concessions, they might cultivate a better understanding with each other, and so avoid all unnecessary collision, and unite, as far as practicable, in advancing the work of God; but one thing is certain, through no fault of his, the attempt was a failure. Ten months later, Wesley instituted a conference of his own.
No authentic information exists as to the part which Whitefield took in these proceedings; but, a few days after the proposed conference should have met, Wesley, “to cut off all needless dispute,” wrote down his sentiments, as plainly as he could, on the “three points in debate” between him and Whitefield, namely, “Unconditional Election, Irresistible Grace, and Final Perseverance.”The paper[70] doubtless was put into Whitefield’s hands, and must have satisfied him of the sincerity of Wesley’s friendship; though Arminian Methodists, as Mr. Jackson says, will think “it leans too much towards Calvinism.”
In one thing, Whitefield and Wesley were agreed; namely, that their Societies should not separate themselves from the Established Church. Hence the following letter, written, by Whitefield, soon after the date of the intended conference:—
“London, August 20, 1743.
“How wonderfully does our all-wise Redeemer order things for the trial of His children! Alas! alas! how apt are they to judge, censure, and be needlessly prejudiced against each other!