CHAPTER VII.

SECTION III.

Of Mr. CHARLES WESLEY, from December 3, 1736, until the end of June, 1738.

MR.

R. Charles Wesley, had heen absent from England upwards of thirteen months; during this time he had passed through a series of trials and difficulties, which in all their circumstances are not very common. He had indeed been in the wilderness, where the hand of God had been manifested in his preservation, and finally in his deliverance. Here God had proved him, and tried him, and shewn him what was in his heart. In this state of suffering, he was led to a more perfect knowledge of human nature, than he could have obtained from books and meditation, through the whole course of his life. His knowledge was derived from experience,' which is the most certain, and the most useful in the conduct of life, and makes the deepest impression on the mind. In his distress the Scriptures became more precious than he had ever found them before. He now saw a beauty in them, which the most learned and refined criticism can never discover. From the frequent and pointed application of them to his state and circumstances, they were the means of giving a degree of consolation and hope, which human prudence and human help can never bestow. His situation abroad may be called a school, in which the discipline indeed was severe, but the knowledge acquired by it, valuable, as it prepared him to understand, and disposed him by degrees

degrees to embrace, the simple gospel way of salvation, which the pride of man hath always rejected.

Both the Mr. Wesleys ha! formed a large acquaintance in London among the serious professors of religion, by whom they were greatly esteemed. When Mr. Charles arrived in town, his friends received him with inexpressible joy, as one restored from the dead; a report having been spread, that the ship in which he came home, had been seen to sink at sea.-He called upon one lady while she was reading an account of his death. After he had delivered his letters, he waited on their friend Mr. Charles Rivington, in St. Paul's Church-yard. Here he met with letters, and a journal from his brother in Georgia, which informed him of what had taken place, soon after he left it. Before he finally quitted America, Mr. Charles Wesley had written a letter to his brother John, in which he had expressed his sentiments of some particular persons with freedom, but by way of caution, had pointed out two individuals by two Greek words. This letter Mr. John Wesley dropt, and it fell into the hauds of those who were enemies to both of them. Mr. John Wesley was so incautious also, as to tell who were meant by the two Greek words. This was sure to raise great disturbance among a people so irritable, and so revengeful, as the Georgians were at this time. Mr. Charles had happily escaped out of their reach, and the storm fell with double violence on his brother. * The journal which he now received from Mr. Rivington, informed him of the particulars." I read it, (says Mr. "Charles,) without either surprise or impatience. The

dropping of my fatal letter, I hope will convince "him, of what I never could, his own great careless"ness: and the sufferings which it has brought upon "him, may shew him his blindness. His simplicity in "telling,

This was eight or nine months previous to the persecution he sufe fered on account of Mrs. Williamson.

"telling, what, and who were meant by the two Greek "words, was out-doing his own out-doings. Surely "all this will be sufficient to teach him a little of the "wisdom of the serpent, of which he seems as en"tirely void, as Mrs. H. is of the innocency of "the dove."

Mr. Charles Wesley has given us in these remarks, a striking instance of the artless undisguised conduct of his brother. He supposes indeed, that his brother wanted foresight; that he did not perceive the consequences which would follow from his open avowal of the whole truth. This however was far from being the case. Mr. John Wesley had too much penetration and knowledge of human nature, not to foresee what would follow from his conduct on this occasion. The truth is, that Mr. John Wesley had adopted a principle of unreserved openness in his conversation with others, which, on particular occasions he carried too far. His conduct in the present instance, proves his sincerity, and firm attachment to his principle, but prudence cannot justify it, even on the most rigid principles of morality.

It appears from Mr. Charles Wesley's journal, that most of the Trustees for Georgia were Dissenters: they have given us however, an unequivocal proof that the Dissenters at this time possessed great liberality of sentiment; or they would not have approved of the nomination of the two Mr. Wesleys, men avowedly of very High-Church principles, to go and preach the gospel in Georgia; especially as their father had been so public an opposer of the Dissenting interest.— December the 7th, one of these Trustees called on Mr. Wesley. He observes," We had much discourse of Georgia, and of my brother's persecution 4466 among Occasioned by Mr. Charles Wesley's letter to his brother, just now mentioned.

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among that stiff-necked people. He seems a truly pious humble christian; full of zeal for God, and "love to man."-It has been generally acknowledged that Mr. Charles Wesley was a more rigid Church-man than his brother. We are therefore pleased to find this testimony of his candid judgment of a Dissenter. Could he have said more in favour of the most pious Church-man?

Mr. Oglethorpe left Georgia and set sail for England on the 26th of November, and arrived in London on the 7th of January, 1737. Mr. Charles Wesley waited upon him the next day, and the most cordial friendship subsisted between them; which continued till death.

About the middle of January, Count Zinzendorff arrived in England. One principal object of this visit, seems to have been, to procure an union between the Moravian Church, and the Church of England in Georgia; and to get them acknowledged by this country, as one Church. The Count had been informed of the piety and zeal of the two brothers, and on the 19th, a few days after his arrival, he sent for Mr. Charles Wesley. He went, and the Count saluted him with all possible affection, and made him promise to call every day. Here he was acquainted with the object of the Count's visit to this country. From him he went to the Bishop of Oxford, who received him with equal kindness, and desired him to call as often as he could, without ceremony or further invitation. They had much talk of the state of religion among the. Moravians; of the object of the Count's visit; and the Bishop acknowledged that the Moravian Bishops had the true succession.

On

On the 25th, he paid a visit to the celebrated Dr.Hales, near Twickenham, who was one of the Trustees for Georgia. The next day they took a walk to see Mr. Pope's house and gardens; " Justly, (he observes). "called a burlesque on human greatness." He adds, "I was sensibly affected with the plain Latin sentenceon the Obelisk, in memory of his mother.Ah "Editha,

• Hales (Stephen) D. D, a celebrated divine and philosopher, was born in 1677. In 1696 he was entered at Bennet-College, Cambridge, and admitted a Fellow in 1703. He soon discovered a genius for natural Philosophy. Botany was his first study, and he used to make excursions among the hills with a view of prosecuting it. In the study of astronomy he was equally assiduous. Having made himself acquainted with the Newtonian System, he contrived a machine for shewing the phenomena of the heavenly bodies, on much the same principles with that afterwards made by Mr. Rowley, which, from the name of his patron, was called an Orrery.

In 1718, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society, and the year following, read an account of some experiments he had lately made on the effect of the Sun's warnith in raising the sap in trees. These experiments being highly approved of by the Royal Society, he was encouraged to proceed; which he did, and in 1727, published them enlarged and improved, under the title of Kegatable Statics; and in 1733, he added another volume, under the title of Statistical Essays. In 1732, he was appointed one of the Trustees for the establishing a new Colony in Georgia. On the 5th of July, 1733, the University of Oxford honoured him with a diploma for the degree of Doctor in Divinity; a mark of distinction the more honourable, as it is not usual for one University to confer academical honours on those who were educated at another.. n 1739, he printed a volume in octavo, entitled Philosophical Experiments on Sea-water, Corn, Flash, and other substances. In 1742, he read, before the Royal Society, an account of an instrument he had invented called a Ventilator, for conveying fresh air into mines, hospitals, prisons, and the close parts of ships, which was used with great success, not only for these purposes, but also for preserving corn sweet in granaries, &c. Many of his papers are printed in the Philosophical Transactions; and some he published, for more general usefulness, in the Gentleman's Magazine.

Dr.