Volume 2 — IN ENGLAND AND WALES. November 1742 to August 1744. (continued 3)

Herbert Jenkins, in a letter, dated February 23, 1745, says:—

“The first night I was at Birmingham, the people received the word with great affection, and with many tears. The place where we met on Sunday night was so thronged that the candles went out; but the Lord made the place a Bethel to our souls. I stayed there four days, declaring to all who came the glad tidings of salvation. From thence, I went to Wednesbury, where, for a week, morning and evening, I shunned not to declare the whole counsel of God. Many heard with tears, longing and panting for a discovery of the Lord Jesus; while others rejoiced in the Lord, their portion and everlasting friend. There is much Christian simplicity among them. I preached once at Wolverhampton (a large populous place), to a little company of sincere seeking souls. The next day I went to Brewood, where there was scarcely a dry eye among all the people. From thence, I went to Bewdley, where I was invited by a minister of the Established Church, who received me very courteously, and procured the Presbyterian meeting-house for me to preach in. The minister came to hear me, and behaved very civilly. The people flocked to hear the word. There is a little Society formed.”

Devonshire.—After attending “The Association” of Calvinistic Methodists in Bristol, John Cennick, on September 5, 1744, set out for Devonshire. He preached in Mr. Darracott’s chapel at Wellington, to a “congregation made up of Church people, and several sorts of Dissenters.” He had, what he calls, “blessed times,” at Exeter. At Kingsbridge, he preached in the Baptist and Presbyterian chapels. At Plymouth, “the room” was always crowded; and, on Tuesday, September 11, he “laid the first stone of the New Tabernacle with prayer and singing.” On his return to London (to officiate as Whitefield’s successor at the Tabernacle), he spent ten days at Exeter, where the Dissenting ministers circulated “fly-sheets,” asserting that Whitefield and his assistants were “false prophets, unlearned, and Antinomians.” Cennick was a puzzle to the people. Some said he was “a patten-maker;” others said he had been “a footman.” Numerous other trades were mentioned, when, at last, a man declared he “was certainly a coachman.” “Yes,” replied another, who happened to be one of Cennick’s hearers. “Yes, he is a coachman, and drives the chariot of the Lord, and wishes you all to be his passengers.”

On his arrival in London, Cennick seems to have received a large number of letters from the Plymouth converts. One correspondent told him, that, the Presbyterian minister had warned his people against Whitefield and his preachers, whom he called “Bold Intruders, Usurpers, and Novices.” The same writer said:—

“I have removed our singing meeting to the Baptist Chapel. There are about fifty who meet to learn the tunes. My house is, every night, like a little church; and, last Sunday evening, I began to read Mr. Whitefield’s sermons to the people. Several gentlemen have desired to draw off our masons, so that the building of the Tabernacle has been neglected. I have had much trouble to keep the work going forward.”

Cennick was succeeded in Devonshire by Thomas Adams. At Exeter, Adams preached in “the Society room,” at five in the mornings; and in the house of Mr. Kennedy, his host, at seven in the evenings. He writes: “It would have delighted you to have seen the multitudes who flocked to hear. Mr. Kennedy’s three rooms and large passage would not near contain the people: many, very many stood in the court.” At Kingsbridge, Adams met a lawyer who had been converted by Whitefield’s preaching. At Plymouth, he found “the partition-wall of bigotry tumbling down daily.” This was in the month of November, 1744. Shortly afterwards, so far as Exeter was concerned, the scene had changed.

In 1745, a pamphlet of forty-two pages was published at Exeter, entitled, “A brief Account of the late Persecution and Barbarous Usage of the Methodists at Exeter.106 By an Impartial Hand.” The author assures his readers, that he is not a Methodist himself; and that “it would never have entered his head to have taken up his pen in defence of the Methodists, had they not been daily, and openly, treated in Exeter with such rudeness, violence, and abuse, as would have made even Indians, or Pagans, to have blushed.” He relates that,—

“The rioters violently entered the Methodist meeting-house, interrupted the minister with opprobrious and obscene language, and fell upon him in a most furious manner with blows and kicks. They treated every man they could lay their hands upon with such abuse and indignity as is not to be expressed. But what is more than all, was their abominable rudeness to the poor women. Some were stripped quite naked. Others notwithstanding their most piercing cries for mercy and deliverance, were forcibly held by some of the wicked ruffians, while others turned their petticoats over their heads, and forced them to remain, in that condition, as a spectacle to their infamous banter and ridicule; the poor creatures being afterwards dragged through the kennel, which had been filled with mud and dirt. Others of the women had their clothes, yea, their very shifts, torn from their backs. Towards the close of the evening, one of the mob forced a woman up into the gallery, and attempted other outrages, three different times. After many struggles, she freed herself, leaped over the gallery, and so made her escape. Many, to avoid falling into the hands of this wicked crew, leaped out of the windows, and got over the garden walls, to the endangering of their lives. This outrage was committed in the centre of the city, and in the presence of many thousands. The riot continued for several hours. The mob had their full swing. No magistrates came to the relief or assistance of the poor people, notwithstanding they were applied to, and greatly importuned to read the Riot Act. It is true, no one was actually murdered; but the whole Society were put into great danger and fear of their lives, and expected nothing but death. Many of the women are now in very critical circumstances, under the care of surgeons and apothecaries; and their lives are even yet (two days after the riot) in danger.

“Before I dismiss this Exeter riot, I must remark, that the Methodists, not only on the day of the grand riot, but, many times since, have been treated by this lawless rabble with the utmost fury and violence. They have been mobbed and insulted, at noonday, in the open streets, and furiously pelted with dirt, stones, sticks, and cabbage-stumps.

“After the strictest enquiry, I cannot find that any one Dissenter, of any denomination, was at all concerned in this riot. They were all of the old stamp, that have ever been known by the name of church rabble; though I cannot omit to notice, that the Methodists complain much against the Presbyterian clergy, who (they say), in their sermons and conversations, frequently represent them in a false and injurious light; and, thereby, lessen the affection, and raise the antipathy, of the people towards them.”

The author concludes by saying, that his pamphlet was written “for his own private amusement, and without any design to publish it;” and that its publication was the result of what he saw and heard after the pamphlet was finished.

“On a certain evening, he saw, with his own eyes, the wicked rioters collected and assembled together, by beat of drum, in the open streets, with sticks and bats, in order to disturb and abuse the poor Methodists, who were at their meeting-house, worshipping and serving God, in a manner perfectly innocent and inoffensive, without the least disturbance to the public peace. He saw the Methodists flee with great fear and trembling, and the rabble persecuting with rage and violence. And he heard, that, the very night before, this same riotous crew, to the number of many hundreds, attacked Mr. Adams, one of the Methodist ministers, with sticks, dirt, and mud; and that, in all probability, they would have murdered him in the open street, had not a good Samaritan, in Southgate Street, taken him into his house, and there rescued him from their violent and wicked hands.”

At the risk of being prolix, Mr. Adams’s own account must be added to these statements of the “impartial” observer at Exeter. The Christian History No. 3, vol. vii., 1745, contains two letters on the subject, one by “a gentleman in Exeter,”107 dated June 16, 1745, and the other by Thomas Adams himself, dated Hampton, June 20, 1745. The latter writes:—

“On my way to the west, I heard of a cruel persecution at Exeter; but I had no freedom to omit going thither, though I expected much opposition. Our Saviour brought me there on Saturday evening, and I was kindly received by Mr. Kennedy and his wife. Many told me, we should be mobbed, if I preached in the play-house; but we thought it was right to try. Accordingly, I preached there, at six o’clock on Sunday morning, and we were not much disturbed. I preached again in the afternoon, and, though many of the mob came in, they did not disturb us.

“The next morning, (Monday) we were much interrupted, by the mob beating a drum and a pan, at a window of the play-house; and they hallooed us, and beat the drum quite to Mr. Kennedy’s house. We did not, however, receive much personal abuse until eight days after, when I came back from Plymouth.” [Adams here interjects an account of his preaching at Plymouth, Kingsbridge, Wonhil, and Tavistock, at which last-mentioned place, the mob brought out the water-engine, and endeavoured to play it upon him and his congregation. He then proceeds with his narrative of the persecution at Exeter.]

“The evening I returned to Exeter, I preached in Mr. Kennedy’s house. The next morning, (Thursday) I preached at the play-house; and so continued morning and evening till Saturday; but not without interruption of a drum, besides being hallooed after, and pushed about, as we went along the street.

“On Saturday morning, as soon as I had done preaching, some of the brethren told me there were several constables waiting at the Dove to impress me. Accordingly, when I came to the Dove, one of the constables laid hold on me, and said, I was a fit person to serve the king. I told him, if he had sufficient authority for his proceedings, I would go with him. They then took hold of Brother S――, who had come with me from Plymouth, and told him he must go with me. We knew not whither we were going, till we got to Southgate prison. When we came to the prison door, they stopped us, and said, we must go in there. Having entered, one of the constables asked me what countryman I was. I modestly answered, ‘My country is Canaan, and thither I am journeying.’ They said we must stay in prison till Monday, and then be brought before the justices at their quarter sessions.

“We had not, however, been there above five or six hours, when two of the constables came again, and desired to know our circumstances and manner of living; and particularly if I had taken the oaths, and qualified myself for preaching. I said, ‘You ought to have enquired into this before you brought us hither. Do we look like vagrants? Mr. S. is a tradesman, and keeps an open shop in Plymouth, and came hither about business. He is also a constable, so that you have impressed one of the king’s officers. As to myself, I am of the Church of England, and have no need to take the oaths to qualify myself for a preacher; and, besides, I am a freeholder.’ When they heard this, they said, ‘Gentlemen, we have no more to say. You are welcome to go as soon as you please.’ So they called the keeper of the prison, and desired him to release us. At first, he refused, and said he durst not without an order from the magistrates. They said, as they brought us thither without being committed by the justices, they had power to release us. The keeper said, they must give security to bear him blameless. Whether they did or not, I cannot tell; but they let us go; and I believe the poor constables were as glad to bring us out as they were to put us in. I gave the turnkey sixpence, because he used us kindly, and asked us to go on the leads of the house to air ourselves.

“In the evening, I again preached in the play-house, but was much disturbed. Some beat a drum; some hallooed; some stamped up and down the galleries; and some spat on the people, and slapped them on their faces. Mr. S. and another108 went to a justice of the peace, and desired the Proclamation might be read, to disperse the mob. The justice said he would come; and bid them go directly to the town clerk’s, and he would meet them there. Thither they went, and from thence to the mayor’s, who made many objections against going. After great delay, he went with reluctance; but, before they came, we were gone, being apprehensive that the mob would abuse the women as they had done before, which was cruel and inhuman.

“The passage, from the play-house to the street, was filled with fellows of the baser sort. One poor wretch gnashed his teeth, and swore he would be revenged on me. We were pushed about most grievously. The women were thrown into the dirt, and one had her eye much hurt. Two of the brethren were cuffed prodigiously. I received only some scratches on my hand, but was besmeared all over with mud and dirt, the mob pelting us with all the nastiness the kennels afforded, till we got to the house of Mr. Kennedy.

“The next day being Sunday, and the last of my being there, many of our friends thought it would be best to preach in Mr. Kennedy’s house, which I did both morning and evening. It was well we did not go to the play-house, for the mob were there, and seemed more desperate than ever. One of our friends found a paper stuck up against the play-house door, with these words: ‘For the benefit of the mob. This evening will be acted at the theatre, Hell in an Uproar; or, the Furies let loose. The part of Beelzebub, by Mr. P――ns: Queen of Hell, by Mrs. L――w, etc.’

“After I had done preaching on Sunday evening, and was going to Rocks Lane, to take my leave of the Society, I was stopped by the same two constables who imprisoned and released us. They told me, the mayor had sent them to acquaint me, that I must meet him and the justices at their quarter sessions on the morrow, at eleven o’clock. I answered, ‘I cannot, for I am obliged to go out of town early in the morning.’ They said, if I would not promise them to be there, they must keep me in custody. I said, I would wait upon the mayor in half an hour, if they would appoint a place where I should meet them; which they did. So I gave a short exhortation to the Society; and then Brother S―― and I went with one of the constables to the mayor.

“His worship asked me if my name was Adams. I said, ‘Yes.’ He asked if I was the preacher. I said, ‘Yes.’ ‘Have you qualified yourself?’ I answered, ‘My qualification and sufficiency are of the Lord.’ He bid me not tell him of the Lord, but to say whether I had qualified myself according to the Act of Toleration. I answered, ‘I am not a Dissenter, and therefore have nothing to do with that Act, being a son of the Church of England.’ He furiously cried, ‘You are not of the Church,’ and called me several ridiculous names. I said, ‘Sir, you may call me what you please, but I say I am of the Church; and, considering myself so, do not know that my proceedings are illegal.’ He called me several names again, and said I made collections among the poor people, and got their money from them. ‘Sir,’ said I, ‘I never made a collection amongst them in my life.’ He persisted in saying that I did; and asked, ‘How else do you live?’ ‘Sir,’ I said, ‘I have nothing from you; and I know not why I came here to receive such ill-treatment;’ to which I added, that, ‘I did not apprehend I was under any obligation at all to come there; for,’ said I, ‘by the same rule that you stop me on my journey, you may stop any gentleman who comes on business.’ He answered, ‘Sure you have not the d――d impudence to call yourself a gentleman!’ I said, ‘Sir, whether I be gentle or simple, I am sure you do not use me well; therefore, I don’t think to stay any longer with you.’ ‘But,’ said he, ‘I desire you will be at the quarter sessions to-morrow.’ ‘I cannot,’ said I, ‘for I am obliged to go out of town very early in the morning.’ The constable standing by said, ‘Sir, if you please, I will keep him in custody till the time.’ ‘Will you?’ said I; ‘you had best know by what authority you touch me. If you act contrary to law, I shall let you hear of it. Besides,’ I added, ‘you know I have not reckoned with you yet for yesterday’s five hours’ false imprisonment.’ And so, without offering to stop us any longer, they let us go.

“When we came out of the mayor’s house into the street, we found a mob of some hundreds gathered together, who pelted us with cabbage-stumps, and whatever they could find, until we came almost to Southgate, which was near a furlong; when one opened a door, and desired us to come in, which we did. By this time, I was ready to fall down, by reason of the violent blows I received on my head, and other parts of my body. O good God, forgive these cruel men!

“I am to return to the west in a few days. I am filled with comfort, and not in the least troubled or terrified, though I expect much opposition, and am persuaded afflictions await me. O pray for me, my dear, dear friends, that I may be kept near the Saviour, and may be made bold as a lion, wise as a serpent, meek as a lamb, and harmless as a dove.”

This is a long account; but it is useful as illustrating the state of some of the first towns in the kingdom a hundred and thirty years ago; and as shewing the cruel persecutions to which Whitefield’s preachers, and the Societies they had gathered, were at that time subjected.

It would be easy to furnish other extracts from the Christian History—a book now nearly non-existent; but enough has been written to afford the reader a glimpse—though an imperfect one—of the extent and quality of Whitefield’s brotherhood, when, for the third time, he set sail for America.