Image from bbc.co.uk
He was not at all a killjoy.
John Wesley may have formed the oaken roots of Methodism, but records show him to have been, if not a wisecracking humorist, certainly a joyful sort.
A fellow preacher spoke of his “cheerfulness mingled with gravity, a sprightliness which was the natural result of an unusual flow of spirits and was yet combined with … the most serene tranquillity”.
Yet it cannot be denied that he could stir up a maelstrom in a crowd as soon as look at it. Trouble was his middle name, so to speak. And you wouldn’t know it to look at him: a neat figure, five foot three in his stockings, with brown-auburn hair and piercing blue eyes. A fastidious man.
And fastidiously, he recorded a visit to Hull where he made quite an impression on the local populace and they on him.
It was a chilly April day, roundabout teatime, when a coach called for Mr Wesley and took him to a place called Mighton Car, about half a mile outside town, where the people came: thousands of them. Some wealthy, some without two pennies to rub together; some on foot, or horse, and some in coaches. And they waited to hear the great man speak.
Now we only have Mr Wesley’s word for what he said that day. I know of no other testimonies. And like all one-sided accounts, I can only surmise he was selective in what he relayed. His journal asserts that he simply preached:” What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”
Sometimes, it’s not what you say, it’s the way that you say it.
Thousands seriously attended to his words, he informs his journal.
But some did not. Quite a lot, actually. Many behaved, he says, as if they were possessed by demons.
Clods of earth being hurled in his direction were the least of his worries; many chose stones. But Wesley says not one touched him, or disturbed him.
There is, is there not, a wisdom in knowing when to retreat; and Mr Wesley was nothing if not a wise man. He finished what he had to say and cast around for his coach.
But the coachman- clearly not a spiritual man – had scarpered: driven clean away when the going got tough.
Thank goodness for the gentlewoman!
There she sat, in a coach already crammed with seven people. History does not record whether she consulted her fellow passengers before flinging open the door and inviting Wesley and his wife in, designating the whole party as a riotous getaway coach.
So there they were, their driver willing the horses on and the crowd swarming around the wheels and throwing whatever they could in at the windows, which were down so that the glass did not get broken.
And how did Mr Wesley avoid harm?
“A large gentlewoman who sat in my lap,” he recalls, “screened me so that nothing came near me.”
Ah; does not God work in strange ways?
sounds most exciting.
Just like the big greedy corporations of tioday, attacking those who ask about the important things in life
There is a comparison there, isn’t there?
Seems like very little is changing with Methodist ministers. I wonder if there’s an etching of him scoring some crack from the large gentlewoman on his lap:)
😀 Alas, there is a dearth of images online of Mr Wesley and his activities, Roger. The above one is late 19th century. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall.
Love this story!
People who think Wesley was miserable should listen to his hymns 🙂
Indeed; they are wonderful.
No judgement here, I just thought it was a cool story. 🙂
It made me laugh out loud when I read it in his memoirs, Rob.
I notice that most of the people, in the crowd, seem rather bored and I’m sure the man with the striped shirt was picking someone’s money purse! Perhaps Mr Wesley was not as great an orator as he thought. heh heh. And he was most certainly not a gentleman, as a gentleman would never make allusion to a lady’s size. Oh I’m in a mood today, aren’t I? or maybe because I just don’t like his theology. But the story, itself, did make me chuckle which makes it worth its weight in gold I say.
It certainly puts a new perspective on Wesley and his activities, doesn’t it, Joss?
I enjoyed this story, Kate. I wonder what prompted the local populace to hurl stones and clods at him?
I wish I knew, Nancy – I wish I knew…
“And like all one-sided accounts, I can only surmise he was selective in what he relayed.”—Yes, funny how we can all be a little guilty of that…
Great story. Even if the poor man got squished during his getaway. 🙂
Better squished than extinguished, Carrie 😀
Tis true.
That is brilliant. I hope his wife did not have a large gentle man on her lap to screen her! c
Ha! Interesting that Wesley never mentions how she fared in all this!
He must have said something clueless to have incited a riot. He was lucky to weasel out if that jam. I bet if any woman would ask him “does this dress make me look fat?” His go-to response would be, “It makes you look perfect.”
Indeed. Perfect as a human shield. Makes you think anew about Mr Wesley, doesn’t it?
You painted a great picture in my mind with your words and in the process I learned something new!
It’s one of my favourite stories about Wesley, Patrick. So Colourful.
*memo – in the event of having missiles hurled at one, a large gentlewoman makes an effective screen*
After encountering some of the more dour products of his preaching, I have had some ambitions to join the throwers.
😀 Dour can do that to one, Col…
I just love the thought of a large gentlewoman sitting in John Wesley’s lap. I will have to think of him and his brother Charles the next time I sing “And Can It Be.”
It will add a frisson to the whole hymn, Andra 🙂
5’3″ in his stocking feet and a large gentlewoman in his lap. Yikes, wonder if I’d qualify in Wesley’s book. This is a man that I’d love to learn more about.
He has extensive memoirs, Tammy, if you’re feeling stalwart: https://archive.org/stream/memoirslaterevj01hampgoog#page/n12/mode/2up
Now there’s a fun new story for me to share with some of my fellow workers. I know quite a bit about the man, but not this story, Kate. The university where I work is Wesleyan, and we have a wonderful life-sized, meaning small, statue of him I pass by occasionally. It’s actually on the “other” campus, so I haven’t seen it recently, but if I recall correctly, he has a very joyous expression. I must check!
It’s good to know all sides of the man, Debra 😀
Providence does work in mysterious ways. Great story, Kate.
One of my favourites, Judy 😀
Hilarious! Now i want to know more about the joyful Mr. Wesley 🙂
I must read his memoirs in a bit more depth, Madhu!
I wonder how many of us would act like that gentleworman did if a similar situation occurred today and we were at personal risk?
As a gatherer of good gentlewomen I greatly enjoyed this.