USA > Georgia > A standard history of Georgia and Georgians > Part 19
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his acceptance of purely seeular work in preference to holy orders is said to have given offense to John, whose paramount reason for sailing to Georgia was "to save his soul." But Charles, almost from the out- set, felt himself to be a misfit. It was at the expense of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts that John embarked upon the expedition. At first he refused to receive the stipend of £50 per annum, but he afterwards agreed to take it. Another of the Oxford band who joined the brothers was Benjamin Ingham, a man of parts, who later joined the Moravian brethren, married a titled lady, and be- came the head of a seet ealled the Inghamites.
It was late in the fall of the year when two vessels, the Symond and the London Merchant, each of 220 tons burden, quit the English doeks, bearing 300 emigrants to Georgia. The Wesleys traveled in the former. Among the passengers were twenty-six Moravians, whose de- meanor during the progress of a somewhat stormy voyage made an extraordinary impression upon the Oxford men; and such was John Wesley's eager desire to converse with them that he immediately began the study of German and acquired no little familiarity with the lan- guage before reaching port. The piety of these devont Moravians moved him to admiration. Indeed, he questioned the genuineness of his eonver- sion prior to meeting them. In his mission to the new world he was destined to meet with little apparent sueeess, but he needed just the mental and spiritual discipline which it gave him. To quote Dr. J. W. Lee : "The John Wesley who went out to Georgia was still in a ehrysallis condition ; he had yet to learn how to expand his wings. It is not true that his career in Georgia was the utter failure it has been represented to be in many treatises. It is true, however, that it was hampered by the uneertain condition of will which is apt to precede some great spir- itual ehange." On the 14th of February, 1736, which proved to be the Sabbath, the vessels anehored in one of the eoves of an island, probably Coekspur. The day was ealm and beautiful. Early in the morning the voyagers went ashore, and there, on a rising knoll, with his fellow voyagers around him, John Wesley lifted his voice in prayer for the first time in the new world, where the present generation sees his fol- lowers numbered by millions. Soon after reaching Savannah, John Wesley was designated to succeed Samuel Quiney, in charge of the religious affairs of the settlement, while Charles, in company with Ogle- thorpe, journeyed still further to Frederiea.
To the west of the main highway and in less than half a mile of Fort Frederica, on St. Simon's Island, looms an ancient oak, gnarled and twisted. It rises to a height of some 200 feet, while, over an area of several acres, its cool shade rests like a benediction. It stands at the gateway to the churchyard of Christ Church; and, according to local tradition, it marks the exact spot on which the Wesleys preached during the infant days of the settlement. At first, Charles Wesley was employed in secular work. He engaged himself to Oglethorpe in the capacity of private secretary, before leaving England, but he afterwards took orders and devoted much of his time to preaching in the neighbor- hood of Frederica. From time to time he was also joined by his brother John, who came down from Savannah. Even if the oak in question is not the identical forest monarch under which the Wesleys preached, its
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antiquity, from outward appearances at least, is sufficiently great to embrace the period of Georgia's early settlement, and several generations sleep within the quiet enelosure over which it stands sentinel. From the outstretched limbs of the old oak trail the pendant mosses, giving it an appearance of great solemnity and beauty and making it the picturesque embodiment of the austere memories which cluster about the sacred spot. The present chapel is comparatively new and thoroughly modern in every appointment, but it occupies the site of one which was quite old, and on the parish register are the names of the earliest residents of St. Simon 's Island.
WESLEY OAK, A FOREST GIANT UNDER WHOSE BOUGHS THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM ONCE PREACHED IN GEORGIA
When Charles Wesley accompanied Oglethorpe to this place, opposite the mouth of the Altamaha, it was an infant settlement and the walls of Fort Frederica were just beginning to rise as a bulwark against the pow- erful encroachments of the Spaniards. Says Doctor Lee . # "Of this settlement, Charles Wesley, now in holy orders, took the spiritual charge. But he failed to make a success of his work. Benjamin Ingham was with him, a man of sincere piety but of doubtful judgment. Even before the close of the first month he had come to loggerheads with the people and was finding his duties as secretary an intolerable burden. His congrega- tion had 'shrunk to two Presbyterians and a Papist,' and the physical
* "Illustrated History of Methodism, " by Rev. James W. Lee, D. D., St. Louis, 1900, pp. 69-70.
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discomforts of the place nearly drove him wild. Nor was he pleased with the manner in which Oglethorpe treated him. The good man, who had to attend to everybody's elaims all over the Colony, and, in addition, was providing against threatened attacks from without, grew impatient with the incessant complaints made against Charles Wesley, who seemed to be always in hot water. Moreover, in the ecclesiastical attempts of the latter to set everything on a basis of thorough propriety, there was present a distinct element of insubordination to eivil authority, which was beginning to show disintegrating effeets in the attitude of the com- inunity at large. Being a thorough disciplinarian Oglethorpe keenly resented the injudieious meddling; and he visited his wrath upon his secretary in some aets of petty tyranny for which he afterwards expressed regret.
"In the beginning of April, John Wesley came to Frederica and preached in the new store-house. He had hoped to set matters right by his presence but was unsnecessful. We ean picture the two brothers, sitting together under the broad oak, which is still pointed out on the island as having afforded them shelter and can be seen by tourists on board the vessels which pass through the channel. Under it they no doubt discussed the worries and trials of colonial life. John Wesley decided to change places for a time with his brother; and Charles seems to have been much happier in Savannah. But he found that Georgia was no place for him; and, on July 26, 1736, at noon, he took his final leave of Savannah, surprised that he 'felt no more joy in leaving such a seene of sorrow.' In the friendly parting with Oglethorpe, the latter advised him to take a wife, as it would be likely to increase his usefulness."
Savannah may not inaptly be called the cradle of Methodism. Both of the Wesleys, when in Georgia, labored within the bounds of the Church of England; but the seeds of the great Wesleyan movement were never- theless here planted. To quote John Wesley himself: "The first rise to Methodism was in 1729, when four of us met together at Oxford. The second was at Savannah in 1736, when twenty or thirty persons met at my house. The last was at London, on this day, May first, 1738, when forty or fifty of us agreed to meet together every Wednesday evening." Of the four young men who met together at Oxford, all visited Savannah, John and Charles Wesley, Benjamin Ingham and George Whitefield, three of them having the charge of churches in the colony. Verily, Savan- nalı has every right to be a stronghold of Methodism.
To quote a local historian, well-versed in the antiquities of Savannah : "Another event which lends luster to the small settlement on the banks of the Savannah River was the establishment of a Sunday-school in the parish of Christ Church by Reverend John Wesley, nearly fifty years before Robert Raikes began his system of Sunday instruction in Gloucester, England, and eighty years before the first Sunday-school in America, modeled after his plan, was established in New York. This Sunday-school begun by Wesley, was perpetuated by Whitefield at Bethesda, and has continued until the present-constituting the oldest Sunday-school in the world. Nor does this end the claim of Savannah upon John Wesley. Here in Savannah was his first book of hymns writ- ten, though it was published in Charleston, in 1737. But one copy is known to be in existence, discovered in England in 1878. Rare as any
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Shakespeare, this hymnal escaped the search of both English and Ameri- can collectors; no biographer of John Wesley so much as dreaming of its existence. It is also interesting as an early-printed American book, apart from its interest as a hymnal and a portrayal of Wesley's mind during his eventful visit to Georgia. The volume is a small octavo volume of seventy-four pages, the title page of which reads: ‘A Collec- tion of Psalms and Hymns-Charleston. Printed by Timothy Lewis, 1737.' " *+
Says Dr. James W. Lee, in narrating the circumstances under which the great founder of Methodism left Savannah, in 1736:
"During his stay at Ebenezer, Wesley opened his heart to Spanen- berg on a matter which was weighing heavily upon his mind; and he has placed on record his approval of the good pastor's advice. On his return to Savannah the affair was to assume a very serious aspect, and to bring to an abrupt termination his career in the settlement. The chief man at Savannah was a certain Thomas Causton, who began his career as the company's storekeeper, and was successful in securing the good will of Oglethorpe. This led to rapid advancement, which, however, was unde- served ; for, some years later, he was detected in a course of fraudulent dealing and was summarily cashiered.
"There was living in his household at this time an attractive young lady, named Sophia Christina Hopkey, or Hopkins, his niece, who showed herself a devoted attendant at church services, and most recep- tive to the ministrations of the handsome young pastor. Desirous of learning French, she found in him an excellent teacher. Wesley's Lon- don friend, Delamotte, however, who regarded Miss Sophia as sly and designing, and doubted the sincerity of her professions, warned John Wesley against her. Wesley seems also to have discussed the matter of her sincerity-or rather of her fitness to be a clergyman's wife-with the excellent Moravians. The advice which they gave him coincided with Delamotte's, and the result was a distinct coolness in his manner toward the young lady. She resented the change, and, understanding its signifi- cance, accepted the advances of a less scrupulous suitor named Wilkin- son, a man by no means conspicuous for piety. As her spiritual adviser, Wesley still continued to visit Mrs. Wilkinson.
"At length, believing that he perceived in the lady's conduct distinct marks of spiritual degeneracy, he deemed it his duty to repel her from holy communion. This summary and injudicious step was naturally in- terpreted in an unpleasant way. The husband and uncle of the lady sued him in the civil court for defamation of character; and, in the squabble which followed, the people took part against Wesley. Holding peculiar views respecting the limited jurisdiction possessed by civil courts over clergymen, Wesley refused to enter into the necessary recog-
* Adelaide Wilson, in "Historie and Picturesque Savannah." Consult also: James W. Lee, in "Illustrated History of Methodism."
t Though Savannah has been ealled the "cradle of Methodism," it was not until 1807, nearly three-quarters of a century after the Wesleys returned to England, that this new religious denomination succeeded in obtaining a foothold in Savannah. Rev. Hope Hull, in 1790, undertook to hold a series of meetings in a chairmaker's shop, but, according to Doctor White, his preaching aroused mob violence, and his success was small-White's "Historical Collections of Georgia, " under Chatham.
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nizanees, and a warrant for his arrest was accordingly issued. To avoid further trouble, he determined to fly, like Paul from Damaseus. He left the place seeretly by night, in the company of a bankrupt constable, a ne'er-do-well wife-beater named Gough, and a defaulting barber. They rowed up the river in a boat to the Swiss settlement at Purysburg, and proceeded thenee on foot to Beaufort; but, misdirected by an old man, they lost the way, wandered about in a swamp, and, for a whole day, had no food but a piece of gingerbread. Finally they arrived at Beaufort, where Delamotte joined them, and thenee they took boat to Charleston. Here Wesley preached again 'to this careless people,' and four days later took leave of America, embarking on board the 'Samuel,' Captain Perey.
"On the voyage, which was a stormy and unpleasant one, he devoted himself to ministering to the spiritual wants of those on board. In the solitude of his eabin he gave himself up to deep heart-searching. He felt that the want of sneeess which attended his work in America was due to some lack of real devotion in himself. As he expressed it very tersely in a note to one of the entries in his journal: 'I had even then the faith of a servant, though not of a son.'
"Meanwhile, George Whitefield, to whom he had sent a pressing invi- tation to join him in Georgia, had embarked on his journey; and, the two vessels, as it happened, the one outward bound, bearing Whitefield, all aglow with missionary enthusiasm, the other about to enter port, ear- rying the disappointed Wesley, met at the mouth of the Thames. The question whether Whitefield should proceed or return weighed heavily on the mind of the older man, who seems to have thought that the decision rested with him. At length, having cast lots-a Biblical practice shared by him with the Moravians-lie sent word to Whitefield that he had better return. But Whitefield did not highly esteem this method of eoming to a practical decision, resolved to continue on his voyage; and, in due time, he landed at Savannah." #
"Bishop E. R. Hendrix had the good fortune, while on a visit to England in 1900 as the fraternal delegate of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to the British Wesleyan Conferences, to come into pos- session of the original diary kept by John Wesley during his stay in Georgia. This rare manuseript journal has been in the hands of only two families since it was given, in 1817, by the Rev. Henry Moore to Miss Elizabeth Taylor, of Caermarthen. She left it by will, in 1847, to the Rev. John Gould Avery, a Wesleyan preacher, who valued it so highly that it was retained in the possession of himself and his only daughter, Mrs. Norton Bell, the wife of a London arehiteet, until bought, in 1897, by Mr. R. Thursfield Smith, J. P., of Whitechurch, Shrop- shire, a retired engineer and iron manufacturer.
"The book is a small duodecimo, bound in leather, and contains one hundred and eighty-six pages, all but eleven of which are numbered, and are filled with Wesley's handwriting. Each of the numbered pages is devoted to the doings of a single day, and each line to the work of a single hour, except on one or two occasions when the writer was travel-
* Rev. James W. Lee, D. D., in Illustrated History of Methodism.
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ing. The whole, therefore, contains a minute account of the way in which Wesley spent every hour of every day during the time embraced in the record. The first entry is dated Saturday, May 1, 1736 [Old Style] ; the last is dated February 11, 1737. Wesley relates in his printed journal that he 'first set foot on American ground,' Friday, February 6, 1736, entering upon his ministry in Savannah on Sunday, March 7, of the same year; and on Friday, December 2, 1737, he continued, 'I shook off the dust of my feet and left Georgia, after having preached the gospel there-not as I ought but as I was able-one year and nearly nine months.' He took his final leave of America on the twenty-second. This record therefore relates to the greater part of the time spent by him as a missionary in Georgia.
"In the journal, the entries for the day begin at four o'clock in the morning, and end at nine o'clock at night; and also every hour of the day is inserted, whether the writer was on land or sea. The dates are given at the head of each page with the ntmost exactness. The handwrit- ing is neat and clear, and resembles that found in Wesley's later manu- scripts. It was all written with a quill pen, on good paper, and with durable ink. The book is stained with oil or sea water, for he carried it with him on his voyages during his stay in America, several of such voyages being mentioned in the book. In one passage he uses the short- hand of Byrom's system, which he learned as early as 1731. The book shows that he was often attacked by ailments which ordinary mortals would have regarded as severe. Again and again he is seized with 'chol- ick,' which he sometimes spells with and sometimes without the 'k.' The first registered attack was on May 5th. It was on this date he met with trouble by declining to baptize a child because the mother refused to have it dipped. Wesley dined there, and 'took a glass of spirit and water to cure me of the cholick.' He abstained from spirituous liquors, 'unless in cases of extreme necessity' or 'at a wedding feast.'
"On one occasion he suffered from an attack of 'St. Anthony's fire,' which 'smarted much.' He was also attacked by 'shocking headaches,' intermittent fever, violent and protracted nausea, dysentery, and hoils. He was also occasionally deprived of sleep by the attacks of nocturnal insects. He had often to take 'physick,' and was frequently 'in pain' or 'sick.' The only robust exercise he took was 'walking' or 'felling trees,' or 'nailing pales.' References are made to different places abont Savan- nah, such as Frederica and Thunderbolt, and to the different people whom he chanced to meet. He speaks of Tomo-chi-chi and the Indians. While in Savannah, Mr. Wesley acquired German, Spanish and Italian. He prepared while there a small volume of seventy-four pages, with the title-page: 'A Collection of Psalms and Hymns. Charles-town : printed by Lewis Timothy.' This was the first Methodist hymn-book ever pub- lished."
On a bluff, near the seashore, nine miles from Savannah, is situated Bethesda, one of the noblest memorials in existence to the great English divine, the mature flower of whose genins was devoted to the establish- ment of this orphan house in what was then a remote wilderness of the New World. It is the oldest organized charity in America, a record
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which may excite some surprise in view of the fact that Georgia was the youngest of the original thirteen colonies, founded more than a hun- dred years after Jamestown. But the humane enterprise of Oglethorpe originated in an impulse of philanthropy : it was an experiment in which some of the noblest minds of England were interested; and there is nothing illogical or strange in the fact that such an institution should have found birth in a colony, the motto upon whose seal was "non sibi sed aliis." To the people of Georgia, it will ever be a source- of the keenest satisfaction not only that this pioneer institution possesses an age record of this character but that it originated in the heart of George Whitefield, the foremost pulpit orator known to the English-speaking world of his day and time. On a special visit to England, he secured from the trustees of the colony a grant of land comprising 500 aeres, on which to establish his plant ; and with the help of James Habersham, a fellow-traveler on his first voyage to America, he began to launch the humane project.
The site having been selected, a road was eut from Savannah to Bethesda-the first highway ever construeted in Georgia.
Perhaps the circumstances connected with the establishment of Bethesda are best narrated in the language of the great founder himself. Writing of the project, Whitefield, in a letter, dated March 21, 1745, and postmarked Bethesda, says :* ** * * it was first proposed to me by my dear friend, the Rev. Mr. John Wesley, who, with his excel- leney, Gen. Oglethorpe, had coneerted a scheme for carrying on such a design before I had any thought of going abroad myself. It was natural to think that as the Government intended this Province for the refuge and support of many of our poor countrymen, numbers of such adven- turers must necessarily be taken off, by being exposed to the hardships which unavoidably attend a new settlement. I therefore thought it a noble design in the general to ereet a house for fatherless children ; and, believing such a provision for orphans would be some inducement with many to come over. I fell in with the design, when mentioned to me by my friend, and was resolved, in the strength of God, to prosecute it with all my might. But, knowing my first stay in Georgia would necessarily be short, on account of my returning again to take priest's orders, I thought it most prudent to go and see for myself and defer prosecuting the scheme till I came home. When I came to Georgia I found many poor orphans who, though taken notice of by the Honorable Trustees, yet through the negleet of persons acting under them, were in wretched circumstances. For want of a house to breed them up in, the poor little ones were tabled ont here and there; the others were at hard services and likely to have no education at all. Upon seeing this, and finding that his Majesty and Parliament had the interest of the Colony at heart, I thought I could not better show my regard to God and my country than by getting a house and land for these children, where they might learn to labor, read, and write, and, at the same time, be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Accordingly on my return to England, in the year 1738, to take priest's orders, I appealed to the Honorable Society for a grant of five hundred aeres of land and laid
* White's "Historical Collections of Georgia, " Chatham County, Savannah, 1854.
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myself under obligations to build a house upon it and to receive from time to time as many orphans as the land and stock would maintain * *
* I called it Bethesda because I hoped it would be a house of mercy to many souls."
Whitefield gave himself unreservedly to the work. Throughout the remainder of his life, it was the constant theme of his eloquence. Voy- ages back and forth to England and travels up and down the continent were made by him, almost without number, in behalf of his beloved Bethesda. Large sums were contributed on both sides of the water, and people in every walk of life were charmed into giving by the marvelous witchery of his words. Benjamin Franklin records this anecdote of Whitefield : "I happened soon after to attend one of his sermons, in the course of which I perceived he intended to finish with a collection and I silently resolved that he should get nothing from me. I had in my pocket a handful of copper money, three or four silver dollars, and five pistoles of gold. As he proeceded I began to soften, and concluded to give the copper. Another stroke of oratory made me ashamed to give so little and determined me to give the silver ; and he finished so admir- ably that I emptied my pocket wholly into the collector's dish, gold and all."
Nineteen years later found Whitefield making Bethesda an academy of high character, similar in design to one in Philadelphia. For this purpose two wings, 150 feet each, were added to the main building. But the great friend of the orphans was nearing the end of his pilgrimage. It was not reserved for him to witness the ultimate fruition of his work. By Whitefield's death, the institution passed to Lady Huntingdon. The elause in his will, transferring the property to her, reads: "I will and bequeath the Orphan House at Bethesda and likewise all buildings, lands, books, and furniture belonging thereto to that lady elect, that Mother in Israel, that mirror of true and undefiled religion, the Right Honorable Selina, Countess of Huntingdon. In case she should be called to enter upon her glorious rest before my decease, then to the Honorable James Habersham, a merchant of Savannah." Lady Huntingdon's first thought upon hearing of the bequeathal to her of Bethesda was ehar- acteristic of her devotional nature; a day was set apart for fasting and prayer. But preparations were hardly begun for taking over the work, when the buildings were destroyed by lightning.
Lady Huntingdon contributed largely of her private means to restore the institution and to provide sufficient accommodations; but anything like permanent growth was intercepted by the outbreak of hostilities between the mother country and the colonies in America. It is an inter- esting fact that this noble and gifted woman was distantly related to George Washington. She presented to the Orphan ITouse at Bethesda, a full-length portrait of herself, the work of Sir Joshua Reynolds. It was sent to New York in 1851 to be re-touched and, after this result was skillfully accomplished, it was reshipped to Savannah. With the con- sent of the officers, it was placed in the keeping of the Georgia Historical Society ; and today hangs in IIodgson IIall. At the close of hostilities with England an effort was made by the Legislature to carry out White-
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