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willing to comply with every thing; and though Brazier had been ordered by the Conference to Jamaica, Dr. Coke consented to leave him at Saba. But when the governor of St. Eustatius knew where he was, he compelled the government to dismiss him, though with sorrow and reluctance on their part.

Two missionaries had been appointed to Jamaica; but Coke having thus disposed of the one, left the other to divide his labours between Tortola and Santa Cruz, (on which little island the Danish governor promised him all the encouragement in his power,) and proceeded to Jamaica alone, merely to prepare the way.

Some of the higher orders, being drunk at the time, insulted him while he was preaching at Kingston, and would have offered some personal indignities to him, if they had not been controlled by the great majority of the congregation; but on the whole he was so well received and hospitably entertained, that he says, in honour of the island, he never visited any place, either in Europe or America, where Methodism had not taken root, in which he received so many civilities as in Jamaica. He went therefrom to America, and from thence returned to England, in full persuasion that the prospects of the society, both in Jamaica and the Leeward Islands, were as favourable as could be desired.

The cost of his spiritual colonization now became serious; for the resources of the Connexion did not keep pace with its progress, and its necessarily increased expenditure. The missions could not be supported unless separate funds were raised for the purpose; and those funds could only be drawn from voluntary contributions. By the request of the Conference, Dr. Coke (never so happy as when he was most actively employed in such service) made a tour of sixteen months in the United Kingdoms, preaching in behalf of the negroes, for whom these missions were especially designed; and collecting money by these means, and by personal application to such as were likely to contribute; going himself from door to door.* The rebuffs which he frequently met with, did not deter him from the work which he had undertaken; and he obtained enough to discharge the whole debt which had been contracted on this account, and to proceed with the missions upon an extended scale. In the autumn of 1790, he made a third voyage to the Columbian Islands. A chapel had been built at Barbadoes, during his absence, capable of holding some seven hundred persons; but the hopes of those, by whom this building had been directed, had been greater than their foresight. Though the curate at Bridgetown, Mr. Dent, was the only clergyman in all the islands who countenanced the Methodists, and was heartily glad at receiving from them the assistance which he wanted; though the governor was not unfavourable to them, and they had begun under such favourable appearances, the preacher had become obnoxious: the nick name of Hallelujahs had been fixed upon his followers, and they had undergone that sort of opposition, which they dignify by the name of persecution. Persecution,

*A captain in the navy, from whom he obtained a subscription, calling upon an acquaintance of Coke's the same morning, said: "Do you know any thing of a little fellow who calls himself Dr. Coke, and who is going about begging money for missionaries to be sent among the slaves ?”—“ I know him well," was the reply. "He seems," rejoined the captain," to be a heavenly-minded little devil. He coaxed me out of two guineas this morning."-Drew's Life of Dr. Coke, p. 388. vol. 2. VOL. II. 28 E

in the true sense of the word, they have since that time suffered in some of the islands; but in these instances the missionary seems to have been protected by the magistrates when he appealed for redress. At St. Vincent's, the attempt to civilize the Caribs had altogether failed. This was owing to the French priests at Martinico. The French missionaries have rendered themselves liable to the heavy accusation of sacrificing the interests of Christianity to the political views of their country. Of this their conduct in Canada affords scandalous proofs; and on the present occasion they acted in the same manner. They persuaded the Caribs, who went to Martinico on one of their trading visits, that the Methodists were spies, whom the king of England had sent to explore their land; and as soon as they had finished their errand, they would retire, and an army would be sent to conquer the country. The Caribs had regarded Baxter as their father, till they were deceived by this villanous artifice. They then behaved so sullenly towards him, that he thought it adviseable to hasten with his wife out of their power. When Mrs. Baxter took leave of these poor savages, to whose instruction she had vainly devoted herself, she wept bitterly, and prayed that they might have another call, and might not reject it as they had done this. But among the other casts upon the island the preachers were well received. The negroes, who, in Barbadoes, were remarkably indifferent to religious instruction, here were exceedingly desirous of it; and even the Catholic families showed favour to the missionaries, and sent for Baxter to baptize their children. The prospect was still more favourable at Grenada. Mr. Dent had recently been presented to the living of St. George's in that island; and the governor, General Matthews, requested Dr. Coke to send missionaries there, saying it was his wish that the negroes should be fully instructed, and there would be work enough for their preachers and for the clergy of the island too.

The Methodists were increasing in Antigua; but here a symptom appeared of that enthusiasm of which it is so difficult for Methodism to clear itself, sanctioned as it has been by Wesley. At the baptism of some adults, one of them was so overcome by her feelings that she fell into a swoon; and Dr. Coke, instead of regarding this as a disorder, and impressing upon his disciples the duty of controlling their emotions, spoke of it as a memorable thing, and with evident satisfaction related that, as she lay entranced with an enraptured countenance, all she said for some time was, Heaven! Heaven! Come! Come ! It requires more charity and more discrimination than the majority of men possess, not to suspect either the sincerity or the sanity of persons who aim at producing effects like this by their ministry, or exult in them when they are produced. Not deterred by his former ill success at St. Eustatius, Coke, with the perseverance that characterized him in all his undertakings, made a third visit there, and waited upon the new governor, who had recently arrived from Holland. The Dutchman, he says, received him with very great rudeness indeed; but he ought to have considered it as an act of courtesy that he was not immediately sent off the island. The Methodists there were in the habit of regularly holding their class-meetings; and notwithstanding the edict, there were no fewer

than eight exhorters among them. One of these persons called upon the Doctor, requested him to correspond with them, and promised, in the name of his fellows, punctually to obey all the directions which should be given them concerning the management of the society. He told him also that many of the free blacks, of both sexes, intended going to St. Kitts to receive the sacrment, at Christmas, from one of the missionaries. Here Dr. Coke met with another instance, which, if he had been capable of learning that lesson, might have taught him how dangerous it is to excite an enthusiastic spirit of religion. The person, who, on his former visits, had entertained him with true hospitality, was in the very depth of despair. "The only reason he gave for his deplorable situation was, that the Lord had very powerfully called him, time after time, to preach, and he had as often resisted the call, till at last he entirely lost a sense of the favour of God. He seemed to have no hope left. We endeavoured," the Doctor adds, " to raise his drooping head, but all in vain." If this case were known to the persons in office, as in all likelihood it must have been, it would satisfy them that they had done wisely in proscribing a system which produced effects like this. The person in question conceived himself to be in a state of reprobation, because he had not broken the laws of the place wherein he lived.

By this time the alloy of Methodism had shown itself in the islands. Dr. Coke commanded respect there by his manners, his education, and his station in life. The missionaries who followed him had none of these advantages; their poverty and their peculiarities provoked contempt in those who had no respect for their zeal, and who perceived all that was offensive in their conduct, and all that was indiscreet, but were insensible of the good which these instruments were producing. Indispensable as religion is to the well-being of every society, its salutary influences are more especially required in countries where the system of slavery is established. If the planters understood their own interest, they would see that the missionaries might be made their best friends; that by their means the evils of slavery might be mitigated; and that, in proportion as the slave was made a religious being, he became resigned to his lot and contented. But one sure effect of that abominable system is, that it demoralizes the masters as much as it brutalizes the slaves. Men whose lives are evil, willingly disbelieve the Gospel if they can; and, with the greater part of mankind, belief and disbelief depend upon volition far more than is generally understood. But if they cannot succeed in this, they naturally hate those who preach zealously against their habitual vices. Among the causes, therefore, which soon made the Methodists unpopular in all or most of the Columbian islands, the first place must be assigned to that hateful licentiousness which prevails wherever slavery exists: something is to be allowed to a contempt for the preachers; something to the objectionable practices of Methodism, and to a just dislike of what was offensive in its language; and perhaps not a little to the meritorious zeal which the society had shown in England in favour of the abolition of the Slave Trade, when that great question was first agitated with such ardent benevolence on one side, and such fierce repugnance on the other.

While Dr. Coke was in Antigua, Baxter was assaulted at the door of his chapel by some drunken persons of the higher order, who threatened to murder him. His wife and the negroes believed them to be in earnest; the cry which they raised was mistaken for a cry of fire, and the whole town was presently in an uproar. Baxter was informed by the magistrates that the offenders should be punished as they deserved, if he would lodge an information against them. But it was thought best to acknowledge a grateful sense of their protection, and to decline the prosecution. Shortly afterwards, the chapel at St. Vincents was broken open by night, not by robbers, but by mischievous and probably drunken persons, who did what mischief they could, and, carrying away the Bible, suspended it from the gal lows; a flagitious act, which caused the magistrates to offer a large reward for discovering the perpetrators. This growing ill-will was more openly displayed at Jamaica, where a missionary had been appointed, and a chapel erected in Kingston. The preacher's life had been frequently endangered here by an outrageous rabble; and a person who was considered to be the chief of the Methodists narrowly escaped being stoned to death, and was once obliged to disguise himself in regimentals. Attempts were made to pull down the chapel; and when some of the rioters were prosecuted, they were acquitted, Coke says, against the clearest evidence. The most abominable reports were raised against Hammet, the preacher; and as for Dr. Coke, he, they said, had been tried in England for horsestealing, and had fled the country in order to escape from justice.

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Such was the temper of the Jamaica people, when the Doctor, with another missionary in his company, landed at Montego Bay, in the beginning of 1791. A recommendatory letter to a gentleman in the neighbourhood procured them an excellent dinner, but no help in their main design; and they walked the streets, peeping and inquiring for a place wherein to preach, in vain ;" to preach out of doors in that climate while the sun is up, is almost impracticable and at evening, the only time when the slaves can attend, the heavy dews render it imprudent and dangerous. Dining, however, at an ordinary the next day, and stating his sorrow that he was prevented from preaching for want of a place, one of the company advised him to apply for a large room, which had originally been the church, served now for assemblies, and was frequently used as a theatre, Here he preached every evening during a short stay, and though a few bucks clapped and encored him, he was on the whole well satisfied with the attention of the congregation,* and the respect with which he was treated. But at Spanish Town and at Kingston he was grossly insulted by a set of profligate young men their conduct roused in him an emotion which he had never felt in the same degree before, and which, he says, he believed was a spark of the proper spirit of martyrdom; and, addressing himself to these rioters in

"On the Sunday morning," says Dr. Coke, (Journal, page 130.) "we went to church; but a little rain falling, the congregation consisted only of half a dozen or thereabouts at the exact time of beginning; on which the minister walked out: if he had condescended to have waited ten minutes longer, we should have been, I believe, about twenty. The Sunday before, also, there had been no service. In some of the parishes of this island there is no church, nor any divine service performed, except the burial of the dead and christenings and weddings in private houses, though the livings are very lucrative. But I will write no more on this subject, lest I should grow indignant."

terms of just reproof, he told them that he was willing-yea, desirous to suffer martyrdom, if the kingdom of Christ might be promoted thereby. The effect which he says this produced, was undoubtedly assisted by his station in life, which enabled him to appear upon equal terms with the proudest of his assailants. On another occasion, when he had ended his sermon, he told these persons that he and his brethren were determined to proceed, and to apply to the legal authorities for justice, if such insults and outrages were continued; and if justice were not to be found in Jamaica, they were sure, he said, of obtaining it at home.

The affairs of Methodism in the West-Indies were in this state at the time of Mr. Wesley's death. Fourteen preachers were stationed there, of whom two came from the American branch. The number of persons enrolled in the connexion then amounted to about six thousand, of whom two thirds were negroes, and the number of white persons did not exceed two hundred. A more determined spirit of opposition was arising than they had ever experienced in Europe, but they were sure of protection from the home government, and knew that by perseverance they should make their cause good.

CHAPTER XXIX.

SETTLEMENT OF THE CONFERENCE.-MANNERS AND EFFECTS OF METHODISM.

THE year 1784 has been called the grand climacterical year of Methodism, because Wesley then first arrogated to himself an episcopal power; and because in that year the legal settlement of the Conference was effected, whereby provision was made for the govern ment of the society after his death, as long as it should continue.

The Methodist chapels, with the preachers' houses annexed to them, had all been conveyed to trustees for the use of such persons as should be appointed from time to time by John or Charles Wesley, during their lives; by the survivor, and after the death of both, by the yearly Conference of the people called Methodists, in London, Bristol, or Leeds. A legal opinion was taken, whether the law would recognise the Conference, unless the precise meaning of the word were defined; the lawyers were of opinion that it would not, and therefore at the next meeting of that body, Mr. Wesley was unanimously desired to draw up a deed which should give a legal specification of the term; the mode of doing it being left entirely to his discretion. The necessity for this was obvious. "Without some authentic deed fixing the meaning of the term, the moment I died," says he, "the Conference had been nothing: therefore any of the proprietors of land on which our preaching houses had been built might have seized them for their own use, and there would have been none to hinder them; for the Conference would have been nobody—a mere empty name.'

His first thought was to name some ten or twelve persons. On

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