OGLETHORPE 
 
 THE WESLEYS IN AMERICA. 
 
 BY THE REV. ELIJAH HOOLE, D.D. 
 
 LONDON : 
 PEINTED BY R. NEEDHAM, PATERNOSTEE-EOW. 
 
 MDCCCLXIII, 
 
FZ&IZ 
 
 OGLETHORPE AND THE WESLEYS IN AMERICA* 
 
 I^ — THE SETTLEMENT OF GEORGIA ON ANTI- SLAVERY PRINCIPLES. 
 
 America and France engage the attention of every thoughtful 
 observer of human affairs. Their action, within less than one hundred 
 years, has changed the politics of the world, and has wrought the most 
 entire transformation on the surface of society, Read the histories 
 written a century ago, — read the romances, the novels ; the autobiogra- 
 phies and the correspondence of that period, and compare them \vith 
 those of the present day, and the conviction will be complete — that 
 causes have been at work, and are still in operation, apart from the 
 progress of religion, to accelerate the advance of civilization, and the 
 re-construction of social institutions. Those causes are to be found in 
 the Independence of the United States and in the French Revolution. 
 Those events were bursts from the same storm-cloud, serving to clear 
 away the old world prejudices, which, like fetid pools and noxious 
 exhalations, were poisoning the principles and moral health of the 
 larger part of mankind. The Declaration of Independence in America, 
 and the overthrow of the Bourbon dynasty in France, were nearly 
 related to each other; and the old French Jesuit who left Europe for 
 India in 1789, and employed himself as a Missionary among the Hea- 
 then, was right in the conclusion which he announced to us nearly forty 
 years ago, that the Revolution in France was the natural consequence 
 of the help which France gave to ximerica against the British. Both 
 events have served the purposes of Divine providence in the advance- 
 ment of the material and moral interests of mankind, and are still 
 telling with cumulative force on the progress of human affairs. 
 
 Leaving the question whether the American war of independence 
 was or was not one proximate cause of the Revolution in France, we 
 may safely assume that American affairs, before the deplorable civil 
 
 * The original information, hitherto unpublished, contained in the following 
 papers, relating to the Rev. Charles Wesley's troubles in Georgia, has been 
 deciphered from the short-hand portions of his Manuscript Journal. The other 
 portions of that Journal are incorporated in the Rev. Thomas Jackson's admirable 
 volumes, The Life of the Rev. C Wesley, 2 vols. ; and the Journal and Poetry of 
 the Rev, C, Wesley, also in 2 vols. 
 
b OGLETHORPE AND THE WESLEYS IN AMERICA. 
 
 war now raging in consequence of the secession of the Southern States, 
 exerted a wider influence on mankind than those of France itself. 
 America had a hold on races and conditions of men, which are scarcely 
 touched by our nearer neighbour. The red Indians and the mixed 
 people of the territories, west and south, the negroes of the vast 
 regions of Western Africa, and a large portion of the two hundred 
 millions of the inhabitants of the British possessions in the East, the 
 British empire itself, and especially that large section of it which is 
 occupied in the manufacture of cotton goods, — all felt the influence of 
 America. The slavery strongly upheld in the Southern, and now 
 Confederated States — is felt in its efl'ects throughout the world. 
 
 The colony of Georgia, however, was founded on anti-slavery prin- 
 ciples. " My friends and I," wrote Oglethorpe, " settled the colony of 
 Georgia, and by charter were established trustees. We determined 
 not to suffer slavery there." — "No settlement was ever before esta- 
 blished on so humane a plan." Such was the praise of Georgia uttered 
 in London in 1734! "Slavery, the misfortune, if not the dishonour, 
 of other plantations, is absolutely proscribed. Let avarice defend it as 
 it will, there is an honest reluctance in humanity against buying and 
 selling, and regarding those of our own species as our wealth and 
 possessions." " The name of slavery is here unheard, and every » 
 inhabitant is free from unchosen masters and oppression." To this 
 testimony of Bundle, in his " Sermon to recommend the charity of 
 Georgia," February 16th, 1734, may be added that of Oglethorpe : 
 "Slavery," he relates, "is against the Gospel as well as the funda- 
 mental law of England. We refused, as trustees, to make a law 
 permitting such a horrid crime." The colony was "an asylum to 
 receive the distressed. It was necessary, therefore, not to permit 
 slaves in such a country; for slaves starve the poor labourer." The 
 land was to be tilled by British and Irish labourers, exclusively, 
 without " the dangerous help of blackamoors." But negro slavery in 
 its worst forms even then existed in dangerous proximity, in the 
 adjoining British settlement of South Carolina, and to the south in 
 the Spanish settlement of Florida; and, after Oglethorpe's return from 
 America, spread its poisonous influence into Georgia also. 
 
 The first emigration to Georgia was conducted by Oglethorpe in 
 person, who, on the first day of February, or, according to the new 
 style of computation, on the twelfth, in the year 1733, arrived at the 
 place intended for the town, and before the evening encamped on shore, 
 near the edge of the river. Four beautiful pines protected the tent 
 of Oglethorpe, who, for near a twelvemonth, sought no other shelter. 
 In the midst of this pleasant region, the streets of Savannah were laid 
 out with the greatest regularity; in each quarter a public square was 
 reserved; the houses were planned and constructed on one model, — 
 each a frame of sawed timber, twenty-four feet by sixteen, floored 
 with rough deals, the sides with feather-edged boards, unplaned, and 
 the roof shingled. Such a house Oglethorpe afterwards hired as his 
 residence when in Savannah. " The Minister's house," (in Savannah,) 
 says Mr. Wesley, " is large enough for a larger family than ours, and 
 
OGLETHORPE AND THE WESLEYS IN AMERICA. 7 
 
 has many conveniences, besides a good garden." (Journal.) Erelong, 
 a walk, cut through the native woods, led to the large garden on the 
 river side, destined as a nursery of European fruit and of the wonderful 
 products of America. Thus began the commonwealth of Georgia, 
 " the place of refuge for the distressed people of Britain and the 
 persecuted Protestants of Europe," 
 
 II. — THE CHARACTER OF SOME OF THE COLONISTS. 
 
 On the 6th of February, 1736, Oglethorpe arrived a second time in 
 Georgia, after a visit of one year in England, where he and his plans for 
 the colony of Georgia had won almost universal favour. The venerable 
 Rector of Epworth, the father of John and Charles Wesley, regretted 
 that he was too old and too much encumbered by a large family to 
 admit of his offering his personal services. His eldest son, the Rev. 
 Samuel Wesley, of Tiverton, highly approved of the projected settle- 
 ment, and was quite willing that his brother John should go as a 
 Missionary to the Indians; but he objected to Charles's appointment to 
 be Oglethorpe's secretary, as he thought his character and disposition 
 unsuitable to a position so arduous. At the same time, however, 
 Matthew Wesley, the physician, derided Oglethorpe and his enthusiastic 
 plans; and even insulted him for having engaged his two Methodist 
 nephews to accompany him. As our narrative proceeds, we shall find 
 that the recollection of Dr. Wesley's insults had a restraining influence 
 on Oglethorpe when he was in danger of doing great injustice to his 
 pure-minded Secretary. Thus it is, that an infinitely mse Providence 
 can bring good out of evil. 
 
 Among the group which ascended the rising ground near Tybee 
 Island, to kneel and return thanks for their safe arrival in Georgia, 
 was a reinforcement of Moravians : — men who had a faith above fear : 
 "whose wives and children were not afraid to die;" whose simplicity 
 and solemnity in their conferences and prayers seemed to revive the 
 primitive " assemblies where form and state were not; but Paul, the 
 tent-maker, or Peter, the fisherman, presided with the demonstration 
 of the spirit."* There, too, were John and Charles Wesley, — the latter 
 selected as the Secretary to Oglethorpe, the former, eager to become 
 an apostle to the Indians, — " fervent enthusiasts," says Bancroft, " who, 
 by their own confession, were not yet disciplined to a peaceful posses- 
 sion of their own souls." That they were simple of heart, but yet 
 that their ideas were disturbed, was the judgment of Zinzendorf. 
 " One end in leaving our native country," said they, " is not to gain 
 riches and honour, but singly this — to live wholly to the glory of God." 
 " They desired to make Georgia a religious colony, having no theory 
 but devotion, no ambition but to quicken the sentiment of piety.'** 
 But these ardent young men were not unacquainted with the world. 
 They had long been resident at Oxford; they had enjoyed oppor- 
 tunities of mingling in the best society; they were intimate with the 
 Granvilles, the family connexions of Lord Lansdowne; and there are few 
 
 * Bancroft, vol. iii., p. 428. 
 
O OGLETHORPE AND THE WESLEYS IN AMERICA. 
 
 unpublished letters more interesting than those of Cyrus and Aspasia, 
 the former being the name given to John Wesley, after the fashion of 
 those days, and the latter designating Mary Granville, afterwards Mrs. 
 Delany, the venerable friend, in after life, of George the Third and 
 Queen Charlotte.* In that correspondence, Charles Wesley is always 
 mentioned as Araspas. We may have occasion to refer to that cor- 
 respondence, or even to produce it in extenso, in some future article. 
 
 Our present object is to throw light on the treatment which Mr. 
 Charles Wesley received from Mr. Oglethorpe. That he was treated 
 harshly for some time is universally known; but the exact causes of 
 that treatment have not been known, nor the amende which was after- 
 wards, and even speedily, made by Oglethorpe. That noble-minded 
 man lived to be near one hundred years old; and Charles Wesley 
 took care that the narrative recording Oglethorpe's errors should not 
 be available for publication whilst Oglethorpe should live. To that 
 original, and as yet unpublished document, we are indebted for the 
 particulars we now proceed to narrate. 
 
 Within a month of their arrival in Georgia the two brothers were 
 separated : the elder remained in Savannah ; the younger accompanied 
 the Governor about one hundred miles to the South. 
 
 On the 22d of March, thirteen days after his arrival at the infant 
 settlement of Frederica, Mr. Charles Wesley, in his beautifully-written 
 short-hand, describes a disturbance among the newly-arrived colonists, 
 which will serve to introduce some of his parishioners to the acquaint- 
 ance of our readers. 
 
 " While I was persuading Mr. Welch not to concern himself in this 
 disturbance, I heard Mrs. Hawkins cry out, * Murder!' and I walked 
 away. On returning out of the woods, I was informed that Mrs. Welch, 
 that poor blockhead, Mrs. Welch, had joined with Mrs. Hawkins and 
 the devil in their scandals. I would not believe it until half the town 
 told me the same, and exclaimed against her ingratitude. Soon after, 
 Haydon (the constable) informed me that he had civilly told Mrs. H. 
 that his orders were not to suffer her to come within the (Governor's) 
 camp, but that he would carry those bottles for her. She replied that 
 she would come within the camp; and, upon his holding open his arms 
 to hinder her, she broke one of the bottles on his head ! He caught 
 her in his arms, she striking him continually and crying out, * Murder!' 
 Mr. Hawkins at the same time ran up and struck him. He closed and 
 threw him down, set his foot upon him, and said, that if he resisted 
 he would run his bayonet into him. Mark Hird, the other constable, 
 was meantime engaged in keeping off Mrs. H., who broke the other 
 bottle on his head. Welch coming up to her assistance, Davison 
 (the constable) desired him to keep off the camp. Nevertheless, he 
 ran upon him, took the gun out of his hand, and struck him with all 
 his might on his sides and face, till Haydon interposed and parted 
 them. Welch then ran and gave the doctor (the husband of 
 
 ♦ Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs, Delany, By 
 Lady Llanover. 6 vols., octavo. Murray. 
 
OGLETHORPE AND THE WESLEYS IN AMERICA. 9 
 
 Mrs. Hawkins) a bayonet, which was immediately taken from him. 
 Mrs. Hawkins cried out continually against the parsons, and swore 
 revenge against my brother and me. But the bridle is in her mouth. 
 
 "At three o'clock, the same day, I carried Mrs. Hawkins to Mrs. 
 Welch, but finding her as the troubled sea, I thought it was no time 
 for expostulating with her for her treatment of me. I asked whether 
 I could do anything for her, or for her husband, now confined for his 
 violence to the officers. Her railing forced me to leave her. 
 
 " Mr. Hird soon after told me that he had followed Mrs. Hawkins 
 to her house, and entreated her to return quickly to her husband. On 
 no greater provocation than this, she snatched up an iron pistol^ and 
 offered to strike him. He laid hold of her husband's gun, and she as 
 quickly caught up another. She presented, but was seized before she 
 could discharge it. The pistol, gun, and other arms, were now taken 
 from her, and she was put under the charge of two sentinels." 
 
 Mrs. Hawkins and Mrs. Welch, with their husbands, were fellow- 
 passengers with the Wesleys to Georgia. Against Mrs. Hawkins, 
 whose husband was a surgeon, Oglethorpe had been warned in London ; 
 but he either did not believe the accounts he received, or he allowed 
 his good nature to sway his judgment. During the voyage from 
 England these ladies professed the utmost esteem for the two clergy- 
 men, and it was hoped had derived great spiritual benefit from their 
 ministrations. But the dangers of the seas once over, the profession of 
 religion became irksome ; the mask of hypocrisy fell off, and a demon- 
 like plan was concerted for the ruin of the character of Mr. Ogle- 
 thorpe in the estimation of his friends the Wesleys, and at the same 
 time for the ruin of the character of the Wesleys in the estimation of 
 Mr. Oglethorpe, and that of the Wesleys with each other. In order 
 to secure success in their foul designs, these ladies did not hesitate to 
 throw their own character to the winds ; they freely vilified 
 themselves and each other, while they as freely vilified the Governor 
 and the clergymen. Their self-sacrifice was perfect ; and they never 
 lost sight of their malicious object, whether their mood of mind was 
 passionate or penitential. — The narrative which is to follow is a unique 
 chapter in the history of human nature. 
 
 III. — MR. JOHN WESLEY COMES TO HIS BROTHER'S HELP. 
 
 This foul conspiracy had so far succeeded as to excite Mr. Ogle- 
 thorpe's displeasure against Mr. Charles Wesley, who was soon brought 
 by privations and illness to the verge of the grave. In his distress he 
 dispatched his friend, Mr. Ingham, to Savannah, with letters for his 
 brother, detailing all that was reported, and requesting him to come to 
 Frederica. Mr. Wesley lost no time in complying with this request. 
 It was on this voyage, that, sleeping on the deck, he rolled overboard, 
 and only awoke to find himself under water he knew not how. 
 However, he struck out, found the boat, and climbed by it back to the 
 quarter-deck, thankful for his narrow escape, and acknowledging the 
 protecting care of Almighty God. 
 
 A 5 
 
10 OGLETHORPE AND THE WESLEYS IN AMERICA. 
 
 In his published journal, Mr. Wesley thus notices his visit to 
 Frederica : — " In every one of the six following days I had some fresh 
 proofs of the absolute necessity of following that wise advice of the 
 apostle : ' Judge nothing before the time ; until the Lord come, who 
 both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make 
 manifest the counsels of the hearts.'" He was grieved at the fall of 
 Mrs. Hawkins, who had been called his convert, when on their voyage 
 out; and he was perplexed by accusations laid to the charge of the 
 Governor, by the two ladies, simultaneously. 
 
 Mr. Charles Wesley was rejoiced and relieved at the arrival of his 
 brother, and Mr. Delamotte. He says, "At six, Mr. D. and my 
 brother landed, when my strength was so exhausted I could not have 
 read prayers once more. He helped me into the woods : for there was 
 no talking among a people of spies and ruffians; nor, even in the 
 woods, unless in an unknown tongue. He told me the Scripture he 
 met with at landing was, * If God be for us, who can be against us ? ' 
 And that Mr. Oglethorpe received him with abundant kindness. I 
 began my account of all that had passed, and continued it till prayers. 
 I had just recovered strength enough to consecrate at the Sacra- 
 ment, the rest my brother discharged. We then got out of the reach 
 of informers ; and I proceeded in my account, being fully persuaded 
 of the truth of Mrs. Welch's information against Mr. Oglethorpe, 
 Mrs. Hawkins, and herself. 
 
 " Next morning Mr. Oglethorpe met us, and carried us to breakfast 
 at the modest Mrs. Hawkins's. At noon my brother repeated to me 
 his last conference with Mrs. Welch, in confirmation of all she had 
 ever told me." 
 
 The forgiving disposition of the brothers appears in the next para- 
 graph. 
 
 " Wednesday, April 14. — By a relation which my brother gave me of 
 a late conference he had with her, I was again, in spite of all I had 
 seen and heard, half persuaded into a good opinion of Mrs. Hawkins. 
 For the lasting honour of our sagacity, be it written !" 
 
 By a cruel perversion of the Governor's orders, Charles Wesley had 
 been left without the necessaries of life, and was nearly falling a sacri- 
 fice to the injustice done him. He says : — 
 
 " Friday, April 16. — My brother brought me off a resolution which 
 honour and indignation had formed of starving rather than ask for 
 necessaries. Accordingly, I went to Mr. Oglethorpe in his tent, to 
 ask for some little things I wanted." 
 
 This visit gave an opportunity for explanations, of which Mr. 
 Oglethorpe availed himself. Mr. Wesley records the conversation as 
 follows : — 
 
 " He sent for me back, and said, *Pray, sit down; I have something 
 to say to you. I hear you have spread several reports about me and 
 Mrs. H. In this you are the author of them. There is a great 
 difference between telling such things to another, and telling them to 
 me. In you, who told them to your brother, it is scandal : in him, 
 who repeated them to me, it is friendship. My religion does not, like 
 
OGLETHORPE AND THE WESLEYS IN AMERICA. 11 
 
 the Pharisees,' consist in long prayers, but in forgiving injuries, as I 
 do this of yours. Not but that the thing is in itself a trifle, and hardly 
 deserves a serious answer; though I gave an answer to your brother, 
 because he believed the report to be true. It is not such things as 
 these which hurt my character : they would pass for gallantries, and 
 rather recommend me to the world.' 
 
 " Here he made light of the matter, at the same time vindicating 
 himself from the imputation, and went on : 
 
 " ^ I know many suppose that a thirst for fame is the motive for all 
 my actions, but they are extremely mistaken. I have had more than 
 my share of it; and my fortune is now, I believe, on the turn. Many 
 persons judge of others by their own hearts. On my landing here, 
 one person told me a scandalous report of you; but I silenced him, and 
 told him that he was judging you to have done as he would have done 
 himself. I believed you guilty of the meeting and disturbance, because 
 of your subsequent shyness. I forbade you the use of my things 
 without first speaking to me, lest others should use your name to justify 
 the abuse of my goods. You cannot deny the charge of scandalising 
 me, for you wrote your brother an account of the report. I thought 
 you would have been a help and a relief to me. I shall still con- 
 tinue my behaviour to Mrs. H., for it is endless trying to ward off 
 scandal.' " 
 
 Our poor young clergyman thus records his reply to this dignified 
 rebuke : — 
 
 " After lifting up my heart to God, I replied : 'I acknowledge first, 
 that as you suppose me to be guilty, it is the greatest possible kindness 
 that you forgive me. I shall only speak the truth, and leave you to 
 judge of it. I absolutely deny the whole charge. I have neither 
 raised this report, nor have I spread it; but wherever I heard it, I 
 checked it immediately. Some, who themselves spoke it in my hearing, 
 have, I suppose, gone to you and fathered their own words upon me. 
 I would have mentioned these stories to you myself, had I continued 
 in your favour. I did mention them to my brother, that he might 
 tell them to you. Suppose I myself believed them, I should never 
 have propagated them; because I may not speak evil of the ruler of 
 my people. The ground of the people's supposition was, Mrs. H.'s 
 great assurance. What they say of you and her, they say of my 
 brother and her. She said so herself at first, but has since eaten her 
 own words. The letter which she intercepted was wrote before this 
 report was heard of. I own that to suffer thus, as an evil-doer, and 
 from you, is the severest trial I have ever known. My shyness was 
 occasioned by yours. As I shall always think it my duty to please 
 you to the utmost of my power, I hope you will look upon me as you 
 used to do. I know your unforgiving temper, and that if you once 
 entertain a suspicion or dislike, it is next to impossible to remove it.' 
 He then promised to be the same to me as before. 
 
 " At night, Mrs. Welch sent for my brother. He was engaged 
 with Mr. Oglethorpe, so I went in his place. I found her half dead 
 with fear. She began by accusing me of betraying her." 
 
12 OGLETHORPE AND THE WESLEYS IN AMERICA. 
 
 C. W. " * Be not imposed upon : your betraying me shall nev er 
 make me betray you V 
 
 Mrs. TF. " ' But he will get it out of your brother.' 
 
 C. TF". " ' No. My brother is a Christian ; so much of one as to 
 prefer any suflferings to breach of promise.' 
 
 " In pursuance of her vile and scandalous plot, she proceeded to 
 say:— 
 
 " ' He (Mr. 0.) came to me just now, and in a transport of anger 
 said, So, Madam, you have been so wise as to tell 0. W. of our 
 affair. It is nothing to me, but you have exposed yourself for ever. 
 I answered, If C. W. told you so, he is the greatest villain upon 
 earth ; and denied it to the last. I did tell him, indeed, that it was 
 you who informed me of his aiFair with Mrs. Hawkins : he denied his 
 having any regard for her, and said he preferred an hour of my 
 company to a week of hers. I am almost distracted at the thought of 
 his knowing I told you.' 
 
 C, TF. " ' Be not troubled. You are entirely safe on this head.' 
 
 Mrs, W, " * If you have said nothing, he is the greatest villain upon 
 earth.' Being within hearing of the Governor's tent, she said : — 
 * I hear him now. He is falling upon your brother. He will get it 
 out of him.' 
 
 C. TF. " ' It is impossible. My brother put his life in his hand by 
 speaking to him about Mrs. Hawkins.' 
 
 Mrs. TF. " ' Pray, send your brother to me immediately.' 
 
 a TF. "a will.' 
 
 "At ten o'clock I related t?iis conversation to my brother. He then 
 gave me a surprising account of his interview Avith Mr. Oglethorpe. 
 
 that it were true ! Who knows but he may still be innocent? God ! 
 God make and keep us all so! The Spaniards, he informed my 
 brother, were expected every moment, and he was himself in a calm 
 expectation of death." 
 
 IV. — BOTH BROTHERS CONFOUNDED BY THE DECEPTIONS PRACTISED 
 
 ON THEM. 
 
 The nobleness of Oglethorpe's character did not suffice to shield him 
 from the shafts of calumny. The two brothers had a high respect for 
 him. They even loved him. But they could not imagine that there 
 was no foundation for the scandals in which the two ladies did not 
 spare each other or themselves. Mr. Charles Wesley was naturally 
 anxious to stand well with Mr. Oglethorpe. He appears yet to have 
 believed Mrs. Welch's report of Mr. O.'s intimacy with her; and 
 vainly hoped, through her means, to set himself right. But his design 
 was baffled by her enormous lying and consummate deceit. He pro- 
 ceeds with his narrative : — 
 
 " Saturday, April 17.--I called on Mrs. W., and asked what Mr. 
 Oglethorpe said last night. She replied, ' He again charged me with 
 having told you, and thereby with having told your brother : he said 
 
 1 was in love with him, which I owned, but not as he thought. I told 
 him he was all made up of art. He was exceeding sad when he left me.' 
 
OGLETHORPE AND THE WESLEYS IN AMERICA. 13 
 
 C. W. " ' Mrs. W., you have deeply injured me. I never built upon 
 Mr. Oglethorpe's friendship; for I have no worldly expectations. But 
 you have turned my best friend into an enemy for life. When in the 
 openness of my heart I warned you against that very woman, how 
 could you go immediately and betray me to her? Why should you 
 even invent falsehoods to hurt me, and say to her and Mr. Oglethorpe 
 that I raised the report about them? Did I deserve this at your 
 hands'? Was this gratitude?' 
 
 3frs. TF. " ^ No : very far from it. I know not what I meant. I 
 was mad. I was out of my senses. But T beg you will not say any- 
 thing to Mr. Oglethorpe.' 
 
 C. W. " ^ No : you are safe. I cannot return evil for evil ; but 
 I must in justice tell Mr. Oglethorpe that it was not I informed you, 
 but that you informed me of the scandalous reports. 
 
 " * But what was your end in saying what you did of Mrs. H. ? ' 
 
 Mrs. W. " * 0, do not ask me. I was mad. I was bewitched. I 
 said I don't know what.' 
 
 C, W. " * But was that false which you told us of yourself? ' (namely, 
 that she was Oglethorpe's kept mistress in England.) 
 
 Mrs. W. " ' It was. I never saw Mr. Oglethorpe till I came into 
 the ship.' 
 
 C. W. " ^ What end had you in vihfying yourself ? ' 
 
 Mrs. W. " * Do not ask me. I cannot tell,' 
 
 C. W. " * Then I will, for you. Answer me sincerely. Are you not 
 in love with Mr. Oglethorpe? And did you not invent all these false- 
 hoods to gain credit with my brother, and thereby employ him to 
 throw out Mrs. H., and so make room for yourself?' 
 
 Mrs. W. " * You say the very thing. It is so.' 
 
 " An hour afterwards I was with her again, and informed her I 
 intended to set Mr. Oglethorpe right, as she, in justice to me, ought to 
 have done. She replied, — 
 
 " * I have been almost distracted at the thoughts of my treatment of 
 you. That I should have incensed Mr. Oglethorpe to such a devihsh 
 outrage 1 That I should be the devil's instrument in crushing you, in 
 destroying the innocent! The devil surely was in me. I raised Mr. 
 Oglethorpe's suspicions of you. I complained of you being so trouble- 
 some to me. I accused you against my conscience of a base design, 
 and have estranged him from you entirely.' 
 
 C. W. "*How had I provoked you to it? Did you ever receive 
 aught but good from me ?' 
 
 Mrs. W. " ^ No. But Mrs. H. was continually instigating me to it, 
 saying, we must supplant these parsons, and then we shall have Mr. 
 Oglethorpe to ourselves. * Do you accuse C. W. to him, and I will 
 accuse the other.' Whether she said that of your brother which I 
 said of you, I am not sure : but I find that she has laid all upon me, 
 and would have me ruin you, that she may ruin me.' 
 
 C. W, " * Then what you said of her history to my brother is true 
 again?' 
 
 Mrs. W. " * Every word of it. Her design of drawing him on, 
 
14 OGLETHORPE AND THE WESLEYS IN AMERICA. 
 
 and then exposing him, with all the account I gave your brother, is 
 true.' 
 
 " Upon her again falling into self-condemnation, I said, ^ God forgive 
 you as freely as I do. You owe me a public vindication, but my 
 innocence shall surely meet with the fullest vindication from God.' 
 
 Jfrs, W, *' ' I will unsay all, the first opportunity I have with Mr. 
 Oglethorpe. I know how enraged he is against you.' She then pro- 
 ceeded with her false charges against Mr. Oglethorpe. ' At his landing, 
 
 he accosted me with, ^ I hear C. W. has secured your husband and .' 
 
 I denied it with horror. But what shocked me, was his saying, * Could 
 you not get him into the woods, then run away screaming out that he 
 had offered you violence? I know he will say it is a false accusation, 
 but leave me to manage him then!' I so dreaded the consequence, 
 that I have had no rest since.' 
 
 C. IF. " * But does not your dread of the consequence arise not from 
 any regard to my injury or damage, but from the fear of losing 
 himr 
 
 Mrs, TF. " ' No ! For though I love him to distraction, it is as a 
 brother. Even last night, I absolutely refused .' 
 
 C. TF. " Horrified at the statement ! ' Do you believe a life after 
 this ? Do you believe a future judgment ? And that the secrets of 
 all hearts shall be revealed 1 ' 
 
 Mrs. TF. " ' Yes. I believe this.' 
 
 C. TF. " ' Tell me then, if what you now speak be true.' 
 
 *' She answered with another solemn oath, * It is."* 
 
 " I related to my brother this conversation, and we were both utterly 
 confounded. 
 
 " Soon after, I got some time for meditation upon death, and felt a 
 hope of being accepted through Christ. 
 
 " The next day, my brother and Mr. Delamotte set out in an open 
 boat for Savannah." 
 
 It will be seen in the sequel, that the results of Mr. John Wesley's 
 visit to his brother were of the utmost importance. With his usual 
 accuracy and punctuality, he entered in his Diary the events of every 
 day and of every hour of the day, the names of the persons he 
 visited or met with, and the conversations he had with them; and, 
 especially, of all that related to his brother's unhappy position. When 
 an opportunity occurred of reporting to Mr. Oglethorpe the particulars 
 and conversations noted in the Diary, the whole mystery was solved. 
 
 V. THE EXPLANATION, AND CONCLUSION. 
 
 Mr. John Wesley, after his return to Savannah, with his charac- 
 teristic honesty and courage, wrote a letter to Mr. Oglethorpe, 
 repeating the scandalous accusations, on the authority of the ladies 
 whose stories the two brothers regarded as having some foundation 
 in truth. Mr. C. Wesley thus describes the result : — 
 
 " Easter-eve, April 24th. At ten I was sent for by Mr. Oglethorpe. 
 He began ; * Mr. Wesley, you know what has passed between us. I 
 
OGLETHORPE AND THE WESLEYS IN AMERICA. 15 
 
 took some pains to satisfy your brother about the reports conceniiuf^ 
 me, but in vain. He here renews his suspicions in writing. I did 
 desire to convince him, because I had an esteem for him; and he is 
 just so considerable to me as my esteem makes him. I could clear up 
 all, but it matters not. You will soon see the reason of my actions. 
 
 " ' I am now going to death. You will see me no more. Take this 
 ring, and carry it from me to Mr. 0. 
 
 " * If there is a friend to be depended upon, he is one. His 
 interest is next to Sir Robert's.* Whatever you ask within his 
 power, he will do for you, your brother, and your family. I have 
 expected death for some days. These letters show that the Spaniards 
 have long been seducing our allies, and intend to cut us off at a 
 blow. I fall by my friends : — Gascoin, whom I have made ; the 
 Carolina people, whom I depended upon to send their promised 
 succours. But death is to me nothing. I will pursue all my designs, 
 and to him I recommend them and you.' 
 
 " He then gave me a diamond ring ; I took it, and said, ' If, 
 as I believe, postremum fato, quod te alloquor hoc est,^ hear what 
 you will quickly know to be true, as soon as you are entered upon the 
 separate state. This ring I shall never make any use of for myself. 
 I have no worldly hopes. I have renounced the world. Life is 
 bitterness to me. I came hither to lay it down. 
 
 " * You have been deceived, as well as I. I protest my innocence of 
 the crimes I am charged with; and take myself to be now at liberty 
 to tell you what I thought never to have uttered. 
 
 " ' Mrs. Welch excited in me the first suspicion of you after we were 
 come here. She afterwards told you her own words as if they had 
 been mine. This she confessed both to my brother and me; as like- 
 wise that she had falsely accused me to you of making love to her. 
 She was put upon it by Mrs. Hawkins saying, ' Let us supplant these 
 parsons, and we shall have General 0. to ourselves.' " 
 
 " When I had finished this relation he seemed entirely changed, 
 full of his old love and confidence in me. After some expressions of 
 kindness, 
 
 " I asked him, * Are you satisfied 1 ' 
 
 " He replied, ' Yes, entirely.' 
 
 " * Why then. Sir, I desire nothing more upon earth ; and care not 
 how soon I follow you.' 
 
 " He added, he much desired the conversion of the heathen, and 
 believed my brother intended for it. * But I believe,' said I, ' it will 
 never be under your patronage; for then men would account for 
 it without taking in God.' He replied, * I believe so too.' He then 
 embraced and kissed me with the most cordial affection. I at- 
 tended him to the scout-boat, where he waited some minutes for his 
 sword. They brought him first, and a second time, a mourning sword. 
 At last they gave him his own, which had been his father's. * With 
 
 * Sir Robert Walpole. 
 
 f " These are my last words to you." 
 
16 OGLETHORPE AND THE WESLEYS IN AMERICA. 
 
 this sword,' says he, ' I was never yet unsuccessful.' ' I hope, Sir/ 
 said I, * you carry with you a better, even the sword of the Lord, and 
 of Gideon.' 'I hope so too,' he added. 
 
 " When the boat put off, I ran before into the woods, to see my 
 last of him. Seeing me and two others running after him, he stopped 
 the boat, and asked whether we wanted anything. Captain Mackintosh, 
 left commander, desired his last orders. I then said, ' God be with 
 you. Go forth, Christo duce et ausjnce Christo .''* * You have,' says 
 he, * I think, some verses of mine. You there see my thoughts of 
 success.' His last word to the people was, ' God bless you all 1 ' 
 The boat then carried him out of sight. I interceded for him, that 
 God would save him from death, would wash out all his sins, and 
 prepare, before he took, the sacrifice to himself." 
 
 Mr. Oglethorpe returned in safety from this expedition. During 
 his absence he met with Mr. John Wesley, who read to him his Diary 
 of his visit to Frederica, and gave him such other information as 
 convinced him of Mr. Charles Wesley's purity of character. The 
 process by which he arrived at this conclusion, as described in his 
 own words, in conversation with Mr.*Charles Wesley, forms the most 
 interesting part of our narrative. It is quite refreshing to be admitted 
 to the society of two men of such eminence, and to listen to their 
 conversation and confessions. 
 
 " Monday, May 31st. About noon Mr. Oglethorpe sent us word 
 that he was going to (hold a) court. We went, and heard his speech 
 to the people, in the close of which he said, ' If any one here has been 
 abused or oppressed by any man, in or out of employment, he has free 
 and full liberty of complaining. Let him deliver in his complaints in 
 writing, at my house. I will read all over by myself, and do every 
 particular man justice.' 
 
 "At eight in the evening I waited upon him, and found the three 
 magistrates, who seemed much alarmed by his speech, and hoped he 
 would not discourage government. He dismissed them, and told me, 
 he feared his following my brother's advice, in hearing all complaints, 
 would ruin the people; and he should never have any to serve him. 
 I replied, I thought the contrary, and that such liberty w^as the 
 happiest thing that could happen to the colony, and much to be 
 desired by all good men. He fell, I know not how, into talk of 
 Frederica, and said — 
 
 " * Your brother read me his diary, which astonished me to the last 
 degree, and fully convinced me of your innocence. For if Mrs. W. 
 could so blacken me, she could blacken you. Accordingly, she 
 came crying to me upon my arrival, with complaints that you had 
 confined her husband, and come to bed to her. I asked her whether 
 she would swear it. She said she would, out of fear, and to save her 
 husband's life. From that time I shuddered at the sight of you. 
 
 * *' Christ being your leader, and Christ your aid." — Bancroft says that 
 Oglethorpe's motto, given to him by CharJes Wesley, was, " Nothing is to be 
 despaired of with Christ for leader." — Christo duce nil desperandum. 
 
OGLETEIORPE AND THE WESLEYS IN AMERICA. 17 
 
 It was such a complication of villainy! To make a tool of poor 
 Hermsdorf ; to half kill the miserable husband by keeping him three 
 days under a tree; to take this opportunity of ruining his wife, and 
 all under the mask of religion ! I could not bear you, or suppress my 
 strong antipathy. She told me you were continually soliciting her to 
 walk with you into the woods, and had persecuted her throughout 
 the voyage; and had now actually ruined her. I asked whether 
 she would witness this openly against you ; she answered. No, by no 
 means; she would not be brought in evidence against you; 
 (observing, I suppose, that I did not appear forward enough for it. 
 ' But why then,** said I, * did you tell it me ? You must be silent 
 and keep it to yourself.' * Would,' said she, * would you have me 
 continually priest-ridden'?' 
 
 " ' I had intended, if she had stood to her charge, to have sent for 
 you, and tried you before all the people, to have pulled oiF the mask, and 
 punished you with the utmost severity, especially when I heard from 
 your brother of your having defamed me with Mrs. Hawkins. I 
 thought you a very devil, so to divert all enquiries into your own guilt 
 by throwing the charge upon me ! I had entirely excommunicated 
 you from my little church within, and determined to make an example 
 of you. Everything concurred to convince me of your guilt. All you 
 did and said. Your very silence and shyness. Your telling me you 
 should be cut oiF from doing good to one-half your parishioners, if I 
 did not vindicate you from Mrs. H.'s aspersions; your pretended 
 tenderness for Mrs. W. in the ship; your seeing her since, especially 
 when your brother was here; running thither continually and staying 
 till midnight," (as he was falsely informed by his spies, who were 
 equally the enemies of the Wesleys because of the check they were on 
 their licentiousness) ^^ for I had you dogged for several days; — all men 
 would have condemned you on your trial, the circumstances were so 
 strong. And tried and sentenced you would infallibly have been, but 
 that I considered the effect it would have upon religion; and that 
 religion should be wounded through your sides I could not bear. 
 Your history could be made a play, or novel of. The character you 
 had in your former life, your coming here a Missionary, would alto- 
 gether have made as good a story as Madam K r s. 
 
 " * These thoughts first staggered me. But above all, your uncle ! 
 The possibility of his triumph over you, and religion, turned the scale ; 
 and I verily believe God sent me that night to be insulted by him, to 
 save you.' 
 
 C W, " * But what did you think of my former life, and of my 
 end in coming here *? ' 
 
 Oglethorpe, " ' I thought you were then sincere. But that never having 
 met with any woman before, and being, perhaps, sometimes encouraged, 
 and sometimes checked by an artful woman, you were drawn unawares 
 into such depths of wickedness, and were now wholly given up and 
 abandoned to the power of the devil.' 
 
 C. IF."* But my guilt would never have been beheved by my 
 friends in England.' 
 
18 OGLETHOEPE AND THE WESLEYS IN AMERICA. 
 
 Oglethorpe. " ^ The good who did believe it, would think you fell 
 as Santon Barsissa.' 
 
 Charles Wesley continues his narrative as follows : — 
 " I said, among other things : ' The reason of my shyness was the 
 opinion I had entertained of you from Mrs. Welch"'s account, which I am 
 now at liberty to mention, since you know it all^ in great measure, 
 from my brother. I thought you as very a devil as you thought me. 
 The character she had given me of you was, if possible, worse than 
 she gave you of me. She professed that she knew three of your 
 mistresses in England. She said that she herself was seduced by you, 
 and that so was Mrs. H. That you believed no more of Christianity 
 than Mahomet j that you was a truly wicked man, and intended to take 
 away my life. I expected no other for many days. Never hoping to 
 come alive from Frederica, what freed me at once from all anxiety was 
 a word of sacred Scripture, Thou canst not follow me now, but thou 
 shalt follow me hereafter.' 
 
 " He then assured me of his firm belief of the Christian revelation, 
 * which alone,' said he, ' has tied my hands, and hindered me from 
 putting an end to a miserable life.'' 
 
 " ^ But when,' said I, ^ did you first begin to suspect that I was 
 innocent ? ' 
 
 " He answered, * Not till I went to the southward, as I thought, 
 upon certain death. For upon your saying in my tent, * If you can 
 believe this, you must think me a most complete villain."* *Alas,' 
 thought I, * you well know what a villain I ought to think you.' 
 
 C W, " ^ What was it at last that convinced you to the contrary ? ' 
 
 Oglethorpe, " ' A dream made the first impression upon me, when I 
 was sleeping in a boat, toward the southward. The manner is not at 
 all exact, but I never knew a dream deceive me. I thought you came 
 to me and said something which quite convinced me of your innocence. 
 This, when I awaked, put me upon re-considering everything. What 
 sprung the first doubt was, what I had observed from the beginning, 
 that Mrs. W. was an exceedingly subtle woman. Next, the telling 
 me the story of you, and stopping short when she observed me, as she 
 thought, not sufiiciently forward to destroy you.' 
 
 (7. W, " ^But you told me, just as you went to the southward, that 
 you were satisfied.' 
 
 Ogletlwrpe. "^I did so; and I was satisfied then, at least, of you 
 being penitent.' 
 
 C, W. " ' Did what I said conduce to it T 
 
 Oglethorjje. " ' No ; it was your looks, so sad, so pale, and mortified, 
 that I could not but say in myself, * this man must either be innocent 
 or deeply penitent ; w^hichever it is, it is the same to me. I am going 
 to cast myself on death and the mercy of God, and shall I refuse for- 
 giveness to my fellow-creature? No, I will not only forgive him, but 
 so forgive him as I would God should forgive me. Leave him entirely 
 acquitted and satisfied.' All this I tell you, that you may give God 
 the glory, and beware of man; but I did not tell it your brother; 
 pride, I own, hindered me, lest my relating what Mrs. W. had said of 
 
OGLETHORPE AND TIIK WESLEYS IN AMERICA. 10 
 
 you, immediately upon his telling me what she had said of me, might 
 look like retaliation ; a second reason, was my regard for him ; for he 
 would doubt my having renounced my ill opinion of you : and, as to 
 what is past, though he forgive, he will never forget it. You, I am 
 satisfied, would be tender of the poor unhappy woman, as I was, leaving 
 her full of comfort; I am determined never to mention any word of all 
 this to her, and desire you will not.' 
 
 C. W. ** ' That I can easily promise; for my intercourse with her is 
 over. I am no longer obliged to look upon her as one of my charge, 
 and shall never speak to her of this matter. Indeed, my caution in 
 conversing with her did not spring from any fear of these consequences, 
 but from an advice of S. Spangenberg's, * Never to talk with a woman 
 without a witness, or, in the face of the sun.' I followed his direction, 
 but did not see the providential reason of it till now." " 
 
 Such was the ordeal through which the brothers had to pass on 
 their arrival in America. Was it not permitted by Divine Providence, 
 that they might obtain a deeper insight into human depravity, and be 
 prepared by rough discipline for their future intercourse with the 
 world 1 
 
 Within a few weeks subsequent to these events, Mr. C. Wesley 
 resigned his office of Secretary to the Governor, and returned to 
 England; he was joined by his brother about a year and a half 
 afterwards; when they commenced that course of useful and self- 
 denying labour in which they were ever after associated. 
 
 Mr. Oglethorpe remained a firm and faithful friend of the Wesleys 
 to the close of his eventful and protracted life. 
 
 "His life was prolonged to near five score years; and, even in the 
 last year of it, he was extolled as the finest figure ever seen, the 
 impersonation of venerable age ; his faculties were as bright as ever, 
 and his sight was undimmed; ever Hieroic, romantic, and full of the 
 old gallantry,' he was like the sound of the lyre, as it still vibrates, 
 after the spirit of the age that sweeps its strings has passed away." — 
 Bancroft's History of America. 
 
 Oglethorpe*'s portrait, which is preserved in the work from which 
 we have quoted, accompanies this paper as a memorial of one of the 
 earliest friends of the Wesleys and their evangelizing labours. 
 
 " But,'' adds the American historian, " as he (Oglethorpe) belonged 
 to the past, he could not found enduring institutions. He could not 
 mould the future, and his legislation did not outlive his power. In 
 Georgia, the system of tail male wore gradually into oblivion; the 
 importation of rum was no longer forbidden; slaves from Carolina 
 were hired by the planter, first for a short period, then for a life, or a 
 hundred years. Slaves from Africa sailed directly to Savannah, and 
 the laws against them were not rigidly enforced. Whitfield, who 
 believed that God's providence would certainly make slavery terminate 
 for the advantage of the Africans, pleaded before the Trustees in 
 
20 OGLETHORPE AND THE WESLEYS IN AMERICA. 
 
 its favour, as essential to the prosperity of Georgia ; even the poorest 
 people earnestly desired the change. The Moravians still expressed 
 regret, moved partly by a hatred of oppression, and partly by 
 antipathy to the race of coloured men. At last, they too began to 
 think that negro slaves might be employed in a Christian spirit ; and 
 it was agreed that, if the negroes are treated in a Christian manner, 
 their change of country would prove to them a benefit. A message 
 from Germany served to hush their scruples, ' If you take slaves in 
 faith, and with the intent of conducting them to Christ, the action will 
 not be a sin, but may prove a benediction.' " 
 
 Let recent events testify whether the anti-slavery system which 
 Oglethorpe introduced, and which the Wesleys defended before the 
 authorities at home after their return would not have been better for 
 Georgia than that which succeeded it, and which threatens to prove 
 ruinous to the North as well as to the South in the once United 
 States of America. 
 
 V 
 
 London : R. Needham, Printer, Paternoster-Row.