John Wesley on War and Peace

Jo h n W esley o n W a r a n d P ea ce S A M U E L J . R O G A L mlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Between John Wesley’s birth in midJune 1703 and his death on 2 March 1791, four British monarchs committed English arms to en­ gagements in at least eight full-scale wars, two serious internal upris­ ings, a major colonial revolution, and a number of lesser encounters in North America, India, Minorca, French Senegal, Martinique, Gre­ nada, Cuba, and the Philippines. At first glance, it would appear, as with the majority of eighteenth-century Britons, that Wesley’s reli­ gious and social activities reflected no more than a superficial aware­ ness of and concern for his nation’s foreign and colonial policies. Did not the leader of the Methodists and his followers have problems of their own in attempting to establish and then solidify what would become one of the most significant socio-theological movements in the history of modem W estern Europe? W ith the possible exceptions of the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1745, had he or his preachers the opportunity to react to or appreciate the immediacy of death and destruction resulting from battles, campaigns, or sieges? For example, in June 1765, at which time Wesley was traveling through Ireland, a Lieutenant Cook conveyed him from Galway to Ennis; the former had seen considerable action at Fort W illiam Henry, Louisburg, Quebec, Martinique, and Havana, and impressed upon his passenger the fact that he had come through it all without a single wound. The 329 330 / WVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA S A M U E L ] . R O G A L Me thod istpatriarch could only comme nt in his journal, “So true is the odd saying of King W illiam, that ‘every bullet has its billet.’”1 Nevertheless, such outward lack of enthuasiasm over a soldier’s battlefield experiences must not be interpreted as a sign of indifference or decline of patriotic spirit. To the contrary, Wesley could, when occasion demanded, be moved to action in support of king and nation— especially when the political pressures of the moment forced him toward a decision. On 25 February 1744, in the face of imminent invasion by the Young Pretender and impendent war with France, the British government ordered all Papists— both real and reputed— to depart from London and W estminster by 2 March; in addition, suspected individuals were to be confined to their homes, their arms and horses confiscated. Both John and Charles Wesley had long been considered, by those strongly opposed to Methodism, as sworn Papists and even agents of Charles Edward. Thus, the elder brother, in an effort to prove his loyalty, postponed a visit to Bristol so that he might have an opportunity to confront his accusers in London. Then, on 5 March 1744, he drafted a letter to George II, declaring that Methodists “detest and abhor the fundamental doctrines of the Church of Rome, and are steadily attached to your Majesty’s royal person and illustrious house.” The letter closed on a note of im­ passioned appeal to the only authority that Wesley could trust: “May He who hath bought us with His blood, the Prince of all the kings of the earth, fight against all the enemies of your Majesty with the two-edged sword that cometh out of his mouth! And when He calleth your Majesty from this throne, full of years and victories, may it be with that voice, ‘Come, receive the kingdom prepared for thee, from the beginning of the world!’”2 However, the letter never left the writer’s desk, for Charles feared that such an address would identify the Methodists as a sect distinct from the Established Church. Thirty years later, John Wesley looked back upon the delicate moments in the early history of his movement and concluded, “It is my religion which obliges me to put men in mind to be subject to principalities and powers. Loyalty is with me an essential branch of religion, and which I am sorry any Methodist should forget. There is the closest connection, therefore, between my religious and political conduct; Jo h n W...