A Calm Address to our American Colonies: John Wesley's Rebuke to the Rebels of North America (original) (raw)
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This essay revisits John Wesley's A Calm Address to Our American Colonies in an attempt to contribute to the renewed interest in the global and transatlantic dimensions of the American Revolution, particularly its religious aspects. Mapping Methodist responses to the Revolution on both sides of the Atlantic may provide a helpful microcosm of responses in the broader religious world. It cautions against seeing Wesley's political views as extreme Toryism and draws on recent scholarship to demonstrate that Wesley supported a constitutional monarchy since its finely tuned balance of power between king, parliament and people needed only to be preserved in order for genuine liberty to prevail. The myth that Methodists destroyed copies of the Calm Address when they reached America in order to avoid being seen as Loyalists is disproved. Methodist responses to the Revolution were varied, ranging from strong opposition to active support, but Wesley's political views were not unusual in the hotly contested world of eighteenth-century rhetoric on liberty even if Methodists would distance themselves from them in the more politically reformist atmosphere of the nineteenth century.
John Wesley's 'Calm Address' with Reference to the Classical Theism in Wesley's Political Tracts
Opposition to the idea of armed rebellion against the British crown saw John Wesley issue in 1775 a ‘Calm Address’ (calmly borrowed from Samuel Johnson) that rebuked the rebels for their disloyalty. The Address went through up to nine editions and 100,000 copies were circulated within a year. The Parliament ensured that a copy was delivered to every church door in the land. This paper will examine the origins and causes of Wesley’s opposition to the American Revolution, the effect of his opinions on the Methodist itinerants in America, and the response from both loyalists and republicans to his defence of the rights of the crown to tax its subjects. It will make reference to the classical theism contained in Wesley’s political tracts
John Wesley’s Rebuke to the Rebels of British America: Revisiting the Calm Address
This es say re vis its John Wes ley's A Calm Ad dress to Our Amer i can Col o nies in an at tempt to con trib ute to the re newed in ter est in the global and trans at lantic di men sions of the Amer i can Rev o lu tion, par tic u larly its re li gious as pects. Map ping Meth od ist re sponses to the Rev o lu tion on both sides of the At lan tic may pro vide a help ful mi cro cosm of re sponses in the broader re li gious world. It cau tions against see ing Wes ley's po lit i cal views as ex treme Toryism and draws on re cent schol ar ship to dem on strate that Wes ley sup ported a con sti tutional mon ar chy since its finely tuned bal ance of power be tween king, par liament and peo ple needed only to be pre served in or der for gen u ine lib erty to pre vail. The myth that Meth od ists de stroyed cop ies of the Calm Ad dress when they reached Amer ica in or der to avoid be ing seen as Loy al ists is dis proved. Meth od ist re sponses to the Rev o lu tion were var ied, rang ing from strong op posi tion to ac tive sup port, but Wes ley's po lit i cal views were not un usual in the hotly con tested world of eigh teenth-cen tury rhet o ric on lib erty even if Method ists would dis tance them selves from them in the more po lit i cally re form ist at mo sphere of the nine teenth cen tury. 's A Calm Ad dress to Our Amer i can Col o nies was a Loy al ist pam phlet pub lished in Sep tem ber 1775 three months af ter the hos til i ties at Lexington and Con cord, Mas sa chu setts, that launched the Amer i can Rev o lution. It de fended the right of Par lia ment to tax the Amer i can col o nies, pointed Amer i cans to the lib er ties they al ready en joyed un der the crown, and ended with an ex hor ta tion to "fear God and hon our the king." Go ing through nineteen edi tions, 100,000 cop ies were cir cu lated within a year. 1 The Calm Ad dress is prob a bly the best known of John Wes ley's po lit i cal tracts and is usu ally con sid ered the pri mary source for as cer tain ing his views on the Amer i can Rev o lu tion. It is chiefly re spon si ble for the sus pi cion that Method ists in Brit ish Amer ica were Loy al ists and trai tors to the cause of free dom, and as a piece of Chris tian dis course at a turn ing point in hu man his tory it is valu able in shed ding light on con cepts of po lit i cal lib erty in the eigh teenthcen tury world. Un der stand ably, along with Meth od ist re sponses to the Revo lu tion in gen eral, the Calm Ad dress be came the fo cus of a con sid er able number of pub li ca tions around the time that the United States cel e brated its Bi cen ten nial in 1976. 2 A re turn to the Calm Ad dress at a dis tance from that par tic u lar cel e bra tion may con trib ute to the re newed in ter est in the global and
Liberty and Loyalty: John Wesley's Political World
This paper was presented at the Manchester Wesley Research Centre session on ‘New Research on John Wesley and Methodism in the 18th and 19th Century,’ at the Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Denver, 19 November 2018. It is a broad overview of themes in a monograph I have recently completed with the provisional title of Liberty and Loyalty: John Wesley’s Political World presently under peer review. It draws on material in the introductory and concluding sections of the book in order to highlight a number of findings in the work and therefore does not deal closely with the close examination of texts as the larger work does and has a minimum of footnotes. It argues that liberty and loyalty are the twin themes that help crystalize John Wesley’s political outlook. Liberty was a divinely given capacity to which every person had as much right as breathing. While the origin of political power lay with God, human governments had the responsibility to provide both civil and religious liberty. The surest guarantee of such liberty was through the ‘ancient constitution’ given its purest embodiment in the constitutional arrangements of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. A devout Protestant king would rule over a grateful people, while being held accountable to God and to the Parliament for his actions as a check on tyranny. This was a form of social contract and loyalty to that contract would check seditious and rebellious grabs for power. Sentiments expressed by republican voices in America masked more sinister ambitions – an overthrow of the ancient constitution of Britain to be replaced by a democracy of ‘the people.’ In the end, however, the hand of an all-wise Providence guided historical forces and the best response to political fluctuations was a personal one – to make God one’s friend through repentance and faith. John Wesley was not a politician or an economist or a military strategist. He was a priest and an evangelist, so that his political world ultimately existed as a subset of a world bounded by the cosmic drama of salvation.
For God, King, and Country: Nineteenth-Century Methodist Interpretations of the War of 1812
The War of 1812 almost ruined Episcopal Methodism in Upper Canada. During the War, the American itinerants were unable to travel in the land and, after the War, their detractors used their connection to America to undermine their influence in the loyal Province. This article offers two examples in order to highlight the ways in which the Methodists themselves used the war to prove their loyalty as well as their role in developing the land that would one day become Canada. The first example looks at how Methodists in the Reform party of the 1828 House of Assembly viewed their denomination's role during and in the years following the War. The second example looks at the publication of two popular books in 1880 that defended the contribution American Methodists had made to the British war effort. These examples moved the issue of Methodist loyalty into the sphere of politics and public policy and showed how the ongoing interpretation of the War of 1812 continued to affect these Methodists throughout the nineteenth century.