MRS. WESLEY AND HER HOUSEHOLD by Stephen Nelson Haskell

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Nov 18, 1880

MRS. WESLEY AND HER HOUSEHOLD.

By Stephen Nelson Haskell

BY ELD. S. N. HASKELL.

"The mother of the Wesleys was the mother of Methodism," says a writer who has given us the philosophy of its history. She was the wife of Samuel Wesley, and mother of Charles and John Wesley. The success and usefulness of both husband and sons may, in a large measure, be attributed to her efforts and influence; and the testimony borne to her memory by each of them, shows that they recognized and appreciated this fact. Says her husband, in writing to the archbishop, during his imprisonment, which left his numerous family without the means of support: "Tis not every one who could bear these things; but I bless God, my wife is less concerned with suffering them than I am in the writing, or I believe your grace will be in the reading of them."

Mrs. Wesley's father, Dr. Samuel Annesley, was a leading non-conformist divine, who endured a series of severe persecutions for his faith. While preparing a warrant for his apprehension, one of his persecutors fell dead; and in many other similar instances he was preserved by an interposition of Providence. During the troubles of those times he became a leader of the Puritans, preaching almost daily, providing pastors for destitute churches, and relief for his ejected and impoverished brethren. "Oh, how many places," exclaimed one of his cotemporaries, "had sat in darkness; how many ministers had been starved, if Dr. Annesley had died thirty years since." After a ministry of more than half a century, and of sore trials, under which he never once faltered, he died exclaiming, "I shall be satisfied with thy likeness; satisfied, satisfied."

The non-conformists considered him a second St. Paul. Richard Baxter pronounced him totally devoted to God. He had a rich estate which he devoted to charity. A large soul, says Clarke, "flaming with zeal." From him Mrs. Wesley inherited those energetic traits of character, which she transmitted to her son John. She was the mother of nineteen children, thirteen of whom were living at one time, and ten reached adult age. The management of domestic matters, the education and training of the children, devolved upon her. Possessing a mind well disciplined and stored with knowledge, having received a thorough education, she connected the labors of a school with her other, and numerous household duties, and instructed her own children. Her home presents the picture of a domestic church, a family school, and a genuine old English household. For more than forty years it continued a sanctuary of domestic and Christian virtues. The mother was its priestess, and more than the rector himself, ministered to the spiritual necessities of its inmates. The power of a thoroughly religious education, combined with a regular course of mental training, was manifested in the future lives of the children. All ten became devoted Christians, and died in hope. So fully did Mrs. Wesley comply with the words of inspiration, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it," that she saw them fulfilled in her own family.

To subdue the will of the child was one of Mrs. Wesley's first tasks; "because," she says, "this is the only strong and rational foundation of a religious education, without which, both precept and example will be ineffectual. But when this is thoroughly done, then a child is capable of being governed by the reason and piety of its parents, till its own understanding comes to maturity, and the principles of religion have taken root in the mind.

The family usually lived in as much quiet as if there had been no child among them; and that most odious noise of the crying of children was seldom heard in the house. No child was ever punished for a fault which he ingenuously confessed and promised to correct; and if he reformed, the offense was never afterward upbraided. Promises were strictly observed. Drinking and eating between meals was never allowed, unless in the case of sickness, which seldom occurred. The children were taught to be quiet during family devotions, and even to engage in them before they could speak plainly. Each evening, Mrs. Wesley devoted time to conversing with her children on religious subjects, and also in meditation and prayer. Although perfect order reigned in the household, it was not made an austere and desolate home to the children. At suitable intervals the nursery, with its large juvenile community, became an arena of hilarious recreation, of high glee and frolic. The mother was the center of household attraction, and the family had the common fame of being the most loving one in the county of Lincoln. Yet, in this happy Christian family, there were shadows which mingled with its tranquil lights.

Samuel Wesley lived in continual conflict with poverty. His limited salary, together with the earnings of his pen, was insufficient to support so large a family; and the economy exercised by Mrs. Wesley, in so well sustaining it, and educating their children, "is," says one writer, "one of the most remarkable facts in history. Pressed on every side by want, and even suffering at times from severe destitution, she says, at the age of fifty, that from the best observations she has been able to make, it is much easier to be contented without riches, than with them. Nine children were removed from the family circle by death, and the marriage of some of the daughters was unfortunate, causing the noble mother much anguish. In writing to her brother, she says: "Believe me, it is better to mourn ten children dead, than one living, and I have buried many."

The truth of the oft-repeated saying, "The hand which rocks the cradle moves the world," is demonstrated in a most striking manner in Mrs. Wesley's experience. While performing the common, homely, laborious duties of life, she placed her hand upon a mighty lever in the cause of God and true reform. All that her sons accomplished for the salvation of mankind, reflects back upon her memory with untold luster.

To those who may read these lines, we recommend the adoption of the principles underlying her course. Well would it be for the church of God, if Christian mothers, from her day to this, had followed her example.