The Rev. John Clayton, M.A., the Jacobite Churchman
God has wisely and graciously hidden the future from us. We may form guesses concerning it; but we have not the slightest certainty that our guesses will be realised. Who, in 1732, could have foretold the future career of the Oxford Methodists? If the members of the Methodist fraternity could have seen beforehand the events of the next fifty years, what would have been the issue? Would the fellowship of the Hanoverian and Jacobite, the Methodist and Moravian, the Churchman and Dissenter, the Arminian and Calvinist, the itinerant Evangelist and the parish Priest, have been continued? That fellowship was of incalculable importance; but its maintenance depended upon the shortsightedness of those who were united in it. The drawing aside of the veil of futurity would, in all likelihood, have converted the loving brotherhood into an Ishmaelitish band, endangering, not only its future usefulness, but its present existence, by its own internecine fights. As it was, there went forth a number of brave-hearted men, all of them the better for their godly meetings in Wesley’s comfortable room in Lincoln College; and, though their courses were divergent, yet, in the main, they continued faithful to the cause of truth, and, with few exceptions, were always loyal to their great Master, Christ. In a qualified sense, we may apply to Oxford Methodism the words of the sacred text: “A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads” (Gen. ii 10). Let us follow one of the out-flowings:—
John Clayton was the son of William Clayton, a bookseller in Manchester;15 was born in 1709, and was educated by the Rev. John Richards, M.A., at the Grammar School in that important town. He entered Brazenose College in 1726, and became Hulme’s exhibitioner in 1729.16 He was introduced to Wesley in 1732; and, by his recommendation, the Oxford Methodists took another important step, that of fasting twice a week. Wesley writes,—
“On April 20, 1732, Mr. Clayton meeting me in the street, and giving Mr. Rivington’s17 service, I desired his company to my room, and then commenced our acquaintance. At the first opportunity, I acquainted him with our whole design, which he immediately and heartily closed with; and, not long after, (Mr. Morgan having then left Oxford,) we fixed two evenings in a week to meet on, partly to talk on that subject, and partly to read something in practical divinity. The two points whereunto, by the blessing of God, we had before attained, we endeavoured to hold fast: I mean, the doing what good we can; and, in order thereto, communicating as often as we have opportunity. To these, by the advice of Mr. Clayton, we added a third,—the observing the fasts of the Church; the general neglect of which we can by no means apprehend to be a lawful excuse for neglecting them. And in the resolution to adhere to these and all things else, which we are convinced God requires at our hands, we trust we shall persevere till He calls us to give an account of our stewardship. As for the names of Methodists, Supererogation-men, and so on, with which some of our neighbours are pleased to compliment us, we do not conceive ourselves to be under any obligation to regard them, much less to take them for arguments. ‘To the law and to the testimony’ we appeal, whereby we ought to be judged. If by these it can be proved we are in error, we will immediately and gladly retract it: if not, we ‘have not so learned Christ,’ as to renounce any part of His service, though men should ‘say all manner of evil against us,’ with more judgment and as little truth as hitherto. We do, indeed, use all the lawful means we know to prevent ‘the good which is in us’ from being ‘evil spoken of:’ but if the neglect of known duties be the one condition of securing our reputation, why, fare it well; we know whom we have believed, and what we thus lay out He will pay us again.”18
These were brave Christian words; the noble utterance of an earnest, conscientious, godly man. The Methodist brotherhood, thus portrayed, present an example which all who are right-minded cannot but admire. There is no taking for “doctrines the commandments of men;” no ridiculous toying with ecclesiastical or superstitious trifles; but a stout-hearted adherence to great, scripture principles. Wesley and his friends were not pious for the purpose of being singular, but because they felt it to be a duty. To be laughed at was far from being pleasant; but they were quite prepared to sacrifice even their reputation, rather than dishonour the religion of their great Master. Men might brand them with opprobrious epithets; but that with them was of trifling importance, if only at the day of judgment, Christ acknowledged them as friends. They knew they were not following “cunningly devised fables;” they were not flippant dabblers in “doubtful disputations;” but earnest men who knew that what they held was truth, and who, at all hazards, were resolved to practise it.
Clayton had spent six years at Oxford, and was now a college tutor.19 The following letter was addressed to Wesley about three months after he and Clayton became acquainted. It is long, but is full of interest, and casts considerable light on the doings and difficulties of the Oxford Methodists. Wesley, at the time, seems to have been in London; where he was now made a member of “The Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge,” and also formed a friendship with William Law.
“Oxon, August 1, 1732.
“Rev. and dear Sir,—Excuse me for not interrupting you from attending to the noble work you have taken in hand, whilst I give you an account of the present state of our affairs at Oxford.
“I cannot but think it an extraordinary piece of Providence that, when we had lost our best advocate and patron, all opposition against us should immediately cease; for, since you left us, nobody has thought it worth while to attack either Mr. Smith or me,20 or to endeavour to remove us from those principles wherein you, by the grace of God, have fixed us. I have gone every day to Lincoln, big with expectation to hear of some mighty attack made upon Mr. Smith; but, I thank God, I have always been disappointed; for not one of the Fellows has once so much as tried to shake him, or to convert him from the right way, wherein, I hope, he at present walks. Indeed, on Sunday, he met with a rub from Mr. Veesy, who refused to read Prayers for him in your chapel, for fear of contributing anything to his going to Christ Church. But Mr. Smith had the heart to desire that favour of the Rector which Mr. Veesy had denied him, who immediately promised to read for him, and encouraged him to proceed in the way he was in, and, if possible, to make further progress in virtue and holiness. He goes out of town to-morrow morning, and so will be entirely out of danger from the Fellows of Lincoln. We had conversation this morning, whilst we were at breakfast together, concerning the temptations which may arise from strange company and travelling; and Mr. Smith seems to be fore-armed against, and determined to oppose them to the utmost of his power. He joins with me in best respects to your brother and you, and desires you won’t forget to send the bands and the poems you promised him.
“Poor Mr. Clements21 is still recovering. He was with me last night two hours, but I doubt to no purpose.
“My little flock22 at Brazenose are, God be praised, true to their principles, and I hope to themselves too.
“Bocardo,23 I fear, grows worse upon my hands. They have done nothing but quarrel ever since you left us; and they carried matters so high on Saturday, that the bailiffs were sent for, who ordered Tomlyns to be fettered and put in the dungeon, where he lay some hours, and then, upon promise of his good behaviour, was released again. He has been much better ever since that time, and I hope will be better for it all his lifetime. Wisdom has never been to hear me read, notwithstanding his promise. I sent for him yesterday, but he would not come down; and when I had done reading, I went upstairs to him, and upbraided him with breaking his promise, upon which he very easily replied, that he had thought better of it since he had seen me, and was determined never to come near Blair, lest his indignation should rise at the sight of him.
“The Castle is, I thank God, in much better condition. All the felons were acquitted, except Salmon, who is referred to be tried at Warwick, to our great disappointment,—and the sheep-stealer, who is burnt in the hand, and who, I verily believe, is a great penitent. I got Mrs. Jopping a copy of her son’s indictment at the assizes, which has made her mighty easy ever since; and she is now endeavouring to bring her mind into a due frame for the devout participation of the holy communion on Sunday next. Jempro is discharged, and I have appointed Harris to read to the prisoners in his stead. Two of the felons likewise have paid their fees, and are gone out, both of them able to read mighty well. There are only two in the jail who want this accomplishment,—John Clanvills, who reads but moderately, and the horse-stealer, who cannot read at all. He knows all his letters, however, and can spell most of the common monosyllables. I hear them both read three times a week, and I believe Salmon hears them so many times a day.
“One of my college scholars has left me, but the others go on mighty well. The woman, who was a perfect novice, spells tolerably, and so does one of the boys, and the others make shift to read with spelling every word that is longer than ordinary. The boys can both say their Catechism as far as the end of the Commandments, and can likewise repeat the morning and evening prayers for children in ‘Ken’s Manual.’
“Mrs. Tireby has been very ill this last week, so that she has made no great proficiency. I am to go down at six o’clock to hear the determination of a meeting of St. Thomas’s parish, respecting separating Bossum and his wife. When I had promised to give a crown towards clothing the woman, and the overseer had determined to take her in upon that condition, the churchwarden would needs have him try to put the man upon me too, to get a crown towards clothing him; but, as he is able to work for his living, I don’t think him a proper object for charity; nor can I at this time afford to do anything for him, because I am apprehensive that I must be forced to contribute to Salmon’s relief, who will want near twenty shillings to subpœna proper witnesses to Warwick at his trial; and I cannot but think it a much greater act of charity to relieve a suffering innocent than to relieve an idle beggar.
“I have been twice at the school,—namely on Tuesday and Saturday last, and intend to go again as soon as I have finished this letter. The children all go on pretty well, except Jervaise’s boy, who, I find, truants till eleven o’clock in a morning. I threatened the boy what we would do to him if ever he truanted any more, and he has promised (as all children do) that he will do so no more; nay, his mother assures me that she will take care for the future that he shall not. I got a shilling for her from our Vice Principal, and gave her sixpence myself, to preserve the gown that is in pawn from being sold; and the woman who has it promised not to sell it, provided Jervaise will bring her sixpence a week towards redeeming it.
“I have obtained leave to go to St. Thomas’s workhouse twice a week; and, indeed, I cannot but hope it will be a noble field of improvement. I am sure the people stand much in need of instruction, for there is hardly a soul that can read in the whole house, and those that can, don’t understand one word of what they read.
“I think I have nothing further to add about our affairs; only I must beg the favour of you, if you can conveniently, to pay Mr. Rivington thirty shillings for my use, and I will repay it when you come to Oxford. Pray don’t forget a few Common Prayer Books for the Castle.
“You cannot imagine the pleasure it is to me to know that you are engaged every morning in prayer for me. I wish for nine o’clock more eagerly than ever I did before, and I think I begin to perceive what is meant by that union of souls which is so much talked of in Père Malebranche and Madam Bourignon, which I never understood before. Good sir, continue your prayers for me, for I feel that I am benefited by them.
“I do not envy you the happiness, which I know you will have from the conversation of so many pious men as you will meet with in London, because I assure myself that I shall have the benefit of it when I have the pleasure to see you again at Oxford.
“Mr. Hall is not yet come home, so that I am pretty much taken up amongst the poor people and the prisoners, and have not yet had time to consider of any improvements or additions to be made to the list of books for our pupils.
“I thank God that I have fully conquered my affection for a morning’s nap, and rise constantly by five o’clock at the farthest, and have the pleasure to see myself imitated by the greatest part of my pupils. I have talked with Mr. Clements, and I hope have made him a proselyte to early rising, though I cannot to constant communion.
“Pray God prosper all those designs you have undertaken of doing good at London, and send you a good journey to Oxford.
“I am, rev. and dear sir, your most affectionate friend, and most obliged humble servant,
“J. Clayton.”
“I hope you will not forget to pay my due compliments to Sir John Philips, Mr. Wogan, and all my other good friends.
“To the Rev. Mr. John Wesley. To be left with Mr. Rivington, bookseller, in St Paul’s Churchyard, London.”
This long epistle, besides unfolding Clayton’s character, helps us to a better understanding of the position and practices of the Oxford Methodists. The debtors in Bocardo, the prisoners in the Castle, and paupers in the streets were objects of their beneficent compassion. They had their schools for the children of the poor; and, in their mission of mercy, were about to visit the workhouse of St. Thomas’s. Early rising was a habit, and prayer for each other a daily practice. Constant communion was enforced; though the dogma of the real presence of the body and blood of Christ was, as yet at least, no article of their faith.
Wesley being absent, there was a lull in the storm of Methodist persecution; but this was of short duration. Within a month after the date of Clayton’s letter, poor William Morgan died; an event which furnished an occasion for a violent attack upon the Oxford brotherhood, in what was then one of the most literary and respectable papers published,—Fogg’s Weekly Journal. They were accused of mopishness, hypocrisy, censoriousness, enthusiasm, madness, and superstitious scruples. “Among their own party,” says the writer, “they pass for religious persons and men of extraordinary parts; but they have the misfortune to be taken by all who have ever been in their company, for madmen and fools.”
Hardly any evil is without a good. The virulence of Fogg’s Weekly Journal excited the curiosity of a gentleman who had no acquaintance with the Methodists, but who now sought an interview with them, and shortly after published an octavo pamphlet of thirty pages, entitled,—“The Oxford Methodists: Being some account of a Society of young Gentlemen, in that City, so denominated: setting forth their Rise, Views, and Designs.” In this first defence of Methodism ever published, the slanderous accusations cast upon Wesley and his friends were refuted; and the Methodists were described as follows:—
“There are three points to which these gentlemen think themselves obliged to adhere:—1. That of visiting and relieving the prisoners and the sick, and giving away Bibles, Common Prayer Books, and the ‘Whole Duty of Man’; and of explaining the Catechism to the children of poor families, and of dropping a shilling or so to such families where they deem it needful. 2. That of weekly communion. 3. That of observing strictly the fasts of the Church, which has caused some to call them ‘Supererogation Men.’”
To return to Clayton. About the time of the publication of this pamphlet (the beginning of 1733), Clayton removed to Manchester; where, during the ensuing summer, he was visited by Wesley, who, on Sunday, June 3rd, preached thrice in three different churches, namely, the Cathedral, and Salford, and St Anne’s churches. Whether these pulpits were obtained through Clayton’s influence, there is no evidence to show; but, remembering the odium connected with the name, it certainly is a curious fact, that in the populous and thriving town of Manchester, the Oxford Arch-Methodist was allowed to occupy so prominent a position.
When Clayton left Oxford, Clayton’s pupils left Methodism. Ten days after his visit to Manchester, Wesley wrote,—
“1733, June 13th.
“The effects of my last journey, I believe, will make me more cautious of staying any time from Oxford for the future. One of my pupils told me at my return, that he was more and more afraid of singularity; and another, that he had read an excellent piece of Mr. Locke’s, which had convinced him of the mischief of regarding authority. Our seven and twenty communicants at St. Mary’s were on Monday shrunk to five; and the day before, the last of Mr. Clayton’s pupils who continued with us, informed me that he did not design to meet us any more.”24
This was somewhat discouraging. Meanwhile, besides keeping two fast days every week, Clayton, and also Wesley, began to evince other High Church proclivities. Hence the following, sent to Wesley only a month after his visit to Manchester:—
“July, 1733.
“Rev. and dear Sir,—I have been thinking upon the two points which you proposed to my consideration in your last, and must acknowledge myself to be utterly unable to form any judgment upon them which will be serviceable to you.
“My own rule is to spend an hour every Friday in looking over my diary,25 and observing the difference between it and the preceding week; after which, I examine the resolutions set down in the account of my last weekly examination, and inquire how I have kept them, and then see what others are necessary to be formed, which I write down at the end of my diary for every week, that so they may be materials for my subsequent examination.
“As to your question about Saturday,26 can only answer it by giving an account how I spend it. I do not look upon it as a preparation for Sunday, but as a festival itself; and, therefore, I have continued festival prayer for the three primitive hours, and for morning and evening, from the Apostolical Constitutions, which, I think, I communicated to you whilst at Oxford. I look upon Friday as my preparation for the celebration of both the Sabbath and the Lord’s-day; the first of which I observe much like a common saint’s day, or as one of the inferior holidays of the Church. I bless God, I have generally contrived to have the Eucharist celebrated on Saturdays as well as other holidays, for the use of myself and the sick people whom I visit.
“Dr. Deacon27 gives his humble service to you, and lets you know that the worship and discipline of the primitive Christians have taken up so much of his time, that he has never read the Fathers with a particular view to their moral doctrines, and therefore cannot furnish you with the testimonies you want out of his collection. However, if you will give me a month’s time, I will try what I can do for you. I have made some progress in the earliest authors, and should have made more had I not been interrupted; first, with the public ceremony of the bishop’s triennial visitation; and, secondly, with the blessing of a visit which the truly primitive Bishop of Man made to our town; with both which affairs the clergy have been almost wholly taken up for a week.
“I was at Dr. Deacon’s when your letter came to hand; and we had a deal of talk about your scheme of avowing yourselves a society, and fixing upon a set of rules. The doctor seemed to think you had better let it alone; for to what end would it serve? It would be an additional tie upon yourselves, and perhaps a snare for the consciences of those weak brethren that might chance to come among you. Observing the Stations28 and weekly communion are duties which stand upon a much higher footing than a rule of a Society; and they, who can set aside the command of God and the authority of His Church, will hardly, I doubt, be tied by the rules of a private Society.
“As to the mixture, Mr. Colly told me he would assure me it was constantly used at Christ Church. However, if you have reason to doubt it, I would have you to inquire; but I cannot think the want of it a reason for not communicating. If I could receive where the mixture was used, I would; and, therefore, I used to prefer the Castle to Christ Church; but, if not, I should not think myself any further concerned in the matter than as it might be some way or other in my power to get it restored.29
“Pray be so kind as to call on Mr. Hollins, head of our college, for four pictures of mine, namely, ‘Whitechapel Altar-piece,’ ‘Mary Magdalene,’ and our two founders; and get them sent up, by any convenient opportunity, to Mr. Rivington, who will send them down to me.
“My best respects attend your brother. I must beg the favour of him to give himself the trouble of writing out the hymns to ‘God the Father and God the Son,’ for me. A person of quality, Lady Catherine Gray, borrowed mine, and has lost them.
“I am, dear sir, your most affectionate friend and servant,
“J. Clayton.”
This is an important letter, not only as exhibiting the religious earnestness, but also the high churchism of the Oxford Methodists. The following, which was written two months later, is likewise full of interest. It was addressed, like the former one, “to the Rev. Mr. Wesley, Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxon.”
“Manchester, September 10, 1733.
“Rev. and dear Sir,—I was last week at Dr. Lever’s, where I but narrowly missed of seeing Mr. Brooke, of our college, who came the evening after I left Alkrington. I saw Dr. Lever to-day, who joins with me in sincere respects to your brother and yourself. His new dignity and his being put in Commission of the Peace, have, at present, quite unfitted him for serious talk; and, therefore, I must wait for a more favourable opportunity of pressing those virtues, which you first convinced him of the necessity of.
“Dr. Deacon tells me, that, he had no view in fixing the Psalms for common days; but, after reading your letter, is convinced of the expediency of serving any of those three ends you mention. The feasts and the fasts were the days he principally regarded; but he would take it as a favour from you if you would communicate to me any improvements you may possibly make in it. He thinks your third rule would be most expedient,—namely, to put together such psalms as best explain and illustrate each other. And he knows not but that on this scheme the proper psalms for festivals and fasts may be more advantageously fixed, by transposing some from the first, second, and other Sundays, etc., to those which have psalms which better answer them. He will consider this point as soon as he has leisure, but desires, in the meantime, that you would let us know your thoughts upon the matter, because his order for reading the Psalter is likely soon to see the light, being to be published with a collection of Primitive Devotions, both public and private, which is even now in the press.30
“Poor Miss Potter!31 I wonder not that she is fallen. Where humility is not the foundation, the superstructure cannot be good. And, yet, I am sorry to hear the tidings of her, especially that she has a great man for her confessor, who dissuades her from constant communion. I am sure, she has great occasion to use all the means of grace, which Providence provides for her, and hope that God will in time open her eyes to see the great need she has of help from above. I would not persuade you to leave off reading with her. Who knows whether you may not raise her again to the eminence from which she has fallen? At least, though she neglect the weightier matters of the law, yet keep up in her that reverend respect she bears it, even by the tithing of ‘mint, anise, and cummin.’
“As to reading the ancients, I fancy ‘Cotelerii32 Biblioth. Patrum Apostol.’ would be the best book to begin with; for, though I will not say, that, all the works there contained are genuine, yet I dare avow them to be very ancient, and to contain the primitive doctrine and discipline of the Church, though published under feigned names. You will find a dissertation upon every work, which contains the several testimonies of Fathers and Councils, whereby the authority is confirmed; and, according to the evidence produced, you must judge of the authenticity of the several pieces. The Epistles of St. Clement are universally owned to be his; and so are the smaller Epistles of St. Ignatius; and, indeed, I think, Whiston, in his ‘Primitive Christianity,’ has urged such arguments in defence of the larger as can never be answered. St. Barnabas’s Epistle, and Hermas’s Pastor are works of the Apostolic age, as may be proved by the internal characters both of language and doctrine, whether they be the works of the venerable authors they are ascribed to or not. The Apostolical Canons are learnedly defended by Bishop Beveridge, and they sufficiently vindicate the Constitutions.33 The Recognitions34 of Clement are generally reckoned the most modern piece in these two volumes, but they are really a most admirable work.
“And now for the last page of your letter. I would answer it; and, yet, for my unworthiness, I dare not,—for my ignorance, I cannot. How shall I direct my instructor in the school of Christ? Or teach you, who am but a babe in religion? However, I must be free to tell you my sentiments of what you inquire about. On Wednesday and Friday, I have, for some time, used the Office for Passion week out of ‘Spinckes’35 Devotions,’ and bless God for it. I found it very useful to excite in me that love of God, and sorrow for having offended Him, which makes up the first great branch of repentance. You know it consists of meditations on our Saviour’s life, all the meditations being joined with proper devotions. I could only wish, I was provided with two such Offices, one for Wednesday, and the other for Friday.
“Refer your last question to Mr. Law. I dare not give directions for spending that time which I consume in bed, nor teach you, who rise at four, when I indulge myself in sleep till five.
“Dear Sir, pray for me that I may press forward in the paths of perfection, and, at length, attain the land of everlasting life. Adieu!
“John Clayton.”
“I believe you will see a young gentleman of my acquaintance, who is a very pious man, but who greatly stands in need of Christian prudence to direct him. In particular, with regard to his conduct towards his parents, his religion sometimes seems to savour of self. Will you instruct and save him?”
These letters are long, perhaps also dry and tedious; but they are useful in casting considerable light on Oxford Methodism. We learn, that the godly brotherhood, though unevangelical, were, in the highest degree, conscientious and devout. In this respect, they put to shame, not only the great bulk of professing Christians, but, many who, at the present day, are known by the name of Methodists. Doubtless, they sought salvation by the practice of piety and good works; but the piety and good works themselves are not to be censured, but commended. Self-examination, prayer, sacramental attendance, fasting, diligence, kindness to the poor, deep concern for the conversion of sinners, and early rising, are not things of slight importance; but deserve far more practical recognition than what they get.
As to the special religious observance of saint days and of the Jewish Sabbath; and the sacred adoption of ecclesiastical canons and decretals, opinions will differ; but most Methodists will concur in the Methodist Preachers’ opinions, as stated by Wesley himself, in 1755:
“They think the Decretals are the very dregs of Popery; and that the Canons of 1603, are as grossly wicked as absurd. They think—1. That, the spirit which they breathe is, throughout, truly Popish and anti-Christian. 2. That, nothing can be more diabolical than the ipso facto excommunication so often denounced therein. 3. That, the whole method of executing these Canons, the process used in our Spiritual Courts, is too bad to be tolerated (not in a Christian, but) in a Mahometan or Pagan nation.”36
Dr. Deacon, the non-juring clergyman, was Clayton’s bosom friend, and Wesley’s chosen counsellor. William Law, another non-juror, was consulted as their guide. Mr. Spinckes’ volume, made up of extracts from the works of the most eminent of the high-church party, was one of their books of devotion. Under such circumstances, it is not surprising to find them plunging into the authentic and unauthentic writings of the Christian Fathers; listening to Apostolical and other Canons as to the voice of oracles; displaying ridiculous anxiety about sacramental wine being mixed with water; and assuming an arrogant willingness to become auricular confessors. Up to the time of Clayton’s admission among the Oxford Methodists, we find none of these proclivities. The Bible had been their sole supreme authority in faith and morals; and, hence, though their views of evangelical truth were unquestionably defective, their lives were free from the practice of popish follies. Now it began to be otherwise. Some of the young men were priests; and priests, according to the Canons of the Church, were invested with the terrible prerogatives of enforcing auricular confession, of pronouncing divine absolution, and of administering the body and blood of the blessed Jesus! “Poor Miss Potter” had a confessor, who, though a great man, was, evidently in Clayton’s estimation, heretical. Emily Wesley indignantly and righteously refused all confessors, her brother not excepted. Well would it be if the priests of the present day, who “creep into houses, and lead captive silly women,” were answered, as this noble-minded young lady answered Wesley, the Arch-Methodist. She writes:—
“To open the state of my soul to you, or any of our clergy, is what I have no inclination to at present; and, I believe, I never shall. I shall not put my conscience under the direction of mortal man, frail as myself. To my own Master I stand or fall. Nay, I scruple not to say, that all such desire in you, or any other ecclesiastic, seems to me like church tyranny, and assuming to yourselves a dominion over your fellow-creatures, which was never designed you by God.... I farther own, that, I do not hold frequent communion necessary to salvation, nor a means of Christian perfection. But do not mistake my meaning: I only think communing every Sunday, or very frequently, lessens our veneration for that sacred ordinance; and, consequently, our profiting by it.”
This was a sensible rebuke of priestly pretensions.
Clayton was young, only twenty-four; but, besides his scholarship, he was evidently a man of extensive reading. As the son of a bookseller, he had had the opportunity of gratifying literary cravings from his earliest days. He was a man of energy; and, though he reproaches himself for his sluggishness in not rising earlier than at five o’clock, he was exemplary for his diligence. All this had already made him a man of mark. In this very year, 1733, he was appointed to preach the ordination sermon in Manchester cathedral; and was so ardent in the enforcement of the rubrics of the Church, and so successful in his ministerial and pastoral office as to bring seventy old people, all of them above sixty years of age, to be confirmed by the bishop in Salford church.37
Three years later, he was selected to occupy another important post. Darcy Lever, Esq., LL.D., has been already mentioned as one of the friends of Clayton and of the two Wesleys. This gentleman, being appointed, in 1736, to fill the distinguished office of High Sheriff of Lancashire, made Clayton his chaplain. In such a capacity, Clayton had to preach at the Lancaster assizes; and chose for his text, the words,—“He beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the minister of God, a revenger, to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil” (Rom. xiii. 4). This was a ticklish subject for so young a man; but the chaplain was not without courage; and gave utterance to sentiments, which, at the present day, would scarcely be popular. The discourse was printed, and the title will suggest an idea of the preacher’s faithfulness. “The Necessity of duly executing the Laws against Immorality and Profaneness: Set forth in a Sermon, preached at the Assizes held at Lancaster, before the Honourable Sir Lawrence Carter, one of the Barons of his Majesty’s Court of Exchequer. By John Clayton, A.M. late of Brazenose College, Oxon. Published at the request of the High Sheriff, and the Gentlemen of the Grand Jury. London. 1736.” 8vo, 29 pp. Two or three extracts may be useful, as serving to illustrate Clayton’s views and style, and also the alarming wickedness of the nation.
“If drunkards, swearers, and debauchers were constantly brought to justice, it would doubtless lessen the number of criminals, and abate the commonness of the vices. Many a poor family would be rescued from beggary and starving, were the drunken, idle master of it properly corrected. Besides, this strict execution of the penal laws against these lesser crimes, would be a most probable means of preserving us from those more dreadful vices of perjury, robbery, and murder; and would make sanguinary laws less needful, and capital punishments less frequent; for experience teaches us that vice, as well as virtue, is of a progressive nature” (p. 15).
Again,—
“The fountain from which the Magistrate draws his power, for the punishment of wickedness and vice, is none other but God himself. All power, whether spiritual or temporal, is originally derived from the Supreme Monarch of the world, who is King of kings, and Lord of lords. Since, therefore, every Power, whether it be supreme or subordinate, does primarily and originally derive all its authority from above, surely the gift of God ought to be used to His honour and glory. Authority is a sacred thing, of divine original, and, therefore, as it may not be resisted by subjects without danger of damnation, so neither may it be lightly neglected, nor wantonly misapplied by those entrusted with it; lest they provoke that God to anger, who putteth down one Ruler, and setteth up another” (p. 17).
Again,—
“Wickedness is grown to such a head in the world,—immorality and profaneness are become so epidemical among us, that, it is much to be feared, nothing but discipline and wholesome rigour can prove a cure for it. The infection of vice is extended so far and wide, and the contagion of sin spreads so prodigiously fast, that it seems necessary to use severe methods towards the corrupted parts, if we hope either to recover them, or to save those that are as yet untouched with the disease. God knows, the flagrant impiety of our days, the excessive corruption of these dregs of time,—this rust of the iron age, into which we are fallen,—is such as every good man must complain of, and for which charity itself can find no sufficient excuse or extenuation” (p. 7).
Advocates of political expediency may object to these high-toned sentiments; but there are still a few who have old-fashioned hardihood enough to exclaim with the Psalmist, “Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?” (Psalm xciv. 16).
The friendship between Clayton and the Wesley brothers was unbroken until the latter departed from Church usages, and became out-door evangelists. In 1735, when urged by Oglethorpe and others to go to Georgia, Wesley, not only sought advice from his brother Samuel and William Law, but went to Manchester to consult with Clayton and others whose judgment he respected; and, six weeks after his return from the Georgian colony, we find him spending several days with his old Oxford friend. He writes:—
“1738. March 15. I set out” (from Oxford) “for Manchester, with Mr. Kinchin, Fellow of Corpus Christi, and Mr. Fox, late a prisoner in the city prison. Friday, the 17th, we spent entirely with Mr. Clayton, by whom, and the rest of our friends here, we were much refreshed and strengthened. Mr. Hoole, the Rector of St. Ann’s church, being taken ill the next day, on Sunday, 19th, Mr. Kinchin and I officiated at Salford chapel in the morning, by which means Mr. Clayton was at liberty to perform the service of St. Ann’s; and, in the afternoon, I preached there on those words of St Paul, ‘If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.’”38
Two months after the date of this extract from his journal, Wesley, ceasing to rely on the merit of his own good works, and trusting solely for salvation in the infinitely meritorious sacrifice of Christ, experienced an amazing change. His own words must be quoted. After relating that, for “above ten years,” he had “dragged on heavily,” “trusting to his own works and his own righteousness,” “in a refined way, zealously inculcated by the mystic writers,”39 he remarks:—
“1738. May 24. In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me, that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”40
This was the turning point in Wesley’s history. Hitherto, like his friend Clayton, he had hoped to be saved by works; now he was saved by faith. This new experience confirmed his new conceptions of gospel truth, and he began to preach accordingly. He insisted upon good works as much as ever; but he henceforth taught, that man is saved, not by these, but by faith in Christ only. His new doctrine was the means of his being shut out of churches; and this led to his preaching in the open air; and the whole resulted in a rupture of the friendship between him and Clayton, who, so far as there is evidence to show, went on to the end of life, as he and Wesley had begun at Oxford,—a sincere, earnest, self-denying, devout, and laborious Pharisee, trusting in his own righteousness, instead of trusting solely in Christ Jesus.
After the date of Wesley’s conversion, we hear of no further friendly meetings. Clayton’s death did not occur till 1773, but, during this long interval of thirty-five years, though Wesley’s visits to Manchester were numerous, there is no mention made of any interview between the two Oxford Methodists. No proof exists, that Clayton ever ranked himself among Wesley’s opponents and slanderers; but, from this period, he ceased to be one of Wesley’s friends. Coldness sprang up, and separation. In 1756, Charles Wesley spent nearly a fortnight among the Manchester Methodists, the object of his visit being to prevent their seceding from the Established Church. He himself attended the Church services, and took with him as many of the Methodists as he could. He heard Clayton preach “a good sermon on constant prayer,” and, at the same service, by the senior chaplain’s invitation, went “with the other clergy” present to the communion table, and received the sacrament; but even this was not enough to regain Clayton’s favour; and, hence, the following entries in Charles’s journal:—
“1756. Tuesday, October 26. My former friend, Mr. Clayton, read the prayers at the Old Church, with great solemnity.” “Saturday, October 30. I dined with my candid friend and censor, Dr. Byrom. I stood close to Mr. Clayton in church (as all the week past), but not a look would he cast towards me;
“So stiff was his parochial pride,”
and so faithfully did he keep his covenant with his eyes, not to look upon an old friend when called a Methodist.”
It has been already shown, that Clayton was an intimate friend of Dr. Deacon, the non-juror; and there can be no doubt that, substantially, the ecclesiastical and political opinions of both were identical. Hence, it is not surprising that both were implicated in the rebellious proceedings of 1745.
Charles Edward Stuart, a young man of twenty-five, with a few attendants, five or six hundred broad-swords, about two thousand muskets, and rather less than £4,000 in cash, set out from France, to overturn the government of Great Britain, and, on behalf of his father, to demand its throne. Such was his success, that, on September 16th, he entered Edinburgh. Three days afterwards, the battle of Preston Pans was fought; and, immediately, the handsome Young Pretender began, as prince regent, to exercise various acts of sovereign authority. He appointed a council; ordered regiments to be levied for his service; and held drawing-rooms, which were, for the most part, brilliantly attended, and generally ended in a public supper and a ball. On the last day of October, Charles Edward quitted Edinburgh, at the head of six thousand men; and, in a fortnight, took Carlisle. On November 29th, he and his troops reached Manchester; and then proceeded, by regular marches, to Derby, where they arrived on December 4th. This was their nearest approach to London. Before the year was ended, they were hastily retreating to Carlisle, Glasgow, Stirling, and the Highlands.
There we leave them, and return to Manchester. A local authority41 has stated, that, previous to the rebellion of 1745, Charles Edward had passed several weeks at Ancoats Hall, the seat of Sir Oswald Moseley; and, that, the leading inhabitants, the clergy of the Collegiate Church, together with Dr. Deacon and his followers, were all warm adherents of the cause of the exiled Stuarts, and recognised, as their political leaders, Colonel Townley, Dr. Byrom, Mr. Dickenson, and others; who were accustomed to hold their meetings in a public-house, contiguous to Jackson’s Ferry, near Didsbury.
To what extent Clayton was associated with these sympathising and plotting Jacobites, it is impossible to determine; but, when the prince marched through Salford, in 1745, this high churchman, with more hardihood than prudence, fell upon his knees before him, and prayed for the blessing of God on the adventurous Chevalier.42 Charles Edward made the “Palace” hostelry, in Market Street Lane, his residence; and hither Jacobites of both sexes flocked to welcome him. Three sons of Dr. Deacon, true to their father’s principles, enlisted beneath the Pretender’s banner; Charles Deacon being placed at the head of the recruiting department, and Thomas and Robert Deacon being made Lieutenants.
The results were disastrous. Charles, Thomas, and Robert Deacon fell into the hands of the Royalists, at Carlisle; were tried, condemned, and executed in London, in July, 1746; the head of the eldest, together with that of Adjutant Siddal, being sent to Manchester, and fixed on the Exchange. Townley, the colonel of the Manchester Jacobinical regiment, was hanged on Kennington Common, had his bowels torn out, and his heart cast into a fire; and eight of his officers and men were treated in the same barbarous manner.43
Great excitement followed. People on both sides were roused. Whitworth’s Manchester Magazine, the only newspaper published in the town, took the part of the Government; Dr. Deacon, Dr. Byrom, Clayton, and others, were obliged to send all their attacks, replies, and other Jacobite outpourings to the city of Chester, where they obtained insertion in the Chester Courant. For two years, this paper warfare was continued; and, in 1749, the whole of what had been printed, both in Manchester and Chester, was collected and published, in a 12mo volume of 324 pages, entitled, “Manchester Vindicated; being a complete Collection of the Papers lately published in Defence of that Town in the Chester Courant, together with all those on the other Side of the Question, printed in the Manchester Magazine, or elsewhere, which are answered in the said Chester Courant, Chester, 1749.”
In Whitworth’s Magazine of September 23rd, 1746, we find the following:—
“Last Thursday, about five in the morning, the heads of Thomas Siddal and Thomas Deacon were fixed upon the Exchange. Great numbers have been to view them; and yesterday, betwixt eight and nine, Dr. Deacon, a non-juring priest, and father to one of them, made a full stop near the Exchange, pulled off his hat, and made a bow to them with great reverence. He afterwards stood some time looking at them. A gentleman of the town was with him, and a considerable number of spectators were present. He and some of his flock have been seen to do so before several times.”
This act, innocent and natural enough in itself, was regarded as popery—a worshipping of saints—and gave birth to not a few squibbs and verses. The following was by a Quaker:—
“Doffing the hat I hold no sign of grace,
Saving in prayer, which was perhaps the case;
But yet, my friend, I hope it may be said,
I’d rather see a hat off than a head.”
Another letter, dated October 11, 1746, says:—
“The two rebel heads are revered, and almost adored, as trophies of martyrdom. The father of one of them (who is a non-juring bishop), as he passes by, frequently pulls off his hat, and looks at them above a minute, with a solemn, complacential silence. Some suppose, he offers up a prayer for them; others, to them. His church daily increases, and he is in the highest credit and intimacy with the most of our clergy.”
This was replied to in a somewhat long article. The writer says, Dr. Deacon has told him that he “never passed by his son’s head but once; and then, indeed, he did pull off his hat.” In reference to Deacon’s large and growing church, it is added:—
“I cannot find above a score, and those of no great figure or substance, who are partakers with him in his religious singularity. Besides, what connection is there between politics and the Doctor’s restoring primitive ecclesiastical usages? What has the mixt-cup, infant communion, trine-immersion, etc., to do with King George and the Pretender?”
The writer continues:—
“The Doctor, I own, is respected by most of the clergy; and, I will add, by most of the laity too; but what then? I could name in turn several rigid Dissenters in the highest credit and intimacy with some of our clergy; and, if it be wrong (which is indeed a new doctrine to me) for the clergy to respect and converse with persons of different opinions in religion, I think the character of a clergyman of the Church of England in much less danger from his acquaintance with a non-juring bishop than with a Calvinistical Dissenter.”
In a letter, dated December 9, 1746, Dr. Deacon writes:—
“I have not adopted the political principles of indefeasible and hereditary right into my religion, and make these an essential part of it; and that none can become members of the Church to which I belong, that are not enemies to the present government. I do hereby declare that the same is utterly false. I adopt no political principles into my religion but what are expressed in our own Common Prayer Book, entitled, “A Compleat Collection of Devotions.”
Much recrimination followed. It was broadly stated in Whitworth’s Magazine, and absolutely denied in the Chester Courant, that, whilst the Rebels were at Manchester, Dr. Deacon “had the very distinguished honour paid him of being escorted by a file of musqueteers to the Pretender’s lodgings;” and one of Whitworth’s poetasters favoured the public with the following:—
“The de’il has set these heads to view,
And put them upon poles;
Poor de’il, ’twas all that he could do,
When God had ta’en their souls.”
Further quotations would be useless and wearisome. Many of the poetical scraps strongly resemble the poetry of Dr. Byrom, an undoubted Jacobite and a friend of Clayton. His three poems,—“A Dialogue, occasioned by the March of the Highlanders into Lancashire, in the Year 1745”; “A Dialogue about compelling a Person to take the Oaths to the Government”; and “A Genuine Dialogue, between a Gentlewoman at Derby and her Maid, in the beginning of December, 1745,” are ample proofs of his sympathy with the non-jurors, and of his ardent attachment to the Stuarts; and, though it might be rash to assert with positiveness that he was actually the author of the Jacobite versicles in the Chester Courant, it is not unwarrantable to affirm that they bear a striking similitude to his well-known lines:—
“God bless the King, and bless the Faith’s Defender!
God bless—no harm in blessing—the Pretender!
But who Pretender is, and who is King,
Why, bless us all, that’s quite another thing.”
Of Clayton’s participation in this Jacobinical controversy there can be little doubt. In fact, he is said to have assisted in procuring a printing press for Joseph Harrop, who had been one of Whitworth’s apprentices. Harrop began the publication of a paper, in opposition to that of his late master, and to that paper Clayton was an important contributor.44 Clayton’s Jacobite leanings were notorious. In Whitworth’s Magazine, for November 20, 1746, he was publicly rebuked, because one of his senior scholars had recently affronted a lady at the close of public service in the church by shouting, “Down with the Rump;” an affront, however, which was “very pardonable in the scholar, since that was a health at the master’s table.”
Clayton’s praying for the Pretender, in the public streets of Salford, has been already mentioned. It is also said, by one who knew him personally,45 that he visited Prince Charles at the Palace Inn, paid him profound respect, and was regarded as a sort of royal chaplain. Wheeler, in his “History of Manchester,” asserts that when the government sent to Manchester to search for those who had shown disloyalty to the House of Brunswick, Clayton absconded. Be that as it may, he was placed under suspension by his bishop, and was subjected to the painful penalty of a long-continued silence in the church.46 On resuming his ministerial duties, after his inhibition was ended, he displayed considerable keenness, and, perhaps, some degree of irreverence in the selection of his text. The Bishop of Chester, having commanded him to preach before him, the bold Jacobite, who had so long been silent, but was now again allowed to speak, somewhat startled both the bishop and the congregation by reading as his text, “I became dumb, and opened not my mouth, for Thou didst it.”47
There can be no question of the purity of Clayton’s motives, but his openly avowed adherence to the cause of the Pretender involved him in serious troubles. To say nothing of his ministerial suspension, he was, for years afterwards, the target of his townsmen’s malice. Some hated him, but others loved him; and the two united turned his life into a turmoil. Hence the following, taken from a work entitled, “Jacobite and Non-Juring Principles freely examined,” and published, in Manchester, against Dr. Deacon, by J. Owen, in 1748. Speaking of Clayton, Owen asks:—
“If you are the loyal people you represent yourselves to be, whence happens it that there has been such a flush of joy, discovered by your friends, for a little, seditious priest, by virtue of the Act of Indemnity, escaping that justice which was upon the wing to pursue him? Whence was it that the bells rang on the occasion for days together? Was it not by way of grateful Te Deum, for the great and undeserved deliverance? Whence was it that this,—shall I call him Reverend Teacher of Babes,—has such numbers of his young fry, as I am informed he has, clad in the livery of rebellion? Is it not to convince the world that there is no heresy in Scotch plaid, when wore only as a badge of Romish superstition? It must be so, unless you can believe,—and believe it who can!—that plaid, politics, and popery are this gentleman’s aversion.”
Clayton’s school has just been mentioned,—a school, perhaps, commenced in consequence of his clerical suspension.48 His residence was in Greengate, Salford, and the present well-known Methodist Chapel, in Gravel Lane, stands on what was once his garden. Here he ably conducted his classical academy, not a few of his pupils becoming graduates at the Oxford University. Here he kept a favourite monkey which came to a cruel and untimely end; for his pupils, either in wanton mischief or temporary spite, seized poor Pug, and fastened him to a stake in the vicinity of a hive of bees; and then so exasperated the apiarian insects, that the excited and miserable monkey was literally stung to death. At Kersall Cell, the seat of the Byrom family at Manchester, there is a large original oil-painting representing the interior of Clayton’s School in Salford, and a full-length portrait of Clayton himself, dressed in a blue velvet gown, and surrounded by his scholars.
Little more remains to be said of this sincere and earnest high church clergyman. He was stiff in his churchmanship, but was greatly respected. His Jacobite inclinations might be foolish, but they were not wicked, and were not peculiar to himself. Many of the most learned and pious and useful men then existing entertained the same sentiments and feelings. They were doubtless mistaken; but they were honest, and merited forbearance more than punishment. It is said that, in after years, Mr. Clayton’s opinions were greatly modified; and that, in fact, he became a Hanoverian. Perhaps there is no absolute proof of such a politico-religious change; but a caricature (now extremely scarce) was published, in which he was represented as standing on a pedestal, with two faces looking in opposite directions; on his breast was inscribed, “The art of trimming;” in his left hand was a scroll with “God bless King James III.” upon it; and in his right another, bearing the inscription of “Charles III.” The remainder of the picture consisted of a view of Manchester Old Church, the initials of Prince Charles, sundry portraits, a box and dice, a schoolmaster’s birchen rod, a broken punch-bowl, a dog snatching at a shadow, and finally two fighting cats. At the foot of the engraving was written:—
“Lye on! while my revenge shall be
To speak the very truth of thee.”
For twenty years, Clayton was chaplain of the Collegiate Church of Manchester; and, in 1760, was elected a fellow thereof, in the place of Mr. Crouchley, deceased.49 Nine years afterwards, in 1769, he preached the sermon at the consecration of St. John’s Church, Manchester, founded by Edward Byrom, Esq., the son of his warmly attached friend, Dr. Byrom. He died September 25, 1773. His funeral sermon was preached by his intimate friend, the Rev. Thomas Aynscough, M.A., from the words, “We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.” His old pupils erected a monument to his memory, in the Collegiate Church, bearing the following inscription:—
“Sacred to the Memory of the Rev. John Clayton, M.A.,
Successively Chaplain and Fellow of this Church,
Who died September 25th, 1773, Aged 64 Years.
This Monument is erected by his Scholars,
A grateful Token of their Affection and Esteem.
He had endeared himself to them
by his manly Cheerfulness, and strict Integrity,
diffusive Charity, heroic Forgiveness,
and Serenity of Temper under Disappointments;
his judicious Fidelity to guard against
the Dangers of Vice, and Follies of Ignorance,
by forming the Man, the Scholar, and the Christian,
in every Mind submitted to his Cultivation;
his ardent Zeal for true Religion;
warm Attachment to the Church of England;
and unwearied Discharge of all the Labours
of a conscientious Parish Priest;
by the uncommon Lustre of his declining Years,
wherein he bore the sharpest Agonies
of a painful and humiliating Disease,
with the Fortitude of Faith, the Resignation of Hope,
and the strong Consolation of a well-spent Life.”
This is high praise, but not unmerited,—given not by strangers, who never saw him, but by those who knew him best. Old Manchester Methodists used to describe him as being about five feet eight inches in stature, somewhat portly, dignified in gait, wearing an enormous wig, always deeply serious, a rigid disciplinarian among his scholars and choristers, a pattern of canonical regularity in the performance of his ministerial duties, and very venerable in appearance at the close of life.
Though a scholar and a man of considerable mental power, he seems to have published nothing, except the Sermon already mentioned, his Jacobinical strictures in the Chester Courant, and a sixpenny pamphlet, with the following title, “Friendly Advice to the Poor; Written and Published, at the Request of the late and present Officers of the Town of Manchester, by John Clayton, M.A. Manchester: Printed by Joseph Harrop, opposite the Clock End of the Exchange; for Messrs. Newton’s, Booksellers, 1755.” 47 pp.
Clayton was a faithful and fearless friend. He had no notion of using lollipops when bitters were required. His “advice” was “friendly”; but the opposite of fulsome. In his municipal publication, he delivers himself in no measured terms. He writes:—
“If in any passage of the following Address, the Poor may seem to be treated with rigour, let it not be censured as proceeding from sourness and severity of temper; but be considered as a proof, that the author is in earnest, and desirous of recommending this Tract to the serious unprejudiced consideration of his readers. He has upon all proper occasions shown himself ready to plead the cause of the poor and needy; and, therefore, hopes he may be considered as still walking charitably, though he does, with all plainness of speech and befitting Christian liberty, rebuke that spirit of laziness, luxury, and mismanagement, which is gone out into the world, and which particularly reigns amongst the poor of this town, and to which, in a great measure, all their miseries are owing.”
After this exordium, follows his castigation. He reminds his readers of the numerous charitable institutions of the town, for “lodging, clothing, and feeding the poor; for breeding up their children in useful Christian knowledge, and putting them out to proper trades; for helping young people at their first setting out in the world; for maintaining and relieving the sick and maimed; and, lastly, for succouring and supporting the impotent and aged.” He tells them, that, the town abounds
“With such variety of manufactures, as, one would think, might furnish every one, that is able and willing to work, with employment and sustenance. Nay, there are many branches of business that require so little skill or labour, as that neither children nor old people need to be totally excluded from their share of them; so that a numerous family,—that common occasion of distress,—far from being a burden here, seems rather to be a blessing to its master; for most of the members of it, if properly managed, are able to get their livelihood; and, by the overplus of their gains, may contribute to maintain the impotent part of the household.”
“Many of the poor, however, refuse or neglect to help themselves, and thereby disable their betters from effectually helping them. They have an abject mind, which entails their miseries upon them; a mean, sordid spirit, which prevents all attempts of bettering their condition. They are so familiarized to filth and rags, as renders them in a manner natural; and have so little sense of decency, as hardly to allow a wish for it a place in their hearts.”
Clayton acknowledges, that, there are many exceptions of “edifying examples of industry, frugality, and good economy;” but he maintains, that, generally speaking, his description is painfully correct. The town swarmed with “loiterers”; and “common custom had established so many holidays, that few of the manufacturing work-folks were closely and regularly employed above two thirds of their time;” the result being “that every little accident, that prevented a single week’s work, reduced them absolutely to the state of paupers.” Besides this, “it frequently happened, that, the week’s labour of an industrious family, were swallowed up in a day’s debauch of the extravagant master.” Vice is contagious, and the pestilent example of masters filled the streets of Manchester “with idle, ragged children; who were not only losing their time, but learning habits of gaming; which constantly produced lying, quarrelling, profane swearing and cursing; and frequently, led to pilfering and stealing, and every degree of wickedness and enormity.” Added to this, while “the husband wasted his time and squandered his substance at the alehouse, the wife was as often wasteful at the tea-table, as the other was prodigal over his cups; for, strange as it might appear, it was a truth that even this wretched piece of luxury, this shameful devourer of time and money, had found its way into the houses of the poor; and it was no unusual thing to find a miserable family, with hardly rags to cover their nakedness, in a wretched garret, or more loathsome cellar, fooling away a precious hour, and spending more money over this confessedly hurtful food,” (beverage) “than would have furnished a good meal or two of wholesome diet.” In fact, “ale, gin, and tea mainly swallowed up that slender income, which might have been turned to much better account, had it been laid out with the baker and the butcher.”
Clayton adds mismanagement to his charges of idleness and luxury. There was a want of “good housewifry,” of “frugal cookery,” and of domestic cleanliness.
Another extract must suffice:—
“We cannot walk the streets without being annoyed with such filth as is a public nuisance; as well as seeing such objects as provoke resentment and aversion. We are grown infamous for a general want of good manners in our populace; and no wonder, because they are bred up in such habits of nastiness, as, in a manner, break through the ties of natural modesty, and set them beyond all sense of shame. The streets are no better than a common dunghill; and more sacred places are most shamefully polluted. Our very church-yards are profaned with such filth as was once intended to create a detestation and abhorrence even of idol temples;—I mean they are rendered no better than errant draught-houses. Common decency will not allow me to be more particular upon so loathsome a subject; and, if enough is said to be understood, it is to be hoped it will effect a reformation.”
Clayton, besides being an able instructor of the young, and an indefatigable parish priest, wished to be a social reformer; and, certainly, his services, in this respect, were greatly needed. His picture of Manchester, a little more than a hundred years ago, is far from savoury; but there can be little doubt of its being true. Clayton’s plain speaking would hardly be tolerated at the present day; but, notwithstanding that, perhaps, it might be useful. At all events, one cannot but admire the stern fidelity of this really kind and exemplary visitor of the poor and friendless, in dealing so faithfully with his fellow-townsmen, who, by their idleness and extravagance, systematically reduced themselves to rags and ruin; and, if the above extracts answer no other purpose, they will not be useless in helping to illustrate the character and principles of this Oxford Methodist.50
Clayton’s life was not mis-spent; but it might have been much more useful if his friendship with the Wesleys had not been broken. John Wesley, between the years 1738 and 1773, visited Manchester more than twenty times; and some of these visits were so memorable, that, Clayton must have heard of them; and, yet, there is not the slightest evidence of any renewal of that fraternal intercourse which was interrupted when Wesley began to preach salvation by faith only, and, in consequence, was excluded from the pulpits of the Established Church. This was heresy too great for a high churchman to overlook. To be saved by faith in Christ, instead of by sacraments, fasts, penances, ritualism, and good works was an unpardonable novelty, deserving of Clayton’s life-long censure; and hence, after 1738, the two old Oxford friends seem to have been separated till they met in heaven. It is rather remarkable, that, Wesley’s first visit to Manchester, subsequent to his conversion, was at the very time when the Jacobite controversy, already mentioned, was at its height; and that Wesley preached at Salford Cross, immediately adjoining Clayton’s residence. He writes:—
“1747, May 7.—We came to Manchester between one and two. I had no thought of preaching here, till I was informed, John Nelson had given public notice, that I would preach at one o’clock. Their house would not contain a tenth part of the people; and how the unbroken spirits of so large a town would endure preaching in the street, I knew not. But after considering, that, I was not going a warfare at my own cost, I walked strait to Salford Cross. A numberless crowd of people partly ran before, partly followed after me. I thought it best not to sing, but, looking round; asked abruptly, ‘Why do you look as if you had never seen me before? Many of you have seen me in the neighbouring church, both preaching and administering the sacrament.’ I then began, ‘Seek ye the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.’ None interrupted at all or made any disturbance, till, as I was drawing to a conclusion, a big man thrust in, with three or four more, and bade them bring out the engine. Our friends desired me to remove into a yard just by, which I did, and concluded in peace.”
Clayton at the time was suspended from exercising ministerial functions by his bishop; but he was probably in Manchester, and in a neighbouring house; but there was no recognition of his quondam friend. Wesley might have called upon him; but perhaps Clayton’s dubious position, as a clergyman suspended for his Jacobinical leanings, prevented this. Wesley himself had been falsely accused of being a friend of the Pretender, and common prudence dictated the inexpediency of seeking the company of one who had shown Charles Edward such marks of sympathy and respect.
At his next visit but one, Wesley writes:—
“1752, March 27.—Being Good Friday, I went to the Old Church, where Mr. Clayton read Prayers; I think the most distinctly, solemnly, and gracefully of any man I ever heard; and the behaviour of the whole congregation was serious and solemn in every part of the service. But I was surprised to see such a change in the greater part of them, as soon as the sacrament was over. They were then bowing, courtesying, and talking to each other, just as if they were going from a play.”
Did Wesley join in this sacramental service? Was Clayton one of the administrators? Was there any intercourse between the two?
Another of Wesley’s visits was in 1755, the year in which Clayton published his “Friendly Advice to the Poor”; and Wesley’s entry in his journal shows that reformation was needed not only among the working-classes, but their superiors.
“1755, April 9.—In the evening I preached at Manchester. The mob was tolerably quiet as long as I was speaking, but immediately after raged horribly. This, I find, has been their manner for some time. No wonder; since the good justices encourage them.”
It was a year after this, when Charles Wesley attended the Collegiate church every day for a whole week, and every day stood close to Clayton, and yet the latter would not even look at him.
Here we must leave the Jacobite Churchman. Of his sincerity, and of his earnest purpose faithfully to fulfil his office as a minister of the Church of England, there can be no question; but, remembering the sacred associations and Methodist meetings of Oxford, this priestly superciliousness was not to be commended, even though his two former friends were now excluded from Church of England pulpits, and were so ecclesiastically irregular as to preach in the open air.