Wesley Corpus

Hymns for Times of Trouble and Persecution (1744)1 Baker List, 83 Editorial Introduction: The early Methodist revival encountered resistance and some persecution from the beginning, for various reasons. The resistance grew significantly in early 1744, as France threatened to invade England and the two countries became embroiled in the War of Austrian Succession (cf. the attacks described in Charles's MS Journal, Jan.-Feb. 1744). The reason that this made things worse for the Methodists is that they were broadly assumed to be Jacobites. "Jacobite" was the nickname for supporters of the claim of James Edward Stuart (1688-1766), exiled son of King James II, to be legitimate holder of the English throne. James II had ascended to the throne in 1685 as an overt Roman Catholic, triggering popular support for the staunchly Reformed William of Orange who was married to James's daughter Mary (also Protestant) to invade and drive James into exile. As fellow Roman Catholics, the French received James II in exile and nurtured his group of supporters, who continued to plot ways of returning him (and, after his death in 1701, his son) to the throne. The threatened invasion in 1744 was one such effort. While Samuel Wesley Jr., the older brother of John and Charles, had favored the Jacobite cause, both of the younger brothers had rejected it and affirmed loyalty to the Hanoverian line. But the fact that they challenged the spiritual vitality of the established church made them targets in times of intrigue for accusation of covert support for the Jacobite cause (and thus the French invaders). As such, much of their energy in 1744-45 was expended in stressing their support of George II and the British cause against the French. Charles devoted his efforts in this regard to a series of hymns for "times of trouble and persecution." The initial short collection in this series appeared March 1, 1744 see HTT (1744). It was followed a month later (after the French fleet had been driven back by storms, but the danger still lingered) by this more ambitious collection, which gathers 33 hymns under three headings: "Hymns for Times of Trouble," "Hymns for Times of Persecution," and "Hymns to be Sung in a Tumult." Like the first collection, many of these hymns are general in nature and reflect settings prior to the present persecution.