Journals reveal more to Charles Wesley than hymns

By Kathleen LaCamera*

Charles Wesley, the younger brother of Methodism founder John, is best known for writing hymns, but scholars are gaining new insights by transcribing sections of his journals written in 18th-century shorthand. Artwork by Frank Salisbury, courtesy of the World Methodist Museum.

MANCHESTER, England (UMNS)-Journals written by Charles Wesley almost 300 years ago are revealing new insights into a man best known for his prolific hymn-writing and for being the younger brother of Methodism founder John Wesley.

For instance, he was occasionally critical of his older brother, frequently discouraged and sometimes worried about what awaits him on "the other side of the grave."

Sections of the journals, written in an obscure 18th-century shorthand and deemed "sensitive in nature," had been omitted from previously published editions.

These omissions include criticism of John such as one shorthand entry dated Jan. 13, 1751, in which Charles wrote: "Heard my brother exhort the society. I thought he misspent his strength in trifles."

Other "questionable material," although not written in shorthand, also was omitted from previous editions because past editors "cleaned up Charles' act," said the Rev. ST Kimbrough Jr., a research fellow at the Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition at Duke Divinity School.

"He wrote in terse, shotgun kinds of sentences, without the flowery oratory that John uses," explained Kimbrough, a United Methodist and expert on Charles Wesley. "(Past editors) cleaned it up and made it all seem beautiful."

News that the shorthand sections have been decoded and published has been reported in many of Britain's national newspapers and resulted in an Aug. 29 report on the BBC's major morning radio news program.

The work, which is more akin to transcription than decoding, has been carried out by a group of scholars on both sides of the Atlantic under the auspices of the Charles Wesley Society. Wesley is not the only one of his contemporaries to use this shorthand, created by poet John Byrom in the mid-1700s. However, Wesley invented his own adaptations and shortcuts, making the painstaking task of transcription even more challenging.

Involved with the transcription project since its inception, Kimbrough noted that unlike the previous editions of the journals, "what we have is really what Charles Wesley wrote."

A real 'page turner'
The original journals are held at the Methodist Archives and Research Centre in the John Rylands Library in Manchester, some 200 miles north of London. The library holds the world's largest collection of manuscripts related to John and Charles Wesley as well as other members and close associates of the Wesley family.

Charles' journals proved a real "page turner" at times, said British scholar Kenneth Newport, who played a major part in transcribing them.

During nine years of working on the journals, Newport was most surprised by the extent to which Charles is frequently "down in the dumps about things." At times, Charles even writes that he wishes he were dead, then admits he is worried about what awaits him on "the other side of the grave."

"He is doubting his own eternity, but then, of course, he writes things that take him to the other end of the spiritual spectrum," said Newport, professor of Christian Thought at Liverpool Hope University.

Newport became skilled in Byrom shorthand when transcribing Charles Wesley's sermons for publication in 2001. About half of those sermons were written in the shorthand.

Charles also uses shorthand in journal entries when reflecting on the disappointment of his failed ministry in Georgia and his strained relationship with John over the issue of marriage. Charles records that he is "thunderstruck" to hear of John's plans to marry in 1771. On a different occasion, he is deeply annoyed when John deems a $200 annual stipend to help Charles support his new wife, Sarah Gwen, as unaffordable for Methodism.

His journals make clear that Charles was against the move in Methodism to separate from the Church of England. According to Newport, he had a "dog-eared refusal to contemplate" such a move for sacramental reasons as well as those of church authority. These are deep convictions that Newport says still have implications today in Britain, where Anglicans and Methodists are engaged in "unity talks" about closer cooperation between the two denominations.

"To see Charles Wesley, as you can following through the pages of his journal, gives us a picture that is more whole," Newport said. "I much prefer this character to the more other-worldly figure he is painted to be. He is somebody facing the reality of life, rooted in the challenges of his time. He has his physical and spiritual struggles, illnesses, doubts, fears, bereavements and so on. … His is the same spiritual journey as the rest of us."

'Lived in John's shadow'
Robert Williams, head of the United Methodist Commission on Archives and History, said Charles Wesley has "lived in John's shadow all these years"-recognized for his hymns and then "shunted off to the side."

Called the poet of the Methodist movement, Charles wrote literally thousands of hymns, many of which are still a vital part of Christian worship around the world. The list includes "Christ the Lord is Risen Today," "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing," "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing" and "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling."

"These journals give us a greater appreciation of Charles Wesley as more than just a hymn writer," Williams said.

Praising the new Abingdon Press edition of Charles' journals as modern, reliable, complete and accessible, Williams believes this new material adds texture and nuance to what already is known about Charles, John and the Methodist movement.

Williams believes the journals give a "richness" to the more complicated figure of Charles and his relation to John that might easily be missed in mythologized official versions of the Wesley brothers.

"These are real people with a real record of accomplishment in the 18th century, but (through the journals) we can see them more realistically," Williams said.

In addition to the journals, Abingdon Press Kingswood Imprint is publishing collections of Charles Wesley's journal letters and his personal letters. Williams and those working on these projects are keen to acknowledge Abingdon as "extremely faithful" in the decision to make available these key Charles Wesley primary resources.

For more information about the journals and other Charles Wesley-related resources, visit http://www.abingdonpress.com/.

*LaCamera is a UMNS correspondent based in England.