A memorial of the ministerial life of the Rev. Gideon Ouseley, Irish missionary. Comprising sketches of the mission in connection with which he labored, under the direction of the Wesleyan Conference; with notices of some of the most distinguished Irish Methodist missionaries

Front matter

Theology Library

SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY AT CLAREMONT California

Niele Bebe s te ee

Preface

Tue author of the following pages was requested by the Irish Wesleyan Methodist Conference, in 1839, to prepare Memoirs of the late Rev. Gideon Ouseley; to which he consented, more from the respect which he entertained for their judgment, than from an opinion of his own competency for the performance. But subsequently, not being able to gain access to papers which he deemed essential to the compilation of such a work, he begged leave to decline the duty, and obtained from the conference of 1840 a dispensation from that which he otherwise would have conceived obligatory. He was given to understand, too, that another and more able pen was engaged in the task which had first been assigned him.

Seven years had well nigh elapsed, and nothing appeared to meet the expectation of the religious public, and great uneasiness was evinced by many, lest the name of the venerable Ouseley should be allowed to pass into oblivion. It was not until then, and after repeated and urgent entreaties by several respected friends and brethren of the Irish Connection, and by honored members of the British Conference, that he could be induced to enter on the prosecution of the design.

Some apology may be thought requisite from the author for the delay of the publication since its first announcement. He had anticipated its appearance long before this period; but matters of painful interest connected with his ministerial charge, which he could not have foreseen, and over which he had no control, engaged him in onerous and perplexing duties, which precluded the possibility of bestowing that attention to it which was necessary in conducting it through the press.

Although topics referring to the social state of Treland, and to the mission generally, occupy considerable space in the Memorial, yet.the author’s principal object was to give, as far as he could, a fair view of that “most unusual man,” whose character and labors are traced in this volume. As any history, however, of the Irish mission should comprehend an account of one of the most extraordinary and successful Irish missionaries who have appeared in any age, so the ministerial life of the man must imbody a sketch of the system of operation with which he was connected, and of the character of his native country, which he so ardently loved, and for whose regeneration he passed through nearly half a century of persevering and patient toil.

Mr. Ouseley’s voluminous letters, descriptive of his travels and labors, from some of which extracts have been already published, presented a strong inducement to the writer to compile a much more comprehensive record: his chief difficulty, therefore, lay in comprising the work within moderate limits.

In the second letter the quotations of the author may be thought too copious and lengthened, but having in his former letter ventured to state his views on a subject respecting which there are many conflicting opinions, and lest the remarks made by him “should appear presumptuous from so inconsiderable a person,” he deemed it expedient to fortify himself by authorities of such high and.deserved reputation.

Since this work was commenced, our country has become a scene of the most distressing calamity; famine and fever, in appalling succession, have been doing the work of death; the sufferings of the people have been such as to arrest the attention, and, in a great measure, excite the sympathies, of the world; and the judgments of the Lord are still abroad in the land. Whether this awful visitation has beert called down by those moral evils described in an early part of this Memorial, the author does not now venture to determine. Some future writer, who shall see “God in history,” may trace its causes and exhibit its effects. Certain it is, that our national sufferings are not more manifest than have been our national sins. Not only had political agitation relaxed the sinews of industry, and disturbed the passions of the multitude, until the earthquake that rocked our island seemed to threaten the security of the British throne ; but the feet of numbers were swift to shed blood. God’s laws were openly trampled upon, his name profaned, his sabbaths desecrated, his Bible exploded, and a corrupt and spurious Christianity substituted for the religion of Jesus Christ. “Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord; and shall+not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?” Thus far the infliction has tended to calm the strife of party and still the tumult of the people.

Well will it be for Ireland should it have the further tendency to break down the prejudices which have hitherto walled in the bulk of her population, and to open a way for “the glorious gospel of the blessed God.”

With no small degree of diffidence does the author present this yolume to the eye of an intelligent public, written, as it was, at different intervals, amidst important and anxious avocations. He is conscious of some of its defects; but for these, and others which he does not discern, he solicits a fayorable judgment from his readers; and casts his performance on their kindness and candor, ‘being aware that more is expected from the Memorial of Mr. Ouseley than could be accomplished by a person having much more ability and leisure than himself. If the sketch of Mr. O.’s ministerial life, however imperfectly given, shall have a tendency to rouse the energies of young candidates for the Christian ministry to similar enterprise and effort, the author will rejoice; as he is persuaded that whatever other means may be adopted for the melioration of the condition of our interesting country, the weal of Ireland, under the divine blessing, especially depends upon a succession of faithful, self-denying men, who will imitate the noble example bequeathed them by Gideon Ouseley, who “jeoparded his life unto the death in the high places of the field ;” that he might promulgate, to the people at large, the words of ETERNAL LIFE.