Welsh Journals

'The People Called "Methodists' Early Welsh Methodism and the Question of Identity Eryn M. White In one of his earliest prose works relating to the Methodist Revival in Wales, Ateb Philo-Evangelius (1763), William Williams Pantycelyn complained that town and country were united in their opposition to 'the people called "Methodists" Their enemies, he bemoaned, hardly knew what to call them; a thousand insults were hurled at them: fools, hypocrites and perjurers. One of the main causes of the hostility engendered by the early Methodist movement was the uncertainty over who exactly these people were, an uncertainty which gave rise to deep suspicion regarding the purpose of their mission. Their relationship with the Anglican church was an ambiguous one and throughout the eighteenth century they remained a church within a church, a situation which grew increasingly strained as the century progressed. Yet, while the movement remained technically within the church it could not easily define itself as a separate entity. This gave outsiders ample opportunity to determine its identity as they saw it, often in a distinctly unfavourable light. It is not surprising that Williams referred to the membership as 'the people called "Methodists" since this was indeed a name chosen by their enemies. Because they were seen as similar to those touched by revival across the border they were quickly labelled 'Methodists'. This was by no means their .own choice. Howell Harris professed his opposition to the term,2 but like 'Christian', 'Protestant' and 'Puritan', 'Methodist' was a nickname which stuck. The leaders did not seem to be inclined to devise a name of their own choosing, even though they admitted to having 'form'd ourselves into a Body'.3 In the early years of the movement, Harris preferred to use 'the Societies' as a general term to describe the converts and tended to use 'Methodists' exclusively for the English movement.4 However reluctant the leadership were to adopt the name, the movement soon came to be commonly identified as Methodism. By 1745 Williams Pantycelyn seemed to have yielded to the popular trend and wrote to Harris describing the Welsh converts as 'Methodists': 'it wd fill your soul with Love to God to see how fervent the poor Despised Methodists pray for King George the Second and the Present Government'.5 One of the earliest print manifestations of this usage came in 1746 when William Roberts