is change was accelerated by
the silencing of convocation. A sermon by Hoadly, bishop of Bangor,
impugned the existence of a visible church, and the "Bangorian
controversy" which ensued threatened to end in the condemnation of his
opinions by convocation, or at least by the lower house. As this would
have weakened the government, convocation was prorogued, letters of
business were withheld, and from 1717 until 1852 convocation, the
church's constitutional organ of reform, existed only in name. Walpole
during his long ministry, from 1721 to 1742, discouraged activity in the
church lest it should become troublesome to his government. Preferment
was shamelessly sought after even by pious men, and was begged and
bestowed on the ground of political services. In this the clergy, apart
from the sacredness of clerical office, were neither better nor worse
than the laity; in morality and decency they were better even at the
lowest point of their decline, about the middle of the century. While
the church was inactive in practical work, it showed vigour in the
intellectual defence of Christianity. Controversies of earlier origin
with assailants of the faith were ably maintained by, among others,
Daniel Waterland, William Law, a nonjuror, Bishop Butler, whose
_Analogy_ appeared in 1736, and Bishop Berkeley. A revival of
spirituality and energy at last set in. Its origin has been traced to
Law's Serious Call, published in 1728. Law's teaching was actively
carried out by John Wesley (q.v.), a clergyman who from 1739 devoted
himself to evangelization. Though his preaching awoke much religious
feeling, specially among the lower classes, the excitement which
attended it led to a horror of religious enthusiasm, and his methods
irritated the parochial clergy. Some of them seconded his efforts, but
far more regarded them with violent and often unworthily expressed
dislike. While he urged his followers to adhere to the church, he could
not himself work in subordination to discipline; the Methodist
organization which he founded was independent of the church's system and
soon drifted into separation. Nevertheless, he did much to bring about a
revival of life in the church. Several clergy became his allies, and
some preached in Lady Huntingdon's chapels before her secession. These
were among the fathers of the Evangelical party: they differed from the
Methodists in not forming an organization, remaining in the church,
working on the parochial s