THE LIBRARY
of VICTORIA UNIVERSITY
Toronto
A NEW HISTORY OF METHODISM
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOLUME I
INTRODUCTION
THE PLACE OF METHODISM IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
BOOK I THE FOUNDATIONS OF METHODISM
BOOK II BRITISH WESLEYAN METHODISM
BOOK III BRITISH BRANCHES OF METHODISM
VOLUME II
BOOK IV METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
BOOK V METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE
BOOK VI METHODISM TO-DAY
FRANCIS ASBURY [&tat. circa 63.]
Reproduced, by permission, from the Portrait painted by BRUFF in 1808, and now in Drew Theological Seminary, Madison, New Jersey, U.S.A.
•LUMES, ILLUSTRATED R II
AND S TOUGH LONDON CM IX
A NEW HISTORY OF METHODISM
EDITED BY
W. J. TOWNSEND, D.D. H. B. WORKMAN, M.A., D.Lir. GEORGE EAYRS, F.R.HisT.S.
IN TWO VOLUMES, ILLUSTRATED VOLUME II
I look upon all the world as my parish.
WESLEY, Journal, June n, 1739.
HODDER AND STOUGHTON LONDON MCMIX
.;,VrANUEC
32532
Printed by Haull, Watson A: Finey, Ld.t London and Aylesbury.
CONTENTS
VOLUME II
BOOK IV
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
IN IEELAND 1
By the Rev. CHARLES H. CKOOKSHANK, M.A.
CHAPTER II
ON THE CONTINENT OF EUKOPE 39
By the Kev. GEORGE WHELPTON, M.A.
CHAPTER III
IN THE UNITED STATES .... . . .51
I. THE BEGINNINGS OF AMEKICAN METHODISM . . 53
By the Rev. EZRA S. TIPPLE, D.D., Professor of Practical Theology, Drew Theological Seminary, Madison, New Jersey.
II. THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHUKCH AND OTHEK
CHUKCHES 113
By the Rev. J. ALFRED FAULKNER, M.A., D.D., Professor of Historical Theology in Drew Theological Seminary, Madison, New Jersey.
III. THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH SOUTH AND OTHER
CHURCHES 153
By Bishop E. E. Hoss, D.D.
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER IV
IN BRITISH AMEEICA
PAGE
199
By the Rev. ALEXANDER SUTHERLAND, D.D., General Secretary of the Foreign Missions of the Methodist Church of Canada.
CHAPTER V
IN AUSTRALASIA
By the Kev. EDWARD H. SUGDEN, M.A., B.Sc., Principal of Queen's College, Melbourne, and President of the Methodist Church of Australasia.
CHAPTER YI IN SOUTH AFRICA .... . . 267
By the Rev. JOSEPH WHITESIDE, Uitentage, South Africa.
BOOK V
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE
CHAPTER I
THE WORK OF BRITISH SOCIETIES ..... 283
By the Rev. W. T. A. BARBER, M.A., D.D., Head Master of the Leys School, Cambridge, formerly Secretary of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society.
CHAPTER II
THE WORK OF AMERICAN SOCIETIES 361
By the REV. J. ALFRED FAULKNER, M.A., D.D.
CONTENTS vii
BOOK VI
METHODISM TO-DAY
CHAPTER I
PAGE FUNDAMENTAL UNITY . . . . . . . 41 7
By the Eev. J. SCOTT LIDGETT, M.A., President of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference.
CHAPTER II
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED 443
By the Rev. WILLIAM REDFERN.
CHAPTER III
LINES OF DEVELOPMENT AND STEPS TOWARDS REUNION . 483
I. IN BRITISH METHODISM . . 485
By SIR PERCY BUNTING, M.A., Editor of The Contemporary
Review.
II. IN AMERICAN METHODISM 507
By the Rev. JAMES MUDGE, D.D., Boston, U.S.A.
CHAPTER IV
STATISTICS OF WORLD-WIDE METHODISM .... 529 By the Rev. GEORGE EAYRS F.R-Hist.S.
Vlll
CONTENTS
APPENDICES
PAGE
A.— GENERAL LIST OF AUTHORITIES USED IN THIS HISTORY,
AND OF WORKS FOR THE STUDY OF METHODISM . 533 Compiled by the Rev. HERBERT B. WORKMAN, M.A., D.Lit.
B. — WESLEY'S DEED OF DECLARATION . . .551
C. — EARLY METHODIST PSALMODY, WITH A NOTE ON
WESLEYAN METHODIST HYMN-BOOKS . . . 557
By the Rev. FREDERICK L. WISEMAN, B.A.
D. — RULES OF THE UNITED SOCIETIES .... 563 E. — THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH ACT . . . 566
INDEX . .... 579
ILLUSTEATIONS
VOLUME II
FRONTISPIECE
FRANCIS ASBURY. From the original in Drew Theological Seminary, Madison, New Jersey.
PACING PAGE
PLATE I 6
DUBLIN IN WESLEY'S DAY. From print of 1784.
THE FIRST METHODIST CHAPEL IN IRELAND, WHITEFRIARS STREET,
DUBLIN. Erected 1752. LIMERICK, WHERE THE FIRST IRISH CONFERENCE MET, 1752. Old
prints in this and succeeding plates from Rev. T. E. Brigden's
collection.
PLATE II 28
THOMAS WALSH, aetat. 28; b. 1730; d. 1759. GIDEON OUSELEY; d. 1839, aetat. 78.
PREACHING LICENCE OF THOS. WAUGH, 1810, ' THE NESTOR OF IRISH METHODISM.' ENTERED MINISTRY, 1808, d. 1873.
PLATE III 42
PARIS : SUBURBS AND THE BASTILE, WHEN METHODISM COM MENCED WORK IN THE CITY. Print, 1789.
AN OPEN-AIR SERVICE IN THE CEVENNES, 1834. DR. CHARLES COOK IN THE PULPIT.
THE PRESENT PULPIT OF THE METHODIST CHURCH, RUE ROQUEPINE, PARIS.
x ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING PA.GE
PLATE IV 48
JEAN DE QUETTEVILLE, OF GUERNSEY, WHO VISITED NORMANDY,
1816.
CHARLES COOK, D.D., MISSIONARY IN FRANCE FROM 1816 TO 1858. SALVATORE BAGGHIANTI, MONK, PATRIOT, AND METHODIST MINISTER
IN ITALY, ' ONE OF THE NOBLEST OF OUR HEROIC BAND OF
ITALIAN WORKERS ' ; b. 1825 ; d. 1892. DR. LUDWIG S. JACOBY, GERMAN PIONEER IN 1831. JOHN C. BARRATT, WHO SUCCEEDED JACOBY, 1865 ; d. 1892.
PLATE V 56
EMBURY PREACHING TO THE PALATINES WHEN LEAVING LIMERICK
FOR AMERICA, 1760. From Crook's ' Ireland.' RECORD IN EMBURY'S POCKET-BOOK, CHRISTMAS, 1752. EMBURY'S HOUSE IN NEW YORK.
PLATE VI 60
THE FIRST METHODIST CHURCH IN AMERICA, JOHN STREET, NEW
YORK, 1768. From Bangs's ' Hist. Amer. MetUS THE RIGGING LOFT WHICH PRECEDED THE CHURCH. JOHN STREET CHURCH TO-DAY, ' THE CITY ROAD CHAPEL OF AMERICA.'
PLATE VII 66
GENERAL OGLETHORPE, 1698-1785, WITH WHOM THE WESLEYS WENT TO GEORGIA IN 1735, AND WHO WAS STILL LIVING WHEN THE ORDAINED PREACHERS WERE SENT TO AMERICA IN 1784.
CAPTAIN THOMAS WEBB; d. 1796. Portrait in Bangs' 's 'Hist. Amer. Meth.'
BARBARA HECK, 1734-1804.
RICHARD BOARDMAN AND
JOSEPH PILMOOR, THE TWO VOLUNTEERS FOR AMERICA AT THE CONFERENCE, LEEDS, 1769.
ILLUSTRATIONS xi
FACING PAGE
PLATE VIII 84
DR. COKE'S CERTIFICATE OF ORDINATION TO THE SUPERINTENDENCY OF THE METHODIST CHURCH IN AMERICA, 1784.
PLATE IX 88
LOVELY LANE CHAPEL, BALTIMORE, WHERE THE FIRST GENERAL
CONFERENCE WAS HELD, 1784.
TABLET MARKING SITE OF LOVELY LANE MEETING-HOUSE. THE UPPER ROOM WHERE THE CONFERENCE SAT, 1784. LIGHT STREET PARSONAGE, BALTIMORE, SHOWINGOUTSIDE STAIRCASE. From the Methodist Year Book, 1908 (New York).
PLATE X 90
THE CONSECRATION OF FRANCIS ASBURY AS BISHOP, 1784. From old
steel engraving. RICHARD WHATCOAT, ORDAINED DEACON AND PRESBYTER BY
WESLEY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1784. THOMAS VASEY, ORDAINED BY WESLEY, 1784 (AND, IN AMERICA,
BY BISHOP WHITE), WHO AFTERWARDS OFFICIATED IN CITY
ROAD CHAPEL, 1811-1826.
PLATE XI .104
SEAL OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH ADOPTED IN 1789.
Sketch by K. E. B. TITLE-PAGE OF THE FIRST EDITION OF THE ' DISCIPLINE.'
PLATE XII 120
THE CAMP-MEETING.
LORENZO Dow, THE ECCENTRIC EVANGELIST.
PEGGY Dow, HIS WIFE.
AN OLD-TIME ITINERANT.
From old steel engravings.
xii ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING PAGE
PLATE XIII 140
MRS. ELIZA GARBETT, FOUNDER OF THE GARRETT BIBLICAL INSTI TUTE, N.W. UNIVERSITY, EVANSTOWN, ILL., 1855.
MRS. LUCY RIDER MEYER, PIONEER OF THE DEACONESS ORDER, 1887.
Miss FRANCES WILLARD, OF THE N.W. UNIVERSITY, FIRST PRESI DENT OF THE WORLD'S WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION, 1883; d. 1898.
PLATE XIV 166
FREEBORN GARRETTSON, ASBURY'S COMRADE ; received 1776 ;
d. 1828.
WILLIAM MCKENDREE ; b. 1757; BISHOP, 1808; d. 1835. DR. WILBUR FISK, FIRST PRESIDENT OF WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY ;
b. 1792; d. 1839. DR. NATHAN BANGS, 6. 1778. ' FOR SIXTY YEARS ONE OF THE
MOST REPRESENTATIVE METHODISTS IN THE UNITED STATES.' DR. MATTHEW SIMPSON; b. 1811; BISHOP, 1852; d. 1884. DR. HOLLAND M. MCTYEIRE ; BISHOP, 1866, AND HISTORIAN OF
M.E.C. SOUTH; d. 1889. RICHARD ALLEN, FOUNDER AND BISHOP OF THE AFRICAN M.E.
CHURCH, 1816; d. 1831.
PLATE XV 204
THE FIRST CHURCH IN UPPER CANADA, OLD HAY BAY CHURCH, 1792.
THE FIRST METHODIST CHURCH IN MONTREAL, 1807.
THE FIRST CHURCH IN TORONTO AND THE METROPOLITAN CHURCH.
VICTORIA COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO.
THE METHODIST ORPHANAGE, ST. JOHN'S.
PLATE XVI 208
LAWRENCE COUGHLAN, WHO INTRODUCED METHODISM INTO NEW FOUNDLAND, 1765.
WILLIAM BLACK, MISSIONARY IN NOVA SCOTIA, AND GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT OF MISSIONS IN BRITISH AMERICA, 1786-1834.
JOSHUA MARSDEN, NOVA SCOTIA AND BERMUDAS, 1800-1814; d. 1837.
MATTHEW RICKEY, M.A., CANADA, PREACHER AND PRINCIPAL,
ASSOCIATED WITH DR. PuNSHON IN THE MOVEMENT FOR UNION'
1868-1874.
JOSEPH STINSON, CANADA, PRESIDENT OF CONFERENCE, 1839 ; d. 1862. DR. HUMPHREY PICKARD (MOUNT ALLISON COLLEGE), SACKVILLE
NEW BRUNSWICK. DR. EGERTON RYERSON, PRESIDENT OF FIRST GENERAL CONFERENCE
OF THE METHODIST CHURCH OF CANADA, 1874 ; d. 1882.
ILLUSTRATIONS xiii
FACING PAGE
PLATE XVII 238
DEATH OF CAPTAIN COOK, IN THE YEAR THE CITY OF SYDNEY WAS
FOUNDED, 1788. Print of 1789. WHIRLEY GULLY, FOREST CREEK RANGES, MOUNT ALEXANDER,
WHERE THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN 1851 HAD IMPORTANT
EFFECTS ON METHODIST DEVELOPMENTS. From contemporary
prints in Eev. T. E. Brigden's collection.
PLATE XVIII 252
SAMUEL LEIGH, FIRST WESLEYAN MISSIONARY TO SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1815 ; NEW ZEALAND, 1822 ; d. 1852.
WILLIAM LONGBOTTOM, ADELAIDE, 1838 ; d. 1849.
NATHANIEL TURNER, NEW ZEALAND, 1823 ; TONGA, 1828 ; d. 1864.
JACOB ABBOTT, LAY PIONEER AND FOUNDER, SOUTH AUSTRALIA ; b. 1813 ; d. 1908.
JOHN C. WHITE, PIONEER LOCAL PREACHER FOR SIXTY YEARS, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, 6. 1813.
JAMES WAY, ADELAIDE, 1850 ; d. 1884 ; FIRST BIBLE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY. Centre of plate : ' ADVANCE AUSTRALIA,' ARMS.
WILLIAM B. BOYCE, SOUTH AFRICA AND AUSTRALIA, 1822-1889.
WALTER LAWRY, SYDNEY, 1818 ; TONGA, 1822 ; d. 1859.
JOHN WATSFORD, FIRST MISSIONARY TO QUEENSLAND, 1850 ; PRESI DENT, 1878-1881.
Portraits by permission of Methodist Publishing House, City Road, and others (also Plate XVI.).
PLATE XIX ... 270
JOHN MCKENNY, CAPETOWN, 1814; d. 1847.
BARNABAS SHAW, SOUTH AFRICA, 1816 ; d. 1857.
JOHN EDWARDS, SOUTH AFRICA, 1832 ; d. 1887.
WILLIAM SHAW, ALGOA BAY, 1820 ; PRESIDENT OF BRITISH CON FERENCE, 1865; d. 1872.
JOHN WALTON, M.A. (CEYLON, 1855), FIRST PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICAN CONFERENCE, 1883 ; d. 1904.
WM. J. DAVIS, CLARKEBURY, 1833 ; d. 1883.
GEORGE CHAPMAN, CAPE COAST, 1843 ; THEOLOGICAL TUTOR, HEALD TOWN NATIVE TRAINING INSTITUTION ; d. 1893.
From old magazine portraits, by permission of Methodist Publishing House.
xiv ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING PAGE
PLATE XX 274
SOUTH AFRICAN CONFERENCE, 1885. SIMONSTOWN SOLDIERS' HOME AND CHURCH. HIGH SCHOOL, GRAHAMSTOWN. HEALD TOWN NATIVE TRAINING INSTITUTION.
PLATE XXI 286
THE HOUSE IN WHICH THE MISSION WAS BEGUN AT KINGSTON,
JAMAICA, 1789. Old lithograph.
JOHN BAXTER, AETAT. 57, SHIPWRIGHT AND MISSIONARY PIONEER IN WEST INDIES ; d. 1806.
DR. THOMAS COKE.
WILLIAM WARRENER, aetat. 48, WESLEY'S FIRST ORDAINED MIS SIONARY FOR THE WEST INDIES, 1786 ; d. 1825.
CLASS-TICKETS FROM BARBADOS, 1822-1826.
PLATE XXII 288
DR. COKE'S FIRST PLAN FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS, 1784.
PLATE XXIII 292
AUTOGRAPH LETTER BY DR. COKE TO REV. JOHN FLETCHER ENCLOSING A COPY OF HIS FIRST PLAN OF MISSIONS, 1784.
THE ' OLD BOGGARD HOUSE,' LEEDS, WHERE THE CONFERENCE OF 1769 WAS HELD, AT WHICH THE FIRST TWO MISSIONARIES VOLUN TEERED FOR AMERICA (p. 64), AND WHERE THE FIRST WESLEYAN MISSIONARY MEETING WAS HELD, OCTOBER 6, 1813.
PLATE XXIV 294
THE FIRST FOREIGN MISSION CIRCUIT PLAN, CEYLON, 1819. THE MISSIONARIES NAMED ON THE PLAN : BENJAMIN CLOUGH ; d. 1853.
D. J. GOGERLY ; d. after forty years' service in Ceylon, 1862.
R. NEWSTEAD ; d. 1865.
ILLUSTRATIONS
xv
FACING PAGE
PLATE XXV 302
THE OLDEST METHODIST CHAPEL IN ASIA, PETTAH, COLOMBO.
FIRST WESLEYAN MISSIONARIES' HOME IN MANDALAY, BURMAH ; A DISUSED BUDDHIST MONASTERY, 1887.
FIRST MISSION HOUSE, VEWA, FIJI, WITH HEATHEN TEMPLE IN BACKGROUND. From old ' Juvenile Offering.''
FIRST MISSION STATION IN NEW ZEALAND, WESLEY DALE, WHAN- GAROA. From old Missio-nary Notices.
FIRST MISSIONARIES' HOUSE AND CHURCH (UNITED METHODIST CHURCH) RIBE, EAST AFRICA, WHERE AN AGRICULTURAL MIS SIONARY IS STATIONED (1908).
FIRST METHODIST PARSONAGE IN MASHONALAND, ' THE KEY TO THE NORTH.'
PLATE XXVI 342
ROBERT SPENCE HARDY, CEYLON. JOHN HUNT, FIJI. JAMES CALVERT, FIJI. MATTHEW GODMAN, SIERRA LEONE. W. N. HALL (M.N.C.), CHINA. THOMAS WAKEFIELD (U.M.F.C.), EAST AFRICA. DAVID HILL, CHINA. EBENEZER JENKINS, INDIA. JOSIAH HUDSON, MYSORE. JOHN INNOCENT (M.N.C.), CHINA. JOSIAH Cox, CHINA. T. G. VANSTONE (B.C.M.), CHINA.
Portraits from Magazines, etc., by permission of The Methodist Publishing House, City Road, and others.
PLATE XXVII 378
REV. (KING) PETER VI., FIRST NATIVE MISSIONARY IN POLYNESIA. SHAHWUNDAIS, REV. JOHN SUNDAY, CONVERTED CHIPPEWAY CHIEF, MISSIONARY TO HIS OWN TRIBE AT ALDERVILLE, UPPER CANADA. BISHOP JOHN WRIGHT ROBERTS, LIBERIA. HEAD MISTRESS OF GIRLS' BOARDING SCHOOL, CANTON. NURSE MAY, HANKOW HOSPITAL.
EARLY WORKERS IN LIBERIA:
MELVILLE B. Cox. ANN WILKINS. BISHOP BURNS.
xvi ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING PAGE
PLATE XXVIII 398
DR. WILLIAM NAST, * THE FATHER OF GERMAN METHODISM.'
DR. WILLIAM BUTLER, FOUNDER or MISSIONS IN INDIA AND MEXICO.
DR. JOHN PRICE DURBIN, MISSIONARY SECRETARY or METHODIST
EPISCOPAL CHURCH. PIONEER MISSIONARY BISHOP WILLIAM TAYLOR.
PLATE XXIX 404
CENTRAL METHODIST TABERNACLE, TOKIO. THE KWANSEI GAKUIN (MISSION COLLEGE), KOBE, JAPAN. GENERAL CONFERENCE OF THE JAPAN METHODIST CHURCH, MAY 22, 1907.
PLATE XXX 412
FIRST MISSION SHIP 'TRITON,' SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.
' JOHN WESLEY ' MISSIONARY SHIP, LAUNCHED AT COWES, FOR SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. From Juvenile Offering, 1847.
BETHEL SHIP, ' JOHN WESLEY ' (M.E.C.), FOR USE AMONG SCANDI NAVIANS BY PASTOR HEDSTROM, NEW YORK.
* GLAD TIDINGS,' HOUSE-BOAT OF M.E.C., CHINA CENTRAL MISSION.
BOAT TRAVELLING MISSION, CANTON PROVINCE.
PLATE XXXI 442
AGREEMENT IN WESLEY'S HANDWRITING, WITH AUTOGRAPHS OF EARLY PREACHERS, 1752, SUGGESTING PRINCIPLES OF UNITY.
PLATE XXXII 506
THE WESLEY MONUMENT IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY, UNVEILED BY DEAN STANLEY IN 1878.
BOOK IV METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
CHAPTER I IN IRELAND
' There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains : the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon.' Ps. Ixxii. 16.
VOL. IT
CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM .... p. 3
State of Ireland at Wesley's visit — The Established Church — Deism and infidelity — Early Irish Methodists — Thomas Williams — Wesley visits Dublin — Persecution — A good beginning — Cork riots . pp. 3-9
II. PROGRESS OF THE WORK p. 10
Interchanges with England — Methodist New Connexion — Prominent leaders — Changes in method — Privations — The Primitive Wesleyans — One Methodist Church — Numerical returns . . .pp. 10-16
III. CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT . . . . p. 16
THE IKISH CONFERENCE — Ministers and the Sacraments — Recog nition of the laity — In the Conference. FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS — Special appeals — Methodist College — Provisions for aged ministers — Thanksgiving Fund — Twentieth- Century Fund. EXTENSION OF AGENCY — Sunday schools — Christian Endeavour Societies — Temper ance work — Home missions — Thomas Walsh — Gideon Ouseley — Success of the missionaries — The Forward Movement — Philanthropic institutions — Orphan School — Orphan Society — Craigmore Home — Primary Schools — Secondary education — Theological training
pp. 16-34
IV. INFLUENCE OF IRISH METHODISM . . . . p. 34
On other Irish churches — In America — Newfoundland — Canada — Foreign missions ........ pp. 34-38
Pages 1-38
CHAPTER I
IN IRELAND
AUTHORITIES. — To the General List add : Minutes of the Irish Conference ; Manual of the Laws and Discipline of the Methodist Church ; Reports of various Connexional Funds ; CROOKSHANK'S History of Methodism in Ireland (3 vols. 1885-8). For Walsh, see EMP, vol. iii.
WHEN Wesley and his itinerants entered upon their work INTRODUC-
in Ireland, evangelical truth was but little known among METHODISM
the people. In consequence, vice and immorality prevailed state of
to an alarming extent. The state of the country in general Ireland at
\ , Wesley's
has been described in one terrible sentence, A corrupt visit. aristocracy, a ferocious commonalty, a distracted Govern ment, a divided people.' Eight-elevenths of the population, or about 1,714,000, were in Romish darkness. The penal laws were in the statute books, and although the very severity of these enactments prevented their enforcement, yet, yielding to their pressure and the influence of secular advantages afforded by the profession of another faith, a large proportion of the Roman Catholic nobility and gentry had passed over into the Established Church. The lower classes of the native Irish, with few exceptions, remained devoutly attached to Romanism.
Though Wesley's first visit to Ireland was very brief, it was sufficient to convince him that most absurd means had been employed to sustain the cause of Protestantism, and that it was but little indebted to the exertions of the clergy. He observes that at least ninety-nine in a hundred of the native Irish remained in the religion of their forefathers. The Protestants, whether in Dublin or elsewhere, had almost
3
4 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
all been settlers from England or Scotland. ' Nor is it any wonder,' he adds, ' that most who are born Papists generally live and die such, when the Protestants can find no better ways to convert them than penal laws and Acts of Parliament.'
The The Established Church presented a melancholy spectacle
to the eye of the Christian observer. Considered by British statesmen rather as a political engine than an instrument of instruction in evangelical truth, its dignities and benefices were bestowed as the reward of political desert rather than of moral and religious worth. The days of Ussher, Bedell, and Jeremy Taylor were passed ; and scarcely one bishop can be named who laboured to promote the spiritual interests of his diocese. When the highest dignitaries of the church displayed so little of the spirit of the gospel, what must have been the character and conduct of the clergy in general ? They were comparatively few in number, badly paid, and ill-fitted for their work. ' A cold, formal, worldly spirit crept down, like a mountain mist, from the high places of the church, and spread itself everywhere.' The ministry was regarded as a profession, affording a suitable calling for the younger sons of wealthy traders or poor aristocrats, and was entered upon solely from pecuniary motives, without the slightest idea of devotion to, much less self- sacrifice for, the interests of religion. Clerical duties, there fore, were either wholly neglected or most imperfectly per formed — the services being read with heartless indifference or irreverent haste, that the faithless minister might repose in indolence, or share in the sports of the Sabbath, in which Catholics and Protestants alike revelled. On the introduc tion of Methodism a few clergymen regarded with favour the labours of the itinerants, but such were the powerful influences brought to bear upon them that they soon with drew their countenance, so that Whitefield, on his third visit to the country in 1757, could say, ' Not one clergyman in all Ireland is yet stirred up to come out singularly for God.' In nearly all the parishes one public service on the Lord's Day afforded the only means of religious instruction.
IN IRELAND 5
At this, it too frequently happened, not one-fourth of the adult population attended. Those who frequented the more fashionable of the city churches did not appear to think it necessary to exhibit even outward reverence in the house of God. The Eucharist was shamefully misused when its reception was made a test of admission to social privileges : and some who partook of it acted with most unbecoming levity at the communion table.
The tone of society indicated great indifference in reference Deism and to the high concerns of eternity. Deism was propagated infidellty- under various disguises : and the extensive circulation ob tained by publications designed to overthrow the authority of the Sacred Scriptures revealed a spirit of prevailing scepticism. In the rural districts many of the parishes were very large, and thousands of the parishioners lived at a distance of five or six miles from the church. Protestant ascendency was maintained, but the blessings of a pure faith were lost sight of. In general, there was a total disregard of sacred things, moral responsibility was prac tically forgotten, and licentiousness permeated every grade of society. If an undefined horror of Popery had not placed an insurmountable barrier in the way, the Protestant settlers might have sunk into the lowest depths of Romish super stition. In the north-eastern counties the Presbyterians were numerous, but at the period now referred to Arianism had very much impaired the experimental religion enjoyed by their fathers, so that for many years the Irish Presby terian Church appeared as if smitten with spiritual paralysis. The churches — Episcopal or Presbyterian — were not pre pared to undertake any bold aggressive movement on the prevailing ignorance and superstition. Societies for dis countenancing vice or promoting education — Bible, mis sionary, or temperance societies, tract associations, or Sunday schools — were unknown, and the ignorance, im morality, and wretchedness that might be expected in the absence of such institutions abounded everywhere.
Ireland has been identified with Methodism from the earliest stage of this religious movement. The first Metho-
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Early
Irish
Methodists.
Thomas Williams.
Wesley
visits Dublin.
dists at Oxford numbered but four, one of whom, William Morgan, was an Irishman. He was a warm-hearted, faithful friend ; a welcome visitor of orphans, widows, and prisoners, and altogether a young man of rare zeal, piety, and devotion. After his death his only brother, Richard, was placed under the tuition of John Wesley, and subsequently was converted, so that when the Wesleys left for America he with others carried on the work which they had commenced. A few months later he returned to Ireland and settled in Dublin, the first place in the kingdom to which Methodism obtained access.
Ireland was first visited by a Methodist preacher in the person of Thomas Williams, who in the summer of 1747 crossed the Channel to the metropolis. For some time he had no building in which to preach, yet multitudes flocked to hear him in the open air, and the Lord crowned his labours with success. At length a portion of a house, originally designed for a Lutheran church, was secured for the services. A society also was formed.
The labours of Williams having thus been attended with signal success, he sent an account of his work to Wesley, who at once resolved to visit Dublin. He landed at St. George's quay on Sunday morning. August 9, and in the evening preached in St. Mary's church 'to as gay and senseless a congregation as he ever saw ' ; but was not afforded an opportunity of doing so again, although the curate thanked him heartily, professed much sympathy with his work, and commended his sermon in strong terms. On Monday morning Wesley met the society and preached. The house could not contain the people who assembled to hear, and who seemed to feed on the word of life. He continued to preach morning and evening to large congre gations, including many persons of wealth, as well as minis ters of different denominations, and so favourably was he impressed by his hearers that he thought that if his brother or he could remain for a few months in the city the society would become larger than even the one in London. The very cordiality of the people, and their readiness to hear,
PLATE I
DUBLIN" IN WESLEY'S DAY. From print of 1784.
THE FIRST METHODIST CHURCH IN IRELAND, WHITEFRIARS STREET, DUBLIN. Erected 1752.
LIMERICK, WHERE THK FIRST IRISH CONFERENCE MET, 175.'. From an old print.
'II. G]
IN IRELAND 7
became a source of solicitude to him. At length he examined the society, and found that it consisted of 280 members, many of whom appeared strong in faith. Having spent two weeks in the city, and placed the society under the care of John Trembath, he set sail for England.
Soon, however, persecution broke out against the Metho- Persecution. dists ; but they were enabled to get a firm footing before this open opposition arose, and so passed through it with com paratively little injury. Trembath, in a letter to Wesley, says that all the city was in an uproar. The lives of the Methodists were in imminent peril ; some of the citizens said it was a shame to treat them thus, and others that the dogs deserved to be hanged, while the magistrates refused to interfere. Notwithstanding these trials, very few were turned aside, and the society increased daily. In the midst of these adverse circumstances, on September 9, Charles Wesley, accompanied by Charles Perronet, arrived in Dublin. They proceeded, followed by an insolent mob, to the shat tered room in Marlborough Street, where they met a few people ' who did not fear what man or devils could do to them,' and where Charles Wesley began his labours in Ireland by preaching on ' Comfort ye, comfort ye, My people.' At length the fortitude and resolution of the devoted band in some degree overcame the malice of the populace ; and the brave evangelist resolved, in the strength of the Lord, though at the peril of life, to go forth to Oxmantown Green, and there publicly ' preach Christ crucified.'
Amongst the numerous conversions which resulted from A good the labours of Charles Wesley was one, not only interesting besinning- in itself, but most important in its influence and conse quences. It was that of a lady, a widowed sister-in-law of Samuel Handy, of Coolalough, Westmeath. Mr. Handy, subsequently, on paying her a visit, went with her to one of the Methodist meetings, which was accompanied with such light and power as led him to resolve ' this people shall be my people, and their God shall be my God ' ; a solemn determination which he was enabled to keep through life. At a subsequent interview with the preacher Mr.
8 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Handy obtained such information as to the nature, design, and teaching of Methodism as led him to give the servant of God a hearty invitation to his house, and to express his conviction that if he would come and preach much spiritual good would follow. The request was promptly and thank fully complied with, and Coolalough became at once an established preaching-place, and a centre of Methodist influence, from which divine light radiated for many miles round ; so that Templemacateer, Tyrrell's Pass, Philipstown, Tullamore, Moate, and Athlone were speedily visited by the preachers, and became scenes of holy and blessed triumphs. Thus the close of the year found two or three itinerants faithfully at work in Dublin, while one or two more wrere travelling through the counties proclaiming the glad tidings of salvation. And although eight months had not elapsed since the introduction of Methodism into the country, not only were many Protestants and Roman Catholics converted, but also such a footing was obtained by the society in the metropolis and midlands as served for a vantage ground from which other and greater triumphs were to be won. Cork riots. For duration and intensity it may be doubted whether the annals of Methodism supply anything like a parallel to the infamous riots in Cork. They commenced on May 2, 1749, when Nicholas Butler, a worthless ballad singer, dressed in a parson's gown and bands, went through the streets with ballads in one hand and a Bible in the other, calling on the people to arise and exterminate the Methodist heretics. A large mob was thus assembled. One of the leading members of the society went at once to the mayor, and requested him to put a stop to the riot, but he declined to interfere. Being thus left free to do as they pleased, the mob attacked the Methodists as they came out of the house where they had met for a religious service, calling them opprobrious names and pelting them with mud. On the following evening, waxing bold with impunity, they assem bled in still larger numbers, and attacked the congregation with stones, clubs, and swords, so that the lives of both preachers and people were in imminent danger. Thus daily,
IN IRELAND 9
for weeks together, law was set at defiance, and war was declared against the Methodists and all who ventured to attend their services. It was dangerous for any member to be seen abroad. The gang of ruffians went from house to house, abusing, threatening, and maltreating the people at their pleasure. Some of the women narrowly escaped being killed. The poor people, considering it useless to oppose Butler and his confederates, patiently endured whatever they thought proper to inflict till the Assizes, when a sufficient, though late, relief was expected. Accordingly twenty-eight depositions against the rioters were laid before the grand jury. All of them were thrown out by these worthy gentlemen, who then, in violation of law and usage, assumed the character of accusers, and even specified the sentence they wished passed upon the accused, and all this without a trial or even an indictment. ' We find and present,' said these guardians of the peace, ' Charles Wesley to be a person of ill-fame, a vagabond, and a common dis turber of His Majesty's peace, and we pray he may be transported.' Eight preachers, who had laboured in the city, together with one layman, were similarly honoured. Well might John Wesley pronounce this memorable pre sentment * worthy to be preserved in the annals of Ireland to all succeeding generations.' So the storm raged as furiously as ever. At the Lent Assizes of the following year the depositions of the more recent sufferers among the persecuted Methodists were laid before the Grand Jury, but were all rejected, and a true bill was found against the son of a Methodist for discharging a pistol, without a ball, over the heads of the mob, while they were pelting him with stones. On investigation, the character and conduct of the Methodists were vindicated, but the lawless action of the rioters was not punished, and therefore they still felt free to pursue their wicked course. The arrival soon afterwards of a regiment of Highlanders, many of whom were converted, proved the means of awing the mob and securing for the Methodists a protection which had been denied them by the authorities.
10
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
PROGRESS OF THE WORK.
inter changes with England.
II
Gradually and steadily, notwithstanding bitter prejudice, open hostility, and fierce persecution, the good work ex tended southward, then westward, and lastly northward, until at the end of little more than forty years its preachers numbered 65, its preaching-houses 82, and its members 1,400, while there was not a town of any importance in the country in which the society had not obtained a footing. From amongst the converts the Lord raised up a large staff of earnest and devoted Christian workers, including not less than 137 who entered the active work of the itinerancy, and numerous eminently devoted women. Many converts were also won amongst the Roman Catholics, such as the saintly and scholarly Thomas Walsh, of whom it is said ' that his feet touched the earth, but his spirit was in the celestial world,' and that he came out from the immediate presence of Jehovah, like Moses when he descended from the mount, with his face shining like an angel of God. Nor were there wanting generous financial supporters of the cause, like William Lunell of Dublin, Thomas Jones of Cork, and Samuel Simpson of Athlone, concerning whom Wesley says that he ' knew of no such benefactors among the Methodists of England.'
For nearly thirty years after the introduction of Metho dism the greater number of the preachers in this country came from England ; but in 1776 the Irish were in the majority, and in 1796 there remained among the eighty-one members of the Irish Conference not one of the English itinerants. Ireland, meanwhile, had given to England some of its best evangelists, including William Thompson, Henry Moore, Adam Clarke, James M' Donald, and many others.1 The Irish brethren were most wishful that this interchange should continue, and proposed a plan which, if carried out, would have prevented any confusion or apparent collision between the two Conferences. But the ministers in England
1 Vide supra, vol. i. p. 389 et seq.
IN IRELAND 11
were unwilling to cross the Channel, and also considered that the expense involved was so serious that, in view of the debts with which they were encumbered, the interchanges should be as few as possible. Hence they ceased, except in the small number of cases for which there were special personal or connexional reasons.
For several years after the death of Wesley there was very little intercourse between the brethren on the two sides of the Channel, and this was conducted almost ex clusively by Dr. Coke, as President of the Irish Conference, and Mr. Averell, as Representative to the British Conference. But from the appointment of Dr. Clarke as President, in 181 1, changes gradually took place in the persons appointed as mediums of intercourse, which have resulted in mutually increased affection, confidence, and advantage.
A division which occurred must be noticed here. Not Methodist approving the course taken by the Conference in regard to the administration of the sacraments by Methodist preachers, and as to lay representatives in District Meetings and the Conference, William Black and thirty-one other leaders and trustees connected with societies in the Lisburn Circuit were expelled for agitating these matters. As in England, the time was not deemed ripe for such concessions. Up wards of two hundred members followed them. These were recognized (1799) as members of the English Methodist New Connexion, and formed the basis of a mission estab lished by it in 1825. Between that time and 1840 the work was conducted in sixty-nine towns, including Belfast, Lisburn, Priesthill, Bangor, and others. In these neigh bourhoods it was continued with much devotion.1
A committee to consider the transfer of the work of the mission to the Methodist Conference was appointed in 1903 ; and having conferred with a committee appointed by the Methodist New Connexion, in the following year it was resolved that the transfer should take place on the basis agreed to by the two committees, viz. that the Methodist Conference arrange for the maintenance of pastoral and
1 Thomas, Irish Methodist Reminiscences (1889).
12
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
One
Methodist Church.
Prominent leaders.
Changes in method.
evangelical work over the area occupied by the New Con nexion Mission, and that after the completion of the transfer of the properties of the New Connexion, the Methodist Conference pay to it £4,000 for them. This will be expended on missionary enterprises elsewhere. There is now, with the exception of a few societies belonging to the English Primitive Methodist Conference, but one Methodist Church in Ireland ; and concerning these the Primitive Methodist Conference has made overtures for the transfer of their work to the Irish Methodist Conference.
When Wesley and Coke passed to the home above, other leaders were raised up to guide and direct the affairs of the church, such as Matthew Tobias, a public speaker of over whelming power ; Thomas Waugh, ' the Bunting of Irish Methodism ' ; Robert Wallace, the most liberal-minded and far-seeing of the ministers of his day ; Joseph W. M'Kay, a very able theologian ; and Wallace M'Mullen, a minister of rare statesmanlike worth. These brethren directed with wisdom and courage the affairs of the church in many an anxious hour, guided its legislation, and settled its financial arrangements on a solid and successful basis.
In the first instance the regular work was chiefly if not entirely missionary ; then it became missionary and pas toral ; now it is pastoral and missionary. The itinerants felt themselves called upon to visit neighbourhoods where the society had no footing, and seek and find places in which to preach ; or more frequently they were invited by Metho dists who had removed to these previously unvisited regions ; and occasionally they were sent by the Father of Methodism himself. Thus, for instance, Wesley's attention having been directed to the county of Donegal as a sadly neglected and isolated district of country, he sent a young man five pounds, with a request to see what he could do there. Matthew Stewart, regarding this as a direction of Providence, went, without anything to fall back upon for his support but the money thus received, found a people sunk in ignorance, superstition, and sin, and sought and found opportunities of preaching to them. The following is his own account of
IN IRELAND 13
one of the many similar places in which he was glad to find shelter for the night :
On my arrival I found in one end of the house the anvil block and bellows, part of the roof gone, no room, no bed, and only two or three stools. The woman of the house, who was not well-dressed, lifted a broken dish, which had not been washed, gave it a hasty rub with the tail of her gown, went to a black box, took out a handful of meal, put it into the dish, poured some milk from a broken pitcher, and brought the dish to me. The congregation when they assembled knew not whether to stand or kneel. While I was praying some of them were talking Irish, and most of them conversing with each other. They seemed not to understand anything I said ; and when I gave out my text, ' Behold, the Lamb of God,' etc., they thought I made myself the Lamb of God, and agreed that they would put me to death before I left the country.
Yet on the following evening in this very district thirty-four souls were won for Christ ; while numerous societies were formed over the county before the end of the year.
Originally the circuits were very large, embracing whole Privations. counties, and each itinerant travelled his vast ' round,' preaching in a different place every day, and seldom sleeping in the same bed two nights in six weeks. When two or more preachers were appointed to the same circuit, they often did not see each other during the twelve months, except by special appointment and after a long journey for the purpose. They had also to endure numerous privations and hardships, which sowed in many the seeds of life-long suffering, and laid not a few in premature graves. Living upon the people, they had to put up in wretched hovels, with the humblest fare, and with nothing to lie upon at night but straw. At one place, for example, the preacher's room had only one small window, choked with nettles and hemlock, while the walls were covered with damp sepulchral green, and the earthern floor was so soft that the feet sank in it. ' When I entered the bed,' says the brave William Reilly, ' I thought of my grave.' No wonder that on such ground brave and faithful men were soon disabled.
14 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
In time, however, as additional preachers entered the work, the circuits were increased in number and decreased in area, so that more attention was paid to pastoral over sight, and there was less time for aggressive work. Emigra tion also greatly reduced the number of places available for country work. It should also be noted that the opening of rude cabins for the entertainment of the preachers led to a gradual yet great improvement in the social condition and habits of the inmates, which improved financial re sources, the result of integrity and sobriety, enabled them to effect. In general now, with the exception of Dublin, Belfast, and Cork, the congregations are small. In many cases the ministers preach to but a handful of people in provincial towns or lonely farm-houses, owing to the Pro testant population being sparse and scattered. But thus the lamp of divine truth has been kept burning in the midst of darkness. It was in one of these small towns William Arthur was led to Christ, and in one of these out-of-the- way districts Dr. Charles Elliott was brought to a saving knowledge of the truth.
Primitive A resolution of the Conference in 1816, permitting the
Wesleyans. administering of the sacraments by the preachers, led to a very serious division. Some 7,000 members, who objected strongly to this resolution, withdrew from connexion with the Conference, and formed themselves into a separate organization, called the Primitive Wesleyan Methodist Society. Both bodies claimed the chapels and other Con- nexional property : the Wesleyans as it was in general settled by deeds on the Legal Conference, and the Primitives on their adherence to the original rules and practices of Methodism. Appeal was made to the Court of Chancery, which decided in favour of the Conference. Thus Methodism in Ireland was divided into two distinct organizations, each under the direction of its own Conference ; and each accept ing the same system of Christian doctrine, engaging in the same hallowed work, and largely maintaining the same discipline, yet one afforded facilities for the exercise of all the functions of a church, and placed legislation in the
IN IRELAND 15
hands of the ministers alone, while the other avowed itself to be an auxiliary to the churches, and admitted the laity to an equal share of power with the preachers.
This sad division continued for about sixty years, each Reunion society on its own particular lines earnestly and successfully engaging in the good work. At length, on the disestablish ment and disendowment of the Irish Church, it was seen by the preachers and officials of the Primitive Wesleyan Society that they could no longer expect the practical sympathy of the Episcopalians which they had previously received. There was among their own people a growing feeling that they could no longer retain the position which they had occupied as a mere society, while the Wesleyan body had become more liberal in its constitution. A new generation, moreover, having risen, which had taken no part in the bitter strife of 1817, the feeling of antagonism had almost, if not altogether, passed away. An Act of Parliament was therefore secured which relieved the Primi tive Wesleyans of their self-imposed obligation not to administer the sacraments. Negotiations for union were entered upon and continued for some years. At length, in 1878, the terms of union proposed by a joint committee were agreed to by each Conference with practical unanimity, and thus the breach was happily repaired, while the old distinctive denominational terms were merged in the generic name of Methodist.
Methodism reached its zenith numerically in Ireland in Numerical 1844, when the total number of members of society in the returns- different branches was about 50,000, the largest return ever made in this kingdom. Dark days, however, were in store for the country, owing chiefly to the potato blight and consequent famine and pestilence. A stream of emi gration set in, which has continued to the present day, reducing the population from 8,250,000 in 1841 to 4,500,000 in 1901 ; thus sweeping away nearly one-half of the in habitants, and giving the various churches a shock from which, numerically at least, they have never recovered. During these years Methodism has lost by emigration alone
16
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
1908.
at least 40,000 members, representing 120,000 adherents. In the face of this huge drain it was not until 1859-60 that the societies were able even to hold their own ; but since then there has been a slow but steady increase. According to the census returns, while the other churches have been going down, Methodism has been rising. The Roman Catholics declined from 4,500,000 in 1861 to 3,250,000 in 1901 ; the Episcopalians from 693,000 to 579,000 ; the Presbyterians from 523,000 to 444,000 ; the Methodists rose from 31,252 to 62,383. To-day there are in the Metho dist Church 246 ministers, 697 local preachers, 1,107 leaders, 28,883 members, and property valued at £660,526.
DEVELOP MENT or CONSTITU TION.
Irish Conference.
1791.
Ministers and the Sacraments.
Ill
The first Irish Conference was held in Limerick in 1752 ; and for thirty years it continued to be held every second or third year, when Wesley was able to visit the country. But in 1782 Dr. Coke was commissioned to take his place, and since then the Conference has met annually, presided over either by Wesley himself, by some one appointed by him, or, since his death, by some minister delegated by the Legal Conference, and invested with its powers.
The appointment of the preachers to the various rounds or circuits was in the first instance largely in the hands of Wesley, and passed gradually to the annual Conferences over which he presided.1 But on his death it was arranged that the committee of each district should send one of their body to meet the delegate two days before the meeting of the Conference, to draw up a plan for stationing the preachers, to be submitted to the Conference for its approval or re vision. This was the origin of the Stationing Committee, which as an institution continues to the present day.
Methodism in Ireland in its early stages was a society within the churches, although in no way under their control.
1 By the execution of a Deed Poll in 1784 he transferred on his death the Methodist property to one hundred members of the Conference, in cluding eleven then stationed in Ireland.
IN IRELAND 17
Its members were warmly attached to the Established and the Presbyterian Churches, attending their services, and receiving the sacraments from the hands of their ministers t in time a large number of persons, Roman Catholics and non-church-goers, were reached, who had no attachment to the Protestant Churches. These, with ever-increasing importunity and force, claimed the Christian ordinances :rom the hands of those by whose agency they had been brought to a saving knowledge of the truth. Wesley by his personal influence, kept these people largely in check and after his decease many who had come under his influence followed up his work. Gradually, however, these passed their reward, and the claimants increased in number and strength until it became impossible to disregard any onger their earnest petition. So in 1816 the Conference esolved, under certain specified conditions, to comply with their request. In time the conditions were relaxed until they ceased to be required.1
Previous to the division which followed this action the morning services in the Methodist chapels were held gener ally at such hours as did not interfere with attendance at >ther churches. In 1821 a change took place in the Abbey Street Chapel, Dublin, and in other places a like stand was gradually taken. Thus the societies of Wesleyan Metho dism, from being mere auxiliaries to other Christian bodies developed into a distinct, well-organized, and Scripturallv constituted church.
Up to 1812 the entire control of the Connexion was in Recognition
ands of the preachers ; but this year the Conference passed a series of important resolutions with reference to certain rights and privileges of the laity now for the first time recognized. This was the origin of the association of ministers and laymen in the administration of certain affairs tch has since been considerably extended in its applica- ion. Thus, at a meeting of trustees, stewards, and leaders d at Dungannon in 1816, to take into consideration the f the preaching-houses belonging to the Connexion,
1 Cf. vol. i. p. 383 et seq.
VOL. II
18 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
to inquire into the best methods of recovering those that had been illegally closed against the preachers, and to adopt such measures as might appear necessary in order to support the Conference, an influential committee of laymen was appointed, to the wise and decisive action of which subse quently Irish Methodism is deeply indebted. Hence the Conference in 1820 cordially approved a plan proposed by the Dungannon Committee for the establishment of a fund for liquidating debts on chapels and preachers' dwellings, and the erection of new ones. This fund was designated the Building and Chapel Fund, and a committee for its management was appointed, consisting of ten ministers, partly chosen by the Conference, and ten laymen, elected by the District Meetings. Some years later it was arranged that the duties of this committee should include, in addition to the administration of the fund, a general oversight of the trust property of the Connexion. As time passed on, other Connexional Committees of ministers and laymen were appointed.1
in the Until 1877 the Conference consisted of ministers only,
Jonference. ^f. jn ^e previous year a scheme of lay representation was adopted, by which since then the Conference has consisted of two sessions. In the ministerial session counsel is taken in regard to the admission, character, and appointment of ministers, and such other questions as are specifically pas toral subjects. The representative session, or meeting of ministers and laymen in equal numbers, receives reports, and deliberates and determines all questions in regard to the financial and general interests of the Connexion. This new arrangement largely superseded the work of several of the Committees of Review. Besides, it was considered
1 In 1824 the Missionary Committee of Review, in 1847 the Committee of Review of the Connexional School, in 1853 the Contingent Fund, which consisted previously of ministers exclusively, in 1855 the Fund for the Increase of Wesley an Agency, which in 1861 was xmited to the Contingent Fund, in 1859 the Ministers' Residences and the General Education, in 1860 the Curragh Camp, in 1861 the Committee of Privileges, in 1868 the Belfast Methodist College, in 1872 the Auxiliary Fund and the Orphan Fund, and in 1875 the Temperance Committee were appointed respectively.
IN IRELAND 19
desirable to bring various Connexional Funds, having a close relation to each other, under one general management. Hence the appointment in 1878 of the General Committee of Management, consisting of an equal number of ministers and laymen, and having the general oversight of the Home Mission and Contingent Fund, the Chapel Fund, the Chil dren's Fund, the Education Fund, and the Supernumerary Ministers' and Ministers' Widows' Fund.
At the Conference held in Limerick in 1752 it was for the FINANCIAL first time arranged that there should be a fixed amount for the support of each preacher. Previously he had re ceived only what had been voluntarily offered him from individuals to pay travelling expenses. Thereafter each one received at least £8, and when possible £10, per annum for clothes, and if married £10 for the support of his wife, with something additional for the children, all deficiencies in the circuit contributions being made up by grants from the British Conference. This continued until 1801, when, in consequence of the financial embarrassment in which the English brethren were themselves then placed, it was re solved that not only the Irish claims for that year, amounting to nearly £600, should not be paid, but that no further pecuniary assistance should be given to Ireland.1 To meet the financial crisis that thus arose, a special appeal was made to the Connexion, and the result was satisfactory and encouraging. In 1 830 a plan recommended by the Book Committee in London for the relief of the Book Room in Dublin, opened in 1801, was accepted. By this arrangement the latter was given up, all books thenceforward were to be ordered from London, and the committee agreed to grant £500 per annum until the Irish debt was paid off, and then to give each year £300 to the Irish Contingent Fund, which was continued until 1901, when it was reduced to £200.
1 In 1826 the annual grant from the English Conference of £600 was re newed, and it was continued for seven years, when it was raised to £650 at which it remained until 1878. Then it was raised to £800 ; and in 1905 a capital sum of £15,000 was given in lieu of the annual payment, to be invested for the benefit of the Home Mission and Contingent Fund.
20 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
At the Conference of 1853 it was agreed that inquiry should be made at the August District Meetings as to whether it was not possible to increase the Contingent Fund by the holding of public meetings or the preaching of sermons on its behalf. This was the origin of the Circuit Aid and Extension Fund, which was eventually united to the Con tingent Fund.
In 1871 it was arranged that instead of the Missionary Committee in London managing and supporting the mission stations in Ireland,1 as it had done previously, the Irish Conference should take charge of them, and receive an annual grant from the Committee. This grant in the following year amounted to £6,664. 2 Twelve years later the grant was £5,700, and in 1905 £4,100. The Conference of 1906 accepted an arrangement by which the committee should make an annual grant of £4,200 for ten years, on the understanding that at the end of this period the grant should cease. Thus the income of this fund, which is really the Sustentation Fund of Irish Methodism, consists of subscriptions and collections, bequests, the grant from the Book Room, and dividends and interest on the invested capital. The expenditure includes sustaining, either wholly or in part, general missionaries, ministers labouring on mission stations, and ministers labouring, for the benefit of Wesleyans in the army and navy, as well as assisting circuits which could not, without such aid, support the ministers appointed to them. Without the help thus afforded, many ministers would be withdrawn from spheres of labour where their services are greatly needed.3
Prior to 1822 the allowances to preachers' children were also made from this source, but at the Conference of this year it was resolved that the usual allowances for main tenance should be chargeable on the circuits, according to
1 Mission stations are circuits founded, and up to this time (1908) supported, by the Foreign Missionary Committee in London.
2 Of this sum, £1,600 was given to the Education Fund, £130 to the Chapel Fund, and the balance to the Contingent Fund.
3 Vide infra.
IN IRELAND 21
the principle of proportion of members in society, and that a public collection be made in each chapel to assist in meeting the applotment, or amount thus levied on each circuit. This was the beginning of the plan which issued in the formation of the Children's Fund. In 1860 the basis of assessment was changed from a rate per member to a rate per minister, according to the number of ministers on the respective circuits. In the same year the children of supernumerary and deceased ministers were admitted to the benefit of the usual allowances for maintenance, in addition to the allowances for education to which they had been previously entitled. In addition to the allow ances for education thus provided, special provision has been made for the education of ministers' sons by means of a supplementary fund, called the Ministers' kSons' Fund. Certain sums of money having been allocated by the Com mittee of the Agency Fund, and by the Committee of Testamentary Bequests, for the education of the sons of ministers, it was resolved that these sums should be invested in the names of trustees appointed by the Con ference, and that the principal should remain untouched, the annually accruing interest being available to supplement the ordinary Connexional allowances for education. By means of the appropriations of the Thanksgiving Fund and the Jubilee Fund, and through the benefactions of the late Sir William Mc Arthur, K.C.M.G., special provision has also been made for the education of ministers' daughters, in addition to the allowances for that purpose from the Children's Fund, the sum constituting the Endowment being held in trust by the Governors of the Methodist College, Belfast.
Frequently occasions have arisen which, owing to serious liabilities, providential openings, or historical associations, Special special financial appeals have been made to the people, and aPPeals- right hearty and generous have ever been the responses. Thus, early in the last century a huge debt of more than £8,000 for years hampered and crushed the Connexion. The preachers had to endure a series of painful and em-
22 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
barrassing privations, and during the eleven years which elapsed between 1815 and 1828 voluntarily submitted to be taxed out of their paltry allowances to the amount of £7,712 155. 6d. This, added to their subscriptions in re sponse to previous appeals, made a total of more than £9,000 contributed by them towards the debt. Various expedients had been employed to remove this great fiscal burden, but notwithstanding the marvellous self-denial exercised, all had failed, and nothing was paid but the interest. At last in 1828 it was resolved that a still greater effort should be put forth, by each preacher subscribing at least £10, and by an earnest appeal to the people. Accord ingly, about £1,800 was subscribed by the preachers, and the generous feeling which animated them moved the people also, and they responded to the appeal to them by con tributing £5,515. When this was announced at the British Conference, it was at once resolved that the balance neces sary to pay off the whole debt should be raised by the English preachers and their friends, and it was done.
As the first century of the history of Methodism ap proached to a close, arrangements were made for cele brating the event in an appropriate manner. With this end in view £14,519 9s. Id. was contributed in Ireland to the General Fund.1
In 1855 the Fund for the Increase of Wesleyan Agency in Ireland was inaugurated, and evinced in a remarkable way the liberality and godly zeal of the Irish Methodists. In response to the appeal a sum of £22,327 13s. was raised.2 By means of this fund the Connexional School was extended so as to afford education for a number of ministers' sons, additional day schools were established, an educational institution was started, and numerous residences for min isters were built.
1 £2,000 was appropriated to the Chapel Fund, £6,000 to the Education Fund, and £5,000 towards the erection of the Centenary Church, Dublin.
2 £4,478 was appropriated to the Wesleyan Connexional School, £2,028 to the Methodist College, £7,807 to the Ministers' Sons' Fund, £4,878 to the Ministers' Residences' Fund, and £2,927 to the General Education Fund.
IN IRELAND 23
On the occasion of the Jubilee celebrations of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society in 1863, £9,421 165. 6d. was raised in College- Ireland. This amount was left in the hands of the Irish Conference, by whom it was applied in aid of the erection of the Methodist College. A grant had been made to this institution, as already stated, from the Agency Fund ; but as a much larger sum was necessary to complete the building, in 1870 an appeal was made, which resulted in contributions amounting to £20,000, including about £1,500 from America, and nearly £2,000 from a bazaar. The entire cost of the building and furnishing was upwards of £37,000. The Endowment Fund reached the sum of £20,882, derived from the following sources : the United States, £8,000 ; Canada, £1,239; England, £9,643; the Thanksgiving Fund, £1,000; and the Mason legacy, £1,000.
The Supernumerary Ministers' and Ministers' Widows' Provision Fund had its origin in the centenary movement of 1839. ministers Prior to this there was no distinct and regular provision made by the Methodist societies for the support of super numerary ministers and the widows of deceased ministers. There was, it is true, a fund termed the Methodist Preachers' Auxiliary Fund. This was of the nature of a benevolent fund, and only met cases of necessity or peculiar difficulty by grants-in-aid. It did not embrace all supernumerary ministers and ministers' widows, and did not provide a per manent annuity for either. The generous laymen who took a prominent part in the Centenary movement1 urged that arrangements should be made for a regular and adequate provision for the ministers who were worn out in the service of the Methodist Church, and for the widows of such as had died. A plan, including Great Britain and Ireland, was prepared for the purpose, and in 1840 the proposed fund was organized. This arrangement continued for many years, but it was eventually judged expedient that a separate fund should be established for Ireland. In order to this it was agreed to by the British Conference of 1872 that £20,000 of the capital then standing to the credit of the 1 Vol. i. p. 429.
24 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
fund should be paid to trustees appointed by the Irish Conference, who should maintain the sum intact, as the nucleus of a fund for the supernumerary ministers and widows connected with the Conference in Ireland. The invested capital thus acquired was considerably increased by an appeal to the people in 1874, who in response con tributed £16,536. The capital was further increased in 1878, as one of the terms of union between the two principal Methodist bodies in Ireland then happily effected,1 and also by numerous legacies at different periods.
Thanks- As a great constitutional change was brought about by
Fund8 the association of laymen with ministers in Conference in
the discussion and arrangement of all financial and general business, it was felt that the peaceful adjustment of this matter was a subject of special thanksgiving to the God of wisdom and peace.2 Added to this, the happy union of the two Methodist bodies in this country, in itself alone, called for devout acknowledgement. Therefore at the Con ference in 1879 it was considered desirable and necessary to take steps to raise a Thanksgiving Fund, and as a result a sum of £18,167 16s. Wd. was contributed.3
Eight years afterwards, in 1887, it was resolved to estab lish a fund, called the Victoria Jubilee Fund, in commem oration of the fifty years during which Queen Victoria had reigned, and that it should be devoted towards meeting a generous proposal of Sir William McArthur, for providing an endowment fund for the education of ministers' daughters, and aiding in the removal of the debt on Wesley College. A sum of about £4,500 was raised, of which £2,300 was allotted to the Ministers' Daughters' Fund, and £2,200 to the college.
Wesley College, Dublin, had been erected in 1879 at a cost of nearly £24,000, but for sixteen years laboured under
1 Supra, p. 15. 2 vide also vol. i. p. 442.
3 Of this £8,782 was given to the Home Mission Fund as a Union Guar antee Fund, £878 5s. 5d. to the Orphan Fund, £2,805 17*. 8d. to the Minis ters' Daughters' Fund, £3,513 Is. 8d. to Wesley College, £1,000 to the Methodist College, and £878 5*. 5d. to the Wesleyan Missionary Society.
IN IRELAND 25
a heavy debt. This, in 1891, after the receipt of the above grant, amounted to close upon £5,000. Various efforts were made from time to time to remove this huge incubus, but not with complete success. It was not until the Jubilee of the Institution in 1895 that the task was accomplished.
The latest and most successful special appeal was made Twentieth- on behalf of the Twentieth-Century Fund, as a humble acknowledgement of the manifold blessings and progress of the previous century. In response to this appeal upwards of £52,600 was realized, an expression at once of Christian liberality unprecedented in the history of Irish Methodism, and a result which the most optimistic regarded as under the circumstances eminently satisfactory.1
The Sunday-school movement in Ireland was the offspring EXTENSION of the Methodist revival of the eighteenth century. Men °J^ENCY' and women whose hearts were filled with the Spirit of Christ schools. could not fail to look with tender compassion on the poor ignorant, neglected children by whom they were surrounded. Hence one here and another there engaged in the sacred work of instructing and saving the little ones for whom none seemed to care. The names of most of these have been forgotten, but their record is on high. The earliest appears to have been Samuel Bates, who in 1769 met the children in Charlemont for religious instruction, and con tinued to do so for several years. The second Sunday school of which we have any record was one of the fruits of a revival in the county of Down in 1776. It was in the parish of Bright, and was started as a singing-class, but in 1778 matured into a school, held regularly every Sunday. At the Conference of 1794 Sunday schools were directed to be instituted wherever practicable, and directions given as to their management, while at a meeting held in Dublin in 1809 by a few leading men, chiefly Methodists, the
1 After meeting all necessary expenses, £23,750 was allocated to the Chapel Fund, £14,250 to the Home Mission Fund, £3,325 to the Education Fund, £3,325 to Orphan Funds, £2,100 to the Craigmore Children's Home, £2,000 to Foreign Missions, and £1,000 to the Supernumerary Ministers' and Ministers' Widows' Fund.
26
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Christian
Endeavour
Societies.
Temperance work.
Hibernian Sunday School Society was formed. The name was subsequently changed to that of the Sunday School Society of Ireland, an institution which for nearly one hundred years has been one of the most important wheels in the moral machinery in operation for ameliorating the condition of this country. Now there are 352 Methodist Sunday schools in Ireland, with 2,587 teachers and 25,864 scholars.
In 1894 the Conference appointed a committee to con sider what steps should be taken for the spiritual advantage of young persons, and how best to retain them to Methodism. On their report in the following year, the formation of Christian Endeavour Societies was recommended, a con stitution drawn out, and a committee appointed to further the Christian Endeavour movement. In 1896 it was further resolved to bring the several departments of work among the young, including Christian Endeavour and Bands of Hope, under the direction of one committee, called the United Committee.1
The Methodist Church has been more or less identified with the temperance movement since its origin in Ireland. When the first temperance pledge was signed in Belfast, on September 24, 1829, one of the signatories was a Metho dist preacher, Rev. Matthew Tobias. Other leading minis ters, as well as laymen, also soon identified themselves with the movement. At the Conference of 1830, it was resolved that the rule which prohibited ' the buying or selling of spirituous liquors unless in cases of extreme necessity ' should be enforced, and approval was expressed of the principle of the societies established for the promotion of temperance. In 1871 the Conference directed the formation and promotion of Bands of Hope in connexion with the congregations. Three years later a committee was appointed to inquire into the question of intemperance, and to consider by what means ' the influence of Methodism might be most effectively employed for the remedy of this widespread and demoralizing
1 There are at present 125 Christian Endeavour Societies with 4,567 members.
IN IRELAND 27
evil.' This led in 1876 to the appointment of the Temper ance Committee, consisting of ministers and laymen, * to aid in the suppression of the prevailing and demoralizing vice of intemperance,' by watching temperance legislation, encouraging temperance organizations, and collecting in formation. Sermons on the subject of temperance were also recommended to be preached. In 1882 District Tem perance Secretaries were appointed ; in 1884 rules were formulated and suggestions made for the guidance and direction of Bands of Hope. In 1899 the Conference ex pressed the undesirableness of any person engaged in the liquor trade being nominated for office . Two years later arrangements were made for temperance examinations.1
Although only a few feeble efforts to reach the Roman Home Catholic population by preaching to them in their own missions- language had been put forth previous to 1750, this important means of usefulness was soon recognized and employed by the Methodists. Thomas Walsh was the first Irish Walsh, Methodist preacher to engage in this work. He was a perfect 9'
master of the Irish language, and seized every opportunity of proclaiming to his fellow countrymen in their own tongue the gospel of the grace of God. His success was phenomenal.
Walsh was a native of Limerick, possessed extraordinary gifts, and in a few years accomplished the work of a lifetime. Of none of his preachers did Wesley permit such lengthy and eulogistic accounts to appear as of Walsh. He declared :
If his constitution had been brass and his flesh iron they must have yielded to the violence which his life and labours offered to his constitution.
Southey thought that Walsh's piety—
might well convince even a Catholic that saints are to be found in other communions as well as in the Church of Rome.
His Biblical scholarship was as exceptional as his zeal and
1 There are now 264 Methodist Bands of Hope and Temperance Associations, with 22,722 members.
28 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
piety. With Hebrew and Greek he was as familiar as with his native Erse, and could tell how often and where any Hebrew or Greek word occurred in the Bible and its meaning. In Leinster and Connaught, in Cork and among the Irish in London he laboured, amid much persecution by priest and people, to lead his fellow countrymen from the dogmas of Romanism, which he had renounced after close study, to the simplicity of the Christian gospel ; albeit he exercised a fine tolerance towards the devout and pious in that communion. But Walsh was alone in this work, and had ample employment in the regular duties of the itinerancy during his brief though brilliant career.
Subsequently other efforts similar to those of Walsh were put forth, especially in personal intercourse, and with cheer ing results. Charles Graham was the next, at the suggestion of Dr. Coke, to make the attempt, and it succeeded beyond expectations. But it was not until the Conference of 1799 that the first organized evangelistic mission with direct reference to the Roman Catholic population was projected. Dr. Coke had been much impressed with the necessity for such a special agency, and had proposed a plan by which certain brethren should be set apart to travel through the country and address the people in their native tongue. The time was opportune, as the rebellion of 1798 was practically crushed, martial law no longer existed, and the itinerants had no reason to dread either being waylaid by prowling brands of insurgents or regarded with suspicion by those in authority. The minds of the people were subdued ; the awful scenes of Vinegar Hill, Wexford, New Ross, and Scullaboge still haunted them ; the remembrance of the terrible retribution was fresh and vivid. There were also men available peculiarly adapted to the work. One only obstacle remained — the lack of funds ; but Coke undertook the responsibility of providing these, and then the measure was carried. James M'Quigg, Charles Graham, and Gideon Ouseley were appointed, and subsequent events amply Gideon justified the wisdom of the decision.
Ouseley. Ouseley, especially, was a model Irish missionary. In-
PLATE II
ud in Connection
\vith the Sonets of People railed Methodists came into open Court, and did then and there take, repeat and subscribe the Oaths of Allegiance and Abjuration, and make, repeat and subscribe the Declaration as set forth and enjoined to be taken, made and repeated by an Act of Parliament made in the sixth. Year of the Reign Kin^Georirc the First, entitled " An Act,' for the Relief of Protestants from tlM-Chv.rrh of Ireland." in order to entitle him to preach and ex- pound the Gospel pursuant to the Provisions contained in said Act, 3|!L2» which CZIC certify at the Office ..f the wul Court, this /? - Day of Year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
THOMAS WALSH, aetat. 2S ; I. 1730; </. 1759. GIDEON OUSELEV ; d. 1839, actat, 78.
PREACHING LICENCE OF THOS. WAUGH, 1810, ' THE NESTOR OF IRISH METHODISM.' Entered ministry, 1808
d. 1873. II. 28]
IN IRELAND 29
tended for the church, he received, for the time and place, a liberal education. Living in uninterrupted familiarity with bog and cabin, with mountain road and secluded lake, with frieze coats, shoeless feet, and beggars' wallets, with the Irish tongue, or English spoken with a delicious rich brogue ; with two or three little fields for a farm, and for a table the potato basket set on an iron pot ; with the wake and the ' berrin,' the weddings and the stations, the village market, the rollicking fair, the hurling matches, the patrons, and the rows which make up the sum of peasant life, there was laid the basis of that quick sympathy between himself and the common people which subsequently proved the greatest among the numerous natural elements of his power. He was thus prepared to stand close home upon the affec tions of the people for whom he was to live, so that he could get into their hearts before one differently trained could seize the tips of their fingers.
The fame of the missionaries soon spread far and wide. Success Their appearance in fairs and markets, their preaching on of.
mi
horseback, their wonderful Irish, and especially the unheard- of changes in heart and life through their labours, became the theme of common conversation, and crowds flocked to hear them preach. Many of those who heard were bathed in tears, some clapped their hands and shouted for joy, and not a few found the gospel to be the power of God unto their salvation. Owing to this remarkable success the number of general missionaries was steadily increased until 1823, when the Missionary Committee in London, under whose charge they were, raised the number to twenty-one. These were appointed to stations chiefly in the south and west of the country.1 The general mission was resumed in 1846, and in 1897 the Central Ireland Mission was organized, in connexion with which a number of evangelists preach in the open air, in the fairs and markets of about fifty towns in the midland, southern, and western counties. Thus there has been, in addition to regular circuit work,
1 In 1871 these mission stations were placed under the care of the Irish Conference
missionaries .
30
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
The
Forward
Movement.
Philan thropic in stitutions.
provision for special aggressive agencies to reach the masses. As to their success, it is sufficient to note that at one time it was found there were no less than seven hundred of those recognized as members of the Methodist Society in this country who had previously been members of the Church of Rome, while at no time has the Irish Conference and the official staff been without converts from that communion.
There has also been adopted in large centres — Belfast in 1889, Dublin in 1893, and Londonderry in 1894 — the ' Forward Movement.' In Dublin one of the late Primitive Wesleyan chapels, in a thickly populated district, has been transformed into a commodious mission hall. In Derry, where a little chapel stood with about two dozen for a congregation, a hall has been built that seats over seven hundred persons. It is crowded every Sunday evening, and souls have been won for Christ in it in large numbers. In Belfast two new halls have been erected, one of them with seating accommodation for three thousand ; they are filled each Sunday evening, while an old chapel, in which the congregation had nearly dwindled away, has been enlarged and filled to overflowing. These city missions have grown and developed from small beginnings into magnificent or ganizations, with their extending spheres, slum operations, open-air services, and rescue work.
The first philanthropic institution connected with Metho dism in Ireland was a house adjoining Whitefriars Street Chapel, Dublin, which in 1766 was leased for the accommo dation of indigent widows of at least sixty years of age. The management was placed in the hands of the preachers in Dublin for the time being and seven trustees, and still continues, in another part of the city, its needed and bene ficent work.
The Strangers' Friend Society was started in 1790 by Dr. Adam Clarke for the purpose of relieving sick and dis tressed strangers, irrespective of creed, similar associations having been formed in London and Bristol. This society has done a noble work for Christ, thousands having been relieved by it from the greatest misery and not a few brought to a
IN IRELAND 31
saving knowledge of God. It still exists as a monument of the wisdom and benevolence of its illustrious founder.
It was not until the beginning of the last century that any organized effort was made to provide for needy orphan children. In 1803 Solomon Walker, a well-known Methodist in Dublin, bequeathed certain sums of money for the purpose of providing and supporting a female charity school in the city of Dublin, to be called ' The Methodist Female Orphan School,' and a school was founded in Whitefriars Street in Orphan 1806 in pursuance of the will. Certain benefactions have Sch°o1- been received since for the benefit of the institution, which together constitute a valuable endowment. In addition, voluntary collections and contributions received from con gregations and members of the Methodist Church and from other friends, have been applied to the maintenance of the establishment, and to the erection, in 1853, of premises in Harrington Street. Nearly three hundred orphans have during the century shared the shelter and the training of the school, and, with very few exceptions, those who have passed through it have filled useful positions in society and brought credit to the institution.
At the suggestion of the Rev. Dr. Wm. Crook, and on the recommendation of the Waterford District Meeting, the Conference of 1869 resolved to establish a Methodist Orphan Society, and appointed a committee to draw up a scheme. Orphan The Conference of the following year received the report Societ>r- of the committee, and in 1871 adopted and published a code of regulations, which are retained as the basis of the society. The number of orphans from the first until now is 1,160, while the society has given grants-in-aid to many whose names for various reasons were not enrolled. It is impossible to estimate the number of homes which have been preserved from destruction by the help of the society.
The Craigmore Children's Home owes its origin to the Craigmore munificent liberality of Mr. T. F. Shillington, J.P., who, Home' in connexion with the Twentieth- Century Fund, presented as a home for orphan boys a house and farm valued at two thousand guineas. As it has been in existence as an Orphan
Educational work.
Primary schools.
32 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Home for only five years, it is too young to have a history. There are under its care forty boys, whilst ten have been enabled to make a good start in life. Owing to lack of further accommodation many applications have had to be refused. The boys are not waifs and strays, but the children of respectable Methodist parents, and receive a practical education, calculated to form such habits as will help them in their future lives. Connected with the institution are both a day school and a Methodist church, so that the whole forms a complete colony in itself.
At an early period in the history of Methodism in Ireland attention was directed to the subject of education, although in a very limited and humble way. The first recorded effort was made in 1784, and consisted of a free school for forty boys in Whitefriars Street, Dublin. As during the early part of the last century education was in a very low state, especially in the country districts, a number of day schools were opened by the Methodists in the most needy places, chiefly on the mission stations, together with some half-dozen established by Dr. Clarke in Ulster. Soon afterward the present National System was adopted by the Government, but at first it was not approved of by the leading officials of Irish Methodism.
For more than thirty years these Methodist day schools were in operation, and were attended by about six hundred Roman Catholic children, as well as by thousands of Pro testants. None, it is said, were more diligent or successful in committing to memory Scripture and the Wesleyan Catechism than the Catholic children. In 1839 encouraging aid was given to this work by the appropriation of £6,000 from the Centenary Fund, the annual proceeds of which have been applied to the erection and maintenance of school buildings, the providing of school requisites, and the supplementing of teachers' salaries. In 1858, in the allocation of the Agency Fund, a further sum of about £3,000 was set apart for like purposes.
In the following year the mistake which had been made m refusing to accept the Government plan was seen and
IN IRELAND 33
rectified, by giving ministers liberty to connect schools under their patronage with the National Board. This policy, which has since been generally adopted, has proved most helpful. For several years a distinction was kept up between the old-established mission schools and the schools sustained by the General Education Fund ; but in 1871 this was discontinued, the grant from the Wesleyan Missionary Society for mission work was made direct to the Irish Conference, the portion of the grant spent upon mission schools was allocated to the Committee of General Education, and provision was made in Ireland for aiding, inspecting, and supervising all the primary schools. In these there are about 10,000 scholars, and about £13,000 per annum is received from the Government in their aid.
For a long time the need of a suitable provision for a Secondary higher class of education was felt. In 1839 a committee education- was appointed by the Conference to meet certain gentlemen for consultation concerning the desirability of establishing a proprietary grammar school. A plan to effect this was submitted to the Conference and approved. Resolutions providing for carrying it out were adopted. This led to the opening in 1845 of the Wesleyan Connexional School, Dublin. Accommodation was provided for 100 boarders and 200 day boys, and a minister was appointed governor and chaplain. This proved so successful that a better provision, with increased accommodation, became necessary, and Wesley College was erected at a cost of £24,000, and opened in 1879. It is spacious, well ventilated, and in all its arrangements complete and up-to-date ; while its splendid success in every department of its work has more than justified the efforts and gifts involved in providing such an institution.
When the British Conference resolved to commence a Theological theological institution for the training of its ministers,1 the training- Irish Conference expressed its approval of the project, and agreed to place at the disposal of the committee a legacy of £1,000, left by Mr. Mason of Dublin for that purpose. 1 See vol. i. pp. 427-430.
VOL. II 3
34 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Thus Ireland became entitled to have four students con stantly at the institution when required. A necessity, how ever, was felt for a new institution, with an enlargement of the purposes of the Connexional School, embracing the training of theological students and the education of the sons of ministers. This led to the establishment of the Methodist College, Belfast. It was erected and endowed by means of contributions received mainly from Methodists in Ireland, England, and America, amounting in the aggregate to nearly £60,000. With the Rev. William Arthur as president, the Rev. Dr. Scott as theological tutor, and the Rev. Dr. R. Crook as head master, it was opened for the reception of students and pupils on August 19, 1868. After a period of nearly twenty years, the college was placed under the management of governors who, by the scheme of the Com missioners of Educational Endowments, were constituted a body corporate, with perpetual succession and a common seal. This scheme, while maintaining the authority of the Conference, and providing for all the original purposes, gives the governors enlarged powers, including provision for the education of girls, and the carrying into effect the munificent purpose of Sir William Mc Arthur, in the erection and endowment in 1891 of the Mc Arthur Hall, at a cost of over £31,500. In 1908 the Conference made further changes in the government, in the hope of widening out its educational efficiency. There are few, if any, superior colleges of the kind in the United Kingdom. Its students and pupils have distinguished themselves in almost every rank in life, and not a few are in the Irish Methodist ministry.
IV
INFLUENCE John R. Green says, * The Methodists themselves were METHODISM. the least result of the Methodist Revival.' This has been On other specially true of Methodism in Ireland, for its influence has Churches extended far beyond the pale of its membership. Protestant ism by its agency was roused from its spiritual lethargy, and thus saved as a spiritual force. At first members of
IN IRELAND 35
the churches were led to realize the saving power of the gospel as preached by the itinerants, then ministers felt the quickening influence and showed signs of vitality to which they had been strangers. The most influential of these ministers probably was the Rev. B. W. Mathias, chaplain to the Bethesda, Dublin. Here for upwards of thirty years he attracted crowds by his evangelical and impressive ministrations. Nobility and gentry, lawyers and physicians, aswell as many of the humbler classes, attended the Bethesda. Not a few of the divinity students of Trinity College also were among the most regular and attentive of the hearers. Many of these afterward entered the ranks of the clergy, and did a noble work in elevating the tone of the Established Church.
The extent to which Presbyterianism was quickened and blessed through Methodism cannot be accurately estimated, but it was evidently much greater than is generally sup posed. As nominal members of that church entered on a new life, and found their way to the places of prayer, the idea dawned on the minds of many that the labours of the itinerants promoted the true welfare of the church they so dearly loved. Accordingly in nearly all the principal towns of Ulster meeting-houses were thrown open to Wesley, Coke, and Averell. These devoted evan gelists preached in them to crowded audiences, the word was accompanied with divine power, and many, in addition to those who attended the ministry of the itinerants, were led to an experimental knowledge of the truth. It was this religious vitality that led to and sustained the noble and successful efforts of Cooke to rid the Presbyterian Church of the incubus of Arianism, and that prepared the people for the revival of 1859 and the labours of Moody and Sankey.
William Arthur has said that Irish Methodism is ' a lovely vine of slender stem, struggling in unfriendly soil, yet a fruitful vine, whose branches run over the wall.' Thus in 1760 a group of emigrants might have been seen In America, at the quay, Limerick, preparing to sail for America. One of these was Barbara Heck, another was Philip Embury,
36
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Newfound land.
1785.
Canada.
both Palatines,1 who had been converted in Ireland, but were destined in the providence of God to influence for good countless myriads. That vessel contained the germ from which has sprung the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States. At about the same period another Irish Methodist, Robert Strawbridge, was led to give his heart to God and enter upon a course of usefulness which culminated in his great work in America as the apostle of Methodism in Maryland, and as the founder of what is now the Metho dist Episcopal Church, South.3 In August 1769 Robert Williams, an Irish Methodist preacher, with the consent of Wesley, started for America, where he was the first Metho dist itinerant, and where he proved to be the apostle of Methodism in Virginia and North Carolina, and the spiritual father of thousands. A host of others might be mentioned, such as John Summerfield, Charles Elliott, William Butler, Thomas Guard, and James Morrow, who have been amongst the contributions of Irish Methodism to the ministry of the United States.
Lawrence Coughlan, a converted Romanist, who entered the Irish itinerancy in 1755, and in 1766 was ordained by the Bishop of London, was sent out by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel to Newfoundland. Here he founded Methodism. He was followed in Newfoundland by John Stretton of Waterford, and when at length the people there wrote to Wesley for a preacher, Wesley appointed an Irishman, John M'Geary. Thus Irish Methodism gave to Eastern British America, as it had done to the United States, its first missionary, its first lay preacher, and its first itiner ant. Other missionaries, such as Samuel M'Dowell, John Remmington, and William Ellis of the Irish Conference, also laboured in Newfoundland.
Methodism was introduced into Canada in 1774 by Paul and Barbara Heck, and other Irish Palatines, who had left the United States and settled near Montreal, and four years
1 The Palatines were refugees from the Palatinate who settled in Ireland early in the eighteenth century owing to the cruel persecution from which
they had suffered.
2 Vide infra, p. 56.
IN IRELAND 37
later, in Augusta, Upper Canada. They were followed in 1783 by a soldier, named Tuffey, and he three years later by Major George Neal, an Irishman, and he again by another Irishman, named James M'Carty. Since then numerous churches have been formed in the Dominion, in which a large proportion of the congregations, and nearly all the office bearers, have been from this country, while there are more Methodist ministers of Irish extraction, and considerably more members, than there are in Ireland. No one who has not visited the United States and the British colonies, and seen it for himself, can form an idea of the vast extent to which Ireland has contributed to the numerical, financial, and moral strength of Methodism in these countries. Even to England Ireland has given some of the foremost ministers of Methodism, as well as many thousands of its members, including gentlemen of such influence as Sir William and Mr. Alexander M<; Arthur and Mr. John Beauchamp.
The Methodists of Ireland have been identified with the Foreign foreign missionary operations of the society from their r commencement, contributing liberally their worldly sub stance, and giving their sons and daughters to carry on the work. By a remarkable providence, an Irish emigrant found his way in 1783 to Antigua, and there, under the super intendence of Mr. Baxter, was employed in instructing the negroes and holding meetings. When Dr. Coke first visited the island in 1786 he found, as the result of their joint labours, nearly two thousand members in the society. Subsequently about a score of ministers of the Irish Conference were engaged as missionaries in the West Indies. Methodist missionaries have also gone from Ireland to Africa, Ceylon, and Australia.1
Dr. Coke was the collector, treasurer, and director of the foreign missions, and from the beginning he was generously aided, both in men and money, by Methodists in Ireland. On his death the Hibernian Auxiliary of the Wesleyan Missionary Society was formed. It originated in a resolution of the Irish Conference, adopted in 1813, requiring that 1 Infra, pp. 239, 283 et sey.
38 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
auxiliary societies should be established throughout the country, and collections made in all the congregations on behalf of the Wesleyan Missionary Society. Since 1827 deputations appointed by the British Conference have annually visited Ireland in the interests of the society, the visits of which have proved the means of much lasting good, and a valued link between Irish Methodism and the mother church in England.
CHAPTER II THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE
I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians ; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ : for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth ; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith : as it is written, The just shall live by faith. — ROM. i. 14-17.
CONTENTS
I. METHODISM IN FRANCE p. 41
Beginnings— Dr. C. Cook— J. Lelievre— J. Rostan— W. Gibson- North Africa— Brittany— Methodist Episcopal Church— Results
pp. 41-45
II. IN ITALY p 45
Villages— Military Church— Importance of the work pp. 45-47
III. IN GERMANY p 47
Raison d'etre — Origins — Agencies — Deaconess work — The propriety of Methodist Continental missions ..... pp. 47-50
Pages 39-50
40
CHAPTER II
ON THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE
AUTHORITIES. — To the General List add : DR. LELIEVRE'S articles in Wes. Meth. Mag. (May and June, 1906) ; and for the beginnings in France a pamphlet by WM. TOASE, entitled Our Mission in France (1834); also original letters of du Pontavice in the possession of the writer.
DR. LELIEVRE writes : * The Methodist Church of France METHODISM is an offspring of the Channel Islands Methodism. It seems IN FBANCE- obvious that Wesley had France in view when he sent to Jersey and Guernsey two of his best helpers, Robert Carr Brackenbury and Adam Clarke.' This was in 1783. In 1790 John Angel, on a business visit in the neighbourhood of Caen, found a small congregation of Protestants who, on account of the difficulties of the times, were without a pastor. They gathered together Sunday by Sunday to read the lessons and a sermon. Angel told them of his conversion to God and his experience in divine things. A woman present rose and said, ' For forty years I have been persecuted for my religion ; but I never knew before this day what the nature of true religion is.'
The following year Conference appointed William Mahy, a Guernsey local preacher, to minister to this and other small Protestant congregations in that part of Normandy. Some months after, Dr. Coke and Jean de Quetteville made an unsuccessful effort to commence work in Paris. They found —
that the French were too much enamoured with their Revolu tion, and too much enlightened with their new philosophy to
41
42 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
regard either the truths of Christianity or the salvation of their souls.
They found, however, that Mahy had about eight hundred Protestants under instruction, and that, as most of the priests had either suffered death or fled the country, numbers of Roman Catholics attended his ministry and heard him with marked approbation.
Before leaving for England Dr. Coke and de Quetteville ordained Mahy to the ministry. From 1791 to 1808 this devoted missionary, shut out from return to his native land on account of the war which was then waging, preached with indefatigable zeal, and laboured amidst great sufferings, opposed by time-serving Protestants, and suspected by the authorities as an English spy.
Among the thousands who had fled before the terrors of the Revolution was a young Breton nobleman, M. du Pontavice. The Rev. R. Reece found him in Jersey. He afterward became secretary and travelling companion to Dr. Coke. Whilst on a visit, in 1796, to William Bramwell at Chester, and in the preacher's study, the young French marquis was brought into the liberty of the gospel. In 1802 he joined W. Mahy, ' who received him as an angel from heaven.' Du Pontavice laboured in Normandy until 1810, when he died at the age of forty. Meanwhile earnest Methodists were carrying on a work among the seventy thousand French prisoners of war on the Medway and at Portsmouth. W. Toase, de Kerpezdron, a con verted Breton Roman Catholic gentleman, and two local preachers from the Channel Islands, showed great kindness to officers and men, and after the peace following the battle of Waterloo all four became missionaries in France. Dr. C. Cook. In 1818 the Conference sent out Charles Cook, who per haps more than any other was used of God to the spreading of evangelical truth throughout France. Of him Merle d'Aubign6, the historian, has said : * The work which John Wesley did in Great Britain, Charles Cook has done, though on a smaller scale, on the Continent.' For forty
PLATE III
PARIS: SUBURBS AND THE BASTILE, WHEN METHODISM COMMENCED WORK IN THE CITY. Print, 1789. AN OPEN- AIR SERVICE IN THE CEVENNES, 1834. THE PRESENT PULPIT OP THE METHODIST CHURCH,
DR. CHARLES COOK IN THE PULPIT. RUE ROQUEPINE, PARIS.
U. 42]
ON THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE 43
years he laboured prodigiously as an evangelist and as a theologian, more especially in the South of France. He was a true leader of men, and around him were grouped able missionaries, both Channel Islanders and Frenchmen, who recognized in him their chief and model. Among the former were Hocart, Gallienne, Guiton, and de Jersey, whose children and grandchildren are in the ministry to-day. Among the French may be mentioned Jean Lelievre and J. Rostan.
Jean Lelievre (1831 — 1861) was born of Roman Catholic j. Lelievre. parents in Normandy. On his return from fighting as a soldier of Napoleon I. he was converted, and at the age of thirty-eight became a Methodist minister. He was the means of bringing a multitude of souls to Christ. Three of his sons entered the ministry ; one of them, Mathieu, has, by his life of Wesley and other works, made Methodism known in circles in which otherwise it would have remained unknown.1
For many years a successful work was carried on in J. Rostan. the Higher Alps of Piedmont, among the French-speaking Vaudois. One of these, J. Rostan, a convert of the apostolic Felix Neff, was a Methodist minister from 1834 to 1859, and instrumental in the hands of God of gracious revivals. His was an ardent and fearless spirit. Difficulties abounded, but these earlier French missionaries covered enormous distances preaching in the peasants' kitchens and in Pro testant National Church pulpits when opened to them.
For many years the ' societies ' * remained under the protecting wing of official Protestantism ; but a change took place in 1852. William Arthur and Dr. Beecham, then Missionary Secretaries, felt that Methodism in France
1 M. de R^musat's articles in the Revue des Deux Mondcs have done much to make educated Frenchmen familiar with the life and work of Wesley.
2 Societies. — Dr. Cook obtained the entry into a number of Protestant churches on the understanding that Methodism was not a church, but only composed of ' societies.' When the Conference was established in 1852, and Methodism was declared to be a separate church, he was accused of having deceived his friends, and there were strong things written. This may have been inevitable,
44 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
must be French. After the coup d'etat of December 2, 1851, they prepared a scheme for giving the still weak stations a Conference of their own. It was hoped that in a few years they would become financially independent. But for various reasons this has not been so. The attachment of many of the adherents to the martyr-church of their fore fathers, the undeveloped spirit of giving amongst a people accustomed to be taxed to pay the stipends of ministers, the poverty of the members of ' society ' — these militated against self-support. At the same time the long distances between the stations in the North, and the crowding of various evangelical denominations into the small Protestant towns of the South, has demanded a larger ministerial staff than should otherwise be employed.
Nevertheless progress has been made of late years, and the financial problem is being faced and grappled with.
W. Gibson. Much new work has also been undertaken. William Gibson, English minister in Paris (1862-72 and 1878-94), devoted life and fortune to the opening of mission halls in which thousands of the working classes in the suburbs of Paris, in Rouen, and in Havre heard the gospel.
North Africa. The French Conference about the same time commenced a mission in North Africa among the Kabyles, the aboriginal race descended from the compatriots of Tertullian and Augustine. A grandson of Dr. Cook has for many years
Brittany. had charge of this mission. In 1904 Brittany, a stronghold of Romanism, was entered. Numbers of Bretons (the Welsh of France) had been evangelized in Jersey, at Havre, and in Paris, so that the way was prepared. J. Scarabin, a Breton, speaking the language, converted in a Wesley an chapel at Guernsey, had entered the ministry and was appointed to this mission.
Methodist In 1906 the American Methodist Episcopal Church com-
ChuTch^1 nienced work at Lyons, Marseilles, and other cities in the south-east of France.
Results. Methodism has been called in France the Church of the
Revival, It has contributed powerfully to the revival of
ON THE CONTINENT OP EUROPE 45
the historic Huguenot Church. A century ago this church was in a large measure rationalistic. Less than half a century ago, it was still timid and unaggressive. To-day it is to the forefront in politics, in higher education, in commerce — and also in social reform and in directly religious work. Its historians and others gratefully acknowledge its debt to the little Methodist mission church which led the way in the establishment of Sunday schools, in the starting of Y.M.C.A., Temperance and Christian Endeavour Societies, and still contributes materially to the movement in favour of deepening the spiritual life of the churches. Protestant ideals have for long been steadily gaining ground in France. This was acknowledged by Roman Catholic opponents during the crisis of the Dreyfus controversy. Indeed, the word ' Methodist ' in France expresses aggressive Pro testantism. Most Reformed Church ministers look upon the Methodist Church with brotherliness, if not with affec tion. It is surely a matter for devout thanks to God that in His providence Methodists from England and the Channel Islands have been permitted thus to sow the seed of true liberty — the glorious liberty of the children of God — and to aid in saving France from superstition and unbelief.
II
* Garibaldi's triumph opened the door for Protestant METHODISM missions for Italy. Methodism eagerly embraced this IN ITALY- opportunity.' The work was begun in 1860, and quickly spread, some of the first Italian ministers being old Gari- baldean soldiers.1
The defeat of France by Prussia in 1870 opened the way for entering Rome, hitherto denied. The first Protestant baptism and the first Protestant marriage took place in a Methodist mission hall. In 1877 this was replaced by a graceful Gothic church with ministers' residences, Bible depot, and rooms for the mission to Italian soldiers. The
1 For the American Methodist Missions in Italy vide infra, pp.400 ff.
46
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
whole forms an important block of buildings, containing apartments and shops which are a source of income, and situated on a main thoroughfare, opposite to the palace of the Cardinal Vicar. Naples has also fine premises within a stone's-throw of the old Bourbon palace, formerly in habited by one of the most fearful tyrants that Europe has known.
By the fusion in 1905 with the Italian Evangelical Church, the Methodist position was greatly improved in Milan (' the energetic capital of Italian manufactures and commerce '), in Florence, and in Palermo. In each of these large cities are good Wesleyan chapels.
The Methodist schools, counting three hundred scholars at Spezzia, the arsenal of Italy, have been repeatedly praised by Government officials. Padua, a university centre, is one of our oldest stations. Intra, on Lake Maggiore, is the seat of silk factories. It is the centre of a number of village causes, and possesses a handsome church and an orphanage with fifty children. But besides occupying the large towns, our ministers have carried on an extensive itinerant work among the villages. In a rural circuit in Apulia, out of twenty-four preaching-places, one-half are provided free of expense.
The remotest villages in the country have been reached by means of the conscripts who have been evangelized in the Military Church at Rome. During the more than thirty years since this was founded, hundreds of young soldiers have learned to know Christ as a personal Saviour. The Military Church has become an undenominational mission, but its founder, and director for twenty-five years, was a Methodist minister.
Thus by God's grace, in city and village, from the Alps to the Mediterranean, in the land of the Caesars and of the Popes, posts have been opened and maintained, and that in spite of the bitterest opposition, in the midst of the grossest superstition.
importance The relative importance of this work is the greater, in- of the work, asmuch as Italy had not, as had Germany and France, an
Villages.
Military Church.
ON THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE 47
influential National Protestant Church supported by the State.
The Waldensians, it is true, had kept alight the flame of evangelical truth ; but until 1860 they had been confined to a few remote valleys in Upper Piedmont. Like our own church, and our sister Methodist Church of the United States, they also have been extending from one end of the country to the other. The Methodist churches have the advantage over the Waldensian of being in close corporate relation with powerful and vigorous churches outside, who not only aid them financially, but transmit to them ideals and inspiration which are but too needed by a weak minority in a Roman Catholic country. This they have done es pecially by sending picked men to superintend their missions. And thus it is that from 1860 until to-day three or four Englishmen, with a band of Italian fellow ministers, and with the Wesleyan Church behind them, have been per mitted to take a leading part in one of the most important movements towards progress in modern Italy. For the presence of well-organized, energetic Protestant churches is the truest contribution to the revival of liberal ideals, and the safest ' modernism ' in Italy. They alone can save the social and doctrinal revolution — so powerful to day in the Latin peninsula — from becoming anti-Christian and anti-religious. A warm-hearted experimental Chris tianity, such as that for which Methodism stands, will be the antidote to atheistic excess, and the salvation from ecclesiastical tyranny and superstition.
Ill
The raison d'etre of Methodist missions in Germany IN has been, and is, to keep prominent the spiritual and experi- GBRMANY- mental character of Christianity. The Lutheran clergy is oftentimes more official than is the Anglican, and is more exposed to the dangers of intolerance, intellectualism, and rationalism. It runs also the risk of being ultra- Protestant in its opposition to Rome. Owing to these causes some
48 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
bitter opponents to Methodist work in Germany and Austria have been found amongst Lutheran pastors. There have been, of course, notable exceptions.
In Germany organized church work which should en courage the laymen to take up spiritual work independently of State patronage has been sadly needed. The local preacher and the class-leader have been the antidote to officialism and to rationalism. At the same time by their corporate fellowship with numerous and powerful churches in other lands these humble workers in Methodist missions have exercised an influence which the efforts of small sects or of private individuals could scarcely have exercised. Origins. German Methodism goes back to the days of Asbury, and
commenced in the United States.1 Its first Conference was held there in 1789. To-day there are more than six hundred ministers and sixty thousand members in the German Methodist churches of America ; so that it is not to be wondered at if Methodism in Germany is to-day in communion with America rather than with England.
Nevertheless, the first missionary was a German Wesley an, sent in 1831 from England to preach to his own countrymen. Jacoby was succeeded in 1865 by J. C. Barratt, to whose statesmanlike energy was due the founding of a chain of small, healthy circuits in Wurtemburg, to which were added posts in Bavaria and Vienna. These were, in 1897, united to the much larger work of the Methodist Episcopal Church of America, which was started in 1849.2 The union, which has proved to be in every way satisfactory, was rendered possible by the generosity of the late Baroness von Langenau.
There still remains outside the Methodist Church, but always in friendly connexion with it, the ' Evangelische Gemeinschaft.' Its constitution is nearly the same as that of the Methodists, and its adherents are everywhere called Methodists. Both know that the day will come when they will be one, not only in doctrine and constitution,
1 See the story more fully told, infra, p. 136.
2 On German Methodism see further, infra, p. 393.
PLATE IV
JEANDEQUETTEVILLE, OF GUERNSEY, WHO CHARLES COOK, D.D., .MISSIONARY IN
VISITED NORMANDY, 1810. FRANCE FROM i.siii TO 1858.
SALVATORE RAGGHIANTI, .MONK, PATRIOT, AND METHODIST ^MINISTER IN ITALY. 'One of the noblest of our
heroic band of Italian workers.' b. 18i'5 ; </. 18'.(L'.
DR. LUDWIG S. JACOB Y, GERMAN 1'iONEER JOHN C. BARRATT, WHO SUCCEEDED
j., LN" 1813- JACOBY, 1805 ; d. 18SJ2.
ON THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE 49
but in organization. The missions are to be found in all parts of Germany, and also of German Switzerland, where they were needed, if anything, more than in Germany itself.
If we include all these German-speaking Methodist churches, we have, in 1906, a total of 408 ministers and of 50,800 members, with 413 chapels.
Besides two theological colleges, three prosperous pub- Agencies, lishing agencies and book concerns, and also temperance propaganda, German Methodism and its sister body have Deaconess a powerfully organized deaconess work. There are in all seven hundred deaconesses, who although not officially connected with the church are nearly all of them members of it, and under directors who are members. They have three large hospitals, and receive considerable sums of money from friends and authorities who recognize the good work done by them.
German Protestantism, and especially German Metho dism, would seem to furnish a soil peculiarly favourable to the deaconess vocation.1 Only those who have been with them month after month in the sick-room can know arid appreciate the gentle, calm mysticism, yet true devotion, of the ' Sisters of Bethany,' and of the ' Martha and Mary ' association. It is surprising that so small and so poor a body of Christians should furnish hundreds of these valued workers, and that they should be entrusted with properties worth tens of thousands of pounds. But their contribution alone to the religious life and activity of Germany is more than a sufficient justification for the work undertaken by Methodist missions in that country, and a proof of the spirituality in churches and homes which could by God's grace nurture such ' vocations.'
It is the loving, living faith which shows itself in works that the ancient Protestant State churches on the Continent need. It is this that Methodism is trying to preach.
1 Vide infra, p. 397, for developments in America of this deaconess movement.
VOL. II 4
50
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Justification of Conti nental missions.
The propriety of spending foreign-missionary money in carrying on work in countries already possessing Christian churches has frequently been questioned. But experience has proved the folly of neglecting peoples which are the ' great powers ' of the world, and which politically in fluence Protestant missions in many parts of the globe. To take but one instance : to evangelize Madagascar and to neglect France would be an evident mistake. Again, to revive, however indirectly, ancient national Protestant churches, is one of the surest means of accomplishing great results. Although Methodism is numerically weak in Scotland, it has been the means of introducing doctrines and methods which have helped to uplift the religious life of the country. It has been trying to do the same for the Lutheran and Reformed Churches on the Continent, and with similar results. In France, for instance, the influence of Methodism is by no means to be measured by mere statistics of membership, or material resourses. A third reason for the maintaining of Methodist missions on the Continent is to be found in the necessity for influencing the countries which are influencing our youth. German theology, French literature, and Italian sacerdotalism must be dealt with at their source, and it is there that they will be most effectually modified. Though its chief suc cesses have hitherto been won in Anglo-Saxon countries, Methodism, faithful to the belief that the world is its parish, believes that it has a mission also for the Latin races.
CHAPTER III IN THE UNITED STATES
1766—1808 I. THE BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN METHODISM
I will set down a few things that lie on my mind. Whither am I going ? To the new world. What to do ? To gain honour ? No, if I know my own heart. To get money ? No ; I am going to live to God, and to bring others so to do.
FRANCIS ASBURY, on the voyage to America, 1771.
51
CONTENTS
II. THE FIRST WORKS AND WORKERS . . . p. 53
Wesley's American, missionary labours — Whitefield's prophecy — The beginning, 1766 — Embury, Strawbridge, Barbara Heck, The Pala tines In New York — The Rigging Loft — Captain Webb's work — The
first church built, Old John Street — In Maryland, Sam's Creek
pp. 53-61
II. ENGLISH AND NATIVE PIONEERS . . . p. 62
The requests for English preachers — The first response — English Conference appointments — Boardman and Pihnoor — Philadelphia — The first native preacher — Asbury — The great itinerations — Circuits
formed Shadford and Rankin — The first Conference, 1773 — Rankin
and Asbury's policies — Statistics — Effects of war, 1778 — Asbury's supremacy declared — The South claims the ordinances — Slavery and intemperance — Voluntary manumissions — Freeborn Garrettson — Methodists and American Independence — Persecutions and sufferings — The work resumed . . . . PP- 62-83
III. THE EPISCOPAL ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH . p. 83
Wesley ordains Coke as Superintendent — Whatcoat and Vasey — Wesley's views — The verdict of history — A memorable scene — Coke and Asbury — The decisive Conference, 1784 — Some notable leaders — The Methodist Episcopal Church constituted — Cokesbury College — Asbury as educationist — Pioneer work — Episcopal tours — Local Conferences — The native ministry, McKendree, Cook, Gatch, Lee— In the Western States— Robert R. Roberts— The Church and the Republic— The General Council, 1789— O'Kelly's secession
pp. 83-104
IV. SOME CHARACTERISTICS p. 104
Church extension, the march northward, apostolic zeal and enter prise — Revivals, signs and wonders — Constitutional developments — Marsden's impressions ...... pp. 104-111
Pages 51-111
CHAPTER III
TN THE UNITED STATES
1766—1808 I. THE BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN METHODISM
AUTHORITIES. — To the General List add : PHOEBUS, Light on Early Methodism in America (New York, 1887) ; TIPPLE, The Heart of Asbury' s Journal (New York, 1904) ; SUMMERS, Biographical Sketches of Itinerant Ministers (Nashville, 1858) ; STRICKLAND, The Pioneer Bishop ; or, the Life and Times of Francis Asbury (New York, 1858); BOEHM, Reminiscences, Historical and Biographical (New York, 1875) ; WAKELEY, Heroes of Methodism (New York, 1856) ; Proceedings of the Centennial Methodist Conference (New York, 1885) ; CUMMINGS, Early Schools of Methodism (New York, 1886) ; SIMPSON, A Hundred Years of Methodism (New York, 1876) ; SEAMAN, Annals of New York Methodism (New York, 1892) ; Sketches of the Life and Travels of Rev. Thomas Ware, written by Himself (New York, 1839) ; STRICKLAND, Autobiography of Peter Cartwright (New York, 1856) ; LARRABEE, Asbury and His Co-labourers (New York, 2 vols., 1852) ; FFIRTH, Experience and Gospel Labours of the Rev. Benjamin Abbott (New York, 1854); Minutes of the Conferences (New York, 1840 ff.) ; Journals of the General Conference from 1792.
ON October 14, 1735, John Wesley, then in his thirty-second THE FIRST year, embarked at Gravesend, England, for America. The WORKERS^ decision to make the voyage had not been hurriedly reached. Wesley's General James Oglethorpe, who had been spending the summer in London soliciting aid for his new colony in Georgia, and who knew of Samuel Wesley's great interest in the Georgia Mission, had extended an invitation to his talented son John, Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, to accompany him to Savannah, Georgia, to work in that needy field. The proposition appalled Wesley. He consulted
53
54 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
with some of his closest friends, and at last he laid the matter before his mother, who, with fine spirit, said : ' If I had twenty sons I should rejoice that they were all so employed, though I never saw them more.' It was as an accredited missionary to the Indians from the Society for the Propa gation of the Gospel that he went ; but the conversion of the Indians was not his uppermost purpose. Nor did he go to organize a new ecclesiastical movement. ' My chief motive,' he writes, ' is the hope of saving my own soul. ... I cannot hope to attain the same degree of holiness here which I may there.' l He was not yet ready to organize societies and build churches. The assurance that Christ had taken away his sins, even his, had not yet possessed his soul, fired his zeal, and unloosed his tongue. That trium phant experience of sonship was to come later, upon his return to England after two years of self-depreciation, unexpected discouragements, painful disappointments, and other trials. It would doubtless be an exaggeration to say that Wesley's mission to Georgia was altogether a failure. Such self-denying labours could not be without effect. Whitefield, who left England the day before Wesley reached it, wrote upon his arrival in Georgia : ' The good John Wesley has done in America is inexpressible. His name Whitefield's is very precious among the people, and he has laid a founda- prophecy. ^Qn ^^ j nOpe neither men nor devils will ever be able to shake.' Whitefield's hope was prophetic. The founda tions are still unshaken ! Tyerman, in speaking of America and Wesley's work in Georgia, asks :
Who could have imagined that in one hundred and thirty years this huge wilderness would be transformed into one of the greatest nations upon earth, and that the Methodism begun at Savannah would pervade the continent, and, ecclesi astically considered, become the mightiest power existing ? 2
It has ever been a joy to American Methodists to remember that their spiritual leader once lifted the banner of his divine
1 Moore's Life of Wesley, i. 206, 208.
2 Tyerman, Life and Times of Wesley, i. 115.
IN THE UNITED STATES 55
Lord upon this continent, and the ground touched by his tireless feet will be for ever sacred to them. They have, The however, regarded the date of the beginning of Methodism in the new world not as 1735, but as 1766.
There have been differences of opinion as to the place of the earliest planting in America, and to whom belongs the credit, whether to Embury at New York, or Strawbridge Embury, in Maryland. But the best historians in America, such as Stevens, than whom no greater denominational historian has yet been raised up among us ; Atkinson, whose researches concerning the beginnings of the Wesleyan movement in America are both invaluable and as yet in controvertible ; Wakeley, Buckley, and Faulkner, unite in giving the preference to the former. Moreover, in 1790, when Bishops Coke and Asbury gave ' a brief account of the rise of Methodism,' which was printed in the preface of the Discipline of that year, after alluding to the labours of Embury, they state that ' about the same time Robert Strawbridge, a local preacher from Ireland, settled in Freder- Strawbridge ick County, in the State of Maryland, and, preaching there, formed some societies.' The statement of Lee, the earliest and one of the best of our historians, is undoubtedly correct.
In the beginning of the year 1766 the first permanent Metho dist Society was formed in the city of New York, Mr. Philip Embury, an Irishman, began to hold meetings in his own house, and to sing and pray with as many as would assemble with him.1
The incidents leading up to the holding of the first service in New York are a part of the romance of American Metho dism. There are no trifles in God's world. A very paltry old woman, accustomed to sit before the door of the cathe dral with wax tapers, incited the image-breaking at Antwerp in the seventeenth century. In France the accidental splinter from Montgomery's lance by which Henry II. was killed deferred the Huguenot massacre for a dozen years. A fluttering butterfly shaped the future career of one of 1 Lee, History of the Methodists, p. 24.
56
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Barbara Heck.
The Palatines.
America's greatest artists. It was a game of cards that was responsible for the first Methodist sermon in New York. Though the story has often been told, it is too good to be omitted. It seems that a company of people had met one evening to play cards, when suddenly there appeared in the room where they were gaming a woman well known to them all, one Barbara Heck, who in indignation swept the cards into her apron, threw them into the fire, sternly warned the players of the danger to which they were exposed, and exhorted them with earnestness and pathos to give up their evil ways. Then going to the house of Philip Embury, she cried, ' Brother Embury, you must preach to us or we shall all go to hell, and God will require our blood at your hands.' ' But where shall I preach ? ' asked Embury ; ' or how can I preach, for I have neither a house nor a congregation ? ' ' Preach in your own house and to your own company first,' she replied. His responsibility was so pressed upon him that he could not shake it off, and he agreed to comply with her request. The company which assembled in Philip Embury's house was not a large one, only five in all, but they sang and prayed, and Embury preached to them, and thus was begun the Methodist move ment in America.
Driven by the conquering and relentless Louis XIV. from the province of the Palatinate of the Rhine, one of the seven ancient electorates of Germany, there went to England about the beginning of the eighteenth century, and thence to Ireland, where upon land set apart for them in County Limerick they settled, numerous groups of sturdy, God-fearing Protestants. Having brought no German minister with them, these pilgrims in a strange land grew careless and irreligious, even ' eminent for drunkenness, cursing, and swearing ' ; but there were a few who did not bow the knee to Baal, and conspicuous among these was one Philip Guier, the master of the German school at Ballingran, where most of the Palatines had settled, and in whose school Philip Embury learned to read and write. Guier was a local preacher, a man of fearless spirit and of
PLATK V
EMBURY PREACHING TO THE I'ALATINES WHEN LEAVING LIMERICK FOR AMERICA, 17GO. RECORD IN EMBURY'S POCKET-BOOK, CHRISTMAS, EMBURY'S HOUSE IN NEW YORK.
n. 56]
IN THE UNITED STATES 57
mighty power ; for even to this day when the Methodist preacher in that region rides along on his circuit horse, there are those who cry out, ' There goes Philip Guier, who drove the devil out of Ballingran ! ' ' In 1756 Wesley preached in Ballingran, and undoubtedly Embury was among his hearers ; for he had been numbered with the Methodists now for nearly four years, was already a local preacher, and two years later, in 1758, at the Conference held in Limerick, Wesley being present, he was received on trial, though for some reason was not appointed to a circuit. In 1760 a company of these Irish Palatines sailed from Limerick, and among them were Philip Embury and his young bride, Mary Switzer, two of his brothers and their families, Peter Switzer, undoubtedly his brother-in- law, Paul Heck and his wife, Barbara Ruckle. After a tedious voyage of sixty days, the ship entered the Narrows, passed up the beautiful bay, and on August 11, 1760, landed its passengers in New York.
For a few years after their arrival little is heard of them, in New except that Embury worked at his trade, and found time York- for some teaching, as an advertisement of ' Philip Embury, Schoolmaster,' which appeared in Weyman's New York Gazette in 1761, indicates. That he did not exercise his gifts as a religious teacher has been thought strange. But there is no evidence that he exhibited any religious zeal whatsoever, or conducted public worship until entrea.ted by his thoroughly aroused cousin, Barbara Heck. It may have been that his natural diffidence deterred him. Yet on the other hand the presumption is that he lived a con sistent life, and endeavoured by his example at least to influence his companions to uprightness of life. Wakeley a furnishes conclusive testimony that he was not a member of that card-party, already referred to, ' which a woman's touch transformed into a revival.'
There must have been in New York at that time not a
1 Tyerman, Life and Times of Wesley, ii. 146.
2 Wakeley, Lost Chapters Recovered from the Early History of American Methodism, ch. iii.
58 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
few English and Irish immigrants who had been reached by Wesley and his preachers in their native land. Certainly then.- were some among the troops in the British garrison who had their memories stirred by the jubilant notes of the Methodist hymns which came floating through the open windows of Philip Embury's cottage on Barrack Street, and who were thus drawn to the services. Lee's account of the growth of that first little society is so simple and quaint that it deserves to be given in every account of those early days :
In about throe months after, Mr. White and Mr. Sause. from Dublin, joined with them. They then rented an empty room in their neighbourhood adjoining the barracks, in which they held their meetings for a season : yet but few thought it worth their while to assemble with them in so contemptible a place. Some time after that, Captain Thomas Webb, barrack- master at Albany, found them out, and preached among them in his regimentals. The novelty of a man preaching in a scarlet coat soon brought great numbers to hear, more than the room could contain. Some more of the inhabitants joining the society, they then united and hired a rigging loft to meet in, that would contain a large congregation. There Mr. Embury used to exhort and preach frequently.1
The The Rigging Loft was rented in 1767. Bishop Scott
foffing onee called attention to the propensity the early Methodists in America had for worshipping in rigging lofts, inasmuch as they made use of them, not only in New York, but also in Philadelphia and Baltimore. To this preaching-place Captain Webb frequently came, and in it his compelling voice was heard again and again. There is no more pic turesque figure in the long history of American Methodism Captain than Captain Thomas Webb, 'soldier of the cross, and Webb's spiritual son of John Wesley,' with a green patch over one
eye— he had lost his right eye at the siege of Louisburg— with a scarred right arm— he had been wounded at the battle of Quebec — and with a soul on fire for God. When he was forty-one this rugged soldier had heard Wesley
1 Lee, History of At Methodist*, p. 24.
IN THE UNITED STATES 59
preach in Bristol, and the following year, 1765, he joined a Methodist society, and was almost immediately licensed to preach. And what a preacher he was ! ' A man of fire,' Wesley characterized him, and added, ' the power of God constantly accompanies his word.' John Adams, the statesman, who became the second President of the United States, heard him preach in 1774, and describes him as ' the old soldier — one of the most eloquent men I ever heard ; he reaches the imagination and touches the passions very well, and expresses himself with great propriety.' * By more than one has he been compared with Whitefield. Fletcher of Madeley esteemed him both for his character and for his labours, and sought to persuade Benson, the commentator, to give himself, as a co-labourer with Webb, to the work in America. This is evident, that if to Embury belongs the honour of being the first leader of American Methodism, to this old soldier belongs the honour of a more permanent agency in the great event, of more extensive and more effective services, of the outspread of the denomination into Long Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Dela ware, the erection of its first chapels, and the introduction of Wesley an itinerants. Aside from the mere question of priority, he must be considered the principal founder of the American Methodist Church.2
From the first appearance, unexpected and startling, of the scarred warrior in his scarlet regimentals at the Metho dist meeting in New York a new energy was manifest. Under his preaching and Embury's the attendance steadily The first grew until a new place of worship became a necessity. Here again the faith and courage of Barbara Heck triumphed. This ' model of womanly piety,' who saw the need before any one else, * made the enterprise a matter of prayer,' and one day in class-meeting told how she had ' looked to the Lord for direction, and had received with inexpressible sweetness this answer : "I the Lord will do it." Nor was that all : 'A plan for building was presented to my
1 Stevens, History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, i. p. 00. /•£•,
2 Stevens, Ibid., i. 66.
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METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Wesley Chapel, Old John Street.
In Mary land.
mind,' she said, and this she described to the members of the society, who found it so practical and economical that it was adopted.1 But it was Captain Webb who made possible the erection of a church at that time. Without his financial aid and influence it is doubtful if the project could have been undertaken. He headed the list of con tributors with a subscription of thirty pounds, to be followed by many of the citizens of New York, including clergymen of the Church of England, lawyers, doctors, teachers, mer chants, and other prominent people — there are two hundred and fifty-seven names on the subscription paper, which is preserved in the archives of the New York Methodist Historical Society. More than this, he loaned the society £300, collected £32 from friends in Philadelphia, and sold books for the benefit of the enterprise. Wesley sent money, books, and a clock ; Philip Embury made the pulpit, and from it preached the dedicatory sermon, October 30, 1768. In this Church, named Wesley Chapel, — ' most likely the first chapel called by Wesley's name,' but now for many years known as Old John Street Church, — Embury and Webb were to continue to preach for about a year, when the old order would pass away, and a new order begin. Embury's services seem to have been mostly gratuitous. The early records of the society show only an occasional donation to him of clothing or money for clothing, or for work as a carpenter upon the premises. Before he left the city the trustees presented him two pounds and five shillings for the purchase of a concordance as a memento of his pastoral connexion with them. This volume is preserved in the library of the Wesleyan Theolo gical College, Montreal.
While Embury and Webb were preaching in New York, there was a religious awakening in Maryland, some two hundred miles to the south, of which they knew nothing. Robert Strawbridge, a native of County Leitrim, Ireland, who had migrated to America for the same reason that brought the Irish Palatines to New York, and had settled 1 Wakoley, Lost Chapters, etc., p. 66.
PLATE VI
THE FIRST METHODIST CHURCH IN AMERICA, JOHN STREET, M-:\\ YORK, 17<;8.
Tin-: UKH..ING LOFT WHICH I'RKCKDKD THE JOHN STREET CHURCH TO-DAY, 'THE CITY CHURCH. KOAH C'HAL-KL OF AMERICA.'
II. GO]
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on Sam's Creek, in Maryland, then a backwoods region, soon after his arrival began to preach. The year of his arrival has not been determined. Stevens is uncertain, but inclines to a date not later than 1765.1 Crook,8 who made a careful study of all the Irish line of evidence, does not think that he left Ireland before 1766. Buckley says that the presumption of Strawbridge's priority would be strong if it were not more than contradicted by the au thority of Pilmoor, Lee, Henry Boehm, and George Bourne, and declares that the discussion of this much-mooted question by Atkinson in The Beginnings of the Wesleyan Movement in America is so exhaustive and the proof which he furnishes so cumulative and convincing that the starting-point of American Methodism must be regarded as settled.3 While the date of his first sermon in Maryland may never be known, the fact that he built a log chapel on Sam's Creek is well Sam's established. There was no need to circulate a subscription Creek- paper for the erection of this primitive meeting-house. The site of the Wesley Chapel in New York cost £600 ; here, one could be had for the asking. Willing hands felled the trees, squared the logs, and raised the roof. The building was a rude structure, without windows, door, or floor, and though long occupied was never com pleted. Yet it was a true sanctuary. Beneath its rough pulpit Strawbridge laid to rest two of his children. Its unplastered walls echoed with the triumphant shouts of sinners redeemed through the mercy of God. This Sam's Creek society gave four or five preachers to the church. Strawbridge founded Methodism in Baltimore and Harford Counties. Restless by nature, and conscious of the needs of the new settlements, which were unvisited by the lethargic clergy of the Established Church, Strawbridge went in every direction preaching with glowing lips the sure word of the gospel. ' Wherever he went he raised up preachers,' and whenever he preached sinners were converted.
1 Stevens, History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, i. 72.
2 Ireland and American Methodism, p. 150.
2 History of Methodism in the United States, i. 142.
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
ENGLISH AND NATIVE PIONEERS.
The re quest for English preachers.
II
In 1768, the year of the building of the Wesley Chapel in New York, Wesley received a long letter signed ' T. T.' The writer was one Thomas Taylor, who six months before had come from England. On landing he had inquired ' if any Methodists were in New York,' and ' was agreeably surprised in meeting with a few here who have been and desire again to be in connexion with you.' He united with the new society, took an active interest, was one of the eight joint purchasers of the John Street property, and was much concerned for the future of the society. His object in writing to Wesley was to give him ' a short account of the state of religion in this city,' to tell him of the beginnings and growth of Methodism in New York, and to make an important request. The request was this :
There is another point far more material, and in which I must importune your assistance, not only in my own name, but also in the name of the whole society. We want an able and experienced preacher ; one who has both gifts and grace necessary for the work. God has not, indeed, despised the day of small things. There is a real work of grace begun in many hearts by the preaching of Mr. Webb and Mr. Embury ; but although they were both useful, and their hearts in the work, they want many qualifications for such an undertaking ; and the progress of the gospel here depends much upon the qualifications of preachers. In regard to a preacher, if possible, we must have a man of wisdom, of sound faith, and a good disciplinarian : one whose heart and soul are in the work : and I doubt not but by the goodness of God such aflame will be soon kindled as would never stop until it reached the great South Sea. We may make many shifts to evade temporal inconveniences ; but we cannot purchase such a preacher as I have described. Dear sir, I entreat you, for the good of thousands, to use your utmost endeavours to send one over. With respect to money for the payment of the preachers' passage over, if they could not procure it, we could sell our coats and shirts to procure it for them. I most earnestly beg an interest
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in your prayers, and trust you, and many of our brethren, will not forget the church in this wilderness.1
Such a spirit of loyalty as that deserved to be rewarded ! Others urged Wesley to send helpers to the new work in America. Captain Webb wrote to him, as did Thomas Bell, ' who had worked six days on the new chapel.' Dr. Wrangel, a Swedish missionary, who had been labouring in Philadel phia, saw Wesley in London, and strongly appealed to him to send preachers to the American Christians, ' multi tudes of whom are as sheep without a shepherd.' Yet Wesley took his own time. Was not the first duty of his preachers, as he said, to the lost sheep of England ? America, however, was on his heart, and it was soon to be on other hearts also.
There is before us, as we write, the earliest American membership ticket extant.2 It reads thus :
PSALM cxlvii. 11. October 1, 1769.
' The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him ; in those that hope in His mercy.'
HANAH DEAN, 75
ROBT. WILLIAMS, N. YORK.
The signer of this interesting document was the first The first preacher in England to respond to the Macedonian cry resP°r from America. Hearing of the repeated applications for help from New York, he applied to Wesley for authority to preach there. There are some grounds for thinking that he set out without permission ; but it seems more than likely that Wesley acquiesced, on condition that he should labour in subordination to the missionaries who were about to be sent. With impatient zeal Williams appealed to his friend Ashton. who afterward became an important member of Embury's society, and who was induced to emigrate by
1 Bangs, History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, i. 57-58.
2 This ticket is in the collection of rare Methodist documents in the Library of Drew Theological Seminary, Madison, New Jersey.
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
The English Conference appoint ments, 1769.
the promise of Williams to accompany him. When Wil liams heard that his friend was ready to embark, he sold his horse to pay his debts, and, carrying his saddlebags on his arm, set off for the ship, with a loaf of bread, a bottle of milk, but no money for his passage. Ashton paid the expense of his voyage, and they landed in New York some months before the missionaries arrived, Williams entering at once into a kind of semi-pastoral relation with the expec tant society in New York. When Boardman and Pilmoor, sent out by Wesley in 1769, arrived, Williams went south, labouring in Philadelphia with Pilmoor, and in Maryland with Strawbridge. He was the apostle of Methodism in Virginia and North Carolina. This man — of whom Asbury said in his funeral sermon, ' He has been a very useful, laborious man ; the Lord gave him many souls to his ministry ' — sleeps in an unknown grave, but he has the distinction of being ' the first Methodist minister in America that published a book, the first that married, the first that located, and the first that died.'
The letters of * T. T.' and others were at last to be productive of results. At the Leeds Conference in 1769 Wesley again set forth the needs of the Methodists in America — he had presented the matter at the Conference the year previous, and action had been deferred — and called for volunteers. The Minutes of that Conference state characteristically the response to that appeal.
Question 13. — We have a pressing call from our brethren at New York (who have built a preaching-house) to come over and help them. Who is willing to go ?
Answer — Richard Boardman and Joseph Pilmoor.
Question 14. — What can we do further in token of our brotherly love ?
Answer — Let us now make a collection among ourselves.
This was immediately done and £50 were allotted towards the payment of debt, and about £20 given to our brethren for their passage.
The English press ridiculed the project, announcing with
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mocking satire certain forthcoming promotions among the Methodists, including Rev. John Wesley, Bishop of Penn sylvania, and Rev. Charles Wesley, Bishop of Nova Scotia. But jest or irony never yet stayed the progress of the kingdom of God. The first missionaries were worthy sons Boardman of John Wesley. Richard Boardman was thirty-one, a ' pious, good-natured, sensible man, greatly beloved by all who knew him.' His itinerant training had been brief, but thorough. He had passed through deep waters of affliction, for when he offered himself for the work in America ' the grass was not yet green over the grave in which the remains of his wife and little daughter lay side by side.' Joseph Pilmoor was about the same age, had been converted in his sixteenth year under the preaching of Wesley, and placed by him at Kingswood School. The year 1768 he spent in Wales, musing much upon ' the dear Americans,' whose urgent request he had heard at Bristol, and reaching the determination ' to sacrifice everything for their sakes.' He was a man of fine presence, much executive skill, easy address, and rare courage. These pioneer missionaries landed at Gloucester Point, New Jersey, October 20, 1769, sang the Doxology in praise to God for their safe arrival, walked five miles along the Delaware River to Philadelphia, were given a royal welcome by Captain Webb and the society, and immediately began their ministry in America, Pilmoor preaching from the steps of the old State House. Ten days later he wrote to Wesley with justifiable enthusiasm : ' I have preached several times, and the people flock to hear in multitudes.' 1 A few days later, Boardman, who, bearing the evangel, had set out for New York, and, like all those early itinerants, sought opportunities to preach everywhere, also wrote to Wesley in a like strain.
After Boardman's arrival in New York, Embury, accom panied by some of his friends, moved to a small town one hundred and fifty miles from New York, settling there, and forming a class at Ashgrove, where he continued to labour as a local preacher until his sudden death, the result
1 Bangs, History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, i. 62. VOL. II 5
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Phila delphia.
Edward Evans, first native preacher.
of an accident while mowing, in 1775. It was an untimely end, but he had planted the handful of corn in the earth on the top of the mountain. The fruit of his planting has caused the world to marvel. From this time forward, the work of God was to proceed by leaps and bounds. Board- man began to put the Wesleyan system of regulations in operation in New York. Pilmoor preached so effectively in Philadelphia that a new place of meeting became a necessity ; ' the Lord provided for us,' Pilmoor wrote. This church, long known as St. George's Church, has the distinction of being the oldest church building occupied by Methodists in the United States. Captain Webb established a preaching-place on Long Island, and travelled south through New Jersey to Philadelphia, preaching frequently. Embury was at work in New York State, and Robert Williams was in Maryland co-operating with Strawbridge. The battle lines had been extended. Pilmoor and Board- man arranged to exchange stations three or four times a year, and besides their work in the two centres they made excursions into the surrounding regions. Boardman made missionary journeys from Philadelphia into Maryland and preached in Baltimore. Pilmoor visited Captain Webb at his home on Long Island, and journeyed along the Sound to New Rochelle, where later was formed, though not by him, the third society in New York State. The winter of 1770-1 brought many converts into the society in New York. Pilmoor had introduced such features of the Methodist worship as the love-feast and watch-night. The young people were ' all on fire for God and heaven.' It was plain that the whitening fields needed still more labourers even though the forces had already been augmented. John King had come from England late in 1769, and, although he bore no licence from Wesley to preach, he showed such zeal and godly determination that Pilmoor authorized him to exhort, and sent him into Delaware. In Philadelphia, Edward Evans, one of Whitefield's converts, allied himself with the Methodists, and was given permission to preach. It is claimed that he was the earliest native American to
PLATE' VII
GENERAL OOLETHOHPE (1<;'J8-1785), with whom the Wesleys went to Georgia in 1735, and who was still living when the ordained preachers were sent to America in 1781.
CAPTAIN THOMAS WEHB.
Preached in New York, 17C7.
Died at Bristol, 17'JG.
RICHARD BOAKUMA.X AND
II GG]
BARBARA HECK (1734-1804).
JOSEPH PILMOOR, the two volunteers for America at the Conference, Leeds, 17G9.
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begin to preach, and while for years the title of ' first native American preacher ' was given to Richard Owen, or Owings, and that of ' first native itinerant ' to William Watters, it now appears that Evans's right to be called the first American Methodist preacher is secure, though, dying before the organization of the Conference, his name has no place on the official records of American Methodism.1 But still more workers were needed, and out across the Atlantic there went a ringing call for further help.
And what superb reinforcements came in response to the cry ! Five volunteered at the Conference in Bristol in 1771, when Wesley ' pointed the Conference to the brightening light in the Western sky,' and two were chosen. One of them, Richard Wright, was a comparative failure in this country. Little of his history is known : scarcely more than that he had travelled but one year in England when he set out with Asbury, and that he spent most of his time while here in Maryland and Virginia, and that for a time he was stationed at Wesley Chapel, New York. He seems to have been spoiled by flattery, and then became unpopular. The Conference agreed to send him back to England ; but before he went Asbury visited him and ' found he had no taste for spiritual subjects.' In 1774 he returned to England, where, after three years spent in the itinerancy, he located, and disappeared from the records of the denomination.
That other missionary with whom Wright had come, Francis measured by the magnitude of his labours, is the one colossal Asbury- form of the first half-century of the American Methodist Church. From the hour when he landed in America until forty-five years later when, ennobled by suffering, enriched by many experiences, now without strength to walk to the church, he is carried, like a tired child at the end of a busy day, in the arms of a friend, and placed in a chair on a table in the church, and in much pain and great weakness preaches his last sermon from the text, ' For He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness : because a short work
1 Atkinson, Beginnings of the Wesleyan Movement in America, p. 145.
68 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
will the Lord make upon the earth,' Francis Asbury wrought more deeply into American life, in its social, moral, and religious facts, than any other man who lived and acted his part in our more formative period. Asbury was born in the village of Handsworth, Staffordshire, now a suburb of Birmingham, August 20 or 21, 1745, He died in 1816. His parents ' were people in common life, were remarkable for honesty and industry, and had all things needful to enjoy.' The mother was a woman of intelligence, of a singularly tender and loving nature, and deeply pious. While yet a boy he heard Wesley's preachers, and coming soon thereafter into a joyous experience of grace' he began to hold services for reading the Scriptures, prayer, and exhortation. He was then seventeen. Five years of this kind of work qualified him for the itinerancy, and after another five years of service as a travelling preacher, having had for some time a strange drawing toward America, he made an offer of himself which was accepted by Wesley and others ' who judged I had a call.' 1 The results of his labours in America would seem to confirm their judgement. He was a man of great piety. Freeborn Garrettson said of him ' that he prayed the best, and prayed the most of all men I knew.' This habit of close and fervent communion with God was the spring of that amazing and steady zeal which bore him on in his unparalleled American career. The secret of his life and labours was a regnant sense of fellowship with God, a sense so real, so vivid, so dominant, that it drove him across seas, into cities and out of cities, through wildernesses and over mountains, a sense of fellowship so complete and so beauti ful that it made him impervious to hardships, buoyed him amid uncommon discouragements, and held him steady amid distressing torments, until at the last the chariot of the Lord caught him up.
Asbury and Wright reached Philadelphia October 27, 1771, where that evening they heard Pilmoor ' preach acceptably,' and were greeted by him and the little society with great cordiality. ' The people looked on us with
1 Tipple, Heart of Asbury's Journal, p. 1.
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pleasure,' Asbury writes, ' hardly knowing how to show their love sufficiently, bidding us welcome with fervent affection and receiving us as angels of God.' Both Wright and Asbury preached in Philadelphia, and after numerous conferences with Pilmoor they departed for their respective fields, Wright going to the eastern shore of Maryland, and Asbury to New York. It was for Asbury the beginning The great of those almost incredible journey ings which were to end only with his death. Ryle says that Christianity was saved to the world in the eighteenth century by ' spiritual cavalry who scoured the country, and were found every where.' Stevens, in his History of American Methodism, uses the same figure when he refers to the Methodist itiner ants as ' evangelical cavalry.' A glance through the table of contents of that book more than warrants that charac terization. In every chapter you feel the rush and haste of the restless men who were commissioned to herald the good tidings. Almost every page breathes the resistless impulse of the Methodist evangelism. ' Rapid advance of the Church,' ' Methodism enters Kentucky,' ' Garrettson pioneers Methodism up the Hudson,' ' Asbury itinerating in the south,' ' McKendree goes to the west,' ' Colbert in the wilderness,' ' The itinerants among the Holston Moun tains,' ' Philip Gatch appears in the north-west territory,' ' Robert Hibbard drowned in the St. Lawrence,' ' Hedding's itinerant sufferings,' ' Lee revisits New England,' etc., etc. Asbury 's Journal abounds with references to his travels. Such entries as these are of the most frequent occurrence :
We have ridden little less than four hundred miles in twenty days, and rested one. Under the divine protection I came safe to Philadelphia, having ridden about three thousand miles since I left it last.
In 1806, when he was sixty years of age, he writes under date of May 25 :
Since the 16th of April, 1805, I have, according to my reckoning, travelled five thousand miles.
70 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
On another occasion he writes :
"We have travelled one hundred miles. My feet are much swelled, and I am on crutches.
Weak, sick, crippled, he nevertheless presses on ; without complaining, with no hesitation, steadfastly onward he goes. Day after day he writes down with wearisome regu larity : ' I went, I rode, I came.' During the forty-five years of his itinerant career he rode more than two hundred and seventy-five thousand miles, almost all of them on horseback. From Maine to Virginia, through the Carolinas, wading through swamps, swimming the rivers that flow from the eastern slope of the Alleghanies to the Atlantic, on down to Georgia, back to North Carolina, through the mountains to Tennessee, three hundred miles and back through the unbroken wilderness of Kentucky, back again to New York, to New England, then from the Atlantic to the Hudson, over a rough road, mountainous and difficult, on to Ohio, year after year he swung around this immense circuit — a man without a home. Once when entering the prairies of Ohio a stranger met him and abruptly inquired, ' Where are you from ? ' Asbury replied, ' From Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, or almost any place you please.' This was literally true. He hailed from everywhere and was at home anywhere. If ever a man felt the urgent necessity of being about his Master's business, it was he. Henry Boehm had an appointment to meet him at a certain place, then to proceed with him. He was a day late, being detained, and Asbury started on. He could not wait. He never could wait. One cannot under stand early Methodist history unless he reads it, as the early itinerants travelled, — in the saddle.
Circuits The movements of Asbury and the other preachers now
formed. are SQ rapi(j that it is with difficulty that we follow them.
The work for the first half of 1772 was planned on a large scale. Boardman was to enter New England ; Wright to go to New York ; Pilmoor was to attack the South, and Asbury to remain in Philadelphia. In the autumn of 1772
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Wesley directed him to act as superintendent, and im mediately the young leader set out from New York for the South, preaching as he went. In Baltimore he arranged a circuit of two hundred miles with twenty-four appoint ments, which was covered by him every three weeks. But the sky was not bright everywhere. Asbury's rigid ad ministration of discipline had already provoked opposition. Some of his colleagues even were restless under his strong hand, and from these letters of complaint had gone to Wesley. Asbury also wrote to Wesley, telling him of the necessity of discipline and also of more labourers. Captain Webb, tired of having only the young preachers sent to the colonies, went to England to lay the case before Wesley, and to obtain, if not his personal presence in America, at least some man of long experience and recognized standing, and, as a result, George Shadford and Thomas Rankin were Shadford sent. Rankin was a Scotchman who had been converted under the preaching of Whitefield, and who, in 1761, became ' an itinerant of rare energy and commanding success,' one of the most conspicuous of Wesley's preachers. As he was not only Asbury's senior in the itinerancy, but, in general repute, a superior disciplinarian — Asbury wrote after hearing him, * He will not be admired as a preacher, but as a disciplinarian he will fill his place ' — Wesley made him superintendent of the American societies. Shadford was one of the most beautiful characters among the early itinerants. Buckley says that there is nothing in the records of early Methodism which exhibits the sublimity of the conceptions of Wesley concerning the work and his relation to it more dramatically than his letter to Shadford J :
DEAR GEORGE, — The time is arrived for you to embark for America. You must go down to Bristol, where you will meet with. T. Rankin, Captain Webb and his wife. I let you loose, George, on the great continent of America. Publish your message in the open face of the sun, and do all the good you can. I am, dear George, yours affectionately, JOHN WESLEY.
1 History of Methodism in the United States, i. 168.
72 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Accompanied by another volunteer, Joseph Yearby, they arrived in Philadelphia, June 3, 1773, where Asbury met them and resigned to Rankin his temporary authority. The newcomers found plenty to do. Asbury accompanied his successor to New York, where a cheering revival re warded his efforts, and yet where he found some things which so shocked his sense of regularity and order that six weeks after his arrival he brought the preachers to gether in conference upon the Wesleyan plan, to hear Wesley's instructions and to adopt rules for a uniform government.
The first An old print of that first American Methodist Conference,
C^feren^e, which assembled July 14, 1773, shows ten clerically frocked 1773- preachers in attendance — Thomas Rankin, Francis Asbury,
Richard Boardman, Joseph Pilmoor, Richard Wright, George Shadford, Captain Thomas Webb, John King, Abraham Whitworth, and Joseph Yearby, all Europeans. It is an interesting coincidence that a like number attended Mr. Wesley's first conference in England, twenty-nine years before. The several preachers made their reports, and there is evidence that Rankin was disappointed at the numerical showing. Even at this first Conference the tabulating of denominational statistics precipitated a debate. There were other discussions also. Although Lee does say that ' the preachers were much united together in love and brotherly affection,' there had been serious differences of opinion and of procedure. Asbury writes with evident feeling :
There were some debates among the preachers in this Con ference, relative to the conduct of some who had manifested a desire to abide in the cities and live like gentlemen. Three years out of four have been already spent in the cities. It was also found that money had been wasted, improper leaders appointed, and many of our rules broken.1
Rankin spoke with plainness of the laxity of discipline and the perils of discord, and insisted that such action be
1 Tipple, Heart of Asbury 's Journal, pp. 49, 50.
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taken as would bring about the establishment of genuine Its decisions. Wesley an discipline. The following queries were proposed to every preacher, a perusal of which is essential to all who would trace the evolution of American Methodism as an ecclesiastical organization :
1. Ought not the authority of Mr. Wesley and that Con ference to extend to the Preachers and people in America as well as in Great Britain and Ireland ? Answer. — Yes.
2. Ought not the doctrine and Discipline of the Methodists, as contained in the Minutes, to be the sole rule of our conduct, who labour in the connexion with Mr. Wesley in America ? Answer. — Yes.
3. If so, does it not follow that if any Preachers deviate from the Minutes we can have no fellowship with them till they change their conduct ? Answer. — Yes.
The following rules were agreed to by all the preachers present :
1. Every Preacher who acts in connexion with Mr. Wesley and the brethren who labour in America is strictly to avoid administering the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper.
2. All the people among whom we labour to be earnestly exhorted to attend the church, and receive the ordinances there ; but in a particular manner to press the people in Mary land and Virginia to the observance of this minute.
3. No person or persons to be admitted to our love-feasts oftener than twice or thrice, unless they become members ; and none to be admitted to the society meetings more than thrice.
4. None of the Preachers in America to reprint any of Mr. Wesley's books without his authority (when it can be gotten), and the consent of their brethren.
5. Robert Williams to sell the books he has already printed, but to print no more, unless under the above restriction.
6. Every preacher who acts as an assistant to send an ac count of the work once in six months to the General Assistant.1
The significance of all this cannot be overestimated. Up to that time the Methodists in America considered them-
1 Minutes, i. 5.
74
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Rankin and Asbury ; divergent policies.
selves as much adherents of Wesley and under his oversight and direction as did those in Europe. They relied upon him to send them preachers, and the preachers agreed to submit to his authority, and to abide by his doctrine and discipline as established in England.1 This matter of the sacraments, as we shall see later, was a serious one, in creasingly troublesome, and destined finally in the provi dence of God to eventuate in the establishment of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In the reference to Robert Williams, who had printed some of Wesley's sermons and had circulated them to the ' great advantage of religion,' is seen the beginning of the ' Methodist Book Concern,' which has ever been a strong arm of help to the American Methodist Church. 'We parted in love,' wrote Rankin. Some things had been accomplished besides the making of rules.
The second Conference met in the same city, May 25, 1774. The hopes of the leaders for better discipline and more perfect harmony during the year had not been realized. Strawbridge was unyielding in his attitude concerning the sacraments, even ' very officious in administering the ordi nances,' and his insubordination was both annoying to Asbury and harmful to the cause. Rankin, while utterly sincere and devoted to the work, showed on the one hand an ignorance of American conditions, and on the other a lack of understanding of Asbury, which bred both dis satisfaction and distrust. Perhaps the most important action taken was that the preachers should exchange at the end of every six months. This was what Asbury had desired from the beginning — ' a circulation of preachers '- and was undeniably one of the chief means of the marvellous growth of Methodism in its first half -century.
The third Conference met, like its predecessors, in Phila delphia. The date was May 17, less than a month after the battles of Lexington and Concord, which had set the continent in a flame. All was excitement. The second Continental Congress, which had been organized May 10,
1 Lee, History of the Methodists, p. 47.
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was in session in the same city. The relations between Rankin and Asbury had been growing more strained during the year. Rankin plainly failed to appreciate Asbury. His correspondence with Wesley biased that great chieftain and led him to recall Asbury ; but fortunately Asbury was many miles away when the letter arrived, and could not be reached. It was undoubtedly, therefore, in the line of divine providence that Rankin assigned Asbury, contrary to the latter 's expressed judgement, to Norfolk, Virginia. Whatever the strong-willed, arbitrary General Assistant had in mind when he thus sent Asbury far "to the south, God turned it to good. American Methodism would have been something other than it is had Asbury returned to Europe. The Conference of 1776, the year of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was held in Baltimore, the first time it had assembled in that city. There was an increase of 1,773 members, the total now being 4,921. statistics. Most of the gains were in the South ; New York, Philadelphia, and New Jersey showing a loss on account of the war. The Conference of 1777 was held at the house of John Watters, near Deer Creek, Maryland, one of the well-known preaching-places in that State. Not withstanding the war, the reports showed an increase of more than two thousand in membership, which caused great rejoicing. Fourteen preachers were admitted on trial, among them John Dickins, who was to become so closely identified with the publishing interests of the church, and Caleb B. Pedicord, ' a man of unusual sweetness of spirit and efficiency in conversions and every form of spiritual influence.' The close of the Conference, in view of the fact that most of the English preachers had expressed their purpose to return during the year, if they had opportunity, was an occasion of great sadness. The Conference ended with a love-feast and watch-night ; and Asbury records that when the time of parting came, many wept as if they had lost their first born sons. ' We parted,' says Garrettson, ' bathed in tears, to meet no more in this world.' ' Our hearts,' says Watters, ' were knit together as the hearts of David and Jonathan,
Effects of the war,
1778.
Asbury's
supremacy
declared.
The South claims the ordinances.
76 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
and we were obliged to use great violence to our feelings in tearing ourselves asunder.'
When the next Conference convened at Leesburg, Va., May 19, 1778, the desolations of war had sadly decimated the Northern societies. Philadelphia and New York were in the grip of the British, and a royal fleet was menacing Maryland. Some preachers had been imprisoned and Asbury was in retirement at Judge White's. There had been a loss of 873 members and of eight ministers. Nothing daunted, the Conference took on six new circuits in the South and received eleven as probationers for the ministry. The administration of the sacraments was considered, but laid over again for another year. Two Conferences were held in 1779, one at the home of Judge White in Delaware, April 28, and the other in the Broken Back Chapel, Fluvanna, Virginia, May 13. Two questions were recorded in the Minutes, which were to exert the most far-reaching influence over American Methodism :
Question 12.— Ought not Brother Asbury to act as General Assistant in America ? Answer.— He ought first, on account of his age ; second, because originally appointed by Mr. Wesley ; third, being joined with Messrs. Kankin and Shadford, by ex press order from Mr. Wesley. Question 13.— How far shall his power extend ? Answer.— On hearing every preacher for and against what is in debate, the right of determination shall rest with him, according to the Minutes.1
At Fluvanna the troublesome question of the adminis tration of the sacraments was again debated, the Southern preachers being resolved to refuse the people the ordinances no longer. Their arguments were strong, and the one which was practically unanswerable was that, most of the clergy men of the Church of England having fled the country, the people generally were destitute of the Lord's Supper, and there was no one to baptize the children. A committee to ordain ministers was appointed from among the oldest
Minutes, i. 10.
IN THE UNITED STATES 77
brethren who first ordained themselves, and then proceeded to ordain and set apart other ministers that they might administer the holy ordinances of the Church of Christ.
Two Conferences were held in 1780, one in Lovely Lane Chapel, Baltimore, at which the cloud of separation hung ominously over all the deliberations. Asbury finally made a compromise proposition which was accepted. The Con- Separate ference for the Southern preachers was held May 9, at Conferences- Manakintown, Virginia, and at this Conference the Com mittee, Asbury, Garrettson, and Watters, appointed to confer concerning the administration of the sacraments, appeared and were given a hearing. It was a dramatic moment. Asbury read clearly to them Wesley's thoughts against a separation, showed them his private letters of instruction from Wesley, set before them the sentiments of the Delaware and Baltimore Conferences, read some of the correspondence, notably his letter to Gatch and Dickins's letter in reply. The answer of the Virginia preachers was that they could not submit to the terms of union, and Asbury went to a nearby house to lodge, under the heaviest cloud, he said, he had felt in America. When he returned to take leave of Conference and to go off immediately to the North, he found, he writes, ' they were brought to an agreement while I had been praying, as with a broken heart, in the house we went to lodge at ; and Brothers Watters and Garrettson had been praying upstairs where the Conference sat.' l
The ninth Conference began at Chop tank, Delaware, April 16, 1781, arid adjourned to meet in Baltimore, April 24. Here all of the preachers except one agreed to return to the old plan and give up the administration of the ordinances. This Conference resolved to require a ministerial probation of two years and a membership probation of three months. The Conference of 1782 was again divided into two sections, one being held at Ellis's Chapel, in Sussex County, Virginia, April 17, and the other at Baltimore, May 21, the latter choosing Asbury, according to Wesley's original appoint-
1 Tipple, Heart of Asbury' s Journal, p. 169.
78
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
The 'United
States.'
Slavery and
intemper ance.
ment, to act as General Assistant, to ' preside over the American Conferences and the whole work.'
At the eleventh Conference fourteen ministers were received on trial, among them Jesse Lee, for ever afterward to be famous in Methodism. There was an increase of 1,955 members. For the first time the phrase ' United States ' appears in the Minutes, Congress in April having issued a proclamation, declaring the termination of the war.
The twelfth and last of the Annual Conferences was held as before, in Ellis's Chapel, April 30, and in Baltimore, May 25, 1784. Asbury's status was settled beyond cavil by a letter from Wesley. Rules were passed, making it obligatory upon every member to give something for the erection or relief of chapels. The preachers were urged to avoid every superfluity of dress and to speak frequently and faithfully against it in all societies. For the first time the question was reported in the Minutes, ' What preachers have died this year ? ' a question ever since repeated. With the wisdom which characterized all his appointments, Asbury stationed thirty-seven assistants at strategic points. The slavery rules were made more strict. The Methodist Church in the United States from the beginning has been in the forefront of all reform movements. Take for example the two great questions of temperance and slavery. As to the former, as early as 1780 this question was asked :
Do we disapprove of the practice of distilling grain into liquor ? Shall we disown our friends who will not renounce the practice ? Answer.— Yes.
Thus even before the societies were organized into a church the people called Methodists had put their seal of disapproval upon the manufacture of spirituous liquors. That was the first formal declaration of hostility against the iniquitous traffic printed in our Book of Discipline. In 1783 another step forward was taken, as shown by the following action :
Should our friends be permitted to make spirituous liquors, sell, and drink them in drams ? Answer.— By no means : we
IN THE UNITED STATES 79
think it wrong in its nature and consequences, and desire all our preachers to teach the people by precept and example to put away tnis evil.
Not only is it here declared that it is wrong to manufacture or sell spirituous liquors, but that it is wrong also to drink them as a beverage. And while there have been, and even now are, differences of opinion among equally good, honest, and sincere people as to the methods for advancing the temperance movement, the attitude of the American Metho dist Church, as a church, has been uncompromising. It has declared again and again that intemperance is a sin against the individual and against society, that its effects are disastrous alike to the individual and to society, and that intemperance as an institution must be destroyed from off the face of the earth.
As to slavery, the Methodist Church early took advanced grounds. In Asbury's Journal there are nearly a score of allusions to slavery, his earliest reference in 1778 being as follows :
I find the most pious part of the people, called Quakers, are exerting themselves for the liberating of the slaves. This is a very laudable design, and what the Methodists must come to, or I fear the Lord will depart from them.
At the Conference of 1780 this question, which makes that Conference memorable, was asked :
Question 17. — Does this Conference acknowledge that slavery is contrary to the laws of God, man, and nature, and hurtful to society ; contrary to the dictates of conscience and pure religion, and doing that which we would not others should do to us and ours ? Do we pass our disapprobation on all our friends who keep slaves and advise their freedom ? Answer. — Yes.
Thus early was official action taken in the matter, and the attitude of the church was indicated ; thus early, though it may not have been apparent at that time, began the conflict between two theories, two eternally conflicting
80
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Voluntary manumis sions.
Freeborn Garrettson.
Methodists and
American Indepen dence.
forces, which finally resulted in the division of the church in 1844. Many of the first converts of Methodism in America did not require a decree of the church to make them see their duty. Philip Gatch among the earliest of the itinerants came into possession of nine slaves, whom he emancipated in these noble words :
Know all men by these presents, that I, Philip Gatch, of Powhatan County, Virginia, do believe that all men are by nature equally free ; and from a clear conviction of the injustice of depriving my fellow creatures of their natural rights, do hereby emancipate and set free the following persons.
The morning after the conversion of Freeborn Garrettson, a remarkable scene occurred. It was Sunday. Garrettson had called together the family for morning prayer. Stand ing with book in hand, in the act of giving out a hymn, the same mystic voice which he had heard twice before sounded in his ear, and he heard these words : ' It is not right for you to hold your fellow creatures in bondage. You must let the oppressed go free.' Till then he had never suspected slave-holding to be wrong. He had never read a book on the subject, nor had he conversed with any one concerning it. He paused a moment, then said, ' Lord, the oppressed shall go free.' Turning to his slaves he said, ' You are no longer mine ; you are free. I desire not your services without making you compensation.' He then continued his de votions. ' Had I,' said he, ' the tongue of an angel I could not describe what I then felt. A divine sweetness ran through my whole frame ' ; and later, in speaking of the emancipation of his slaves, he said, ' It was- the blessed God that taught me the rights of man.' 1
The period covered by these Conferences was the period of the Revolutionary War, full of peril to American Metho dism, and yet destined to affect it in a determinative manner. Unfortunately Methodists were under suspicion throughout
1 For a full discussion of this great question in the history of American Methodism see Matlack, Anti-slavery Struggle and Triumph in the Methodist Episcopal Church (New York, 1881).
IN THE UNITED STATES 81
the entire period. There were reasons for it. Wesley's Calm Address to the American Colonies would have created prejudices against them, if nothing else had been said or done, but several of the preachers also were indiscreet. Rankin spoke so freely and imprudently on public affairs as to cause fear that his influence would be dangerous to the American cause. Rodda was so unwise as to distribute copies of the King's Proclamation, and left the country under circumstances unfavourable to his reputation, and hurtful to the interests of religion. When the times were about at the worst, Shadford returned to England ; and indeed two years after the Declaration of Independence not an English preacher remained in America, except Asbury, who, at the risk of his life, deliberately resolved to continue to labour and to suffer with and for his American brethren. His sympathies were undoubtedly with his countrymen,1 but his unerring judgement, however, foresaw the inevitable outcome. Lednum tells of a letter which Asbury wrote to Rankin in 1777, in which he expressed his belief that the Americans would become a free and independent nation, and declared that he was too much knit in affection to many of them to leave them, and that Methodist preachers had a great work to do under God in America. The letter fell into the hands of the authorities in America and produced a change in their feelings toward him, but before this change took place there was much suffering. It was asserted that the Methodist body was a Tory propaganda, though there was no proof to establish the contention. In New York the leading members were thorough loyalists. Elsewhere the membership was divided in political senti ment, as were all communities at the time. But the preju- Persecutions dice against the Methodists was pronounced. Judge White was arrested on the charge of being a Methodist and pre sumptively a Tory, but after five weeks' detention was acquitted. Asbury was compelled to go into retirement for many months, part of the time in almost absolute con cealment. The native ministers who had been raised up,
1 Tipple, Heart of Asbury' s Journal, p. 181. VOL. II 6
82 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Walters, Gatch, Garrettson, Morrell, and Ware, were true- hearted Americans, and while the moral views and con scientious scruples of some of these and many other Metho dists were not on general principles favourable to war, they were consistently loyal ; and yet many of them suffered persecution. Caleb Pedicord was cruelly whipped, and carried his scars to the grave. Freeborn Garrettson was beaten to insensibility, and on another occasion thrust into jail. Other preachers were tarred and feathered. But in spite of perils and persecutions, although under suspicion and subjected to slanders and reproaches, they kept at their God-given tasks, and the church grew. Stevens says that not only did the Revolution prepare the societies for their organization as a distinct denomination, but that it may indeed be affirmed that American Methodism was born and passed its whole infancy in the invigorating struggle of the Revolution, and that its almost continual growth in such apparently adverse circumstances is one of the marvels of religious history.* The work jn 1753 peace was declared. Lee quaintly says :
resumed.
The revolutionary war being now closed, and a general peace established, we could go into all parts of the country without fear ; and we soon began to enlarge our borders, and to preach in many places where we had not been before. We soon saw the fruit of our labours in the new circuits, and in various parts of the country, even in old places where we had preached in former years with but little success. One thing in particular that opened the way for the spreading of the gospel by our preachers was this : during the war, which had continued seven or eight years, many of the members of our societies had, through fear, necessity, or choice, moved into the back settlements, and into new parts of the country ; and as soon as the national peace was settled, and the way was open, they solicited us to come among them ; and by their earnest and frequent petitions, both verbal and written, we were prevailed on, and encouraged to go among them ; and they were ready to receive us with open hands and willing hearts, and to cry out ' Blessed is he
1 History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, i. 285.
IN THE UNITED STATES 83
that cometh in the name of the Lord.' The Lord prospered us much in the thinly settled parts of the country, where, by collecting together the old members of our society, and by joining some new ones with them, the work greatly revived, and the heavenly flame of religion spread far and wide.1
' Now they which were scattered abroad . . . travelled . . . preaching the word . . . and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord ' (Acts ii. 19-21).
Ill
The organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church of THE America was begun in City Road, London, in February 1784, the preliminary steps being taken at that time when TION OF Wesley called Coke into his private room and spoke to him THECHURCH somewhat as follows : ' That, as the Revolution in America had separated the United States from the mother country for ever, and the Episcopal Establishment was utterly abolished, the societies had been represented to him as in a most deplorable condition ; that an appeal had also been made to him through Asbury, in which he was requested to provide for them some mode of church government suited to their exigencies, and that having long and seriously resolved the subject in his thoughts, he intended to adopt the plan which he was now about to unfold ; that as he had invariably endeavoured in every step he had taken to keep as closely to the Bible as possible, so, in the present occasion, he hoped he was not about to deviate from it ; that keeping his eye upon the conduct of the primitive churches in the ages of unadulterated Christianity, he had much admired the mode of ordaining bishops which the church of Alexandria had practised, and finally, that being himself a presbyter, he wished Coke to accept ordination Wesley from his hands, and to proceed in that character to the ordains
, . ,. . Coke as
continent of America, to superintend the societies in the Superin- United States.' 2 Coke demurred, but Wesley overcame tendent-
1 History of the Methodists, pp. 84, 85.
2 Drew, Life of Coke, pp. 63, 64.
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Whatcoat and Vasey.
Wesley's views,
and principles.
his objections and set him apart to act as Superintendent of the Methodist societies in America. With his assistance and that of Rev. James Creighton, both presbyters of the Church of England, he ordained as presbyters, or elders, Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey; and on September 18, 1784, Coke, Whatcoat, and Vasey sailed for New York, bearing with them duly attested credentials. The certificate which Wesley gave Coke, the original of which in Wesley's handwriting is extant, and a facsimile of which was ex hibited at the first (Ecumenical Conference in London in 1881, reads as follows :
To all to whom these presents shall come, John Wesley, late Fellow of Lincoln College in Oxford, Presbyter of the Church of, England, sendeth greeting.
Whereas many of the people of the Southern provinces of North America, who desire to continue under my care, and still adhere to the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England, are greatly distressed for want of ministers to ad minister the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's supper, according to the usages of the same church : and whereas there does not appear to be any other way of supplying them with ministers :
Know all men, that I, John Wesley, think myself to be provi dentially called at this time to set apart some persons for the work of the ministry in America. And, therefore, under the protection of Almighty God, and with a single eye to His glory, I have this day set apart as a Superintendent, by the imposition of my hands, and prayer, (being assisted by other ordained ministers,) Thomas Coke, Doctor of Civil Law, a Presbyter of the Church of England, and a man whom I judge to be well qualified for that great work. And I do hereby recommend him to all whom it may concern, as a fit person to preside over the flock of Christ. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this second day of September, in the year of our Lord, one thousand, seven hundred, and eighty- four.1
Later Wesley wrote a letter intended to explain the grounds on which this step was taken, which letter he
1 Drew, Life of Coke, p. 66.
\\ -o
-
$ ^
3X -
V
VV*H *'«• *4 ^-.O* *VM
g
§
IN THE UNITED STATES 85
instructed Coke to print and circulate among the societies upon his arrival in America.
BRISTOL, September 10, 1784.
To DR. COKE, MR. ASBURY, and our brethren in North America. By a very uncommon train of providences many of the provinces of North America are totally disjoined from the mother country, and erected into independent States. The English government has no authority over them, either civil or ecclesiastical, any more than over the States of Holland. A civil authority is exercised over them, partly by the Congress, partly by the provincial assembles. But no one either exercises or claims any ecclesiastical authority at all. In this peculiar situation some thousands of the inhabitants of these States desire my advice, and, in compliance with their desire, I have drawn up a little sketch.
Lord King's account of the primitive church convinced me, many years ago, that bishops and presbyters are the same order, and consequently have the same right to ordain. For many years I have been importuned, from time to time, to exercise this right, by ordaining part of our travelling preachers. But I have still refused ; not only for peace' sake, but because I was determined as little as possible to violate the established order of the national church to which I belonged.
But the case is widely different between England and North America. Here there are bishops, who have a legal jurisdiction ; in America there are none, neither any parish minister ; so that for some hundreds of miles together there is none either to baptize, or to administer the Lord's Supper. Here, therefore, my scruples are at an end ; and I conceive myself at full liberty, as I violate no order, and invade no man's right, by appointing and sending labourers into the harvest.
I have accordingly appointed Dr. Coke and Mr. Francis Ast ury to be joint superintendents over our brethren in North America ; as also Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey, to act as elders among them, by baptizing and administering the Lord's Supper. And I have prepared a liturgy, little differing from that of the Church of England (I think the best constituted national church in the world), which I advise all the travelling preachers to use on the Lord's day in all congregations, reading the Litany only on Wednesdays and Fridays, and praying
86
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
The verdict of history.
A memor able scene.
extempore on all other days. I also advise the elders to ad minister the Supper of the Lord on every Lord's day.
If any one will point out a more rational and Scriptural way of feeding and guiding these poor sheep in the wilderness, I will gladly embrace it. At present I cannot see any better method than that I have taken.
It has, indeed, been proposed to desire the English bishops to ordain part of our preachers for America. But to this I object : (1) I desired the Bishop of London to ordain one, but could not prevail. (2) If they consented, we know the slowness of their proceedings ; but the matter admits of no delay. (3) If they would ordain them now, they would expect to govern them ; and how grievously would this entangle us. (4) As our American brethren are now totally disentangled, both from the State and the English hierarchy, we dare not entangle them again, either with the one or the other. They are now at full liberty, simply to follow the Scriptures and the primitive church. And we judge it best that they should stand fast in that liberty wherewith God has so strangely made them free.1
Concerning Wesley's purpose when he ordained Coke for America, there have been serious differences of opinion. This is not the place, however, to discuss such questions — as to whether he intended to institute episcopacy or to organize an independent church, or as to the validity of Wesley's ordination of Coke ; nor is it of importance now whether Coke faithfully carried out the instructions given him by Wesley. The results long since justified his action. But perhaps this should be said : that while Wesley may not have ordained Coke, or desired that Asbury should be ordained to the episcopacy after the manner of the English bishops, he did design that they should be made bishops in the sense of presbyters consecrated to the office of general superintendence.2 Moreover the ordination which both Coke and Asbury received was in every essential sense a valid ordination.
Wesley's three commissioners landed in New York, on
1 Methodist Magazine, 1785, p. 602.
2 Faulkner, The Methodists, p. 97.
IN THE UNITED STATES 87
November 3, 1784, and went to the residence of a trustee of John Street Church. That night and several following days Coke preached, and then left for Philadelphia. In Delaware he was the guest of Judge Basse tt, who, though not a member of the Methodist society, was erecting a chapel at his own expense. On Sunday, November 14, at Judge Bassett's, he met Freeborn Garrettson, repaired to a chapel in the midst of a forest, finding a great company of people, to whom he preached, and afterwards adminis tering the Lord's Supper to more than five hundred. It was a Quarterly Meeting, and fifteen preachers were present. Drew's description of what occurred after the sermon is this :
Scarcely, however, had he finished his sermon, before he perceived a plainly dressed, robust, but venerable-looking man, moving through the congregation, and making his way towards him. On ascending the pulpit, he clasped the Doctor in Ms arms ; and, without making himself known by words, accosted him with the holy salutation of primitive Christianity. That venerable man was Mr. Asbury.1
Dr. Charles J. Little, in his address at the Centennial of the Christmas Conference in 1884, says :
How different were the men who fell into each other's arms Coke and at Barratt's Chapel on November 14, 1784— Thomas Coke, the only child of a wealthy house, and Francis Asbury, the only son of an English gardener ! The one an Oxford graduate ; the other the self-taught scholar of a frontier world. Coke, impulsive, fluent, rhetorical ; Asbury, reticent, pithy, of few words, but mighty in speech when stirred by a great theme, a great occasion, or the inrushings of the Holy Spirit. Coke's mind was as mobile as his character was stable. Asbury's conclusions matured of themselves, and, once formed, were as steadfast as his love for Christ. Coke could never separate himself wholly from England ; Asbury could never separate himself from America. Coke crossed the Atlantic eighteen times ; Asbury never crossed it but once, not even to see his aged mother, for whose comfort he would have sold his last 1 Drew, Life of Coke, p. 92.
88 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
shirt and parted with his last dollar. Coke founded missions in the West Indies, in Africa, in Asia, in England, in Wales, in Ireland ; Asbury took one continent for his own, and left the impress of his colossal nature upon every community within its borders. Coke was rich, and gave generously of his abun dance ; out of poverty Asbury supported his aged parents, smoothed the declining years of the widow of John Dickins, helped the poor encountered on his ceaseless journeys, and at last gave to the church the legacies intended for his comfort by loving friends. Coke was twice married ; Asbury refused to bind a woman to his life of sacrifice, and the man whom little children ran to kiss and hug was buried in a childless grave. Both were loved ; both were at times misunderstood ; both were sharply dealt with by some of their dearest friends ; but Asbury was not only opposed and rebuked, he was vilified and traduced. Neither shrank from danger or from hardships ; but Asbury's life was continuous hardship, until at last rest itself could yield him no repose. A sort of spiritual Cromwell, compelling obedience at every cost to himself as well as others, Asbury could have broken his mother's heart to serve the cause for which he died daily. Coke lies buried beneath the waves he crossed so often ; but around the tomb of Asbury beat continually the surges of an ever-increasing human life, whose endless agitations shall feel, until the end of time, the shapings of his invisible, immortal hand.1
The Asbury drew up for Coke a route of about one thousand
Conference miles' to ^e traversed in the six weeks intervening before 1784. the Conference which had been agreed upon. Garrettson
was sent ' like an arrow ' to summon the preachers. Asbury, accompanied by Whatcoat and Vasey, continued his journeys over the western shore of Maryland ; at Abingdon they met Coke and also William Black, who began Methodism in Nova Scotia, who was looking for additional workers for that province ; and all, with the exception of Whatcoat, who came three days later, arrived at Perry Hall on December 11. Henry Dorsey Gough, the master of Perry Hall, became a member of the Methodist society in 1775. His relation to the denomination is one of the romances of our history.
1 Proceedings of the Centennial Methodist Conference, pp. 218, 219.
IN THE UNITED STATES 89
He was a man of large wealth, and his home, Perry Hall, about twelve miles from Baltimore, for years both a preach ing-place and haven of rest for the itinerants, was one of the most spacious mansions in America. On Friday, De cember 24, 1784, the guests of Perry Hall rode into Baltimore. They were serious, for they were about to engage in the most important Conference of Methodist preachers ever held in America ; confident of divine guidance, for hitherto had Jehovah helped them ; audacious, because a con tinent, now free, stretched out before them to be taken for Christ. At ten o'clock the first session of the famous Christmas Conference assembled. Coke as Wesley's repre sentative was in the chair. Of a total of eighty or more preachers, nearly sixty were present, and of these we know the names of twenty-nine. Beyond question the most conspicuous figure in the company was Francis Asbury, who had been picked by Wesley for the general superintendency, and who with William Watters was the only link between the first Conference of preachers in 1773 and this notable gathering of itinerants. When Asbury came to America in 1771 there were only about five hundred Methodists ; now there were more than fifteen thousand, and this growth had been despite the war.
Others present were Whatcoat and Vasey, accredited Some messengers of Wesley ; Freeborn Garrettson, ' the herald of the Conference ' ; Reuben Ellis, ' an excellent counsellor and steady yokefellow in Jesus ' ; Edward Dromgoole, an Irishman, and a converted Romanist ; John Haggerty, a trophy of John King's zeal, and who could preach both in English and in German ; William Gill, pronounced by Dr. Benjamin Rush, the eminent physician, ' the greatest divine he had ever heard ' ; Thomas Ware, afterward a founder of the denomination in New Jersey and a successful preacher for a half-century ; Francis Porthyress, who the year pre vious had borne the standard across the Alleghanies ; Joseph Everett, ' the roughest-spoken preacher that ever stood in the^ itinerant ranks ' ; LeRoy Cole, who was to live long, preach much, and do much good ; Richard Ivey, another
90
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
The
Methodist
Episcopal
Church
constituted.
Virginian ; William Glendenning, an erratic Scotchman ; Nelson Reed, small of stature, but mighty in spirit ; James O'Kelly, then a most laborious and popular evangelist, but later a rebellious controversialist ; Jeremiah Lambert, to receive at this Conference an appointment to the island of Antigua ; John Dickins, one of the ablest scholars of early Methodism, and of whom Asbury says in his Journal, ' for piety, probity, profitable preaching, holy living, Christian education of his children, secret prayer, I doubt whether his superior is to be found either in Europe or America ' ; James O. Cromwell, who was to be ordained as a missionary with Garrettson to Nova Scotia ; William Black, the first apostle to Nova Scotia, and who had come to plead for assistance ; Ira Ellis, ' of undissembled sincerity, great modesty, deep fidelity, great ingenuity, and uncommon power of reasoning ' ; William Phoebus, preacher, physician, and editor ; Lemuel Green, a clear, sound, useful preacher ; Caleb Boyer and Ignatius Pigman, the former the St. Paul and the latter the Apollos of the denomination ; John Smith, of delicate constitution, yet abundant in journeyings and labours ; and Jonathan Forrest, who, like Garrettson and others, had his share of persecutions and prison ex periences, and who was to be privileged to see the church, which hi this historic assembly he helped to found, increase from about fifteen thousand members to a million, and from eighty or more travelling preachers to over four thousand.
When the devotional exercises were over, Coke told them of Wesley's wishes and plans, and the formal organization of the church was taken up. Rarely has so important a task been accomplished with such comparative ease. Every thing was ready ; the urgency of the matter was evident, the form had been agreed upon, and little more than a resolution was required. Such a resolution was offered by John Dickins, the Eton scholar, which was adopted by a unanimous vote, and the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America came into existence. Asbury declined the appointment by Wesley as superintendent,
PLATE X
THE CONSECRATION OF FRANCIS ASBURY AS BISHOP, 1781.
ElCHARD WtlATCOAT, ordained deacon and pres- THOMAS VASEY, ordained by Wesley, 1784 (and, in
byter by Wesley, September 2, 1784. America, by Bishop White), who afterwards
officiated iu City Road Chapel, 1S11-182G.
n. 90]
IN THE UNITED STATES 91
refusing to submit to ordination unless the Conference should elect him to the position, and ' when it was put to vote he was unanimously chosen,' as was also Thomas Coke. On the second day of the Conference, Christmas Day, Asbury was ordained deacon by Coke, assisted by Whatcoat and Vasey ; on Sunday he was ordained elder, and on Monday he was consecrated superintendent. At this ser vice the Rev. Philip Otterbein, a German minister, Asbury's admirer and friend, assisted Coke, Vasey, and Whatcoat. The Conference adopted the first Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which * was substantially the same with the Large Minutes, the principal alterations being only such as were necessary to adapt it to the state of things in America.' l ' The Sunday Service of the Methodists in North America,' prepared and sent over by Wesley, was also adopted and ordered to be used.
John Dickins brought forward a project for the establish- Cokesbury ment of a school, and the Conference voted its approval. C Asbury and Coke had already considered the measure and sanctioned it, and the result was Cokesbury College, the foundations of which were laid in 1785. It was fitting that Asbury should preach the sermon on that occasion, for from the time he came to America the matter of a school had been on his heart. Unlike Wesley, Asbury was not a Asbury as college-bred man. He had little so-called schooling, but educationist, he was far from being uneducated or unlearned. The fact is that to him life was a long school-day. He sat at the feet of some of life's greatest teachers, such as pain, hunger, cold, opportunity, a vast wilderness, and a few great books. He had the student's sense of the value of time and rigidly adhered to fixed plans of study. He was reasonably familiar with Greek and Hebrew and Latin, and the list of books given in his Journals is a remarkable one, when everything is considered. Not the least of his sacrifices when he accepted a wandering commission for the American continent — the greatest see any bishop of any church ever had — was the sacrifice which he made in giving up large
1 Robert Emory, History of the Discipline, p. 25.
92 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
opportunities for reading and study. He was profoundly sympathetic with the idea of Christian education, and was ceaseless in his efforts to establish centres of educational influence in various sections of the country where the Metho dist evangelism had created societies and built churches. That to him is due in very large measure the credit of initiat ing our Methodist system of secondary schools and colleges, that it was by his efforts that the foundations of our entire educational system were laid, and that by his zeal the enter prises were carried forward, there can be no question. Though not a college man, he was a builder of colleges ; though without university training, he had the instincts and habits of a scholar ; and though he did not enjoy in his early life privileges which Wesley and Coke enjoyed, throughout his life he was a student of books, of men, of conditions, and helped to determine in large measure the character and ideals of American education, both in his own day and in the years which followed.
After having been in session ten days, during which Coke preached every day at noon, and others of the preachers morning and evening, the Conference closed ' in great peace and unanimity.' The action of the Conference in organizing the church was well received. Lee says : ' The Methodists were pretty generally pleased at our becoming a church, and heartily united together in the plan which the Con ference had adopted ; and from that time religion greatly revived.' Watters wrote : ' We became, instead of a religious society, a separate church. This gave great satisfaction through all our societies.' Ezekiel Cooper gives this testimony : ' This step met with general appro bation, both among the preachers and members. Perhaps we seldom find such unanimity of sentiment upon any question of such magnitude.'
Pioneer When the Conference broke up, the preachers immedi
ately departed for their widely separated fields. They were preachers, and they must be about their Master's business. Most of the services were held in houses, or barns, or out- of-doors. There were chapels where services were regularly
IN THE UNITED STATES 93
held — Barratt's, Gough's, Garrettson's, Lane's, Mabry's, St. George's in Philadelphia, John Street in New York, Light Street in Baltimore, and sixty or more others. But the comfortable places to preach were the exception. The place, however, was not a matter of moment. Those early itinerants would quite as soon preach in a tavern, ' in a close log-house without so much as a window to give air,' ' in the poor-house,' ' in a play-house,' in ' a log-pen open at the top, bottom, and sides,' or ' in a solitary place amongst the pines,' as in the most spacious church. Much of the pioneer work was at camp-meetings —that is, meetings held in the open air, in a grove, an institution which played a large part in the evangelization of the middle west, in the period now under consideration and somewhat later. Here is an account of such a meeting given by William Burke, the first presiding elder in Ohio, who commanded the armed escort which brought Asbury through the Indian country from Holston to Kentucky, and spent most of his itinerant life in Kentucky — a typical evangelist of rugged strength, impassioned zeal, and fierce hatred of sin. He says :
I commenced reading a hymn, and by the time we had con cluded singing and praying we had around us standing on their feet, by fair calculation, ten thousand people. I gave out my text : ' For we must all stand before the judgement- seat of Christ ' ; and before I concluded my voice was not to be heard for the groans of the distressed and the shouts of triumph. Hundreds fell prostrate on the ground, and the work continued on that spot till Wednesday afternoon. It was estimated by some that not less than five hundred were at one time lying on the ground in the deepest agonies of distress, and every few minutes arising in shouts of triumph. Towards the evening I pitched the only tent on the ground. Having been accustomed to travel in the wilderness, I soon had a tent made out of poles and pawpaw bushes. Here I remained Sunday and Monday ; and during that time there was not a single moment's cessation, but the work went on, and old and young— men, women and children — were converted to God. It was estimated that on Sunday and Sunday night there were twenty thousand people on the ground. They had come far
94
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Episcopal tours.
Local Conferences.
and near, from all parts of Kentucky ; some from Tennessee, and from north of the Ohio River ; so that tidings of Cane Ridge meeting were carried to almost every corner of the country, and the holy fire spread in all directions.1
Coke journeyed northward, spending five months in the States and labouring incessantly. Bishop Asbury's first episcopal tour was an extended one. Leaving Baltimore at the close of the Christmas Conference, he reached Fairfax. Va., January 4, 1785, crossed the State and entered North Carolina, January 20 ; preached at Salisbury, N.C., February 10; Charleston, S.C., February 24; Wilmington, N.C., March 19 ; and reached the home of Green Hill, April 19, where was held the first Annual Conference Session of the newly organized church. He arrived at Yorktown, Va., May 12 ; Mount Vernon, May 26, where he and Bishop Coke called upon General Washington, ' who received us very politely and gave us his opinion against slavery.' On June 1 he was again in Baltimore for the Conference ; and as Bishop Coke was to sail for Europe the next day, they sat together until midnight. Upon reaching Europe, Coke was attacked by Charles Wesley for some of his official acts at Baltimore and elsewhere, but was completely vindicated by John Wesley. He travelled throughout the United Kingdom preaching everywhere to interested congregations, and with such missionary spirit that there came into being at last, through his agency, the whole Wesleyan missionary system. He published an Address to the Pious and Benevolent in behalf of missions, the first Wesleyan document of the kind, and shortly after sailed for Nova Scotia with three preachers as reinforcements to Black, Garrettson, and Cromwell.
Meanwhile Asbury and the other itinerants were instant in season and out of season. The bishop held the first Conference in Georgia ; then crossed the Alleghanies and presided at the first Conference convened beyond the moun tains. There were seven Conferences held in 1788, Asburv
1 Faulkner, The Methodists, pp. 14,5-7.
IN THE UNITED STATES 95
continuing to traverse the States from New York to Georgia, from the Atlantic to the Alleghanies, and having the whole episcopal care of the societies until March 1789, when Coke rejoined him in South Carolina.
An incomparable native ministry was now being raised The native up. Forty-eight preachers were admitted on trial in 1788 alone, among them William McKendree and Valentine Cook. These native preachers were men peculiarly adapted for pioneer work, of defiant energy, unyielding zeal, and match less courage, who laughed at hardships, welcomed perils, and triumphed over the indescribable difficulties of an un settled and undeveloped country. Their deeds of heroism will not suffer in comparison with those sturdy heroes im mortalized in that Temple of Fame, the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews. William McKendree, who McKendree, was born in Virginia in 1757, served in the Revolutionary ^J^ Lee army, and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, was the chief leader of Methodism in the west. Of tremendous energy and administrative genius, deeply pious, a preacher of transcendent power, a man of the saint- liest character, he became bishop in 1808, but was never greater than when he was leading the itinerant hosts in ' the regions beyond.' Valentine Cook was ' one of the wonders of the Primitive Methodist ministry.' Born among the mountains of Virginia, he became a famous hunter and never knew fear. It is said that no man of his day wielded in the West greater power in the pulpit. Men spoke of him as the most learned man among the itinerants. What a mighty company of heroic souls could be named ! There was Philip Gatch, sometimes spoken of as ' the second native preacher,' but yielding place to no one in his devotion to his Lord. His biographer says that ' since the days of the apostles, there had scarcely been a time when so much prudence, firmness, enduring labours, and holiness were required as in the propagation of Methodism in America.' And he was in need of all the courage he could muster, for almost all of those early preachers were called upon to endure persecutions. In Maryland a ruffian attempted to
96 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
strike Gatch with the chair at which the preacher was kneel- ing, but was thwarted in his purpose. On one occasion Gatch was seized by two men who tortured him as Savonarola was tortured, by turning his arms backward until they described a circle, almost dislocating the shoulders. A conspiracy was formed to murder him, but the plot was revealed. Again, while travelling near Baltimore he was arrested by a mob who covered him with tar, applying it also to one of his naked eyeballs, producing severe pain, from which he never entirely recovered. There was Jesse Lee, who itinerated extensively through Virginia, Maryland, and New York, and in 1789 had the honour of introducing Methodism into New England. Gladly would we linger over the names of Benjamin Abbott, ' an evangelical Hercules ' ; of Thomas Morrell, a travelling companion of Asbury ; of Freeborn Garrettson, second only to Asbury ; of Thomas Ware, who was instrumental in the conversion of many people, among them General Russell and his wife, the latter a sister of Patrick Henry ; of Enoch George, like McKendree, large in stature, strong and full of energy, who, when Asbury at the North Carolina Conference, in 1793, called for a volunteer to ' go to the desert land, the almost impassable swamps, to the bilious diseases of the Great Pee Dee, the region of poverty and broken constitutions,' sprang to his feet, saying, ' Here am I, send me ' ; of George Pickering, exact and methodical, who in 1792 went to New England, where he remained during a long ministry ; of Ezekiel Cooper, ' a living encyclopaedia in respect not only to theology, but most other departments of knowledge ' ; of Daniel Ruff, 'honest, simple Daniel Ruff,' Asbury called him ; and of many others if there were space at disposal.
In the Some of the men who went about this time to the Western
States"1 Country and there laid the foundations of a moral empire, must be mentioned particularly. The road to the West was thick with perils. It was an almost unbroken wilder ness from Virginia to Kentucky, and this wilderness was so thronged with bands of hostile Indians that many thousands
IN THE UNITED STATES 97
of the emigrants to Kentucky lost their lives at the hands of these savages. There were no roads for carriages at that time ; and although the emigrants moved by thousands, they had to move on pack-horses. When Peter Cartwright's parents made the journey, shortly after the United Colonies gained their independence, he records that they rarely travelled a day after entering the wilderness but that they passed some white persons lying by the wayside, murdered and scalped by the Indians, while going to or returning from Kentucky. More than once their company was at tacked by Indians at night, and it was only by the exercise of ceaseless vigilance that they made the journey in safety.1 Among the earliest men to enter this Western region was Some leaders John Cooper, a humble but memorable evangelist, whose there- father, detecting him praying after joining the Methodists, threw a shovel of hot coals upon him and expelled him from the house. Then there was Henry Willis, who, although sinking under pulmonary consumption, energized by his irrepressible ardour the work of the church throughout two-thirds of its territory. William Burke is another name to conjure with. In 1794 we find him on the Salt River Circuit, famous for its hardships. It was nearly five hundred miles in extent, to be travelled every four weeks, with con tinual preaching. His support was painfully inadequate. He writes :
I was reduced to the last pinch. My clothes were nearly all gone. I had patch upon patch, and patch by patch, and I received only money sufficient to buy a waistcoat, and not enough of that to pay for the making.
Thomas Scott in 1794, at the command of Asbury, descended the Ohio River from Wheeling on a flat boat, to join the band of Kentucky itinerants. Marrying in 1796, it became necessary to locate, but to locate did not mean a cessation of preaching. Scott studied law on week-days and preached on Sundays ; was admitted to the bar and became Judge of
1 Autobiography of Peter Cartwright, pp. 17 ff. VOL. II 7
98 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
the Supreme Court of Ohio. Among those received by Scott into the church were Edward Tiffin and his wife, the latter a sister of Governor Worthington of Ohio. Bishop Asbury ordained Tiffin as deacon. In 1796 he removed to Chillicothe, became the chief citizen of Ohio, was one of its legislators, a member of the convention which formed its State constitution, and soon after had the signal honour to be elected its first State Governor without opposition. The official rank of both Judge Scott and Governor Tiffin secured them public influence, and this both of them consecrated to religion. They were two of the strongest pillars of Methodism in Ohio, and to their public characters and labours it owes much of its rapid growth and prominent sway in that magnificent State.
Robert R. Robert R. Roberts, the first leader of the first class in
the Erie Conference, was destined to become one of the most effective evangelists and bishops of the church which had found him in these remote woods. He was a stalwart youth, ' wearing,' says his biographer, ' the common back woods costume — the broad-rimmed, low-crowned, white- wool hat, the hunting-shirt of tow linen, buckskin breeches, and moccasin shoes. When he first presented himself in the Baltimore Conference he had travelled thither, from the Western wilds, with bread and provender in his saddle bags and with one dollar in his pocket ; but his superior character immediately impressed Asbury and the assembled preachers. He passed in sixteen years from the humble position of a young itinerant to the highest office of the ministry. His episcopal appointment was providential, for the great field of Methodism was in the West and he was a child of the wilderness ; he had been educated in its hardy habits ; his rugged frame and characteristic qualities all designated him as a great evangelist for the great West. No sooner had he been elected a bishop, than he fixed his episcopal residence in the old cabin at Chenango ; and his next removal was to Indiana, then the far West, where his episcopal palace was a log-cabin built by his own hands. The first meal of the bishop and his family in his new abode
IN THE UNITED STATES 99
was of roasted potatoes only, and it was begun and ended with hearty thanksgiving.' l
These men and others, whose names are for ever shrined in the affections of the church, were prophets of civilization, education, and patriotism in this new world. They builded altars in almost every city and town in the United States, and kindled fires thereon, which have not yet gone out. They inculcated respect for law, and created ideals of right eousness and citizenship along the mountain roads and through the trackless forests where Civilization walked with slow, yet conquering step. They startled the impeni tent to action, halted reckless men in their mad pursuit after pleasure, comforted myriads in their sorrows and agonies, and cherished multitudes from Maine to the Southern Sea, who had received the remission of their sins and who planted seeds, which, springing up, have made Methodism in its history, its spirit, and its purpose the American Church.
At the Conference which met in New York in 1789 an The Church event of no little interest occurred, but to which Asbury ^nd *J\®
** Kepubhc;
makes no reference in his Journals. It is doubtful, indeed, if either he or Bishop Coke realized its full significance. In 1788, the adoption of the Constitution of the United States had been declared, and Washington was thereupon elected President. His inauguration took place in New York, April 30, 1789. Asbury suggested to the Conference the propriety of presenting a congratulatory address to the President, in which should be embodied their approbation of the Constitution, and declaring their allegiance to the Government. The Conference warmly approved the pro position and appointed the two bishops to draw up the address, and John Dickins, then the minister of the John Street Church, and Thomas Morrell, an officer of the Revo lution, were directed to call upon President Washington with a copy and ask for an audience for the bishops, that they might formally present the paper. The President named an hour, at which time Bishops Coke and Asbury
1 Stevens, History of American Methodism, pp. 397-8.
100 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
»
called upon him, accompanied by Dickins and Morrell. ^nd . , Asbury, being a naturalized American, rather than Coke,
President
Washington, read the address in an impressive manner, to which the President replied ' with fluency and animation.' The address, which had been written by Asbury, and the reply of the President, were as follows :
To the President of the United States.
SIR, — We, the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, humbly beg leave, in the name of our Society collectively in these United States, to express to you the warm feeling of our hearts, and our sincere congratulations on your appointment to the Presidentship of these States. We are conscious, from the signal proofs you have already given, that you are a friend of mankind ; and, under this established idea, place as full confidence in your wisdom and integrity for the preservation of those civil and religious liberties which have been transmitted to us by the providence of God and the glorious Revolution, as we believe ought to be reposed in man.
We have received the most grateful satisfaction from the humble and entire dependence on the great Governor of the universe which you have repeatedly expressed, acknowledging Him the source of every blessing and particularly of the most excellent Constitution of these States, which is at present the admiration of the world, and may in future become its great exemplar for imitation ; and hence we enjoy a holy expectation, that you will always prove a faithful and impartial patron of genuine, vital religion, the grand end of our creation and present probationary existence. And we promise you our fervent prayers to the throne of grace, that God Almighty may endue you with all the graces and gifts of His Holy Spirit, that He may enable you to fill up your important station to His glory, the good of His church, the happiness and prosperity of the United States, and the welfare of mankind.
Signed, in behalf of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
THOMAS COKE, FRANCIS ASBURY. NEW YORK, May 29, 1789.
The reply of President Washington was as follows :
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To the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America.
GENTLEMEN, — I return to you individually, and through you to your Society collectively in the United States, my thanks for the demonstration of affection, and the expression of joy offered, in their behalf, on my late appointment. It shall be my endeavour to manifest the purity of my inclinations for promoting the happiness of mankind, as well as the sincerity of my desires to contribute whatever may be in my power toward the civil and religious liberties of the American people. In pursuing this line of conduct, I hope, by the assistance of divine Providence, not altogether to disappoint the confidence which you have been pleased to repose in me.
It always affords me satisfaction when I find a concurrence of sentiment and practice between all conscientious men, in acknowledgements of homage to the great Governor of the universe, and in professions of support to a just civil govern ment. After mentioning that, I trust the people of every denomination, who demean themselves as good citizens, will have occasion to be convinced that I shall always strive to prove a faithful and impartial patron of genuine, vital religion, I must assure you in particular that I take in the kindest part the promise you make of presenting your prayers at the throne of grace for me, and that I likewise implore the divine bene diction on yourselves and your religious community.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.1
The address and the response soon appeared in the public papers, creating much discussion, and bringing out numerous anonymous communications, the strictures upon Coke's signing the address being particularly severe. The im propriety of a British subject signing a paper approving the government of the United States was urged, and alto gether there was much of a tempest in a teapot. Morrell suggested that much of the adverse criticism was probably due to the fact that the Methodists had taken the lead of the older denominations in recognizing the new republic.
This same year the famous Council, which was Asbury's The idea, and which had been endorsed after much debate b of
1789 Bangs, History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, i. pp. 284-6.
102 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
this same New York Conference which presented the con gratulatory address to President Washington, met at Cokes- bury. There were eleven preachers present besides Asbury. Nearly five years had passed since the Christmas Confer ence, and there had been no general meeting of the preachers. Asbury did not see the need of a General Conference, and proposed the formation of a council, to be composed of men selected by himself and with almost plenary powers. The work of the church was carefully reviewed, the con cerns of Cokesbury College were well attended to, as well as the printing business ; there were formed some resolu tions relative to economy and union, and others concerning the funds for the relief of the suffering preachers on the frontiers. There was preaching every night ; a collection of £28 for the Western preachers was taken ; one day was spent in rehearsing their varied experiences and giving an account of the progress and state of the work of God in the several districts. But the idea of the council met with much opposition, and it was only twice assembled, the second meeting being in December of the following year. When Bishop Coke returned to America a few weeks after this second meeting, the greetings which were exchanged between him and Bishop Asbury were not over-cordial, and it was evident that their relations were somewhat strained. James 0 'Kelly's letters had been received by Wesley, and Coke had come to America, probably at Wesley's suggestion, to put a speedy end to the council which had aroused so much opposition.
O'Kelly's O 'Kelly had been a trouble-breeder almost from the time
he was ordained in 1784. Asbury first met him in 1780, when he ' appeared to be a warm-hearted, good man.' Ten years later he writes in his Journal : ' I received a letter from James O 'Kelly ; he makes heavy complaints of my power, and bids me stop for one year, or he must use his influence against me.' This was the opening gun of the famous controversy which resulted in O'Kelly's withdrawal from the General Conference in 1792, and the formation by him of a separate church to which he gave the name of the
secession.
IN THE UNITED STATES 103
Republican Methodist Church. At the General Conference in 1792 (which, it is conceded, Bishop Asbury did not desire, inasmuch as it was merely a mass meeting of all the travel ling preachers, and he feared that there might be unwarranted and disastrous alterations of the Discipline) 0 'Kelly intro duced the following resolution :
After the bishop appoints the preachers at the Conference to their several circuits, if any one think himself injured by the appointment, he shall have liberty to appeal to the Conference and state his objections ; and if the Conference approve his objections, the bishop shall appoint him to another circuit.
Lee says the debate was a masterly one ; O 'Kelly was ably supported by Freeborn Garrettson, Richard Ivey, Hope Hull, and others of equal weight. The negative side of the proposition was maintained by Jesse Lee, Thomas Morrell, Joseph Everett, Henry Willis, and Nelson Reed. Thomas Ware, who was present, first thought the proposition was a harmless one, but as the debate proceeded he was dis tressed by the spirit manifested by those who advocated, and in his autobiography wrote : ' Hearing all that was said on both sides, I was finally convinced that the motion for such an appeal ought not to carry.' 1 After a debate lasting three days, the resolution was defeated by a large majority. O'Kelly thereupon withdrew with such others as he could persuade ; and although a committee was named to treat with him, their overtures were in vain, and O'Kelly set out for Virginia, where he wrought such havoc as he could ; but his influence gradually waned, and the schism practically came to nought. Several of his preachers se ceded, and in less than ten years they became so divided and subdivided that it was hard to find two of one opinion.2 The Conference revised the Form of Discipline, but made no important changes. It was determined that another General Conference should be convened in four years, and that all
1 Memoir of Rev. Thomas Ware, p. 222.
2 Lee, History of the Methodists, p. 206.
104
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
travelling preachers in full connexion should be entitled to membership in it.
SOME
CHARACTER ISTICS, 1790-1808.
Southern extension.
The march northward.
IV
For the first quarter of a century after the organiza tion of the church Scudder says there were three marked characteristics which distinguished American Methodism — namely, its pioneer movements, or church extension, its great demonstrative revivals, and the adaptation of its economy for permanency and efficiency.1 These character istics are especially noticeable in the closing years of the eighteenth, and the early years of the nineteenth century. As already shown by us, Methodism had moved south ward through the Carolinas into Georgia, and commenced its march westward, first into the Valley of the Holston beyond the Alleghanies, and then onward into Kentucky and Tennessee, in both of which States its success was great — in the former so conspicuous that when, in 1792, it was admitted a State in the Union, it had a Conference with twelve preachers and twenty-five hundred members. After a time, in the providence of God, Methodism's march north ward began. For twenty years after the formation of the first society in New York City the missionary move ments of Methodism were almost exclusively toward the south. A few societies had been formed in Westchester and on Long Island, but beyond these, except for the society which Embury organized at Ashton, Methodism was un known north of New York to the Canadian line. But in 1788 Bishop Asbury appointed Freeborn Garrettson to this large region of country, and he with nine assistants soon formed circuits from New York City to Lake Cham- plain, and in 1789 one of his preachers went south-west into the Wyoming Valley, which was added to the list of regular appointments. This same year, Jesse Lee, who had long entertained a desire to introduce Methodism into New England, began a circuit at Norwalk, Conn. At different
1 American Methodism, p. 230.
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IN THE UNITED STATES 105
times during the next two decades, and in many places in New England, were heard other voices pleading the cause of their Lord — James Covel, Aaron Hunt, John Allen, Menzies Rainor, Hope Hull, Ezekiel Cooper, George Roberts, George Pickering, Enoch Mudge, and others, with the result that circuits were not only formed in Connecticut and Massachusetts and Rhode Island, but that Methodism advanced in Maine and Vermont and New Hampshire.
Lorenzo Dow, an eccentric itinerant, preached the first Apostolic protestant sermon in the State of Alabama in 1803, and three years later Asbury appointed two missionaries to that wilderness region. It was in 1802 that the cross was up lifted in what is now the State of Indiana. Benjamin Young invaded Illinois in 1804, and Michigan first heard Methodist preaching in 1803. But the missionary spirit of the church did not spend itself when itinerants were sent to far out lying settlements, to the people on the remote frontiers, — as for example the North-west Territory north of the Ohio, which region was entered in 1798, and in ten years was covered with a network of districts and circuits ; or the Missouri Territory, a part of Louisiana, into which Metho dism was introduced in 1807. The whole spirit of Methodism was diffusive. Its preachers were all missionaries. Every one of them ' was an extensionist,' enlarging his field of operations in every possible direction, opening a new preach ing place at this point and that, his circuit in this manner growing steadily, until it had to be divided. Thus in circuit, and district, and State, American Methodism won ever- widening triumphs year after year. When the half- hundred preachers met at the Christmas Conference in 1784, the domain of Methodism in the United States was limited to a narrow belt along the sea-coast, with New York City as its northern boundary, and North Carolina as its southern, while it extended inland about one hundred miles. When the preachers assembled for the General Conference of 1808, Methodism had become well established in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, had covered all the New England States, and had extended southward to the Gulf of Mexico. It had
106
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Revivals.
Signs and wonders.
spread out through the inhabited portions of Canada, and formed a northern line along the great lakes, striking across the Mississippi, and following that stately river far down toward its mouth. It drew out its districts over every State and populated Territory, as definitely as a geographer maps out counties and States.1 In 1784 it had about eighty preachers, and a membership of fifteen thousand. In 1808 the Methodist Episcopal Church was composed of five hundred travelling and two thousand local preachers, and about one hundred and forty thousand members, ' implying congregations who are directly or remotely under the pastoral oversight and ministerial charge, amounting in all proba bility to more than one million souls.' Truly the wilderness had blossomed !
The early years of American Methodism witnessed an almost continuous revival. Scarcely a society was formed which did not grow out of a revival. The denomination grew, not because it was well organized, but because its preachers were well endowed with holy energy and an unction from on high. The revival in Virginia, an ex tensive account of which was written by Devereux Jarratt, an Episcopal clergyman, and sent to Wesley, was only one of many remarkable manifestations of divine grace in the very earliest years of our history. But although Rankin ' manifested an opposition to the spirit of revivals,' and although Coke was not altogether at home in the emotional excitement of some thrilling scenes which he witnessed, when the slain of the Lord numbered scores, American Methodism grew after this manner, and in no period of its early history were revivals more general than during the years from 1784 to 1808. At one time all Maryland was ablaze with revivals. Similar ' signs and wonders ' were seen in Virginia. In New England revival followed revival, some of them of great power. In 1800 one of the most remarkable spiritual movements of American history began in Kentucky, and spread through Tennessee and Ohio with the amazing swiftness of a prairie fire. On October 20,
1 Scudder, American Methodism, p. 249.
IN THE UNITED STATES 107
1800, Bishop Asbury, while itinerating through Tennessee, attended his first camp-meeting. The scenes affected him profoundly. He writes :
Yesterday, and especially during the night, were witnessed scenes of deep interest. In the intervals between preaching the people refreshed themselves and horses, and returned upon the ground. The stand was in the open air, embosomed in a wood of lofty beech trees. The ministers of God, Methodists and Presbyterians, united their labours, and mingled with the childlike simplicity of primitive times. Fires blazing here and there dispelled the darkness, and the shouts of the redeemed captives, and the cries of precious souls struggling into life, broke the silent midnight. The weather was delightful ; as if heaven smiled, while mercy flowed in abundant streams of salvation to perishing sinners. We suppose there were at least thirty souls converted at this meeting. I rejoice that God is visiting the sons of the Puritans, who are candid enough to acknowledge their obligations to the Methodists.1
The following year was marked by widespread revivals. Ezeldel Cooper, writing to Wesley some years earlier, had said :
We have it in our power, by the blessing of God, to send you good and great news from our country. Since the General Conference there appears to have been a general revival almost throughout the United States. On what we call the Peninsula, lying between the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, there has been an addition of about three thousand souls to our societies the last year. In some circuits on the Eastern Shore there has been an addition of about one thousand members. In this city we have had the greatest revival I ever knew. Since last November about five hundred have joined us.
A little later he writes : ' The work goes on in a glorious manner in many parts of the United States. In Brother Ware's district there have joined us about one thousand since Conference ; and he writes that there is a prospect of greater harvest this year than they had last.' Thus was the church clothed with increasing life and vigour, and thus
1 Tipple, Heart of Aabury's Journal, pp. 480, 481.
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METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Constitu tional develop ments.
was it divinely influenced and energized. American Metho dism from the beginning was ' a revival church in its spirit, a missionary church in its organization.'
During these same momentous years the church was working out its salvation ecclesiastically. Gradually it perfected its organization, steadily moving forward to the introduction of representative government, which, next to the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1784, was the most vital change in American Methodism, and remains unparalleled in meaning and influence.1 The General Conference met in Baltimore in 1796, and again in the same city in 1800. At the earlier Conference the most important business was the arrangement of the whole church into six yearly Conferences, to be known as Annual Conferences, and the limitation of the attendance of preachers to those who were in full connexion and those who were to be received into full connexion. At the Conference held in 1800 Asbury, because of growing weakness, proposed to resign his office, but on the motion of Ezekiel Cooper the General Conference unanimously requested him to continue his service as one of the General Superintendents as far as An episcopal his strength would permit. It was evident the episcopacy must be strengthened, inasmuch as Bishop Coke was giving less and less of his time to the American Church. It was decided, therefore, that one bishop should be elected and that the vote should be taken by ballot. ' Various pro positions were rejected which if adopted would have made Methodism something radically different from that which it has become, and it was determined that the bishops were to be equal in every particular.' 2 The result of the balloting was the election of Richard Whatcoat. Henry Boehm, travelling companion of Asbury, who was present, said : 4 Never were holy hands laid upon a holier head.' Bishop Coke preached the ordination sermon, and it was the last service of the kind which he rendered to the American Church. At this Conference a resolution was offered to authorize the Annual Conferences to elect their presiding elders, which, 1 Buckley, History of Methodism, i. 396. 2 Ibid., p. 356.
election.
IN THE UNITED STATES 109
while it was not adopted, was the beginning of controversy which still continues. Another resolution was introduced which was also drafted, but which at the General Conference in 1808 bore fruit. The resolution read as follows :
Whereas, much time has been lost and will always be lost in the event of a General Conference being continued, and Whereas the circuits are left without preachers for one, two, or three months, and other great inconveniences attend so many of the preachers leaving their work and no real advantage arises therefrom, Resolved, that instead of a General Conference we substitute a delegated one.
Action of far-reaching importance was taken, when it was The decided that the bishop should not allow any preacher to itinerancy
. maintained.
remain in the same station more than two years successively. The causes which led to the adoption of a time-limit were various. From all this it must be evident that regularity and system were taking the place of individualism and disorder.
This story of the beginnings of American Methodism Marsden's may be closed with the impressions of Joshua Marsden, a summaj>y- minister belonging to the British Conference, who laboured many years in Nova Scotia, and who visited the United States in 1802. He writes :
Here I had an opportunity of contemplating the vast extent of the work of God in the Western world. I was greatly sur prised to meet in the preachers assembled at New York such examples of simplicity, labour, and self-denial. Some of them had come five or six hundred miles to attend the Conference. They had little appearance of clerical costume ; many of them had not a single article of black cloth ; their good bishops set them the example, neither of whom were dressed in black ; but the want of this was abundantly compensated by a truly primitive zeal in the cause of their divine Master. From these blessed worthies I learned that saving of souls is the true work of a missionary, and felt somewhat ashamed that I so little resembled men who appeared as much dead to the world as though they had been the inhabitants of another planet. The
110 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
bishops, Asbury and Whatcoat, were plain, simple, venerable persons, both in dress and manners. Their costume was that of former times, the colour drab, the waistcoat with large laps, and both coat and waistcoat without any collar ; their plain stocks and low-crowned, broad-brimmed hats bespoke their deadness to the trifling ornaments of dress. In a word, their appearance was simplicity itself. I felt impressed with awe in their presence, and soon perceived that they had established themselves in the esteem and veneration of their brethren ; not by the trappings of office, or the pomp and splendour of episcopal parade, but by their vast labours, self-denying sim plicity, and disinterested love. These obtained from them the homage of the heart ; they were the first in office, because they were first in zeal. Most of the preachers appeared to be young men, yet ministerial labour had impressed its withering seal upon their countenances. I cannot contemplate, without astonishment, the great work God has performed in the United States. It is here we see Methodism in its grandest form. All is here upon a scale of magnitude equal to the grandeur of the lakes, rivers, forests, and mountains of the country. In England Methodism is like a river calmly gliding on ; here it is a torrent rushing along, and sweeping all away in its course. The Presbyterian Church is the most popular, the Dutch Re formed highly respectable, the Episcopal Church is the richest, but in the great work of awakening careless sinners, and ex ploring the new settlements, the Methodists have no equals. They have more than thirteen hundred preachers, and nearly half a million in the society. We may truly exclaim, ' What hath God wrought ! ' In the course of about sixty years, there have been about twenty-five hundred preachers admitted into the travelling connexion in America. At different times, a number of enterprising persons have emigrated into the in terior, and formed establishments and colonies out of the reach of a regular ministry ; such insulated places affording no field for a settled pastor, they would have been altogether deprived of the means of grace, had not those itinerants who were most contiguous generously visited them. Methodism has been a peculiar blessing to this new world, which, having no religious establishment, is in many of its remote parts more dependent on such a ministry than can well be conceived by those who never visited the country. Many thousands of the settlers
IN THE UNITED STATES ill
would have been left to precarious and contingent religious instruction, had not the Methodist preachers, with an alacrity and zeal worthy the apostolic age, spread themselves abroad in every direction, and become every man's servant for Christ's sake.1
The Methodist Episcopal Church had not only been created, it had become a compact organization, and its leaders were extending its operations on every side with unexampled rapidity and success.
1 Marsden, The Narrative of a Mission to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Somers Islands, with a Tour to Lake Ontario (London 1827)' pp. 107-13.
CHAPTER III (continued) IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
II. THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND OTHER CHURCHES
1808—1908
The outgoing century of Methodism was rich of noble and mighty men — men whose deeds and renown filled a large space in our nation's history, many of them unchronicled, but none the less mighty factors in laying down the foundation and building the walls of our unique civilization, and of the institutions, civil and religious, which are now the admiration of the whole world. It had its fitting culmination in George Foster Pierce and Matthew Simpson, distinguished alike for genius and consecrated piety. — BISHOP RANDOLPH S. FOSTER, Sermon, Proceedings of Centennial Conference, 1784-1884, New York, 1885, p. 84.
VOL. II
113
CONTENTS
I. THE EARLY CONSTITUTION P- H5
Restrictive rules — Doctrine — Coke's proposals, 1808 — McKendree — Presiding elders — The Slavery Question . . . pp. 115-120
II. PIONEER WORK AND WORKERS . . . P- 120
James B. Finley — Peter Cartwright — Typical scenes pp. 120-1 24
III. CONTROVERSIES AND SECESSIONS ... p. 124
Clerical and lay rights — METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH organized, 1830 — Slavery secessions — WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH OF AMERICA, 1843 — The ownership of slaves — METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH SOUTH, 1844 — Property claimed and received — Doctrinal controversies — FREE METHODIST CHURCH, 1860 — Lay rights claimed in the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1852 — Laymen admitted to Con ference, 1872 PP. 124-136
IV. THE GERMAN CHURCHES p. 136
THE UNITED BRETHREN, 1800 — EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION, 1807 — William Nast — Founds German Methodist Episcopal Churches.
pp. 136-140
V. EDUCATIONAL WORK P- 140
Asbury — Enthusiastic support — Universities — Early prejudice outgrown pp. 140-142
VI. HYMNOLOGY AND PUBLISHING . . . . p. 142
The service of praise — Hymn-books — early editions, for the several
churches— Publishing affairs pp. 142-149
VII. PRESENT CONDITIONS p. 149
Notable features — Theological advance, but dogma subordinate
to life PP- 149-151
Pages 113-151
114
CHAPTER III (continued)
IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
II. THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND OTHER CHURCHES
1808—1908
AUTHORITIES. — To the General List add: Minutes of the Conference, 1773 to the present, New York, 1840 ff. ; Journals of the General Conference, 1792—1908 (early numbers more or less imperfect) ; Lives of ministers and others (see catalogues of the different Methodist publishing houses, though valuable sources of this kind are out of print). In addition to the general histories of the Methodist Episcopal Church (see General List C III.), note REID-GRACEY, Missions and Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 3 vols. (New York, 1895-6) ; ROBERTS, Why Another Sect ? (North Chili, New York, 1879) ; and ROBERTS, Benjamin Titus Roberts : a Bio graphy (North Chili, New York, 1900) ; MATLOCK, Anti-Slavery Struggle and Triumph in the Methodist Episcopal Church (New York, 1881) ; CUMMINGS, Early Schools of Methodism (New York, 1886). This is only the briefest fragment of an ample literature. For present state of the church in handy form, see FORD, The Methodist Year Book for 1908 (New York, 1907). For complete bibliography, with critical comments, see my The Methodists, in ' The Story of the [American] Churches ' series, New York, 1903, 250-8.
I
ON account of the size of the Annual Conference, and of THE
the fact that the members of those Conferences in or near QQ^^
which the General Conference met naturally predominated in TUTION.
the assembly, a delegated General Conference was felt to be A
a necessity. At the Conference in Baltimore in May, 1808, Generaf
an able committee was appointed to draw up a plan, which, Conference, after long and thorough debate, was adopted, and which is still in force. It provided that one representative for
115
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METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Restrictive rules.
Doctrine.
every five members of an Annual Conference (a ratio changed later) shall be sent to the General Conference, and that this Conference thus constituted shall have full power to make laws for the church, except as limited by the following restrictions : (1) it shall not change the Articles of Religion (the only doctrinal formula provided by Wesley for the new church in 1784, which tied American Methodism for ever to the evangelical form of Trinitarian Christianity) ; (2) in regard to ratio of representation ; (3) the General Con ference shall not do away with episcopacy nor its itinerant duties. This perpetuated the autocratic form impressed upon the movement by Wesley ; (4) it shall not change the General Rules. This meant the preservation of Methodism as a positive ethical and spiritual force ; (5) it shall not abolish the right of trial and appeal of accused preachers and members ; and (6) it shall not appropriate the funds of the Book Concern or Chartered Fund except for the benefit of ministers and their families. This meant the connexionalizing of the publishing interests, the elimination of private gain in denominational enterprises.
These Restrictive Rules, the Articles of Religion, and the General Rules formed the constitution of the Methodist Episcopal Church — until they reappeared with some addition in the so-called Constitution adopted in 1904. Behind that structure of 1808 was the statesmanlike mind of Soule, the Calhoun of Methodism, and he modelled his polity on the Constitution of the United States, which gives the states supreme authority, except in certain specified matters exclusively reserved to the General Congress. It should be said, however, that any of the above Restrictive Rules, except the first, can be changed by a two- thirds vote of the members of the Annual, Lay Electoral, and General Con ferences. But this provision, though it does not forbid im provement, makes it exceedingly difficult.
As to the doctrine, the Methodist Episcopal Church has done the best she could to justify for herself the boast of the Roman Catholic Church — semper eadem. But when the Methodist Episcopal Church in Japan united with the
IN THE UNITED STATES 117
Canadian Methodist Church, and with the Methodist Epis copal Church, South, in 1907, to make the national inde pendent Methodist Church of Japan, the United Church introduced several changes in the Articles of Religion, deeming some of them obsolete and others too metaphysical and abstruse.
It was at this Conference that the celebrated letters of 1808. Coke to White, Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church, came up for discussion. Coke desired a union with that Coke's church, in which he claimed to represent also the feelings Pr°P°sa e of Wesley, and had proposed reordination for himself, Asbury, and the preachers. The publication of this corre spondence in 1804 by White raised a tempest, as the pro posals of Coke were made without the knowledge of Asbury, and if known would have been instantly repudiated by him and by the preachers. However, a conciliatory letter of Coke to the Conference of 1808 laid the storm.1 In this letter Coke declared that his scheme secured the independence of Methodist discipline and places of worship, guarded the validity of Methodist ordination (repetition of imposition of hands being conceded to satisfy Episcopalians, and not as a doctrinal necessity), that he thought such a union would have enlarged the sphere of Methodism, but that he now thought the scheme undesirable. As a matter of fact, neither the Methodist nor Episcopal Churches were in an eirenic temper. A resolution proposed in 1792 to the General Convention of the latter body by the House of Bishops, looking toward a union with other denominations, was treated as preposterous by the Convention. What if another spirit had prevailed ? What if the private over tures of Coke had been accepted by both Conference and Convention, and an actual union of Methodists and Epis copalians had been consummated ? Would the Evangelical leaven have penetrated the Episcopal lump, and prevented the almost capture of the Episcopal Church by the so-called Catholic party ? There is no doubt such a union would
i See this whole correspondence in Bangs, History of the Methodist Epis copal Church, ii. 200 ff (N.Y., 6th ed., 1860).
118 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
have had immense consequences — either the Protestantizing of Episcopalianism or the Catholicizing of Methodism. Would the Episcopal or Methodist element have proved the stronger ? We cannot say. It is evident that God desired each church to work out its own destiny.
One event at this General Conference of 1808 was so typical in Methodist history that I shall mention it, and in the words of an on-looker. It was in the Light Street McKendree. Church, Baltimore, when a Westerner in toil, but a Virginian by birth, was the preacher. The church * was filled to overflowing,' says Bangs (grandfather of an eminent Ameri can man of letters, John Kendrick Bangs).
The second gallery at one end of the chapel was crowded with coloured people. I saw the preacher of the morning enter the pulpit, sunburnt, and dressed in very ordinary clothes, with a red flannel shirt, which showed a large space between his vest and small clothes. He appeared more like a backwoods man than a minister of the gospel. I felt mortified that such a looking man should have been appointed to preach on such an imposing occasion. In his prayer he seemed to lack words, and even stammered. I became uneasy for the honour of the Conference and the church. He gave out his text : ' For the hurt of the daughter of My people am I hurt ; I am black ; astonishment hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead ? Is there no physician there ? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered ? ' As he advanced in his discourse a mysterious magnetism seemed to emanate from him to all parts of the house. He was absorbed in the interest of his subject ; his voice rose gradually till it sounded like a trumpet ; at a climatic passage the effect was overwhelming. It thrilled through the assembly like an electric shock ; the house rang with irrepressible responses ; many hearers fell prostrate to the floor. An athletic man, sitting by my side, fell as if hit by a cannon ball. I felt my own heart melting, and feared that I should also fall from my seat. Such an astonishing effect, so sudden and overpowering, I seldom or never saw.1
i Stevens, Life and Times of Nathan Bangs, p. 170 (N.Y., 1863).
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When a man is otherwise fit for the bishopric, it has happened more than once in our history that a great sermon has made his election certain, as was true at this time with McKendree, and with Foster in 1872. It is to be noted also that the physical effects of Methodist preaching in its first fifty or a hundred years were not confined to the alleged rude populations of Western trails, but were pro duced in old aristocratic centres.
At the first delegated General Conference, New York, Presiding 1812, a great debate was precipitated on the election of € presiding elders, an office similar to that of chairman of districts in England, except that the presiding elder has no other work save to travel his district and supervise its work and its men, for which he receives a salary. The republican form of government made the ministers restive under their ecclesiastical autocracy, and the proposition to elect their presiding elders was a modest and tentative attempt to infuse a slight popular tinge into the absolutist regime inherited from Wesley. It must be said, however, that American democracy has not been justified of her Methodist children. The same question has repeatedly come up in the General Conference, but as repeatedly been defeated, though in 1812 only by a majority of three. It is even now (1908) before the Annual Conferences, but it will meet a like fate. Is it a part of the divine dealings with America that over against the great Republic there should be a great ecclesiastical monarchy, so that the in dividualism and independence engendered by the one should be checked by the spirit of obedience, submission, and reverence for authority inculcated by the other ?
This naturally suggests the question of slavery, a per- The ennial topic of debate from the organization of the church in 1784 (and earlier) to the war of secession in 1861-5. Our modern humanitarian notions, the new conception of Christian brotherhood, and the teachings concerning human equality, inherited largely from the French Revolution, must not make us blind to the facts of Christianity's actual relation to slavery, as set forth, for instance, in Professor
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METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
von Dobschiitz's article in the new edition of the Herzog- HaucJc Realencyklopadie (1906).1 These facts will make us charitable to our fathers, and will make us wonder rather at their earnestness in trying to adjust their high ethical demands to a stubborn historical situation, for which they were not responsible, and which they could at best only mitigate, not change. In 1816 a committee reported that —
In our opinion, in existing circumstances, little can be done to abolish a practice so contrary to the principles of moral justice. We are sorry to say that the evil appears to be past remedy, and we are led to deplore the destructive consequences which have already accrued, and are yet likely to result there from. We find that in the South and West the civil authorities render emancipation impracticable, and this General Conference cannot change the civil code. Our members are too content with these laws, and the Annual Conferences frequently fail in efficient rules on the subject.
This Conference adopted the. recommendation of the committee that —
no slave-holder shall be eligible to any official station in our church hereafter where the laws of the state in which he lives will admit of emancipation and permit the liberated slave to enjoy freedom.
This may be taken as a typical expression of the church's attitude on the part of her more advanced men, until the great division of 1844, when the whole subject was placed in new relations.
PIONEER WORK.
Heroism of.
II
During the whole nineteenth century — and especially the first half of it — the missionary aggressiveness of the church in the home field recalled the heroism and conquering power of early Christianity. I do not think that literature presents finer specimens of bold enterprise for God, coupled with
i See also Workman, Persecution in the Early Church (1906), 149 ff.
PLATK XII
THE CAMP-MEETING. LORENZO DOW, the eccentric evangelist.
AN OLD-TIME ITINERANT. (From old engravings.) 120]
PEGGY Dow, his wife.
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wise methods of occupation of lands claimed for Him, than it does in the biographies of the Methodist pioneers. These lives are historical sources of the first importance for the history of both American religion and society. Speaking of this last aspect of the early preacher, Professor J. Franklin Jameson, of the Carnegie Institution, Washington, D.C., in his address as president of the American Historical Asso ciation, says :
Best of all for our purposes are the Methodist circuit-riders, keen, hearty men, whose outdoor life kept them healthy in mind and body, and whose grasp on the real world had never been relaxed by education. As one of them says, who, at the risk of his life, had ridden the Clarksburg Circuit through the Indian wars preceding Wayne's treaty, ' To speak in backwoods style, they appeared to be surrounded by a kind of holy " knock 'em down " power that was often irresistible.' They were not for ever feeling their spiritual pulses, and doubting of their own salvation, like some anaemic graduates of theological seminaries, whose biographers have deemed them very precious vessels be cause of the very traits that made them useless ; nor were they for ever walking in visions, like so many of the Quaker itinerants, whose books are often so beautiful, and, to the historical in quirer, so disappointing. Stout-hearted, downright, muscular, practical, the circuit-rider faced the actual world of the frontier, and saw it clearly. If, like Peter Cartwright and Henry Smith', he leaves behind him a description of what he saw, we are much the gainers.1
A typical conversion of one of these Western heroes, James B. Finley, a rough, reckless frontiersman of Ken- Finley. tucky, ought to be told. The Methodists and Presbyterians had united in holding camp-meetings in that state, in order to conquer the fearful irreligion that came in like a flood at the end of the War of the Revolution on the heels of French infidelity. His own vivid words tell the story :
A scene presented itself to my mind [in a camp-meeting at Cane Kidge, Kentucky, in 1801] not only novel and unaccount-
1 ' The American Acta Sanctorum,' in The Amer. Hist. Rev.. January 1908, 293-4.
122 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
able, but awful beyond description. A vast crowd, supposed by some to have amounted to twenty-five thousand, was collected together. The noise was like the roar of Niagara. The sea of human beings seemed to be agitated as if by a storm. I counted seven ministers all preaching at the same time, some on stumps, others on waggons, and one, William Burke, standing on a tree which in falling had lodged against another. Some of the people were singing, others praying, some crying for mercy in the most piteous accents. While witnessing these scenes, a peculiarly strange sensation, such as I had never felt before, came over me. My heart beat tremendously, my lips quivered, and I felt as though I must fall to the ground.
He went into the woods to try to recover possession of himself. On returning, he says :
The scene that presented itself to my eye was indescribable. At one time I saw at least five hundred swept down in a moment, as if a battery of a thousand guns had been opened upon them. My hair rose up on my head, my whole frame trembled, the blood ran cold in my veins, and I fled to the woods a second time, and wished that I had stayed at home.
The next day he, with a friend, started toward home. But he was overwhelmed with the thought of his sinfulness. He cried aloud for mercy, and by the prayers and songs of an old happy German-Swiss, he was brought into the light :
Suddenly my load was gone, my guilt removed, and presently the direct witness from heaven shone fully upon my heart. Then there flowed such copious streams of love into the hitherto waste and desolate places of my soul that I thought I should die with excess of joy.1
Oh, the eagerness for new fields to conquer of the itinerant of that heroic time ! No camp-fire of the new settler blazed too far beyond for the Methodist preacher to find it. He followed Indian paths through otherwise trackless forests, he forded streams, swam bridgeless rivers, was sheltered
1 Autobiography of Rev. James B. Finley (Cincinnati, 1853), pp. 166-79.
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for the night in a chance cabin, or lay alone under the silent stars. What was said of Jesse Walker was true of many a pioneer : ' Every time you heard from him he was still farther on ; when the settlements of the white man seemed to take shape and form, he was next heard of among the Indian tribes of the North-west.'
Peter Cartwright was one of those daring fighters for the Peter Lord whose work saved a rough new land from barbarism. Cartwright- He has left an account of his life in what is perhaps the raciest autobiography in the literature of the world. Ben- venuto Cellini is dull by the side of the stirring achievements of this stalwart son of the West. In the camp-meetings, which were held from sheer necessity of economy at a time when churches were few and preachers scattered and the forces of evil rampant and strong, determined efforts were sometimes made to break up the meeting. It was occa sionally a battle between the preacher and the mob. In one of his Quarterly Meetings the ringleaders came with loaded whips to destroy the service. He called upon two magistrates to arrest them, but they said it was impossible. Then he came forward to do it himself single-handed. The mob pressed upon him. He seized one after another of the rioters and threw them to the earth :
Just at that moment the ringleader of the mob and I met. He made three passes at me, intending to knock me down. The last time that he struck at me, by the force of his own effort he threw the side of his face toward me. It seemed at that moment I had not power to resist temptation, and I struck a sudden blow in the burr of the ear, and felled him to the earth. The friends of order now rushed by hundreds on the mob, knocking them down in every direction. In a few minutes the place became too strait for the mob, and they wheeled and fled in every direction. But we secured about thirty prisoners, marched them off to a vacant tent, and put them under guard till Monday morning, when they were tried, and every man was fined to the uttermost limit of the law.
The effort to command the mob disheartened people and preachers, and no one seemed able to preach. At length
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METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Cartwright begged the privilege. ' I feel a clear conscience, for under the necessity of the circumstances we have done right, and now I ask you [the presiding elder] to let me preach.' Cartwright says :
The encampment was lighted up, the trumpet hlown, I rose in the stand, and required every soul to leave the tents and come into the congregation. There was a general rush to the stand. I requested the brethren if ever they prayed in their lives to pray now. My voice was strong and clear. The text was ' The gates of hell shall not prevail.' In about thirty minutes the power of God fell on the congregation in such a manner as is seldom seen. The people fell in every direction, right and left, front and rear. It was reported that not less than three hundred fell, like dead men in a battle, and there was no need of calling mourners, for they were strewed all over the camp ground. Our meeting lasted all night, and Monday and Monday night, and when we closed on Tuesday there were two hundred who had professed religion, and about that number joined the church.1
It is only as we consider such scenes as these, given here because they were not exceptional, that we can understand how Methodism was one of the chief instruments in saving the West and South and South-west, and building up a great Christian church, and one of the most advanced and splendid types of Christian civilization known in the history of the world.
CONTRO VERSIES AND
SECESSIONS.
Clerical and lay rights.
Ill
Attention has already been called to the absolutist polity fastened on Methodism by Wesley, in which church order Asbury fully sympathized. In fact, it was the ready obedience preachers rendered to this polity which made possible the marvellous progress of the cause. What the Holy Spirit was to the apostolic workers, the appointing power (Wesley, Asbury, the bishops) was to the Methodist
i Autobiography of Peter Cartwright (N.Y., 1856), pp. 90-3 ; Lond. ed., pp. 38, 39.
IN THE UNITED STATES 125
workers. Though laymen were freely used in spiritual work, which in itself ought to have been the earnest of their participation in all the governing functions of the church, yet the Conference, Annual and General, was more and more a clerical preserve. This was part of the penalty of the accident (if we might so call it) of Wesley's birth in an Episcopal, rather than in a Nonconformist, manse. Wesley's spiritual principles ought to have controlled and neutralized his ecclesiastical — and they did in part, but his sermon on Nathan and Abiram showed that the emancipation was by no means complete. It was this consciousness which led many of the American Methodist fathers, following in the footsteps of Kilham, to advocate the admission of laymen into the Conferences, especially into the General Conference. This desire for the tempering of clerical rule by the infusion of the lay element was bound up with restiveness under the chief manifestation of that rule — the unlimited power of the bishop. During the first quarter of the nineteenth century, the working of this democratic leaven was visible every now and then. It prompted in 1822 the founding of the Wesleyan Repository in Philadelphia ; in 1824 a society for agitating the question of lay rights ; in the same year a newspaper for the same purpose, Mutual Rights of the Ministers and Members of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; in 1826 the circulation of a petition to the General Conference of 1828, and in 1827 a convention for the same purpose. Chiefly under the influence of Thomas E. Bond, M.D., a local preacher and Baltimore physician, who published forceful articles against the rights of the laymen, and who was later rewarded by being made editor of the Christian Advocate (1840-52), the petitions of the reformers (as they were called) were turned down, and the General Conference of 1828 closed the door to the laymen. Some of the re formers were expelled and others withdrew.
In this state of excited feeling, a convention was called in Baltimore in November 1828, when provisional articles of association were drawn up, followed in November 1830, in the same city, by a large convention of ministers and
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METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
1830.
METHODIST laymen, which organized the METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH^**1 CHURCH. This church, as to episcopacy, reverted to the ORGANIZED, Wesleyan form, but it introduced laymen immediately into all the legislative work. It has had an honourable and successful history, and has shown that the peculiar work of Methodism can be done as well under democratic as under monarchical forms. Of special importance in the study of Methodist church history in America is the weighty contribution of a Methodist Protestant divine, the late Dr. Drinkhouse,1 who throws a flood of new light on matters up to 1830, which ought to be read, however, in connexion with the constitutional history soon to be published by Dr. Buckley. In 1908 the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church made overtures of union to the Methodist Protestant Church — a most Christian and sensible act, though tardy. These overtures were cordially received by the latter body, and committees were appointed to see on what basis an organic union could be effected.
The next two secessions were on account of slavery — certainly a stumbling-block in the way of the church's peace and progress, when not a millstone round her neck. When a Methodist Episcopal minister, Orange Scott, visited a brother clergyman in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1833, he heard for the first time of the formation of the New England Anti-Slave Society in 1832 (followed by the National Society in 1833), which led him to investigate slavery. This made him an abolitionist. In 1835 the Ohio Conference passed resolutions against abolitionists and anti-slavery societies. In 1836 the Baltimore Conference declared against both slavery and abolitionists. In the same year the bishops in their address to the General Conference urged both the ministers and laymen to refrain from all agitation of the subject ; in which exhortation they were seconded by the same Conference declaring that it was incompatible with the duties of a Methodist minister to deliver abolition lectures or attend abolition conventions. About the same
Slavery secessions.
i Methodist Reform with Special Reference to the Methodist Protestant Churches. 2 vols. Baltimore, 1898.
OF IC^
1843.
IN THE UNITED STATES 127
time Matlack was refused admission to the Philadelphia Conference because he was an abolitionist, and True, Floy, and Paul R. Brown were tried in the New York Conference for attending an anti-slavery convention at Utica. All this was a witness of the tremendous grip slavery had on the church, whose house was not large enough for her reforming children.
Disciplinary measures against Scott and others for their anti-slavery work led finally to a call for a convention at Andover, Massachusetts, February 1843, followed by a more representative gathering at Utica, New York, in June of the same year. In this convention the WESLEYAN WESLEYAN METHODIST CONNEXION (or Church) or AMERICA was organ- CHURCH IST ized. It is characteristic of all these defections that thev AMERICA
«* 10^0
abolished episcopacy, introduced laymen into the governing bodies of the church, and, in the case before us, lifted up a higher spiritual and ethical standard. This church pro hibited not only slavery, but all connexion with secret societies and display in dress. It was a reaction in favour of primitive Wesleyan ideals.
It will be seen from the foregoing history that the pro- slavery section of the Methodist Episcopal Church had little to complain of. The church was certainly not inclined to take any radical action looking toward an abatement of conditions in the South to satisfy the growing world-wide feeling for liberty. Earnest advocates of liberty were silenced or expelled. At the same time a certain reverence for the past, a certain respect for the rules against slavery, a certain deference towards Wesley's scorching Thoughts upon Slavery (1774), a certain responsiveness to the new humanitarianism, of which the anti-slavery agitation in England and America were witnesses, and of which Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) was to be the most powerful expression — all this brought • it about that the church had to pay some slight deference to its historic anti-slavery attitude.
Francis A. Harding, a minister of the Baltimore Confer- The
, ownership
ence, became by marriage an owner of five slaves. That of slaves.
128 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Conference, however willing to tolerate slave-holding in laymen, drew the line at clergymen, and asked him to emancipate his slaves (the laws of Maryland permitting). He refused, and was suspended. He appealed to the General Conference of 1844, which endorsed the action of the Conference by a vote of 117 to 56. The same General Conference had to consider the case of Bishop James Osgood Andrew, who had received a slave by bequest and others by marriage, and who could not free them if he desired (unless he took them north), as the laws of Georgia, in which state he resided, forbade emancipation. That slavery should thus become ensconced, however involuntarily, in the Methodist episcopacy was a condition which the majority of the Conference felt to be intolerable. After a long and able debate, an admirable summary of which can be found in Dr. Buckley's History of Methodists in the United States,1 the Conference adopted the following resolution — certainly modest enough to satisfy all who did not wish every barrier against slavery to be swept away, and the church irrevocably and fully committed to that institution :
Whereas the discipline of the church forbids the doing anything calculated to destroy an itinerant and general super- intendency, and whereas Bishop Andrew has become connected with slavery by marriage and otherwise, and this act having drawn after it circumstances which, in the estimation of the General Conference, will greatly embarrass the exercise of his office as an itinerant general superintendent, if not in some places entirely prevent it ; therefore, Resolved, That it is the sense of this General Conference that he desist from the exercise of this office as long as this impediment remains.
The Southern delegates presented the following protest :
The delegates of the Conference in the slave-holding states take leave to declare to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church that the continued agitation of the subject of slavery and abolition in a portion of the church, the frequent action on the subject in the General Conference, and especially 1 ' American Church History ' series (1896).
IN THE UNITED STATES 129
the extra-judicial proceedings against Bishop Andrew, which resulted on Saturday last in his virtual suspension from office as superintendent, must produce a state of things in the South which renders a continuance of the jurisdiction of the General Conference over these Conferences inconsistent with the success of the ministry in the slave-holding states.
This declaration was referred to a Committee of Nine, composed of Northern and Southern delegates, with instruc tions to devise a constitutional plan for mutual and friendly division of the church, provided the difficulties could not be otherwise adjusted. Hamline, one of the committee, refused to go out with the committee ' to devise a plan to divide the church,' but he would go out to make provision, in case the South separated, to meet the emergency with kindness and equity — a distinction without a difference, as in either case the Conference contemplated the separation of the South as inevitable, and to be treated as such. ' The select committee of nine to consider and report on the declaration of the delegates from the Conferences of the slave-holding states beg leave to submit the following report,' — an able, well-considered paper (later called the Plan of Separation), fair to both North and South.
This report assumed that the ' Annual Conferences in the slave-holding states ' might ' find it necessary to unite in a distinct ecclesiastical connexion,' and in that case recom mend certain things :
(1) Societies in border states shall decide by majority vote whether they adhere to the old allegiance or to the ' Southern Church,' and in either case the other party shall not invade the territory ; (2) all ministers, local or other, can without blame go with either party ; (3) recommendation of the Annual Con ferences to change Restrictive Rule respecting diversion of the Book Room funds to purposes other than support of preachers ; (4) in case the Conferences make this change, the Northern book agents shall turn over to the ' Church South ' all notes and book accounts of its ministers and all real estate and premises in the South ; (5) also a delivery of such a proportion of the capital and produce of the Book Concern as will be fair according to VOL. II 9
130
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
the number of travelling preachers in the South ; (6) all pro perty of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the South shall be for ever free from any claim on its part ; (7) the South shall have equal use of copyrights, and compensation for its share of the Chartered Fund.
METHODIST
EPISCOPAL,
CHURCH
SOUTH,
1844.
Property claimed and received.
Unfortunately a reaction took place in the North. The Conferences refused to suspend the Restrictive Rule, and the General Conference of 1848 declared the plan of the Committee of Nine adopted in 1848 as null and void. In the meantime the churches South went forward to their separate organization as contemplated in the recommenda tions of the Plan of 1844, organized the METHODIST EPISCO PAL CHURCH SOUTH, at Louisville, May 1, 1845, held their first General Conference in Petersburg in May 1846, added Capers and Paine to Soule and Andrew to form their Board of Bishops, revised the discipline, and went forward to aggressive work as ' one of the two great bodies of Wesleyan Methodists, North and South,' as Lovick Pierce called it in his fraternal note as delegate from the Church South to the General Conference of 1848, a delegate, however, who was refused by the latter Conference.
As the General Conference of 1848 repudiated its action in 1844, the Church South appealed to the courts for its share of the property. Two actions were begun, one in the United States Circuit Court of Ohio, where Judge Leavitt in 1852 decided against the complainants, the other in the same court in New York in 1851, where Judge Nelson decided for them (that is, against the Methodist Episcopal Church). The complainants appealed to the United States Supreme Court in Washington against the decision of Leavitt, and in 1854 the same judge who decided for the South in 1851 handed in a decision of the same tenor as his previous one. Accordingly the Book Agents in New York and Cincinnati paid to the representative of the Church South $275,000 in cash, and transferred to them all book concern or church property there. At this distance from those stirring scenes, one can consider without prejudice
IN THE UNITED STATES 131
the judicial aspect of that great financial case. Few impartial minds will doubt that the decision of the Supreme Court rendered substantial justice. The ever-receding action of the General Conference on slavery certainly made the South feel that they had a right in their maternal inheritance. The accident of a minister or bishop becoming involuntarily the possessor of a slave or two was trivial in comparison with the broad facts of the deep and constantly deeper entangle ment of the church with slavery over one-third or half of its territory. The perception of this fact was behind the report of the Committee of Nine adopted by the Conference of 1844. The repudiation of that action in 1848 necessarily led to an appeal for judgement to a non-ecclesiastical tribunal, which saw the whole case as it stood in equity.
We have noted that the fraternal mission of Lovick Pierce in 1848 proved abortive on account of the failure of the Northern Church to receive him. In 1869 our bishops approached those of the Church South with an olive branch. They were received in the true spirit of Christ, and in 1872 the General Conference appointed A. S. Hunt, Fowler, and General Fisk to convey its fraternal greetings to the General Conference of the Church South. They were cordially welcomed, and in 1876 the same Lovick Pierce (then ninety- one, with seventy-one years in the ministry), with Duncan and Garland, was sent to the General Conference at Balti more. Pierce started on the journey, but feebleness forbade its completion, and the honoured veteran had to content himself in this day of his triumph with a letter of fraternal greeting, full of pathos and dignity.
It is often said that no division in Methodism has ever Doctrinal taken place on account of differences in doctrine, and as a contr°- large fact this holds. Still the Wesleyan Methodist Con- " nexion of America charged some doctrinal looseness to the parent body, and the Free Methodists, of whom we shall now speak (to be distinguished from a body of the same name in England), did the same. The Genesee Conference in western New York in the middle of the century had come largely under the control (it was alleged) of a set of men,
versies.
132 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
mostly members of a secret order, who united great liberality of doctrinal view with unfair discrimination against those who stood for the old paths, which discrimination they were able to exercise by their compact organization, influence with the bishop, and other means fair or foul. Against this domination, against the threatened disintegration of the dogmatic foundations of Methodism, against the gradual lowering of its lofty ethical and spiritual standards, for which, in the judgement of their opponents, this coterie stood, there was written an article entitled ' New-school Methodism,' in a Methodist paper, The Northern Independent, in 1856. For this article Benjamin T. Roberts, its author, was brought up for trial at the Genesee Annual Conference in 1857, condemned by a vote of 52 against 43, several members not voting, and the accused was ordered to be reproved by the chair ! — a ridiculously inadequate punish ment if the charges against Roberts were taken seriously. A friend of Roberts, without his knowledge or consent, republished in pamphlet form the article on New-school Methodism, with some caustic comments on the action of the majority of the Conference, and on the Buffalo Regency, as the liberal coterie was called. For this pamphlet Roberts was brought up for trial in 1858, and though it was proved that he had nothing to do with the publication or circulation of the document, he was expelled, with one or two colleagues, by a vote of fifty, fifty-three refraining from voting, and some of those who voted affirmatively doing so on general principles, as they disliked Roberts's attitude. One trouble with these remarkable proceedings was the method of trial — before the whole Conference. It was impossible for all the members to be present at all the sessions, and to eliminate partiality and prejudice from the jurors was impossible, as some of the Conference felt themselves personally attacked by Roberts's article. These two fatal objections to trial by the whole Conference have largely, if not entirely, done away with such processes by mass meeting, and handed them over to a select jury. Roberts appealed to the ensuing General Conference (1860), unfortunately
IN THE UNITED STATES 133
held in Buffalo, the very seat of the Regency, but he failed to obtain what he considered justice. His treatment occa sioned wide-spread indignation, not only in Western New York, but in other parts of the country. A convention was called at Pekin, Niagara County, New York, in August 1860, where the FREE METHODIST CHURCH was formed.
The Roberts movement was really a reaction toward a FREE more primitive self-denying type of Christianity, after the pattern of the older Methodism. All the peculiar ideas and i860 customs of the fathers were emphasized. Cut off from the moderating influence of the larger body, the piety of the new church inevitably assumed at times extravagant forms and manifestations, which brought it into disrepute. But these were only excrescences on a cause which was pro foundly Methodist both in spirit and testimony. The Free Methodists took over the Articles of Religion and general discipline, modified again, however, in the direction of English Methodism. Two Articles were added. The first reads :
Justified persons, while they do not outwardly commit sin, are nevertheless conscious of sin still remaining in the heart. They feel a natural tendency to evil, a proneness to depart from God, and cleave to the things of earth. Those that are sanctified wholly are saved from all inward sin — from evil thoughts and evil tempers. No wrong temper, none contrary to love, remains in the soul. All their thoughts, words, and actions are governed by pure love. Entire sanctification takes place subsequently to justification, and is a work of God wrought instantaneously upon the consecrated believing soul. After a soul is cleansed from all sin, it is then fully prepared to grow in grace.
A peculiarity of this church in the whole Methodist family is that it thus requires every member before admittance to assert belief in the doctrine of sanctification as thus stated, and to pledge himself to seek that grace diligently. The other article reads :
God has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ, according to the gospel. The
134 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
righteous shall have an inheritance incorruptible, undented, and that fadeth not away. The wicked shall go away into ever lasting punishment, where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched.
Perhaps this was the first time in history where the figura tive language of Christ concerning the future was erected into a dogmatic symbol.
The Free Methodist Church restored the original ethical strictness of Methodism with more than Wesley's asceticism. No gold can be worn, nor costly garments, but the dress must be plain and simple, with no adornment of hair or person. Not only the ban on intoxicating liquors, but its absolute prohibition of tobacco, would have delighted the heart of Wesley, with his peremptory ' Enforce the rules relating to ruffles, lace, snuff, and tobacco rigorously.' Like the Wesley an Methodist Connexion of America, and some of the Presbyterian bodies, it interdicts all membership in secret societies. Compared with the great American churches, the Free Methodists are a feeble folk, but they have proved that in the midst of our materialistic and pleasure-loving age, whose spirit — none will deny — has in fected the churches, it is possible for a church, founded on the self-denying ordinances of Wesley, both to live and to thrive.
Lay It would be surprising if the clericalism of the Methodist
SlSfed Episcopal Church, reaffirmed against the reformers (later
C1852.6 Methodist Protestants) by the General Conference of 1828,
were the final attitude of a religious movement which had spiritually emancipated the laymen. The matter rested for twenty years. In 1852 a convention of laymen in Philadelphia urged lay representation again, and as they timidly put the matter on the ground of expediency, not of right, the Nestor of clerical principle, Bond, allowed that on that ground the matter was an open question. The petition of the convention to the General Conference of 1852 was denied, that of 1856 paid little attention to a similar appeal, but by 1860 the movement had progressed
IN THE UNITED STATES 135
sufficiently for the Conference to refer the question of lay representation in the General Conference to a popular and ministerial vote — the first time anything like that was ever done in the history of our church in America. The vote was adverse ; still, it showed a growing sentiment. In 1860 an event happened of immense significance to the growth of popular rights — the founding of The Methodist (New York), edited by one of the ablest and most cultured minds in America, the Rev. Dr. George R. Crooks, the illustrious predecessor of the present writer in the chair he holds. This paper did noble service for this and other good causes. Zion's Herald in Boston, and The North-western Christian Advocate in Chicago, upheld the same principle, so that three great centres had powerful advocates for laymen. Still the ministers held on with vice-like grip to their ex clusive privileges. A great convention of laymen in Phila delphia in 1864, concurrent with the General Conference, presented its request to that Conference by a delegation, but without result. In 1868 another convention was held in Chicago while the Conference was in session in that city, and the voice of the laymen became so loud that the Con ference heeded to the extent of ordering a vote a second time. Discussion had by this time its proper effect ; the laymen voted two to one for lay delegation, and the ministers voted by the necessary three-fourths majority to change the Restrictive Rule. For the first time in history, therefore, the laymen appeared in a law-making body of the Methodist Lay Episcopal Church, in the General Conference in Brooklyn, jJdmftted May 1872 — eighty-eight years after its formal organization 1872. as a distinct body ! But it was a grudging concession, as only two laymen were allowed from each Conference, while five or six ministers might be sent. Later an agitation began for the equal representation of laymen and ministers in the General Conference, voted on for the first time in the Annual Conferences in 1889-90, defeated both then and in 1893-4, carried later and the laymen admitted in equal numbers with ministers at the General Conference held in 1900. Chicago. The Annual Conference is still closed to laymen,
136
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
though in the Methodist Episcopal Church South they are admitted (four from every district), and in other American Methodist Churches.
GERMAN CHUBCHBS.
UNITED
BRETHREN,
1800.
EVAN GELICAL ASSOCIA TION.
IV
One of the finest products of evangelical zeal in America is the UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST, founded by the German American Wesley, Philip William Otterbein, a pastor of the German Reformed Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, till 1758, where he was thoroughly converted. Though still remaining pastor of his church, he began evangelistic ser vices, open-air meetings, prayer meetings, and all the other earnest methods of the Methodists, stimulated greatly by Martin Boehm (Mennonite) and by Asbury, whom he assisted to ordain in 1784. Finally the work became so extensive that regular church organization was effected in 1800, the society taking the name of the United Brethren in Christ. The polity is Methodist, having General, Annual, and other Conferences, presiding elders, bishops, etc., though with more popular features than those in the Methodist Episcopal Church. This church started among the Germans, and has retained the German language when necessary, but by far the larger part of its work is now done in English. It is justly recognized as a Methodist Church by the (Ecumenical Methodist Conference. It furnishes one of the noblest and purest specimens of church life in America, and its amalga mation with the Congregational Churches, for which nego tiations have been pending for two or three years, would be an unspeakable calamity, as it would probably mean the smothering of its evangelical testimony and warmth in a cold and rationalistic semi-Unitarian atmosphere. The church has taken high position in regard to temperance and slavery, and also forbids its communicants joining secret societies.
Another German Methodist Church is the EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION (Die Evangelische Gemeinschaft), founded by a Pennsylvania German of the Lutheran Church, Jacob
IN THE UNITED STATES 137
Albright. This man was plying a successful business in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, when in 1790 several of his children died in quick succession. Through the faithful funeral addresses of the Rev. Anton Hautz, a German Reformed minister, he was aroused from his indifference. He found no one to sympathize with him among his Lutheran neighbours, but finally fell in with Ridgel, a Methodist local preacher, who brought him into the full joy of salvation. He now began to work among his German brethren, and he found the field so needy that in spite of opposition he gave up his business, and, like Peter Waldo, devoted himself entirely to his itinerant labours. As the Methodists at that time would undertake no German work, Albright left them, and was compelled to organize his societies into a separate church. He began to form societies in 1800, and in 1803 called a council which formed the societies on a thoroughly Methodist basis, though, as usual, with some abatement of the monarchical features. Full organization took place at a Conference in 1807, when Albright was 1807. elected bishop. The church has grown with great rapidity, and, as was noticed in the case of the United Brethren in Christ, is now much more English-speaking than German. This church has a prosperous work in Germany, where I have sometimes attended its large and earnest congrega tions. Unfortunately a bitter controversy arose in America, involving certain bishops, which, in spite of all conciliatory efforts of mediating parties, resulted in a complete division of the church in 1894, so that there are now two independent Division, churches, the Evangelical Association and the United Evangelical Association. It would appear that fraternal overtures have lately been proposed, and it is to be hoped that these two bodies of devout Christians, who have done so nobly among both German and English-speaking peoples, may soon come together again.
The success of these two German American Churches was full warrant for the appeal of the Methodist Episcopal Church to the children of Germany in their new land. How that appeal came to be made is one of the romances of
138 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
history. In the early years of the nineteenth century there was growing up in a German town a boy who was trained in the best traditions of the Lutheran Church. His parents William were pious people, and his three sisters married Lutheran ministers. He was confirmed at fourteen, and after that service went to an adjoining grove and cried unto God for pardon and a new heart. He had a longing desire for missionary service, and desired to go to the Missionary Institute at Basel. But his relatives insisted on his entrance at the seminary at Blaubeuren, where he had four years in the critical study of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew under rationalistic professors. He then went into the University of Tubingen, whither his former teacher at the seminary, the celebrated Dr. Ferdinand Christian Baur, had also gone. Here he had as classmate David Frederick Strauss, with whom he became very intimate. Is it any wonder that at his graduation in Tubingen he had lost his faith, and thus felt himself obliged to sever his connexion with the State Church so far as the ministry was concerned, and pay back to it again the cost of his education ? He determined to try his fortunes in America. He landed in New York in 1828, spent a year as private tutor with the family of a pious Methodist lady, who lived on Duncan's Island at the junction of the Susquehanna and Juniata rivers, taught German in the West Point (New York) Military Academy, became acquainted with two devout officers who had been converted under the preaching of the chaplain, Mcllvaine (afterwards bishop in the Protestant Episcopal Church), attended the Methodist services of Homer, heard Wilbur Fisk preach at the 'Commencement' in 1831, attended a camp-meeting on the banks of the Juniata, and thus re newed again the religious feelings and struggles of his youth. Now began a remarkable experience — years of praying and waiting for the full adoption of the sons of God, the certain assurance of sins forgiven. This he finally received at a Quarterly Meeting at Danville, Knox County, Ohio, January 17, 1835, under Adam Poe, while he (Nast) was Professor of German and Hebrew in Kenyon College (Episcopal),
IN THE UNITED STATES 139
Gambler, Ohio, where his old friend Mcllvaine was Principal. He now felt he must give himself to the work to which he was dedicated in childhood, was received into the Ohio Conference in the fall of 1835, and made ' German missionary in the city of Cincinnati.'
That was the beginning of William Nast's work in found- German ing Methodist Episcopal Churches among the Germans in E^sco^a the United States. It was a forbidding task. In the first Churches. place, the Germans, who had been flocking to America by the thousands, had become so rationalized and secularized that they had little understanding of the spiritual message of Methodism, whose gospel and methods they looked upon as rank fanaticism. Dr. Kurtz, then editor of the Lutheran Observer, said that he had only known of one revival in a Lutheran Church, and that had raised a terrible storm of opposition and persecution. In the second place, Nast himself was poorly equipped in gifts and speech for evan gelistic work, being no singer, untrained in religious address in German, and used to literary and scientific studies. But he began his work in Cincinnati, and in spite of all draw backs, abuse, persecution, he succeeded in gathering a few converts. It is impossible in this sketch to give the details of the wonderful life of William Nast, and of the equally wonderful progress of Methodism among the Germans in the United States — almost a miracle in religious history. The work mightily grew and prevailed, a Book Room was established, papers and books were published, preachers were raised up, and colleges and a theological seminary were founded. The German work was finally organized into separate Conferences, has proved one of the most vital and vitalizing forces in American Christendom, and has remained, perhaps, the truest and finest representative of intelligent, devoted piety and large-minded loyalty to Methodist ideals of any section of the Methodist Episcopal Church, or of any other branch of the great family. All honour to the memory of William Nast — scholar, teacher, theologian, evangelist, editor, founder ! Little did Baur and Strauss think that their friend would be the means
140 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
of incorporating thousands of their countrymen in distant America into a church where living experience of Christ's saving power was to do more to counteract their dissolving criticism in its practical effect than all the learned refutations of their brother scholars.
EDUCA- Reference must be made to the educational work of the
WOBKL Methodist Episcopal Church. The pathetic history of
Cokesbury College,, 17 85-96, l does not fall within the limits of the section assigned to me. But that history did not at all daunt Asbury, for he began at once to plant academies or secondary schools wherever opportunity offered.2 It is one of the noblest records in the history of education. As bury College was organized in Baltimore in 1816, and from that time forward the church laid such gifts on the altar of education as, considering the poverty of the people and the pioneer work of evangelism and church-building, have probably never been surpassed. Look at the list. In Enthusiastic 1816 the famous Wilbraham (Massachusetts) Academy was support. founded in Newmarket, New Hampshire, removed to Wil braham in 1825. Old Augusta College, associated with many names famous in our annals, was founded at Augusta, Kentucky, on the Ohio River, in 1822. Cazenovia Seminary, a name dear to many thousands of alumni, was planned in 1819 but not started till 1824. The Maine Wesleyan Semin ary was opened at Kents Hill in 1821, the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary in Lima, New York, in 1832, and Wesleyan University at Middletown, Connecticut, in 1831. Old Dickinson College (1783), Carlisle, Pennsylvania, passed under the control of the Methodists in 1833, and Alleghany College (1815-17), Meadville, Pennsylvania, into the same hands in the same year. Some of the universities have
1 Page 164.
2 For this wonderful chain of seminaries see Cummings, Early Schools of Methodism, pp. 34 ff., or my Methodists, in 'The Story of the Churches ' series, pp. 207 ff.
M
I
IN THE UNITED STATES 141
had a phenomenal growth, in spite of the competition of
state universities and other church colleges, and have done Universities.
fine work both for learning and manhood — such as De Pauw
University at Greencastle, Indiana (1837, formerly called
Indiana Asbury University), Ohio Wesleyan University at
Delaware (1842), Illinois Wesleyan University at Bloom-
ington (1855), North-western University at Evanston, Illinois
(1855), Boston University (1869), Syracuse University (1870),
which succeeded the old Genesee College at Lima, New York
(1850), and the University of Denver (1880). There are
many smaller colleges which do not cut such a wide swath,
but where scholarly ideals prevail and genuine work is
done.
It must be confessed that many of the Methodist fathers Prejudice were prejudiced against theological seminaries, and with some reason, as such schools had sometimes been the hot beds of ' New Theology ' and ' liberal ' movements. That prejudice was overcome so far as to open in Newbury, Vermont, in 1841, a Biblical Institute, the name Theological Seminary (the common name in America) being avoided so as not to give offence to weak brethren. This school was removed to Concord, New Hampshire, in 1847, had a vigorous life until 1867, when it was removed to Boston, to become in 1869 a department of Boston University, where it exists to-day more flourishing than ever. Garrett Biblical Institute was founded by Mrs. Eliza Garrett of Chicago, in 1854, at Evanston, Illinois, where it is a de partment of North-western University, where throngs of students wait on scholarly and evangelical teachers. In 1857 an Englishman who had been educated at the Concord Biblical Institute, John Parker, advised Daniel Drew, his parishioner and friend, and perhaps the wealthiest Metho dist in the world, to found a theological seminary near New York. This proved a nail struck by a master of assem blies. It led to the founding of Drew Theological Seminary in 1866 (opened 1867) at Madison, New Jersey, which has poured a rich intellectual, spiritual, evangelical and evan gelistic life into the ministry, and has sent its graduates
142 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
into all mission fields to build up a Christian literature and civilization, and bring in the Kingdom of God.
VI
THE SERVICE In possession of the rich treasures of hymnology left RAISE. them by the Wesleys and the other singers of the Evangelical Revival, the American Methodists did not produce anything distinctive in this regard. In fact, the practical problems to be solved by the American churches have been so pressing that they have not had time nor opportunity for a large production of new hymns. For instance, in the Methodist Hymnal of 1878 among 1,117 hymns only 140 were by Americans. Still Methodists have always been a singing folk, and their actual use of hymns has been amazingly large. This is seen in two departments ; the regular hymn-books of the church, and its popular song-books.
Hymn- It is impossible to give exactly the history of Methodist
hymnals in America. We do not even know when the first was published. Imported English books were used first, but native reprints were forthcoming. For in their preface to A Pocket Hymn-Book, of which the 10th edition was published in 1790 and the 21st in 1797 (we do not know the date of the first edition), Asbury and Coke say :
The Hymn-Books which, have already been published amongst us are excellent. The Select Hymns, the double collection of Hymns and Psalms, and the Redemption Hymns display great spirituality, as well as purity of diction. The large Congregational Hymn-Book is admirable indeed, but it is too expensive for the poor, who have little time and less money. The Pocket Hymn-Book lately sent abroad in these States is a most valuable performance for those who are deeply spiritual, but it is better suited to European Methodists, among whom all the before-mentioned books have been thoroughly circulated for many years.
These native reprints have utterly perished, and the earliest book which Nutter, an enthusiastic investigator, was able
IN THE UNITED STATES 143
to find was the 1790 edition of the Pocket Hymn-Book Early Designed as a Constant Companion for the Pious, Collected from Various Authors. The 21st edition (1797) lies before me now — the oldest in the library of Drew Theological Seminary. It is a little book, 5£ inches by 3|, published by Book Steward John Dickens, in Philadelphia. It contains 300 hymns, the first of which is the familiar '0 for a thousand tongues to sing,' and the last ' 0 Thou who earnest from above.' The first American hymnologist, David Creamer, a Baltimore layman, the author of Methodist Hymnology (New York, 1848), identified the authors of the hymns. According to him, 223 were written by Charles Wesley, 15 by John Wesley, 26 by Watts, the rest by Cowper, Medley, Hart, etc. This book is itself a reprint of The Pocket Hymn-Book published by Robert Spence of York, with some additions inserted, probably, by Coke. The profits were to go to ' religious and charitable pur poses.' Why Spence's book, which Wesley did not like, was chosen we do not know ; probably because it was the best handy yet most comprehensive book available.
The next book was a revised edition of the above, The Methodist Pocket Hymn-Book, Revised and Improved, Designed as a Constant Companion for the Pious of all Denominations, Collected from Various Authors, published by the Book Steward, Ezekiel Cooper, Philadelphia, in 1802. 1802. They were not afraid of new editions in those days, for in 1808 in New York another book came out : A Selection of 1808. Hymns from Various Authors Designed as a Supplement to the Methodist Pocket Hymn-Book, Compiled under the Direction of Bishop Asbury and Published by Order of the General Conference. This was an independent book, however, larger than the other, though sometimes bound up with it, and then known as the ' Double Hymn-Book.'
These little books must have had a large circulation. New Methodist Hymns and Divine Songs for the Edification of the Pious entered its ninth edition in 1809. Perhaps the word ' Methodist ' had its wider meaning, as referring to all earnest Protestant Christians. In this book great plainness
144 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
is used in describing the torments of the lost, one of whom cries out :
Now hail ! all hail ! ye frightful ghosts,
With whom I once did dwell, And spent my days in frantic mirth,
And danced my soul to hell !
Whether the New Methodist Hymns of 1809 was ever used in public worship we cannot say.
Similar to this was the Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the Use of Christians ; containing an Improved Selection of Modern Hymns and Spiritual Songs, now generally used by the Religious of all Denominations, but particularly by the Methodist Societies (Baltimore, 13th ed. 1817). In the same year the first edition of another independent book appeared in the same city, The Songs of Zion : or the Christian's New Hymn-Book for the Use of Methodists. The preface was signed J. K.. whom Creamer took for John Kingston ; the book contained 223 hymns. It is evident that such devotional song-books had a wide use among the early Methodists in America. What non-official collection of religious poems would now go through thirteen editions in a short time ?
Following the 1808 official book, the next collection authorized by the General Conference was A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the Methodist Episcopal Church, principally from the Collection of the Rev. John Wesley, M.A., New York, 1821 (606 hymns).
The greater part of the hymns contained in the former edition [says the preface] are retained in this, and several from Wesley's and Coke's collections, not before published in this country, are added. The principal alterations consist in restoring those which had been altered, as was believed for the worse, to their original state, as they came from the poetical pen of the Wesleys.
Nutter says that the editing of this book was done by Nathan Bangs. Fire destroyed the plates of this book in
IN THE UNITED STATES 145
1836, and in the same year the indefatigable Bangs reissued the book with a supplement of ninety pages, adapted for special occasions. This book contains Charles Wesley's ringing hymn, for the Mohammedans (hymn 602), which is hardly consonant with John Wesley's serene and tolerant view of the salvation of them and of the other heathen on account of their relative faith.1 This fierce outburst was wisely omitted in the later revisions.
More elaborate preparations were made for the publication of the next official book. In 1848 the General Conference 1848. appointed a committee of five ministers (D. Dailey, J. B. Alverson, James Floy, David Patten, and F. Merrick) and two laymen (Robert A. West and David Creamer) to prepare a new hymn-book. This was published in 1849 : Hymns for the Use of the Methodist Episcopal Church (1,143) hymns. This was the first time that the authors' names were given, not to each hymn, but to the first lines in the index. This book held its own till it was superseded in 1878 by a much 1878. superior book (Hymnal of the Methodist Episcopal Church) prepared by a large and representative committee appointed by the General Conference in 1876, which made available many of the beautiful songs composed since 1848 (1,117 hymns, 19 doxologies). This was again displaced in 1907, 1907. by a comparatively slight book of only 748 hymns prepared by committees of the Methodist Episcopal Church and of the Methodist Episcopal Church South — certainly a noble union, though the scanty product, good as far as
i The smoke of the infernal cave
Which half the Christian world o'erspread,
Disperse, thou heavenly Light, and save The souls by that Imposter led,
That Arab-thief, as Satan bold,
Who quite destroy'd thy Asian fold
The Unitarian fiend expel,
And chase his doctrine back to hell.
(Hymn 443 in English Wesleyan Methodist collections before 1876, when it was omitted.)
VOL. II 10
146
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
In the
Methodist
Protestant
Church,
1837.
In the
Methodist
Episcopal
Church
South.
1847.
it goes, is hardly worthy of combined effort. Many new tunes in this book have also been severely criticized. To be of service in the various needs of worship a hymn-book ought to have at least a thousand hymns, and the arbitrary limitation imposed on the committee will make the superses sion of the 1907 book a necessity in a short time. However, in all the books up to 1878 Nutter makes the excellent point that the old Pocket Hymn-Book of the bookseller of York, Robert Spence, with whom Wesley had his tilt, was at the bottom. ' The York book is found in every edition ; two-thirds of its hymns are still found in our hymnal, and it has stamped its character upon the series.' As Tyndale to the English Bible, so was Robert Spence to the Methodist Hymnal.
After the formation of the Methodist Protestant Church the General Conference of that church in 1834 appointed a committee to prepare a hymn-book. This committee passed the work over to Thomas H. Stockton, a minister of fine gifts, and himself a poet. His work appeared in 1837, Hymn-Book of the Methodist Protestant Church (Baltimore, 829 hymns), edited by one man, whose work was accepted by the committee and Conference. It was the best Methodist hymn-book which had appeared up to that time. In the index an effort, very insufficient, was made to trace the hymns to their source, though Stockton's own hymns — including the first in the book — appeared without a sign. This was the first of a rich series of books of praise edited under Methodist Protestant auspices (not counting John J. Herrod's Hymn-Book, 1828)— 1859, 1860 (a different book from that of 1859), 1872, 1882, and 1900, which shows that ' Excelsior ' has ever been the motto of that church. The Hymnal of 1900, however, is open to the same objection as that of 1907 mentioned above, as it contains only 531 hymns.
When the Methodist Episcopal Church South was organized in 1844-5 steps were taken to provide a hymn- book for her own needs. This appeared in 1847, A Collection of Hymns for Public, Social, and Domestic Worship (Richmond, 1,063 hymns) — an ample and excellent collec-
IN THE UNITED STATES 147
tion. I have not found any hymn for slaves in it, though Conder's hymn, ' As much have I of worldly good,' would have suited their case exactly. The names of the authors are prefixed to each hymn. This book continued until superseded by the Hymn- Book of the Methodist Church South (Nashville, 1889), for which Prof. Tillett has provided a guide 1889. (Our Hymns and their Authors, Nashville, 1889). The other Methodist churches in the United States, as well as our church in Canada, have their own hymnals, but space will not allow further characterization. One book for all is a consummation devoutly to be wished. It might be the prelude of a reunited Methodism.
The second form in which hymn-book making has Popular taken in America, and no less among Methodists, is the g^gl books production of popular song-books for Sunday schools, prayer meetings and similar services. These have been as numerous as leaves in Vallambrosa, and of all grades of excellence. Lately a reaction has taken place toward a finer quality of these smaller books. This was much needed. Among those who have contributed greatly to the religious edification of millions in beautiful hymns and tunes are the names of Fanny Crosby, the blind poetess (the American Havergal), and Ira D. Sankey, the sweet singer who ascended to the higher choir in August 1908.
Space will not allow the enumeration of hymnists of our Some American Church. Though no names appear of far-reaching ^ISrs. fame, yet we have singers who have permanently enriched the songs of Zion : Robert A. West, Thomas H. Stockton, George P. Morris, William Hunter, Thomas 0. Summers, and many others who have passed on, besides living poets of conspicuous excellence, to mention whom we are forbidden by the rules of this work.
In 1789 the Conference began the famous Methodist PUBLISHING Book Concern, the largest denominational publishing house HOUSES- in the world and one of the largest of any kind, by electing as Book Steward John Dickins, who was also stationed as pastor in the only Methodist church in Philadelphia at that time. He began the work by loaning to the Concern $600
148 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
1789. of his own money. His first book (1789) was Wesley's
edition of The Imitation of Christ (called in this edition The, Christian's Pattern). The Discipline, the first volume of The Arminian Magazine, and Baxter's Saints'" Rest were also issued that first year. In 1790 the second volume of the Magazine and a part of Fletcher's Checks followed. Dickins continued the good work until his death in the awful yellow fever visitation in Philadelphia in 1798, when Ezekiel Cooper was appointed his successor. The Concern moved to New York in 1814, when John Wilson was appointed Assistant Editor and Book Steward. Cooper resigned in 1818, leaving the Concern with a credit balance of about $45,000 — a most remarkable result, which shows how faithfully the ministers circulated the books. Wilson and Hitt succeeded Cooper in 1818, and the agents were for the first time released from the pastorate.
The Book Concern occupied leased premises till 1822 ; for two years the basement of Wesley an Seminary in Crosby Street. In 1824 the Seminary building was bought, and the agents began to do their own printing, feeling strong enough even to tackle so large a work as Adam Clarke's Commentary, and following it with Wesley's and Fletcher's complete Works. In 1833 the Concern removed to its own building in Mulberry Street, burned down in 1836, but immediately erected again on the same spot. There it continued until 1869, when it took the fine building at 805, Broadway (corner Eleventh Street), the famous rendezvous of Methodists from all over the world, until the wonderful growth of the Concern made necessary still larger quarters. In 1889 it took up its home hi the stately new building at 150, Fifth Avenue (corner Twentieth Street).
Periodicals. One of the chief sources of income has been the periodicals, which have had a vast circulation. Two periodicals had been issued independently — Zion's Herald in Boston (begun 1823) and Wesleyan Journal in Charleston, S. C. (1825). In 1826 the Concern began The Christian Advocate, which purchased the Charleston paper in 1827, Zion's Herald in 1828, and merged both into itself. The first editor of The
IN THE UNITED STATES 149
Christian Advocate was a layman, Robert Badger, and one of the strongest editors of later years (1840-56) was also a layman, Thomas E. Bond, M.D. The Methodist Protestant Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church South, the Wesleyan Methodist Church of America, the Free Methodist Church, the coloured churches, and the church in Canada, have all large and flourishing publishing houses which have done work of inestimable value both for church and state, and to which we would gladly pay the tribute they deserve if space permitted.
VII
In looking over the present condition of American Metho- PRESENT dism the following currents are visible : (1) An effort to give C°NDITIONS the laymen a larger place. Much remains to be done before features. laymen will have their full rights, especially in some churches, but the tendency is in the right direction, and it will not stop until it restores to laymen the fulness of their activities according to their calling in Christ Jesus. (2) Social ministries. Methodism has emphasized Christ's method of saving the individual founded on His principle of the supreme value of the single soul ; without departing from that she is now beginning to realize the gospel of the kingdom, that Christ came to form a redeemed society, a new earth. (3) Methodists in America have always been active in temperance work. In the old crusade for total abstinence, in the more recent movement for legal abolition either through local option or prohibition, we have stood in the front rank. Only recently the Methodist press and two Methodist bishops have come out openly against the re-election of Speaker Cannon of the House of Representa tives in Washington, because he would not allow a Bill to be reported which tended to make valid the prohibitory laws, already passed by some States, against the inter-state commerce in intoxicating liquors. But this activity of Methodists is not partisan, but purely moral — for a decent civilization. (4) There is also a tendency to emphasize
150 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
child culture, religious education, catechetical classes, not as doing away with revivals, but as supplementing them. There is also a widespread movement for the organization of men for more definite religious and social impression. (5) The cause of Christian union has been more praised than practised by American Methodists. No effort has been made by the Methodist Episcopal Church to bring into a common fold the children who left her, such as those who form the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion of America, the Free Methodist Church, etc., and only in 1908 were steps taken to come to an understanding with the Methodist Protestant Church, after negotiations had been going on for three or four years between that church and the Con gregational and the United Brethren Churches.1 Now that a beginning has been made, it is to be devoutly hoped that more friendly relations will be cultivated between the different families of the same faith, looking toward an ultimate federation of all branches of Protestant Christianity in America, in the spirit of and according to the methods out lined in the admirable article by President Henry A. Buttz, Theological of Drew Theological Seminary, in The Methodist Review of advance. July 19Q8 ^ Theological advance on the basis of the fundamental things for which Methodism has always stood. The right of reverent Biblical criticism, while holding to the inspiration of the Old Testament, is fully acknowledged.
Doctrinal progress is in the way of evolution, larger and better unfolding of truth already held, rather than in the way of addition. The able article of Professor Henry C. Sheldon in The American Journal of Theology, January 1906, pp. 31-52, on ' Changes in Theology among Methodists,' does not show that any important deviation has taken place on the part of representative teachers from the essential message of Methodism. No doubt Ritschlian views are held by some pastors, which, if carried through logically, will neutralize and destroy that message ; but I think they are generally held in check by the atmosphere of positive truth and loyalty to Christ in which Methodism lives. The
1 For this vide infra, pp. 524-5.
IN THE UNITED STATES 151
grosser and more unethical forms of teaching sometimes current twenty-five or thirty years ago have largely dis appeared. I agree with Sheldon that ' American Metho dism has preserved a fair balance between conservative and progressive tendencies. It has not been characterized by any spurts or rash adventures in the dogmatic domain. Innovating opinions have been compelled to give an account of themselves, and to prove their ability to meet the test of scholarship and piety. On the other hand, the door has not been closed against dogmatic amelioration. The advocate of improved points of view has met with a good deal of tolerance. The premisses of Methodism make dogma subordinate to life, not indeed disparaging dogma, But dogma since in the long run it is likely to have a serious effect upon life, but holding it distinctly subordinate to the pro motion of love and righteousness in the individual and the brotherhood. Unsparing rigour and excessive anxiety in upholding subordinate points of doctrine would accord neither with the spirit of Wesley nor with the conception of the mission of Methodism as a great evangelistic agency devoted to the spread of scriptural holiness.' l
At the same time it is to be said that few churches would respond more quickly to the disintegrating and desolating effects of views which contradict the substance of that gospel which God gave through Christ and the apostles to our fathers, and which hitherto has been the secret of our growth and of our world-wide spiritual power.
1 See American Journal of Theology, as above, pp. 51, 52. Compare also my article in The Andover Review, xviii. 487 ff. (1892).
For further remarks, by another writer, on the present day aspect of Methodism in America vide infra, pp. 507-28.
CHAPTER III (continued) IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
III. THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH SOUTH AND OTHER CHURCHES
God . . . Himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things ; and He hath made of one every nation of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitations ; that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. — ACTS xvii. 25-7, R.V.
153
CONTENTS
I. INITIAL MOVEMENTS p. 155
First Annual Conference, 1773 — The call for the sacraments — Native ordinations — Asbury's attitude . . . pp. 155-158
II. THE ORGANIZATION AND GROWTH OF THE METHODIST CHURCH p. 158
Wesley's views, and ordinations — Methodist episcopacy, 1784 — Bishop Coke — Bishop Asbury — The second General Conference, 1792 — The origin of the Camp-meeting — Ministerial training and sustentation ........ pp. 158-165
III. THE CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD . . . . p. 165
The Constitution, 1808 : its Restrictive Rules — William McKendree — Evangelistic activity — Joshua Soule — Hedding, Andrew, Emvoy — Fisk — Bangs — Cartwright, and other leaders — missionary develop ments — Among the negroes — Missionary effort — Publishing enter prises — Higher education — Withdrawal of the Canadian Methodists — Secessions, 1816 : The African Methodist Episcopal Church (Bethel) and the African Methodist Episcopal Church (Zion) — Methodist Protestant Church, 1830 — The slavery question — Conference dis approves of slave-holders, but suspends action — A compromise, 1816 — Difficulties and parties — Abolitionists . . . pp. 165-179
IV. DIVISION OF THE CHURCH p. 179
Bishop Andrew as slave-owner — His deposition proposed — His character — The hesitant attitude of the church in general — The protest of the Southerners — Their declaration and protest — The
Plan of Separation pp. 179-186
V. ORGANIZATION AND GROWTH OF THE METHODIST EPIS COPAL CHURCH SOUTH p. 186
The Convention of 1845 — First General Conference — The new church claims its property — Advance and increase . pp. 186-191
VI. THE CIVIL WAR AND AFTER p. 191
Losses — The call of 1865 — The Conference, 1866 — Lay delegation and other changee — New leaders — Fraternal interchanges — Official recognition — Federation with the Methodist Episcopal Church — Advance and development — John C. Keener — Later leaders
pp. 191-198 Pages 153-198
154
CHAPTER III (continued)
IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
III. THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH SOUTH AND OTHER CHURCHES
AUTHORITIES. — To the General List add : General Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, from 1771 to 1844, and of the Methodist Episcopal Church South from 1845 to 1907 ; the Journals of the General Conferences from 1792 to 1908.
1760—1784
THE Methodist Episcopal Church South, though dating INITIAL as a separate and independent ecclesiastical organization only from the year 1845, yet claims to be in unbroken historical connexion with the earliest Methodism in America, and repudiates most energetically the suggestion that its existence originated in a schism or secession from any parent body. On account of this fact, it is our duty to begin the present sketch with a brief review of the events that went before the epochal year of 1808.
Robert Strawbridge in Maryland not later than 1764, Philip Embury in New York in 1766, Captain Thomas Webb in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in 1767, and Robert Williams and John King in Virginia and North Carolina in 1772 — these five constitute the ' noble army of the irregu lars.' Of their own motion and without formal appoint ment or authorization from any source, they began the propagation of the gospel according to Methodism, and had the work moving grandly before Wesley's regular itinerants were on the ground.
155
156 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
First The first Annual Conference was held in Philadelphia,
cSrference, July 14-16, 1773. Including Boardman and Pilmoor, 1773. who were about to sail for England, only ten preachers
were present, every one a foreigner. It was the day of small things. Thomas Rankin, fresh from England, presided. Eleven hundred and sixty members were reported in con nexion with the societies, of whom one hundred and eighty were in New York, one hundred and eighty in Philadelphia, five hundred in Maryland, and one hundred, the first fruit of Robert Williams 's activities, in Virginia. Neither Straw- bridge nor Williams was present, though both received appointments — and criticism. Bishop McTyeire, who dearly loved a hard-headed and self-willed man, at a convenient distance from his own jurisdiction, notes the fact, with a gleam of humour in his eye, that —
about one half the business done, besides stationing the ten preachers, was in restraining the two grand and impetuous evangelists by whom more than half the work up to date had been performed.
One year later there were seventeen preachers, several of them Americans, and a net increase of over one thousand in the membership. It is a remarkable fact that, in spite of Wesley's injudicious action in going before the English public as the defender of George III.'s attitude towards America, and in spite also of Asbury's enforced retirement from public labours for the greater part of two years, this increase continued steadily, and indeed rapidly, during the whole period of the Revolutionary War. When the war closed, in 1783, there were 13,740 members, 12,117 of whom were in the South and 1,623 in the North. There were also eighty-five preachers, not a few of whom were men of might. It is not possible to do more than call the names of the foremost : William Watters, Philip Gatch, Edward Dromgoole, Freeborn Garrettson, Francis Poythress, John Tunnel, John Dickens, Nelson Reed, Philip Bruce, Caleb Boyer, Ignatius Pigman, and other such.
IN THE UNITED STATES 157
In the meantime, a question had arisen that seriously The call for threatened to break the Methodists into two bands, if the
sacraments.
not, indeed, to scatter them into disorganized fragments. Under the express directions of Wesley, the preachers, with the solitary exception of Strawbridge, had thus far declined to administer the sacraments ; and the people had either been dependent for these means of grace on the ministers of the Presbyterian and Episcopal Churches, or else had lived in neglect of them. But as the years went by a spirit of restiveness began to manifest itself in all quarters. The Virginians, in particular, showed increasing signs of in dependence. At every Conference the subject came up for discussion. In the Annual Session of 1778, held at Leesburg, Virginia, Asbury being absent, and the youthful William Watters presiding, it was resolved to postpone final action for one year ; and accordingly in 1779 de cisive steps were actually taken. By a formal vote of the Native body, which met that year at the Broken Back Church in ordinations- Fluvanna County, Virginia, Philip Gatch, Reuben Ellis, and James Foster were constituted a Presbytery, with instructions first to ordain one another, and then to lay hands on such other persons as they might deem worthy of that distinction.
Asbury was greatly disturbed by these proceedings. Asbury's That there was much reason for them he could not deny, attitude. The Episcopal establishment in Virginia was in a state of collapse. With the exception of Jarret and McRoberts, its ministers had never been friends to the Methodists. Many of them had now deserted their parishes. Not a few of those who remained were men of evil life. The Pres byterians of the Middle Colonies generally declined, on principle, to baptize the children of Methodist parents, except under stipulations that were not agreeable. Why should not the Methodist ministers in so grave an emergency do this work themselves, and thus give their converts a full gospel ? That they had a perfect moral right to do so is beyond dispute. But Asbury, with the instinct of a practi cal statesman, was extremely anxious to do nothing that
158
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
might involve the possibility of a rupture with Wesley. He saw also that the unity of Methodism was a thing of supreme importance, and so he threw himself at once into an earnest effort to counterwork the plans of the Virginians. The following year he appeared in person at the Conference at Manakintown, Virginia, and, after long argument and affectionate appeal, succeeded in arresting what he believed to mean a schism. It was agreed that the resolutions of 1779 should be suspended for one year, on condition that an official letter should be written to Wesley, fully ac quainting him with the whole situation, and begging for any relief that he might be able to give. This letter was prepared by John Dickens, an old student of Eton College, and reached Wesley in due time. It did not, and under the circumstances could not, yield any immediate results, but there can be little doubt that it had much to do in deter mining the thorough-going measures that Wesley adopted in 1784.
THE
ORGANIZA TION AND GROWTH OF THE METHO DIST
EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
Wesley's views —
II
1784—1808
Wesley began his career as a bigoted High Churchman, and it was only by slow degrees that he came to entertain more liberal views on the subject of ecclesiastical polity. King's Primitive Church, which he read on the road from London to Bristol in 1746, seriously altered his opinions. By 1756 he had undergone a complete revolution, as already shown, and wrote :
I still believe the episcopal form of government to be scrip tural and apostolical ; I mean well agreeing with the practice and teaching of the Apostles ; but that it is prescribed in the Scriptures I do not believe. This opinion, which I once zeal ously espoused, I have been heartily ashamed of ever since I read Bishop Stillingfleet's Irenicon.
At a still later date he declared :
I firmly believe that I am a scriptural episcopos, as much as
IN THE UNITED STATES 159
any man in England : for the uninterrupted succession I know to be a fable which no man ever did or can prove.
Holding, then, these convictions, there was nothing to hinder Wesley from ordaining men to the ministry, except the mere question of expediency. He loved the Church of England passionately, and was very anxious that his followers should continue in close connexion with it. But in the end he could not avoid seeing that separation was inevitable ; and, since it was inevitable, at least in America, he made provision for it. After due and serious deliberation, on September 1, 1784, at Bristol, England, assisted by and Dr. Coke and Mr. Creighton, presbyters of the Church of ordinations. England, he ordained Thomas Vasey and Richard Whatcoat first as deacons and then as elders. At the same time he solemnly set apart Thomas Coke to be Superintendent, instructing him on his arrival in America to consecrate Francis Asbury to the same office. His own explanation of his action in the premisses is contained in a circular letter of September 1, 1784, addressed to the American Methodists.1 He says he felt that, as God had strangely made free the Methodists in America, it was best that they should stand fast in that liberty. They were totally disentangled from the church and the English hierarchy and he dare not entangle them again, either with the one or the other. This being so, he was in no doubt as to his duty. For he was convinced that he had the right to ordain, and so pro vide his own helpers for the needs of his followers in America. As to that right the perusal of Lord King's account of the primitive Christian Church had convinced him that bishops and presbyters were the same order, and had therefore the same right to ordain. He had frequently refused, though often requested, to ordain some of his travelling preachers in England. This he had done in order to keep the peace and to avoid the violation of the established order of the National Church, of which he was himself a member and
1 Quoted, supra, p. 85.
160 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
presbyter. But his scruples were at an end on this matter so far as America was concerned. No bishops had legal jurisdiction there, nor any parish ministers. Indeed, for hundreds of miles together there was no one to baptize, or administer the Lord's Supper. His appoint ments, therefore, violated no order and invaded no man's right.
Methodist The outcome of this action on Wesley's part was the
1784. organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America
by the General Conference that met in Baltimore, Christmas week, 1784. That Conference formally accepted the twenty- five articles of religion that Wesley had abridged from the Thirty-nine Articles of the English Church, and also the Revised Prayer-Book that he had prepared, printed in sheets, and sent over by Coke. This Prayer-Book contained both the Sunday Service and the forms for the administra tion of baptism and the Lord's Supper, and for the ordina tion of deacons, elders, and superintendents, ' the three distinct offices in the ministry of an episcopally constituted Church.' Asbury declined to accept the superin tendency without a formal election by his brethren ; and so both he and Dr. Coke were unanimously elected to the office, and on three successive days he was ordained respectively deacon, elder, and superintendent. Ten other ministers were elected and ordained as elders and four as deacons, and rules of discipline enacted.
At the time everybody understood perfectly what had been done. That a new Episcopal Church had been set up with Wesley's approval, and in direct pursuance of his own suggestions, was too evident to be then called in question. Charles Wesley grew indignant, and vented his feelings in cheap rhyme :
How easily now are bishops made
By man or woman's whim ! Wesley his hands on Coke hath laid,
But who laid hands on him ?
IN THE UNITED STATES 161
He also wrote a heated letter to his brother, saying : ' Dr. Coke's Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore was in tended to beget a Methodist Episcopal Church here. You know he comes, armed with your authority, to make us all Dissenters.' Wesley replied : ' I believe Dr. Coke to be as free from ambition as covetousness. He has done nothing rashly that I know.' At a later date, and in a moment of fretfulness, Wesley did object to Coke and Asbury allowing themselves to be called bishops instead of superintendents. That this objection was quite inconsistent with his former action is too plain to be denied. To create a Methodist Episcopal Church, give it articles of religion, provide it with a liturgy, and then be scandalized by the use of the word ' bishop,' which is simply episcopos writ short — the equivalent of the Latin word ' superintendent ' — was almost childish.
Bishop Coke came and went. There was some lack of Bishop continuity in his plans, and he was needed at home as well Coke- as in America. The value of his services is indisputable, though he never became an American, and never quite understood the country or the people. He was a little too much inclined to meddle with civil and political matters. His scheme of 1791 for union with the Protestant Episcopal Church was ill-advised, and came to nought. But after all discounts have been made, it must still be admitted that he played a great and worthy part in the establishment of Episcopal Methodism in America. Bishop Asbury gave Bishop himself absolutely for thirty-two years to the work of his Asbur~v- office, and made a record for single-minded and successful service that is almost without a parallel in ecclesiastical history. The sweep of his activities was continental. Nearly every year he travelled along the entire Atlantic seaboard from Maine to Georgia. Beginning as early as 1788, when the Mississippi valley was still an almost un broken wilderness, he crossed and recrossed the Alleghany Mountains more than sixty times. There was no kind of ministerial work that he did not perform, and that with almost superhuman diligence. Always in comparative
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162 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
poverty, often in physical weakness, frequently eating the coarsest food for weeks at a time, and sleeping in untidy and crowded cabins, or on the bare ground, in perils from swift rivers, from deep forests, from rough mountains, from savage Indians, he held on the even tenor of his way. He had not a great intellect, but he did possess a robust common sense. He was not a great scholar, but he had read widely and thoroughly on many lines, and had acquired enough Greek and Hebrew to help him materially in the study of the Bible. He was not a great orator, but he was a sound, strong, edifying preacher. His piety was deep and steady. Beyond most men of any age, he was addicted to prayer. For such high leadership as he gave the church should still be profoundly thankful to Almighty God.
When the General Conference of 1784 adjourned, it did so without making any provision for a second gathering of a like sort. Thereafter for eight years the bishops annually met the preachers for conference in larger or smaller groups in different parts of the country, inquired into the work, executed the Discipline, and made the appointments. Before any measures could be adopted affecting the whole church, it was necessary for them to go the rounds of all these Annual Conferences for approval ; for as yet all authority resided in the body of travelling preachers. It was soon found that this was an awkward way of doing business ; and, after an abortive experiment with a Council The of the Bishops and Presiding Elders in 1789-90, a second
ConfTence, General Conference was called in 1792. Like that of 1784, 1792. it was simply a mass convention of all the itinerant ministers
in the Connexion, without any restrictions whatever on its powers. The most signal thing about it was that it fur nished the occasion for the first schism. An influential elder, James O'Kelly, and a number of others with him, insisted upon the adoption of a new rule limiting the power of the bishops in the making of the appointments, by pro viding that any preacher who might be displeased with his appointment should have had the right of appeal to the Annual Conference ; and when this measure was defeated,
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they drew off and set up a separate church on extremely democratic principles.
Other General Conferences followed in quadrennial order till 1808, permanency for them having been secured by the efforts of Bishop Coke. We have only meagre accounts of their proceedings. The session of 1800, for example, is disposed of by Asbury in fifteen lines. Two days were spent in discussing the question of Dr. Coke's return to Europe, parts of two days in electing Richard Whatcoat as bishop, and one in raising the preachers' salaries from sixty-four to eighty dollars. There was much preaching, deep religious feeling, and over two hundred conversions occurred.
During this period the church prospered amazingly, Rapid especially in the south and west. Not merely on the Atlantic &rowt 1- slope, but far and wide through the Mississippi valley the itinerant preachers conducted revivals, organized con gregations, built houses of worship, and proved themselves to be worthy successors of the apostles. Beginning in Kentucky and Tennessee about 1800, there spread through out the whole west one of the most remarkable revivals of religion in the history of the Christian Church. To this day it has hardly become a spent force. It saved the west from the French infidelity current in all that region, and also from the coarseness, the brutality, and the immorality that were so characteristic of the virile and enterprising border communities.
From the time of this Great Revival the Methodist Camp- The origin meeting dated its origin. At some central point in a circuit clnip*. or district, where there was a good supply of pure water meeting. and other conveniences, the widely scattered people would come together, some in wagons or carriages, some on horse back, and some on foot, erect a rude arbour as a preaching- place and ruder tents in which to cook and eat and sleep, and spend from five to ten days in the worship of God. On Sundays there were often congregations of thousands of hearers. Services of some sort were kept up from morning till far in the night. The preaching was often of a high
164 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
order, and the effects produced of a profound and lasting character. As an exceptional means of grace, answering to the times and circumstances, the Camp-meetings, though always accompanied by some things that could not be approved, were most valuable. Freeborn Garrettson, who had successfully broken ground in Canada, now led the way up the valley of the Hudson, and laid the firm and solid foundations of Methodism in the Empire State. The New England States were the last field to be entered. Jesse Lee appeared there in 1792. He had come up out of Virginia, was thirty-two years old, of magnificent physique, with a voice like a flute, quick-witted, eloquent, fervent, self- denying, and threw himself soul-headlong into the task. It was hard, almost incredibly so, but in the end he won a great victory.
Ministerial A Publishing House was started in Philadelphia as ear1^ as 1789' Cokesbury College in Maryland had been carried on for ten years at a cost of $50,000, and had then unfortunately been burned to the ground. Bethel College in Kentucky had not proved to be a pronounced success ; but other educational enterprises were on foot. All the signs of a living and growing church were present.
Nearly all the itinerant preachers at this period were young men. As soon as they married they usually located, and with good reason. On the meagre salaries they were paid it was virtually impossible for them to maintain their families in common decency, much less in comfort. But there was an immense loss to the itinerancy in this constant drainage of its best experience and its maturest wisdom. No fresh levy of undisciplined recruits is fit to take the place of veterans. Asbury and Coke both saw the conditions and bewailed them. The former, who lived and died a bachelor, thought that the cure for the evil should be sought in voluntary celibacy. The latter looked deeper, and said : ' The location of so many scores of our ablest and most experienced preachers tears my heart to pieces.' He further recognized that the preachers themselves, in their anxiety to be utterly free from any suspicion of covetousness,
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had encouraged by act and speech the low views that the churches entertained in regard to ministerial support.
Ill
Up to and including the year 1808 all the General Con- THE ferences were held in Baltimore, which had become the centre and chief stronghold of the connexion. But in the PERIOD, course of time, as the church began to spread in all directions, the feeling grew up that the outlying Annual Conferences, owing to the great distances to be travelled, had not a fair chance in the supreme Synod. Only a few of their members could attend, while from Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Virginia the attendance was very large. Thoughtful men, furthermore, became increasingly doubtful whether the whole structure of the church, including both its doctrines and its polity, should be at the absolute mercy of an un restricted legislature. So in 1808, though a similar project had been defeated four years earlier, provision was made for a delegated General Conference acting under the limita tions of a written Constitution in the form of Six Restrictive The Con- Rules. This Constitution was drawn by Joshua Soule of jg0g j10^ Maine, then only twenty-seven years of age. For the next Restrictive sixty years, and especially on two or three memorable occa sions, he was its chief champion and defender. It secured at once greater stability for the church itself and for all its institutions. As became manifest, however, first in 1820 and again in 1844, there was one weak spot in it ; it left the General Conference to be the sole judge of the legality of its own actions. This evil was remedied in the Methodist Episcopal Church South, in 1870, by giving the bishops a modified veto on constitutional questions. In the Metho dist Episcopal Church the difficulty still exists. The late Bishop Stephen M. Merrill, a church lawyer of almost un rivalled ability, in an article published only a few months before his death, said :
We have no Supreme Court, no tribunal of any sort, aside from the General Conference, to which can be referred questions
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of legality of legislation by that body. This is the lame point in our system, and it is a serious defect. In state, national, or municipal affairs such a condition would be intolerable.
William McKendree.
The same Conference that adopted the Constitution elected William McKendree as the first native American bishop. He was a Virginian, fifty-one years old, and had been twenty years in the work. For the preceding eight years he had travelled in the great Western Conference, including Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and the regions be yond. It is said that the question of his election was settled by a wonderful sermon that he preached on the first Conference Sunday. But he had all the qualities of a bishop, —deep piety, a zeal for souls, an energy that never slackened, a courage that nothing could daunt. He possessed also a positive genius for constructive statesmanship, an insight into first principles, a breadth of view that would have fitted him to rule a nation. In sheer ability he towered far above all his colleagues till Soule came in 1824.
It turned out, as might have been expected, that while nothing was lost by the adoption of the Constitution, much Evangelistic was gained. There followed immediately a vast develop ment of evangelical activity. The church grew by leaps and bounds, pushing itself with resistless energy into every corner of the land. Though suffering through this period from four separate schisms, and from the withdrawal of Canadian Methodism, it more than made good all its losses by gains from the world. The climax of growth was reached during the quadrennium of 1840-44, which showed an in crease of about 375,000 communicants.
A great company of notable men now entered the itiner ancy, and, for the most part; remained in it. In 1816 Enoch George and Robert R. Roberts, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Maryland, were added to the College of Bishops. Both were good men and able preachers, but neither of them possessed commanding abilities. In 1820 Joshua Soule was elected to the same office, by a majority of only six votes. He was too strong a man not
activity.
Joshua Soule.
PLATE XIV
FBEEBORN G-ABRBTTSONT, Asbury's
comrade ; received 1776 ; d. 1828.
DR. WILBUR FISK, FIRST PRESI DENT OP WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY; b. 1792; d. 1839.
WILLIAM MPKENDREE ; J>. Bishop, 1808 ; d. ISc
DR. NATHAN BANGS ; b. 1778 ; for CO years one of the most repre sentative Methodists in the U.S.
DR. MATTHEW SIMPSON ;'&. 1811 Bishop, 18.32 ; d. 1884.
DR. HOLLAND M. MCTYEIRE ; Bishop, 1860, and historian of M.E.C. South : d. 1889.
RICHARD ALLEN, Founder and Bishop of the African M.E. Church, 1816 ; d. ISIU.
II. lOfi1
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to have aroused antagonisms, and he now took a step that looked as if he meant to make an end of his influence in the church. Six days after his election the General Con ference passed resolutions making Presiding Elders elective by the several Annual Conferences. Thereupon he addressed a note to the bishops, declining to be ordained, and saying that he could not conscientiously undertake to administer the office of bishop under a law that he conceived to be a violation of the constitution of the church.
In 1824 Soule was again elected on the second ballot by a majority of one vote, and, the obnoxious resolutions having been suspended, he consented to be ordained. He was a truly majestic character, and filled his high office with dignity for forty-three years. Elijah Hedding, another Hedding, New Englander, was named as Soule's colleague. He was a man of whom it would be difficult to speak too highly. He had a frame of iron, a penetrating intellect, a diligence that never slept, a sense of justice that nothing could obscure, and a self-denying devotion to Christ and the church that literally knew no bounds. In 1832 the Episco pacy was further reinforced by the election of James 0. Andrew of Georgia, and John Emory of Maryland. The former was only thirty-eight years old, but was already a tested man. Beginning with but a scanty English education, he had grown by his own efforts, and by the responsibilities of his calling, to large mental proportions. It had been his lot to travel the hardest circuits, and to fill the best city stations, in his native state and in the two Carolinas. His preaching was in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. As a platform speaker he had few equals. In depth of genuine and unpretentious piety he ranked with the best. No other man except William Capers had shown so much interest in the evangelization of the slaves. It was the very irony of fate, if it be allowable to use such an expression, that this man should twelve years later become a veritable storm-centre in the church. John Emory was ' a polished shaft.' He came of a wealthy and influential family, and received a thorough classical education. Trained for the
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Fisk.
Bangs, Cartwright, and other notable loaders.
Bar, he disappointed the wishes of his father by hearkening to what he believed to be a divine call to the ministry. His whole career was most honourable. Before reaching his thirtieth year, he had become a recognized leader. He was now only a little past forty, and the church justly looked to him for long and efficient service, but within less than three years he was thrown from his carriage and killed near Baltimore. In 1836 Beverly Waugh and Thomas A. Morris, both Virginians, though the latter spent most of his life in Ohio, were chosen and consecrated as chief pastors. Both had already rendered effective service in many ways, and both proved to be wise and strong in their new and larger sphere of action. Wilbur Fisk of Vermont, then absent in Europe, was elected with them ; but on his re turn he declined the office, because he felt it was his duty to remain in the Presidency of Wesley an University. More than any man of his day, he was the idol of the whole church. The South loved him as much as the North. College-bred, an accomplished if not a profound scholar, a superior preacher, a judicious legislator, a born polemist after the pattern of John Fletcher, and a saint in the higher sense of the word, he was marked out for eminence. His death at the early age of forty-seven was universally mourned.
Among other men of note were Nathan Bangs, born in Connecticut, converted in Canada, for sixty years one of the most representative Methodists in the United States, ' the founder of its periodical literature, and one of the founders of its present system of educational institutions, the first Missionary Secretary appointed by its General Conference, the first clerical editor of its General Conference newspaper press, the first editor of its Quarterly Review, and for many years the chief editor of its monthly magazine and its book publications ' ; Lovick Pierce of South Carolina and Georgia, commanding in appearance and in character, who sat as a leader in every General Conference from 1812 to 1878, and was one of the foremost preachers of any de nomination in the country ; William Capers, also of South Carolina, reared in affluence, a graduate of the university
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of his native state, strong with the strength of gentleness, admired by the rich, passionately loved by the poor, founder, defender, and supporter of the missions to the slaves, first fraternal messenger from America to the British Wesleyan Conference, finally third Bishop of the Southern Church ; Peter Cartwright of Kentucky and Illinois, an apostle of muscular Christianity, for more than fifty years a Presiding Elder, once a Democratic candidate for Congress against Lincoln, author of an intensely interesting autobiography that must, however, be read with discriminating allowance ; James Axley, roughest of rough workers, toiling manfully in Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and Louisiana, bitter op ponent of whisky and slavery, fearing the face of no man, yet with a conscience as sensitive and tender as a woman's ; John Early of Virginia, converted in his youth, beginning his ministry by preaching to the slaves of Mr. Jefferson, appointed Presiding Elder by Asbury at twenty-seven, a mighty evangelist and a man of affairs, time and again declining offers of civil promotion, first Book Agent and eighth Bishop of the Southern Church ; William Winans, born in Pennsylvania, called to preach in Kentucky, and spending nearly forty laborious years in Mississippi, awkward and ungainly in appearance but with a titanic intellect, the greatest debater of the church in his day, and boldly taking the field against the leading politicians of his State to defend the right of the negro to religious instruction ; Peter Akers, who left Virginia and went to Illinois because he was an opponent on principle of slavery, no mean scholar, a great preacher, an influential citizen ; Joseph B. Finley, of the type of Cartwright and Axley, a boisterous and wicked youth, born in North Carolina, converted in Ken tucky, and for forty years a flame of fire in Ohio ; Henry B. Bascom, a native of New York, but reared in Kentucky, an itinerant preacher at seventeen, and chaplain of the United States Senate before he was thirty, through the in fluence of Henry Clay, handsome as Apollo, an astounding orator, president of two or three colleges in succession, first editor of the Quarterly Review of the Methodist
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Episcopal Church South, and fifth Bishop ; Robert Paine, a North Carolinian reared in Tennessee, admitted to the itinerancy at an early age, the intimate friend, travelling companion, and best biographer of Bishop McKendree, President for seventeen years of La Grange College, Chair man of the Committee of Thirteen that matured the Plan of Separation in the General Conference of 1844, fourth Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, a sound, com plete man, the balance of whose character has somewhat kept him from receiving the full recognition to which his greatness is entitled ; John B. McFerrin, a Scotch-Irishman born in Tennessee while it was yet a wilderness, a physical giant with a homely face and a nasal voice, the most intense of Methodists, ready to fight for the cause against all comers, full of humour, a terrible antagonist in a running debate, and a preacher who looked for definite results and got them, eighteen years editor of the Nashville Christian Advocate, twelve years Book Agent, and twelve Missionary Secretary, with an immense personal following to whom his word was almost law ; John P. Durbin, apprentice boy to a cabinet maker in Central Kentucky, converted at eighteen, and joining the Conference soon after, taking advantage of his proximity to various colleges in Ohio to complete a classical course while going the rounds of his circuits, afterwards himself College Professor and President, editor of the Christian Advocate, and finally for long years the greatest of Missionary Secretaries, and a unique and most impres sive preacher ; and Stephen Olin, a native of Vermont, thoroughly well educated, converted while teaching school in South Carolina, and at once beginning to preach, leaving a luminous track behind him in all the Southern seaboard, first President of Randolph Mac on College in Virginia, then succeeding Wilbur Fisk at Wesleyan University, colossal in intellect and character, and, in the judgement of those who were competent to speak, the greatest of the American Methodists of his times.
Missionary Many important forward steps were now taken. In 1816 ments.P a Tract Society was organized in New York, and in 1819
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a Missionary and a Bible Society. Both were adopted and made connexional by the General Conference of 1820. Organized missionary work was begun among the Wyandot Indians of Ohio, under the direction of Joseph B. Finley, in 1819 ; among the Creeks of lower Georgia and Alabama, under William Capers and Isaac Smith in 1821 ; among the Cherokees of Upper Georgia and Alabama and East Tennessee, under Richard Neely and A. J. Crawford, in 1822 ; among the Choctaws and Chickasaws of Mississippi, under Alexander Talley, in 1827. The story is one of fascinating interest, but cannot be told in detail.
In the cities and towns, and in many country places Among throughout the South, the Methodist ministers from the *egroes very outset had preached to the negroes as well as the whites, and had been made glad by the sight of many thou sand sable converts. But in 1829 the South Carolina Con ference, again under the leadership of Capers and Andrew, had the great honour of pioneering the way in systematic and sustained work for the salvation of the negroes who were segregated in masses on the rice and cotton plantations along the seaboard — one of the most difficult, delicate, and successful enterprises ever undertaken by any church in any age. In about a quarter of a century this Conference had twenty-six separate stations served by thirty-two picked men — none other were thought fit — and the move ment had spread through every one of the Cotton States. Whoever wishes to read the marvellous narrative of this achievement will find it set forth in Bishop Wightman's Life of Capers, and in Dr. W. P. Harrison's The Gospel among the Slaves.
In this connexion also we must note the first tentative Missionary movements towards foreign fields. In 1833 Melville B. Cox, a native of Maine, then thirty-two years old, and stationed at Raleigh, North Carolina, was sent as a mis sionary to the Negro Republic of Liberia. After making a good start, he died of fever, saying, ' Let a thousand fall before Africa be given up.' In seventeen years twenty-five white missionaries died from the climate or fled from it
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Publishing enterprises.
Higher education.
in ruined health. The work under negro preachers has since prospered. In 1835 Rev. F. E. Pitts of Tennessee was sent out to view the land in South America. He visited Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, and Buenos Ayres, and returned with a favourable report. Under the wise care of Dr. Dempster, who soon followed him, the founda tions were laid in the two last-mentioned cities of the large missions that continue to this day. Brazil was not per manently occupied till 1875, and then by the Southern Church.
The publishing interests of the church shared in the general prosperity. The Methodist Magazine, which in the course of time developed into the Methodist Quarterly Review, got fairly on its feet in 1818, and soon had ten thousand subscribers. It had been preceded by various local papers. In 1816 the Christian Advocate (New York), at present one of the greatest religious journals in the world, was started by the Book Agents. It soon absorbed both Zion's Herald of Boston and the Wesley an Journal of Charleston, S.C., and before many years had a subscription list of nearly thirty thousand. To meet the wants of the church beyond the mountains, the Western Methodist Book Concern was set up at Cincinnati by the General Conference of 1820, and in 1832 it was instructed to begin the publication of the Western Christian Advocate, though the first number, with Thomas A. Morris as editor, did not leave the press till May 2, 1834. In 1836 new Advocates were authorized for Richmond, Nashville, and Charleston. That the whole business was on a solid basis was proven this same year. A great fire consumed the publishing plant in Mulberry Street, New York, entailing a loss of $250,000 with only $25,000 insurance. Contributions amounting to $90,000 were given by the church to assist the Agents, and business was soon going on again at the usual pace.
The years between 1830 and 1845 were noted for a revival of interest in higher education. They witnessed the origin of the Wesleyan University at Middletown, Connecticut, under Dr. Wilbur Fisk ; of Randolph Macoii College at
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Boydton, Virginia, under Dr. Stephen Olin ; of La Grange College, Alabama, under Dr. Robert Paine ; of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, under Dr. John P. Durbin ; of McKendree College, Lebanon, Illinois, under Dr. Peter Akers ; of Emory and Henry College, Virginia, under Charles Collins ; and of Emory College, Georgia, under Dr. Ignatius Few.
The peaceable withdrawal of the Canadian Methodists Withdrawal falls to be considered here. Methodism was introduced ?fthe,.
Canadian
into Canada both by the Wesley ans of England and by Methodists, the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States. The two types, though one in essential respects, were de cidedly different in outward features. When they met on the same ground, there was inevitable friction. To relieve this friction, Dr. John Emory, representing the Methodist Episcopal Church, negotiated in 1820 an arrangement with the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, by the terms of which Lower Canada should thereafter fall to the one church and Upper Canada to the other. By the General Conference of 1824 the whole of Upper Canada, which had previously been embraced in the New England and Genesee Conferences, was made a separate Annual Conference. Four years later the delegates from it represented that they found the fact of an alien ecclesiastical jurisdiction a hindrance to their work, and asked to be allowed to set up for themselves. In the most Christian spirit imaginable, the General Conference complied with their request, also giving them their due share of interest in the Book Concern and the Chartered Fund. Precisely the same principles were involved in this action as underlay the Plan of Sepa ration between the North and the South in 1844. In 1833 the Episcopal Methodists of Canada, with the exception of a small body, united with the Wesleyans.
In spite of the great progress of the church, perhaps in Secessions. some degree on account of it, this was an era of agitation and schism. The AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH (Bethel) was organized by ' Come Outers ' from the Metho dist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia in 1816, and the
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AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH (Zion) in New York a little later. Both have become widespread, denomi nations with an aggregate membership of nearly a million souls. The story of their schism, as narrated by their own writers, is melancholy reading. The substance of it is this : that they were forced to do what they did by the unchristian treatment they received from their white fellow Methodists. This story needs to be taken with some caution, yet, on the whole, it is undoubtedly true. Up to the close of the Civil War about the only thing the white Methodists of the North did for the negro was to embarrass by their agitations the labours actually being carried on in his behalf by their white brethren in the South.
Methodist Another schism of greater importance occurred in 1830.
Church*"1* ^6 have seen that from the very beginning there was more 1830. or less dissatisfaction in regard to the regulation inherited
from Wesley, by which the appointments of the preacher were left wholly in the hands of the bishops. On this issue O'Kelly had gone out in 1792. It had been revived and debated in one form or other in seven or eight succeeding General Conferences. As already noticed, the General Conference of 1820 had passed resolutions providing for an elective Presiding Eldership, and Soule had consequently declined to be ordained Bishop. His view was, that the Bishops alone being responsible to the General Conference for the due administration of the itinerancy, and their administration being closely scrutinized every four years, they ought not to be hampered or restricted in their autho rity. By his influence and the potent assistance of Bishop McKendree, the enactment above referred to was suspended till 1828, and then dropped. Many of the leaders of the church, including Bishop George, Beverly Waugh, and John Emory, favoured it. Other questions grew up around it ; such as the status of local preachers and the rights of the laity. Much was to be said on each side. The dis cussion became more and more acrimonious, drifting quite away in many instances from the consideration of prin-
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ciples to the vilification of persons. When it finally be came evident that the Reformers, as they called themselves — the other party called them Radicals — had lost the day, a considerable number of them drew off and set up the Methodist Protestant Church. But a multitude who were expected to follow were not quite ready for the extreme step. Writing about this church sixty -four years later, Bishop McTyeire said :
Its polity is marked with an extreme jealousy of power, which is lodged nowhere, but ' distributed ' ; and there are guards and balances and checks. This honour justly belongs to the Methodist Protestant Church ; its one good, peculiar principle — lay delegation — has in late years been incorporated into the chief Methodist bodies of Europe and America.
The Wesleyan Methodist Church was organized in 1842 The by Orange Scott, Luther Lee, L. C. Matlack, Le Roy Sunder- slave4ry
J & J question.
land, and others. It originated solely in the anti-slavery agitation, and made non-slaveholding a condition of mem bership. At this point, therefore, better than anywhere else, we find the proper place for considering the whole subject of the relation of American Methodism to slavery. Wesley's attitude was unequivocal. The African slave trade he described as ' the sum of all villanies,' and for slavery itself he had only hatred and contempt. White- field, on the other hand, was a slave-holder. At his death he bequeathed his fifty slaves to the Countess of Huntingdon. She bought still more, and subsequently complained bitterly that her Georgia overseer had ' driven forty-one of the best of them to Boston and sold them.'
It is safe to say that the early Methodist preachers, almost to a man, were emancipationists. Many of them, such as Philip Gatch and Freeborn Garrettson, promptly emanci pated their own slaves. Jesse Lee persuaded his father to take the same step. As far as the records show, the first Conference Conference action on the subject was taken in Baltimore ^ in 1780: 'Ought not this Conference to require those holding of travelling preachers who hold slaves to give a promise
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to set them free ? Answer. Yes.1 A further minute, not quite so strong, was added in regard to slave-holding laymen : ' We pass our disapprobation on all our friends who keep slaves, and advise their freedom.' It does not surprise us, therefore, to learn that the first General Con ference, 1784, reinforced as it was by the ultra-abolitionism of Dr. Coke, delivered itself in an uncompromising way. Speaking at length, it said, among other things : ' We therefore think it our most bounden duty to take im mediately some effectual method to extirpate this abomina tion from among us.' The method actually adopted consisted in the addition of new rules, by the terms of which every slave-holder, in states where such action was allowable under the law, was required to execute and record a legal instrument emancipating all his slaves at once or within a fixed term of years. To make this measure more effective, the preachers were strictly charged with its execution. Members who should decline to comply with the new re quirement were to be given the privilege of withdrawing. If they would not withdraw, they were to be expelled.
When the Conference closed, Coke set out on an episcopal tour through Virginia. The fire was in his bones and he was bound to testify. It did not take him long to dis cover that he was likely to stir up much strife. By the time he had reached the North Carolina line he was in a more sober mood, and prepared to accept the view that it would not be wise for him to inveigh against the laws of that State, which then forbade emancipation. The other preachers must have had a like experience. For six months later, at the session of the Baltimore Conference, June 1785, Coke himself being in the chair, the following note was inserted in the minutes :
It is recommended to all our brethren to suspend the execution of the minute on slavery till the deliberations of a future Conference, and that an equal space of time be allowed all our members for consideration, when the minute shall be put in force.
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But it was never put in force. There . were slave-holders Action in the Methodist Episcopal Church, North and South, as susPended. long as there were slaves anywhere in America.
This does not mean that the whole matter was thereafter let alone. It was not let alone, but was brought up again and again, and furnished occasion for agitation during three quarters of a century. In the General Minutes for 1787 the following timely and scriptural directions are found :
What directions shall we give for the promotion of the spiritual welfare of the coloured people ? . . . We conjure all our ministers and preachers, by the love of God, and the salvation of souls, and do require them, by all the authority that is in vested in us, to leave nothing undone for the spiritual benefit and salvation of them, within their respective circuits or dis tricts ; and for this purpose to embrace every opportunity of inquiring into the state of their souls, and to unite into society those who appear to have a real desire to flee from the wrath to come ; to meet such in class, and to exercise the whole Methodist Discipline among them.
The legislation of the subsequent General Conference was somewhat confused in character. For example, in 1804 stringent emancipation rules were enacted, and then geographically limited in their application. In 1808 each Annual Conference was ' authorized to make its own rules about buying and selling slaves ' ; but in 1816 the General A com- Conference resolved that ' no slaveholder shall be eligible to any official station hereafter, where the laws of the State in which he lives will admit of emancipation, and permit the liberated slaves to enjoy freedom."1 This measure was a com promise, and continued in force till the separation.
Gradually there grew up a party in the church that took Difficulties a concrete rather than an abstract view of slavery. To case16 quote Bishop McTyeire once more :
It was a part of social life, as it had come down to them.
It was wrought into domestic and industrial institutions, and
was recognized and regulated by civil law. If they could have
formed a community or State on theory, slavery would not
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178 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
have entered into it ; it was an evil which they would have precluded by choice and on policy. But for a hundred and fifty years the ships of Bristol and Liverpool and Boston had been unloading captive slaves on the shores of what is now the United States ; and the unquestioned usages of Christian kings and governments, of churches and ministers and people, had wrought them into the fabric of the community.
Very naturally the men who reasoned thus came to doubt whether compulsory and universal emancipation by civil or ecclesiastical enactment would prove a blessing either to the slaves or to their masters. They foresaw it would issue in vast social and domestic disruptions, and would raise more questions than it could possibly settle. With their Bibles in their hands, moreover, they could not believe that the mere fact of holding slaves was a sin. They were aware that the first Methodist in America was Nathaniel Gilbert of Antigua, who, with two of his servants, was bap tized by Wesley himself at Wandsworth, near London, in 1760 ; and they had the spectacle before their own eyes of thousands of God-fearing men and women who were slave holders by inheritance or marriage, and who accepted their servants as a trust to be accounted for in the Judgement Day. They took their stand on the ground occupied by Richard Watson in his apostolic letter of ' Instructions to the Wesleyan Missionaries ' of the West Indies in 1830. This was the position to which Asbury finally came, as is shown by an entry in his Journal of date February 1, 1809. To the same conclusion came likewise William McKendree, and Joshua Soule, and Wilbur Fisk, and Stephen Olin and Daniel D. Whedon. Their doctrine was that the preaching of the gospel would gradually and normally work its own results in due time.
Abolition- But there was another party made up of honest and
ists. courageous men who held slavery to be intrinsically a sin,
a thing, therefore, not to be tolerated in any way by the Church of God. They did not come exclusively from any one section of the country. William Ormond, whom Dr. Stevens describes as ' a noble man, though a Southerner '-
IN THE UNITED STATES 179
oh the humour of it ! — was a native of North Carolina. As long as he lived he sought to keep his conscience clear by protesting against the presence of slave-holders. James Axley was another Southerner of the same class. The majority of the extreme abolitionists, however, came from New England and central New York. Hoping against hope, they held on till the General Conferences of 1836 and 1840 made strong pronouncements against ' modern abolition ism,' as a divisive acrimonious crusade for the immediate freedom of the slaves, without reference to the existing conditions or ultimate consequences. Thereupon, as herein before detailed, the extremest of them resorted to the expedient of setting up a separate communion. Whether they pursued the proper course, is a question that does not need to be debated here. But it is impossible to withhold from them the admiration that is always due to those that are willing, in pursuit of principle, to forgo personal advan tage and accept inevitable loss and hardship. Their with drawal produced a reaction in the church, and led many men in the North, who had previously occupied conservative ground, to take up a more pronounced anti-slavery attitude. The delegates who came up from the South in 1844 had no conception of the extent to which this change had gone, and were greatly surprised at its manifestations.
IV
When the General Conference of 1844 met, there were THE rumours afloat to the effect that Bishop James 0. Andrew had become a slave-holder ; and on the 20th day of the CHURCH, session it was moved by John A. Collins of the Baltimore l Conference that the Committee on Episcopacy be instructed Bishop to ascertain the facts in the case and report the same to the body. Two days later the Committee made its report, holder embodying in it the following letter received from the Bishop :
To the Committee on Episcopacy — Dear Brethren : In reply to your inquiry I submit the following statement of all the
180 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
facts bearing on my connexion with slavery. Several years since, an old lady of Augusta, Georgia, bequeathed to me a mulatto girl, in trust that I should take care of her until she should be nineteen years of age ; that with her consent I should then send her to Liberia ; and that in case of her refusal, that I should keep her, and make her as free as the laws of the State of Georgia would permit. When the time arrived, she refused to go to Liberia, and of her own choice remains legally my slave, although I derive no pecuniary profit from her. She continues to live in her own house on my lot ; and has been and is at present at perfect liberty to go to a free State at her pleasure ; but the laws of the State will not permit her emancipation, nor admit such deed of emancipation to record, and she refuses to leave the State. In her case, therefore, I have been made a slave-holder legally, but not with my own consent. Secondly : About five years since, the mother of my former wife left to her daughter, not to me, a negro boy ; and as my wife died without a will more than two years since, by the laws of the State he becomes legally my property. In this case, as in the former, emancipation is impracticable in the State ; but he shall be at liberty to leave the State whenever I shall be satisfied that he is prepared to provide for himself, or that I can have sufficient security that he will be protected and provided for in the place to which he may go. Third : In the month of January last I married my present wife, she being at the time possessed of slaves, inherited from her former husband's estate, and belonging to her. Shortly after my marriage, being unwilling to become their owner, regarding them as strictly hers, and the law not permitting their emancipation, I secured them to her by deed of trust.
It will be obvious to you from the above statement of facts that I have neither bought nor sold a slave ; that in the only two instances in which I am legally a slave-holder emancipation is impracticable. As to the servants owned by my wife, I have no legal responsibility in the premisses, nor could my wife eman cipate them if she desired to do so. I have thus plainly stated all the facts in the case, and submit the statement for the con sideration of the General Conference. Yours respectfully,
JAMES 0. ANDREW.
On the next day Alfred Griffith and John Davis, of the Baltimore Conference, offered a long preamble and the
IN THE UNITED STATES 181
following resolution : ' Resolved, that the Rev. James O. Andrew be, and is hereby, affectionately requested to resign.' Bishop Andrew would have been more than happy to comply with this request. He was not an ambitious man, and the episcopal office had no charms for him. But the Southern Delegates, seeing how grave a principle was involved, insisted that he should do no such thing. A great debate followed, the greatest, perhaps, in the whole history of the American Church. While it was in progress a sub stitute for the pending question was brought forward by J. B. Finley and J. M. Trimble, of the Ohio Conference :
Whereas the Discipline of our church forbids the doing of proposed anything calculated to destroy our itinerant general superin- deposition tendency ; and whereas Bishop Andrew has become connected 0^ce with slavery by marriage and otherwise ; and this act having drawn after it circumstances which, in the estimation of the General Conference, will greatly embarrass the exercise of his office as an itinerant General Superintendent, if not in some places entirely prevent it ; therefore, Resolved, That it is the sense of this General Conference that he desist from the exercise of this office so long as this impediment remains.
After this the battle proceeded. In spite, however, of the deep excitement that prevailed, there was no display of improper tempers. Everybody that spoke at all did so with wonderful reserve and moderation.
Against the Christian character of Bishop Andrew not a word was uttered. Even those who were most pained by what they regarded as his indiscretion did not venture to assail his integrity. Dr. Stephen Olin, of New England— himself long a resident in the South — in an address that was a marvel of strength and comprehensiveness, announced His his reluctant purpose to vote for the substitute, but added : character.
If ever there was a man worthy to fill the Episcopal office by his disinterestedness, his love of the Church, his ardent, melting sympathy for all the interests of humanity, but above all by his unreserved and uncompromising advocacy of the interests of the slaves — if these are the qualifications for the
182 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
The
hesitant
attitude
of the
church
generally.
office of a bishop, then James 0. Andrew is pre-eminently fitted to hold the office. ... I know no man who has been so bold an advocate of the interests of the slaves ; and when I have been constrained to refrain from saying what perhaps I should have said, I have heard him at camp-meetings, and on other public occasions, call fearlessly on masters to see to the temporal and spiritual interests of their slaves as a high Christian duty.
Neither, on the other hand, was one word spoken in defence of slavery. On the contrary, even that most pronounced of Southerners, Dr. William A. Smith of Virginia, expressed the general feeling when he declared in discussing another case a few days before :
I say slavery is an evil because I feel it to be an evil. And who cannot say the same that has trod the soil of the South ? It is an evil. The Discipline declares the truth when it says, ' We are as much as ever convinced of the great evil of slavery.' Yes, we say that slavery is an evil, and that the Southern people know and feel it to be an evil. Who knows how the shoe pinches but he who wears it ? And who more than we who have been compelled to submit to it to the present moment ? So sorely did we in Virginia feel the evils of slavery and groan under them, that, from the debates in 1831 in the Virginia Legislature and the popular sentiment expressed by pulpit and press, no doubt was entertained that the State was about to adopt immediate measures for its gradual extirpation.
At the same time, no one, with possibly a single excep tion, took the position that slavery was per se a sin. The vast majority of the Methodists, North and South— though there were notable exceptions — did not at that time hold such a belief, and did not meditate measures for ridding the church of its slave-holding ministers and members. Of such ministers and members there were many. It was declared in a convention of extreme abolitionists held a little earlier at Hallowell, Maine, that—
from a careful collection of documentary evidence, with other well-attested facts, there are within the Methodist Epis copal Church 200 travelling preachers holding 1,600 slaves ;
IN THE UNITED STATES 183
about 1,000 local preachers holding 10,000 ; and about 25,000 members holding 207,900 more.
Not the slightest hint was thrown out in the General Conference of a purpose to move against these brethren who were in the same boat with Bishop Andrew. In re ferring to this fact the Southern General Conference of 1850 grew ironical, and charged the Northern branch of the church with ' not only retaining all the slave-holding mem bers already under their charge, but with making arrange ments to gather as many more into the fold as practicable.'
To the Southerners, therefore, it looked as if the action The proposed in Bishop Andrew's case involved the application Southernere- of a sliding scale of morals. As a resident of the State of Georgia, which prohibited emancipation, he was as clearly under the protection of the Conference Statutes of 1808 and 1816 as were his associates in the ministry. The mere fact that he was a bishop did not affect the moral quality of his conduct, nor did it subject him to any special legal disabilities. Consistency surely required either that he should be held guiltless, or else that all others in like case should be exposed to the same penalty. Any other course meant nothing less than a substitution of expediency for principle. Yet it must be confessed that there were aspects of the matter which created grave difficulties in the Northern Conferences. The men on both sides of the line were face to face with a situation that it was hard for them to handle without doing serious harm. It was the firm persuasion of the Southern delegates that, if they submitted to the will of the North in the premisses, they would thereby effectually cut themselves off from the possibility of any further service to the slaves and their masters. They also felt morally certain that the demand for Bishop Andrew's deposition would be followed, in a few years at the furthest, by exactions upon others of a severer and more comprehensive nature. Dr. Olin spoke what they all knew to be true when he declared :
With regard to the Southern brethren — and I hold that on this question at least I may speak with some confidence — if
The
declaration
and
protest
of the
Southern
Delegates.
184 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
they concede what the Northern brethren wish, if they concede that holding slaves is incompatible with holding their ministry, they may as well go to the Kocky Mountains as to their own sunny plains.
Nothing in the whole debate was more pathetic than the plea of the Southern delegates that nothing should be done that would interfere with their mission to the negroes.
Yet, in spite of all this, it was sought to pass a resolution that virtually deposed Bishop Andrew from his office with out even the pretence or shadow of a trial. The right of the General Conference to do this thing was the burden of the very able argument made by Dr. Leonidas L. Hamline, who was a few days later rewarded for his efforts by his own election to the episcopacy. A few of the Northern delegates did not go to that extreme length, but preferred to regard the resolution under debate as advisory. But the great majority would hear of no such thing, and voted down the resolution to that effect offered at a subsequent stage of the proceedings by Drs. Slicer and Sargent of the Balti more Conference.
When the discussion was closed, the substitute of Messrs. Finley and Trimble was adopted by a vote of 111 Yeas to 69 Nays. On June 5 the Southern Delegates, through Dr. Lovick Pierce, filed a brief ' Declaration.' Before the session was over they followed up this Declaration with a closely reasoned ' Protest,' prepared and read by Dr. H. B. Bascom, covering all the ground, and especially denying the Constitutional right of the General Conference to proceed against a bishop except by due process of law. The following paragraphs embody the gist of it :
As the Methodist Episcopal Church is now organized, and according to its organization since 1784, the episcopacy is a co-ordinate branch, the executive department of the govern ment. A bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church is not a mere creature, is in no prominent sense an officer, of the General Conference.
In a sense by no means unimportant the General Conference
IN THE UNITED STATES 185
is as much the creature of the episcopacy as the bishops are the creatures of the General Conference. As executive officers, as well as pastoral overseers, they belong to the church as such, and not to the General Conference as one of its organs of action merely. Because bishops are in part constituted by the General Conference, the power of removal does not follow. Episcopacy in the Methodist Church is not a mere appointment to labour. It is an official consecrated station under the protection of law, and can only be dangerous as the law is bad or the church corrupt. But when a bishop is suspended, or informed that it is the wish or will of the General Conference that he cease to perform the functions of bishop, for doing what the law of the same body allows him to do, and of course without incurring the hazard of punishment, or even blame, then the whole pro cedure becomes an outrage upon justice, as well as upon law.
The ' Declaration ' was referred to a Committee of Nine, Dr. Robert Paine chairman, and this Committee was in structed, in a resolution offered by John B. McFerrin of Tennessee and Tobias Spicer of New York, ' provided they could not in their judgement devise an amicable adjustment of the differences now existing in the church on the subject of slavery, to prepare, if possible, a constitutional plan for a mutual and friendly division of the church.' After a brief delay the Committee brought in what is historically known as ' the Plan of Separation.' Dr. Charles Elliott of the Cincinnati Conference moved its adoption, and sup ported his motion in strong speech ; and on a final vote it was adopted by 135 Yeas to 18 Nays.
The preamble and first two resolutions of the Plan were as follows :
Whereas a declaration has been presented to this General The Conference, with the signature of fifty-one delegates of the ^flan body, from thirteen Annual Conferences in the slave-holding Separati States, representing that, for various reasons enumerated, the objects and purposes of the Christian ministry and church organization cannot be successfully accomplished by them under the jurisdiction of this General Conference as now constituted ; and whereas, in the event of a separation, a con tingency to which the declaration asks attention as not im-
186
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
probable, we esteem it the duty of this General Conference to meet the emergency with Christian kindness and the strictest equity. Therefore, 1. Resolved, by the delegates of the several Annual Conferences in General Conference assembled, That should the Annual Conferences in the slave-holding States find it necessary to unite in a distinct ecclesiastical connexion, the following rule shall be observed with regard to the northern boundary of such connexion. All the societies, stations, and Conferences adhering to the church in the South by a vote of a majority of the members of the said societies, stations, and Conferences shall remain under the unmolested pastoral care of the Southern Church ; and the ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church shall in no wise attempt to organize churches or societies within the limits of the Church South, nor shall they attempt to exercise any pastoral oversight therein ; it being understood that the ministry of the South reciprocally observe the same rule in relation to stations, societies, and Conferences adhering, by vote of a majority, to the Methodist Episcopal Church; provided, also, that this rule shall apply only to societies, stations, and Conferences bordering on the line of division, and not to interior charges, which shall in all cases be left to the care of that church within whose territory they are situated. 2. Resolved, That ministers, local and travelling, of every grade and office in the Methodist Episcopal Church, may, as they prefer, remain in that Church, or, without blame, attach themselves to the Church South.
Other resolutions provided for a vote in the Annual Conferences on a change of the Sixth Restrictive Rule, so that, in case of separation, the Church South might receive its due share of the common property in the Book Concern and the Chartered Fund.
THE OR GANIZATION AND GROWTH
OF THE
METHODIST
EPISCOPAL
CHURCH
SOUTH,
1845-60.
The General Conference adjourned at midnight of June 10. On the next day the Southern delegates met and drafted an address to their constituents, conveying authentic in formation of the provisional Plan of Separation, and sug gesting that nothing be done till representatives to be appointed by all the Conferences should convene for de-
IN THE UNITED STATES 187
liberation at Louisville, Kentucky, May 1, 1845. They deprecated all excitement, and advised that the issue be met and disposed of with candour and forbearance. Their wise counsel was heeded, and everything proceeded decently and in order. The thirteen Southern Annual Conferences, with almost absolute unanimity, commended the stand taken by their delegates in New York, and at the same time elected fresh delegates to the suggested Louisville Con vention. That Convention accordingly met in May 1845; The Lovick Pierce was elected temporary President. Bishops Cf°?J|?tion Andrew and Soule, however, presided after the organization. On Saturday, May 16, the report of the Committee on Organization was taken up and was adopted, as follows :
Be it resolved, by the delegates of the several Annual Con ferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the slave-holding States, in General Convention assembled, that it is right, expedient, and necessary to erect the Annual Conferences represented in this Convention into a distinct ecclesiastical connexion, separate from the jurisdiction of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church as at present constituted ; and, accordingly, we the delegates of the said Annual Conferences, acting under the provisional Plan of Separation adopted by the General Conference of 1844, do solemnly declare the jurisdiction hitherto exercised over the said Annual Conferences, by the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, entirely dissolved ; and that the said Annual Conferences shall be, and they hereby are, constituted a separate ecclesiastical connexion under the provisional Plan of Separation aforesaid and based upon the Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, comprehending the doctrines and entire moral, ecclesiastical, and economical rules and regulations of said Discipline, except only in so far as verbal alterations may be necessary to a distinct organiza tion, and to be known by the style and title of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
It was determined that the first General Conference should meet in Petersburg, Virginia, May 1, 1846. In the interval before that time the various Annual Conferences in the South all formally approved the work of the Convention.
188 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
First When the General Conference of 1846 assembled, it pro-
Conference ceeded to business as regularly as if nothing had happened. A Board of Missions was organized, and a mission projected to China. A new Quarterly Review was established, with H. B. Bascom as editor. John Early was elected Book Agent, and instructed to publish by contract such books as were most needed in the Connexion. William Capers and Robert Paine were added to the College of Bishops. Three new Annual Conferences were created. H. B. Bascom, A. L. P. Green, and S. A. Latta were appointed Commis sioners to confer with the Commissioners of the Methodist Episcopal Church concerning the matter of the Book Con cern. By a standing and unanimous vote the Conference, resolved, ' That Dr. Lovick Pierce be, and is hereby, delegated to visit the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to be held in Pittsburg, May 1, 1848, to tender to that body the Christian regards and fraternal salutations of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.'
The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church that met in Pittsburg in 1848 was made up largely of new men, and was reactionary in policy. It repudiated the Plan of Separation, and refused to receive Dr. Pierce as a fraternal delegate from the South. It also declined to enter into negotiations for the division of the property in the Book Concerns, on the score that less than three-fourths of the members of the Annual Conferences had voted to change the Restrictive Rule which prohibited the diversion of the funds of the Concerns from specific purposes. This result had been brought about by the active and bitter agency of the Advocates published at New York and Cincin nati, the latter of which was edited by the same Dr. Elliott who had so zealously advocated the Plan of Separation in the Conference of 1844. In spite of such efforts, the vote had stood 2,135 for the change, and 1,070 against it. Before leaving Pittsburg Dr. Pierce addressed a communication to the Conference that concluded thus :
You will therefore regard this communication as final on the part of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. She can never
IN THE UNITED STATES 180
renew the offer of fraternal relations between the two great bodies of Wesleyan Methodists in the United States. But the proposition can be renewed at any time, either now or here after, by the Methodist Episcopal Church. And if ever made upon the basis of the Plan of Separation, as adopted by the General Conference of 1844, the Church South will cordially entertain the proposition.
Acting under the instructions that they had received, the The new Southern Commissioners in 1849 instituted suits in the cl^Jits Federal District Courts of Ohio and New York for their property. just share in the Book Concerns at Cincinnati and New York. In the latter court the suit was decided in their favour ; in the former it went against them. They accord ingly took an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, which in 1854, without a dissenting voice among the Justices, maintained their contentions at every point, and ordered an equitable division to be made. As has been well said : ' Southern Methodists were less concerned for the pecuniary outcome of this painful lawsuit than for its judicial and moral vindication before the whole world.' The matter is of such importance that it is proper to quote the core of the decision :
In the year 1844 the travelling preachers, in General Con ference assembled, for causes which it is not important par ticularly to refer to, agreed upon a plan for the division of the Methodist Episcopal Church in case the Annual Conferences in the slave-holding States should deem it necessary ; and to the erection of two separate and distinct ecclesiastical or ganizations. ... In the following year the Southern Annual Conferences met in Convention, in pursuance of the Plan of Separation, and determined upon a division, and resolved that the Annual Conferences should be constituted into a separate ecclesiastical connexion, based upon the Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and to be known by the name of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. . . . The division of the church, as originally constituted, thus became complete ; and from this time two separate and distinct organizations have taken the place of one previously existing. . . . We do not
190 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
agree that this division was made without the proper authority. On the contrary, we entertain no doubt but that the General Conference of 1844 was competent to make it ; and that each division of the church, under the separate organization, is just as legitimate, and can claim as high a sanction, ecclesiastical and temporal, as the Methodist Episcopal Church first founded in the United States. The authority which founded that church in 1784 has divided it, and established two separate and independent organizations, occupying the place of the old one.
Advance Between 1846 and the beginning of the Civil War three
increase. General Conferences were held, one at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1850, one at Columbus, Georgia, in 1854, and one at Nashville, Tennessee, in 1858. In every quadrennium there was a marked advance. The membership in 1850 was 520,256, an increase of 60,885, in 1854 it was 603,330, an increase of 83,047 ; in 1858 it was 699,165, an increase of 95,682. Two years later the total membership was 757,245. This included 207,706 persons of colour, a very noteworthy fact. The church nourished in all respects, enlarged its educational plans in every part of its territory, and gave diligent attention to its missionary operations. In 1850 the Episcopacy was strengthened by the election of Dr. H. B. Bascom, who, to the universal sorrow, died in the early fall of the same year, and in 1854 by the election of George F. Pierce, John Early, and Hubbard H. Kava- naugh, all of whom survived for many years. Bishop Pierce was the favourite son of Georgia. He had every physical and mental qualification of a great preacher and a great man. With a face that combined strength and beauty, a voice that lent itself perfectly to the expression of thought and emotion, an unexcelled grace of manner, and a great depth of intellectual vigour and spiritual earnestness, he literally charmed every audience before which he stood. Of Bishop Early we have spoken on a preceding page. Bishop Kavanaugh, as his name indicates, was of Irish extraction. Short of stature and of great bulk, with a low forehead and a heavy jaw, he did not look to be a man of
IN THE UNITED STATES 191
remarkable intellect. But he was perfect master of the Arminian theology, and at his best his preaching was as impressive as the movement of an army with banners. The simplicity of his character was apparent to all.
VI
Nothing could have been more hopeful than the outlook THE for Southern Methodism when, in the spring of 1861, the WAR' AND Civil War broke like a tempest over the land. Of the AFTER.. desolation that the war brought no words can give an ade- l quate picture. Property was destroyed to the amount of billions of dollars. Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost. The very foundations of society were shaken. Through all the tumult and horror of it, the church kept up her work, and not without good effects. The preachers went their usual rounds of circuits and districts, preaching an un mixed gospel ; and, besides, carried on a wide ministry to the soldiers in the field. The revivals that followed their preaching in the camps read like the chronicles of a new Pentecost. But withal there was vast moral loss. Every evil influence follows in the wake of war. When the con flict ended, and a count was made, it appeared that there had been a net loss of 30 per cent, in the membership. Losses. Many persons, including some that were high in authority, grew desperate. The period of reconstruction that lasted for the next ten years was even more trying than the war itself. It meant appalling poverty, political disfranchise- ment, and a thousand other ills. ' How can the preachers live,' said the timorous and doubting, ' when the people are in danger of starving ? ' To even the most hopeful, there came moments of hesitation.
In the meantime no single word of cheer came from any quarter. Schemes of disintegration and absorption were conceived by kindred communions and pushed with re lentless vigour. Missionary money was used on a large scale to tempt the people and the preachers into other folds. Be it said to their credit, the most of them stood firm and
192
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
The call of 1865.
The
Conference of 1866.
Lay
delegation and other changes introduced.
New leaders.
resisted the alluring bait. No body of Christians was ever subjected to a severer test, and none ever came out of such an ordeal with more honour. In the autumn of 1865 the College of Bishops met together and blew a trumpet blast that rang clear and loud throughout the land. The address which they published is entitled to be made permanent in letters of gold. After that there was never any serious or widely extended misgiving, for it was known that, what ever causes had failed or collapsed, the Methodist Episcopal Church South was not dead, and had no notion of dying.
In May 1866 the General Conference, the first in eight years, met in the city of New Orleans. There were still abundant difficulties to face, but the Conference rose up heroically to face them. The General Minutes showed a loss of 246,044 members. More than three-fourths of the coloured members had gone. Only 48,742 remained, and the agents of proselytism were systematically engaged in seducing this remnant from their allegiance. The con ditions were such as demanded active measures, and active measures were taken. Inside of four weeks, legislation was effected that covered the ordinary progress of a life time. Lay delegation was introduced into the Church Courts ; the fixed six months period of probation, pre viously demanded of all candidates for membership, was abolished, as was also the law that made attendance upon class-meeting a compulsory test of membership ; District and Church Conferences were created ; the pastoral term was extended from two to four years ; the Publishing House, and the Board of Missions, ' both scattered wrecks, were patched up, and sent desperately forth, to sink or swim ' ; delegates from the Baltimore Conference, a stalwart band, who had given up all for principle's sake, were joyously welcomed into the goodly fellowship of suffering and toil. Before the session was over four new bishops were elected : William M. Wightman of South Carolina, who had barely missed the office twelve years before, a scholar of wide attainments, an orator of high repute, an editor whose fame was as wide as the church, and for many years a
IN THE UNITED STATES 193
successful College President ; Enoch M. Marvin, with a pronounced strain of Puritan blood in his veins, born and reared in the backwoods of Missouri, denied the benefits of academic education, making an awkward beginning in the itinerancy, but soon developing an insatiable thirst for know ledge and a natural appetency for wrestling with the pro- foundest problems in theology, at thirty a supreme and masterful preacher, and always an evangelist with a passion for souls ; David S. Doggett of Virginia, grandson of an old-time Episcopal clergyman, some years chaplain and student in the University of Virginia, a rounded scholar, a close, clear thinker, and a pulpit orator fit to match the foremost in any church ; and Holland N. McTyeire of South Carolina, Alabama, and Louisiana, the most in fluential figure of the four, a graduate of Randolph Macon College, reaching great intellectual maturity at a very early age, pastor of important city churches when barely past his majority, editor of the New Orleans Christian Advocate at twenty-eight, and of the Nashville Christian Advocate at thirty-two, long-headed, far-seeing, wise, a profound student of principles and of men, firm as adamant, too thoughtful and too slow of speech to be desired by the multitudes, but a rare preacher's preacher, and the chief in strument in founding Vanderbilt University . These four men, throwing themselves into the work with their senior col leagues, contributed vastly to the resuscitation of the church.
In 1869 and again in 1870, when it had been demon strated that the church would recover all that it had lost and more, the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church made tentative movements looking to reunion, but were courteously informed, in both cases, that they were without authority from their General Conference, which alone had power to act ; that before reunion could ever be thought of, fraternity must be first established ; that the Church South stood squarely on the utterance made by Dr. Lovick Pierce at Pittsburg in 1848, and would not move a hair's breadth from it ; that if fraternity were wanted it might be had in response to an open and direct request for it, but
VOL. II 13
194 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
could never be secured through the use of indirect and roundabout methods. So the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1872, virtually though not formally reversing the action of 1848, passed resolutions Fraternal instructing the Bishops to send fraternal messengers to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South to be held at Louisville, Kentucky, in May 1784 ; and the Bishops accordingly designated Drs. Albert S. Hunt and Charles H. Fowler, and General Clinton B. Fisk, as such messengers. They were received with unbounded demonstrations of joy, and delivered addresses that were full of the Spirit of Christ. Drs. Lovick Pierce and James A. Duncan, and Chancellor L. C. Garland, were designated to bear back the greetings of the Southern Church to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church to be assembled in Baltimore in May 1876. Dr. Pierce, then ninety-four years of age, set out for the seat of the Con ference, but was compelled by physical infirmities to stop on the way. He then sent a letter of salutation and blessing. The addresses of Dr. Duncan and Chancellor Garland were worthy of so great an occasion. That of Dr. Duncan, in particular, has been pronounced a masterpiece. In the meantime, through what is known as the Cape May Joint Commission which met in 1876, the two churches had reached an honourable agreement in regard to many out standing points of difference. The following paragraph exhibits perhaps the most vital result :
Each of said churches is a legitimate branch of Episcopal Methodism in the United States, having a common origin in the Methodist Episcopal Church organized in 1784 ; and since the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church South was consummated in 1846, by the voluntary exercise of the right of the Southern Annual Conferences, ministers, and mem bers to adhere to that communion, it has been an evangelical church, reared on scriptural foundations, and her ministers and members, with those of the Methodist Episcopal Church, have constituted one Methodist family, though in distinct ecclesiastical Connexions.
IN THE UNITED STATES 195
In 1878 the General Conference of the Canadian Methodists opened the way for brotherly intercourse by deputing Dr. George Douglas to the Conference which met that year in Atlanta, Georgia. No man ever met a heartier welcome anywhere. Finally, in 1890 the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Great Britain, ' the mother of us all,' named Dr. D. J. Waller, then the Secretary, afterwards the President of the Official Conference, as the first fraternal delegate to Southern Method- ism. His presence at St. Louis has ever since been regarded as a signal historical incident. It completed the official recognition of Southern Methodism, which, conscious of the rectitude of its motives, and making not the slightest apology for the course which it had pursued, had calmly awaited for forty-five years the day of its vindication. It ought perhaps to be added, in this connexion, that the General Conference of 1894 initiated the movement which has since been fully developed for federation with the Methodist Federation. Episcopal Church. Out of this federation has come a common hymn-book, a common catechism, a common order of worship, a union Publishing House in China, and the consolidation into one church of all the Methodisms in Japan. Whereunto it will further grow no man can tell.
Since 1866 the church has gone forward steadily. In Advance all those forty years there has been only one year that did *™f dm~ent not show a marked gain in the membership. The General Conference of 1878 created a Woman's Board of Foreign Missions ; that of 1882 a Board of Church Extension ; and that of 1894 Boards of Education and Ep worth Leagues. All these new organizations have proven to be potent aids in the spread of the kingdom. Representatives of the church participated in the (Ecumenical Conferences of '1881, 1891, and 1901, and in the Centennial celebration of Episcopal Methodism in America in 1884. As the older leaders have passed away new ones have come upon the scene. The last two members of the General Conference of 1844, Rev. Dr. Andrew Hunter of Arkansas, and Rev. Jerome C. Berryman of Missouri, have only recently died. John John C. C. Keener was elected to the Episcopacy in 1870. Strangely Keener-
196 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
enough, though he was opposed to the innovation of lay delegation, he was the first man chosen for that office under the new order. He was born in Baltimore, educated under Wilbur Fisk at Wesleyan University, and soon after his graduation moved to Alabama. Thence in the late 'forties he was transferred to that intrenched stronghold of Roman Catholicism, the city of New Orleans, and resided there for more than fifty years. No true history of our church could be written that would leave him out of account. He was great by every test, and in every office. In personal appearance he was commanding as a Roman senator. Alert of intellect, in the pulpit strong, imaginative, often tender, on the floor of a deliberative body a ready and resourceful debater, in the editorial chair wielding a Damascus blade, as a bishop self-reliant, steady, fearless — he lived till 1907, in full possession of all his faculties. No other ad- Later ditions were made to the College of Bishops till 1882, in which year Alpheus W. Wilson of Baltimore, the present revered and honoured President of the College, John C. Granberry, who after twenty years of high and stainless service, became a superannuate in 1902, Linus Parker of Louisiana, who made a good ending to a noble career in 1885, and Robert K. Hargrove of Alabama and Tennessee, who served his generation most worthily by the will of God till he fell asleep in 1906, were named and consecrated. In 1886 William W. Duncan, Charles B. Galloway, Eugene R. Hendrix, and Joseph S. Key, all worthy men and all still on the effective list after yeoman service for twenty years, were elected. In 1890 the list was further reinforced by the names of Atticus G. Haygood, a star of the first mag nitude that went out in death five years later, and Oscar P. Fitzgerald, who had served the church brilliantly and effectively for twenty years in the editorial chair, and who discharged the duties of his new office for twelve years before his superannuation in 1902. Warren A. Candler and H. C. Morrison, who came in 1898 ; E. E. Hoss and A. Coke Smith in 1902 ; and John J. Tigert, Seth Ward, and James Atkins in 1906, complete the roll. Of these
IN THE UNITED STATES 197
Bishops Tigert and Smith died during 1907 and are still deeply mourned.
The statistics for the year 1907 may well be added to show Statistics. the growth since 1866, a growth which under the circum stances is almost without a parallel in ecclesiastical annals. There were at the end of the year 46 Annual Conferences, 11 bishops, and 6,205 travelling preachers. The number of lay members and local preachers was 1,705,635. The collections for the support of the ministry amounted to $4,333,998. Missions are maintained in China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Brazil, and domestic fields. The total number of foreign missionaries was 170, of native helpers over 500, and of members in the missions nearly 20,000. The total amount raised for the support of missions, in cluding contributions made through the Board of Church Extension, was $1,455,316. There were 14,955 Sunday schools, with 113,654 officers and teachers, and 1,127,359 scholars.1 The cost of sustaining these schools was not less than $500,000. There were 3,642 Epworth Leagues, with 127,924 members, and contributions aggregating $250,000. There was one university, the Vanderbilt at Nashville, Tennessee, founded in 1875, with property and endowment aggregating over $3,000,000, with seven separate schools, academical and professional, 75 professors, and 900 students ; 21 colleges and 99 secondary schools, with property and endowments of over $9,000,000. The contributions for educational purposes reached the approximate total of $909,638. The connexional Publishing House at Nash ville, Tennessee, has assets of $1,004,159.64, and did a business in 1907 of $543,680.57. It issues 11 periodicals, with an aggregate circulation of 1,402,200 copies. There are also 16 church papers, each issued by an Annual Con ference or group of Annual Conferences. A great church hospital, made possible by the gift of Mr. Robert A. Barnes, is about to be erected at St. Louis. It will have a plant
i The statistics for 1908 are not yet compiled, but will show a great gain at every point, including probably 50,000 new members added to the church and at least 100,000 to the Sunday schools.
198 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
worth $500,000, and an endowment of $1,000,000. Other hospitals are projected at Atlanta and at Nashville.
The church holds fast to the faith once for all delivered to the saints. In doctrine it is unequivocally Arminian and Methodist. The movement set on foot at the General Conference of 1906 to secure an ecumenical statement of the Methodist theology must not be construed as indicating in the body of the ministry and laity any lack of satisfaction with the traditional standards. Facing the new problems of the day, the church hails the help of all sound and sober learning, and is not at all afraid that the faith will suffer from fresh light ; but it is not ready to swallow down without question all the latest pronouncements of those who set themselves up to be the teachers and prophets of this generation. In polity, as the foregoing narrative plainly shows, the church is strongly episcopal, though it openly proclaims that its episcopacy is of only human authority, and guards and limits it by the closest and distinctest statutes. In spirit it is profoundly evangelistic, holding that its chief business is to bring the gospel directly to bear upon the hearts and consciences of all men whom it can possibly reach, and looking on every one of its agencies and instrumentalities as subsidiary to this supreme end. With devout gratitude to God for past successes, it hopes for yet greater things in future years, and expects to take an active part in bringing in the reign of righteousness on the earth.
CHAPTER IV
IN BRITISH AMERICA
1765—1908
Thelittle one shall become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation I, Jehovah, will hasten it in its time. — ISAIAH Ix. 22.
199
CONTENTS
I. THE BEGINNINGS OF CANADIAN METHODISM . . p. 201
Lay leaders — William Lessee — Upper Canada, 1801 — Nathan Bangs — Typical workers — Newfoundland — Lawrence Coughlan — Hoskin — Nova Scotia, 1772 — William Black — A Conference, 1786 — Ordination of preachers — Black appointed Superintendent pp. 201-210
II. LOWER AND UPPER CANADA p. 210
British Wesleyan missionaries appointed — Restricted to Lower Canada — Admission of laymen to Conferences — Separation from the Methodist Episcopal Church — Union with British Wesleyan Metho dism, 1833— The Union dissolved, 1840— Resumed, 1847 pp. 210-218
III. THE METHODIST CHURCH OF CANADA . . . p. 219
Desire for the union of the Canadian Methodist Churches — The Methodist New Connexion Mission — Its home Conference and Union — Wesleyan and New Connexion Methodists united, 1874 — Further efforts towards union — Two branch churches, Primitive Methodists and Bible Christian Methodists — Complete union accomplished
pp. 219-223
IV. MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE p. 224
Pioneer work — Among the redskins — In British Columbia — In Manitoba — Rapid development — Among the French Canadians- Montreal — In Japan — Union there — In China — One hundred mis sionaries — Widespread interest — Young People's and Laymen's Movements pp. 224-230
V. PRESENT CONDITIONS p. 230
Relative position — Higher education — Arduous labours — Pro posed union of non-episcopal churches .... pp. 230-233
Pages 199-233
200
CHAPTER IV
IN BRITISH AMERICA
1765—1908
AUTHORITIES. — To General List add: Minutes of Conference (1765- 1908) ; RYERSON, Epochs in Methodism (1882) ; CARROLL, Case and His Contemporaries (5 vols. 1867).
THE beginning of Methodism on that part of the North THE American Continent which is under the British flag dates far back to the time when the scattered provinces were METHODISM. consolidated into the Dominion of Canada, hence in locating the theatre of its operations the wider term is used. To fix the exact date when Methodism had its beginning in any locality is almost as difficult as to fix the moment when a seed begins to germinate, or the new life begins to dawn in the soul. But there is a close approximation to historical accuracy in saying that Methodism began in Newfoundland with the advent of Lawrence Coughlan in 1765 ; in Nova Scotia with the coming of a party of Yorkshire emigrants in 1772 ; in Lower Canada with the preaching of Tuffey, a commissary of the 44th regiment, in 1780; and in Upper Canada with the coming of the Hecks, Emburys, and others to the banks of the St. Lawrence in 1778. Years elapsed before regularly appointed preachers took up the work, but neighbourhood prayer-meetings and exhortations prepared the way for the coming of the itinerants. Only the out lines of the succeeding history can be given, for the space assigned makes severe condensation unavoidable.
It was not till 1791 that Quebec was divided into two
201
202 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
provinces, named respectively Upper and Lower Canada. The population all told was only about 125,000 of whom some 10,000 were in Upper Canada, scattered along the St. Lawrence and the Niagara frontier. Taking the colonies together, the population, though sparse, was somewhat heterogeneous. Apart from Quebec and certain parts of Nova Scotia, the people for the most part were English- speaking, but included all classes — fishermen, crofters, farm- labourers, mechanics, scholars, retired officers, disbanded soldiers, and not a few men and women of culture and refinement, who were compelled by declining fortunes to begin life over again. Most of these were scattered over a vast territory, in lonely cabins and isolated settlements. As yet the schoolmaster was not abroad and ' the sound of the church-going-bell ' was seldom heard in the forest solitudes. A people so circumstanced were sure to retrograde unless reached by some elevating and purifying influence, and this was supplied by the advent of the Methodist itinerant. For the most part, these men of the old ' saddle bag brigade ' could boast but little culture. They were untaught in the wisdom of the schools, but in the school of Christ they had learned a deeper wisdom, and every truth they taught was a direct spiritual force for the conversion of men and their up-building in holiness of life.
Lay leaders. To laymen belongs the honour of introducing the doctrines and usages of Methodism into many of the colonies of the New World. Embury in New York, Strawbridge in Mary land, Coughlan in Newfoundland, Black in Nova Scotia, Tuffey and Neal in Canada, are all illustrations in point. Later similar work was done by Lyons and McCarty in the Bay of Quinte settlements ; but their searching appeals provoked the enmity not only of ' lewd fellows of the baser sort,' but also of religious bigots who had a form of godliness without the power. McCarty was arrested and cast into prison, but soon released on bail. Subsequently, instead of being brought before a legal tribunal, he was seized by a band of ruffians, conveyed down the St. Lawrence in a boat and was never seen again. Swift retribution from the
IN BRITISH AMERICA 203
hand of God followed this outrage. Of the four who were chiefly concerned in McCarty's persecution one died in a few days, another in the course of three weeks, while a third afterward wrote a confession saying he had wrongfully and wickedly persecuted an innocent man. Subsequently he fell into a state of insanity which continued till his death.
At this time the religious condition of the people was deplorable. There were but three or four Presbyterian ministers in the two Canadas, and perhaps as many of the Anglican Church, and if contemporary testimony may be trusted the example and influence of some of the clergy did not conduce to vital godliness. The need of a converting gospel among a people so circumstanced was urgent indeed, and this Gospel it pleased God to send by the Methodist itinerants. The first to come from the United States was William Lossee. To those who in former years and in other William scenes had ' tasted the good word of God,' Lossee 's preaching Lossee- was ' as cold waters to a thirsty soul,' and a petition was drawn up praying the New York Conference to appoint a preacher to these new settlements. Bishop Asbury con curred and Lossee was sent with instructions to ' form a circuit.' Under his searching ministry many were awakened and societies were formed in many places. At the Con ference of 1792 Lossee reported 165 members and pleaded 1792. earnestly for an ordained minister. The plea prevailed and Darius Dunham was sent. On Sunday, September 15, 1792, the first Quarterly Meeting that ever took place in Canada was held. The place of meeting was only a barn — a primitive one at that — but the occasion was one of pro found interest. For the first time the converts received the sacramental bread and wine from the hands of their own pastors and great was their rejoicing. For a time the work in Canada was almost stationary, but in 1796 two young men — Hezekiah Calvin Wooster and Daniel Coote — were sent into the country, under whose labours it pleased God to revive His work. Wooster was strong in faith and mighty in prayer ; Coote, like Apollos, was ' an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures ' ; but both were men richly endued with the
204 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Holy Spirit, and under their preaching scores were con verted.
In the meantime Darius Dunham had been transferred to the Niagara country, where Methodist preaching had been introduced some years before by Major George Neal. For the next few years the records are scant, but in 1801 there Upper were ten itinerants in Upper Canada, and the membership
1801. of the church amounted to 1159. About this time a train
of providences raised up a labourer who was destined to fill a large space in the history of American Methodism, but Nathan whose earlier years of service were spent in Canada. Nathan
Bangs was born in New England, but when about thirteen years of age the family removed to the wilderness part of the State of New York. Here the Methodist itinerants found them, and during a blessed revival nearly the whole family were converted, but Nathan fought against his convictions and remained unsaved. When twenty years of age he accompanied a devoted sister and her husband to the wilds of Canada, crossed the Niagara river where it issues from Lake Erie, and followed its course downward to the neighbourhood of its mighty cataract. Young Bangs hoped to make a living as a land surveyor, an art he had been taught by his father. Not finding employment in his profession he taught school for a time, but God had another purpose in view. -Conviction of sin returned with increased force, and after prolonged struggles, while walking one day in the forest, he ' felt his heart strangely warmed,' and knew it was the love of God. Failing to confess Christ his joy declined and darkness returned, but soon after under fuller instruction, he entered into the rest of faith. 4 Immediately he conferred not with flesh and blood,' but went from house to house declaring what God had done for his soul, and exhorting the people to repent and believe the gospel. Not long after he had a yet deeper experience in the things of God, and could testify that he was sanctified throughout body, soul, and spirit. From this time he never wavered, and through a ministry extending over half a century he could say, ' One thing I do.'
PLATE XV
THE FIRST CHURCH TN UPPER CANADA,
OLD HAT BAY CHURCH, 1792. THE FIRST METHODIST CHURCH IN
MONTREAL, 1807.
THE FIRST CHURCH IN TORONTO. THE METROPOLITAN CHURCH.
THE VICTORIA COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO. THE METHODIST ORPHANAGE, ST. JOHN'S.
II. 204
IN BRITISH AMERICA 205
Joseph Swayer was superintendent of the circuit, and discerning in Nathan Bangs the qualities requisite for a successful preacher he summoned him to the work. His first circuit was Niagara, which included the whole of the Niagara peninsula, wherever there were settlements, from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario and from the Niagara River westward to the township of Oxford, a territory about 30 by 80 miles in extent, requiring six weeks to make a single ' round.' On this laborious and trying field Bangs rendered heroic service until, weakened by toil, exposure, and sickness, he was transferred to another part of the country. He laboured on what was called the Yonge Street Circuit, in cluding the village of York (now Toronto), till the end of the Conference year, when he was appointed to the Bay of Quinte Circuit, a most congenial field. Here Bangs was stricken with typhus fever and brought to the gates of death, but God mercifully raised him up, and at the next Conference, instead of asking for an easy field — had there been such a place — he made request to be sent to the extreme west of the province, lying between the Long Point Circuit, which he had formerly organized, and the Detroit River. Here he laboured in the midst of difficulties and dangers of which it is almost impossible now to form a just estimate ; but his labours were greatly blessed, and in this he had his reward.
I have written somewhat fully of Nathan Bangs, not Typical because his was an exceptional case, but because it was w01 typical of the great body of itinerants who with rare devotion and self-denial served their generation by the will of God. In the records of the time we have glimpses of other workers in those pioneer days. Hezekiah Calvin Wooster, full of faith and the Holy Ghost, preaching the doctrine and living the experience of full salvation ; Lorenzo Dow, eccentric to the verge of insanity, permeated with a droll, quaint humour, yet ever hungering and thirsting after God ; Darius Dunham, an arousing preacher, sharp in rebuke and fearing not the face of man, mightily baptized in one of Wooster's prayer- meetings, and afterward spreading the holy fire wherever
206
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Newfound land. Lawrence Co ughl an.
Hoskin.
he went ; Elijah Woolsey, a man of sweet spirit and greatly blessed in his labours — these were some of the men who, like Nathan Bangs, preached Christ wherever they went in demonstration of the Spirit and with power, and thus laid solid foundations on which their successors might build.
At a period anterior to the events above related, Methodism unfurled its banner in the ancient Colony of Newfoundland, and Lawrence Coughlan was the standard bearer. He found his way to that island in 1765, under what auspices we do not know ; but he had been one of Wesley's itinerants, was thoroughly trained in Wesley an methods, and con ducted his work on similar lines. Never did an evangelist visit a more needy field. The moral and religious condition of the people was simply deplorable. ' The Sabbath was unknown ; there was no person to celebrate marriage, and marriage was lightly regarded ; while oppression, violence, profanity, and licentiousness were practised without any check.' Such was the unpromising field in which Coughlan began his ministry. Although for the first year no fruit appeared in the way of conversions, the people were not unfriendly, and even united in a petition to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel to appoint Coughlan as a missionary among them. The request was complied with, and Coughlan immediately went to England to receive episcopal ordination. In the autumn of 1767 he returned to Newfoundland, but three long years passed without visible results. Then suddenly the blessing came, and the settle ments around Conception Bay were swept by a mighty revival.
But hardship, exposure, and opposition told upon Cough- lan's body and mind, and he returned in the latter part of 1773 to England, where he died. After his departure from Newfoundland the scattered societies were for a time as sheep without a shepherd, but God stirred up the spirit of laymen like John Stretton and Arthur Thorney, and between them the sacred fire was kept burning. Later they were reinforced by the arrival from England of John Hoskin, who sojourned for a time at Old Perlican, on Trinity Bay,
IN BRITISH AMERICA 207
where he did what he could for the neglected people by reading the Church prayers on Sunday and one of Mr. Wesley's sermons. When Hoskin returned to England in 1778-9 the people applied to the Bishop of London to ordain him as their minister, but the request was refused, for no better reason, as appears from a letter written by Mr. Wesley to the Bishop, than that he did not know Latin and Greek ! During Hoskin's absence in England, Old Perlican had a day of gracious visitation wherein many were converted. On his return to Newfoundland, Hoskin endeavoured to extend his labours to Trinity, but the influential men of the place were bitterly hostile, and no one dared open his house for preaching. What ultimately became of Hoskin we do not know, but in 1785 Newfoundland appears for the first time in the English Minutes, and appended thereto is the name of John McGeary, a good preacher, it would seem, but flighty and unstable to a degree. In 1788 he returned to England, leaving little or no fruit of his labours save dis sensions and heartburnings. A new era for Methodism in Newfoundland began with a visit of William Black, the Nova Scotia evangelist, in 1791. By this time few traces of Coughlan's work remained, but under Black's first sermon many were deeply affected, and in a series of meet ings that followed not less than two hundred were converted in the settlements around Conception Bay. Best of all, the work was permanent.
An event which had a distinct bearing on the religious Nova history of Nova Scotia occurred in 1772, when a party of Scotia> 1772> emigrants from Yorkshire arrived and settled in Cumber land County, followed by other detachments in the three succeeding years. Among these were a number of Metho dists of the true Yorkshire type, and their religious fervour was most salutary. Among them was William Black, whose former home was Huddersfield, in Yorkshire. The family consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Black, four sons, and one daughter. The death of the mother, agodly woman, in 1775 was an irre parable loss, and the spiritual declension of the whole family became complete. But in 1779 the Divine Spirit began to
208 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
breathe over Cumberland. Many persons became the subjects of deep religious convictions, and not a few entered into the conscious experience of sins forgiven. Among William these was the family of William Black, and among the first to emerge ' from darkness to light' was the second son, William, then in his nineteenth year. Some conversions mark distinct turning-points in the growth of the divine kingdom. Such was the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, of Martin Luther, of John Wesley, and many more ; and such, in a narrower sphere, was the conversion of William Black, for it marked the beginning of an epoch in the religious history of Nova Scotia when divine influences began to operate that have not yet ceased.
Having set his hand to the plough the young neophyte never turned back. Immediately he began to stir up the gift of God that was in him, beginning with his own house hold, and soon had the happiness of seeing his father, two brothers, and a sister led into the light. Then the conviction grew that God was calling him to a wider field, and on reach ing his majority in 1781, he went forth, as did Abraham, ' not knowing whither he went.' Before him lay a territory 50,000 square miles in extent, much of it unoccupied, but with numerous small settlements widely separated, and this involved long and wearisome journeys with much hardship and privation. The population was heterogeneous, religious prejudices were strong, though of vital godliness there was little, while the social and political condition of the times increased the difficulties of the situation. It was in the autumn of 1781 that William Black left his home and began those itinerating labours that ended only with his life. Of systematic theology he knew little, but he was a diligent student of the Holy Scriptures, and his association with the Yorkshire Methodists had made him familiar not only with their phraseology but also with their conception of evangelical Christianity as taught by Wesley and his itinerants.
At this time Black was little more than a boy, with scant experience and no training for his work, but his singleness
PLATE XVI
WILLIAM BLACK, missionary in Nova Scotia and Gen. Supt. of Missions in Brit. America, 1786-1834 CAN' LAWRENCE COUGHLAN, who intro-
DR. EGERTON RYERSON, Pres. of first Gen. Conf. of the Methodist Church of Canada, 1874 • d 1882
JOSEermudAaIsSDlSo'i4Va flSV "^ DR' H™PHREY ^KARD fill. ALU-
das, 18 -14; d. 1837. SON COLL.), Sackville, New Brunswick.
JOSEPH STINSON, Canada, Pres. of Conf. 1839 ; d. 1862.
IT. 208]
IN BRITISH AMERICA 209
of aim and his adherence in preaching to the great essentials — ruin by sin, redemption by Christ, regeneration by the Holy Spirit — doubtless saved him from many mistakes and helped him to guard his converts from the Antinomian leaven of the New Light movement which under Henry Alline caused disaster in many communities. Even in Cumberland, during Black's absence, Alline had persuaded nearly seventy members of the Methodist societies to withdraw. Nothing daunted, though deeply grieved, Black set himself to repair the breach by reorganizing the classes and appointing new leaders. About this time, feeling the need of more labourers, Black wrote to Wesley in the spring of 1781, and again toward the close of the following year and received a favour able reply. In 1784 he went to the United States to plead for reinforcements. Dr. Coke, who presided at the ' Christ mas Conference,' responded to the appeal with characteristic enthusiasm, by appointing and ordaining Freeborn Garrett- son, and James Oliver Cromwell, who landed at Halifax the following February. Garrettson made extensive tours, preaching constantly, and in spite of the Antinomian leaven of the New Light movement, and the open antagonism of the godless element, his labours were greatly blessed.
Meanwhile, William Black had returned and resumed his labours, making his headquarters at Halifax. But the field was large, the labourers few, and New Brunswick was yet untouched. This led to the holding of a Conference in A Confer- 1786, when a more regular mode of working was adopted. e xce' Six preachers were stationed. The numbers in society were reported at five hundred and ten. It was Wesley's desire that Garrettson should be appointed superintendent of the work in the British provinces and in the West Indies, but at the Baltimore Conference in 1789 he was made presiding elder of a district in the United States, for what reason he never knew. In 1788 Wesley appointed James Wray, an English preacher, to superintend the work in the Maritime pro vinces. At this time none of the Nova Scotia preachers Ordination were ordained, and three of the number, including Black, of Preachers- attended the Philadelphia Conference to obtain ordination.
VOL. II 14
210
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Black appointed superin tendent.
This was readily granted, after which they returned to Nova Scotia. Wray's administration does not appear to have been successful, and he asked to be relieved from the responsibilities of office. Coke consented, and William Black, who was yet under thirty years of age, was appointed superintendent of the work in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland. Here begins a new era in the develop ment of Methodism in Eastern British America, but space does not permit me to follow up the details. Suffice it to say that in course of time the work was organized as an Annual Conference in affiliation with the British Conference, and held that relation till 1874, when a union took place between the East and the West under the name of ' The Methodist Church in Canada.'
LOWER AND
UPPER
CANADA.
II
In the early part of the nineteenth century (1808) there were two Methodist districts in the Canadas — the Lower Canada district, comprising three circuits, and the Upper Canada district with nine circuits. On the whole ground there were nineteen preachers, including two presiding elders and a membership of about three thousand. Between the above date and the first union with the British Con ference in 1833 there intervenes a period of nearly a quarter of a century during which certain events occurred which greatly influenced the course of Canadian Methodism. The first was the disastrous and unprovoked war of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain. At this period the whole of the Canadian work was connected with the Genesee Conference in the State of New York, and the appointments were made by the American Bishops. The Conference met about a month after the declaration of war, but none of the Canadian preachers attended. The same thing occurred in the following year, but in each year of the war the Canadian brethren met together and made their own arrangements. The circuits in Lower Canada were deserted, but the
IN BRITISH AMERICA 211
preachers in Upper Canada, for the most part, remained at their posts, though some of them located.
During the interregnum caused by the war members of the British Methodist society in Montreal wrote to the British Wesleyan Missionary Committee requesting the appointment of mis- appointed, sionaries to Lower Canada. The request was complied with, and in 1814 John Strong was sent to Quebec and Samuel Leigh to Montreal. This was done without any com munication with the American Bishops, and in this lay the germs of future trouble. At the close of the war in 1815 the Genesee Conference resumed its control of the work in the Canadas, leaving Quebec and Montreal to be supplied. Meanwhile the British Conference appointed men to both places. When John Strong, who had been assigned to Montreal, reached his field, he desired to use the chapel previously erected, but was opposed by Henry Ryan, pre siding elder of the Lower Canada district. This led to correspondence with Bishop Asbury, who in turn wrote to the Wesleyan Missionary Committee. The committee replied in courteous and brotherly terms, but in view of all the circumstances they could not see their way clear to with draw the English preachers, but referred the matter to the Conference at Baltimore with the hope that it might be amicably arranged. The Conference, however, did not view the question in the same light, and after considerable dis cussion adopted the following resolution : —
That we cannot, consistently with our duty to the societies of our charge in the Canadas, give up any part of them, or any of our chapels in those provinces to the superintendence of the British Connexion.
The resolution was transmitted to the Wesleyan Mis sionary Committee, accompanied by a letter explaining the reasons on which the action was founded, but nothing came of it, and instead of withdrawing their missionaries the British Conference increased the number, and even sent some into Upper Canada.
The American General Conference which met in Baltimore
212
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Restricted to Lower Canada.
Admission of laymen to the
in 1820 gave careful consideration to Canadian affairs. A resolution was adopted to the effect that it was the duty of the Bishops to continue their oversight of the Canadian societies except Quebec. At a subsequent stage this was modified so as to authorize the delegate who might be sent to England to consent to the transfer of the Lower Canada district to the British Wesley an Conference. The latter body received the proposal in a friendly spirit, and con curred in the suggestion that the American brethren should have jurisdiction in Upper Canada, and that the English missionaries should restrict their labours to Lower Canada. This terminated the dispute, and was perhaps the best arrangement practicable at the time.
Previous to the General Conference of 1824 there was a I good deal of discussion as to the admission of laymen into Conferences, the Annual and General Conferences, and delegates to the latter body were chosen largely on that issue. The Genesee Annual Conference was generally favourable to the change, and in choosing their delegates passed by some of the presiding elders who were known to be opposed. This gave great offence to Henry Ryan, presiding elder of the Bay of Quinte district, and he at once began an agitation against the movement, appealing to the people to seek a separation from the jurisdiction of the church in the United States. Ryan was joined by a local preacher named Breckenridge, and together they were delegated, by conventions which they called, to attend the General Conference and effect a separation, but they were refused a seat in the latter body. Breckenridge, being a layman, could not be admitted, nor could Ryan unless elected by his Conference. All the documents relating to lay representation were referred to a committee, which reported that the proposed change was inexpedient, and the report was confirmed by the Con ference. The question of an independent Methodist Church for Canada was next taken up, and it was finally decided that there should be a separate Conference in Upper Canada under the superintendency of the American bishops. When Ryan and Breckenridge returned the agitation was renewed ;
IN BRITISH AMERICA 213
a large meeting assembled, and it was resolved that as the General Conference had not allowed the independence of the Canadian Methodists they would break off without permission. The agitation spread from the Bay of Quinte to the circuits farther west, and the societies were much disturbed. Tidings of this having reached the bishops they dispatched two of their number, George and Hedding.. accompanied by Nathan Bangs, to visit the Canadian societies. George passed through the circuits of the Bay of Quinte district preaching and explaining the true state of affairs, while Hedding and Bangs rendered similar service in the Niagara country, and by the time they reached the seat of Conference at Hallowell (now Picton) the excitement had subsided and affairs had resumed their normal calm. It appeared, however, that there was a general desire that Methodism in Canada should become an independent body, and a memorial to the various Annual Conferences was adopted setting forth reasons for the proposed change.
The arguments for separation in 1824 were increasingly Separation cogent in 1828. Because they were subject to the juris- Sj-011? ^et diction of American bishops the Canadian Methodists were Episcopal stigmatized as disloyal, and the position of the preachers was becoming unbearable. To add to the tension Ryan, States. though now superannuated, resumed his agitation, and determined to separate from the Methodist Episcopal Church, with as many as could be persuaded to join him, and form a new church under a new name. With one exception the preachers stood firm, and less than two hundred of the members could be persuaded to secede ; but with this small following Ryan formed the new organization under the name of the ' Canadian Wesleyan Church.'
The General Conference of 1828 assembled in the city of Pittsburg, and the request of the Canadian brethren was one of the chief subjects discussed. Ultimately the request was conceded, and in case the Canada Conference should decide to elect a general superintendent for that province, authority was given to any one or more of the general superintendents of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States to
214
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
The
Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada.
ordain him. The General Conference having thus relin quished its jurisdiction over the Conference in Canada, it became necessary for the latter body to adopt measures for its own government. Accordingly a Conference was called in October 1828 under the presidency of Bishop Hedding, when the societies were formally organized as an indepen dent church under the name of THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN CANADA, and it was resolved to adopt the discipline hitherto in use, with such changes as local cir cumstances might require. Overtures were made to the Rev. Nathan Bangs and the Rev. Wilbur Fisk to accept the office of bishop, but both declined. It was determined, therefore, to elect a general superintendent pro tempore, and the Rev. William Case, who had entered the itinerancy nineteen years before, was unanimously chosen. The Con ference also appointed a committee of three to correspond with the British Wesleyan Conference with a view of estab lishing fraternal relations with that body.
It will be remembered that in 1820, when the American and British Conferences agreed to divide their jurisdiction in the Canadas, the latter body was to confine its labours to the Lower and the former to the Upper Province. But when the societies in Upper Canada became an independent church, the British Conference considered the agreement as no longer binding, and decided upon an immediate increase of its missionaries. Some of the reasons assigned for this action were not without weight, but the Canada Conference should have been consulted before the compact was broken, and unfortunately this was not done. Friction and collisions seemed to be inevitable, and the question arose in many pious and thoughtful hearts, ' Would not it be for the in terests of Methodism and of true religion if a union could be effected between the two bodies ? ' This question soon be came an engrossing one in Methodist circles, but nothing was done till 1831, when the Rev. Egerton Ryerson addressed a letter to the Rev. Richard Watson, giving a full statement of the case as it then stood. In the following year the Wesleyan committee sent out the Rev. Robert Alder as their repre-
IN BRITISH AMERICA 215
sentative, and bearer of a letter to the mission board of the Canada Conference. The board admitted that it was unable to supply the religious needs of the people, but pointed out the evils that would arise from the establish ment of two bodies of Methodists in the province and suggested the propriety of uniting the means and energies of the two Connexions in a common work. When the Conference assembled at Hallowell in the month of August, 1832, all the preachers in full connexion were in attendance. Union was the absorbing question, and after a consideration which lasted over four days a committee of nine, to whom the matter had been referred, presented a preamble and resolutions, recommending a union, on certain terms, with the British Conference. The report was thoroughly dis cussed and adopted by a very large majority. The overtures from Canada were received by the British Conference with lively satisfaction, and resolutions were adopted differing but slightly from those of the Canadian body. When the Canadian Conference assembled at York (now Toronto) on October 2, 1833, the British delegates, Revs. George Marsden and Joseph Stinson, presented the address and resolutions of the parent body, and after careful consideration it was unanimously resolved, ' That this Conference cordially con curs in the resolutions agreed to by the British Conference, dated Manchester, August 7, 1833, as the basis of union Union with between the two Conferences.' A session of the General ^^han Conference was then called to consider certain changes Methodism, rendered necessary by the union measure, and these having 1833' been ratified by the requisite majorities the union became an accomplished fact.
The whole situation now seemed to be changed for the better. It cannot be said that everybody was pleased, but they resolved to forgo their preferences for the sake of what seemed a greater good. Among the membership there was almost entire unanimity, but at a later stage some dis satisfaction arose in consequence of resolutions adopted at the Conference of 1834 whereby what was known as local preachers' Conferences were discontinued and also the
216 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
practice of ordaining local preachers. During the following spring or early summer a few persons met to reorganize on the old episcopal plan, and this resulted in a schism in the body that was not healed for nearly fifty years. It would have been a happy thing for Methodism had this division been the only one, but in the course of a few years another followed which was more disastrous than the first. The union of 1833, though concurred in by the great body of the Metho dist people, was very distasteful to" various party politicians, and even within the church itself there were elements not easily fused into one. Moreover it was a time when public opinion on many questions, civil and religious, was at fever- heat, and when grievances which in a time of peace would have seemed very small loomed up in large proportions.
The events which led to a severance of the union between the British and Canadian Conferences had their origin in the Clergy Reserves dispute. For some years after the union the British Conference and the missionaries they sent into Canada co-operated with the Canadian Conference and its official organ in demanding equal rights before the law for all creeds and classes, and for the secularization of the Clergy Reserves, but the insurrection of 1837 resulted in a change of attitude. The cause of reform seemed to be hopelessly lost, and signs appeared which indicated that the bond between the two Connexions was weakening. When the heat of the rebellion had cooled a little the Christian Guardian resumed the discussion of the Clergy Reserves question as if nothing had happened, and this, to the op ponents of popular rights, was beyond endurance. The furnace of their indignation was heated seven times hotter than its wont and poured its fury upon Egerton Ryerson, at that time editor of the Guardian. The Governor, Sir George Arthur, sent a letter of complaint to the English committee, which sent an encouraging reply. At this time Egerton Ryerson was practically the one surviving champion of civil liberty and religious equality in Upper Canada, and having been elected by his brethren on this very issue he resolved to defend the citadel of Canadian liberty against
IN BRITISH AMERICA 217
all comers. The strife waxed bitter. Resolutions and counter-resolutions were adopted by the two Conferences ; statements and counter-statements were published ; dele gates were sent to and fro, and the crisis seemed to be reached when the Canadian Conference assembled at Hamilton in 1839, under the presidency of the Rev. Joseph Stinson. Dr. Alder was present and introduced resolutions supposed to express the views of the (British) Missionary Committee, but after a three days' discussion they were rejected by a vote of fifty-five to five, and subsequently Mr. Ryerson was re-elected editor of the Guardian by an almost unanimous vote.
When the Conference adjourned the members were full of hope that peace would now reign, but they were doomed to disappointment. In 1840 a communication from England was received and read to the Conference containing serious charges against Mr. Ryerson, expressing the hope that the Conference would repudiate his proceedings, and intimating that unless this were done they would recommend the next British Conference to dissolve the union. This somewhat arbitrary deliverance was emphasized by a vote of censure upon Mr. Ryerson, proposed in the Canadian Conference by Rev. Matthew Richey ; but after full discussion the resolu tion was negatived by a majority of fifty-one in a Conference of sixty members. The Conference then proceeded to deal T.vith the resolutions of the (British) Missionary Committee, expressing in plain but dignified language their dissent, but ending with a declaration of their earnest desire to preserve the union. They also appointed a delegation to confer with the Wesleyan Conference in England, with the hope of preventing a final rupture. But the effort was unsuccessful. In language still more peremptory, the resolutions of 1839 were endorsed, and although admitting the desirableness of maintaining the existing union between the two bodies, it was held that it could not be advantage ously maintained except by strict adherence on the part of the Canadian Conference to certain principles and regula tions. These, however, were of a nature that the Canadian
218
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
The Union
dissolved,
1840.
Resumed, 1847.
delegates affirmed their Conference could not accept ; where upon the British Conference reluctantly came to the conclu sion that the continuance of the Connexion established by the Articles of 1833 was quite impracticable, and thus the union was dissolved.
Of the controversy which followed, the estrangements and heartburnings, we need not speak. There were men on both sides who deplored the division, and in the course of two or three years the possibility of a reunion was being privately discussed. Later, committees were appointed, but nothing came of it. Towards the end of 1845, private overtures were made to the Rev. James Dixon l to come to Canada. Mr. Dixon gave the matter favourable con sideration and wrote a remarkable letter to Egerton Ryerson in which, with far-seeing statesmanship, he predicted a time ' when the North American provinces will be united ecclesiastically by having a General Conference of their own, in connexion with the Provincial or District Conferences, after the manner of the United States.' Nearly thirty years passed before what James Dixon foresaw came to pass, but events have justified the wisdom of his thought. A definite step towards reunion was taken at the Canadian Conference of 1846, when an address to the British Con ference was adopted, and two delegates — the Rev. John Ryerson and the Rev. Anson Green — were appointed to deliver it. At first the reception of the delegates was any thing but cordial, but when the matter was subsequently referred to a large committee, and the delegates ' had succeeded in removing suspicion and allaying fears,' the atmosphere cleared, and from that time forward the con ferences were of the most cordial and brotherly kind. A plan of settlement was reached, and Dr. Alder was sent out as President of the Conference of 1847 to inaugurate the new order. The Conference assembled at Toronto on June 8, when the new basis was discussed in all its bearings and adopted by an almost unanimous vote. Thus the breach was healed and Methodist unity was restored.
1 President of the Wesleyan Conference in 1841.
IN BRITISH AMERICA 219
III
In the early 'sixties of the nineteenth century, a spirit THE of union began to make itself felt among the churches of
Canada. In 1861 a union was effected between the United CANADA.
Presbyterian and Free Churches, but this embraced only ^nio^.of
J Canadian
two branches of the same order, and in its scope was confined Methodists to Upper and Lower Canada. Fourteen years later a more desired- comprehensive movement was carried through, which united the Presbyterian forces from ocean to ocean. In the mean time a political union had taken place, whereby several provinces were confederated as the Dominion of Canada, Upper and Lower Canada being thenceforth known as Ontario and Quebec. These events in the ecclesiastical and political spheres may have influenced opinion in Methodist circles, for as early as 1867, (the year in which political federation took place,) the thought of a united Methodism for Canada was taking shape in leading minds on both sides of the Atlantic. In fact a resolution in favour of union passed the Canadian Wesleyan Conference in 1866, and was repeated in 1870. In the latter year committees were appointed by all branches of Methodism in Ontario and Quebec, and a meeting was held in Toronto in March 1871, when a series of resolutions were adopted affirming the desirability of union, and recommending a basis covering the main points that had been discussed. The resolution did not prove satisfactory to some of the bodies concerned, and from that time the joint committee was composed exclusively of representatives from the Wesleyan Methodist and New Connexion Conferences.
The Methodist New Connexion began its career in England The in 1797. In 1824 the resources of the denomination had Methodist reached a point where it was deemed advisable to establish Connexion a mission in Ireland; but it was not till 1837 that the Con- Mission. ference determined to open a mission in Canada, and appointed the Rev. John Addyman to begin the work. While exploring his field in Western Canada, Addyman met with ministers and members of the Canadian Wesleyan
220
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Its Home Conference and Union.
Union of the Wesleyan and New Connexion Methodists consum mated 1874.
Methodist Church, a body organized some eight years before by the Rev. Henry Ryan, who for reasons which it is not necessary to recapitulate seceded from the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he had been a presiding elder. 'As the principles and polity of the two bodies were very similar, a Union was proposed, which was consummated in 1841. In 1864 the Conference changed the name of the church to read, ' The Methodist New Connexion Church in Canada.' Under the leadership of men like Addyman, William McClure, John H. Robinson, a man of unusual pulpit and executive ability, and others, the church continued to prosper until, in 1872, it was able to report 117 effective preachers, 8,312 members, and church and parsonage property valued at $288,340. In the meantime the publication of a weekly paper — The Evangelical Witness —was begun, a book-room was opened, a theological school inaugurated, and all the varied agencies of a vigorous and progressive church put in operation. When circumstances began to tend in the direction of a more comprehensive union than any that had previously taken place, the Metho dist New Connexion Conference was the first to assume a sympathetic attitude, which it maintained until its Canadian section was incorporated with the two other churches already mentioned in the Union of 1874.
In the meantime the desirableness of uniting the Metho dism of Eastern British America with that of Ontario and Quebec had been under consideration, and by the time the Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Church assembled in 1873, substantial agreement had been reached, the con sent of the parent bodies in England was sought and granted, and in September 1874 a General Conference assembled in the Metropolitan Church, Toronto, when the proposed union, embracing the Wesleyan Methodist Church, the Methodist New Connexion, and the Conference of Eastern British America, was formally ratified, the united body taking the name of The Methodist Church of Canada. At the end|of the first quadrennium the six Annual Conferences into which the church had been divided reported a net
IN BRITISH AMERICA 221
increase of 134 ministers, 20,659 members, 221 Sunday schools, and 19,754 scholars.
It is probable that the marked results following the union of 1874 revived in many hearts a desire that a union might be brought about embracing all branches of Canadian Methodism, but several years elapsed before the desire took tangible shape. In 1878, however, the union sentiment re vived and was further quickened by the (Ecumenical Metho- Further dist Conference of 1881. In the meantime the interchange towards of fraternal addresses and visits of fraternal delegations did union, 1882. much to prepare the way for definite action when the proper time should come. By the beginning of 1882 the union sentiment had grown too strong to be ignored, and when the General Conference of the Methodist Church assembled in Hamilton in the autumn of that year, the General Con ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Union Committees of the Primitive Methodist and Bible Christian Churches assembled in the same city at the same time. Negotiations followed, and the outcome was the appoint ment of a large joint committee to meet in the month of November to formulate a Basis of Union and submit the same to the Quarterly Boards and Annual Conferences for approval or otherwise.
At this point a brief account of the Canadian work of some of the minor bodies must be given. Their origin is traced at length in the first volume of this History.
The Primitive Methodist Connexion had its origin in The story Staffordshire, in the early years of the nineteenth century, Branch under the labours of Hugh Bourne and William Clowes, churches. In 1822 William Lawson, who had been a local preacher Primitive and class-leader in the Wesleyan Methodist society, was Methodists. disciplined for attending an open-air service of the Primitive Methodists. Though requested to return to his former office, he declined, and a few years later, on account of business depression, he migrated to Upper Canada, and in June 1829 reached Little York (now Toronto). Here he was joined by Robert Walker, a former employee, and by Thomas Thompson, who had belonged to the Primitive
222 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Methodist Society in Duffield, Yorkshire, and these three men — Lawson, Walker, and Thompson — whose names were intimately associated with the future history of Primitive Methodism in Canada, were all present at the first class- meeting of the body ever held in that country.
In succeeding years missionaries from England were sent from time to time to care for the infant church, and under their labours the work extended and the members in society increased. In 1854 an Annual Conference was formed, and gradually the direction of affairs was trans ferred more and more from the English to the Canadian body. From 1860 onward there was steady development, so that in 1883, the year of the second Union, the returns showed 98 travelling preachers, 8,000 members in society, and church property valued at $403,346. Among those who rendered valuable service to the denomination the names of John Davison, Hugh Bourne, Thomas Guttry, Thomas Crompton, Dr. J. C. Antliff, William Bee, Robert Boyle, William Herridge, and others are held in grate ful remembrance. When proposals for organic union in the ranks of Methodism began to take definite shape, the Primitive Methodist Conference threw its influence into the scale, and its representatives rendered good service in shaping the polity of the united body in the Union of 1883. Bible Almost simultaneously with the rise of Primitive Metho-
Sethodists dism in Staffordshire, the movement subsequently known as the Bible Christian Church had its origin in Devonshire. In 1821 the Bible Christian Missionary Society was formed, and ten years later, although the membership was but 6,650, and the missionary income only £104 4s., two mis sionaries were sent forth to begin work in British North America.
Francis Metherall and family reached Prince Edward Island in 1832, where he rendered faithful service, the good results of which continue to this day. John Glass, whose destination was Canada West, soon became discouraged, and returned home. He was succeeded by John Hicks Eynon, who reached his large and unexplored field in 1833,
IN BRITISH AMERICA 223
making his headquarters at Cobourg, which has since been called ' the cradle of the Bible Christian Church in Canada.' In subsequent years other missionaries arrived, and the work extended in various directions. The first regular Conference met in 1855. At that time the preachers numbered 21, with 2,186 members, 51 churches, and 104 other preaching-places. Of those who composed the ministerial force, John H. Eynon will be always remembered as the founder of the denomination in Canada, his wife as one of its best evangelists, and Paul Robins as its wisest and most gifted leader. In 1865 the Prince Edward Island stations were attached to the Canadian Conference as one of its districts, and so remained until united with the New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island Conference at the Union of 1883. At the latter date there were 181 churches and 55 parsonages, valued at $400,000 ; 80 ministers, 7,400 members, and about 30,000 adherents, quite a note worthy contribution to the strength of the uniting bodies.
When the Union Committee had completed its work it was agreed that if two-thirds of the Quarterly Meetings and a majority of the Annual Conferences voting thereon declared in favour of the plan proposed, the President of the General Conference of the Methodist Church was authorized to call a special session of the Conference to give effect to the proposed union. The answer from the Quarterly Meetings was overwhelmingly in favour of the measure, and six out of seven Annual Conferences adopted the basis, in most cases by large majorities. In the General Conference which followed the basis was ratified, after a prolonged debate, by a three-fourths majority with several votes to spare. Two days later the delegates composing the first General Conference of the United Church assembled to formulate a discipline and transact such other business as the occasion called for. From that day Methodism in Complete Canada has been one from ocean to ocean. One may it ^jom- ever remain ! plished.
224
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE.
Pioneer work.
1824.
Among the redskins.
Home missions.
IV
Like the parent bodies from which it sprang, Canadian Methodism has always been missionary in spirit and in practice. In the old pioneer days its whole work was a missionary propaganda among the scattered settlements in the Canadas, while similar work was being done by similar agencies in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. As early as 1824, while the church was yet in its infancy, a Missionary Society was organized, and has maintained a vigorous existence ever since, celebrating its eighty-fourth anniversary in 1908. Its income for the first year was only about $140, and the field of operation was corre spondingly limited. At that time, and for many years after, a foreign mission was undreamed of, but it was thought that something might be done for the scattered bands of Indians in the western parts of Upper Canada, whose moral condition was most deplorable. The results justified the faith that prompted the effort, and the gospel, which had brought peace and joy to thousands of scattered dwellers in lonely cabins amid forest solitudes, proved itself to be equally the power of God unto salvation to the red man, as he heard it in the shelter of the wigwam, or while paddling his birch-bark canoe. Conversions occurred that were positively miraculous (and indeed what real conversion is not ?), showing that while none are too high to need the gospel, none are sunken so low as to be beyond its power. In later years the work among the Indians was greatly extended, and now embraces numerous missions, schools, and industrial institutes in Ontario, Manitoba, Keewatin, Alberta, and British Columbia, with more than five thousand communicants on the rolls.
In the development of its missionary work, Canadian Methodism has made no arbitrary distinction as between home and foreign. One fund covers both, and is controlled and administered by one board. Hence while extending
IN BRITISH AMERICA 225
its work into ' the regions beyond,' the church has not been unmindful of the task which lies at its doors, and is now directing its energies to meet the needs of the hosts of immigrants who come annually seeking homes in the forests of New Ontario, the fertile plains of the North- West, or among the mountains and valleys of British Columbia. While steady growth had characterized the home missionary 1858. enterprise from the beginning, it was not till 1858 that the society ventured to extend beyond the limits of the two Canadas. In April of that year the Rev. Dr. Wood, then Superintendent of Missions, addressed a letter to the General Secretaries of the Wesleyan Missionary Society in London in British respecting the spiritual needs of British Columbia. The Columbia- Secretaries replied in sympathetic terms, and a grant of £500 sterling was made to aid in establishing the mission. Prompt action followed, and preachers, Dr. Ephraim Evans, Edward White, Ebenezer Robson, and Arthur Browning, were selected to begin the work. Owing to sparseness of population and other circumstances the growth of the church in British Columbia was slow ; but growing out of the seed planted by the pioneers of fifty years ago, there is now a Conference of 86 ministers and 22 pro bationers. The territory is divided into eight districts, embracing 133 circuits and stations, with 8,320 members, and 10,575 scholars in the Sunday schools.
In 1868 another forward movement took place, when in the Board of Missions resolved to open work at Fort Garry, Manitoba, in what had been known till then as the Hudson's Bay Territory. The federation of the British American colonies the previous year, when provision was made for the in corporation of the territory referred to, had turned the steps of some in that direction, and it was felt that something should be done to meet their spiritual needs. The choice fell upon the Rev. Dr. George Young, an able and trusted minister, to begin the work. After a long and laborious journey he reached his destination, and having secured a place in which to live, and in which to conduct religious services, he set himself to the difficult task of laying founda-
VOL. II 15
226 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Rapid develop ment.
Among the French- Canadians.
tions. Even in that day of small things he had a vision of future possibilities. He wrote in December 1868:
I am not a prophet, but I will predict for this mission, whose foundations I am now trying to lay, a glorious future.
The difficulties incident to the founding of a mission in a sparsely settled country are serious enough, but in Manitoba they were greatly augmented during the troublous times of ! 869-70 by the revolt of the French half-breeds under Louis Kiel. For many months a reign of terror prevailed, which was ended only by the arrival of Garnet Wolseley and his troops in 1870. Lawful authority was soon established, the machinery of government and of the law courts was set in motion, and business began to revive and extend. As population increased, additional missionaries were sent in, though for a length of time progress, in both respects, was comparatively slow. But in the later 'eighties, when the Canadian Pacific Railway spanned the continent and millions of fertile acres were thrown open for settlement, the whole situation was changed. Instead of a little handful of missionaries, most of them from Indian stations, who assembled in Winnipeg in 1872, there are now three Annual Conferences, covering a territory fifteen hundred miles in length by four or five hundred miles in width, with 501 ministers and probationers, and 38,953 members ; and by far the greater part of this increase dates within the last fifteen years.
One of the most difficult fields for missionary effort is that among the French-speaking people of the Province of Quebec. But patient and persevering effort does not go altogether unrewarded. The missions of the Methodist Church are few in number and the membership is not large, but here and there are found groups of men and women to whom the gospel as proclaimed by Methodist missionaries has proved itself to be ' the power of God unto salvation.' Were it not so, they could not maintain their new faith in the face of determined opposition. The Province of Quebec
IN BRITISH AMERICA 227
can boast of perhaps the most compact, thoroughly organized and aggressive type of Roman Catholicism to be found in the world, and its varied agencies display a sleepless vigi lance in guarding the people against what they call ' heresy.' Notwithstanding this, some do effect their escape, but they are quickly ostracized and subjected to so many indignities and disabilities that only a religious experience of the deepest and clearest kind can hold them true to their new faith. It is estimated that since Protestant missions began in Quebec not less than 65,000 converts have left the Province to escape from persecution and social ostracism. The Methodist Montreal. Church, though one of the last to enter the field of Christian education among the French, has now a large Institute in the City of Montreal, with accommodation for about one hundred students. This is filled to its utmost capacity. While it cannot be said that there is any widespread religious awakening among the French-Canadian people, yet there are many indications which show that the prospects of evangelical Christianity are far more encouraging than in any former period of the country's history.
It was not till the year 1873 that the bold step, as some In Japan, considered it, was taken of founding a distinctly foreign mission, and many circumstances turned attention to Japan as a promising field. In faith and prayer the move ment was inaugurated, and the Rev. Dr. George Cochrane and the Rev. Davidson Macdonald, M.D., were commis sioned to begin the work. The difficulties encountered were many and great and not always devoid of danger ; but faith and patience triumphed and a mission was founded which became an important factor in the evangelization of Japan. In the course of fifteen years the work had so developed that an Annual Conference was formed, which eventually embraced five districts and was controlled in very large measure by the Japanese. Early in the present century a feeling which had been growing for some time deepened into a conviction that the time had come when the various Methodist missions in Japan should unite to form a strong self-governing church. The bodies affected
228
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
The
Methodist Church of Japan.
In China.
by this movement were the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States, the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and the Methodist Church in Canada. Commissioners representing these three bodies were appointed, and after much prayerful consideration a Basis of Union was adopted which was satisfactory alike to the home churches and to Union there, the Japanese brethren. In the month of May 1907 a General Conference was convened in the City of Tokyo, six of the commissioners above mentioned (Bishop Cranston and Dr. Leonard of the M.E. Church, Bishop Wilson and Dr. Lambuth of the M.E. Church South, and Drs. Carman and Sutherland of the Methodist Church in Canada) were present, the Basis of Union was unanimously accepted, and under the name of Nippon Methodist Kyokwai (the Methodist Church of Japan) the new organization took its place as one of the strong self-governing churches of the Empire. This step being in line with the sentiments and aspirations of the people at large, it was hailed with great satisfaction. The next decisive forward movement in mission work occurred in 1892, when the Board decided to found a new foreign mission, and as concurrent providences seemed to point to China, steps were at once taken to begin work in the province of Sz'Chuan, which borders on Tibet. The Rev. Dr. V. C. Hart, who had been Superintendent of the missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Central China, was secured as leader of the new enterprise, and with him was associated the Rev. George E. Hartwell, with the Rev. O. L. Kilborn, M.D., and D. W. Stevenson, M.D., as medical missionaries. For three years these pioneers pursued their work, sometimes in great danger from riots and local insurrections. Twice the mission was broken up, but as soon as quiet was restored most of the missionaries returned with undaunted courage. Since then the skies have cleared. Doors are open in every direction. Appeals for reinforcements are being met by the Board on One a scale undreamed of a few years ago. By the time this
missionaries, volume is published, it is probable that not less than one hundred missionaries of Canadian Methodism, men and
IN BRITISH AMERICA 229
women, will be at work in the Provinces of Sz'Chuan and Kweichau. Preaching-places are being opened in many centres, schools established, hospitals built and equipped. Four missions have united to carry on higher education, and a site of sixty-five acres has been secured outside the walls of Chentu. Each mission will erect its own buildings, and all will co-operate in supplying teachers and professors. The confident hope is entertained that in a few years the effort will be crowned with the establishment of a strong and well-equipped Christian university.
This brief account of the missionary undertakings of Widespread Canadian Methodism would be incomplete without some mterest- reference to the home organization which makes missionary activity possible. To state the truth in its broadest form, the entire church is a missionary organization. The Mis sionary Idea dominates its policy, and among its various forms of activity the Missionary Society holds foremost place. Every congregation contributes to the society's income and every Sunday school is a branch of that organiza tion. But in the course of time it was seen that there were still several missing links, and so it came to pass that in 1880 the women of Canadian Methodism began to organize for aggressive missionary effort. Since the inception of the movement there has been steady growth, and now the Society has 59 workers among women and children in the home and foreign fields, an annual income of about $100,000, and property valued at $152,492.
In 1896 another movement began, which, though small in Young its beginnings, was destined to become a most important J60?16'*
.... r orward
auxiliary in the missionary propaganda. This is known as Movement. the Young People's Forward Movement for Missions, and it has proved itself in more ways than one a great blessing to the church. The organization has adopted the signifi cant motto, ' Pray — Study — Give,' and in the spirit of these inspiring watchwords the work is carried on. Most of the workers in foreign fields are now supported by this agency, its annual income being between fifty and sixty thousand dollars, and steadily growing.
230
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Laymen's
Missionary
Movement.
It seemed at one time as though little more could be done in the way of organization, but just at the present juncture what promises to be the most efficient agency of all is coming to the front. This is known as the Lay men's Missionary Movement, and it is stirring all the evan gelical churches. It is not a new society. It has no officers, pays no salaries, sends out no missionaries, collects no funds for its own purposes. All its work will be done through existing missionary boards. The aim is simply to unite the men of the various denominations in an effort to finance the vast missionary enterprises of the twentieth century on a scale commensurate with the magnitude of a world- wide evangelization. In this great movement the men of Canadian Methodism are preparing to do their part. For years the tide of missionary zeal has been rising, and the income has shown a corresponding growth. It is now close upon half a million dollars annually, but there are many — and these not the most optimistic — who predict that within ten years it will pass the million-dollar line.
PRESENT CONDITIONS.
Relative position.
V
A few words regarding the present status and strength of the Methodist Church will form a not inappropriate close to this chapter. Numerically it is the largest Protestant body in the Dominion, with the Presbyterian Church a close second. But this position was not gained without a long and arduous struggle. From its earliest beginnings, down to the middle of the nineteenth century, Methodism in Canada had to fight for its very existence. Despised by formalists, hated by the ungodly, brow-beaten by the clergy and adherents of a State Church, so called, and hampered by legal disabilities, the wonder is that it survived at all, and its growth can be ascribed only to the overruling providence of God. But in the last half-century all this has been changed. Instead of contempt and hatred there is respect, the shadow of a State Church has disappeared ; and
IN BRITISH AMERICA 231
with no legal disabilities to cramp its energies or hinder its development, Methodism in Canada has been free to pursue its heaven- appointed task. And although its work has not been free from the imperfections, the mistakes, the failures which dog the footsteps of all human endeavour, yet enough has been accomplished to inspire thankfulness and hope.1 Our people love the old gospel and throng our sanctuaries to hear it proclaimed. The weekly prayer-meeting still sends up its cloud of incense, while in the class-meeting ' they that fear the Lord speak often one to another ' ; and still it can be said in the language of the founder of the Methodist system, ' Our people die well.'
In the work of higher education Canadian Methodism Higher was a pioneer, for to her belongs the honour of establishing educatlon- the first college with university powers in Upper Canada. That college still maintains a vigorous existence, though now federated with the University of Toronto. The church also supports a university at Sackville, New Brunswick, and colleges for Arts or Theology, sometimes both, at St. John's, Newfoundland, Montreal, Stanstead, Belleville, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and New Westminster. Besides these there are numerous day schools, boarding schools, and industrial missionary institutes among the Indians of the Dominion.
It will be readily understood that such results under such Arduous conditions were not accomplished without persevering and labours- self-denying effort. The pioneer days were times of heroic endeavour and self-sacrificing toil worthy of the best tra ditions of the Christian Church. And such toil is not altogether a thing of the past. To this day around the sterile and storm-swept shores of Newfoundland and Labra dor, among the remoter settlements of Ontario, over lonely
1 So far as statistics can represent the strength of a church, the position is as follows: Ordained ministers, 1,821; probationers for the ministry, 483, distributed in twelve Annual Conferences, covering the whole of the Dominion, Newfoundland, and the Bermudas, with two foreign missions, one in Japan and one in West China. On the rolls of the Sunday schools there are 34,479 teachers, 290,835 scholars, and the membership of the church is 323,343.
232
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Proposed union of non- episcopal churches.
prairie trails in the great North- West, and in mining, fishing, and logging camps among the mountains and along the waterways of British Columbia, men as consecrated and as unselfish as were the fathers have turned their backs upon alluring worldly prospects, that they may proclaim the life-giving gospel of Jesus Christ to their perishing fellow- men. Those at a distance who merely read of such things may see in them much of the romantic and the picturesque, but in the face of stern realities the element of romance quickly fades away, and only men who are constrained by the all-controlling love of Christ can be kept faithful to duty's call.
While these sheets are passing through the press a move ment is in progress which may change the course of church history in the Dominion, and introduce a new era in home and foreign evangelization. Within the last three years a large committee, representing the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Congregational Churches, have held repeated con ferences to ascertain if it be possible to formulate a basis on which an organic union of the churches named might be effected. A generation ago such a suggestion would have been regarded as utterly Utopian ; now it is regarded by leaders in all the churches, and by vast numbers of the people, as being well within the limits of practical discussion. Various circumstances have helped to bring about this new proposal. A growing spirit of fraternity among the churches kindled a desire for closer relations ; unions which had taken place among various branches of the Presbyterian and Methodist families were regarded as indicating the possibility of a wider fellowship ; a belief that such a union would be in line with the prayer and purpose of our divine Redeemer quickened the impulse ; and when the churches found themselves face to face with the tremendous problem of home and foreign evangelization, the conviction grew that the era of a competitive Christianity was past and that the era of co-operation and united effort had come ; for with such a colossal task before them it was clearly perceived that the churches could not, without incurring an
IN BRITISH AMERICA 233
awful responsibility, afford to waste a dollar or a man. The Joint Union Committee held its last session in December of last year, when the Basis of Union was so far completed 1908. as to permit of its being sent down to the chief courts of the Churches concerned, after which it will be finally settled. What that decision will be it would be unwise to anticipate. Should the vote be unfavourable, the advocates of the move ment can only conclude that the time is not yet. But should it be otherwise — should the proposal meet with general approval — may it not be regarded as a long step toward the fulfilment of the Redeemer's prayer, ' That they may all be one, even as Thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us, that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me ' ; and may not God use the movement as an object-lesson to teach His Church throughout the world that Christianity is vastly broader than sects, infinitely more important than shibboleths, and far more Catholic than creeds ?
CHAPTER V IN AUSTRALASIA
Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows ? Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because He hath glorified thee. — ISAIAH Ix. 8, 9.
236
CONTENTS
I. ORIGINS IN AUSTRALIA p. 237
First settlement in Australia — First religious services — Intro duction of Methodism into Sydney — Thomas Bowden — Ed. Eagar — Methodist missionaries sent — Samuel Leigh — Progress of the colony —Methodist progress pp. 237-242
II. ORIGINS IN TASMANIA AND NEW ZEALAND . p. 242
Settlement of Tasmania — Progress of Methodism — In the convict hell — New Zealand — Further developments — Aboriginal missions in Australia — Foreign missions commenced — A troubled time
pp. 242-247
III. GROWTH AND CONSOLIDATION . . . . p. 247
Orton's administration — John Watsford — Tasmania — Robinson the ' Conciliator ' — New Zealand — Victoria — South Australia — West Aus tralia — Methodism begun in Queensland — Progress of New Zealand — Boyce's administration — Failure of the aboriginal Methodists — Primitive Methodists — The discovery of gold — William Butters — Bible Christians and other Methodists — The establishment of the Australasian Conference . ..... pp. 247-257
IV. THE STORY OF THE LAST FIFTY YEARS . . p. 257
Victoria — New Zealand — The Jubilee — Formation of General Conference — Severe commercial depression — The Victoria Jubilee — The ' Forward Movement ' — The question of church membership — Other Conferences formed — Twentieth- Century Fund — Educational work, in Australia — in Tasmania — in New Zealand . pp. 257-263
V. METHODIST REUNION . .... p. 264
Basis adopted — Unions effected — Statistical position — Remarkable
growth and present position ..... pp. 264-265
Pages 235-265
236
CHAPTER V
IN AUSTRALASIA
AUTHORITIES. — To the General List add : Minutes of British Confer ences (1814-54) ; Minutes of Australian Conferences (1855-1906) ; Letters in Methodist Magazine from 1814 onward ; A. STRACHAN, Li-fe of Samuel Leigh (1853, 1870) ; also ib. trs. German, Bremen (1884), Nathaniel Draper ; J. C. SYMONS, Daniel J. Draper (1870), and J. TOWNEND, Autobiography (1869) ; BICKFORD, Autobiography (1890) ; WATSFORD, Glorious Gospel Triumphs (1904) ; R. YOUNG, Journal of a Deputation to the Southern World (1854) ; F. G. JOBSON, Australia with Notes by the Way (2nd ed., 1862) ; TURNER, History of Victoria ; J. WEST, History of Tasmania, (Launceston, 2 vols., 1582) ; J. D. LANG, History of New South Wales, 2 vols. (1834, 1837, 1852, 1875) ; PETTY, History of Primitive Methodism ; Sections in BOURNE, The Bible Christians, Origin and History (1905) ; E. JENKS, History of the Australasian Colonies (1894) ; G. TREGARTHEN, Australian Commonwealth (1893) ; Government Census returns.
ON August 21, 1770, Captain James Cook hoisted the British First flag on Possession Island, and formally laid claim in the settlement right of King George III. to the eastern coast of New Australia. Holland, by the name of New South Wales. Twelve years later England admitted the loss of her American colonies. This involved the cessation of the transportation of convicts to the Southern States, and a new locality was required, to which these people, numbering on the average 500 per annum, could be sent. In 1783 a Bill was passed autho rizing the king in council to fix places to which criminals might be transported. Gibraltar, the West Coast of Africa, and Botany Bay were severally suggested ; and, largely through the influence of Mr. Matra, Lord Sydney finally adopted the New South Wales scheme. The ' first fleet,' under Captain Phillip, set sail on May 13, 1787, with 550
237
238 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
male and 200 female convicts, 208 marines, 40 free women, and the usual complement of seamen ; in all, about 1,100 souls. Anchor was cast in Botany Bay on January 18, 1788, but the site proving unsuitable, in less than a week the whole company was transferred to Port Jackson, and formal possession was taken of Sydney Cove on January 26, and the city of Sydney was founded.
Fii;st; Through the earnest efforts of Wilberforce, a chaplain had
services. been sent with the fleet, the Rev. Richard Johnson ; to him belongs the honour of having on January 27, 1788, held the first religious service and preached the first sermon in Australia. It was seven years before a church was built ; till then the shade of a venerable gum-tree alone protected preacher and congregation. In 1800 Johnson returned to England, and his place as senior chaplain was taken by the Rev. Samuel Marsden, who had come out at Wilberforce's suggestion six years before. He was the son of a Methodist family at Horsforth, near Leeds, and was sent to St. John's College, Cambridge, to prepare for Holy Orders. Whilst there he became intimate with the Rev. Charles Simeon, whose evangelical principles thoroughly harmonized with his own early training. On his way out to Australia his ship anchored off Brading, in the Isle of Wight, and he spent a Sunday on shore. Legh Rich mond invited him to occupy his pulpit, and under Marsden's discourse the author of The Dairyman's Daughter found peace with God. On landing at Port Jackson he found that matters could not well be worse. Drunkenness and im morality were rife ; and order could only be maintained by wholesale floggings and hangings. Marsden boldly de nounced the vices of the community ; but his influence was considerably discounted by his severity as a magistrate (' Lord have mercy on us,' exclaimed one poor wretch who was arraigned before him, ' for his reverence has none ! '), and by his too obvious desire to make the best of both worlds — ' a little, merry, bustling clergyman,' said Sydney Smith, 'largely concerned in the sale of rum, and brisk at a bargain for barley.'
PLATE XVII
DEATH OF CAI-TAIX COOK. IN TIIK YKAK TIIK CITY OK SYDNKY \VAS H>r.M>i-:i>. 17>s (n',l, p. i':;s rhap. v.t.
(Print of ITS',).) AVH1ULEY GULLEY, TOUKST C'KKKK ]{AN(;KS, .\lT. ALEXAXDKlt, \vllfTC (ho discovery of iTold ill 1851 ll'ul
important otl'cets on .Methodist devclopim-nts. (Contemporary prints in Rev. T. 1C. J'.riL'den's ( 'ollortion.) IT. 238J
IN AUSTRALASIA 239
Marsden was, however, genuinely concerned for the The in- spiritual and moral welfare of his unpromising flock, and Deduction amongst other things sent home for a school-master for Methodism them. He was cheered by the arrival in response to his Sidney, request of Thomas Bowden, a London Methodist who had Bowden. been the master of Great Queen Street Charity School, as well as a zealous class leader. He arrived in January 1812, and in July he records that there were now three Class Meetings established in the colony — two in Sydney, under the leadership of himself and John Hosking, and one in Windsor (a settlement on the Hawkesbury, 34 miles from Sydney), conducted by Edward Eagar. The first Class Meeting in Sydney was held in Bowden's house on March 6, 1812 ; but it is probable that Eagar had begun his meeting in Windsor before that date. He was a young Irish barrister from Cork, who had been converted there through the preaching of the Methodists.1
Bowden's pious soul was greatly concerned at the god- Methodist lessness of the people, and the insufficiency of ministerial ™ionaries help. So in 1814 he and his fellow leader, Hosking, addressed a letter to the committee of the Methodist Mis sionary Society, in which, after speaking of the appalling immorality of the 20,000 white people of the colony, and the prospect of a friendly reception by the governor (Macquarie), and the four chaplains, they beg for a minister to be sent to them, and undertake, if he be suitably provided with clothes and books, to bear all other expense them selves. Such an appeal could hardly be disregarded ; and in the original edition of the Minutes of the Bristol Conference of 1814 the entry appears:
3. New South Wales. Two to be sent by the Committee.
Soon after Conference it was found that Montreal was unable to take the man who had been appointed there ; and so he was transferred from Canada to New South Wales, and the entry in the octavo edition of the Minutes stands thus : '3. New South Wales. Samuel Leigh.'
1 Vide supra, p. 37.
240 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Samuel Leigh was a Staffordshire man, born at Milton, near
Leigh. Hanley, in 1785, and then in his thirtieth year. He was
received as a minister on trial at the Conference of 1812, and appointed to the Shaftesbury Circuit, where he laboured so zealously that his superintendent cautioned him against overworking. He sailed for Sydney on February 28, 1815, and landed on August 10. It is significant of the difficulties of communication in those days that the news of his arrival did not reach England till January 1817.
Progress It was now thirty years since the arrival of the ' first
colon6 fleet.' Free settlers, or ' pure merinos ' as they were called,
had arrived in considerable numbers and taken up land. Many of the convicts who had served their sentences elected to stay in the country, and received allotments from the Government ; and not a few time-expired soldiers followed their example. The population had grown to about 20,000 ; of whom roughly speaking 1,000 were soldiers and 2,000 convicts ; amongst the remaining 17,000 there were twice as many men as women. Sydney of course held the greater part of the population ; but Parramatta, situated fourteen miles west of Sydney, on an arm of Port Jackson, was a flourishing town ; there was a considerable settlement on the Hawkesbury River around Windsor. Castlereagh, at the foot of the Blue Mountains, was the centre of a growing pastoral population ; and there was a convict station at Newcastle, near the mouth of the Hunter River, seventy-five miles north of Sydney, where coal had been discovered a few years before. Me Arthur had wisely introduced the merino sheep in 1803, and the plains of the Camden estate were being rapidly covered by his flocks. Under the vigorous, if somewhat despotic, administration of Governor Macquarie, great progress had been made ; new sites for townships were surveyed, good roads were constructed, numerous public buildings were erected, and schools opened. But morality was at a very low ebb ; drunkenness was universal, sexual morality had almost disappeared, Sabbath observance was hardly thought of, theft and murder were everyday incidents. The only
IN AUSTRALASIA 241
provision for the spiritual welfare of the community was the appointment of four chaplains for the convicts ; and the constant spectacle of floggings and hangings tended to brutalize rather than to amend the manners of the people.
Such were the outer conditions under which Leigh Methodist entered upon his mission. He was kindly welcomed by prc the governor and the chaplains, and at once set to work to reorganize the Methodist society, which had dwindled down to six. Classes were formed — two in Sydney, one each in Parramatta, Windsor, and Castlereagh, with a total membership of forty-four ; four Sunday schools were opened ; fifteen preaching-places were secured, and the missionary on his good horse ' Old Traveller ' visited each of those outside Sydney once in three weeks. On October 7, 1817, he opened the first Methodist chapel in Australasia at Castle reagh. It was a simple weatherboard structure, 28 ft. by 14, and was given to the mission, free of expense, by John Lees, a retired soldier of the New South Wales Corps, who also endowed it with an acre of his best land. In Sydney preaching services were conducted at first in a house in the district called ' The Rocks.' By the removal of its partition walls, the building was rendered capable of accommodating two hundred hearers. A site, however, was presented by Sergeant James Scott, in Princes Street, and a chapel erected thereon at his expense, 30 ft. by 21, which was opened on March 17, 1819, by Leigh and his colleague, Walter Lawry, an ardent young Cornishman who had arrived on May 1 of the previous year. Indeed the work progressed so rapidly that before Princes Street Chapel was opened the foundation-stone of a second chapel, 50 ft. by 30, in Macquarie Street was laid, on a site presented by the governor and Thomas Wylde. Both these chapels were substantial stone buildings. A brick chapel 32 ft. by 16 was also opened at Windsor during the same summer, on a site given by the Rev. S. Marsden, who always showed himself a staunch friend of the Methodists.
Unfortunately the health of Leigh was not equal to the VOL. II 16
242 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
strain of his apostolic labours, and shortly after La wry 's arrival he took a holiday voyage to New Zealand, along with Mr. Marsden, who had commenced and was deeply interested in a mission to convert the Maoris, and was also concerned to open up a trade in the New Zealand flax. The improvement in Leigh's health was, however, only temporary, and a stormy sea-trip to Newcastle, less than a hundred miles from Sydney, which he took at the invita tion of a few Methodists who had been gathered together there under the leadership of a godly soldier, completely prostrated him, and he was compelled in 1820 to return to England. He reported to the Missionary Committee a membership of eighty-three, and urged upon them the claims of New South Wales and the new settlements at Hobart and Port Dairy mple in Tasmania. He asked also for a missionary to the aboriginals ; and for men to open up missions in New Zealand and the Friendly Islands. The result showed the value of a personal appeal ; and in the Minutes of Conference of 1820 the entry runs thus :
29. Sydney, Parramatta, and Windsor, George Erskine, Ralph Mansfield. Two to be sent, one of whom is to devote his labours entirely to the black natives.
30. Van Diemen's Land, Benjamin Carvosso.
31. New Zealand, Samuel Leigh. One to be sent.
32. Friendly Islands, Walter Lawry. One to be sent.
33. Two others to be sent to the South Seas whose appoint ments are not yet determined.
II
TASMANIA, In consequence of apprehensions that the French were casting covetous eyes upon Van Diemen's Land, Governor King determined to be beforehand with them, and in 1803 dispatched Lieutenant Bowen with 8 soldiers, 24 convicts, and 6 free men to effect a settlement on the Derwent. A month later 42 convicts and 15 soldiers followed, and the next year Collins, after his abortive attempt at forming a convict
IN AUSTRALASIA 243
station on the shores of Port Phillip, transported his com pany of 331 convicts, 51 soldiers, and 13 free men to the Derwent, fixed upon a site for the settlement at the foot of Mount Wellington, and named it Hobart Town, after the then Colonial Secretary. This same year another gang 1804. of convicts, under Colonel Patterson, was sent to the north of the island and founded Port Dairy mple ; in 1806 Patter son removed to the better site farther up the Tamar, where Launceston now stands. Three years later Norfolk Island was turned into a convict prison, and its free inhabitants were sent over to a point on the Derwent, fifteen miles above Hobart, which in memory of their old home they christened New Norfolk. By 1820 the population of Van Diemen's Land had increased to 8,000, of whom 2,000 were in Port Dalrymple, 3,000 in Hobart itself, and the rest in the country districts around it.
The founder of Methodism in the midst of this most Progress of unpromising population was Corporal George Waddy, B credibly affirmed to have been of the same family as the well-known Wesleyan minister, Dr. Waddy. He with six others started a Class Meeting in Hobart on October 29, 1820, in a room secured for them by Mr. Nokes. Preaching services were soon established in a house in Argyle Street, belonging to a carpenter known as Donn, but whose real name was Cranmer, and who claimed descent from the great archbishop. In spite of stones and brickbats, the congregation grew to about three hundred, and in May 1821 a Sunday school was opened. Benjamin Carvosso, who had called at Hobart on his way to Sydney, and on August 18,
1820, had preached on the steps of the Court-house, was ap pointed by the Conference of 1820 to Van Diemen's Land. But when Leigh came to Hobart, on his way from England, with the new missionaries, Walker and Horton, in August
1821, he found that Carvosso had not yet arrived, and so decided on his own authority as General Superintendent to leave Horton in Hobart and let Carvosso remain in Sydney. Mansfield succeeded Horton in 1823 and com menced a chapel which is now the Mechanics' Hall.
244 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Carvosso succeeded him in 1825, and opened the new chapel .
In the Meantime Waddy, raised now to the rank of sergeant,
hen™ had been transferred to the penal station at Macquarie
Harbour, which had been established in 1821 for the re ception of the most incorrigible of the convicts. He suc ceeded, even in that hell upon earth, in forming a Class Meeting, and by the Conference of 1827 William Schofield was appointed to labour there, at the request of Governor Arthur. ' The result of his labours entirely justified the governor's hopes,' says Prof. Jenks, ' and Macquarie Harbour was no longer simply a place of despair.' Efforts were made to secure a missionary for Launceston, and John Hutchinson was sent there in 1826, and a chapel and parsonage built ; but he was withdrawn in 1828, and the property sold to the Government. Carvosso remained in Hobart until 1830, and reported as the result of the work of the decad 46 members.
New Methodism went to New Zealand in the first instance
to preach the gospel to the Maoris. Marsden had founded the Church mission in 1814, at a point on the west coast of the North Island called the Bay of Islands ; and on one of his visits there he took Leigh with him, as we have seen. Leigh stayed about a month, and was deeply im pressed with the possibilities of the situation, and ad vocated on his visit to England the starting of a Methodist mission. The Committee was favourable to his request, and he was appointed to New Zealand by the Conference of 1820. He reached Sydney in September 1821, and on January 1, 1822, sailed for his new station. For a time he was a guest of the Church of England mission at Kille-Kille ; but in June he determined to begin his own work, and moved some forty miles up the coast to Wangaroa Bay, where the Boyd massacre l had taken place, and with his newly-married
1 ' The Massacre of the Boyd ' was an attack made on the vessel by the natives to revenge indignities one of their chiefs received at th.p> hands of the captain. The vessel was burned and about seventy of the crew and passengers killed and eaten, only eight being saved (1809).
IN AUSTRALASIA 245
wife and James Slack from Sydney, he established the Wesley- Vale mission station, about twelve miles inland.
In the following year Leigh was joined by William White, Further who was appointed by the Conference of 1821, and a month later by Nathaniel Turner and his wife, and a Mr. Hobbs, a volunteer from Sydney. These, with their servant, Luke Wade, constituted the mission company. They entered hopefully on their work, but Leigh's health failed again, and he had to return to Sydney a month after Turner's arrival, leaving White and Turner in charge. The work was rendered exceedingly difficult and hazardous by the tribal wars which the ambition of Hongi 1 continually excited ; and though two chapels were built, and opened on June 13, 1824, there was little or no result to be seen in the way of native conversions. White returned to Eng land towards the end of 1825, and, after another year of struggle and peril, the destruction of Wesley- Vale by the natives compelled the whole company to return to Sydney early in 1827, and abandon the mission for a time. But after six months' stay in Sydney, Slack and Hobbs, who were now accredited missionaries, and a Miss Bedford, went back to their post, where they were soon joined by White, and successfully established a new station at Man- gunga, near Hokianga. Meanwhile in 1826 New Zealand and Tonga had been created a separate district, with White as chairman. Progress was slow, and only two members were returned in 1830 ; but the foundations were being well and truly laid.
The condition of the aboriginal tribes of New South Aboriginal Wales could not fail to appeal to the heart of Leigh. An institution for their children had already, in 1814, been founded at Parramatta, and Leigh urged the Committee to send ' a zealous, holy, patient, and persevering missionary ' to devote himself solely to the native tribes. The result was the appointment of William Walker, who arrived in Sydney with Leigh in September 1821. He soon came to
i Hongi was one of the greatest of the Maori chiefs. He had been educated by the missionaries in England (1820).
246
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Foreign missions commenced.
A
troubled time.
the conclusion that the only possible plan for the successful evangelization of the blacks was to educate their young people. For this purpose a house was rented in 1823 from the Rev. S. Marsden in Parramatta, and six native lads were admitted for training. But the next year, owing to an unfortunate misunderstanding, Walker resigned, and the institution was abandoned. His place was rilled by his assistant, John Harper ; and under his advice efforts were made to secure grants of land for an Aboriginal Settle ment, first at Wellington Valley, and then at Bateman Bay. They were not successful, as the Government apparently had little faith in their practicability ; and Harper at last grew weary of delays and resigned his position in August 1828.
In Sydney itself the missionaries founded and under took the management of an Asylum for the Poor, after wards taken over by the State. They took a leading part in the establishment of a Branch of the Bible Society in 1820 ; and in 1821 started a Missionary Society, which held its first meeting on October 1, and reported an income of £236. Erskine, who had been appointed in 1820 to take Leigh's place, arrived in November 1822. He was one of Coke's original missionaries to Ceylon. His labours there had ruined his health, so that he came to Sydney a broken-down invalid, quite unfit for the work of super intending and developing a new field.
Already troubles had arisen between Leigh and his col leagues as to the holding of services in church hours ; and under Erskine's administration things nearly came to a rupture between the general committee and the mission aries. The salaries allowed were insufficient, and the missionaries raised them by about £25 without consultation with the Committee. They accepted as a candidate for the ministry a young man, John Lovell, who had imbibed Dr. Adam Clarke's unorthodox views as to the Eternal Sonship ; 1 and they accepted Mr. Weiss as a candidate,
i Dr. Clarke, the famous Wesleyan minister and commentator, held a conception of the Eternal Sonship that was held by many to be of Arian character.
IN AUSTRALASIA 247
allowed him to marry at once, and stationed him at Tonga, though this was no longer in the New South Wales District. The Committee at home administered severe censure to their delinquent agents, refused to accept Lovell and Weiss, and dishonoured the bills sent by the missionaries. William Horton thereupon went to England in 1828 on his own motion to argue the case, and was expelled for insubor dination by the Conference of 1829. On his expression of penitence he was readmitted on trial, and until his death in 1867 continued to serve the church in England. Mansfield also resigned in 1828, in consequence of the Committee's action. Only Erskine and Leigh were left, and they were both in infirm health. It is no wonder that the mission languished, and that Richard Watson branded it as a disgrace to Methodism. Still some important advances had been made ; the first District Meeting was held in January 1826, and the first ordination — that of John Hutchinson — was held in May of the same year. The returns in 1830 showed 113 members in New South Wales, an increase of 30 only during the decad.
Ill
The arrival of Joseph Orton in December 1831 marked Orion's the beginning of a new epoch. He at once set to work to re-establish the discipline of the church and to extend its sphere of labour. In 1835 he left Sydney for Hobart, to take charge of the newly formed District of Tasmania, and his place was filled by a worthy successor, John McKenny. During the ten years under review new cir cuits were established at Bathurst, Hunter River, and the Lower Hawkesbury in New South Wales, and Ross, Launceston, and Port Arthur in Tasmania ; Methodism was established in Melbourne, Adelaide, and Western Australia ; the membership grew from 159 to 1,019, and the number of missionaries from five to nineteen. Special attention was given to the development of Sunday-school work, and the Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Society of New South
248
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
John Watsford.
Tasmania.
Wales was formed in 1834. Legal titles were secured for the churches in New South Wales by Act of Parliament, and the equal status of all the denominations was officially recognized. The centenary year, 1839, was duly observed. A great meeting was held in Sydney, at which £1,150 was raised ; and it was resolved to sell the Macquarie Street church and build a centenary church, on a site in York Street where the Centenary Hall now stands. Amongst the new missionaries sent out during this period the names of Daniel J. Draper, Samuel Wilkinson, Francis Tuckfield, John Egglestone, John Waterhouse, and William Butters are still gratefully remembered throughout Australia for their splendid service.
In the centenary year (1839) John Watsford, a youth of nineteen, son of James Watsford, one of Leigh's converts at Parramatta, was received as a local preacher ; two years later he entered the ministry, the first Australian- born youth in its ranks. His career of marvellous devotion and success is recorded in his Glorious Gospel Triumphs. He was recently still living, in the neighbourhood of Mel bourne, with unabated enthusiasm in God's cause, and honoured by all who love the Lord Jesus.
The retirement of Hutchinson in 1831 brought trouble to the society at Hobart. But under the wise adminis tration, first of Nathaniel Turner, who came there from Tonga in 1832, and then of Joseph Orton, peace was re stored and satisfactory progress recorded. The cause at Launceston was re-established in 1834, and the Patterson Street church was shortly afterwards built, Manton being the first minister. A new circuit was formed in the centre of the island at Ross ; and the minister was transferred from Macquarie Harbour to Port Arthur when the former convict station was abandoned. The first District Meeting was held in 1836, when 440 members were reported. In 1838 the equality of all the churches was legally recognized in an Act copied from that already passed in New South Wales. In 1840 Melville Street Church, Hobart, was opened, the principal singer being a young girl, trained in the choir,
IN AUSTRALASIA 249
who afterwards, as Madame Carandieri, won world- wide fame as a vocalist.
The work of Robinson the ' Conciliator,' as he was called, Robinson deserves a passing notice. The aboriginals of Tasmania ciHat0r.' were so troublesome to the settlers that in 1830 a deter mined effort was made to deal with them, and a cordon of troops was marched across the island, with the view to driving them all into a corner and capturing them. £30,000 was expended and two natives were netted as the result. Robinson, a good Methodist, who had interested himself in the spiritual welfare of the natives, now offered to bring them all in by his own personal influence ; and in 1835 he had completely succeeded without the help of a single soldier or the striking of a single blow. The natives were persuaded to allow themselves to be transported to Flinders Island and provided for in a settlement there. The last of the race died in 1877.
The New Zealand mission, under the guidance of Turner, New who returned to Mangungu in 1835, won splendid successes Zealand- during these ten years. In 1831 there was one station with three missionaries and two members ; in 1840 there were eleven stations, sixteen missionaries, and 1,263 members. In 1833 James Busby was appointed Resident Magistrate at the Bay of Islands ; and in 1839 New Zealand was formally included in the jurisdiction of New South Wales and Captain Hobson was appointed Lieutenant-Governor. In 1840 the treaty of Waitangi was signed by forty-six principal Maori chiefs, surrendering all their rights and powers of sovereignty ; and on May 21 Victoria was ac cordingly proclaimed Queen over all the islands of New Zealand. The success of this effort to secure a peaceable and equitable arrangement for the government of the islands was largely due to the influence of the missionaries.
Orton had been directed by the General Committee to Victoria. pay special attention to the needs of the aborigines ; and though he found that little could be done in New South Wales, he took the opportunity in 1835 of visiting Port Phillip in order to arrange for a mission to the blacks in
250 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
that neighbourhood. John Batman had already visited Port Phillip from Launceston in 1835, bought 500,000 acres of land from the natives and noted in his journal in regard to the present site of Melbourne, 'this will be the place for a village ! ' On Batman's second visit in April 1836 Orton accompanied him, and on April 24 conducted the first religious service in Melbourne, on what was afterwards known as Batman's Hill. About fifty white settlers (the whole population of Melbourne at that time) and fifty blacks were present. Orton then went up to the neighbourhood of Geelong and chose a site of 64,000 acres, which was subsequently granted by the Government for an aboriginal settlement and christened ' Buntingdale.' l Benjamin Hurst and Francis Tuckfield were appointed to take charge of it, and arrived in 1839 and 1838 respectively. They found a little Methodist society already established in Melbourne by some members who had come over from Launceston. Notable amongst these were J. S. Peers, long the ' chief musician ' of the church, and W. Witton, who in March 1837 was appointed the leader of the class of seven members which met at his house in Lonsdale Street. A Sunday school was also formed in a little building on the Yarra bank near the end of Russell Street. Amongst the gentlemen appointed by the Colonial Office as ' Protectors of the Aborigines ' were two good Methodists, Messrs. Parker and Dredge, whose arrival greatly strengthened the little society. A place of worship was erected in Swanston Street, at a cost of £250, the first Methodist church in Victoria.2 Orton visited Melbourne again in 1839, and found that a town of two thousand inhabitants had arisen since his last visit as if by enchantment. In the same year Simpson, the minister in Launceston, came over to visit the new settle ment, and records that the chapel was crowded to suffo cation, and that the place ought to be occupied at once.
1 Dr. Bunting's name was also given to a settlement and native training college in South Africa, ' Bunting ville.'
2 This afterwards became th§ kitchen of an hotel, and was finally pulled down in 1905.
IN AUSTRALASIA 251
Messrs. Dredge and Parker also wrote to Sydney and to London, urging that a minister should be sent. As the result Orton, who was going home on furlough, con sented to stay in Melbourne for a time, and on his arrival on October 3, 1840, found a society of eighty members and a new church in Collins Street in course of erection.
The first vessel that brought colonists to South Australia South in 1836 had a few Methodists on board ; and at Kingscote Australia- on Kangaroo Island, two of them, John Boots and Samuel East, commenced public services in a carpenter's shop. In 1837 two classes were formed in Adelaide with fifteen members. Within twelve months they had increased to six local preachers, seven class leaders, fifty members, and a hun dred Sunday scholars ; they had built themselves a church in Hindley Street, and appointed one of their number to act from quarter to quarter as superintendent and administer the Sacraments — a most justifiable irregularity. They obtained their first minister in a curious way. William Longbottom had been appointed to Swan River, West Australia, by the Conference of 1837. On his voyage thither in 1838 his ship was wrecked at Encounter Bay ; but the ship's company, after a month of precarious existence on the sand-hills, managed to build a boat and get across to Adelaide, where the society received Mr. Longbottom with open arms and insisted on keeping him as their minister. A new church was erected in Gawler Place and opened in June 1839. After eighteen months Longbottom's health gave way, and he had to leave for Tasmania, his place being taken by John Egglestone, who had just arrived from England.
The settlement at Swan River in West Australia was west made in 1829 and soon reckoned a population of 1,300 Australia. souls : a number of Methodists were amongst the arrivals of the Tranby on February 29, 1830, and one of them, Joseph Hardey, a local preacher, at once established services at Fremantle, Perth, and later at Guildford. Inkpen, who had already landed in 1829, was the first class-leader ;
252
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
1840-42.
Progress of New Zealand.
and a church was built on the corner of Murray and William Streets, and opened on June 22, 1834, by Hardey. A preacher was then asked for from England, and the Con ference of 1837 appointed William Longbottom to Swan River, though, as we have seen, he never reached his station. In 1839 John Smithies was appointed and landed at Fremantle on June 5, 1840, shortly followed by George Shenton, the father of Sir George Shenton and an earnest Methodist who did yeoman service to the infant cause.1
To complete our survey of the origins of Methodism in the different colonies, the story of Queensland only remains to be added. Moreton Bay had been occupied as a convict settlement in 1826 and remained purely a penal establish ment for fourteen years. But when transportation to New South Wales was abolished, the district was thrown open for settlement, and in 1841 Brisbane was founded. About 1846 there are records that William Moore, who was accepted as a missionary for Fiji by the Conference of 1850, and William Lightbody, an assistant missionary stationed in New South Wales, were in Brisbane, surveying the possibilities for Methodism ; and in the Minutes of 1847 the entry appears: 'Moreton Bay; one requested.' In 1848 a chapel was built, where the Albert Street Church now stands, by a Mr. George Little, and was opened on March 10, 1849. There was also a Sunday school, with forty scholars. When John Watsford came up from Fiji in 1850, he was sent to Brisbane, where J. G. Millard soon joined him. Three or four places outside Brisbane were visited, classes formed, and local preachers enrolled ; and forty-six members are reported in 1850.
The most important event of the decad was the progress
1 The result of the ten years, 1830-40, was an increase of 106 members in New South Wales, of 512 in Tasmania, and of 1,261 in New Zealand ; with 41 in Port Phillip and 100 in Adelaide : a total membership of 2,282 as against 186 in 1831. This takes no count of the members in West Australia, who were not returned till 1842.
PLATE XV 11 1
WILLIAM LOXGBOTTOM, ADELAIDE, 1838; a. isio. SAMUEL LEH;II, first W..M. to
Sydney, Australia, lS]r>; \(.\v Zealand, ls-.'i> ; </. ls.-,i'. '
JACOB ABBOTT, lay pioneer and JAM us WAV, Adelaide. isr.O;
d. 1884; first llil.lo Christian missionary.
founder Soutl, Australia; b.
NATHANIEL TURNER, New Zea- ami, 1823; Tonga, 18i'8 ; t/.
Jonx WATSFOHD, first missionary to Quoonsland, 1850; Presi- dent, 1878-1881.
WALTKK L \\vuv Svdnev l Ton-, 1822 ; d 1859
II •.>.-,!' i
IN AUSTRALASIA 253
of colonization in New Zealand. In November 1840 it was proclaimed a separate colony, and Auckland was named as the capital. The New Zealand Company received its charter in 1841. Already in 1842 there were 12,000 whites in the islands ; of whom 3,000 were at Auckland, 4,000 at Wellington, and 2,500 at Nelson. In 1848 Dunedin was founded and in 1850 Canterbury ; and in this latter year the white population had reached some 25,000, whilst the Maoris were steadily diminishing in numbers. Cannibalism and open idolatry had practically ceased by 1840 ; a large proportion of the natives had learned to read and write, and the 10,000 copies of the Bible sent in 1842 by the British and Foreign Bible Society were rapidly distributed and eagerly read. But the coming of the whites introduced new vices and difficulties. Strong drink did infinite mis chief, and the Maori war of 1846 left behind a leaven of hostility to the white man. Church rivalries were intro duced by the High Church attitude of Bishop Selwyn and the zealous propaganda of the Roman Catholics. But in spite of all, the work progressed ; and the membership grew from 1,263 in 1840, to 4,328 in 1850, the great majority of whom were Maoris ; there were also about eighty day schools, with some five thousand pupils, under the charge of the missionaries.
The Conference of 1845 appointed W. B. Boyce as General Boyce's Superintendent, with the avowed purpose of preparing the way for the establishment of an Australasian Con ference. Orton had left Melbourne in 1842, his place being taken by Samuel Wilkinson, and died at sea off Cape Horn on April 30. Waterhouse had also died in Hobart about the same time, and McKenny was becoming infirm. Mr. Boyce's arrival gave a great stimulus to the work all over Australia, and his wise administration had the most bene ficial results. New circuits were opened in many places, notably at Geelong and Portland Bay in Victoria, Coulburn in New South Wales, and the Burra-Burra Mines in South Australia, where the discovery of copper caused from 1846 to 1850 a rapid increase of immigrants, amongst whom
254
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Failure of the aboriginal missions.
Primitive Methodists.
The
discovery of gold.
William Butters.
were a large number of Cornish Methodists.1 The first minister appointed to the mines was John Christian Symons, one of the original founders of the Y.M.C.A. in London, who had come out as chaplain on a convict vessel, and been received into the ministry in 1848.
The only dark spot in the general progress was the failure of the aboriginal missions. Tuckfield struggled on with indomitable zeal till 1848 at Buntingdale ; but in that year the station was sold and the mission abandoned.
In 1840 the first of the junior Methodist churches had appeared upon the scene. The Primitive Methodists sent out John Wiltshire and John Rowlands to Adelaide ; Robert Ward started a cause at New Plymouth (New Zealand) in 1844 ; in 1845 Wilson went to New South Wales and found sixty-eight members already there ; and in 1849 John Ride came to Victoria, built a chapel in Latrobe Street, and reported forty members. Gradually, and often under great privations, a considerable church was built up. At the amalgamation of the Australian Methodist churches, Primitive Methodism contributed 100 ministers and 11,683 members, while in New Zealand the members numbered almost 3,000.
The discovery of gold in Victoria in 1851 produced a revolution in the affairs of Australia. In 1852 the popu lation of Victoria increased from 97,000 to 168,000 ; in 1853 there was a further increase of 54,000, and in 1854 of 90,000 more ; a total of 215,000 in three years. It was a fortunate circumstance for Methodism that in 1850 Mel bourne had been made the head of a separate district, and William Butters, a most energetic and capable adminis trator, had been appointed chairman. With the generous help of laymen like Walter Powell, Webb, Guthridge, Beaver, and others, Butters founded the Wesleyan
1 In 1850 the total number of members and the increase since 1840 were as follows: New South Wales 2,103, increase 1,795; Victoria 512, increase 432 ; South Australia 807, increase 707 ; West Australia 60 ; Tasmania 718, increase 148 ; New Zealand 4,328, increase 3,065.
IN AUSTRALASIA 255
Immigrants Home in Melbourne to provide temporary shelter for the thousands of new arrivals who could find no accommodation. He personally visited the gold- fields at Ballarat, Bendigo, and elsewhere, and secured suitable local preachers and class-leaders. In response to his urgent appeals to the Committee for additional ministers, Harding, Hart, and Raston were sent out in 1853. Vipont was appointed to Ballarat, Symons to Castlemaine ; the well-known local preacher ' Jimmy ' Jeffrey, Gillett, who had been Squire Brooke's l class leader, and other laymen began services at Bendigo, and Raston was the first minister. Many of the diggers were Cornish Methodists and brought the fire with them to their new home. In 1854 there were in the four gold- field circuits 505 members of society, 53 local preachers, 727 Sunday scholars, and over 4,000 attendants at public worship. In Victoria as a whole the membership sprang from 512 in 1850 to 1,955 in 1854, and there were 18,897 attendants at public services. The existing debts on churches were swept away, and several new churches were erected.
The effect on the other colonies was at first somewhat alarming. Diggers came by thousands from New South and the Wales, and Tasmania, and even from New Zealand ; and Adelaide was almost depopulated for a time. But matters Free soon steadied themselves ; and the only decreases in mem- Churches bership between 1850 and 1854 were in Tasmania and New Zealand — this last being, however, due to other causes than the gold rush.
In 1850 the Bible Christians who already had a few members at Burra-Burra, South Australia, sent out to Adelaide James Way, the father of the Rt. Hon. Sir Samuel Way, the present Lieutenant-Governor and Chief Justice of South Australia, and James Rowe. Within ten years more than a thousand members were gathered and thirty- seven chapels erected. Through their splendid work the
1 Squire Brooke was a well-known Huddersfield Wesleyan Methodist.
256
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Establish-
lasian Conference.
1908.
Bible Christians secured an influential position in Adelaide, and soon extended to the other colonies. When Methodist union was accomplished, the Bible Christians contributed 6,291 members, 67 ministers, 329 chapels in Australia, and 609 members in New Zealand. In 1850 also Joseph Town- end of the Wesleyan Methodist Association, later the United Methodist Free Churches, came to Melbourne and began services in Collingwood, Kew, and Brunswick. It was the period of the discovery of gold in the colony, and Townend dealt with the difficulties incident to religious work there with singular courage and resource. They numbered at the time of the reunion in Australia, 1,875 members, and in New Zealand 982.
In 1852 the British Conference resolved to send Robert Young and John Kirk to visit Australasia, with the view to the establishment of a separate Conference on the lines of those already constituted in Ireland, Canada, and France. Kirk lost heart after being shipwrecked on the Melbourne ; but Young came on in the Adelaide, preached the first Methodist sermon in Albany en route, and landed in Adelaide on May 5, 1853. He visited Melbourne, Sydney, New Zealand, the island missions, and Tasmania. On his return and favourable report, the Conference of 1854 resolved to form ' the Austra lasian and Polynesian Missions into a distinct and affili ated Connexion.' The new Conference was to maintain intact Wesleyan doctrine and the Wesleyan system of discipline as contained in the Minutes of Conference. It was to undertake all the expenses of its own ministry in Australia, and to 'assist to a considerable extent the missions in New Zealand, the Friendly Islands, and Fiji.' William B. Boyce was appointed as the first President. The Conference accordingly met in York Street, Sydney, on January 18, 1855. John A. Manton was elected Secretary. Forty ministers were present, of whom only two still survive, John Watsford and John Pemell. The plan of the British Conference was accepted, save that the Australian Conference asked to be allowed in future to
IN AUSTRALASIA
257
nominate its own President, to which the British Conference assented.1
CENTURY. Victoria.
IV
Within the limits of our space it is only possible to sum- THE marize very briefly the leading events of the last fifty years. Progress in Victoria continued for a time at an abnormal OF THE rate ; in 1857 the population had increased to 385,342, and the Methodist members and adherents to 28,000. The Collins Street Church was sold for £40,000, and Wesley Church built out of the proceeds, as well as some other churches in the suburbs of Melbourne. The missions of Matthew Burnett and ' California ' Taylor in 1863 were the means of a great revival in which very many were added to the church ; and Joseph Ware was especially successful in carrying on the work they had begun. The heroic death of Daniel J. Draper, who went down on the London, thrilled January, the whole religious world, and filled Australia with sorrow. 186G-
In New Zealand the most noteworthy feature was the New hindrance to the Maori mission through the constant wars Zealand- which did not cease until 1871. The increase of the white
1 The following table shows the position of Wesleyan Methodism in Australasia at this juncture ( 1855) :
|
&c |
e |
& |
1, |
< |
||
|
3 £ |
1 |
$ |
11 |
| |
||
|
£ "ft |
is |
£ |
11 |
1 |
||
|
DQ |
||||||
|
New South Wales |
185 |
31 |
2,456 |
113 |
4,929 |
15,650 |
|
Victoria |
71 |
15 |
1,955 |
151 |
3,007 |
18,897 |
|
South Australia |
68 |
10 |
1,506 |
83 |
2,727 |
9,380 |
|
West Australia |
6 |
1 |
67 |
3 |
150 |
450 |
|
Tasmania |
34 |
6 |
694 |
28 |
1,082 |
3,950 |
|
New Zealand (Auckland) |
155 |
13 |
2,259* |
194 |
3,838 |
5,024 |
|
(Wellington) .. Friendly Islands |
70 105 |
6 10 |
l,319f 6,687 |
89 522 |
1,310 2,100 |
4,180 14,800 |
|
Fiji Islands |
135 |
7 |
2,954 |
73 |
6,628 |
9,780 |
|
TOTAL |
829 |
99 |
19,897 |
1,256 |
25,771 |
82,111 |
* 200 of these were European, the rest Maori, t 308 of these were European, the rest Maori.
VOL. TI
17
258
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
The Jubilee.
Formation of the General Conference.
population in that colony was such that in 1880 there were 500,000 whites and only 40,000 Maoris in the islands, with the result that the church became practically a white church with a Maori mission attached to it.
The Jubilee of the introduction of Methodism into Aus tralia was duly celebrated in 1864. About £18,000 was raised and was devoted to making provision for a Theological Institution, opening up new missions in New Guinea, and establishing a Loan Fund to assist in church building. The large influx of Chinese, especially in Victoria, furnished a novel mission problem, and in 1862 an agent was appointed to work amongst them, and as occasion arose the mission was extended to the other colonies.
In 1873 it was resolved to divide the administration of the affairs of the church amongst four Annual Conferences — New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and New Zealand, under the control of a General Australasian Con ference which was to meet triennially. The first Annual Conferences were accordingly held in 1874.1
At the first meeting of the General Conference in 1875 lay representation in the Conference was formally adopted. The consent of the British Conference was given under the provisions of the ' Methodist Conference Act 1876,' and the various Annual Conferences of 1877 were composed
1 The returns furnished to the General Conference of 1875, which should be compared with figures for 1855 on p. 257, were as follows :
|
"•i |
| |
-, s' J— i <p |
B |
| . |
1 |
|
|
ffi |
00 '8 i |
| |
1 |
|1 3 |
1 |
|
|
cc |
||||||
|
New South Wales and |
||||||
|
Queensland |
681 |
91 |
360 |
6,464 |
16,218 |
47,596 |
|
Victoria and Tasmania |
615 |
102 |
628 |
11,814 |
36,548 |
83,278 |
|
South Australia and |
||||||
|
West Australia |
296 |
40 |
293 |
4,888 |
13,140 |
34,158 |
|
New Zealand |
296 |
54 |
195 |
3,101* |
9,390 |
24,973 |
|
TOTAL |
1,888 |
287 |
1,476 |
26,267 |
75,296 |
190,005 |
* 343 of these were Maoris.
IN AUSTRALASIA 259
of an equal number of laymen and ministers, except when purely pastoral business was under consideration. The General Conference of 1878 was similarly constituted, except that in the General Conference the laymen took part in all the Conference business without distinction.
The decad 1880-90 was marked by a general depression The throughout the colonies. This was due to unwarranted commercial borrowings by the various colonies, excessive speculation depression, in mines and land, and a general depreciation in the value of the chief exports of Australia. South Australia felt it first, and it was accentuated there by long droughts during the early 'eighties and the failure of the copper mines. New Zealand and Tasmania followed. In New South Wales the trouble came to a crisis in 1891 ; and the worst and final crash came in Victoria in 1893. Twelve great banking institutions, with an aggregate liability of £100,000,000, closed their doors. Wealthy men found themselves beggared in a day ; thousands of thrifty folk lost the savings of a lifetime ; trade was paralyzed, and credit for a time de stroyed. All the churches felt the strain ; their income was seriously diminished, and in some cases where heavy trust liabilities had been incurred, disaster seemed imminent. But the loyalty and generosity of the Methodists were equal to the strain ; the ministers cheerfully accepted reductions in their allowances ; and no single case occurred in which any creditor of the church lost a penny of the money he had lent.
Fortunately the celebration of the Jubilee of Wesleyan The Methodism in Victoria came before the financial crash. In 1886 it was resolved to raise a Jubilee Thanksgiving Fund. John Watsford was appointed General Secretary, and, largely through his impassioned advocacy, £40,000 was raised, of which £10,000 was set aside for the building of a college in connexion with the Melbourne University ; £4,000 was invested to provide help for local preachers in distressed circumstances ; and the remainder formed into a Loan Fund to assist in the building of churches and parsonages. But for this timely provision the effect of
260
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
The
' Forward
Movement.'
the commercial collapse of 1893 would have been much more disastrous.
The success in England of the ' Forward Movement ' l had its effect in Australia. The city churches in the capitals were becoming deserted, as the population moved out to the suburbs ; and yet there were numbers of the poorer classes all around them who were not being reached at all. Sydney led the way in 1889, by pulling down the historic York Street Church, erecting a large mission hall on its site, and starting a Central Mission under the direction of W. G. Taylor. Melbourne followed in 1893, and estab lished a Central Mission at Wesley Church, under the charge of A. R. Edgar, which was enlarged in 1906 to include two other decaying city churches. Within a short time, Pirie Street, Adelaide, Albert Street, Brisbane, and Wesley Church, Perth, were transformed in the same way. The half -empty churches were speedily filled, and philanthropic agencies of all kinds sprang up in association with them. With a view to obviate the disadvantages of the three years' limit to preachers' appointments, the General Con ference of 1890 abolished the restriction as to the period of a minister's stay in the same city ; and permission was given to the several Annual Conferences to extend the term of appointments to five years, provided the necessary steps were taken to make such appointments legal.
The same General Conference also decided to allow attendance at a monthly meeting for fellowship to qualify membership, for church membership ; and the General Conference of 1904, whilst retaining the Class Meeting as one of the conditions of membership, allowed ' active members ' of Christian Endeavour Societies, and also
such members of our congregations as expressing their desire for church membership shall satisfy the minister and Leaders' Meeting of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, their lives also being in harmony therewith,
to be enrolled as members of the church.
1 Supra, vol. i. p. 458.
The
question of church
IN AUSTRALASIA 261
The growing importance of Queensland and of Western Other Australia, where the discovery of gold had caused a large influx of population, led to the establishment of separate Annual Conferences in Queensland in 1893 and in West Australia in 1900. The local affairs of Tasmania, where the development of the mines on the West Coast had brought a considerable accession of population, were entrusted to a Tasmanian Assembly under the control of the Victorian Conference.
The opening of the new century was celebrated, in emula- Twentieth- tion of the example of England, by the raising of a Twentieth- F^nd"^ Century Fund. New South WTales raised £44,000 ; Victoria and Tasmania £20,000 ; South Australia £17,550 ; Queens land £8,000 in addition to about £5,000 previously raised in connexion with their Jubilee ; Western Australia £3,000 ; and New Zealand £16,000. These sums were devoted chiefly to the relief of burdened trusts and the reduction of church debts, and to meeting the necessary expenses connected with the carrying out of Methodist union.
The educational work of Methodism in Australia has Educational been in accord with the best traditions of the church. In the earlier days all the primary education was done by In the churches ; and Methodism took a leading part in it. Victoria was specially active in this work, and in 1870 had some seventy schools with 8,861 scholars. With the institution, in the 'seventies, of compulsory state education throughout the colonies, the need for denominational day schools ceased. All the churches, except the Roman Catho lics, acquiesced in the new policy and gave up their primary schools. Secondary education is, however, still left for the most part to the churches and to private enterprise, and the Methodists are taking their fair share in it. New South Wales has a boys' school, Newington College, opened in 1863 at Newington House on the Parramatta River with nineteen boarders, transferred to a new building at Stanmore in 1881, and now flourishing under the care of Charles J. Prescott, an old Kingswood boy.1 A similar school for girls
i Vide vol. i. p. 219. Dr. Way also hailed from Kingswood.
262
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Queen's College.
In
Tasmania.
was opened at Burwood in 1886. In Victoria, Wesley College for boys was founded in 1865, Dr. Waugh being the first president. Dr. A. S. Way, the translator of Homer and Euripides, and of Paul's Epistles, was for many years head master. The Methodist Ladies' College at Hawthorn was opened in 1882 under the presidency of Dr. W. H. Fitchett, the well-known author and first Australian Fernley Lecturer (1905). When the University of Melbourne was founded, allotments of ten acres each were granted to the leading churches for the building of affiliated colleges for undergraduates attending the university. For many years William A. Quick devoted himself to the work of kindling enthusiasm and raising money for the building of the Metho dist College. £10,000 was granted from the Jubilee Fund towards this purpose, and the college was opened in 1888 (' Jubilee year '), under the name of Queen's College. The writer of this article was brought out from England as principal, and still holds that office. The college has been twice enlarged, and has steadily progressed in numbers and efficiency. It includes amongst its Fellows Prof. Baldwin Spencer, Dr. A. W. Howett, and Dr. Lorimer Fison, whose anthropological researches are well known. The college performs the additional function of training the students for the ministry for Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland, West Australia, and South Australia, and it has been constituted by the General Conference the Central Theological Insti tution of the Australasian Church.
In Tasmania, Horton College for boys was opened at Ross in 1855, J. A. Manton being its first president. He was succeeded by W. A. Quick, under whose wise adminis tration it reached its highest efficiency. After a career of great usefulness, it was unfortunately closed in 1892. The Launceston Ladies' College, opened in 1882 and pre sided over first by Spencer Williams and subsequently by F. J. Nance, who came from England for that purpose, still continues its work.
In South Australia Prince Alfred College for boys, the foundation-stone of which was laid in 1867 by the Duke
IN AUSTRALASIA 263
of Edinburgh, has been all along most brilliantly successful under the care first of Samuel Fiddian, then of John Ander son Hartley, and for the last thirty years and more of Frederic Chappie, an old student of Westminster Training College, the present head master. The Bible Christians also founded a boys' school in 1892 and called it Way College, after the first Bible Christian minister in Australia. A Ladies' College was opened after the consummation of Methodist union in 1902, and was soon afterwards located at Way College.
New Zealand led the way in educational work. In in New 1844 a grant of land was obtained in Graf ton Street, Auck land, and a Wesleyan Native Institution was built upon it and opened in 1845. This was soon after transferred to a new site at Three Kings, about three miles from Auckland. There a new college was opened in 1849, under the presi dency of Alexander Reid. Other similar colleges for Maoris were subsequently founded at Ngamotu, near New Ply mouth, and at Kai Iwi, near Wanganui ; and a fourth was projected near Wellington. This, however, was never built, and the two others after some years were relinquished and the whole work concentrated at Three Kings. In 1847 it was decided to found a school at Auckland for the education of the children of the missionaries in the South Seas, on the lines of the Kings wood School in the old country. This was opened in 1849. In 1865 the college was aban doned as a connexional institution and rented as a private school ; but in 1895 it was reopened as a connexional school for boys, under the name of Prince Albert College, and the next year a girls' school was built and opened on the same site. The Government, however, having resolved to take the secondary education of the colony into its own charge, the college was handed over to them in 1906.1
1 At the General Conference of 1904 the returns showed that 1,395 scholars were receiving instruction in the schools and colleges above enumerated.
264
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
METHODIST REUNION.
Basis adopted.
Union effected.
The first step towards the reunion of the Methodist churches, referred to more fully in other pages of this History, was taken in 1888, when the one existing church of the Methodist New Connexion in Victoria was taken over by the Wesley an Conference, and the one church of the same denomination in Adelaide was united with the Bible Chris tians. Though never strong numerically, the Connexion had directly and indirectly rendered effective service in the colony. Chief Justice Way l stated that, largely by the efforts of Anthony Foster, a member of that church and editor of the most influential newspaper in South Australia, the constitution of that colony was made elective and not nominative ; and many of the best provisions of the con stituting Act were due to his wise suggestions.
The General Conference of 1894 adopted a basis for a general union, proposed by the Victoria and Tasmania Conference, in which the only important change introduced was in the constitution of the Stationing Committee. This was to include in all its sessions an equal number of ministers and laymen, the laymen being elected at the first session of the United Conference. Power was given to each of the Annual Conferences to carry into effect on this basis union with any or all of the other Methodist Churches, and to procure any necessary legal enactments. The name of the uniting churches was to be, at first, ' The Australasian Wesleyan Methodist Church ' ; but after union had become general, ' The Methodist Church of Australasia.' On this basis union was effected in New Zealand (except with the Primitive Methodists) in 1896, in Queensland in 1898, in South and West Australia in 1900, and in Victoria and Tasmania and in New South Wales in 1902. The first General Conference of the Methodist Church of Australasia was held in Wesley Church, Melbourne, in 1904, under the presidency of Dr. Fitchett. The united church returned
i At M.N.C. Centenary Gathering, Wesley's Chapel, London, 1897.
IN AUSTRALASIA 265
in round numbers 1,000 ministers and home missionaries, 100,000 members (including junior members), 555,000 ad herents, and 200,000 Sunday scholars. Its property com prised eleven colleges, 2,567 churches, and more than six hundred parsonages. As the census shows, Methodists thus constitute ten per cent, of the population in New South Wales, fifteen per cent, in Victoria, twelve per cent, in Tasmania, twenty-four per cent, in South Australia, eleven per cent, in New Zealand, nine per cent in Queensland, and seventeen per cent, in Western Australia ; or about twelve per cent, of the whole population of Australia and New Zealand.1
The rate of increase of the Methodist Church has been Remarkable the largest of any of the churches during recent years, and has exceeded the rate of increase of the general population. This success has been due very largely to the energetic administration and vigorous policy of the home missionary societies in the various states. These have done magni ficent pioneering work, and the connexional system of Methodism has given her a great advantage over the sister churches in providing for the needs of new townships and bush districts. The freedom of Methodism from sacerdotal ism and ecclesiastical red-tape, and the elasticity and adapta bility of her organization to new conditions, have all been in her favour in a new and rapidly developing country. Above all, she still preaches with unabated confidence the old gospel of salvation by faith, and holiness through the gift of the Spirit, which has always proved itself to be the message which humanity needs.
1 The Church of England (in which all persons describing themselves simply as ' Protestant ' are counted) numbers thirty-nine per cent., the Roman Catholics twenty-one per cent., the Presbyterians thirteen per cent. ; two per cent, to the Baptists, a little over one per cent, to the Congrega- tionalists and Lutherans respectively.
CHAPTER VI IN SOUTH AFRICA
What a world this is for a man who means to be a hammer and not an anvil ! — GOETHE.
267
CONTENTS
I. IN CAPE COLONY p. 269
Methodism introduced, 1806 — Among the Namaqua — Capetown — Among the emigrants of 1820 — Educational and missionary work — Success among the Bantu tribes pp. 269-274
II. IN THE NORTHERN STATES p. 274
Orange River Colony — Natal — The Transvaal — Development in the interior — The war — Delagoa Bay — Rhodesia . . pp. 274-281
Pages 267-281
CHAPTER VI
IN SOUTH AFRICA
AUTHORITIES. — To the General List add : B. SHAW, Memorials of South Africa (1841); W. SHAW, Story of My Mission (1860); BBOADBENT, Barolong of South Africa (1865) ; SMITH, Memoir of the Rev. J. W. Apple- yard (1881) ; J. WHITESIDE, History of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in South Africa (1906).
METHODISM was introduced into South Africa, in 1806, IN CAPE by George Middlemiss, of the 72nd regiment, part of the CoLONY; force with which General Baird had seized and occupied introduced1, Capetown. He frequently preached to his comrades, and 1806- forty of them met weekly for Christian fellowship. On his departure, the work was continued by Sergeant Kendrick, of the 21st Light Dragoons, and as the result of his evan gelistic services one hundred and twenty soldiers were converted. For several years they held their meetings in the open air at the foot of Table Mountain. In 1812 they sent an urgent request for a minister to the Missionary Committee, in London. The Rev. J. McKenny was ap pointed ; but in those days religious freedom was little understood, and upon his arrival he was prohibited by the Governor, Lord Charles Somerset, from preaching to the people. He said :
The soldiers have their chaplains ; and if you preach to the slaves, the ministers of the Dutch churches will be offended.
A few months later, tired of inaction, he sailed to Ceylon. A second attempt was made, and on April 14, 1816, the Rev. Barnabas Shaw landed in Table Bay. His sturdy
269
270
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Among
the
Namaqua.
Capetown, 1820.
Yorkshire spirit refused to yield to any interference, and notwithstanding the Governor's prohibition, he commenced preaching first to the soldiers and then to the slaves. The limits of his work were, however, so narrow that his thoughts turned to the heathen living beyond European settlements. The Rev. H. Schmelen, of the London Society, whose station was at Bethany, in Great Namaqualand, visited Capetown, and his accounts of the Namaqua strongly appealed to Mr. Shaw's sympathies. When Mr. Schmelen returned Mr. and Mrs. Shaw accompanied him, travelling by ox-wagon. Two hundred miles to the north they met Jantje Wildschot, chief of the Namaqua, south of the Orange River, who, with four of his tribe, was journeying to the Cape to procure a Christian teacher. Mr. Shaw accepted this unexpected meeting in the trackless desert as a divine intimation. He settled amongst the Namaqua, and founded the mission of Lilyfontein.
The Namaqua were nomadic in their habits, made such by long and frequent droughts. Drawing tighter and tighter their hunger-belts, and folding up their mat huts, they wandered at such times over the country, seeking pasture and water for their flocks and herds. Notwith standing the disadvantages of this wandering life, hundreds of the Namaqua became sincere Christians. Not a few developed into teachers, class-leaders, and evangelists. Some of them, with gun in hand and water-bottle slung at side, and depending for food on what they shot, explored for weeks together the plains of the Kalahari, to preach the gospel to the pigmy Bushmen. In the endeavour to establish missions in Great Namaqualand, north of the Orange River, the Rev. W. Threlfall, with two Namaqua teachers, Jacob Links and Johannes Jager, were killed by these wild dwellers in the desert. Several stations were formed, but retrenchment becoming necessary they were handed over to the agents of the Rhenish Missionary Society, under whose care they have since remained.
In the year 1820 the Rev. E. Edwards, one of Mr. Shaw's colleagues, removed from Lilyfontein to Capetown to take
PLATE XIX
BARNABAS SHAW, South Africa, 1816 ; d. 1857. JOHN MCKEXXY, Capetown, 1814 ; JOHN WALTOX, M.A. CCeylou, 1855), first
»• 1817. pros, of S.A. Conf. 1883 ; d. 1'JUl.
WILLIAM SUAW, Algoa Bay, 1820; Pres. Brit. Conf. 18G5 ; d. 1872.
JOHX EDWARDS, South Africa, 1832 ; d. 1887. GEORGE CHAI-MAX, Cape Coast, 1813 ;
Thcol. Tutor Heald Town Native Training Institution ; d. 1893.
\VM. J. DAVIS, Clarkeburv, 1833 ; d. 1883. IL 270]
IN SOUTH AFRICA 271
the pastoral charge of the soldiers. His first preaching place was in a loft over a stable. A small obscure church was then built in Barrack Street. In 1831 a more imposing structure was completed in Burg Street, and this was for nearly fifty years the chief Wesleyan Church at the Cape. The coloured Dutch-speaking population was specially cared for. Many of them were slaves, and those who were not slaves were treated as such by the European inhabi tants. Services were held for their benefit at Stellenbosch, Robertson, Wynberg, and Somerset West, and at all these places churches were erected for their use. At a later date a large church was erected in Buitenkant Street, Cape town ; and now often on a Sabbath evening not less than a thousand people assemble. The services are conducted in Dutch. The iron hoof of slavery has left its degrading marks on its victims in the form of drunkenness, lying, and unchastity, but many of them have become fine Christian examples of cleanliness and purity.
Capetown grew into a city with a population of eighty thousand. The church in Burg Street was superseded in 1879 by the Metropolitan Church, in Greenmarket Square, one of the finest ecclesiastical structures in the metropolis. It possesses an exceedingly fine organ, and the recitals in winter are largely attended. Suburban churches were erected in due course. At an early date, the naval station Simonstown was occupied, and in 1890 an excellent Soldiers' and Sailors' Home was completed, and opened by Rear- Admiral Sir R. H. Harris.
In 1901 Mr. Wm. Marsh, a Capetown merchant, left Marsh £200,000 for the establishment of homes for orphan and OrPhanage- destitute children. The details of the scheme were left to the absolute discretion of his only son, the Rev. T. E. Marsh, and at his death the power vested in him passes to the Methodist Conference. Several semi-detached houses, double-storied, have been erected, and eighty boys and girls are in residence. The family system is adopted, and each house is under the care of a matron or mother.
272 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
Among the But it is in the east of Cape Colony that Methodism struck its deepest roots. In the year 1820 the British Government sent out 4,000 selected emigrants, and located them on the eastern frontier, in the districts of Albany and Bathurst, mainly as a defence of the Colony against Kafir incursions. William Shaw, who was chaplain to the London party, was in every way fitted to be a Christian pioneer. He was a devoted pastor, an able preacher, and a skilful organizer. There were no roads in the settlement, no bridges, and no map of it to be obtained. But Mr. Shaw visited the various encampments, preaching the great essentials of the Christian faith to men and women dwelling in a strange land, and for whom no Sabbath bell rang. He had to ford rivers, explore pathless forests, and not unfrequently when benighted had to climb a tree and seek safety and sleep in its branches. But these journeys bore rich fruit. ' Shovelled into a wilderness,' said the Rev. W. B. Boyce, * and left to make their own way, the settlers of Albany were a godly seed.' Grahamstown, the centre of their commercial life, was often spoken of as the ' City of the Saints,' in ironical allusion to the religious character of its inhabitants. The present noble ' Com memoration Church ' was erected by the settlers as a permanent memorial to the glory of God, who had so richly blessed them since their arrival in the country. The founda tion-stone was laid by Mrs. Shaw in 1845, but owing to the native war of 1846, known as the ' War of the Axe,' the work was delayed, and the church was not completed until November 24, 1850.
From Grahamstown Methodism extended its operations to nearly every town in the eastern and midland districts. At Fort Beaufort, King-Williamstown, East London, Queenstown, Molteno, Barkly East, Somerset East, Cradock, Middelburg, Aberdeen, Graaff Reinet, Oudtshoorn, Jansen- ville, Uitenhage, and Port Elizabeth, are neat churches, schoolrooms, and manses ; and constant efforts are made to build up colonists in a vigorous piety, and enlist their sym pathies in various congregational activities. When diamonds
IN SOUTH AFRICA 273
were discovered at Kimberley, in 1867, the Methodists were amongst the first on the fields ; and when the several mines were amalgamated by Cecil Rhodes, and the native labourers were gathered into huge compounds, services were held every Sabbath in the enclosures, and thus the gospel was preached to thousands who came from all parts of South Africa. This was mission work of the highest importance.
In 1883, chiefly through the efforts of the Rev. J. Walton, Educational M.A., the ' Wesleyan High School for Girls ' was estab- J^io lished in Grahamstown, in order to furnish a superior edu- work, cation combined with moral and religious training. Sub sequently a large school hall and class-rooms were added and the original edifice was devoted to the boarding de partment. In 1894 the handsome buildings of Kingswood College — so named from the historic school in the mother- country — were opened to supply youths with a sound education on English public school lines. Both institu tions are admirably situated, and surrounded by ample pleasure grounds.
The English churches are becoming increasingly mis sionary in their action. A missionary society was formed in the year 1885. In 1905 the total income of the society was about £10,000, half of which was raised by the native churches. In 1882 the Wesleyan churches in the six districts of the Cape, Grahamstown, Queenstown, Clarke- bury, Bloemfontein, and Natal, but not including those of the Transvaal and Rhodesia, assumed a corporate and organized form, under a separate Conference, no longer dependent on the mother church. This change stimulated the Methodists of South Africa to take a deeper interest in their own affairs, and ministers and laymen have been knit together in mutual confidence and effort.1
In 1823 the Rev. W. Shaw left Grahamstown to com- Success
mence missions amongst the various Bantu tribes on the ^antif the
eastern frontier. The first station was formed at Wesley- tribes. ville, among the Gonuquabi ; the second at Mount Coke,
1 The total income from all sources in 1906 was £178,709. VOL. II 18
274
METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
with Ndlambe's people ; and the third at Butterworth, with Hintza, who was killed in the war of 1834. It was from this station that the Fingos were led out of bondage in 1835 by the Rev. J. Ayliff, and located at Peddie.1 The fourth station was at Morley, with Depa's clan. The fifth was at Clarkebury, with the Tembus ; and it was in its neighbourhood that in 1855 the Rev. J. S. Thomas was killed by the Pondos during an attack on a cattle enclosure at night. The sixth was at Buntingville, among Faku's people. These made a ' chain of stations ' from the Colony to the Natal border, from which peaceful incursions were made into the surrounding heathenism. The work among the natives has prospered to such an extent that to-day there are in connexion with the South African Wesleyan Conference 66,000 natives who are church members, with 29,000 on trial, and 23,000 meeting in junior classes. The New Testament was first translated into Kafir in 1846 by the Revs. H. H. Dugmore, W. J. Davis, and J. B. Warner, assisted by two German missionaries. The whole Bible was translated by the Rev. J. W. Appleyard, by the year 1 859, and printed at the Mount Coke mission press. Numer ous day schools assisted by Government promote education amongst the natives, and in connexion with several of them are industrial departments which impart instruction in carpentry, blacksmithing, shoemaking, and agriculture. The largest Wesleyan institution for the training of native teachers is Healdtown College, near Fort Beaufort.
IN THE
NORTHERN STATES.
Orange
River
Colony.
II
The first Methodist church in what is now the Orange River Colony was at Thaba Nchu, on the border of Basuto- land, a mountain familiar to all students of the Boer War. There the Barolong settled in 1833, under the direction of
i The Fingos were a tribe driven southward by Tshaka, the Zulu chief, and enslaved by the Ama-Xosa, who often treated them with great cruelty. Peddie is a few miles east of Grahamstown.
IN SOUTH AFRICA 275
the Rev. J. Edwards, after they had been driven from north of the River Vaal by the fierce Mantatees. For many years there was little expansion. The emigrant Dutch farmers, who entered the country three years later, had their own churches and pastors ; and the native population was thinly scattered over a wide area. In 1851 an attempt was made to form a native church at Bloemfontein, then little more than a village in the open veld, and which was supplied from Thaba Nchu. In 1860 a European minister was appointed, and services for the English resi dents were commenced. In 1873 the present place of worship, Trinity Church, was built, the foundation-stone of which was laid by Sir John Brand, the President of the Orange Free State. Slowly Methodism extended its operations to Fauresmith in the south, and to Kroonstad in the north ; and by the year 1890 Bethlehem, Lindley, Winburg, Frankfort, Jagersfontein, and Ladybrand had been occupied. The war of 1899-1902 necessarily dis organized the work of the churches. At Parijs — to mention a few of the difficulties of the times — the parsonage was looted and turned into a stable. At Lindley the people were escorted to Kroonstad and the town was deserted. At Bethlehem the parsonage and native church were plundered. At Frankfort the church was reduced to a ruin. At Heilbron the church was turned into a hospital. But, with the termination of the conflict, the people re turned to their homes, and with surprising cheerfulness repaired the ravages made by war.
When Sir George Napier, Governor of Cape Colony in Natal. 1842, ordered British troops to march to Port Natal, now Durban, in order to protect the natives and the few English residents from the aggressions of the Dutch emigrant farmers, they were accompanied by the Rev. J. Archbell and his family. Shortly after his arrival he erected a wattled church with thatched roof and earthen floor, and within this humble building Methodism commenced its work. After Natal had been proclaimed a British colony the Rev. J. Richards was appointed to Maritzburg, and for
276 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
a considerable period he was the only English minister in the capital. Between 1849 and 1851 several thousand English emigrants arrived, chiefly from Yorkshire and the Midlands, and the present position of Methodism in Natal is largely due to the zeal and loyalty of these men. At Verulam, York, Maritzburg, and other places they formed churches and carried the gospel far and wide. Greytown, Lady smith, Newcastle, Wakkerstroom, and Dundee — names which have passed into the history of the Empire — were occupied in later years. In 1847 the Rev. James Allison came into Natal with a party of native refugees from Swaziland. They settled first at Indaleni, and after wards at Edendale. Many of these refugees were men of high Christian character. Land at the time was cheap, and they bought farms near Ladysmith, and from their self-denying efforts to preach the gospel to the natives sprang into existence the native circuits of Driefontein, Evansdale, and Enyanyedu. Maritzburg has the honour of being the first Methodist circuit to adopt the weekly offering. It was resolved that every Sabbath, at both morning and evening services, a collection should be made, and the practice is now observed in every Wesleyan church throughout South Africa. The Government policy left the numerous native tribes in Natal undisturbed in their re serves under their own chiefs, and little affected by any form of Christian civilization. They easily grew their own food, and settled down to an indolent semi-barbarous life. The sugar and tea planters were, therefore, compelled to import coolies from India to the number of 50,000. In 1862 the Rev. Ralph Stott commenced a mission amongst these people ; and after his death, the work was continued by his son. The success of the mission has been small as yet, if it be judged by numerical returns only. Zululand has at last been entered ; and from Etshowe the Zulus are visited as far as Ingwavuma and Kosi Bay. Without trespassing on the work of other churches, there is ample room for Methodism among this fine, noble race.
The war with the Dutch Republics fell heavily on Natal .
IN SOUTH AFRICA 277
Dundee and Newcastle had to be abandoned, and Lady- smith was besieged for 118 days, until horseflesh was a luxury, and eggs were sold at 485. a dozen. The Wesleyan church was used as a hospital and services were held in the parsonage garden. Though sixteen thousand shells fell within the town, neither church nor parsonage was struck, and only the finial of the schoolroom was destroyed.
Methodism entered the Transvaal in the person of David The Magatta, a native of the Magaliesberg. Captured by the Transvaal Matabele, he escaped when Moselikatse was attacked by the Dutch Boers, and fled to Thaba Nchu, where he became a sincere Christian. Desirous of making known to his own people the news of salvation, he returned to the Transvaal and settled at Potchefstroom. At his holy toil David continued for years, holding prayer-meetings and class- meetings with unflinching regularity. The Rev. G. Blen- cowe rode over from Lady smith to see him, and the result of that interview was the appointment of the Rev. W. Wynne to Potchefstroom. The following year, the Rev. G. Weavind was sent to Pretoria. After the war of 1881, it was resolved by the missionary committee, in London, to give increased attention to the Transvaal, and the Rev. O. Watkins was appointed Superintendent of the mission. For ten years, at the slow pace of an ox- wagon, he travelled and explored a country as large as Great Britain and Ireland, visiting chiefs, preaching to the heathen, guiding, inspiriting, and controlling everything.
There was no lack of large ideas in the new enterprise. Develop The Transvaal was to be taken as a base, eastwards the ™fnt. ln
interior.
work was to go to Swaziland, westward to the Barolongs, and northwards to the Limpopo and Zambesi, reaching far into Central Africa. The work of many years before, apparently lost through tribal wars, was now found after many days. The Barolongs, formerly the object of the labours of the apostolic Broadbent, once more offered the opportunity for evangelism, for Monstsioia, their chief, asked for a missionary. In Swaziland, on Watkins's arrival, Msimang, who forty years before had been Allison's inter-
278 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
preter, came forward once more to utter to a later generation the same Christian message of love.
Additional missionaries were sent from England, and Bloemhof, Mafeking, Good Hope, the Waterberg, and Mahamba were occupied. From all parts of the Transvaal came natives, who told how they had found the Saviour at Wesleyan services in Natal or Cape Colony, and for years, unassisted by any European teacher, had preached the gospel to the heathen, built chapels, and formed Metho dist societies. In order to meet the great demand for teachers and evangelists, a native training institution was established, first at Potchefstroom, and ultimately at Kilnerton, near Pretoria, which has now three depart ments — one for the training of native evangelists, a normal school for the education of teachers, and a boarding school for boys.
In 1886 gold reefs were discovered at Barber ton, and the Rev. W. J. Underwood was appointed to minister to the mixed population which flocked thither. But Barberton was soon eclipsed by the superior attractions of the Rand mines. Johannesburg rose into a town of considerably more than a hundred thousand inhabitants with phenomenal rapidity ; and its public buildings, palatial business stores, gigantic hotels, and theatres showed the confidence of the people in the permanence of the gold-mining industry. The diggers were distributed along a thin, unbroken line of reef for thirty miles, broadening here and there into town ships. President Street Church was built in 1889, and was soon crowded with a congregation of seven hundred, chiefly men. Churches were also erected at Fordsberg, Ophirton, Jumpers, and Langlaagte. Open-air services were held every Sabbath, and the ' narrowing lust of gold ' was not allowed to hold undisputed sway.
With the appointment of the Rev. W. Hudson, in 1893, Methodism on the Rand rapidly developed. Churches were built at Vlakfontein, Boksburg, New Heriot, Jeppes- town, Clifton, Krugersdorp, Randfontein, Germiston, and Casey stown, besides parsonages. Johannesburg was divided
IN SOUTH AFRICA 279
into three circuits, and to each was allotted three ministers. At Heidelberg, Middelberg, and Klerksdorp, Methodist con gregations were formed. Everywhere there were men and women who kept their life unstained, and followed Christ against the world.
Then came the war of 1899-1902. Thousands of British The war subjects hurriedly left the country for the coast towns, and the ministers, with few exceptions, had to follow them. The President Street congregation fell from 700 to 70 : and all the smaller churches were shut up. When the British troops under Lord Roberts entered Johannesburg, the President Street Church was turned into a hospital for the Camerons and C.I.V. men. Following the example of the Anglican Church, a Wesleyan Soldiers' Home was opened in the Brandis Square Public School Buildings, and was a Jbright, cheerful centre for thousands of soldiers.
When peace was restored the exiles returned, and the population of Johannesburg and Pretoria soon reached nearly their former numbers. Hope and confidence prevailed ; and though it was recognized that the wounds left by such a war would not rapidly heal, it was believed that the gospel would be the chief influence in reconciling the two opponent races of the country. The Rev. Amos Burnet was sent from England to assume superintendency of the work. Within two years twenty additional ministers arrived from England, thirty-six new churches were erected, and twenty sites were purchased with a view to further development. From every side came calls for service which could not be neglected. In every town and village are Methodists from home or the Cape or Natal, who crave for the simple spiritual worship they enjoyed in former years. The number of church members is now 20,000, and the annual income is over £40,000. Most of the English work is self-supporting.
There has been a huge development eastward and west- Delagoa ward. No more romantic story is to be found anywhere Bay- than that of Robert Mashaba, who after being converted at one of the older mission stations went back to his own
280 METHODISM BEYOND THE SEAS
people in the neighbourhood of Delagoa Bay and by his consistent life and earnest preaching formed a considerable church. There is something in the characteristic services of Methodism, its hymns, and especially its warm-hearted fellowship, which appeals forcibly to the African, and Mashaba insisted on keeping his people together until a minister of his own church should arrive. The onflowing tide of Methodist enterprise soon made this possible ; and in 1892 the new station, with its local preachers and member ship of over two hundred, was visited and formally recog nized, Mashaba becoming a Methodist minister. Unfor tunately the Portuguese rulers looked suspiciously on a Protestant worker ; and on an unfounded charge of stirring up rebellion, Mashaba was exiled for some years to the Cape Verde Islands, whence he was allowed to return only on condition that he should not again enter Portuguese territory. His work did not fall to the ground, for under a European missionary there are now nearly a thousand full members, with a large number still on trial.
Rhodesia. Rhodesia was occupied in 1891, at the request of Cecil
Rhodes, who offered an annual sum towards the expenses of establishing a mission within the area controlled by the Chartered Company. The Rev. I. Shimmin was ap pointed to Salisbury, and his services were held in empty stores or the dining-room of the hotel. To assist Mr. Shim min, the Rev. G. H. Eva was sent from Johannesburg, with eight native teachers. The work extended to Hart- leyton, Epworth, and Lo Magondi. After the defeat and death of Lo Bengula, Bulawayo became the capital, and was laid out on modern lines, with electric light, banks, and water works. In 1896 the Rev. I. Shimmin succeeded in building a church at Bulawayo, the foundation-stone of which was laid by Cecil Rhodes himself. The Rev. J. White joined the mission in 1895, and has already trans lated the whole of the New Testament into the Mashona dialect. He has also written a number of hymns in the same language, which have been of great value in public worship. This mission, one of the latest of the Methodist
IN SOUTH AFRICA 281
Church, has before it a bright future. It is the key to the far north. Across the Zambesi are numerous Bantu tribes, among which Methodism has yet to take her place with other churches in winning them to Christ. Central Africa, with its great lakes, broad rivers, and teeming popu lation, awaits the labours and excites the hopes of the Methodist Church.
As these sheets pass through the press the deliberations of the different governments of South Africa with reference to federation draw to a fruitful issue. But in the United South Africa of the near future a united Methodism will form no small factor in its spiritual and social welfare. The unification under one South African Conference of all the work, part of which at present is supported by, and under the control of, the Missionary Society in London, is only a matter of the growth of local resources.
BOOK V
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE
CHAPTER I THE WORK OF BRITISH SOCIETIES
'Tis but as men draw nigh to Thee, my Lord, They can draw nigh each other and not hurt. Who with the gospel of Thy peace are girt, The belt from which doth hang the Spirit's sword, Shall breathe on dead bones, and the bones shall live, Sweet poison to the evil self shall give,
And, clean themselves, lift men clean from the mire abhorred. GEORGE MACDONALD, Diary of an Old Soul.
283
CONTENTS
I. WESLEYAN METHODIST MISSIONS . . . . p. 285
The inevitable missionary character of Methodism — The first work in Antigua (1759) — Coke's enthusiasm for Africa and America — The West Indies and the claim of the slave — The institution of general collections — Coke's death and the entry into the East — Formation of the Wesleyan Missionary Society. BEGINNINGS : Earliest work in Ceylon and India — The fight for emancipation — Commence ments in Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast — The arrival in Tonga and development to Fiji — Richard Watson as Secretary — Guidance for the freed slave — Enormous growth in the West Indies — Work in Madras and Mysore — Education and literature — The conflict with savagery on the African Slave Coast. THE MIDDLE PERIOD — Ceylon : The conflict with Buddhism and Hinduism — South India : Evangelism and education — The Mutiny — The South Seas : Rapid Christianizing of the Friendly and Fiji Isles — West Indies : The aftermath of slavery— West Africa : The vast expansion — China : The foundation at Canton and entry of Hankow — The Taiping Rebellion. AFTER THE JUBILEE : The commencement of the Women's Auxiliary- —Ceylon : The fully organized church — India : Military work — North Indian expansion — Famine and plague relief — Pariah mass movements — Entry of Hyderabad and Burma — China : Hospitals and schools — Riots and deaths — Lay missions — Native ministry — Women's work — Entry of Hunan — West Indies : Separation and reinclusion of the missions — West Africa : Growth of Islam — Development of self-government — Home affairs — Light and shade — Climax of enthusiasm in 1906 . . . pp. 285-342
II. MISSIONS OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH . p. 342
METHODIST NEW CONNEXION : Commencement in China (1859) — Opening at Tientsin — Wondrous work in Shantung — The Tientsin Riot (1870) — Great famine — Beyond the Liao Tung Gulf — Hospitals and schools — Boxer riots — Great expansion. BIBLE CHRISTIAN : Commencement in China (1885) — China Inland Mission — Occupa tion of Yunnan — Hospitals and schools — Boxer riots — Wonderful work among the aborigines. UNITED METHODIST FREE CHURCHES : Commencement in Jamaica (1857) — Costa Rica (1893) — Sierra Leone and hinterland — East African work — Savage raids and murders — Work hi China — Ningpo and Wenchow — Great success
pp. 342-354
III. PRIMITIVE METHODIST AND OTHER MISSIONS . p. 354 Commencement in Africa (1870) — Fernando Po — Extension to aborigines — Industrial work — Spanish restrictions — Crossing to the mainland — Aliwal North — Expansion northwards from Cape Colony, through Orange Free State and in Barotseland. INDE PENDENT METHODIST AND METHODIST REFORM UNION MISSIONS
pp. 354-360 Pages 282-360 284
CHAPTER I
THE WORK OF BRITISH SOCIETIES
AUTHORITIES. — To the General List add : the Reports of the missionary societies and their periodicals, and the Minutes of Conference, as final sources. For Wesleyan missions: J. W. ETHERIDGE, Life of Thomas Coke (1860) gives the beginnings ; see also W. MOISTER, A History of Wesleyan Missions (1871), and J. TELFORD, Short History of Wesleyan Metho dist Foreign Missions (n.d.). Other useful books are: J. BEECHAM, Ashantee and the Gold Coast (1841) ; Fox, History of Wesleyan Missions in W. Africa (1851) ; J. MILUM, Life of T. B. Freeman of Ashanti (1893) ; ELIJAH HOOLE, Personal Narrative of a Mission to South India (1829, 1844) ; W. T. A. BARBER, David Hill, Missionary and Saint (1898) ; G. S. HOWE, Life of John Hunt (1860) ; JAMES STAGEY, Consecrated Enthusiasm : Life of Rev. W. N. Hall (1887) ; SOOTHILL, A Mission in China (1907) ; E. S. WAKEFIELD, Thomas Wakefield (1904). References are also to be found in KIRSOP, Historic Sketches (1885) ; BOURNE, History of the Bible Chris tians (1905) ; Methodist New Connexion Jubilee (1847) and Centenary volumes (1897) ; and KENDALL, History of Primitive Methodism (1905).
NOTE. — This chapter on British Methodist Missions deals almost exclusively with the history of the work still under the direction of the various English missionary societies. Thus work on the con tinents of Europe and America, in South Africa, and in the Australian Colonies and Polynesia since the Australian Conference took responsi bility, are all left to other writers. These restrictions must be remembered as limiting the completeness of the picture.
JOHN WESLEY was sure that God had given him a message WESLEYAN to men. He was always intensely practical. When the long learning of years was crowned with the sudden illumina tion in the society meeting in Aldersgate Street, the cer tainties he attained were at once triumphantly offered to all men who were without them. Every religious revival is founded on a sense of certainty, and without it missionary
285
286
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
The inevitable
enthusiasm is impossible. The dominant note in early Methodism is of a living experience ; the step to evangelism is instantaneous :
What we have felt and seen With confidence we tell.
No less prominent than Wesley's assurance was his breadth. He rejoiced to form societies in which any man, Churchman or Quaker, might join. The certainties of faith brought a remedy for the universal danger, a satisfaction for the missionary universal longing of mankind. Wherever souls that re- character of joiced in the witness of the Spirit met souls in need, the 3m' simple Methodist societies sprang into life. A Methodist was bound to be a missionary. Whether with the army in the Low Countries, or in the forests of New England, or on the plantations of the West Indies, the soul rejoicing in the knowledge of salvation carried and applied that knowledge. Religion knows nothing of degrees of longitude ; there could be no geographical bounds to the work of Methodism. Wesley was expressing the true inwardness of his faith and practice when he said ' The world is my parish.' Hence foreign missions grew naturally out of that mission at home which we call Early Methodism.
The first Methodist foreign missionary, characteristically, was a layman. In the year 1759 Nathaniel Gilbert, some time Speaker of the House of Assembly in Antigua, re turned to his property there. He had been thoroughly converted during his stay in England, and Wesley had baptized two of his black slaves. Gilbert had failed to persuade his friend John Fletcher to accompany him, but himself began work among the negroes. Of course he was mad in the eyes of his fellow planters, but Methodism neces sarily meant missions to him and madness to them.
Whitefield's mighty evangelistic results in the American colonies had not been organized, and it was not till 1765 that Irish emigrants introduced Methodism into New York. The following year Laurence Coughlan, of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, founded
The first work in Antigua.
PLATE XXI
THE HOUSE IN- WHICH THE MISSION- WAS BEGTX AT KINGSTON-, JAMAICA, 1789. JOHN BAXTER, actat. 57, ship- jm. THOMAS COKE. WM. \VAURENKH, actat. 48,
d missionary pioneer in West Indies; d. L806.
U'esley's first ordained mis sionary for the West Indies, 178(i ; d. 1825.
II. 28G]
CLASS-TICKETS FROM BARBADOS, 1822-182G.
BRITISH SOCIETIES 287
Methodist societies in Newfoundland. The pressing appeal from America led to the historic scene in the Leeds Con ference of 1769 when the Methodist preachers raised £70 among themselves out of their poverty and sent Pilmoor and Boardman as the first volunteer missionaries of the church. Eight years later John Baxter, a Methodist shipwright at Chatham, took up work in the royal dockyard in Antigua, hoping that he might have an opportunity of speaking for God. He found the Methodist societies left by Gilbert flourishing under the lead of two godly black women. Rich on his * four shillings a day and the king's provisions,' John Baxter ministered to the poor slaves, and wrote to tell Wesley : ' You had many children in Antigua whom you never saw.'
The essential element of personal experience in Methodism was thus producing its natural result. Herein lay the seed of a world-wide expansion. We see the assurance of the providence of God in the finding at the psychological moment of need the particular man who could lead along the new line of development. Thomas Coke, ordained priest in 1772, had in his own experience felt the expulsive power of a new affection ; his contact with Wesley and his preachers had led to his entry into a new joy and enthusiasm for Christ, and in 1777 he joined in their missionary journeys. His active mind refused to stop at any intermediate point, and from the first he was captivated with the thought of carrying the gospel to the heathen. As a whole, Protes tantism had been strangely lethargic in this matter. Among the Reformers, in proportion as the narrower ideas of Calvin's majestic system gained ground at the expense of the broader, the grip of fatalism held the missionary conscience paralysed. Hence, save for the efforts of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, which had sent John Wesley out to Georgia, scarcely anything was being done by English Christianity outside its own borders. The attitude of English Dissent is evidenced by the historic scene when Ryland crushed young William Carey's suggestion for foreign missions with the rebuke : ' Sit down, young man. When God pleases
288 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
to convert the heathen, He will do it without your aid or mine,' — the voice of a Christianity paralysed by a partial view of a great truth. But the times of ignorance were passing ; new and broader thoughts were in the air. God gave his grand apocalypse to his chosen leaders all along the line of the church. Most influential among these was Thomas Coke, the indomitable Welshman, possessed with the passion for the winning of the world for Christ. The Methodist movement has induced mighty currents through out the Church Catholic, nowhere more clearly traceable through many different channels than in missionary enter prise.
Coke's In 1775 two negro slaves escaped to England from the
for Africa™ American Colonies, then commencing their rebellion. They and America. were pronounced free by legal decision, and were brought under Methodist influence. On their return to Calabar, to whose ruling house they belonged, there were sent out with them two German Methodists from Bristol. These good men died almost immediately, and the young chiefs asked for successors. Coke at once issued a circular letter among the preachers asking for volunteers. The matter was discussed at the Leeds Conference of 1778, but though there were volunteers, it was decided that the time was not yet. It was in 1784 that the thoughts of many minds were focussed in the Plan for the Establishment of Missions among the Heathen, circulated with the signatures of Dr. Coke and Mr. Thomas Parker. It was in the same year that Wesley took an important step through the pressure of the necessities of the American Methodists, whom he still regarded as members of the English Church but now saw entirely deserted by their proper pastors. He appointed Coke and Asbury superintendents, and Whatcoat and Vasey elders of American Methodism. Coke returned to England to report the successful commencement of the new ecclesiastical organization and continued actively to develop his missionary plan. A new region in his great district was making claims that were imperative. The Declaration of Independence had been followed by the emigration from
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the United States of many who clung to the old flag. A number of these settled in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and the Methodists among them sent to England for help. Accordingly after the Conference of 1786 when Coke was sent back to America he was accompanied by three preachers whom he was to settle in Nova Scotia. The voyage was exceedingly stormy ; the vessel was driven far out of its course, and at length, battered and leaking, it found a shelter in the harbour of St. John's, Antigua, on the morning of Christmas Day. What looked like disaster and chance was used in God's providence for the full launching of Methodist activities in the conversion of races actually heathen.
That Christmas Day in 1786 which saw Dr. Coke preaching and administering the Lord's Supper in the Methodist Church in Antigua marked the commencement of a new era. The society numbered two thousand. Coke preached twice a day during his visit, and the gentlefolk of the place .so crowded the evening services that there was no room for the negroes whose loving gifts had raised the building. The welcome accorded here convinced the missionaries that their work lay in the West Indies. Baxter gave up his secular employment and was ordained by Coke. Under his guidance visits were paid to other islands, and mis sionaries were settled in Antigua, St. Vincent's, and St. Christopher's. In the Dutch island of St. Eustatius there had been a remarkable work through the agency of Black Harry, a converted slave whose preaching led to physical phenomena among the negroes similar to those seen under the preaching of Wesley and Whitefield. Harry was first flogged and then sold into slavery on a Spanish vessel. But his societies remained, and eagerly welcomed the new comers. The jealousy of the Dutch Government, however, prevented a settlement. Coke returned to England in flamed with what he had seen ; his importunity knew no bounds. His own fortune was taxed to the utmost by his gifts, and he left no one within his reach without the oppor tunity of contributing. In fact, over a large part of England
VOL. n 19
290 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
he literally begged from door to door. At the next Con ference Wesley was able to send out others to the West Indies, so that ere long the Minutes record the names of ten islands as missionary stations. Again and again among the white settlers old Methodists were found who assisted Coke and his companions to make a commencement. Barbadoes, Dominica, Nevis, Tortola, Santa Cruz, and Jamaica were thus occupied, and ere long St. Eustatius too. The first Annual Report of the missionary work is dated 1789, and records receipts of £1,404 and an expenditure of £1,472. The Conference next year appointed a committee for the management of affairs in the West Indies. The The claim of condition of the Islands showed great need for such help as Methodism could give, and ensured alike much success and opposition. The religious needs of the white popula tion were neglected by the regular clergy. Coke reports from Jamaica that in some parishes there was no church, no divine service save burials, and christenings and wed dings in private houses. Only here and there an evangelical clergyman welcomed the assistance of the newcomers. Moreover the outstanding fact of social life was slavery, with its natural result of the degradation and need of the black and the unwillingness of the white to take any risks of change. Happily there were not a few humane planters who gave ready access to their slaves, but they were not infrequently overborne by their fellows. On the subject of slavery the conscience of England had been gradually growing more and more uneasy. As early as 1774 Wesley had published a strong condemnation of the system. When the first preachers came to the West Indies there was already formed in England an Anti-Slavery Society, one of whose members was a Secretary of State. Hence the influential people in the Islands were specially sensitive. The preachers were supposed to be agents of this society, and it was broadly stated that their preaching to the negroes was inflammatory and socially subversive. The Methodist movement was evidently not to be despised. As early as 1793 the number of worshippers was reported to be 30,000.
BRITISH SOCIETIES 291
As the membership rapidly increased, restrictive enact ments were passed by the local legislatures. In Jamaica the rioters broke into a chapel, but the jury acquitted them, and publicly added that ' Hammet and the Methodist chapel should be prosecuted as nuisances.' Persecuting ordinances closed all the chapels, and a preacher was imprisoned for singing a hymn at a forbidden moment. In St. Vincent's a law forbade preaching to negroes under penalty of heavy fine ; on a second offence, of flogging and banishment ; and, on return from banishment, of death. Matthew Lumb was imprisoned for preaching. Other enactments restricted public service to daylight, and thus ensured that no negroes could attend, since their only hours of leisure were before sunrise and after dark. In many cases violent attacks were made in the public press upon the missionaries as incendiaries, and there were repeated attempts at assassination. It was not difficult to bring forward proofs of the value of the work done. Thus, whereas in Antigua at Christmas martial law used to be proclaimed to control the drunken excesses of the negroes, we find that Methodism had changed all that, and that the chapels were full, while even the ordinary law had little to do. In Nevis, where Sunday had been the common market- day, even the whites had taken to shutting their shops, and the negroes had given up their dancing and drinking in favour of religious services. When the French were about to make a descent from Guadaloupe on Tortola the governor summoned the Methodist preacher and made him acting colonel of a regiment composed of the negroes of his society, with the result that the French desisted from their enter prise. These facts and sense of justice procured the inter ference of the home authorities ; the worst of the restrictive enactments were disallowed by the king in council, while orders were sent to all colonial governors never to assent to any Bill about religion without suspending the clause until His Majesty should have given his assent. But the poor negroes were at the mercy of ill-disposed masters. Many cases occurred in which men and women were flogged
292
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
The in stitution of general collections.
Beginnings in Africa.
for praying, and the missionaries were subject to much misrepresentation and danger at the hands of unscrupulous opponents.
But we must return to the main stream of missionary enterprise. Coke's enthusiasm led him, as we have seen, to a perpetual collecting of moneys for foreign missions that sometimes tried the patience of men of more cautious mind. Even Wesley himself wrote in 1790 to one of his preachers, ' I did not approve of Dr. Coke's making collections either in your or any other circuit. I told him so, and am not well pleased with his doing it. It was ill done.'
But the obvious call of God could not but be responded to by the Conference ; in the second year after Wesley's death we find a resolution for the making of a special general collection. The time seemed to be ripening for the putting into execution of the long-dreamed-of African Mission. During the American war many negroes had fought for the British. Some of them subsequently came to England, and after much distress were settled, through the benevolence of Clarkson, on the West African Coast at a spot thenceforth known as Sierra Leone. The remnants of this colony were reinforced in 1792 by a large number of others who had become Methodists in Nova Scotia. They carried their religion with them and continued to meet in class under their own leaders and local preachers. They communicated with Coke, for we find in the Minutes of 1792 the entry, 4 Sierra Leone, 223 coloured people,' and the same entry repeated till 1796. Coke attempted, with the support of Wilberforce and others, to found a self-supporting Christian colony of English mechanics, all of whom were members of the society. These went out with Governor Zachary Macaulay, but the scheme failed through the instability of character of the men sent.
The Conference of 1798 found itself in financial difficulties owing to the secession of the New Connexion ; but it allowed Dr. Coke — or the preachers, where he could not go — to make application for subscriptions. The following year the Conference in the fullest manner took foreign missions
PLATE XXIII
, J**. 6.
I
9*.
fa*
LETTER BY DR. COKE TO REV. JOHN FLETCHER ENCLOSING A COPY OF HIS FIRST PLAN OF MISSIONS, 1784.
THE ' OLD HOGGAKD HOUSE,' LFEDS, where the Conference of 17C9 was held, at which the first two missionaries
volunteered for America (p. 64), and where the first \\tsleyan missionary meeting was held, Oct. 6, ]813. II. 292]
BRITISH SOCIETIES 293
under its own care and henceforth never varied in its regular Sunday collections for the work. In 1804 a Committee for Missions was appointed, consisting of all the preachers in London with nine others. Meanwhile Coke found himself Entry into perpetually blocked by the refusal of the East India Company to allow missionaries in India. The Island of Ceylon, however, had been ceded to the British Government in 1 802, and a chance was found for Christian missions. Sir Alex ander Johnstone, the Chief Justice of the Island, deeply moved at the utter irreligion of the half-million nominal Christians left by the Portuguese and Dutch and the heathen ism of the rest of the inhabitants, heard from Wilberforce of the good work done by the Wesley an Missionary Society ; through his invitation Coke's mind became fully imbued with the thought of at last making the attempt. He desired to take a dozen men with him, and overcame the reluctance of his more cautious brethren in the Conference of 1812 by offering £6,000 of his own to start the mission. Hence it came about that five missionaries were designated for Ceylon, one for Java, and one for the Cape of Good Hope, Dr. Coke himself sailing with one contingent of the party. It was the last utterance of his lifelong passion. The voyage was spent by the veteran in strenuous study of the Portuguese language, which he hoped to use in preaching in Ceylon. So arduous were his labours that the enfeebled frame gave way ; the great missionary died on the voyage, and his body found fitting grave in the great wraters of the Indian Ocean.
Thus the General Superintendent died just when Formation heavy new responsibilities had been undertaken. Ne- westeyan cessity led to the permanent crystallization of a formal Missionary Missionary Society. Its date is always counted as A. p. 1813. Leeds led the way in the formation of its own society ; Cornwall in the South and the other Northern Districts followed during the year. The Conference of 1814 recommended similar societies all over the kingdom ; the succeeding year developed the idea into one grand society for the whole kingdom, and the year 1816 wit-
294
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
BEGINNINGS.
First work in Ceylon and India.
nessed its final acceptance as an integral part of church organization.
We have thus for the first time in English Christendom a church which, following the Moravians, fully recognized foreign missionary work as an essential part of its duty and professed itself to be as much responsible for work abroad as at home. Methodism had not yet realized itself as a church, and it was the peculiarity of its structure as a connexion of societies owning allegiance to a central governing body which made this possible. The formation of a missionary society, not by a committee of individuals, but by a whole religious community, marks an important epoch in the evolution of church government. Its first report shows what a well-established work was thus undertaken. In the Minutes, 111 missionaries are named, scattered over Gibraltar, France, Ceylon and Continental India, New South Wales, West and South Africa, the West Indies, the Canadas, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Prince Edward's Island, and Newfoundland. The income and expenditure are above £18,000, and the number of members is reported as above 23,000.
The Conference of 1818 entrusted the management to a committee of laymen and ministers, with three ministers as secretaries, who three years later were freed from circuit work, one of them residing at the Mission House, at that time located in Hatton Garden.
After the appeal from degraded and oppressed Africans, Methodism gave wings to her imagination in her mission to the East. We have seen how Coke died at sea, leaving his young colleagues to land at Bombay indeed forlorn. After a short stay they went on to Ceylon, and with the help of its highest officials they speedily found a place and work. Colombo and Galle in the south and Jaffna and Batticaloa in the north were the first centres. The fact that there were so many nominal Christians in the island gave an initial locus standi to the missionaries which they at once accepted. There still remained many of the old build-
PLATE XXIV
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BRITISH SOCIETIES 295
ings formerly used in the compulsory Christian services. Such forced Christianity had naturally been abandoned wholesale on the removal of pressure. Some of these old churches were offered to the new missionaries for their work. Suitable premises were obtained in Colombo ; a Sunday school was opened, a good chapel was erected by local subscriptions in which the highest in the land heartily joined. A printing press was at once set up, which within three years issued the Singhalese New Testament. Preach ing in Portuguese and Dutch reached the descendants of the European settlers and produced the same results of conver sion as have attended Methodist ministration all over the world. With the eyes of statesmen, the missionaries turned their attention to the work of education and speedily had many of the children under their care. Remarkable interest was taken by the Buddhists, and repeatedly we find recorded debates with native priests which resulted in their conversion. Some of these were of the highest rank, and several became Christian preachers.
Nothing is more striking in the early records than the willingness of the British officials to avow their interest in the Christian propaganda. Herein the Crown showed itself in direct opposition to the mercantile conscience of the East India Company. The year 1815 saw the conquest of the interior of Ceylon by the submission of the Kandyan king. In 1822 Newstead of Negombo occupied Kornegalle in the new province. When the missionary came, the Government Agent ' assembled the Kandyans and told them that, now a minister had come to conduct worship, all work must cease that day.' The local chief set the example of attendance at the chapel and rigidly suppressed all work. All the chiefs attended the opening services. These advantages gave an early sense of encouragement, and that there was more than a fatalistic acceptance of the commands of new masters is shown by the speedy formation of a corps of trustworthy assistants from the Singhalese themselves. By the year 1823 there were five of these figuring on the list, some Singhalese, others of European
296 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
descent, and thus there was continuous preaching in all the languages understood in the Island.
The early missionaries did good work in translation and lexicography. The New Testament was published in Portuguese by 1819 and the whole Bible completed in Singhalese by 1824. The printing press was of increasing importance, and a printer was sent out in 1818 to superintend it. This was D. J. Gogerly, who spent the rest of his life in Ceylon and became a most redoubtable apologist for Christianity.
While new stations were being opened along the Ceylon seaboard, attempts were made to commence work in Continental India. David, one of the Tamil preachers trained by the great Schwartz, joined the missionaries and guided them in the new venture. Lynch was detailed for Madras in 1817; Bangalore was occupied in 1822, and Negapatam about the same time. Bombay had been held by Homer from 1817, but after a few years the station was closed.
The fight While siege was being laid in the East to the massive
emancipa- structures of Indian religion, in the West Indies the bitter- tion- ness of the emancipation struggle added vastly to the
missionaries' hindrances. Other islands were steadily being added to the list. In some, as Barbadoes, progress was exceedingly slow, in others, as the Bahamas, very rapid. In San Domingo, the black republic where no white could hold property, the missionaries were warmly welcomed by the authorities, but found an intense ignorance and super stition under the cloak of a nominal Romanism. Sabbath- breaking, polygamy, and concubinage were universal. In 1816 an insurrection among the slaves occurred in Barba does, and panic-stricken planters pictured this as due to Christian teaching. The Government inquiry brought no such charge against the missionaries. Nevertheless out rageous restrictions were imposed in the various islands by which chapels were closed, missionaries silenced, slaves forbidden to meet for prayer, and recognition refused to their marriages. Notwithstanding all these hindrances the
BRITISH SOCIETIES 297
work of God prospered. Many individual planters were godly, humane, and sympathetic. The most glaringly unjust of the local laws were disallowed by the home authorities ; the slaves found their one joy in the restricted religious observances open to them and cheerfully bore their persecutions as for Christ's sake. The numbers steadily increased. It was a time of sore stress and strain ; no doubt injudicious things were sometimes done by men who saw their Christian converts outraged by the overseers and masters. But all the evidence is triumphantly clear that while religion made freedom inevitable, and dignified the slave, it also kept him loyal, and freed from violence the social upheaval. The action of the British Parliament, indicating the growing strength of the emancipation move ment, led to violent outbursts in 1824. A missionary of the London Missionary Society was executed in Demerara on a false charge of incitement to rebellion. In Barbadoes the mob wrecked the mission buildings and expelled the Methodist missionary, Shrewsbury, from the island. Parliament condemned the Barbadian authorities, but not till 1829 was the building replaced and worship allowed.
Meanwhile the storm of obloquy and misrepresentation rose higher than ever. The Missionary Committee and subsequently the Conference found themselves obliged publicly to disown the action of three Jamaica missionaries who had compromised the name of the Connexion by assert ing that its doctrines did not demand the final abolition of slavery. This utterance of the Conference led to violent persecution in one part of Jamaica, where missionaries were repeatedly imprisoned in the common jail for preaching to the negroes. The cashiering of the unjust magistrate who sentenced them showed the determination of the home authorities, but a series of vexatious legal persecutions ensued, in which it required the full authority of the Secretary of State, who reprimanded the governor, to ensure final justice.
In Hayti a school on the plan of Lancaster had been Hayti. established in 1816. But early in 1819 the opposition of
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Sierra Leone.
the Romanist priests led to attacks so violent and con tinuous that the missionaries had to flee. The President evidently recognized the injustice, for he sent kind messages and a subscription of £500 ; but he strongly advised dis continuance, practically confessing his inability to give protection. For a number of years the societies were kept together by the spiritual forces from within. After a while one of the members was set apart for the work ; but it was not until 1835 that it was found possible to send an outsider again.
It was in 1811 that George Warren went out to Sierra Leone and was received with shouts and tears of welcome by the freed negroes who had brought back the treasure of Christianity out of the horror of their slavery ; but he died in a few months. Two of his three companions who had gone out to teach schools held the fort in much discouragement till 1814, when William Davies and his wife arrived. She died in a few months. The society sent none but volunteers for the service, but volunteers were never lacking. Rarely did a year pass without some death, but the ranks always closed up. A great difficulty was found in the multitude of languages represented in the frequent arrivals from the captured slave-ships. Hence the only practicable method was to preach in English ; a bastard form of this became the lingua franca of the country. In 1820 St. Mary's on the Gambia was entered. In 1823 Macarthy's Island, 250 miles up the river, was occupied by Britain, and the missionaries at once made this a new base for effort in reaching the Foulahs. The Mission House, appalled at the expenditure of life that appeared inevitable in the White Man's Grave, began to look to the West Indies in the hope that thence might be drawn missionaries of the negro race ; but, for one cause or another, relief has never <Gold Coast, been found in this direction. At Cape Coast Castle on the Gold Coast a circle of youths, who had read the Bible, sent by the mouth of a godly sea-captain a request for a mission ary from England. The result was that Joseph R. Dunwell went out in 1834, and founded a society which grew rapidly.
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He died in six months, but successors were sent, and a new centre of influence was thus firmly established. These early years were much helped by the enthusiasm of Dr. Thomas Lindoe, who formed a society for the good of Africa, to provide for the erection of necessary buildings •and other outfit of missionary work. The time had clearly •come when literature was needed. Lindoe guaranteed £1,000 for the expense, and R. M. Macbrair commenced the translation of the New Testament into the Mandingo language.
The care of Methodism for its emigrants led to the sending of preachers in the year 1815 to the colonies of Australia and New Zealand. Soon missions to the aborigines were established, and ere long eager eyes were turned to the islands of the Pacific. In the Friendly Islands some of the London Missionary Society missionaries had been murdered and the mission abandoned. In 1822 Walter Lawry, a Methodist, made anew attempt. He landed at Tongatabu, was welcomed Tonga. and sent home for helpers. By the time that Messrs. Thomas and Hutchinson arrived in 1826, Lawry had been obliged to leave. Soon after they were reinforced by Messrs. Turner and Cross. All over Polynesia we have a most dramatic history of the successful impact of Christianity on a foul and savage heathenism, reeking with human sacrifice and often with cannibalism. The sense of the superiority of the white man had something to do with it ; the weariness of deities who were condemned as having failed to bring prosperity, and general vague stirrings of disgust at a cruel past marked the coming of God's good time for change. In Tonga a chapel had been already erected by Tahitian teachers, and the Chief Tubou sup ported the missionaries from the first. In Nukualafu within eighteen months many had renounced idolatry and polygamy, family prayers were general in the island, hundreds crowded the chapel, five hundred children were in the Sunday schools, adults were learning to read the few portions of Scripture available. In many other of the South Sea Islands the natives were asking for missionaries,
300 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
and even built chapels in preparation. In the Friendly Isles, the paramount chief became Christian. Much opposi tion ensued, but in some islands gradually, very rapidly in others, the true conquered the false. One great feature in Polynesian missions was the eager missionary zeal of the new Christians themselves. In order to spread the gospel they cheerfully faced the dangerous hates of other islands. It was quite ordinary for large numbers to become Fiji. teachers without pay. The mission to Fiji, commenced
in 1832 by Messrs. Cross and Cargill, was a direct outcome of the success in the Friendly Isles. The islanders of Ono had taken offence at their gods and become Christian simply on what they heard from a distance. But it was at Lakemba that the missionaries fixed their first residence. They stood often in the utmost peril from the elementary passions of man at his vilest. The rarity and difficulty of communication with the homeland added an intensity of loneliness hard to imagine. The scholarship of Cargill was of great importance in the early use of the press and the beginning of a literature ; the names of Calvert and Hunt, who arrived in Fiji in 1838, will always be associated with its conversion. The early missionaries were, with one exception, delivered from the danger of cannibalism because of superstitious fear of the power of the God they served ; but they and their wives had at first terrible experiences : the cries of victims clubbed and strangled echoed round their houses ; sometimes they had to stand unflinching while savages whirled their weapons round them. Gradu ally the saintly life of Hunt and his comrades won the esteem of the islanders. Hunt early acquired a thorough know ledge of the language of Bau, which he made the classical language of Fiji ; into this he translated the Scriptures.
The missionaries were most loyally and effectively helped by Tongan catechists, conspicuous among whom was Joel Bulu. Ere long there ensued results even more remarkable than those of Tonga. By 1841 there were seven hundred members. In 1845 there broke out a mighty revival. The heathen were convicted in their own consciences of the-
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vileness and sinfulness of their previous life. They were convulsed with fear, and through the terrors of sin were led in great numbers into peace. This revival spread from island to island, and many of the chiefs joined the church.
During these years of rapid progress in so many parts of Richard the field of work, the home organization was being strength- ened ; the administration was in the hands of the finest men of the church. Richard Watson was one of the great gifts of God to the Missionary Society in this formative stage. His oratory profoundly influenced the public, and made foreign missions the first interest of the church. It was of supreme importance that at the era of Emancipation the Wesleyan Mission Secretary should be fervent, determined, and discreet. Terrible bitterness was aroused. Notwith standing such facts as that, in a Jamaican slave-insurrection, the free blacks of the church were universally loyal and that all Christian slaves carefully abstained from taking part, yet the influence of the slave-owners led to an attack in Parliament on the Society and its agents. Watson rendered special service by his published Defence, which was a triumphant vindication of those assailed. He died in 1833, within sight of the Promised Land of Freedom for which he had worked so long, and was succeeded by Jabez Bunting.
The midnight of July 31, 1834, saw multitudes of negroes The burdens thronging the chapels throughout the islands, keeping solemn watch-night during the hour in which 800,000 of them passed from slavery to freedom. The moment of transition was marked by the gleam of lightning and the crash of sud den thunder, as though Nature were in conscious sympathy. The fountains of deep feeling were broken up, and there rose a great cry of joyous weeping at the Passover of the race from its land of captivity. Danger lay in this emotionalism and in the stunting of moral growth during years of enforced childhood succeeding ages of savagery. But the one great hope of safety lay in the fact that Christianity offered its strong and tender hand to uplift. The missionaries were naturally the guides of the first childish steps of the eman-
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cipated in the new life of liberty. When once the fact was settled, a general desire was shown to give the new con ditions their chance. In Antigua it was enacted that the in termediate years of apprenticeship, imposed by the Act before full freedom, were not needed, because of the moral improve ment effected through the missionaries. A sum of £5,000 was assigned by the Imperial Government to the Wesleyan Mission for schools, a grant involving the raising of £2,500 by the church. It was decided to send out eighteen more men, and for this a special fund of £9,000 was raised. In five years Jamaica doubled its membership and returned 23,000 names, the whole West Indies reporting 48,000. As an illustration of the growth it may be mentioned that in this same year (1839) the Jamaica coloured people increased on their subscriptions by £3,000, beside their gifts for buildings and for the Centenary Fund, and that their school pence amounted to £369. In 1841 all stations in St. Christopher's, St. Vincent's, and Barbadoes, and eight of the Jamaican stations, were self-supporting ; Bath in that island, without a single white man, gave, in addition, £200 for the general funds and built a chapel costing £2,500.
All this growth meant a large demand for more mission aries and buildings. From the Fund for celebrating the Centenary of Methodism in 1836 a sum of £70,000 was assigned to Foreign Missions. The City of London Tavern in Bishopsgate Street was purchased and fitted, at a cost of £30,000, for a Mission House. The income developed rapidly. In 1832 it was £48,000 ; in 1841 by rapid leaps it had attained an amount of over £101,000. But the expenditure more than kept pace. In December 1840 there was an accumulated deficiency of £40,000 ; it was several years before this alarming debt was wiped out. Steady work During these years of activity and enthusiasm the work in India and Ceylon was quietly being consolidated. In Ceylon the earlier surprise-hues of a joyous dawn had given way to the steady light of common day. Perseverance in the work of teaching and preaching won its way, but
PLATE XXV
TW*** Av-~yii ! W™*? • "w • rT^
TTT Mill, If r 3- r? :>—• -
THE OLDEST METHODIST CHUUCH IN ASIA, PETTAH, COLOMBO.
FIRST MISSION HOVSE, YE\VA, FIJI, with heathen temple behind.
FIRST MISSIOXARIKS' HOUSE AND CHURCH (U.M.C.), Ribe, East Africa, where an agricul tural missionary is stationed (1908). II. 3021
FIRST WESLEYAX MISSIONARIES' HOME IN MAN- DALAY, HUKMAII • a disused JUiddhist monastery,
1887.
FIRST MISSION STATION IN NEW ZEALAND, AVESLEY
DALK, WHANGAROA.
FIRST METHODIST PARSONAGE IN MASHONALAND, ' The Key to the North.'
BRITISH SOCIETIES 303
there was nothing to correspond with the mass movements among the uncivilized races of Africa and Polynesia.
The first step in higher education was taken in 1827 when an academy with all its teaching in English was opened hi Colombo. By the year 1830 there were a thousand full members in India and Ceylon. In 1836 great excitement was caused in Madras by the baptism of Arumuga Tambiram, a high-caste Brahman. This was the first of many ex periences of the same sort. The gradual acceptance of truth, the determination to give up all for Christ, the frenzied arguments of opponents, the attempts at kid napping, the final utter ostracism — all these became familiar, happily and sorrowfully, in the history of the mission. The Tamil lyric written by this convert describing his con version and his faith was most influential in opening the way for others.
The first extension of mission work outside of the British Dominions proper \vas in Mysore, governed by native princes under the guidance of British officials. Bangalore was first occupied ; Gubbi, a new country centre, was next assigned a resident missionary. This place will always be associated with the brief missionary career of William Arthur, so distinguished as writer and administrator. Hodson, the Chairman, himself settled in the capital, Mysore City, in 1838. The work among the immigrant Tamils in Bangalore was soon followed by attempts to reach the Canarese.
The lines of educational development laid down in India, Education largely through the influence of Macaulay, opened out a new ^d t need of English teaching. The missionaries at once saw and seized the opportunity. It was obvious that high- caste youths would pay fees for English and submit them selves to the guidance of the missionaries. Crowther started a high school in Madras, another was formed in Bangalore, and in 1841 a similar institution was opened in Mysore at the entire expense of the Rajah. Thus was laid the foundation of that patient daily contact of Christian teachers with the budding intellect of India which has been
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so profoundly influential in changing the beliefs of the leading classes. It has been a constant experience that heathen parents have preferred the mission schools to those of the Government because they feared the absence of moral stimulus in a neutral system. The prosecution of the Canarese work made imperative the establishment of a printing press. The enlightened Rajah of Mysore himself paid for a fount of type, in which simplifications of the elaborate alphabet were made. The early work of the missionaries thus influenced permanently the literature of the country.
Both round Madras and in Ceylon new village stations were continually being opened. In North Ceylon work carried on under great difficulties among the Veddahs — aboriginal tribes, some of them tree -dwellers, — began to be crowned with some little measure of success.
West Africa. Turning our eyes to West Africa we find a continuance of a loss of life enough to appal the heart of the Committee. In 1838 no less than eight missionaries, men and women, died on our West African stations. This was an excep tionally bad year, but up to the year 1850 there occurred more than fifty deaths, in many cases within a few months of landing. The very gratifying growth in numbers and self-government of the African churches under such tre mendous difficulties is a strong testimony to the reality of the work. Improved sanitation, truer knowledge and more care, frequent furloughs, and the opening up of stations away from the deadly coast-line have gradually brought about a great improvement, so • that at the present day deaths are comparatively infrequent. Among those who were able to give long spells of service, here trebly valuable, was T. B. Freeman, who presided over the work of the Gold and Slave Coasts. Freed slaves returning to their old home at Badagry bought up old slave-ships as their means of transport ; and the Methodists among them built their first chapels out of the timbers from their hulks. Freeman Entry into took a journey of inspection to Ashanti, the description of Ashanti. which roused great enthusiasm in England. Here was to
BRITISH SOCIETIES 305
be found a fiendish and blood-stained savagery almost unimaginable. Human sacrifices were constant ; in the first two days after Freeman's arrival forty men and women were killed, the bodies left to putrefy in the streets. He saw the king at Kumasi surrounded with barbaric state, richly adorned with gold. A request for leave to settle was met at any rate by an invitation to pay another visit in the future. Freeman came to England, thrilling his audiences with the accounts of what he had seen. He col lected a special fund of £5,000 and went back with six missionaries to strengthen the work and to commence the new enterprise in Ashanti. In November 1841 he took ^Brooking and two young converted princes of the royal house to Kumasi. The Missionary Committee discreetly sent as a present to the king a handsome English carriage. The gift was graciously received, land was assigned them, and schools and worship were at once started. Within three years a marked impression had been made. Regular services were attended by hundreds, and open-air preaching reached hundreds more. The queen was a regular in quirer ; one of the royal house publicly burned his fetish in the streets and declared himself a Christian. Two of the highest chiefs refused to furnish their quota of slaves for sacrifice on the occasion of a royal death, and an offering of gold was peacefully accepted instead. The savage king dom of Dahomey also offered a favourable reception to the suggestion that missionaries should enter. The great city of Abbeokuta in the Gold Coast hinterland was favourably impressed with Christianity by the good lives of the freed Christian emigrants who returned from Freetown.
Returning over the field in order to watch development THE MIDDLE *ip to 1863, the Jubilee year of the Society, we fix our PERIOD- .attention first upon Ceylon. In the Jaffna District it was a serious question whether it was wise to teach in the schools the English language, in an area where the outlets were so contracted, but the experiment was made and the result justified it. The crying need for good catechists made
VOL. n 20
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this work important for education within the church as well as for an evangelistic agency. In 1850 it was found that a considerable number of natives were in the habit of attending the English services, and soon after several Brahman boys in the school were baptized. The Govern ment started a normal central college at Colombo in 1846 and set at its head Andrew Kessen, a Wesleyan missionary who- later acted as Colonial Chaplain.
Gogerly and Two of the missionaries in the Southern District, Gogerly Hardy in anc* Spence Hardy, become famous for their knowledge of Ceylon. Buddhism. For many years the former guided the Colombo
District as its Chairman, and attained a knowledge of Pali rarely, if ever, equalled. So well known and respected was his learning that rival Buddhist sects repeatedly chose him as arbiter in their disputes. When in 1863, after forty years of service, it was known that he was drawing nigh to death, relays of men were stationed all through Buddhist Ceylon to carry the news from mouth to mouth that the redoubtable opponent of the faith was no more. His papers on Buddhism have been collected and published, forty-five years after his death, by the press he founded. Gogerly's death recalled Hardy from England to Colombo, and he continued his studies in Buddhist literature to such good effect that his books are still recognized as authorities on the subject.
Peter Percival made a version of the Scriptures into Tamil ; Wesley's Hymns were translated into that lan guage, and it was gradually enriched by such Christian treasures as the Liturgy and Jeremy Taylor's Holy Living and Holy Dying. The Southern District reported 605 members in 1840, 1,800 in 1851, and 2,200 in 1862. The Northern District was much slower in development, but the outside effects on the tone of society were even more marked.
On the mainland of India the immensity of the area made the period of foundation-laying more long-continued. The terrific difficulty of caste had to be faced. The question was made harder by the fact that some societies allowed
BRITISH SOCIETIES 307
its modified recognition within the church. The Methodists joined the great bulk of the missionaries in an absolute refusal to regard it as in any way consistent with Chris tianity.
The Tamil District, whose centre was Madras, and the Education Canarese District in the Mysore still contained all the m India- continental work of the Society. They were divided in 1849. Jonathan Crowther returned to England after fourteen years' service in 1844 ; Ebenezer E. Jenkins, famous as missionary advocate and Secretary, went out in 1846; Joseph Roberts died in 1849 after thirty years' service in India and Ceylon ; while Thomas Hodson continued per tinaciously to direct the Mysore work. In 1846 we find that improvements enabled the Bangalore press to do in three days what had previously taken three weeks. In both districts there was extensive missionary journeying through the country districts. This has always been a distinguishing feature of Protestant work in the East. But here, as elsewhere, education early attracted evangelistic energies. The missionary valued the opportunity of speak ing to constantly shifting crowds in the bazaars, but he soon realized that it was worth while also to gain unchanging audiences, at the most malleable age, for several hours a week. It was obviously desirable that an Englishman should be at the head of the larger schools in which English was taught. Dr. Duff took part in the Great Annual Meeting of the Wesleyan Missionary Society in 1851 and pleaded that the evangelizing force in India should be doubled. Unfortunately the difficulties of the Reform Dissension so lessened the funds that this increase was quite impossible. But mission schools were picked out for special praise and were freely supported by Government. E. J. Hardey brought to England from Bangalore a petition signed by 3,000 people in nine different languages asking for a thoroughly efficient English high school. In response to the £200 subscribed in England, heathen gentlemen on the spot subscribed an equal sum, on the distinct under standing that the English Scriptures should be taught.
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Similarly at Tumkur, in the same State, the outside public subscribed £150 to start a school.
At this epoch telegraphs were being laid down throughout India, and railroads were progressing. For better or worse the Westernizing movement was strong and inevitable. Then came the sudden strain of the Mutiny. The area in which the Wesleyan missions were at work was mercifully saved from disaster. In 1858 the Company's powers were transferred to the Crown ; Lord Canning's advent as the first Viceroy was celebrated by the founding of the Universities of Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta. Thus an immense stimulus was given to the study of English language and thought. The high schools of Jaffna, Madras, and Bangalore were affiliated to these higher centres of learning.
In such institutions there have always been ups and downs. Thus in Negapatam in 1860 the missionary refused to make a pariah boy sit on a separate bench by himself. The whole school absented itself ; but after two months ambitious youths began to creep back. The school soon had 121 pupils again. In Mannargudi in the same year a young Brahman was baptized ; the school instantly shrank to small dimensions. It recovered however, but in April 1861 another case occurred which broke it up. After the breaking-up yet another young Brahman professed belief. In each case the friends got hold of the young converts and all the subtle forces of pressure were used so that the results were unknown. But the school grew again ; they could not do without it.
Evangelistic work was in no sense overlooked during these years of educational advance. The effect of the constant itineration of men like Thomas Cryer, who died of cholera in Madras in 1852, E. J. Hardey, who died from the same disease in 1859, W. 0. Simpson, unsurpassed as missionary orator on home platforms, and others, was shown in the gradual extension in Madras to Trichinopoly, Mannargudi, Tiruvalur, and in Mysore to Tumkur, Shimoga, and Chik- magalur. At length it had become possible to increase ;
BRITISH SOCIETIES 309
in 1860 Madras and Mysore were able to rejoice in five additional men each.
Leaving India for the South Sea Islands we face a history The South and a problem of strongest contrast. The limited areas ea8' and island boundaries made possible the most economical concentration of labour. The Wesleyan Missionary Society had by agreement been left in sole charge of the Friendly and Fiji groups. We have seen already the remarkable and speedy success of its work there. In the Friendly Islands The Friendly the conflicts between the Christian and heathen parties Islands- became more serious as the new faith won its way decidedly. In 1842 the captain of a British man-of-war was killed during one of these wars in a well-meant but ill-advised attack on a heathen fortress. George, who was elected supreme king of the group in 1847, had been for years a preacher and earnest evangelist. Years earlier he had promulgated in his own domain a code of laws avowedly based upon the principles of the Bible. His appointment was a recognition, and at the same time a further develop ing cause, of Christian predominance. An excellent institu tion for native teachers and preachers in Tonga greatly added to the Christian influence.
The final struggle between the religions took place in 1852, and King George was victorious. The heathen chiefs, when they surrendered, knew that by custom they would all be put to death ; but the king publicly forgave them for the sake of his religion. The evening of the day of this public assertion of the power of love saw the vanquished attending prayers in the king's household and renouncing heathenism in a body. Others, more obstinate, did not surrender till later ; but even they, though degraded from office, were spared in their persons. The old custom of tabu was abolished ; all relics of slavery were finally swept away ; all children were to be sent to school. Henceforth the Friendly Islands may be regarded as a Christian country.
The growth in Fiji was somewhat different in character, Fiji, because the higher chiefs held out much longer. In the year 1845 there were a thousand members of the church,
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and as many more who had renounced heathenism ; but no high chief had as yet come over. While nine of the islands were mainly Christian there was still cannibalism, and war was frequent. Bau, the leading island power, was frankly heathen. John Hunt, having translated the whole New Testament, and done much within the church in training teachers and without the church in showing a lofty picture of Christian holiness, passed away in 1848 in the prime of his manhood with prayers for Fiji on his dying lips. The devoted band of preachers soon had the pleasure of receiving one after another of the leading chiefs into the church. There was ebb as well as flow ; sometimes there was war against Christianity, sometimes there were reversions to heathenism. Tanoa, the King of Bau, had been most persistent in his adherence to the heathen customs. In the absence of their husbands Mrs. Calvert and Mrs. Lyth had once faced him in the height of his heathen orgies in order to rescue women from being slain and eaten. Thakombau, his son and heir, was the object of special prayer by the missionaries, but, though inwardly convinced, he refused to change. When Tanoa died, Calvert laboured hard with him to save the old king's widows, offering to cut off his own finger and to give a ransom, and Watsford unsuccessfully offered all his personal property. On July 26, 1853, the missionary had to look on at a large cannibal feast. Eighty- four cooked limbs and a whole cooked body were rescued and buried, but all entreaties failed to save life. In April 1854 three men were killed and cooked in Bau. Within ten days came the sudden breakdown, and on the thirtieth day of the same month Thakombau publicly and solemnly became Christian and gave orders that all his people should follow him. In January 1855 the responsibility for the work in the South Seas was taken from the shoulders of the Parent Society and accepted by the first Conference of the Australasian Wesley an Church. These interesting missions thus pass from our view at the moment when they ceased to be missions to the heathen. Much remained to be done, but the later story deals with avowedly Christian
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nations, often putting to shame by simplicity of faith and beauty of obedience the life of national churches of an older growth.
In the West Indies the first flush of joyous anticipation and experience after Emancipation was followed by a period of hard, steady work against discouragement and reaction. Robert Young visited Jamaica ten years after Emancipation and was able to give a most hopeful account of the work. But the slaves were scattered from their old West plantations, and in many cases went to remote mountain regions to cultivate little patches of their own soil. Hence attendance at worship became impossible for many of them. The new conditions of trade brought in immigrants from Africa and elsewhere who introduced the superstitious practices of Obeah. The economic disturbances due to the cessation of slavery produced great distress. Worldli- ness with its love of pleasure on the one hand, and poverty with its starving of the generous virtues on the other, tended to weaken the church. There was the added difficulty that the rapid growth in membership of the few years after 1834 had never been adequately sustained by a correspond ing addition of European missionaries. The old planters, brought up under the old extravagant conditions, were not the men to conquer in the crisis. Coffee and sugar were grown at a loss, and this was bitterly put down to the competition of slave-grown commodities. Poverty every where, cholera, yellow fever, earthquakes, hurricanes, fires — these all from time to time came to hamper and depress the work. Ere long many plantations in Jamaica were thrown out of cultivation. Notwithstanding decreases in numbers there remained an ardent love and a great deal of Christlike self-denial. In 1844 Jamaica raised a Contingent Fund to free the home contributors. While in 1850 its subscriptions had been £832, in 1859 the amount was £2,000 and the net cost to the Home Committee was only £1,300. The missionaries in the island complained that they were being left almost without the sympathy of the home churches. The fact is that the romantic era
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must be succeeded by the slow, steady work of transforming the negro from a more or less well-trained child into a grown man who has to choose his own path, and it required more imagination than the average English Christian possessed to make allowance for the passing of romance. Happily lean years were followed from time to time by bounteous times of refreshing ; 3,000 members were added in the island in the single year 1861. Throughout the West Indies there had been quickly reached the stage of the variations of ordinary church life with a mission population round it. But in Barbadoes, where the early years had been so slow and trying, there was most gratifying increase. Large chapels were built and crowded, the once hostile Legislature assisting by loans.
In Demerara, where in 1815 a public meeting had been held to expel the missionaries by law, in 1845 a new chapel was erected by the subscriptions of all the leading citizens. In this colony the importation of coolies from India, Africa, and Madeira resulted in the fresh importation of heathen superstitions. The Society started work among the Tamils first through J. E. S. Williams of Jaffna ; then, after his early death, through the services of a native catechist. Demerara also began in 1859 an important institution for training native teachers. During the time of depression the brethren yet had the courage to commence missions in the Danish islands of Santa Cruz and St. Thomas. In St. Vincent's in 1861, out of a population of 29,000, there were 14,160 Methodists.
The oversight of Hayti was early entrusted to an English man, Mark B. Bird, who directed during the whole of a long generation. In 1 846 there were some five hundred members ; beside one Haytian there were four English missionaries. The mission schools were valued, and amongst the sub scribers were four of the Secretaries of State. Roman Catholic opposition was experienced continually. In 1851 all the school teachers and others of the Methodists at Port- au-Prince were sent on board a man-of-war on the pretext of serving their country. After a while the Spanish portion
BRITISH SOCIETIES 313
of the Island of San Domingo was entered and foundations were well laid. The early beginnings in British Honduras on the mainland prospered and grew till for convenience of administration a separate Honduras District was formed in 1861.
The greatest expansion of all during the period preceding Expansion the Missionary Jubilee in 1863 took place on the west coast of Africa. The oldest stations in Sierra Leone and on the Gambia still had plentiful opportunity for missionary work as the continuous influx of raw heathen from the captured slavers kept down the Christian tone. In 1847 the membership was 4,600, having doubled in six years. Converts were themselves fired with missionary zeal. In fact, the congregations increased so that in 1849 barely half the people could be accommodated in the chapels. £700 was contributed by the people for the building of the Buxton Chapel, and their subscriptions were met by large gifts from home, including those of the family of the emancipator in whose honour the sanctuary was being named. The institution for native teachers and preachers established in 1843 at King Tom's Point, and the school for chiefs' sons at M'Carthy Island added much to the internal strength of the church. The governor of the colony in 1854 was able to report, ' The natives are prospering, there is no serious crime, and nowhere is the Sabbath better observed.'
The great heathen hinterland of the Gold and Slave Coasts now took its place as the centre of interest for the sanctified imagination of the church. In Ashanti, though during four months of 1844 there were 800 human sacrifices, high chiefs were willing for their children to attend school, while Christian worship was held in Kumasi, first under Chapman and later under John Ansah, a scion of the royal house who had become a minister. In 1845 the great Yam Festival saw, instead of the usual torrents of blood, but one single death ; and on the big day of the feast, instead of partaking in its frantic violence, two hundred withdrew to pray in the chapel. The unwillingness of the king, however, remained an intimidating factor ; he utterly
314 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
refused to change the old killing customs. But few actually joined the church. Dahomey had been one of the great centres of the slave trade, but its king expressed his desire to abolish it and to receive missionaries. The continuing variations of local wars and quarrels made the work in all these regions both dangerous and discouraging.
The agent of the Dutch Government at Kumasi was con verted during Freeman's first visit, and, after working for Christ there, carried his religion to Elmina, his native place. A church was formed, and after the founder's death was cared for by pious men sent from Cape Coast Castle. The King of Lagos now approached the British Government with the desire of stopping the slave trade. At the in stigation of the Portuguese he was attacked by a subject marauding chief, and was driven away. The general war fare cut off Abbeokuta entirely from the coast from 1848 to 1852, but the native agent remained at his post and land was given for mission buildings by the chiefs.
About the same time there was a solemn public trial before the governor, between the rival forces of the fetish and Christ, at Cape Coast, arising out of the burning of a Christian village, which produced a profound impression in favour of Christianity. Better days began to come at Lagos. In 1855 and following years the king used to at tend the missionary meeting and subscribe largely. A new step was taken in the same year by the definite occupation of Whydah, the capital of Dahomey, though there was a recrudescence of the slave trade. There and elsewhere, however, the slave trade grew up again on the slightest relaxation of vigilance, and everywhere the chiefs recognized that to be friendly with Britain meant ceasing to traffic in slaves. The necessity and difficulty of taking a definite side came home more and more to them ; in 1861 the King of Lagos ceded his territory to the British. In the same year the Lagos Church was strong enough to pay the cost of a mis sionary to Porto Novo. In 1863, the year of the Jubilee, nearly ten thousand West African members were reported, two only of whom represented the Ashanti Church. So
BRITISH SOCIETIES 315
•sharply defined were the areas of success and of long patience.
The period whose survey we are here ending was that marked by the great secession in the home church which for a while so crippled forces. The secretaries of the Missionary Society were in the very centre of the cyclone, and its administration was an object of special criticism. It was gratifying that, notwithstanding this, the income suffered so little. It is true that after a sudden increase for two years after 1854 to £116,000 the income fell again to £102,000, but it rose again ; by 1858 it was £129,000, and in 1862 £142,000. The Juvenile Offerings, commenced in 1841, had proved a mine of wealth and continued to bring in a steady income of £5,000 and upwards. In 1849, in response to the cry ' Stop the Supplies,' which seemed likely seriously to hamper the Missionary Society, the Leeds laymen instituted in connexion with their Anniversary the Gledhow Breakfast Meeting. This Meeting, subse- The quently transferred to Headingley, has been to this day a 2ledfe wt continuous means of sustaining interest and raising finance. Meeting. Dr. Bunting left the secretariat in 1851 ; the same year William Arthur joined Elijah Hoole, who after his service in India had already been Secretary for fourteen years and was to continue for twenty-one more.
After the years of storm and stress the Society ventured Beginnings to respond to a call for a new Empire for Christ. The "* China" Committee had looked longingly at China, where Morrison had commenced work in sublime solitude in 1807. They dared not make the start. In 1851 George Piercy went on his own responsibility, worked among English soldiers in Hongkong, went to Canton, and claimed acceptance by the Home Committee. Thomas Farmer, the Treasurer of the Society, promised £1,000, others followed ; Josiah Cox offered if necessary to go at his own expense. The Committee saw God's leading, and in January 1853 Cox and another were sent to assist Piercy to form the new mission. It required some courage, for the debt was £25,000. For five years the China Mission was worked by
316 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
a separate fund. It was not till 1856 that the first member was baptized. The perils of the Second Chinese War did not help growth. Placards were posted everywhere urging the extermination of the foreigner. All the missionaries left Canton for Macao, where they continued their work and gained several converts. Cox went to the Straits Settlements and took extensive journeys among the large numbers of Chinese emigrants. When Canton fell into the hands of the British the missionaries returned and were able to take two centres for work in the city. Schools were started ; a street chapel was opened into which curiosity led many passers-by, and books were freely given or sold. Canton Avas made the centre for itinerant work through the thickly populated country round. Ere long a tentative settlement was made in Fatshan, a great manufacturing town of half a million inhabitants some twelve miles further along the river. The attention of Christian Europe was- specially attracted at this time to China by a new and startling movement which sprang up in its own midst. The Taiping The Taiping Rebellion was started by a fanatic who had on' read the Books of Joshua and Judges and applied to his own- time the stories of the wars against idolaters. A petty rising against a local mandarin swelled into a mighty move ment which captured cities and swept over whole provinces^ until a dynasty was established at Nanking and it seemed as though the Manchus were to be expelled. Wherever the rebels came they smashed the idols, and their leader claimed to be doing the work of God. The Methodist missionaries in Canton were specially attracted. One of the relatives of the rebel leader had been a Christian in their midst. This man had disappeared, and it was now known that he had been appointed the ' Shield King ' by the Rebel Emperor. Just at this time Josiah Cox was on furlough. At the 'China Breakfast Meeting ' there was put into his hand a letter enclosing an appeal on yellow silk from the Shield King himself, asking him to go to the rebel capital and there to preach the gospel. The effect on the audience and on the church was electric. On the tide of enthusiasm the
BRITISH SOCIETIES 317
missionary, himself an enthusiast, went forth and ere long reached Nanking. But alas ! these bright hopes faded. The elements of rapine and lust in the strange movement were conquering, the admixture of religion was almost vanishing. Cox was received kindly, but the Shield King told him he was powerless, the Rebel Emperor was against missionaries working there. He returned disappointed. The Taiping movement began to perish of its own corrup tion ; ere long Chinese Gordon destroyed its remnants, and there remained but the sight of devastated landscapes, ruined cities, and the gaps of ten millions of dead. Its slight association with Christianity had not helped to endear our religion to the Chinese mind. But the new ports opened as a result of the Second Chinese War offered splendid spheres for work. Cox went six hundred miles up the Yangtsze, and in 1861 chose as the second scene of work in China the great centre of population at the junction of the Yangtsze with its main affluent, the Han. Three cities, Hankow, Wuchang, and Hanyang, containing a million people, formed the mart for the converging lines of the commerce of all Central China.
We have now reached 1863, the jubilee of the formation of the Society. A fund of £180,000 was raised to start the work on its second half -century. All debt was swept away ; and the various districts were enheartened by the supply of many glaring deficiencies which their rapid growth had rendered inevitable. This magnificent generosity and its results may be taken as the starting-point of the second stage of the Society's life. The formative period was ended. Henceforth it will perhaps be clearer if we follow in outline the work in each division of the field up to the present time instead of attempting to give a broad view of the whole work of the Society during each separate period.
In Ceylon the original generation of missionaries and workers AFTER THE had several representatives who lived to see the Jubilee of the Society. Four of them had records of forty, forty-six, forty-six, forty-one years' service. The success of Christian
318
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Opposition.
Women's Auxiliary.
missions was marked by the new activities and virulent op position of Buddhism. A Buddhist Missionary Society was formed, Buddhist Schools were fostered. The applause accorded to Buddhist doctrines by a certain section of European society added a new self-confidence. A correspond ing angry Hindu opposition has grown up among the Tamils of the north. But there is always a marked lack of con tinuance in heathen efforts which cost money, and Chris tianity is slowly gaining on its rivals. One advantage of a more strenuous opposition has been the purging away of nominal Christians.
Continuity of policy has been a great blessing in this field, successive chairmen, such as Scott in the South and Kilner and Rigg in the north, having been able to give long terms of service. The Central School in Jaffna had already at this era gained the first position in its own region ; in the face of greater competition it has kept its hold on the community, and has for the last thirty-five years sent in students for the Arts degree of Madras University. Its alumni occupy important positions everywhere. The education of girls as well as boys has in all heathen lands been the direct product of Christianity. Missionaries' wives early began schools for girls, helped by an undenominational Society for the Education of Girls in the East. It was in 1858 that a letter from Mrs. Batchelor of Negapatam led to the forma tion of a Methodist Women's Auxiliary. Its beginnings were small, but it gave help in various fields as wide apart as Africa, Fiji, and Hudson's Bay. Ere long it concentrated its main efforts on Eastern lands. Jaffna opened a Girls* High School in 1868. As the Women's Auxiliary gained the power, new enterprises of this sort were undertaken at all the main centres. Wesley College for boys was started in Colombo in the year 1874, and in 1876 a similar school in Galle, where there was already a theological college. These schools have gained a most honourable position, have repeatedly sent Christian boys with Government scholarships to English universities, and have been forced by their own success to build large and handsome new
BRITISH SOCIETIES 319
buildings to accommodate their numerous pupils. Beside other high schools elementary education in towns and villages has much developed. Difficulty of maintenance has continually increased, owing to greater Government string ency ; shortage of grants from home and the much greater activity of an alarmed Buddhism and Hinduism increase the strain, but 28,000 children in the mission schools to-day indicate a hold on a vast area of homes. When in 1896 Thomas Cook held evangelistic services there, it was most interesting to notice that in nearly all cases the converts had been educated in mission high schools.
The training of a native ministry early became a character- Training the istic of a mission which had at its very start been blessed with mini8try- good workers raised up in the island itself. There are training institutions in both Districts. By the year 1875 there were no less than thirty-six Ceylon ministers. The last thirty years have been so often harassed by withdrawal of grants and other restrictions that there has been no addition to their numbers, though some have gone as missionaries to the Buddhist land of Burma. But in that time the membership has grown from 2,800 to 7,000, while £10,000 annually is raised locally to meet a less sum sent from England. A not inconsiderable number of the churches support entirely their own native work. The line of stations now stretches round more than half the coast and far inland into the central districts. Kandy was occupied in 1867, thus developing the work commenced by Newstead nearly fifty years before. Work in Uva, still further inland, was commenced by Langdon in 1886. There a Girls' Home, the Wiseman Women's Hospital, and a reformatory with in dustrial work have attracted much attention and done much good. Industrial work has also been started in each District.
Evangelism has been no less strongly carried on in Ceylon than education. In North Ceylon Wesley Deaconesses have added their forces to those of the Women's Auxiliary in assisting in this work, and the richer circuits contribute towards the expense of extension. The old work among the
320 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
Veddahs, begun in the earliest days of the mission, has been taken up again and is growing successful, so that a stable church, under a catechist of their own race, is manifesting to an incredulous heathenism the power of Christianity.
The Colombo Mission Press continues its output with unabating energy, issuing Scriptures, hymn-books, school- books, a newspaper, and adding gradually translations of those immortal books which enshrine the accumulated spiritual possessions of the Western Church. Ceylon was the first established of our Eastern missions ; its church has most nearly approached the position of a settled and permanent factor in the national life.
Great as the opportunities for work in Ceylon are, its limits in comparison with continental India are obvious. The difficulty of foundation work on the continent has made the later development all the more marked.1 Regular worship, constant evangelistic services indoors, on the streets, in villages, or towns ; multitudes of schools, from the university college to the village hut ; orphanages, industrial schools, model villages, theological colleges, hospitals, dispensaries, — all these represent a scheme of intense activity touching and blessing the whole life.
At the Jubilee Madras and Mysore contained the whole of our Indian work. Methodist soldiers in the north were continually writing home as to their needs ; the Society responded by sending out Broadbent and Highfield to Calcutta in 1863. At Barrackpur and Lucknow soldiers' work was commenced two years later. Bengali work was North at once begun in Calcutta ; Bankura was occupied in 1871.
Indian Distances between the scattered military stations w^ere so
expansion. *
great that in 1880 Lucknow was constituted a separate district containing also Faizabad, which had been entered in 1876, and Benares, the Sacred City of Hinduism. The native work continued to receive growing attention. Under the direction of J. M. Brown a band of enthusiastic young
1 In 1863 there were 580 members, counting those on trial ; in 1875, 1,900, with 41 missionaries, English and Indian ; while in 1907 there were 16,300, with 96 English ministers, 43 Indian ministers, and 334 catechists.
BRITISH SOCIETIES 321
missionaries pushed out in every direction, touring, dwelling in tents, and preaching, singing, and talking in village, town, and country.
Raniganj was occupied in 1884. Evangelism round Bankura, in which missionaries were accustomed to sing and preach in the villages, introduced the gospel to the Santhals, an aboriginal tribe whose native worship had never been degraded to idolatry. To them a missionary went in 1884, another settled among them in 1887, dwelling in roughest style, immersed in their simple jungle life. Gradu ally a hold was gained, cruel practices like hook-swinging hid themselves from the rebuking presence of the missionary, baptisms began, training of native catechists followed, a chapel and mission house have been built, and a couple of hundred Christians gladden the patient heart of the workers. The press has been freely used in the issue of Bengali books, many of them Methodist classics, and two periodicals, one in English. Hindu hostility became increasingly felt. Many of its arguments were now borrowed from the militant infidelity of the West, and the political dissatisfaction of the talkative Bengali frequently found vent in these religious animosities. A high school was commenced at Bankura. It soon became famous owing to a riot in 1891 which burnt it down in revenge for the conversion of a caste student. It was rebuilt the following year and speedily distinguished itself above its secular rivals. Its only embarrassment is its success ; it is now a university college with crowds of students.
Raniganj speedily spread out from its military beginning, and through the enthusiasm of Ambery Smith has developed orphanage and industrial work as well as a leper asylum. The English self-supporting work in Calcutta lends a valuable element of lay strength to the whole evangelization of the District.
The developments farther north and west have mostly followed the lines of the British garrisons. Jabbalpur in the Central Province, first entered in 1883, gained the responsi bilities and opportunities of a famine orphanage. Faizabad
VOL. II 21
322 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
was for more than twenty years blessed with the services of J. A. Elliott, a prince of vernacular preachers, who had been born in the country, and grew up with an unequalled inner understanding of the native mind. These stations with others formed the Lucknow and Benares District. At one end of the scale we have the Lucknow High School ; at the other end, work reaching out to the Gonds and other aborigines.
Military The needs of the soldiers led to the sending of chaplains
to the neighbourhood of Bombay in 1860, but it was too isolated from the other mission centres to allow of any great development. In 1887 a new commencement of English work associated with itself a little Marathi church. Since then Bombay has become the head of a district whose out lying stations stretch right up through the Punjab even to- Peshawur on the very limits of the Empire. Here a number of military chaplains assist the work of foreign missions by raising the standard of Christian example and rousing evangelistic enthusiasm in soldiers who have often been pioneers in missionary expansion.
Mysore. Even more marked has been the development in the south
of India. The Mysore mission for its first half -century was associated with the name of the far-sighted Hodson. The Mission Press in Bangalore began in 1861 the issue of The Harvest Field, an English journal which has been most influential in the discussion of missionary topics and the forming of opinion. In 1888 Henry Haigh started a Canar- ese weekly newspaper which has become one of the main influences of thought throughout the country.
The Bangalore High School rapidly grew in numbers and influence ; it could be said that under the able management of Josiah Hudson the majority of the Mysore civil servants were being drawn from its ranks. The necessity of keeping its boys during their higher course from the purely secular education of the Government universities led to the forma tion of a final Arts Class in 1873. A similar institution in Mysore City developed on like lines, and in more recent years increased very largely. It has become more and more
BRITISH SOCIETIES 323
important that the religion of the sons of Christians should not be swamped by the great mass of non-Christian students. Hardwicke College, built with funds subscribed in Australia, keeps them effectively under the constant influence of a Christian home.
In 1881, when the Maharajah took the reins of govern ment, more stringent tests were applied, from which the Christian educational work emerged triumphant. It was announced that more should be done for elementary educa tion and less for the higher grades. The missionaries followed the opportunity ; in 1885 they increased their primary schools by fifty, and now have a network of these agencies round all their stations, which touch country life at every point. Young men have been from the first trained theologically, and are taught the enthusiasm of practical evangelism by taking preaching tours with their teachers. It was in 1880 that a Theological Institution was definitely formed, and steady training has sent forth many catechists beside nine carefully selected Indian ministers.
During the Great Famine of 1876-7 the Wesleyan Mission ary Society raised a special fund of £15,000, by which many lives were saved and much good feeling evoked. When the immediate pressure of the scarcity was past, the mis sionaries found themselves left with many orphans on their hands, for whose upbringing they felt themselves bound to provide. In 1877 a general orphanage was established for the Madras District in Karur. A systematic industrial training has been carried on there continuously since, by which a succession of the neglected waifs of a poverty-stricken heathenism have been taught handicrafts and sent out as self-supporting peasants and tradesmen. The Government has recognized by financial help the im portance of this factor in the social uplifting of the people. A similar work has been carried out in the Mysore, for boys at Tumkur and for girls at Hassan. These are centres of spiritual and social influence. For instance, at Hassan girls are being trained as nurses, blessing whole neighbour hoods. The communities which have grown up under the
324 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
parental care of the missionaries as the result of the marriage of these Christian young people are offering an impressive object-lesson to surrounding villages.
A sensible division of labour among the various missionary societies has from the first left the country districts of the Mysore to the Wesley an Church. An extensive work has been developed in the assigned area, and fifteen centres are occupied by European missionaries, each commanding a wide surrounding district. In addition to the Canarese work a strong church has been built up among the Tamil immigrants in Bangalore. Good work is also being done among British soldiers in Bangalore, and British planters and gold miners through the province.
In this native state until recently the law took away from any one becoming a Christian all rights. Wife, child, property, all were forfeited. Can we wonder that disciple- ship has often been silent and partial ? There are multitudes of secret adherents.
Recent years have been marked by the constant inroads of plague. The unwearying, unselfish relief and tendance given to the victims by missionaries and converts alike have made a profound impression on the public mind. The comparative freedom from disease in the Christian settle ments has rightly been taken as evidence of the superiority of Christianity. The missionary has his hand on the springs of the national life and is accepted as counsellor and helper in municipal, educational, and social reform. Madras. Madras, the original centre of the Indian work, has experi
enced many of the difficulties already outlined in Mysore. The conversion of Brahmans in high schools has produced excitement and alarm, but the growth of the church has been steady and large. The encouragement given by the Government to education has led to the establish ment of Anglo- vernacular schools and high schools in the main centres, and of colleges in Royapettah and Mannargudi. The splendid staff of the Madras Christian College has for many years counted a Wesley an missionary among its ranks, and work among educated Hindus has
BRITISH SOCIETIES 325
claimed growing sympathy and service. In this depart ment no one has made a deeper impression in a short time than F. W. Kellett, worn out with prodigality of service.
Female education received great encouragement by the recommendations of the Government Commission of 1884, and throughout India the Women's Auxiliary has con tributed immensely to the force of the missionary message. Almost all the main centres have girls' schools, boarding schools are training up women who will make Christian homes, and day schools are constantly influencing the homes of the heathen around. Christian ladies bring the one ray of outer sunshine into zenanas by the message of the love of Christ lived in human lives. Numbers of Bible- women carry on a still more widely-spread visitation in village and city homes. In each of the Ceylon and South Indian districts womanhood in its hour of suffering and pain has felt the skilful touch of medical women and nurses. It requires little imagination to realize how immensely the old agency has been strengthened by this addition of the powers of love and home.
Such work is specially needed ; for everywhere there has been much opposition, much fighting of Christianity with weapons forged in the West. The theosophical movement associated with the names of Madame Bl a vat sky and Mrs. Besant has done much to foster the contented religious self-conceit of the Indian, and secular education has made him ready to assume a position of superior contempt to the exponent of Christianity and to exercise at large his great gifts of dialectic speech.
In the neighbourhood of Madras there has been seen the first of those mass movements of the Pariahs which are eloquent of the future. The name of William Goudie will always be associated with this great work. Multitudes of ignorant villagers have been welcomed and carefully instructed till their half-realized desires have ripened into spiritual intelligence, and the numbers received into the church are actually limited only by the lack of money which prevents the sending of catechists to train them.
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The lapse of time has led to the finding within the church of a generation of hereditary Christians, and recent years have seen the recognition of this fact in the conducting of a series of missions through South India aiming at immediate decision for Christ — conversion in the sense of the term associated with missions in England.
Nizam's jn iggO William Burgess went from Madras to the Nizam's
Dominions. Work among the soldiers at Secunderabad was at once begun, and ere long, by the help of gifts from Australia, the new missions began to spread out, first to the neighbouring capital in Hyderabad, then in 1885 to the country district Karim Nagar, to Sidipett, where the Nizam gave the ground for the mission, later to Medak, Kundi, Aler, and Indur. The conditions of a purely native state under a Moslem ruler gave a special character to the work here. But nowhere has a mission more quickly struck on the line of least resistance. In the country districts numer ous villages offered themselves for instruction. Careful training and a long period of trial were the conditions imposed in order to secure a pure church. The cardinal principle was that baptism was refused unless it could be followed by effective oversight. The baptisms are mostly among the Mala community, for whom non-Christian creeds have no message of hope. Catechists and teachers are trained, industrial and other schools have been opened, women's hospitals have won wide fame and love, perpetual itineration goes on all the year round, its toil in this roadless land now beginning to be lessened by the coming of railways. Higher education is still in its infancy, but a commence ment has been made in Secunderabad.1 The most recent
Burma. entry into a new district took place in 1887, when Upper
Burma was annexed to the British Crown. W. R. Winston occupied Mandalay and brought with him from Ceylon Singhalese ministers whose knowledge of Buddhism made them specially suitable for such work. The eight men now in the field have effected a good hold on the four stations
1 The moat recent returns for the district give 2,362 members, with 4,573 on trial.
BRITISH SOCIETIES 327
which they occupy along the Irrawadi River. Of the 540 members which are now reported, nearly a hundred are lepers who have been gathered into refuges and lovingly tended, for whom Buddhism, with all its respect for human life, had no care. Good boys' and girls' schools of various grades are doing their work, and the British soldiers are not neglected.
The rapid growth of Indian missions has led to the neces sity of a more complete organization. In 1894 two Pro vincial Synods were established, one for the North and one for the South. Above these again is an Indian Synod wherein is to be found the germ of the Indian Conference of some future day.
The most recent developments of Indian life give ground The Outlook, for serious thought as to the future. The education of Indians in the literature and language of their Western conquerors has inevitably brought its risks as well as its advantages. The effect is being seen in the uprising, especially in the North, of the strong anti-foreign feeling which has found expression in the Swadeshi movement, and subsequently even in riot and murder. It was in evitable that the association of the Christian Church with foreign nations should involve it to some extent in diffi culty. Mission schools have seen decrease of numbers, and even within the church there have been in some cases tendencies to alienation between missionaries and their helpers.
The growth of one national spirit amidst the differing and often antagonistic races of India is looked upon by missionaries with much of sympathy, and at the base of the new movement Christianity recognizes something that is noble. If the Indian Church were strong enough now to stand alone, it might be a great force in conserving these nobler elements and in leading the nation that is being born, along peaceful lines of development, loyal to the suzerain power whose just rule has made unity more than a dream. Notwithstanding all the growth of the last half-century, that position of strength is not yet come. But the Methodist
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METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
China.
Hospitals and schools.
Church, dignifying and uplifting the lowest classes and developing a self-respecting laity, is helping to give stability to the bases of society and must necessarily play an import ant part in the unknown future of India.
The work in China has been almost entirely the product of the second half -century of the Society's existence. The splendid opportunity for revealing the love of Christ in the healing of bodies as well as souls led in 1864 to the sending of Dr. Porter Smith to commence a medical mission in Hankow. We find the record of 18,000 patients seen in 1867. For years the strain on the Society's resources prevented the adequate manning of the new mission. Providentially the first men sent out to help Josiah Cox — David Hill and William Scarborough — were able to give many years of service. Ere long the provincial capital, Wuchang, was entered, and, after an abortive effort to occupy Kiukiang in the next province, Hanyang, the third city of the great central cluster at the junction of the Han and the Yangtsze, was added. The missionaries opened preaching-halls on the crowded thoroughfares, and the curiosity of the Chinese constantly filled these with interested hearers. These carried the first news of the gospel to re mote parts of the Empire. Schools reached the young, hospitals the sick, and both alike the homes of the people.
Meanwhile the Southern Mission expanded along the North River, and in 1866 Shiu Kwan was occupied. The terrible Tientsin riot of 1870, in which a number of Roman Catholic missionaries and others were murdered, with the ill-con cealed approval of Pekin, revealed the fires that were burn ing under the surface. It was obvious that the forces of Confucianism were being roused, for in 1873 an Anti- Christian Institution was formed in Canton with rival preaching-halls. The same year a movement a hundred miles down the Yangtsze from Hankow led to the com mencement of a mission at Kwangtsi ; the converts there had to prove their sincerity by suffering social ostracism because of their refusal to pay idol-taxes and to continue ancestral worship. The hospital in Hankow, after ten
BRITISH SOCIETIES 329
years of vigorous and influential work, was most unfortu nately left without a physician in 1876 ; the building fell in ruins, and the mission was deprived of this unspeakable benefit until a dozen years later, when it was recommenced on a larger scale by Dr. S. R. Hodge. For twenty years he spent himself without stint, and when he died, in 1907, left our medical mission work firmly established in the affections of the people. It was not until 1882 that the Southern District opened its hospital in Fatshan under Dr. C. Wenyon.
In 1878 a great call to the charity of Christendom was made by the hideous three-year famine in the province of Shansi. David Hill was spared from the district in order to assist. Hundreds of thousands were saved from death by judicious relief administered over a wide area. The band of workers, chief among whom was Timothy Richard, won the gratitude of the people, and from this vantage- ground offered the gospel as the explanation of their charity. But the Wesleyan Missionary Society was too occupied with the development of its own area to be able to enter this new field, so that other societies reaped the harvest.
A singular chain of events led in 1882 to an entry under most favourable circumstances into the prefecture of Te An. The early promise was clouded by subsequent riot. The mission premises were wrecked, and it was only through long and tedious processes that patience finally won its way, till to-day the mission stands strong and influential through all the neighbourhood.
Any survey of missionary work in China must take Riots and account of these acts of violence. Not to name a number deaths- of attempts on individual missionaries in the smaller stations, it may be recorded that the Canton premises were burnt in 1887 ; Fatshan Chapel was looted in the same year as Te An. The violence was repeated in Te An four years later ; all the Wusueh premises were destroyed in 1891, and the new houses in Shiu Kwan were burnt down in 1904. Only in the Wusueh riot, however, was there any loss of life ; and amidst the serious waves of excitement which
330
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
Lay missions.
Native ministry.
have endangered the safety of Christians, the church has by God's mercy emerged, persecuted but purified.
The vastness of the needs of China led to many attempts to provide workers additional to those whom the somewhat rigid regulations of the Society permitted. In 1875 C. W. Mitchil, a local preacher of independent means, came to Hankow, and during the next quarter of a century gave much willing service. Women and men, ministerial and lay, have come forward as volunteers, working at their own charges. The sight of multitudes of laymen, Methodist as well as others, pressing into the ranks of the China Inland Mission fired the imagination of David Hill and others, so that in 1886 a Lay Mission for Central China was estab lished. The idea was that thus a less expensive and more mobile auxiliary agency might be added. Much pioneer evangelistic work was done, and the selection of new stations was largely determined by the successes of these itinerants. After a while a Blind School was opened wherein the forlorn castaways of an indifferent Confucianism were gathered together, fed, clothed, taught to read, write, sing, knit, weave, and in other ways made useful members of society. The Lay Mission also added a hospital of its own at Te An, and thus completed the round of its activities. The Joyful News Mission, originally founded by the glowing enthusiasm of Thomas Champness for the evangelism of English villages, turned first to Zululand, then to Central China, to make its experiments in foreign work. A number of its agents found there a congenial sphere and laboured with great success. The murder of William Argent, one of its first missionaries, in the Wusueh riot of 1891 served but to stimulate the zeal of its founder. Other fields in Africa, India, and Ceylon shared the benefits, and until Champness's retirement in 1903 he continued to support a number of these workers in various parts of the world. Meanwhile the Missionary Society wisely took new powers from the Conference, and now these various lay agencies are all included under one central authority.
The native Wesleyan ministry in China has grown but
BRITISH SOCIETIES 331
slowly. The policy of ordaining only such as attained a high degree of education and spirituality necessitated this slowness. In 1876 Chu Sao Ngan was ordained in Wuchang, and the following year two others in the South. The life-story of these leaders of the native church has been a noble one. A number of catechists and native pastors have been raised up and taught, and the native churches in their poverty have been trained to the idea of self-sup port, an ideal to which a number of them have now attained, either entirely or in part, especially in the Southern District. The influence of Christian Chinese returning from Australia has here been felt. In the mission among the Hakkas round Shiu Kwan as early as 1894 there were already two self-supporting churches, and a couple of hundred villages around were regularly being visited ; and parallel conditions have been established elsewhere.
In 1898 Wuchow in Kwangsi was opened as a new port on the West River, and was almost immediately occupied by Dr. Roderick Macdonald. His Christlike self-denial and skilful healing made his hospital widely known till his barbarous murder by pirates in 1906.
Along the Yangtsze the successful work of pioneer mis sionaries led to the founding of many village churches in the Ta Ye county, and up the Han in the An Lu and Sui Chow prefectures. Hospital work is being started in the first two of these centres, and the activities of the new Medical Advisory Board, appointed in 1905 in England by the Society, are finding abundant scope in bringing before the home church the great opportunity in these Chinese cities and elsewhere, and the smallness of Methodist medical work in comparison with that of other societies.
The vague turnings of China towards Western education led in 1888 to the opening in Wuchang of a high school to which it was hoped that the sons of the mandarin and mercantile classes would be sent. Its early years were passed under great discouragements which gradually gave way to success. In 1907, Wuchang having become a great government centre of education, new and commodious
332 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
premises were erected. An expansion of this educational idea has issued in a normal school for the training of teachers and a theological institution for ministers and catechists. The Southern District has especially developed in the last- named direction, while in Central China boarding schools of a simple type under native superintendence are growing up in several of the inland places.
Women's The Women's Auxiliary first sent out a worker for school
work in Canton in 1876. Ten years later Hankow received two ladies, one for educational, one for medical work. A neat women's hospital was built in 1889, and since then the work was recommenced in Canton. The natural develop ments have taken place, so that now there are ladies in charge of girls' boarding schools in Canton and Hanyang and others who superintend day schools and visit the homes in Canton, Hankow, Hanyang, Te An, and Sui Chow. The Hankow hospital continues its valuable work, and now a hospital in Wuchang, a memorial of Dr. Margaret Bennett — early taken from the work she loved — gives opportunity for entrance into the most influential homes in the province. A tremendous loss befell the mission in 1896 when David Hill died. For thirty years he had made beautiful in the eyes of all the Christian name he bore. Possessed of considerable means, he used everything he had for his work. To win the Chinese he became as a Chinese, living on a few pence a day, remaining unmarried, and entering into the inner homes of the people. He was a humble, holy man, honoured by the heathen, believed in by worldly foreigners, idolized by the Christians, and warmly loved by their children. His name and hallowed memory will always be associated with that of the country for which he lived and died.
The immense changes in China since the Japanese War and the Boxer Riots have much altered the conditions of the work. Mass movements are becoming possible, and the danger is that men should seek entrance into the church with the idea of material advantage. The missionaries are most strenuous in their determination never to give ground for misunderstanding, rather to allow their members to
BRITISH SOCIETIES 333
suffer unjustly than to interfere in lawsuits. Hence the probation is long and searching, and happily the church has proved itself sturdy and spiritual. The most remarkable sign of the times is the recent entrance into the province of Hunan, for many years the unassailable centre of Entry into intensely fanatical anti-Christian hate. Much quiet mis- unan> sionary work under great danger was done by native evan gelists when white men could not enter. The missionaries advanced their line of operations as near as they could to the border, and occupied the frontier city of Ts'ung Yang. Finally, when the province was thrown open by treaty to foreign residence and trade, it was found that the road had been made easier by the isolated converts who were scattered everywhere. Chang Sha, the capital, was occupied in 1902, but the infant church was almost immediately deprived by death of the native minister who had been marked out by special suitability for the work. Many other societies have entered Hunan to share in the labour and the harvest ; the Wesleyan Missionary Society has occupied five central cities lying along the direction of the expected railway between Canton and Wuchang. It is still in the initial stage, but medical missionaries are now sent out, and there are many evidences of success among these the most proud and self-reliant of all the Chinese.1
Never has greater task and opportunity been set before the Christian Church than that offered by the present condition of things in the farthest East. In China, a virile race, self-contained, industrious, educated, practical, has emerged from its age-long seclusion. The cankered hate of the foreign learning and religion is gone ; the self-satisfied Chinese scholar is ready to learn. The effect of China on the world's social and commercial life is sure to be immense. To Christianize this influence is the only hope of the world's peaceful welfare. Methodism in its many branches has a
1 Of the 175,000 members of the Protestant Churches in China reported at the Shanghai Conference of 1907, some 4,100 belong to the Wesleyan Church. Among these some ninety English missionaries, men and women, are working.
334 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
larger number of converts than any other ecclesiastical organization. Its combination of experience with practice and social brotherhood appeals to the democratic and practical Chinese ; assuredly there is here a great future for the church if it keep its spirituality and enthusiasm. The West The West Indian missions at the time of the Jubilee
were in the midst of the economic and moral difficulties of the heritage of slavery and its abolition. Notwithstanding these, the story of the Christian life won there has been one of much simple beauty and success.
San Domingo in 1864 aimed at freedom ; the ensuing Spanish pillage and sacking nearly ruined the external work of the church. The mission was open once more in 1866, but it was carried on mostly by visits from Turk's Island. In 1872 there were still reckoned 311 members. The other independent republic of Hayti has had a similarly checkered career through political instability. In 1866 civil war burst out, and for the time the work almost disappeared. The veteran Mark B. Bird continued alone at his post, and was able still to report 210 members in 1869. A fresh bombardment in 1870 which destroyed the mission premises enforced his removal. But the pertinacious man returned in 1872 ; he rebuilt his church, living himself in the vestry. The ordination of a native helper and reinforcement from home put the mission on a better basis. In 1876 we find Port-au-Prince raising £2,800 for chapel and mission house ; and when Mr. Bird retired in 1880, after forty-seven years of service, he handed on to his successor a prosperous mission of 900 members. The interval has seen repeated revolu tions, commercial depression, and much free-thinking in difference, but the faithfulness of individual converts has been of the utmost value.1 The good educational work of the Bird College for Girls is highly valued and influential. Unfortunately in 1908 a great fire destroyed most of the mission premises.
The densely populated island of Barbadoes has felt the hard times keenly. At times there has been emigration
1 In 1907 there were six missionaries and 1,100 members.
BRITISH SOCIETIES 335
to Liberia, the emigrants often carrying their Methodism with them to their new sphere. In Jamaica, General Eyre in 1866 drew the attention of the world by his sternness in court-martial ling and shooting a negro leader, whom he suspected of stirring up rebellion. These were times of unrest very unfavourable to religious life. The member ship in the Island sank as low as 14,000. But better days set in. William Taylor, the Californian evangelist, came to the West Indies in 1868, and his work was so blest that 5,000 were added to the church within two years, Jamaica gaining its full share. The Jamaicans in 1876 organized a high school at York Castle under the veteran Dr. Kessen, formerly of Ceylon. Its good work was carried on for a number of years. A girls' high school was planned in 1880. A similar sense of need led to the commencement of a high school in Antigua in 1871, but it failed to secure support, so that it was not until 1887 that Coke College was instituted there. Even during years of depression the gifts of the people marked their devotion. In 1881, after a year of hurricane, Jamaica reported a subscription list of £20,000. A number of the main chapels in Jamaica, Antigua, and elsewhere were solid brick structures which compared favourably with any other buildings around, but in many places it was impossible to construct of any other material than wood. In such a climate and with such structures insurance and mortgage rates were exceedingly high, and chapel debts showed an alarming tendency to increase. Relief from home was repeatedly afforded from England both at times of hurricane and of other need.
A revival of spiritual prosperity in 1877, giving an increase Separation of 1,000 members with 2,000 on trial, came just at a moment ?*"} re~
inclusion of
when many at home were strongly feeling that the time had the mission. come for the churches in these islands to form their own Conference and gradually cease to receive help from England. In 1878 Marmaduke C. Osborn, one of the Secretaries, visited the West Indies ; through his influence there was a con siderable development of circuit organization, while the idea of independence was being considered. Notwithstanding
336 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
much hesitation both at home and on the field, the British Conference put objections on one side and decreed the separation, so that in 1884 there met for the first time the two Eastern and Western Conferences, comprising all the work on the islands and mainland except that in the Bahamas and in Honduras, whose inclusion was rendered impossible by the difference of trade routes.
In the Bahamas the oversight of the scattered churches on numerous islands has involved abundant toil and danger. Destructive hurricanes and bad seasons have claimed help from England, but on the whole the mission has prospered exceedingly, being largely self-supporting, ministering at the capital to large congregations in great chapels, and occupying an influential position in the Islands. Queen's College, Nassau, has held an honourable position. The intercourse of the Bahamas with the mainland led to work being undertaken on the Gulf of Mexico at Key West in Florida, where the two Methodisms of Britain and America came into actual contact.
The work in British Honduras has had a similar success, gaining in Belize a fine position of influence with command ing places of worship and a fine high school.
Richard Fletcher, for many years Chairman, translated St. John's Gospel and other Christian books into Maya, the language of the Indians among whom he and his successors took many evangelistic journeys. They formed churches at San Pedro di Sula in Spanish Honduras. Sometimes armed bands of hostile Indians scattered their members, but after the storm the work was gathered together again, and the District Mission worked from this centre seeks to reach these remote heathen. Ruatan and the Bay Islands, which had been British, were handed over to Spain in 1861. The mission there was continued with success ; in one strange case in 1868 there was an outburst of Obeah, the original negro pagan superstition, and in a pitched moral battle the Christian Church proved itself the stronger. Religious toleration has generally been accorded, with intervals when one of the characteristic revolutions has
BRITISH SOCIETIES 337
brought a bigot into power. The commercial and other difficulties of the West Indies have gradually made it clear that the time for self-government and self-support has not yet come. During the twenty- two years that the difficult fight was fought apart from the Wesleyan Missionary Society the societies held their own numerically. But the parent society resumed control in 1904, and a special fund was raised to relieve the burdened churches of their most distressing debts. No sooner had some measure of relief been felt than a new disaster befell Jamaica, for the great earth quake of 1907 destroyed the noble Methodist chapels of Kingston. A memorable outburst of generosity at the ensuing British Conference repaired the loss and put new heart into the loyal West Indian churches. Methodism with its joyous hymnology and experience meetings will always make a special appeal to the warm-hearted African ; and under the new auspices it will continue a most influ ential work.
In West Africa the advances of recent years had brought West the Wesleyan missionaries into contact with barbarism of the r most bloodstained type. Progress therefore was constantly interfered with by intertribal wars, and again and again the whole work of the mission was scattered into small fragments. Obscure martyrdoms sowed the seed of the church. In 1863 a Christian teacher was crucified in Dahomey. In 1835 John Aggery was one of the original band who invited Dunwell to Cape Coast, and had been therefore cut off from the chieftainship and flogged. Thirty years later he was elected king. Even where missionaries were excluded we find the native church holding together. A new antagonistic force now began to be felt. The Moslem Growth of missionaries had been pressing their way southwards. The l8'-*m- permission of modified polygamy and the true brotherhood of believers which is its basal social law made their creed attractive. A number of semi-barbarous tribal govern ments were formed, and each of them became a new centre of Moslem influence. Wolseley's Expedition of 1874 against Aishanti, which cleared away that main element of unrest,
VOL. n 22
338 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
left the ground open for new combinations. Growing ly since that time it has been evident that the final conflict in these regions will be between Christianity and an actively propagandist Mahometanism.
In Sierra Leone the influence of the Government in encouraging higher education led to the foundation of a Methodist high school, which was opened in 1874 under the direction of J. C. May, an African trained in Europe. Its boarding department intensified its Christianizing influence on the homes of the Church. A similar institution was opened at the same time in Lagos. Girls' high schools were started in the same two centres, though on a smaller and less effective scale. The same inevitable need was supplied at Cape Coast in 1881, when an excellent high school and a training college for teachers and catechists were established.
The churches in the neighbourhood of Freetown had in 1878 a membership of over 6,000. The danger of old establishment was that the church would lose its missionary character. But a new opening in the hinterland of Sierra Leone came in Limbah Land ; a missionary was established there in 1881. A year or two later one of the Limbah princes was brought to England, the Sabbath was established, and a general movement towards Christianity gave much promise. In 1891 a disastrous war largely destroyed the work, which has been but limited since then. The long- established Gambia Mission always suffered from its isola tion. Its high school, however, continued to do good work. A few years later new work was commenced at Sherboro, 120 miles to the south of Sierra Leone. Organi- Development zation has been developed with a view to speedy self- government government under the minimum of English supervision. In fact, by the Centenary of Freetown Methodist Missions in 1892 Quarterly Meetings were everywhere constituted and laymen had been duly trained for all the offices of the church. The Centenary was celebrated by the raising of a local fund of £4,000. For many years the Churches have been en tirely self-supporting, the annual subscriptions in Sierra
BRITISH SOCIETIES 339
Leone amounting in 1898 to £6,415. In 1899 dissatisfaction with a hut tax led to a considerable rising of the Mendis and Sherboros in which several missionaries and 200 members were killed, while everything civilized was swept away. A long-felt want was supplied in 1902 by the founding of a theological college under an English missionary at Free town for the educating of a native ministry for all the West African districts. The students are not only trained in Biblical study, but are made responsible for evangelistic mission work. Moreover some of them are developing a taste for Arabic which promises to be very useful in the coming contest with Mahometanism and its influence.1
Farther south a fresh series of enterprises have renewed the activities of previous days, and most of the old stations visited forty years before are now occupied. Kumasi has become once more, after long enforced absence, the residence of an English missionary. Dahomey is now French, and the authorities insist, not unnaturally, on the teaching of French in the schools, as do the Germans in their colony of Popo. But the Methodist churches in France and Germany have come to the help of the Society and lend ministers for the work, with notable success. Lack of means made abortive an attempt to open a new work up the Niger. Great centres in Yoruba Land like Oyo and Ibadan have been occupied ; the latter has a valuable training institution. Ijebu has been entered once more ; a member of the royal house, named Ademuyiwa, settled in Lagos, was particularly active and generous in securing the evangelization of his native land, and an English mis sionary now lives in it, superintending several stations.
The new importance given to Cape Coast Castle and Lagos by the formation of the Gold Coast Colony in 1874 stimulated church life considerably. During several years there was a great revival at Cape Coast. In more recent times this prosperity has continued, but the high school has suffered from the establishment of rival institutions, and wisdom has been needed to continue a judicious
1 The communicant roll numbers 8,700.
340 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
guidance without hurting the susceptibilities of the Africans. And indeed, when we find that in 1897 the Cape Coast churches were paying all their native workers and con tributing £335 beside for outside objects, we can understand that a good deal of independence is natural. In 1897 Aburi, a high station inland from the deadly sea-coast, was occupied. Since then English men and women have found continuous residence possible. A missionary is living among the miners of the Ashanti goldfields, and the building of a Government railway makes possible work and travel with an ease unknown but a few years ago.1
Home The home administration of the Missionary Society
affairs. during the second half-century of its existence has had to
face a type of difficulty unknown in earlier times. The life of the Methodist Church has become more complicated ; social and evangelistic work on a large scale has grown up. The Children's Home, the great missions in the large centres of population, deaconess work — all these have appealed to the heart of Methodism and have worthily broadened her view. At some periods there has been danger that sectional views of the work of God in the world should be taken. With Rise and fall increasing wealth the foreign missionary income rose till it of income. reached high-water mark in 1874 with an amount of £184,000. A rapid decline followed, though the needs of the field grew with increased velocity. A spirit of criticism and even of distrust manifested itself. Criticisms by influential men, who did not fully realize the import of their own suggestions, misled many who had not sufficient acquaint ance with the real facts of the case, and serious damage was done spiritually and financially. During the years 1890 to 1896 three Secretaries only were appointed, instead of the four who had for many years done the work. Debt began to increase heavily ; in 1895 £40,000 was raised to free the Society from encumbrance, the Committee pledging itself not to allow debt again to accumulate. Happily con-
1 So rapid has been the growth that in 1907 there were in our West African missions 61 native ministers, 23,000 members, with nearly 4,000 on trial.
BRITISH SOCIETIES 341
fidence gradually fully renewed itself. In 1898 the Confer ence bade the Committee send forth sixteen additional men. But the income, though improving, did not keep pace with the increased demand. The Twentieth-Century Fund gave £100,000 to foreign missions, set aside for improvement in plant. The historic Mission House in Bishopsgate Street had grown quite unsuitable to modern needs. It was pulled down in 1901 and an admirably ar ranged new structure arose in its place. The destruction due to the Boer War, the return of the West Indies to the Committee's care, the inevitable expanse in China had all thrown new burdens on the finance, and it became evident that unless an altogether new standard of giving were realized it would be absolutely necessary to retire from some of the work already undertaken.
Once more the ugly shadow of debt began to be felt ; in Climax of 1906 it had accumulated to £15,000, while the annual enthu8iaem- income needed an increase of £10,000 to maintain the work already existing. The statement of these facts in the Notting ham Conference of that year led to a wonderful pouring forth of the Spirit of God upon the Assembly. A new vision was given of the responsibility and privilege of supporting the undivided work of God in the world, and a new sense was gained of the due proportion of that section of it in foreign lands. The spiritual love-feast of the great day and its generous givings sent pulses of sympathy through the whole church. All through the year in the circuits the good work went on. The climax was reached when in April 1907 the Albert Hall in London was packed with 9,000 eager Metho dists, while a still larger number had been unable to find entrance. There it was announced that the total receipts for the year were nearly £40,000 in advance of those of the year previous. Part of this swept away the debt ; the rest was increase in income, which now stands at over £190,000 a year.
Nowhere more fittingly can a chapter on Wesleyan missions cease. A new era of hope and love has set in, worthy of our fathers in their simpler days of unstinted
342
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
enthusiasm. Strenuous effort, continued faith, more glorious success — these are to be the portion of their sons. The Wesleyan Missionary Society has seen close on a century of work. The churches which, after shelter under its fostering care, are now independent have a membership greater than that of their mother. This number leaves out of account the Methodism of the United States. We have seen how the West Indian slave has been freed, educated, trained ; how his African kin have been won from savagery ; how cannibalism is now unknown in whole groups of islands in the Southern Seas. We have watched the development of a Methodism in Ceylon which is an influential part of the island life, and seen the slow toil which has built up im portant communities in India where Methodism is sharing in the mass movements now begun in pariahdom. Nor have we omitted the part played by Wesleyan toil in the vast changes in China. After all the triumphs and deaths during a century's work there are to-day 140,000 members living Christian lives in the midst of heathenism. And wider far than the visible area of statistical result are the currents of activity introduced. In Sweden, Germany, France, and Italy the Protestantism of the land has been quickened by a Methodism with which it has not coalesced. Methodism's greatest work is always to be traced outside its own borders. It does not grudge it. It seeks ever to justify Wesley's own claim, to be ' the friend of all, the enemy of none.'
MISSIONS
OP THE
UNITED
METHODIST
CHUBCH.
METHODIST
NEW
CONNEXION.
II
The United Methodist Church in the year 1907 gathered into one communion three sections of Methodism which had been carrying on foreign missionary work for many years. We shall trace separately these lines of toil and success.
The New Connexion is the oldest of the daughter churches of the original Methodism, and attained its centenary in 1897. It was in 1836 that the needs of the Colonies first led to the decision to send a missionary abroad. Upper Canada
PLATE XXVI
ROBKRT SI-KXCK HARDY, CKYLON. MATTHKW GODMAN, SIKRKA LKOXK.
DAVID HILL, CHINA. JOHN IXNOCKXT (M.N. (.'.;, CHINA.
II. si-J]
.IdiiN Hi'.vr. FIJI.
\V. X. HALL (M.N. ('.), CHINA.
KBKNK/.KK .IKNKINS, INDIA.
JOSIAII Cox, CHINA.
.IA.MKS CALVKKT, FIJI.
THOMAS \VAKKKIKLD (U.M.F.C.), I'lAs-r AFRICA.
.IOSIAII HTDSON, MYSORE. T. G. VAXSTOXK (li.C.M.), CHINA.
BRITISH SOCIETIES 343
and Australia were thus occupied. In 1858 the question of a mission to a purely heathen country was faced, and China was chosen as the scene of the new endeavour. At the Manchester Conference of 1859 John Innocent and W. N. Hall were set apart for this service. They landed in Shanghai in the midst of the alarms and distractions of the Taiping Rebellion. Tientsin, with its population of half Opening at a million, is the natural port for Pekin, and the various lines Tientsm- of government and commerce from a huge area must neces sarily converge there. It required but little insight to detect the value of such a strategic point, and the mission aries settled there with quickened hope and interest in the year 1861. While learning the language they ministered to their own countrymen, soldiers, sailors, and such of the residents as desired help. Largely by the subscriptions of those on the spot the first Protestant chapel in the province was opened amid great rejoicings in May 1862. In so densely thronged a centre, through which men from all parts of the north were continually passing, all the usual methods of evangelism were soon in full activity. For hours a day the street chapel was thronged with curious crowds listening to the foreigners' exposition of the ' out side doctrine,' thousands every week passed through its doors, books were written, and free schools were opened. Journeys for preaching and book-selling were taken through wide country districts, and the steady initial work of spread ing a general knowledge of the truth was faithfully carried on. By the year 1867 there were enrolled thirty-four members, and another large chapel had been opened. When we compare this with the facts from other parts of the field we shall see how grateful the missionaries had reason to be. In the Methodist Episcopal Mission at Foochow, for instance, nine years had to pass before a single convert was baptized.
Then ensued one of those wonderful instances of the Holy Wonderful Spirit's working which make the romance of missions. In a country region just over the borders of the province of Shantung, 150 miles distant from Tientsin, an old man dreamt
344
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
Tientsin Riot and Shantung Famine.
twice over a wonderful dream bidding him find out the teachers who should instruct him how to be purified for life after death. He joined the Roman Catholics, but was made mistrustful by the inconsistencies of some of the lives that he beheld. Determined to go to headquarters, he journeyed to Tientsin, and, asking for the Roman Catholic Church, was by mistake directed to the Methodist Gospel HalL After some time spent in learning, the old man returned home with a number of Christian books. Some months- elapsed ere he came once more, asking for a teacher, offering him a home and promising a preaching-hall. A trust worthy assistant was sent, commissioned to inquire, and received a royal welcome. The spiritual simplicity and earnestness of the first believer had evidently found a deep response in the hearts of many. Colporteurs were then detailed to itinerate in the region ; subsequently a cate- chist and his wife spent some time there, and ere long Hall himself went the five days' journey to Chu-chia-tsai, the village in question. He arrived on a Sunday morning, to find a men's service proceeding with sixty worshippers, while near by a separate assembly of forty women was- keeping the Lord's Day. The church was already in being. In a dozen villages round within a radius of fifteen miles were people who were regular attendants at the central chapel. In one village seventeen families had concluded a service by a bonfire in which everything idolatrous had been taken out of their houses and consumed. The English missionaries visited and fostered this work, and ere long forty-five baptisms set the seal to the formal beginnings, of the new church life. From this happy start developed a steady growth, so that when Hall died in 1878 there were fourteen native preachers and 636 members, with hundreds- on trial.
The year 1870 brought a rude shock in the terrible riot of Tientsin, when the passions of the people, deliberately incited by calumny, suddenly blazed forth, the Roman Catholic premises were wrecked, and the nuns and several others brutally murdered. All the Methodist chapels were
BRITISH SOCIETIES 345
involved in the general destruction. The native Christians suffered heroically, some of them even to death. The need of a training institution for preachers became pressing in view of the increase of the work. More than £3,000 was gathered for this all-important work, and an excellent school built which has been extraordinarily successful in sending out well- trained and effective native ministers.
The terrible Shantung Famine of 1876 gave the missionaries much work and opportunity in distributing relief, but the saintly Hall died in 1878 of the typhus which was prevalent. The following year saw the death of W. B. Hodge after thirteen years of service, while new careers of long-continued usefulness commenced in 1877 for John Robinson and in 1878 for G. T. Candlin. Innocent had the pleasure of seeing his son join the staff in 1882 — alas ! for only ten years' service, cut short by death.
In 1884 work was opened on the other side of the Liao Work Tung Gulf at Kaiping, where large mining enterprises were being commenced, attracting numbers from all parts of Gulf China. The work in the central city continued to be hard and comparatively unremunerative, but the country dis tricts were most encouraging. In 1887 medical work was begun in the Shantung Mission, where Christianity seemed to have from the first almost entirely avoided the usual reproach of the cross.
By 1897, the Centenary year, medical work had been opened at the mines. A heavy debt of nearly £7,000 had accumulated, but the Centenary Fund gave the Missionary Society a new start. Year by year developments took place from the two foci of activity at the extremes of the district — in the south near the channel of the Yellow River, and in the north under the shadow of the Great Wall. In 1900 there were four thousand members. Then came the Boxer horrors of the Boxer Rising, the mission being in the very r vortex of the awful storm. The Shantung premises were completely destroyed, the missionaries barely escaping with their lives. Most of the chapels in the north were destroyed. A number of the Christians were killed, some
346 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
of the preachers suffering great barbarities. For some years the whole work was disorganized, and there was a terrible sifting in which the church was purged of its chaff. As a whole the Christians proved remarkably steadfast, and the missionaries' faith was strengthened by the knowledge of their faithfulness even unto death. The moderation of the mission when the amount of compensation was under dis cussion made a most favourable impression on the Chinese. When the era of reaction towards the foreigners set in after the punishment of Pekin the country districts in Shantung were less affected than the greater centres, but the dangers of the new popularity were thus avoided.
In 1905 the veterans Innocent and Robinson passed away. The single lifetime of the first-named broad-minded, devoted, and wise man saw the whole growth of the mission. Its ruined buildings have now been restored. Two new cities have been occupied by European missionaries, one in the north, the other in the south of the district ; a Women's Auxiliary has been formed which has sent two workers ; four medical missionaries are at work. Tentative steps in education have been taken. The whole mission has been singularly successful.1
BIBLE It was Methodist love and fire which impelled the zealous
evangelism of William 0 'Bryan and James Thome, and resulted in the forming of the Bible Christian Connexion, whose first Conference was held in 1819.
At the third Conference, held, at Shebbear in 1821, these few poor people formed a society ' for the purpose of sending missionaries into dark and desolate parts of the United Kingdom and other countries as Divine Providence might show the way.' It began with an income of less than £100 ; never in its first decade of existence did it reach £200. In 1830 after a trying time of dissension a blessed meeting at Conference raised enthusiasm, and it was decided to add public meetings to the customary appeals at the
1 Altogether in 1907 £5,100 was spent in China. There were 104 churches, 218 preaching-places, 161 native helpers, and 4,500 members.
BRITISH SOCIETIES 347
ordinary preachings. Soon after this a labouring man was converted to God. No sooner had he experienced joy in believing than he inquired whether the Bible Christians had any missionaries abroad ; on being told that they had none but were thinking of it, he gave £10, his whole savings, to start the work. Naturally the earliest work was done in the Colonies ; it is outside the purpose of this chapter to follow its details.
In 1884 Hudson Taylor visited the Bible Christian Commonce- Conference and appealed most powerfully for help. The Assembly was deeply moved ; and when it was realized that Miss Turner, who had already for five years been working among the women of China with the Inland Mission, was a granddaughter of one of the best-known women preachers of the first generation of the Bible Christians, it was felt that God's hand was clearly pointing out the way. At the Con ference of 1885 £700 was subscribed in a few minutes, and two men, T. G. Vans tone and S. T. Thorne, were designated for China. It was a great assistance that the China Inland Mission acted as foster-mother to the new mission, that the young missionaries were enrolled on her list, that they learnt the language at her training college on the Yangtsze, and that they proceeded to a section of the country specially reserved for them. The field assigned was in Yunnan, the most distant province in the south-west. After twelve hundred miles up the Yangtsze, part of the journey through dangerous rapids in which they were wrecked, they left the great river and walked or rode seven hundred miles farther overland. Here in the provincial city of Yunnan, Yunnan, they fixed their new home, and began their mission in November 1886. Chao Tung, a city farther north, was occupied a year later, and Tung Chuan in 1894. Since 1894 the two cities last named have remained the chief oentres of the work. The early years of every mission in China have the same story to tell. There is slow steady work with little to show in the way of numerical results. Men and women came, some broke down, some, including both the pioneers, died. There was much preaching in the cities
348 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
and much itinerating and colportage work. Schools were founded and a commencement made in training native teachers. A Women's Missionary League, formed in England in 1892, added its strength of prayer and gave its workers. The enthusiasm and imagination of the home church con centrated itself on this one mission so remote and so fascinating.
In 1894 Australia sent a worker at its own charges, and the following year the hearts of the missionaries were gladdened by the arrival of a medical man. In 1900 they were able to report as the result of thirteen years' work a membership of twenty-eight with twenty-two more on trial. Boxer That year will long be remembered for the terrible unrest
caused by the Boxer movement in the north. Its violence was felt even at this remote distance. There was a sudden riot in which the mission premises in Yunnan City were destroyed and all the mission property looted. After several weeks of waiting, the missionaries from Yunnan and Chao Tung were through God's mercy escorted safely on their tremendous journey to the coast ; while those at Tung Chuan, Mr. and Mrs. Grist and Mr. Hicks, were able to stay — in danger it is true, but unmolested. For nineteen months the native Christians kept themselves together until they gladly greeted their missionaries when return was once more possible. Since then work has entered on another phase. The bitter experiences of the punishment which followed the siege of Pekin and the change of attitude in the Empress- Dowager made the Chinese ready to inquire and learn, and gave a possible importance to the foreigner which was a very doubtful advantage. Often unworthy motives, ex pectancy of possible help in lawsuits or other assistance, led to requests for missionary visitation. But the opportunities thus given were wisely taken, and often the grains of the true remained while the husks were swept away. In the north of the Chao Tung prefecture hundreds were willing to hear and chapels were built by the people themselves. In one place, where drought had long called forth the people's prayers to the idols, the missionaries were requested to
BRITISH SOCIETIES 349
destroy the idols and to pray to the supreme God. They boldly accepted the challenge, the idols were carried out from the temple ; the native Christians apostrophized the things of wood and clay and bade them avenge themselves if they were real, then smashed and burnt them all. Then prayer for rain was offered — with the result that the next morning and ensuing days saw the refreshing soft showers for which the land had pined. The effect was as tremendous as in the days of Elijah on Mount Carmel. Other chapels were built at the people's expense ; in fact, in the year 1903 the whole cost of the mission, apart from missionaries' salaries, was only £102. In 1904 a hospital and a boarding school were built in Chao Tung. Ladies for school and medical work have followed and have begun work.
In 1905 came the most interesting development which Work the mission has known. Round Chao Tung lie in a great circle the villages of the Miao aborigines. These speak a different language, have different customs, and live apart from the Chinese. The descendant of their ancient kings and a few others are large landowners, and the mass of the people are their tenants, almost their serfs. These men heard of the gospel, and in 1905 began to come to listen to its preaching. They came in batches till no less than four thousand had visited the mission. On Christmas Day there were six hundred present at the same time, camping on the mission premises and learning of Christ. The movements of the Miao roused the suspicion of the sur rounding Chinese ; there was a good deal of persecution and personal violence, and at one time it looked as though there might be serious trouble. But the danger seems to have quieted down. The chieftain gave land, the Miao con tributed £100, and themselves put up a chapel to accommo date six hundred people. The main centre of interest is now in this country region ; in 1906 a thousand at a time crowded their simple sanctuary, and nearly 6,000 are members or probationers (1907). The House of Shame which some of the Miao maidens, according to custom, had erected for their own disgrace, was destroyed by their own hands.
350
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
MISSIONS OF THE UNITED METHODIST FBEE CHURCHES.
Jamaica.
Central America.
Mr. Pollard has reduced the language to writing, and has translated portions of the New Testament into it ; a first edition of 2,000 of the Miao primer has been printed, and hymns are being adapted to the Miao chants. The mission is entering on a great inheritance which will tax and reward all the sanctified wisdom and enterprise of which it is capable.
The Wesleyan Methodist Association was formed in 1835 and was strengthened by the adhesion in 1836 of the Pro testant Methodists and in 1837 of the Arminian Methodists. In the same year Thomas Pennock and his Wesleyan society in Jamaica were received into the Association. The new body was thus linked with foreign work almost from its start. The fortunes of the early years of the mission were varied, marred by ill-health, secession, and other difficulties, so that there was no great development. In 1851 a mis sionary was sent to Melbourne, Australia. Hence, when, in 1857, the Wesleyan Reformers joined with the Association and the United Methodist Free Churches were formed, their West Indian and Australian missions came as the nucleus of their future foreign enterprise.
In Jamaica the mission has shared the characteristics attaching to the work of other churches in that island. There has been gradual growth, but it has been slow. The promise of the early years of emancipation has been dis appointed. Religion was everything to the slave ; freedom meant manhood and the dangers attaching to manhood. The scattering from the community life of the plantations meant isolation ; the economic changes meant poverty. Disasters of hurricane, plague, and earthquake have again and again wrecked the external framework of the mission. Good and self-denying work has been done by men like William Griffiths, James Roberts, and Francis Bavin, and constant attempts have been directed towards making the churches self-supporting. There has been a gradual development till there are nearly four thousand members. Among these are to be found many beautiful examples of Christian grace. In 1893 there came through emigrants a
BRITISH SOCIETIES 351
call to the mainland of Costa Rica, and work was commenced at Bocas-del-Toro which spread farther round the Chiriqui Lagoon into Columbia. The stress and strain of the success of other sections of the missionary operations have made the church at home growingly impatient of the payments for the West Indies. In 1906 the deficit of £2,500 and the accumulated debt of £10,000 on the Missionary Funds led the Committee to withdraw its grant, leaving the work in the hands of the men born in the country. The earth quake of 1907, which ruined many of the people, did not make matters easier. But the people raised £2,400 in the preceding year, and, with help from England, it is hoped that the severe test will be answered by growth and new strength.
Very soon after the United Free Methodist Churches were West Africa, formed they undertook the responsibility of caring for societies of Methodists in Sierra Leone containing 2,300 mem bers who were not in connexion with the Wesleyan Church there. The mission thus commenced in 1859 suffered much from the terrible climate, and many deaths and breakdowns tested sorely the faith and resources of the Committee. But volunteers have always been found. William Micklethwaite, Thomas Truscott, and James Proudfoot with many others have led the development of the church. The numerical progress, however, has never been rapid. In 1892 under the inspiration of William Vivian a new departure was made by the opening up of new stations in Mendiland. Disaster soon followed the first success ; a hut-tax led to a rebellion in 1898, and all the property in the hinterland was destroyed, C. H. Goodman was made captive, and escaped with his life only after weeks of anxiety. Happily the waste places have been repaired, and to-day the favour of the king and a prosperous church give good hope for the future. There are now a dozen circuits, and the Government railway which runs for two hundred miles inland from Freetown has brought them all within easy reach. One at least of the native ministers produced on the ground has been a valuable gift to the work on the other side of the continent. A
352 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
Government school for the training of the sons of chiefs is now under Proudfoot's charge. In 1905 the native sub scriptions amounted to £2,400.
East Africa. The first new field opened by the United Church was due to the influence of Krapf , the veteran of East Africa. En thusiasm was roused by his representations of need and opportunity, and in 1861 Thomas Wakefield and James Woolner with two Swiss went under Krapf's guidance to Mombasa, not far north of Zanzibar. A station was chosen at Ribe, there Wakefield was left by himself until he was joined by Charles New. These two worked together for a dozen years amid discouragements and difficulties enough to daunt most men. Ploughing, wood-sawing, road-making, brick-baking, carpentering were all brought to the mission aries' aid. The life was full of danger from the fierceness of roving banditti and the religious fanaticism of hostile Moslems. In 1875 New died, worn out by cruel inhos- pitality and hard travel. During these years Wakefield translated and issued various parts of Scripture in the Galla and other native languages, thus commencing a national literature. In 1876 a mission on the coast to Mahometans was started. In 1880 a commencement was made in the Galla country, and ere long two English mis sionaries were stationed at Golbanti to work it. Work there was slow, but had made a good beginning, when in 1886 a horde of Masai destroyed the station and murdered Mr. and Mrs. Houghton, the missionaries in charge. Since then the work has been restored and is quietly progressing. The first generation of workers has passed away, leaving memories of great self-denial and saintliness.
The expenditure of life and health has been great. But the forming of the Uganda railway, and the lessons learnt by experience, give promise of a less costly and more pro ductive future. Itinerant evangelism and dispensary work are regularly carried on ; the erection of a sanatorium will be valuable in preserving health. A good training institution for native ministers is ready, though its develop ment has been sadly checked through the death of its
BRITISH SOCIETIES 353
enthusiastic initiator at the moment of its completion. A trained missionary agriculturist is developing the resources of the stations, and cotton is being largely grown with a view to providing a staple industry. There are four hundred members as the nucleus of the future church.
The greatest enterprise which United Free Methodism has undertaken is in the vast field of China. Through the influence of Hudson Taylor, the needs of this great empire were brought before the Free Church Assembly. The proposal to send missionaries was accepted, and in 1864 two men were dispatched to Ningpo. The steady, slow work of learning the language and laying broad foundations occupied the early years. The mission has been blessed with the continuous labours for long periods of three men whose names will always be associated with the great success that has marked its growth. Frederick Galpin and Robert Swallow each gave thirty years. These have been assisted by a number of valuable workers. After a dozen years there were a hundred members ; ten years later three hundred ; in 1898 there were 1,773 members, with 758 on trial ; while the report of 1907 gives 4,400 members with 6,800 on trial. Growth so marked as this tells its own story of special blessing on sensible and continuous labour. In 1877 it was decided to make a new missionary centre at Wenchow, a port between Ningpo and Foochow, where from one to two million people speak a special dialect of their own. The pioneer missionary Exley died early ; W. E. Soothill arrived in 1882, and is still in China. In 1884 a riot resulting from the excitement of the war with France wrecked the mission premises and endangered the missionary's life. Gradually the work has displayed a most gratifying tendency to multiply itself by the missionary efforts of the converts themselves. There are now ten chapels and 140 other preaching-places in the Wenchow District. These are occupied by thirty local preachers, a number of whom are graduates of good position, who without income and with a scant payment for travelling expenses journey long distances in order to minister to these scattered
VOL ii 23
354
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
congregations. The Christians of this great area are being well trained in the art of self-support and self-government. They have repeatedly borne with dignity and patience violence leading to robbery and murder.
Soothill translated the whole of the New Testament into the Wenchow dialect, and there is now a considerable Christian literature in romanized letters. The central stations are well equipped with mission hospitals and with colleges for the training of the hopeful Christian youths, the rising preachers, and the outsiders who are glad to pay for an education they have learnt to value. Under the new conditions in China which give degrees for prowess in Western science the successes of these colleges, specially that in Wenchow, are most marked. Altogether it may fairly be said that in the whole of China no work is more thoroughly and gratifyingly successful.
A Ladies' Auxiliary at home inspires and supports the work abroad.
The newly formed United Methodist Church thus has in three widely scattered parts of China a most flourishing and numerous membership, and among the African races societies still more remote from each other. The great blessing already experienced in the former, and the great expenditure of heroic missionary life and toil in the latter, are enough to rouse its enthusiasm and fire its imagination by the new and larger life into which it is entering.
MISSIONS
OF THE
PRIMITIVE
METHODIST
CHURCH.
Commence ment in Cape Colony.
Ill
Primitive Methodism, born in revival and glowing with enthusiasm, early begat in its members an ardent love for their church. Hence when they crossed the seas they continued the old services and formed little societies in the new lands. Thus it was that Primitive Methodism very early gained hold in Canada. In 1843 a Missionary Society was formed for pioneer work both at home and abroad.
In the year 1870 commenced the foreign missions proper of Primitive Methodism. The call of certain English residents in Aliwal North, in the north-east of the Cape
BRITISH SOCIETIES 355
Colony, was answered by the dispatch of Henry Buckenham. The Island of Fernando Po in the Gulf of Guinea had been Fernando visited the previous year by a godly ship's carpenter named Po' Hands, who found there a church recently deprived of its Baptist missionaries through Jesuit intolerance. Through him a petition was sent to the Primitive Methodist Con ference, and in six months R. W. Burnett and H. Roe and their wives sailed to commence the new mission. After paying their respects to the Spanish governor, who gave them courteous words, they were able to begin work at once. The first sermon was preached the same evening, the first Sunday saw a school of seventy-five scholars, a society class of fifteen members was formed, and the souls of the ardent evangelists were gladdened by a definite case of conversion within a fortnight. The first baptism took place in the following June. This work was accomplished in Santa Isabel, which was the capital of the Island. Inland there were no roads, and a couple of miles brought the missionaries into the pathless bush where the aborigines lived a naked, savage life. A good-sized church was built, and before the year was ended the roll contained sixty-five names. Schools were at once started and gained an established position. It was in this connexion, however, that were to be seen the first signs of what has been the main difficulty all through the mission's history. The English language has a market value in all colonies which have contact with sea-borne trade. The Spanish Government looked with extreme disfavour upon those who sought to acquire it and even threatened imprisonment. But notwithstanding this, and though the Jesuits gave free education in the Island, the people preferred to pay to come to the Methodist schools.
The missionaries early turned their attention to work among the Bubi aborigines, and fixed upon George's Bay (subsequently known as San Carlos Bay) as their first settlement. The climate has always proved a terrible obstruction to European residence and work. While there have been comparatively few deaths on the field, yet re turn to England and breakdowns have been constant. The
356 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
church has as a whole been singularly fortunate in possessing men who have gone out repeatedly for new terms of service, three, four, and even five times. The names of Burnett, Roe, Maylott, Luddington, Holland, Fairley, Bell, and others are graven deep in the hearts of their converts. Spanish The native society at Santa Isabel quickly responded
to the instruction given and soon gave £220 towards the building of a new church. The obvious success of the movement roused the opposition of the Jesuits. In 1873 the governor issued the order that all children must attend the Government schools during the day. It followed that the mission schools could be opened only from seven to eight in the morning ; the pupils were willing to come then and to go on afterwards to their other education. The work among the heathen aborigines at George's Bay was necessarily for long the simple laying of foundations out of sight. In 1877 we find Thomas Parr so possessing the Bubi language that beside preaching in it he began to translate hymns and set the people singing them to native chants. The fanatical Government, jealous of English Protestantism, closed all schools, then interdicted evening services, and finally in 1879 banished Holland. The gover nor's high-handed action was reversed at Madrid, and within the year Holland was back, to find that in the interval the anxieties had been too much for his colleague Blackburn, who had died. The Spanish law of 1876, under which the restrictive action had been taken, was suspended and the chapel was once more opened for public worship. The Santa Isabel Church now paid for all its own native work, and subscribed £100 towards the European missionary's income. At St. George's Bay the missionaries were cheered by the baptism of two of the local king's daughters in the face of violent persecution. One of the native assistants who had taken the name of Barleycorn was ordained to the ministry and has continued doing valuable work up to the present.
The labours of the missionaries in travelling to their stations were much lessened by the gift from the home
BRITISH SOCIETIES 357
churches first of a boat and then of a steam launch. Much of real peril to life and health was thus avoided. But the Government jealousy was again aroused. The school hours were once more restricted ; it was forbidden to give any outward indication that the chapel was a place of worship ; no singing might be allowed ; those who went were fined and imprisoned.
The missionary Welford was imprisoned on a filthy guardship in the harbour, and was then banished. It was felt to be important to get some permanent understanding with the Spanish Government ; accordingly a visit was paid to Madrid, where friendly interviews with the Minister concerned put matters on a better footing. It was definitely settled that Spanish must be taught in the schools, but English might be a subsidiary subject. The full privileges accorded to Protestants in Spain were assured ; services were freed from restriction, and the ardent church rejoiced once more in hearty Methodist singing. Barleycorn was sent first to England and then to Madrid, where he took the normal college course of training and thus qualified for the super intendence of schools in a Spanish colony. The success of the visit to Madrid made a marked difference in the treat ment by the local governors. Industrial missions are Industrial recognized as the great need of the uneducated African. missions- Therefore in 1887 the Mission House at George's Bay was moved to a new estate granted to the missionaries for the development of a cocoa farm. The chief became a Chris tian, but soon after died. After much patient work and waiting, a similar enterprise was commenced at Banni. Since then development has been quiet but steady ; but the mission is still seriously crippled in its school work, which is much restricted by the illiberal laws.
Meanwhile the work in Aliwal North prospered and spread notwithstanding the disturbances of wars and unsettlements of migration and bad times. Not only were good churches built for the English in Aliwal and Jamestown farther south, but a large native church grew up in these centres §^al and at Rouxville over the borders of the Orange Free State, Africa.
358 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
whence new developments took place. By the year 1889 there were some four hundred members. The great cry of the unoccupied parts of the continent came with increasing force to the conscience and growing ability of the church, and in this year a party of five, headed by Buckenham, who had initiated the South African work in 1870 and had served also in Fernando Po, started to find a sphere north of the Zambesi. After many months of journeying and delay they gained permission from King Lewanika of Barotseland to effect a settlement. They were greatly helped in this by the saintly veteran Coillard, who had headed the French Mission in these regions for many years. It was not till 1894 that the actual beginnings of settled work took place among the Mashukulembwe, first at Nkala, later at Nanzela, and more recently still farther north. This South-Central African Mission has had to face all the perils of savagery, and has been costly of patience and of life. Evangelism, education, industrial training, medicine, all are being used. In the year 1906 the reports of this remote mission were full of hope. A grammar of the language had been published and Scripture stories were in the press. Everywhere the people are ready to listen, and slowly a Christian conscience and an appetite for the spiritual are being formed. The scattering effects of the Boer War have been fully felt in Aliwal, but the losses have now more than been made up. The Native Training Institution has for many years been a great success, and is providing agents not only for the work among the heathen around, but also for Barotseland.1
Just when the Zambesi Mission was bringing its first heavy expenses on the funds it was felt also that more should be done for the mainland lying opposite to Fernando Southern Po. A new station accordingly was opened at Archibong- ville, a town on the Oil River. The kings and peoples of the region were very willing to receive the missionaries ; in several places they built churches of their own accord, and congregations were encouraging. The subsequent
1 There are nearly two thousand members in this section of the work.
BRITISH SOCIETIES 359
declaration that Archibongville is in German territory has rather shifted the centre of gravity of the work to the British Southern Nigeria Protectorate. At present the four main centres are at Oron, Jamestown, Urua Eye, and Idua. At the first named of these an excellent training institution has recently been built by the gifts of the Christian Endeavour Societies in England. Domestic slavery is the custom of the land and makes the chiefs shy of encouraging education among their young people ; yet the missionaries are gaining a firm grip on the region.
The original mission in Fernando Po has great difficulties to face, greater in some ways that those which stood in the way at the commencement. The development of the cocoa industry has brought in all manner of outside elements, mostly unchristian ; and above all the enormous develop ment of the trade in the vile white-man's-whisky is a terrible force for degradation. Against this the mission is the one great worker for righteousness.
The work in Africa has a firm hold on the affections of the Primitive Methodist Church. In the last published reports we find that some £8,000 was sent out for these missions in the year in addition to the considerable sums raised on the field.
The Independent Methodist Churches made a commence- INDEPEN- ment in foreign missionary work in 1904, by sending out a JJ^^ODIST medical man to labour in Central India in conjunction with AND the agents of the Society of Friends. REFORM A*
The Wesley an Reform Union, one of whose local preachers MISSIONS. sent a son into the mission field in the person of the renowned Hudson Taylor, itself formed a Foreign Missionary Society in 1895. In 1904 its first missionary, a lady, went to the Congo, but the deadly climate soon claimed its victim. A native evangelist is also supported in the China Inland Mission in Hunan.
360 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
Thus, in the providence of God, every section of that great religious movement which started from Wesley's sense of the forgiveness of sin has been impelled to share in a world- wide work. Whatever spiritual truth Methodism may miss or gain, a living experience of God's forgiveness and power is of its very essence. Hence every Methodist must be able to sing —
The arms of Love that compass me Would all mankind embrace.
The burden of the new century is a heavy one ; sin, sorrow, suffering, at home and abroad, press heavily upon the Christ-like man. They pressed, and still press, more heavily on Christ Himself. And the Methodist Church, in all its sections, growing in numbers, resources, power, will show its kinship with its Lord in bearing that burden after Him and with Him. Methodism has proved itself a world-wide church ; it must own an even more extended world-wide duty. In facing this, its living experience will give joy and assurance. Humbly, firmly let Methodism use its Master's words —
Lo, I am come
To do Thy will, O God.
CHAPTER II THE WORK OF AMERICAN SOCIETIES
We have no right to take missionary work from the place to which Christ Himself assigned it, the work of His Chvirch in the world, and put it in any subordinate position. It is not allowable to class it among the many desirable agencies for helping on the Redeemer's Kingdom, much less to allow Christ's people to look upon it as among optional benevolences, to be engaged in or not according to their view of present necessity and present resources. We need to get it into the minds and hearts of Chris tians that there is one great purpose for which the Church of Christ was instituted on earth, and that purpose is the bringing of His gospel to every human heart. Therefore the test by which every proposition to engage in any form of activity ought to be decided is, Will this help to accomplish the work of taking the gospel to every creature? — S. L. BALDWIN (1858-80, missionary in China, later corresponding secretary of the Missionary Society of The Methodist Episcopal Church), Foreign Missions of the Protestant Churches.
361
CONTENTS
I. MISSIONS OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, p. 363 Beginnings, 1816 — John Stewart — To the Wyandot Indians — Suggested organization — Formed 1819 — Opposition — The Female Missionary Society — The General Conference, 1820 — Bible Societies — Missionary officers — Durbin — The first missionary, Ebenezer Brown. To THE HEATHEN — Finley — Great Quarterly Meetings — Some testimonies, 1819 — The Creeks — The Cherokees and others — The Flat-head Indians — Their search for the Bible — Fisk's call for missionaries, 1833 — Missions and state growth — Their effect on the church. To THE NEGROES — Liberia founded — Melville B. Cox and the work there — Bishop Taylor — In East Africa. IN SOUTH AMERICA, East Coast — Roman Catholicism — Bible distribution — D. F. Kidder — Buenos Ayres — West Coast, 1877 — Imprisonment of Penzotti — Difficulties in Roman Catholic countries — The crusade for religious freedom. IN CHINA— Collins and White, 1847— Other leaders— The Chinese of California — Methods adopted. AMONG THE SCANDINAVIANS — Hedstrom, 1845 — Petersen in Norway, 1849 — Denmark, 1857. IN GERMANY — Miiller, 1830 — Jacoby appointed, 1849 — Persecution — Legal restrictions — German views of Methodism — Riemenschneider, 1851 — Later work. IN INDIA — William Butler, 1856 — Janvier, the first native preacher. IN BULGARIA — Wesley Prettyman and Albert L. Long, 1857 — Ignorance, persecution, success. IN ITALY — L. M. Vernon, 1871 — Bologna — Few buildings acquired — Bitter persecution — An expert's view — Other missions of the church . pp. 363-404
II. METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH MISSIONS . p. 404
IN JAPAN, 1880 — Educational work — Freedom and social purity —
Women's work — Pastoral service . . . pp. 404-406
III. MISSIONS OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
SOUTH p. 406
To THE NEGROES, 1829 — Large successes. To THE AMERICAN INDIANS, 1822 — Interrupted by war, 1861. To THE GERMANS, 1844. IN CHINA, 1848 — Native support. IN MEXICO — A. Hernandez — Special difficulties — Native pastors. IN BRAZIL, 1876 — Granbery College. IN CUBA, 1872 — Christian education. THE METHODIST CHURCH OF JAPAN. IN KOREA, 1896 . . pp. 406-414
IV. MISSIONS OF OTHER METHODIST CHURCHES . p. 414
Of the WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH or AMERICA in West Africa — Of the FREE METHODIST CHURCH in Africa, India, Japan, China — Women's societies assist all mission work . . pp. 414-416
Pages 361-416
362
CHAPTER II
THE WORK OF AMERICAN SOCIETIES
AUTHORITIES. — To the General List add : For the Methodist Episcopal Church see REID -On ACE Y, Missions and Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 3 vols., New York, 1895-6 (1st ed. by REID, 2 vols. 1879) ; MARY SPARKLES WHEELER, History of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, New York, 1881 ; BAKER, Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1869-95, Cincinnati, 1896, and the reports and other literature issued by the societies at 150, Fifth Avenue, New York, and 36, Bromfield Street, Boston, respectively. For the Methodist Episcopal Church South see A. W. WILSON (later Bishop), History of the Foreign Missions of the Metho dist Episcopal Church South, Nashville, Tenn., 1 882 ; Mrs. F. A. BUTLER, His tory of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, Nashville, 1904 ; and the reports and other literature issued by the boards at Nashville, Tenn. For the Wesleyan Methodist Con nexion of America, see the files of the Wesleyan Methodist, Syracuse, New York, and chapter x. of JENNINGS, History of American Wesleyan Metho dism, Syracuse, New York, 1902. For the Methodist Protestant Church see Ogburn, Foreign Missions of the Methodist Protestant Church, Balti more, 1906, and reports, etc., of the Board at Baltimore, Md. For the Free Methodist Church see the full missionary reports in the collected edition of the Annual Conference Minutes (Chicago, 111.). For all the societies see the pertinent articles in DWIGHT, TUPPER, and BLISS, Ency clopedia of Missions, New York, 1904 (1st ed. in 2 vols. by Bliss, 1891).
IF the American Methodists did not immediately take up MISSIONS OF foreign missionary work it was not for lack of missionary ™OT^PISCO- zeal. But that zeal found sufficient scope in evangelizing PAL CHURCH. spiritually destitute portions of America, or reawakening dead churches. For work among heathen there seemed to be no room. But this limitation was soon thrust aside Beginnings. and the church made deliberate organized effort to evan gelize the home heathen. The way it happened recalls
363
364
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
1816.
John Stewart,
and the
Wyandot
Indians.
the prophetic voices of the early church, in that spring-time of faith when men stood in frank attitude toward the Spirit. In 1816 Marcus Lindsay was preaching in Marietta, Ohio. Among his hearers was John Stewart, who is said to have had both coloured and Indian blood in his veins, and who was convicted and soundly converted. Stewart says :
Soon after I embraced religion, I went into the fields to pray. It seemed to me that I heard a voice like the voice of a woman praising God, and then another as the voice of a man saying to me, ' You must declare my counsel faithfully.' These voices ran through me powerfully. They seemed to come to me from a north-west direction. I soon found myself on my feet and speaking as if addressing a congregation.
He could not resist the impression that in the direction of these voices there was work for him to do. He took his knapsack and set off toward the north-west, not knowing whither he went. ' When I set off my soul was very happy. I steered my course, sometimes in the road and sometimes through the woods, until I came to Goshen, where I found the Delaware Indians.' They were singing and preparing for a dance, when Stewart lifted up his voice and won their attention by one of his own songs. ' Sing more,' they said. He sang and preached to them, and then passed on farther to the Upper Sandusky, where the voices seemed to rest, as did the star over Bethlehem.
Here he came across the Wyandot Indians, and among them Jonathan Pointer, an escaped slave, and a backslidden Methodist, whom he had formerly known in Kentucky, and who had found that refuge among pagans which was denied him among Christians. ' To-morrow I must preach to the Indians,' said Stewart, ' and you must interpret.' Pointer, in the flood of his old memories, said with tearful voice, ' How can I without religion interpret a sermon ? ' Then followed a night of prayer. Only one Indian came to the sermon, and she a squaw. But with a true Methodist instinct Stewart preached as faithfully to her as to an audience of a thousand. The next day a man also
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 365
attended, the next eight or ten, and soon crowds. Con versions followed, including several chiefs, and Methodism was established among the pagan tribes of the frontier.
The news of Stewart's success among the Indians spread like wild-fire, and made a profound impression. It was felt as a divine call to the church to extend her missionary work. Governor Trimble's family in Ohio were deeply interested. Gabriel P. Disosway, a bright name in the lay annals of Methodism, came to Bangs and urged the immediate organization of a missionary society, such as Organization other churches had formed, as, for instance, the Congrega- 8USgeBted- tionalists in the noble American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (1810), and the Baptists in their first Foreign Missionary Society (1814), both the result of Williams College haystack consecration, of famous memory, and of Judson's zeal. Local missionary societies sprang up in Philadelphia, Boston, and elsewhere. In 1818, at a weekly igis. meeting of preachers in New York, Laban Clark moved that steps be taken toward a general missionary society. In later meetings the matter was fully discussed, and finally a public meeting was called for at the Forsyth Street Church, April 5, 1819, when a Missionary and Bible Society of the Formed Methodist Church in America was formed. McKendee was 1819* made President, the other two bishops, George and Roberts, Vice-Presidents, Bangs third Vice-President, Francis Hall, Clerk, Daniel Ayres, Recording Secretary, Thomas Mason, Corresponding Secretary, and Soule, Treasurer. Of these Hall and Ayres were laymen.
Truth to tell, the new society met bitter opposition. Opposition. This was partly due to the grafting on of the Bible feature, it being felt that that should be left to the American Bible Society (organized 1816, being the union of many older societies, the first organized in Philadelphia in 1808) ; partly due to local jealousies, as for instance between Philadelphia and New York (both were competitors for the Book Concern, and the former had already a missionary society of its own) ; partly to a disbelief in, or at least indifference to, foreign missions. (There is to-day in the United States a
366
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
The Female
Missionary
Society.
The General Conference approves, 1820.
church called the Anti -Mission — or Primitive, or Old School — Baptist.) Moreover there was a genuine feeling that the church itself was missionary, that a special organization was therefore unnecessary, that the needs of our growing country demanded all our resources, and that our people were too poor to support another society. But in spite of all opposition, a few in the band of organizers held on, and the noble word of Soule comes down to us from that gloomy time when they could hardly get a quorum to attend the meeting of the managers :
The time will come when every man who assisted in the organization of this society and persevered in the undertaking will consider it one of the most honourable periods of his life
As always, the women were foremost in Christian work. In the same year (1819) they organized in New York an auxiliary society (the Female Missionary Society), which mightily helped the general society, and which was the first society of the kind in America. It had an honourable history for fifty years. A Young Men's Missionary Society was also formed in New York, which took special charge of the Liberia mission.
The General Conference of 1820 looked the question squarely in the face. The committee which had the matter in hand gave one of the finest reports ever read to a legis lative body. It stated :
We owe our very existence to missionaries. Wesley was a missionary, so were Boardman, Pilmoor, Wright, Asbury, and others. Methodism itself is a missionary system : yield the missionary spirit, and you yield the very life-blood of the cause. The British brethren, the Congregationalists and Baptists of our land, are already before us in this field. The time may not be come when we should send our missionaries beyond the seas, but the nations are flowing in upon us in great numbers, especially the French and Spanish. There are the Canadas, the Floridas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, and the pagan aborigines of this continent : to them we must go. The United States Government has offered us help to establish
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 367
schools among the Indians, and we have already had success in preaching to the latter. The organization of the Missionary Society in New York is to be highly approved, and let all the conferences form auxiliaries.
This report was adopted by the Conference, and the society began a new career. The provision for publishing Bibles was dropped from the constitution of the society. On account of the refusal of the Young Men's Bible Society Bible — a society auxiliary to, or associate with, the American Societies. Bible Society — to give a grant of Bibles to Methodist Sunday schools, though it was established for the very purpose of assisting Sunday Schools in that way, and was supported in part by Methodists, the General Conference of 1828 authorized the establishment in New York of the Bible society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which was done in 1828 or 1829, by which society our Bibles were published until 1836, when — a more cordial attitude having been shown — we passed that work over to the American Bible Society, and adopted the latter as one of the regular benevolent agencies of our church.
From the beginning the Missionary Society has been Missionary fortunate in its secretaries. Though Thomas Mason was officers- its first Corresponding Secretary, Nathan Bangs was the inspiring genius who more than any other man made the society a success. Though not made Secretary till 1837, he wrote every annual report up to that time, and both before and after up to 1841, when he became President of Wesleyan University, he put his very life-blood into its noble activities. Strong, wise, earnest, he guided the society during the first precarious years into the fullness of life. Charles Pitman (1841-9) succeeded him, and by his eloquence and timely activity extended the constituency of the society and placed it on still stronger foundations. Pitman was succeeded by a mighty name in the American Church, John P. Durbin Durbin. (1850-72, died 1876), who united business ability of rare order with oratorical power unsurpassed in America. By his thrilling sermons and addresses on the one hand, and
368 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
his systematic and painstaking administration on the other, he advanced the cause of missions as no other man had done up to that time on this continent.
No name in the history of our society is so memorable as that of Durbin ; and justly so, for the inspiration of his soul and the methodical character of his mind are stamped indelibly on every part. When he entered the office our income was $100,000, now it exceeds $600,000. Then but $37,300 were appropriated to foreign missions, now nearly $300,000 are devoted to this work.1 Foochow was then really our only foreign field, for Liberia and South America could scarcely be so regarded ; now the sun never sets on our work among the nations. To his wisdom, foresight, comprehensiveness of view and personal influence, these grand results must be largely attributed. His monument is in every land.2
During the latter part of Durbin's life in the society, W. L. Harris (later Bishop) in New York, and James M. Trumble in the West, rendered most efficient assistance.
What a galaxy of men stood at the head of the Missionary Society ! T. M. Eddy, a host in himself ; R. L. Dashiell, who had a ' tongue of fire, his imagination vivid as the lightning, his heart tender as a woman's, his eye taking in at a glance the needs of a lost world ' ; J. M. Reid, an able administrator and the historian of the society ; C. H. Fowler (later Bishop), a masterful executive officer, with a keen and a well-furnished mind, and a preacher and lecturer almost unsurpassed in America ; C. C. McCabe (later Bishop), with his winsome spirit, a heart as large as the world, and his winged words ; and J. O. Peck, the great evangelist, efficient minister and noble soul, whose
1 Until 1907 there was no Home Missionary Society, the home work, whose demands have naturally been imperious in a land like America, being supplied from the funds of the Missionary Society. In other words, that society was both Home and Foreign. The ratio of apportionment has generally been about 45 per cent, for Home fields, and 55 per cent, for Foreign. The General Conference of 1908 made the division final, rearranged the benevolent societies, and confined the Missionary Society to the Foreign work.
2 Annual Report, 1876.
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 369
radiant life went out so prematurely May 17, 1894 ; and then, as Recording Secretary, the saintly David Terry, the wise FitzGerald (later Bishop), and the tireless S. L. Baldwin, whose indefatigable labours made the (Ecumenical Missionary Conference of 1901 possible, and at the same time killed him — a true knight of Christ, without fear and without reproach.
I wonder did those who doubted the expediency of our The first latest mission, that to France (1907), remember the in- g^eze auspicious beginning of our earliest ? The very first mis- Brown, sionary our society sent out (1820) was Ebenezer Brown to the French in Louisiana. In reaching these it was a failure, but as to the English there it was the opening of a rich mine — the start of Methodism in a great State and in the queen city of the south — New Orleans. Other efforts among the French in different parts of the Union met with almost as little success. It is not generally known that for several years, beginning in 1852, our society made a generous appropriation to the Wesley an Methodist Church in France ; and a continuation of the help, instead of our selves going there, would seem to some a more fraternal response to the call of one of the most hopeless missionary lands. If any so-called Christian country is without God and without hope, it is certainly France.
As missions to heathen are generally more hopeful than MISSIONS those to heathenized Christians, so it proved in our own TT^™^^ history. We left Stewart among the Wyandots of Ohio, Wyandot 1816. His first audience of two was converted, so was the Indiane- backslidden interpreter, and a white man, Armstrong, who had been captured in boyhood and adopted by the tribe. Roman Catholics had laboured among them, and now they tried to hinder Stewart's work, as they did Mackay's in Uganda. A pagan party was formed, with which the Catholics co-operated. But God raised up new helpers. Miss Harriet Stubbs, sister-in-law of Judge McLean, left her home of refinement to devote her life to this heroic work. One of the pioneers, Finley, speaks of her wonderful
VOL. n 24
370
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
Finley.
The great Quarterly Meetings.
1819.
Some testimonies.
courage, and the way she won her way into the hearts of the tribe.
In a short time this intrepid female missionary was the idol of the whole nation. They looked upon her as an angel messenger sent from the spirit land to teach them the way to heaven. They called her the ' pretty red bird,' and were only happy in the light of her smiles. This most amiable young lady took charge of the Indian girls, began to teach them their letters, and infuse into them her own sweet and happy spirit.
Reid compares her with Harriet Newell.
James B. Finley, the noted path-breaker of the church, was appointed in 1819 Presiding Elder of the Lebanon District, Ohio, of which this field was a part. In November of that year he held a Quarterly Meeting for the Mad River Circuit, forty miles from Upper Sandusky. It was one of those unique features of American Methodism which have now disappeared, but which helped wonderfully toward the Christianization of the West. The great Quarterly Meeting, held on the visitation of the Presiding Elder (since 1908 called District Superintendent), was a series of meetings of one, two, or three days, consisting of preaching, love- feasts, Lord's Supper, etc., and under the mighty sermons of those brave pioneers upon a susceptible people — rude, frank, honest, fearless, not yet gospel-hardened, though many were infidels and sin-hardened — almost miraculous effects took place when hundreds even of the opposers were felled as by a blow, and whole communities were changed from dissolute frontier settlements into moral God fearing towns, which have remained to this day models for all the world. At this meeting sixty Indians were present and three hundred whites. Wonderful testimonies were given. Chief Scuteash said :
I am a great sinner, and have been such a drunkard ! The Great Spirit has been very mad with me, so that in my heart I always sick, no sleep, no eat — walk, walk, drink whisky. I have prayed to the Great Spirit to help me quit being wicked and to forgive me. He do something for me. I felt it come
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 371
all over me. Now me no more sick, me eat, sleep, get no more drunk, be no more bad man ; me cry, me meet you all in Great Father's House.
Chief Between-the-Logs gave a history of religion among the Indians, of their old faith, of the coming of the Roman priests, of their powerlessness to make them good, of the Shawnee prophet that arose, of the Seneca prophet — how they all proved vain teachers, so that they were tempted to think after all their own religion was best. Finally how the Great Spirit sent Stewart, how badly they treated him at first, how patient he was, how Christ came down upon them at the Council House, how many were converted, how they wished to keep Stewart with them always. It was a high day in Zion, and showed the trophies of grace won by Stewart, the simple-hearted follower of the Voice, like a St. Francis of tawnier blood, among the aborigines of the West. Finley was soon appointed missionary, and at once began civilizing measures. He erected a saw-mill, enclosed land, taught the Indians agriculture, and was a veritable Oberlin to them. The Government granted $10,000 to native schools in which trades as well as letters were taught. This was a great help, because the gospel has always been the precursor of civilization among heathen, and civiliza tion without the gospel has always been the precursor of rum. The godly Stewart, worn out by labours and disease, passed away among his faithful converts December 17, 1823. In 1832 Wyandot Indians sold their land in Ohio and removed to the junction of the Kansas and Missouri rivers, in what is now the State of Kansas, where a remnant of them still exists in quiet possession of the fruits of both Christianity and civilization.
The mission to the Creeks of Georgia and Alabama was The Creeks. not so prosperous. Here it met the opposition of the agent of the Government, and of others interested, perhaps, in the vices of the red man. An appeal was made to the Department of War, and Calhoun ordered an investigation, and wrote a noble letter to the agent in 1824 telling him
372 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
to cease all opposition to the mission. Some converts were made, societies organized, but not much was done. In 1827, 1828, and 1832 treaties were signed and the great tribe of the Creeks were removed to Indian territory. But the work of Capers was not lost, for in their new home the Creeks gave up their wild hunting life, took to farming and stock-raising, became owners of slaves (associated in their minds with Christian civilization), by whom they were taught much of good, and now have schools, farms, manufactories, and churches.
The Chero- Among the Cherokees of Georgia a great work was done others™1 in 1822- Hundreds were converted. In 1826 a half-breed invented a syllabic alphabet by which their language could be spoken and read with ease. In 1827, 400 members were reported, in 1828, 800 with circuits. The natives had a civil government and laws, a weekly journal, schools, slaves, churches, and wealth. But the white man coveted their lands, and Congress took steps to open them to white settlers. Great excitement prevailed. Their forced banishment to the north-west the poor Indians did not relish. The missionaries naturally sympathized with them, and the former were accordingly arrested, detained, and some of them sentenced to long imprisonment. These are episodes of American history that we do not look back upon with pride — the forcible transplantation of the Cherokees by the army in 1841 to lands west of the Missouri recalling the famous banishment of the Acadians in 1755 for military reasons, on whom so much sympathy has been expended. In their Indian country the Cherokees kept up their civilized life and their Christian privileges under the efficient leader ship of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. We also started work among the Potawatamies on the Fox River, Illinois, but they had become so em bittered toward the whites that nothing could be done. Among the Choctaws, however, a great work was accom plished. In 1830, 4,000 members were reported. Heathen ism and alcohol were banished. Alexander Talley was the hero for Christ among the Choctaws, and when the in-
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 373
evitable banishment from the State of Mississippi beyond the Father of Waters came, he saw them safely settled in their new home and going forward in the peaceful exercise of their religion and of the arts of civilized life.
Space does not permit a record of the progress of the gospel among the Oneidas, Shawnees, and Mohawks, but their story must be read in the old reports and contemporary journals, and briefly in the work of Reid-Gracey. But a word must be spoken of the famous Flathead Mission and what came of it.
From some wandering trapper in the depths of what is The Flat now the State of Washington, the Flathead Indians had heard of the white man's God, of the home of the soul after death, and especially of a Book which told of the Great Spirit and of how to find Him and the final home. (The Flatheads were so called because a part of the tribe —not all — bound the heads of infants between two boards so that the head sloped up from before and behind to an angle at the top.) This intelligence sunk into the minds of the tribe and awakened strange longings after this new light. Finally they resolved to send four of their number far east after this Book — two older, one a sachem, and two younger. When did pagans ever go self -sent on such a long quest, 3,000 miles through trackless forests and pathless plains, over untrodden mountains, and down unknown rivers, far off to the rising sun, after the true God and His Book ? The history of that journey will never be told ; Their it perished in the silent hearts of those wistful braves who dared more than the Sea of Darkness, not after the gold of India, but after the Book that told of the true trail to the Great Spirit.
In 1832 they arrived in St. Louis, a frontier town of 6,000 Americans, French, Creoles, fur men, half-breeds, boatmen, and border adventurers. What little religion they had was Catholic — ah ! 'a poor place to get the religion of the Book.
Survey three centuries, from the first Indian missions in Florida to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, around the Hudson Bay
374 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
basin, and to the Pacific, and on either side of the wild mountain ranges from the Arctic to Panama, it is doubtful whether the Romanists ever put into an Indian tongue and through a tribe an amount of Scripture equal to the shortest Gospel.1
How long the inquirers remained we know not. The two oldest of the four died in St. Louis. One of the others contracted a disease of which he died before he reached home. With sad faces the survivors turned back again. General William Clark, who had made his famous exploring expedition to their country in 1805, who was a true friend of the Indian, and was now Indian superintendent with headquarters at St. Louis, treated them with kindness, but A pathetic could not help them in their quest of the Holy Book. Their farewell address to Clark has been reproduced by Barrows :
I came to you over a trail of many moons from the setting sun. You were the friend of my fathers who have all gone the long way. I came with one eye partly opened, for more light for my people, who sit in darkness. I go back with both eyes closed. How can I go back blind to my blind people ? I made my way to you with strong arms, through many enemies and strange lands, that I might carry back much to them. I go back with both arms broken and empty. The two fathers, who came with us — the braves of many winters and wars — we leave asleep here by your great waters and wigwam. They were tired in many moons, and their moccasins wore out. My people sent me to get the white man's Book of Heaven. You took me to where you allow your women to dance, as we do not ours, and the Book was not there. You took me where they worship the Great Spirit with candles, and the Book was not there. You showed me the images of good spirits and the pictures of the good land, but the Book was not among them to tell us the way. I am going back the long sad trail to my people of the dark land. You make my feet heavy with the burdens of gifts, my moccasins will grow old in carrying them, but the Book is not among them. When I tell my poor blind people, after one more snow, in the big council that I did not
1 Barrows, Oregon, American Commonwealth series, Boston, 1883, 5th edition, 1888, p. 109.
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 375
bring the Book, no word will be spoken by our old men or by our young braves. One by one they will rise up and go out in silence. My people will die in darkness, and they will go on the long path to the other hunting-grounds. No white man will go with them, and no white man's Book to make the way plain. I have no more words.
But that unique search was not entirely in vain. A young clerk in Clark's office heard the parting words of the Flat head, and wrote them to his friends in Pittsburg. Catlin, the Indian historian and painter, was on the boat on which the two disappointed Indians went up the Missouri, and though they said nothing to him of the object of their long journey, he got the facts from Clark himself, con firmed the letter to Pittsburg, and said, ' Give that letter to the world.' That letter sent the Methodist and Con gregational missionaries into Oregon, and ultimately was one of the factors which brought that vast territory into the Union at the time of the protracted dispute over the matter with Great Britain.
In The Christian Advocate, an article appeared giving the facts of that heroic mission of the four Flatheads. fo? mission- President Wilbur Fisk, of Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., read the account, and he immediately penned an article to the same paper with the title, ' Hear ! Hear ! Who will respond to the call from beyond the Rocky Mountains ? ' He asked for two men with the martyr spirit. 'Were I young and healthy and unencumbered, how joyfully would I go ! ' He thought he knew an ex cellent man who would go (Jason Lee, once tutor with him Lee 1833 at Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham, Mass., and now mis sionary to the Indians in Canada), and he asked for a com panion. ' Money will be forthcoming. I shall be bondman for the church.' Lee said he was willing, was ordained at the New England Conference in 1833, and appointed to the ' foreign mission west of the Rocky Mountains ' — foreign in two senses ; first, as a mission to pagans, and second, as one outside the United States territory. His nephew Daniel
376
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
The effect upon the develop ment of the State.
Lee joined him, two laymen also offered, and in 1834 they arrived in that vast Columbia River country, peopled then by various tribes of Indians, and a few white adventurers, but to be the home of a mighty civilization. They settled in the Wallamette Valley. The Hudson Bay Company embarrassed them in every way possible ; but the Lees held on with indomitable courage and tenacious resourcefulness, starting schools for the Indians, mills, agriculture, stock- raising, the very things the Hudson Bay Company dis couraged, and thus prepared the way for a permanent national life.
Two ideals were unconsciously fighting for the possession of the far north-west. One was the chartered company, or monopoly (really a relic of the feudal system), admin istered from abroad; the other the independent settler with his family, his farm, and his school, whose interests were bound with the locality. The latter had been the American ideal from the beginning. So the New Englanders spread out in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and the Middle West, not to hunt but to live, not to set traps but to plant grain, not to erect a fort but to build a church. It was really that which made American nationality, and caused the British, the Spanish, and the French flags to disappear. ' Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.' If the Hudson Bay Company had settled Oregon with English farmers, and given over its rights to them, that immense region would now be a star in the crown of the most beneficent and noble-minded king living ; because it did not, it lost even that which it had. ' Nothing runs the boundaries of sovereignty in a wild country like wagon wheels. The plow and the fireside, hoe and bridge, are more powerful than a corps of civil engineers in deter mining metes and bounds.' It has recently been disputed * whether the Oregon country came into the Union through the efforts of the missionary statesman, Marcus Whitman, though Professor Mowry has made a strong putting of the
1 Notably by the late Professor Edward G. Bourne in The American Historical Review, January 1901.
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 377
Whitman case ; but there can be no doubt that the far- reaching work of the Methodists and the Congregationalist missionaries there, and the influx of American settlers on the wake of their advent, was one of the determining factors which eliminated the feudal monopoly of the Company and Americanized the territory south of the 49th parallel.
It may be fairly said that the lone far quest of the north- Its effect west Indians awakened the missionary consciousness of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Never before was such enthusiasm shown. In 1835 four more missionaries were sent to Oregon (using that term for all that immense north west territory draining into the Pacific), in 1836 eight more (including wives), and in 1839 thirty-six in all, including seven missionaries, one physician, six mechanics, four farmers, and four female teachers. It was an event, perhaps, unprecedented in American religious history. In ten years (1850) the first Annual Conference assembled in Oregon, only a year after the territorial government of Oregon was organized by the United States.
It was long felt that something should be done for the To THE repatriation of the negro in Africa. The rapidly increasing NEGBOES- number of slaves was, in the opinion of many, a menace to our national stability, not to speak of its being a blot on our national honour, and a home whither those could return who desired was believed to be necessary. Besides this, other motives worked toward the founding of the Republic of Liberia on the west coast of that country : it would form Liberia a post for the Christianizing of the interior ; it would be a founded- barrier against the slave trade, which, though banned by the law, was yet carried on in all its horrors by American skippers who were ready to risk something for its large pecuniary rewards. This led to the founding of the Ameri can Colonization Society in December 1816, and the purchase of land around Cape Montserrado in 1821-2, which became the nucleus of Liberia. Dr. Eli Ayres and Ashmun deserve large credit for the intelligence and skill with which they laid the foundations of the future Republic.
378 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
The Baptists have the honour of sending the first mis sionary — Calvin Holton— in 1826, who soon, however, sunk in the grave, killed by the miasma of that fatal shore. Before Holton went out, the Methodist Board thought of occupying the land for Christ, but were prohibited by lack of funds and a suitable missionary. It is amazing that when the Board carried out their intentions they sent out a man who, though admirably equipped in other ways, was so weak in health that he had to retire from the pastorate. Melville From 1824 to 1832, when Melville B. Cox was appointed,
they were looking toward Africa, only waiting for the money and the man. Cox was a man from Maine, just entering the thirties, who proposed to Bishop Hedding at the Virginia Conference at Norfolk in 1831 that he be sent as a missionary to South America. ' How would Liberia suit you ? ' said the Bishop. ' We have lately been searching for a man for Africa.' ' If the Lord will,' said Cox, ' I think I will go.' Soon he said, ' Liberia is swallowing up all my thoughts.' On May 7, 1832, he writes : ' I thirst to be away. I pray the Lord may fit my soul and body for the duties before me, that God may go with me there. I have no lingering fear. A grave in Africa will be sweet to me, if He sustains me.' Later he said to Cummings, after ward Governor of Colorado : ' I know I cannot live long in Africa ; but I hope to live long enough to get there. And if God please that my bones lie in an African grave, I shall have established such a bond between Africa and the church at home as shall not be broken until Africa be redeemed.' During his last visit to Middletown, Conn., he said to one of the students of Wesley an University, of which he was at one time agent, ' If I die in Africa you must come over and write my epitaph.' ' I will,' replied the youth, ' but what shall I write ? ' ' Write : Let a thousand fall before Africa be given up.'
Cox left Norfolk in the sailing ship Jupiter, November 6, 1832, and on March 7, 1833, they anchored off the town of Monrovia. He set to work with indomitable energy, organized the Christian forces already there, brought them
PLATE XXVII
REV. (KING) PETER VI., first native SHAHNVUNDAIS, REV. JOHN* SUN- BISHOP JOHN' WRIGHT ROBERTS, missionary in Polynesia. DAY, converted chief, missionary LIBERIA,
to his own tribe at Alderville,
Upper Canada.
HEAD! MISTRESS OP THE GIRLS' NURSE MAY, HANKOW HOSPITAL.
BOARDING SCHOOL CANTON.
IT. 378]
EARLY WORKERS IN LIBERIA :
MELVILLE B. Coy* ANX \VILKIXS. BISHOP BURN*?.
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 379
under the discipline of the church, started Sunday schools, held conferences, hired and erected churches, began a school, and outlined yet greater things for all the surrounding country. Poor Cox ! Would that that enthusiastic soul could have lived to carry out his large plans. The African fever seized him repeatedly, and though he bravely struggled against it, he could not resist its ravages, and passed away on Sunday morning, July 21, 1833, crying, 'Come, come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.' The value of that brief life was not its achievements, not its success — to use a word too devotedly worshipped in America — but the inspiration it gave to the church. To this day the words and life of Cox are an appealing challenge.
Space cannot be spared in which to give the chequered Mission history of the Liberia Mission. In May 1834 one of the
missionaries wrote : ' Eight missionaries are now dead,' referring not to Cox as one, but to workers of different boards who had recently arrived. The prospects were appalling. But still new missionaries offered, new churches were started, an Annual Conference was organized, all the agencies of a Christian civilization were set on foot, missionaries to the far-lying back country were sent out, mills and other industries were erected, manual-labour schools were pro vided : and the work has gone on from that day to this — sometimes through fierce opposition, as by Governor Buchanan— to the infinite blessing of Liberia and the sur rounding country. Native preachers have taken the place largely of the Americans (in 1907 there were only six white ministers), to the cheating of death, but to the necessary injury of the work.
In 1887 Bishop William Taylor, of whom more later, Bishop pushed up the great Cavalla River from Cape Palmas to Taylor- establish if possible self-supporting stations in that new country. He was cordially received. Seventeen kings offered land and timber, and thirteen sites were accepted. For a hundred miles up the Cavalla River, over rugged mountains and along the Kroo coast, these stations were extended until in 1892 Taylor reported twenty-six of these
380 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
self-supporting places in south-eastern Liberia. War between the tribes had destroyed a number of the stations, and since then others have been discontinued. Some, however, remain, dovetailed now into the general mis sionary policy.
It was also Taylor's plan to puncture the vast territory drained by the Coanza and Congo rivers here and there with beacons of light. In 1885 he landed at St. Paul de Loanda a company of forty people — men, women, and children. By September he had settled these for 390 miles up into the country. A fine property was obtained at Loanda, and excellent work was done, especially in schools. Here and at Dondo, Quiongoa, Pungo Andongo, Quessua, Malange, and other places they have done what they could in religious, educational, and industrial ways. It is im possible to send many white men there on account of the climate, and some bright young men have laid down their lives there a short time after arrival. Seven men are work ing there from America, and they have only 104 members, and about as many probationers. But the amount of good accomplished is by no means commensurate with the conversions. That interrupted line of light up the Coanza tells of a new era in history. For, as Gracey says i :
In settling his people on that line of a hundred and fifty miles from Dondo to Malange the bishop walked to and fro an aggre gate distance of six hundred miles, over a rough narrow path, the caravan trail for ages. The hundreds of thousands of slaves sold in Loanda for two hundred years trod this weary way with tears and blood — poor captives whose fathers had been slain because they dared defend their houses and their aged kindred, who were burned in the destruction of their towns. On each side of this path is a continuous graveyard one hundred and fifty miles in length. The bishop says that on many a dark night on that dreary road he seemed to hear the dead speaking to him, saying, 0 Messenger of God, why came you not this way to speak words of comfort to us before we died?
1 Reid-Gracey, i. 270-1.
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 381
The native workers are said to be men of sense and piety, and the Portuguese confess that the ' American Mission has within its influence the better class of natives.' * A mission has also been started on the Madeira Islands.
A wonderful work has been done in the Inhambane district, in Portuguese East Africa. In 1904 there were East Africa, nine stations and 271 members and probationers. In 1905 there were fifteen stations and 160 full members and 440 probationers. In 1907 there were 285 members and 1,097 probationers. Erwin H. Richards has been the Carey of that section. He has invented the written native language, has published hymnals, composed hymns, primers, parts of the Scripture, edited the Inhambane Christian Advocate, and in all up to 1905 had sent out through the mission press, by the help of natives fresh from the forests, 1,600 volumes, amounting to 170,000 pages, of which 150,000 were in the Sheetswa language. Including books and papers printed in English, the mission press in 1907 had printed 11,500 volumes, or 144,500 pages of periodical litera ture, and 5,500 copies or 375,000 pages of other literature. He also translated the New Testament into Sheetswa, and received from the American Bible Society 1,000 volumes. The mission has 1,084 children in day schools, 1,394 in Sunday schools, and receives an average contribution of $1.53 per full member. Regular public services are held twice every day in the year at all stations, and are almost universally attended by believers. This among the natives ! It reminds us of the ' Many that shall come from the east and the west, but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out.' In Old Umtali and in Umtali, Rhodesia, a pro mising field is being worked. Umtali Academy is recognized by the Rhodesian Government as one of its schools, and pays half of the salary to the teachers and current expenses. It is the best school in Rhodesia. Mrs. Springer has done some fine work in preparing an English-native dictionary and in translating two books of the Bible and a number of
1 Report, 1907, p. 52 (New York).
382
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
hymns. The Methodist Church is planted in that coming empire, and as the climate there is salubrious, the church ought to have a much larger part in the Christianization of that mighty land.
IN SOUTH AMEKICA.
East Coast,
and its Roman Catholicism.
From the first the idea of missions to South America was in the mind of the missionary authorities. Fontain E. Pitts was sent in 1835 to Brazil to see what could be done, reconnoitred the field, returned, and made a favourable report. In 1836 Justin Spaulding went to Brazil, where preaching was allowed in any building not built like a church. Bibles could also be distributed, and the British and Foreign Bible Society and the American Bible Society did earnest work in that field. Spaulding began at once in a private room in Rio de Janeiro, and his reports were so favourable that the next year Daniel F. Kidder — a name of noble memory — was sent to reinforce him, to let the light of a pure gospel on the superstition, ignorance, and vice of a degraded Catholicism — a type far different from the fair face it presents in the white light of Protestant lands. Though there were hundreds of priests in Rio de Janeiro, they took but little interest in education, morality, and religion, and seldom preached or prayed in the language of the people. In some places there were no schools, and in others what schools there were were poorly attended, and even when attended, gave instruction almost worse than nothing. Priests were fathers of numerous children, clerical licen tiousness abounding. A Catholic gentleman said : ' There are three hundred priests (padres) in Rio, and probably not more than a dozen good ones among them ' — that is, men of moral character. A Frenchman in the same city said :
Here the padres have no shame. When they enter a store or any public place they speak no other language but obscenity. They generally have large families, and do not hesitate to pro vide publicly for their children every necessary article. Such things are done in Europe, but under cover.
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 383
On account of the evil minds and evil living of the priests, some parents would not allow their daughters to go to confession at all. Kidder, who had an excellent knowledge of Portuguese, went through the country — the ignorance of which was appalling — talking, preaching, and selling Bible die- Bibles. Most of the people had never heard of the Bible, tribution- and others had the strangest notion of it, believing that it would turn their children into Jews. As soon as effective work began, the Catholic priests started a furious campaign of falsehoods. In the interior, however, Kidder found a liberal priest, who declared that Catholicism was being abandoned, infidelity taking its place. He said that the Bible was the best antidote, and that he would himself assist in circulating it.
Sometimes the priests tried to stir the authorities and Daniel F. populace against Kidder, and threats were made against Kidder- him. ' God forbid,' he said, ' that I should swerve to the right hand or the left from the path of duty, let men do what they may.' These threats came to nothing, for the people themselves wanted the Bible, nor would they heed commands from spiritual directors who had lost their respect. Besides, the laws guaranteed religious freedom in the sense of allowing worship in halls and other non- ecclesiastical places, the Roman Catholic remaining the religion of the State. Strobridge * gives many illustrations of the ripeness of Brazil for the gospel. Unfortunately Kidder's wife died, and that necessitated his immediate return to New York in 1840 to preserve the lives of his children. A financial distress was going over the land, so that the Missionary Society was unable to send him back to his work. In fact, in 1841 they had to recall Spaulding. In 1880 Brazil was re-entered. Justus H. Nelson, who was imprisoned for three months in 1892, for writing two articles against Catholicism, has done much for Methodist literature in the Portuguese tongue.
In 1836 John Dempster, later the founder of the first Buenos Methodist theological school in America, and one of the Ayre' 1 In hie valuable Life of Kidder (New York, 1894).
384 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
greatest men in the history of the church, was sent to Buenos Ayres, and did most effective work among foreigners — especially English-speaking residents. Work in Portu guese was not allowed. William H. Norris did a like beneficent work in Montevideo ; but in 1841, on account of the chronic state of revolution of the Catholic countries, and the horrible deeds of cruelty enacted by the warring factions, and on account of the financial distress of the society, the latter recalled Dempster and Norris in 1841, waiting for more favourable times. On account of the urgent requests of foreign residents, Norris was sent back to Buenos Ayres in 1842. After a revolution in 1855 larger religious liberty was granted, and the work was extended in various places. A picturesque incident was the invasion of one of their meetings in 1864 by an Auracanian Indian, who was a captain in the Argentine Army. He made a speech in which he said he belonged to a tribe in southern Chili, which had convents, schools, houses, lands, monas teries, all under monkish leadership. The people, however, made no advance, and they did not even teach reading in the schools. ' I like your simple worship. Send a missionary with me to my people. I will build you a church as good as this.' The request of the poor Cacique could not be granted. More detail in the history of our work on the eastern coast of South America cannot be given here. Suffice it to say that there are now 55 stations in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, with 11 foreign male missionaries, 27 native ordained preachers and 56 unordained, 3132 members, and 1810 probationers. To show the unchange- ableness of Rome, it is interesting to note that the Bishop of San Juan, Marcoluio del Carmelo Benavente, in 1905 gathered together all the Bibles he could find and burned them.
West Coast. In 1877 the indefatigable world-missionary William Taylor began to found missions among the English-speaking communities of the west coast of South America. His ideal was an English school under an educated minister, who would also exercise a pastor's care over the people —
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 385
this English work, however, to be but the beginning of evangelism of the Latin races. The United States was to provide the outgoing expenses and perhaps aid in building, but the support of the minister- teacher and his helpers, and all the running expenses, were to come from the locality itself. In pursuance of this daring scheme Taylor visited and made Christian beginnings at several places in Peru, Bolivia, and Chili, besides on the east coast at Para, Pernambuco, and Mandas, and at Colon in Panama, and in Colombia (Santiago and Coquimbo). In 1893 the Missionary Society took over all the Taylor missionary property in Chili, worth about $200,000.
And here the Penzotti trial is worthy of mention. He imprison- was missionary from Argentina sent to Peru in 1887 with a band of colporteurs. On July 20, 1890, he was arrested in alleged violation of some law, and imprisoned in a half- subterranean dungeon for eight months with the worst criminals. During this time the case was proceeding from court to court, until it reached the Supreme Court of Peru, by which he was declared innocent and set at liberty. This case aroused almost world-wide attention, and many influential bodies in Europe and America intervened with their offices to help forward religious liberty.
At the organization of the South American Conference in 1893 Superintendent Drees looked back over the past, and summed up some results :
Among these results are to be counted the verification of a genuine providential call to the evangelization of this con tinent ; the undoubted ascertainment of the fact that among the people of Latin America there is a widespread consciousness of spiritual need and preparation to respond to the truth of the gospel ; the demonstration of the adaptation of Protes tant Christianity under the doctrinal and organic forms of Methodism to meet its needs ; the ample testing of the methods showing that the simple direct preaching of the gospel will find a hearing and produce its proper fruits in the conversion and sanctification of the people, and that the place of higher Christian education is that of a necessary complement, and VOL. II 25
386
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
Difficulties in Roman Catholic countries
not that of a substitute or antecedent, to gospel work ; the building up of a church community which to-day, after con tributing its full contingent to the blood-washed multitude innumerable ever before the throne of the Lamb, numbers about three thousand souls ; the creation of a converted native ministry in whose hands the interests of Methodism will be safe, and of a body of communicants who show ample and increasing consciousness of the duty and principle of con tributing to the maintenance and spread of the gospel.
Since then one other Annual Conference has been organized, besides a Missionary Conference. In all South America (including Panama) we have 5,236 members, 3,893 probationers, and 110 ordained and unordained native preachers.
As in all Catholic countries, work in South America is among the most difficult presented by mission fields. Mis sionary Daniel Hall, of Cordoba, Argentine Republic, gives an illuminating statement of the difficulties.1
He instances these :
(1) The fearful slanders concerning the Protestants and Protestant teaching scattered abroad by the priests. ' Free masons, devils, and Protestants are one and the same pestilence.' To Luther almost every crime of the catalogue is attributed ; to be ' heretical ' is to be ' abominable.' A fierce war is carried on through the confessional and in Catholic prints. ' Buying souls ' is one charge. ' Here in Cordoba I have twice met with poor people who came seriously offering to sell me their souls — one of them actually saying to me, " If you will give me fifty pesos (about $20.00, £4 2s. 4=d.) I will sell you my soul, those of my wife and five children." ' (2) Popular indifference to religion. The mass of the people, especially of the intelligent, are free thinkers. These are hard to win by the supernatural gospel which is of the essence of Methodism. (3) An ignorance of the Bible absolutely astounding. A chance crowd picked up anywhere by a street preacher in a Protestant land (unless of Catholic or pagan immigrants) will have enough knowledge of the Bible to follow the speaker with a general, if not exact,
1 The Christian Advocate, September 10, 1908.
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 387
intelligence. But in South America it is different. Fifty per cent, of the people cannot read at all, and of the other fifty per cent, who are Catholic hardly * one per cent, have ever read the Bible, and not even one hundredth part of that one per cent, can speak intelligently about it.' Others believe it is an immoral book, or one written by priests to deceive the people. (4) Low standard of morality. ' Lying is practised everywhere, by men occupying the highest positions,' as well as the lowest. The idea that men should speak the truth even to their own disadvantage is looked upon as absurd. Religion itself is looked upon as consistent with immorality. Full- orbed holiness, such as that preached by Methodists from the first, is regarded as utterly impossible save only to a few select souls who have been canonized by the church. A religious intelligent Catholic gentleman of Cordoba told Hall that to live without committing serious sins was a phantasm, and that in regard to the seventh commandment alone there is not a man living — even among the friars — who keeps it. Gambling is universal, the church encouraging it by her bazaars, with their raffles and other gambling devices. (5) Many so-called Protestants who visit South America by their neglect of religion and even vices do nothing to recommend the gospel, and Catholics naturally stumble over them. (6) The inadequacy of the buildings where Protestants are often compelled to hold their services, among a people who are accustomed to associate Christianity with large and imposing churches. (7) Catholics in Latin countries are not used to the voluntary system of Church support. They pay for marriages, baptisms, funerals, masses, etc. ; but to give freely and gladly to the gospel is foreign to their thought and custom. Occasionally a rich Catholic gives a large sum, but this is generally for the hope of some grace or reward here or in purgatory, or under moral compulsion. When converted, the people cannot rise at once to the habit of giving, even if their poverty did not compel them to limit their benevolence.
Under all these circumstances, the advance of Methodism in South America seems a miracle.
The Rev. Dr. John Lee, of Chicago, has done a work of The crusade
,,.,..„ for religious
world-wide significance in his labours for religious freedom freedom.
388 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
in South America.1 The goal of his labours was not so much the attaining the right of preaching the gospel to Protestants, which was generally accorded by most of the South American countries when he began (1894), but the doing away with iniquitous marriage laws. What has been the result ? In Peru the marriage of Protestants was legal ized in 1897, and by an extension of the law in 1903 this was made to include those who had formerly been Roman Catholics. In Ecuador — perhaps the most devoted Catholic country in the world — no marriage was lawful unless performed by a priest. In 1900 it was said that there was a church for every 150 inhabitants, that 10 per cent, of the population were of the priestly class (including friars and nuns), and that 75 per cent, were illiterate.2 About that time, however, Ecuador abolished the concordat of 1862, and allowed the free preaching of the gospel, and in 1900 the Government entered into a contract with Thomas B. Wood (Methodist), one of the great missionary statesmen and scholars of South America, looking toward the establish ment of normal schools according to the United States model. This last amounted to a complete change of front. By the Patronato law of 1899 the Roman Church, though still remaining the established faith, was placed under strict limitations. Later a law for civil registration of marriages, births, and deaths, a law forbidding priests or monks to teach in any school under government control, except as appointed to teach religion, a law giving rights of burial to non-Catholics, and finally a Civil Marriage Law — all these have been passed in Ecuador since 1900 ! In 1904-5 a law passed giving full protection of the laws to every religion not contrary to morality or public order. Finally Bolivia by an Act passed August 27, 1906, while retaining the Roman Catholic as the religion of the State,
1 See his Religious Liberty in South America, with Special Reference to Recent Legislation in Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia (Cincinnati and New York, 1907) — an historical source of the first importance.
2 W. E. Curtis, Between the Andes and the Ocean, pp. 61, 87 (Chicago, 1900).
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 389
' permits the public exercise of every other religious worship.' It was a long, long night, but the morning has dawned even in South America. These noble results are due in large measure to the work of Methodist missionaries, to the speech before the Methodist Preachers' Meeting of Chicago in 1894 by one of the most accomplished of those mis sionaries, John F. Thomson, and to the indefatigable chairman — John Lee — of the Committee of Three appointed at that time to make representation to Catholic authorities looking to the removal of disabilities on Protestants.
By the treaty of July 3, 1844, the United States gained IN CHINA. admission to the treaty ports of China, in which Christianity was allowed by the treaty with France in 1845. In 1835 the Missionary Lyceum of Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., proposed the establishment of missions in China, and at the anniversary of the Missionary Society that year Wilbur Fisk made a vigorous speech advocating the same, and money was subscribed at that very meeting for this purpose. The society immediately requested the bishops to select a suitable man. But China was practically closed until 1844. After the American Treaty, Dempster, one of the founders of the South American Mission, proposed to go to China on his own account to make an exploratory tour for missionary purposes. At the anniversary of the society in 1846 Dr. Walter C. Palmer, the husband of the famous Phoebe Palmer, offered to be one of thirty to give $100 per year for ten years to support a mission in China. Eleven responses to this were sent in to the Board, which determined to send two missionaries as soon as possible. J. D. Collins and M. C. White sailed for China from Boston Collins and April 15, 1847, via the Cape of Good Hope, reached Macao White' 1847' August 5, 1847, and were soon at Foochow (Happy Region).
It would take a volume to give the history of those wonderful sixty years 1847-1907 — the struggles, the vicissitudes, the failures, the triumphs ; the early deaths of missionaries, their wives, and their children, due to climate, privation, and other hardships ; the martyrdom of native
390 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
Other Christians, and others. There S. L. Baldwin did his great
leaders. work (1858-80), who, after retiring on account of the
health of his wife, rendered illustrious service to the society at home ; there Isaac W. Wiley consecrated his young manhood to the redemption of the people (1851-4), later (1872) elected Bishop, and finally laying himself down to die on that loved soil (1884) ; there Robert S. Maclay began his brilliant service (1848-71), who later was so efficient in the building up of Christianity on the Pacific coast of the United States, and the founder of the Maclay College of Theology (1887) ; there in those first years Erastus Went- worth (1855-62) and Otis Gibson (1855-65) — both names of noble fame in American Methodism — built themselves into a new China ; there Leander W. Pilcher (died 1893) started the Peking University, which still remains, in spite of its destruction by the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, one of the greatest and most beneficent institutions in China ; there Marcus L. Taft did fine work as missionary, Presiding Elder and as Professor in and President of Peking University (1880 to the present) ; there H. H. Lowry laid broad and deep for almost forty years the foundations of Christianity, both in educational and directly missionary ways (1867- 1905). These and many others equally worthy of mention are the true successors of that flaming spirit, the apostolic Judson Dwight Collins, who first offered for China (1845, the year of his graduation from the University of Michigan), who wrote to Bishop Janes when no funds had as yet been raised, ' Bishop, engage me a place before the mast, and my own strong arm will pull me to China, and support me while there,' and who consumed his young life in earnest and most efficient and wise labours from 1847 till 1851, then had to leave to save any remnant of life, put himself into the The Chinese Christianization of the Chinese of California, and died there of Calif ornia. May 13j 1852? in hig 30th year_the consecration of China
by a life offered, as Africa by Melville B. Cox.
Methods The methods of the work in China have been the same as
adopted. -n ajj efficjent toil in foreign lands : (1) preaching in the
language of the people, (2) schools, (3) printing press,
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 391
(4) hospital, (5) special work by women for women. Scholarly work was done by White, Gibson, and others in the translation of parts of the Scriptures, and an alphabetic Anglo-Chinese dictionary of the Fokien dialect was com pleted. Marvellous results have been attained by the medical work ; and by foundling homes and other ways inroads have been made in the age-long custom of the exposure or otherwise killing of infant females.
Perhaps never in history have native converts shown Native more fidelity to their principles than in China. In 1870 fidelity- Sia Sek Ong voluntarily abandoned all claim on the Mis sionary Society in order to avoid the taunts of ' foreign rice ' thrown at him by some of his countrymen. The next year he was asked if he regretted the step. * Not the thousandth part of a regret,' he said. ' What will you do if supplies fail and your family suffers ? ' ' They won't fail,' was his answer ; ' but if they do and I come to where there is no open door, I will just look to my Saviour and say, Lord, whither wilt Thou lead me ? ' In times of perse cution the natives have suffered fearfully, but few have ever given up their faith. In the fearful Boxer insurrection of 1900, when a worse than Decian or Diocletian persecution fell on their devoted heads, it was rare for the Chinese Christians in the face of torture or death to go back to their gods. It was an ever-glorious epoch in church history. Think of the multitudes of Christians who crowded around the pagan altars in Carthage in St. Cyprian's time (A.D. 249- 58), and the steel-like heroism with which China gave herself up for Christ not only in 1900, but in every previous attack. In 1900 hundreds of Methodist Christians suffered death for their faith. ' They followed in His train ' up the steep ascent. The three Conferences and two Mission Conferences have now 17,736 members, 12,455 probationers, and 1,101 ordained and unordained native preachers.
In 1845 a pastor in the New York Conference, Olaf Gustav AMONG THE
SCANDI NAVIANS.
Hedstrom, was induced to begin missionary labours among ScANE
the Scandinavians of the port of New York by the aid of a
392
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
Petereen in
Norway,
1849.
Denmark,
1857.
Methodism needed.
missionary ship. This ship became a veritable Bethel- house of God. Sometimes Germans, Belgians, Swedes, Finns, and Norwegians would crowd around the altar seeking mercy, and the converted would sail thence to all parts of the world carrying the influence of the gospel. Others went to the west and helped to plant Methodism among the Scandinavians, so that in 1848 a regular minister was appointed to look after them. In ten years (1855) there were in the United States 24 Scandinavian missionaries, 853 members, 221 probationers, and 12 local preachers. In 1849 one of these ministers, 0. P. Petersen, went on a visit to his native Norway, and his simple story of what God had done awoke longings after similar experiences, and led to a revival. This made the church feel that this was a providential opening, and in 1853 Petersen was sent back to Norway to bring the blessing of a free, full, and present salvation to the Lutherans of Norway. The first object seems to have been to awaken the State Church, but the opposition of the latter led to the organization of the converts into a church of their own, to do which they must appear before a magistrate or a minister and make certain declarations.
Denmark was entered in 1 85V . In spite of the restrictions, prohibitory laws, discouragements, and persecutions, the Methodist plant has grown in the three Scandinavian kingdoms, and has had especially a mighty influence in stirring up the State Church to all kinds of Christian (and sometimes un-Christian) activities. It can hardly be claimed that there was no need of a Methodist stimulus. In Copenhagen, for instance, where the Established Church taught baptismal regeneration, the general tendency was toward scepticism. Theatres and saloons did a thriving business on Sunday. Prostitution was legalized, and it was almost impossible for a gentleman or lady to pass unmolested. The prisons were closed to religion, except the visitations of the regular priests. Methodist nurses in the hospital were prohibited from speaking to inmates on religion. All open-air meetings were forbidden. Yes,
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 393
Methodism came to those old Lutheran lands, not to take away the people from the church, but to bring them into a living sense of God. While we might prefer to interpret ' all the world ' in our missionary sermons as referring to the vast outlying heathendom, we cannot consider any land a preserve walled off from what we are bound to consider the purest type of Christianity preached since the second century. We enter not to proselyte, but to bring the unchurched and godless to Christ.
How did Methodism come to Germany?1 In 1805 IN Christopher S. Miffler fled from Wiirtemberg to England GEBMANY' in order to escape military rule under Napoleon Bonaparte. He was converted, and became a local preacher among the Wesleyan Methodists. In 1830 Muller returned to his Miiller, native province, and at Winnenden began to testify to the grace of Christ and to preach the necessity of conver sion. Many of the hearers received the word. These he formed into classes, and organized a Sunday school in his father's house : all this by the spontaneous impulse in his Christian heart to do something for his Master. In a short time he had to return to England. But there followed him an earnest petition to come back and minister to them in spiritual ways. They also petitioned the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society to send Muller to them once more. Thus naturally and inevitably was Methodism planted in Germany. In 1831 he entered upon his work, and in 1835 — the year that William Nast was converted in America — he had 326 members and 23 exhorters. But from the American side, owing to Nast's conversion and the momentous consequence which flowed from it in the establishment of German Methodism in America, there kept flowing back to the Fatherland letter after letter, written by the happy converts, telling of the wonderful work of God and of their new joy in Him. ' Every letter was a missionary.' Calls came to America for a message similar to that which had brought new life to Germans in
i Vide also supra, p. 45.
394
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
Jacoby
appointed,
1849.
Persecution.
Legal re strictions.
the New World. Nast and other German leaders felt that it was a request that they ought not to turn down. They brought these loud calls to the German Conference in 1848 and to the Missionary Society, which in 1849 sent Ludwig Jacoby, then a presiding elder of a German District in Illinois, to begin 'work in Bremen or Hamburg, two of the four free cities of Germany. He chose Bremen.
It is hardly necessary to say that persecution, the accom paniment of the founding of Methodism in England and America, was also a mark of her history in Germany. Mobs, sometimes instigated by Evangelical and Lutheran clergy men, made havoc with the meetings, and as these latter were often held among the ruder and wickeder population, one can easily imagine what the result was. But the officers of the State sometimes intervened, and respect for law is so ingrained in the German character, schooled under strict parental and military discipline, that mob violence was never so potent there as in English-speaking lands. In one town where Nippert, the associate of Jacoby, had made an appointment, a mob met him and a colporteur as they were coming toward the place, assailed them with violence, threw the colporteur into the ditch, and told Nippert to depart, never to return. Twenty years after this, the funeral of the leader of that mob was going slowly along the same road, when the hearse was somehow upset and the coffin thrown out into the ditch near the very spot where the poor colporteur was cast.
But the legal restrictions on the growth of non-State churches were more annoying and effective than mob violence. The Grand Duchy of Oldenburg and the Free cities of Germany were the only districts where there was full liberty of preaching and organization. Even to-day these statutory State-church partialities greatly impair the progress of aggressive Christianity in Germany. Think of a man who desires to unite with the Methodist Church, being compelled to go before the superintendent of the State Church and humbly state his desire. After a strict examination, and after waiting for four weeks, he appears
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 395
before the superintendent again, and, if his opinion is not changed, he receives a certificate that he is a dissenter. But this is not all. He must then present that certificate to the courts and make a payment of money, the amount of which tax depending upon the size of the applicant's family.1 The wonder is that there are any Methodists in Germany.
The Germans seem uncertain how to regard Methodism. German Their judgements are as wide apart as the poles. For Methodism instance, Professor Kolde says that —
Methodism directs itself not only by its subordinate doctrine of sudden conversion and sanctification against our central doctrine of justification, but it is an attack upon our whole Christian life, a life which stands upon the certainty of salvation and of Christian freedom, a life happy in trust in God, and which penetrates the world, as we have learned it through Luther out of the Scriptures, which life Methodism will strike in the unevangelical fetters of a false flight from the world and despisal of it. 3
This might be considered the standard orthodox Lutheran opinion. On the other hand, Professor Loofs, in his masterly and exhaustive presentation of Methodism, claims that Methodism has no special doctrinal differences from the general Reformed Protestantism, and he characterizes as * perfectly foolish ' the objection that Methodism in the interest of a pietistic mysticism pushes into the background the objective facts of salvation so dear to Lutherans.3 ' Methodism stands on the foundations of Wittenberg,' says Lutheran Pastor Mummssen,4 and he is right. Methodism
1 This applies especially to Saxony. The reader will find a full account of the German feeling toward the non-Lutheran churches in Kawerau's article Sektenwesen in Deutschland, in the 3rd edition of the Realencyklo- pddie fur protestantische Theologie und Kirche, xviii. (1906), 157-66. See my article on this, with justification of Methodist work in Germany, in The Lutheran Quarterly, April 1907, 273 ff.
2 ' Tiber die Sektenbewegung im 19. Jahrhundert," in Ncue Kirchliche Zeitschrift, 1900, p. 197.
3 Herzog-Hauck, Realeneyklopddie, etc., 1903, xii. 798-9.
4 Wittenberg und Wales, 1905. See Jiingst, Der Methodism in Deutsch land (3rd ed., Gieesen, 1906), Pref., pp. v., vi.
396 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
was born out of St. Paul's and Luther's doctrine of justifica tion by faith alone, the only difference being that Luther's doctrine was neutralized somewhat by his semi-Roman doc trine of the Eucharist, whereas Wesley made that material principle of the Reformation the fulcrum for a world-wide evangelism. ' If one does not judge Methodism,' says Loofs, ' by the paltry sect-forms in which it drives its " Mission " activities among us, it appears as a church in the highest degree worthy of respect.'
Methodism cannot deny its German propaganda without being untrue to its origin. It is essentially a missionary, ecumenical faith. But it does not withdraw the pious from their own churches, as often alleged by German critics— not 5 per cent, of our members, said Pastor Mann, are of this class — but by evangelism to quicken the whole religious life and send back thousands of awakened Lutherans and Evangelicals as lively members of their own folds, while of the whole number of those touched to a higher life by its message it gathers into its societies only a fragmentary fraction. ' A large number of souls,' says Presiding Elder Walz, ' have during the year found pardoning peace. Thousands have been saved through our labours who have never appeared in our statistics and have never been enrolled in our membership.' l ' Those who are converted are very slow to join the society,' says Presiding Elder Rohr.2 Metho dism has given in Germany, as elsewhere, far, far more than she has received. When her preacher, E. Riemenschneider, Biemen- went to the university town of Giessen in 1851 he was invited to hold meetings in the house of a Herr Muller. The burgomaster and other notables attended as a board of inspection. Not being able to produce his passport, he was thrown into prison. The next day he was brought before a magistrate and ordered forthwith to leave the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt. At the same time his tracts were confiscated, read by the officials, and submitted to
1 Report of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church for 1901, p. 57.
2 Ibid.\W02, p. 64.
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 397
the inspection of the clergymen of the town. This bit of history seems like an echo from the Middle Ages. But in the university in that same little city of Giessen there was a famous historical scholar who bore this testimony to the church of the imprisoned Riemenschneider :
If I read church history aright, among all the churches since the Reformation, the Methodist has been the richest in experience of salvation [Heilserfahrung], the most active in work, the most fruitful in results.1
Much might be said of the later history of our German Later work, work — of the founding of the Institute at Bremen, later at Frankfort-on-the-Main, where William F. Warren and John F. Hurst did so much to build up an educated native ministry ; the centennial (1866) gift for that Institute by Mr. John T. Martin, of Brooklyn, N.Y. ; the scholarly labours of Sultz- berger ; the wonderful sermon of Matthew Simpson at Heilbronn in 1875, little lessened in its spiritual effect by its interpretation by Nippert ; the effect of Methodism in saving from decay the State Church (at one time there were eighteen vacancies in the churches of Baden and only five candidates presented themselves, rationalism destroying the church) ; the great work of the Inner Mission ; the new evangelical tone and zeal in the State preachers ; the employment of lay agency by the State Church ; the persecution of the Metho dists here and there, and the almost prohibitory obstacles set to their activity ; the starting of the deaconess movement in 18742; the division in 1886 into the three conferences of North Germany, of South Germany, and of Switzerland ;
1 Harnack, Address at the Boston School of Theology, quoted in Jiingst, op. cit. p. vi.
2 The deaconess movement has had a large development in the Metho dist Episcopal Church, prompted in this by German Methodism. See the following histories, all published by the Methodist Book Concern in New York and Cincinnati : Bancroft, Deaconesses in Europe and their Lessons for America, 1889 ; Wheeler, Deaconesses Ancient and Modern, 1889 ; Meyer, Deaconesses Biblical, Early Church, European, and American, 1889, 3rd ed., 1892 ; and C. Golder, History of the Deaconess Movement, 1903.
398 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
the taking over of the Wesleyan Methodist Mission in Germany by the Methodist Episcopal in 1897 ; and all the wonderful way that God led and prospered the work, in spite of many persecutions — all this can only be mentioned.1 The veteran scholar and educator, the Rev. Dr. William F. Warren, of the Boston University School of Theology, who was himself an influential factor in the consolidating of our church in Germany, calls attention to the providential mission of our church as the one body at work in nearly every European country, the only great catholic Protestant church of Europe, unifying, strengthening, stimulating — a bracing, conservative, healing force.8
IN INDIA. As early as 1852 Missionary Secretary Durbin called the
attention of the church to India as a fitting place to begin missionary work. The Board immediately responded with an appropriation of $7,500 for the purpose. No missionary
William presented himself until William Butler, a native of Dublin,
Butler, 1856. Irelan(jj a student of Didsbury Theological College, Man chester, an itinerant preacher in Ireland, later a member of the New England Conference, came forward to undertake the enterprise. It was a strange coincidence that Butler had been the assistant of James Lynch, who went to India with Coke, and who, after thirty years of toil there, returned to his native Ireland to take up circuit work again, in which work in his old age he was helped by the young Butler. ' Fifteen years after this, Lynch still living, Butler was on his way to India as the representative of the United States, thus linking the two lands, the two Methodisms, and the two missions of the British and American Methodist Churches.' On September 25, 1856, he arrived in Calcutta. He chose the Rohilcund and Oude country as the field, a place as yet hardly touched by the gospel. One of the noblest acts of
Janvier, fraternity was the gift of Joel T. Janvier as interpreter and
first native
preacher. i up to 1393 the story can be read in Reid-Gracey, ii. 235-347, after
that in periodicals and reports.
2 See his article, ' An All-National Evangelistic Church for Continental
Europe,' in The Christian Advocate, New York, March 12, 1908.
PLATE XXVIII
DR. WILLIAM XAST, ' The Father of German Methodism.'
DR. JOHN PRICE DURBIN, Missionary Secretary
of Methodist Episcopal Church. II. 398]
PIONEER MISSIONARY BISHOP WILLIAM TAYLOR.
DR. WILLIAM BUTLER, founder of missions India and Mexico.
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 399
helper on the part of the American Presbyterian Church of Allahabad, which had trained and educated him as an orphan. Janvier was the first native preacher of our American Methodist Church in India, and was faithful and zealous until his lamented death in 1900.
Butler began his work with enthusiasm ; but its beginnings were shattered by the Sepoy rebellion of May 1857, one of the bloodiest reprisals ever wreaked on foreign conquerors by a subject race. The missionary and his family had some hair-breadth escapes and thrilling experiences in this mutiny, but of these as well as of the whole history of his work in India one must read in his interesting books.1 Broad and deep were the foundations laid, both in preaching and in schools, since enlarged to orphanages, theological schools, colleges, hospitals, presses, periodicals, and a varied and intelligent effort to meet teeming India's needs.
The success of the Methodist American Mission in India is one of the miracles of the nineteenth century. The lower castes in many sections have come to Christ with a spontaneity and earnestness and in numbers embarrassing to the missionaries, and far beyond the ability of the faith and gifts of the Christians at home to take care of them. Some of the bravest and truest Christian heroes that have ever worked for God under strange skies have given them selves in life and many of them in death for India under the American Methodist Mission, nor has their memorial perished.
One 'of the toughest fields ever sought to be cultivated IN for Christ is Bulgaria. In 1857 Wesley Prettyman and BuLGARIA* Albert L. Long went out, under the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to see what could be done to bring the gospel to the benighted Christians (in com munion with the Eastern or Greek Church) of that land. They were met with bitter opposition. A monk in Ternova warned the people against them because they rejected the
1 The Land of the Veda (New York, 1872), and From Boston to Bareilly (New York, 1885).
400
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
Wesley Prettyman and A. L.
Long, 1857.
Ignorance, persecution,
success.
IN ITALY.
L. M.
Vernon, 1871.
sacraments and all the ordinances of the church. Persecu tions of various kinds they had to endure.
Still there were evidences that they had work to do in Bulgaria. Two priests called on Long and confessed with tears that they could do nothing to lift the people out of their condition. ' When I tell them they must pray, they say, We are not priests ; it is your business to do the praying.' One of these priests asked Long for a Bible, saying that he went to the senior priest and asked him to lend him a Bible ; but the oekonom replied that he ought to have nothing to do with the Bible. ' Now, I am a priest, and I do not see why I should not read the Bible.' A campaign of lies was kept up against our work by the Bulgarian organ of the Greek patriarchate, and by a Jesuit organ. But it is impossible to give in this space the checkered history of the Methodist movement in Bulgaria, the persecutions ever and anon set on foot, the abandon ment of the work, its resumption again, the effect on it of the fearful Turkish atrocities of 1876, of the war of 1877-8, and of the war with Servia in 1885-6, the embarrassment of the work by Russian officers whenever possible, the organization of a mission Conference in 1892, and the heroic holding on in spite of small returns. All this makes an instructive chapter in church history.
It was one of the ambitions of Charles Elliott, a famous name in the history of American Methodism,1 to see a Methodist mission planted in Italy. He did not live long enough (died Jan. 3, 1869) to see his son-in-law, Leroy M. Vernon, start the work in 1871. An interesting coincidence was the appearance of Father Gavazzi before the General Conference, in Brooklyn, New York, May 16, 1872, in which he sketched in glowing colours the prospects of a free Italian Church in Italy, but deprecated with all his soul the planting of Methodism from America there. But it seems a peculiarity of Methodism — is it a weakness or strength ? — never to desert a territory once entered, other-
1 Author of the once famous Delineation of Romanism, 2 vols., 1841.
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 401
wise it would have been discouraged by the frigid soil of Bulgaria. In Italy once, — in Italy for ever ! The priests opposed the renting of quarters in Bologna, where the first Bologna, stroke was made, and tried to hinder the work in every way possible. A system of terrorism was exercised over the people whenever possible, and sometimes mob attacks were incited. But in spite of many enemies, the work went on until in less than ten years (1880) an Annual Con ference was organized.
And yet it is instructive of the strength of the opposition Few of the priests (as well, perhaps, of the smallness of the appro- priation and of the poverty of the members) that at that time there were only two church edifices of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Italy — Rome and Florence.
There was no church edifice in Naples, where there were ninety-five communicants struggling for existence in a city of some half a million inhabitants drunken with superstition and mad on their idols. They had no edifice at Terni, with its forty- four communicants combating the fiercest opposition of priests of the valley of the Nera. Fifty-eight members were in Perugia, the capital of the province of Umbria ; fifty-two in the ancient and important city of Bologna, in the fertile plain at the base of the Apennines, having a university of wide reputation identified with the medieval and modern history of Italy ; eighty-one Methodists were in Turin, the commercial capital of the kingdom, with a dozen more forty minutes by rail at Modena ; Turin counted 123 communicants as a Methodist nucleus amid a quarter of a million people in this, the capital of Pied mont ; and in one and all of these places Methodism had become what it was without a solitary church structure in which to worship or with which to deepen the impression that Methodism had come to stay. Was ever an Annual Conference organized before with but two churches ? x
It would be interesting to notice some of the persecutions. Bitter At one time a mob of 2,000 threatened with destruction persecution the work at Foggia, but they were dispersed by two majors of the national army. While Bible Colporteur Cocca was 1 Reid-Gracey, iii. 302-3.
VOL. n 26
402 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
pursuing his work in a mountain district, he was met by two priests who abused him violently, tore up some of his books, and ordered him to leave the village with the final fling, ' With a word we may have you assassinated.' For the sake of others Cocca did not assume entirely the non- resistance attitude, but had the priests arrested ; and, thanks to Italian justice, they were condemned to a fine and to eighty-six days' imprisonment ! Protestant funerals were sometimes assaulted.
An expert's The Italy Mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church has had the rare advantage of a competent, frank, but friendly criticism,1 by one of its own missionaries, the Rev. Dr. Everett S. Stackpole, who went out in 1888 especi ally to take charge of the theological seminary at Florence, which was later removed to Rome. Missionary societies are sometimes unduly sensitive to criticism, instead of welcoming it as a boon. This attitude was itself severely criticized by Bishop Thoburn, a famous name in the history of missions,2 Stackpole calls attention to such matters as these :
The lack of religious experience in the native pastors and of Methodist methods in their work ; ' graft,' self-seeking, mercenary aims, laziness, un-Methodist habits such as smoking and drinking (both of which are forbidden to all ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church entering since 1880) in the native clergy ; the buying attendance of children at Sunday school by gifts ; the overstating of the numbers attending the services ; the indifference of the clergy to their pledges ; some times the retaining of clergy morally unacceptable, and at other times the paying of such men in order to get rid of them ; the ceaseless flow of talk in an Italian Conference ; the heavy allowances given to the members of the Conference to pay their expenses at the sessions — so unlike the German method ; reluctance or refusal to do evangelistic work by the native pastors, founded on the fact that most of them have never been converted and are out of sympathy with the genius and doctrines
1 Four and a Half Years in the Italy Mission (Lewieton, Maine, 1894).
2 In an article in The Methodist Review, New York, 1891, pp. 869, 877.
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 403
of Methodism ; the much larger salaries given to our workers there than those given by other boards, which cause migration of pastors — often undesirable — from those boards to us ; the absence of testimony, prayer, and class meetings, of personal religious experience, both pastors and people being often held to the church rather by the loaves and fishes than by an inner spiritual attraction founded on a new life in Christ and an apprehension of what Methodism means ; the placing of ex- priests as pastors who are ill-adapted by education to build up Methodist churches ; the lack of supervision of the work and of American missionaries to give it a thoroughly Methodist complexion ; the absence of a Methodist hymn-book set to suitable tunes ; the domineering spirit of the Italian clergy, due to their Catholic inheritance, and their refusal to mingle with the common people or to visit them pastorally.
These and other facts are noted by Stackpole in his exceedingly interesting and instructive book. The author believes thoroughly in applying Methodism in the historic fashion in which it has won its triumphs in other lands, and would not be deterred by the objections of the native pastors, nor their threats to leave if revivals and so-called altar services are introduced. Doubtless some of the evils complained of have been remedied. It is a curious historical evolution which brought the Free Evangelical Church— the very church founded by Gavazzi, who made the speech already mentioned at the General Conference in 1872 against the introduction of Methodism in Italy — into the Methodist Episcopal and Wesleyan Methodist Churches in 1905.
It would be a pleasure to speak with equal length of the Other Methodist Episcopal Missions in Mexico (begun 1873, Con ference organized 1885), Japan (1873, Annual Conference 1884, merged with other Methodist missions into an in dependent Methodist Japanese Church in 1907 — a con summation probably to be repeated in other lands), Burma (1879, Mission Conference organized 1900), Finland (1883), Korea (1885, Mission Conference 1904, where a wonderful
404
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
outpouring of the Spirit has recently taken place, and where thousands upon thousands of natives could be garnered into the fold if there were missionaries enough to take care of them), Malaysia (1885, Mission Conference 1893), Philippine Islands (1900, Mission Conference 1904), St. Petersburg (1907), France (1907).
A book could be written on the heroic labours, dis couragements, failures, and glorious successes of the workers in these fields, as well as on the labours among the heathen, Catholics, and some Protestants in America itself — that is, among the Bohemians, Hungarians, Alaskans, French, Hawaiians, Indians, Italians, Spanish, Norwegians and Danes, Porto Ricans, and Portuguese. The fields are great, the labourers few. Pray ye that the Lord of the harvest may send forth labourers into His harvest.
METHODIST
PROTESTANT
MISSIONS.
IN JAPAN. 1880
II
A Board of Foreign Missions was organized in 1834 in Baltimore by the Methodist Protestant Church, and in 1836 sent out a coloured minister, David James, with a small company from Elkton, Maryland, to begin work at Cape Palmas, West Africa. Unfortunately the mission failed, and nothing is known of it. The same fate befell the attempt to send some one to China in 1851, while the mission of Daniel Bagley to Oregon in the same year was successful. No foreign work was done for several years.
In 1880 a beginning was made in Japan, prompted by the godly zeal of Miss Lizzie Guthrie, already a missionary there under the auspices of the Woman's Union Foreign Missionary Society. The first missionary was Miss Harriet G. Brittain, who immediately opened a school in Yokohama. The first ordained missionary was Frederick C. Klein, who went to the same country in 1883. The first Methodist Protestant Church in Japan was organized in Yokohama, July 11, 1886. Colhour arrived in 1887 to take the super- intendency at Yokohama, and Klein removed to Nagoya, where he was instrumental in organizing the Anglo-Japanese
PLATE XXIX
*
CENTRAL METHODIST TABERNACLE, TOKIO.
THE KN*\NSEI GAKUIN (MISSION COLLEGE), KOBE, JAPAN. GENERAL CONFERENCE OP THE JAPAN METHODIST CHURCH, May 22, 1907. II. 404] j
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 405
College, which was dedicated in 1891. The work has gone on slowly, steadily, successfully, until there are now 151 members of the Japanese Mission Conference, nine probationary members, and four evangelists. On account of the insistence on large episcopal powers by the mis sionaries of the Methodist Episcopal Churches in the pro posed new Japan Methodist Church — larger than were proposed by the Japan bodies themselves — the Methodist Protestant Church could not go into the union. It is a pity that concessions were not made by the episcopally organized churches in matters which, in the opinion of these churches themselves, are not a matter of divine right.
The theological department at Nagoya is turning out Educational some fine young men for the church. The Nagoya College work- is now under government recognition, and is thronged by young Japanese. ' Of ninety-nine new students recently enrolled only one was a Christian.' This government relation does not at all interfere with the status of the school as a mission school under Christian auspices, and every year students are converted. The college has seventeen teachers.
A religious-social achievement of vast significance is Freedom recorded by the Methodist Protestant Church in Japan. an^ social That is the campaign against the slavery-brothel system, by which fathers could legally sell their daughters into houses of ill fame, and girls thus sold could be held for debt indefinitely. Under the appeal of U. G. Murphy the courts pronounced such retention as virtual slavery, which was unconstitutional and must cease. Since this decision it is estimated that more than 20,000 of the 70,000 girls and women thus enslaved have secured their freedom.
The Methodist Protestant Board is now negotiating Women's regarding North China, with a view to possibly entering wogrt^; that great field. As in other churches, the Woman's service. Foreign Missionary Society of this church has rendered most efficient service. It is an interesting fact that, whereas the native Italian preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church refuse to make any pastoral visits except — like the Catholic priests — on the sick when sent for, the Japanese
406
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
preachers of the Methodist Protestant Church in one year (1907-8) made 7,260 such visits.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH SOUTH.
To the
negroes,
1829.
Large
To the Americai) Indians, 1822.
Ill
The Methodist Episcopal Church South has had an honourable record in missionary enterprise both before the division (1844) and after it. In 1829 the South Carolina Conference established two missions to blacks. John Honour and John H. Massey were appointed missionaries, and in one year gathered 417 members. Honour took the bilious fever by exposure in the swamps, and soon passed away. Most of the planters, however, looked with disfavour at the enterprise, and the church itself contributed only $261 for the work. At the Conference of 1832 James 0. Andrew (later Bishop) delivered a long and impassioned address in favour of this form of missionary endeavour, which confirmed the Conference in its course ; so that at the end of that year, within the bounds of that Conference there were 1,395 negroes enrolled as members and 490 children regularly catechized. This was certainly a noble beginning, though a late one, as slaves were brought into the country as early as 1619, and by the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) England engaged to carry into the New World 130,000 slaves between 1713 and 1743 — a promise she more than fulfilled. In 1800 there were 893,041 slaves in the United States, most of them in the South. The effect of this religious work with the blacks was so favourable, making them sober, honest, industrious, contented, that the planters themselves took the initiative and invited the missionaries to their plantations. The work thus begun extended all over the South and has had enduring success. It became so large that the Methodist Episcopal Church South organized its coloured members into a separate church (the Coloured Methodist Episcopal Church) in 1870, ordain ing W. H. Mills and R. H. Vanderhorst bishops.
This church has carried on an effective work among the American Indians. In 1822 Richard Neely of the Tennessee
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 407
Conference commenced to preach among the Cherokees of Alabama. Other tribes were reached. In 1830, when many were transferred to the West, there were 4,000 members. In 1844 the converts were organized into the Indian Mission Conference, divided into three districts — the Kansas, the Cherokee, and the Choctaw — and was manned by twenty-five preachers, including several Indians. The Cherokees were most enterprising of all the tribes. Methodism has main tained a vigorous footing among them. Schools have been built, civilizing agencies have been introduced, all the regular religious agencies known among the whites have been applied, and it is worthy of note that from among the Indians themselves able and influential preachers have been raised up, and others equally faithful and self-sacrificing.
Before the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 there were interrup- 4,108 Indian members in the Indian Mission Conference, tion6> 1861 181 whites, 320 coloured, 30 missionaries, 8 schools, and 465 pupils. Some of the tribes sided with the South in the war, and a few of their abler men had commissions in the army. After the war the work was taken up again with vigour. ' Thousands still remain in the church prepared by the faith they have received for any providential allotment. They are peaceable, orderly, taking pleasure in religious service, and evincing capabilities for Christian civilization.'
The church turned its attention to the Germans in the TO THE South, and after 1844 pursued the work with more or less success to the present time. In 1855 it established the Evangelische Apologete, changed into the Familienfreund in 1870. In 1874 a German Mission Conference of Texas and Louisiana was formed. At that time it was stated that two- thirds of the German members of the church were regular attendants at class- and prayer-meetings, and that their average contribution to missions was far beyond that of the Americans. This has been true of the German Methodists in America generally. They make the most intelligent, the most God-fearing, the most liberal in giving of any class of people.
408
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
In China,
1848.
Native support.
IN MEXICO.
A. Hernan dez.
In 1848 Charles Taylor, M.D., and Benjamin Jenkins, both of the South Carolina Conference, sailed under the Southern Board for Shanghai, China. They bent to the task with earnest zeal. Later reinforced by other helpers, sickness, death, and the Taiping rebellion interfered with their plans. W. G. E. Cunnyngham, D. C. Kelly, James L. Belton, and J. W. Lambuth were most efficient workers. They wisely laid the foundations — preaching, teaching, publishing, distributing tracts and Bibles, building, healing ; but the fearful climate made inroads in that devoted band.1 A fine educational system has been put in action by Y. J. Allen, the superintendent of the mission, a mission which has worked with fine tact, discernment of China's real needs, large-minded wisdom, and true Methodist zeal to Christianize the little portion of that empire providentially assigned to this church. It has from the beginning aimed to build up self-supporting churches. Collections are regularly taken, and the converts are taught the duty and privilege of systematic giving. ' They already contribute more largely than many churches in our own land ; and the time will come when Chinese Christianity will be behind in no good thing.'
The founding of the Mexican Mission came about in a very interesting way. A young Mexican, Aejo Hernandez, was sent by his wealthy father to school, thinking the boy might become a priest. During his Freshman year he became an infidel, left college without his father's knowledge and joined the army against Maximilian, was taken prisoner by the French, and after much suffering found himself on the Rio Grande on the border of Texas. While there a book, Evenings with the Romanists, fell into his hands. He found it was against his former creed, and therefore, as he supposed, against Christianity. So he read it to confirm himself in infidelity. But he was struck by the frequent quotations
1 For some welcome side-lights on the awful Taiping movement see the letters of Cunnyngham, as quoted by A. W. Wilson in his valuable little book, Missions of Methodist Episcopal Church South, pp. 87-97, 105-113 (Nashville, 1882).
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 409
from the Bible in the book, which led him to seek a Bible in his own language. He was soon reading a Bible for the first time. Then he discovered that salvation came through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. His next step was to go over to Brownsville, Texas, to attend a Protestant church. ' I was seated where I could see the congregation, but few could see me. I felt that God's Spirit was there, and though I could not understand a word that was said, I felt my heart strangely warmed.' He was received on trial in 1871 by the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and appointed to the Corpus Christi Mexican Mission. But the work of poor Hernandez was done. Paralysis seized him, and he died at Corpus Christi, September 27, 1875— a short life, but long enough to start the Mexican Border Mission of the Church South. Others took up the work, and earnest Christians were made of Mexicans.
They observed faithfully the usages of the church, and gave proof of the soundness of their conversion. From their ranks the ministry was from time to time recruited, and many able, faithful, and successful workmen in that region have attested the genuineness of their profession of the steadfastness of their faith.
It is hardly necessary to say that it was a most difficult Special work— a wild country, reckless population full of race difficulties. antagonisms, the law not enforced, ignorance and super stition characteristic of Spanish Roman Catholicism, etc. But here consecrated men were found ready to undergo its hardships. The evangel was carried down into Mexico itself, and in 1873 the City of Mexico was occupied. In a year or two the Discipline was published in Spanish, also a, hymn-book and two of Wesley's ser mons, and thus a beginning made with a native Methodist literature.
The work grew with wonderful rapidity, and this, as well as the China Mission, reflects great credit on the zeal, wisdom, and devotion of the Southern Methodist Church. The
410 METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
converts are often zealous and appreciative. Presiding Elder Cox says — speaking of Santa Cruz :
In their simple way they receive one with genuine whole- heartedness, and are ready any day at any hour to attend preaching. I was there during the rainy season ; we had a congregation of one hundred and fifty at 8.30 in the morning, who came through the rain. They begged for a pastor for their part of the circuit.1
Of course the priests offer bitter opposition at times. Presiding Elder Onderdonk says :
A few days ago the lady from whom we rent our chapel told me that the priest had visited and admonished her against renting her property to Protestants. He assured her that she was destroying souls, and that if she did not desist she would be excommunicated. She said she would rent to us, though she had been offered more by a Catholic. This gave me the opportunity of speaking to her about Christ. I assured her that no priest could separate her from the love of Christ, reading Komans viii. 35-9. I reminded her of the fact that the priests did not object to the members renting houses for saloons and houses of prostitution, but when we wanted a place where we might lead men to Christ, educate and help them, this was a ' de struction of souls.' ' You are right, you are right,' she said.2
The same point as to the renting of houses has been made by our missionaries in Italy. Immorality and vice in Catholic eyes are far less heinous than heresy.
Native One of the most encouraging things about the Methodist
pastors. work in Mexico is the character of the native pastors.
Presiding Elder King of the Monterey district speaks of them as presenting —
a solid phalanx of purity of life and uprightness as to personal character. During the entire year no word or even intimation has reached me derogatory to the moral character of any of the preachers. This is of appreciable worth to us here in this land, where, as I have found, ministers are generally vilified
i Report, 1904, p. 87. 2 Ibid., p. 89.
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 411
upon the slightest pretext. I believe our preachers to be good men, not perfect, but surely on the way.1
It is also an interesting fact that of all the members in the East Mexico district (3015 in 1905), not one was English- speaking ; all were natives. This district raised for missions alone that year $777.33. There are now three Mission Conferences in Mexico.
In 1876 J. J. Ransome was sent by the Methodist Episcopal IN BRAZIL. Church South to Brazil, and, after exploring the country 1876 and learning the language, chose Rio de Janeiro as the headquarters of the mission. J. E. Newman, who went to Brazil on his own account, had been doing gospel work among the English-speaking people of the province of San Paulo, and was recognized as a missionary in 1875. These men found general indifference, with the drift of the country toward infidelity. For a mission in Catholic lands this has had phenomenal success. The modest note in the 1904 Report to the effect that the bishop ordained 5 elders, appointed 37 men to charges which represented a con stituency of 4,345 members, and that the members con tributed that year $7,700 for the support of the ministry, besides contributing to schools, building churches, etc., reveals really a tremendous growth, when we consider the obstacles to be overcome. The remarkable fact is stated that in the new healthy and beautiful city of Bello Horizonte, the recent capital of the State of Minas, Brazil, the Govern ment has given (1903-4) to the Methodist Episcopal Church South an entire square near the centre of the city on the condition that the church build there a parsonage, a church, and a college. A parsonage is already built, a church about starting, and the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society has located its college there, and it is to be hoped that the con ditions will be fulfilled. Such a grant from a nominally Catholic country is surprising.
One of the noblest things done by this church for Brazil
1 Report, 1905, p. 16.
412
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
Granberry College
IN CUBA, 1872.
Christian education.
is Granberry College (named after Bishop John C. Granberry), established in 1890 at Juiz de Fora, regularly chartered by the Government, and said to be the best college in Minas, and one of the best in the country, which has the following departments : preparatory, theological, college, pharmacy, and dental, with 180 students. It has turned out earnest, intelligent, consecrated young men, to man Methodist churches of Brazil. ' The history of Methodism in Brazil,' says Presiding Elder Tilly, ' will be more or less the history of Granberry.' *
The new relations of Church and State in France have sent over crowds of monks and nuns to Brazil, who have stimu lated the dull Catholic atmosphere. Presiding Elder Price, of the Rio Grande de Sul District, says :
How things have changed in this formerly indifferent field, since the influx of the Marist and Jesuit priests from France and the Philippines ! To-day we are up against a hard pro position, and face to face with, a clergy that stops at nothing that will increase its influence, whether religious or political. There has been some Bible-burning, and consequently some good advertising, for our work has been done.2
The Methodist Episcopal Church South went into Cuba in 1872. In both schools and evangelization it has done noble work. It has a regular board of Spanish translation, which has translated the fine book of Dean Tillet, Personal Salvation, the Hurst-Faulkner Short History of the Christian Church, Hendrix's Skilled Labour for the Master, besides supplying the ordinary needs for current literature. The latest attempt is to provide a worthy Spanish hymnal. Candler College in Havana is crowded, though it boldly holds aloft the principle of Biblical instruction : ' Christian instruction is considered a matter of primary importance. We believe that the knowledge of the Word of God tends to ennoble character, and that it is essential to any true education. We therefore require that all our pupils study the
Report, 1907, p. 65.
2 Ibid., pp. 68,
PLATE XXX
FIRST MISSION SHIP, « TRITON,' SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.
BETHEL SHIP 'JOHN WESLEY' (M.E.C.), for use by Pastor Iledstrom among Scandinavians, New York.
4 GLAD TIDINGS' EGUSE-TOAT OF U.E.C., CHINA
CENTRAL MISSION. II. 4121
' JOHN WESLEY ' MISSIONARY SHIP, launched at Cowes for South Sea Islands. (1'rom Juvenile Offering, 1847.)
HOUSE-BOAT OF M.E.C., CHINA CENTRAL MISSION. BOAT TRAVELLING MISSION, CANTON PROVINCE.
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 413
Bible.' In 1904-5 systematic revival work was set on foot, and with results that showed that the Cubans are as respon sive to the Christian message as presented by Methodists as other nationalities. Four hundred and ninety were added by that campaign, bringing the number of members up to 1,476, and probationers up to 1,008 (members reported in 1907 : 2,365, probationers 1,447). An American gentleman resident in Cuba has given $20,000 for the purchase and improve ment of church property in Santiago and Comaguey.
In 1907 the Methodist Episcopal Church in Japan, the THEMETHO- Methodist Episcopal Church South, and the Methodist c^BCH IN Church (Canada) united to form a Japanese National JAPAN. Church. Its membership will consist of more than 11,000. Most fortunately, however, the sympathy, interest, and help of the churches in America are not to be withdrawn. The Methodist Episcopal Church South has a noble girls' school at Hiroshima with 700 pupils, and a fine college, Kwansei Gakuin, at Kobe and thirteen Biblewomen in training at the Lambuth Bible Training School. The mission was begun in 1886. They have three districts, 1,573 members, 19 local preachers, 12 Japanese travelling preachers, 5,147 teachers and pupils in Sunday schools, and 2,038 pupils in their schools and colleges.
Korea is the church's opportunity. The Methodist IN KOREA, Episcopal Church South entered in 1896, and she has 1896> to-day 1,227 members and 1,694 candidates for membership. Presiding Elder Moose thus speaks of the remarkable revival in 1904-5 :
A real heart- searching, heart-cleansing, soul-sanctifying revival of religion, such as the little church in Korea had never dreamed of before. This started early in the Conference year on the east coast, in the Wonsan Circuit. From there it crossed the country, taking in the churches on the way till it reached Seoul, and the churches here were greatly revived.
Conviction of sin even on the part of Christians was intense.
414
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
It brought new life to the Korean Christians. The membership increased 62 per cent, in 1896-7. Bishop Candler says : 'The people are turning to Christ as I have never seen in any field.' The Christians are liberal in giving to the point of sacrifice. Missionary Gerdine says :
Neither by nature nor education have they the idea that they are to depend upon outside aid in conducting the affairs of the church. It is not infrequent that we visit a group, after an absence of a few months, to find that in the mean time, without asking for aid or even consulting the missionary, they have bought or built a place of worship. We have six native workers supported entirely by the native church.1
By their medical and other schools this church is doing a fine work in Korea. A great and effectual door is being opened in that interesting kingdom at the very moment when Japan is crushing out its nationality. The falling of its hopes in one direction synchronizes with the lifting up of its gates in another to the kingdom of God.2
MISSIONS
OF OTHER
METHODIST
CHURCHES.
THE
WESLEYAN
METHODIST
CHURCH OF
AMERICA.
West Africa,
1890.
IV
The Wesleyan Methodist Church (or Connexion) of America chose for its foreign mission field the most un- nealthy climate in the world — Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Kunso, West Africa. It was started in 1890. Several missionaries and their wives have gone out since that time. Some have died on the field, others have sickened and returned either to die or to get well, and others have stood the climate well and braved successfully the poison of African fever. Buildings have been erected at Kunso, forty acres of land have been set apart for mission purposes, native towns have been visited, schools have been started, many have been converted. It is an heroic enterprise that
1 Report, 1907, p. 43.
2 For an able and admirable statement of the present religious situation see the article by Missionary J. Z. Moore, ' Why Korea is turning to Christ,' in The Methodist Review, New York, September 1908.
AMERICAN SOCIETIES 415
this consecrated little church has taken upon itself. In the summer of 1908 I met Superintendent Clarke, who has been engaged on the mission since 1894, and who was leading a band of earnest souls out to that land of death. He was full of hope for the work, told of some wonderful cases of conversion and fidelity, said that the missionaries were allowed to return at the end of every two years for rest and recuperation, that the inland situation of the mission was healthful, and that with care the missionaries might survive. There is never any lack of volunteers.
In 1880 the Rev. E. F. Ward and his wife went out as THE FREE foreign missionaries at their own expense, though in part METHODIST supported by the Free Methodist Church. This led to the organization of the General Missionary Society of the Free Methodist Church (incorporated 1885). The first country touched in 1885 was Africa, and Inhambane has witnessed earnest labours against great odds. School work, preaching, and medical work have been carried on. Natal in Africa, was entered in 1890, and encouraging work is being done Natal- at Fairview. In 1897 Johannesburg was entered, but the great war of 1899 broke up the mission. Itemba, Edwaleni, Greenville, Griqualand, and Umusa are also stations where the Methodists of the primitive heroic type are making inroads on the vast masses of African heathen. In 1885 two ladies went to India from the Free Methodists of America, In India, and since that the work has been extended by schools and orphanages, as well as by the ordinary evangelistic agencies. The stations are in Central India, viz. in Yeotmal, Wun, and Darwha. In spite of the unhealthfulness of the climate, the missionaries have done noble work. Several have fallen on the field. The quality of the industrial work of the orphans in Yeotmal has been highly praised.
In Japan work was begun by a young Japanese educated In Japan, in America. The Island of Awaji was selected, and there 1895> are now stations at Sumo to on that island, and at Akashi and Osaka. At one time there was serious thoughts of abandoning this mission, but the heroism of the native
416
METHODIST FOREIGN MISSIONS
In China.
Women's Societies.
converts, if nothing else, fully justifies the church in holding on. This striking statement appears in the Missionary Secretary's report :
Our superintendent reports that over four hundred persons sought the Lord during the past year, and a goodly number have exhibited clear marks of conversion. Some are regarded as demented because they seek by every means in their power to spread the gospel, and others have suffered the loss of all things in reality — even the loss of home, wife, and children. He says : ' It is also interesting and blessed to watch the effects of the gospel here, and note its resemblance to the primitive church.' x
It is a striking fact that the native Christians, though poor, gave in the year 1905-6 over $487 to the work.
The Free Methodist Board sent missionaries to China in 1905, making Cheng Chow their headquarters. A fine site has been secured, the language is being learned, and it is expected that good results will accrue in due time. An earnest lady of this church is doing very efficient service in Salcedo, San Domingo.
It is hardly necessary to say that for all the Methodist churches in America the Woman's Foreign Missionary Societies have done noble and distinguished service, to recount which would alone take a volume.
The Methodist Church in Canada is conducting successful missions among the Indians of North-west Canada, in Japan, and in China. Its work has been recorded in an earlier chapter.
1 Report, in Annual Minutes of the Forty Conferences of the Free Methodist Church, Chicago, 1906, p. 311.
BOOK VI METHODISM TO-DAY
CHAPTER I FUNDAMENTAL UNITY
That the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and lovedst them.
JOHN xvii. 23.
All praise to our redeeming Lord
Who joins us by His grace, And bids us, each to each restored,
Together seek His face.
He bids us build each other up ;
And, gathered into one, To our high calling's glorious hope
We hand in hand go on.
CHARLES WESLEY.
VOL. II 417 27
CONTENTS
I. THE FUNDAMENTAL UNITY p. 419
External differences — Their inevitable character — Authority and liberty — The essential unity — Created by similarity of standard and a common appeal to experience — Illustration from other churches — Such principles of unity in operation in Methodism — Unity in a peculiar spiritual experience, not merely in emotion, nor doctrinal belief — The rediscovery of the love of God . . . pp. 419-429
II. THIS UNITY HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED . . p. 429 The place of Methodism thus defined — The Greek, Latin, and Re formed conceptions of religion — The Greek Church and revelation — The Latin Church and authority — The Reformed Church and redemption, and the sovereignty of God — Anglicanism is institutional in character — Wesley restored the primacy of the love of God — Its universalism — Wesley's doctrine of human nature — In the experience of love is the fundamental unity of Methodism, in its theology, in its emphasis of fellowship, in its evangelism, in its sympathy with humanity, and in its comprehensiveness . pp. 429-440
III. EXTERNAL SIGNS OF UNITY p. 440
Some present external signs of its unity — Efforts towards its further manifestation ........ pp. 440-441
IV. MODERN APPEAL OF METHODISM . . . . p. 441
Its real unity in a spiritual inheritance and experience — Hence its
modern appeal pp. 441-442
Pages 417-442
418
CHAPTER I
FUNDAMENTAL UNITY
So far as external organization goes, the original unity of THE Methodism has been lost, and can only gradually be recovered. For rather more than half a century after Wesley's death UNITY. the story of its advance within the British Isles was marred External by a succession of sharp controversies, leading to the creation of distinct churches with varying constitutions. These differences naturally for a time affected the British Colonies, and were reproduced by the different missionary societies throughout the world. The Episcopal constitution of the Methodist Church in the United States, given to it by Wesley himself, created from the first a marked difference of ecclesiastical administration, distinguishing that branch from all the rest. The controversies which led to the various secessions turned exclusively upon either general or particular disagreements in regard to church government. The rights and responsibilities of the ministry on the one hand and of the laity on the other, the powers of the Con ference as representing the whole church and the local liberties of particular churches, were the main subjects of controversy.
It was inevitable that the movement should pass through Their this phase. And this for two reasons. In the first place, the fact that early Methodism owed its origin to a spiritual revival, and not to a clash of ecclesiastical ideals, forced it to face for itself, and within its own borders, the main issues as to church organization, which had vexed Christendom
419
420 METHODISM TO-DAY
throughout earlier history. In the second place, the peculiar characteristics of early Methodism forced such questions to the front. The Methodism of John Wesley and his coad jutors had two distinctive features. It was a movement of aggressive evangelism on the one hand, and a return to the vivid spiritual fellowship of early Christianity on the other. Each of these two ideals put a distinctive mark upon its constitution. In order to secure the unceasing aggression which was necessary ' to spread Scriptural Holiness through out the land,' Wesley created, by means of his Conference, an almost military organization. He was, of course, the commander-in-chief, whose spiritual authority was un questioned so long as he lived. His itinerant preachers were his superior officers, while under them was created a body of local preachers, class-leaders, and stewards, who held office under the authority of the preachers and were controlled by the decisions of the Conference. The specifically military organization of the Salvation Army in recent times enables us to understand the governing purpose which determined the action of Wesley in magnify ing the power of the Conference and of the circuit preachers. Yet, on the other hand, the effect of Methodist evangelism was the creation of societies composed of converts and of such as sought to become converts. The spiritual influence which brought such societies into existence and moulded their common life, of necessity vitalized the whole nature of the converts, and filled them with a deep sense of in dividual responsibility to which it was difficult to assign limits.
Authority Here, then, were concealed from the beginning the ele-
and liberty. ments of a new conflict between the principles of authority and of liberty. The real cause of such conflict was masked by general discussions as to the scriptural constitution of the Christian Church and the functions of the ministry. But such formal discussions were in reality governed by the two divergent factors which lay behind them. Differences must needs arise, according as greater weight is assigned to the one set of considerations or to the other. In such
FUNDAMENTAL UNITY 421
matters practical experience must decide rather than theoretic discussions. The main possibilities became ac tualized, and were lived out by the different types of organizations which sprang successively into being. Each has its measure of justification for those who view the subject broadly. Each has lent itself to amendment as the result of experience. Meaningless divisions have by this time been almost obliterated throughout the world. The present century will, in all probability, witness the discovery of some via media by the Methodism of Great Britain, which will enable it to follow the example of reunion which has already been set in every other part of the world, and to secure such a combination of authority with liberty as will best conduce to the practical efficiency and influence of the whole.
When, however, this difference has been noted and its The essential cause explained, no other disagreement exists. The theology of all branches of Methodism is identical. All attach the same importance, at least in theory, to church fellowship and offer similar means of satisfying it. All enforce the duty of unceasing evangelism, which is based on the will of God that all men should be saved and come to the know ledge of the truth. All admit the right, and enforce the duty, of the laity to take part in evangelism, and in the pastoral supervision of the church. Above all, the emphasis is everywhere laid on the importance of experimental religion, and therefore on conversion, on the possibility of the direct witness of the Spirit of adoption giving the assurance of present salvation, and on the calling to the life of entire sanctification which is brought about by the reign of perfect love in the heart.
It is not implied by this that there is universal fidelity in Created by regard to all these matters, or that the Methodist type is everywhere completely maintained. Methodism owes not merely its existence, but its characteristic theology and institutions, to a revival of religion. It depends absolutely upon the maintenance of the original standard of devotion and experience, not merely for its well-being, but even for
422 METHODISM TO-DAY
its integrity. This fact in itself exposes it to great risks and temptations. Still more it lays upon it the necessity of unceasing effort after such adjustments as may enable it to hold its own as a spiritual life amid the growingly diversi fied and vivid interests of the present day. It is no easy matter to maintain the standard of a religious life, which is nothing if it be not enthusiastic, amid the conflicting interests and complex relationships which have multiplied since the eighteenth century. Yet whatever the differences of cir cumstance and conditions, the old type persists unchanged as a permanent and universal ideal of Methodist life. All branches of Methodism throughout the world respect it and seek to maintain it. If anywhere or in any respect it fails, the endeavour is to restore it and not to find a substitute for it.
Enough has been said to suggest that the fundamental unity of Methodism is created and conditioned by a similarity of spiritual experience and temperament, by a common ethos which descends to succeeding generations, and is universally pervasive. Necessarily every distinct church tends to foster a temperament congenial to its theology, observances, and institutions. Where rival churches exist side by side, individual choice selects membership in any one type, not merely because of formal agreement, but by reason of the spiritual sympathies which determine it. Yet that which is only one element elsewhere may fairly And a be said to be the determinative factor in the case of Method-
common • jj. jg ^-g £acj. wnjc]1 makes it so difficult to explain
appeal to r
experience. to a superficial inquirer wherein the differentia of Methodism
consists. So far as doctrine is concerned, Wesley was not conscious of any departure from the outlines of the catholic theology which he had received through the Anglican Church. The particular institutions of spiritual fellowship which he created might conceivably have come into exist ence elsewhere. They were, indeed, suggested to him by meetings held within the Established Church in his day, although his constructive genius improved and systematized them. The connexional organization, which was necessary
FUNDAMENTAL UNITY 423
to the inherently aggressive character of Methodism, could not claim to be in itself the sufficient cause of its existence, even in days when questions of ecclesiastical constitution ranked as of first-rate importance. Its creators were concerned primarily with its efficiency and not with its scriptural warrant. Contentions on that matter belong to a subsequent stage of its existence. The origin of Methodism was composite. Some members of all churches, above all of the Established Church, gave in their adhesion to it. In the main, however, it was recruited from those who were outside all churches. So far as it was a movement for cultivating evangelical and experimental religion it would have appealed to a select few, as many pietist movements have done both before and since.
What determined the whole future of Methodism was the decision of Wesley to follow the example of Whitefieid and to preach in the open air. By that act Wesley turned from the churches, as such, to the evangelization of the multitudes in town and country. The advance of Methodism was by the spread of a spiritual conflagration. Those who joined the movement did so under the compulsion of an irresistible conviction. They were held together by the force of a common and continuous spiritual experience. Directly that failed the reason of their Methodism perished. They fell away altogether or reverted to whatever organized form of Christianity they had been accustomed to. This has been largely the case ever since. Of course, as Methodist churches have grown into powerful and widely extended organizations the usual causes have tended to maintain their principles and, in a sense, their influence. Multitudes are brought up in them whose adhesion is so customary that its grounds are never questioned. This is especially the case where the church is influential and prosperous. Thus a large body of nominal adherents has everywhere grown up. Moreover, many who become loyal and attached members do so, as in the case of all churches, without distinctly presenting to themselves the grounds of their preference. Yet, when all the qualifications have been made, it remains true
424 METHODISM TO-DAY
that the maintenance of Methodism in all its branches depends, in a unique degree, upon the persistence of its dis tinctive religious experience and ethos, and that these are fundamentally the same throughout the world and in all the branches.
Illustration A glance at other churches will establish this conclusion.
churches.61" In the case of Roman Catholicism manifold influences strengthen allegiance, quite apart from spiritual conditions strictly so-called. Venerable antiquity, the claim of in fallibility and authority, stately and even gorgeous cere monial, world-wide extension, all play a conspicuous part. The imagination is affected, and the whole being controlled by this masterpiece of ecclesiastical statecraft, long after religious susceptibility and active faith have decayed. In the same way the Anglican Church holds multitudes fast, quite apart from the depth or reality of spiritual experience. To say nothing of social influences, her historic position, her dignity and comprehensiveness all play a part in strengthen ing allegiance. If the non-episcopal churches lack, for the most part, these sources of influence, they have others peculiar to themselves. No doubt they had their rise in the great spiritual movement of the Reformation. The temper of that movement was, however, necessarily controversial. The new-born evangelical experience required theological ex pression. One of the first tasks of the Reformers was to provide a new confession of faith and to uphold it by all the argumentative resources at their disposal. Moreover, the breach with Rome made questions of ecclesiastical polity of first-rate importance. The Roman system was one of imperial despotism. Its relations with the State had for long been unsettled. Now its authority over the individual conscience was denied. Men claimed a spiritual freedom which the church denied. They were forced therefore to challenge her credentials and to deny her apostolicity, to disprove the scriptural authority both of her constitution and her claims. The result is seen in the rival edifices of Episcopacy, Presbyterianism, and Congregationalism. No doubt the question to what church a man belonged was
FUNDAMENTAL UNITY 425
often settled for him by local conditions. Cujus regio, ejus religio, was the principle according to which sovereigns insisted on determining the religion of their subjects. Yet if the sovereign was a Protestant, an ecclesiastical theory had to be provided for him, and in this his subjects were instructed. If, as in the case of the Protestant noncon formity of England, conscientious dissent from the doctrine and practice of the Established Church forced men to separate from it, still more were they bound to formulate an ecclesiastical theory of their own. In such circum stances such theories were necessarily implicated with politics. Doctrines of civil liberty were bound up with those of ecclesiastical organization and of theological truth. Adhesion to a particular type of doctrine, the acceptance of a particular form of church government, and a distinctive view as to civil obedience, combined to determine allegiance to any particular church, where a choice was possible.
No such influences affected the rise of Methodism. It is Such
not to be understood as a revolt from existing theology, P™ ^es of or from any particular ecclesiastical constitution. As a operation in missionary movement it established its existence without reference to any such questions of controversy. Men brought over into it, with comparative ease, whatever con victions on these subjects they had hitherto possessed. The Methodists did nothing to antagonize them. The watchword of Methodism, ' The friends of all, the enemies of none,' signified not merely goodwill, but practical indifference, at least for the time, to the causes which had produced denominational distinctions. As time went on Methodists in spite of themselves became church-builders. The initial organization, as has been seen, was directed towards practical ends, and not laid out to satisfy theoretic principles. Yet as the development proceeded differences inevitably ap peared. All the various types of church government were before their eyes. The immanent causes which make some men fashion one type of ecclesiastical organization and some another became active. Differences between Methodists
426 METHODISM TO-DAY
as to ecclesiastical system had to be determined, and diver gences had to be justified, by an appeal to the warrant of Scripture.
There was room here, of course, for much difference of opinion, nor were materials as yet available for a final decision. In many respects the perspective of those days differed from that of the twentieth century. Hence, the fundamental unity of Methodism is not due to theological agreement, although that, owing to characteristic features which will be touched upon later on, is complete. Nor is it accounted for by common ecclesiastical principles. Here, as has been noted, is the only existing cause of difference, although existing differences are being softened, and no longer arouse the intense feeling of the past. Yet, even within any particular branch of Methodism, the hold of any particular type of church constitution is comparatively weak. The influence of its ecclesiastical theory is not to be compared to that of Episcopacy, Presbyterianism, or Con gregationalism .
If, then, Methodism is not united by a primary insistence upon any particular theology, except as will subsequently be shown in respect to Calvinism, nor by any constitutional doctrine of the church, we are brought back to the assertion made at the outset that the fundamental unity of Methodism is to be sought in a peculiar combination of spiritual experi ence and temperament. What is it ? and how shall we account for it ?
Unity in a A good many answers have been given to the question,
ritual ' Wnat is the distinctive characteristic of Methodism ? '
experience — Some have found it to lie simply in emotional religion.
They have drawn attention to the deeply stirred feelings,
to say nothing of the occasional excitement, which attended
Not simply the preaching of Wesley, and of which there has been a
in emotion— tradJtion throughout the whole history of Methodism. They
have noted the joy and even rapture of peace through
believing, which found expression in experience meetings,
and, above all, in many of the most characteristic hymns.
Side by side with these are other outpourings of utmost grief
FUNDAMENTAL UNITY 427
•and dejection due to the consciousness of sin. The depth, volume, and prevalence of such feelings have led many hastily to assume that Methodism attached primary im portance to them and sought to excite them. The fact that the psychology of the eighteenth century frequently speaks of 'feeling,' where we now use the term ' consciousness,' has done something to strengthen this impression. Strange to say, such a definition, if it be taken as complete, would exclude Wesley himself from Methodism, for Wesley, while undoubtedly from time to time the subject of the deepest religious feelings and able to arouse them in others, was not, in the ordinary sense of the term, an emotional man at all. The appeals by which he justified himself and his movement were entitled Appeals to Men of Reason and Religion. They depend for their success upon clear and forcible statement, upon a rigid investigation of the teaching of Scripture, and of the experience of the early Christians, which were urged as setting the standard of the Christian religion for all time. The consuming zeal of Wesley expressed itself not in ex cessive emotion, but in uncompromising logic, in dauntless courage, in unceasing energy and persistence. The stress he laid upon rational convictions, his ceaseless endeavour to provide by means of literature for an instructed piety, and not least the attitude he took up in regard to the moral -evils of his times, are sufficient proof that Methodism is not to be explained as an outburst of emotional religion, although deep emotion may from time to time have at tended it.
Others, again, have found the essentials of Methodism in the stress it has laid upon the experience of conversion, and in the cluster of doctrines, called by John Wesley Our Doc- Nor in a trines, which have grown out of the experience of conversion. These include the universality of redemption, the direct witness of the Holy Spirit to believers that they are the sons of God, the gift therein of full assurance of present salvation, the need of conscious regeneration, and the possibility of entire sanctification, understood as perfect love to God and man. Such an explanation comes much nearer to the true
428 METHODISM TO-DAY
secret of the meaning of Methodism, and of the fundamental unity of Methodists. Methodism would never have arisen had it not been for the intense determination of the ' Holy Club ' at Oxford to take the Christian religion in earnest, and for the ever-deepening consciousness of sin which this endeavour brought about. The spiritual experience of St. Paul and of Luther was repeated in the case of John Wesley. The substance of his preaching and of his theology was, from the subjective standpoint, to be found in the transition through which he passed so far as conscious re lations to God were concerned. There are some periods of human history which seem to favour the spread of a deep conviction of sin, just as some others seem unfavourable to it. The end of a long period of spiritual torpor and laxity is marked by a new determination on the part of an elect few to take religion in earnest. Such a spiritual quickening always deepens the sense of the need of redemption and leads to a rediscovery of Christ. The result is a new move ment of evangelism which arouses in multitudes spiritual yearnings which have been long repressed. Again and again have such phenomena taken place in Christian history. They are now marked out for the careful study of the psycho logist, and are interpreted by means of what is known as subliminal consciousness. The rise of Methodism is perhaps the most remarkable of these manifestations. Its theology and life are stamped within and without by the great experiences of a spiritual revival. Whatever might happen as to its organic persistence, its distinctive notes would be destroyed were the conviction of sin, the experience of con version, and the realization of direct fellowship with God in Christ to be sensibly weakened. On the side of personal religion, therefore, such an explanation comes very near to the full truth. Such suggested explanations as that Methodism is a restoration of the primitive faith of early Christianity, or that it is an unfettered movement of aggressive evangelism, depend upon this deeper spiritual interpretation.
The only answer, however, which completely sets forth
FUNDAMENTAL UNITY 429
the meaning of Methodism is that it recovered by experience The and set forth in its preaching and teaching the supremacy of the love of God. This rediscovery fixed the type of its God religion, created its desire for spiritual fellowship, and inspired its ceaseless evangelism. The critical experience in Wesley's own life is described in his Journal under the date of May 24, 1738 :
In the evening I went very unwillingly to a Society in Alders- gate Street, where one was reading Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed, I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation : and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.
This discovery of the love of God gives the keynote to Wesley's preaching. A chance reference to almost any page of his Journals will prove the truth of this assertion. Such statements as the following are scattered throughout them : * I offered about a thousand souls the free grace of God ' ; ' I called to them in the words of the evangelical prophet, * " Ho ! every one that thirsteth, come to the waters " ' ; ' I stood and cried in the name of the Lord, " If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink." ' Everywhere the emphasis is on the universal love of God, Who will manifest the fullness of its saving power to every one who will accept it in Christ.
II
Three elements are contained in the relationship of God to THIS UNITY
mankind as set forth by Christianity. These are revelation, ^^CON-
rule, redemption. Every presentation of Christianity in- SIDERED.
volves an attempt to do justice to these three. They are This defines
J J the place of
closely connected, acting and reacting upon one another. Methodism.
430
METHODISM TO-DAY
The Greek, Latin, and Reformed conceptions of religion.
The Greek Church and revelation.
The Latin Church and authority.
Yet it is possible to say with truth that the leading types of Christianity are distinguished from one another by the fact that each, almost insensibly, singled out one of these three as determinative of the whole meaning of Christianity. Broadly speaking, revelation has the first place in Greek Christianity ; rule, or the divine sovereignty, in Latin ; redemption in Reformed.
For Greek theology, which is represented above all by the Fathers of Alexandria, Christianity is truth and life finally revealed. Salvation is the effective knowledge of this truth. The means of this effective knowledge is found in the manifestation of the eternal Logos, or Son of God ; first of all by His incarnation, and subsequently by His indwelling Spirit. The inner reason which constrained Athanasius to carry on his ceaseless warfare against Arianism, not only in its extremer, but in its milder forms, and un hesitatingly to reject all compromise, was his anxiety to- construct a doctrine of the Godhead which would give an absolute guarantee of the fullness and finality of divine revelation in and through Christ. This involved both His- deity, understood in the fullest sense, and the complete integrity of His manhood. It further involved His con stitutive presence throughout the universe in which He appeared manifest in the flesh, and His immanent relationship to the spiritual life of men to whom He revealed the glory of the Father. Undoubtedly Athanasius laid stress upon salvation as participation in the divine nature, and in immortality, as due to the redemptive union of the Son of God with mankind. From this standpoint his formula is- that the Son of God ' became human that we may become divine.' Yet the more distinctive conception in Greek theology is that of revelation. It has become so dominant that the Greek Church to this day lays claim to orthodoxy as its most out-standing attribute. On this view the gift of the Holy Spirit is, above all, illumination, and the char acteristic fruit of faith is wisdom.
For Latin Christianity the meaning of true religion wa& to be found, above all, in the divine rule. The authority of
FUNDAMENTAL UNITY 431
the Church set forth the sovereignty of God. So long as Western thought remained under the influence of Augustine, and of the Fathers and schoolmen who derived their philo sophy indirectly from Plato, the divine sovereignty was exhibited in forms of thought which did justice both to the transcendence and to the immanence of God. Yet the associations of Roman government prompted men to seek for some visible and institutional expression of the divine sovereignty, and to understand the church as the divinely appointed means of satisfying this need. The Jerusalem that is above had its counterpart in Rome. The sovereignty of God is mediated and made practically effective by the hierarchy which wields the spiritual authority of Christ on earth. Thus the sovereignty of God became for practical purposes something merely external and even political. Sin being in essence lawlessness, the means of salvation lay in the effective assertion of the divine sovereignty by means of the authority the Church and its ministry derived from Christ and the apostles. On the subjective side salvation was brought about by the submission which recognized the authority of the Church, assented without question to her teaching, and yielded obedience to her commands.
The watchword of Reformed religion was neither revela- The tion nor rule, but redemption. And redemption was by church and grace which operated, not through the magical efficacy of redemption, sacraments, but in the mercy which has given the Son to make atonement for sin, and has sent forth the message of divine grace and forgiveness through the Holy Spirit. Hence, as redemption is God's free gift in Christ, saving faith is neither the assent of orthodoxy nor the submission to authority, but trust, which in itself possesses no merit but is simply a child-like acceptance of the free gift of mercy offered in and through Christ. Thus the Reformed Churches laid stress upon justification by faith, and hence upon individual experience. Their claim of private judgement was not merely a revolt against the false, or a demand for personal liberty, but was essential to that direct and per sonal dealing with God upon which salvation depended.
432
METHODISM TO-DAY
The
Reformers and the sovereignty of God.
In its highest and best forms the Reformed theology set forth the possibility of attaining to direct assurance of salvation. In proportion, however, as Calvinist theology prevailed and vivid spiritual experience gave way, the doctrine of assur ance fell into the background. The salvation of each man depended upon the divine decree, and it savoured of pre sumption for any man confidently to assert his knowledge of what is the decree of God in relation to himself. At this point it is instructive to note that some time after the assurance of his acceptance with God came to Wesley, he inquired of his mother whether her father, Dr. Annesley — a noted Nonconformist divine — had not the same faith, and whether she had not heard him preach it to others. ' She answered, he had it himself, and declared, a little while before his death, that for more than forty years he had no darkness, no fear, no doubt at all of his being " accepted in the Beloved." But that, nevertheless, she did not remember to have heard him preach, no, not once, explicitly upon it ; whence she supposed he also looked upon it as the peculiar blessing of a few, not as promised to all the people of God.' l
The Reformed doctrine of redemption did not free itself from the Augustinian view of the sovereignty of God. This view prevailed with Luther, and still more with Calvin, whose influence moulded the theology of all the Reformed Churches. The sovereignty of God appeared all the more absolute and awful when the whole of the ecclesiastical apparatus which softened its aspect was swept away. The sovereignty of God appeared as the supremacy of will in God. Every feature of the life of man is absolutely deter mined from eternity by the divine will. If this man or that receives the grace of forgiveness and regeneration, the assurance and ultimately the possession of eternal life, he does so because God out of a sovereignty the reasons for whose decision no one may ask has willed that it shall be so. If any man remains in sin and is given over to eternal perdition, the explanation of his ruin lies equally in the
1 Journals, entry September 3, 1739. See also supra, vol. i. p. 169.
FUNDAMENTAL UNITY 433
divine will, which has either not elected him to salvation or has actively condemned him to reprobation, because involved in Adam's transgression.
Wesley, when the great experience which marked the Anglicanism turning-point of his life came to him, stood face to face with institutional the current religion of the Church of England and of the *n character. Calvinism which has been described. For the most part the religion of the Established Church was institutional in its character, orthodox in its profession, moralist in its temper. Despite the elements of a deeper and more evan gelical religious experience to be found in its formulas and Prayer-Book, it had become simply a typically English representation of organized Christianity, as being the witness to an ancient revelation, and as representing in its ordinances the sovereign claims of God. But these claims were satisfied by a decent and unexacting conformity. The Church ab horred, above all things, enthusiasm in religion. Christianity was the complete and final revelation of truth, miraculously revealed to prophets and apostles, and, above all, by Christ Himself. The custody of this revelation was given over to a divine institution, the Church. But there was no living succession of those spiritual experiences by which prophets •and apostles had originally received the truth. To suppose for one moment that such experiences could be repeated in the eighteenth century was the height of presumption and folly. The Church represented moderation, common sense, and, in theory at least, a decent morality. Its general tone was conditioned by all these. It had neither vital power nor evangelic message to the heart of man.
On the other side was Calvinism, which, while a deeper Wesley experience of the essential meaning of evangelical religion '^mac^of0 lingered on, and occasionally gave striking manifestation of the love of its power, yet, to a large extent, destroyed the testimony of its own inner light by the one-sided prominence which it gave to the fore- ordaining will of God as the source and explanation of all His dealings with mankind. The polemic of Wesley was entirely directed against these two. By his teaching and preaching he restored the love of God to its
VOL. n 28
434 METHODISM TO-DAY
primacy in His nature ; made the love of God, and neither His will nor His wisdom, the ultimate explanation of His dealings with mankind. The sovereignty of God was made good, and the revelation of God was completed in the abundant mercy made manifest to the sinful race in and through Christ. It is quite true that this restoration was not worked out to its final conclusion in reconstructed theology. Wesley, though both an intellectual and a highly educated man, was a logician and not a philosopher, a man of action rather than a thinker. His life was determined by his insatiable need of conscious acceptance and fellowship with God. His endeavour was directed, so far as his personal life was concerned, not to a theoretic comprehension, but to the perfecting of holiness. For him it was sufficient to take the doctrines of salvation presented in the New Testament as an assurance of what the grace of God would do for all men, and to verify them in his own experience. He then declared what God had done for him, basing the trust worthiness of his own experience, and that of others, upon the guarantee of divine revelation.
Its necessary But the way of salvation as portrayed in the New Testa ment, and the experience of salvation as conveyed to sinful men, united to emphasize the supremacy of love, and with the supremacy of love its universal scope. The gospel, because it is the revelation of the love of God, is of universal application. Accidentally Wesley established this position by a careful and searching exposition of the letter of Holy Scripture. Yet that which made the interpretation of the New Testament so decisive for him was his living appre hension of the universalism of love. Once grasp the thought in all its fullness that God is not merely sovereign will or self -revealing activity, but the Heart of love, and it becomes impossible to limit that love or to shut out one of His crea tures from the fullness of His grace. Therefore Wesley declared with all the authority of prophetic insight, and with the zeal of an apostle, that the divine will is to save all men because the divine heart loves all men.
This emphasis on love transformed his doctrine of human
FUNDAMENTAL UNITY 435
nature. Wesley believed, as all men of his experience have Wesley's
always done, in the sinfulness of human nature. He be- human6 lieved in the connexion of sin with wrath and judgement, nature. For him the very fact of the primacy of the love of God heightened the sense of the presence and enormity of sin in man. It may be said, and it is essential to the understanding of Methodism, that the sense of the love of God and of the sin of man vary directly as one another. Yet the determining factor is the former. Let the love of God be apprehended in its full spiritual and ethical significance, and the sin of man is thrown into the stronger relief. Let the sense of God's love be weakened, and the sense of sin in its strongest significance fades away. The fact, however, that God loves all men and makes an effective offer to them of salvation shows that they cannot be the totally ruined and helpless victims of sin that Calvinism represented them to be. They must possess a true and genuine freedom which enables them, when appealed to by the divine grace, to accept the offered mercy of God.
This power of man to accept the gospel was made good to Wesley and to the Methodists by two considerations. First of all by the plain fact that Scripture treats each man as responsible for his own salvation or his own perdition. In the next place by the constant verification of practical experience even in apparently the most hopeless cases. The Methodist hymnology is full of this sense of the suprem acy and universality of divine love, as inwardly experienced. The following quotation from Charles WTesley's greatest hymn is typical :
"Tis Love ! 'Tis Love ! Thou died'st for me !
I hear Thy whisper in my heart ; The morning breaks, the shadows flee,
Pure universal Love Thou art ; To me, to all, Thy mercies move ; Thy nature and Thy name is Love.
The restoration of the primacy of love in the divine character led to a corresponding emphasis on experimental religion
436
METHODISM TO-DAY
In this experience of love we have the fundamental identity of Methodism.
In its
theology.
as being love to God, realized by faith in His mercy through Christ. The Methodist definition of Christianity has always been that it is the love of God shed abroad in the heart. The clue to the secret of entire sanctification is, as has already been noted, perfect love. Everything else — orthodoxy, observance, even morality — though good in itself, is pronounced inadequate to express what is peculiar to the Christian. Only the love of God, enthroned in the heart of man as the motive of all action, of all belief, and of all ob servance, is the true and genuine explanation of Christianity.
Here, then, we have the explanation of the fundamental identity of Methodism contained in its history. It is the apprehension of the supreme and universal love of God as the essence of the gospel, of man as made for the fellowship of that love, of sin as withstanding it, of grace as atoning for sin and enthroning the love of God once more in the heart. The conditions under which Methodism arose led to its concentration upon this master truth. It attracted those who experienced its vitalizing power. This is the bond of union between its members throughout all its branches. When this bond weakens it falls to pieces at once.
The realization of this truth accounts for whatever is distinctive of Methodist theology. If it lays stress on the assurance of present salvation, it does so by insisting upon the direct witness of the Spirit in the hearts of believers, the reception of the Spirit of adoption crying ' Abba, Father.' If salvation consists in fellowship with God, in the life of love, our acceptance with God cannot be a far distant and uncertain result to be attained by a slow and painful dis cipline, nor can it be left to be laboriously and doubtfully inferred from the letter of Scripture, or from a survey of our own conduct and a scrutiny of the motives which prompt it. Some measure of confidence may be derived from all these sources, but at the best they can only be secondary. If God be love in any intelligible sense, if the gospel be the declaration of His love in its application to the individual heart, and if religion be the life of love, then one thing above all is certain — God can and will supply the guarantee and
FUNDAMENTAL UNITY 437
the conditions of the fellowship of love by calling forth the filial response to His Fatherly grace, through the direct act of His Spirit. Hence the spirit of joyfulness is essential to Methodism. The note of its religion is confidence and even rapture. The only response to the unspeakable love of God, manifest in Christ and shed abroad in the heart, is a trust, which, as it fills the heart with love, fills it also with satisfaction and rejoicing. Hence, again, the ideal of holiness is permeated by the spirit of love. It is not to be reached by negations. It is freed from all that is external and austere. It is simply the enthronement of love to God and to man in the heart, producing its natural results throughout all the relations of life.
It is by all this that the importance attached by every In its branch of Methodism to spiritual fellowship must be ex- plained. Love is social, is intimate, is helpful ; love lays open the secrets of the heart and shares its most sacred posses sions. Moreover, if love is to be maintained as an unfailing fire of devotion, it stands in need of continual inspiration, of practical guidance, and, above all, of expression in the character and conduct. Hence the experimental religion of Methodism revived the desire for spiritual fellowship which had wellnigh died out for ages in the Christian Church. The outstanding feature of its organization was to create manifold opportunities for satisfying this need.
It is by this same spirit of love that the aggressive evan- in its gelism of Methodism must be explained. It was this that evangelism- led Wesley, with great reluctance at first, and with much disinclination for long after, but with ever fuller conviction, to resort to the field-preaching without which the influence of Methodism as a national movement would never have become established. The England of his time, with its religious indifference and unbelief, its practical ungodliness and licentiousness, set to him his task. The organized Christianity of the Established Church on the one hand, and of Nonconformity on the other, still further defined it. The National Church, with its parochial system and its institu tional religion, gave a formal witness to the place of Chris-
438
METHODISM TO-DAY
And in its
common
sympathy
with
humanity.
tianity in the national life. Yet while it provided the services and sacraments of the church, it for the most part was satisfied with teaching a colourless morality, and left the mass of the people entirely neglected, either abandoned to godlessness or satisfied with the mere forms of religion. On the other hand was Nonconformity, lapsed into Uni- tarianism so far as the Presbyterians of England were concerned, but in its more evangelical sections for the most part aristocratic and exclusive, because pervaded by a Calvinism which so interpreted the decrees of a divine election as to destroy all evangelistic activity. To make the universal Christianity witnessed to by the Established Church real, and the real Christianity of the Nonconformists universal, this may be said to have been the original mission of Methodism. The motive which inspired it at the be ginning is still the secret of its power. Directly this evan gelistic fervour fails its spiritual identity with its own past becomes unrecognizable. And this not merely because it has lost the superficial marks of active and aggressive fervour, but because it has lost hold of the love of God as the inmost spring of religious life and the inspiring force of unceasing evangelism.
One thing further must be noticed. It may appear at first sight that the intensity of religious zeal and the intimacy of spiritual fellowship left little room for the ordinary concerns and sympathies of humanity. We do not deny that incidentally this was the case, here and there, now and then, with some Methodists. Yet it is untrue both of Wesley himself and of Methodists as a whole. True, Wesley was a man of his own century, and the eighteenth century was not marked by width of culture as we understand it, nor had it reached to that large conception of the unity of life in all its interests and relations which is only now beginning to dawn upon us. Yet Wesley, unlike many of the evan gelical revivalists who succeeded him, was not a man of one book in the sense of decrying literature or disparaging ordinary knowledge, nor was he a man of one aim in the sense of neglecting ordinary human faculties. He was,
FUNDAMENTAL UNITY 439
according to his opportunities, educationist, philanthropist, and reformer. He spent much of his time in seeking to collect and diffuse wholesome literature for his people. He even sought in a ' primitive ' way to minister to their physical health. Many of his fearless sayings struck at the root of economic wrong. In all these matters he gave the first intimation of a larger and more liberal spirit in regard to the relation of Christianity to the common life, and to its application to social needs. If he taught no doctrine of political responsibility it was because the rights and duties of general citizenship neither existed nor were conceived. It is sometimes declared that Methodism saved Great Britain from the horrors of the French Revolution. It is perhaps more important to note that its influence in this respect was not merely negative, but that it prepared the way for the extended citizenship which we now enjoy. It was the recognition in the sphere of religion of the unprivileged man, his needs, his responsibility, and his possibilities. That recognition cannot be limited to the sphere of religion. Hence it is by no means accidental that his followers have taken an active part in the work of political emancipation, and have supplied a large proportion of the leaders of industrial democracy.
It may sometimes seem as if Methodism had stumbled And upon this breadth of concern. It has frequently been attained in spite of a doctrine of the spiritual life which has been too narrow to contain all its extensions and appli cations. Its action has often been instinctive rather than preconceived. Yet it is just in this that its inner logic is most apparent. It depends naturally upon its apprehension that love is supreme in God and the most vital element in religion. For love is by nature comprehensive and pervasive. It will not tolerate hard-and-fast distinctions. Its inner reason becomes manifest in its sympathies before it is formulated in a philosophy of life. Hence Methodism has become comprehensive almost without knowing it, certainly without deliberately willing it, and this by reason of the spiritual influences which have made it what it is. Its
440
METHODISM TO-DAY
emphasis everywhere on the duty of personal service and its readiness to trust its converts with responsibility have made it the training-ground for social service of every kind.
EXTEBNAL
SIGNS or UNITY.
Signs of this oneness.
Efforts towards its further manifesta tion.
Ill
Hitherto we have dwelt on the fundamental unity of Methodism as evidenced by its temper and ideals. Such unity is far deeper than any mere superficial resemblances, whether of organization or government. Nevertheless, it is possible to overlook the importance and strength of these external unities. For the different branches of Methodism throughout the world are essentially one in their system of church government, in their creeds and symbols, in their emphasis of fellowship, in the stress they lay upon the evangelical factor, and in the main outlines of their organi zations. All alike are governed by Annual Conferences ; all alike temper what might be dangerous centralization by District Synods, and other local courts ; all alike admit laymen freely to a share in the government. In all, the itinerancy of the ministry, if still the rule, is no longer rigidly enforced. All alike believe in the importance of a trained and separated ministry. All alike, while careful to emphasize the need of spiritual fellowship, recognize, at any rate in practice if not in theory, that there are other means and forms of social religion than the class-meeting, and are determined not to dismember for mere non-attend ance as distinct from careless spiritual life. All alike hold the same creed, lay similar stress on the two sacraments, sing the same hymns, have the same standards of doctrine and faith, and are moulded by subtle forces, spiritual and mental, into many identities of outlook and life. The Methodist, the wide world over, is recognized by others, and is conscious himself that he belongs to the same family.
The desire for the union or reunion of the several sections of Methodism in this and other lands is therefore entirely natural, and cannot fail of realization, though history and circumstances will condition its manner and time. In
FUNDAMENTAL UNITY 441
England a standing committee for Methodist concerted action has a valuable record. The mother church has taken a further step which has been gladly responded to. A scheme has been devised for assembling periodically representatives of all the Methodist Churches in this country. The Assembly will have no legislative or administrative functions ; but the communion enjoyed, and the considera tion of interests in common, must deepen as well as manifest the fundamental oneness of British Methodists. Some have thought of immediate practical co-operation, especially in regard to ministerial training. It is suggested that all Methodist ministerial students should enjoy a course of training together, the course taken in the college of the section to which the student belongs being preceded or followed by one in a college common to all, say in Oxford, where the name which all bear was first given. But the time for this is, probably, not yet.
IV
We have established the fundamental identity of all forms MODERN of Methodism, not by a mere survey of external methods ^PEAL and institutions, still less of formal doctrines, but in the light METHODISM. of a common and constitutive spiritual experience. The J^jpj^J a unity of Methodism is to be explained not by its institutions inheritance and formularies, but by its spiritual inheritance. If this be ™erjence grasped it will immediately appear that Methodism belongs to the twentieth century still more manifestly than to the eighteenth. Tested from any standpoint this is the case. The emphasis laid by Wesley upon the love of God leads up to and is justified by the doctrine of the Divine Fatherhood, which has become the governing principle of our later theology. A spiritual revival was necessary to make men rediscover the place of the Divine Fatherhood in the revelation of Christ, and to give to it its proper spiritual significance. Again, modern thought assigns ever-increasing Hence its weight to the experimental side of religion ; to the spiritual consciousness as containing within itself the best guide to
442 METHODISM TO-DAY
and the most convincing verification of the faith of Christ. The moderatist conception of the days in which Wesley lived — that Christianity was a supernatural revelation arti ficially conveyed by experiences which came to a complete end with the apostles, and that then it was committed to the custody of a divine institution, while the world was at the best to run on in moralized secularity — is laughed to scorn to-day, as much by philosophic thought as by experimental religion. The spiritual experiences which were renewed in the Methodist revival, are admitted by all to give the surest clue to the meaning and worth of religion.
Again, the fellowship of Methodism finds a congenial place in an age when the conception of brotherhood supplies the highest standard to all efforts after human progress. The permanence and growth of Methodism, in all its branches, depend upon its simple response to the truth that God is love, and upon its faithful expression of it. Its future depends upon its power to single out, translate and give expression in daily life to this master-truth. Only as Methodism does this will it justify the claim of Wesley that it is simply the rediscovery and restoration of primitive Christianity.
PLATE XXXI
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AGREEMENT IN WESLEY'S HANDWTIITING, with autographs of early preachers, 1752, suggesting principles of unity.
II. 442]
CHAPTER II UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED
Behold, how good and haw pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity ! There the Lord commanded the blessing.
Ps. cxxxiii. 1, 3.
Thou, O man of God, think on these things ! If thou art already in this way, go on. If thou hast heretofore mistook the path, bless God who hath brought thee back ! And now run the race that is set before thee, in the royal way of universal love.
WESLEY, Sermon xxxix., Catholic Spirit.
4*8
CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTORY p. 445
Influences helping reunion — The (Ecumenical Conferences — Success of previous unions ....... pp. 445-448
IT. AMALGAMATION OF TWO ENGLISH SECTIONS, 1857 p. 448
The Wesleyan Methodist Association and the Wesleyan Reformers
— Similarity of origin — Amalgamation proposed — Accepted — First
United Assembly ....... pp. 448-450
III. IN THE UNITED STATES, 1876, 1877 . . . p. 451
The Slavery Question — Fraternity established between the North and South Methodist Episcopal Churches — The Protestant Metho dist Church and the Methodist Church unite . pp. 451-454
IV. IN IRELAND, 1878 p. 455
The Sacramentarian controversy — The Primitive Wesleyans — Their union with the Wesleyan Methodists — Methodist New Con nexion Mission, 1905 ...... pp. 455-457
V. IN CANADA p. 457
Early divisions: Methodist Episcopal and Wesleyan Methodist Churches — Other Methodist communities — Consolidation — Union of two Churches — Others contend for lay rights — The (Ecumenical Conference, 1881 — A basis proposed — Complete union, 1883.
pp. 457-465
VI. IN AUSTRALIA, 1900 p. 465
The call for union — Slow response — Proposals for partial union — Lay leaders — Influence of the (Ecumenical Conference, 1891 — The Wesleyan General Conference, 1894 — Union in South Australia, 1899 — New Zealand — Union completed in Australia pp. 465-472
VII. IN ENGLAND p. 472
FRUITLESS NEGOTIATIONS — The Methodist New Connexion leads in 1837, all Methodist churches invited — The Methodist New Con nexion and Bible Christians confer, 1868 — Complete English reunion again proposed, 1886 — The Methodist New Connexion and the United Methodist Free Churches confer, 1889 — The Primitive Metho dists and Bible Christians, 1894 — Fraternal relations. SUCCESSFUL ACHIEVEMENT — The (Ecumenical Conference, 1901, proposed the reunion of British Methodism — Considered by the Conferences — The United Methodist Free Churches lead — A tentative basis pro posed, 1902 — Adopted by the Methodist New Connexion, the United Methodist Free Churches, and the Bible Christians, 1903 — A con stitution proposed, accepted by the three Conferences, 1905 and by their circuits — The Uniting Conference, 1907 . pp. 477-482
Pages 443-482 444
CHAPTER II
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED
AUTHORITIES. — To the General List add : The Minutes of Conference of the churches referred to ; the volumes of collected pamphlets and articles entitled Methodist Union, in the Hobill Library, Ranmoor College, Sheffield ; TOWNSBND, Story of Methodist Union (1906) ; and for Canada, chap. vii. of SUTHERLAND, Methodism in Canada (1903).
IF the history of Methodism, during the first half of the INTBO- nineteenth century, is, in the main, the record of progress DUOTOBY' and consolidation, of evangelical revivals at home and missionary expansion abroad, it is also the record of calamitous disruptions which had the effect of disintegrating Methodism in many parts of the world. The causes of these divisions are dealt with elsewhere in this volume, and we have no need to do more than simply recall them. In recent years, however, a most significant, auspicious, and happy change has taken place. Methodism is now an unbroken fellowship. Not only has the spirit of conflict disappeared, but it has given place to an unmistakable desire for reconciliation and reunion. On both sides of the Atlantic, as well as in Australia, it has led to organic union or reunion ; it is steadily increasing in volume and momen tum ; and it promises to bring about results on a larger scale than, as yet, have been attempted. It is this move ment we propose to follow.
At a first glance it may seem that some events in this Influences great movement were merely the outcome of extraneous circumstances. The union effected in the Protestant
445
446
METHODISM TO-DAY
Kinship.
The spirit of the age.
Methodist Church of America, for example, was made possible, as we shall explain, by the emancipation of the slave after the Civil War ; the amalgamation in England in 1857 between the Wesleyan Association and the Reformers was the natural sequence of the agitation of 1849 ; the union in Ireland was rendered necessary by the disestablish ment of the Irish Church ; and the union in Canada, at least in its earliest stages, was not unconnected with Cana dian politics. All this must be borne in mind. It only serves to show that the stream of church life does not flow by itself. It is part of the wider manifold life of the world. But no delusion could be greater than to imagine that the progress of Methodist Union is a result of accident. It has originated in other and far deeper springs.
Perhaps the deepest of all has been the indestructible sense of kinship cherished by all true Methodists. However cruelly they might be severed from each other, and however fierce their internecine conflicts, they could not but feel that they had much in common. All alike they had entered into the one inalienable inheritance. They were the children of John Wesley, preached the same faith, testified to the same spiritual experience, sang the same hymns, adhered to the same methods of evangelistic work, and, whatever their diversities of polity, adhered in a very striking degree to the principles of connexionalism and circuit unity. In the troubled times of conflict this sense of kinship was, no doubt, apparently obliterated ; but in due course it asserted itself, as indeed it could not but assert itself. This sacred sense of birthright, family affection, natural affinity, belong, one might say, to the life-blood of Methodism and will always tend to draw Methodists nearer together.
Another fact hardly less influential lies in the spirit of the age. Two centuries ago the prevailing tendency was towards individualism — sometimes a strident, aggressive, militant individualism. A reaction was bound to follow ; and to-day in commerce and politics, in labour and capital, in literature and religion, the tendency is towards combina tion. When basely directed it is an immense evil ; when
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED 447
nobly and wisely directed it is an unspeakable good ; but, evil or good, it is an obvious and indisputable fact. It affects all classes of people and all departments of life. Everywhere the tendency is towards combination. And as Methodism is not a water-tight compartment, impervious to outside influences, but has to yield, more or less, to the spirit of the age, Methodist union is rendered less difficult.
But there is a third contributory fact of great importance ; it is that of the spiritual life of the churches. The nearer men are to God the nearer to one another ; and whenever the visitation of God is given to the churches in rich fullness and plenitude, the more eager is their desire for fellowship. We do not suggest for one moment that the lamentable disruptions of the past were due to unspirituality ; but we do mean that disruption, however justifiable, is accepted by a church in which Christ abundantly dwells as an abnormal necessity which requires to be fully justified and which cannot be regarded as permanent. As a matter of history the call for union has been the clearest when the vitality of the churches has been the strongest. It has come from the people just in proportion as they have been moved and guided by divine inspiration. Union is never attained by any policy of panic or any betrayal of principle ; but always by the desire of regenerated souls for a closer communion, and an ampler opportunity for doing the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In this analysis of the causes of Methodist Union some The reference must be made to the three Methodist (Ecumenical Conferences held in 1881, 1891, and 1901. On the one hand they were, more or less, the product of the three forces already mentioned ; but, on the other, they have themselves yielded far-reaching results. At the first Conference the subject of union was hardly mentioned, yet almost un awares it gave impetus to the movement. It brought representative Methodists together from all parts of the world, quickened their mutual confidence, stirred their hearts, awakened many slumbering thoughts, and helped to dispel prejudice. At the second Conference, held ten
448
METHODISM TO-DAY
Success of
previous
unions.
years later, the cause was advocated with great boldness and an almost glowing enthusiasm ; and at the third Con ference, held in 1901, it was not only advocated by its supporters, but it was formally sanctioned and recommended by the Conference in the passing of a definite resolution. The first Conference was followed by the crowning act of union in Canada — the formation of one undivided Methodist Church ; the second helped in no small degree to accomplish union in Australia ; and the third was at least one factor which started the negotiations between the United Metho dist Free Churches, the Methodist l^ew Connexion, and the Bible Christian Methodists, which happily have now culminated in the birth of the United Methodist Church. So prominent have been the (Ecumenical Conferences in the history of Methodist union, that they may be taken as milestones to measure the progress of the movement. The events of union which took place previous to 1881 may, on the whole, be regarded by themselves, and are easily distinguishable from what took place afterwards.
Further, it will be found that Methodist union has been powerfully aided by actual experience. Wherever it has been attained, and its practical advantages, as well as its intrinsic reasonableness, have been more clearly seen, it has stood out both as an instructive object-lesson and a worthy example. Canada prepared the way for Australia. The mother-country has followed in the steps of its colonies. Indeed it has been found, as we shall see, that in the most recent instance — that of the union represented in the United Methodist Church — even the abortive attempts of the past were not lamentable failures, as had been supposed, but had an educative and stimulative power. In this way the movement is continually growing stronger.
THE AMAL-
ENGLISH SECTIONS,
II
The Wesleyan Methodist Association and the Wesleyan Reformers became united in 1857 in one body, known as the United Methodist Free Churches. A brief summary
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED 449
only is needed of this, as the history is given in the first volume. The event was significant as indicating that even then a new spirit was beginning to make itself felt in Methodism. The Wesley an Association might be truthfully described as a product of union, for in 1836 it had been joined by the Protestant Methodists who had seceded from the parent body in 1829. Shortly afterwards it was strengthened by the addition of about a thousand members in the neighbourhood of Derby, who were known as Arminian Methodists.
At the time of the amalgamation the Wesleyan Asso- The ciation had been in existence about twenty- two years, it having seceded in 1835. The Reformers had hardly yet, as Association an organized body, come into existence. The ' Agitation,' wesle^an as it was called, had started in 1849, in consequence of the Reformers. expulsion of Everett, Griffith, and Dunn from the Wesleyan ministry. The withdrawal and expulsion of members con tinued for several years, during which period the Wesleyan Church lost 100,000 members, besides adherents and Sunday scholars. The Reformers had soon to consider how they could be kept together. Many thousands of them had drifted hopelessly away, and the rest had formed themselves into societies bound together by no clearly defined con- nexional bonds. These societies, thus loosely related to each other except by strong mutual sympathy, had called out their ministers, built chapels, and embarked upon other financial undertakings ; and so, by the inexorable logic of circumstances, they were compelled to reshape their policy. How were they to conserve their interests ? How could they best vindicate their principles ? How could they guarantee their future ? How could they, as a body, be perpetuated ?
It will be seen, therefore, that, on both sides, the instinct Similarity of self -protection worked in favour of amalgamation. But it was not the creative force. The fact to be kept clearly in view, explaining what followed, is that the secessions of 1835 and 1849 were stages in the same movement. The protest of the Wesleyan laity had been silently growing
VOL. ii 29
450
METHODISM TO-DAY
long before 1835, and it reached its culmination in the Reform disruption. The principle involved was always the same — that of lay representation.
Amalgama- The question of amalgamation was first considered at ^086(1^1854. the Delegate Meeting of Reformers in 1854 ; and it was then decided, upon the motion of Mr. Joseph Massingham of Norwich, to open negotiations with the Wesley an As sociation with a view to union. A similar resolution was passed by the Assembly of the Wesleyan Association in the same year, and its committee was instructed to take whatever action might prove to be expedient. These steps soon led to definite results. A joint committee, made up of twelve persons from each party, was at once formed. ' The Union Committee,' writes Dr. Townsend —
met at Nottingham on February 27, 1855. An elaborate paper was read to the meeting containing a statement of prin ciples held by the Wesleyan Reform Societies, and which they now avowed as being the fundamental principles of the church order which they were prepared to establish. These principles were discussed with the utmost candour and freedom in several sittings of the United Committee. Then each section discussed them separately and passed resolutions, both of them expressing the view that there was no insuperable difficulty in the way of union, and also the hope that the negotiations so happily begun would result in the two denominations being united in the closest bonds of church fellowship.
Accepted, 1856.
First
United
Assembly,
1857.
At a second meeting of the Committee a basis of union was agreed upon, and this was accepted at the following Assembly. During 1856-7 the Committee was engaged in adjusting matters of detail.
The first Annual Assembly of the United Methodist Free Churches was held in Baillie St. Chapel, Rochdale, in 1857. The Connexion now formed was at once divided into Districts, and District Meetings were established. The union of the people was perfect, for in a very short time the distinction between Associationist and Reformer was entirely forgotten.
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED 451
III
On New Year's Day, 1808, by virtue of an Abolition Bill IN THE introduced by Earl Grey, the slave trade under the British ^™ flag was declared to be illegal, and in the same year the 1876, 1877, infamous traffic was prohibited by the United States of America. In spite of these enactments, however, slavery continued to thrive. By the English it was carried on under cover of the Spanish and Portuguese flags. The slave- ships were more crowded than ever, from the necessity of avoiding capture. Not until 1834, and then only after an indemnification of £20,000,000 had been paid to the slave owners, was freedom given to slaves throughout the British Colonies. In America, in spite of the statement in the Declaration of Independence that all men are born free and equal, the slave continued to be a slave ; and when the traffic from Africa was made illegal, slavery was fostered in Maryland and Virginia to a large extent, for the supply of the other States in the south. It was contended that this inter-state slave trade was for the cultivation of sugar and cotton. In the interests of an unholy peace the traffic was left to itself. By slow degrees was the conscience of the United States awakened. The line was sharply drawn between free territory and slave territory. State was set against State ; and only in course of the cruel civil war was the negro emancipated, in 1863, by President Lincoln.
It can be readily understood that slavery was a disturbing The element in American Methodism. On the one hand there Q*very was an influential section which deprecated any inter meddling with the subject. Even in England this policy was pursued with reference to slavery in the West Indies. ' Your only business,' so Richard Watson instructed the missionaries, ' is to promote the moral and religious im provement of the slaves to whom you have access, without in the least degree, in public or private, interfering with their civil condition.' As long as was possible the same policy was sanctioned by the official party in the American
452
METHODISM TO-DAY
Fraternity
established
between the
North and
South
Methodist
Episcopal
Churches,
1876.
Methodism. On the other hand, the anti-slavery party held the trade in unspeakable abhorrence and gave it no quarter. As might be expected, the anti-slavery agitation was fiercest in the Northern States ; while in the Southern States the Methodists fell back on their pro-slavery educa tion, habits, and traditions, and denounced the Reformers as ' schismatics, attempting to destroy the constitution of the church itself.' So the great Methodist Episcopal body was at war with itself.
The division came to a head in 1844, when, by the action of the General Conference, Bishop Andrew was suspended from office because he was an owner of slaves. Separation between the North and South became inevitable ; and very soon both parties accepted what was called the Plan of Separation, ' a constitutional plan for a mutual and friendly division of the church, provided they cannot, in their judgement, devise a plan for an amicable adjustment of the differences now existing in the church on the subject of slavery.'
On May 1, 1845, the Methodist Episcopal Church South was organized as a separate community. Its first General Conference was held in Pittsburg in 1846, and at that Con ference it had 19 Annual Conferences, 1,519 travelling preachers, and 327,284 members. The reconciliation be tween the two churches did not come until after the Civil War. In 1869 the official overture of friendship was made by the North to the South, and was sincerely reciprocated. On both sides it was agreed that as slavery had been abolished there ought to be at least ' formal fraternity ' between the two churches, and after some negotiations this was em bodied in the historic document adopted in 1876, and known as the * Declaration and Basis of Fraternity between said Churches '- -' Each of said churches is a legitimate branch of Episcopalian Methodism in the United States, having a common origin in the Methodist Episcopal Church organized in 1784. Since the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church South was consummated in 1845, by the voluntary exercise of the right of the Southern Annual
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED 453
Conferences, ministers, and members to adhere to that communion, it has been an evangelical church, reared on scriptural foundations, and her ministers and members, with those of the Methodist Episcopal Church, have con stituted one Methodist family, though in distinct ecclesi astical connexions.'
This was satisfactory as far as it went ; but more satis factory still was the healing of a division in another section of American Methodism. The Methodist Protestant Church was formed in Baltimore in 1828, having seceded from the Metho dist Episcopal Church. The first claim of the seceders was that the preachers should have a voice in the appointment of the Presiding Elders, who hitherto had been appointed exclusively by the bishops. But this soon developed into a further claim that the laity should be able to exercise their just rights and privileges in the control of church affairs generally. The agitation spread until secession was felt to be unavoidable. In two or three years the newly formed church reported a membership of nearly 25,000 members.
Hardly had it started, however, than it began to be disturbed by the slavery question. In the Southern Con ference most of the representatives came from slave-holding States, while the Northern Conferences were made up almost exclusively of abolitionists. The former party took its stand on the Articles of Association which formed the basis of the body, and which provided that they should not be ' construed so as to interfere with the rights of property belonging to any member, as recognized by the laws of State within the limits of which the member may reside.' The latter contended that a slave-owner was unworthy of membership in the church. Petitions and memorials were submitted to the General Conference in 1838 and led to hot debate. Compromise after compromise was attempted by this and succeeding Conferences, but all to no purpose. The abolitionists were determined that in their church there should be no recognition, direct or indirect, of slavery. In 1858 the body was torn into two
454
METHODISM TO-DAY
The
Protestant Methodist Church and the Methodist Church unite, 1877.
pieces, the Southern portion of it continuing as the ' Metho dist Protestant Church ' and the Northern portion known as the ' Methodist Church.'
The civil war was already in sight. In February 1861 seven of the seceding States formed a provisional govern ment, and a month later President Lincoln was inaugurated at Washington. The country was now in full flame, and for four terrible years the conflagration continued. Metho dists who had once belonged to the same religious com munion now met face to face on the field of battle. They saw their churches used as stables and barracks. Peace was declared in 1865 and with it the freedom of the slave. But at what an appalling cost ! The Federal losses were estimated at 316,000 ; the losses on the Confederate side have never been disclosed.
Scarcely was the war over than the desire for reunion began to be felt by both of the severed churches. In 1870 a deputation from the Methodist Episcopal Church went with fraternal salutations to the General Conference of the Methodist Protestant Church, then meeting at East Balti more. Now that slavery was gone, why should not both sides acknowledge each other as brethren ? At the Metho dist Conference in 1871 a deputation attended from the Methodist Protestant Church. Three or four years later a joint committee met to consider plans and methods, and ultimately agreed upon a basis of reunion. The two Con ferences met together in 1877, for the first time since the rupture. Marching in procession, their respective Presi dents arm in arm, followed by the secretaries, and then by the united body of representatives, they assembled to gether in the Starr Methodist Protestant Church in Balti more. The chair was occupied by the Rev. Dr. Smith of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the formal resolution, consummating the reunion, was moved by the Rev. Dr. Bates of the Methodist Protestant Church. While the Doxology was being sung strong men spontaneously grasped hands and were locked in each other's embrace.
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED 455
IV
After a severance of about sixty years the Primitive IN IRELAND, Wesleyan Church of Ireland was, in 1878, reunited to the 1878< Wesley an Methodist Conference. The cause of the division was the Sacramentarian controversy, which was started immediately after Wesley's death. Although this con troversy did not touch, even indirectly, the negotiations for reunion, and indeed had long been forgotten, it must not be entirely ignored if the significance of the happy event of 1878 is to be clearly understood.
The Plan of Pacification giving the Methodists the power, The Sacra- under certain specified conditions, to have their own Sacra- ments, had been in operation several years before it made 18 14. itself felt, to any considerable degree, in Ireland, where the feeling among Methodists generally was in favour of allegiance to the Established Church. Soon, however, some of the circuits began to petition the Irish Conference for the right of having the Sacrament administered by their own preachers. The Conference declined the petitions time after time until it could do so no longer, and in 1814 it somewhat reluctantly conceded the right. In view of opposition it suspended the operation of the vote for one year, and in 1815 for a second year. In 1816 a Plan of Pacification for Ireland was definitely adopted, but only such circuits as were specified by the Conference were to have the right, and in those cases the Sacrament was to be administered exclusively by the Superintendent.
The opposition was led by Adam Averell, an estimable and able man who had made great sacrifices for Methodism, but who, while being a Methodist preacher, was also a Churchman and an ordained clergyman. Under his leader ship several thousands of members seceded from the Wesleyan The -body. In 1818 the Primitive Wesleyan body was formed, Pfni
J J ' J Wesley ans.
protesting against the administration of the Sacrament by Methodist preachers, and affirming its connexion with the Established Church. The following year it reported 53 chapels and preaching-rooms and upwards of 12,000 mem-
456 METHODISM TO-DAY
bers. Any church departing from its provisions was to forfeit its chapel to the Crown.
The extent of the mischief wrought by this division can hardly be exaggerated. Methodism in Ireland was very dear to Wesley's heart. Twenty-one times that great man had presided over the Irish Conferences. After his death the chair was occupied by Dr. Coke for more than twenty years, except when he was absent on his missionary tours, when it was occupied by Averell, John Crook, and Dr. Adam Clarke. On the other hand, Ireland had produced some of the noblest of early Methodists — Thomas Walsh, scholar, poet, and preacher ; Henry Moore, mighty in winning souls, and Wesley's trusted counsellor ; William Thompson, the first President after Wesley's death ; James M'Quigg, the eminent Irish scholar who edited the Irish Bible ; Gideon Ouseley, converted in 1789 and for fifty years the most remarkable evangelist in Ireland ; and greatest of all, Adam Clarke, as magnanimous and child-like as he was scholarly and mighty — a veritable king among his brethren, and probably the finest commentator of his time. The churches which produced such brilliant, intrepid, and devoted men must have developed into a most powerful instrument for good had they but kept united. Torn by division they were compelled to fight Popery as best they could, and the poverty, ignorance, and social barbarism which Popery entailed. The difficulties of Methodism were aggravated by costly lawsuits which are best now forgotten, and also by Irish emigration to America. Still, it held its own bravely. It ought also to be added that the Primitive Wesleyan body, although it did not grow numerically to any great extent, preserved its purity of faith, its fervour of piety, and its fidelity to its Methodist inheritance.
In 1870 the Irish Church was disestablished. By this Act it was decided that no portion of the surplus remaining should be applied for the maintenance of any church or clergy, or other ministry, nor for the teaching of religion. From January 1, 1871, religious equality in Ireland was recognized by law.
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED 457
It was at once evident that this change in the status of the Irish Church involved a change in the position of the Primitive Wesleyans. Accordingly, in 1871 an Act of Parliament was passed enabling them to unite with any other Protestant church as the Conference might determine. Several attempts were made to induce them to unite with the disestablished Church, now ' sent naked and bleeding into the wilderness ' ; but happily without success. After all, they were Methodists by inheritance and faith. In 1873 negotiations were opened with a view to reunion with Their union the Wesley an Conference. A joint committee appointed wesleyan by both parties met at Cork, the Rev. Luke H. Wiseman Methodists, presiding. The discussion was continued for five years, a basis of polity was agreed upon, funds were adjusted, and at last, in 1878 in Dublin, union was finally consummated. The union has proved itself to be perfectly cordial and satisfactory, and the future of Methodism in Ireland is, apparently, permanently secured. In 1905 the mission which also stations of the Methodist New Connexion were taken over,
and now, with the exception of a few Primitive Methodist Churches which are contemplating cession to the Irish Mission, Wesley an Methodist Church, there is one Methodist Church 1905- in Ireland.
Methodism found its way into Canada in the later years IN of the eighteenth century. At first it was sustained almost 1374^1883 exclusively by preachers sent by the Methodist Episcopal Church over the border, but in 1814 missionaries were also appointed by the English Wesley an Conference. Between the two agencies painful dissensions arose, and it was then Early mutually decided that the American missionaries should be
appointed to the churches in Upper Canada and the English Episcopal to those in Lower Canada. As a further step towards wesieyan harmony, it was, in 1824, agreed that there should be a separate Conference in Upper Canada, under the super intendence of the American bishops. Four years later
458
METHODISM TO-DAY
Other Methodist com munities.
Canadian Methodism became an independent church, taking the name of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada. Owing, however, to certain difficulties, which it is not neces sary here to particularize, it was deemed desirable a few years later to unite the Canadian with the English Conference, the Episcopacy being superseded by an Annual Presidency.
Then followed other disputes. The Methodist Episco palians, or, at any rate, a considerable proportion of them, withdrew, and formed the Methodist Episcopal Church. The uneasiness continued ; and in 1840, as a result of the policy pursued by the English Missionary Committee, which, wise or unwise, was unacceptable to the Canadian preachers, the union with England was dissolved. Fortu nately the fierce temper of friction which now threatened to decimate the societies began to give place to the wiser spirit of tolerance and conciliation ; and in 1847 the breach was healed and the two Conferences were reunited. The causes of this chronic unrest are not far to seek. They may be found to a large extent in the history of Canada — the remarkable development of its people, the gradual welding together of its provinces, the collisions between England and the United States, the feuds of races, the misunderstandings, almost unavoidable, between a thriving lusty Colonial people and a conservative Government at home, and similar misunderstandings between the Canadian Methodists and the English Wesley an Conference.
Besides the Wesley an Methodist and the Methodist Episcopalian bodies there were three other smaller Methodist communities — the Methodist New Connexion, the Primitive Methodists, and the Bible Christians. The first of these three commenced its mission in Canada in 1837, the Rev. John Addyman being appointed. Four years later it was strengthened by a union with the followers of Elder Ryan, numbering nearly two thousand members, and two years later still by a further union with Protestant Methodists of Eastern Canada. The Primitive Methodist Church sent its first missionary — Rev. R. Watkins — in 1830, and rapidly multiplied its stations. The Bible Christians began their
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED 459
work still earlier, by means of emigrants who had settled in the country. In 1831 there were 6,650 members. Until 1874 these five bodies worked separately, each in its sphere, with very limited resources, and against most serious re verses and discouragements, ministering to the people and being rewarded by not a little prosperity.
Then began the era of consolidation. It found expression Consolida- first in Canadian political life. The federation of the pro vinces was finally completed in 1867 ; they were henceforth to be known as the Dominion of Canada, comprising the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Other provinces were included at a later date, and then the Dominion extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The same spirit had entered into the re ligious life of the people, and in 1861 a union was effected between the United Presbyterian and Free Churches. The question of the unification of Methodism was naturally raised for discussion. In 1863 the subject was introduced in an article by the Rev. J. H. Robinson, Methodist New Connexion minister, in the Christian Witness, and soon became the theme of conversation among the leading men of all the Methodist churches. The visit of Dr. W. M. Punshon in 1867 was itself a great inspiration to the cause of union. ' The sacrifice of personal position in this country,' he wrote, ' will be a small price to pay if I can aid in the establishment of a grand Methodist con federacy which shall be one of the great spiritual powers in the New World.'
At that time there were, roughly speaking, about 1,231 ministers and 125,264 members reported by the Methodist bodies in Canada.1 Never had these churches been more adequately equipped, more abundantly prosperous, and more hopeful of their denominational future, than when this new
Ministers. Members.
1 Wesleyan Methodist Church 718 76,455
Methodist Episcopalian Church .. .. 228 25,671
Methodist New Connexion Church .. .. 117 8,312
Primitive Methodist Church 88 7,425
Bible Christian Church . . 80 7,400
460 METHODISM TO-DAY
spirit of mutual rapprochement began to influence them. Then they found themselves asking whether their divisions, however justifiable once, were to be regarded as permanent, and the vision of a larger Methodist fellowship enchanted them. The perfect fulfilment of it was to be delayed for some years, but in 1874 the first instalment of it was realized in the union of the Wesleyan Methodist Church with the Methodist New Connexion.
In 1870 the Canadian Wesleyan Conference, having ex pressed its judgement that a union of all the Methodist bodies in Canada was desirable, appointed a committee, consisting of an equal number of ministers and laymen, to consider how this could best be carried into effect. Similar resolutions were passed by the other conferences. At a meeting of a representative joint committee, held at Toronto in March 1871, a general basis of union was discussed and generally accepted. It was agreed that if the people claimed direct legislative representation it should be conceded, provided ' there should be no interference with the recognition of the ministerial order and office, with the ministerial power of stationing ministers, and with the ministerial privilege of trial by their own peers.' This provision was so unsatis factory that three of the negotiating parties — the Methodist Episcopal, Primitive Methodist, and the Bible Christian Churches — withdrew from the Committee. The English Methodist New Connexion Conference of 1873 also strongly objected to it on the ground that it completely surrendered the ' right of the laity to co-operate with the ministry in all the legislative and disciplinary acts of the church.' For this reason the sanction of the Conference was with held, and union seemed to be imperilled. During the year, however, some modifications in matters of detail were introduced into the scheme, and the following Conference gave a somewhat reluctant consent.
Union of On September 16, 1874, the union was consummated in
churches. tne Metropolitan Church, Toronto ; and the united body
was named the Methodist Church of Canada. The General
Conference was to meet once in four years to transact the
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED 461
general business of the church, the other business being done by the six Annual Conferences. By many it was felt that in the new polity the rights of the laity were recognized very inadequately, but experience soon proved that these rights were bound to assert and to justify themselves as years went on. Moreover, the practical success of the union was itself an argument. When the next General Conference met in 1878 the net increase of members was reported to be 20,659. Churches were being erected in all the populated districts of the Dominion, and missionary fields were opened in the Far East. No doubt it was this remarkable development which prepared the way for the larger union of 1883, when all the Methodist bodies became organically united.
The three Methodist Churches — the Methodist Episco- The other palian, the Primitive Methodist, and the Bible Christian — mSnities which stood aloof from the partial union of 1874, were contend for animated by no temper of hostility or caprice, but contended for the recognition of two great principles of polity. The rights. first related to the power of the superintendent — a power too drastic and assertive to be acceptable in communities which had been trained in democratic ideas. But, as was afterwards shown, this was not so important as the second principle, which was the right of the laity to a place and a voice in the Annual Conferences. As to minor matters of government there was not any serious conflict of opinion. In the hearts of the people there was still cherished the hope that, sooner or later, there would be only one Methodist Church in the Dominion of Canada.
This hope was fulfilled sooner than many of the leaders anticipated. One unmistakable factor in bringing this about was the overflowing prosperity which had followed the incomplete union already effected. Who could doubt that the blessing of God was resting upon that union ? Besides, not only had the Canadian provinces been fused into one, but the Dominion gave promise of untold de velopment. The north-east country was being opened out, and multitudes of enterprising emigrants, many of them
462 METHODISM TO-DAY
godly Methodists, were crossing the Atlantic to find in the Dominion their adopted home. How could this wonderful territory, extending over many thousands of miles and being rapidly occupied by settlers, be evangelized except by a united Methodism ?
The Then, in 1881, came the first of the (Ecumenical Con-
Conference, ferences. For several years the desire had been growing 1881- that the representatives of the ' people called Methodists '
throughout the world should meet together for consultation, and in 1878 the suggestion was made by the Methodist Episcopal Church of America. The moment was opportune. The Civil War was over, the relations between all the English-speaking races were perfectly cordial, the facilities for inter-communication were rapidly multiplying, and there were many questions, affecting all the Methodist churches throughout the world, which needed to be discussed. The suggestion was approved by the Wesley an Conference, and a General Committee was appointed to embody it in a carefully considered scheme. Accordingly the Confer ence was held in September 1881, in Wesley's Chapel, City Road, London. It represented twenty-nine separate Methodist denominations. Although the subject of organic union was not introduced, the influence of the Conference in stimulating union sentiment, especially in Canada, was profound and far-reaching. ' The Canadian representa tives,' says Dr. Sutherland, ' returned from the Conference prepared to sympathize with any effort toward unification.' Owing to these and other things a perceptible change had come over the Canadian Methodists in eight short years. At the Quadrennial General Conference which was held in 1878 nothing was done further than to send friendly messages to the Methodist bodies which still remained separate ; but at the following one, which met in Hamilton on September 6, 1882, many resolutions and memorials on the subject of the larger union were presented from the circuits and no fewer than eleven District Meetings. These were referred to a specially appointed committee, which gave its report at a later stage of the Conference proceedings. The
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED 463
report stated that memorials in favour of organic union had been sent up from several of the lower courts of the Methodist Church, resolutions had been passed by the three Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church and by at least one Quarterly Board and two District Meetings of the Primitive Methodist Church, and also that union conventions had been held in several centres. It therefore strongly recommended the General Conference to take immediate action with a view to the organic union of all the Methodist bodies.
As there was now a confident anticipation all round that something would be done immediately, it was regarded as desirable that whatever action was taken should be taken simultaneously by all the parties concerned. All the churches were ready for mutual consultation. A large committee of forty-two members was elected, and it was instructed to meet the committees of the other churches in the month of November. The Conference also decided that, should a scheme of union be agreed upon by the joint committee, it should be submitted to the Quarterly Boards, and also to the next ensuing Annual Conferences. And it further empowered the joint committee, if they thought desirable, to ask the President to convene a special meeting of the Quadrennial General Conference in order to give effect to the proposed union.
In pursuance of this very important resolution, the A basis joint committee met in Toronto in November, 1882. The Pr°P°8ed- constitution of 1874 was, in the main, accepted as a basis of negotiation. The only real difficulty was that relating to the two principles already mentioned, viz. the power of the superintendent and the rights of the laity. A work able compromise was, however, agreed upon. On the one hand, it was conceded that the power of the superintendent should remain intact, ' provided the duties of the office were so defined as to prevent interference with the duties and powers of Annual Conference officers and of church courts ' ; and on the other, that, in some form, lay repre sentation should obtain in the Annual Conferences as well
464 METHODISM TO-DAY
as in the District Meeting and the Quadrennial General Conference, ' provided that no change be made in regard to the examination of ministerial character or the com position of the Stationing Committee.' This difficulty being settled, there was no room for further controversy.
The next step was the appeal to the Circuit Quarterly Meetings held in February 1883. The question submitted to them was : ' Are you willing, for the sake of union, to accept the basis agreed upon by the joint committee ? ' A favourable answer was given by an immense majority of members who voted : 640 Quarterly Meetings out of 749 decided for union. The real crisis came, however, when a few months later the subject was brought for discussion before the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Church. These important courts consisted exclusively of ministers, and it was not certain that they would even then be willing to relinquish their prerogatives. Should they be unwilling they would not only postpone and imperil union, but they would place themselves in dangerous hostility to the people. These Conferences were seven in number : Montreal, London, Toronto, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, New foundland, and Manitoba. The first, Montreal, met on May 30, and adopted the basis of union by a majority of only fifteen out of 117. The next, London, met on June 6, and rejected it by a majority of thirteen out of 189. The Toronto Conference, which met in the following week, declared itself on the side of union, and its good example was followed by the two remaining Conferences.
It was now for the President to convene a special session of the Quadrennial General Conference, which under ordinary circumstances would not meet before 1886. The session was held in the city of Belleville in September 1883. The President was the Rev. Dr. Rice, who made an introductory statement on the legal aspects of the question. A resolution was then moved by Dr. Sutherland, Secretary of the Con ference, accepting and ratifying the basis recommended by the joint committee as a basis of union with the Methodist Episcopal, Primitive Methodist, and Bible Christian Churches.
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED 465
An amendment was moved by the Rev. Dr. J. A. Williams. The debate continued for five days, and at last, by mutual agreement, the hour arrived for the vote to be taken. The Complete most dramatic incident occurred at the close, when there ™™' was a general call for Dr. Douglas, the distinguished blind preacher, and who was known to be averse to union. At length he rose and simply said : ' Mr. President, the solemni ties of this hour, the tremendous responsibilities of the undying future, alike call upon the church to — advance.' The effect was overwhelming, and union was carried by 123 votes against 38. ' Nothing now remained,' says Dr. Sutherland, ' but for the United General Conference to assemble and adopt a constitution and formulate a disci pline for the United Church.' And this was done ' the day after the morrow ' in the Methodist Episcopal Church. By a unanimous vote, Dr. J. A. Williams, who had moved the amendment, was elected to the chair. On September 19 the first United Conference in Canada was brought to a close.
Pentecostal prosperity has followed the union. In all its departments — literature, membership, foreign missions, Sunday schools, finances, chapel- building, education, and ministerial training — the Methodist Church of Canada has prospered far beyond the most sanguine expectations. In nine years the membership increased from 160,000 to 250,000, and it continues to grow at the same rate. At the (Ecumenical Conference of 1901 Canada reported 284,901 members and 267,000 Sunday scholars.
VI
The precise date of the origin of Methodism in the colonies IN AUSTRA- of Australasia will probably never be known. Early in the "^ 190°- nineteenth century, when the rush for gold began, Methodist emigrants, drawn by the prospect of making a fortune or perhaps by the higher love of adventure, settled in their far-off land ; but wherever they settled, in the newly built town or the lonely bush, they carried with them their early
VOL. II 30
466 METHODISM TO-DAY
faith. In the most simple way societies were created and then grouped into circuits. Missionaries were sent out by the Wesleyan Conference and gradually in all the inhabited parts of the southern continent the good work was more and more firmly established. For a while the Wesleyans had the field to themselves, but in 1840 they were joined by the Primitive Methodists, in 1850 by the Bible Christians, and afterwards by the Methodist New Connexion and the United Methodist Free Churches. The Wesleyans were, of course, the predominant church. They had churches in all the colonies. In due course they estab lished colleges for the training of their ministers and sent agents to preach to the heathens of the Pacific Isles. At the time of Union they numbered about 80,000 members and 450,000 adherents. The other Methodist churches numbered nearly 25,000 members and 100,000 adherents. The call Under the conditions of colonial life the folly of division
for union. soou became apparent, and the question naturally arose whether, in face of the work to be done and the difficulties to be encountered, it ought to be perpetuated. The practical inconveniences caused by unnecessary competition were felt by many to be unjustifiable. To use the words of the Rev. W. F. James, who went out as a Bible Christian minister and soon became one of the most prominent advocates of the movement for union :
Zeal often outran discretion and marred brotherly love. In hundreds of cases there were two or more Methodist churches where there was only room for one. Ministers and local preachers often travelled long distances to preach to a few units where, with union, each might have had a good congre gation. Gradually the woeful waste became a source of grief to far-seeing men.
Rather than allow the interests of the kingdom of Christ to suffer, would it not be better for the divided Methodist churches to make even substantial concessions in order to come together under one name and one administration ? This question began to work like leaven.
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED 467
At first it was treated with scant respect. In 1866, Slow when the Rev. G. Daniell moved a resolution in the Wes- resP°nse- leyan Conference of Victoria and Tasmania in favour of union, he failed to find a seconder. Not until fifteen years later was serious action decided upon, and not until ten years after that did the goal actually appear in sight. Hope deferred made the hearts of good men sick. Year after year the subject was the theme of talk in private circles, correspondence appeared in the newspapers, and, occasion ally, able articles, favourable or unfavourable to union, were inserted in the Connexional magazines. Still, nothing was done. In 1881, however, the Bible Christian Con- 1881. ference in South Australia adopted a resolution expressing its readiness to confer with other Methodist churches with a view to union, and in response to this the Wesleyan General Conference, held in Adelaide the same year, resolved : ' That in the interest of Christian charity and union, and in the hope of economizing the energies of the various Methodist churches, this Conference declares its readiness to consider any well-devised scheme that may come before it for effecting a union of those churches.' After these important de liverances, although they couched their approval of union in only the most general terms, the outlook was distinctly brighter. Similar resolutions were passed in 1883 by the Conferences of Victoria and Tasmania and New Zealand. Again, in 1884, an important resolution was passed by the Wesleyan General Conference ' commending the subject to the favourable consideration of the Annual Conferences and directing them to open communications with other branches of the Methodist family in their respective colonies.' It also declared its belief that the basis of union that had taken place in Canada would be found to be gener ally suitable to the circumstances of Methodism in Austra lasia. The language of this resolution was fairly explicit and definite, indicating that the feeling in favour of union was steadily increasing in firmness. Also it was evident that the great object-lesson of union in Canada was exer cising a powerful influence and teaching valuable lessons.
468
METHODISM TO-DAY
Proposals for partial union, 1887.
Lay
leaders,
Still no practical step was taken. Other controversies were at that juncture rife in the Wesley an Church, and further it is likely that delay was encouraged by the natural timidity of all the Methodist churches alike. However that may be, the fact was that all the resolutions of Con ferences passed since 1881 remained inoperative.
Was nothing ever going to be done ? Was complete union at one stroke unattainable ? What if, as in Canada, it was to be reached only by stages ? With these questions in mind the leaders of the Primitive Methodist and the Bible Christian churches of South Australia began to look towards each other to ascertain if union on a smaller scale was practicable at once. In 1887 their Conferences passed resolutions approving of such a union, and appointed a joint committee to commence negotiations forthwith. The meetings of the joint committee were characterized by great heartiness and a basis of union was quickly agreed upon. It was during these negotiations that the Primitive Methodist Church expressed its willingness, for the sake of union, to accept the principle of an equal number of ministers and laymen in the Conference and other church courts, and also, under certain conditions, to make con cessions in the matter of chairmanship. The newly pre pared basis of union, on being submitted to the circuits, was endorsed by them. It was clear, however, that a considerable minority was really in favour of a union of all the Methodist churches in the colony, and, recognizing this fact, the joint committee agreed to suspend for a time any further negotiations. So failure followed failure. The failure was really victory in the making, for, as was after wards seen, it was preparing the way for a permanent and satisfactory settlement. In the hearts of the people the union sentiment was rapidly gaining strength.
For three or four years no further official action was attempted. The leaders of the crusade continued their appeals unweariedly. The Rev. Dr. H. T. Burgess, the statesman and general of the movement, continued his powerful advocacy both in the press and in the Conferences.
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED 469
But virtually all that the Conferences did was to pronounce in favour of co-operation and united services among the Methodist denominations, and to recommend the fostering of friendly relationships. It became now the turn of the laymen to lead. A number of them, interested in the cause, met at Crystal Brook, in South Australia, formed a committee, drafted a scheme, and submitted it to the Quarterly Meetings of the Methodist circuits throughout the colony. This action was itself a sign of the times, and gave some impetus to the union sentiment.
It was now 1891, and still the issue was by no means 1891. certain. On the other hand there were indications that in the minds of the Methodist people generally opinion was quickly ripening in favour of union. Some powerful letters written by the Rev. W. F. James made a deep impression and aroused considerable attention. At the following Bible Christian Conference a Committee was appointed to confer with other committees on the subject, and at the Wesleyan Conference Dr. H. T. Burgess, followed the same course. This joint committee was strengthened by the addition of important representatives from the other churches. In the month of November 1891 a memorable meeting was held in Pirie Street Church, Adelaide. Twenty-two members were present, and the chair was occupied by the Rev. J. Nicholson. Union was discussed for five hours. The general opinion was that the movement had now passed into its last stage and the goal was almost within sight. During the following month a large number of the Quarterly Meetings declared by resolu tion that the time had come for immediate action. Dozens of secular and religious newspapers expressed the same judgement.
At this point some reference should be made to the Metho- influence dist (Ecumenical Conference which was held at Washington ^jo^enica in October 1891, and particularly to its notable discussion Conference, on Methodist union. The day of that discussion was probably one of the most eventful in recent Methodist history. Papers on the subject of union were read by the
470 METHODISM TO-DAY
Rev. T. G. Selby, Dr. S. A. Hunt, and others. The present writer was one of the appointed speakers in the afternoon, and towards the close of his address he made a direct ap peal to the President of the Wesley an Conference, Dr. T. B. Stephenson, to confer with the other British Presidents with the aim of bringing the Methodist churches in England nearer together. The appeal touched the deepest chord in the heart of the Conference. Dr. Stephenson was not present at the moment of the appeal, but the Rev. Ralph Abercrombie immediately secured an interview with him, informing him of what had taken place. An hour later Dr. Stephenson intervened and said it would be the greatest joy to him to meet his brother Presidents of the Eastern section, and, if possible, devise some plan which might tend towards union. All the other Presidents most cordially accepted his overture.
One signal result of this incident was entirely unexpected, namely, the influence it had upon affairs in Australia. When the Rev. Dr. Berry read his remarkable paper at the London (Ecumenical Conference in 1901, in which he gave an account of Methodist union in Australasia, he declared that the report of the historic incident at the previous Conference in 1891 gave considerable impetus to the move ment there at a most critical stage in its progress. It was felt at the Pirie Street meeting in November. The Rev. W. F. James, who acted as its secretary, writes : ' A repetition of some striking words uttered in the union demonstration in the (Ecumenical Conference at Washington in the United States the previous month inspired the meeting.' By an absolutely unanimous vote the meeting expressed its firm conviction ' that the organic union of all the Methodist churches in Australia is desirable in the general interests of the work of God,' and ' that the time had come for practically dealing with the subject.' It requested ' the South Australian Annual Conferences to earnestly consider the matter and to appoint members of a council which might prepare a basis of union, and report to the Confer ences of 1893 for further consideration.' A joint committee,
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED 471
appointed by the South Australian Conferences and other Methodist Conferences, prepared a basis of union, with statistics and a schedule showing how circuits might be grouped in the proposed united church. This was brought before the Conferences of 1893 and then submitted to the 1893. Circuit Quarterly Meetings. In the meanwhile a pamphlet, prepared by the Rev. W. F. James, in which he gave a sketch of Canadian Methodism and many striking testimonies as to the success which had followed union, was very widely circulated.
The Wesleyan General Conference was held in 1894, and its vote on the question was awaited with the most eager interest. The subject had already been discussed in the Annual Conferences, and in one or two had been passed by only narrow majorities. What would be the vote of the General Conference ? was a question upon many lips. The The resolution in favour of organic union was moved by Wesl
J General
Dr. Fitchett, and the discussion continued through the Conference whole of the day. As the debate proceeded, the feeling of l in favour of the resolution steadily gained in force and the vote declared 101 for it and only fourteen against it. This vote made union certain once for all. The date of its consummation was now, in large degree, a matter of arrangement.
Great popular demonstrations were arranged in different centres, addressed by Dr. Fitchett, Dr. Burgess, Dr. Berry, Sir Samuel Way, and other leaders. Prejudices melted away like snow before the enthusiasm of these meetings. The voting of the Circuit Quarterly Meetings evinced the strong desire of the people for union. The smaller bodies of Methodism, after they had sanctioned the basis of union, had to obtain the consent of the English Conferences. Several reverses occurred which somewhat delayed matters. It was decided by the Wesleyan Conference of 1897 to invite the other Methodist churches to a United Conference in 1898-9, when the conditions and time of union could Union in be definitely fixed. Some delay was caused by financial difficulties ; but on August 14, 1899, organic union was 1899.
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METHODISM TO-DAY
New Zealand.
Union in Australia completed, 1902.
consummated in South Australia. The bond of union was signed by the three Presidents of the Wesley an, Primitive, and Bible Christian Conferences. When the (Ecumenical Conference met in Wesley's Chapel, City Road, London, in September 1901, Dr. Berry was able to announce one United Methodist Church in Australia. Said he :
When last we met in Washington there were in Australia four distinct and separate Methodist churches. Since then in New Zealand all the Methodist churches have united, with the exception of the Primitive Methodist. In three of the six States in Australia, Methodist union has been completed, and in the remaining three States there will be complete union on the first day of January next. It is practically accomplished already. So that in the vast Australian continent we have but one Methodism.
IN ENG LAND,
1907.
Fruitless negotia tions.
The
Methodist New
Connexion leads, 1837.
VII
The last disruption in English Methodism was in 1849, but, notwithstanding the fact that many attempts to effect reunion were made, the painful divisions still continued for the long period of fifty-eight years. WThatever negotia tions were attempted proved to be abortive, not because they were conducted by incompetent leaders, but simply because they were premature. Time was required for the sad memories of division to die out among the people, and for the union sentiment to become so strong as to supply the needful momentum.
In the early stages of the movement a very worthy place was taken by the Methodist New Connexion. This church, being the first to secede from the parent body, was able to look on the spectacle of a divided Methodism dispassion ately, and, being essentially democratic in its polity and sympathies, it was naturally drawn towards the other seceding bodies. Moreover, it was admirably guided by men of broad views and patient, tolerant temper. So early as 1837, when Methodism was in the very throes of conflict, its Conference made overtures (somewhat timid and cautious,
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED 473
it must be admitted) with a view to an amalgamation with the newly formed Wesley an Association. Previous to the Amalgamation of 1857, fresh negotiations were commenced between this body, on the one hand, and the Wesleyan Association and the Reformers, on the other, but all to no purpose. The Reformers had only just emerged from the fire, and were little disposed to accept a polity which, in their judgement, gave to the itinerant ministry an un justifiable status. Still the desire for Methodist union lived and grew. In 1863 the Methodist New Connexion Conference passed a resolution expressing the ' hope that the day might not be far distant when the several bodies of liberal Methodism should become united in more intimate bonds.' Probably the aim of this resolution was to reopen the way for a union with the United Methodist Free Churches, and indeed the actual effect of it was to lead them to empower their Connexional Committee to enter at once into friendly negotiations. Nothing practical, however, was done. Progressive men like Dr. William Cooke, who strongly desired a closer union between all the liberal sections of Methodism, had again and again to suffer disappointment. But leaders, however enthusiastic and hopeful, cannot act alone ; they must have their followers in the rank and file of the membership ; and these were as yet a minority.
Then a rather unexpected episode arose. In the Metho- AH dist New Connexion Conference of 1866 when Dr. Cooke suggested the renewal of negotiations with the United Methodist Free Churches, a resolution was passed inviting 1866 all the denominations without exception to consider whether something could not be done ' to unite them all into one visible organization.' The results of this resolution were not in the end altogether satisfactory. When it was sent to the Wesleyan Conference it was accompanied by a some what vaguely worded letter by the Rev. Samuel Hulme, the President, and was hastily understood as a prayer of the prodigal to return to his ' father's house.' The Con ference sent a gracious reply, but declared that ' it was unable to offer any suggestion for the organic union of
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METHODISM TO-DAY
The
Methodist New Con nexion and Bible Christians confer, 1868.
English reunion again proposed,
1886.
the two Connexions,' and moreover ' did not see its way to any fundamental change in its ecclesiastical system.' The resolution of the United Methodist Free Churches Assembly was more practical, instructing, as it did, its ' Connexional Committee to meet the Annual Committee of the Methodist New Connexion, should the said committee desire such a meeting.' The joint committee met on May 8, 1867, placed on record its desire for union, found certain legal difficulties in the way, and forthwith ap pointed a sub-committee. Subsequently the matter was referred to the Quarterly Meetings of the Methodist New Connexion, and the vote was so unsatisfactory that no further action was considered advisable.
Communication was now opened between the Methodist New Connexion and the Bible Christian Conferences. The initiative was taken by the former in 1868, on the motion of Dr. Cooke, and a joint committee was duly appointed. The Rev. F. W. Bourne visited the Conference of 1869 as the Bible Christian Deputation, and Dr. Cooke was ap pointed to visit the ensuing Bible Christian Conference held in August of the same year. Ultimately it was suggested by the joint committee that no action should be taken for the present ' beyond the accomplishment of a federal union,' and a scheme embodying this idea was submitted to the Circuit Quarterly Meetings. A small majority declared itself in favour of it, another section supported organic union, while a third was opposed to union altogether. It was then mutually agreed by the two denominations that the scheme should be abandoned, with the hope that in due course the way would be made plain for ' a closer and more substantial union.'
In the year 1886 the subject of Methodist reunion was reopened in the columns of The Methodist Times, by the action of its editor, the Rev. Hugh Price Hughes. Four im portant letters appeared signed by the Revs. William Arthur, Dr. Ebenezer Jenkins, Alexander Macaulay, and Charles Garret t, all of them Wesley an ex-Presidents and having considerable influence among all sections of the Methodist
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED 475
people. These eminent men, although they carefully refrained from committing themselves to any definite prin ciple, exhibited a spirit which was generally appreciated and reciprocated. The Methodist New Connexion Con ference and the United Methodist Free Church Assembly passed cordial resolutions and instructed their Committees to take whatever friendly action might be advisable. The Wesleyan Conference, however, after a long and important discussion, declared its conviction ' that any attempt to promote organic union was not at present desirable.' The real question in dispute, in addition probably to the suspicion with which at that time Mr. Hughes was regarded by some of the Wesleyan leaders, was evidently that of ministerial authority, and with regard to this the Conference was not prepared to make any concessions. Under these circumstances the feasibility of a larger Methodist reunion could not be expected, and attention was once more called back to the matter of union between the liberal Methodist bodies.
An important step was taken in this direction the following The Metho- year, when both the Methodist New Connexion Conference connexion and the United Methodist Free Churches Assembly expressed and the
•IT • i~- i~ Umted
themselves willing to co-operate in any movement which Methodist
might tend towards union. Important articles appeared in the Connexional Magazines from the pens of the Revs. Marmaduke Miller, W. Longbottom, and Dr. Townsend, in advocacy of union. An informal conference took place between the leading ministers and laymen. The effect of all this on connexional opinion was seen in the Conference of 1889. An influential joint committee was appointed to have a preliminary consultation on the subject of organic union, and ' to ascertain how far conditions could justify them in proceeding further in that direction.' The report of this united committee was brought before the Methodist New Connexion Conference at Dewsbury in 1890. It was soon apparent to the friends of union that disappointment once more stared them in the face. A motion was sub mitted against union, chiefly on the ground that there were
476
METHODISM TO-DAY
Primitive Methodists and Bible Christians, 1894.
grave differences between the two bodies, ' especially in relation to the authority of Conference, the dependence and unity of circuits, and the authority and status of ministers.' This was followed by an amendment, ' generally approving of the findings of the committee.' After a dis cussion lasting over two days both the motion and the amendment were withdrawn in favour of a motion drawn up by a special committee, the gist of which was that as ' the report failed to secure the position of the minister as president of circuit and church meetings,' this most impor tant matter be respectfully submitted to the judgement of the Annual Assembly of the United Methodist Free Churches. This was at once carried, only fifteen voting against it.
The Annual Assembly met in Leeds. With regard to the ' most important matter ' submitted to it by the Methodist New Connexion Conference it replied that ' the report did not interfere with the position of ministers in the New Connexion circuits, and that it was the general usage of our circuits to elect the superintendent preacher as circuit chairman.' The resolution, which was moved by the Rev. Richard Chew, further authorized the Connexional Committee to take such provisional action as might be advisable during the year. To all intents and purposes the scheme was now dead. The negotiations were not continued during the year, and all that remained for the Methodist New Connexion Conference of 1891 was ' to conclude that further action in relation to the proposed union was not advisable.' This was respectfully acknowledged by the Free Methodist Assembly of the United Methodist Free Churches Assembly.
One more disappointment was in store ; this time for the Primitive Methodist and the Bible Christian Churches. In 1894 a united committee was appointed by the Confer ences of these two denominations, and its report was pre sented in the following year. An attempt was also made to bring the Methodist New Connexion and the United Methodist Free Churches into the proposed union, but without success. This abortive attempt caused some
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED 477
delay, and not until 1897 did the Conferences of the two denominations finally accept the report. It was then de cided to send the report to the districts for their careful consideration. In 1898 it was found that the Primitive Methodist District Meetings were in favour of continuing the negotiations, but seriously divided on the question of the constitution of the Conference. The Bible Christian District Meetings supported the union almost unanimously. In the following year the revised report was submitted to the circuits. It was now found that the question of the constitution of the Conference had exercised the minds of the Primitive Methodist people very profoundly. A large majority of the members present voted against the pro posal, and consequently the Conference of 1900 had no other alternative than to discontinue the negotiations.
From 1835 to 1900 these negotiations had been con- Fraternal ducted in different ways, yet with one unvarying result. relatlons- Methodism was still split up into seven separate, though not hostile, camps. The most remarkable fact, however, was that, disheartening as had been the experiences of half a century and more with regard to Methodist union, the desire for it steadily deepened. The family affection of the Methodist people refused to be suppressed. There was awakened a certain uneasiness of conscience as to the perpetuation of needless divisions. In the United Methodist Free Church Assembly, for example, which was probably the most democratic of all the Methodist Conferences, a resolution of fraternal greetings to the mother church was moved annually for thirty years by the Rev. J. S. Wi thing- ton, and, generally speaking, carried unanimously. In dications of the same spirit might be found in the other churches. It came to be assumed that organic union, in some form, must come sooner or later. And when it did come the happy discovery was made that the very failures of the past had been victories in disguise, strengthening the union sentiment, and furnishing lessons of the greatest value.
In 1907 the United Methodist Free Churches, the Metho-
478
METHODISM TO-DAY
Successful achieve ment.
The
(Ecumenical Conference of 1901 proposed the reunion of British Methodism.
dist New Connexion, and the Bible Christian Methodists were formally united, under the name and title of the United Methodist Church. The genesis of this union is to be found in the deep, ardent longing of the general membership, but the actual negotiations may be traced to the third Methodist (Ecumenical Conference which met in London in 1901.
At that Conference considerable attention was given to the subject of union. The story of the movement in Australia, told by Dr. J. Berry, made a deep impression ; and this impression was still further deepened by an address delivered by Dr. Stephenson, who stated his conviction that as much had been done in the direction of inter denominational fellowship in England as could be done, and that the next step must be union. This was followed by sympathetic words from representatives of the smaller denominations ; and on the following day the Rev. Thomas Mitchell gave notice of a motion, which was somewhat weakened by the Business Committee, but which fortunately proved to be strong enough for its purpose, suggesting to the Methodist churches in England that they should follow the example set by the Methodist churches in Canada and Australia. The resolution was adopted. During the Con ference, on the initiative of Dr. D. Brook and the late Robert Bird, the representatives of the Methodist New Connexion, the United Methodist Free Churches, and the Bible Christian Methodists were invited to meet together, and conversation took place as to the feasibility of organic union. Many informal talks on the subject occurred during the intervals between formal gatherings. All these circumstances tended to give point and significance to the resolution of the (Ecumenical Conference.
In due course the resolution was brought before the Conferences of 1902. The Methodist New Connexion Con ference, which met first, responded to it by authorizing its Annual Committee to consider any communications on the subject from other Methodist bodies. The Primitive Methodist Conference, although sympathetic, was not able to take any definite action. The Wesley an Conference
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED 479
passed no resolution at all. In the United Methodist Free The Churches Assembly, on the motion of the Rev. Ralph Methodist Abercrombie, a resolution was readily passed empowering Free the Connexional Committee ' to send communications to, iead. or receive communications from, other Methodist Confer ences, or committees representing those Conferences, in favour of union, and to report to the next Annual Assembly.' In doing so it took a very important step further than had yet been ventured upon, the significance of which became manifest afterwards.
The writer had the honour to be President of the Assembly of the United Methodist Free Churches in 1902, and he felt that the resolution passed by the Assembly placed upon him some official responsibility. There was a danger of its not being carried out. The Bible Christians had not yet spoken, and, smarting as they were under the disappointment of their recent failure with the Primitive Methodists, it was quite possible that their Conference might decide upon some action which would render the resolution partially inoperative. Along with the Rev. Andrew Crombie (Connexional Editor) and Mr. Robert Bird (Connexional Treasurer), he had the honour to visit the Conference, and make a personal appeal to it. The decision of the Conference was, on the whole, satisfactory, inasmuch as it opened the door for any further approaches. ' In the event of any proposals towards this end ' (that is, organic union), so runs the resolution, ' from any one or more of these churches, we at once affirm our willingness to seriously consider them.' The one qualifying condition inserted in the resolution was that any negotiations, if commenced, should be likely to lead to a successful issue.
In the early part of October 1902, the writer ventured to take on himself the duty of writing to the Presidents of the Methodist New Connexion Conference and the Bible Christian Conference, suggesting that the three denomina tions through their Committees should appoint persons to act together as a provisional joint committee to consider whether organic union was practicable, and, if so, to prepare
480
METHODISM TO-DAY
A tentative basis pro- " 1902.
Adopted by the Metho dist New Connexion, United Methodist Free
Churches, and Bible Christians, 1903.
A constitu tion pro posed.
a rough draft of a scheme which would afterwards be con sidered by the three Connexional Committees. This sug gestion having been carried out, the provisional committee met in the following December, and a tentative basis of union was agreed upon. A second meeting was held in March 1903, at which representatives of the Wesleyan Reform Union were present. It was then decided to send copies of the report to all the Methodist Conferences.
The Primitive Methodist Conference (1902) decided to maintain, at least for a while, an attitude of sympathetic observation only. Its recent fruitless efforts disinclined it at this juncture to do anything further. The Wesleyan Reformers and the Independent Methodists definitely withdrew from taking any active part in the negotia tions. Nevertheless the sentiment in favour of amalgama tion continued to grow. Leaders in the Wesleyan Reform Union noted with interest the increasing influence of the church member in Methodism ; and they also heard with growing clearness and insistency the call of the time for a fully equipped ministry and a closely knit organization. The Wesleyan Conference appointed a committee to inquire into the conditions of the minor Methodist churches. The remaining three Conferences adopted the report almost unanimously, and decided to submit the question at once to the Circuit Quarterly Meetings. They also appointed an official committee, which was somewhat larger than the provisional one of the previous year, to continue the negotia tions ; and that committee, with certain additions, was reappointed by successive Conferences until union was con summated.
Several meetings were held during the ensuing year, and in 1904 the report was submitted to the Conferences for their approval or otherwise. It was then declared that, of the members voting at the Quarterly Meetings, ninety- three per cent, had voted in favour of union, and the joint committee was instructed to develop the outlines of the proposed constitution, and to prepare a scheme which would be brought before the Conferences of 1905, and, if approved
UNIONS AND REUNIONS EFFECTED 481
by them, referred to the Circuit Meetings. The Wesley an Conference also received the report of its separate com mittee, which practically meant that the three denominations concerned should be encouraged to promote their own organic union. Instead of adopting this report, or rejecting it, the Conference resolved to make an overture to the Methodist New Connexion with a view to union. Several eminent leaders deprecated this action ; others attached impossible conditions to the invitation. Probably many others voted for the overture under a misapprehension. The resolution caused a good deal of comment at the time, but there pre vailed a general conviction that it could not seriously imperil the cause of union, and this confidence was afterwards abundantly justified.
The Methodist New Connexion Conference of 1905, in very respectful but unmistakable terms, declined the overture, by a resolution carried by 145 votes against 16. The only other debatable point before the Conferences of that year was that of the ministerial chairmanship, and it was satisfactorily settled by a compromise that the right of chairmanship should be accorded not only to super intendents but also, under certain specified conditions, to ministers having charge of sections. It may here be added that the Wesley an Conference, having received the Methodist New Connexion reply to its overture, gave its hearty good wishes to the proposed union and expressed its hope that the negotiations might ' prove a valuable contribution to the ultimate complete unity of British Methodism.'
The constitution of the new church, having been com- Accepted by pleted by the joint committee and adopted by the Con- c^nfer^Tcces ferences of 1905, was referred to the Circuit Meetings. 1905, Nearly all of them suggested alterations in matters of 11
detail, but only four voted against it as a whole. The total result was that 8,612 votes were recorded in favour of the union, and 285 in opposition to it ; 343 members remained neutral. This remarkable result was reported to the Conferences of 1906, and the Union Committee was now charged with the duty of adjusting all matters
VOL. II 31
482 METHODISM TO-DAY
of administration and finance, of procuring an enabling Act of Parliament,1 and arranging for a Uniting Conference in 1907.
The The Uniting Conference was held in London.2 Union
Inference navmg been formally consummated by a unanimous vote 1907. of the Conference, the Deed Poll of Foundation was signed
by the President and by the Presidents of the Methodist New Connexion, Bible Christians, and United Methodist Free Churches. The historic event commanded national attention, telegrams or letters being received from His Majesty the King, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the President of the Wesleyan Conference, and many other Presidents and official representatives of public bodies. A visit of state was paid by the Lord Mayor of London. He was accompanied by the Lord Mayors of Bristol, Cardiff, and Leeds and twelve Mayors who were all adherents of the United Methodist Church. Many deputations were received, among them one from the National Free Church Council, which included the most prominent leaders of the Free Churches.
1 Vide infra, Appendix E. 2 Vide vol. i p. 550.
CHAPTER III
LINES OF DEVELOPMENT AND STEPS TOWARDS REUNION
I. IN BRITISH METHODISM IT. IN AMERICAN METHODISM
Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the LORD of Hosts. — ZECH. iv. 6.
O Lord and Master of us all !
Whate'er our name or sign, We own thy sway, we hear thy call,
We test our lives by thine.
WHITTIER, Our Master.
483
CONTENTS
I. IN BRITISH METHODISM p. 485
Looking forward — General tendencies of life and thought. THEO LOGY AND SPIRIT — Effect of these changes on Methodism — Its practical tests — Its modern appeal — All branches affected, and are drawing together. METHODS — The class-meeting — Public worship — Liturgical services — The Sacraments — The circuit system — The Itinerancy — Social work — Its influence towards reunion — Connexionalism : the Conference — The education of the ministry, and of lay preachers CONSTITUTIONS — Presbyterian or democratic development — A consti tution for United British Methodism — Effect of wider union of the Churches — Sectional Conferences — Notes common to all sections of British Methodism — Their dangers .... pp. 485-606
II. IN AMERICAN METHODISM p. 507
GENERAL, TENDENCIES — A vast, complicated subject — Constitutional trend — Growing power of the laity — Some causes — Doctrinal ten dencies — Improved equipment and facilities — Some signs : disquieting and reassuring — A twofold development. REUNION — Its desirability — An inquiry and a survey — The present communities — Is their separate existence justified ? — Distance from one another — Vested interests and historic associations — Racial difficulties — Probable maintenance of the colour line — Union of coloured Methodists — The two great churches — Hopeful signs — Present movements — Proposed union of the Methodist Episcopal and Methodist Protestant Churches — A Federal Council of the two great churches — Other churches invited to consider union — Efforts among the smaller communities — The example of the Canadian unions — The call of the age for united effort . pp. 507-528
Pages 483-528
484
CHAPTER III
LINES OF DEVELOPMENT AND STEPS TOWARDS REUNION
I. IN BRITISH METHODISM
PROPHECY is either a very easy or a very difficult subject, IN BRITISH according as you give free rein to your imagination or ISM*
endeavour to keep it within the limits of probability. And however sane you try to be, in estimating the direction and rate of the movements of opinion in any community, prediction is a hazardous enterprise, for such movements do not proceed on mathematical lines ; they are dependent on forces which are not yet apparent, or, even if visible, are not calculable, and they are sure to be diverted by events which no human being can foresee. The forecasts which are attempted in this chapter are therefore presented as not only vague, but possibly very defective. Never theless, we are all made to look forward. Our eyes are placed in the front of our heads, and look, not whence we come, but whither we are going. Most people are far more keen on what is to happen to-morrow, than on what hap pened yesterday ; that is why politics interest us so much more than history. Especially is this true in thinking of our religious community, which not only deals with the future immortal interests of its members — and they have no past immortality to deal with — but is itself an organism of a perpetual kind, which may last for untold generations. While there are not a few who revel in the stories of its heroic origin or the organized efforts of its growing strength, there is an intenser interest in considering whereto it will grow, what spiritual power it will attain to, what will be
485
486
METHODISM TO-DAY
General tendencies of life and thought.
its future developments, alliances, scope, reputation, fidelity to the plain universal Christian principles which it was born to carry out and enforce.
One thing may be safely laid down. No picture of a future Methodism would deserve the least credit which failed to take full account of the probable tendencies of the life and thought of the other religious bodies of our country, or of the nation itself, or of the Christian world. Of all questions involved, the most decisive would be : what of the future of religion in general ? For not only is Methodism keenly sensitive — in spite of all its absorption in its own church life — to the ideas of the surrounding world, but it is increasingly so as its members rise in the social scale or take larger views of their social, municipal, and political duties. Wealth is a great transformer of ideas — not always for good. Education comes, as a rule, with wealth — alas ! too seldom in just proportion. Wealth enlarges the sphere of life : the man who makes a good Circuit Steward becomes a good Town Councillor, and then a more or less good member of Parliament ; his range of thought on religious as well as worldly matters widens at each step ; he mixes with people of other churches, or of no church at all, and his views react on his own Church if he remains in it. The religious life of the nation also grows ; popular literature, religious as well as secular, spreads and is read by the younger members. Social habits change, and religious habits alter with them. In all ways the environment of the Church permeates it, develops and changes it, and even its most inward and spiritual attri butes are affected, and strengthened or weakened, or at all events profoundly altered. The tendencies of Metho dism will therefore be, more and more clearly as time goes on, the tendencies of the age it lives in, and perhaps those may be even more difficult to estimate than the actual movements of thought which are obviously in pro gress within our Church itself.
Within the last thirty or forty years- a marked change
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 487
has come over the whole spirit of English theology. It THEOLOGY dates from the time of Frederick Denison Maurice, and AND SplK1T< consists mainly in giving a far more dominant place than before to the over-riding doctrine of the Fatherhood of God. Divine The doctrine itself, of course, was not new, nor indeed'was Fatherhood- it stated in new terms. It is not easy to produce a brand- new doctrine. But it was newly emphasized. Professor Maurice indeed carried it so far as to hold Universalist opinions, and many have followed him. But the Christian world in general, while taking a more cautious view of the tremendous subject of the last things, has been profoundly affected by the method of interpreting all Christian theology by reference to this one master principle. The idea of the Sovereign Judge administering criminal justice has largely given place to the idea of the Father educating His children, not by blurring the difference between right and wrong, or treating sin as a matter of no account, or evil as a form of good, but still by a process of healing and reformatory treatment rather than a strict enforcement of equity. Consequently the doctrine of the Atonement, conceived as a propitiatory sacrifice for sin, occupies a less primary place in theology than it once did. The rise of the scientific theory of evolution has worked in the same direction, bringing forward the principle of continuous growth, by force of large and slow influences, as against the idea of volcanic — or dramatic — catastrophe. It was boasted at first, by some of its more audacious supporters, as an ex planation of all things without the need of a Creator. This delusion is passing away, though its effects are not yet effaced ; but the influence of the evolutionary idea in all subjects of human thought is permanent, and has deeply affected theology.
Again, the growth of democracy in the world, and The growth especially in this country, exerts an immense influence over Democracy the course of thought. It is the most visible sphere of the development of justice, regarded as a tendency to equalize men and to exalt the essential human qualities of the soul, common to all, over particular superiorities of
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METHODISM TO-DAY
Effect of these
changes on Methodism.
wealth and station, or even the natural advantages of intellect. The effect of these great thoughts upon theology is incalculable. As opposed to that Calvinism which refers everything to an absolute and inscrutable Will, it places right, qualified and fortified by love, on the throne of the universe, and thus gives a religious position to what are called the rights of man. However necessary it may be to resort to the Divine Will as the ultimate philosophic ground of morals, that will is interpreted by its own character, as revealed through Christ to and in the growing moral sense of mankind ; and, the element of arbitrariness being removed, there remains a standard of right which gives to every man a due place, as of right, in the face even of God Himself. But modern theology exhibits the Divine Being not only as conforming to right and acknowledging just claims, but as governing men at the cost of self-sacrifice, relying on persuasion and the appeal to generous feeling more than on the argument of justice. Hence the softened aspect of theology as compared with the severe old times ; hence the enormous force of the obligation of all men to copy the love of the Father and Pattern and carry out His will ; hence, in our own day, the overmastering strength of the impulse of the Christian Church to deal with all forms of evil at once and to reform the world at large, as well as to aim at the individual. For justice and love are social qualities, the laws of the Kingdom of God, and the Kingdom itself is seen to be the whole race of men in all their relations to each other and to Him.
This is not the place, however^ for any detailed discussion of modern theology. The point is that Methodism is under going the same process of theological development as the rest of the Christian world. It does not follow that its creed will undergo any rapid change. It has two great advantages in this respect over most Churches. In the first place, the Wesleyan creed, being contained in several volumes of Sermons and Notes, is far more elastic than that of the Church of England or that of the Presbyterians ; in one place or another it may be found to include all the
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 489
great lines of Christian thought. It would be difficult to prove a minister heterodox while he could put passage against passage and show that the discrepancies were in volved in the very substance of Christian theology itself. Where there is no precise, unmistakable form of words by which to judge him — and even then the power of inter pretation is very great — any discussion as to conformity must be a very loose and general argument, and the case would in the end be decided not as a matter of creed, but of antipathetic tendencies. Some other Methodist churches have adopted statements of doctrine, and to that extent are bound by creeds, though these are of a very general char acter and not easy to enforce as tests.
But it is a far greater advantage that Methodism is an extremely practical religion. Its more educated classes read much modern theology. But it has the habit of testing ideas by immediately applying them to practice. A minister who is struck by a new presentation of Christian Its doctrine asks himself not only : ' How far is this con- sistent with the general system of Evangelical doctrines ? ' but : ' How far will this view tell on the careless or just- awakened man whom I have to induce to-morrow night to give up his sins and come to Christ ? ' This is clearly a great conservative force, and though Methodism will move with the progress of thought, it will move slowly, and will give itself time to get new thought into practical order, reconcile it with the substance of the old ideas, sharpen it to striking effect, test it by its results, and accept only what proves to be a practically saving gospel. The hymn- book, again, being in the main a book of experience, lyric rather than didactic, is a moderating and very conserving force in Methodist theology. As contrasted with some modern poetical efforts which try to uphold orthodoxy by bald rhymed creeds, it works by maintaining the tone of religious experience — a far safer and stronger course.
The practical counterpart in experience of the newer theology is the comparative weakening of the conviction of sin — that terror-stricken, or at all events conscience-
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METHODISM TO-DAY
Its modern appeal.
All branches
of
Methodism
affected,
and are
drawing
together.
stricken, sense of guilt which in the early days of Methodism forced the sinner to instant decision, to dire soul-agony, sometimes to physical convulsion. It has not entirely passed away ; but it is no longer considered as normal. Revivals are, in truth, treated as exceptional — and indeed they are mysterious enough ; the main effort of the Church is more and more directed to persuasion, argument, teach ing, sympathy. We must expect that tendency to grow. Duty, rather than danger, is the plea. The peril involved in breach or neglect of duty is immediate — peril to char acter, loss of the real self, injury to others ; these topics will replace the old appeal to the King of Terrors. And there will be more patience with the gradual approach of the soul, the slow-dropping influence of truth, and ex perience of the inner life. Awakening is still the first object, but it is an awakening of powers already present and only inert, the play of the divine environment upon the creature made to recognize and know Him. While therefore the Methodists will never cease to treat the con version of the careless and impenitent as their grand duty, they will take more and more pains to develop the culti vation of religious thought, will study the careful working of the Church, the promotion of the Christian life and its various phases and methods in dealing with the life of the world. The question is still how to get a man to resolve to give up his sinful will and accept the yoke of Christ ; but even more how to get him, when he has come to con version, to work out and strengthen that resolution, to carry that yoke and bear his share in the vast Christian crusade. For the wider thought of the day is taking the stress off the mere duty of saving one's own soul (a duty, none the less, and not, as is often falsely alleged, a mere selfish act of prudence), and is placing it in the life of service as a disciple and soldier of Christ.
It is hardly necessary to remark how strongly this modi fication of the theological climate, affecting all branches of Methodism, makes for their unity and so facilitates their union. The spirit of sect, which seems to be a neces-
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 491
sary force in some stages of religious growth, rests, so far as Methodism is concerned, rather upon matters of eccle siastical habit and social difference than upon creed ; but in a wider range of Christian thought these things weaken down and leave room for the larger principles to exert their harmonizing power.
In its general system of work, Methodism is not likely METHODS. to make any great changes. Its speciality has always been the class-meeting. Here the organizing genius of The class- Wesley showed its great strength. It is not to the purpose meetms- to prove that originally it was not intended as a meeting. All the same it was a stroke of genius to divide the members of the Society into groups under leaders, and thus to create an order of sub-pastors who, under their chief, would, like a sergeant with a company, look closely after the char acter and efficiency of each separate member. That this inspection and discipline might be the more readily ac complished the weekly meeting was instituted, and has had so great success that it is only recently and with great difficulty that an authoritative pronouncement has been obtained in the mother-church, ruling that attendance at the meeting is not an essential condition of membership. In the junior Churches in Britain, and still more in American Methodism, great variety has been introduced in the char acter and methods of class-meetings : a matter of little consequence, so long as the spirit of brotherhood is main tained. But the spirit of brotherhood is best kept up in secular as well as in spiritual matters by regular meetings. There have been many who have thought that attendance at class, if not compulsory, would soon decline. That has occurred abroad and will no doubt occur in some places, at least for a time, but the fear assumes that attendance at class is an irksome duty, and is connected with the feeling that religion altogether is a disagreeable, though necessary business, to be enforced by spiritual compulsion. There is room certainly for the hope that, by proper adaptation, the class-meeting may be made more generally acceptable
492 METHODISM TO-DAY
and popular. It is mainly a question of leaders. Where, as in many country districts, there are few people of in telligence and zeal capable of leading a religious meeting, there attendance fails and the spiritual life is also slack. In large towns, again, hours of work are so late, and engagements so multitudinous, that it is not easy to get a full attendance. It is also a question of method. In times of quickened spiritual life — and fluctuations must always be reckoned for — new converts are coming in, new and interesting experiences are brought out, attendance is strong, and meetings of the older type go on vigorously. But the same result is found everywhere where there are capable and earnest leaders, and these can and will be found in an active church. The Missions have not found much difficulty in the matter of either leaders or attendances. But the meetings must be adapted to the times and the members. There is a distinct advance in the efforts of good leaders to give scriptural instruction. It might perhaps be well, in proper cases, to make the Leaders' Meeting an opportunity of Bible-teaching at the hands of the minister. The assembling of the pastor with his sub- pastors would seem to call for common study and prayer ; and as it is proposed that the ordinary Leaders' Meetings should take on a more general quality and be something of a Church business committee, it might be possible to hold a special Leaders' Class for cultivation of the means of keeping alive the purely spiritual interest of the members. In one way or another it seems more reasonable and more likely that the class-meeting will be revived under various forms than that it will sink into decay. A church with no spiritual officers between the pastor and the mass-meeting of members is weak, weak for want of organization ; and when the organization is too difficult to maintain to the full extent of a weekly meeting, there seems no reason why a less frequent one might not be kept up. The experiment has been made, with spiritual success, of a monthly class- meeting, consisting of the ministers and the chief officers of a circuit. It has the advantage of bringing into closer
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 493
religious fellowship the most responsible officers, who commonly meet each other only on business matters. Prayer in church business meetings is often perfunctory, too per functory ; and it would be a strength to any circuit that the superintendent and his helpers should now and again exchange those deeper spiritual confidences which bind Christian men in the closer ties of fellowship. Again, the general meeting of Church-members, the Society or Church Meeting, is readily capable of development. In this matter some of the branches of Methodism are more successful than the parent stock ; and the Congregational and Pres byterian Churches are in advance of the Methodists in general ; but Methodism is likely to avail itself increasingly of this powerful organ of Church life.
With regard to public worship ; it is, on the whole, growing pubiic more orderly and reverent, qualities essential when men worship. meet regularly for so high a function. In times of revivalistic excitement there is an inevitable tendency to give place to immediate strong feeling, and throw aside the laws which must rule rational assemblies of men. But in the life of the Church, orderly and regular devotion is necessary not only to the intensity of spiritual life, but to steady work and to a lofty standard of conduct. The advance of public education imposes this upon us more than ever. There still remain a considerable number of Wesleyan churches which to this end use on Sunday morning the Church of England Prayer Book ; and those cultured Church members who have been brought up to its use are generally loth to part with it. But the bulk of modern congregations, especially where largely composed of country- bred Methodists, find in it no religious sympathy. Its archaic, though stately and rhythmic, language is too remote from their common speech ; they cannot enter into the prayers read from a book, and it does not come home to them that a prayer listened to from the pulpit is very difficult to follow. I believe that the most part of worshippers follow extemporary prayer very negligently, and at times not at all. The minister often prays briefly because he is
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METHODISM TO-DAY
Liturgical services.
The Sacraments.
conscious that he is not holding the attention of his con gregation. The result is that large numbers of the audience do not pray at all, or if they do, pray silently to themselves, as pious Roman Catholics do, without reference to what is going on.
The feeling, however, is so widespread against the use of a liturgy that it is quickly dying out, though it will linger in some Methodist churches for a time. Attention, there fore, should be directed to supplying in some other way the elements of worship in which the liturgical service is strong. Very careful prayers, sufficiently long and varied to carry those of the congregation who listen through the main topics for which public prayer should ordinarily be made ; full and well-marked reading of scriptural lessons, anthems, select psalms, and one or two of the finer prayers of con fession or of thanks culled from the Prayer Book or other sources, will be sufficient to train a congregation to make common prayer for the great things, public as well as private, which ought to raise their desires and keep alive the con ception of the God of the Church and the nation as well as of the individual soul, of the kingdom which our Divine Master made the substance of His preaching. The man of business sometimes complains — or others complain for him —that he comes tired from a week of work, and wants a change of topics. No doubt he wants his soul awakened ; but he also wants it directing to the spirit in which the business has been or ought to be conducted, to the motive, object, and end of all business, the business of the King. In this view, we have much to gain from the wider choice of hymns, and the wider range of their topics, which all the Methodist Churches are adopting in their frequent revisions of standard hymn-books.
With regard to the Sacraments, their reverent observance will grow. Methodists have no authoritative theory of Baptism, nor are they likely to adopt any very decisive theory ; for the Christian world is very deeply divided in opinion, and the division is reflected in the Methodist churches. But the Wesleyans at least insist OP Baptism
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 495
as a condition of membership, and all Methodists value the rite for its practical lessons as a formal dedication of the young life to God and to His Church, and as the pledge of a Christian training, besides accepting the Master's command without too precise a definition. The Lord's Supper preserves on the whole among Methodists its char acter as described in the Church of England Communion Service, and is increasingly observed and reverenced. But even here the Anglican form is so supplemented and varied by hymn and prayer as to bring out strongly its purpose of immediate edification. In this sublime and universal fellowship meeting all Methodists are at one, not only in their sense of its spiritual power, but in their freedom from the debasing superstitions which even to this day cling around it in some other churches.
The circuit system is in no danger of breaking down. In The circuit recent times the plan has been tried of endeavouring to fix responsibility by creating small circuits, especially in towns, comprising only one, two, or three congregations, or even single stations. It is now, however, the prevailing view that this has not been a successful experiment, and the tendency is to reunite these small areas into large and strong circuits. Methodism is not going to become Con gregational ; both in town and in country the aggregation of circuits into larger areas is working well. It opens the possibility of placing the general superintendence in the hands of the abler men, who are always few in number. In the constitution recently adopted for the United Metho dist Church, formed by fusion of the New Connexion, the Free Methodist, and the Bible Christian Churches, the circuit system is emphasized and strengthened.
A large circuit, however, calls more than others for in ternal arrangements which maintain the individuality of the different congregations. The congregation is the primary cell of church organization : the differences in church systems lie in the way the different cells are grouped and co-ordinated. The larger the group, the more needful it is that each congregation should be so worked as to maintain
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METHODISM TO-DAY
The Itinerancy.
Social work.
its own health. The practice is therefore growing of letting the ministers serve each his own church at least once on a Sunday, and avoiding that constant interchange of pulpits which, where there are many clergy, prohibits a proper relation between the congregation and its special pastor. This is especially needful where, as in our larger towns, the population is fluctuating, so that a church member, resident say for a couple of years in one neighbourhood, hardly finds out who his immediate minister is. This practice will certainly grow ; and it is also applicable to rural places where the minister is seen only every few weeks. It is obvious that, under Methodist Union, the number of churches and church members in a given area being greater, the difficulties of supervision will be much lessened.
Under such a system of large circuits, sub-divided as to ministerial work, it becomes necessary that the superin tendent, if he is to exercise any real superintendence, should be for a considerable time on the same ground. Indeed in the large towns this is the case with other ministers also, because there it is impossible for a man to become generally known or to act with effect on the public life of the place in the short three years at present allowed by the Wesleyan Deed Poll. And the junior branches of English Methodism have abandoned altogether the rule of limiting the duration of a pastorate. In the Wesleyan City Missions the three- years' plan has been given up, and by divers expedients the letter of the law is nowadays evaded. Evasion, how ever, is by a large number of Methodists deemed unworthy of a great church, and a movement has now been begun which will lead to a reform of the Deed itself. The need for a longer residence is enhanced by the growth of the social work of the Church.
Evangelism is nowadays closely connected with social work, and this is specially recognized in the great town missions which are so conspicuous a feature of modern Methodism. There are forty of these missions in the Wes leyan Church alone, and they have cost a million sterling. They have sprung from the conviction, brought home
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 497
to some of the leading spirits among the Methodist clergy, that the great masses of artisans in the industrial centres do not attend public worship, and that the reason for this neglect largely lies in the fact that the tone and methods of the services have in the past been framed to fit the middle classes and not the wage-earners. Now, it is perfectly true that the greatest danger to England to-day -is that the artisans and labourers, who are rapidly growing in political power, do not go to church. We need not discuss whether their presence or absence is a safe test of their religion. But their attendance is certainly the broadest known means of their civilization. If the workmen as a rule went to worship it would mean that their minds were open to idealism, to the contemplation of abstract realities, which are most clearly presented in religion. Religion is a great human fact, and it is exhibited all the world over in public acts of worship, pagan or Christian, rising from the most bar barous practices of human sacrifice to the purely spiritual thought and simple form of the Protestant communities. Roughly speaking, the character of worship is a test of civilized religion, and the attendance at it is a test of its success in the community. So that to bring within the influence of an educational, ethical, and soul-moving worship the mass of the people is the most vital service that a church can do to the nation. Modern Methodists have learned, as I think no others have learned (for the Salvation Army, with all its devotion and success, is not a sufficient training body for any but the very roughest) how to get at the artisan classes ; and they are very unlikely to go back upon this new method, which has so far had an extra ordinary success. It is difficult at first to believe that the success is due in any considerable degree to a mere change of method, but the fact cannot be gainsaid, and it is not impossible to discover why. The modern artisan is very democratic. Professor Seeley long ago shocked the world by suggesting that the first Christian Church was a sort of club. It was true ; and it is because the modern town mission, with its offer of brotherhood, its men's meeting — VOL. IE 32
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METHODISM TO-DAY
Its influence
towards
reunion.
Connexional- ism : the Conference.
to which the worshipper is admitted as an equal member, with a share in the management — its open acceptance of the equality of men, its brief and simple forms of service, appeals to the mechanic as far more Christian than the more cultivated form of the ordinary congregation of middle- class families. Add to this recommendation that in some of the meetings at least there is no hesitation in discussing the social problem, without being afraid of politics either, that there are no reserved pews, and that a successful missioner is not scattered about among several congre gations, or removed summarily at the end of three years, and you have the plain reasons for a movement into which Methodism is to-day putting its strength and will continue to do so. Here again we have a development which gives the go-by to the differences between the sections of Metho dism, and offers a field in which all must necessarily work on the same system of tillage, a new and intensive culture. The central authority of Methodism must of course remain in the Conferences. But the Wesley an Conference has undergone most important changes within the last thirty or forty years, and is obviously destined to undergo con siderable modifications in the future. It is a strange pecu liarity of the Wesleyan Methodist Church that its govern ment rests upon a fiction — one of those legal fictions by which in all times mankind have ingeniously contrived to make changes without seeming to do so or even admitting to themselves that they are making them. It is the theory that the supreme governing body sits in two sections, composed of different persons, dealing to some extent with different subjects, and meeting at different times. In reality there are two Conferences, and the government is divided between them ; and yet neither has the legal authority, which is vested in the Legal Hundred. The power of the Legal Hundred, like the assent of the Crown to British legislation, is a function which is exercised as a matter of mere formality, and could not be otherwise dealt with, except at the cost of a revolution. It is convenient, because it enables all sorts of constitutional changes to be
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 499
made without affecting any legal position ; it gives perfect freedom to the actual Conference. For this reason it is not likely to be disturbed at present, though serious questions will arise when the time comes for union with the other Methodist bodies, whose constitutions are not quite so elastic. But the two sections of the Wesleyan Conference are destined before long to be fused into one : ' and perhaps, when the time comes for a single united Methodist Church, all the peculiarities of Pastoral Conference, Guardian Repre sentatives, and other checks upon a single elected chamber may be replaced by some appeal to synodal consent.
The tendency of all the Methodist communities, carried The along by the movements of the day, is to strengthen their demands for the education of the ministry. If the laity, ministry, growing in wealth and culture, are to be retained in Metho dism, they must be taught and led by ministers who as similate the thought of the day and retain, intellectually as well as morally, the respect of the people, especially of those younger members who receive university education. It is a very hopeful feature that a rapidly increasing number of its clergy are graduates, and not a few are men who have the cachet of an Oxford or Cambridge degree — which counts for a good deal, probably more than it is intrinsically worth, but which so counts in the eyes of multitudes whom it is very important to influence. It is the duty of the Methodist churches to qualify themselves for all departments of religious service.
At the same time the business-like tone of Methodism is emphasizing the demand for a practical professional training in its ministers. It has to be recognized that all grades of education and equipment have their place in the ranks of the ministry, and the roughest evangelist with zeal and ability will often accomplish in his own way as much as the most refined and erudite who has not the gift of expression or full sympathy with evangelistic work. It is
1 Questions of ministerial discipline and the examination of candidates for the ministry may, possibly, if only because of practical considerations, be reserved for the ministerial sessions.
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METHODISM TO-DAY
And of
lay
preachers.
CONSTITU TIONS.
a mere popular prejudice that learning and style tend to disqualify for the plainest pastoral work ; but the dread of machine-made clergy is a very sound one. Nevertheless the need of the time is an increase in the higher culture of the clergy. Methodism ought to have, and will have, a Theological College at Oxford or Cambridge, and will one of these days establish it. Meanwhile it can take advantage of all the Universities, so long as it is careful not to sub stitute intellectual ambition in its candidates for that thorough devotion to the work of the Ministry which is the highest proof of vocation. Growing attention is nowa days paid to the education, so far as it can be carried, of the lay preachers. Here is a movement of great promise, not only on account of the immense service which can be done by them as lay preachers, but because they are the nursery of the regular Pastorate. In these times the nation is waking up to the truth that every one should be technically trained for his work as well as taught something of know ledge in general. Under the Methodist system the number of congregations is never to be confined to the number of available ministers ; the lay preacher is essential, and it is very wasteful not to afford him an opportunity of obtaining some, even if slight, teaching of a regular kind how to do his work. The Wesleyans have now opened a college for this purpose, and the movement will no doubt be extended.
Church Government has presented an immense variety of types, moulded in most cases by the ideas of civil govern ment prevalent at the time. But, broadly speaking, they fall under two heads : the hierarchic and the democratic. In the first, power is vested in the clergy, and, from one point of view, they are bureaucratic in character. The Church is managed by its professional class, and the pro fession is self-elected. Sacerdotal churches are of this order, and its type is the Roman Church, which is governed by clergy grouped in ranks — priests, bishops, archbishops, patriarchs, headed by the absolutist Pope. The form of government is supposed to be of divine right, and the re-
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 501
ligion tends to be one of rites and ceremonies, regulated and administered by a perpetual succession of hierophants. In the other type of Church the source of power is, as in all democratic theory, in the mass of the people ; all members of the Church are in communion with God ; all His people are prophets ; conscience, enlightened by the collective con science, is the seat of authority, and the church jurisdiction is derived from the body of members and responsible to them. This doctrine is to be found in some dim way in all churches, but those only can be called democratic in which it is effective. It is carried out in a typical Presby terian Church, where authority is vested, as to a particular congregation, in a mass meeting of the church members, who elect the elders and deacons and appoint the pastor by universal suffrage, and as to general church affairs by a representative assembly consisting of the pastors and of lay delegates elected by the congregations. These two models of church government, therefore, differ not only in method but in principle ; they follow two divergent conceptions of the nature of the Church, they represent two incompatible views of the Christian religion.
Standing between these two models there are many forms which are compromises ; but the great mass of the Protestant Churches, even those which are not nominally Presbyterian, are of the democratic stamp. Congregational churches are Presbyterian, only with all government outside the single congregation left out. They answer to what the French people call the commune, the small, independent community, owing no allegiance to any general State. Methodism sprang originally from the clerical principle ; it was governed by Wesley as sole head, who consulted his preachers as the Pope might hold a consistory of Cardinals ; and when Wesley laid down his life and office the Conference of preachers, who were, though they did not at first ac knowledge themselves to be, clergy, succeeded to his powers, and for two-thirds of a century kept them mainly in their own hands. The different secessions from the mother Methodist Church have arisen from disputes as to the right-
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METHODISM TO-DAY
Presbyte rian or democratic develop ment.
1908.
A constitu tion for United British Methodism
ness of this clerical system, the democratic spirit warring against the clerical, and to meet this spirit concessions have been made by the clergy from time to time. All this is writ large in the constitutional history of Methodism. In 1877 the Wesleyan Conference was divided into two sections, one consisting of clergy alone, and theoretically consisting of all the clergy who chose to attend, though in practice limited to about one-third of them, the other consisting of special members of clergy and laity, elected by the Synods, and transacting all the business except matters affecting doctrine, the stationing of the pastors, and the discipline of the clergy. Such is the position of the main British Methodist body ; the minor off-shoots of it, recently reduced by two, differ in the extent of their clericalism, but all work in the democratic direction.
It requires no gift of prophecy to perceive, therefore, that the future development of the Wesleyan Methodist constitution must be in the direction of the Presbyterian or democratic type. Its own history displays that trend ; its last Conference conferred a limited suffrage on the church member as such ; the strong tendency to union with the other Methodist bodies operates in the same direction. The theory of the divine right of the pastorate cannot long survive modern New Testament criticism, and when once the sacerdotal and levitical view is given up, to be exploited by the Roman and in part by the Anglican churches, there is no other principle which can hold its ground except that of the right of the body of the faithful, which flows directly from the doctrine of justification by faith and is the legitimate outcome of the Reformation. On these lines the ecclesiastical principles of all the Metho dist Churches tend rapidly to assimilation.
It would be hazardous to attempt an exact sketch of the constitution of the Methodist Church of England, when formed, as it will probably be in the course of another generation, by the reunion of all the Methodist Churches in this country. But granted a single representative Con ference, and a Quarterly Meeting and officers elected by
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 503
general vote of the church members — changes which might be smoothly introduced without disturbing the course of the church work — and the whole of the Methodist churches of the country might accept a common constitution which would make little apparent difference in any of them. Such effect as it would have would lie in a certain change of spirit. To many minds the rough-and-tumble habits of a comparatively uneducated democracy are very re pulsive, and there will always be a minority who prefer to have all church government, and indeed all civil govern ment, conducted in silence, behind a screen, by autocratic hands. That is well, until the autocracy produces some thing they dislike, and then, even if it be supposed to be divinely guided, which is the sacerdotal delusion, the system chafes and ultimately, in ecclesiastical as well as civil affairs, breaks down in corruption and revolution. In neither sphere can the citizen live a quiet and private life absorbed in his own concerns, of body or soul, without taking his due share of responsibility for the common man agement of the common life. Where there is life there is more or less of tumult ; and though in church affairs vul garity, self-assertion, and violence are especially odious, on the other hand, where the force of true religion is felt, there should be, and generally is, an effective appeal to the better nature which can hardly be expected of the worldly citizen, fighting for power or pelf. It is for the clergy, by influence rather than prerogative, to maintain so high a spiritual tone as not only to conserve their dignified position but to keep in smooth and reverent, not to say affectionate, temper the conduct of the whole of the affairs of the Church, even those which affect money or the sense of justice.
But if the inclusion in a single Methodist Church in Eng- Effect of land of large masses of members, many of whom have not union Of the reached a high level of education, should be thought to en- Churches. danger the tone of the church meetings and business, there is a possible remedy which I cannot but think will one day come up for consideration. I mean the question of union
504 METHODISM TO-DAY
with the Presbyterian Church of England. Such a Metho dist constitution as is suggested would be in substance almost identical with Presbyterianism. The Presbyterian Elder is virtually a class-leader ; the deacon a steward. The Presbyterian pastorate is for life or good behaviour ; it might work more efficiently if it were subject to an adjusting authority in the Presbytery and Synod. The immense traditional respect in which the pastor is held would be a corrective for any self-asserting tendency on the part of ambitious church members ; while the high level of culture required of the Presbyterian clergy would emphasize the determination of modern Methodists to aim high for their own ministers. At the same time the members of the English Presbyterian Church would gain a far wider sphere of influence, would acquire an English status from which their predominantly Scotch character debars them, and would also gain by a greater freedom and elasticity of church method and by the superbly victorious traditions of evangelism which inspire the Methodist churches. Before long we shall see such a union as this in Canada, and if it could be accomplished in this country we should be near to a general free Evangelical Church of England, whose influence might yet save the Anglican Church from Rome. For the two great congregational bodies, jealous as they are of their local rights, are feeling the need of closer federa tion, and the larger conception of church organization can not but make progress under the influence of the National Free Church Council and of the growing energy of our democratic State.
Sectional It is thought by many that, even apart from Methodist
3es' union, the size of the Wesleyan Conference and the in creasing volume of its business will soon necessitate a greater devolution of authority to the Synods. With such a union even this change, already in progress, would probably prove inadequate, and the American plan of subordinate Confer ences would have to be considered. According to this policy England would be divided into a few larger areas, Wales forming another, and in each an administrative repre-
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 505
sentative Conference would be held annually — a general Conference, for legislation and for business affecting the whole Church, meeting every three or four years. This scheme is yet a good way off, and it may well be that before it is reached some other way may be found of compassing the object. But if some such remedy be not found there will be a danger of the church business falling into the hands of that bureaucracy which is always waiting for the indo lence or indifference of a democracy. If the people will not do their own work others will be found to do it for them, at the price of power. This is largely the history of the rise of clerical, and then of sacerdotal, authority. The price of liberty is not only eternal vigilance, but also un wearied toil. If the church members will live for the Church and its manifold service, and not for the world with its lusts and passions, the body of Christ will be in healthy activity and will keep the liberty with which Christ has made it free.
I cannot hope to have touched on all the tendencies even Notes of English Methodism, but I think we may conclude that c°mm°n to
,. all sections
Methodism is in principle a democratic Church, informed of British by the modern spirit, and still retaining a large share of Methodism- its original popular impulse. A recent French writer says it is compounded of both the Catholic and the Reformation elements, holding still within it a view of the Ministry and a tradition of ritual which are Anglican and Conservative, along with a really Puritan system and ethos. There is truth in this ; but the Levitical and liturgical traces are gradually disappearing, and the divine-right notion of the ministerial office will not long prevail. The Methodist churches all the same hold the central position between the heterogeneous Anglican Church, at this time harking back to Romanism, and the extreme left in ecclesiastical parties. They are essentially Puritan, they are organized for work, and are, as popular communities, open to new lights and new methods. No organization and no methods can dis pense with the vital requirement of zeal and inspiration. The more quiet and orderly conduct of much of the Metho-
506 METHODISM TO-DAY
dist work must not mislead us into supposing that there is any real decline of the early enthusiasm. Whenever a testing time has come Methodism has shown itself ready for the new call. It has had periods of expansion and declension, but its advance is clearly marked, and it is an infinitely more powerful influence on England than it was fifty years ago. It is entering into more cordial relations with the other evangelical churches, and will receive some thing from their special culture ; but it will give more to them. If it is faithful and in earnest, it may have in its hands the shaping of the future of English religion.
Methodism has always been a religion of the lower and middle classes. But these are the very classes who are the strength of the country and are rising every year into greater power and influence. Their Church must rise with them. There will always be some who find a less exacting church life or a more cultivated worship more congenial to their minds. But the success of Methodism in America and the Colonies shows that the sturdy English stock has here found a suitable method for its religious life, and there is no fear for the future. The greatest danger Methodism has Their to encounter is the one which Wesley foresaw and in which
dangers. social as well as religious reformers find now their greatest peril — the effects of wealth. Wealth is increasing, and will increase. Religion itself creates it. But there are only two legitimate uses for wealth, philanthropy and culture. It is for the Methodists to betake themselves to both, to scorn display and idleness and social ambition, to despise the mere vulgar lust of possessing or of being valued for one's possessions rather than for oneself. Plain living and high thinking, the devotion of personal service and of money on a large scale freely to the service of the poor and ignorant, the employment of leisure for the cultivation of knowledge and taste — these are the objects to which the mind of modern Methodists, following Wesley, should ever be given. These will give Methodism its due place in the nation and the world.
PLATE XXXII
THE WESLEY MONUMENT
IN
. "WESTMINSTER ABBEV.
THE WESLEY MONUMENT IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY, UNVEILED BY DEAN STANLEY IN 1878. By permission of The Methodist Publishing House.
II. 506]
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 507
II. IN AMERICAN METHODISM
It is a very difficult task to distinguish and declare the GENERAL lines of development in American Methodism. The terri- E> tory affected is so immense. To say nothing whatever complicated about Canada with its wide domain, the Eastern sections 8ubJect- of the United States are very different from the Western sections, and they in turn are not the same as those on the Pacific coast. There is a North, and there is a South. There is a German Methodism, and a Scandinavian Methodism, both of large proportions. There are negroes by the million. There are seventeen distinct kinds of Methodists, bearing that name ; besides the Evangelical Association and the United Brethren, which have close affiliation with the family. Who is authorized or qualified to speak for this vast aggregation, no two units of which are precisely alike ? Who has sufficient breadth of vision to take in the whole ? Who can be fully acquainted with all parts of the continent and all sorts of churches ? The claim would be preposter ous. It is impossible, then, to speak of such a subject with any approach to dogmatism, or to offer anything but a tentative and somewhat hesitating judgement. It should also be said that, in the following brief estimate, the Metho dist Episcopal Church, to which the writer belongs, will of necessity be chiefly in mind ; although the remarks will, it is believed, be true in the main of varying degrees of the other Methodist bodies. This short survey of general tendencies will be followed by a notice of the trend towards the reunion of the several churches.
As to government or polity, which has been from the Constitu- beginning the principal cause of dissension in American jjj!^5d Methodism, it can be confidently stated that the tendencies are, and for some time have been, toward democracy. The aristocratic and autocratic influences, so strong in the earlier days, have steadily declined. The growing power of Growing the laity is manifest on every hand. It appears not only in their admission in equal numbers into the law-making body, but also in their increasing control of the appoint-
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METHODISM TO-DAY
Some causes of it.
Doctrinal tendencies.
Improve ments in equipment and facilities.
ments. More and more they assume to say who shall be their pastors, tendering ' calls ' to the favoured ones, which calls, with rare exceptions, are duly ratified by the bishops, who still nominally have charge. The admission of women also to the General Conference and sometimes to the pulpits, though not as yet to orders, is in the same line of develop ment.
This movement arises partially, no doubt, from the great advance on the part of the laity in wealth, education, and social standing. They pour forth from our numerous educational institutions by the thousand yearly, they fill high political and official positions, they have acquired great fortunes. And this intellectual progress, both with them and with the ministry, has led, and probably will still further lead, to some doctrinal modifications of a minor sort, as well as some changes in evangelistic agencies. The tendency is to greater theological freedom in non-essential matters — in those things, to use Wesley's words, 'which do not strike at the root of Christianity.' There is less insistence on certain technicalities of terminology, once very much pressed ; there is a decided lessening of the fetters of a traditional, conservative orthodoxy which required subscription to very clearly cut creeds ; there is a realization that much less is known with certainty about many matters that in other times were considered abso lutely settled. The fundamentals are not less firmly held, but they are now fewer in number, and in other things there is greater liberty.
The above-mentioned alteration in the make-up of the constituency of the churches (which seems likely to con tinue in the same line) has greatly increased the state- liness and beauty of our houses of worship, and the number and comfort of the parsonages ; has given us a great variety of philanthropic institutions — orphanages, hospitals, deacon ess homes, and training schools ; and has marvellously in creased our contributions to benevolent causes. Whether the increase has been proportionate to the enlarged means and numbers is not so clear. Also, it is doubtful whether genuine
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 509
spirituality has progressed. Many factors enter into the Some question, some of them very perplexing. There is much ^ less attendance at class-meetings, love-feasts, and camp meetings ; there is less readiness to take part in prayer- meetings, less familiarity with the Bible, greater laxity as to frequenting worldly amusements, larger conformity to fashionable follies of various sorts. There is also less readiness to engage in personal labour for the unconverted, and less success attending revival campaigns. The per centage of increase in the numbers added to the churches yearly also tends to diminish. There would seem, there fore, to be some ground for the conclusion that as Methodism has come to take its place in the seats of the mighty, has attained large influence, high rank, enrichment, it has experienced the usual change which is nearly always noticed in the case of individuals whom God has favoured with magnified fortunes.
But if Methodism is losing some of her earlier peculiarities and re- and is drawing nearer to other denominations in many assuring- things, it must also be said that she has greatly influenced those denominations, that she has had a large share in greatly elevating the tone of society and impressing herself powerfully upon the nation. It is chiefly owing to her that the prohibition of the liquor traffic is marching forward with such conquering strides ; she never was so much in earnest as now to wipe off the poisonous saloon from the face of the earth. She was never so much in earnest to spread the gospel to the remotest bounds of creation, or so successful in doing it ; never so active in labours to ameliorate the hard condition of the masses who are slaves of toil. She speaks with no uncertain sound as to the imperative duties of Christian citizenship, the imperilled sacredness of the marriage tie, and the immeasurable importance of putting religion into all parts of daily life. Her moral state, we believe, is unprecedentedly high. Church trials are almost unknown. Fraternal feeling is immensely advanced.
It will be seen, then, that American Methodism keenly
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METHODISM TO-DAY
A twofold develop ment.
REUNION.
Its desira bility.
feels the tendencies of the age, as is inevitable, is yielding in a considerable measure to them, and may yield yet more. Its lines of development are double. Its formative prin ciples still strongly work, and stamp it as substantially the same. It is full of hope, courage, vigour, expansion, ex tension. Its future is bright. If that future shall be different from the present at some points, even as the present is from the past, may we not fairly assume that God is guiding it, and, in His own time and way, will bring forth, through it, wondrous glory to His holy name ?
The need of the reunion of Methodism in the United States of America is conspicuously evident. As already stated, there are no less than seventeen direct branches of the great tree, the seed of which was cast into the soil by John Wesley, to say nothing of two other large limbs having a less immediate connection with the main trunk. Methodism, it should be said, is not unique in this. Most of the other sections of Protestantism in this country are offenders to an equal degree. If ' diversity of belief is a sign of religious vitality,' as has been said, then indeed America can claim a plentiful supply of spiritual life. Counted among the religious forces of the United States, whose statistics were gathered in the eleventh national census, are very nearly 150 separate denominations. It is generally thought that one hundred of these, at the very least, are entirely superfluous and might be eliminated by processes of absorption and combination, with very decided gain to the cause of Christ in the land. While it may be, and doubtless is, a token that people are thoroughly alive to the importance of religion when they think enough about it to have very positive opinions on a large variety of minute points, and while it also indicates the completest kind of religious liberty when there is no hindrance to their forming separate denominations or church organizations based on these small differences — and we would deprecate either that apathy or that bondage which would make such separations impossible — nevertheless, all will admit that this independence may be carried too far. A forced
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 511
unanimity is not desirable. A nominal, external union
which does not reach the heart or command the free assent
of the mind is farcical. On the other hand, that crotchety,
erratic, rampant irrelation and isolation which cannot work
in harmony with others, which magnifies trifles out of all
ratio to their real significance, puts personal ambition or
personal grievances above the interests of the kingdom of
God, keenly perceives little peculiarities of doctrine or
discipline, and has no large grasp of great truths, no wide
vision of mighty movements, no sense of proportion, is
equally objectionable. It is doubtless this spirit which is Should all
responsible for the needless divisions in the army of the be mcluded ?
Lord. Yet not for all. Let it be freely admitted that in
several cases there have been reasonable grounds for division,
and that to-day it is a question susceptible of strong debate
whether a union of all the Methodists of the country in one
gigantic body is either feasible, or, on the whole, desirable.
There is a point beyond which compromise cannot profitably
be carried. There are phases of thought and varieties of
polity, nay, there are social cleavages, which make separate
organizations pleasanter for the workers and more effective
in the work. It is also possible for a church to be too big for
its best good. The organic unity of all Christ's people, or
even that part of them which wish to be called Methodists,
is not a fetish which we feel bound to worship superstitiously
or unmeaningly ; nor is it so plain a demand of Scripture
that men cannot be allowed freely to differ about it. We
regard it as something to be settled by calm reflection
and sober argument, by a calculation of the reasons for and
against in the light of all the facts that each age has to
furnish. The Spirit of God is surely with His people to
direct in this matter, and may be trusted to lead them so
far as they are willing to be led.
We therefore approach this question of the reunion of An inquiry American Methodism with no preconceived theories or hard-and-fast ideas to which all facts must be made to bend, but with an open mind, inquiring what is the state of the case now, and what, in view of past history and
512 METHODISM TO-DAY
present indications, is probable as to the future. It will be found helpful to take first a rapid survey of the seventeen different Methodist churches in the United States, that we may see what has parted them asunder.
The The history of the mother-church, from which the others
muniSes001 in most cases have gone forth, and which still constitutes the main body, the METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, need not be dwelt upon now, save to say that out of the 6,660,784 communicants in American Methodism it has nearly half, or 3,036,667 — without counting the 290,886 communicants in foreign Conferences — having advanced to this from 2,240,354 at the time of the national census in 1890. Next in point of importance comes the METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH SOUTH, numbering 1,673,892. In 1890 it had 1,209,976. This body grew out of the differences between the Northern and Southern States on the subject of slavery, and fully set up for itself at its first General Conference, May 1, 1846, in Petersburg, Virginia, the very place where the great conflict between the North and South was finally settled under Grant and Lee in April 1865.
The coloured Of the coloured Methodists, taken together (besides some Methodists. 300j000 in tlie Methodist Episcopal Church), there are just about as many as the total membership of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, namely, 1,678,228, having grown to this from 940,581 in 1890. Unfortunately this number African is split into eight divisions. The largest is the AFRICAN
METHODIST EPISCOPAL, which was organized in Philadelphia in April 1816, Richard Allen, who was practically its founder, being elected the first Bishop. The cause of the separation was the friction which arose in St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, in 1786, about the assignment of seats to the coloured brethren. There came to be a settled feeling that the coloured folks could have more freedom of action and more unembarrassed, unrestricted enjoyment of their religious exercises if they kept to themselves, than would be the case if they con tinued in close association with their white brethren. Hence the new body, which was small in numbers and grew for a
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 513
long time very slowly, having less than 8,000 members at the end of the first decade of its existence. In 1856 it had 20,000, in 1866 75,000. After the close of the war and the emancipation of the slaves, the denomination spread extensively through the South, as it had not been at liberty to do before, and the growth was rapid, there being a very natural disposition on the part of the coloured Methodist population to form their own combinations for religious as well as other work. In 1876 there were 212,000 members, in 1890 this had risen to 452,725, and in 1907 there were 850,000. In doctrine, government, and usage this Church scarcely differs at all from that of the body out of which it sprung.
Next in rank is the AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL African ZION CHURCH, which dates from 1820, and sprang from a Methodist congregation of coloured people organized in New York Zion. City, in connexion with the Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1796. Zion was inserted in the name to commemorate the particular church which was the nucleus originally. At the first annual Conference in 1821 there were nineteen preachers and 1,426 members. Progress was slow, quite naturally, as there could hardly be shown any real reason for another coloured Methodist Episcopal Church. In twenty-five years the ministers had increased to 75 only, and the membership to 5,000. An effort was made at the beginning to induce the ' Zionites ' to unite with the African Methodist Episcopal, or ' Bethelites,' but in vain. In 1864 the Zion General Conference passed resolutions favouring union with the African Methodist Episcopal Church, but for some reason, difficult to discern, no union was con summated. Since the war growth has been rapid. In 1890 there were 349,788 members, and at present there are 578,310. Its doctrines are the same as those of all Methodists, and its polity nearly the same, save that lay representation has long been a prominent feature. There are laymen in the Annual Conferences as well as in the General Conference, and there is no bar to the ordina tion of women. Presiding Elders are elected by the VOL. II 33
514 METHODISM TO-DAY
Annual Conferences on the nomination of the presiding Bishop.
Other Third in rank in this special class is the COLOURED METHO-
sS™ions. DIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, numbering in 1890 128,758, and in 1907, 219,713. This grew directly out of the Civil War. The Methodist Episcopal Church South, which had in 1860 207,776 coloured members, found that in 1866, at the close of the war, it had only 48,742. A plan was then inaugurated, though not consummated till 1870, to set off the coloured members into a separate organization. It has precisely the same articles of religion and discipline as the parent body, and receives from it considerable care, especially in the support of its educational institutions. The fourth community to be named is the UNION AMERICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, which had in 1890 2,279 communicants, but claims now 18,500, an astonishing advance. It was organized, with the same general doctrines and usages as other branches of Methodism, in 1813, in Wilmington, Delaware, splitting from the Methodist Epis copal Church for some obscure or unknown reason. The EVANGELIST MISSIONARY CHURCH was formed in 1886 in Ohio by ministers and members who withdrew from the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church for various reasons. It has no creed but the Bible, but, according to its Bishop, it ' inclines in belief to the doctrine that there is but one divine person, Jesus Christ, in whom dwells all the Godhead bodily.' It had 951 communicants in 1890, and has now 5,014 in the States of Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The AFRICAN UNION METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH, which has a few congregations divided among eight States— mainly in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware— came into existence at about the same time as the African Metho dist Episcopal Church and for the same causes, but differs from the former chiefly in objecting to the itinerancy, to a paid ministry, and to the episcopacy. It had in 1890 3,415 members, and has now about 4,000. The ZION UNION APOSTOLIC CHURCH is also a coloured Methodist organization formed at Boydton, Virginia, in 1869, but
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 515
what causes it had or still has for its being it is difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain. It has somewhere in the neighbourhood of 2,000 members in Virginia and North Carolina. Eighth in this list comes the COLOURED CON GREGATIONAL METHODISTS of Alabama and Texas, about three hundred of them, with five ministers and five churches, in all respects similar to the Congregational Methodist Church, save that the latter invites the white population and the former the coloured.
The CONGREGATIONAL METHODISTS withdrew from the Methodist Episcopal Church South in 1852, that laymen might have more voice in church government ; yet it is not a purely congregational system, but retains a series of Conferences leading up to the General Conference, which meets once in four years. It has 24,000 members, having grown to that from 8,765 in 1890. There is also a body called the NEW CONGREGATIONAL METHODISTS, numbering about 4,000, originating in Georgia in 1881, having the same doctrines and polity as the previous body. It was organized by members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, who were grieved by what they considered the arbitrary action of a certain Quarterly Conference.
There are still five other Methodist bodies, besides the two Methodist Episcopal, the two Congregational Methodist, and the eight Coloured Methodist already described. Chief of the five, and earliest to start, was the METHODIST PRO TESTANT, so called, though not Protestant in distinction from the Catholics any more than other Methodists. It was organized in 1830, mainly to secure the admission of the laity to a share in the government. They began with 5,000 members, had 141,989 in 1890, and have now 183,894. The WESLEYAN METHODISTS were organized in 1843, by ministers and members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, mainly in consequence of dissatisfaction with the attitude of that body toward slavery. It has no itinerancy, and admits no members of secret societies. Beginning with about 6,000 members, it had 16,000 in 1890, and now has 19,000. The FREE METHODISTS, originating in 1860 at
516
METHODISM TO-DAY
Is their separate existence justified ?
Distance from one another.
Pekin, New York State, with members who had left the Methodist Episcopal Church, also makes a strong protest against secret societies, and emphasizes a few other questions of discipline, including the prohibition of the use of tobacco. Its preachers lay great stress on the doctrine of entire sanctification. In 1890 its members numbered 22,000, and are now 31,000. The PRIMITIVE METHODIST CHURCH is not a branch of American Methodism at all, but came from England, being introduced into Canada in 1843, and later, gradually, into a few parts of the United States. There are churches in only eight States, nearly one half being found in Pennsylvania, and nearly all are composed of English people. In 1890 there were 4,764, and in 1907 there were 7,013. This concludes the list, save that there are fifteen churches, eight ministers, and about 2,500 mem bers in Maryland and Tennessee who call themselves INDE PENDENT METHODISTS ; they are too independent to belong to any Annual Conference, and apparently are not to be especially discriminated from the Congregational Methodists. As our readers must now have seen, there would not appear to be any sufficient justification for the separate existence of most of these Methodist churches. We have drawn out a brief abstract of their history in order that this might appear as it could not in any other way. It seemed necessary, as a proper prelude to any discussion of reunion tendencies or lines of development. A survey of the scene thus laid before us very plainly suggests (and this should certainly be reckoned with) the influences against unity which have brought about this condition of things, and which still in great measure operate. Unity is difficult where people are scattered over large spaces between which there are no special or immediate connecting links. A movement in one section of the country may be almost exactly paralleled in another section, springing from similar and independently acting causes. The two may be en tirely ignorant of each other for a very long time, until indeed each has rooted itself firmly and sees nothing to be gained by an amalgamation which, owing to the distance,
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 517
could be only formal and external. Particularly is this the case if the leading spirits are men who do not read much, men of narrow views, men without breadth of con ception or largeness of thought, whose minds are wholly and sufficiently occupied with the small affairs of a small concern. Unity, as they conceive of it, is against their personal interests, for if they were merged in a large body they would be lost sight of and be esteemed of less con sequence ; they would be forgotten in the distribution of the offices of honour and emolument, and would be sur passed by others with better abilities. Local affairs in such cases are apt to be accounted of pre-eminent conse quence, and there is small attention given to anything far away or not immediately visible.
Again, when for any cause separate denominations have Vested come into existence and have continued for a generation J^*68*8 or two, a disturbance of the status quo is sure to be attended historic with much friction. There are now vested interests to be associations- protected, there are property rights to be guarded, there are legal complications involved in any change. Use and wont are on the side of things as they are, and any pro position to have them otherwise must run a searching gauntlet of challenges. Long-time associations make a privileged plea of much strength. Especially if there is a fair degree of success and progress, the cry is raised, ' Let well enough alone ; in disturbance there is danger of defeat.' It will be seen, from the figures given above, that nearly all the various sections of Methodism, even those which would seem to have the smallest excuse for being, have been doing very fairly well in the past seventeen years ; have made, in fact, in many cases, much larger proportionate gains than the parent body. So that they might, with a good show of reason, say, ' Why should we give up our in dependence, when God is plainly seen to be very graciously blessing our endeavours to build up His kingdom in our own way ? '
Differences of colour, race, nationality, and language Racial furnish a barrier to unity, a ground for cleavage, that can difficulties-
518 METHODISM TO-DAY
in no way be ignored or dismissed as baseless. We have seen that of the nearly two million Methodist members of African or Negro lineage now in the United States, 1,678,228, or more than eighty per cent., prefer to belong to churches composed exclusively of their own colour. Considering the whole history of the relation of the white and coloured people in this country, and also considering the marked peculiarities of the Negro race as distinguished from the Anglo-Saxon, this preference need not be a matter of sur prise. The wonder, perhaps, rather is that so large a number as 290,000 and more still cling to what they love to call ' the old John Wesley Church.' It is safe to say that they would not do so except for the fact that they are placed in Conferences of their own colour. A persistent endeavour was made for some time after the war, by those who looked only at the theoretical doctrine of the basal equality of all men before God and ignored the practical working of average human nature, to perpetuate mixed Conferences, and it was even deemed a sort of treason to fundamental human rights to take any other position. But when it was found that the blacks themselves greatly preferred to have, so far as possible, entire charge of their own affairs, and that close mingling in ecclesiastical relations was no more agreeable to them than to their white brethren, the effort was abandoned. The coloured members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the more intelligent of them at least, are fully aware of the advantages they receive from their connexion with it — advantages in the way of white supervision, direction, and help, from the presidency in their Conferences of our great bishops, the visits of our secretaries, the presence in some instances of white presiding elders, also of white principals in the chief educational institutions, and of the large amounts of money which by our various benevolent societies have been expended among them. They are gaining more and more recognition in the way of General Conference offices, and may, before this book sees the light, have been given something which they have long desired — a full-fledged bishop of their own
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 519
colour. While this liberal and helpful policy is pursued toward them they are hardly likely to break off into a new denomination, or to join either of the African Methodist churches : although, if these latter should come together into one grand aggregate, there would undoubtedly be strong pressure brought to effect the detachment of our coloured Conferences (twenty-one in number) ; and there are not wanting prominent leaders in our own Church who think it would be a good thing if this were accomplished.
Is there any likelihood that the two million coloured Probable Methodists will draw together, or that they will ever be con- [Jf^e6™ nected again with the whites in one grand organization ? colour line. As to the latter there is something to be said in favour of it from the standpoint of absolute idealism. Dr. Abel Stevens, writing forty years ago in his History of the Metho dist Episcopal Church, after describing the formation of the first two African Methodist churches, adds this :
As these bodies differ in no fundamental respect from the parent Church, and as a difference of the human skin can be no justifiable reason for a distinction in Christian communion, the time may come when the parent Church may have the opportunity of making an impressive demonstration against absurd conventionalism, and in favour of the sublime Christian doctrine of the essential equality of all good men in the kingdom of God, by receiving back to its shelter, without invidious or discriminative terms, these large masses of the African people, and by sharing with them its abundant resources for the eleva tion of their race. Such an act would seem to be the necessary consummation of that revolution of public opinion which has been providentially effected by the great war of the rebellion.
This sounds well, but things have changed not a little since it was written. Latest observers report that every where there is a growing race consciousness among the Negroes, a building up of a more or less independent Negro community life within the greater white civilization. Every force seems to be working in that direction, the direction of Negro enterprises for the Negro population, separate
520 METHODISM TO-DAY
banks, separate periodicals, separate industrial or mercantile companies, separate schools, separate churches. They feel that their self-respect is better promoted in this way, that they have a fairer chance for the development of their resources. It is one thing for us to be ready to ' receive back ' the African masses, and another thing for them to wish to come back. We may say, then, that there is no present likelihood or tendency whatever for any such union as will bring the two races into a single denomination. Union of js there any trend toward union among the eight coloured
Methodists. Methodist bodies ? We have seen that five of them are extremely insignificant, having, all told, only thirty thousand members, if the largest claims are allowed. They seem to be of purely local significance, if of any at all, with no just grounds to rank as other than temporary factions, and having no real standing in the great Methodist family. Their past is unintelligible, their present unascertainable, their future unimportant. Among the three bodies of some size — the African Methodist Episcopal, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion, and the Coloured Methodist Episcopal — there has been considerable discussion with regard to union. We have already mentioned an effort toward union in 1864, which came to nothing. At the second (Ecumenical Conference which met in Washington in 1891, much interest was excited on the subject of union, and the leaders of the African Methodist churches held a private meeting to discuss the matter. But nothing of consequence seems to have come from it. Nor can it be said that in the seventeen years which have followed any great amount of definite progress toward organic union has been recorded. That there is a decided tendency toward fraternal union is quite manifest. Old acerbities have been mollified, warmer friendships cultivated, and encouraging steps taken in the direction of larger oneness. This year (1908), a very significant gathering bearing on the matter was held in the city of Washington. The bishops of the three churches under discussion met in joint session, twenty-six of them, two being detained by illness. They
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 521
agreed that the three churches shall have a common hymnal, catechism, and liturgical service. It was agreed likewise that the evils of the transfer system shall be checked by the refusal to accept a transfer of any minister except it be backed by a clean bill of moral health signed by the bishop from whose district he hails. A few other steps were taken looking toward the binding together of these three influential bodies in closer relations. Fraternity is evidently in the air ; and though at present nothing further is practicable, a still more intimate welding in the somewhat distant future is by no means impossible.
Very much has been written and spoken concerning the The two possibilities and probabilities of a union between the two churches great Methodist churches of America — the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church South. The relation between the two bodies has been a matter of agitation and debate ever since the momentous separation inaugurated at the General Conference of 1844. While slavery still existed that relation was, of course, antagonistic. After the echoes of the war had fully died away and a new generation began to have influence, move ments toward fraternity became more active ; delegations of leading men passed to and fro between the respective General Conferences. One speedy result of this was a Joint Commission held at Cape May, New Jersey, in August 1876. After prolonged discussion they heartily agreed on a plan by which disputed titles to church property might be adjudicated, and other difficulties in the way of perfect harmony removed. This agreement being recognized by both General Conferences, a good foundation for future intercourse was laid, and the tide of fraternal feeling has been steadily rising since that day. Very many influences are working that way. During the past quarter of a century intercourse between the two sections of the country has wonderfully increased. Northern resorts are much patron ized in the summer by people from the South, and Southern resorts in the winter by people from the North. Large amounts of Northern capital have gone South for the
522 METHODISM TO-DAY
development of business there. Students from the South have come North to complete their education. The Spanish war, engaged in with equal enthusiasm by soldiers and sailors from both sections, mightily cemented the union. The result of this social and commercial, educational and military interchange has been to bring about a kindlier, heartier feeling between all classes, and this has strongly affected the churches. The three (Ecumenical Conferences have had an effect, of course, in the same direction. Bishop R. S. Foster, of the Methodist Episcopal Church (whose father lived and died a member of both churches, insisting to the last on keeping his name on the register of a con gregation in each church and contributing equally to the support of both his pastors) in 1892 published a book en titled Union of Episcopal Methodisms, in which he argued strongly for such union. But Dr. W. P. Harrison, Book Editor of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, published a book, also in 1892, in which he took the opposite view. He was clear in the position, and represented in this, ap parently, the dominant sentiment in his church : that ' for the present, at least, the interest and welfare of our Southern Methodism imperatively demand the jurisdictional inde pendence of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.'
Since that time there has been, we judge, no fundamental or far-reaching change in the attitude of the churches. Not that these two books precisely indicate that attitude. There are many in the Methodist Episcopal Church South who agree with Dr. W. B. Palmore, Editor of the St. Louis Christian Advocate, that the time has fully come when both ' Yankee and Dixie Methodisms,' as they are sometimes called, ' should quit their wasteful follies and arrange for a united readjustment to take the world for Christ during the twentieth century.' So, too, there are many in the Methodist Episcopal Church who doubt if the time is very near when the two Methodisms can be with advantage organically united. This doubtless is the prevalent senti ment in both bodies. There is a feeling that the resultant church would be so big as to be unwieldy, that the General
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 523
Conference under such circumstances, if of manageable size, could but poorly represent the wide-spread and enor mous aggregate of its constituents, that there are radical differences in the views held in the two sections as to the powers of the General Conference which would be very difficult of reconciliation. Each Church has indeed in the sixty years since separation made quite a number of changes which they would be very reluctant to abandon. On the other hand, the centripetal tendencies, not only in Methodism, Hopeful as shown by the unions of Canada, Australasia, and Great Britain, but also in the entire Protestant world, have a constant and abiding influence. The two Methodist Churches of which we speak (together with that of Canada) have effected a successful union in Japan which promises to be of great service to the cause of Christ in that country. They have also united in a common Publishing House at Shanghai; they have united in the Epworth University of Oklahoma ; and this year a Bi-Methodist Missionary Convention was held in Oklahoma City, which brought together very success fully the leaders of the two great Churches for conference, prayer, and closer fellowship, and for studying anew the unfinished task of Jesus. These things are certain to increase. There has been considerable talk about a great University, at some centre like Louisville, for all Kentucky Methodism. It will probably come in time. The American University at Washington, D.C., has among its officers and trustees ministers and members of both churches. All along the border, between the sections, it would be a wonder fully helpful thing if rivalry could cease and union be effected. There would be economy in many directions. The Methodist Episcopal Church South has no less than six Conferences in the North, composed of fifteen thousand lay members, for the sustaining of which work $15,000 a year of mis sionary money is appropriated. Similarly the Methodist Episcopal Church has (besides its twenty-one coloured Conferences) seventeen white Conferences in the South, with 267,674 members, for whose aid between $50,000 and $60,000 is annually granted.
524
METHODISM TO-DAY
Present movements.
Proposed
union of
the
Methodist
Episcopal
and
Methodist
Protestant
Churches.
The minimizing of the friction natural under such cir cumstances and the prevention of harmful competition has been for a long time the study of the supreme governing bodies of the two Methodisms. In January 1898, there was held in Washington City a joint session of the Com mission on Federation, appointed by the General Confer ences of the two Episcopal Methodisms, which led to excellent results. Among other things recommended, and subsequently effected, was the adoption of a common hymnal for the two Churches, also a common order of service and a common catechism. These have now been for some years in use with much satisfaction. The General Conferences, with increasing heartiness and unanimity, have shown themselves disposed to take all practicable steps to increase fraternity by facilitating the transfer of ministers and members, and by avoiding the needless duplication of ecclesiastical organizations.
This growing feeling manifested itself in remarkable strength at the last General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in its quadrennial session in Baltimore, in May 1908. Important steps were taken by that great body of eight hundred delegates which may lead to the reunion of several of the Churches. Very early in the session the Conference adopted the following statement :
Such, has been the growth of the Methodist Episcopal Church and of the Methodist Protestant Church along the lines of their individual development, each gradually modifying its policy and practice to meet the enlarging demands confronting it, that providentially the radical differences of policy which occasioned their separation have been so nearly eliminated that many among the most godly in both churches are convinced there is no longer sufficient cause for the maintenance of two distinct ecclesiastical organizations. Having a common origin, holding a common faith, possessing so much, of discipline and policy in common, and above all the deep-rooted and growing conviction that the union of the various Methodisms would strengthen the local churches, secure economy of resource, make for aggressive evangelism, and hasten the kingdom of our
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 525
Lord, they earnestly desire that the Methodist Episcopal and Methodist Protestant Churches shall become organically one. Therefore, Resolved that the Methodist Episcopal Church in General Conference assembled hereby most cordially invites the Methodist Protestant Church to unite with the Methodist Episcopal Church in order that as one great Methodist body they and we may fulfil the better our individual commissions by preventing the waste of rivalry and exalting the God of peace.
A committee headed by Bishop Warren conveyed this invitation to the General Conference of the Methodist Protestant Church then in session at Pittsburg, Penn., and were most enthusiastically received. That Conference entertained the proposition favourably and appointed a commission, to confer with a like commission appointed at Baltimore, to adjust the details of the union. It will of necessity take some time, this union ; but it seems quite certain to come. The President of the Methodist Pro testants, the Rev. T. H. Lewis, D.D., in his fraternal address to the General Conference at Baltimore, later in the month, said, ' That such a union is honourable and possible and desirable, I have not the slightest doubt. Nay, I will go farther and say, that if we have any right to interpret God's will by the signs of the times, Bishop Warren is right in saying that the watchword of this new crusade is, " God wills it." ' He added that since the Methodist Protestants had drawn their membership from both North and South he cherished a fervent hope that it might be given to them to have the very great honour, before the union now in contemplation was consummated, to be the instrumentality of uniting the mighty hosts of divided Methodism.
That this, however, is still a question requiring much A Federal consideration is evident from another report adopted by t^nc the Conference at Baltimore, which begins by saying, ' The Methodist
„ . . Episcopal
time does not seem to have fully come for organic union North and between the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church South.' It provided, however, under some circumstances, for a union of local churches connected
526
METHODISM TO-DAY
Other churches invited to consider union.
with the two denominations. The following was also heartily adopted :
That the growth of the spirit of fraternity and of practical federation in evangelical churches in many communities, and especially in this country between the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church South, suggests the advisability of instituting a Federal Council for these two churches, which, without interfering with the autonomy of the respective churches and having no legislative functions, shall yet be invested with advisory powers in regard to world- wide missions, Christian education, the evangelization of the un churched masses and the charitable and brotherly adjustment of all misunderstandings and conflicts that may arise between the different churches of Methodism.
This resolution had been previously adopted by the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, held in Birmingham, Alabama, May 1906. A Federal Council is accordingly now constituted, and in operation ; it will be attended, we trust, with encouraging results.
Still another significant report on this subject of union or federation was adopted at Baltimore. It provided that a Commission on Federation, to be appointed by the Bishops, should —
invite the Evangelical Association, the United Brethren, and such other branches of Methodism as were believed to be sympathetic, to confer through similar Commissions con cerning federation or organic union as in the judgement of the said churches respectively might be most desirable, and to report to the General Conference of 1912.
Gladness was expressed at the increasing evidence of closer fellowship and prospective union between the various branches of coloured Episcopal Methodism in the United States as one of the most striking and hopeful indications of the growth of the spirit of Christian unity ; and the Commission on Federation was instructed to further these results as far as practicable. A special Commission of
DEVELOPMENT AND REUNION 527
Seven, to report in 1912, was appointed to confer with similar Commissions, if such were appointed, from the African Methodist Episcopal, the African Methodist Episco pal Zion, and the Coloured Methodist Episcopal Churches concerning such questions as would lead to more harmonious co-operation in extending the kingdom of Christ.
As to the minor Methodisms (other than coloured) men- Efforts tioned in the earlier part of this chapter, we are not aware the°smaller that there is just now any very promising proposition for com-
T ,. ~ ., -. , munities.
amalgamation. Some years ago there was an effort made to bring together the Methodist Protestants and the Primi tive Methodists, which would have been to the advantage of both, and would have benefited particularly, perhaps, the smaller body ; but for some reason it fell through. More recently there was a prolonged endeavour to form a union between the Methodist Protestants, the United Brethren (a semi-Methodist Church), and the Congregation- alists ; but this came to naught. One can but think that if there were not so much human nature in most people, so much insistence on one's rights, so much stickling for utterly unimportant ideas, so much clinging to old customs, so much fear lest the other party should get a little more advantage — these union movements would not be so ex ceedingly slow and hard to accomplish. As the Spirit of Christ increases in the so-called followers of Christ, diffi culties of this sort will disappear.
There is very little occasion for comment on lines of The
development or tendencies toward union among the forces of Methodism in British America, since the work, which Canadian yet lingers in most other parts of the world, has there for church. some time been finished. It is their glory and pride that, throughout the length and breadth of that immense field, there is but one Methodist Church.1 They have attained this great desideratum, showing other lands the way. Still outside this central body are a few coloured Methodist churches, known as the British Methodist Episcopal Church, scattered and declining ; also a few German Methodist
1 Vide Book iv. chap, iv., and book vi. chap. ii.
528 METHODISM TO-DAY
churches belonging to the Evangelical Association having affinities with a similar body in the United States, Methodist in spirit though not in name. A small fragment has also broken off from the Church since the union, called ' Horner- ites,' from their leader, who adopted eccentric views on the subject of ' holiness.' But these trifling exceptions need not detract at all from the statement that Canadian Methodism is one. Of larger importance is the fact that Canada, having shown how easily various diverse Metho- disms can be welded into one, seems about to give the world another much-needed lesson in the same direction by showing how evangelical non-sacerdotal Protestantism may also become one to the greater glory of God and the further progress of the kingdom. The proposed union of the Methodists, the Presbyterians, and the Congregationalists, which has now been for some years under consideration, has met with such hearty approval and seems so certain to advance the interests of Christ, that there can be little doubt of its final consummation, though it may take some further years yet, as there is no disposition to hurry or force it.
The call We deem it to be in line with the best thought and best
of the age feeling of the day which is getting more and more impatient '1 °f everything which, without full warrant, keeps apart the
followers of the Lord and prevents the use of their entire energies in contending against the embattled forces of sin. In different lands different steps will be deemed advisable. Not always by organic unity, but, where that is impractic able, by close federation and a definite removal of all mutual antagonisms, should Christ's people get together in His name. The world, which so long has wondered at un necessary and unseemly divisions, will be far more inclined, when this stumbling-block is removed, to accept the leader ship of the Church and march with fast-increasing numbers under the all-conquering banner of Emmanuel.
CHAPTER IV STATISTICS OF WORLD-WIDE METHODISM
And the Lord added to them day by day those that were being saved. ACTS ii. 47, R.v.
0 the fathomless love, That has deigned to approve
And prosper the work of my hands ! With my pastoral crook
1 went over the brook
And, behold, I am spread into bands !
Who, I ask in amaze,
Hath begotten me these ? And inquire from what quarter they came !
My full heart now replies,
They are born from the skies, And gives glory to God and the Lamb.
CHARLES WESLEY.
VOL. II 529 34
CONTENTS
SOME EXPLANATIONS p. 531
Statistics and statements — Comparisons — Thirty millions of ad herents— Significance of these statistics— 1791 and 1908 . pp. 531, 532
STATISTICS OF METHODISM, 1908 . . Facing p. 532
Pages 529-532
530
CHAPTER IV
STATISTICS OF WORLD-WIDE METHODISM
AUTHORITIES. — Minutes of Conference of the British churches (1908) ; The Methodist Year Book (U.S.A., 1908), ed. by Stephen V. R. Ford ; The Free Church Year Book (1908); The Wesleyan Methodist Kalendar (1909), etc.
THE appended statistics of ministers, lay preachers, members statistics
and scholars in the several Methodist churches, and of and
,, . , , , . . . . . . statements.
their church property and foreign-missionary income, give a general numerical view of world- wide Methodism. These particulars have been compiled from the latest returns. All the churches do not furnish this information with completeness. The totals given at the foot of the statistical table must be viewed in the light of this fact ; and in every case the impression given by these figures should be sup plemented by the statements made in the relative chapters of this History.
For comparative purposes it is important to note that Comparisons the conditions of membership in the Methodist churches are, in most cases, of a special kind, and also that, generally, adults only are reckoned as members. In the British Wesleyan Methodist Church, for instance, junior church members (99,939 in 1908) are not included as members in Thirty the numbers here given ; nor are Sunday scholars whose age is over fifteen. These number 259,118. In order, therefore, to estimate the number of adherents and wor shippers attached to Methodism, the number of church members given in this table must be multiplied by four. An illustration of this is furnished by Australian Methodism. The membership return is 150,751 ; but the number of worshippers in Methodist churches there is nearly four and
531
532 METHODISM TO-DAY
a half times that number, viz. 669,476. The editor of The Methodist Year Book l of the United States, referring to the order of religious denominations there, as indicated by their membership, states :
The position of the Roman Catholic Church at the head of all statistics is due simply to their method of computing as members of their church the whole Catholic population, old and young ; whereas in our church, and most other Protestant denominations likewise, only those who have taken upon themselves the vows of the church are enumerated. In the Methodist Episcopal Church not even our baptized children are counted.
Significance It is not necessary to dwell on the significance of totals statistics °^ sucn magnitude ; albeit all Methodists do not yet realize the vastness of their fellowship, and, unhappily, the insularity which too often limits the interest of sincere men to their own faith, leaves many such uninformed as to this world wide Christian community. Hugh Price Hughes 2 found it very difficult to convince Mark Pattison, the Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, that the followers of Wesley, perhaps its most distinguished Fellow, numbered then (circa 1881) twenty -five millions. He thought the number was twenty-five thousands. Their numbers have greatly increased since that interesting discussion.3 They may 1791 and be compared with those recorded at the death of Wesley.4 ' Where is boasting ? It is excluded.' Methodists produce their debt, not their discharge, when they enlarge upon the divine blessing which has rested upon their church.
This History of it may fittingly close with the words which Wesley frequently quoted, and which stand upon its first page : ' According to the time it shall be said, What hath God wrought ! '
1 1908, p. 229. 2 Vide his Life, by his daughter (1904), p. 161.
3 Compare the statements in vol. i. pp. 280, 281.
4 In 1791 : 511 preachers and 120,233 members; of whom 198 preachers and 43,265 members were in the United States.
STATISTICS OF METHO
|
GENERAL CONFERENCES AND THEIR MINISI MISSIONS |
LAY CHURCH ERS PRFAcmrT^ MEMBERS AND ' PROBATIONERS |
SUNDAY SCHOOLS |
|
BRITISH CHURCHES— |
! |
|
|
Wesleyan Methodists : Great Britain .. 2,4 |
55 19,804 522,721 |
7,570 |
|
Ireland . . . . . 2 |
Ifi fiQ7 9O Ocm |
QKO |
|
Foreign Missions 616 3,962 138,598 |
Ot-)A 1,766 |
|
|
French Conference |
43 94 1,661 |
70* |
|
South African 250 5,641 116,455 |
767 |
|
|
Primitive Methodist . . ... 1,099 15,939 207,034 |
4,156 |
|
|
Africa and New Zealand |
57 1 250 5,170 |
|
|
United Methodist Church . . . . 8 |
33 i 5,577 ! 159,095 |
2,239 |
|
Foreign |
48 640 29,759 |
174 |
|
Wesleyan Reform Union |
21 527 8,489 |
181 |
|
Independent Methodist Churches 432 9,404 |
154 |
|
|
AUSTRALASIA— |
||
|
Methodist Church, comprised in 6 annual |
||
|
Conferences . . . . . . . . 9 |
75 4,576 150,751 |
3,973 |
|
UNITED STATES— |
||
|
Methodist Episcopal Church, comprised Bishops |
26 |
|
|
in 131 Annual Conferences and 12 |
||
|
Mission Conferences . . . . . . 1 9, 1 |
90 14,057 3,036,667 |
34,356 |
|
Foreign membership |
290,886 |
|
|
Methodist Episcopal, South, comprised Bishops |
11 |
|
|
in 47 Annual Conferences .. .. 7,038 4,800 1,656,609 |
14,892 |
|
|
ForGign j |
70 Kon 90 nnn |
|
|
Union American Methodist Episcopal . . 138 18,500 |
. |
|
|
African Methodist Episcopal .. .. 6,190 15,885 850,000 |
— |
|
|
African Union Methodist Protestant . . 150 750 3,867 |
350 |
|
|
African Methodist Episcopal Zion .. 3,871 1,520 578,310 |
2,034 |
|
|
Methodist Protestant 1,551 1,135 183,894 |
2,034 |
|
|
Wesleyan Methodist 539 18,587 |
465 |
|
|
Congregational Methodist . . . . 415 24,000 |
— |
|
|
Congregational Methodist, Coloured |
5 319 |
, — |
|
New Congregational Methodist . . . . 238 4,022 |
— |
|
|
Zion Union Apostolic |
30 2,346 |
— |
|
Coloured Methodist Episcopal 2,673 2,786 219,713 |
4,007 |
|
|
Primitive Methodist |
83 138 7,013 |
108 |
|
Free Methodist 1,032 1,299 31,376 |
1,175 |
|
|
Independent Methodist |
8 2,569 |
— |
|
Evangelist Missionary |
92 27 5,014 |
— |
|
CANADA— |
||
|
Methodist Church, comprised in 12 Annual : |
||
|
Conferences . . 2,3 |
04 3,707 323,343 |
3,574 |
|
Totals of available returns .. .. 52,829 104,311 8,655,267 |
84,397 |
1 Reference should be made to statements and explanations, pp. 531, 532.
2 Official estimate for England, Scotland, and Wales.
3 Other preaching-places,
1,616.
4 Sunday and Thursday schools.
5 Late M.N.C. only.
To face p. 532]
IODISM, 19081
|
OFFICERS AND TEACHERS |
SUNDAY SCHOLARS |
CHURCHES (BUILDINGS) |
COST OF CHURCH PROPERTY, ETC. |
SITTINGS PROVIDED |
FOREIGN MISSION INCOME |
|
132,201 |
990,264 |
8,574 |
£25,000,000 2 |
2,359,268 |
£221,157 " |
|
2,587 |
25,864 |
4253 |
£660,526 |
|
|
|
7,527 |
142,508 |
3,691 |
|
||
|
189 |
2,100 |
125 |
_ |
|
|
|
3,047 59,568 |
40,306 465,726 |
3,779 4,913 |
£4,860,034 |
1,057,673 |
£10,000 £8,237 |
|
42,452 |
315,993 |
; 223 2,520 |
£62,613 £4,394,377 |
12,758 746,075 |
£24,404 |
|
566 |
8,833 |
525 |
£17,3895 |
|
|
|
2,762 |
22,312 |
196 |
47,665 |
£176 |
|
|
3,032 |
27,324 |
156 |
— |
33,000 |
|
|
24,322 |
231,553 |
6,418° |
— |
— |
|
|
£34,994,939 |
£263,974 |
||||
|
361,375 |
3,007,677 |
29, 523 7 |
$186,924,024 |
— |
$2,213,271 |
|
111,137 |
1,084,238 |
15,5428 |
$39,036,904 |
— |
$1,455,316° |
|
|
|
255 |
_ |
_ |
|
|
— |
— |
5,321 |
|
|
|
|
900 |
2,770 |
96 |
|
|
|
|
14,404 |
122,467 |
3,206 |
|
__ |
|
|
16,680 |
126,031 |
2,242 |
. |
|
|
|
— |
18,344 |
609 |
|
. |
|
|
— |
— |
425 |
|
|
|
|
— |
— |
5 |
|
|
|
|
— |
— |
417 |
__ |
|
|
|
— |
— |
32 |
|
|
|
|
7,098 |
79,876 |
2,619 |
|
|
|
|
— |
11,754 |
110 |
|
. . |
|
|
7,376 |
40,660 |
1,106 |
— |
|
— . |
|
— |
|
15 |
|
||
|
— |
1,200 |
47 |
— |
— |
— |
|
34,479 |
290,835 |
4,738 10 |
$21,223,727 |
— |
$442,629 |
|
$247,184,655 |
$4,111,216 |
||||
|
equals |
[The dollar |
equals |
|||
|
£49,436,931 |
is taken |
£822,243 |
|||
|
add from |
at ith of |
add from |
|||
|
above |
a£] |
above |
|||
|
£34,994,939 |
£263,974 |
||||
|
831,702 |
7,058,635 |
97,853 |
£84,431,870 |
4,256,439 |
£1,086,217 |
6 Besides parsonages, 677.
7 Besides parsonages, 13,079.
8 Besides parsonages, 4,543.
y Including Church Extension contributions.
10 Besides parsonages, 1,322.
[1 Including Women's Auxiliary expenditure, £20,489.
/
APPENDIX A GENERAL LIST OF AUTHORITIES
633
The following list of books, which makes no claims to be exhaustive, gives some of the authorities and sources which will be found of most service for the study of Methodism, its relation to the 18th century, its origin and common history. For special matters, and the history of the several sections of Methodism, the reader should refer to the authorities given at the head of the separate chapters. For literary matters see supra, Vol. I. pp. 105 ff. For movements, etc., later than the death of Wesley the reader should consult Vol. I. pp. 335-57. Some of the works mentioned in the following pages dealing with Methodist history, especially in the Colonies, though not uncommon in private collections, are unfortunately in few public libraries, in cluding the British Museum. Such works are generally indicated by the omission of date. In order that the young student should not find this list too bewildering, a few works which are specially recommended are marked with an asterisk.
534
A. GREAT BRITAIN IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
I. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CONDITION (n) ENGLAND
ANON. : Letters concerning the Present State of England. (1772.) ASHTON, J. : The Fleet; its River, Prison, and Marriages. (1888.)
— Social Life in the Reign of Anne. 2 vols. (1882.)
— Old Times ; Social Life at the End of the 18th Cent. (1885.) BURKE, E. : Select Works. (Ed. E. J. Payne. 2 vols. 1866.)
[The complete Works of Burke have been edited at different dates in 8, 12, 16, and 9 vols. Best eds. in 8 vols. (1852), or 9 vols. (Boston, 1839), or 12 vols. (Boston 1865-7).] BURNET, BP. G.: History of His Own Times. (1st vol. 1723 ; 2nd vol. 1734 ;
best eds. 1823, 1833.) BURTON, J. H. : Hist, of Brit. Empire during the Reign of Anne. 3 vols.
(1880.)
CHESTERFIELD (EARL or) : Letters to his Son. (Ed. Strachey and Cal- throp, 1901.)
— Letters. (Ed. Lord Mahon. 5 vols, 1845-53, 1892.)
COXE, W. : Life and Administration of Walpole. (3 vols. 1798.)
GILLRAY, J. : Caricatures Political and Social. (1851.)
GODLEY, A. D. : Oxford in the Eighteenth Century (1908).
HERVEY, LORD JOHN : Memoirs. of the Reign of George II. (3 vols. Ed.
J. W. Croker. 1848, 1884).
HOWARD, JOHN : State of the Prisons in England and Wales. (1777, 1780.) JESSE, J. H. : Selwyn and his Contemporaries. 4 vols. (1843, 1882.)
— Glimpses of Country Life when George III. was King. (1893.) KING, GREGORY : Natural and Political Observations and Conclusions upon
the State of England [in 1696]. (First pub. in 1801 by G.
Chalmers.)
KINGSTON, ALT. : Fragments of Two Centuries. (1893.) *LECKY, W. E. H. : Hist. England in 18th Cent. 8 vols. (1878-90.
New ed. with Ireland separated in 7 vols., 1892.) MACKNIGHT, T. : Life and Times of Burke. 3 vols. (1856-60.)
635
536 APPENDIX A
MCCARTHY, J. AND J. H. : Hist, of the Four Georges and William IV.
4 vols. (1901.) OLIPHANT, MRS. : Historical Sketches of the Reign of George II. 2 vols.
(1869.) PASTON, G. (i.e. Miss M. E. Symonds) : Sidelights on the Georgian Period.
(1902.) SBELEY, L. B. : Horace Walpole and His World. (1884, 1895.)
— Fanny Burney and Her Friends. (1890.)
SLATER, G. : English Peasantry and the Enclosure of Common Fields.
(1907.) STANHOPE (LORD MAHON) : Hist. England from the Peace of Utrecht.
2 vols. (1870, 1872.)
— Hist. England from the Peace of Utrecht to the Peace of Versailles.
7 vols. (1836-54.)
STEPHEN, LESLIE : Eng. Literature and Society in the 18th Cent. (1904.) SYDNEY, W. C. : England and the English of the ISth Cent. 2 vols. (1891.) THACKERAY, W. M. : The Four Georges. (1861, 1887, many reprints.) WALPOLE, HORACE : Letters. (Ed. Cunningham, 9 vols. 1857, 1891.) Letters ; Selection of, by C. D. Yonge. 2 vols. (1890.)
— Reminiscences of the Courts of George I. and II. (Ed. Cunningham,
1857.)
— Memoirs of George II. (Ed. Holland, 3 vols. 1846.)
- Memoirs of George III. (Ed. Barker. 4 vols. 1894.) WENDEBORN, F. A. : A View of England towards the Close of the \%th Cen tury. (First pub. in German. Berlin, 4 vols., 1785-88 ; trans, in 2 vols. by G. G. J. and J. Robinson, London, 1791.) WITT, CORNELIUS DE : La Societe Francaise et la Societe Anglaise dans le
XVIII. Siecle. (1880.)
WRIGHT, T. : England under the House of Hanover, illustrated from carica tures. 2 vols. (1848, 1849, 1852.)
— Caricature History of the Georges. (1868.) Dictionary of National Biography ( — DNB). Gentleman's Magazine.
[These two series are invaluable for a study of the period.] The novels of Fielding, Smollett, Sterne, Richardson, Brooke (Fool of Quality), and others, should not be neglected, for the picture they give of the age.
(ft) SCOTLAND AND IRELAND
BRYCE, J., and others : Two Centuries of Irish History. (1689-1870, 1888.) FROUDE, J. A. : The English in Ireland in the 18th Cent. 3 vols. (1872-4,
1881, 1886.) (Needs care.)
GRAHAM, H. G. : Social Life of Scotland in the 18th Cent. 2 vols. (1899.) *LECKY, W. E. H. : Hist. Ireland in 18th Cent. 5 vols. (1897.)
GENERAL LIST OF AUTHORITIES 537
(y) AMERICA
BANCROFT, G. : History of the United States. 6 vols. (1834-1854 ; many
eds.) BURKE, E. : Account of the European Settlements in America. (1st ed. 1757,
6th ed 1777.)
CHANNING, Ed. : The United States of America. (1896.) DOYLE, J. A. : The English in America. 3 vols. (1882.) HILDRETH, R. : History of the United States. 6 vols. (1849, 1852, 1854-6.) LODGE, H. C. : Short History of the English Colonies in America (to 1765)
(N. Y., 1881.)
TREVELYAN, G. O.: The American Revolution. 3 vols. (1899, 2nd ed. 1905.) WINSOR, JUSTIN : Narrative and Critical History of America. 8 vols
(1886-9.)
II. CONDITION OF RELIGION
(a) GENERAL RELIGIOUS OUTLOOK (including Anglican Church), (i) Contemporary Works of Chief Importance
BAXTER, R. : Reliquice Baxteriance. Baxter's Life and Times. (Ed. M.
Sylvester. 1696.)
CLARKE, S. : Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity. (1712.) CLAYTON, ROBERT : Essay on Spirit. (1751.) HARTSHORNE, ALBERT: Memoirs of a Royal Chaplain (i.e. Edmund Pyle)
1729-1763. (1905.) HERVEY, JAMES: Meditations among the Tombs. (1746; with life, 1803.)
— Reflections on a Flower Garden. (1746.)
— Dialogue between Theron and Aspasio. 3 vols. (1755.)
[Complete Works in 6 vols., 1769.] HOADLY, BP. : Works. 3 vols. (1773.)
— A Preservative against the Principles and Practices of the Non-jurors.
(1716.) HUTCHINSON, JOHN : Moses' Principia. (1724-7.)
[Collected Works in 12 vols., 1748.] JONES, WM. : The Catholic Doctrine of the Trinity. (1756.) JONES, JOHN : Free and Candid Disquisitions relating to the Church of
England. (1749.)
LOCKB, J. : Four Letters on Toleration (7th ed. 1758, repr. 1870.) TOPLADY, A. : Historic Proof of the Doctrinal Calvinism of the, Church of
England. (1774.)
— More Work for John Wesley. (1772.)
WILBERFOROE, WILLIAM : A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious
System, etc. (1797.)
WILSON, BP. : Maxims of Piety and Christianity. (1781.) Sacra Privata. (1781.)
538 APPENDIX A
WOODWARD, JOSIAH : Rise and Progress of the Religious Societies. (1698- 1701, 6th ed. 1744.)
(ii) Critical and Biographical
*ABBEY, C. J., AND OVERTON : The Eng. Church in the 18th Cent. [Ed. in
2 vols is the best. (1878, 1881, 1896.)]
ABBEY, C. J. : The Eng. Church and its Bishops. 2 vols. (1887.) BUTLER, BP. : (See also infra, § 5 II.) BARTLETT, T. : Memoirs of Butler. (1839.) COLLINS, W. LUCAS: Butler. (1881.)
EGGLESTONE, W. M. : Stanhope Memorials of Bp. Butler. (1878.) GLADSTONE, W. E. : Works of Bishop Butler. 3 vols. Vol. III., Subsidiary
Studies. (1896-7.)
SPOONER, W. A. : Life of Butler. (1891.)
CANTON, WM. : Hist of the Brit, and Foreign Bible Soc. 2 vols. (1904.) FIGGIS, J. N. : Guardian, Oct. 11, 1905. (For Hoadley's position.) GRAHAM, H. G. : Scottish Men of Letters in the 18th Cent. (1901.) HARRIS, G. : Raikes, the Man and His Work. (1890.) HUNT, J. : History of Religious Thought in England. 3 vols. (1870-73.) KEBLE, J. : Life of Bp. Wilson. 2 vols. (1863.) MANT, R. : History of the Church of Ireland to 1800. 2 vols. (1845.) OVERTON, J. H. : Life in the English Church, 1660-1714. (1885.)
[See also supra, Abbey and Overton.]
OVERTON, J. H., AND HELTON : Ch. of England from 1714-1800. (1906 ; i.e. vol. 7 in the Hist of Eng. Church. Ed. Hunt and Stephens.) PERRY, ARCHDEACON : Hist. Eng. Church from 1603, vol. 3. (1861-4.) SIDNEY, E.: Life, Ministry, and Remains of Samuel Walker. (1835,
1838.)
SIMON, J. S. : The Revival of Religion in the 18th Cent. (1907.) STOUGHTON, J. : Religion in England under Anne and the Georges. 2 vols.
(1878.) WATSON, J. S. : Life of Bp. Warburton. (1863.)
(£) MORAVIANS
HUTTON, J. E. : Short History of the Moravian Church. (1895.)
LOCKWOOD, J. : Peter Bohler. (1868.)
SCHWEINITZ, EDW. : The History of the Unitas Fratrum (Amer.). (1885.)
[The reader may also consult Moravian Hymns and Liturgy. (1793.)] SPANGENBERG, A. G. : Life of Zinzendorf. Trans. S. Jackson. (1838.)
Missions of the United Fratrum. (1788.)
— Idea Fidei Fratrum. Trans. La Trobe. (1796.) (Gives the best
account of the Moravian theology.)
WAUER, G. A. : The Beginning of the Brethren's Church in England. Trans. J. Elliott (1901.)
GENERAL LIST OF AUTHORITIES 539
(y) INDEPENDENTS AND BAPTISTS
BOGUE, D., AND BENNET, J. : History of Dissenters, 1689-1808. (3 vols.
1809 ; 4 vols. 1812.) CALAMY, E., AND PALMEE, S. : The Nonconformists' Memorial (2 vo's
1778. 2nd ed. 3 vols. 1803.)
*DALE, R. W. : History of Congregationalism. (1907.) DRYSDALE, A. H. : History of the Presbyterians in England. (1889.) SKEATS, H. S. : Hist, of Free Churches in England. (1869, 1892.) SOCIETY OF FRIENDS : Book on Christian Discipline, 1672-1883. (1883.) WADDINGTON, J. : Congregational History. (Vol. iii.) (1869-80.) WILSON, WALTER : History and Antiquities of Dissenting Churches. (4 vols.
1804-14.)
(8) THE DEISTS AND THEIR OPPONENTS
BLOUNT, CH. : Oracles of Reason. (1693.) CHUBB, THOS. : The True Gospel of Jesus Christ. (1738.) COLLINS, A. : A Discourse of the Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion. (1724.)
— Discourse on FreethinJcing. (1713.)
— Historical and Critical Essay on the 39 Articles. (1724.)
— Scheme of Literal Prophecy considered. (1727.)
DODWELL, H. (the younger) : Christianity not founded on Argument. (2nd
ed. 1743.) TINDAL, M. : Christianity as old as Creation. (1730 ; 2nd part never
published.)
TOLAND, J. J. : Christianity not Mysterious. (1696.) WOOLSTON, T. : Six Discourses on the Miracles of our Saviour. (1727-9.)
BENTLEY, RD. : Remarks on a Late Discourse of Freethinking. (1713, 8th
enlarged ed. 1743.)
BERKELEY, G. : Alciphron or the Minute Philosopher. (1732.) BUTLER, BP. : The Analogy of Religion. (1736, many reprints and editions. )
— Sermons. (1726.)
CHANDLER, E. : Defence of Christianity from Prophecies. (1725.) CONYBEARE, J. : The Defence of Revealed Religion. (1732.) LAW, WM. : Case of Reason, or Natural Religion, fairly stated. (1731.) NICHOLS, WM. : A Conference with a Theist. (4 vols., 1698-1703, 3rd
ed., 2 vols., 1723.)
PEAROE, Z. : The Miracles of Jesus Defended. (1729.) SHAFTESBURY, ANTHONY : Characteristics of Men, Manners, etc. 3 vols.
(5th ed. 1732.)
540 APPENDIX A
SHERLOCK, T. : Tryal of the Witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus. (1729.)
The Use and Interest of Prophecy. (1724.)
STEPHENS, W. : Account of the Growth of Deism in England. (1709.) WARBTTRTON, WM. : The Divine Legation of Moses Demonstrated. (1737,
1741.) WATERLAND, D. : Scripture Vindicated. (1730-2.)
Eight Sermons in Defence of the Divinity of Jesus Christ. (1720.)
WATSON, BP. R. : Apology for Christianity. (1776.) (Against Gibbon's
15th Chapter.) WOLLASTON, W. : Religion of Nature Delineated. (7th ed. 1750.)
m
FARRAR, A. S. : A Critical Hist, of Freethought. (1862.) LECHLER, G. U. : Geschicht. d. engl. Deismus. (1841.) *LELAND, J. : View of the Principal Deistical Writers. 2 vols. (1745, 1764, 1807.)
(e) NON-JURORS
HIOKES, DR. G. : The Spirit of Enthusiasm Exorcised. (1680, 1681, 1683, 1709.)
Two Treatises on the Christian Priesthood and the Dignity of the Episco pal Order. (2nd ed. 1707.)
[Hickes's works are reprinted in three vols. in the Library of Anglo -Catholic Theology.]
*LATHBURY, T. : History of the Non- Jurors. (1845, 1862.)
LAW, WM. : A Practical Treatise on Christian Perfection. (1726.)
Defence of Church Principles. (Ed. J. O. Nash and C. Gore. 1893.)
* Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. (1729, many reprints.)
— Spirit of Prayer. (1749, repr. 1893.)
[App. entitled, The Way to Divine Knowledge, contains part of Law's exposition of Behmen.]
Spirit of Love in Dialogues. (1752, repr. 1893.)
Of Justification by Faith and Works. (1760.)
Works of William Law. (Ed. Richardson. 9 vols. 1762 ; reprinted
and ed. G. Moreton, 1893.)
OVERTON, J. H. : The Non- jurors. (1902.)
William Law, Nonjuror and Mystic. (1881.)
WALTON, C. : Notes and Memorials for a Biography of Law. (1854.)
[Walton's unique collection on Law is in Dr. Williams's Library.)
WHYTE, DR. A. : Character and Characteristics of Wm. Law. (1893.)
(f) THE ARMINIANS.
BANGS, NATHAN : Life of Arminius. (New York, 1843.) CUNNINGHAM, W. : Essays on the Theology of the Reformation. (1865.) CURTISS, G. L. : Arminianism in History. (Cincinnati, 1894.*
GENERAL LIST OF AUTHORITIES 541
GUTHEIE, J. : Life of Arminius. (1854.)
[An English translation of Mosheim's ed. (1725) of C. Brandt's
Historia Vitce J. Arminii. (1724.)]
LAURENCE, RICHARD : Bampton Lecture. (1805, 1820, 3rd ed. 1838.) NICHOLS, JAMES : Calvinism and Arminianism Compared. 2 vols. (1824.) WHITE Y, DANIEL : Discourse on the Five Points. (1710, 1735, 1812, 1816, 1817.)
III. PHILOSOPHY AND THOUGHT (a) PHILOSOPHY. ORIGINAL WORKS
BERKELEY, G. : Essay towards a New Theory of Vision. (1709, 1732.)
— Principles of Human Knowledge. (1710, 1734, 1776.) Siris. (1744, 1746, 1748.)
[Berkeley's disquisitions on the merits of Tar- water may be
compared with Wesley's Primitive Physic (1747).j| -Collected Works. Ed. A. C. Fraser. 4 vols. (1871.)
[The reader may content himself with Fraser, A. C., Selections
from Berkeley's Works (3rd ed. 1884, 1891).]
CLARKE, S. : Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God. (1705-6.) CUD WORTH, R. : The True Intellectual System of the Universe. (1678,
1743, 1820.) HOBBES, T. : Leviathan. (1651, 1668 (in Latin), 1680, 1881, 1885.)
— Of Liberty and Necessity. ( 1 654. )
HUME : A Treatise of Human Nature. (1739-40, 1817, 1888.)
— Essays Moral and Political. (1741-2, 1748.)
— An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals. (1751.)
[The best ed. of Hume's Works is that edited in 1874-5 by T. H. Green and T. H. Grose, with Green's exhaustive criticism of the philosophical standpoint.]
LOCKE : An Essay concerning Human Understanding. (1690 ; 20 eds. before 1700.)
— Some Thoughts concerning Education. (1693, 14th ed. 1772.)
— The Reasonableness of Christianity. (1695.)
[Collected editions in 1714, 8th ed. 1777, 1791, 1801, 1822.] MANDEVILLE, B. : Fable of the Bees, or Private Vices Public Benefits. (1714, 1723, 9th ed. 1755.)
(ft) LATER CRITICISMS
In addition to the recognised Histories of Philosophy, e.g. F. Ueberweg (trans. G. S. Morris, 1872), G. H. Lewes, A. Schwegler, the reader may consult with advantage :
FISCHER, K. : Descartes and His School. Trans, by J. P. Gordy. (1887.)
FRASER, A. C. : Berkeley. (1881.) -Locke. (1890.)
GREEN, T. H., and GROSE, T. H. : See supra, s.v. Hume.
542 APPENDIX A
KNIGHT, W. : Hume. (1880.)
ROBERTSON, G. C. : Hobbes. (1886.)
*STEPHEN, L. : English Thought in the 18th Cent. 2 vols. (1876, 1881.)
IV. TOPOGRAPHICAL
[Useful for comparison with, and elucidation of, Wesley's Journals.} GABY, J. (Postmaster-General) : Surveys and Maps. (1794.) DBFOE, D. : Tour through the whole Isle of Great Britain. 3 vols. (1724-7,
1738.)
ELLIS, J. : Atlas ; Complete Chorography, etc. (1768.) MACJKY, J. : Journies through England and Scotland. 4 vols. (1732.) MOOBB, F. : Voyage to Georgia [in the year, 1735]. (1744.) PATBBSON, D. : Road Book. 6th ed. (1784.) PENNANT, T. : A Tour in Scotland. (1769, 4th ed. 1776.)
— A Tour in Wales. (2 vols., 1773. 3 vols., 1778-84, 1810. 1883.)
— London. (1790, 5th ed. 1813.)
YOUNG, A. : The Farmer's Tour through the East of England. (1771.)
— A Six Months' Tour through the North of England. (1770.)
— Six Weeks' Tour through the South of England. (1772.)
— A Tour in Ireland in 1776-9. 2 vols. (1780.)
B. THE LEADERS OF EARLY METHODISM
I. THE WESLEY FAMILY
BEAL, WM. : The Fathers of the Wesley Family. (1862.) CLARK, A. : Memoirs of the Wesley Family. (1822, 1836.) CLARK, ELIZA : Susanna Wesley. (1886.) DOVE : Biographical Hist, of Wesley Family. (1833.) KIRK, J. : The Mother of the Wesleys. (1868.) STEVENSON, G. J. : Memorials of the Wesley Family. (1876.) TYERMAN, L. : Life and Times of Samuel Wesley. (1866.) WAKELEY, J. B. : Anecdotes of the Wesleys. (1878.) WESLEY, SAMUEL : See supra, vol. i. p. 167.
WESLEY, SUSANNA: Conference with, her Daughter. (1711-12, repr. by Wes. Hist. Soc., 1898.)
II. JOHN WESLEY
[The primary documents for the study of Wesley are his Letters and * Journals. Of hie Journals (1735-90) no complete edition has yet been published. But this discredit to the truste'es of his remains will shortly be remedied. Of editions we may mention the edition collected by himself in 32 vols. and printed at Bristol (1771-4), also same ed. T. Jackson, 14 vols. (1829-31). Many popular abbreviations. Of J. W.'s Letters there are several eds. ; see infra, § D. I. But none are yet complete.
GENERAL LIST OF AUTHORITIES 543
(a) LIFE OF^J. WESLEY [Unfortunately no standard Life of Wesley has yet been published.]
BRADBURN, S. : Select Letters of Wesley, with Sketch of His Character. ( 1837. ) COKE, T., AND MOORE, H. : Life of Wesley. (1792.)
[Issued to forestall Whitehead, who had Wesley's papers and
denied their use to his co-trustees.] FITOHETT, W. H. : Wesley and His Century. (1906.) FRENCH, A. J. : John Wesley. (1871.)
[A trans, from the French of Lelievre ; see infra.] GREEN, R. : Bibliography of the Works of J. and C. Wesley. (1896.)
— John Wesley, Evangelist. (1905.)
— An Itinerary in which are placed the Rev. J. Wesley's Journeys, 1735-
1790 (published by W.H.S. 1908). HAMPSON, J. : Life of Wesley. 3 vols. (Sunderland, 1791.) See supra,
vol. i. p. 161n. MOORE, H. : Life of Wesley. 2 vols. (1824-5.)
[A newed. of Coke and Moore ; borrows largely from Whitehead.] OVERTON, J. H. : John Wesley. (1891.) *RiGG, J. H. : The Living Wesley. (1875. Revised and enlarged,
1891.)
— Churchmanship of John Wesley. (1868, 1879, 1886, 1907.) *SOUTHEY, R. : Life of Wesley and Rise and Progress of Methodism.
2 vols. 1820.
[Many reprints. A good ed. is that of 1846 with Coleridge's Notes and Alex Knox's Remarks ; ed. J. A. Atkinson, 1889. Southey's Life of Wesley was translated into German by F. Krummacher (Hamburg, 1827-8).":
TAYLOR, ISAAC: Wesley and Methodism. (1851, 1863, 1865.) TELFORD, J. : Life of John Wesley. (1899.) *TYERMAN, LUKE. Lije and Times of Wesley. 3 vols. (1870-1 ; sixth
ed. in 1890. An indispensable storehouse of facts.) URLIN, R. D. : Wesley's Place in Church History. (1870.)
— The Churchman's Life of Wesley. (1880.)
WATSON, R. : Life of Wesley. (1831. Trans, into French in 2 vols., 1843,
with additions. Trans, into German, Frankfurt, 1839.) WEDGE WOOD, JULIA : J. Wesley and the Evangelical Revival of the 18th
Cent. (1870.) WHITEHEAD, J. : Life of Wesley. 2 vols. (1793-6.)
[See note under Coke.]
WINCHESTER, C. T. : Life of John Wesley. (1907.) WORKMAN, W. P. : The History of Kingswood School. (1898.) WRIGHT, R. : A Memoir of Gen. Oglethorpe. (1867.)
[For Georgia see also American Colonial Tracts, N. York, vol. i. No. 2, 1897. An Account of the Establishment of Georgia.]
544 APPENDIX A
(/3) FOREIGN TRANSLATIONS AND LIVES [See also supra under French, Southey, and Watson. J
REMUSAT, CH. DE : John Wesley et le Methodisme. (1870.) LELIEVRE, M. : J. Wesley, Sa Vie et son (Euvre. (1868.) SOIARELLI, F. : Alcuni guidizi su Giovanni Wesley. (1880.) (Trans, into Italian of Lelievre.)
III. CHARLES WESLEY [Much material will be found supra, B, §§ I. and II.]
JACKSON, T. : Life of C. Wesley. (1841 ; abridged as Memoirs, 1848.
Index published by Wes. Hist. Soc., 1899.) — Journals of C. Wesley. 2 vols. (1849.)
OSBORN, G. : The Poetical Works of J. and C. Wesley. 13 vols. (1868-72.) TELFORD, J. : Life of C. Wesley. (1886.) WHITEHEAD, J. : Life of C. Wesley. (1793.)
IV. LEADERS OF THE EVANGELICAL REVIVAL
(a) WHITEFIELD (see also infra, iv. /3 ii. s. v. RYLE).
ANON. : Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon. 2 vols. (1839-40. )
GILLIES, J. : Memoirs of Whitefield. (1772.)
GLEDSTONB, J. P. : The Life and Travels of Whitefield. (1871.)
HARSHA, D. A. : Life of Q. Whitefield. (1866 ; American.)
MACATJLAY: Whitefield Anecdotes. (1886.)
NEWELL, D. : Life of O. Whitefield. (1846 ; America.)
PHILIP, R. : Life and Times of Whitefield. (1832.)
*TYERMAN, L. : Life of 0. Whitefield. 2 vols. (1876.)
TYTLER, SARAH : Selina, Countess of Huntingdon and Her Circle. (1907.)
WAKELEY, J. B. : Anecdotes of Whitefield. (1872.)
WHITEFIELD, G. : Works, ed. Gillies, 6 vols. (1771-2.)
-Journals. (1738, 1741, 1744.)
- The Two First Parts of His Life. (1756.)
(/3) ANGLICAN EVANGELICALS
i
COWPER: Letters. Ed. Wright. 4 vols. (1904.) HAWEIS, T. : Authentic Narrative of John Newton. (1764.) MILNER, Jos. : Hist, of the Church of Christ. (4 vols., fourth in part by
Isaac Milner. York, 1794-1809, 5 vols., London, 1810.) NEWTON, J. : Cardiphonia, Letters to a Nobleman. (1781.)
— Olney Hymns. (1779.)
ROMAINE, W. : Life, Walk, and Triumph of Faith. SCOTT, THOMAS : Commentary on the Bible. (1788-92; best ed. 1822.)
GENERAL LIST OF AUTHORITIES 545
VENN, H. : Complete Duty of Man. (1763, many eds. ; ':d. with memoir, 1838, 1841.)
ii
CADOGAN, W. B. : Works and Life of W. Romaine. 8 vols. (1809.) FLETCHER : (See also infra, s.v. Tyerman, and infra, § D. I.) BENSON, J. : Life of Fletcher, (llth ed. 1839. Trans, into German
by Tholuck, Berlin, 1833.)
MACDONALD, F. W. : Fletcher of Maddey. (1885.) SCOTT, A. : Life of Fletcher. (With works.) 2 vols. (1829.) GLADSTONE, W. E. : The Evangelical Movement. (Brit. Quart. Rev.,
July 1879.)
HARDY, R. S. : Life of William Grimshaw. (1861.)
*RYLE, J. C. : Christian Leaders of the Last (18th) Century. (1869, 1880.) SEELEY, MARY : The Later Evangelical Fathers. (1879.) *TYERMAN, L.: The Oxford Methodists. (1873.)
— Wesley's Designated Successor. (1882.)
in HARRIS, HOWELL : A Brief Account of the Life of Howell Harris. (1791 ; in
Welsh, 1838.)
HUGHES, H. J. : Life, of Howell Harris. (1892.) STEPHEN, SIR J. : Essays in Eccl. Biog., The Evangelical Succession. (1867.)
(y) EARLY METHODIST PREACHERS
ASBURY, FRANCIS, Lives by :
BRIGGS, F. W. (1879.)
JONES, E. L. (1822.)
SMITH, G. G. (1896.)
STRICKLAND, W. P. (1858.)
TIPPLE, E. G : The Heart of Asburys Journal. (New York, 1904.) ETHERIDGE, J. W. : Life of Thomas Coke. (1860.)
— Life of Dr. Adam Clarke. (1858.)
*JACKSON, T. (editor) : Lives of the Early Methodist Preachers. (Mainly
autobiographies.) 6 vols. (1838, 1865, 1871.)
LARRABEE : Asbury and his Co-labourers. (New York, 2 vols. 1852.) NELSON, J. : Journal. (1745, 1767, 1807. See also Jackson above.) Arminian Magazine. (1778-97 ; from 17^7 onwards called The Methodist Magazine.}
C. HISTORIES OF METHODISM I. ENGLISH AND GENERAL
DECANVER, H. C. : Catalogue of Works in Refutation of Methodism (from
1729 onwards ; New York, 1846, 1868).
GREEN, R. : Anti- Methodist Publications in the Eighteenth Century. (1902.) VOL. II 35
546 APPENDIX A
HURST, J. F. : History of Methodism. 7 vols. [Vols. I. -III., British
Methodism, by T. E. Brigden, who also contributed to Vol. VII.
on France and Switzerland. (1891.)]
JACOBY, S : Geschichte des Methodismus. (Bremen, 1870.) KENDALL, H.B. : History of the Primitive Methodist Church, 2 vols. ( 1905.) LOOFS : Methodismus (article in Herzog and Hauck, Realencyklopddie,
xii. 747-801, 1903).
MYLES, W. : Chronological History of Methodism. (1803, 1813.) OSBORN, G. : Outlines of Methodist Bibliography. (1869.) PETTY : Hist, of Primitive Methodism. (1861.) Proceedings and Publications of the Wesley Historical Society. (1898-1908.)
[These contain much material carefully gathered from special sources. The publications are : Bennet and Wesley, Minutes, 1744-8, 1749, 1755, 1758 ; Articles of Religion (1806) and others named above.]
RiGO, J. H. : Methodism. (Encyc. Brit., 9th ed. xvi. 185-95.) SIMPSON, BP. M. : A Hundred Years of Methodism. (New York, 1876.) SMITH, G. : Hist, of Wes. Methodism. 3 vols. (1859, 1862, 1865.) STEVENS, DR. A. : Hist, of Methodism. 3 vols. (1858, 1861, 1875.) TINDALL, E. H. : The Wes. Meth. Atlas of England and Wales. (1870.)
[For historical and biographical works in the several sections of Methodism see the authorities cited in the various chapters.]
II. WALES, IRELAND, AND SCOTLAND
BUTLER, D. : J. Wesley and G. Whitefield in Scotland : the influence of the Oxford Methodists on Scottish Religion. (1898.)
CROOKSHANK, C. H. : History of Methodism in Ireland. 3 vols. (1885-8.)
YOUNG, D. : Origin and Hist, of Methodism in Wales and the Borders. (1893.)
III. UNITED STATES
ALEXANDER, G. : History of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
(1839-41 ; 6th ed., 1860; later editions, 1894.)
ATKINSON J. : The Beginnings of the Wesleyan Movement in America (New York, 1896) : Centennial Hist, of American Methodism. (New York, 1884.) BANGS, NATHAN : History of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 4 vols.
(New York, 1839-41.) BUCKLEY, J. M. : A History of the Methodists in the United States.
(2 vols. New York, 1896.) CROSS, A. L. : The Anglican Episcopate and the American Church.
(Harvard Hist. Studies, vol. ix.) CURTIS, G. L. : Manual of Meth. Episcopal History. (1892.)
GENERAL LIST OF AUTHORITIES 547
DANIELS, W. H. : History of Methodism. (New York, 1879.) DRINKHOUSE, E. J. : History of Methodist Reform with Special References
to the Methodist Protestant Churches. (2 vols. ; Baltimore, 1898.) EMORY: History of the Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church
(New York, 1844.)
FAULKNER, J. A. : The Methodists. (New York, 1903.) GORIE, P. D. : Hist, of Amer. Ep. Ch. in U.S. and Canada. (New York
1882.) HURST, J. F. : History of Methodism. (New York, 7 vols., 1902^.
Vols. iv., v., vi. American Methodism.)
[A book of composite authorship, edited by Hurst.] JENNINGS, A. T. : History of American Wesleyan Methodism. (Syracuse
1902.) LEDNUM, J. : History of Rise and Progress of Methodism in America
(Philadelphia, 1859.) LEE, JESSE, Short History of Methodism in U.S.A. (Baltimore, 1810 and
1859.)
MCTYEIRE, H. N. : History of Methodism. (Nashville, Tenn., 1884.) NUELSEN AND MANN: Geschichte des Methodismus. (Bremen, 1907-9.) REDFORD, A. H. : Organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church South
(1871.) STEVEXS, A.: Hist, of Meth. Epis. Church. 4 vols. (New York, 1864-7.)
[An illustrated Eng. abridgement in 1888.] - Life and Times of Nathanael Bangs. (New York, 1863.)
[For the authorities for American Foreign Missions see Vol. II.,
bk. v. ch. ii.] WAKELEY: Lost Chapters Recovered from the Early History of American
Methodism. (New York, 1858, new ed., 1880.)
IV. CANADA
CORNISH, G. H. : Cyclopaedia of Methodism in Canada. (Toronto, 1881.) COUGHLAN : Account of the Work of God in Newfoundland. MEACHAM : Rise and Progress of the Methodist Church. (1862.) PLAYTER, G. F. : History of Methodism in Canada. (1862.) RYERSON, EGERTON : Story of My Life. (Ed. J. G. Hodgins, Toronto
1884.)
Canadian Methodism. (1882.)
SUTHERLAND, A. : Methodism in Canada. (1903.)
SMITH, T. WATSON : History of Methodism in Eastern British America
2 vols. (Halifax, 1877, 1890.) The Centennial Volume of Canadian Methodism. (1891.)
V. AUSTRALASIA
[For a further list see also supra, vol. ii. p. 237.] COLWELL, J. : History of Methodism in New South Wales.
548 APPENDIX A
MORLEY : History of Methodism Jn New Zealand.
SMITH AND BLAMIRES : Jubilee History of Victorian Methodism. (1886.)
VI. OTHER COUNTRIES FOSTER, H. B. : Rise and Progress of Wesleyan Methodism in Jamaica.
(1881.) HURST, J. F. : History of Methodism. 1 vols. (New York, 1902 ; vol. vii.
on France and Switzerland.) JUNQST, J. : Der Methodismus in Deutschland.
[This was the 2nd ed. (Gotha, 1827, 3rd ed. ; Giessen, 1906) of a work the 1st ed. of which was entitled Amerikanischer Meth. in Deutschland. (Gotha, 1875.)] MANN, H. : Luduoig 8. Jacoby. (Bremen, 1892.)
[Jacoby was the first preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Germany and Switzerland.]
WHITESIDE, J. : History of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in South Africa. (1906.)
D. THEOLOGICAL POSITION OF METHODISM
I. PRIMARY STANDARDS
WESLEY, J. : Notes on the New Testament. (1755, 1768 ; with O.T. added,
1764.) *The Fifty -Three Sermons. (1755 ; see Tyerman, J. W., ii. 226.
Many eds.) : ^Earnest Appeal to Men of Reason and Understanding. (5th ed.,
Dublin, 1750.
Further Appeal. (4th ed., Bristol, 1758.)
Doctrine of Original Sin. (1757.)
[In addition to the above, which may be termed the Primary works, there
are many volumes of Wesley's Sermons and Pamphlets.] Of Wesley's Collected Works the following editions may be mentioned :
32 vols (1793) ; 16 vols. (1809) ; 17 vols. (1818). First American
ed. (Phil., 1826), 14 vols. (1829-31 ; 1842, 1849) ; 15 vols. (1856-7.) *FLETCHER, J. W. : Five Checks to Antinomianism. (1771.) [Fletcher's Works have been published in 8 vols. in 1803, 10 vols. in 1806,
2 vols. in 1825, 1829, in 8 vols., with Life, in 1836.]
II. SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGICAL TREATISES
[Modern Methodism unfortunately possesses no recognized standard theo logical treatises. The outside student will learn much from its Hymn-Books as to its doctrinal leanings. He may also study the following.]
ALLIN, T. : Discourses. (1828.)
GENERAL LIST OF AUTHORITIES 549
BANKS, J. S. : A Manual of Christian Doctrine. (1887.) (Several eds.) COOKE, W. : Christian Theology. (1846 ; 6th ed., 1879.)
— Theiotes. (1849.) 2nd ed. enlarged and title changed to The Deity.
(1862.)
CURTIS, O. A. : The Christian Faith. (1905.) POPE, W. B. : Compendium of Theology. (2 vols. 1875 ; 2nd ed. in
3 vols., 1880.)
— * '-Higher Catechism of Theology. (1883. ) - Person of Christ. (1871 ; 2nd ed. 1875.)
[The influence of Dr. Pope on the development of Methodism was more profound than the student, unacquainted with his personality, might gather from his works.]
RAYMOND, M. : Systematic Theology. (3 vols. 1877-9.)
SCOTT, A. : Eternal Sonship of Jesus Christ. (1825.)
SHELDON, H. C. : System of Christian Doctrine. (1900, new ed. 1907.)
STAGEY, J. : The Christian Sacraments* Explained and Defended. (1856.)
SULZBERGER, A. : Christliche Glaubenslehre (Bremen, 1886.)
WATSON, R. : Institutes. (1823-9, 1877.)
[For many years recognized as the standard authority, but now out of date. His complete works were edited in 12 vols. ( 1834-7), reprinted in 13 vols. (1847.)]
III. OTHER DOCTRINAL WORKS
[In this section only such works by British Methodist ministers are given as illustrate the general theological position or outlook of Methodism, especially in its later developments.]
BEET, A. : Through Christ to God. (1892.)
Epistle to the Romans. (7th ed. 1902.)
-Manual of Theology. (1908.)
BENSON, J. : Apology for the People called Methodists. (1801.) CROWTHER, J. : Portraiture of Methodism. (1815.) FINDLAY, G. G. : Christian Doctrine and Morals. (1894.) GREEN, R. : The Mission of Methodism. (1890.) JACKSON, T. : Wesleyan Methodism : a Revival of Apostolical Christianity.
(1839.) LIDGETT, J. S. : The Spiritual Principle of the Atonement. (1897.)
— The Fatherhood of God. (1902.)
— The Christian Religion. (1908.)
Moss, R. W. : The Range of Christian Experience. (1898.)
POPE, W. B. : The Peculiarities of Methodist Doctrine. (1873.)
RIQG, J. H. : Oxford High Anglicanism. (1895, 1899.)
SLATER, W. F. : Methodism in the Light of the Early Church. (1885.)
TASKER, J. G. : Spiritual Religion. (1901.)
550 APPENDIX A
IV. ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY
[The Primary authorities are the Minutes of the Conferences from 1744 to the present time.]
(a) WESLEY AN METHODISM CBOWTHER, J. : The Methodist Manual (1810.) GREGORY, B. : Handbook of Scriptural Church Principles, PEIRCE, W. : Eccles. Principles and Polity of the Wesleyan Methodists.
(1st ed., 1854 ; 3rd. ed., 1873.)
BIGG, J. H. : A Comparative View of Church Organizations. (1887, 1891 ; 3rd ed. enlarged, 1896.)
[This was the development of an earlier work : The Connexional Economy of W. M. in its Ecclesiastical and Spiritual Aspects. (1875.)]
SIMON, J. S. : Summary of Methodism Law and Discipline. (1906.) WALLER, D. J. : Constitution and Polity of the Wesleyan Methodist Church.
(Continual reprints to date.) WANSBROUGH, E. E. : Handbook and Index to the Minutes. (1890.)
(8) OTHER BRITISH METHODIST CHURCHES
KENDALL, H. B. : Primitive Methodist Church Principles. (1898.) TOWNSEND, W. J., AND W. LoNGBOTTOM : Our Church Principles and Order, and Other Methodist Churches. (Methodist New Con nexion. Centenary vols., 1897.)
(y) AMERICAN CHURCHES
BAKER, 0. C., and HARRIS : A Guide in the Administration of the
Discipline. (1876.) BUCKLEY, J. M. : Constitutional History of (American) Methodism. (In
print, 1909.)
CRANE, J. T. : Methodism and Its Methods. (1876.) SHERMAN, D. : History of the Revisions of the Discipline of the Methodist
Ep. Church. (New York, 1874.)
TIGERT, J. J. : Constitutional History of American Methodism. (1894.) Making of Methodism. Studies in the Genesis of Institutions. (1898.)
APPENDIX B
WESLEY'S DEED OF DECLARATION (Vol. I. p. 232)
To ALL to whom these presents shall come, JOHN WESLEY, late of Lincoln College, Oxford, but now of the City Road, London, Clerk, sendeth greeting : WHEREAS divers buildings commonly called chapels, with a messuage and dwelling-house, or other appurtenances to each of the same belonging, situate in various parts of Great Britain, have been given and conveyed, from time to time, by the said John Wesley to certain persons, and their heirs, in each of the said gifts and conveyances named, which are enrolled in his Majesty's High Court of Chancery, upon the acknowledgment of the said John Wesley, (pursuant to the Act of Parliament in that case made and provided,) UPON TRUST, that the trustees in the said several deeds respectively named, and the survivors of them, and their heirs and assigns, and the trustees for the time being, to be elected as in the said deeds is appointed, should permit and suffer the said John Wesley, and such other person and persons as he should for that purpose from time to time nominate and appoint, at all times during his life, at his will and pleasure, to have and enjoy the free use and benefit of the said premises, that he the said John Wesley, and such person or persons as he should nominate and appoint, might therein preach and expound God's holy word : and upon further trust, that the said respective trustees, and the survivors of them, and their heirs and assigns, and the trustees for the time being, should permit and suffer Charles Wesley, brother of the said John Wesley, and such other person and persons as the said Charles Wesley should for that purpose from time to time nominate and appoint, in like manner during his life, to have, use, and enjoy the said premises respectively for the like purposes as aforesaid : and after the decease of the survivor of them, the said John Wesley, and Charles Wesley, then upon further trust, that the said respective trustees, and the survivors of them, and their heirs and assigns, and the trustees for the time being for ever, should permit and suffer such person anfl persons, and for such time and times as should be appointed at the yearly Conference of the people called Methodists in London, Bristol, or Leeds, and no others, to have and enjoy the said premises for the purposes aforesaid: and whereas divers persons have in like manner given, or conveyed, many chapels, with messuages and
551
552 APPENDIX B
dwelling-houses, or other appurtenances to the same belonging, situate in various parts of Great Britain, and also in Ireland, to certain trustees in each of the said gifts and conveyances respectively named, upon the like trusts, and for the same uses and purposes as aforesaid (except only that in some of the said gifts and conveyances, no life estate, or other interest, is therein or thereby given and reserved to the said Charles Wesley:) and whereas, for rendering effectual the trusts created by the said several gifts or conveyances, and that no doubt or litigation may arise with respect unto the same, or the interpretation and true meaning thereof, it has been thought expedient, by the said John Wesley, on behalf of himself as donor of the several chapels, with the messuages, dwelling-houses, or appurtenances before-mentioned, as of the donors of the said other chapels, with the messuages, dwelling-houses, or ap purtenances to the same belonging, given or conveyed to the like uses and trusts, to explain the words Yearly Conference of the People called Methodists, contained in all the said trust-deeds, and to declare what persons are members of the said Conference, and how the succession and identity thereof is to be continued : Now therefore these presents witness, that, for accomplishing the aforesaid purposes, the said John Wesley doth hereby declare, that the Conference of the people called Methodists in London, Bristol, or Leeds, ever since there hath been any yearly Con ference of the said people called Methodists, in any of the said places, hath always heretofore consisted of the preachers and expounders of God's holy word, commonly called Methodist preachers, in connexion with, and under the care of, the said John Wesley, whom he hath thought expedient, year after year, to summon to meet him, in one or other of the said places of London, Bristol, or Leeds, to advise with them for the promotion of the gospel of Christ, to appoint the said persons so summoned and the other preachers and expounders of God's holy word, also in con nexion with, and under the care of, the said John Wesley, not summoned to the said yearly Conference, to the use and enjoyment of the said chapels and premises so given and conveyed upon trust for the said John Wesley, and such other person and persons as he should appoint during his life as aforesaid ; and for the expulsion of unworthy, and admission of new persons under his care, and into his Connexion, to be preachers and ex pounders as aforesaid ; and also of other persons upon trial for the like purposes : the names of all which persons so summoned by the said John Wesley, the persons appointed, with the chapels and premises to which they were so appointed, together with the duration of such appointments, and of those expelled, or admitted into Connexion, or upon trial, with all other matters transacted and done at the said yearly Conference, have year by year been printed and published under the title of " Minutes of Conference." And these presents further witness, and the said John Wesley doth hereby avouch and further declare, that the several persons herein-after named [Here follow the names of one hundred preachers],
WESLEY'S DEED OF DECLARATION 553
being preachers and expounders of God's holy word, under the care and in connexion with the said John Wesley, have been, and now are, and do, on the day of the date hereof, constitute the members of the said Con ference, according to the true intent and meaning of the said several gifts and conveyances, wherein the words Conference of the People called Metho dists are mentioned and contained. And that the said several persons before-named, and their successors for ever, to be chosen as hereinafter mentioned, are and shall for ever be construed, taken, and be the Con ference of the People called Methodists. Nevertheless upon the terms, and subject to the regulations hereinafter prescribed, that is to say,
First, That the members of the said Conference, and their successors for the time being for ever, shall assemble once in every year, at London, Bristol, or Leeds (except as after -mentioned) for the purposes aforesaid ; and the time and place of holding every subsequent Conference shall be appointed at the preceding one ; save that the next Conference after the date hereof shall be holden at Leeds, in Yorkshire, the last Tuesday in July next.
Second, The act of the majority in number of the Conference assembled as aforesaid shall be had, taken, and be the act of the whole Conference ; to all intents, purposes, and constructions whatsoever.
Third, That after the Conference shall be assembled as aforesaid, they shall first proceed to fill up all the vacancies occasioned by death, or ab sence, as after-mentioned.
Fourth, No act of the Conference assembled as aforesaid shall be had, taken, or be the act of the Conference, until forty of the members thereof are assembled, unless reduced under that number by death since the prior Conference, or absence, as after-mentioned ; nor until all the vacancies occasioned by death, or absence, shall be filled up by the election of new members of the Conference, so as to make up the number of one hundred, unless there be not a sufficient number of persons objects of such election : and during the assembly of the Conference, there shall always be forty members present at the doing of any act, save as aforesaid, or otherwise such act shall be void.
Fifth, The duration of the yearly assembly of the Conference shall not be less than five days, nor more than three weeks, and be concluded by the appointment of the Conference, if under twenty-one days ; or other wise the conclusion thereof shall follow of course at the end of the said twenty-one days ; the whole of all which said time of the assembly of the Conference shall be had, taken, considered, and be the yearly Conference of the people called Methodists, and all acts of the Conference during such yearly assembly thereof shall be the acts of the Conference, and none other.
Sixth, Immediately after all the vacancies occasioned by death, or ab sence, are filled up by the election of new members as aforesaid, the Con ference shall choose a president, and secretary, of their assembly, out of
554 APPENDIX B
themselves, who shall continue such until the election of another president . or secretary, in the next or other subsequent Conference ; and the said presi dent shall have the privilege and power of two members in all acts of the Conference, during his presidency, and such other powers, privileges, and authorities, as the Conference shall from time to time see fit to intrust into his hands.
Seventh, Any member of the Conference absenting himself from the yearly assembly thereof for two years successively, without the consent, or dispensation of the Conference, and being not present on the first day of the third yearly assembly thereof at the time and place appointed for the holding of the same, shall cease to be a member of the Conference from and after the said first day of the said third yearly assembly thereof, to all intents and purposes, as though he was naturally dead. But the Conference shall and may dispense with, or consent to, the absence of any member from any of the said yearly assemblies, for any cause which the Conference may see fit or necessary ; and such member, whose absence shall be so dispensed with, or consented to by the Conference, shall not by such absence cease to be a member thereof.
Eighth, The Conference shall and may expel, and put out from being a member thereof, or from being in connexion therewith, or from being upon trial, any person member of the Conference, or admitted into con nexion, or upon trial, for any cause which to the Conference may seem fit or necessary ; and every member of the Conference so expelled and put out shall cease to be a member thereof to all intents and purposes, as though he was naturally dead. And the Conference, immediately after the expulsion of any member thereof as aforesaid, shall elect another person to be a member of the Conference, in the stead of such member so expelled.
Ninth, The Conference shall and may admit into connexion with them, or upon trial, any person or persons whom they shall approve, to be preachers and expounders of God's holy word, under the care and direc tion of the Conference ; the name of every such person or persons so admitted into connexion or upon trial as aforesaid, with the time and degrees of the admission, being entered in the Journals or Minutes of the Conference.
Tenth, No person shall be elected a member of the Conference, who hath not been admitted into connexion with the Conference as a preacher and expounder of God's holy word, as aforesaid, for twelve months.
Eleventh, The Conference shall not, nor may nominate or appoint any person to the use and enjoyment of, or to preach and expound God's holy word in, any of the chapels and premises so given or conveyed, or which may be given or conveyed upon the trusts aforesaid, who is not either a member of the Conference, or admitted into connexion with the same, or upon trial, as aforesaid ; nor appoint any person for more than three years successively to the use and enjoyment of any chapel and premises
WESLEY'S DEED OF DECLARATION 555
already given, or to be given or conveyed upon the trusts aforesaid, except ordained ministers of the Church of England.
Twelfth, That the Conference shall and may appoint the place of holding the yearly assembly thereof at any other city, town, or place, than London, Bristol, or Leeds, when it shall seem expedient so to do.
Thirteenth, And, for the convenience of the chapels and premises already, or which may hereafter be given or conveyed upon the trusts aforesaid, situate in Ireland, or other parts out of the kingdom of Great Britain, the Conference shall and may, when, and as often as it shall seem expedient, but not otherwise, appoint and delegate any member or members of the Conference, with all or any of the powers, privileges, and advantages hereinbefore contained or vested in the Conference ; and all and every the acts, admissions, expulsions, and appointments whatsoever of such member or members of the Conference so appointed and delegated as aforesaid, the same being put into writing, and signed by such delegate or delegates, and entered in the Journals or Minutes of the Conference, and subscribed, as after-mentioned, shall be deemed, taken, and be, the acts, admissions, expulsions, and appointments of the Conference, to all intents, constructions, and purposes whatsoever, from the respective times when the same shall be done by such delegate or delegates, not withstanding any thing herein contained to the contrary.
Fourteenth, All resolutions and orders touching elections, admissions, expulsions, consents, dispensations, delegations, or appointments, and acts whatsoever of the Conference, shall be entered and written in the Journals or Minutes of the Conference, which shall be kept for that pur pose, publicly read, and then subscribed by the president and secretary thereof for the time being, during the time such Conference shall be assembled ; and, when so entered and subscribed, shall be had, taken, received, and be the acts of the Conference ; and such entry and sub scription, as aforesaid, shall be had, taken, received, and be evidence of all and every such acts of the said Conference, and of their said dele gates, without the aid of any other proof ; and whatever shall not be so entered and subscribed, as aforesaid, shall not be had, taken, received or be the act of the Conference : and the said president and secretary are hereby required and obliged to enter and subscribe as aforesaid, every act whatever of the Conference.
Lastly, Whenever the said Conference shall be reduced under the number of forty members, and continue so reduced for three yearly assemblies thereof successively, or whenever the members thereof shall decline or neglect to meet together annually for the purposes aforesaid, during the space of three years, that then, and in either of the said events, the Con ference of the people called Methodists shall be extinguished, and all the aforesaid powers, privileges, and advantages shall cease ; and the said chapels and premises, and all other chapels and premises, which now are, or hereafter may be settled, given, or conveyed upon the trusts aforesaid,
556 APPENDIX B
shall vest in the trustees for the time being of the said chapels and premises respectively, and their successors for ever ; upon trust that they, and the survivors of them, and the trustees for the time being, do, shall, and may, appoint such person and persons to preach and expound God's holy word therein, and to have the use and enjoyment thereof for such time, and in such manner, as to them shall seem proper.
Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to extinguish, lessen, or abridge the life-estate of the said John Wesley and Charles Wesley, or either of them, of and in any of the said chapels and premises, or any other chapels and premises wherein they the said John Wesley and Charles Wesley, or either of them, now have, or may have, any estate or interest, power or authority what soever. In witness whereof the said John Wesley hath hereunto set his hand and seal, the twenty-eighth day of February, in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, king, defender of the faith, and so forth, and in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-four.
JOHN (seal) WESLEY. WILLIAM CLULOW, Quality- court, Sealed and delivered (being first^ Chancery-lane, London.
duly stamped) in the presence of/ RICHARD YOUNG, Clerk to the
said William Clulow.
The above is a true copy of the original deed, which is enrolled in Chancery, and was therewith examined by us,
WILLIAM CLULOW, RICHARD YOUNG.
APPENDIX C
EARLY METHODIST PSALMODY,1 WITH A NOTE ON WESLEYAN METHODIST HYMN-BOOKS (Vol. I. p. 254)
AUTHORITIES.— The Foundery Tune-Book (1742) ; Sacred Melody (1761) ; LlGHTWOOD, Hymn- Tunes and Their Story (1905) ; CURWEN, Studies in Worship Music (1880) ; Articles in Wesley Studies (1903).
HYMN-SINGING in England is practically a creation of the Evangelical Revival. At the time of the rise of Methodism the custom was unknown in English churches. Under Genevan influence the Established Church sanctioned the introduction of the metrical psalm, but drew the line there. The Dissenters followed suit. At the beginning of the eighteenth century an effort was made in two or three of the more liberal of their churches to introduce the hymns of Dr. Watts, but for some time they gained but a precarious and oft-challenged footing. Little wonder, then, that with no thing to carry it forward save the metrical psalms of Sternhold and Hopkins the flood tide of the Reformers' enthusiasm for song soon turned. At the time of the rise of Methodism it was at the lowest ebb. For the version of Sternhold and Hopkins the Wesleys appear to have entertained scant respect. John Wesley does not hesitate to speak of it as ' miserable scandalous doggerel.' And certainly, with a few notable exceptions, the version is unworthy. The language is homely, the rhythm often uncouth, and the metre monotonous. Nor did the singing please him better than the version. The efforts of the parish clerk he characterizes as ' execrable droning ' ; and as that functionary seems frequently to have had the singing to himself, the effect could not have been particularly edifying.
The Wesleys' love of sacred song was born not in the church, but in the home. In Epworth Rectory psalm-singing was sedulously cultivated. From early youth therefore they would be familiar with the grand old psalm-tunes from the Day and Ravenscroft psalters, which they would doubtless sing not only to the metrical psalms, but also to the hymns of John Austin, Henry More, Ken and Mason, and of their own father also.1 The practice of the parsonage was resumed at Oxford, and became a distinguishing feature of the Holy Club. The intercourse of the Wesleys
i Samuel Wesley's fine hymn ' Behold the Saviour of mankind,' set to the tune 'Burford,' was discovered on a charred piece of paper the day after the Rectory fire.
667
558 APPENDIX C
with the Moravians quickened their interest and introduced them to new realms of Christian song. Their evangelical conversion supplied the one motive still lacking. Thenceforth they sang because they could not help singing. Whitefield had made the lanes echo with his praises as he sang his way from village to village ; Charles Wesley made all the welkin ring with the rapturous strains of the great multitudes in whom a knowledge of personal salvation had awakened both the necessity and the power of song.
My heart is full of Christ, and longs
Its glorious matter to declare I Of Him I make my loftier songs,
I cannot from His praise forbear : My ready tongue makes haste to sing The glories of my heavenly King.
Of their hymns we have spoken elsewhere ; l here we deal only with the melodies to which they were sung.
So long as Charles Wesley's muse was content with the Common, Long, and Short metres, the 10's and ll's, and one or two other measures used in the metrical version of the psalms, there were enough good tunes for all reasonable requirement. Nothing could be finer or more satisfying than the grand old English church-tunes of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, ' full of the breath of the Lord.' Characterized by a remarkable dignity, simplicity, restfulness, and winsomeness, these melodies formed an excellent foundation for Methodist psalmody, and an admirable model for imitation ; and they exercised a wholesome restraint upon conformity to the light and florid style then in vogue, whose adoption the buoyant verses of Charles Wesley seemed to justify and demand. For the ' peculiar metres,' in which so many of the hymns were written, other sources had to be sought. These Wesley partly found in the great treasury of German Chorales with which he had become acquainted in his association with the Moravians.
There being no tune-book fulfilling his requirements, with the possible exception of a little volume published in 1708 entitled Lyra Davidica, Wesley made an attempt to supply the lack, and in 1742 published ' A Collection of Tunes Set to Music as they are commonly Sung at the Foun- dery.' This first Methodist tune-book is a thin duodecimo containing some forty tunes, of which only the melody is given. Its first tune is from the German, and several more in the selection are from the same source. It bears marks of haste and inexperience, and is not very correctly printed. In 1761 Wesley issued a second and far worthier tune-book. It is usually bound up with ' Select Hymns,' and is entitled Sacred Melody. It consists of 115 tunes practically the same as those found in Butt's Harmonica Sacra, but given here in the melody only. In the delightfully characteristic preface Wesley says ' the following collection contains all the tunes in
l Vide vol. i. p. 242, et seq.
EARLY METHODIST PSALMODY 559
common use among us. They are pricked true, exactly as I desire all our congregations may sing them. . . . The volume likewise is small, as well as the price. This therefore I recommend preferable to all others.'
This book is therefore the court of appeal, the law and the testimony, in early Methodist matters musical. Within its compass we should find the chief characteristics of early Methodist melodies. We may briefly describe some of its conspicuous features.
(a) It is noticeable that comparatively few of the old psalm-tunes are inserted. The omission is probably due to the same cause that excluded the psalms from the hymn-book. The Methodist meeting was supple mentary, not alternative to the Church worship. At the parish church the Methodists would have the psalms and their appropriate psalm-tunes ; there was therefore no need to include either the one or the other in the hymn- and tune-book.
(6) About one-third of the entire number of tunes is in the minor scale. When we reflect that one-fifth of all the hymns in the Standard Hymn- Book are hymns of penitence, it will be seen that a goodly number of sad and plaintive tunes to which the minor scale is adapted would be necessary. But the minor mode, while it can sob and wail, can also march and dance and exult, as many old English and Gaelic melodies attest, and a fine tune, * True Elijah,' ascribed to Purcell, in the metre of ' Worship and thanks and blessing,' illustrates. So that it is not necessary to suppose that the Methodist services lacked brightness and liveliness.
(c) There are a number of tunes from German sources, especially for the. six-lines-eights and the ' peculiar metres.' These include the old 113th 'Vater Unser,' 'Marienbourn,' 'Irene,' 'Old German,' and others.
(d) In listening to music the ears of the Wesleys were always open to hear a melody that could be set to some of their hymns. Sacred melody contains arrangements from Handel, Purcell, Arne, Holcombe, and others. Thus ' Christ the Lord is risen to-day ' is set to ' See the conquering hero comes/ 'Soldiers of Christ arise' to the march in Richard /., and 'Happy souls that free from harm ' to an excerpt from Arne.
(e) As in every age of missionary advance since the fourth century, secular melodies are boldly commandeered. The evangelist feels that the words of the hymns must be set to music the people know. The story of how in order to win some sailors who were boisterously singing a popular music-hall ditty called ' Nancy Dawson ' Charles Wesley wrote words to its strains is well known. In the same way at the time of the great earthquake he wrote, ' He ccmes, he comes the judge severe,' that it might be sung to Carey's popular song ' He comes, he comes, the hero comes.'
(/) There is a good sprinkling of new tunes, chiefly by J. F. Lampe, a bassoon player and writer of opera who was converted under Charles Wesley, and took to writing music for the Methodists. Charles Wesley was very partial to his tunes, and stated that they were ' universally admired.'
560 APPENDIX C
His L.M. 4 Wedn osbury' is said to have beeii John Wesley's favourite tune. Though seventeen of his compositions have a place in Sacred Melody, few have survived to this day. v Invitation ' is the only one in the new Methodist Hyum-Book. His times are conceived in a lighter vein than the older psalmody. They are mostly written in * aria ' form with repeat, and show a tendency to the tiorid style of Italian opera of that period.
Laiupe's intlueuce did much to pave the way for the prodigies of the succeeding generation which are called ' Old Methodist Tunes.' Whatever the merit or demerit of these compositions, the name is a misnomer. They represent the musical spirit of mediaeval rather than original Methodism, and came into vogue after Wesley's death. Moreover, they are not indigenous, but were imported into Methodism. Fortunately the teiuleney of to-ilav i> tou.uu the simplieit y. strength. ami restraint of the earlier psalmody.
At the services the hymns wore ' lined out ' two lines at a time (not one line as in the Established Church), and not more than three hymns were permitted at one service. Unlike the Anglicans of the period, the Metho dists stood to sing. The men and the women, ranged on opposite sides of the building, were exhorted to sing their own part. Occasionally dialogue hymns, of which Ceimiek wrote many, were introduced, one sex singing the question, the other the answer. Every etlort was made to get all to sing with intelligence and heartiness. New tunes were only to be introduced when the old ones were known. Repetitions were dis couraged as tending to formalism. Diligence was used to keep out ' com plex tunes which it is scarcely possible to sing with devotion.' Anthems were not tolerated ; they were not thought ' joint worship.' The use of instruments was rare. The introduction of organs in the earlier part of the last century was the cause of much dissension, and finally led to a schism. But Methodist singing proved a great attraction. A clergyman writing at the end of the eighteenth century says, ' For one who has been drawn away by doctrine, ten have been induced by music.' Indeed, the saying of Cardinal Cajetan concerning Luther might be applied with equal truth to Wesley, k He has conquered us by his songs.'
Shortly after his return from Georgia, where he had published the v Chariest own ' Collection, Wesley in 1738 issued a Collection of Psalnw and Hyinn-s. It was probably intended for use in the societies with which he was connected. Only two copies of this book are known. In 1741 he published another volume under the same title. This little book was used in the Methodist societies for nearly a century. After Wesley's death Dr. Coke published an enlarged edition of it, which the Conference of 1810 recommended for ' use in Methodist eongregations in the forenoon.' Hence it was known as The Morning Hyinn-Book. Most of the 100 hymns it con tamed tvre by Dr. Watts. Not a quarter of the whole are by Charles or John Wesley. But, however well adapted to the needs of public wor ship, a volume which lacked Charles Wesley's glowing presentation of
EARLY METHODIST PSALMODY 561
the great doctrines of personal salvation could not finally satisfy the Methodists, who speedily had recourse to the small volumes of hymns on special subjects which came at frequent intervals from his eager and prolific pen. To obviate the necessity of bringing to the meeting a number of these small books, Wesley published in 1753 Hymns ami Spiritual Songs intended for the use of real Christians of all denominations. It is a duodecimo containing 84 hymns, many of which are divided into two or three parts. The great majority are the work of Charles Wesley, and all are con cerned with experimental religion. This book was used in Methodist congregations until the publication of the large hymn-book in 17SO.
80 far no hymn-book had been published with tunes. To meet the demand for music as well as words, and to incorporate sonic of his brother's more recent compositions, in 1701 Wesley published Select Hymns with Tunes Annext. Designed cJiiefly for the use of the People called Methodists. Of the music something luis already been said. The 149 hymns the book contains for the most part differ from those in the 1753 collection. The arrangement is metrical, not topical, commencing with the metre 5.5.12.
Still the Mow of small volumes from the pen of Charles Wesley con tinued and the inconvenience which the 1753 book was designed to meet again presented itself. Yielding to numerous and urgent representations, John Wesley set himself to prepare another Hymnal, making selections from the forty different hymn-books which he had already published. In 1780 he published that incomparable collection, Hi/ntns for the use of the People called Methodist*. This volume of 525 hymns has been described in the chapter on ' Charles Wesley and the Hymns.' For 120 years it remained the standard hymn-book, and has been circulated in millions. But The Morning Hymn-book continued in use, for Wesley pre ferred that at public worship general hymns of praise and thanksgiving should be sung rather than hymns descriptive of religious states. In the first ten years after its publication the new collection went through seven editions. In 1800 a supplement was added, bringing up the number to 500 hymns, and significantly including seven hymns on the Lord's Supper. In 1831 a further supplement, containing hymns of Charles Wesley and Dr. Watts, made the total number of hymns 709. In this book 008 hymns are by the Wesleys, GO by Dr. Watts, and the remainder by 19 different authors.
In 1870 the Conference, through lapse of copyright, had again to face revision. The 1800 edition as far as hymn 539 was retained intact, though here and there a hymn was removed — an instance is quoted supra, vol. ii. p. 145n. — and another inserted, some versos were omitted, and a new supplement containing 087 metrical psalms and hymns was added. This book continued to be used until the publication of The Methodist Hijinn- Book in 1904. In this last the method of arrangement is entirely altered, and follows the theological order now usually adopted in hymnals. Many of Charles Wesley's hymns are omitted. This volume of 981 hymns contains
VOL. II 30
562 APPENDIX C
some 300 hymns not in the edition of 1876, most of which are by hymn- writers of the nineteenth century. It is one sign of growing unity that the book is intended for the use not only of the Wesleyan Methodists and the United Methodists of Great Britain and Ireland, but also for the Metho dist Church of Australasia. It is not, we think, too much to hope that in the near future there will be one standard hymn-book for the ' people called Methodists ' throughout the world, with special supplements to meet local needs and usages. But the first realization of this dream must be in our own country.1
i For the history of the American hymn-books see supra, vol. ii. pp. 1 42 fif .
APPENDIX D
RULES OF THE UNITED SOCIETIES (Vol. I. p. 285)
1. IN the latter end of the year 1739, eight or ten persons came to me in London, who appeared to be deeply convinced of sin, and earnestly groaning for redemption. They desired (as did two or three more the next day) that I would spend some time with them in prayer, and advise them how to flee from the wrath to come ; which they saw continually hanging over their heads. That we might have more time for this great work, I appointed a day when they might all come together, which from thenceforward they did every week, namely, on Thursday, in the evening. To these, and as many more as desired to join with them, (for their number increased daily,) I gave those advices, from time to time, which I judged most needful for them ; and we always concluded our meeting with prayer suited to their several necessities.
2. This was the rise of the United Society, first in London, and then in other places. Such a Society is no other than ' a company of men having the form and seeking the power of godliness, united in order to pray together, to receive the word of exhortation, and to watch over one another in love, that they may help each other to work out their salvation.'
3. That it may the more easily be discerned, whether they are indeed working out their own salvation, each Society is divided into smaller companies, called ' classes,' according to their respective places of abode. There are about twelve persons in every class ; one of whom is styled 'the leader.' It is his business, (1.) To see each person in his class once a week at least, in order to inquire how their souls prosper ; to advise, reprove, comfort, or exhort, as occasion may require ; to receive what they are willing to give toward the relief of the poor. (2.) To meet the minister and the stewards of the Society once a week ; in order to inform the minister of any that are sick, or of any that walk disorderly and will not be reproved ; to pay to the stewards what they have received of their several classes in the week preceding ; and to show their account of what each person has contributed.
4. There is one only condition previously required in those who desire admission into these Societies, — a desire ' to flee from the wrath to come,
563
564 APPENDIX D
to be saved from their sins : ' but, wherever this is really fixed in the soul, it will be shown by its fruits. It is therefore expected of all who continue therein, that they should continue to evidence their desire of salvation,
First, by doing no harm, by avoiding evil in every kind ; especially that which is most generally practised : such is, the taking the name of God in vain ; the profaning the day of the Lord, either by doing ordinary work thereon, or by buying or selling ; drunkenness, buying or selling spirituous liquors, or drinking them, unless in cases of extreme necessity ; fighting, quarrelling, brawling ; brother going to law with brother ; re turning evil for evil, or railing for railing ; the using many words in buying or selling ; the buying or selling uncustomed goods ; the giving or taking things on usury, that is, unlawful interest ; uncharitable or unprofitable conversation, particularly speaking evil of magistrates or of ministers ; doing to others as we would not they should do unto us ; doing what we know is not for the glory of God, as the ' putting on of gold or costly apparel ; ' the taking such diversions as cannot be used in the name of the Lord Jesus ; the singing those songs, or reading those books, which do not tend to the knowledge or love of God ; softness, and needless self- indulgence ; laying up treasures upon earth ; borrowing without a pro bability of paying ; or taking up goods without a probability of paying for them.
5. It is expected of all who continue in these Societies, that they should continue to evidence their desire of salvation,
Secondly, by doing good, by being, in every kind, merciful after their power ; as they have opportunity, doing good of every possible sort, and as far as is possible, to all men ; — to their bodies, of the ability which God giveth, by giving food to the hungry, by clothing the naked, by visiting or helping them that are sick, or in prison ; — to their souls, by instructing, reproving, or exhorting all they have any intercourse with ; trampling under foot that enthusiastic doctrine of devils, that ' we are not to do good unless our heart be free to it : ' by doing good especially to them that are of the household of faith, or groaning so to be ; employing them pre ferably to others, buying one of another ; helping each other in business ; and so much the more, because the world will love its own, and them only : by all possible diligence and frugality, that the Gospel be not blamed : by running with patience the race that is set before them, * de nying themselves and taking up their cross daily ; ' submitting to bear the reproach of Christ, to be as the filth and offscouring of the world ; and looking that men should ' say all manner of evil of them falsely for the Lord's sake.'
6. It is expected of all who desire to continue in these Societies, that they should continue to evidence their desire of salvation,
Thirdly, by attending upon all the ordinances of God. Such are, the publio worship of God ; the ministry of the word, either read or expounded »
RULES OF THE UNITED SOCIETIES 565
the supper of the Lord ; family and private prayer ; searching the Scrip tures ; and fasting, or abstinence.
7. These are the General Rules of our Societies ; all which we are taught of God to observe, even in His written word, the only rule, and the sufficient rule, both of our faith and practice. And all these, we know, His Spirit writes on every truly awakened heart. If there be any among us who observe them not, who habitually break any of them, let it be made known unto them who watch over that soul as they that must give an account. We will admonish him of the error of his ways ; we will bear with him for a season ; but then if he repent not, he hath no more place among us. We have delivered our own souls.
JOHN WESLEY,
CHARLES WESLEY. May 1st, 1743.
APPENDIX E
THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH ACT, 1907 <Vol. I. p. 550, and Vol. II. p. 482.) (7 EDWARD VII., CAP. LXXV.)
AN Act to authorize the union of the Methodist New Connexion the Bible Christians and the United Methodist Free Churches under the name of ' The United Methodist Church ' to deal with real and personal property belonging to the said churches or denominations to provide for the vesting of the said property in trust for the United Church so formed and for the assimilation of the trusts thereof and for other purposes.
[Royal Assent, 26th July, 1907.] [Recitals as to the founding and history of the three churches.']
And whereas the said churches or religious denominations or con nexions or associations (in this Act referred to respectively as ' the Metho dist New Connexion Church ' ' the Bible Christian Church ' and ' the United Methodist Free Churches ' and collectively as ' the said churches or denominations ') are formed into or arranged in circuits and districts and the government of each of the said churches or denominations is vested in an annual assembly or conference the meeting whereof ordinarily takes place in the month of June or July in every year : And whereas the re ligious doctrines held by each of the said churches or denominations are in substance identical but their respective internal organizations differ in certain respects in relation to the constitution procedure and powers of their respective annual assemblies or conferences and otherwise : And whereas divers churches chapels colleges schoolhouses schoolrooms printing and publishing offices (commonly and hereinafter called ' bookrooms ') dwelling-houses and other buildings lands tenements and hereditaments situate in various parts of the United Kingdom the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man and also divers moneys funds stocks shares securities goods chattels and other personal estate and effects are held on various trusts for the use and benefit of the said churches or denominations respectively which trusts are similar in all essentials in the case of each of the said churches or denominations respectively though they differ to some extent in particulars relating to the administration and management of the
566
UNITED METHODIST CHURCH ACT 567
respective trust properties : And whereas the respective annual assemblies or conferences of the Methodist New Connexion Church the Bible Chris tian Church and the United Methodist Free Churches respectively after mature consideration and prolonged negotiations and after ascertaining the wishes of the members of the said churches or denominations respec tively through their respective circuit district and other meetings have by large majorities resolved that it is expedient that the said churches or denominations be united and form one denomination under the name of ' the United Methodist Church ' to comprise all the members of the said churches or denominations such union to be effected in such manner and under such constitution as is in this Act provided : And whereas the said respective annual assemblies or conferences after the like consideration and negotiations and after ascertaining such wishes as aforesaid in like manner as aforesaid have by like majorities resolved that it is expedient that the said churches chapels colleges schoolhouses schoolrooms book- rooms dwelling-houses and other buildings lands tenements and heredita ments and the said moneys funds stocks shares securities goods chattels and other personal estate and effects now held in trust for the use and benefit of the said churches or denominations respectively should after the union thereof and the formation of such one denomination as aforesaid be held in trust for the use and benefit of such one denomination never theless upon trusts and for purposes and objects the same as or similar to those upon and for which the same were respectively previously held for the benefit of the said churches or denominations respectively : And whereas the said respective annual assemblies or conferences after the like deliberation and negotiations and after ascertaining such wishes as aforesaid in like manner as aforesaid have by the like majorities resolved that it is expedient that all such of the said buildings lands tenements and hereditaments as are now held and also all such buildings lands tene ments and hereditaments as may after the date of the passing of this Act be purchased given or otherwise acquired by or on behalf of the said churches or denominations respectively or the United Methodist Church upon trusts for or for the purposes of or in connexion with any church or chapel or any vestry minister's or other dwelling-house school room lecture hall mission room or other building or burial ground in connexion with such church or chapel should be held as far as may be upon trusts and with and subject to powers and provisions of an uniform character and that such provision in that behalf as in this Act is con tained should be made : And whereas it is expedient that such provision should be made as in this Act is contained with respect to buildings at the date of union belonging to any of the said churches or denominations and registered as places of worship and for the solemnization of marriages : And whereas the purposes of this Act cannot be effected without the authority of Parliament :
MAY IT THEREFORE PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY That it may be enacted
568 APPENDIX E
and be it enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in this present Parliament assembled and by the authority of the same as follows (that is to say) : —
1. This Act may be cited as the United Methodist Church Act 1907.
2. In this Act unless there be something in the subject or context repugnant to such construction — The expression ' the Methodist New Con nexion Church ' means the denomination church or connexion commonly described by that name founded in or about the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven and the constitution whereof is declared by the said deed poll of the eighth day of June one thousand eight hundred and forty-six and the members of that denomination church or connexion ; The expression ' the Bible Christian Church ' means the denomination church or connexion commonly described by that name or by the name of ' Bible Christians ' founded in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifteen and the constitution whereof is declared by the said deed poll of the eighth day of August one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one and the members of that denomination church or connexion ; The expression ' the United Methodist Free Churches ' means the denomination church or connexion commonly described by that name established in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven under that designation upon the amalga mation of the Wesleyan Methodist Association with the Wesleyan Metho dist Reformers and others and the constitution whereof is declared by the said deed poll of the eighteenth day of August one thousand eight hundred and forty as amended by the said deeds of the twenty-eighth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and eighty- one and the tenth day of November one thousand eight hundred and ninety and the members of the said denomination church or connexion ; The expression * the said churches or denominations ' means collectively the Methodist New Connexion Church the Bible Christian Church and the United Methodist Free Churches ; The expression ' the United Methodist Church ' means the united church or denomination formed under the provisions of this Act by the union thereunder of the said churches or denominations and the members of the said united church or denomination ; The expression ' church lands ' includes all lands tenements and hereditaments of whatever tenure and chattels real which now are or which may at any time hereafter be held in trust for or on behalf of or in connexion with or for any of the purposes of the Methodist New Connexion Church the Bible Christian Church or the United Methodist Free Churches or any constituent part of any of the said churches or denominations as the case may be or for or on behalf of any society institution or charity subsidiary or ancillary to any of the said churches or denominations (including all lands tenements and heredita ments and chattels real at the date of union held or occupied by any person in trust for or on behalf of or in connexion with or for any of the purposes of any of the said churches or denominations or for any purpose
UNITED METHODIST CHURCH ACT 569
of any society institution or charity subsidiary or ancillary to such church or denomination notwithstanding that such church or denomination society institution or charity is not named or referred to in any declaration of trust or other instrument relating to such last -mentioned lands tenements or hereditaments or chattels real) together with all churches chapels colleges schoolhouses schoolrooms bookrooms dwelling-houses or other buildings thereon and also all fixtures and fittings rights easements and appurtenances whatsoever relating thereto respectively or enjoyed and held therewith ; The expression ' bookrooms ' includes any printing or publishing offices carried on by or on behalf of or in connexion with any of the said churches or denominations ; The expression ' the Central Office ' means the Central Office of the Supreme Court of Judicature ; The ex pression ' the date of union ' means the date on and from which the Metho dist New Connexion Church the Bible Christian Church and the United Methodist Free Churches respectively shall become by virtue of this Act united in one denomination under the name of ' the United Methodist Church ; ' the expression ' Registrar- General ' in the section of this Act the marginal note whereof is ' Provisions as to buildings certified as places of religious worship and registered for solemnization of marriages,' shall mean ' Registrar-General in England ; ' The expression ' Registrar- General ' in the section of this Act the marginal note whereof is ' Extent of Act,' shall mean ' Registrar-General of the Isle of Man.'
3. In the event of the respective annual assemblies or conferences of the Methodist New Connexion Church the Bible Christian Church and the United Methodist Free Churches respectively holden in the year one thousand nine hundred and seven determining by resolution passed either before or after the passing of this Act to adjourn their meetings at the conclusion of their respective ordinary business to one and the same day in the months of August September or October in the year one thousand nine hundred and seven and one and the same place such day and place respectively to be appointed by such resolutions such meetings respectively shall by virtue of this Act be adjourned to such day and place as aforesaid pursuant to such resolutions and it shall be lawful for the said assemblies or conferences when assembled at such adjourned meetings to unite and sit together as one United Conference (in this Act hereafter referred to as ' the United Conference ') and to continue their united sittings for such period with power to adjourn the same from time to time and to continue any adjourned sitting for such period as the business to be transacted by the United Conference shall require.
4. The United Conference shall bo opened and (until the election of a president thereof as hereinafter is provided) presided over by the senior in age there present and willing to act of the presidents of the said respective annual assemblies or conferences of the said churches or denominations holden in the year one thousand nine hundred and seven and in the event of none of such presidents being present and willing to act then by any
570 APPENDIX E
member of the United Conference elected for that purpose. The United Conference shall then proceed forthwith before the consideration of any other business to the election by ballot of a president and secretary thereof who shall be respectively chosen from among the members of the United Conference by a majority of the members thereof present and voting at such election. In the event of the absence death resignation or incapacity of the president or secretary of the United Conference another person shall be forthwith chosen if the United Conference shall be sitting at the time of such death resignation or incapacity as aforesaid occurring in manner hereinbefore provided or in the event of the same occurring while the United Conference is not sitting then by any committee of the United Methodist Church which shall be empowered in that behalf by the United Conference.
5. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act the procedure of and conduct of business by the United Conference shall be regulated by the rules of procedure and the regulations for the conduct of business which previously governed the annual assembly or conference of that one of the said churches or denominations of which the first elected president of the United Conference shall have been a member so far as such regulations shall be applicable. (2) The declaration of the president of the United Conference shall be conclusive evidence as to the numbers voting respectively for and against any resolution submitted to the United Conference and shall not be questioned by any person or in any manner.
6. It shall be lawful for the United Conference by resolution carried by the votes of not less than three-fourths of the respective representatives of each of the said churches or denominations present at the United Con ference and voting upon the said resolution (the representatives of each of the said churches or denominations voting first separately and then as one body) to declare that the said churches or denominations shall be united in and form one united church or denomination under the name of ' the United Methodist Church ' and under such constitution and upon such terms and conditions as may be declared and defined in a deed poll of foundation to be settled and adopted by the United Conference as in this Act provided.
7. It shall be lawful for the United Conference by resolution carried by the votes of not less than three-fourths of the respective representatives of each of the said churches or denominations present at the United Con ference and voting upon the said resolution (the representatives of each of the said churches or denominations voting first separately and then as one body), to settle and adopt a deed poll of foundation (hereinafter re ferred to as ' the deed poll of foundation ') declaring and defining the constitution and doctrinal tenets of the said united church or denomina tion under the name of ' the United Methodist Church ' and the terms and conditions of such union as aforesaid and containing all such provisions as to the election powers duties and privileges of the conference of the
UNITED METHODIST CHURCH ACT 571
United Methodist Church and all such other provisions (including powers from time to time to alter amend or repeal any of the conditions of the deed poll of foundation or of the constitution of the United Methodist Church as declared and defined thereby and to adopt any new provisions with respect to any matter to which the deed poll of foundation relates or to the constitution of the United Methodist Church) as in the judgement of the United Conference may be necessary or desirable for the government and discipline of the United Methodist Church and the management and administration of the affairs thereof. After any such alteration amendment or repeal or the adoption of any such new provision as aforesaid reference to the deed poll of foundation in any document (whether executed before or after any such alteration amend ment or repeal or the adoption of any such new provision as aforesaid) or in this Act shall be construed and take effect as reference to the deed poll of foundation as modified or added to by any such alteration amend ment repeal or new provision.
8. The deed poll of foundation when the same has been adopted by such resolution of the United Conference as aforesaid shall be forthwith signed sealed and delivered by the president for the time being of the United Conference and by any of the presidents elected in the year one thousand nine hundred and seven of the said respective annual assemblies or conferences of the Methodist New Connexion Church the Bible Christian Church and the United Methodist Free Churches who may be present at the united conference and be willing to execute the deed poll of founda tion and the same shall within three months thereafter be enrolled in the Central Office.
9. On and from the date of the enrolment of the said deed poll of founda tion in the Central Office the Methodist New Connexion Church the Bible Christian Church and the United Methodist Free Churches shall by virtue of this Act become and be united in and form one united church or de nomination under the name of ' the United Methodist Church ' and under the constitution terms conditions and provisions defined and declared in the said deed poll of foundation.
10. Until the meeting of the first annual conference of the United Methodist Church in the year one thousand nine hundred and eight the United Conference shall have and may exercise all powers rights autho rities and discretions and shall discharge all duties vested in or imposed upon the annual conference of the United Methodist Church under or by virtue of the constitution thereof as declared and defined by the deed poll of foundation and all elections appointments or admissions to any office or position all resolutions orders or directions and all acts or things held made taking place passed given or done by or under the United Con ference or under the authority of the same in the exercise or performance of any such power right authority discretion or duty as aforesaid whether before or after the date of union shall be valid or effective for all purposes
572 APPENDIX E
whatsoever and shall be deemed to have been held or made or to have taken place or to have been passed given or done by or under the annual conference of the United Methodist Church or under the authority of the same.
11. Except as in this Act otherwise provided on and after the date of union all church lands of the Methodist New Connexion Church whether held upon the trusts of the Methodist New Connexion Church model deed dated the twenty-ninth day of December one thousand eight hundred and forty- six and enrolled in the High Court of Chancery on the fourth day of January one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven or upon the trusts of or in conformity with the said deed poll of the eighth day of June one thousand eight hundred and forty-six or otherwise howsoever and all church lands of the Bible Christian Church whether held upon the trusts of the Bible Christian Church model deed dated the thirty-first day of December one thousand eight hundred and sixty- three and enrolled in the High Court of Chancery on the twelfth day of February one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four or upon the trusts of or in conformity with the said deed poll of the eighth day of August one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one or otherwise howsoever and all church lands of the United Methodist Free Churches whether held upon the trusts of the model deed dated the twenty-seventh day of January one thousand eight hundred and forty-two and enrolled in the High Court of Chancery on the fourth day of April one thousand eight hundred and forty-two or the deed of reference of the United Methodist Free Churches of the first day of November one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five and enrolled in the High Court of Chancery on the tenth day of November one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five or upon the trusts of or in conformity with the provisions of the said respective deeds poll of the eighteenth day of August one thousand eight hundred and forty the twenty-eighth day of July one thousand eight hundred and eighty-one and the tenth day of November one thousand eight hundred and ninety or any of such respective deeds poll or otherwise howsoever shall as from the date of union be held in trust for or for the purposes of the United Methodist Church under the constitution declared and defined in the deed poll of foundation for or for the purposes of the society institution or charity subsidiary or ancillary to the United Methodist Church corresponding to any society institution or charity subsidiary or ancillary to any of the said churches or denomina tions for or for the purposes of which such church lands were previously held and as if the words ' United Methodist Church ' were substituted for any words referring to or describing the Methodist New Connexion Church the Bible Christian Church or the United Methodist Free Churches or any of the several bodies which have become merged or united in the last-mentioned church or denomination wherever such words occur in any declaration of trust or other instrument relating to any of such church lands but in other respects upon the existing trusts and with and subject
UNITED METHODIST CHURCH ACT 573
to the existing powers and provisions upon and with and subject to which the same were held at the date of union so far as circumstances will permit but subject and without prejudice to any mortgage charge encumbrance lien lease or agreement at the date of union affecting the same respectively.
12. It shall be lawful for the United Conference by resolution carried by the votes of not less than three -fourths of the representatives of each of the said churches or denominations respectively present at the United Conference and voting upon the said resolution (the representatives of each of the said churches or denominations voting first separately and then as one body) to settle and adopt a form of model trust deed for the settlement by reference of any church lands which shall by virtue of the section of this Act the marginal note whereof is * Church lands to be held in trust for United Methodist Church ' be held or any buildings lands tenements or hereditaments which shall at any time after the date of union be acquired by or on behalf of or in connexion with the United Methodist Church or any congregation of members thereof upon trusts for or for the purposes of or in connexion with any church or chapel or any vestry minister's or other dwelling-house schoolroom lecture hall mission room or other building or burial ground in connexion with any such church or chapel and as soon as any trust deed shall have been completed and executed in accordance with the form so settled and adopted such trust deed (hereinafter referred to as ' the new model deed ') shall be forthwith enrolled in the Central Office.
13. At any time after the date of union and from time to time it shall be lawful for the annual conference of the United Methodist Church by resolution carried in one year by the votes of not less than three-fourths of the members of the annual conference of that year present and voting upon such resolution and confirmed in the next subsequent year by a resolution of the annual conference of that year similarly carried to alter amend or repeal any of the provisions of the new model deed and to adopt any new provisions with respect to any matters to which the new model deed relates. Such alterations amendments repeals or new provisions or any of them may at any time and from time to time if the annual con ference shall so determine be embodied in a deed poll under the hand and seal of the president for the time being of the annual conference of the United Methodist Church and any such deed poll shall within three months after execution be enrolled in the Central Office. Every such alteration amendment repeal and new provision as aforesaid shall have effect and be binding on the United Methodist Church as from the date of the con firmatory resolutions in this section mentioned and thereafter the new model deed and all and any of the trusts and provisions therein contained shall be construed and take effect as modified or added to by such alteration amendment repeal or new provision as aforesaid and reference in any document (whether executed before or after the said date) to the new model deed shall be construed and take effect as reference to the new
574 APPENDIX E
model deed as modified or added to by such alteration amendment repeal or new provision.
14. (1) If at any time after the enrolment of the new model deed in the Central Office the trustees of any of such church lands as are referred to in the section of this Act the marginal note whereof is ' Power for United Conference to adopt new model deed ' or a majority of them with the concurrence of the members (if any) of the United Methodist Church occupying or using the same shall be desirous that such church lands shall be held upon the trusts declared by the new model deed and by any such alteration amendment repeal or new provision as aforesaid (if any) then made or adopted or thereafter to be made or adopted (as the case may be) instead of the trusts upon which the same shall have been previously held it shall be lawful for such trustees or a majority of them to execute and transmit to the president for the time being of the annual conference of the United Methodist Church (elected pursuant to the Deed Poll of Foundation) a declaration in the form contained in the schedule to this Act and thereupon such church lands shall thenceforth be and be deemed to be held upon and with and subject to the trusts powers and provisions declared and contained in the new model deed and in any such alteration amendment repeal or new provision as aforesaid (if any) then made or adopted or thereafter to be made or adopted (as the case may be) instead of the trusts powers and provisions upon and with and subject to which the same were previously held subject nevertheless and without prejudice to all (if any) mortgages charges encumbrances Hens or leases or agreements at the date of such declaration as aforesaid affecting the same respectively. The concurrence of the members as aforesaid shall be evidenced by a resolution carried by the votes of the majority of such members present and voting at a meeting to be called by or on behalf of the said trustees by notice given at one at least of the public services held in any building situate on such church lands in which public religious services are held on the two successive Sundays immediately preceding the meeting of the time and place and purposes of such meeting and a declaration in the minutes of such meeting signed by the chairman thereof that such resolution has been passed shall be conclusive evidence of the passing of the same and shall not be questioned by any person or in any manner. (2) For the purposes of this section the president for the time being of the United Conference shall be deemed to be the president of the annual conference of the United Methodist Church.
15. All personal property (other than chattels real or the several funds mentioned in the section of this Act the marginal note whereof is ' As to certain superannuation and other funds ') at the date of union belonging to or held in trust for or on behalf of or in connexion with or for any of the purposes of the Methodist New Connexion Church the Bible Christian Church or the United Methodist Free Churches respectively or for or for the purposes of any society institution or charity subsidiary or ancillary
UNITED METHODIST CHURCH ACT 575
to any of the said churches or denominations shall as from that date be deemed to belong to or to be held in trust for or for the purpose of the United Methodist Church or the corresponding society institution or charity subsidiary or ancillary to the United Methodist Church nevertheless in other respects upon the same trusts and with and subject to the same powers and provisions as those upon with and subject to which the same were previously held so far as circumstances will permit.
16. Subject as in this section provided the trustees for the time being of or other the persons having for the time being the legal control of or power of disposition over the respective funds following (namely) : (1) The Annuity and Auxiliary funds of the Methodist New Connexion Beneficent Society ; (2) The Annuitants' Home Furnishing Fund of the Methodist New Connexion ; (3) The funds of the Bible Christian Preachers' An nuitant Society ; (4) The Superannuation and Beneficent Annuity Fund and the Superannuation and Beneficent Auxiliary Fund of the United Methodist Free Churches ; (5) And all other funds (if any) whether created before or after the passing of this Act applicable for the benefit of retired or superannuated ministers or the widow or children of a de ceased minister of any of the said churches or denominations ; shall from and after the date of union continue to hold and apply or permit to be applied the said respective funds in accordance with the trusts and for the benefit of the members and other persons in accordance with which and for the benefit of whom the same shall be held and be applicable at the date of union : Provided that it shall be lawful for the trustees for the time being of or other the persons having for the time being the legal control of or power of disposition over any of the said respective funds at any time after the date of union to enter into and carry into effect upon such terms and conditions and in such manner generally as the said trustees or other persons may think proper and as may be approved by the annual conference of the United Methodist Church any agreement or arrange ment for the amalgamation of such fund with and the transfer thereof to the trustees for the time being of any superannuation or beneficent fund of or in connexion with the United Methodist Church which may be instituted at any time after the date of union and from and after such transfer as aforesaid the trustees or other persons by whom the same is made shall by virtue of this Act be released and discharged from all claims demands actions and proceedings in respect of the said fund and the trusts thereof or in respect of any sale investment or transposition of invest ment payment or other dealing or anything done or omitted by them in respect thereof or otherwise howsoever in relation thereto.
17. (1) Any bequest contained in the will of any person living at the date of union in favour of or directed to be administered by or in con nexion with any of the said churches or denominations or a charity sub sidiary or ancillary to any of the said churches or denominations shall take effect in favour of or be administered by or in connexion with the
576 APPENDIX E
United Methodist Church or (as the case may be) the corresponding charity or charities subsidiary or ancillary to the United Methodist Church and shall be held by the trustees for the time being thereof upon with and subject to such trusts powers and provisions as are by such will expressed concerning the same save and except that in any case in which a power or discretion shall be by such will reposed in any officer or officers body or bodies of or connected with any of the said churches or denominations such power and discretion shall be and be considered as having been conferred upon and reposed in and shall be exerciseable by the annual conference of the United Methodist Church or any committee of the said conference or any officer or officers of the United Methodist Church to whom the conference shall delegate the same save and except also that in any case in which a person or persons or a class or classes of persons or an institution or institutions society or societies charity or charities fund or funds standing in any relation to any of the said churches or denominations shall be an object or objects named or designated in the said bequest the object or objects of the same bequest shall be a person or persons or a class or classes of persons or an institution or institu tions society or societies charity or charities fund or funds standing in a similar relation to the United Methodist Church generally. (2) In and for the purposes of this section the expression ' will ' shall include a codicil.
18. Receipt by treasurer or secretary a discharge hi certain cases.
19. Power to sue and be sued in name of president and secretary of conference of United Methodist Church.
20. Service of process on United Methodist Church.
21. Affidavits, etc., may be made by president and secretary.
22. President and secretary to be indemnified.
23. President and secretary of United Conference deemed for certain purposes president and secretary of conference of United Methodist Church.
24. Except where in this Act expressly provided nothing in this Act contained shall render the United Methodist Church subject to any liability or responsibility either directly or by way of indemnity or otherwise for or in respect of any mortgages charges hens encumbrances or obligations created or contracted in respect of any church lands or church property or shall relieve any property or any person from any liability or respon sibility to which they would be otherwise subject in respect of any such mortgage charge lien encumbrance or obligation.
25. Nothing in this Act contained shall deprive any trustee of church lands or of church property of any rights which but for this Act he would have to be indemnified out of such lands or property in respect of any mortgage charge lien encumbrance or obligation in respect of which he shall have become personally liable.
26. Copies of certain documents to be evidence.
UNITED METHODIST CHURCH ACT 577
27. Provisions as to buildings certified as places of religious worship and registered for solemnization of marriages.
28. The union of the said churches or denominations pursuant to the provisions of this Act in that behalf in one united church or denomination under the name of the United Methodist Church shall not nor shall any thing in this Act contained nor shall any act or thing done or suffered by any of the said churches or denominations pursuant to this Act be deemed to be or operate as either — (A) In the case of the Methodist New Con nexion Church ceasing or extinction of the conference of the Methodists of the New Connexion within the meaning of the provisions in that behalf contained in the said deed poll of the eighth day of June one thousand eight hundred and forty-six ; or (B) In the case of the Bible Christian Church a dissolution or coming to nothing of the Bible Christian con ference within the meaning of the provisions in that behalf contained in the said deed poll of the eighth day of August one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one ; or (c) In the case of the United Methodist Free Churches an extinction of the annual assembly of the Wesleyan Methodist Associa tion within the meaning of the provisions in that behalf contained in the said deed poll of the eighteenth day of August one thousand eight hundred and forty.
29. Nothing in this Act shall take away abridge or affect any power or jurisdiction of the Charity Commissioners or Board of Education who may deal with modify or vary any of the provisions of this Act relating to or affecting any charity (educational or otherwise as the case may be), whether already dealt with by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners or Board of Education or not by a scheme in the exercise of their ordinary jurisdiction as if those provisions had been contained in a scheme of the Charity Commissioners or so far as they affect educational charities of the Board of Education provided that nothing in this section contained shall take away abridge or affect any exemption from the operation of the Charitable Trusts Acts 1853 to 1894, conferred upon any charity by the said Acts or by any of them.
30. The United Methodist Church may by a resolution of the annual conference of the United Methodist Church carried and confirmed as herein after is provided unite or amalgamate with any church or religious body or association upon such terms and conditions as the United Methodist Church by a resolution carried and confirmed as hereinafter is provided of the said annual conference may determine. Provided always that the power conferred by this section shall not be exercised except subject to and in conformity with such provisions (if any) relating to such union or amalgamation as aforesaid as shall be contained in the deed poll of founda tion or in any alteration or amendment thereof made or new provisions adopted under any power in that behalf contained in the deed poll of foundation. Provided also that notwithstanding any provision to the contrary contained in the deed poll of foundation or in any such altera-
VOL. TI 37
578 APPENDIX E
tion amendment or new provision as aforesaid every resolution to which this present section refers shall be carried in one year by the votes of not less than three-fourths of the members of the annual conference of that year present and voting upon such resolution and confirmed in the next subsequent year by a resolution of the annual conference of that year similarly carried.
31. (1) This Act shall extend to the United Kingdom the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, etc.
32. Costs of Act.
DECLARATION BY THE TRUSTEES.
WE the undersigned being [l majority of] the trustees of the church lands above referred to [2 with the concurrence of the members being eighteen years of age or upwards of the United Methodist Church using the said church lands evidenced by a resolution duly carried by the vote of a majority of such members present and voting at a meeting sum moned in pursuance of the provisions in that behalf contained in the United Methodist Church Act 1907] hereby declare in accordance with the section of the United Methodist Church Act 1907 the marginal note whereof is ' Power for trustees of church lands to adopt new model deed ' that we will henceforth hold the said church lands on the same trusts and with and subject to the same powers and provisions as are declared and contained in the new model deed of the United Methodist Church in the said Act referred to with respect to the church lands comprised therein [3 or as near thereto as the difference in tenure will permit].
1 These words to be inserted if a majority and not all the Trustees sign.
2 If there are no members of the United Methodist Church using the lands the words enclosed in the square brackets should be omitted.
3 If the church lands referred to are freehold the words enclosed in the square brackets should be omitted.
INDEX
579
NOTE
THE following abbreviations are frequently used in the references, notes, and Index.
B.C.M. . . . Bible Christian Methodists.
CW . . . Charles Wesley.
DNB . . . Dictionary of National Biography.
EMP . . . Lives of Early Methodist Preachers.
HM . . . History of Methodism.
HWM . . . History of Wesley an Methodism.
JAMES, VRE . . Varieties of Religious Experience.
JW or JW . . John Wesley or John Wesley.
LQR . . . London Quarterly Review.
LW . . Life of Wesley (except Rigg, LW, infra).
M. Methodist, Methodists, or Methodism, as required
by context.
M.C.A. . . . Methodist Church of Australasia. M.C.C. . . . Methodist Church of Canada. M.E.C. . . . Methodist Episcopal Church. M.E.C.S. . . Methodist Episcopal Church, South. M.N.C. . . . Methodist New Connexion, or Methodist New
Connexionists. P.M.C. or P M. . Primitive Methodist Church, or Primitive
Methodists.
RIGG, LW . . Living Wesley.
RYLE, CL . . Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. STEPHEN, ELS . English Literature and Society in the Eighteenth
Century.
U.M.C. . . . United Methodist Church, or United Methodists. U.M.F.C. . . United Methodist Free Churches, or Free
Methodists.
W.H.S. or WHS . Wesley Historical Society. W.M.C. . . Wesleyan Methodist Church, or Wesleyan
Methodists.
WMM . . . Wesleyan Methodist Magazine. WM . . . Minutes of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference. WW . . . Wesley's Works. n . . . . Footnote on the page cited.
580
INDEX
A DROP of Honey from the Rock Christ, O'Bryan reads , i. 504
' A penny a week and Is. a quarter,' i. 288 ; see also Class-meeting
Abbeokuta, ii. 305, 314
Abbott, Benjamin, ii. 96
Abbreviations used in this History, List of, i. p. xix, ii. p. 580
Abercrombie, Rev. Ralph, ii. 470, 479
Aberdeen, i. 490, 498 ; Kilham at, 491
, Africa, ii. 272
Abingdon, P.M. imprisoned at, i. 584
1 U.S.A., ii. 88
Abolitionists. See Slavery
Aborigines, mission to Australian, ii. 245, 249, 254 ; Tasmanian, 249 ; Methodist settlement for, 250 ; W.M. Mission to the Indian, 304, 321, 322; to the Miao, 349 ; to the Bubi, 355, 356
Absenteeism, clerical, in 18th cen tury, i. 119; denounced by Burnet, 119, 364
Abstinence, Annesley's, i. 168 ; com mended to the Wesleys, 169
Acadians, banishment of, ii. 372
Act of Settlement, The (see also Declaration of Rights), i. 100, 101 ; Locke and, 106
Uniformity, the Wesleys
suffer under, i. 165 ; Annesley ejected under, 168
Actors and actresses, 18th century, i. 350
A dam Bede, i. 312 ; ' Sarah William son ' in, 322 ; 396, 521
Adams, John, U.S.A. President, il. 53
Addison, Joseph, i. 108 ; and The Spectator, 108, 109; his Cato, 109 ; hymns of, 109
Addyman, John, i. 524 ; ii. 219, 220, 458
Adelaide, ii. 247 ; first Methodist in, 251, 254; James Way at,
255 ; 256 ; Pirie St. Church in 260, 469; 467
Ademuziwa, ii. 339
Adherents, at Wesley's death, i. 369; see also Statistics
Africa, P.M. in, i. 591 ; missions in, ii. 37 ; tribes of and Methodist hymns and fellowship, 280 ; Free Meth. Amer. Mission in, 415 ; industrial missions in, 352, 357 ; North, ii. 44; West, U.M.C. in, 351, in East, 352 ; M.E.C. in, 381 ; West, W.M. missions in, i. 447 ; ii. 292, 298, 304, 313, 337-40 ; persecution in, 337 ; education in, 338 ; see also South Africa
AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH organized, ii. 173; cause of its rise, 512 ; growth and statis tics of, 513; and the African Union Methodist Protestant Church, 514 ; and union of coloured Methodists, 520, 527
(ZiON), ii. 174, 513 ; and the
Evangelist missionary church, 514 ; and union, 520, 527
Arm CAN UNION METHODIST PRO TESTANT CHURCH, ii. 514
Agapae. See Love-feasts
Aggery, John, ii. 337
Akashi, ii. 415
Akers, Dr. Peter, opposes slavery, ii. 169, 173
Alabama, Methodism enters, ii. 105 ; 171, 173, 196, 515
Albany, ii. 58, 272
Alberta, ii. 224
Albright, Jacob, founds Evangeli cal Association, ii. 137
Alder, Dr. Robert, ii. 214, 217, 218
Aldrich, Dean, i. 1 15 ; his Manual of Logic, 178, 179
Aler, ii. 326
Alexandria, Church of, Wesley and its ordination of bishops, ii. 83
Aliwal North, ii. 354, 357
Allahabad, ii. 399
581
582
INDEX
Allan, Thomas, i. 395
Thomas R., donor of Allan
Library, i. 395 Alleghany College, Meadville,Penn.,
ii. 140
Alleine, Joseph, and his Sunday schools, i. 366
, Richard, Wesley uses
Covenant of, i. 181, 290 Allen, Grant, i. 28
, John, ii. 105
, Richard, ii. 512
, Y. J., ii. 408
Allin, Thomas, and church polities, i. 519 ; account of, 524 ; Barker and, 525 Alline, Henry, and the New Light
movement, ii. 209 Allison, James, ii. 276, 277 Allowances to preachers, as to ' prophets,' i. 39, 223 ; Foundery members and, 291 ; early, 303, 304 ; to preacher's wife, 303, 304 ; John Nelson's small, 314 ; first in M.N.C., 500 ; in B.C.M., 512 ; in Ireland, ii. 19 ; in America, 97, 163 ; results of small, 164 ; small to Australian missionaries, 246 ; heavy, in Italian mission, 403
Alnwick, i. 490, 496, 531 Alresford, P. M. orphanage, i. 597 Altrincham, i. 536 Alverson, J. B., ii. 145 America, religious awakening in, i. 201 ; discontent in, under George III., 224 ; Wesley's pamphlet, The unhappy Contest, and, 224 ; North, and Treaty of Paris, 337 ; English war with, 360
Methodists and Methm. in :
Presbyterian polity of, i. 67 ; Wesley and orders in, 69 ; and the diocese of London (eighteenth century), 230 ; Wesley ordains elders and a superintendent for, 231 ; adopt the title Bishop, 231 ; not to be entangled with the State, 231 ; celebrates Bi centenary of Wesley birth, 233 ; and centenary of his death, 233 ; Whitefield's influence and work in, 272, 273 ; membership in Britain and, at Wesley's death, 369 ; secessions in, 486 ; account of, see Contents, ii. 52 ; first workers, 53-61, 155, 287 ; Wesley's work in, 54; rise of, 55, 155-8 ; first church of, 60 ;
English and native pioneers of, 62-83, 156, 178 ; English preachers desired for, 62, and ap pointed, 64 ; first native preacher of, 66 ; Asbury's work in, 68 et seq. ; circuits formed in, 70, 71, 97 ; Rankin and Shadford ap pointed to, 71 ; Rankin's work in, 71, 72, 74, 75; first Conference in, 72 ; itinerancy in, 72 ; and Wesley's authority, 73 ; and the sacraments, 73, 74, 76, 157 ; statistics, (1776), 75, (1783) 156; English preachers return from,
75, 81 ; effects of the war on, 75,
76, 80, 81, 156 ; the South claims the ordinances, 76, 77, 157 ; ordination of ministers of, 76, 157 ; critical separate Confer ences of, 77 ; name ' United States ' used, 78 ; last Annual Conference of, 78 ; and intem perance, 78 ; and slavery, 79, 80, 175; and American Independence, 81, 156; persecuted as disloyal, 81 ; rapid spread of, 82 ; organized as a church, 83, 90, 92, 159, 288 ; Marsden's account of the service and spread of, 110; Prof. J. Franklin Jameson on, 121 ; first M. in, 178 ; branches of, 507 ; influence of, 509 ; sketch of pre sent churches in, 512-16; see also United States ; Methodism, ten dencies of American ; and the separate churches
American Bible Society, ii. 382
Board for Foreign Missions,
ii. 372
Civil War, Guttridge and Lan cashire during, i. 545 ; M.E.C.S. and, ii. 191 ; 452, 454
Colonization Society, ii. 377
Historical Association, ii. 121
American Journal of Theology, ii.
150 American Presbyterian Church, ii.
399
Amusements, English, in the eight eenth century, i. 89, 90 ; revolting character of, 89 ; immorality of the, 90 ; gambling and, 90 ; coffee-houses and, 92 ; American M. and worldly, ii. 509 Anabaptists, i. 10, 24 Analogy of Religion, Butler's, i. 130 Andover, Slavery Convention at,
ii. 127 Andrew, James O., suspended, ii.
INDEX
583
128 ; recognized by M.E.C.S., 130 ; | elected bishop, 167 ; and evan gelization of slaves, 167 ; his work among the negroes, 171, 406 ; as slave-holder, 179 ; his character, 181 ; his services on behalf of slaves, 181, 182 ; ex ceptional treatment of, 183 ; at Louisville Convention, 187 ; and slavery, 452
Angel, John, ii. 41
Anglican Church. See Church of England
Anglo-Saxon countries, Methodism not limited to, ii. 50
Animals, wild, in England of eighteenth century, i. 83
An Lu, ii. 331
Anne, Queen, i. 102 ; and the Old Pretender, 102 ; her hatred of Dissenters, 102 ; and the Duchess of Marlborough, 103
Annesley, Dr. S. i. 165, 167 ; ac count of, 168-9 ; a daughter of marries Defoe, 169 ; Mrs. Susanna Wesley and, 170 ; at Queen's College, Oxford, 174 ; and Assurance, ii. 432
Anonymity, Kilham's reasons for, i, 491 ; the Fly Sheets and, 519 ; i Everett and, 532
Anthems, Wesley impressed with, i. 199 ; he forbids use of, 515; Purcell's Te Deum, 114; Croft's God is gone up, and 0 Lord, Thou hast searched, 115; Green's O clap your hands, 115 ; Clarke's Bow down Thine ear, 115
Antigua, i. 372 ; ii. 90, 178, 286, 287 ; Coke in, 289, 291 ; slave emancipation in, 302, 335
Anti- Methodist publications, i. 329
Anti-mission Baptists, ii. 366
Antinomianism, and Mysticism, i. 54 ; in Hervey's Theron and \ Aspasia, 152 ; Wesley's hatred of, 213 ; in Canada, ii. 209
Anti-Slavery Society, M. and the, ii. 290 ; see also Slavery
Antliff, Dr. J. C., ii. 222
Antliff, Dr. W., L 591
Antwerp, ii. 55
Apology, Barclay's, i. 40
Apology, Ridgway's, i. 527
Apostle, or Evangelist, the, in the primitive church, i. 70 ; his duties, 70 ; in Methodism, 70, 71 ; Wesley as, 71; Coke as, 91
Apostolical Constitutions, The, Non- jurors, Wesley, and, i. 184
Apostolic Succession, Powell's, i. 423
Apostolic Succession, Wesley's early belief in, i. 145 ; Wesley and ' the fable ' of, 228, 229, 232 ; ii. 159
Appleyard, J. W., ii. 274
A priori standards, inapplicable to church history and M., i. 5
Apulia, ii. 46
Archbell, J., ii. 275
' Archbishop of the Methodists,' the, i. 164
Archibongville, ii. 358
Architecture and art, early eight eenth century, i. 115
Argent, William, ii. 330
Argentine Republic, mission work in, ii. 384, 386
Arianism, Calvinism and, i. lln. ; in Ireland, ii. 5, 35 ; and Revela tion, 430
Arisah, John, ii. 313
Arkansas, ii. 195
Ark wright, Richard, i. 337
Arminianism, Wesley's, i. 34-36, 212, was distinguished from that of Arminius, 36; Archbishop Laud and, 36 ; and the human will, 53 ; Dissenters distrust Wesley's, 66 ; Methodist, is evangelical, 66 ; of Wesley's hymns, 244 ; doctrines of evangelical, taught by preachers, 304 , 305 ; John Nelson defends, 315 ; expulsion from Trevecca College of those holding, 319 ; Fletcher the Eng lish expositor of, 320 ; contro verted by the Clapham Sect, 365 ; Presbyterian polity com bined with, 496 ; W. M. Bailey and, 522 ; Bishop Kavanaugh and, ii. 190 ; M.E.C.S. and, 198
Arminian Magazine, The, Wesley begins, i. 321
Arminian Methodists, Crabbe's Borough and, i. 419 ; as ' the Derby Faith,' 427 ; unite with Wesleyan Methodist Association, 520 ; ii. 350, 449 ; Elizabeth Evans ('Dinah Morris') and, i. 520
Arminius, Jacobus, i. 320 ; see also Arminianism
Army, the British, John Nelson pressed for service in, i. 314 ; Wesley and M. in, 315; early preachers in, 315, 316 ; M. soldiers
584
INDEX
in, 316 : M. protest against Sun day training of, 327 ; W.M. and, 451, 452
Arndt, John, i. 201 Arnold, Matthew, and Butler's Analogy, i. 130 ; his Obermann Once More quoted, 135 ; on Wesley's ' genius for Godliness,' 208 Art and aestheticism, Wesley and,
i. 207
Arthur, Sir George, ii. 216, 244 Arthur, William, and Bunting, 409 ; his unique position, 410, 430 ; and ' assertion of Conference prerogative,' 534 ; ii. 13, 43; and Ireland, 55 ; on India, 303 ; and Methodist union, 474 Articles of Religion, Methodist, i.
306n. ; for American M., ii. 116 Arumuga Tambiram, ii. 303 Aryan system of land tenure, i. 335 Asbury, Bishop Francis, appointed by Wesley, i. 372 ; ii. 48 ; quoted, 51 ; on rise of American Methodism, 55 ; and Richard Wright, 67, 68 ; account of, 67, et seq. ; death of, 67 ; his place in American Methodism, 68, 161 ; offers for America, 68 ; and Wes ley, 68, 71, 159 ; piety of, 68, 162 ; at Philadelphia, 69 ; his itinera tions, 69, 70, 161 ; his Journal, 68, 69, 90, 91, 99, 102, 163, 178; Boehm and, 70, 108, 117; and Rankin, 71, 72, 74, 75 ; and first Conference, 72 ; maintains the itinerancy, 72, 74 ; recalled by Wesley, 75 ; appointed to Vir ginia, 75 ; and the return of English preachers, 75 ; in retire ment at Judge White's, 76, 156; appointed General Superintend ent, and his supremacy declared, 76, 77, 159, 288 ; offers a com promise to the South, 77, 158 ; appointed Conference President, 78 ; Wesley settles status of, 78 ; appoints preachers, 78 ; and slavery, 79 ; loyalty of, to Ameri cans, 81 ; appeals to Wesley for organization of American Metho dism, 83, 158 ; appointed joint Superintendent with Coke, 85 ; nature of his episcopacy, 86 ; meets Coke, 87, 94, 95, 102 ; com pared with Coke, 87 ; a bachelor, 88, 104 ; at the constituting Conference of 1784, 89; elected,
160 ; ordained and consecrated, 91, 136 ; as educationist, 91, 140,
161 ; in the Indian country, 93 ; episcopal tours of, 94 ; and George Washington, 94, 99, 100 ; holds local Conferences, 94 ; and Garrettson, 96, 98, 104 ; and R. R. Roberts, 98 ; with Coke declares allegiance of M.E.C. to U.S. Government, 99-101 ; pro posed a Council, 102, 162 ; and O' Kelly, 102 ; at a camp-meeting, 107 ; wants to resign, 108 ; and Coke's union proposals, 117; abso lutist policy of, 124 ; and Otter- bein, 136 ; and M.E.C. hymn- books, 142, 143; and native or dinations, 157; and the Virginian claim for the ordinances, 158 ; crossed the Alleghannies sixty times, 161 ; and Early, 169 ; and slave-holding, 178 ; and work in Canada, 203 ; a missionary, 366
Asbury College, U.S.A., ii. 140
Asceticism, Methodism and, i. 62- 64, 143 ; through Puritanism, 62 ; Wesley and, 62, 183 ; danger of forgetting, 63 ; and dualism, 63 ; Oxford M. and, 142 ; Susanna Wesley and, warns against false, 170; in Free Methodist Church, U.S.A., ii. 134
Ashanti, ii. 304
Ashgrove, U.S.A., ii. 65
Ashton, U.S.A., ii. 104
Ashton-under-Lyne, i. 499, 500
Ashworth, John, work of, and his Strange Tales, i. 546
Assembly of Divines, Wesley's an cestral connexion with the, i. 166
Assembly of federated English Methodist Churches, ii. 441
Assistant. See Superintendent
Assurance, doctrine of, and Real ism, i. 9 ; the contribution of M.,
19 ; dislike to in 18th century, 19, 21 ; political antipathy to,
20 ; imprisoned for belief in, 20, 325; the Wesleys and, 21, 182; mediaeval church and, 21 ; con demned by Council of Trent, 22 ; Liguori's pseudo-, 22 ; the Mystics and, 22, 55 ; the Reformers and, 22-26 ; the Confessions and, 23 ; Anglican Church doctrine of, 25 ; dangers of, avoided in M., 28, 29 ; modern M. view of, 29 ; and subjectivism, 30 ; and egotism, 31 ; hope an essential of,
INDEX
585
34 ; and the doctrine of Atone ment, 36, 55 ; S. Wesley, senr., and, 168 ; Jeremy Taylor's doc trine, 182 ; Wesley and Spangen- berg on, 192 ; mystic peace by,
207 ; ' spiritual sensation ' and,
208 ; C. Wesley's hymns and, 248 ; John Nelson and, 315 ; Hare's Defence of , 418; Christian liberty follows, 486 ; all M. emphasize, ii. 421 ; Annesley and, 432
Athanasius, ii. 430
Athenian Gazette, i. 167
Atherton, William, i. 407 ; and day schools, 416
Athlone, ii. 8, 10
Atkins, James, ii. 196
Atkinson, Christopher, i. 149
, J., his American Methodism,
ii. 55, 61
Atmore, Charles, i. 219 ; ordained by Wesley, 372, 373 ; his Metho dist Memorial, 421
Atonement, Arminian doctrine of, i. 34 ; universality of, 35 ; Wesley's view of, 209 ; Wesley on value of preaching the, 212 ; in modern theology, ii. 487
Attacks upon Christianity, 18th century, i. 123-7 ; on Holy Club, 176 ; on early M., 329
Atterbury, Francis, i. 175
Auckland, ii. 253 ; Methodist Col leges in, 263
Augusta, Canada, ii. 37
' Augustan Age.' See Eighteenth Century
AUSTRALASIA, THE METHODIST CHURCH or, adherents in, i. 281 ; P.M. missions in, 587, 596, ii. 254 ; Irish preachers and, 37 ; account of, see Contents, 236 ; condition of the country and, 237, 240 ; origins of, 238-52 ; Methodism introduced, 239 ; first religious services and, 238 ; W.M. mis sionaries appointed to, 239, 242 ; statistics of, 241, 247, 248, 249, 251, 252, and n. 253, 254, 255, 257, 258, 265 ; first chapel of, 241 ; leaders in Tasmania, 243,
248, 267 ; in New Zealand, 242, 244, 249, 253, 257, 263, 299 ; and missions to the aborigines, 245,
249, 254,' 257, 263 ; and foreign missions, 246 ; difficulties of, 246 ; Orton's superintendency, 247, 249; Watsford's work in,
248 ; Robinson ' the Concilia tor,' 249 ; in Victoria, 249, 250, 254, 255, 257, 258; in South Australia, 251, 262 ; in West Australia, 251 ; in Queensland,
252 ; Boyce's administration in,
253 ; discovery of gold and, 254, 255 ; labours of Butters and,
254 ; B.C.M. in, 255, 256, 456 ; U.M.F.C. in, 256, 456 ; affiliated Conference for, i. 446, ii. 256 ; the last years, ii. 258-63 ; Jubilee celebrations, 258, 259 ; General and Annual Conferences of, 258, 261 ; lay representatives in, 258, 259 ; financial crisis and, 259 ; Forward Movement in, 260 ; ministerial term in, 260 ; con ditions of membership in, 260 ; Twentieth Century Fund of, 261 ; educational work of, 259-63 ; union in, 264, 466-72 ; rapid growth since, 265 ; comparative strength of, 265 n. ; W.M. Asso ciation in, 350
Austria, ii. 48
Authority, its limits and claims, i. 9 ; the Reformers and, 10 ; ii. 424 ; the Scriptures as the, i. 10 ; Dutch Church and, 10 ; Calvin and, 10 ; Independents and, 14 ; the Wesleys and, 14 ; in M., 16 ; external, must be recognized, 18 ; experimental religion battles with, 27 ; Susanna Wesley and church, 172 ; of the New Testament, 193 ; the Church of England and, 486 ; Wesley and the principle of, 485 ; conflict in him between spiritual and con stituted, 486 ; and spiritual freedom inM. history, 486, ii. 419, 420 ; exercise of, in M. controver sies, i. 518, 533, 534; constitu tional, and Revivalism, 556-7 ; recognized in M.E.C., ii. 119; the note of Latin Christianity, 430 ; of the pastorate, and New Testament criticism, 502
Autocracy, Wesley's, i. 226, 227 ; of M.E.C. presiding elder, ii. 119 ; Soule and, 167 ; preferred, 503 ; see also Authority and Cleri calism
Averell, Adam, ii. 11, 35 ; and the Primitive Wesleyans, 455
Avila, Juan d', his Spiritual Letters, i. 187
Awaji, Island of, ii. 415
586
INDEX
Axley, James, li. 169 ; and slavery,
179
Ayliff, J., ii. 274 Ayres, Daniel, ii. 365 , Dr. Eli, ii. 377.
BACON, LORD, i. 105
Bacra, John, i. 357
Badagry, ii. 304
Baddash, i. 512
Badger, Robert, ii. 148
Baggaly, William, i. 541
Bagley, Daniel, ii. 404
Bahamas, ii. 296, 336
Bailey, D. (U.S.A.), ii. 145
,~ William M., i. 522
Baird, General, ii. 269
Bakewell, John, i. 253, 318
, Robert, i., 336
Baldwin, L., quoted, ii. 361, 369, 390
Balguy, J., resists Deism, 1, 131
Ball, Hannah, and Sunday schools, i. 219, 366
Ballarat, ii. 255
Ballingran, ii. 56, 57
Baltimore, ii. 58, 66 ; 70 ; first circuit in, 71 ; first Conference in, 75 ; adjourned Conference at, 77 ; Conference in Lovely Lane Chapel at, 77 ; last Conference in Ellis's Chapel at, 78 ; Perry Hall in, 88 ; Light Street Chapel in, 93, 118, 94, 96 ; R. R. Roberts in Conference at, 98, 108, 125 ; Conference at and slavery, 126, 127, 175, 176 ; M.E.C. organized at, 160 ; General Conferences, 1784-1808, in, 165; representa tives of and slavery, 180, 184 ; delegates from, join M.E.C.S., 192 ; M.E.C.S. representatives at M.E.C. Conference at, 194; Conference, and Canadian M., 211 ; union movement at, 454, 524, 525, 526; M. Protestant Church formed at, 453 ; East, 454
Band-Room Methodists, i. 286 ; Bunting and, 407 ; in Man chester, 556
Bands and Select Bands, described, i. 285 ; communism of, 285 ; Wesley's use of, 285 ; expulsion from, 285, 492 ; tickets for, 286 ; modern Band meetings, 286 ; 308 ; leaders of, admitted to Con ference, 309; W.M. Conference
(middle period) proceedings ' in band,' 428
Bands of Hope, Wesleyan, estab lished, i. 465 ; M.N.C. recog nizes as a department, 541 ; U.M.F.C. and, 547 ; Irish, ii. 26
Bangalore, ii. 296 ; petition for high school at, 307, 324
Bangor, Ireland, ii. 11
Bangs, Nathan, his Life, quoted, ii. 118, 144; account of, 168; in Canada, 204, 205, 213, 214, 365
Bank of England established, i. 86
Banking, extension of, in later eighteenth century, i. 339
Bankura, ii. 321
Bantu tribes, ii. 281
Baptisms, Methodist, in Established Church, i. 387 ; by W.M. ministers, the Gedney case and, 403
Baptists, in the 18th century, i. 65, 366 ; mission to Liberia, ii. 378
Barbadoes, ii. 290 ; insurrection in, 296, 297; 302, 312, 334
Barber, John, i. 391
Barberton, ii. 278
Bardsley, S., i. 373
Barker, Joseph, account of, i. 524, 525 ; expulsion of, 525 ; a Char tist, 525 ; return of, 525 ; 526, 527 ; followers of, confiscate estates, 526 ; Barkly East, ii. 272 ; Barleston, L 576 I Barleycorn, W. N., ii. 356 I Barnes, Robert A. and St. Louis hospital, ii. 197
Barolong tribe, ii. 274, 277
Barotseland, ii. 358 1 Barrackpur, ii. 320 , Barratt, J. C., ii. 48 ; Barrows, Dr., quoted, ii. 374 ! Barrow-on-Soar, i. 575 i Barry, James, i. 356
Bartholomew Fair, i. 89
Bascom, Dr. H. B., Chaplain U.S. senate, ii. 169, 184, 188 ; elected bishop, 190
Basel, Missionary Institute, ii. 138
Bassett, Judge, ii. 87
Basutoland, ii. 274
Batchelor, Mrs., ii. 318
Bateman Bay, ii. 246
Bates, Dr., ii. 454
, Samuel, ii. 25
Bath, Wesley and Beau Xash at,
i. 323 1 Bathurst, Africa, ii. 272
. X.S.W., ii. 247
INDEX
587
Batman, John, and the site of
Melbourne, ii. 250 Batticaloa, ii. 294 Battle of the Books, Swift's, names
S. Wesley, i. 167 Batty, Thomas, the Apostle of
Weardale, i. 580, 585 Bau language, ii. 300, 310 Baur, Ferdinand Christian, Xast
and, ii. 138, 139 Bavaria, ii. 48 Bavin, Francis, ii. 350 Baxter, John, in Antigua, ii. 287 ;
is ordained, 289 Baxter, Matthew, i. 520 ; prepares
U.M.F.C. hymn-book, 537 Baxter, Richard, favoured a
national church, i. 65, 78 ; his ;
writings and labours, 122 ; Wesley j
commended, 306, 319 ; Kilham's j
appeals resembled those of, 497 ;
538, 561 ; his Saint" 8 Rest, ii. 148 Bay Islands, ii. 336 Bay of Islands, ii. 244, 249 Bay of Quinte settlements, ii. 202,
205, 213
Bayle, Pierre, i. 125 Beattie, James, i. 358 Beauchamp, John, ii. 37 Beaumont, Joseph, i. 407, 430 ; j
quoted, 488 Bedell, Bishop, ii. 4 Bee, William, ii. 222 Beecham, John, ii. 43 Behmen, Jacob, i. 53 ; his ' sublime j
nonsense,' 186 ; Wesley on, 54 ;
185 Belfast, ii. 11, 12, 21, 26, 30, 32
Methodist College, ii. 23, 34
Bell, George, i. 297
, Jabez, ii. 356
, Thomas, ii. 634
Belleville, ii. 231 ; Canadian re- '.
union consummated at, 464 Bello Horizonte, ii. 411 Belper, and P.M., i. 574 Belsize, ii. 336 Belton, James L., ii. 408 Bemersley, i. 578, 586 Bemerton, John Morris of, i. 179 Benares, ii. 320, 322 Bendigo, ii. 255 Beneficent Fund, M.X.C., i. 499 Benezet, Anthony, i. 225 Bengali, work among the, ii. 320 Bengel, Johann Albrecht, his
Gnomon Novi Testamenti, i. 222 ;
C. Wesley's hymns indebted to,
250
Bennet, John, his Round and labours, i. 298 ; at the first Con ference, 308
Bennett, Dr. Margaret, ii. 332 Benson, Bishop, ordains White- field, i. 262 ; his varied attitudes towards Whitefield, 262
, John, i. 537 ; widow of, 538
, Joseph, compelled to leave
Trevecca College, i. 319; 373; his Commentary, 374, 421 ; 390, 414 ; prepares a Catechism, 418 ; his Defence of Methodism, 418 ; his Life of John Fletcher, 421 ; his Apology, 422 ; ii. 50 Bentham, Jeremy, i. 93 Bentinck, William, i. 78 Bentley, Dr. Richard, his defence of Christianity, i. 128 ; answers Collins, 128 ; his Discourse against Atheism, 129
Benton, John, and the non-mission law, i. 573 ; declares his plan, 573 ; uses Dow's hymn-book, 573 ; leads a revival, 575 Berkeley, George, i. 12 ; his philo sophy, 107 ; 108 ; and Christian missions, 189 ; his ideas of native races, 190 ; Reid attacks views of, 352
Berkshire, i. 583 ; P.M. in, 584 Bermondsey, Wesleyan settlement
at, i. 466 Bernard, Brother (Franciscan), I.
48
Berridge, John, i. 270, 365 Berry, Rev. Dr. J., ii. 470, 471, 472 ;
quoted, 472, 478 Berryman, Jerome C., ii. 195 Berwick-on-Tweed, i. 593 Besant, Mrs. Annie, ii. 325 Bethany, S. Africa, ii. 270 Bethelites (U.S.A.), ii. 513 Bethlehem, S. Africa, ii. 275 Between-the-Logs, Chief, ii. 371 Beveridge, Bishop, his religious societies, i. 132 ; his Pandectae Canonum Conciliorum, 193 Beverley, Wesley at, i. 217 Bewick,' Thomas, i. 356 Bible, The Holy, Reformers regard as standard of authority, i. 10 ; modern M. and criticism of, 30 ; is the method of the Methodist, 140; ii. 426; study of by OxfordM. i. 141, 142, 144 "('Bible Moths'); sanctions pure pleasures, 170 ; the Reformation and the, 201 ; M. love for, 393 ; Wesleyans
588
INDEX
declare for, in day schools, 471 ; H. 146; slavery and, 178; Flathead Indians search for, 373, 374 ; is the white man's Book of Heaven, 374 ; Roman Catholics do not translate for Indians, 374 ; Roman Catholic opposition to reading of, 383, 400 ; burnt, 384, 412; ignorance of in South America, 387 ; converted by read ing the, 409 ; , Comments on,
see Commentaries ; , societies
for distributing : British and Foreign, Methodist co-founders of, i. 399 ; Adam Clarke's service of, 399 ; ii. 246, 253, 382 ; in U.S.A. : M. and, Ii. 367 ; M. Institutes, U.S.A., 141
Bible Christian Methodists and Methodism (U.M.C.), prophetism in, i.39 ; origin of, and in U.M.C., 486 ; O'Bryan's foundation work in, 425, 503-7 ; not a secession, 506; Shebbear society formed, 507 ; first chapel built, 507 ; Thome's work in, 507, 543, 544 ; first Quarterly Meeting, 508 ; statistics and spread of, 508, 512, 543 ; followers of Boyle unite with, 508 ; zeal and enterprise of early, 508 ; persecution of, 509, 511 ; women as preachers and pioneers, 509, 510, 512; resembled W.M., 510, 512 ; their Celtic temperament, 510 ; their names, 511 ; missionary society of, 511, 512; allowances to preachers of, 512, 522 ; first Con ference of, 512 ; District Meet ings established, 512 ; polity of, 512, 513 ; separation of and re union, on polity, 512 ; enrol a deed, 513; resemble the M.N.C., 513 ; revivals amongst, 521 ; colo nial missions of, 521, also infra ; Reed's work in, 521; Bailey's work in, 522 ; self-sacrifice of preachers in, 522, 523 ; temperance work in, 523 ; and educational work, 523 ; connexional schools of, 523, 524; affected by Reform agitation, 534 ; and Wesleyan Reformers' invitation to union, 536 ; chapels erected and their names, 543 ; celebrate Act of Uni formity, 543 ; Billy Bray's work in, 543 ; jubilee of Bourne's work in, 544 ; its losses by emigrations and unions, 543,
545 ; unites in the U.M.C. and
statistics then, 549 ; in
Canada, ii. 221, 222, 458; lay rights there, 461 ; missionary so ciety, 222 ; unites in M.E.C., 222 ; numbers of, at union (1883), 223 ;
in S. Australia, 25, 255, 256 ;
union there, 466-72 ; in New Zealand, 256 ; statistics at union, 256 ; Way College and, 263 ; in Adelaide, unite in M.C.A., 264 ; and M. Union, 474 et seq. ; foreign missions of, see United Methodist Church Bibliographical Dictionary, Adam
Clarke's, i. 391 Biddle, John, i. 166 Bideford, Hervey curate at, i. 152 ;
girls' school at, 524 Bingley, Wesley preaches in church
at, ii. 367 Bird, Mark B., ii. 312, 334
, Robert, i. 551 ; ii. 478, 479
Birmingham, i. 341 ; had no par liamentary representative, 359 ; early M. in, 369 ; 530, 535 ; Evan gelists' Home at, 596 ; Asbury born at, ii. 68
, Alabama, Conference at,ii. 526
Birrell, Rt. Hon. Augustine, on
Wesley's Journal, i. 223 ; on
Wesley's place and influence, 371
Birstall, Yorks, Nelson and, i. 312
' Bishop of Nova Scotia,' Charles
Wesley referred to as, ii. 65
of Pennsylvania,' J. Wesley
referred to as, ii. 65 Bishops, and presbyters are of one order, ii. 85, 159 ; see also Episcopacy ; English, and the ordination of M. preachers, 86 ; first American M., 91 ; first native, 1 66 ; simplicity of early American M., 98, 110; Wesley's order for ordaining, 160, 161 ; preachers' appeal against appointments by, 162; autocracy of American M., 174; one of, as slave-holder, 181 ; Declaration on position of, in M.E.C., 184, 185 ; College of, M.E.C.S., 188, 196; address of, in 1865, 192; declining appoint ing power of M., 508 Black Harry, ii. 289 Black, William (Ireland), ii. 11; begins M. in Nova Scotia, 88 ; 90, 94, 202 ; 207 ; conversion and work of, 208 ; appointed Super intendent, 210
INDEX
589
Blackburn, i. 337 ; early M. in, 369 I
Blackburn, R. S., II. 356
Black Country, revival in, i. 592
Blackstone, Sir William, Judge, hears Wesley preach, i. 215 ; joins Wesley in opposing slavery, 215
Blair, Hugh, i. 354
Blaubeuren, Nast at, ii. 138
Blavatsky, Madame, ii. 325
Bleaching, improvements in, i. 338, 499
Blencowe, G., ii. 277
Blenheim, battle of, i. 103
Blind, schools for, in China, ii. 330
Bloemfontein, ii. 273, 275
Bloemhof, ii. 278
Blount, Charles, i. 124 ; Macaulay and, 125
Blow, Dr. John, i. 114
Blue Mountains, ii. 240
Blue-stocking Clubs, i. 344
Boaden, Rev. Edward, i. 254, 551
Boardman, Richard, volunteers for America, ii. 64 ; 65, 66, 70, 72, 156, 287, 366
Bocas-del-Toro, ii. 351
Bodmin, O'Bryan and, i. 504, 505
Boehm, Martin, ii. 136
, Henry, ii. 61, 70 ; travels
with Asbury, 108 ; and What- coat, 108
Bohler, Peter, Gambold interprets for, and is helped by, i. 155; at Jena, at Westminster, and Wesley, 196 ; Wesley's indebted ness to, 183, 197, 198 ; goes to Carolina, 198 ; Wesley's testi mony concerning, 198 ; influ ences C. Wesley, 239
Boksbury, ii. 278
Bolingbroke, Lord Henry St. J., i. 78, 103 ; and the Schism Bill, 104 ; persecutes Dissenters, 126 ; his Letters on History, 126 ; Dr. Johnson on, 126
Bolivia, ii. 385 ; and liberty, 388
Bologna, ii. 401
Bolton, Mr., of Witney, and Wesley, i. 206
Bolton, early M. in, i. 369
Bolzius, John Martin, Wesley re fused the Lord's Supper to, i. 193 ; character of, 193
Bombay, ii. 294, 296, 322
Bond, Mark, i. 20
Thomas E., ii. 125, 134
Book of Discipline, American, ii. 78
Book-Rooms (see also Hymn-books),
Story editor at, i. 392 ; W.M. (1791-1849), 420; profits of, 420 ; stewards and editors, 420 ; publications of, 421 ; Everett at, 531 ; Thorn as steward of M.N.C., 499 ; Cooke's work at M.N.C., 526 ; J. Bourne at P.M., 578 ; P.M., 598 ; American, ii. 74, 75 ; profits from, 189
Books, read by Wesley at critical stages (1725-9), i. 180, (1732-3) 185 ; Wesley's advice on reading of, 221 ; preachers must read, besides Bible, 297
Booth, Rev. William ('General'), his training and ministry in the M.N.C., i. 540 ; uses Methodist theology, 540 ; resigns the min istry, 541, and n. ; Catherine
(nee Mumford), 540 ; dismem bered in Reform agitation, 540 ; joins M.N.C., 540
Booth-Tucker, 'Commander,' i. 540
Boots, John, ii. 251
Borromeo, Carlo, i. 366
Boston (Lines.), slaves from, ii. 178 — , U.S.A., ii. 70 ; University, 141 ; Biblical Institute, 141 ; slaves sold at, 175 ; missionary society at, 365
Boswell, James, i. 532
Botany Bay, ii. 237, 238
Bottesford, i. 578
Bourne, Hugh, and Lorenzo Dow, i. 423 ; is dismembered, 424, 568 ; account of, 561 et seq. ; 573 ; and camp meetings, 424, 565, 567, 574 ; his Hymn-book quoted 553 ; and Clowes, 565 ; and the non-mission law, 571 ; a ' round- preacher,' 572 ; prepares rules, 572; General Sup., 575; Editor, 578; and the crisis of 1825, 582; death of, 588 ; ii. 222
, Frederick William, account of,
i. 544 ; his Life of Bray, 543, 544 ; his B.C. History, 544 ; ii. 474
, George, ii. 61
, James, at P.M. Book-Room,
i. 578
Bourignon, Antoinette, i. 187
Bow, pottery at, i. 340
Bowden, Thomas, ii. 239
Bo wen, Lieut., ii. 242
Bowron, William, i. 546 ; Deaconess Institute and, 546 ; and the Wes- leyan Methodist Local Preachers' Mutual Aid Association, 546
Boxer Riots. See China
590
INDEX
Boyce, Mrs. (Miss Mallett), was authorized as preacher, i. 322
— • — , W. B., Supt. of Australasia, ii. 253, 272 ; first President of Australian Conference, 256
Boyd massacre, ii. 244 n.
Boydton, Vir., ii. 173, 514
Boyer, Caleb, ii. 90, 156
Boyle, Robert, ii. 222
, Mr., followers of, join B.C.M.,
I. 508
Boylestone, i. 573
Brackenbury, Robert Carr, account of, I. 317; 394; Kilham travels with, 490 ; assists Thorn, 498 ; in Channel Islands, 490 ; ii. 41
Bradburn, Samuel, i. 220, 367 ; Sophia, wife of (nee Cooke), 367 ; 373, 383 ; oratory of, 390, 410 ; and Kilham, 493
Bradford, circuit, maintenance of the early preachers in, i. 303 ; John Nelson in the dungeon at, 315; Ann Cutler and, 322; M. service hours and the administra tion of the Lord's Supper, in, 488
Bradford, Joseph, i. 373 ; Wesley's travelling companion, 390, 490 ; on the crisis in M., 488
Brading, Isle of Wight, ii. 238
Bradshaw, Dean, and Deism, i. 139
Bradwell, i. 580
Brailsford, Rev. E. J., i. 254
Bramwell, William, i. 373 ; his soul-winning work, 410-12 ; com pared with Stoner, 412; his re vivalism, 414 ; 421 ; and Kilham's character, 497 ; 556 ; ii. 42
Brand, Sir John, ii. 275
Bray, Mr., C. Wesley ill, and is converted, at the house of, 198, 239 ; encourages C. Wesley to write his conversion hymn, 239
, Dr. T., founds eighteenth- century religious societies, i. 133
, William ('Billy'), i. 513;
account of, 543 ; Bourne's Life of, 543, 544
Brazil, ii. 172, 382 ; M.E.C.S. in, 197, 411
Bream, i. 543
Breeden, Henry, i. 520
Bremen, M. introduced in, ii. 394
Bridgewater, Duke of (1759), i. 338; Canal, 339
Bridlington, Wesley at, i. 217
Bright, John, i. 487 ; and Petrie, 518 ; and Ormerod, 548
, parish of, iii. 25
Brindley, James, i. 338, 339
Brinkworth, persecution at, i. 583, 588
Brisbane, ii. 252 ; Albert St. Church in, 260
Bristol, C. Wesley resides at, i. 241 ; Whitefield in, 261 ; open-air work begun at, 282 ; religious societies in, 284 ; origin of the class-meeting at, 287 ; the New Room at, 290, 291 ; a centre of Wesley's work, 294 ; prison, 312 ; mayor of, and opposition to Methodists, 323 ; Bishop Butler tells Wesley to go from, 323 ; early M. in, 369 ; sacra mental controversy at, 391, Kilham and, 491 ; Bramwell at, 411; members expelled by Wes ley at, 492; 509, 530, 548, 588, ii. 30, 59, 65, 67 ; Shadford sails from, 71 ; slaves from, 178 ; Conference (1814), 239, 288; Lord Mayor of, and the Uniting Conference, 478
British America. See Canada
Columbia, missions in, ii.
224, 225; 232
Honduras, ii. 312, 336
Methodist Episcopal Church
(Canada), ii. 527
Brittain, Miss Harriet G., ii. 404
Brittany, ii. 44
Brixton, Wesleyan Home for Fallen Girls at, i. 466
Broadbent, S., ii. 277
Broad Oaks, Essex, Gambold at, i. 155
Bromley, J., questioned and ex pelled, i. 531
Brompton, Pickering, Lady Cayley and, i. 396
Brook, Rev. Dr. D., ii. 478
Brooke, Henry, and prison reform, i. 94
, ' Squire,' ii. 255
Broseley, i. 524
Brotherhood,Christian, and slavery, il. 119; M. offers, 497
Broughton, Thomas, an Oxford Methodist, account of, i. 153 ; secretary of S.P.C.K., 153 ; his death, 153
Brown, Ebenezer, ii. 369
, J. M., ii. 320
, Paul R., ii. 127
Browning, Arthur, ii. 225
, Robert, quoted, i. 1; 106
Brownists, the, and authority, i» 14
INDEX
591
Bruce, Philip, ii. 156
Bryanites, the, i. 511. See Bible Christian Methodists
Bubi, P.M. mission to the, ii. 355
Buchanan, Governor, ii. 379
Buckingham, Duchess of (daughter of James II.), dislikei M., i. 20
Buckingham, Henry, ii. 355, 358
Buckley, Dr. J. M., ii. 55, 61, 70, 126 ; his Hist, of Meth., 128
Buddhism, ii. 295, 306, 318 ; M. and, 318, 319
Budgett, Samuel, i. 396
Buenos Ayres, ii. 172, 384
Buffalo Conference in, ii. 132
Regency, ii. 132
Bulawayo, ii. 280
Bulgaria, mission in, ii. 399, 401
Bull, Bishop, i. 180
Bulu, Joel, ii. 300
Bunting, Dr. Jabez, and J. Taylor, i. 390; secretary of W.M. Mis sionary Society, 399 ; and the slave trade, 399 ; his election to Legal Hundred, 405 ; and the mode of ordaining, 405 ; work and character of, 406-9, 441 ; and Eclectic Review, 406 ; his offices, 406, 407, 408, 421 ; ' ever a fighter,' 407 ; causes of his supremacy, 407, 408 ; his op ponents and supporters, 407 ; charged with arbitrariness and domination, 407, 528 ; advo cated a via media and a ' balance of power,' 408 ; his defects, 408 ; and the Evangelical Alliance, 408 ; his spirituality, 409 ; and the Fly Sheets agitation, 409, 528 ; and Arthur, 409 ; and Newton, 410, 440; and The Christian Advocate, 423 ; and the Reform agitation, 430, 438, 440 ; and Leeds Organ Case, 515 ; and Eckett's contention, 516 ; and Warren's agitation, 422, 517 ; and John Ridgway, 527 ; his policy and the Reform Agitation, and the sentence on Everett, 528 ; his advocacy of pastoral autho rity and lay co-operation, 528 ; on a Kilhamite practice, 528 ; on Everett's popularity, 531 ; his later view of treatment of Reformers, 538 ; his Life, 556 ; Buntingdale and, ii. 250; Bun- tingville and, 250 n.
, T. P., his Life of Dr. Bunting,
i. 556
Bunting, W. M., his hymns, i. 254 • 407
Buntingdale, ii. 250, 254
Buntingville, ii. 250 n., 274
Bunyan, John, i. 34, 122; Metho dist Hymn-book resembles the Pilgrim1 a Progress by, 251 ; his Grace Abounding and Nelson's Journal, 312 ; 538 ; Bray and the Visions of, 543
Burdett, Sir Francis, i. 362
Burdsall, John, i. 530
Burgess, Dr. H. T., ii. 468, 469, 471
Burials, M., by parish clergy, i. 387
Burke, Edmund, and Declaration of Rights, I. 100; 354, 358; quoted, 481, 487
, William, and Asbury, ii. 93 ;
at a camp-meeting, 93; 97, 122
Burkitt, William, his Notes on New Testament, i. 313
Burland, i. 579
Burma, ii. 319, 326 ; M.E.C. in, 403
Burnet, Bishop, and his Histories, i. 110; quoted, 116, 117; clerical pluralities and absentee ism denounced by, 119 ; on 18th- century clergy, 120 — , Rev. Amos, ii. 279
Burnett, Matthew, ii. 257
, R. W., ii. 355
Burney, Miss Fanny, i. 345
Burns, Robert, i. 348 ; and the trend of thought at Wesley's death, 357
Burra Burra, ii. 253
Burslem, early M. in, i. 369 ; 494 ; and Dr. W. Cooke, 525 ; and the rise of P.M., 562, 566, 567
Burton, Dr. , trustee for Georgia, i. 190, 192
Burwood, ii. 262
Bury, i. 337
Busby, James, ii. 249
Bushmen of South Africa, ii. 270
Bute, Lord, i. 358 ; traffics in votes. 359
Butler, Bishop Joseph, i. 12, 13, 15, 117, 540; defends Christian ity, 130 ; Wesley and, 209 ; tells Wesley to leave Bristol, 323 ; 353, 354 ; 540
, Nicholas, ii. 8, 9
— , William (Bristol), i. 548
, William (Dublin, New England
and India), ii. 36, 398
Butters, William, ii. 248, 254
Butterworth, S. Africa, ii. 274
, Joseph, M.P., i. 395 ; and
592
INDEX
W.M. Missionary Society, 398; and Bible Society, 399 Butts, Thomas, on physical pheno mena among early M., i. 216 Buttz, President Henry A., ii. 150 Byron, J., Wesley and, i. 307
, Dr. John, consulted by Wesley,
I. 190
CABAL, the, i. 78
Cabinet, first Government, i. 101
Caedmon's abbey, both sexes in,
i. 71
Caen, ii. 41 Calabar, ii. 288 Calcutta, ii. 320, 321, 398 Calhoun, J. C., ii. 116, 371 Calico-printing, invention of, i. 337 California, Chinese in, ii. 390 ; 592 Calvert, James, in Fiji, ii. 300,
310 ; Mrs., 310
Calvin, John, and authority, i. 10 ; and Assurance, 23 ; ii. 287 ; moulded Reformed theology, 432 Calvinism, some results of, i. 10 ; controversy concerning, 31 ; and the Fatherhood of God, 35, ii. 432, 433 ; ' an uncomfortable thought,' repudiated by Arch bishop Laud, i. 36 ; and sacer dotalism, 37 ; doctrine of, and the human will, 53 ; and Anti- nomianism, 152 ; ethical bear ings of, 213 ; influence of C. Wesley's hymns against, 244 ; Whitefield adopts, 266, 268 ; Whitefield and Cennick and, 267 ; separation of M. from, 305 ; controversy with Hill and Toplady as to, 319 ; Trevecca College claimed for, 319 ; and the divine sovereignty, ii. 432, 433 ; and modern theology, 488 Calvinistic Methodist Church, the, i. 264 ; Whitefield and Harris and, 264 ; Whitefield Moderator of first assembly of, 269, 305 ; Crabbe's Borough and, 419 Camborne, Dunn at, i. 532 Cambridge, Platonists : Wesley and the, i. 179, 208, 213 ; influence of, on M., 179 ; works of, in Wesley's Christian Library, 186 ; St. John's College at, ii. 238 ; suggested M. College at, 500 Camden, William, ii. 240 Camisards, ' French Prophets,' i. 54 Camp-meetings, first English, i. 424,
565 ; Dow and, 564 ; evangelism and, 560 ; and the Toleration Act,
566 ; second, at Mow Cop, 567 ; at Norton, 567 ; the Conference, 589 ; American, described, ii. 93 ; Asbury at, 107 ; in Ken tucky, 121 ; American, i. 423, 565 ; ii. 163 ; and slavery, 182, 509
Camp-Meeting Methodists, i. 560, 569 ; unite with Clowesites, 571
Canada, number of M. in, i. 280 ; Upper, ii. 210; West, 222; Pacific Railway in, 226 ; P.M. in, 354, 596 ; French driven out of, i. 359 ; Eastern, mission in, 446 ; Upper, Conference, 446 ; emigration centre for national Children's Home and Orphanage, 454 ; ministers in, from Children's
Home, 455; M.N.C. in, ii. 458 ;
statistics of, 459 ; English Con ference of, objects to union unless lay rights are recognized, 460 ; O'Bryan's work in, i. 512 ; Dow and, 564 ; contributions from, for Irish Methodists, ii. 23
CANADA, THE METHODIST CHURCH or, see Contents, ii. 200 ; affiliated with W.M.C., I. 446, ii. 210, 215 ; dissolved, and reconstituted, i. 446, ii. 218; becomes M.C.C., i. 446, ii. 220 ; M. Union and, 219-23, 457-65 ; its origins and Irish Methodists, 36 ; early settlers and, 106, 201, 202 ; unites with others in Japan, 117 ; hymn-book of, 147 ; Garrettson in, 164, 209 ; withdraws from M.E.C., 166, 173, 213 ; union of Episcopal Methodists and, 173 ; recognizes M.E.C.S., 195; con dition of Canada at rise of, 202, 203 ; statistics, 203, 204, 209, 231, 459 ; a preacher desired for, 203 ; first Quarterly Meeting of, 203 ; the Lord's Supper given in, 203 ; work of Bangs in, 204, 205 ; early typical workers, 205 ; Wil liam Black's work in, 208-10; first Conference of, 209; preachers ordained for, 209 ; Coughlan and, 201, 206 ; and the War of 1812, 210, 211 ; British Wesleyan missionaries appointed, 211, 457 ; and restricted to Lower Canada, 212, 457 ; organized as ' M.E.C. in Canada,' 214 458 ; unites with British W.M., 215 ; partial secession on the Episcopal plan,
INDEX
593
216, 458 ; union of M. desired, 219, 221, 459 ; M.N.C. mission and, 219 ; union of W.M. and M.N.C., 220, 460; rapid in crease in, 221, 461, 465 ; P.M. and, 221 ; B.C.M. and, 222 ; union completed in the, 223, 461-5,
527 ; , missionary enterprise
of, 224-30 ; organized, 224 ; home and foreign work united in, 224 ; W.M. Missionary Society and, 225 ; spheres of work, 224-8 ; unites in M. Church of Japan, 228, 523 ; home missionary organiza tion of, 229, 230; , present
conditions of, 230—3 ; and the proposed union of non-episcopal churches, 232 ; and union with the Presbyterian Church, 504,
528 ; and British Methodist Episcopal Church, 527 ; and the Evangelical Association, 528
Canadian Wesleyan Church, ii.
213, 219
Canals, eighteenth century, i. 339 Canarese, the, ii. 303 ; weekly paper
in, 322 ; work amongst, 324 Candler, Bishop W. A., ii. 196, 414 Candlin, Rev. G. T., ii. 345 Cane Ridge, ii. 94 ; camp-meeting,
121 Cannibalism, in New Zealand, ii.
253 ; in Fiji, 310 Canning, Lord, ii. 308 Canning, Mrs., encourages lay
preaching, i. 292 Cannock, i. 574 Cannon, Speaker (Washington),
ii. 149
Canterbury, N.Z., ii. 253 Canterbury, Archbishop of, and the
Uniting Conference, ii. 482 Cantlivre, Mrs., i. 113 Canton, ii. 316, 328, 332 Cape Coast Castle, ii. 298 ; religious
ordeal at, 314; 337, 339 Colony, M. in, ii. 269-74 ;
P.M., missions in, i. 354 May (New Jersey), Joint
Commission at, ii. 194, 521
of Good Hope, ii. 278, 293
Town, ii. 269, 270 ; Burg St.
Church in, 271 ; Buitenkant
Church in, 271
Verde Islands, ii. 280
Capers, Bishop William, ii. 130,
167, 168 ; his Life, and work
among Negroes, 171 ; elected
Bishop, 188, 372
VOL. II
Carandieri, Madam, ii. 249
Cardiff, i. 551 ; Lord Mayor of, and Uniting Conference, ii. 482
Card-party, B. Heck and the, ii. 56
Carey, William, ii. 287
Cargill, Rev., in Fiji, ii. 300
Carlisle, i. 580
Carlstadt, i. 10
Carlyle, Thomas, quoted i. 61, 105 ; on Johnson, 346, Voltaire, 376
Carman, Dr., ii. 228
Carolina, North, Robert Williams in, ii. 64 ; North and South, ii. 104, 167
Caroline clergy, Mrs. Susanna Wesley and the, i. 172
Cartesianism. See Descartes
Carthage, ii. 391
Cartwright, Edward, i. 337
, Major, i. 362
, Peter, ii. 97, 121 ; heroism of,
123; 169
Carvosso, William, i. 394
. Benjamin, ii. 243, 244
Case of Reason, W. Law's, i. 131
Case, W., Supt. of M.E.C. in Canada, ii. 214
Caseystown, ii. 278
Caste, W.M. and Indian, ii. 308, 307, 308 ; sufferings through, 324 ; overcome, 399
Castlemaine, ii. 255
Castlereagh, ii. 240; first M.C.A. chapel at, 241
Catechetical classes, i. 416 ; in M.E.C., ii. 150
Catechism, W.M.C., for children, i. 418 ; Catholic children and, ii. 32 ; common to M.E.C. and M.E.C.S., 194
Catlin, George, ii. 375
Caughey, James, i. 545
Cayley, Lady, i. 396
Cazenovia Seminary, ii. 140
Cecil, Richard, i. 365
Cellini, Benvenuto, ii. 123, 339
Celtic temperament, B.C.M. and the, i. 510
Cennick, John, on religious physical phenomena, i. 215 ; hymns by, 253 ; adopts Calvinism, 267, 305 ; first M. lay preacher, 292
Central Halls. See Missions
Centenary celebrations : of Wesley's death, i. 201 ; of M., 429, 430, 528 ; in Wesleyan Methodist As sociation, i. 521 ; M.N.C. and its, 542 ; of Episcopal Methodism,
38
594
INDEX
i. 281 ; ii. 195 ; in Sydney, 248 ; and missions, 302
Ceylon, missions in, ii. 37, 246, 269 ; rise of M. in, 293 ; 294, 295, 302, 306, 319, 325 Chalmers, Thomas, quoted, i. 277 Chambers, W. and R., i. 220 Champness, Thomas, and village Methodism, i. 463 ; his home for evangelists, 463 ; Cliff Col lege continues work of, 464 ; sends out Joyjul News foreign workers, ii. 330
Chancery Court of, Wesley's Deed of Declaration enrolled in, i. 371 ; Warren's suit in, 517 ; Holt Chapel case in, 535 ; Primitive Wesleyan case in, ii. 14 Chang Sha, ii. 333 Channel Islands, Methodism intro duced into, i. 317; Ii. 41, 42; Brackenbury and Kilham's work in, i. 490 ; B.C.M. in, 510 ; ii. 45 Chao Tung, ii. 347, 348 Chapels (meeting-houses), see also under towns ; built by Wesley, i. 227 ; were ' unconsecrated,' 227 ; the first of M., 291 ; deed of settlement for (1763), 371 ; historic, mission halls replace, 457 ; W.M.C. Funds for, 466-9 ; Board of Trustees for, 467 ; number of Wesleyan built annu ally, 468 ; Metropolitan Building Fund, 468; Trustees Appointment Act (1890) and, 468; marriages in without Registrar, 468 ; funds for erecting, 469 ; names of, indicate loyalty, 324 ; B.C.M. commemorative, 543 ; P.M. Aid Association, 595 ; number and capacity of, see ii. 531 Chappie, Frederic, ii. 263 Charity, works of. See Social service Charlemagne, i. 80 Charlemont, ii. 25 Charleston, ii. 172 Charlestown, S.C., ii. 94 Charles I., i. 521 Charles II., i. 78 ; approves
Hobbes's Leviathan, i. 124 ; 359 Charlotte, Queen, and Sunday
schools, i. 367
Charterhouse School, Wesley at, i. 173, 174, 203 ; Blackstone at, 214
Chartist movement, J. R. Stephens and the, i. 423; and M. reform, 487 ; Barker joins the, 525
Chatham, ii. 287
, Earl of, i. 279, 359
Checks to Antinomianism, Fletcher's, i. 148, 319 ; Coke and, 320
Chelsea, i. 340
Chenango, ii. 98
Cheng Chow, ii. 416
Chentu, ii. 229
Cherokees, ii. 171 ; 372 ; mission to, 372; M.E.C.S. and, 407
Chesapeake, ii. 107
Cheshire, early M. in, i. 369 ; Dow in, 564
Chester, Watchnight service at, i. 290; Wesley's letter from, to Legal Hundred, 382 ; and reform 494 ; P.M. and, 579 ; ii. 42
Chesterfield, i. 580
, Lord, and the Countess of
Huntingdon, i. 269; and White- field, 274
Chew, Richard, i. 547 ; ii. 476
Chicago, lay convention in, ii. 135; Preachers' Meeting of, 389
Chickasaws, mission to, ii. 171
Chikmagalur, ii. 308
Children, work of English, in 18th century, i. 84, M. and, 400 ; Susanna Wesley's methods of training, 169 ; Wesley and, 218 ; singing of, at Bolton, 219 ; at Kingswood school, 219, 220; Wesley and the play of, 220 ; ride with Wesley, 220 ; Wesley and the training of, 302 ; Isaac Watts and, 302 ; ministers' class for, 415 ; Wesley's home for needy, 453 ; Dr. Stephenson's work for, 453 ; W.M. Conference and, 453 ; ii. 340 ; U.M.C. and, i. 454 ; homes for, and emigra tion of, 454 ; indirect results of helping, 454 ; need for religious education of, 475 ; funds for ministers', 304, in M.N.C., 499 ; Irish homes and orphanages for, ii. 31, and in Capetown, 271, and in China, 391 Chili, ii. 384, 385 Chillicothe, ii. 98
China, Inland Mission, i. 539 ; iu 347 ; Wesleyan Reform Union and, i. 539 ; ii. 359
, W.M.C. in, i. 447 ; fund for
work in, 448 ; ii. 328-34; M.N.C. mission in, i. 526, ii. 43 ; M.E.C.S. work in, 188, 197, 408; united American publishing house in, 195 ; M.C.C. in, 228 .
INDEX
595
people of, in Victoria, 258 ; Second War in, 316, 317 ; Taiping Rebellion in, 316 ; famine in, 329 ; riots and deaths in, 329, 330 ; lay mission for, 330 ; influence of Australian immigrants on, 331 ; Boxer Riots in, 332, 345, 348 ; fidelity of native Christians in, 346, 348, 391 ; B.C.M. in, 348 ; U.M.F.C. in, 353 ; M.E.C. in, 389, 390 ; Free Methodist Church (U.S.A.) in, 415, 416
Chipchase, Joseph, i. 537 Choctaws, mission to, ii. 171, 372 ; banishment of, 373 ; M.E.C.S. mission to, 407
Choptank, Conference at, ii. 77 Christ, the living, advent of, in
Methodist history, i. 203 Christian Advocate, J. R. Stephens and, i. 423 ; Dr. Bond and, ii. 125 ; 148, 170 ; N.Y., 172 ; Nash ville, 193: New Orleans, 193, 375
Atribassador, i. 591
- Guardian (Canada), ii. 216 — Miscellany, i. 421
Pattern, The. See Kempis
Christian Perfection. See Holi ness
Platonists, Wesley's study of
the, i. 211 Christian Theology, Cooke's, i. 526
Witness, ii. 459
Christianity, Deistical attack upon, i. 123-7 ; the restraints of, 128 ; defence of, 128 ; Wesley preached common, 211; Methodist defini tion of, ii. 436
Christianity not Mysterious, To- land's, i. 125
as old as Creation, Tindal's, i.
125 Chrysostom, Wesley's study of, i.
180, 211
Chu-chia-tsai, ii. 344 Church, R. W., 168, 176 Church, the Christian, M. in life and thought of i. 2 ; the Medieval, and Assurance, 21 ; doctrine of, in M., 29, 30; the primitive, and M., 68, 70, 71 ; King's Account of, 69, ii. 85, 1 59 ; Wesley, and bishops and pres byters in, i. 69 ; ii. 85, 159 ; place of women workers in, i. 7 1 ; usages of the, and Wesley's first hymn- book, 194; W.M. societies be
come a, 228, 406 ; a national, ' is a mere political institution,' 229 ; Wesley and separation from, 229, see also Church of England ; and American Metho dists, 231 ; approval of, required for preachers, 295 ; Wesleyan Reformers and independence of the local, 536 ; American M.
organized as a, ii. 90, 92;
members (see also membership), rights of, contentions for, i. 486, 487, 513, 536; Kilham's claims for, 492 ; and church appoint ments, 492 ; in M.N.C. must attend class, 501 ; influence of, in M., 539 ; P.M. approve Rules, 572, 573; as slave-holders, ii. 183 ; meetings of, in M., 493 ; limited suffrage given to, in W.M.C., 502; must retain liberty,
505 ; history, recounts the
operations of the Holy Spirit, i. 4 ; and the development of ideas, 6 ; advent of Christ in M., 203 ;
property, P.M. regulations
for, i. 594 ; value of, 595 ;
see also ii. 531 ; government,
(see also Laity, and Women workers), M. and democratic, i. 226, 227; Wesley and, 226, 227-32, 308; of M. arose as occasion offered, 228 ; Kilham's principles of, 498 ; absolutist polity of M.E.C., ii. 167 ; dis satisfaction with, 174;
hours, M. services and, i. 342, 385, 488 ; M. morning service and, 386 ; Hanley M. and, 494 ; Irish M. and, ii. 17 Church of England, leaders in, de nounce Assurance, i. 26 ; its fidelity to Reformation principles distrusted, 65 ; W.M.C. separ ated from, by Oxford Movement 65 ; Nonconformist ministers (18th century) and, 65; effect of M. upon, 67 ; 17th-cen tury laity in, 72 ; Queen Anne supports, 102 ; promise of, in 18th century, 115; favoured by Queen, 115; decline of, 116; Burnet and Gladstone on the, 116, 117 ; its loss by ejecting Non-juring clergy, 121 ; Deists and, 123, 127 ; and prayers for the dead, i. 184; 19th-century revival in, 207 ; Wesley's de partures from order of, 226, 230,
596
INDEX
ii. 85 ; its indifference to the masses in the 18th century, i. 226 ; Wesley persuades Confer ence not to separate from, 229, sanctions separation from, 230, would not entangle American M. with, 231, ii. 86 ,* London pulpits of, closed to C. Wesley, i. 240, to John and Charles, 196, 261 ; pulpits in Gloucester dio cese of, closed to Whitefield, 263 ; founders of the Evangelical School in, 270 ; Whitefield re mains attached to, 272 ; Wesley's method of reforming, 281 ; re ligious societies of, 284 ; lacks organized fellowship, 289 ; atti tude of first Conference towards, 308 ; Wesley declines to with draw preachers from evangelical parishes of, 321, claims to teach in any parish of, 323 ; its funda mentals, 324 ; its dignitaries malign M., 330 ; missed an oppor tunity, 341, 384 ; and evening services, 342 ; state of, at Wes ley's death, 364 ; salaries in 18th century, 364 ; improved by Evangelical Revival and M., 364, 365; relation of M. to, after Wesley's death, 383 ; clergy of, do not welcome M., 385, 388; M. separated from, by Plan of Pacification, 386 ; partial relation of M. to, long continued, 386, 387, 388 ; sacrament is refused to Mrs. Fletcher in, 388 ; the, and the Gedney case, 403 ; W.M., the Church Methodists and, 407, 423, 426, 427 ; intolerance of its clergy in villages, 461, 462 ; and authority, 485 ; Wesley, a life long member of, 485 ; Methodist trustees and separation from, 488 ; Warren joins the, 517 ; Clericalism in, 534 ; in Ireland, ii. 3, 4 ; American M. and, 73, 157 ; clergy of, forsake American churches, 76 ; Wesley's reluct ance to violate orders of, 85 ; Wesley objects to its government of American M., 86 ; M. and the Prayer-Book of, 93; in U.S.A., 110 ; Coke proposes union of M.E.C. with, 117, 161; in Vir ginia, 157 ; American M. receive sacraments of, 157 ; in Canada, 203, 230 ; causes of its influence, 424 ; and enthusiasm, 433 ; is
institutional in character, 433 ; and the divine right of the pastorate, 502
Church Rate agitation, i. 518
Chu Sao Ngan, ii. 331
Cibber, Colley, i. 113
, Mrs., i. 351
Cincinnati, ii. 130 ; Nast's work in, 139 ; Book Concern at, 172, 189 ; Advocate, 188
Circuits, system of, i. 298-300 ; effects upon development of M., 298, 301 ; dimensions of early, 298, 299, 301 ; first list of, 298 ; first Plan for Preachers in, 299 ; first Quarterly Meeting in, 299 ; superintendents of, 299 ; relation of Wesley to, 299 ; right of memorial by, 429 ; Quarterly Meeting of, revised, 439 ; division of, 463 ; amalgamation of rural, 463; in W.M., 479; Kilham's claims for Quarterly Meetings of,
492 ; intoxicants at, 529 ; early M.N.C. were wide, 500 ; inde pendence of, in U.M.F.C., 538 ; vast American, ii. 97 ; ' riders,' American, 121 ; wide, in Canada, 205 ; in modern M., 495 ; strengthened in U.M.C., and sectional working, 495, 496
Citizenship, Wesley prepared the way for modern, ii. 439 ; Chris tian American, 509
Clapham Sect, The, and Metho dism, i. 365, 366
Clark, General William, ii. 374
, Laban, ii. 365
Clarke, Adam, on Wesley's tran quillity, i. 207 ; and Hopper, 316 ; wide learning of, 373, 374 ; his work and works, 391, 422 ; his Commentary, 393, 421, ii. 148 ; i. 394 ; and the doctrine of Eternal Sonship, 415, ii. 246 ; secretly helps Kilham, i.
493 ; Everett's Adam Clarke portrayed, 531 ; and Everett, 532 n. ; and Dunn, 532 ; J. C. Hook, grandson of, 544 ; and Dow, 564 ; ii. 41 ; and Ireland, 10, 11, 30, 32, 456
, Dr. Samuel, Locke's philo sophy opposed by, i. 107 ; idealistic philosophy and ethic of, 107 ; opposes Collins, 126 ; and Deists, 129
Clarkebury, ii. 273, 274
Clarkesburg, ii. 121
INDEX
597
Clarkson, Thomas, Wesley co operates with, i. 225, 370
Class-meetings, and dangerous Mys ticism, i. 60 ; women as leaders of, 72 ; and the Confessional, 227 ; origin of the, 287 ; financial and disciplinary use of, 287 ; only a prudential regulation, 287 ; contributions in, 289 ; the germ-cell of M., 288 ; paper or book of the, 288 ; leader of a, 287, 288; a unique system, 288, 289 ; exhibits and conserves M. characteristics, 289 ; preceded the preachers, 294 ; decline of some, in W.M.C., 480; chief expres sion of fellowship in M., 480; attendance at, and membership, M.N.C. and, 501, 541 ; present- day M. and, ii. 440 ; in U.M.C., i. 551 ; in M.E.C.S., ii. 192; in Canada, 231 ; in M.C.A., 260 ; absence of, in Italian mission, 403 ; among American German M., 407; its unique value, 491; adaptation of, 491, 492 ; declining attendance at, in America, 509 ;
leaders of, members and
their appointment, i. 492 ; in Germany, ii. 48 ; difficulty of
securing, 492 ; class-ticket
at, i. 288 ; and membership, 288 ; first M.N.C., 501 ; and annual tokens, 542; first P.M., 571; title of P.M., 593; earliest Ameri can, ii. 63
Clay, Henry, ii. 169
Clayton, John, Oxford Methodist, a High Churchman, i. 145, 149 ; influence on the Holy Club, and later, 145 ; and Wesley, 183 ; at Manchester, 148, 149, 150 ; a non-juror and Jacobite, 149, 150; and later Methodism, 150; influence and death of, 150; consulted by Wesley, 190
Clements, William, at Fontenoy, i. 316
Clergy (see also Church of England), character of English, at the rise of Methodism, i. 117, 118; pluralities and absenteeism of, 119; Bishop Burnet upon, 116, 119, 120; ignorance of, 120; high character and sufferings of the non-juring, 121 ; ejection of non-juring, 121 ; influence of Hervey upon, 153; the Wes ley descent from a line of,
166; who assisted M., 294, 389; Wesley's appeal to, 320; response of, 321 ; evangelical, desire with drawal of preachers, 321 ; lead opposition to M., 325, 326 ; insuffi ciency of, in 18th century, 364 ; absenteeism of, 364 ; do not wel come M., 385, 388; refuse Lord's Supper to M., 388 ; intolerance of village, 462 ; character of Devon, circa 1815, 503 ; and women preachers, 509 ; condition of Irish, ii. 4 ; Reserves (Canada), 216
Clericalism (see also Authority, Autocracy, and Freedom), pro tests against, i. 487 ; Reform ex pulsions and, 535; and lay rights in M.E.C., ii. 125, 135
Cliff College, Derbyshire, i. 464
Clifford, Dr. Thomas, i. 366
Clifton, Transvaal, ii. 278
Clive, Lord, i. 359, 371
Clive, Mrs., i. 351
Closed doors, Conference sessions with, i. 428, 528
Cloud, i. 572
Clovelly, i. 543
Clowes, William, i. 424; account of, 563 ; at Mow Cop, 565 ; severed from Wesleyan Metho dism, 570 ; becomes evangelist, 570; Clowesites unite with Camp- meeting Methodists, 571 ; and the Great Revival, 575 ; stoned, 578 ; work at Hull, 579 ; and Hull mis sions, 580 ; at North Shields and Leeds, 585; death of, 587; memorial chapel of, 591 ; ii. 221
Coalport, i. 340
Cobden, Richard, i. 487, 518 ; and Everett, 532
Coburg, ii. 222
Cochrane, Dr. G., ii. 227
Cocker, Dr, William, i. 540
Coelebs in Search of a Wife, Hannah More's, i. 355
Coffee-houses, English, 1 8th century, i. 92 ; intemperance in, 92
Coke, Dr. Thomas, an 'apostle,' i. 71 ; with Wesley, establishes the first Tract Society, 220 ; ordains elders, and is ordained Supt. for America, 231, 372; ii. 159, 160 reads Fletcher's Checks, i. 320 ; unites with Wesley, 320, 373 ; Secretary of Conference, 384 ; Wesley passes by as successor, 385; and Ireland, 385, ii. 11, 16,
598
INDEX
37, 456 ; prominence and services of, i. 388, 389 ; and Wesleyan missions, 397 ; ii. 88 ; and home missions, i. 400 ; and M. in Wales, 401 ; Commentary by, 421 ; and the Lichfield Plan of Bishops, 426 ; O'Bryan hears, 504 ; and work in Paris, ii. 41 ; on rise of American M., 55 ; and the episcopal organization of Ameri can M., 83 ; his certificate of ordination, 84 ; Wesley's letter to, on episcopal organization of American M., 85 ; nature of his episcopacy, 86 ; meets Asbury, 87, 195, 102 ; compared with Asbury, 87 ; presides at the decisive Conference, 89 ; chosen Superintendent, 91 ; ordains and consecrates Asbury, 91 ; and George Washington, 94 ; and Cokesbury College, 91 ; episcopal tours of, 94 ; Chas. and John Wes ley and official acts of, 94, 161 ; British tour of, 94 ; his mission ary Address, 94 ; congratulates President Washington, 99, this action criticized, 101 ; and re vivals, 106; diminishes his labours in M.E.C., 108 ; proposes union with Prot. Episcopal Church of England, 117, 161; and M.E.C. hymn-books, 142, 143 ; American work of, 161 ; secured permanency of General Conference, 163 ; a slave abolitionist, 176 ; and the needs of Canada, 209 ; 246 ; 287 ; his enthusiasm, 288, 289, 292 ; in America, 289 ; in Antigua, 289 ; and the negroes, 289, 290 ; Wesley disapproves collecting by, 292 ; and Sierra Leone, 292 ; and East India Company, 293 ; and Ceylon, 293 ; death of,' 293, 398
Coke College, Antigua, ii. 335
Cokesbury College, founding of, ii. 91 ; Coke and, 91, 102, 140 ; burned, 164
Colbert, ii. 69
Cole, Le Roy, ii. 89
Coleridge, S. T., and the French Revolution, i. 361
Collard, Royard, i. 352
Colley, Benjamin, i. 317
Richard (Lord Mornington),
i. 238
Collier, Jeremy, i. 121
Collins, Anthony, attacks Chris tianity, i. 12. 126 ; his Discourse
on Free-thinking answered by Bentley, 128 ; answered by S. Clarke, 129
Collins, Charles, ii. 173
, John A., ii. 179
, Joshua D., ii. 389, 390
, William, i. 346
Colman, Joseph, i. 535
Colne, M. mobbed at, i. 326
Colombo, ii. 294, 295, 303, 306; Wesley College at, 318; mission press at, 320
Colon, ii. 385
COLOURED METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, organized, ii. 406, 514; and union, ii. 520, 527
Columbia, ii. 351
Combe, Mayor of Bristol, i. 323
Comenius, Life of, i. 218
' Come Outers,' organize African M. Episcopal Church, ii. 173
Commentaries, Biblical, Henry's, i. 110; Wesley's, 221; Wesleyan Methodist, 421
Commercial classes, condition of English, in 18th century, i. 85 ; Huguenot settlers and the, 85
Committee of Privileges, i. 402 ; Wesleyan Methodist, and Militia Act, and Lord Sidmouth's Bill, 402 ; and the Toleration Act, 403 ; and the Gedney case, 403 ; and National Training Colleges, 416
Committees of Review. See Mixed Committees
Communism, primitive Christian, and Wesley's arrangements, i. 223 ; M. Bands and, 285
Compton, Bishop, ordains S. Wesley senr., i. 167
Conception Bay, ii. 206, 207
Concerted Action, Committee of, i. 477 ; ii. 441
Concessions (1797), i. 495, 517
Concord, ii. 74; Institute at, 141 Conference and Conferences, the Annual, in Monasticism and Methodism, i. 43 ; constituted by Wesley's Deed, 232 ; and circuit system, 298 ; and maintenance of preachers, 303 ; constitution of first, 307 ; work of, 308 ; and Church of England, 308 ; and a national church, 309 ; and church orders, 309 ; liberty at the early, 309 ; laymen present at the first, 307 ; early, 309 ; strangers ad mitted to early, 309 ; importance and uniqueness of, 309 ; Dr.
INDEX
599
Fitchett on, 309 ; Hopper presided at, in Wesley's absence, 317; sanc tions Mrs. Boyce as preacher, 322 ; annual, assisted by improved roads, 342 ; and slavery, 370 ; Wesley defines legal meaning of the name, 371 ; Wesley's Chester letter and, 372 ; takes Wesley's place, 382 ; of W.M.C. and Mixed Committees, 401 ; of W.M.C. and Joseph Raynor Stephens, 423 ; supremacy of W.M., in Leeds organ case, 426, 515 ; constitu tion of W.M., 442 ; lay repre sentatives admitted to, 442 ; changed order of sessions of, 443; a single, 443, 445, ii. 499; affiliated, policy of, i. 446; of W.M.C. with closed doors, 428, 528, P.M. also, 589 ; Kilham advocates lay repre sentation in, 492 ; ministers and laymen in B.C.M., 513 ; consti tution of P.M., 588 ; first Ameri can, ii. 72 ; first Annual, M.E.C., 94 ; first local, 94 ; annual of M.E.C., 108 ; a delegated, in M.E.C., 109 ; M.E.C. General, ministers and laymen in, 135 ; M.E.C. annual, excludes laymen, 135 ; M.E.C.S. admits laymen, 136 ; General American, defect of, 165; Annual, of the South, and slavery, 187; and organization of the M.E.C.S., 187 ; powers of, and controversies, 419; all M. churches governed by, 440 ; P.M. concede equality in Australian, 468 ; su premacy of, 498 ; sectional, in America, 504 ; for a Methodist Church of England, 504, 505
Conference with Her Daughter, Susanna Wesley's, i. 170
Confession, auricular, Wesley's early belief in, i. 146 ; his sister Emily's letter on, 146 ; and the class-meeting, 227
Confucianism, ii. 328
Congleton, i. 562
Congo Mission, Wesleyan Reform Union and, i. 539
CONGREGATIONALMETHODISTS, THE,
ii. 515, 516; and the Methodist
Protestant Church, 527 CONGREGATIONAL METHODISTS
(COLOURED), ii. 515 Congregationalism and Congrega-
tionalists(the Independents), and
Deism, i. 1 1 ; and authority, 14 ;
in the 18th century, 65 ; distrust
early M., 326; in later 18th century, 366 ; and M. contrasted, 426, 439, ii. 495, 501 ; American Board of, for Foreign Missions, U.S.A., 365, 366 ; and the Re formation, 424; andConnexional- ism, i. 426, ii. 504 ; union of, with M.C.C. and Presbyterians, 528
Congreve, William, i. 112
Connaught, ii. 28
Connecticut, ii. 105, 168
Connexionalism, balances individu alism in M., i. 29 ; founded by Cistercians and Friars, 43 ; as sisted by improved roads, 342 ; United Societies and, 38 1 ; and the Leeds organ case, 426 ; sustained by decision on Warren's case, 428 ; maintenance of, in W.M.C., 439 ; cost of, in W.M.C., 450, 479; Wesleyan Reformers and, 536 ; in U.M.F.C., 538 ; growth of, in U.M.F.C., 549 ; in U.M.C., 551 ; Independent Methodist churches and, 559; in P.M., 594; inM.C.A., ii. 265; and future M., 498
Conscientiousness, Wesley's, i. 141, 176 ; of Oxford Methodists, 141 ; in study, 176, 179
Constance, Council of, and Wyclif's remains, i. 177
Constitution, the English, emer gence of Prime Minister in, i. 104 ; Locke and the civil, 106 ;
of the Church. See also Wes leyan Methodist Church, in loc. ; of theU.M.C.,i. 550; estab lishment of Theological Institution
and, 517; , of M.E.C., ii. 116,
and that of U.S.A., 116; interest in, 426 ; in Roman Catholicism, 500, 503 ; in Presby terian ism, 501 ; of Congrega tionalism, 501 ; of M. under Wesley, 501 ; later, 502 ; trend of, in America, 507
Constitution, Kilham's Outlines of a, i. 492, 494
Continental Congress, the, ii. 74
Contingent Fund, W.M.C., i. 401
Controversial publications, I. 329, 488, 528 n.
Conventicle Act, i. 566
' Conversation-preaching,' i. 561
Conversion, doctrine of, i. 33 ; the Christian church and the fact of, 34 ; is the surrender of the will, 52 ; modern M. views upon, 53 ; doctrine of, and Mysticism, 56 ;
600
INDEX
Hervey's account of his, i. 151-2 ; Wesley's earlier and later views of his, 195, 200; Wesley's, an advent of the living Christ, 203 ; evangelical, of C. Wesley, 239; effect of, on his poetic gift, 243 ; instances of, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315; at camp-meetings, ii. 122; at Conference, 163 ; important, 208 ; of negroes, 291 ; at the great Quarterly Meetings in U.S.A., 370; all M. emphasize, 421, 427 ; tendencies of M. and, 490
Convict settlement in Australia, ii. 237, 240, 242
Cook, Captain James, ii. 237
, Dr. Charles, ii. 42, 43 n., 44
, Valentine, ii. 95
Cookbury, i. 506
Cooke, Joseph, denies the doctrine of the Witness of the Spirit, i. 415
, Dr. William, and Barker, i.
526 ; account of, 525 ; his Chris tian Theology, and his work on The Deity, 526 ; and Wesleyan Reformers, 536 ; trains Booth, 540 ; and M. Union, ii. 473, 474
Coolalough, ii. 7, 8
Cooper, Ezekiel, quoted, ii. 92, 96, 105, 107, 108, 143, 148
, John, ii. 97
Coote, Daniel, ii. 203
, Sir Eyre, i. 359
Copenhagen, ii. 392
Coquimbo, ii. 385
Cork, riots against Methodists in, ii. 8; 10, 12,28, 239,457
Corn Law agitation, i. 518 ; Hors- well and, 544 ; and Luddites, 576
Cornwall, mobs in, i. 217; priva tions of Wesley and Nelson in, 313 ; lack of hospitality in, 314 ; reformation in, 365 ; early M. in, 369 ; M. in, compared M. with Devon, 503 ; O'Bryan's family settle in, 504 ; District Meeting of, and O'Bryan, 505 ; some W.M. xinite with B.C.M., 508, 513; teetotal secession in, 529 ; Dunn in, 532 ; Bray in, 543 ; Thorne in, 544 ; Clowes in, 582 ; M. from, in Australia, ii. 241, 254, 255 ; and missions, 293
Cornwallis, Lord, ii. 95
Cory, Ann, i. 509
Cottage meetings, i.558; and P.M.C., 570
Coughlan, Lawrence, ii. 36; com
mences M. in Newfoundland, 201,
202, 206, 286 Coulburn, ii. 253
Countess of Huntingdon's Con nexion, i. 270 ; see also Hunting don, Countess of Court of Arches, and the Gedney
case, i. 403 Covel, J., ii. 105 Covenant Service, the, Alleine's
Covenant at, i. 181 ; origin of, 290 Coventry, i. 575 Cownley, Joseph, his gifts as
preacher, i. 297 ; and Kilham, 491 Cowper, William, i. 347 ; his Task
and the Evangelical Revival, 348,
355; quoted, 379; hymns by, ii.
143
Cox, Joseph, ii. 315, 316, 317, 328 , Melville, B., ii. 171 ; and
Liberia, 378, 390 Cozens-Hardy, William Hardy, i.
535 ; and Holt chapels Chancery
suit, 535 ; Lord Justice, son of,
535 Crabbe, George, his Borough and
M., i. 419 Cradock, ii. 272
Craigmore Children's Home, ii. 31 Cranston, Bishop, ii. 228 Crawfoot, James, i. 568 ; becomes an
evangelist, 571 ; leaves P.M., 573 Crawford, A. J., ii. 171 Creamer, David, his Methodist
Hymnology, ii. 143, 144, 145 Credibility of the Gospel History,
Lardner's, i. 131 Creeks, missions to, ii. 171, 371 Creighton, James, i. 231, 317, 389;
ii. 84
Crimean War, i. 592 Croft, Dr. William, i. 115 Crombie, Rev. Andrew, ii. 479 Crompton, Samuel, i. 337
, J. C., ii. 222
Cromwell, O., quoted, i. 31 ; 78, 101 ;
and Howe, i. 122, 504 ; conflicts
of, and the later settlement, 538
, James O., ii. 90, 94, 209
Crondall, i. 522, 545 Crook, John, i. 391 ; ii. 456
, Dr. R., ii. 34
, Dr. William, ii. 31 ; his Ireland,.
and American M., ii. 61 Crooks, Dr. George R., ii. 135 Crosby, Fanny, ii. 147
, Sarah, i. 322
Cross, William, ii. 300 Crossfield, John Henry, i. 548
INDEX
601
Crothers, T. D., i. 540
Crowther, Jonathan, his Portraiture
of Methodism, i. 422 ; ii. 307 Crucifixion, at Dahomey, ii. 337 Cryer, Thomas, ii. 308 Crystal Brook, S. Australia, ii. 469 Cuba, M.E.C.S. in, ii. 412 Cucheral-Clarigny, M. quoted, i. 226 Cudworth, R., Wesley and, i. 21 1 ; 354 Culture. See Learning Cumberland,Duke of, approves early
M. army work, i. 316 Cumberland, i. 350 ; early M. in, 369 County, Canada, ii. 207, 208,
209
Cummin, Alexander, i. 495 Cummings, Governor, ii. 378 Cunnyngham, W. G. E., ii. 408 Cuthbertson, J. and T., i. 546 Cutler, Ann, i. 322 Cyprian, i. 41
DAHOMEY, ii. 305, 314 ; cruci fixion at, 337 ; 339
Dairyman's Daughter, Legh Rich mond's, i. 397 ; ii. 238
Dale, Dr. R. W., his English Con gregationalism, i. 65 n., 66 ; on Wesley's conversion, 201 ; on Wesley's Arminianism, 212 ; on the defect of the Evangelical Revival, 212, 548
Dancing, Flathead Indians sur prised at, ii. 374
Daniell, P., ii. 467
Dante, read by Wesley, i. 194
Danville, Knox Country, ii. 138
Darleston, i. 579
Darney, William, i. 298
Dartmoor, i. 503 ; O'Bryan preaches at the prison of, 506
Darwha, ii. 415
Dashiell, R. L., ii. 368
D' Aubigne, J. H. Merle, quoted, ii. 42
David, Christian, i. 202, 293
Davies, William, ii. 298
Davis, W. J., ii. 274
Davison, John, ii. 222
Dawson, William (' Billy '), account of, i. 398 ; and the first mis sionary meeting, 398
Day schools, see also Education ; W.M.C. approved establishment of, i. 416; 700 built, 417
Deaconesses, in English Methodist churches, i. 72 ; trained at Wesley's orphanage, 453 ; at the Children's Home, 455 ; W.M.C. and, 455 ;
Dr. Stephenson founds an order of, 455 ; on the foreign mission field, 455 ; the work of, 455 ; Wesley Reform Union employs, 539 ; U.M.F.C. Institute for, 546; P.M. Home for, 596; in German M., ii. 49 ; in Ceylon, 319, 340 ; in Germany, 397 ; and M.E.C., 397 n.
Dead, prayers for the. See Prayers
Dean, Hanah, ii. 63
Death, of Broughton, i. 153; rapture of M. in, 330, 331, 497
De Beaumarchais, his Mariage de Figaro, i. 360
Debtors, Oxford M. and, i. 143, 144
Declaration of Independence, the American, ii. 75, 81, 288, 451
of Rights (1688), the, pre pared by Lord Somers, i. 100 ; provisions of, 100 ; and House of Commons, 102
of Indulgence, Non-juring
clergy and the, 121 ;
, a, required of Dissenters,
363 ; ministerial, Temperance, i. 529 ; as to Fly Sheets, 530
Decline and Fall of Roman Empire, Gibbon's, i. 351
Decrease in membership, W.M.C. and a, i. 417 ; widespread, through agitation, 533, 534 ; in P.M., 581
Deed of Settlement for Chapels (1763), i. 371, 550
of Declaration, Wesley's, see
also Appendix B, vol. ii. ; i. 232, 291, 371, 372 ; and Warren's case, 428 ; and the itinerancy, 443, 444 ; Irish preachers and, ii. 16
Deer Creek, ii. 75
Defence of Camp-meetings, Jen- nings's, i. 565
Defence of religion, circa eighteenth century, i. 128
of Methodism, Wesley's best,
i. 330 ; renewed lives furnish a, 330
De Foe, Daniel, i. 109, 110; his journalism, 109; works of, 110; prosecution and persecution of, 110; married Miss Annesley, 169 ; on Dissent, 170, 546
De Imitatione Christi. See Kempis
Deism, a result of the Genevan Reformation, J. 11 ; and Arian- iem, 1 1 n. ; Presbyterians and Independents and, 1 1 ; Wesley
602
INDEX
and, 12 ; M. and, 12, 13 ; Prayer and, 12 ; in France and Germany, 12, 13 ; English leaders of, 12 ; ' Illumination ' and, 13 ; good results of controversy with, 13 ; M. experience and, 20 ; fashionable and vicious adherents to, 128 ; defence of Christianity against, 129-31 ; Bradshaw and, 139 ; its view of God, 211 ; con troversy concerning : injury to Church of England by, i. 116; general effect of, 123-7 ; Lecky on, 127; decay of spiritual religion during, 131 ; eighteenth century exponents of, 123-7 ; S. Clarke and, 129 ; and the Mosaic writings, 129 ; Warburton and, 129 ; Sherlock and, 130 ; Butler and, 130 ; in Ireland, ii. 5
Deity, The, Cooke's, i. 526
Delagoa, ii. 279
Delamere, i. 568
Delaware, ii. 59 ; river, 65, 66 ; White's house at, 76, 77, 87 ; Barratt's Chapel in, 87 ; 107 ; Indians in, 364 ; 514
Demerara, ii. 297, 312
Democracy, the, and the Franciscan Revival, i. 47 ; Wesley and, 226, 227 ; in church government, Wesley and, 227; of M., 226; in P.M., 573; in M.E.C., ii. 125; and the election of Presiding Elders, 119; in American M., ii. 507 ; see also Freedom and Authority
Dempster, Dr. John, ii. 172 ; founds first American Theo logical School, 383, 384 ; 389
Denmark, mission in, ii. 392
Denver University, ii. 141
Depa, Bantu chief, ii. 274
De Pauw University, Greencastle, Ind., ii. 141
Depravity, doctrine of total human, i. 53
De Quincey, Thomas, i. 105
Derby, i. 340 ; early M. in, 369 ; ' the Derby Faith ' and, 427 ; 449; Arminian M. at, 520; Reformers at, join U.M.F.C., 533 ; P.M. in, 574 ; Luddites and, 577
Derry, ii. 30
Derwent, N.S.W., ii. 242, 243
Descartes, philosophy of, i. 17 ; and materialism, 124
Dettingen, M. soldiers at, i. 315
Devizes, mob at, and C. Wesley,
i. 240
Devon, neglected condition of, i. 503, O'Bryan's work in, 505, 506 ; 513 ; Thorne in, 544 ; B.C.M. and, ii. 222
Devonport, i. 523
Devotional literature, read by Wesley, i. 180, 185 ; prepared by him, 185 ; permanent for Metho dists, 183 ; Wesley's gift of, 183
Dewsbury, Bramwell at, i. 411, ii. 475
Diary of an Early Methodist, i. 329
Dickens, Charles, i. 105, 546
Dickins (or Dickens), John, ii. 75 ; and publishing interests, 77 ; widow of, 88 ; offers Reso lution constituting M.E.C., 90; 91, 99, 100, 143, 147, 148, 156
Dickinson College, Carlisle, Penn., ii. 173
Dickinson (or Dickenson), Peard, i. 317, 389
Dictionary of National Biography, Butterworth in the, 395 ; and Kilham, 494 n. ; and Everett, 531 n.
Didache, the, its description of the apostolate, i. 70
Didsbury College, Manchester, Wes ley's portrait at, i. 203, see also frontispiece, vol. i. ; 430, 475 ; and teetotalism, 529 ; William Butler and, ii. 398
' Dinah Morris.' See Evans, Eliza beth
Discipline, through the class-meet ing, i. 287, 288, 289 ; on O'Bryan, 505 ; maintained in America, ii. 72, 73, 74 ; form of revised, 103
Discipline of the M.E.C., adopted, ii. 91 ; adopted by M.E.C.S., 187
Discourse concerning the Holy Spirit, Owen's, i. 122
on Free -thinking, Collins's, i.
128
Disosway, Gabriel P., ii. 365
Dissent and Dissenters, see also Nonconformity ; and education, i. 88 ; severe administration of laws against, in eighteenth century, 93, 115; toleration of, 93, 100; sufferings of, 94 ; Toleration Act for, 100 ; hampered under, 100, 101 ; Queen Anne dislikes the, 102, 103 ; calumniated by Sacheverell, 103 ; their city meeting-houses demolished, 103 ;
INDEX
603
under George I., 104 ; repeal of some penal acts affecting, 104 ; Test and Corporation Act and, 104 ; De Foe's Shortest Way •with, 110 ; his sufferings for, 110 ; Watts and, 112 ; a hymn of, sung at coronation of Edward VII. , 112; Baxter's defence of, 122 ; sufferings of, 122 ; effect of persecution upon, 122 ; com promised by some, 122 ; Boling- broke's persecution of, 126 ; decadence of at the rise of M., 122 ; S. Wesley, senr., re nounces, 166 ; in De Foe's time, 170 ; Susanna Annesley leaves, 170 ; some use hymns before M., 244 ; London evangelical, support Whitefield, 269 ; White- field licenses his chapels for, 271, 272, and uses liturgy in, 271, 272 ; Wesley distinguishes M. from, 324 ; and middle classes in 1 8th century, 342 ; dis approve M., 326 ; exclude M. from Lord's Table, 326; assist in keeping English Sunday, 326 ; marriages of, permitted in chapels, 364 ; causes of steady approximation of M. to, 388 ; Lord Sidmouth's Bill and, 402 ; in Devon, circa 1815, 503 ; and missions, ii. 287 Dissertations, Bentley's, i. 128
on Job, S. Wesley's, i. 167
Distilling, Wesley and, i. 224 District Meetings, and the Halifax Circular, i. 384 ; W.M., laymen in financial, 403 ; constitution and work of financial, 404 ; Annual, 404 ; Minor, 404, 429 ; Special, 404 ; in the Leeds organ case, 425, 426, 515 ; special powers of, in Warren's case, 428, 517 ; representatives of, in W.M. Conference, 442 ; Kilham advocates lay repre sentation in, 492 ; inquiry into character by, 519 ; division of M.N.C. into, 526; U.M.C., 550; ten P.M., 588 ; representation of, 588 ; importance of, in P.M., 589, 591 ; station ministers, 589 ; * Districtism ' and ' District man,' 590 ; enterprise of , 590, 591 ; Con ference takes place of, in P.M., 593, 594 ; Irish, laymen in, ii. 18 Divine Legation, The, Warburton's, i. 129
Divinity, practical, early preachers' knowledge of, i. 297
Dixon, James, ii. 218
Dobschiitz, Prof, von., ii. 120
Doctrines, M., and the abolition of slavery, i. 225 ; standard of, in W.M.C., 221, 306 n., ii. 488 ; M. summarized, i. 305, 306 ; embodied in C. Wesley's hymns, 244, 246-8 ; of evangelical Arminianism, 304 ; John Nelson defends M., 315 ; M. secession on, 427 ; M.N.C. fidelity to, 525 ; of U.M.C., 551 ; and early American M., ii. 73; of the M.E.C., 116; and secessions, 131 ; American, and theological advance, 150 ; Canada, 209, 231 ; M.E.C.S., and M., 198 ; characteristic, 427 ; unity in, 448 ; 488, 489 ; American tendencies as to, 508
Dodd, Dr., i. 118
Doddridge, Philip, i. 123 ; his association with M. disapproved, 326 ; and Wesley, 326
Dodwell's argument, Wesley and, i. 13, 121; answered by S. Clarke, 129
Doggett, Bishop David S., ii. 193
Dogmas, religious, M. organized without uniformity as to, i. 227
Dominica, ii. 290
Donegal, ii. 12
Donne, John, i. 354
Dorchester, its Free School, 1. 166
Douglas, Dr. George, ii. 195, 465
Dow, Lorenzo, and Hugh Bourne, i. 423 ; Peter Phillips and, 559, 564 ; Clarke and, 564 ; Journal of, 565 ; and P.M., 565 ; and camp-meetings, 565 ; hymn-book of, 573 ; and the Great Revival, 576 ; ii. 105, 205
Down, ii. 25
Downes, John, a genius, i. 297 ; at the first Conference, 308
Doxology, the, sung at Methodist Reunions, ii. 454
Drama, Wesley's study of the, i. 209 ; in the early eighteenth century, 112; Macaulay on, 113 ; improved moral tone of, 113
Draper, Daniel J., ii. 248, 257
Dreams, B.C.M. affected by, i. 510; and the extension of M.N.C. China mission, ii. 343
Drees, Supt., quoted, ii. 385
Dress, Wesley's, i. 203 ; of the early preachers, 300 ; American M. and, ii. 78 ; of early American
604
INDEX
preachers, 98, 109, 110; display in, Wesleyan Church of America and, 127 ; Free Methodist Church (U.S.A.) and, 134
Drew, Samuel, i. 394, 422 ; his Life of Coke, quoted, ii. 87 ;
Daniel, founds Theological
Institute, ii. 141
Theological Seminary, New
Jersey, ii. 141 ; Library of, 63, 143, 150
Dreyfus controversy, ii. 45
Driefontein, ii. 276
Drinkhouse, E. J., ii. 126
Dromgoole, Edward, ii. 89, 156
Dryden, John, i. 92, 111
Dualism, in Puritanism, i. 63 ; in Methodism, 64
Dublin, i. 569 ; ii. 1, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 17, 19, 22, 24, 25, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 58 ; Wesley College at, 24 ; the Bethesda in, and Trinity College, 35 ; union in, 457
Duckworth, Alderman James, i. 547, 548
Dudley, i. 519
Duff, Dr. Alexander, ii. 307
Duffield, ii. 222
Dugmore, H. H., ii. 274
Dummer, Hervey curate at, i. 151
Duncan, James A., ii. 131, 194 - Bishop William W., ii. 196
Duncan's Island, ii. 138
Dundee, ii. 276, 277
Dunedin, ii. 253
Dungannon, ii. 17, 18
Dunham, Darius, ii. 203, 204, 205
Dunn, Samuel, Conference ques tions and expels, i. 431, 531 ; account of, 532 ; Dixon's letter to, 538 ; and Hughes and re union, 539 ; ii. 449
Dunton's Athenian Gazette, i. 167
Dunwell, J. R., ii. 298, 337
Durban (Port Natal), ii. 275
Durbin, Dr. J. P., ii. 170, 173, 367, 368, 398
Durham, i. 316 ; early M. in, 369, 541, 583
Dutch Reformed Church in U.S.A., ii. 110
Dutch, the, in South Africa, ii. 271 church of, in South Africa, 275
Dyer, John, i. 112
Dying Christian to his Soul, The, Pope's, i. Ill
EAGAR, Edward, ii. 239
Early, Bishop John, ii. 169, 188, 190
Earthquake (1756), C. Wesley's hymns and the, i. 244
East Anglia, P.M. in, i. 583, 592 - Bridgford, i. 575
India Company, Coke and, ii.
293 ; ii. 295
East, Samuel, ii. 251
Easton, John, and Wesley's abridge ment of a novel, i. 350
Eckett, Robert, and Leeds organ case, i. 516 ; and Bunting, 516 ; presents appeal to Conference Committee, 519 ; advocates free election of delegates, 519 ; ac count of, 520 ; his Conference Methodism, 520 ; and Wesleyan Reformers, 536; secretary of first U.M.F.C. Assembly, 537
Eckhart, John, i. 59, 60
Eclectic Review, Bunting and the, i. 406
Economics, Wesley and Christian, i. 225 ; influence of M. and, 374
Ecuador, and Roman Catholicism, ii. 388 ; grants religious liberty, 388
Ecumenical Conference, i. 477 ; Griffith at, 539; London, 1881, ii. 84 ; stimulates desire for Canadian union, 221, 462 ; and the United Brethren in Christ, 136 ; 195 ; Missionary Conference, U.S.A., 369 ; effect on M. union, 447 ; of 1891, and Australian re union, 469, 470 ; of 1901 and the U.M.C., 470, 478 ; and the re union of M.E.F. and M.E.C.S., 522
Eddy, T. M., ii. 368
Edendale, ii. 276
Edgar, A. R., ii. 260
Edinburgh, Duke of, ii. 263
Edmonton, ii. 231
Education, of ministers, see Preachers ; state of general, in England in 18th century, i. 87-9 ; hindered by Conformist legislation, 88 ; Dissenters and, 88 ; charity and endowed schools and, 88 ; of girls, 88 ; not for the poor, 89 ; Wesley's at home, and at the Charterhouse, 173 ; Wesley's principles of, 218 ; 18th-century writers on, 218 ; for all, 219 ; Wesley's schools, 219 ; M. impulse to popular, 219 ; harsh at Kmgswood, 219, 220 ; Wesley helps by cheap literature, 220 ;
INDEX
605
W.M.C. and elementary, 416, 470 ; denominational, approved, 417 ; schools built and grants accepted by, 417, 450; Conference declara tions upon, 47 1 ; training colleges for teachers for, 471, 472; secon dary, Wesleyan, 472-4; proprie tary schools, 472; fund for provid ing university, 473 ; religious, of children to-day, 475 ; M. in Ire land, ii. 32 ; American M. and higher, 92 ; work of M.E.C., 140-2 ; M.E.C.S. Board of, 195 ; Canadian M. and higher, 231 ; secondary M. and Australian, 261 ; higher, on mission fields, 303, 304 ; in India, 303, 307, 308, 318, 319, 321, 322, 323, 324 ; risks of, there, 327 ; in China, 331 ; in West Indies, 335 ; in West Africa, 338 ; in Liberia, 380; higher, in S. American missions, 386 ; U.S.A. Government helps M.E.C., 366; in Japan, 405 ; in China, 408 ; at Minas, 412 ; in Cuba, 412
Edwaleni, ii. 415
Edward VII., Watts's hymn at coronation of, i. 112; ii. 376, and U.M C., 482
Edwards, E., II. 270
J., Orange River, ii. 275
John, i. 396
Jonathan, i. 201, 211, 215;
Whitefield's association with, 267 ; Mrs. (wife of above), de scribes Whitefield's services, 274
Effeminacy of the upper classes, Wesley on the, i. 165; condemned by Dr. Annesley, 169
Egglestone, John, ii. 248, 251
Eighteenth century, the, philo sophy of, i. 16 ; in England generally, 78 ; material and social conditions in, 82-99 ; land cultivation in, 82 ; mineral pro duct in, 83 ; population in, 84 ; rich and poor in, 84 ; poverty in 85 ; commercial classes in, 85 financial conditions of, 85 growth of national debt in, 86 country gentry in, 87 ; im morality of upper classes in, 87 ; Christian life in, 87 ; educa tion in, 87—9 ; general ignorance in, 87—8 ; revolting amusements in, 89 ; Bartholomew Fair in, 89 ; Smithfield in, 89 ; immorality of Mayfair in, 90 ; gambling in, 90 ; coffee-houses in, 92 ; criminal
law in, 92 ; religious persecution in, 93 ; toleration in, 93 ; prisons and prisoners in, 94, 311 ; diffi culties of travelling in, 95, 96 ; London in, 97 ; rowdyism in, 98, 99 ; political situation in, 99—104 ; treatment of religious bodies in, see Church of England and Dissenters ; intellectual con ditions, 105; the 'Augustan Age,' 105, 113 ; literature in the early, 108-11; poets of the early, 111; dramatists of, 112-13; science in, 1 14 ; music in, 1 14 ; art in, 115 ; state of religion in, 115- 28 ; the Church of England in the early, 115-17 ; immorality of clergy and ministers in, 118 ; and their ignorance, 120 ; decadence of Dissent in early, 122 ; Deistical controversy in, 123—7 ; evange lical revival needed in, 132 ; religious societies in, 132 ; Oxford University in, 174 ; idleness and ignorance of university students in, 176, 177 ; its writers on education, 218 ; a glimpse of,
310 ; later : development of
English commerce in, 337-40 ; in ventions in, 337-8, 340 ; roads and transit in, 338 ; canals in, 339 ; increase of banking in, 339 ; improvement of pottery in, 339 ; extension of glass-making, 340 ; growth of linen, iron, and other trades, 340 ; M. and the oppor tunities of the, 341 ; Church of England and the, 341 ; dissenting churches and, 342 ; improved social conditions in, 343-5 ; gambling prevalent in, 343 ; amusements improved in, 344 ; decline of intemperance in, 344 ; roystering in, 345 ; increase of horse-racing in, 345 ; its social changes synchronize with growth of M., 345 ; intellectual con ditions of, 345-7 ; poets of, 346-9 ; novelists of, 349-50 ; the stage in, 350 ; Gibbon's History in, 351 ; moral philosophy in, 352, 353 ; dearth of eminent theological writers in, 354 ; literary women in, 354 ; periodical press in, 355 ; artists in, 356 ; its trend towards revolt and, 357 ; political situation in, 357-62 ; wars and victories in, 359 ; demand for reforms in, 359 ; war
606
INDEX
with America in, 360 ; the French Revolution and England in, 360—2 ; condition of religion in, 362-8 ; relief of Dissenters and Roman Catholics in, 363 ; con dition of Church of England in, 364 ; condition of Nonconformity in, 366 ; condition of M., 368, 369 ; national influence of M. in, 369, 370
Ejection of non-juring clergy, i. 121
Elder, Presiding, ii. 119 ; autocracy of, 119
Eliot, George (M. A. Evans), i. 106, 521
Ellenborough, Lord, 566
Elliot, Dr. Charles, ii. 14, 36, 185, 188, 400
Elliott, J. A., ii. 322
Ellis, Ira, ii. 90
Reuben, ii. 89, 157
William, ii. 36
Ellwood, Thomas, his description of Newgate, i. 94
Elmfield College, i. 591 ; Petty and, 592
Elmina, ii. 314
Elmoor, Micah, i. 310
Emancipation, M. and slave, ii. 297 ; see also Slavery
Embury, Philip, U. 35 ; 55, 56, 57, 58; his priority in American M., 59 ; dedicates old John St. church, 60 ; 62, 63, 65, 66, 104, 155, 201, 202
Emigration, B.C.M. losses by, i. 545 ; of Irish M., ii. 15
Emory College, Georgia, ii. 173
Emory, John, elected Bishop, ii. 167; 173, 174
Emotion, Mysticism and, i. 55 ; M. and, 60 ; M. defined as the religion of, 321 ; its place in M. teaching, 322, ii. 426 ; ignored in the Deisti- cal controversy, i.127 ; in Susanna Wesley's Manual, 171 ; physical phenomena in revivals and, 216 ; O'Bryan emphasizes, 510 ; feeling and, ii. 427
Enclosure acts, i. 336, 345
and distress, i. 576
Encounter Bay, ii. 251
Encyclopedic, the, and English Deists, i. 12, 360
England (see also eighteenth cen tury), material and social con ditions of, at rise of M., i. 82-99 ; land uncultivated in, 82 ; wheat
crop in, 83 ; mineral product in 1 8th century and now, 83, 84 ; population at rise of M., 84 ; party government in, 101 ; its inter national ascendency regained, 101 ; Wesley praises the liberties of, 224 ; life and society in at his death, see Contents, i. 334 ; Canada, secured by, 359 ; effect of French revolution upon, 361, 362, 487
Enthusiasm of Methodists, Laving- ton's, i. 55
Enthusiasm, distrusted in 18th cen tury, i. 19 ; Wesley's hatred of so- called, 54, 61 ; and the Deistical controversy, 127 ; of M., aroused opposition, 128; of OxfordM.,141 ; 'Enthusiasts,' 144; of early M. , 311 ; Church of England and, 433
Entire Sanctification. See Holiness
Entwistle, Joseph, i. 414
Enyanyedu, ii. 276
Episcopacy, American M., is Presbyterian, i. 67, 69; Wesley thought it scriptural, not pre scribed, and a small point, 69; not exclusive, 69 ; reasons for, in American M., ii. 83 ; Wesley and, 125, believed to be apostolical, 158 ; of American M., 116, 160, 161, distinguishes from other M., 419; in M. Protestant Church, 126 ; abolished in W.M. Church of America, 127; The United Brethren in Christ and, 136 ; M.E.C.S. and, 198 ; of M. Church of Japan, 405 ; see also Bishops
Episcopal Methodists unite with Canadian M., ii. 173
Epochal men, Louis Napoleon's theory of, i. 80 ; Wesley's place among, 80
Ep worth, Wesley born at, i. 164, 165; S. Wesley at, 166; rectory of, burnt, 171, 194; Wesley's childhood at, 173, 203 ; Wesley declines to be rector of, 188 ; Kilham's birth at, 489 ; revival at, 489 ; M.N.C. Centenary cele bration at, 542
, League, ii. 195, 197
, Rhodesia, ii. 280
Erasmus, i. 25
Erie Conference, ii. 98
Erskine, George, ii. 242, 247
Lady Anne, i. 344
Escott, T. H., the Gedney case and, i. 403
INDEX
607
Essay on the Human Understanding, Locke's, i. 106
Essex, early M. in, 369
Ethics, Christian, Wesley's en thusiasm for, 212 ; Dale on the neglect of, 212 ; Wesley preached much on, 209, 213, 214; and antinomianism and Calvinism,
; 213 ; and Wesley's doctrine of
| Holiness, 214 ; safeguards as to, in M., 289 ; M. teaching of, 322
Eton College, John Dickins and, ii. 158
Etshowe, ii. 276
Europe, revolutionary era of, i. 487 ; M. in, see Contents, ii. 40 ; see also Tinder names of countries ; M. the one great catholic Protestant church of, 398
Eva, Rev. G. H., ii. 280
Evangelical Alliance, Bunting and the, i. 408
Evangelical Association (Evan- gelische Oemeinschaft), the, and M., ii. 48 ; 136 ; in Germany, 137 ; division of, 137 ; and reunion, 526 ; in Canada, 528
Evangelical Revival, the (see also Methodism), and musical condi tions of 18th century, i. 115; alleged misrepresentation of clergy by leaders of, 116 ; needed, after the Deistical controversy, 132 ; linked with the Protestant Re formation, 200 ; C. Wesley's hymns and, 246 ; Cowper's Task a result of, 348 ; Gibbon's History and, 352 ; religious and philanthropic results of, 365, 366 ; national influence of, 370
Evangelical Witness (Canada), ii. 220
Evangelism, Wesley's, and educa tion, i. 177 ; and ethical preaching, 209 ; at town-mission centres, 456, 457 ; and the For ward Movement, 457 ; in M.N.C. 551 ; Band-Room Methodists and, 556 ; and camp-meetings, 560 ; ' Evangelical cavalry,' ii. 69 ; of the M.E.C.S., 198 ; all M. emphasize, 421, 437
EVANGELIST MISSIONARY CHURCH, ii. 514
Evangelist, the (see also Apostle and Evangelism), in the primitive church, i. 70 (see also Wesley, Whitefield, and others) ; John
Smith as, 414 ; O'Bryan as, 425, 503 ; Kilham as, 497 ; in B.C.M., 509 ; William Booth as, 541 ; Caughey as, 545; Guttridge as, 545 ; Bourne and Clowes as, 545 et seq. ; Cartwright as, ii. 123 ; in present-day M., 499
Evans, Daniel, i. 503, 507
, Edward, first native American
preacher, ii. 665
, Elizabeth, ' Dinah Morris,' i.
312, 322, 396, 520; leaves and returns to W.M.C., 427, 520 ; and ' Seth Bede,' 573
, Ephraim, ii. 225
, John, at Fontenoy, i. 316
, William, i. 316, 451
Evansdale, ii. 276
Evelyn, Sir John, i. 153
Evening services, M. and, i. 342 ; Churches of England and Scotland and, 342
Everett, James, and Southey and Wesley, i. 302 ; opposes Theo logical Institution, 430 ; and the Centenary Celebration, 430 ; and Wesleyan Takings, 430, 530 ; expulsion of, by W.M. Confer ence, 431, 531 ; Bunting and the sentence on, 528 ; and the authorship of Fly Sheets, 430, 530 ; account of, 531 ; works of, 531 ; and Adam Clarke, 532 n. ; his Wesleyana, etc., 532 n. ; with Dunn and Griffith appeals to the people, 533 ; his view of Kilham, 536; President of U.M.F.C. first Assembly, 537 ; pre pares hymn-book for U.M.F.C., 537 ; not a constructive states man, 547 ; ii. 449
, Joseph, ii. 89 ; opposes
O'Kelly, 103
Eversfield, Stephen, i. 495
Evidences of Christianity, Paley's, i. 353
Excitement. See physical pheno mena
Exeter, U.S.A., Whitefield, at, i. 275
Experience, Religion of, see As surance ; relation of Christian, see Testimony ; M. emphasizes Idea of, i. 7 ; scientific value of, 27 ; individual, balanced by collective, in M., 29 ; value of individual, 60 ; of personal salva tion, and C. Wesley's hymns, 246, 247 ; the class-meeting and,
608
INDEX
289 ; and M. missionary enter- prize, ii. 287 ; all M. emphasize significance of, 421
Exports, in early 18th century, i. 338 ; increase in 18th century, 340
Exposition of the Laws of Conference Methodism, Eckett's, i. 520
Expulsion, of band members, i. 285 ; of Kilham, 386 ; of Bourne, Clowes, and Steele, 424 ; of O'Bryan, 425, 505 ; of Warren, 428 ; of Everett, Dunn, and Griffith,43 1,438, 531; of members, 438, 518, 533 ; of Bromley, 531
Exley, R. J., ii. 353
Extension Fund, W.M.C., i. 469 ; M.N.C., 542
Eynon, John Hicks, ii. 222
Eyre, General, ii. 335
FABEB, DR., hymns of, i. 249
Factory Acts, M. and the, i. 399
Fairfax, Va., ii. 94
Fairley, R., ii. 356
Fairven, Natal, ii. 415
4 Faith,' in Protestant theology, i. 9 ; more than mere assent, 25 ; of M., 30 ; ' preach faith till you have it,' 196; in the Homilies, 196 ; Luther's definition of evangelical, 199, 201 ; and works, 200 ; psychological results of Wesley's, 202
Faizabad, ii. 320, 321
Faku, Bantu chief, ii. 274
Familienfreund (Evangelische Apo- logete), ii. 407
Famine, in India, ii. 323 ; in China, 329
Farmer, Thomas, ii. 315
Farquhar, George, i. 112
Farrer, F. W., on Wesley, i. 233
Fasting, Oxford Methodist practice, i. 145 ; William Morgan and, 148
Fatshan, ii. 316, 329
Faulkner, Prof. J. A., i. 224 ; ii. 55
Fauresmith, ii. 275
Federation, of Protestant Churches in America, ii. 150 ; of British M. Churches, 441 ; M.E.C. Commis sions on, 526, 527
Fellowship (see also Class-meetings), in Monasticism and M., i. 41 ; in Moravianism, 281 ; organization of, in M., 283-89 ; lack of, in Church of England, 289 ; value
of, in early M., 369 ; a condition of membership in M.N.C., 542 ; in U.M.C., 559 ; M. appeals to the African, ii. 280 ; all Methodist churches emphasize, 421, 437 ; forms of, 440, 491 et seq.
Female Missionary Society, ii. 366
Female preaching. See Women Workers
Fenelon's letters, i. 187 ; Wesley's approval of, 188, 211
Fernando Po, ii. 355
Fernley Lecturer, first Australian, H. 262
Fetter Lane society. See Religious societies
Few, Dr. Ignatius, ii. 173
Fiddian, Samuel, ii. 263
Fielding, Henry, novels of, i. 87, 117, 345, 349, 350
Field-preaching. See Open-air preaching
Fiji, mission to, ii. 300, 309
Filey, i. 583
Final perseverance, and Wesley's doctrine of Assurance, i. 19
Finances, English, in the 18th century, i. 86 ; M., and the Class- meeting, 287 ; crisis in Australian M. and, ii. 259
Financial efforts, M., the largest in
Christian history, i. 281 ; ,
W.M.C. Centenary, 429 ; Relief and Extension Fund, 440 ; Jubilee, 448, ii. 317; Thanks giving Fund, i. 442, 448, 465, 469, 472 ; Twentieth Century Fund, 448, 477, ii. 341 ; extinction of mission debts, i. 449 ; fund for chapels in watering-places, 451 ; Extension Fund, 469 ; for Train ing Colleges, 472 ; , M.N.C.,
525 ; Thanksgiving Fund, 527 ; Centenary Fund, 542 ; Extension
Fund, 542 ; , B.C.M. Jubilee,
Thanksgiving, and New Century
Funds, 545; , in U.M.F.C.,
London Extension, 546 ; College Endowment, 547 ; Anniversary, Wesley Memorial and Twentieth
Century Funds, 549; , U.M.C.
Thanksgiving Fund, 551 ; ,
P.M. Missionary Jubilee Thanks giving, 596 ; Centenary, 597 ;
, of Irish M., ii. 22, 23, 25, 31 ;
, of M.C.A., 259, 261 ; ,
for West Indies, ii. 302
Fingos, ii. 274, and n.
Finland, M.E.C. in, ii. 403
INDEX
609
Finley, James B., ii. 121, 169, 171, 181, 184 ; quoted, 370
Finney, Charles G., i. 211
Fire at Ep worth parsonage, i. 171, 194
Firth, Mark, i. 540
, Thomas, i. 540
Fisk, General Clinton B., ii. 131, 194 j
, Dr. Wilbur, ii. 138, 168, 170,
172 ; and slavery, 178 ; as leader, 196, 214 ; calls for missionaries to | the Indians, 375, 389
Fison, Dr. Lorimer, ii. 262
Fitchett, Dr. W. H., i. 228 ; his summary of M. statistics and ' finance, 280 ; and Wesley's itin- j erations, 294 ; on the uniqueness of Conference, 309 ; ii. 262, 264, 471
* Fits.' See Physical phenomena
Fitzgerald, Bishop Oscar P., ii. 196, 369
, Lady Mary, i. 396
Fire Mile Act, i. 566, 567
Flamborough, i. 583
Flathead Indians, mission to, ii. 373 ; search for the Bible, 373 ; dissatisfaction of, 374 ; results of their search, 375, 377; Hudson Bay Co. and missions to, 376
Flax, New Zealand, ii. 242
Flaxman, John, i. 357
Fleet prison, the, i. 118, 489
Flemyng, Bishop, founds Lincoln College, Oxford, i. 177, 178 ; favours Lollards, 177 ; burns Wyclif's remains, 177
Flesher, John, i. 585, 586, 588
Fletcher, John, i. 164, 207 ; and ' The Methodist Church,' 229 ; account of, 318-20; Wesley's opinion of his Checks, 319 ; ex positor of Arminianism, 320 ; declines to succeed Wesley, 320 ; his works help Coke, 320; 364; tries to make peace among preachers, 372 ; Lives of, 421 ; and Captain T. Webb, 59 ; Fisk compared with, H. 168, 286
, Mrs. Mary, her Life, and
work, 320, 322, 396 ; is refused Lord's Supper, 388
Flinders Island, ii. 249
Florence, ii. 46 ; M.E.C. in, 401 Floy, ii. 127
Fluvanna, Virginia, Broken Back Chapel at, ii. 76, 157 ; sacramen tal question at Conference at, 76 Fly Sheets from the ' Private
VOL. n
Correspondent,' agitation as to,
430, 438, 529; subjects of, 530;
Fowler and, 530 ; test as to
authorship of, 530 Foggia, ii. 401 Fontenoy, Methodist soldiers at, i.
316, 451
Foochow, M.E.C. at, ii. 343, 389 Foote, Samuel, i. 350 Fordesburg, ii. 278 Foreign missions. See Missionary
enterprise, under name of
churches Forest Methodists. See Crawfoot
of Dean, i. 543
Forrest, Jonathan, ii. 90 Fort Beaufort, ii. 272
Garry, ii. 225
Forward Movement, W.M., i. 458 ;
Hughes and, 460 ; success of
centres of, 461 ; in Ireland, ii.
30; in Australia, 260. See also
Missions, Wesleyan town Foster, Anthony, ii. 264
, Rev. H. J., i. 157 n.
, James, ii. 157
, Bishop R. S., quoted, ii. 113 ;
119, 522
Foulahs, the, ii. 298 Foundery, the. See London chapels Fowler, Dr. Charles H., ii. 131, 194,
368 , Joseph, opposes Bunting's
policy, i. 407, 430 ; and the Fly
Sheets, 530 Fox, George, i. 40; Wesley and,
40 n.; and women workers, 72;
and Launceston Jail, 94 , Mr., his religious society, i.
197, 284 Foy, Captain, and his financial
proposal, i. 287 France, Treaty of Paris and, i. 337 ;
England at war with, 359; French
driven out of Canada, Nova
Scotia, and Louisiana, 359 ;
surrenders military rule in India,
359 ; , origins of M. in, ii.
41, 42, 43, 45, 46 ; Dr. C. Cook's
work in, 42 ; need and influence
of M. in, 45, 50; M.E.C. assist
W.M.C. in, 369 ; M.E.C. in, 404 ;
M. Conference in, 446 Franciscan Revival. See St. Francis Francke, August Hermann, a
Pietist, i. 53, 280 Frankfort, ii. 275, 3D7 Franklin, Benjamin, Whitefield and,
i. 273
39
610
INDEX
Frederick County (Maryland), ii.
55
Free Churches, Acts of Parliament secured for, by Wesley ans, i. 468. See also Nonconformity Freedom, of inquiry, right of Chris tians to, i. 128 ; of speech, Wesley allowed, 226 ; at early Conference, 309 ; M. vindicated right of, 323, 527 ; George III. and, 345 ; Wesley's autocracy and Pro testant, i. 226 ; spiritual and M. fellowship, 227 ; of M. from episcopal control or dogmatic uni formity, 227 ; of prophesying by laymen and women, 228 ; ecclesiastical, for American M., 231, ii. 86 ; and authority, con flict in M. between, 486, 487, ii. 419, 420 ; in M. worship and work, i. 560 ; of will, see Will Free Evangelical Church of Italy,
ii. 403
Freeman, Henry, imprisonment of, i. 509
, T. B., ii. 304, 314
FREE METHODIST CHURCH (U.S.A.), ii. 131, 515 ; and doctrinal loose ness, 132; B. T. Roberts and, 1 32 ; expulsion of leaders of, from M.E.C., 132 ; organized, 133 ; doctrines and discipline of, 133 ; and asceticism, and dress, 134 ; prohibits intoxicants andtobacco, 134; witness of, 134, 150; mis sions of, organized, 415 Freetown Centenary, ii. 338, 351,
414 Free Trade agitation, 544
Willers, I. 511
Fremantle, Perth, W.A., ii. 251 French Canadians, mission work amongst, ii. 226
Revolution, causes of, i. 360,
361 ; English leaders and, 361 ; its influence on the rise of the M.N.C., 487, 502 ; O'Bryan studies the, 504 ; slavery and, ii. 119
Friendly Islands, ii. 242, 299, 300 Friends, Society of (see also Quietism and Fox, George), and Montanism, and Methodism, i. 39, 40 ; insists upon quietude, 59 ; place of women workers in the, 72 ; O'Bryan's family con nexions with, 504 ; helps and influences B.C.M., 511 Full connexion. See Ordination
Funeral sermon, Wesley preaches Whitefield's, i. 275
Future punishment, i. 35 ; preach ing of, in middle period, 414 ; Free Methodist Church (U.S.A.), article on, ii. 133 ; and the modern appeal, 490
GAL ATI ANS, Luther's, Wesley on, i. 54 ; C. Wesley reads, 199
Gallas, mission to, ii. 352
Galle, ii. 294 ; college at, 318
Gallienne, M., ii. 43
Galloway, Bishop Charles B., ii. 196
Galpin, Rev. F., ii. 353
Gambia, ii. 338
Gambling, English, in the eight eenth century, i. 90 ; Government income from, 91 ; widespread practice of, 91 ; in Westminster, 91 ; licences for, 91 ; a tax upon, regretted by Swift, 91 ; forests denuded for debts of, 92 ; coffee houses and, 92 ; Wesley on, 224 ; prevalence of, 343 ; lotteries re duced, 343 ; in Roman Catholic bazaars, ii. 387
Gambold, John, Oxford Methodist, later Moravian bishop, i. 147 ; Wesley's opinion of, 154 ; sketch of his life, 154-6, 178; and the ' offence of faith,' 196; describes Wesley, 205
Gandy, William, i. 537
Gaols. See Prisons
Garibaldi and Protestant missions, i. 447 ; ii. 45
Garland, Chancellor L. C., ii. 131, 194
Garrett, Charles, and Liverpool Mission, i. 458 ; account of, 459 ; temperance advocacy by, 529 ; and union, ii. 474
f Mrs. Eliza, ii. 141
Biblical Institute, 111., ii. 141
Garrettson, Freeborn, widespread work of, ii. 18 ; and Asbury's prayers, 68 ; 69, 75, 77 ; frees his slaves, 80 ; beaten, 82 ; 87, 88, 89 ; his chapel, 93, 94 ; ' second only to Asbury,' 96 ; supports O'Kelly, 103 ; 156, 164 ; and slavery, 175 ; in Canada, 209 ; Wesley and, 209
Garrick, David, i. 113 ; Whitefield and, 274 ; 351
Gas, invention of, i. 338 ; effect of invention of, upon M., 342
Gatch, Philip, ii. 69, 77 ; frees his
INDEX
611
slaves, 80 ; is persecuted, 95, 96 ; 156 ; with others, ordains preachers, 157 ; and slavery, 175
Gateshead, i. 519
Gavazzi, Father, in M.E.C. Con ference, ii. 400, 403
Gay, John, i. Ill
Geden, Dr. W. F., one of the Re visers of Old Testament, i. 474
Geelong, ii. 250, 253
Genesee, Conference at, ii. 131 ; sermons at, 140 ; Conference at, Canada and, 174, 210, 211
Genevan Reformation and Indivi dualism, i. 11 ; and Deism, 11 ; and women workers, 72
Gentry, country, in England in eighteenth century, i. 87
George I., freedom under, i. 104 ; Prime Minister and, 104; 117
II., i. 78, 117
— III., Wesley's praise of, i. 224 ; esteems the Countess of Huntingdon, 269 ; and commends her work, 270 ; 339 ; manners of Court of, 343 ; and freedom of speech, 345 ; character and qualities of, 357 ; acknowledges debt of England to M., 358 ; was a friend to mediocrity, 358 ; and Shakespeare, 358 ; governs by bribery, 358, 359 ; ii. 237 - IV., on Watson's reply to Southey, i. 330
— , Bishop Enoch, ii. 96 ; elected as bishop, 166, 174; visits Canada, 213, 365,
, Fijian King, ii. 309
, J. C., i. 531
Georgia, opened as Protestant refuge, i. 133; the Wesleys and Whitefield at, 133 ; effect of Wesley's voyage to, 138 ; Ingham goes to, 156 ; Wesley's educa tional work in, 219 ; Sunday school in, 219 ; C. Wesley goes to, 239 ; Wesley's mission in, 189-95 ; his High Churchism in, 192 ; he leaves, 194 ; results of his mission to, 195, 196 ; White- field goes to, 261, 265 ; ii. 53, 54, 70 ; first Conferences in, 94, 104 ; and slavery, 128, 171 ; laws of, prohibit emancipation, 183
Germany (see also Palatines), M. in, ii. 47-9, 136, 393 ; Evangelische Gemeinschaft and M. in, 48 ; M. agencies in, 49 ; Deaconess work in, 49 ; persecution in, 394 ;
W.M.C. mission and M.E.C. in 398, 447 ; M.E.C.S. mission to Germans, 407 Germiston, ii. 278 Ghent, M. soldiers at, i. 315 Gibbon, Edward, i. 119, 175, 176, 185 ; published his Roman Em pire, 351 ; his History and the Evangelical Revival, 352 Gibbons, Grinling, i. 115 Gibraltar, ii. 237
Gibson, Bishop, i. 117 ; condemns house and open-air meetings, 228
, Otis, ii. 390
— , Rev. William, ii. 44 Giessen, ii. 396, 397 Gilbert, Nathaniel, ii. 178 Giles, Brother (Franciscan), i. 48 Gill, Dr. John, C. Wesley's hymns and, i. 250 ; his commentary, 366
, William, ii. 89
Giotto, i. 46
Girls, education of English, in the
eighteenth century, i. 88, 89 Gladstone, W.E., on English Church in eighteenth century, i. 117 ; on M., 117 ; on Wesley, 162 ; on the Evangelical school, 164, 371 I Glascott, Cradock, i. 503 J Glasgow, university of, Reid and
Adam Smith at, 352 ; 530 i Glass, John, ii. 22 ! Glendenning, William, ii. 90
Glenorchy, Lady, i. 344 ! Gloucester, i. 367 ; Journal, 367 j Gloucestershire, rise of M. in, i. 294 ; early M. in, 369 ; P.M. in, 582
j Glorious Gospel Triumphs, Wats- ford's, ii. 248
| Gnomon Novi Testamentum, Ben- gel's, i. 222
God, doctrine of the Fatherhood of, and Calvinism, i. 35 ; M. doctrine of, ii. 487
! Godolphin, Lord, i. 103 | Goethe, quoted, i. 267 ! Gogerly, D. J., ii. 296, 306 ' Golbanti, ii. 352
Gold, discovery of, in Victoria, ii. 254 ; M. and S. African diggers for, 278
Goldsmith, Oliver, and capital punishment for slight offences, i. 93 ; his description of English prisons, 95; 113, 345, 346, 347, 350, 358 Gonds, The, ii. 322
612
INDEX
Gonuquabi, ii. 273 Goodman, Rev. C. H., ii. 351 Goodwin, John, i. 323 Gordon, General, ii. 317
, Lord George, i. 363
Goshen, U.S.A., II. 364 Gospel cars, i. 463 Goudie, Rev. William, ii. 325 Gough, Benjamin, i. 254
, Henry Dorsey, ii. 88
Government, by party, rise of, in England, i. 101 ; Locke's theory of civil, 106 ; George III. and, 358 ; of Rhodesia supports educa tional missions, ii. 381 ; gift by, to M.E.C.S. in Bello Horizonte, 411 Graaff Reinet, ii. 272 Graces, for tea meetings, i. 253 Grading in church membership, I.
282, 308
Graham, Charles, ii. 28 Grahamstown, Commemoration
Church of, ii. 272; 273 Grammar Schools, English, in the
eighteenth century, i. 88 Granberry, Bishop John C., ii. 196 ;
Granberry College and, 412 Grand Alliance, the, against Louis XIV., i. 102
Central Association, i. 518
Grantham, i. 578
Gray, Thomas, i. 346, 347
- William, i. 1 19 Gravesend, ii. 53 Great Pee Dee, ii. 96
Namaqualand, ii. 270
Greece, a pioneer among nations, i.
502 Greek Christianity, the note of, ii.
430 Green, Anson, ii. 218
, A. L. P., ii. 188
, John Richard, quoted, i. 46,
1 17, ii. 34 ; on Wesley, i. 164 ; on the M. impulse to education, 219 ; on M. and the abolition of slavery, 225 ; on Whitefield's preaching, 274 ; associates philanthropy with M. revival, 310, 371 ; on the character of the clergy, 503
, Lemuel, ii. 90
, Richard, describes William's
portrait of Wesley, i. 204 ; his Bibliography of Wesley's works, 221 ; his Anti- Methodist Publica tions, 329
Greenfield, Edward, imprisoned, i. 20 ; punished for believing his sins forgiven, 325
Greenville, ii. 415
Greeves, Dr. Frederick, and Reform
losses in membership, i. 533 Gregory, Benjamin, his Sweet Singer of Israel, i. 254 ; on Kil- ham's anticipations of reforms, 492 n. ; and Leeds organ case, 515
the Great, and Assurance, i. 21
Grey, Earl, and the abolition of slavery, i. 362; ii. 451
, Miss, Kilham marries, i. 498
Greytown, ii. 276 Griffith, Alfred, ii. 180
, William (father), i. 532
, (son), expelled, 431, 531 ;
account of, 532, 533; at (Ecu menical Conference, 538 ; and Osborn, 539 ; 547 ; ii. 449 Griffiths, William (Jamaica), ii. 350 Grimsby, John Nelson and the drummer at, i. 315 ; circuit, Kilham in, 490, 498 Grimshaw, William, his friendship with Ingham, i. 157, 215 ; account of, 317; mobbed, 326; 364 Griqualand, ii. 415 Grist, Mr. and Mrs. W. A., ii. 348 Grotius, Hugo, his Law of Nations,
i. 353
Grundell, John, i. 499 Guadeloupe, ii. 291 Guard, Thomas, ii. 36 Guardian representatives in U.M.C.,
i. 526 ; ii. 499 Guernsey, Mary Ann Werry and, i.
510
Guier, Philip, ii. 56, 57 Guiton, M., ii. 43 Guildford, W. A., ii. 251 Gulf of Mexico, ii. 105 Gumley, Mrs., and C. Wesley, i. 241 Gunwen, i. 504 Guthrie, Miss L., ii. 404 Guttridge, John, account of, i. 545 Guttry, Thomas, ii. 222 Guyon, Madame, Wesley publishes
life of, i. 188 ; 396 Gwenap Pit, Wesley preaches in,
i. 352
Gwynne, Miss Sally, C. Wesley marries, i. 241
HACKING, Thomas, i. 547 Hagenbach, quoted on M., i. 226 Haggerty, John, ii. 89 Haigh, Rev. Henry, ii. 322 Haime, John, account of, i. 20, 315 Hakkas, mission to the, ii. 331
INDEX
613
Halifax, early M. in, i. 369 ; Thompson's meeting at, 383 ; circular from, on M. govern ment, 383, 384 ; Deaconess centre at, 455 ; Thorn at, 498 ; M.N.C. growth at, 501 ; P.M. at, 556
, Canada, ii. 209
Halifax Courier, i. 542
Hall, Daniel, quoted, ii. 386, 387
. Francis, ii. 365
, Robert (Baptist), i. 522
, Robert (Notts), account of,
i. 499
, Westley, an Oxford M., i.
148 ; fall of, 148
, W. N., in China, ii. 343,
345
Halley, Edmund, i. 114
Hamilton, Canadian, Conference at, ii. 217 ; union committees at, 221, 462
Hamilton, Sir William, i. 352
Hamline, Bishop L. L., ii. 129, 184
Hammet, William, ordained by Wesley, i. 372
Hampden Clubs, i. 362
Hampshire, early M. in, i. 369, 583
Hampson, John, describes Wesley, i. 203
Hanby, Thomas, ordained by Wes ley, i. 372 ; 373, 390
Handel, G. F., oratorios of, i. 114
Handsworth, W.M.C. College at, i. 475 ; Asbury born at, ii. 68
Handy, Samuel, ii. 7, 8
Hankow, ii. 317, 328, 332
Hanley, High Church trustees and, i. 494 ; petitions Conference, 494 ; allowances at, 500 ; circuit, 502 ; Allin and, 524 ; and Dr. Cooke, 525 ; John Ridgway and Bethesda at, 527
Hannah, Dr. J., and the Mediation- ists, i. 535
Hannam, Thomas, i. 501
Hanyang, ii. 317, 328, 332
Hardey, E. J., ii. 307, 308
, Joseph, ii. 251, 252
Harding, Francis A., ii. 127
Hardwicke College, Mysore, ii. 323
Hardy, Spence, ii. 306
, Thomas, founds Corresponding
Society, i. 362
Hare, Edward, defends Doctrine of Assurance, i. 418
Harford County, ii. 61
Hargreaves, James, i. 337
Hargrove, Bishop R. K., ii. 196
Harley, Robert, Lord Oxford, i. 78, 103
Harnack, Professor Adolph, on M., ii. 397
Harper, John, ii. 246
Harris, Ho well, i. 201, 253 ; meets Wesley, 291 ; Whitefield co operates with, 264, 269 ; cleaves to Whitefield, 305
, Sir R. H., ii. 271
, Bishop W. L., ii. 368
Harrisahead, i. 562, 563, 565
Harrison, Dr. W. P., ii. 522 — , George W., i. 537
, John, i. 574, 575
Harrogate, Ashville College at, 1. 547 ; P.M. orphanage at, 597
Harrowby, Lord, i. 364
Hart, Dr. V. C., ii. 228
Hartley College, Manchester, i. 597
Hartley, John A., ii. 263
Hartley ton, ii. 280
Hartwell, Dr. G. E., ii. 228
Harvest Field, The, ii. 322
Harwood, Sir J. J., i. 542
Haslope, Lancelot, i. 395
Hassan, ii. 323
Hatherleigh, i. 503
Hathorn, Eleazer, i. 574
Hautz, Anton, ii. 137
Hav erf ord west, Gambold at, i. 156
Havre, Gibson at, ii. 44
Haweis, Thomas, i. 365
Hawkesbury River, ii. 239, 240, 247
Haworth, Grimshaw and, i. 317
Hawthorn, ii. 262
Hay, Brecon, Seward stoned at, i. 327
Hayfield, disruption at, i. 516
Haygood, Bishop Atticus G., ii. 196
Hayley, William, i. 348
Hayti, ii. 297, 312, 334
Headingley College, i. 475
Heaps, Christopher, i. 496
Heck, Barbara (nee Ruckle), ii. 35, 36 ; and first M. service in New York, ii. 56, 57 ; and the first American church, 59, 201
, Paul, ii. 36, 57, 201
Hedding, Elijah, ii. 69 ; elected Bishop, 167 ; in Canada, 213
Hedstrom, Olaf, ii. 391
Heeley, Edmund, leads Mediation- ists, i. 535
Heginbottom, Samuel, i. 499
Heidelburg, Transvaal, ii. 279
Heilbron, South Africa, ii. 275
614
INDEX
Heilbronn, U.S.A., ii. 397
Hell. See Future punishment
Helvetic Confession, The, and Assur ance, i. 23
Hendrix, Eugene R., ii. 196
Henry II. (of France), ii. 55
Henry, Matthew, his Commentary, i. 110; and C. Wesley's hymns, j 250
, Patrick, ii. 96
Hep worth, Alderman J., i. 542
Herbert, George, i. 123, 170, 435
, Lord Edward, i. 123 ; his j
Eclectic Theism, i. 123
Herder, J. G., i. 13 ; on Moravian teachers, 192
Heretics and Sectarians, Whitefield and Wesley in list of, i. 163
Hernandez, Aejo, ii. 408
Heroism, of early preachers, i. 301, 304 ; of Wesley and Nelson, 313; of early American preachers, ii. 95; of Japanese M., 416
Herridge, William, ii. 222
Herrnhut, Ingham and Wesley at, i. 157, 196, 202 ; Wesley's visit to, 281, 293
Herrod, John H., ii. 146
Hervey, James, an Oxford M., i. 147, 150; and Whitefield, 151; his conversion, 151 ; plans his Meditations, 152 ; becomes a j Calvinist, 152 ; his Theron and \ Aspasia influences Ingham, 152 ; ' popularity of his works, 153 ; 178 ; succeeds Whitefield at Dum- mer, 261
Herzog-Hauck, Realencylclopadie, ii. 120
Hesse-Darmstadt, preacher expelled from, ii. 396
Hessel, Eliza, i. 432
Heylyn, Dr., i. 198
Hibbard, Robert, ii. 69
Hibernian Auxiliary of W.M. Mis sionary Society, ii. 37
Hick, Samuel (' Sammy '), i. 412
Hickes's and Spinckes's Devotions, i. 194
Hicks, C. E., ii. 348
High Church party, The, supports Dr. Sacheverell's attacks on Dissenters, i. 103 ; devotion of non-juring clergy in, 121 ; regards Wesley and M. as schismatics, 231 ; and M. in New Zealand, ii. 253
High Churchism, of Oxford M., i. 145 ; Wesley's early, 145 ; Clay
ton's strong, 145 ; Rev. S. Wes ley's, 167 ; Wesley's at Wroote, 183; Clayton's and Wesley's, 183, 184 ; Palmer's, 184 ; character of Wesley's, 188, 189 ; in Georgia, 192 ; results of Moravianism compared with, 191 ; Wesley had no sympathy with (1746), 229; of C. Wesley, 239
Highwaymen, 18th century, i. 96 ; pseudo romance of, 97, 99 ; in Lon don, 99 ; and the preachers, 301
Hill, Aaron, i. 113
, David, ii. 328, 329, 330 ;
work of, ii. 332
, Green, first M.E.C. in the
home of, ii. 94
, Sir Richard, i. 319
, Rowland, i. 522
Hinchliffe, Dr. John, i. 119
Hintza, Bantu chief, ii. 274
Hiroshima, Girls' College at, ii. 413
History (see also Church history), philosophy of, i. 1 ; in relation to the church, 2 ; to M., 5 ; of the Idea of experience, 7
History and Mystery of Good Friday, Robinson's, i. 366
of the Bible Christian
Methodists, Bourne's, i. 544
Reformation in England,
and History of his own Times, Burnet's, i. 110, 111
Hobart Town, ii. 242, 243, 248
Hobbes, Thomas, his Leviathan, i. 17, 123, 124 ; teaching of, ap proved by Charles II., 124 ; answered by Dr. S. Clarke, 129
Hobson, Captain, ii. 249
Hocart, M., ii. 43
Hodge, Dr. S. R., ii. 329
, W. B., Ii. 345
Hodson, Thomas, ii. 307, 322
Hogarth, William, i. 356, 532
Hokianga, ii. 245
Holiness, ' perfect love,' Wesley's doctrine of, i. 31, ii. 436 ; desired by saints of all types, i. 32 ; teaching upon, contrasted, 33 ; in stant aneousness of its attainment, 33 ; witness of Monasticism to, 41; and joy identified, 48 ; is the sur render of the will, 52 ; and Mysti cism, 57 ; teaching of the Wesleys on, 58 ; Wesley's ideal of, an advance on Puritan righteous ness, 81 ; origin of M. doctrine of, 181 ; and Christian ethics, 214 ; C. Wesley's hymns and,
INDEX
615
244, 247; Mrs. Rogers's Experience and, 396; B.C.M. and, 510 ; P.M. | and, 562 ; Free Methodist j Church (U.S.A.) emphasizes, ii. j 133 ; and Roman Catholicism, 387 ; and Lutheranism, 395 ; all M. teach, 421
Holland, William, and Aldersgate j St. society, i. 199
, W., and P .M. missions,
ii. 356
Holliday, Anthony, i. 547
Holston, ii. 69, 93, 154
Holsworthy, i. 508
Holt chapel case, i. 535
Holton, Calvin, ii. 378
Holwell, Devon, i. 521
Holy Catholic Church. See Church
Holy Club, the, at Oxford (see also Oxford Methodists), i. 51 ; formed by C. Wesley, 139, 239 ; its social service, 144 ; meets in J. Wes ley's room, 146 ; described, 147 ; its members, 147 ; Whitefield and, 147, 259 ; later influence of members of, 154 ; S. Wesley and its philanthropy, 166 ; object of first attack on, 176 ; Wesley's casuistical rules for, 184 ; 364
Holy Spirit, the, operations of, and church history, i. 4 ; in M., 5 ; WTesley and the work of, 214 ; and liberty, 485, 487
Home, John, i. 350
Home missions, see also Missions, town, i. 449 ; Prest and, 458 ; in villages, 462, 463 ; U.M.F.C. system of preachers, 548
Homilies of Macarius, The, i. 186
Homilies of the Church of England, i. 196 ; and articles, 212
Hone, N., R.A., his picture of Wesley, i. 203
Hong Kong, ii. 315
Hongi, Maori chief, ii. 245
Honour, John, ii. 406
Hook, J. C., Ruskin and the works of, i. 545
Hooker, Archbishop, and Assur ance, i. 26, 105
Hope, and the gospel, i. 34, 35
Hopper, Christopher, and preacher's maintenance, i. 303 ; account of, 316; 383, 391
Horace, i. 105
Horae Paulinae, Paley's, 353
Horneck, Dr. A., his religious societies, i. 132
Hornerites, Canada, ii. 528
Horse, the M. preachers', i. 301
Leigh's famous, ii. 241
Horse-racing, in later 1 8th century, i. 345
Horsforth, Leeds, ii. 238
Horsley, Samuel, i. 354, 487
Horswell, James, i. 544
Horton, Dr. R. F., on Wesley's spiritual development, i. 183
, William, ii. 247
Hoskin, John, Ii. 206, 207
Hosking, John, ii. 239
Hospitals, of the M.E.C.S., ii. 197, 198
Hoss, Bishop E. E., ii. 196
Houghton, John and Mrs., ii. 352
House of Commons ; and party government, i. 101 ; Speaker of, and John Nelson, 313
of Lords, decision relieves
Dissenters, 1. 363
Howard, John, and prison reform, i. 95 ; Wesley and, 225, 311
Howe, Dr. John, i. 78, 122 ; and the Deistical controversy, 131 ; and Devon, 503
Howett, Dr. A. W., ii. 262
Hoxton, W.M.C. College at, i. 430
Huddersfield, M.N.C. suspected at, i. 496 ; 541 ; Black's home at, ii. 207 ; Squire Brooke and, 255
Hudson, Josiah, ii. 322 — , W., ii. 278
Bay Co. and missions to the
Indians, ii. 376 ; see also Manitoba — , River, ii. 69, 70, 164
Hudston, John, i. 540
Hughes, Hugh Price, on the birth day of M., i. 200 ; account of, 460 ; and the West London Mission, 460 ; and Temperance work, 529 ; and Dunn, and re union, 539 ; his attitude towards junior M. churches, 539 ; his journal and freedom, 539 ; and M. reunion, ii. 474, 475 — , Mrs, of Bath, i. 220
Huguenot, settlers and English commerce, i. 85 ; Church, M. and the, ii. 45 ; massacre, 55
Hull, Hope, supports O' Kelly, ii. 103, 105
f Wesley at, i. 217 ; Bramwell
at, 411 ; circular from, 491 ; and Kilham's reforms, 494 ; 530, 563 ; P.M. and, 579 ; circuit missions, 580, 582 ; 587, 588, 590
Hulme, Samuel, i. 526 ; and Barker, 526 ; ii. 473
616
INDEX
Human Nature, Butler's sermons on, i. 130
Humber River, i. 579, 580
Hume, David, i. 17 ; and Clarke's theory of innate ideas, 108, 127 ; Whitefield and, 274
Humphreys, Thomas, i. 292
Hunan, W.M. enter, ii. 333
Hunt, Aaron, ii. 105
, Dr. Albert S., ii. 131, 194
, John, in Fiji, ii. 300, 310
, Dr. S. A., ii. 470
Hunter, Dr. Andrew, ii. 195
, William, ii. 147
River, ii. 240, 247
Huntingdon, the Countess of, and Hervey, i. 152 ; Ingham marries the daughter of, 157 ; and Ben son's ordination of Whitefield, 262; account of, 269-70; George III. and his Queen and,
270 ; supports Whitefield, 270 ; her preachers, 270 ; erects Tre- vecca College, 270, 319; her Connexion, 270, 305, 419 ; and Tottenham Court Road Chapel,
271 ; and Whitefield's Georgian orphanage, 273 ; encourages lay preaching, 292 ; embraces Cal vinism, 305 ; procures John Nelson's discharge, 314 ; 344, 355, 365 ; her itinerants in Devon, 503 ; as slave-owner, ii. 175
, Lord, Wesley writes to, i. 209
Hurst, Benjamin, ii. 250
, Dr. John R, ii. 397
Hus, John, i. 23, 195 ; Wesley resembled, 267
Hussite hymnbook, i. 195
Hutchins (or Hutchings) John, Oxford Methodist, i. 157
, Richard, 150, 157 n.
Hutchinson, Colonel, and Mrs., i. 87
, John, ii. 244, 247
Hyderabad, ii. 326
Hymn-book (see also Appendix C), Hussite, i. 195 ; Wesley's first, 173, 194, 195; of 1780, a poeti- I cal Pilgrim's Progress, 251 ; U.M.F.C., 537 ; W.M.C., M.N.C., j andWesleyan Reform Union unite i in,542; American,ii. 142-6; M.E.C. \ and M.E.C.S. unite in a, 145, 195 ; theological influence of, upon M., 489 ; use in worship, 494
Hymns (fee also Appendix C), i. 242 et seq. ; use of, an innovation
at rise of M., 245 ; John Wesley's translations, and editorship, 251 ; C. Wesley's, for Mohammedans, ii. 145 ; strange, 144, 145 ; M.,
appeal to African, 280 ;
English writers of M., i. 254 ;
American, ii. 147 ; lining
out, and singing of, in early services, i. 307; in M.N.C., 501 ;
quoted, with authors (see also
Wesley, John, and Wesley, Charles): Addison, ' The spacious firmament on high,' i. 109, 173, 194, ' When all Thy mercies, O my God,' i. 109, 173, 194 ; Aus tin, ' Come, Holy Ghost, send down those beams,' 98, 185, 194 ; Bakewell, John, ' Hail, thou once despised Jesus,' 253 ; Boaden, Rev. E., ' Here, Lord, assembled in Thy name,' 254 ; Brailsford, Rev. E. J., ' Behold, behold, the Bridegroom nigh,' 254 ; Bunting, W. M., ' O God, how often has Thine eye,' 'Blessed are the pure in heart,' ' Holy Spirit, pity me,' 254 ; Cennick, J., ' Lo, He comes in clouds de scending,' 'Thou great Redeemer, dying Lamb,' ' Children of the heavenly King,' ' Grace before and after Meat,' 253; Olivers, Thos., ' The God of Abraham praise,' 253 ; Perronet, Ed., ' All hail the power of Jesu's name,' 253 ; Rhodes, Benjn., ' My heart and voice I raise,' 253 ; Tersteegen, ' Lo ! God is here ! Let us adore,' 208 ; Vine, Rev. A. H., ' O breath of God, breathe on us now,' 254 ; Watts, ' When I survey the wondrous cross,' ' O God, our help in ages past,' 112 ; Wesley, S., Senr., ' Behold the Saviour of mankind,' 187, 194, compared with ' All ye that pass by,' 246 ; Williams, Wm., ' Guide me, O Thou great Je hovah,' 253
IB A DAN, ii. 339
Idea, of experience, M. emphasizes the, i. 7 ; history of, in mediaeval church, 7 ; Wesley's, the noblest, 80, to spread holiness, 81
Idea Fidei Fratrum, Spangenberg's, i. 191, 192
INDEX
617
Idealistic philosophy, Samuel Clarke's, i. 107
Idleness, Wesley regarded as im morality, i. 176, 177, 178
Idols, tested, ii. 349 ; worship of, in New Zealand, 253
Idua, ii. 359
Ignatius, C. Wesley's hymns and, i. 250
Ignorance, of English clergy at the rise of M., i. 120 ; sinfulness of voluntary, 177
Ijebu, ii. 339
Ilkley, Deaconess Institute at, i. 455
Illinois, M. enters, ii. 105 ; Wesleyan University, 141 ; Potawatamies in, 372, 514
Illiteracy, South America, ii. 387 ; in Ecuador, 388
Illuminator, The, i. 518
Immorality, of English upper classes in 18th century, i. 87 ; and of amusements then, 89, 90 ; of the lower classes, 90 ; gambling and, 91 ; 18th-century coffee-hoiises and, 92; of early 18th-century dramatists, 112, 113; of many 18th-century clergy and ministers, 117, 118
Imports, growth of, in later 18th century, i. 340
Imprisonment of M., i. 584 ; see also Persecution of M.
Imputations against M., i. 329
Indaleni, ii. 276
Independent Methodists, of Scar borough, unite with Wesleyan Association, i. 520
INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCHES (see Contents, i. 554), origin of, 557, 560 ; first society of, 558 ; and the Society of Friends,
559 ; annual Conference of, 559 ; Phillips's work in, 558, 559; names of, 559, 560 ; relation to M. of,
560 ; and Lorenzo Dow, 564 ; and Mow Cop meeting, 566 ; Crawfoot and, 568 ^missions of, ii. 359
INDEPENDENT METHODISTS (U.S.A.), ii. 516
India, Christian Knowledge Society missions in, i. 133 ; treaty of Paris and, 337 ; civil service of, 345 ; British rule established in Southern, 359 ; W.M.C. in, 447 ; Independent Methodist missions in, i. 360 ; ii. 359 ; missionaries excluded from, 293 ; missions in, 296, 302, 303, 306, 320-8; see
also educational work in India ; missions and the national spirit of, 327 ; Mutiny in, 308 ; Free Meth. mission in, 415
Indiana, ii. 98 ; M. enters, 105, 169
Indians, North American, ii. 54 ; M. and tribes of, 123 ; in Canada, mission to, 224
Individualism and the individual, per se, had no place in Roman Church, i. 7 ; Realism and, 8 ; the Renaissance and, 9 ; Luther and, 9 ; justification by faith and, 9, 27 ; authority of, 10 ; Calvin and, 10 ; Genevan Reformation and, 11 ; his experience balanced in M. by connexionalism, 29 ; value of experience of, 60 ; and M., ii. 421
Indur, ii. 326
Industrial missions, ii. 224 ; Cana dian, 231; in India, 319, 320; and training, 323 ; U.M.C. in East Africa, 353 ; P.M. at Fernando Po, 359 ; among N. Amer. Indians, 371; in Liberia, 380; to Flat- head Indians, 376 ; in Oregon, 377
Ingham, Benjamin, Oxford Metho dist, i. 147 ; influenced by Theron and Aspasia, 152 ; account of, 156 ; and the Inghamites, 157, 284
Ingwavuma, ii. 276
Inhambane, mission in, ii. 381, 415
Inner light, doctrine of. See Assurance and Mysticism
mission, the, in Germany, ii.
397
Innocent, John, i. 542 ; ii. 343, 346
' Insane Society,' abstainers called the, i. 529
Instantaneousness, of holiness, of conversion, modern M. teaching and, i. 33
Institutes of Theology, Watson's, i. 422
Intellectualism and saintliness, i. 208, 203
Intemperance, in England, in the eighteenth century, i. 87 ; and the coffee-houses, 92 ; declined in later eighteenth century, 344 ; decline of in British army and navy, 453 ; and the common use of intoxicants, 529 ; M. in middle period and, 529 ; American M. and, ii. 78, 79 ; introduced into New Zealand, 253 ; North American converts and, 370, 372 ; see also Temperance work
618
INDEX
Intercession days, i. 300
Intra, ii. 46
Introspection, fails as a method, i. 17 ; Wesley's claim for, 18
Inventions, in later eighteenth century, i. 337, 338
Ireland, mobs in, i. 217 ; state of country, ii. 3-5 ; established church and Roman Catholicism in, 3, 4, 5, 27 ; Presbyterianism in, 5 ; disestablishment and dis- endowment of Church in, ii. 15,
456; Palatines from, 60; ,
Methodists and Methodism in (see Contents, ii. 2), Coke and, i. 385, 388 ; Mrs. Kiiham's schools in,
498 ; Dow and, 564 ; M.N.C.
in, 524; W. Cooke and, 525; ii. 11 ; transferred to Methodist Confer ence, 11, 12, 457 ; , Wesley in,
3, 6, 456 ; early connections of M. with, 5, 6 ; Williams's work, 6 ; persecution in, 7 ; Charles Wesley in, 7 ; Cork riots and, 8 ; progress of the work of , in, 10-16; financial helpers of, 10; interchanges with England, 10; sacraments and lay rights claimed, 11, 17-19; mixed committeesin,18; ,P.M. socie ties in, 12, 457 ; , W.M.C.M.
leaders in, 12 ; methods of work in, 12 ; missionary work in, 12, 13, 29 ; large circuits of, 13 ; priva tions in, 13, 22 ; , Primitive
Wesleyans in, 15, 455 ; and their reunion with W.M.C., 15, 24, 446, 455 ; zenith of M. in, 15 ; losses of, by emigration, 15 ; statistics of, 16 ; constitutional development of, 16—34; first Conference of, 16 ; stationing of ministers in, 16 ; relation of early, to other churches, 17 ; allow ances to ministers of, 17, 20, 23 ; English Conference and financial assistance of, 19, 20, 22, 23, 34 ; and Centenary of M., 22 ; financial efforts and arrange ments of, 22, 23, 24, 25 ; Sunday schools in, 25 ; Y.P.S.C.E. and Band of Hope in, 26, 27 ; temper ance work in, 26, 27 ; and work among Roman Catholics, 27-30 ; Walsh's work in, 27, 456; Ouseley's work in, 28, 456 ; ' Forward Move ment ' in, 30 ; philanthropic institutions of, 30-2 ; and edu cational work, 32, 33, primary, 32, secondary, 33 ; ministerial
training in, 33 ; widespread influence of, 34-7, 456 ; and American M., 35, 56, 61 ; and Canadian M., 36 ; and foreign missions, 37—8 ; and Newfound land M., 36 ; and Australian M., 239 ; and New Zealand M., 286
Ironside, Bishop, of Bristol, i. 165
Irrawadi, River, ii. 327
Irving, ' Merchant,' i. 396
Isaac, Daniel, i. 582
Isle of Man, John Crook and the, i. 391
Wight, B.C.M. work in
the, i. 508 ; evangelized by Mary Toms, 510 ; Bailey's work in, 522 ; ii. 238
Italy, W.M.C. in, i. 447 ; ii. 45, 47 ; M.E.C. mission in, 400-3 ; diffi culties of, 401 ; statistics, 401 ; criticized, 402
Itemba, ii. 415
Itinerancy, Wesley's remarkable, i. 216; beginnings of the system of the, 294 ; Wesley and the, 294, 297 ; effects of, 298, 301, 302 ; modern disadvantages of, 444; extended special cases of in W.M.C., 444 ; discussion upon, 445 ; Asbury and American, ii. 72 ; maintained in America, 74, 116 ; causes of desisting from, 164 ; and small allowances, 164 ; tendency to modify, 496
Ivey, Richard, ii. 89 ; supports O'Kolly, 103
JABBALPUR, ii. 321
Jackson, S., i. 416
, Thomas, and Oglethorpe's in fluence on Wesley, i. 190; 407, 421 ; his letter to Pusey, 422
Jacobites, Clayton and Deacon were, i. 149; Clayton's troubles as a, 150 ; persecute M., 328 ; M.N.C. suspected as, 496, 502
Jacoby, Ludwig, introduces Metho dism in Germany, ii. 48, 394, 395
Jacobstow, i. 522
Jaffna, ii. 294, 318
Jager, Johannes, ii. 270
Jagersfontein, ii. 275
Jamaica, some churches in, join Wesleyan Methodist Association, i. 521 ; clerical neglect in, ii. 290, 291 ; slavery and persecution in, 297 ; slave insurrection in, 301,
INDEX
619
302, 335; depression in, 311; earthquake in, 337
James II. , i. 102 ; and the non- jurors, 121
James, David, ii. 404
, John Angell, i. 66
, Rev. W. F., ii. 466, 469, 470,
471
, Prof. W., i. 27, 56, 58. 59
Jameson, Prof. J. Franklin, ii. 121
Jamestown, ii. 357, 359
Jane, John, i. 303
Janes, Bishop, ii. 390
Jansenville, ii. 272
Janvier, Joel T., ii. 398
Japan, Churches in, ii. 116; M. Church of, 117 ; ii. 403 ; Union in, 13, 195, 228, 523; M.E.C.S. mission in, 197 ; Canadian mis sion in, 227 ; war in, 332 ; M. Church of, and Methodist Pro testant Church, 405 ; govern ment of, and College in, 405 ; Free Methodist American mis sion in, 415
Jarratt (or Jarret), Devereux, ii. 106, 157
Java, ii. 293
Jay, William, i. 66
Jefferson, President, ii. 169
Jeffrey, ' Jimmy,' ii. 255
Jenkins, Benjamin, ii. 408
, Ebenezer E., ii. 307, 474
Jenks, his Submission to the Right eousness of God, i. 151
, Prof., ii. 244
Jennings, S. K., his Defence of Camp -meeting s, i. 565
Jeppestown, ii. 278
Jersey (see also Channel Islands), Miss O'Bryan's work in, i. 510 ; ii. 41, 42, 44
, M. de, ii. 43
Jesuitism and M. compared, i. 52 ; and semi-Pelagianism, 52 ; and Augustinian doctrine, 53; Wesley's rumoured connection with, 324
Jews, Wesley's work for, i. 194
Joachim, and his sect, i. 4
Johannesburg, ii. 278, 279, 280
Johnson, Matthew, i. 515 ; sus pension of, 515 ; secretary of Protestant Methodists, 516 ; his Recollection of Leeds Methodism, 516; 519
, Dr. Paul, i. 569
, Richard, first clergyman in
Australia, ii. 238
, Samuel, i. 98, 112 ; on Boling-
broke, 126 ; at Oxford Univer sity, 138 ; and Oglethorpe's stories, 190 ; Boswell's Life of, and Wesley's Journal, 223 ; 345 ; his Dictionary, poems, and literary portraits, 346 ; 354, 355, 358, 37 1 Johnstone, Sir Alex., ii. 293 Jones, Edward, in Wales, i. 400 — , Griffith, i. 201
, Thomas, ii. 10
Joy fulness, M. and, ii. 437 Joyful News mission, ii. 330 (see also Champness) ; foreign workers of, 330
Judaism, Bolingbroke and, i. 127 Judson, Adoniram, ii. 365 Juiz de Fora, M.E.C.S. College at,
ii. 412 Julius Caesar, Louis Napoleon's
quoted, i. 80
Jumpers (Transvaal town), ii. 278 Juniata, River, ii. 138 Justice (see also Persecution), partial administration of, i. 93 ; denied to Dissenters, 93 ; and the Cork jury, ii. 9 ; M. and conceptions of divine, 488 Justification by faith and Indi vidualism, i. 9 ; M. and the Lutheran doctrine of, ii. 395, 396 ; the Reformed Churches and, 431 Justus Jonas, i. 200.
KABYLES, M. work among the, ii. 44
Kafir, New Testament in, ii. 274
Kaiping, ii. 345
Kalahari, ii. 270
Kandy, ii. 319
Kansas, Wyandot Indians in, ii. 371; M.E.C.S. mission in, ii. 407
Kant, Emmanuel, i. 17
Karim Nagar, ii. 326
Karur, orphanage at, ii. 323
Kaufman, Angelica, i. 355
Kavanaugh, Bishop H. K., ii. 190
Kay, Hildreth, i. 537
, John, i. 337
Keble, John, the author of Trac- tarianism, i. 168 ; influenced by Caroline divinity, 168 ; his cate gory of heretics, 163
Keener, Bishop John, ii. 195
Keewatin, missions in, ii. 224
Keighley, Joseph, ordained by Wesley, i. 372
Kellett, F. W., ii. 325
Kelly, D. C., ii. 408
Kemble, Charles, i. 351
620
INDEX
Kempis, Thomas a, i. 32 ; Wesley and, i. 53, 180, 181 ; Susanna (Annesley) Wesley and, 170; per manent use of his De Imitatione Christi, 183, 211
Ken, Bishop, a non-juror, i. 121
, Miss Annesley and, i. 170, 172
Kendrick, Sergeant, ii. 269
Kennicott, Dr., describes Wesley, i. 203; 214, 215
Kennington, i. 209 ; Whitefield's services at, 264
Kent, William, fined, 329 n.
, B.C.M. mission in, i. 508;
P. M. missions in, 583
Kentucky, ii. 69, 70, 93, 96, 97 ; rapid spread of M. in, 104 ; revival in, 106 ; camp-meeting, 121 ; 166, 169, 170, 364
Kenyon College, Gambier, ii. 139
, Lord, i. 343
Kerpezdron, M. de, ii. 42
Kessen, Dr. Andrew, ii. 306, 335
Key, Bishop Joseph S., ii. 196
, Robert, i. 583
, West, ii. 336
Kidd, Benjamin, his Social Evo lution, i. 223
Kidder, Daniel F., his work in Brazil, ii. 382
Kilburn, Dr., O. L., ii. 228
Kilham, Alexander, his contro versies, i. 301 ; in Pocklington, 301 ; assists Brackenbury, 317, 387, 490 ; continues agitation, is expelled, and forms M.N.C., 386, 492, 493 ; was before his time, 387 ; ability and fervour of, 387 ; opposed by Taylor, 390 ; followers of, 487 ; account of, 489-98 ; his interest in constitutional questions, 490 ; replies to Hull circular, and ad vocates reforms, 490, 492 ; his pamphlets, 490 ; and the bishop plan, 491 ; preachers sign peti tion by, 491 ; his Constitution, 492 ; is tried by District Meeting, 492 ; Gregory on reforms antici pated by, 492 n. ; trial of, 493 ; publishes his Trial, 493 ; and Methodist Monitor, 494, 501 ; circuits support protest of, 494 ; and Leeds Convention, 494 ; delegates at Leeds ask for his reforms, 495 ; helps to form M.N.C., 495 ; secretary of Con ference of, 495 ; and Heaps, 496 ; with Thorn prepares a Con
stitution, 496 ; popularity of, 496 ; assists Sunday-school move ment, 496 ; labours, illness, death of, 496, 497, 502 ; work and character of, 497 ; and Thorn, 498 ; and Hall (Notts.), 499 ; Grundell and Hall's Life of, 499 ; O'Bryan's ' Kilhamites' plan,' 513 ; Bunting on ' a Kilhamite practice,' 528 ; in correct view of, and Everett's amende, 536 ; M.N.C. Centenary celebration at birthplace of, 542 ; some American M. follow, ii. 125
Kilham, Simon (father), i. 489
Kille-Kille, ii. 244
Kilner, John, ii. 318
Kilnerton, ii. 278
Kimberley, S. Africa, ii. 273
Kinchin, Charles, i. 149 ; his Methodist work at Oxford, 158
King, Lord Chancellor, his Primi tive Church, Wesley and, 68, 69, 229 ; ii. 85, 158, 159
, Governor, ii. 242
, John, in New York, ii. 66, 72,
89, 155
, Presiding Elder at Monterey,
ii. 410
, Thomas, i. 575
Kingdom of God, theology and the, ii. 488
Kingscote, ii. 251
Kingswood, colliers at, i. 20 ; Morgan and Whitefield preach at, 263 ; William Butler and, 548 ; Wes ley's school at, for colliers, 219 ; Wesley's school at, for preachers' sons, 219, 302; now at Bath, 219 ; Griffith at, 532 ; ii. 65, 261
— , S. Africa, College at, ii. 273
King-Williamstown, ii. 272
Kirk, John, ii. 256
Kirkham, Robert, a member of the Holy Club, i. 141
Kirkland, Sarah, 574, 575
Kirkoswald, i. 338
Klein, Frederick C., ii. 404
Klersdorp, ii. 279
Kneller, Sir Godfrey, i. 115
Knight, Charles, i. 220
, George Spencer, i. 546
Knox, Alexander, his view of Wes ley, i. 179; on Wesley's theology, 211 ; 220 ; and Southey's Life of Wesley, 419
, John, i. 366
Kobe, college at, ii. 413
Kolde, Professor on M., ii. 395
INDEX
621
Korea, M.E.C.S. mission in, ii. 197 ;
revival in, 403 Kosi Bay, ii. 276 Krapf, Dr., ii. 352 Kroo coast, Bishop Taylor's work
on, ii. 379 Kroonstad, ii. 275 Krugersdorp, ii. 278 Kumasi, ii. 305, 314, 339 Kundi, ii. 326 Kunso, ii. 414 Kurtz, Dr., ii. 139 Kwangtsi, ii. 328 Kweichau, M.C.C. in, ii. 229
LABOURING classes (see also Social work), in England in 18th cen tury, i. 85 ; leaders of, P.M.C. and, i. 597 ; American M. and, ii. 509
Labrador, ii. 231
Ladybrand, ii. 275
Ladysmith, ii. 276, 277
Lagos, W.M.C., mission in, i. 447 ; King of, II. 314; 338
La Grange College, ii. 173
Laity, priesthood of Christian, i. 42 ; in Monasticism and M., 42 ; in the Franciscan Revival, 47; essential to M., 47; the Scriptures and the, 178 ; our Lord one of the, 293 ; at the early Conferences, 307, 309 ; of later eighteenth century, 34 ; Wesley regarded most of his preachers as, 382 ; ignored after Wesley's death, 382 ; meetings of, after Halifax circular, 384 ; eminent (circa 1791-1816), 394, 395;
in W.M.C., 401, 402 ; in
financial District Meetings, 403, 404 ; associated with ministers, 439 ; increased influence of, 441 ; eminent in M.N.C., 499 ; first lay secretary of a Methodist Con ference, 499 ; as ' Lay Bishops ' in U.M.F.C., 548 ; Independent M. and ministry of, 558 ; growing power of, in America, ii. 507 ; cause of this, 508 ; - - rights claimed for, by reform party, i. 489 ; and by Kilham, 491, 492 ; and granted in M.N.C., 500 ; in B.C.M., 513 ; South London circuit desires, 516 ; endangered, 518; preponderance of, in P.M. polity, 579 ; receive recognition in Irish M., ii. 11,
18 ; some denied in M.E.C., 125 ; conceded in Meth. Prot. Ch., 125, 126, 175 ; and in Wes. Meth. Conn, of America, 127 ; claimed in M.E.C., 134, 149 ; ministers and, 135 ; secured for General Conference, 135 ; rights of, and M. controversies, 419 ; all M. now emphasize rights of, 440 ; Congregational Methodists
claim, 515 ; , representation
of, in W.M.C., i. 441 ; elected to representative Conference, 442; advantages of union with minis ters there, 443 ; proposed, 489 ; Kilham advocates, 491, 492 ; Leeds Conference (1797), rejects, 495 ; 528 ; Martin contends for, 536 ; the Preform Agitation and, 538 ; ii. 449 ; and M.E.C. Con ference, 135; and M.E.C.S., 136; introduced into M.E.C.S., 192, 196; in M.C. A., 259, 264; in Canadian M., 460 ; and a Pastoral session, 460 ; and M.N.C., 460 ; claim for, delays reunion, 460 ; as to three churches, 461 ; con ceded, 463 ; in African M.E. Zion
Church, 513 ; and missions
movement, in Canada, ii. 230 ; and the first Meth. foreign missionary, 286 ; as members of Missionary Committee (1818), 294 ; on first American Com mittee, 365 ; in China and other fields, 330
Lakemba, ii. 300
Lambert, Jeremiah, ii. 90
Lambuth, Dr. J. W., ii. 228, 408
Bible Training School, ii.
413
Lancashire, mobs in, i. 217 ; early M. in, 369 ; economic influence of M. in, 374 ; Guttridge's in fluence in, 545 ; Dow in, 564 ; Crawfoot in, 568
Lancaster, Joseph, his education of the poor, i. 89 ; school on plan of, ii. 297
, Penn., Otterbein at, ii. 136 ;
137
Land, English, much uncultivated in eighteenth century, i. 82, 83 ; its present wheat crop, 83 ; acts for enclosure of, 336
Langdon, i. 508
Langlaagte, ii. 278
Lardner, Nathaniel, defends Gospel history, i. 131, 353
622
INDEX
Large Minutes given to preachers, i. 295
Latin Christianity, the note of, ii. 430
races, M. and the, ii. 50
Latitudinarians, and authority, i. 14 ; influence of, on the Evan gelical Revival, 15
La Trobe, Benjamin, translates Spangenberg's works, i. 192
Latta, S. A., ii. 188
Laud, Archbishop, repudiated Cal vinism, i. 36
Launceston, description of gaol at, i. 94 ; Conference at, 512
(Australasia), ii. 242, 244, 247,
250 ; college at, 262
Laveleye, Professor Emile, on Wes ley, i. 162
Lavington, Bishop, his Enthu siasm of Methodists, i. 55 ; his attacks on Wesley, 187
Law, English Criminal, in 18th century, i. 92 ; trivial offences and, 92; Paley and, 92; Gold smith and punishment, 92 ; re ligious persecution under, in 1 8th century, 93 ; tolerates Dissent,
93 ; condition of prisons under,
94 ; prisoners and, 94 ; gaolers and, 95
Law, William, his Serious Call and Christian Perfection, Wesley and, i. 53 ; and the Deistical contro versy, 131 ; defends Oxford Methodists, 176 n. ; is con sulted by Wesley, 185, 190; effect of his works on Wesley, 182, 183 ; Wesley's intended permanent use by M. of some works by, 183 ; Wesley gives copies of Serious Call by, 183, and publishes mystical works by, 188 ; his Christian Perfection and Wesley's hymn, 250 Lawrence, Brother, i. 187 Lawry, Walter, ii. 241, 242, 299 Lawson, William, ii. 221 ; in Can ada, ii. 221
Lay preaching in the Franciscan Revival, i. 47 ; Wyclif 's ' un authorized preachers ' and, 51 ; used by Wesley, 51, 228, 291, 293 ; Susanna Wesley and, 172, 228; 291-4 ; Howell Harris practises, 291 ; Cennick and others practise in M., 292 ; Wesley's Appeal and, 293 ; C. Wesley defends, 293 ; retort to complaining clergy on,
293 ; and the itinerancy, 294 ; pulpit claimed for lay preachers, 317
Leaders Meeting, representatives of M.N.C. churches in, i. 542; of W.M.C. in, ii. 502; Bible teaching in, 492
Learning, Mystic contempt for mere, i. 57 ; suspicion of, in M., 64 ; serious pursuit of, by Oxford M., 141 ; Wesley and Oxford M. and, 176, 179; neglect of, by 18th-century students, 176 ; Wesley valued, 177, 438 ; con scientiousness in, 179 ; preachers to acquire, 297 ; Asbury's interest in, ii. 91, 92
Leavitt, Judge, ii. 130
Lebanon, 111., McKendree College at, ii. 173
District, Ohio, ii. 370
Lecky, W. E. H., compares Wesley and Pitt the younger, i. 80 ; 117 ; the Deistical and controversy, 127 ; on Oglethorpe, 189 ; on Wes.- ley's ' conversion,' 199 ; on the- Religious Revival, 279 ; on in fluence of Dissenters, 327 ; on triumphant death of M., 330 ; quoted, 354 ; on influence of M. during French Revolution, 362, 371
Lee, Daniel, ii. 376
,, Jason, ii. 375
, Jesse, History of the Metho dists, ii. 58, 61, 72, 92, 69, 78; on the rapid spread of American M., 96 ; opposes O'Kelly, 103 ; enters New England, 104, 164 ^ and slavery, 175
, John, ii. 389
1 Luther, ii. 175
Leeds, first class-meeting in, i. 294 ; prison, 312 ; Nelson and M. in, 313 ; Mrs. Fletcher at Cross- Hall, 320, 322; Sarah Crosby at, 322, 341 ; early M. in, 369 ; Organ question at Bruns wick Chapel in, 404, 425, 514 j local preachers and, 515 ; im mediate and ultimate results of,
426 ; , Bunting and, 407, 409 ;
Bramwell at, 411 ; observance' of Lord's Supper claimed at, 494, 496 ; petitions to Conference at,, and Kilham's Constitution at, 494, 495 ; trustees' Convention at, 494 ; concessions made at,. 494, 517 ; People's Delegates at,.
INDEX
623
495 ; lay representation rejected |
by Conference at, 495 ; M.N.C. |
formed at, 495 ; Bethel chapel,
496, 498 ; wide M.N.C. circuit
at, 500 ; Ebenezer Chapel in,
495, 542 ; Woodhouse Lane
Church in, 542; 588, 591 ; W.M. I
Missionary Society formed at, ii.
293 ; missionary breakfast meet-
ing at, 315; Conference (1769), i
287; 476; Lord Mayor of, and !
the Uniting Conference, 478 Lees, John, ii. 241 Leesburg, Vir., ii. 76, 159 Legal decisions, Methodist (see \
also Chancery, Court of), M.E.C. j
and M.E.C.S., ii. 189 Hundred (see also Deed of
Declaration), election to the, i.
405 ; and Conference, 442 ; and
a single Conference, 445 ; Thorn
a member of, 498 Leibniz- Wolffian philosophy, i. 13 ;
S. Clarke and, 129 Leicester, early M. in, i. 369 ;
Deaconess centre at, 455 Leicestershire, rise of M. in, i. 294 ; ;
P.M. Revival in, i. 575, 576 Leigh, Samuel, ii. 211, 239, 240, i
241, 244, 245, 246 Leighton, Archbishop, Susanna i
Wesley and, i. 170 Leinster, ii. 38 Leitrim, ii. 60 Leland, John, his history of the
Deistical controversy, i. 131 Lelievre, Jean, ii. 43
, Mathieu, ii. 43
Leonard, Dr., ii. 228
Lepers, refuges for, ii. 327
Leslie, Charles, i. 121 ; his Method
with Deists, 131 , Stephen, on Wesley's literary
style, i. 222 Lessons, Scripture, from Calendar
in M. chapels, i. 386 Letter Days, Wesley's, i. 299 Letters on History, Bolingbroke's, i.
126 Leva, Professor G. de, on Wesley,
i. 162 Levellers, M.N.C. styled, i. 502;
P.M. and, 576, 577 Leviathan, The, Hobbes's, i. 123 Levitical view of pastorate, decline
of, ii. 502, 505 Lewanika, King, ii. 358 Lewis, Dr. T. H., ii. 525 Lexington, ii. 74
Leys School, Cambridge, establish ment and work of, i. 473 ; Moul- ton and, 474 ; Mission and Settlement, of (London), 466
Leytonstone, Mrs. Fletcher at, i. 322
Liberia, Cox's work in, ii. 171, 378, 335, 366 ; founded, 377 ; vicissi tudes of, 379 ; Bishop Taylor's work in South-eastern, 379
Liberty (see also Freedom, Chris tian), Wesley praises English, i. 225 ; and the Committee of Privileges, 403 ; and the Gedney case, 403 ; religious, 420 ; re stricted in Germany, ii. 394 ; in South America, 383, 385, 387, 388 ; of opinion in M., i. 431 ; in worship, cottage meetings and, 560 ; how kept by the church, 505
Licences, for preachers and chapels, i. 324
Lichfield, the Bishop plan at, i. 426
Liddon, H. P., on M., i. 321
Life of Benjamin Abbot, i. 569
of God in the Soul of Man,
Scougal's, Wesley's use of, i. 170 — of Mary Fletcher, i. 320
Lightbody, William, ii. 252
Liguori's, Alphonso, his pseudo- Assurance, i. 22
Lilyfontein, ii. 270
Limbah Land, ii. 338
Limerick, ii. 16, 19, 27, 35, 56, 57
Limpopo, ii. 277
Lincoln, Bishop of, and the Gedney case, i. 403
, early M. in, i. 369
, President, ii. 169, 451
Lincolnshire, P.M. revival in, i. 575, 578, 579
Lindley, S. Africa, ii. 275
Lindoe, Dr. T., ii. 299
Lindsey, Marcus, ii. 364
Linen trade, growth of, in later eighteenth century, i. 340
Links, Jacob, ii. 270
Liquor, intoxicating, Wesley and distilling, i. 224 ; and traffic in, 225 ; M.N.C. magazine on brew ing, 529 ; at M. gatherings, 529
Lisburn, ii. 11
Litany, Wesley and the use of, by Americans, ii. 85
Literature, ' The Augustan Age ' of, i. 105, 113 ; Elizabethan and Victorian Ages of, 105 ; at the rise of M., 108 ; Christian Know ledge Society and, 133 ; Wesley a
624
INDEX
pioneer in publishing cheap, 220; his abridgements, 221 ; his Dictionary, 221 ; his profits from, 225 ; his taste and style in, 205, 209, 222
Little, Dr. Charles J. L., on Coke and Asbury, ii. 87
, George, ii. 252
Gidding, i. 521
Liturgy, Whitefield uses in a Dis senting chapel, i. 271, 272; Wesley prepares a, for American M., ii. 85, 160; adopted by M.E.C., 91 ; M. and the use of a, 494
Liverpool, i. 341 ; mission in, Garrett and, 458, 459 ; 494 ; and the Wesleyan Methodist Associa tion, 518,' 519 ; 530, 564, 567, 579 ; slaves from, ii. 178
, Earl of, i. 403
Livy, i. 105
Loans to the poor, Oxford M. and, i. 144 ; Wesley's offices for, 225
Lo Bengula, King, ii. 280
Local preachers, at the first Con ference, i. 307 ; and Lord Sid- mouth's Bill, 402 ; exempted from tolls, 412 n. ; their service of the villages, 463 ; Champness and training of, 464 ; W.M.C. and training of, 464, 500 ; relief of needs of, 464 ; the Mutual Aid Association of, 465 ; Bowron and, 546 ; service of, in M.N.C., 496 ; and Leeds organ case, 515 ; in Germany, ii. 48 ; as slave holders, 183 ; Chinese graduates as, 353
Locke, John, i. 17, 55 ; suggested the Act of Settlement, 106 ; his theory of government, 106 ; and the Toleration Act, 106 ; his Essay on the Human Under standing, 106, 383 ; philosophy of, opposed by Clarke and Berkeley, 107, 129; 172, 323
Lockwood, Abraham, i. 541
, William, i. 515, 578
Logic, ' this honest art,' i. 178 ; Wesley as lecturer in, ib., text books on, ib. ; ' principle of con science ' and, 179
Lollards, The, i. 23
Lo Magondi, ii. 280
Lomas, Robert, i. 420
London, in eighteenth century, dangers of roads to, i. 97 ; size of, then, 97 ; its Bridge and
streets, 97, 98 ; discomfort and dangers of passengers in, 98, 99 ; Mohocks in, 99 ; Non-jurors in Tower of, 121; Wesley and the Aldersgate Street meeting in, 199, 558 ; C. Wesley resides at Maryle- bone in, 241 ; Whitefield in, 261 ; pulpits of, closed to the Wesleys, 261 ; Calvinists support White- field in, 269 ; Whitefield's Taber nacle in, 269, 270, 271, 272 ; the Wesleys visit members in, 287 ; a centre of Wesley's work, 294 ; first circuit plan for, 299 ; first Conference was held in, 307 ; John Nelson in, 313 ; M. of, and Nelson's discharge, 314 ; Fletcher helps Wesley in, 318 ; a centre of banking, 339 ; fines Dissenters, 362 ; Mansion House of, 363 ; Gordon riots in, 363 ; Romaine in, 364 ; importance of early M. in, 369 ; W.M.C. central missions in, 460 ; Bermondsey Settlement 466 ; Leysian Mission and Settlement in, 466 ; Brixton Home for Fallen Girls, 466; W.M.C. Building Fund for, 468 ; religious needs of, 468 ; South- wark Circuit, 516 ; South Circuit and lay rights, 517 ; Albion Chapel, Reform delegates at, 534 ; Reformers and the Wesleyan Methodist Association unite in, 537 ; Reform circuits in, 546 ; B.C.M. Mission in, 509, 512 ; Horsemonger Gaol, Freeman in,
509 ; P.M. in, 582 ; Clowes
at P.M. Book-Room in, 586 ; Clapton, 596; Whitechapel, 596; Surrey Chape), 596 ; Southwark,
596 ; U.M.F.C. Extension
Committee in, 546; Manor Mission in, 546 ; St. Paul's Cathe dral in, 103, 106; Wren, archi tecture of, 115; Wesley visits, on day of his ' conversion,' 199 ; — chapels in : the Foundery, 207 ; school for poor at, 219 ; Whitefield's Tabernacle and the 269 ; a M. Society formed at, 284, 285 ; acquired by Methodists, 290 ; the first Conference was held in, 107 ; City Road Chapel : Howard calls at, 225 ; Wesley's last hymn in, 233 ; centenary of Wesley's death celebrated in, 233; opened, 321 ; Creighton at, 389 ; administration of the Lord's
INDEX
625
Supper in, 489 ; Kilham's ' trial ' in, 493; M.N.C. Centenary Memorial in, 542; U.M.F.C. Memorial in, 546 ; uniting Con ference in, 551 ; ii. 83 ; (Ecu menical Conference in, ii. 462, 470, 472. Great Queen Street Chapel, and the administration of the Lord's Supper, i. 489 ; 516 ; its Charity School, ii. 289 ; Mission House, of W.M.C., ii. 302,
rebuilt, 41 ; Lord Mayor
of, visits Uniting Conference, ii. 478 ; mentioned, i. 530, 532, 534, 588 ; ii. 6, 19, 20, 28, 29, 30, 36, 341
London, Bishop of, declines to ordain Coughlan, ii. 207
Missionary Society, ii. 297
Londonderry, ii. 30
Long, Albert, ii. 399
Island, ii. 59, 66, 104
Point, ii. 205
Longbottom, Rev. William, ii. 475 , William (W. Australia), ii.
251, 252
Loofs, Dr. F., on Wesley, i. 162; on Lutheranism and M., ii. 395, 396
Lord's Supper, the. See Sacra ments
Lorna Doone, i. 543
Lossee, William, ii. 203
Lotteries, prohibited by William III., i. 90 ; Government uses, 90. See also Gambling
Loughborough, i. 575 ; Luddites at, 576
Louis XIV. of France, England and, i. 101 ; and Protestantism, 101 ; signed Treaty of Ryswick, 102 ; Grand Alliance against, formed, 102 ; acknowledged the Old Pretender as King of Eng land, 102 ; Parliament supports struggle with, 102 ; battles against, 103 ; ii. 56
Louisburg, ii. 58
Louisiana, i. 359 ; ii. 105, 169 ; mission to French in, 369
Louisville, M.E.C.S. organized at, ii. 130 ; Convention at, ii. 187 ; M.E.C. and M.E.C.S. Conference at, 194
Louth, Reformers at, i. 535
.Love-affairs, Wesley's, i. 194, 205
Lovefeast, and Lovefeasts, the wonderful, i. 158 ; Moravians institute, 286 ; use of, by M., 286 ;
VOL. TT
a Yorkshire, 541 ; introduced at New York, ii. 66 ; admission to, in U.S.A., 73 ; attendance at, there, 509
Love, Joseph, i. 541
Lovell, John, ii. 246
Lowry, H. H., ii. 390
Lowth, Bishop, declines to ordain M. preachers, i. 230, 354
Loyalty, Wesley's, i. 224; of M. affirmed, 324 ; suspected, 402
Loyola, Ignatius, compared with Wesley, i. 52, 280
Lucknow, ii. 320, 322
Luddington, Kilham at, i. 490
, W. B., ii. 356
Luddites, i. 499, 513 ; and P.M. and, 576, 577
Lumb, Matthew, ii. 291
Lunell, William, ii. 10
Luther and Individualism, i. 9, 10 ; and Assurance, 23, 24 ; and scholastic theology, 24 ; and Philip of Hesse, 25 ; his Gala- tians, 54 ; and Tauler's works, 186, 195 ; his Preface to Ep. to the Romans and Wesley's ' conver sion,' 199 ; C. Wesley and his Com mentary on Galatians, 199, 250 ; his definition of saving faith, 199 ; linked with the Evangelical Re vival, 200 ; his interpretation of St. Paul, 200 ; 366, 498, ii. 208 ; maligned, 386 ; teaching of and M., 395, 396 ; and the divine sovereignty, 432
Lutheran Church, adherents of, and M., i. 73, ii. 395 ; in Europe, M. and, 50 ; in Scandinavia, M. and, 392, 393
Lutheran Observer, ii. 139
Luton, i. 584
Luxulyaii, i. 504
Lycett, Sir Francis, 469
Lyle, William, and Kent Mission, i. 507
Lyme Regis, Bartholomew Wesley and, i. 165
Lynch, James, ii. 398
Lyndhurst, Lord, his judgement in Warren's case, i. 428
Lyons, M.E.C. at, ii. 44
Lyth, Mrs. John, ii. 310
MABLETHOBPE, i. 432 Macao, ii. 316, 389 Macarius, The Homilies of, i. 186 ; Wesley and, 211
40
626
INDEX
Macarthy's Island, ii. 298
Macaulay, Lord, i. 105 ; on the dramatists of early eighteenth century, i. 113; compares Wes ley and Richelieu, 162 n., 279; quoted on devotees to church order, i. 326; 371, ii. 303
, Zachary, i. 365 ; ii. 292
, Mrs. Catherine, i. 355
Macbrair, R. M., ii. 299
Macclesfield, early M. in., i. 369; 496, 497, 566, 570
Macdonald, Dr. D., ii. 227
, Dr. R., ii. 331
1 George, quoted, ii. 283
, James, ii. 10
Mackay, A. M., ii. 369
Mackintosh, Sir James, on the four greatest books, i. 353 ; 361 ; his Vindiciae Gallicae, 362
Maclaine (tr. Mosheim), classes M. leaders as heretics, i. 163
Maclaren, Rev. A., on Williams's portrait of Wesley, i. 203 ; 548
Maclay, Robert S., ii. 390
Macpherson, J., i. 591
Macquarie, Governor, ii. 239, 240
Madagascar, ii. 50
Madan, Martin, i. 365
Madeira Islands, mission in, ii. 381
Madeley, Fletcher at, i. 319, 396 ; ii. 59
Madison, ii. 63, 141
Madras, ii. 296, 303, 307, 308, 309 ; work in, 324-6 ; Christian Col lege at, 324
Mad River Circuit, ii. 370
Maeterlinck, M.,on Mysticism, i. 62
M'Aulay, Alexander, ii. 474
McAdam, John L., i. 338
Me Arthur, Alexander, ii. 37
, John, introduces Merino sheep
to Australia, ii. 240
, Sir William, ii. 21, 24, 34, 37
McArty, James, ii. 37
McCabe, Bishop C. C., ii. 368
McClure, William, ii. 220
McCullagh, Thomas, i. 157 n.
M'Cullen, Wallis, ii. 12
M'Curdy, Alexander, i. 541
McDowell, John, ii. 36
McFerrin, John B., ii. 170
Mcllvaine, Bishop, ii. 138, 139
McKendree, Bishop William, ii. 69, 95; described, 118; first native bishop, 166 ; his great sermon, 166 ; Paine and, 170 ; College, 173, 174 j and slavery,
178, 269 ; first President of Missionary Society, 365
McKenny, John, ii. 247, 253
McLean, Judge, ii. 369
McTyeire, Bishop H. N., ii. 156, 175 ; on slavery, 177 ; work of, 193
M'Geary, John, ii. 36, 207
M'Kechnie, C. C., i. 592
M'Kersey, C. (Muckersey), Wesley and, i. 307
M'Quigg, James, ii. 456
Mafeking, ii. 278
Magaliesberg, ii. 277
Magee, Dr., misrepresents M., i. 422
Magetta, David, ii. 277
Magistrates, and Dissenters, and M., i. 93 ; allowed unjust de tention of prisoners, 94 ; early M. and, 323 ; connive at perse cution, 328 ; Thome and in justice of, 507 ; and persecution of B.C.M., 511
Mahamba, ii. 278
Mahometanism and Christianity in Africa, ii. 338, 339, 352
Mahy, William, ii. 42
Maine, ii. 90, 99, 105 ; Wesley an Seminary, 140
Maintenance of preachers. See Al lowances
Mala, the, of India, ii. 326
Malaysia, M.E.C. in, ii. 404
Malebranche, N., W. B. Pope and philosophy of, i. 17n.
Malefactors in Newgate (see also Prisons), C. Wesley and, i. 241
Mallinson, Mr. William, i. 546
Malton, Wesley at, i. 217
Manakintown, ii. 77, 158
Manatees, ii. 275
Manchester, influence of Clayton upon, i. 150 ; John Nelson in, 313, 315; beginnings of M. in, 302, 313, 369; 339, 341 ; and parliamentary representation,. 359 ; Oldham St. Chapel and Warren's case, 428, 517 ; Central Hall and Mission at, 459, 461; and Salford Lay Mission, 459 ; and Kilham's reforms, 494 ; circuits of, and grand Central Associa tion, 518 ; delegates at, adopt Rochdale petition, 518; M.N.C. Jubilee Conference at, 526 ; Con ference (1849) at, 530; Everett at, 531 ; Sir J. J. Harwood and, 542; U.M.F.C. Theological Insti tute, 547 ; Band RoomM. at, 556;
INDEX
627
Peterloo and, 577 ; 579, 548, 588, 591 ; Hartley College at, 597 ; M.N.C. missions and, ii. 343
Mandalay, ii. 326
Mandas, ii. 385
Manitoba, missions in, ii. 224. 225, 464
Mann, Pastor, ii. 396
Mannargudi, ii. 308, 324
Manners-Sutton, Archbishop, op poses Lord Sidmouth's Bill, i. 403
Mansfield, Lord, C. Wesley defends, i. 238 ; his house sacked, 363 ; 371
, Ralph, ii. 242, 247
Manton, J. A., ii. 262
Maoris, mission to, ii. 242, 257, 263 ; Hoiigi and, ii. 245 ; chief of, acknowledges Queen Victoria, 249 ; war, ii. 253
Marathi Church, ii. 322
Marietta, ii. 364
Maritzburg, ii. 275, 276
Marlborough, Duchess of, and Queen Anne, i. 103 ; and the Countess of Huntingdon, 269
Marriage Act, 1898, M. and the, i. 468
Marriage, in Dissenting chapels, i. 364; of M., in Established Church, 387 ; without presence of Regis trar, 468 ; of Kilham, during probation, 498 ; of preachers, location and, ii. 164 ; laws of South America, 388 ; American M. and the sacredness of, 509
Marsden, George, i. 407 ; ii. 215 , John, i. 396
, Joshua, Journal of, i. 574 ; his
account of M.E.C., ii. 109 -, Samuel, ii. 238, 241, 242, 244,
246
Marseilles, M.E.C. at, ii. 44
Marsh, W., his Orphanage, ii. 271
, T. E. (son), ii. 271
' Martha and Mary ' Association. See Deaconess work
Martin, Henry, and Clapham Sect, i. 365
, John T., ii. 397
, William, invites Wesleyan Re formers to join M.N.C., i. 536 ; his letter to Lord John Russell, 536 ; contends for Lay Repre sentation, 536
Martineau, J., and Butler's Analogy, i. 130
Marvin, Bishop E. M., ii. 193
Maryland, ii. 36 ; Strawbridge in, 55, 60, 66; Sam's Creek Chapel in, 61 ; 64, 67, 69 ; administra
tion of sacraments in, 73, 75
76, 88, 95 ; revivals in, 106 ; and
slavery, 128; 155, 164, 166; early
M. in, 156; 514, 516 Masai, murder missionaries, ii. 352 Mashaba, Robert, ii. 279 Mashukulembwe, mission to the,
ii. 358 Mason Fund, Irish, ii. 33
, John, i. 420
, Thomas, ii. 365, 367
, William, his pluralities, i. 119
, William (B.C.M.), i. 508
Massachusetts, ii. 105, 126 Massey, John H., ii. 406 Massingham, Joseph, i. 537, ii. 450 Matabele, the, ii. 277 Materialism, English, founded by
Hobbes, i. 124 Mather, Alexander, Wesley ordains
as ' Superintendent,' i. 232, 372 ;
claims allowance for his wife,
303 ; 373, 385 ; Southey and
Wesley and, 389 Mathias, B. W., ii. 35 Matlack, L. C., ii. 127, 175 Maurice, Frederick Denison, ii. 487 Mawgan, i. 505
Mawson, Henry Thomas, i. 548 Maxfield, Thomas, preaches at the
Foundery, i. 292 ; Wesley and,
293 ; at the first Conference, 307 Maxwell, Lady, i. 397 May, J. C., ii. 338 Maybole, i. 338 Mayfair, London, its immorality in
eighteenth century, i. 90 Maylott, D. T., ii. 356 Means of grace, Mysticism and, i.
186 ; C. Wesley's hymn teaching
upon the, 244 Medak, ii. 326 Mediationists, in Reform agitation,
i. 535 Medical missions (see also separate
churches, missionary enterprise
of), ii. 319, 320; for lepers, ii.
327 ; in China, 328, 345, 391 ; in
India, 399 Meditations among the Tombs, Her-
vey's, i. 152
Meeting-houses. See Chapels Melanchthon, P., and Scholastic
theology, i. 24 ; his doctrine of
synergism, 25 ; 498 Melbourne, ii. 247 ; first M. service
in, 250 ; Collins St. Church
in, 251, 257 ; Gawler Place,
Church in, 251 ; Wesley Church
628
INDEX
in, 257 ; M. of, and the discovery of gold, 254 ; Immigrants Home at, 255 ; Central Mission in, 260 ; Queen's College in, 262 ; first General Conference of M.C.A. in, 264 ; Wesley an Metho dist Association in, 350
Melbourne, Lord, W.M.C. and his Bill for Training Colleges, i. 416
Membership (see also Class -meetings, and Church members, ii. 529), grading of, i. 282, 308; Conference and decline in, 417 ; decreases in W.M. in ' Reform ' period, 431, 438, 533 ; at close of middle period, 433 ; Kilham and ex pulsion from, 492 ; first, by Wesley, 492 n. ; admission to, * Kilhamite practice ' as to, 528 ; conditions of, in M.N.C., 541, 542 ; annual token of, 542 ; in creases and decreases in U.M.F.C. 549 ; conditions of, in U.M.C., 551; in M.C.A., ii. 26; in M.E.C.S., 192 ; and non-atten dance at class, ii. 440 ; 491
Memorial to Conference,right of, i. 429
Mendis, the, ii. 339, 351
Mercaston, i. 574
Meriton, John, i. 240, 307
Merrick, F., ii. 145
Merrill, Bishop S. M., ii. 165
Metherall, Francis, ii. 222
METHODISM, Chronological develop ment of early : —
1729. Charles Wesley forms the Holy Club at Oxford, i. 139 ; the title ' Methodist ' is applied to its members, 139
, November. John WTesley be comes its leader, i. 141 ; ' the first rise of M.' (WW., xiii. 273)
1736. A Religious Society formed by Wesley in Georgia, Second Rise of M. (Savannah), i. 194 (WW., xiii. 273)
1737. Wesley publishes his first Col lection of Psalms and Hymns, i. 1 94
1738. Peter Bohler instructs Wesley, who preaches faith, i. 196, 197
, May 21. Charles Wesley's
' conversion,' i. 198
, May 24. John Wesley's ' con version,' the birthday of historic M., i. 200.
. Open-air preaching by Mor gan, i. 263
1739. Feb. 17. Open-air preaching adopted by Whitefield, i. 263
1739. April 2. Wesley preaches in the open air, ii. 228,' 263, 282
, May. Third Rise of M. (Lon don), i. 284 (WW., xiii. 273)
, June. Wesley publishes his
sermon on Free Grace, i. 305
, — Lay preaching permitted,
i. 292 ; and the first steward appointed, 291
[Nov.]. The first building,
The Foundery, acquired, i. 290 ; WW, viii. 37, 38
, Dec. 27. Foundery Society,
London, formed, and Rise of the UNITED SOCIETY, the people called Methodists (WW, viii. 269), i. 284
1740. Watch-night services insti tuted
1741. Friendship between Wesley and Whitefield restored, i. 268
1742. Whitefield presides as Moder ator of the first Assembly of Calvinistic Methodists, i. 269
1743. Wesley publishes The Nature, Design, and General Rules of the United Societies, which organized the societies independent of episcopal control, i. 227, 285
. The first chapel erected, i. 291
1744. First Conference, i. 229, 307
1746. Wesley renounces ' the fable ' of apostolic succession, i. 229
1755. Covenant Services intro duced, i. 290
1759. Fletcher styles the societies ' The Methodist Church,' i. 229
1761. Select Hymns, with Tunes, i. 251
1763. Deed of settlement for chapels, i. 371
1764. Wesley appeals for help to the clergy, but declines to withdraw Methodist preachers from evangelical parishes, i. 320
1766. Rise of American Metho dism, ii. 55
1769. Hannah Ball commences first M. Sunday school, i. 367
1778. The Arminian Magazine commenced, i. 321
. First London Chapel (City
Road) erected, i. 321
1780. Hymns for the Use of the People called Methodists, "i. 251
1784, Feb. 28. The Conference con stituted by Wesley's Deed, i. 232, 371, 372
INDEX
629
1784, Sept. 1. Elders and a Super intendent ordained for America, i. 231, 372 ; ii. 84
1784—9. Preachers ordained for Scotland and England, i. 232, 372
1787. Chapels and preachers licensed under Toleration Act, i. 324
1791. Wesley's death: Deed of j Declaration becomes operative, i. 381, 382
METHODISTS and METHODISM (see \ above ; also Oxford Methodists, [ and under churches and coun- j tries after 1797), in the life and j thought of the Church (see Con tents, i. 2), 16, 196; ii. 429-36; philosophy of history and, i. 3 ; produced by the Holy Spirit's operations, 4, 5 ; magnitude of, 6, 73 ; ii. chap. iv. ; emphasize the Idea of individual experi ence, 7, ii. 426-8 ; and the Re formation protest against Roman solidarity and authority, 7, ii. 431 ; a protest against Deism, 12, 13 ; unites the ideas of Independency and Anglicanism, 16 ; conflicts between external authority and inner illumination in, 16, 420, 485 ; affected by philosophy, 17 ; political dislike of its doctrine, 20 ; its historic work and justi fication, 27, 432 ; importance of Assurance to, 27, 29, 34 ; modern Biblical criticism and, 30; modern, and other forms, 31 ; its doctrine of Holiness, 31, 32 (see also Holi ness) ; its doctrines of Conversion, 33, and future punishment, 351, 414, ii. 490 ; and Laud's High Churchism, i. 37 ; and previous Church movements, 37 — 53 ; preachers of resembled ' pro phets,' 38, 72 ; Prophetism and, 39 ; and culture, and physical phenomena, 40 ; resembles Mon- i asticism, 41-4 ; connexionalism j of, 43 ; and the Franciscan ; Revival, 44 ; laity and lay preachers essential to, 47 ; and the democracy, 48 (see also Laity) ; preachers of, compared with Wyclif's, 51 ; and Jesuit ism, 52 ; and Mysticism, 53-62 ; Warburton on the origin of, 53 ; j and Moravianism, 54 n., 154, | 281 ; class-meeting of, 60 (see \ also Class- meetings) ; and the !
dangers of testimony, 61 ; and Puritanism, 62—7 ; and Asceti cism, 63 ; and Dualism, 63 ; its suspicion of culture, 64 (see also Learning) ; seeming indifference of, to social issues, 64 (see also Social work) ; and Oxford Move ment, 64, 65, 137, 145; self- consciousness of, developed, 64 ; and Protestantism, 65, 200 ; and 18th-century Nonconformity, 65, 66 (see also Dissent) ; Arminian- ism of, is evangelical, 66 ; modern alliance of, with the Free Churches, 66, 388 ; effect of separation from the Church of England, 67 (see also Church of England) ; Presbyterian organization of, 67 ; and the primitive Christian Church, 68, 70 ; episcopacy of not exclusive, 69 ; and the apos- tolate, 70, 71 ; women in work, and courts of, 71, 72: is too large to be ignored, 73 METHODISM, Rise of : time and conditions of, see Contents, i. 76 ; a providential movement, 77 ; social conditions at, 82-99 ; population at, 84 ; state of jthe people at, 84-7 ; financial con ditions at, 86 ; morals and education at, 87-92 ; sport and amusement at the time [of, 89, 90 ; criminal law and re- ligioxis persecution at, 92-4 ; travel and transit at, 95 ; dan gers of the road at, 96, 98."; London at, 97 ; rowdyism at the time of, 98 ; political situation at, 99-104 ; intellectual condi tions at, 105-15; general litera ture at, 108; poets at, 111; drama, science, and music at, 114; art and architecture at, 115; state of religion at, 115; Gladstone on, 117 ; condition of the Church at, 115—7 (see also Church of England and Dis senters) ; ii. 433, 437; immor ality of many clergy and ministers at, i. 117, 118; clerical pluralities, absenteeism and ignorance at, 119, 120; decadence of Dissent at, 122 ; ii. 438 ; and the Deisti- cal controversy, 123-7, 132 ; hymn-singing an innovation at, 245 ; period of its origins, 309 ; political situation at, and at Wesley's death, 357 - 62 ;
630
INDEX
18th-century opposition to, 118, 128; and Oxford, 139, 154-8, 175 ; and self -discipline, and Puseyism, 145 ; members of the Holy Club and, 149 ; Hervey's contribution to, 153 ; invaluable element of, 158 ; Wesley's central place in history of, 161 ; White- field's priority in early, 163 ; Charles Wesley's place in, 164 ; influence of Susanna Wesley upon, 171 ; its serious view of life, 176 ; influence of Cambridge Platonists on, 179, 180 ; Wesley's permanent devotional literature for, 183 (see also Literature) ; in Georgia, 194, 200 ; and other revivals of 18th century, 201; advent of the living Christ in the history of, 203 ; Wesley as he began to establish, 204 ; affected by Wesley's habitual reverence, 207 ; physical pheno mena in early, 40, 216, 510 ; development of singing in, 216, 245, 246, 307 (see also Appendix C) ; Wesley's activity in estab lishing, 216 ; first impulse to popular education given by, 219 ; and Sunday schools, 219, 367 ; and cheap literature, 220 ; early finance of, and Christian Social ism, 223 ; and the abolition of slavery, 225 (see also Slavery); anticipated modern social work, 225 ; modern, is ' Christian demo cracy, 226, 227 ; Wesley's auto cratic rule in, 227 ; Protestant character of its class-meetings,
227 (see also Class-meeting) ; free dom of the United Societies of, 227 ; Wesley enjoins open-air preaching in, 228, 283 ; as a church arose as occasion offered,
228 ; becomes a church, 229 ; and separation from the Church of England, 229, 230, 232, 291; ' a definite schismatic body,' 230 ; title ' Bishop ' adopted for American, 231 ; Roosevelt on, 233 ; J. R. Green on C. Wesley's work for, 235 (see also Hymns) ; Whitefield's work in early, 264, 266, 267 ; separation of White- field's work from, 268, 269 ; the Countess of Huntingdon and early, 269 ; Whitefield's work for American, 273 ; see also under names of leaders
METHODISM, Developments, Helpers, and Institutions of early, see Contents, i. 278, and above, Chronological development ; im portance of organization of, 279, 280 ; ii. 423 ; military character of it, 279, 280; ii. 420; sum mary of statistics of present day, 280 (see also ii. 531) ; and earlier organizations, 281 ; its open-air preaching, 282 ; ii. 423, 437 ; opposition to open-air work of, 283 ; organization of Christian fellowship in, 283-90; ii. 437, 491 ; its relation to the Religious Societies, 284 ; ii. 422 ; parent Society of present-day,
284 ; and the rise of the United Society, 285 ; Wesley's rules for,
285 ; Select Bands in, 285 ; Love- feasts in, 286 ; the Class-meet ing and, 287-9; ii. 437, 491; finance of, 287 ; exercise of dis cipline in, 288 ; the class-meeting the germ- cell of, 288, 294 ; and it conserves the characteristics of, 289 ; its Watchnight and Covenant Services, 289, 290 ; its chapels, 290-1 ; the first erected chapel in, 291 ; the first steward in, 291 ; lay preaching in, 291-4 ; the itinerancy established in, 294-8 (see also Preachers) ; rapid spread of (1742), 294; effect of the itinerancy upon, 298 ; its circuit system, 298-300 ; Circuit Plans, Quarterly Meetings and Superintendents in, 299 ; Wesley superintends all early circuits in, 300 ; description and work of preachers in, 300-2 ; attention to children, 302 ; sustentation of preachers in, 303, 304 (see also Allowances) ; doctrines of, 304 ; its separation from Calvinism, 305 ; its doctrines — the ' five universal, ' 305 ; ii. 427, 436 ; kind of services in, 306 ; the first Conference, 307 ; first Con ference of , and Church of England, 308 (see also Church of England) ; and church orders, 309 ; liberty and freedom of Conferences, 309 ; its period of origins, 309 ; Annual Conference in, 309 ; its philan thropy and redemptive service, 310-12, 365, 366, 370; ii. 290 (see also Social work) ; J. R. Green on its social service, 310 ;
INDEX
631
reformation of character pro duced by, 311, 312, 316, 318, 330 ; its early helpers, 312-17 ; Fletcher's services to, 319 ; growth of, 320 ; Wesley declines to curtail, in evangelical parishes, 321 ; women workers in, 321 ; women as preachers in, 322 ; protests against Sunday training
of army, 327 ; opposition to
early, i. 323-30; causes of this, 323, 324 ; its service then to civil and religious liberty, 323; must be distinguished from Dissent, 324 ; its supposed connexion with Popery, 324 ; students expelled from Oxford as M., 325 ; some clergy lead opposition to, 325, 320 ; 327 ; Dissenters disapprove M., 326; mobsand, 325-9 (see also Per secution) ; brutalities upon, and imputations against, 328, 329 ; organized oppression of, 329 ; the Press and, 329, 330 ; Wesley's best defence of, 330 ; con dition of, M. at Wesley's death {see Contents, 334) ; and the developments of later 18th cen tury, 340-2 ; growth of towns and middle class gave oppor- j tunity to, 341, 345 ; attracts by its variety of service, 341 ; effect of new illuminants upon, 342 ; improved roads, and connexion- alism of, 342 ; titled and wealthy members of, 344 ; and novels, 350 ; and the revolt against the spirit of later 18th century, 357 ; George III. acknowledged debt of country to, 358 ; effect of French surrender of Canada and America upon, 359 ; during French Revolution, 362, 370, 371, 375 ; improvement in Church of England due to, 364 ; wide spread influence of, 365, 375 ; and the Clapham Sect, 365, 366 ; ii. 290 ; statistics at Wesley's death and their worth, 368, 369 ; its localities and centres then, 368, 369 ; attractiveness of, 369 ; and missions and slavery, 370 ; Deed of Settlement for chapels of, 371 ; and Deed of Declaration, 371, 372, 381, 382 ; inner cabinet of, 373 ; wealth-creating ten dencies of, 374, 393 ; Wesley and wealthy, 375 ; influence of, com pared with that of Reformation,
375; Lord Sidmouth's attack upon, 402 ; baptism of infants by ministers of, legally recognized, 403 ; Southey's Life of Wesley and Rise and Progress of M., 418 ; Crabbe's Borough and, 419 ; attacks upon, in middle period, 422 ; in the British army and Navy, 451-3 ; Ecumenical Con ferences of, 477 ; fidelity of W.M.C. to the mission of, 480 ; a religion of the spirit, 485 ; authority and freedom in its history, 486, 487 ; ii. 420, 502 ; its secessions, 486, 487 ; ii. 419, 502 ; numbers in parent and branch British churches, 486 ; reform in, and national and political reforms, 487 ; ii. 486 ; crisis in, at Wesley's death, 488 ; parties in, 488, 494 ; claims of the reform party in, 489 ; and Devon, 503 ; B.C.M. reproduce features of early, 510; fidelity of M.N.C. to doctrines of, 525 ; Cooke's service of, 526 ; develop ment of temperance sentiment in, 528, 529 ; influence of church members in, 539 ; Salvation Army evinces the genius of, 541 ; ii. 420 ; Independent Methodist churches and, 560 ; early progress of, excelled by P.M., 580, 581 ; and European Romanism, ii. 41-7 ; and mo dernism, 47 ; its appeal where other churches are present, 50, 396 ; the indirect results of, 50, 342, 396, 397, 398, 509 ; its appeal to the African, 280 ; its missionary character, 286, 287, 366, 396, 424 ; its unique posi tion in China, 334 ; and religious freedom in South America, 387-9; and Reformed Protestantism, 395; German views of, 395 ; Harnack's testimony to, 397 ; lack of, in Italian mission, 402, 403 METHODISM, present-day, its unity, 419-29 ; earlier divergences of, 418-21 ; features of Wesley's, 420, 426-9 ; theology, experience, and temperament of all, 421, 422, 426-9, 436 ; compared with other churches, 424-6 ; slight interest of, in questions of polity, 426 ; appeals to Scripture for its polities, 426 ; the ' distinctive characteristic ' of, 426-9 ; unity
632
INDEX
of, historically considered, 429- 40 ; notes of the catholic i churches, and, 429-36; the universal love of God and, 429, 436, 488 ; comprehensiveness of, 439 ; external signs of, 440, 441 ;
modern appeal of, 441 ;
missionary enterprise of, see vol. ii. bk. v., and also under \ names of separate churches ; j
tendencies of British, 485-
506 ; affected by those of country, nation, and churches, 486, 488 ; and Divine Fatherhood, justice, and democracy, 487 ; and creeds, 488, 489 ; and its practi cality, 489 ; and its hymn-book, 489, 494 ; and revivals, 490 ; and its modern appeal, 490 ; class and church meetings and, 491, 493 ; and the order of public worship, 493, 494 ; and the Sacraments ; and the circuit system, 495 ; modi fies itinerancy, 496 ; and town missions, 496, 497 ; in ministerial education and training, 499 ; to wards Presbyterian constitution, 502, 504 ; and ' a Methodist Church of England,' 502-5 ; and union with Presbyterian Church of England, 504 ; notes common to British sections, 505 ; influence in England, 506 ; greatest dan ger of, 506 ; tendencies of
American, 507-10 ; number of American branches of, 507 ; con stitutional and doctrinal trend of, 508 ; disquieting and assuring signs of, 509 ; national influence j of, 509 ; sketch of present U.S.A. churches of, 512-16
' Methodism, New-school,' ii. 132. '
Methodism As It Is, Everett's, i. 531
Methodist, The (New York), ii. 135
' Methodist Church, The,' Perronet styles the United Societies, i. 164
' Methodist Church of England,' constitution for a, ii. 502-5
Methodist Concerted Action Com mittee, Independent Methodist Churches and, i. 560 ; ii. 441
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, j THE (for prior events, see United j States, M. in) ; Irish emigrants i and origin of, ii. 36, 287 ; French | work of, 44 ; German work of, j 48 ; episcopal organization of, i
83, 92, 104, 108, 116, 159; Coke appointed supt. of, 83, 159 ; presbyters, the sacraments and a liturgy for, 84, 85, 86, 91, 159, 160 ; Asbury appointed co- supt., 85 ; Lord's Supper, weekly in, 86 ; and the State, and English Church, 86 ; supt. or bishops in, 86, 91, 161 ; the Con ference of 1784, 89 ; notable leaders of, 89 ; M.E.C. consti tuted, 90 ; Asbury's ordination and consecration for, 91, 160 ; Cokesbury College and, 91, 164 ; and higher education, 92 ; pioneer work of, 92, 94, 120, 203 ; historic chapels of, 93 ; Camp-meetings in, 93, 107, 121, 123, 163; Annual Conferences of, 94, 108 ; first local Conference, 94 ; Charles Wesley's attacks on Coke and, 94, 160 ; native ministry of, 95 ; in the Western States, 96 ; vast circuits of, 97 ; small allowance to early preachers of, 97, 163, 164 ; in Ohio, 98 ; national service ren dered by early preachers of, 99 ; declares allegiance to U.S. Con stitution, 99 ; Washington's reply to, 100; its loyal action criticized, 101 ; proposal for a general Council, 102, 162; O'Kelly's reform for and separation from, 102, 103, 162, 174; revises Form of Discipline, 103 ; character istics of (1790-1810), 104-111 ; South and North extension of, 104, 105, 163 ; 1784 and 1808 compared, 105, 106 ; statistics of, 106; revivals in, 106-8, 163; constitutional development, 108, 109, 116, 135, 165, 166; repre sentative government in, 108 ; status of bishops, 108, 184 ; a delegated Conference for, 109,
115, 165; maintains the itiner ancy, 109 ; Marsden's account of, 109 ; dress of preachers and
bishops in, 98, 109, 110;
from 1808 to 1908, see Contents, ii. 114; Restrictive Rules of
116, 135, 165; doctrines, 116; absolutist polity of, 116, 119, 124, 125, 162, 167, 174 ; unites with others in Japan, 117, 228, 523 ; proposed union with Protes tant Episcopal Church, 117, 161 ; autocracy of presiding elder in, 119, 167, 174; slavery question
INDEX
633
in, 120, 182; secessions upon this, 126, 175, 179, 452, 512 ; Confer ences and this, 128, 131, 175-86; circuit-riders of, 121 ; eagerness of pioneers in, 122, 166-70; Cartwright's work in, 123, 169 ; physical phenomena under preaching in, 122, 124 ; con troversies and secessions in, 124- 36 ; clerical and lay rights in, 125 ; and the Meth. Prot. Ch., 126, 174, 453, 515, 525 ; and the Wes. Meth. Ch. of Amer., 127, 131, 175, 515 ; protest of the Southern delegates to, 129, 183-5 ; Plan of Separation and,
129, 170, 185, 187, 188, 189, 452 ; organization of M.E.C.S.,
130, 187 ; partition of property of, to M.E.C.S., 130, 188, 189, 521 ; fraternizes with M.E.C.S.,
131, 194, 195, 452, 522 ; alleged doctrinal looseness in. 132 ; expulsion of B. T. Roberts and others from, 132 ; Free Methodist Church formed from, 133, 515 ; lay rights claimed in, 134, and admitted, 135 ; laymen and the constitution of General and Annual Conference of. 135 ; German churches of, 137-9 ; Nast's work in, 139 ; educational work of, 140-2, 172 ; hymn and song books of, 142-6 ; publishing houses of, 147, 172 ; present features of, 149-151 ; constitutional trend and social service in, 149 ; and temper ance effort, 149 ; and reunion, 150 ; and theological advance, 150 ; dogma and life in, 151 ; supremacy of General Confer ence of, 165 ; Canadian churches withdraw from, 173, 213; Afri can Methodist Episcopal Church and, 173, 512; appoints a preacher for Canada, 203 ; and ordains preachers for, 209 ; and British Wesleyan missionaries in Canada, 211 ; M.E.C. in Canada organ ized from, 214 ; and union in Canada, 221, 460, 461, 463 ; and Bible Societies, 367 ; assists W.M.C. in France, 369; forbids smoking and liquor drinking by ministers, 402 ; in Italy, 403 ; helps reunion of Methodist Pro testant Church and Methodist Church, 454 ; tendencies
of, 507-10 ; statistics of, 512, 523; coloured brethren in, 512; and the Union African M.E.C., 514 ; and Negro Conferences and membership, 518, 519, 527 ; and reunion with M.E.C.S., 521-4, 525, 526; and reunion with Methodist Protestant Church, 525 ; Federation Com missions of, 526, 527 ; mis sionary enterprise of, see Con tents, i. 362 ; beginnings of, 363, 365; Stewart and, 364, 369, 371 ; opposition to, 365 ; Female and Young Men's societies formed, 366 ; General Conference ap proves the, 366 ; Bible societies and, 367; leaders of the, 367, 369 ; Durbin's work in, 368 ; for home and foreign work till 1907 ; Government assists, 366, 371, hinders, 371 ; income of,
368 ; first missionary of, 369 ; latest mission of, 369 ; work of, among the heathen, 369-77 ; Roman Catholic opposition to,
369 ; Finley's work in, 370 ; to Wyandot Indians, 369-71 ; to Creeks, 371 ; to Cherokees, 372 ; to the Potawatamies and Choc- taws, 372 ; statistics of, 372, 381, 384, 385, 386, 391, 392, 401 ; to the Flathead Indians, 373 ; Fisk's call for missionaries and, 375 ; conflict with Hudson Bay Co., 376; enthusiasm of, 377; and workers for Oregon, 377 ; to the Negroes, 377-82 ; in Liberia, 377-9 ; Cox's work, 378 ; Tay lor's work in South-eastern Liberia, 379, 380; in East Africa, and Richards's work there, 381 ; in South America, 382-9 ; on East Coast, 382 j and Roman Catholicism, 382, 385 ; Kidder's work in, 383 ; on West Coast, 384 ; diffi culties of the work, 386 ; and religious liberty, 387 ; in China, 389-91 ; to Chinese in California, 390; fidelity of con verts of, 391 ; among Scandi navians, 391-3 ; in Germany,. 393-8 ; persecution and restric tion there, 394, 396 ; and Pro testantism, 395 ; results of, 397 ; in India, 398 ; in Bulgaria, 399 ; in Italy, 400, 403 ; Gavazzi and, 400, 403 ; centres of, 401 ;
634
INDEX
criticism of, 402 ; other mis sions of, 403 ; earnestness of, 509 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH SOUTH (for prior events, see United States, M. in), origin of, ii. 36 ; unites with others in Japan, 117 ; protest of Southern delegates to M.E.C., 128, 183-5, 452; Plan of Separation and, 129, 170, 185, 187, 188, 189, 452; organized, 130, 187 ; claims its share of M.E.C. property, 130, 188, 189; M.E.C. fraternizes with, 131, 452 ; hymn-books of, 145, 146 ; initial movements and, 155-8 ; ' five noble irregulars ' and, 155 ; pioneers, 156 ; claim for the sacraments and, 157 ; native ordinations and, 157 ; Asbury's attitude and, 157 ; clergy and, 157 ; the compromise at Mana- kintown and, 77, 158 ; Wesley's views and acts and, 158-61 ; Coke and Asbury and, 161 ; O'Kelly's reform and, 162; growth of, 163 ; ministerial train ing and sustentation, 164 ; the Constitutional period (1808-44) of (see Contents, 154), 165-79; bishops have a veto in, 165 ; leading preachers of, 167-70 ; missionary developments and, 171, 172; and the conversion of negroes, 171, 173, 174, 177, 184; publishing and educational work, 172; African Meth. Epis. Ch. and,
173, 512; African Meth. Epis. Church (Zion), and, 174, 513 ; Methodist Protestant Ch. and,
174, 515 ; Wesleyan Methodist Church of America, and, 175, 179, 515 (see also under M.E.C. and under separate headings) ; and the slavery question, 175-9 ; the division of the M.E.C. and, 179-86 ; Andrew as slaveholder, 179-85 ; number of slaveholders and, 182 ; attitude of the South on slavery, and, 183, 184 ; organ ization and growth of, 186-91 ; Louisville Convention and, 187 ; first General Conference of, 187, 188 ; decision of the Supreme Court, and, 189 ; statistics of, 190, 197 ; losses of, through the Civil War, 191, 192, 514; lay delegation introduced, 192, 196 ; class-meeting and, 192 ; M.E.C., fraternal messengers and, 194,
522 ; Cape May Joint Commission and, 194, 521 ; is recognized by M.E.C., 194, 452, and Canadian M. and W.M.C. of Britain, 195 ; federation of, with M.E.C., 195 ; growth and development of, 195 ; Keener and other leaders, 195, 196 ; bishops of, 196 ; missions, educational and publishing work of, 197 ; hos pitals of, 197, 198 ; doctrine and polity of, 198 ; unites in Meth.
Ch. of Japan, 228, 523 ;
missionary enterprise of, ii. 406-14; to the Negroes, 406; organized the Coloured M.E.C., 406, 514; to the Indians, 406; statistics of, 406, 407, 411, 413, 452, 512, 523 ; to the Germans, 407 ; in China, 408 ; in Mexico, 409 ; developments and diffi culties of, 409, 410 ; in Brazil, 411 ; in Cuba, 412 ; in Japan, 413; in Korea, 413; tendencies of, 507-10 ; and the Congrega tional Methodists, 515 ; and the New Congregational Methodists, 515 ; and reunion with M.E.C., 521-4, 526
Methodist Hymn-Boole, The (see also Appendix C), M.N.C. and, i. 542
Memorial, Atmore's, i. 421
Monitor, Kilham's, i. 494
Methodist New Connexion, The
(U.M.C.), formation of, 386, 495 ; similarity to others in U.M.C., 486 ; its rise affected by the French Revolution, 487 ; claims of the reform party in M. and, 489 ; principles advocated by Kilham, embodied in, 492 : as 'The New Itinerancy,'495; its first Conference, 495 ; first centres of, 494, 496 ; wide circuits of, 496, 500 ; lay preachers assist in, 496 ; Heaps and, 496 ; adopts a Constitution, 496 ; Kilham's work in, 496, 497 ; Thorn's work in, 499 ; early lay leaders in, 499 ; character of its minis try, 499 ; privations of early preachers, 499 ; delight in its privileges, 500 ; ordination of preachers in, 500 ; allowances to early preachers of, 500; preachers' houses in, 500 ; mortality and short service of early preachers in, 501 ; Watson's work in, 501 ; resembled parent church, 501 ;
INDEX
635
Magazine, 501 ; class -meeting, test of membership in, 501, 542; difficulties of, 501, 502; statistics of, 502, 527 ; a pioneer church, 502 ; Bible Christian Methodists resembled, 513 ; Pro testant Methodists use chapel of, 515 ; Wright joins, 516 ; Allin commends, 519 ; Wesleyan Methodist Association and, 519 ; seceders unite with, 519 ; Irish mission of, 524, 525, ii. 11, 219, 457 ; Canadian missions of, 524, ii. 219, 458-60; Scott's and Allin's work in, 524; Barker and, 524 ; Barkerite losses and, 525 ; evangelical fidelity of, 525 ; Cooke's work in, 525 ; and Hulme's, 526; Chinese mis sion of, 526 ; Deeds of, 526 ; Jubilee of, 526, 527 ; districts in, 526 ; Ridgway and, 527 ; its Magazine on brewing porter, 529 ; Cornish teetotalers join, 529 ; Cornish Free Church joins, 532 ; affected by Reform agita tion, 534 ; and the Wesleyan Reformers, 536 ; some join the,
536 ; the last fifty years in,
540-3; leaders of (1857-1907), 540 ; Booth (General) resigns ministry of, 541 ; ministerial training in the, 540 ; constitu tional changes in, 541, 542 ; hymn-book for, 542 ; and the Methodist Hymn-Book, 542 ; Cen tenary Conference of, 542 ; sta tistics of, at Union, 549 ; mis sionary enterprise of, see under United Methodist Church ; finan cial effects on M. of secession of, ii. 292 ; in Australia, 466 ; in Victoria, unites in M.C.A., 264 ; Anthony Foster and, 264 ; and union, 472 et seq.
METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH, I. 516; organized, ii. 126, 174; and the M.E.C., 126, 134; Hymn-book of, 146 ; 148 ; pro posed union with M.E.C., 150 ; its service to M., 175 ; claims preachers' right to elect Presid ing Elders, 453, and lay rights, 453 ; secession of the Metho dist Church from, 453, and reunion with, 454 ; missions of, ii. 404-6 ; organized, 404 ; in Oregon, 404 ; in Japan, 404, 405 ; College in, 405 ; and the Japanese
slavery-brothel system, 405 ; women's work for, 405 ; pastoral service in, 406, 515 ; and P.M., 527 ; and the United Brethren and Congregationalists, 527
Methodist Quarterly Review (M.E.C.) and Methodist Magazine, ii. 172
Review, ii. 150
Times, The, i. 539 ; ii. 474
Mevagissey, i. 532
Mewburn, William, i. 469
Mexico, M.E.C.S., in, ii. 197, 403, 408
Michigan, M. enters, ii. 105, 514
Micklethwaite, William, ii. 351
Middelburg, ii. 272, 279
Middlemiss, George, ii. 269
Middlesex, early M. in, i. 369
Middletown, Wesleyan University at, ii. 140, 172, 375, 389 ; M. B. Cox at, 378
Midnight assemblies, Wesley and, i. 290 (see also Watch-night)
Milan, i. 447 ; ii. 45
Militia Bill, 1757, Dissenters and, i. 326; 1803, Act, W.M. Com mittee of Privileges and, 327 n., 402
Millard, J. G., ii. 252
Miller, Ira, i. 546
, Marmaduke, i. 548, ii. 475
Mills, Bishop W. H., ii. 406
Milton Damarel, i. 508
, John, i. 78 ; quoted, 235 ;
and C. Wesley's hymns, 249, 323
Minas, ii. 411, 412
Mineral wealth, English, in 18th century and now, i. 83, 84
Ministers (see also Preachers), relief of Dissenting, i. 363 ; baptisms by M. legally recognized, 403 ; hold weekly class for children, 415 ; personal habits of M.E.C.,
ii. 402 ; education and
training of: W.M. institution for, i. 427, 430, 475, 476 ; Warren protests against, 427 ; Wesleyan Association and, 517 ; in M.N.C., 540 ; in U.M.F.C., 547 ; of P.M., 591; increased need for, 476; ii. 499 ; assertion of the authority of, in the Reform agitation, i. 533 ; Arthur on this, 534 ; position of, in U.M.F.C., 538, and increased confidence in, 549 ; protest against appointments by bishops, ii. 162, 174 ; rights and responsibilities of, and M. con troversies, 419 ; powers of, in
636
INDEX
Canadian M., and Union, 460, 463, 464 ; influence of, replaces
prerogative, 503 ; term of
service by, in W.M.C., i. 443 ; in U.M.F.C., 538 ; in M.N.C., 541 ; in M.E.C.S., ii. 192 ; in M.C.A., 260 ; in British M., 496 Minor District Meeting. See District
Meetings
Minutes of Conference (17 '88), i. 243 ; Wesley's, 279 ; The Large, given to preachers, 295 ; Pawson edits The Large, 386 ; The Liverpool (1820), 417, 418; P.M. Con solidated, 588, 593 ; The Large, and M.E.C. Discipline, ii. 91
Missionary enterprise (see also under separate churches), Susanna Wesley and, i. 54 ; and the apostles of primitive church, 70 ; women as M. missionaries, 72 ; S. Wesley, senr., encouraged, 167 ; the Wesley family and, 189 ; Berkeley and, 189 ; and native races, 190, 194; Wesley's work in, 194; and the Evangelical Revival, 366 ; early M. and, 370 ; Coke's Address to the Pious and Bene volent, ii. 94
, Home, of W.M.C., i. 449 et seg.;
U.M.C. simultaneous evangel istic, 551 ; deaconesses, and central missions of, 455 ; central halls and their work in, 456 ; replace historic chapels, 457 ; the Forward Movement and, 457, 458 ; and work in villages, 461 ; success of, 461, ii. 496, 497 ; mission halls of, in experimental stage, i. 479 ; in U.M.C., 546 ; in P.M., 596 ; in Australia, ii. 260
Missouri, M. enters, ii. 105, 195
Mitchell, Thomas, early M. preacher, his heroism, i. 327
— , Rev. Thomas, ii. 478
Mixed Committees (ministers and laymen), in W.M.C., i. 401, 402, 441 ; Irish, ii. 17 (see also Laity)
Mobs, allowed to assault early M., i. 93 ; demolish city meeting houses, 103 ; Wesley and the, 217, 323; Nelson and, 314; incited by some clergy, 325
Modena, ii. 401
' Modernism,' (see also M., ten dencies of), M. and Italian, ii. 47
Mohawks, U.S.A., mission to the, ii. 373
Mohocks. See London
Molinos, Miguel de, his Spiritual Guide, i. 187 ; Wesley reads, 194
Molteno, ii. 272
Molther, and his doctrine of Still ness, i. 54
Mombasa, ii. 352
Monasticism, i. 6 ; its resem blances to M., 40 ; annual Con ferences in, 43
Monmouthshire, Mason in, i. 509
Monrovia, ii. 378
Monstsioia, Chief, ii. 277
Montagu, Mrs. Elizabeth, I. 355
Montanism, i. 6 ; affinity of M. with, 39, 40 ; Wesley and, 40 ; a reaction against secularism, 40 ; emphasized the doctrine of the Paraclete, 40 ; its adherents were persecuted, 40 ; favoured ' Societies,' 40 ; was accom panied by nervous excitement, 40
Montesquieu, Charles de S., his Esprit des Lois, i. 353, 371
Montevideo, ii. 172, 384
Montgomery, Gabriel, Comte de, ii. 55
Montreal, ii. 36 ; theological col lege at, 60 ; 211, 231, 239, 464
Moody and Sankey in Ireland, ii. 35
Moore, Henry, i. 203 ; ordained by Wesley, 232, 372, 373; and the sacramental controversy, 391 ; Wesley's executor, 391 ; ii. 10, 456
, William, ii. 252
Moorfields, Wesley at, i. 209 ; White- field at, 264 ; Nelson at, 313
Moose, Presiding Elder, ii. 413
Moral philosophy, later eighteenth- century writers on, i. 352
Morals, low state of, at the rise of M., i. 87 ; in the Restoration period, 87 ; and amusements in eighteenth century, 89 ; gam bling and, 90
Moravianism and Moravians, Wes ley and, i. 54, 149, 157, 284, 293 ; and Antinomianism, 55 ; and M., 154 ; Gambold joins and becomes a Bishop of the, 155, 156 ; their influence and mis sionary enterprise, 156 ; Ingham joins and breaks with, 157 ; Wesley withdraws from, 157 ; Hutchins and, 158 ; Wesley im pressed with the conduct of, 191 ; influence of, on him, 198, 293 ; Wesley forsakes the, 213, 284; and education, 218; C. Wesley amongst, 239 ; and the organiza-
INDEX
637
tion of M., 281 ; Fetter Lane Religious Society becomes a society of, 284 ; separation of M. from, 305
More, Mrs. Hannah, her work, and literary works, i. 355, 367
, Henry, Cambridge Platonist,
and Wesley, i. 53
Moreton Bay, ii. 252
Morgan, Richard, and Ireland, ii. 6
, William (Oxford Methodist), a
member of the Holy Club, i. 141 ; leader in social service, 143, 148, 310 ; work at Holt., disorders, and death of, 148 ; and Ireland, ii. 6
, William, anticipates White-
field as open-air preacher, i. 263
Morley, Dr., Oxford, i. 178
, S. Africa, ii. 274
Morrell, Thomas, loyalty of, ii. 82 ; 96, 99, 100 ; opposes O'Kelly, 103
Morris, George P., ii. 147
, James, i. 365
, T. A., Bishop, ii. 168, 172
Morrison, Bishop H. C., ii. 196
, Robert, ii. 315
Mortality of early preachers, i. 304 ; of early M.N.C. preachers, 501
Mortimer, Mrs., i. 396
Morwenstow, i. 509
Moselikatse, ii. 277
Mosheim, quoted, i. 65 ; on White- field, 163
Moslems, missionaries of, in West Africa, ii. 337 ; in East Africa, 352
* Mother of Methodism,' the. See Wesley, Susanna
Mottram, William, i. 573
Moulton, Dr. W. F., and the Leys School, i, 474 ; one of the Revisers of New Testament, 474
Mount Coke, ii. 273, 274
Vernon, ii. 94
Mow Cop, i. 424, 561, 562, 563 ; Dow and, 565 ; First Camp-meeting on, 565 ; Second Camp-meeting on, 567 ; P.M. Centenary Camp- meeting on, 597
Mowry, Professor, ii. 376
Msimang, ii. 277
Mudge, Enoch, ii. 105
Miiller, Christopher S., ii. 393
Mummssen, Pastor, ii. 395
Murphy, U. G., ii. 405
Murlin, John, i. 391
Murrow, William, ii. 36
Music (see also Appendix C), 18th
-century composers of, i. 114; operatic, 114; oratorio, 114
Mutual Rights of Ministers and Members, ii. 125
Myles, William, his Chronological History of Methodism, i. 303, 304
Mysore, missions in, ii. 303, 307, 308, 322 ; country districts of, left to W.M.C., 324
Mysticism and the Mystics, and Assurance, i. 22 ; and M., 53-64 ; causes of Wesley's dislike of, 54, 55 ; and Antinomianism, 54 ; and human personality, reason and emotion, 55, 61, 186 ; and M. doctrines, 56, 57, 59 ; its contempt for mere learning, 57 ; and the teaching of the Wesleys on Holi ness, 58 ; Professor James on, 58, 59 ; qualities of, 59 ; dangers of, corrected in M., 60, 61 ; its contempt for the ordinances, 61, 186 ; Royce quoted on, 62 ; its persistence, 62 ; M. must use, 62 ; Gambold influenced by, 155 ; Susanna Wesley and, 172 ; Wesley's eclectic, 181, 185-8; of the Port Royalists, 187 ; and rank, intellect, and saint liness, 208 ; and C. Wesley's hymns, 247 ; and the priesthood of believers, 282 ; and rapture in suffering, 315, 316, 327 ; and death, 330, 331 ; of H. A. Rogers, 396 ; Crawfoot's, 569
NAMAQUA, the, ii. 270
Names, for M., i. 140, 144, 145 ; of
B.C.M., 511 ; for chapels, 324,
543
Nance, F. J., ii. 262 Nanking, ii. 316, 317 Nanzela, ii. 358 Naples, i. 447, ii. 401 Napoleon, Louis, his theory of
epochal men, i. 79 ; his Julius
Caesar quoted, 80
I., ii. 43, 80, 393
Nash Beau, Wesley and, i. 323 Nashville, ii. 172; Vanderbilt
University at, 197 ; M.E.C.S.
Publishing Ho vise at, 197 Nashville Christian Advocate, ii. 170 Nassau, ii. 336 Nast, William, account of, ii. 138,
139 ; 393, 394 Natal, ii. 273, 275
638
INDEX
National Anti-Slavery Society, ii. 126
Children's Home and Or phanage, i. 453 (see also Children, needy) ; and the U.M.C., 454
Debt, English, its growth in
the eighteenth century, i. 86
Free Church Council of Eng land and Wales, Bourne and the, i. 544 ; and the U.M.C., ii. 482 ; and church federation, 504
Native preachers on mission fields, ii. 313 ; in India, 319, 323 ; W.M.C. in China, 330; U.M.C. in China, 344, 345 ; M.N.C., 345 ; P.M., 358 ; in Liberia, 379 ; in South America, 386 ; in Germany, 397; among North American Indians, 407 ; in Mexico, 409, 410 ; for Brazil, 412
races, ideas of the state of, i.
190; Wesley's ideas of, corrected, 194
Ndlambe, Bantu chief, ii. 274
Neal, Major George, ii. 37, 202, 204
Neale, Johanna Brooks, i. 509
Neely, Richard, ii. 171, 406
Negapatam, ii. 296, 318 ; caste in school at, 308
Negroes, religious instruction for, claimed, ii. 169 ; given, and systematized, 171 ; Cox's work among, 171 ; Harrison's Gospel among the Slaves, 171 ; cause of separate churches of, 74 ; con version and edification of, 177; number of, in M.E.C.S., 190; M.E.C.S. losses, as members, 192 ; work amongst in Antigua, 286 ; welcome M., 296, 297, 298; in West Indies, 289-291, 296 ; con tingencies of emancipation of, 311, 312 ; number of, in M.E.C., 512 ; eight denominations of, 512 ; American Methodist Churches of, 512-15 ; member ship of churches in U.S.A., 518 ; separate Conferences of , 518, 519; increasing recognition of, 518
Nelson, John, i. 20; evangelical ethics of, 212 ; opposed for open- air preaching, 283 ; originates class-paper, 288 ; his dress, 300 ; account of, 312-15; and Wesley in Cornwall, 313 ; colleague of Grimshaw, 318 ; pressed as sol dier, 323 ; his ready wit, 327
1 Judge, ii. 130
, Justin H., ii. 383
Nelson, Robert, i. 121, 133
, New Zealand, ii. 253
Netherland Confession, i. 10
Nevis, W.I., ii. 290, 291
New Brunswick, ii. 209, 223, 224, 464
Newbury Port, Whitefield at, i. 275
, Vermont, Biblical Institute,
ii. 141
Newcastle, Natal, ii. 276
N.S.W., ii. 240, 242
Newcastle-on-Tyne, Wesley draws up Rules at, i. 285 ; Orphan House at, 291, 453; becomes a centre for Wesley, 294 ; early M. in, 369, 490 ; sends out Kilham's pamphlet, 491 ; District Meeting tries Kilham at, 492 ; 494 ; Cooke and Barker at, 526, 580
New, Charles, ii. 352
New church, disruption at, i. 516
Newcomen, Thomas, i. 337
NEW CONGREGATIONAL METHODISTS, ii. 515
Newell, Harriet, ii. 370
New England, ii. 69, 70, 96 ; Re vivals in, 106 ; Anti-Slavery Society in, 126, 179 ; Jesse Lee- enters, 104, 164 ; Conference, and Canada, 173
Newfoundland, i. 372 ; origins of M., and Irish immigrants, in, ii.. 36, 201 ; 105, 206, 224, 231, 287, 289, 464
Newgate prison, London, i. 94 ; prisoners in, 167 ; C. Wesley ministers in, 241 ; work of Told in, 311 ; storming of, 363
New Guinea Mission, ii. 258
Hampshire, ii. 105
Heriot, ii. 278
Newington College, N.S.W., ii. 261
' New Itinerancy, The.' See Metho dist New Connexion
Jersey, ii. 59, 65, 66, 75, 89, 155-
Newman, John Henry, i. 64, 137, 168 ; his definition of philosophy,. 170 ; his Apologia, 525
, J. E., II. 411
New Norfolk, ii. 243
Orleans, Conference at, ii..
192, 196, 369
Newquay, O' Bryan at, i. 504
New Rochelle, ii. 66
ROSS, ii. 28
' School Methodism,' ii. 132
South Wales, ii. 237, 261 ;
Twentieth Century Fund, 261 j Reunion in, 264
INDEX
639
New Testament, authority of, i. 193 ; Wesley anticipated Revised, 222 ; criticism, and divine right of pastorate, ii. 502
Newton, Isaac, i. 114, 129
, Robert, and the method of
ordaining, i. 405, 437 ; his powers and service, 410, 430, 440, 478
New Westminster, ii. 231
York, Whitefield preaches in,
i. 265 ; O'Bryan in, 512 ; Dunn in, 532 ; camp-meeting, 574 ; first service in, ii. 55, 56, 57, 58, 59 ; Old John St. Church (Wesley Chapel) in, 60, 62, 64, 65, 66, 67, 69, 70, 71, 72, 75, 76, 87, 93, 99 ; Barratt's Chapel in, 87, 93 ; Mabry's Chapel in, 93 ; M. His torical Society, 60 ; loyalist M. in, 81 ; Wesley's three commis sioners in, 86 ; Conference of 1789 at, 99 ; 95, 96, 104, 105, 156 ; Marsden at Conference in, 109 ; first delegated Conference in, 119 ; Circuit Court of, 130 ; Nast in, 138 ; Book Concern in, 148, 189 ; division of M.E.C. in, 174, 179, 187 ; and slavery, 179 ; revival in, 204 ; Irish emi grants in, 286 ; missionary society formed in, 365 ; mission to Scan dinavians in, 391 ; African M.E. Zion Church organized in, 513
New York Gazette, ii. 57 ; Advocate, 188
New Zealand, ii. 242, 244, 245 ; P.M. in, i. 587, ii. 254 ; B.C.M. in, 256; U.M.F.C. in, i. 546, ii. 256; progress in, 257 ; financial crisis in, 259 ; and Twentieth Century Fund, 261 ; educational work in, 263 ; and reunion, 264, 472
Niagara, ii. 122; Bangs at, 204; Sawyer in, 205
Nicholson, J., ii. 469
Ningpo, ii. 353
Nippert, Pastor, ii. 394, 396
Nippon M. Kyokwai, ii. 228 (see also Japan, M. Church in)
Nismes, i. 446
Nitchman, Bishop D., i. 191
Nizam's Dominions, work in, ii. 326
Nkala, ii. 358
Nollekens, Joseph, i. 357
Nominations to office restricted in W.M.C., i. 495
Nonconformity and Nonconformists (see also Dissenters), M. and, i. 65, 66 ; proportions of, in England
and America, 65; in the 18th century, 65; revived by Wesley through M., 66 ; its early distrust of Arminianism and M., 66 ; its indebtedness to M., 66 ; its modern evangelism, 66 ; Wesley's family connections with, 165, 166 ; Bartholomew Westley and John Westley the first as, 165; ejection of Dr. Annesley as a, 168 ; principles of, in Susanna Wesley and her sons, 172 ; indifference of, to masses, 226 ; in America, 273 ; their work at the Revolu tion, 273 ; Whitefield's impulse to, 273 ; standing of, in 18th cen tury, 362 ; fined, 362 ; relieved, 363 ; marriages permitted in chapels of, 364, 468 ; repeal of Test and Corporation Acts and, 364, 366 ; decline of village churches of, 461 ; clerical in tolerance and, 462
Non-jurors, the, i. 116, 120; char acter of, 121 ; protest and suffer ings of, 121 ; ejection of, 121 ; disappearance of, 122 ; Clayton and Deacon as, 149, 150; S. Wes ley and, 167; Susanna Wesley and, 172 ; High Churchism of, 183; preferred Edward VI. prayer- book, 184
Norfolk, early M. in, i. 369, 579, 583
Island, ii. 243
, Vir., ii. 75
Normandy, M. in, ii. 41, 431
Norris, John, i. 179; influence of, on Wesley, 179; his Reflections, 180 ; on devotional reading, 180
, William H., ii. 384
North, Lord, i. 358
Northallerton, i. 593
Northampton, early M. in, i. 369 ; Bramwell at, 411 ; 579
North Carolina, ii. 36, 70, 94, 105, 155; Coke in, 176; 179, 515
Northcote, James, i. 356
North Shields, i. 585
Northumberland, rise of M. in, i. 294, 369 ; B.C.M. in, 508, 510 ; P.M. in, 583 ; Revival in, 592
North- Western Christian Advocate, ii. 135
Northwich, i. 558, 569
Norton-on-the-Moors, i. 565 ; camp- meeting at, 567
Norwalk, Conn., ii. 104
Norway, mission in, ii. 392
Norwich, circuit and maintenance
640
INDEX
of preachers, i. 303 ; persecution at, 328; 450, 588, 591, 596
* No supplies, no surrender, no secession,' as Reform cries, i. 429, 533 ; and missions, ii. 307, 315
Notes on New Testament, Burkitt's, i. 313
Nottingham, rise of M. in, i. 294,369 ; John Nelson and the sergeant at, 315 ; his reply to Mayor of, 327 ; Kilham at, 496, and interred at, 497 ; reformers at, 499, 500 ; P.M. camp-meeting on Forest at, 575 ; P.M. missionaries from, 579, 589 ; missionary enthusiasm at W.M. Conference at, ii. 341
Nova Scotia, ii. 19, 65, 88, 94, 105 ; origin of M. in, 201, 207, 209, 224, 289 ; French surrender posses sion of, 359, 464
Novels, Goldsmith's, i. 347 ; 18th century, 349, 350 ; early M. and, 350 ; Wesley and, 350, and n. ; M. work and characters in, 312, 329, 521, 573
Nukualafu, ii. 299
Nutter, on U.S.A. hymn-books, ii. 144, 145
Nyon, Fletcher bom at, i. 318
OAKENGATES, i. 579
Oastler. Richard, i. 400
Oaths, required of Dissenters, i. 101
Obeah, superstition, the, ii. 311, 336
Oberlin, J. F., ii. 371
O'Bryan, Miss Mary (daughter of W. B. [son]), i.509; in Jersey, 510
, Thomasine (mother of W. B.
[son]), i. 504
William, (father), i. 504
, (son), work of, i. 424,
425 ; builds a chapel, 425, 505 ; dismembered, 425, 505 ; founds B.C.M., 425, 503 ; deposed by them, 425, 512 ; on Devon clergy, 503 ; family names of, 503 ; account of 503 et seq. ; family, and Quaker connexion of, 504 ; expulsion of, 505 ; missionary tours of, 506 ; invited by Thorne, 506 ; forms Shebbear society, 507 ; at Milton Damarel, 508 ; defends women as preachers, 509 ; and Johanna Brooks Neale, 509 ; emphasizes emotion, 510 ; on names given to his followers, 511 ; presides at Conference, 512 ;
claims absolute veto, 512 ; separ ates from Conference, 512 ; his followers reunite with it, 512 ; leaves for New York, 512 ; death of, 513 ; ii. 346
Occasional Conformity Act, fines under, i. 104 ; repeal of, 104
Odell, Rev. Joseph, i. 596
Odgers, James, and O'Bryan, i. 505
Offices, public, Dissenters and, i. 104
Oglethorpe, General, character of, i. 189 ; and prison reform, 190 ; C. Wesley secretary to, 239 ; and Whitefield's Georgian Orphanage, 272 ; ii. 53
Ohio, ii. 70, 93, 94, 97 ; eminent M. in, 98 ; M. enters N.W. of, 105 ; revival in, 106 ; Conference and slavery, 126 ; Circuit Court of, 131 ; Conference at, 139 ; Uni versity, Delaware, 141, 166 ; Morris and, 168 ; 171, 365
O'Kelly, James, at the Conference of 1784, ii. 90; Asbury and, 102 ; claims preachers' right of appeal, 103 ; withdraws and forms Republican M. Church, 103 ; reform proposed by, 162, 174
Oklahoma, Epworth University in, ii. 523
Old Augusta College, Kentucky, ii. 140
Dickinson College, Carlisle,
Penn., ii. 140
Oldham, i. 496
Old Perlican, ii. 206, 207
Pretender, the, and Louis XIV.
of France, i. 102 ; plots for his accession, 104
Olin, Dr. Stephen, ii. 170, 173 ; and slavery, 178 ; quoted, 183
Olivers, Thomas, i. 20 ; writes ' The God of Abraham praise,' 253 ; his dress, 300; 330, 373, 391
Oneidas, mission to the, ii. 373
Ono, Isle, ii. 300
Ontario, ii. 219 ; missions in, 224 ; New, 225, 231
On the Creed, Pearson's, Wesley read, i. 180
Open-air preaching, Wesley's, i. 209, 210, 282; Wesley adopts and enjoins, 228 ; 283 ; Bishop Gibson condemns, 228 ; White- field's, at Kingswood, 263, 282 ; Morgan first uses, 263 ; Wesley's early morning, 282 ; opposition to, 283 ; right of, vindicated by
INDEX
641
early M., 323 ; imprisonment for, j 509 ; significance of, ii. 423
Opera, introduced into England in early eighteenth century, i. 114
Ophirton, ii. 278
Opie, John, i. 356
Opposition (see also Persecution), 1 8th century, to M., i. 118 ; to the Oxford M., 143 ; violent literary, to Whitefield, 264 ; to early M. work in the army, 310 ; its causes, 323, 324
Orange Free State, ii. 275
River Colony, ii. 270, 274
Oratorios, Handel's, i. 114
Orators, Methodist preachers, i. 390 ; Bradburn, 390 ; Newton, 410, 441 ; Punshon, 441, 451
Orchard, Paul, i. 151
Orders, ministerial, Wesley and (see also Episcopacy), i. 69
Ordinances (see also Sacraments), Mysticism and the, i. 61 ; Barker and the, 525
Ordination, Wesley's preparation for his own, i. 180; of M. preachers for America, 231, ii. 85 ; involved separation from church, 232 ; for Scotland and England, 232, 372 ; — of preachers (reception into full connexion), 295 ; modes of, in W.M.C., 405 ; mode of, merely a circumstance, 405 ; Bunting's wishes on, 407 ; Kilham's certi ficate of, 490 ; Wesley's certificate of Coke's, ii. 84 ; of native Ameri can preachers, 157, 159 ; denied to Hoskin, 207
Oregon, missions to Indians in, ii. 375, 376, 377 ; Hudson Bay Co., and missions in, 376 ; and the U.S.A., 375, 376, 377 ; first Annual Conference in, 377
Organ, the Leeds case, i. 425, 426, 514-16 ; Wesley and organs, 515
Organization, Wesley's gifts of, i. 279 ; secured permanent results of Revival, 279, 280; military character of M., 279, 2 80, ii. 420 ; of M. resembled earlier forms, i. 281 ; regulative principles in Wesley's, 2S1 ; of fellowship in M., 283-9
Ormerod, Oliver, i. 548 Ormond, William, ' a noble man
though a Southerner,' ii. 178 Oron, ii. 359
Orphanages (see also Children, needy), National Children's Home
VOI. TT
and, i. 453; W.M.C. and, 454; P.M., 597 ; Irish, ii. 31 ; in Ceylon, 320 ; Indian, 323, 399, 415
Orton, J., ii. 248, 249, 250, 251, 253
Osaka, ii. 415
Osborn, George, i. 203 ; his Outlines of Wesleyan Bibliography, 422 ; influence and work of, 479 ; tests ministers as to Fly Sheets, 530 ; meets Griffith, 539 — , Marmaduke C., ii. 335
Osmotherly, Wesley at, i. 217
Ossett, Ingham and, i. 156
Oswestry, i. 579
Otley, Wesley at, i. 217 ; 396
Otterbein, Philip, ii. 91 ; and Asbury, 136 ; founds American German churches, 136
Oude, ii. 398
Oudtshoorn, ii. 272
Ouseley, Gideon, Irish work of, ii. 28, 456
Outlines of Wesleyan Bibliography, Osborn's, i. 422
Overton, Canon J. H., on Wesley, i. 31, 165, 183; on Church of England in 18th century, 106, 115, 117, 178 ; on Wesley's High Churchism, 183; on Wesley's love- affairs, 194, 205 ; on Wesley's peace and joy, 207 ; on Wesley's opposition to Calvinism, 213
Ovid, i. 105
Owen, Dr. John, writings of, i. 122 — , or Owings, Richard, ii. 67
Oxford, early M. in, 369 ; sug gested college for M. in, ii. 441,
500; ,Collegesof:ChristChurch,
C. Wesley at, i. 139 ; the Dean of, and Deism, 139; Wesley at, 174; distinctions at, in eighteenth century, 175 ; Exeter, S. Wesley, senr., at, 174 ; Lincoln, Wesley at, 140, a Fellow of, 141, 177, 178, 291, ii. 53, 84; Holy Club meets in, 146 ; ' Wesley's Vine ' at, 146 ; Herveyand, 150; account of, 177; Wyclif's (Purvey's) Bible there, 178 ; success of, in Wesley's day, 178; Wesley preaches at, 197; Merton, gives the nickname ' Sacramentarians,' i. 140 ; Pem broke, Whitefield enters, 259 ; his sacred spot in, 260 Methodists, the (see also Con tents, i. 136, and names of the Oxford M.), and Oxford, 137: and the world beyond, 138 ; and the condition of the University,
41
642
INDEX
138 ; Charles Wesley the first of,
139 ; the name ' Methodist,' 140, 176 ; other names for, 140, 144; Wesley leader of the, 140, 147 ; characteristics of, 141-3 ; their serious study, and moral earnestness, 141, 176, 179; har monized creed and conduct, 142 ; surprise of the University at, 142 ; Morgan leads in social service, 143 ; visit prisoners and poor, 143, 144 ; consult Samuel Wesley, 143, 166 ; criticized and opposed, 143 ; defended by Wesley, 144 ; High Churchism of the, 145-6 ; meetings of, described, 147 ; number of, 147 ; Morgan's death and, 148 ; indirect influence of, 149 ; later career of the, 149-58 ; later influence on the University, 158 ; Wesley desires to be again one of the, 158 ; Wesley's ideal as one of the, 174 ; Law defends, 176 n. ;
Oxford Movement, influence of, on M., i. 64, 65 ; counteracted dualism in M., 64 ; developed the self-consciousness of M., 64 ; has separated W.M.C. from the Established Church, 65 ; and M. compared, 137, 145, 357
— — , University of, Wyclif, Wesley and, i. 51 ; the cradle of, M., 137 ; in early 18th century, 138-9, 174, 175 ; students at, and Deism, 139; surprise of, at M. consistency 142 ; admires work of M., 146 Gambold preaches before, 155 later influence of M. upon, 158 High Church Toryism at, 167 Wesley's love of, 176 ; M. regard for study at, 176 ; Wesley's sermons before, 203, 214 ; resents his preaching, neglects, and re places him, 215 ; he resigns fellowship in, 215 ; his style while at, 223 ; M. students expelled from, 325
, Canada, ii. 205
Oxtoby, John, i. 580
Oyo, ii. 339
PACKEE, REV. GEORGE, i. 551
Padua, Ii. 46
Paine, Bishop, ii. 130, 170, 173, 185,
188 , Thomas, i. 119; his Rights
of Man, 361 ; ' Painites,' 502
Palatines, Irish, found American
M., ii. 36, 36 n. ; 56 Palermo, ii. 46 Paley, W., works of, i. 353 ; his
defective moral philosophy, 353 Palmer, Dr. Walter C., ii. 389
, Mrs. Phoebe, ii. 389
Palmore, Dr. W. P., il. 522 Panama, ii. 385 Pantheisticon, Toland's, i. 125 Papers on Wesleyan Matters, i.
530
Para, II. 385 Paraclete, Montanism and the idea
of the, i. 40
Paraguay, mission in, ii. 384 Parijs, ii. 275 Paris, Treaty of, i. 337 ; Gibson in,
ii. 44 Parker, John, II. 141
, Bishop Linus, ii. 196
, Thomas, ii. 288
Parliament, corruption of, under
Walpole, i. 105 ; by the Pelhams,.
105 ; early W.M. members of,
395, 399, U.M.F.C., 548, P.M.,
597 ; Acts of, for M., for U.M.C., i.
550, see also App. E ; forM.C.A.,
ii. 248, 258 ; for Irish Primitive
Wesleyans, 457 ; two Acts secured
by W.M., 468 Parnell, Thomas, i. Ill Parr, Thomas, ii. 356 Parramatta, ii. 240, 241, 245, 246 Party government, i. 101 ; under
William IV., 101, 102; under
Anne, 103 ; under George I., 104 ;
Premier and, 104 Pascal, Blaise, Susanna Wesley and,.
i. 170, 172 ; Wesley and, 208, 211 Passivity. See Stillness Pastoral office (see also Authority),
in W.M.C., i. 438, 439, 445;
Bunting and, 407, 408, 515, 519 -f
and M. controversies, 518, 533,
534 ; divine right of, and New
Testament criticism, ii. 502 Paterson, William, founds the Bank
of England, i. 86 Patronata law, Roman Catholicism*
and, ii. 388 Patten, David, ii. 145 Patterson, Colonel, ii. 243 Pattison, Mark, on the Oxford
University in eighteenth century,.
i. 175, 176 ; and Hughes on M.
statistics, ii. 532 Pawson, John, ordained by Wesley,.
i. 372; 373, 383; edits Larg?
INDEX
643
Minutes, 386 ; burns Wesley's Shakespeare, 389
Peace, results in Wesley from Christian assurance, i. 207 ; Ridgway, and International, 527
of Utrecht, I. 103
Pearce, Dr. Z., a noted pluralist, i. 271 ; prohibits Whitefield from preaching in Long Acre, 271
Peasants' revolt, the, i. 10
Peck, J. O., ii. 368
Peddie, ii. 274
Pedicord, Caleb B., ii. 75; is whipped, 82
Peers, J. S., ii. 250
Pekin, ii. 343 ; University, 390
, Niagara Co., Free Methodist
Church formed at, ii. 133, 516
Pemell, John, ii. 256
Pennant, Thomas, on eighteenth- century English roads, i. 95, 96
Pennock, Thomas, ii. 350
Pennsylvania, Whitefield preaches in, i. 265; ii. 59, 65, 155, 514
Pensees, Pascal's, i. 170
Pensions, Wesley on us3less, i. 224
Pentecost, Hymns for, i. 244
Penzotti, imprisonment of, ii. 385
Pepys, Samuel, i. 95
Perks, Sir R. W., and W.M.C. Twentieth Century Fund, i. 477
Pernambuco, ii. 385
Perronet, C., visits Ireland, ii. 7
, Edward, i. 253
, Vincent, his place in M.,
i. 164; and 'the Methodist Church,' 229 ; 317 ; ' archbishop of the M.,' 321
Persecution, of religion, in 18th century, I. 93 ; of Dissenters under Queen Anne, 103 ; effect of,
lengthened, 122 ; of M. (see
also Opposition), of Greenfield, 20, 325 ; 40, 93 ; of Nelson, 314 ; at Colne, 325 ; tact in, 327 ; by mobs, 327-9 ; Seward's death from, 327 ; Mitchell's heroism in, 327 ; of women, 328 ; by slanders and oppression, 329 ; of Kilham, 490; of B.C.M., 511 ; of Bailey,
522 ; of P.M., 578, 583 ; in
Ireland, ii. 8, 9 ; in U.S.A.,
202, 203 ; in Canada, 202 ; for
preaching to Negroes, 291 ;
on mission fields, 291, 296, 297, 337, 344 ; in Boxer Riots, 345, 348 ; among Miao, 349 ; of U.M.F.C. in West Africa, 351, in East Africa, 352, in China, 354 ;
P.M. in Fernando Po, 356, 357 Boxer and ancient, compared, 391 ; in Germany, 394 ; in Bulgaria, 400 ; in Italy, 401
Personality, human, and Mysticism, i. 55; Wesley's, 202
Perth (Aus.), Wesley Church in, ii. 260
Peru, ii. 385, 388
Perugia, ii. 401
Peshawur, ii. 322
Peterloo, i. 577, 578
Petersburg, M.E.C.S. Conferences at, ii. 130, 187
Petersen, O. P., ii. 392
Peters, Sarah, account of, i. 311
Petitions and Memorials to Con ference, i. 429, 439, 492, 494 ; by Reform delegates, 534 ; for lay rights in M.E.C., ii. 125
Petrie, John, i. 518
Petty, John, i. 592
Philadelphia, Whitefield preaches in, i. 265 ; ii. 58, 60, 64 ; Old State House of, 63, 65 ; St. George's Church in, 66; 68, 69, 70, 72, 93, 512; early Confer ences at, 74, 75, 76 ; Coke in, 87 ; Lane's Chapel in, 93 ; and slavery, 127 ; convention of laymen at, 134 ; second lay convention in, 135, 147 ; first Conference in, 156, 165; division of M.E.C. at, 173 ; missionary society at, 365
Philanthropy, of Holy Club, i. 142, 143 ; S. Wesley encourages, 166, 167, 185 (see also Social service) ; Wesley's practical, 142, 144, 188, 224, 225, 310 ; early M. and, 225, 310 ; Hannah More and, 355 ; leaders of 18th century, and M., 365, 370 ; Sydney M. Asylum, ii. 246; increase of American M., ii. 508
Philippine Islands, ii. 404
Philipstown, Ii. 8
Philistinism, i. 64
Phillip, Capt., Ii. 237
Phillips, Peter, account of, i. 558-9, 564, 566, 574; and P.M., 564, 569
Philosophy, 18th century, i. 16 ; Wesley and, 16, 18 ; of sensa tionalism, 106 ; idealistic, 107
Phoebus, William, II. 90
Physical phenomena, and Montan- ist and M. teaching, i. 40 ; under Wesley's preaching, 215 ; a fea-
644
INDEX
ture of religious revivals, 215, 216 ; Butts on, 216 ; among B.C.M., 510 ; in America, ii. 122, 124, 289, 373
Pickering, i. 498
, George, ii. 96, 105
Picton (Hallowell), ii. 213, 215
Piedmont, ii. 43
Pierce, George Foster, ii. 113, 190
f Lovick, ii. 130, 131, 168, 184,
187 ; fraternal delegate to M.E.C., 188, 193, 194
Piercy, George, ii. 315
Piers, Henry, i. 307
Pietism, German, i. 13, 202 ; hymn of, 198 ; lacked organization, 279, 280
Piggin, Henry, i. 542
Pigman, Ignatius, ii. 90 — , Caleb, ii. 156
Pilcher, Leander W., ii. 390
Pilgrim's Progress, i. 153 ; M. hymn-book compared to, 251
Pilmoor, Joseph, ii. 61, 64-6, 68, 70, 72, 156, 287, 366
Pitman, Charles, ii. 367
Pitt, William, Wesley and, i. 225, 371
Pitts, F. E., ii. 172, 382
Pittsburg, Conference at, ii. 188, 213, 452
Plan. See Circuits
of Pacification, i. 386 ; separ ates M. from Church of England, 386 ; Leeds concessions and the, 495 ; ambiguity of, 491 ; Kilham and, 492 ; and new legislation, 517 ; Warren discovers omission vof, from Minutes, 517 ; for Ireland, ii. 455
of Separation, M.E.C. and
M.E.C.S., ii. 129, 185; Canada .and, 170, 173 ; and Louisville 'Convention, 187
Tlatform, Bidgway's use of the, i. 527
Plea for Religion, A, Simpson's, i.497
Plotinus, quoted, i. 57
Pluralities, clerical, in eighteenth •century, i. 119; denounced by Burnet, 119; a noted pluralist, 271 ; in Church of England, 364
Plymouth, Horswell, and the work at, i. 544
Pocket Hymn-book, A, ii. 142, 146
Pocklington, Grammar School of, i. 88 ; Kilham in circuit of, 301, 490
Poe, Adam, ii. 138
Poets, English, at the rise of M., i. Ill; circa Wesley's death, 346- 8 (see also Hymn-writers)
Pointer, Jonathan, ii. 364
Political situation at the rise of M., i. 99 ; at death of Wesley, 357 ; and developments in M., 487
Politics, party, avoided in W.M.C., i. 477 ; and in M.E.C., ii. 149
Polity, church (see also Con- nexionalism, Pastoral Office, and Plan of Pacification), of M., i. 67 ; views of, the cause of controversies, 487 ; ii. 419 ; M.N.C., i. 492, 500, a pioneer in M., 502; B.C.M., 513 ; U.M.F.C., 538, 539 ; P.M., 578, 588, 594 ; M.E.C., ii. 116, 119, 124, 125 ; M.E.C.S., 198 ; interest in, 426
Pollard, Rev. Samuel, ii. 350
Polwhele's Anecdotes of Revivalism, i. 413
Pondos, the, ii. 274
Pontavice, M. du, ii. 42
Poor, the. See Philanthropy
Pope, Alexander, and his works, characterized, i. Ill ; and Oglethorpe, 190 ; his opinion of S. Wesley, 167 ; and C. Wesley's hymns, 249 ; 346, 348
, Dr. H. J., quoted, i. 443
, W. B., influenced by Male-
branche's philosophy, i. 17n. ; his hypothesis of prevenient grace, 53 ; on Wesley's doctrines, 214 ; work and influence of, 479
Popery. See Roman Catholicism
Popo, ii. 339
Port Arthur (Tas.), ii. 247
au-Prince, ii. 312, 334
Dalrymple, ii. 242, 243
Elizabeth, Africa, ii. 272
Jackson, ii. 238, 240
Mary, i. 585
Phillip, ii. 243, 249
Royal Mystics, the, i. 187
Porteous, Bishop, i. 67
Porthyress, or Poythress, Francis, ii. 89, 156
Portland Bay, ii. 253
Porto Novo, ii. 314
Portraits, of Mrs. Susanna Wesley, i. 170 and n. ; and busts of Wesley, 203-4 ; of preachers in Magazine, 300, 387
Portraiture of M., Crowther's, i. 422
Portsmouth, ii. 42
Portuguese suspect Protestantism, ii. 280
INDEX
645
Possession Island, ii. 237 Potawatamies, mission to, ii. 372 Pot chef stroom, ii. 277 ; native
training institute at, 278 Potter, Dr., Bishop of Oxford, ordains Wesley as deacon, i. 141 Pottery, improvement in manu facture of, i. 339 ; leading makers of, in 18th century, 340 Powell, Thomas, his Apostolical Succession, i. 423
, Walter, ii. 354
Powhatan, Virginia, ii. 80 Practice of the Presence of God, i. 187 Prayer- Book, Edward VI., i. 184 Prayer, Oxford M. frequently use, i. 142 ; for the dead, Church of England and, 184 ; Wesley's early view of, 184 ; Wesley's Collection of Forms of Prayer, 185 ; extempore, Wesley and, 197, ii. 86, 193, and first uses, 197 ; forms of, not condemned by Wesley, 197 ; intercessory, world-wide simultaneous, 202 ; Asbury's power in, ii. 68 ; Wes ley's book of, for America, 160; ' praying, priests must do the,' 400 ; public, M. and the use of a book in, 493
Preachers, early, and Wyclif's poor priests, i. 51, 52 ; modern, and total depravity, 53 ; Countess of Huntingdon's, 270 ; qualifications for itinerant, 295 ; how approved, 295 ; probation of, 295 ; reception of, into ' full connexion,' 295 ; required to be studious, 297 ; the itinerancy of, 297 ; appear ance, dress, and travelling of early, 300-1 ; heroic labours of, 301 ; effect of visitations by, 301 ; must tend children, 302 ; allowances to (see Allowances, early) ; and trading, 304 ; pri vations and mortality of early, 304 ; doctrines taught by, 304-6 ; Wesley prescribes services by, 306 ; control of his early, 307 ; tact of, in meeting opposition, 327 (see also Persecution) ; — and the Deed of Declaration, 372 ; exclusive government by at Wesley's death, 382; ad mitted to legal Conference,
382 ; styled ' preacher of
the gospel,' 387 ; ordination of W.M., 405, and of M.N.C., 500 ; of W.M.C. use title ' Reverend,'
405, M.N.C. also, 500 ; and Lord Sidmouth's Bill, 402 ; and the
Toleration Act, 403 ;
privations, of non-juring clergy, i. 121 ; of Wesley and Nelson, 313, 314; of early, 301, 304; of earlyM.N.C.,499; of B.C.M., 512, 522 ; of Irish, ii. 13, 22 ; of American pioneer, ii. 96, 97 ; — American, subject to Wesley and English Conference, ii. 73 ; all admitted to M.E.C. General Conference, 105 ; and Annual Conference, 108 ; early, and
slavery, 175, 182 ; women as,
Wesley sanctions, i. 322 (see also Women workers) ; training of, (see Ministers)
Preaching, Wesley's, i. 209, 211 ; open-air, 209, 282 ; style in, 209, 210 ; physical phenomena under, 215 ; Butts on, 216 ; Wesley on the method of, 306 ; Lecky on personal appeal in, 306 ; M. resembled Baxter's, 306 ; characteristics of, 414 ; modern, ii. 489
Predestination (see also Calvinism), Susanna Wesley and, i. 172 ; Wesley and doctrine of, 181
Presbyterian Church of England, the, and M., ii. 504,
Presbyterianism and Presbyterians, and Arianism, i. 11 ; organiza tion of, and M. 67 ; questions concerning, 67 n. ; agrees with that of apostolic church, 70 (see also Polity) ; its polity and Arminian doctrine, 496 ; Kil- ham and, 491; B.C.M. and, 512 ; P.M. and, 594 ; polity of, ii.
501 ; tendency of M. towards,
502 ; in Ireland, Ii. 5 ; Irish M. and, 17, 35; in U.S.A., 110; and M. unite in camp- meetings, 107, 121 ; and Ameri can secret societies, 134 ; and American M., 1 57 ; in Canada, 203, 230 ; and M.C.A., 232, 528 ; and the Reformation, 424; 18th cen tury, and Unitarianism, 438 ; and M. compared, 504
Prescott, Charles J., ii. 261 Presiding elders, United Brethren in Christ and, ii. 136 ; authority of, 119; Soule and, 167, 174 ; Methodist Protestant Church and , 175, 453 ; as District Super intendent, 370
646
INDEX
Press, the, Wyclif and Wesley use | largely, i. 50 ; persecution of M. j by, 329, 330 ; periodical, in 18th century, 355 ; was muzzled then, 359 ; reports of W.M. Conference, 428, 528 ; and Reform agitation, 533, 538
Prest, Charles, his policy and work, I. 458, 469
' Preston, Men of,' and temperance work in M., I. 529
Pretender, M. and the, i. 324; Papist oath against, 363
Price, Dr. Richard, i. 361, 366
Priestley, Dr., i. 361, 366
Prime Minister, emergence of, in English government, i. 104
Primitive Christianity, C. Wesley describes, i. 393
PRIMITIVE METHODIST CHURCH, rise of the, i. 423, 424 ; leaders of, dismembered, 424, 568 , 570 ; ministers of, and total abstinence, 529 ; and union with Wesleyan Reformers, 536 ; history of (see Contents, 554) ; Revivalism and, 555-7, 596, 597 ; Band- Room Methodists and, 556, 557, 576 ; formed by amalgamation, 560 ; camp-meetings and the rise of, 560, 561, 565, 567, 569, 574, 597 ; formative period of, 561-71 ; ' Conversation-preach ing ' in, 561 ; Steele and, 562 ; Bourne, and his work in, 561 et seq. ; Clowes and his work in, 563 et seq. ; Dow and, 564 ; and the Toleration Act, 566, 567 ; and the W.M., 566, 567, 568; Crawfoot and, 568, 573 ; Camp- meeting Methodists and, 569, 570; Clowesites and, 570; first chapel of, 571 ; their name, 571 ; Home Missionary period of, 571-86 ; union of Clowesites and Camp - meeting Metho dists form the, 571 ; first circuit of, 571 ; and the "non-mission law,' 571; rules for, 572 ; Sunday schools and, 573, 591 ; Benton's work in,
573, 574 ; called ' Ranters,'
574, 577 ; revivals in, 574, 575, 591, 592 ; second and third circuit of, 575 ; and women preachers, 575, 585, 586 ; ex tension of, 575, 579, 580 ; and Luddites and Levellers, 576, 577 ; persecution of, 578, 583,
584, 586 ; epochal year in, 578 ; polity of, 578, 588, 594 ; circuit missions of, 579, 580 ; Deed Poll of, 579, 581, 582 ; statistics of, 580, 592, 595 ; methods of early, 581 ; crisis in, 581 ; mission aries sent out, 582, 591 ; in East Anglia, northern districts, 583 ; in Wessex, 583, 584 ; strength of, in Berkshire, 584 ; factors in success of, 584-6 ; their service of song, 586 ; Flesher's work in, 586 ; Book- Room of, 586, 595 ; the central committee for, 586, 587 ; colonial missions of, 587, 596 ; Con solidation era in, 587, 593 ; circuits and districts of, 588 ; consolidated Minutes, 588, 593 ; hymn-book for, 588 ; constitu tion and character of Conference in, 589 ; District Meetings in, 589 ; ' Districtism,' 590 ; minis terial training in, 591, 597 ; Preachers' Association of, 591 ; emerges from obscurity, 591 ; Jubilee of, 592 ; gains and losses of, 592 ; in Reform agitation, 592 ; growing power of Confer ence in, 593, 594 ; ' Connexion ' replaced by ' Church ' in, 593 ; Sustentation Fund of, 594 ; church property in, 594, 595 ; and colonial M. union, 596, II. 254, 468 ; evangelism and social service in, 1. 596, 597 ; Hartley College, Orphanages, and Local Preachers' Fund of, 597 ; Centenary and Thanksgiving Fund of, 597 ; temperance work in, 597 ; has furnished Labour leaders, 597 ; Irish societies of, II. 12, 457 ; in Australia, 254 ; its concessions there for M. Union, 468 ; in New Zealand, 264, 472 ; and M. reunion, 476, 478, 480 ; in Canada, 221, 222 ; unites in M.C.C., 222, 458;
missionary enterprise of, i.
595, li. 354-9 ; in Canada, 354 ; in Aliwal North, 354, 357 ; in Fernando Po, 355, 359 ; and Spanish obstruction of, 356, 357 ; industrial work and, 357, 358 ; in South Central Africa, 357, 358 ; native preachers of, 358 ; in Southern Nigeria, 358 ; Y.P.S.C.E. gift of training in stitute for, 359
INDEX
647
PBIMITIVB METHODIST CHURCH, U.S.A., II. 516, 527
Primitive Methodist Quarterly Re view, The, i. 591
Primitive Wesleyans in Ireland, rise of, ii. 14, 455 ; reunion with Methodist Church, 15, 24, 457
Prior, Matthew, I. 78, 111
Prisoners, 18th-century English, i. 94 ; diseases of, 94 ; unjust deten tion of, 94 ; for gaoler's fees, 95 ; visited by Oxford M., 143, 147 ; release of, 144 ; hymn-singing to, 167 ; as colonists, 189, ii. 238 ; C. Wesley's work amongst, i. 241
Prisons (see also Prisoners), con dition of 18th-century, i. 94 ; reformers of, 94 ; descriptions of, i 94 ; keepers of, and fees in, 94, I 95 ; Howard and, 95 ; Oglethorpe and, 190 ; Wesley and, 225 ; Evangelical Revival and, 386 ; early M. work in, 311 ; efforts of Told and Sarah Peters in, 311; John Nelson in, 315; Freeman in, 509 ; M. labour in convict, ii. 244
Pretoria, ii. 277, 279
Prettyman, Wesley, ii. 399
Priesthill, ii. 11.
Priesthood of believers held by Wesley, i. 228
Prince Edward Island, Ii. 222, 223
Private judgement, right of (see also Protestantism), ii. 431
Privy Council, the, and the Gedney case, i. 403
Probation of itinerant preachers, i. 295 ; and admission to full connexion, 405 ; Kilham marries before completing, 498 ; in M.N.C., 500 ; in America, ii. 77 ; of members, 77
Progress of Liberty, Kilham's, i. 492
Prophetism, M. and, i. 37, 38 ; causes M. secessions, 39 ; women i and, 72
Prosecution of Woolston, i. 126
Protestantism and Protestants, ' faith ' in, I. 9 ; and the in dividual, 9 ; M. and the battle for, 65 ; English, and the De claration of Rights, 100 ; en dangered by Louis XIV., 101 ; Georgia opened as a home for, 133, 193 ; Wesley's conversion a landmark in history of, 201 ; he avails himself of Act for P. i Dissenters, 227 ; freedom, and j
Wesley's autocracy, 226, 227 ; fellowship and, 227 ; early Con ferences and, 309 ; in North America, 359 ; W.M.C. Missions extend, 447 ; Hulme's defence of, 526 ; and religious liberty, 566 ; Irish M. arouses, ii. 3, 5, 34 ; Reformed Churches of, and M. missions in countries of, 50, 395 ; M. and European, 41 et seq. ; and in Italy, 45, 47 ; and missions, 287 ; in Canada, 230 ; in Quebec, 227 ; suspected in Delagoa Bay, 280 ; maintained by M. in South America, 385, 386, 389 ; injured by inconsistency, 387 ; marriage of adherents of in South America, 388 ; separatist tendency of American, 510
Protestant Methodists, Leeds organ case and, i. 426, 514-6, 517 ; formed, 515 ; suspicion spreads from case of, 516; Annual As sembly of, 516; unite with Wes- leyan Association, 516, 520 ; ii. 350, 449
Proudfoot, James, il. 351, 352
Providence, M. a movement of, i. 77 ; Wesley and O'Bryan and particular, 510
Psychology of religion, i. 33 n. ; of Wesley's personality, 202
Publishing houses and publica tions, Wesley's first, i. 185 (see also Wesley, Works named) ; W.M.C. and, 420 : M.N.C., 526 ; P.M.C. and, 595 ; M.E.C., 73, 116, 147, 172; M.E.C.S., 197
Punjab, ii. 322
Punshon, W. M., i. 408, 410 ; and Newton compared, 441 ; imita tors of, 478 ; and union in Canada, ii. 459
Purcell, Henry, i. 114, 115
Puritanism, i. 6 ; and M., 62-7 ,' imparted Asceticism to M., 62 ; Milton's, 62 ; in danger of Dualism, 63 ; its extravagance, 63 ; in 17th century, 78 ; Wesley's advance upon the ideal of, 81 ; and 18th-century magistrates, 93; Wesley's family relationships with, 165 ; heroic qualities in Wes ley from, 166; early M. preachers and, 300 ; long religious services of, 306; Presbyterians and, ii. 107
Pusey, E. B., quoted, I. 31, 137, 168 ; his teaching and M. com pared, 137, 145 ; and his mother' s
648
INDEX
teaching, 172 ; Jackson's letter to, 422
QUAKERISM. See Friends
Quaker Methodists. See Indepen dent Methodists
Quarterage. See Allowances to preachers
Quarterly Meeting, first Canadian, ii. 203 ; the great U.S.A., 370 (see also Circuits)
Quarterly Review, i. 413
— ofM.E.C.S.,ii. 168, 188
Quebec, ii. 58 ; divided, 201, 219 ; Protestant missions in, 226, 227
Queensland, Annual Conference in, ii. 261 ; Twentieth Century Fund, 261 ; and reunion, 264
Queenstown, Africa, ii. 272, 273
Quetteville, Jean, ii. 41, 42
Quick, William A., ii. 262
Quietism, and ' Stillness,' Molther's doctrine of, i. 54 ; passivity and, 59 ; Wesley, and the Friends, and, 59 ; the true, needed, 60, 61 ; the Class-meeting and, 61
Quin, James, i. 351
RAFFLES, THOMAS, i. 66
Raikes, Robert, Wesley co-operates with, i. 219, 367
Rainor, Menzies, ii. 105
Raithby Hall, Kilham at, i. 490
Rakow, M. doctrine and, i. 477
Raleigh, Sir Walter, i. 105
1 N. Carolina, ii. 171
Ramsden, Alfred, i. 542
Ramsor, i. 569, 570
Randfontein, ii. 278
Randolph Macon College, Vir., ii. 170, 172
Raniganj, ii. 321
Rankin, Thomas, ordained by Wesley, i. 232, 372 ; appointed Superintendent of American So cieties, ii. 7 ; Asbury and, 71, 72, 74, 75, 76, 81 ; and discipline, 72 ; and the Revolutionary War, 81 ; opposes revivals, 106 ; 156
Ransome, J. J., ii. 411
' Ranters.' See Primitive Metho dists
Rattenbury, John, i. 414
, Hatton, 508 ; wife of, 508
Reading. See Books
Realism and Nominalism, final terms of, i. 8 ; and Assurance, 9
Reason, claims of, vindicated by Deism, i. 13 ; M., and, 13 ; and Mysticism, 55, 186 ; and religion, Susanna Wesley on, 171, 172
Redemption, Wesley on the mys tery of, I. 209 ; universality of, 214 ; the note of Reformed Christianity, ii. 430, 431
Redruth, early M. in, i. 369 ; dele gates at, desire reform, 489
Reece, Richard, ii. 42
Reed, Catherine, i. 509
, Nelson, ii. 90 ; opposes
O'Kelly, 103, 156
, William, i. 521, 522
Reflections on French Revolution, Burke's, i. 354, 361, 362
Reform, demand for parliamentary,
i. 359; in M., agitation for,
386, 425-9, 431, 432, 437, 494, 514-19, 527-36; improvements which followed, 439, 492 n., 502, 517, 538 ; accomplished without loss, 442 ; successful, 443 ; na tional movements, and, 487 ; towns desiring, 494 ; M.N.C. as pioneer in, 502 ; losses during agitation, 533, 592 ; in M.E.C., ii. 76, 174-86 ; see also Metho dist Protestant Church
Reformation, the Protestant, and Individualism, i. 7, 9, 10 ; Anglican fidelity to principles of, distrusted, 65 ; Burnet's History of, 110; and clergy in 18th century, 120 ; and the Evangelical Revival, 200 ; the Wesleys and, 201 ; and the Bible, 201 ; and spiritual freedom, ii. 424 ; and non-episcopal churches, 424 ; the note of, 430, 431 ; divine right of pastorate and, 502
(see also Conversion) of charac ter produced by M., i. 311, 312, 318; in army, 316; of Green field, 325 ; furnishes defence of M., 330
Reid, Alexander, ii. 263
, J. M., ii. 368
, Thomas, i. 352
Reid-Gracey's Missions of the M.E.C., ii. 373 ; History, quoted, 380
Reilly, William, ii. 13
Relief and Extension Fund of W.M.C., i. 440
Religion, state of, in England, in 18th century, i. 115, 362-8; au thorities on, 116, 117, 120;
INDEX
649
decayed, during Deistical con troversy, 131 ; Oxford M. take seriously, 141 ; Wesley defines, 193
Religions of Authority and the Religion of the Spirit, i. 485
Religious freedom. See Freedom
— societies, 18th century, i. 132 ; growth of, 132 ; objects of, 133 ; decline of, 133 ; Bray founds two, 133 ; S. Wesley an apologist of, 1 67 ; Wesley's evangelical conver sion at one of, 199 ; Wesley's debt to the, 227 ; lacked organization, 280 ; Woodward on, 283 ; Wesley a member of, 284 ; Fetter Lane becomes Moravian, 284 ; Wesley secedes from, 284 ; at Bristol, 291
Religious Tract Society, i. 221
Remmington, John, ii. 36
Remonstrant Theology. See Ar- minianism
Remusat, M. de, ii. 43 n.
Renaissance, the, and Individual ism, i. 9
Republican Methodist Church, ii. 103
Restoration period, the, immoral ity of, i. 187 ; church bigots of the, 326
Restrictive Rules of M.E.C., ii. 116, 129, 130 ; changed to admit laymen to Conference, 135, 188
Revelation, Rule, and Redemption in God's relation to man, ii. 429- 36 ; as notes of the Churches, 430
4 Reverend.' See Preachers
Revision, of M. constitution, pro vision for, i. 526
— of the Scriptures. See Bible Revivalism and Revivals, in 18th
century, i. 201 ; in Yorks. (1760), 320 ; in mid-period of W.M.C., 413 ; criticized, 413 ; Tennyson quoted on, 414 ; in B.C.M., 509 ; Arminian Methodists and, 520 ; in 19th century, 555-7, 562 ; P.M., 423, 574, 575 ; Irish, of 1859, ii. 35; of Moody and Sankey, 35 ; in M.E.C., 106-8 ; in Fiji, 300 ; in Korea, 403 ; in Cuba, 413 ; M. owes its existence to, 419 ; decline of American, 509
Revolution, English (1688), as sisted by Non-jurors, i. 121 ; European era of, influence on M. Reform, 429, 487
Revue des Deux Mondes, Weslev in ii. 43
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, i. 355, 356 ; paints Wesley's portrait, 356, 357; 358
Rhenish Missionary Society, ii. 270
Rhode Island, ii. 105
Rhodes, Cecil, ii. 273, 280
Rhodesia, mission in, ii. 381
Rice, Rev. Dr., ii. 464
Richard, Dr. Timothy, ii. 329
Richards, Erwin H., work of, in Inhambane, ii. 381
, J., ii. 275
— , Thomas, i. 307
Richardson, Charles, i. 414
, John, i. 317, 389
— , Samuel, novels of, i. 349
Richelieu, A. J. D. de, and Wesley compared, i. 46, 162n., 279
Riches (see also Wealth), Wesley oa taxation of, i. 224 ; on dishonest acquisition of, 224; on use of, 225
Richey, Matthew, ii. 217
Richmond, ii. 172
, Legh, his Dairyman's Daughter,
i. 397 ; conversion of, ii. 238 — Wesleyan College, i. 430 ; bought, 448, 475 ; abstaining 4 insane society ' at, 529
Rick-burners, i. 583
Ride, John, i. 574, 584 ; ii. 254
Ridgway, Job, i. 527
— , John, as potter, i. 340 ; in M.N.C., 502 ; account of, 527 ; his Apology, 527
Riel, Louis, ii. 226
Riemenschneider, E., ii. 396
Rigg, Edmund, ii. 318
, Dr. J. H., his Church Or ganization, i. 68 n. ; on Wesley as schoolboy, 174, 205 ; on 18th- century public schools, 220 ; on Wesley's sermons, 306 n. ; 409 his work and influence in W.M.C., 479 ; on Reform agitation, 538
Rigging-lofts, as first American meeting-places, ii. 58
Rights of Man, Paine's, i. 361
Ringsash revival, i. 509
Rio de Janeiro, ii. 172, 382, 411
Riots (see also Mobs and Persecu tion), Gordon, i. 363
Ripley, Dorothy, i. 576
Rishton, John, describes Wesley's countenance, i. 205
Risley, i. 570, 574
Ritchie, Miss E., illness of, i. 217 r Wesley and, 396
650
INDEX
Ritualism (see also High Church- ism), Flathead Indians and Roman Catholic, ii. 374
Roads (see also Travelling) ; in 18th century, i. 338 ; improve ment of, assisted M., 342
Robe, James, I. 201, 215
Roberts, Benjamin T., ii. 132
— , Bishop Robert R., ii. 98; his log-cabin palace, 166
, George, ii. 105
, James, ii. 350
, Joseph, ii. 307
, Lord, ii. 279
Robertson, L. A., ii. 271
Robins, Matthew, i. 523
, Paul, ii. 223
Robinson, Archbishop, and lay preaching, i. 293
, John (China), ii. 345, 346
} John EL, ii. 220, 459
, Mark, and the ' Church
Methodists,' i. 426
, Robert, i. 366
, 'the Conciliator,' H. 219
Robson, Ebenezer, ii. 225
Rocester, i. 572
Rochdale, Champness's evangelists' home at, i. 463 ; petition from, on grievances, 518 ; first U.M.F.C. | Assembly at, 537 ; chapel for 1 the Destitute at, 546, 547 ; Baillie I St. Church at, 548, ii. 450; ! U.M.F.C., position in, 548
Rodda, Richard, i. 219, 383, 392 ; ! and the Revolutionary War, ii. 81 1
Roe, H., ii. 355
Hogers, James (1), originates i Watch-night services, 1. 289
— , (2), i. 322 ; a woman saves from stoning, 327 ; 392
, Mrs. H. A., wife of (2), 1.
322 ; her Mysticism, Experience, and Letters, 396, 421
Roggin Row, i. 574
Rohilcund, ii. 398
Rohr, Presiding Elder, ii. 396
Rolls MSS., Adam Clarke's work upon, I. 422
Romaine, William, and Hervev, 1. 152; and Ingham, 157; 270/364
Roman Catholic Church, and the individual, i. 7 ; and Roman Empire compared, 8 ; Faber's experience in, 8 ; emphasizes solidarity, 8 ; excepted from Toleration Act, 100 ; in Canada, 359; ii. 227; Voltaire assails, i. 360; relief of, 363; Gordon
Riots and, 363 ; M. doctrine and, 477 ; Ireland and, ii. 3, 5 ; M. and Irish, 17 ; work among, adherents of 27-30 ; education of children of, 32 ; M. and European, 41 et seq. ; and M. in New Zealand, 253 ; and primary education in Australia, 261 ; in West Indies, 296, 298 ; in China, 344 ; opposition to P.M., 356, to M.E.C., 369; and Flathead Indians, 373, 374 ; and the trans lation of the Bible, 373, 374 ; ritualism of, excludes Bible, 374 ; priests of, appropriate supplies, 382 ; degraded, 382, 386 ; opposes M. missionaries, 383, 386 ; and Bible distribution, 383,384; 'buy ing souls' and, 368; and illiteracy, 387, 388 ; and the Patronato law, 388 ; ignorance and im morality in South America and, 387 ; and gambling in bazaars, 387 ; and voluntary support of gospel, 387 ; in Ecuador, 388 ; persecution of M. by, in Bulgaria, 400 ; in Italy, 401 ; opposition by, in Mexico, 409, 410, in Brazil, 412 ; and vice and heresy, 410; opposed by causes of its influence, 424 ; polity of, 500 ; and the divine right of the pastorate, 502
Rome, Gibbon's account of, and the reformation of England, I. 352 ; W.M.C. in modern, ii. 45 ; Military Church at, 46, 47 ; M.E.C. in, 401, 402
Romilly, Samuel, i. 93
Romney, George, 1. 356 ; paints Wesley's portrait, 356
Roosevelt, President, on M., i. 233
Rosa, Salvator, i. 356
Ross (Tasmania), ii. 247
Rostran, J., ii. 43
Rotherham, Bishop, and Lincoln College, Oxford, i. 177; and Lollards, 178
Roubilliac, L. F., his bust of Wesley, i. 203
Rouen, Gibson in, ii. 44
Rousseau, J. J., his ideas of the 'noble savage,' i. 190; his Contrat Social, 360
Rouxville, ii. 357
Rowe, James, ii. 255
, Nicholas, i. 113
, Richard, his Diary of an
Early Methodist, i. 329
INDEX
651
Rowland, David, I. 518
Rowlands, John, ii. 254
Royapettah, ii. 324
Ruatan, ii. 336
Ruff, Daniel, ii. 96
Ruffino, Brother (Franciscan), i. 49
Rule, as the note of Latin Chris tianity, ii. 430
Rush, Dr. Benjamin, ii. 89
Ruskin quoted, i. 75 ; 105, 356 ; and Hook's paintings, 545
Russell, General, ii. 96
, Lord John, Martin's letter
to, i. 536
, Thomas, persecution of, i.
583 ; imprisonment of, 584
Ruth, Book of, i. 521
Ruysbroeck, quoted, i. 56, 57, 60
Ryan, Henry, ii. 211 ; and ad mission of laymen to Conference, 212, 458 ; forms Canadian Wes- leyan Church, 213 ; followers of, unite with M.N.C. in Canada, 220
Ryerson, Egerton, ii. 214, 216, 217 — , John, ii. 218
Ryland, John, ii. 287
Ryle, Bishop, on Wesley and Whitefield, i. 164, ; on M., ii. 69
Ryswick, Treaty of, I. 102
SABATIER, AUGTJSTE, quoted, i. 485
Sacerdotalism, and Calvinism, i. 37 ; M. is alien to, 227, 289
Sacheverell, Dr., i. 78 ; calumniates Dissenters, 103 ; results of his attack, 103 ; prosecuted by, 103
Sackville, ii. 231
Sacraments, the, Oxford M. and, i. 142 ; Clayton's High Church view of, 146 ; Emily Wesley on frequent observance of, 146 ; in ' unconsecrated buildings,' 228 ; C. Wesley's hymns for, 244 ; ad ministration of, after Wesley's •death, 383, 384 ; demand for, 385, 393 ; and the Plan of Pacific- -•ation, 386 ; Lord's Supper refused to Mrs. Fletcher, 388 ; Moore claims to give, 391 ; W.M.C. to-day and, 480 ; trustees, party and the administration of, 488 ; Brad ford and London chapels and, 488, 489 ; Kilham and, 491 ; Leeds M. and, 496 ; received in separ ate rooms, 494, 496; Lord's Supper and M.N.C. membership, 542 ; and membership in the U.M.C., 551 ; Lord's Supper as a social test, ii.
5 ; Irish M. demand, 14, 17, 455 ; American preachers and, 73 ; South Americans claim the, 76, 77 ; ministers ordained to give, 77 ; agreement to discontinue, 77 ; Wesley on weekly observance of Lord's Supper, 86 ; first given in Canada, 203 ; tendencies of M. as to the. 494, 495
Sadler, Michael Thomas, and his social reforms, i. 399, 400
Sailors, W.M.C. work among British, I. 452, 453
St. Augustine, his doctrine of total depravity, i. 53, 58 ; ii. 44
St. Bernard, i. 32 ; his teaching on holiness, 33 ; condemns clerical pluralities, 119
St. Blazey, O'Bryan at, 1. 505
St. Catherine of Siena, i, 71
St. Christopher's Island, ii. 302
St. Eustasius, il. 289, 290
St. Francis, his Little Flowers, i. 32, 45 ; his annual conferences 43, 44 ; compared and contrasted with Wesley, 44-8 ; and laity, and democracy, 47 ; identified joy and holiness, 49, 509
St. Hildegard, i. 71
St. Ignatius, quoted, i. 73
St. Ives, mob at, and C. Wesley, i. 240 ; Wesley and John Nelson's privations at, 313 ; early M. in, 369, 584
St. John, Wesley's model of literary style, i. 209
St. Johns, ii. 231
St. Just, Greenfield at, I. 325
St. Lawrence, ii. 69
St. Louis, ii. 195 ; Flathead Indians at, 373
St. Louis Christian Advocate, ii. 522
St. Mary's, Gambia, Ii. 298
St. Paul, Luther's interpretation of, I. 200 ; Wesley's study of, 211
St. Paul de Loanda, and slare market at, ii. 380
St. Petersburg, ii. 404
St. Thomas, ii. 312
St. Vincent's, ii. 289, 291, 302
Saintliness (see also Holiness), Wesley's mystic reverence for, in all classes, i. 208
Saintsbury, Prof., on Voltaire, i. 376
Saint's Everlasting Rest, Baxter's, I. 122 ; Kilham and, 489
Sales, Francis de, Wesley and, i. 21 i
Salford, Bramwell at, I. 411
652
INDEX
Salisbury (N.C.), ii. 94
, Rhodesia, ii. 280
Salt River Circuit, ii. 97
Salvation Army, the, i. 39 (see also Booth, William) ; Reform ex pulsions and, 534 ; M. teaching in,
540 ; evinces the genius of M.,
541 ; its military character and early M., ii. 420 ; limits of, 497
Sam's Creek, ii. 61
Sancroft, Archbishop, i. 121
San Domingo, ii. 296, 312, 334
Sandwith, Humphrey, i. 395 ; and the Church M. 427 ; edits The Watchman, 429
Sankey, Ira D., ii. 147
San Paulo, ii. 411
— Pedro di Sula, ii. 336
Santa Cruz, ii. 290, 312, 410
Isabel, ii. 356
Santhals, the, ii. 321
Santiago, ii. 385
Sargent, Dr., ii. 184
Saturday as Sabbath, Oxford M. and, i. 145
Savage, Richard, i. Ill
Savannah (see also Georgia), i. 191 ; Wesley in, 192, ii. 53
Savile, Sir George, i. 363
Saville, Jonathan, i. 412
Savonarola, Whitefield resembled, i. 267; Gatch and, ii. 96
Sawyer, Joseph, ii. 205
Scandinavians, M.E.C. mission to, ii. 391-3
Scarabin, J., ii. 44
Scarborough, Wesley visits, i. 217 ; Kilham endangered at, 490
, William, ii. 328
Schism Act, the, repealed, i. 104
Schismatics, Wesley, the Non- jurors, and M. regarded as, i. 230
Schmelen, H., ii. 270
Schofield, William, ii. 244
Schoolmasters, Dissenting. See Dissenters
Schools (see also Education, and separate schools), English, in the 18th century, i. 88, 89 ; public, in Wesley's day, 173 ; a boy's re ligion at, 173 ; for preachers' children, 301 ; Mrs. Kilham founds for poor, 498
Schwartz, Dr., ii. 296
Science, 18th century, i. 114
Scilly Isles, i. 510
Scotland, Calvinism and, i. 10 ; religious awakening in, 201 ; M. introduced into, 317; and the
Centenary of Wesley's death, 233 ;
Whitefield's influence in, 269 ;
linen trade in, 340 ; Church of,
and evening services, 342 ; and
relief for Roman Catholics, 363 ;
early M. membership in, 368 ;
preachers ordained for, 372 ; Wes-
leyan Extension Fund for, 469 ;
ii. 2, 4 ; influence of M. in, ii. 50 Scotsman, The, on Wesley, i. 233 Scott, Abraham, i. 524
, Bishop, ii. 58
, Dr. at Belfast College, ii. 34
, James, ii. 241
, Judge, ii. 98
, John, and W.M.C. Day
Schools, i. 417 ; and Reform
petitions, 534
— , Orange, ii. 126, 127, 175 , Thomas, i. 97, 365
— , Sir Walter, i. 357 Scotter, i. 582 Scougal, Henry, his Life of God in
the Soul of Man, and Wesley's use
of it, i. 170 ; Susanna Wesley
and, 170 ; awakens Whitefield's
spiritual concern, 259 Scriptures. See Bible Scullaboge, ii. 28 Scuteash, Chief, ii. 370 Secessions in M. See Methodism,
and the separate churches Seeker, Archbishop, and M., i. 325 Secret societies, Wes. Meth. Ch. of
America, and, ii. 127 ; church
membership and, 134 ; United
Brethren in Christ and, 136 Secunderabad, ii. 326 Seed, Jeremiah, i. 354 Seeley, Professor, ii. 497 Selby, Rev. T. G., ii. 470 Self-discipline. See also Asceticism Sellars, Samuel, i. 521 Selwyn, Bishop, ii. 253 Sensationalism, Locke's theory of,
i. 106 ; opposed by Clarke and
Berkeley, 107 ; Wesley and
spiritual sensation, 208 Sepoy rebellion, ii. 399 Serious Call, Law's. See Law Seriousness, M. view includes, i. 176 Sermons, Wesley's rules for M.,
i. 306 ; long in M.N.C., 501 ;
McKendree's notable, ii. 166 Services, M., to be short, i. 306 ;
appreciated by Wesley, 307 ; M.
in church hours, 342, 385, 488 Seward, William, 327 ; death of,
from stoning, 327
INDEX
653
Shadford, George, i. 392 ; Wesley's letter to, ii. 71; 72, 76, 392
Shaftesbury, Lord (1671-1813), i. 126, 131
— (1801-85), his social reforms and M. T. Sadler, 399 ; and Bowron, 546
•Shakespeare, William, i. 105, 113, 351 ; George III.'s opinion of, 358 ; Pawson burns Wesley's C9py of works of, 389
Shanghai, li. 343, 408 ; publishing house at, ii. 523
Shansi, ii. 329
Shantung, M.N.C. in, ii. 343 ; the dreamer of, 344 ; famine in, 345
Sharman, Abraham, i. 548
Sharp, Granville, i. 365, 370
Sharpley, John Booth, leads Media- tionists, i. 535
Shaver, The, satirical sermon, 325 n.
Shaw, Barnabas, ii. 269
, John (Pudsey), i. 541
, W., ii. 272, 273
Shawnees, mission to the ii. 373
Shebbear, Evans at, i. 503 ; Thome and, 506, 523, 543 ; O'Bryan forms a society at, 507 ; Reed's work in, 521 ; school at, established, 523; Conference adopts it, 524 ; Lake farm given to, 524, 543 ; B.C.M. missions started at, ii. 346
Sheep, merino, introduced into Australia, ii. 240
Sheffield, mob at, and C. Wesley, i. 240; 341; secondary school, 472 ; and Kilham's reforms, 494 ; second M.N.C. Conference at, 496 ; popularity of Kilham at, 496 ; 498 ; W.M. Conference (1835) at, 518 ; Everett at, 531 ; Wesleyan Reform Union formed at, 539 ; Firth's benefactions to, 540 ; M.N.C. Centenary at, 542, 548 ; Hanover Church in, 551 ; P.M. in, 580
Sheldon, Prof. Henry C., on American M., ii. 150
Shelford, i. 578
Shelley, trustees at, i. 488
Shent, William, a ' half -itinerant,' i. 294
Shenton, George, ii. 252
— , Sir George (son), ii. 252
Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, Han nah More's, i. 355
Sherboras, the, ii. 339
Sheridan, Richard B., i. 350, 358
Sherlock, Bishop Thomas, i. 126 ; opposes 18th-century Deists, i. 130
Shetland Isles, A. Clarke and, i. 391, 513 ; Dunn and, 532
Shield King, ii. 316
Shillington, Mr. T. F., ii. 31
Shimmin, Isaac, ii. 280
Shimoga, ii. 308
' Shining Lights,' i. 511
Shiu Kwan, ii. 328, 331
Short and Easy Method with Deists, Leslie's, i. 131
Shubotham, Daniel, i. 561, 562
Shuttleworth, William, i. 501
Sia Sek Ong, ii. 391
Siddons, Mrs., i. 351
Sidipett, ii. 326
Sidmouth, Lord, i. 358 ; his bill against M., 402, 566
Sierra Leone, Mrs. Kilham mis sionary to, i. 498 ; rise of M. in, ii. 292 ; 298, 313, 338 ; U.M.F.C. mission in, 351 ; 414
Sigston, James, i. 516, 569
Silesden, i. 585
Simeon, Charles, i. 67, 365 ; ii. 238
Simon, Rev. J. S., ii. 324
Simonstown, ii. 271
Simpson, Bishop, M., ii. 113, 397
, Samuel, ii. 10
, W. O., ii. 308
— , Rev. Mr., on Kilham's reason ing, i. 497
Singhalese, ii. 326
' Singing Quakers.' See Independ ent Methodists
Singing and music, at the rise of M., i. 114 (see also App. C) ; of Moravians in storm, 191 ; and physical phenomena in revivals, 216 ; by children at Bolton, 219 ; in class-meetings, 289 ; in M. services, 307, 501, 586
Sir Roger de Coverley, in The Spectator, i. 108
' Sisters of Bethany.' See Deacon ess work
Skelton, Sir C. T., i. 542
Slack, James, ii. 245
Slater, Dr. W. F., quoted, i. 569
Slaves and slavery, abolition of, and the M. revival, i. 225 ; White- field defends by Old Testament, 272 ; Hannah More, and, 355 ; slave trade and the Evangelical Revival, 366; Wesley and Con ference and, 370 ; suppression of, 370 ; abolition of, M. and
654
INDEX
the, 399 ; in West Indies, W.M. and, 399, H. 290, 297 ; Ridg- way and,!. 527 ; American M. and ii. 78, 79, 451 ; Ashury and, 79 ; converts and, 80 ; Gatch and Garrettson and, 80 ; George Washington and, 94; M.E.C. and, 119, 128; difficulties of, 120; regulations on, 120 ; secessions relative to, 126, 127, 129, 130, 454 ; Wesley's Thoughts, upon, 127 ; Uncle Tom's Cabin and, 127 ; preachers and, 128, 131 ; protest of the Southern delegates upon, 128 ; and hymns, 147 ; Akers and, 169 ; Andrew and the evangelization of, 167, 180, 181, 182; Winans claims instruction for, 169 ; missions to, 169 ; White- field and the Countess of Hunting don as slave-owners, 175; Abo litionists form the Wes. Meth. Ch., U.S.A., 175, 178, 179; at Maine, 182 ; McTyeire on, 177 ; holders of, as church members or officers, 177 ; number of, in M.E.C., 182 ; South African, preaching to, 270, 271 ; Wesley baptizes, 286 ; escape to England, 288 ; work amongst in West Indies, 289, 290 ; American M. and, 175-9 ; early preachers and, 175 ; the Bible and, 178 ; Richard Watson and, 178, 451 ; American debate on, 181 ; ad mittedly an evil, 182 ; Baltimore representatives, and, 184 ; Divi sion of the M.E.C. upon, 185 ; emancipation of, 451, in Fiji, 301, in Antigua, 302 ; contingencies of emancipation, 311 ; British opposition to trade in, 314 ; Creeks associate with Christianity, 372 ; U.S.A. and, 377 ; market and cemetery at Loanda, 380 ; Japanese brothel system and, 405 ; Treaty of Utrecht and, 406 ; numbers of, carried to and in America, 406 Slicer, Dr., ii. 184 Smetham, James, i. 545 Smith, Adam, and the condition of Oxford University, i. 139 ; his Wealth of Nations, 352 ; and Sunday schools, 367 Bishop A. Coke, ii. 196
Elizabeth, i. 585
Dr., ii. 454
Dr. George, i. 519
John, (1 ), his revivalism, I. 414
Smith, John (2), and P.M. in East
Anglia, i. 583
, John (3), at U.S.A. Confer ence, ii. 90
, Henry (U.S.A.), ii. 121
, Isaac, il. 171
, Dr. Porter, ii. 328
, Sydney, on clergy, i. 503 ,
quoted, ii. 238
, William, (Hanley), i. 502
Smithies, John, ii. 252
Smollett, Tobias, his novels, i. 87,
117, 350
Social conditions of England, at the rise of M., i. 82-99, reacted upon it, 82 ; Wesley's Journal on ap palling, 224 ; Wesley's Thoughts on Scarcity of Provisions and, 224r 225 ; (1760-91), 336-45 ; improve, 343 ; in Devon, circa 1815, 509 Social Evolution, Kidd's, 223, 225 Socialism, Christian, Wesley and, i. 223, 224, 225 ; modern, antici pated by Wesley, 225 ; the use of money and, 225 ; see also Social conditions and Social service Social purity, Wesleyan Committee on, 466 ; Home for Fallen Girls, 466 ; female, Miao mission andr Ii. 349 ; Japan mission and, 405 — — service, Oxford M. and, i. 143; Morgan leads in, 143 ; Wesley and, 144, 225; present-day M. and, 144; Whitefield's Orphanage,. 266; of early M., 310-12 ; Wesley and, 310 ; at Tetney, 310 ; J. R, Green, on M. and, 310 ; at town mission centres, 456 ; W.M. Union for, 466, 597 ; incomplete, 480 ; Ridgway and, 527 ; P.M. and, 596 ; American M. and, II. 78 ; in. M.E.C., 149
Societies for suppressing vice, i. 133 Society for Promotion of Christian Knowledge, I. 133 ; Broughton, secretary of, 153
for Propagation of Gospel, i.
133 ; and Georgia, 189 ; and New foundland, II. 36, 154 ; Coughlan and, 206, 286, 287 — of Friends, and the B.C.M., i. 511 ; Independent Methodists and, 559 ; and slavery, ii. 79
' of the Friends of the People/
1.362
Socinianism, Presbyterians and In dependents and, i. 11; 18th-cen tury Dissent and, 66 ; Whitefield on, 267
INDEX
Soldiers (see also Army), American M. and, ii. 58 ; retired, in Aus tralia, 240 ; assist M., 241, 242, 243 ; introduce M. to South Africa, 269 ; in Cape Town, 271 ; in Johannesburg, 279 ; work amongst, in India, 320
Solidarity, ruling idea of Middle Ages, I. 8 ; the Reformation and Renaissance and, 9
Solitary life (see also Fellowship), the Wesleys attracted by, i. 186 ; John Wesley and, 188, 206
Somers, Lord John, prepared De claration of Rights, i. 100
Somerset, Lord Charles, ii. 269
—r—, East, ii. 272
, rise of M. in, i. 294, 369
, West, ii. 271
Song-books, devotional, American, ii. 144
Soothill, Rev. W. E., ii. 353
Soule, Bishop Joshua, ii. 116, 130; draws a Constitution, 165 ; elected bishop, 166 ; maintains absolutist polity of M.E.C., 167 ; and slavery, 178, 187, 365 ; quoted, on missions, 366
Souls, selling of, II. 386
South Africa, Methodism in : W.M.C. in, I. 446, ii. 267-81 (see Contents, 268) ; Middlemiss introduces, 269 ; a missionary requested, 269 ; in Cape Colony, 269-74 ; and preaching to the slaves, 270, 271, 274 ; its homes for children in, 271 ; among British settlers, 272 ; W. Shaw's work in, 272 ; in the diamond fields, 273 ; and educational and missionary work, 273, 278 ; was organized as a Conference, 273 ; and the Bantu tribes, 273 ; trans lation work for, 274 ; statistics of native work in, 274 ; in Northern States, 274-8 ; in Orange River Colony, 274 ; effects of the War, 275, 276, 279 ; in Natal, 275 ; in Zululand, 276 ; in the Transvaal, 277 ; and the gold diggers, 278 ; rapid progress in, 279 ; fellowship and hymns of, 280; in Delagoa Bay, * 280 ; in Rhodesia, 280, see also Africa
America, M.E.C.in, 172, 382-9;
religious freedom in, Ii. 383, 385, 387-9 ; marriage laws in, 388
Australia, see Australasia
Carolina, Coke and Asbury
in, ii. 95, 168, 170 ; Conference at,, and preaching to negroes, 171
South Central Africa, i. 595 (see also P.M. missions)
Southern Nigeria, P.M missions in,. i. 595
Southey, Robert, on religion in early 18th century, I. 116; his Life of Wesley, 161 ; on Wesley in Georgia, 192, 220 ; and C. Wesley's hymn, 244 ; Wesley's visit to the home of, 302 ; hie-. eulogy of Fletcher, 318 ; Watson's exposure of his Life of W., 330^. 419 ; Knox's Remarks upon, 419 ; and French Revolution, 361, 371 ; and George Story, 392; and Walsh, ii. 27
Southlands Training College, i. 472.
Sovereignty of God, the Reformers and the, ii. 432
Spain, British hostilities with, i. 359? W.M.C. missions in, 447
Spangenberg, August Gottlieb, Wes ley converses with, 1. 191, 192, 196 ;. on Assurance, 192 ; enlightens Bohler, 196
Spaulding, Justin, ii. 382, 383
Special District Meeting. See Dis trict Meetings
Spectator, The, i. 108 ; causes of popularity of , 108, 109 ; Addison's hymns in, 173, 194, 349
Spence, Robert, ii. 143 ; and Wesley,, and hymn-books, 146
Spencer, Herbert, his explanation of spiritual phenomena, i. 28 ; his father, and Arminian M., 427
, Prof. Baldwin, ii. 262
— , Lady, I. 344
Spener, the Pietist, i. 53 ; his method of church reform, 281
Spenser, Edmund, i. 105
Spezzia, ii. 46
Spicer, Tobias, ii. 185
Spiritual phenomena, Wesley and,, i. 18 ; present-day recognition of , 28 ; Spencer's explanation of, 28 ; Professor W. James on, 28
Sports (see also Amusements), Eng lish, in eighteenth century, i. 89,. 90; revolting, 90, 344, 345
Springer, Mrs., ii. 381
Springfield, Mass., ii. 126
Spurr, Hannah, marries Kilham,.. I. 498 ; her work, 498
Stacey, James, and Ridgway, L 527 ; gifts and work of, 540
Stackpole, Dr. Everett S., ii. 402
INDEX
Staffordshire, mobs in, i. 217 ; pottery trade and, 339 ; early M. in, 369 ; rise of P.M. in, 423, 561, | ii. 221 ; Crawfoot in, 568
•Stage, the, in later eighteenth century, i. 350
Staniforth, Sampson, i. 20
Stanley, Jacob, i. 430
, P.M. church, i. 569
Stanmore, N.S.W., ii. 261
Stanstead, ii. 231
Stanton Harcourt, Gambold at, i. 155
State Church, Wesley and a, i. 229 ; ii. 86; American M. and a, i. 231, ii. 85; and Canadian M., 230
control of primary education,
W.M. accept, i. 471
Statistics, of Methodism, summary of world- wide, i. 280, 281 ; ii. 529 et seq. ; of early M., i. 368, 369 ; of U.M.C. at Union, 549 ; tabulation of denominational, ii. 72
Stead, Mr. W. T., on Wesley's phy sique, i. 216
Steam engine, invention of, i. 337
Steele, James, i. 424, 562 ; and Clowes, 562 ; deprived of office in W.M.C., 570, 571, 572 - Richard, i. 108 ; and The Tatler, 108 ; plays of, 113, 173
Stellenbosch, ii. 271
Stephen, Sir James, and Whitefield's philanthropy, i. 274 ; 371
, Leslie, quoted on Deism, i.
21 1 ; on Wesley, 279 ; on Johnson, 346 ; on Gray, 347 ; 367
Stephens, Joseph Rayner, signifi cance of his case, i. 423 ; resigns, and becomes a Chartist, 423
Stephenson, Rev. Dr. T. B., hymn by, i. 254 ; founds homes for needy children, 453 ; principal of homes, 454 ; and deaconesses, 455 ; and union, ii. 470, 478
Sterne, Laurence, i. 117; Thack eray's characterization of, 118 ; on profanity of soldiers, 315 ; 350
Stevens, Dr. A., his Hist, of Meth., ii. 55, 61, 69, 178, 519 ; on effect of American War on M., 82
Stevenson, Dr. D. W., ii. 228
Steward, the first M., i. 291
Stewart, Dugald, i. 352
— , John, quoted, ii. 364, 369 ; compared to St. Francis, 371 — , Matthew, ii. 12 .Stillingfleet, Bishop, his Irenicon, \
i. 15, 68, 69 ; ii. 158 ; defends Christianity against Deism, i. 131 Stillness. See Quietism Stinson, Joseph, i. 215, 217 Stockport, i. 337 ; and lay represen tation, 494 ; Cooke at, 525 ; 562 Stockton Heath, i. 570
— , Thomas H., ii. 146, 147 Stoner, David, compared with Bramwell, i. 412; his revivalism, 414; 421
' Stop the Supplies ' (see also ' No
Supplies, etc.'), first raised in
Warren controversy, i. 429 ;
533 ; and missions, ii. 307, 315
Story, George, Southey and, i. 392 ;
editor, 392, 421 Stothard, Thomas, i. 356 Stott, Ralph, ii. 276 Stoughton, Dr. John, i. 118 Stowe, Harriet Beecher, ii. 127 Straits Settlements, ii. 316 Strange Tales from Humble Life,
Ashworth's, i. 546 Strangers' Friend Society, i. 310 ;
ii. 30 Stratton, Wesleyan Mission, and
O'Bryan, i. 506
Strauss, D. F., i. 126 ; ii. 138, 139 Straw-bridge, Robert, ii. 36, 55, 60 ; his place in American M., 61, 64, 66 ; administers the ordinances, 74; 155, 156, 157, 202 Stretton, John, ii. 36, 206 Strobridge, Dr., his Life of Kidder,
ii. 383
Strong, John, ii. 211 Stuarts, the, England's position under, i. 101 ; their pretensions shattered, 104 (see also Old Pre tender, the)
Stubbs, Miss Harriet, ii. 369 Subliminal consciousness, M. and
the, ii. 428
Suckling, Sir John, quoted, I. 213 Suffolk, early M. in, i. 369 Sugden, Principal E. H., ii. 262 Sui Chow, ii. 331, 332 Summerfield, John, ii. 36 Summers, Thomas O., ii. 147 Sunday, John Nelson and labour on, i. 313 ; Dissenters preserve the opportunities of, 326 ; M. protest against army training on, 327 n. ; and sales, and secular subjects in schools on, 474, 516 ; Irish desecration of, ii. 4
schools, Wesley and M. and, i.
219, 302, 366, 367, 415 ; Hannah
INDEX
657
More and, 355 ; rise and history of, 366 ; 367 ; Raikes and, 367 ; W.M.C. and, 415 ; organization of, 416; and Bands of Hope, W.M.C. Union 465 ; formed for, 474 ; connexional secretary for, 474 ; and Wesley Guild, 474 ; pre sent decline in, 474 ; assisted by Kilham, 496 ; and Sunday observ ance, 474, 516 ; writing taught in, 516 ; disruption through,516 ; festivals, beer at, 529 ; first P.M., 573 ; P.M. and missions, 587 ; Union for, 591 ; in Ireland, ii. 25, 26 ; European, 45 ; song-books for American, 147 ; in N.S.W., 247
Sunderland, i. 580, 588, 591, 593
, Le Roy, ii. 175
Sundius, Christopher, i. 395 ; and the Bible Society, 399
Superintendent, Coke ordained as, for America, 231 ; American M. style ' Bishop,' 231 ; of the circuit, 299 ; Wesley corresponds with, 300 ; regulates worship, 515 ; presides in the U.M.C., 550 ; for Amer. Meth., ii. 84, 85, 86 ; elec tion, ordination, and consecration of first, 91 ; Wesley's order for ordaining American, 160, 161 ; in Canadian M., 461, 463
Sustentation of ministers. See Allowance - Fund, P.M., i. 594 ; Irish, ii. 20
Sutcliffe, Joseph, his Commentary, i. 393, 421
Suter, A., i. 392
Sutherland, Rev. Dr. A., and union of Japan M., ii. 228 ; quoted, 462, and Canadian M. union, 464, 465
Swadeshi movement, ii. 327
S waff ham, i. 591
Swallow, Dr. Robert, ii. 353
Swaziland, ii. 276, 277
Swift, Jonathan, regrets the gam bling tax, i. 91, 110, 117 ; Thac keray on, 118; opposes Collins, 126 ; names S. Wesley, 167
' Swing,' Captain, i. 513, 583
Switzer, Peter, ii. 57
, Mary, ii. 57
Switzerland, M. in, ii. 397
Sydney, N.S.W., i. 446; ii. 238, 239, 240 ; Princes St. and Mac- quarie St., chapels in, 241, 245 ; early M. in, 246, 247 ; York Street Church in, 248 ; first Australian Conference at, 256 ; Central Mis sion in, 260
\'OL. II
Sydney, Lord, ii. 237 Symons, John C., ii. 254 Syracuse University, ii. 141 Sz'Chuan, Canadian mission in, II. 228
TADCASTEB, Wesley at, i. 217 Taft, Mrs. (nee Mary Barrett), i. 413 , Marcus L., ii. 390
Taine, H. A., on Wesley and M., I. 371
Taiping Rebellion, ii. 343, 408
Talke, i. 572
Talley, Alexander, ii. 171, 372
Tamils, work amongst the, ii. 303, 312, 318, 324
Tanoa, King, ii. 310
Tasmania, ii. 242, 247, 248 ; finan cial crisis in, 259 ; M. Assembly in, 261 ; Horton College in, 262 ; and reunion, 264
Tatham, Emma, Memoirs of, quoted, i. 432
Tatler, The, i. 349
Tauler, Johann, quoted, i. 56, 57, 59, 60 ; in Strasburg Cathedral, 61 ; on the danger of testifying, 61 ; Wesley and, 186 ; his Theologia Germanica, 186 ; phy sical phenomena under preaching of, 215
Taunton, W.M. school at, i. 472
Taxation in 18th century, i. 86
Ta Ye county, ii. 331
Taylor, Dr. Charles, ii. 408
, Hudson, and B.C.M. missions,
ii. 347 ; 353, 359
, Isaac, on Susanna Wesley, i.
172; 371, 581
, Jeremy, his Holy Living and
Dying, WTesley and, i. 53, 78 ; Wesley and teachings of, 181, 182 ; use by M. of works of, 183 ; 185, 354; ii. 4
, Joseph, i. 372 ; Bunting and,
390
, Samuel, i. 307
— , Thomas, i. 373 ; opposes Kilham, 390 ; requests preachers for America, ii. 62, 64
, Bishop William, ' California,'
ii. 257, 335 ; in South-eastern Liberia, 379, 380 ; his work in South America, 384
, W. G., ii. 260
Te An, ii. 329, 330, 332
Teetotalism. See Temperance work
Telford, Thomas, i. 338
42
658
INDEX
Tembus, ii. 274
Temperance and Temperance work, gospel hymn for, I. 254 ; W.M. promote, 465 ; societies, W.M.C. adult, 465, 466 ; minister set apart for, 465 ; B.C.M. vigorous, 523 ; sentiment for, growth of in M., 528, 529 ; little (circa 1800-49), 529 ; and ministers and college men, 529 ; and the Reform agitation, 528, 538 ; Wesleyan Reform union and, 539 ; U.M.F.C. League for, 547 ; origin of quarterly lesson on, 547 ; and annual Sunday for, 547 ; Inde pendent Methodist Churches and, 559 ; in P.M.C., 597 ; Irish, ii. 26 ; European, 45 ; American, 78, 79, 149, 509 ; Free Methodist (U.S.A.) and, 134; United Bre thren in Christ and, 136 ; and M.E.C. ministers, 402 Templemacateer, ii. 8 Tennessee, ii. 70, 94 ; success of M. in, 104; revival in, 106; 166, 169, 170, 171, 197, 516 Tennyson, Lord, i. 106 ; visits M.,
432
Terni, ii. 401 Terrae Filius, i. 138 Terry, David, ii. 369 Tertullian, and Montanism, i. 40 ;
ii. 44 Test and Corporation Acts, i. 104 ;
repealed, 364
Testimony (see also Class-meeting), Carlyle quoted on danger of, i. 61 ; in M., 61 ; Tauler on, 61 ; in the Bands, 286 Texas, ii. 515
Thaba Nchu, ii. 274, 275, 277 Thackeray, W. M., i. 105 ; on Swift
and Sterne, 118, 371 Thakombau, King, ii. 310 Thanksgiving Fund. See Financial
efforts ' The Old John Wesley Church,' ii.
518
Theological Institution (see also Ministers, training of), opposition to, i. 64 ; Warren's agitation and, 427-9, 516; Bunting and, 428; grant for, 430 ; W.M. Colleges of the, 475 ; training in, 475, 476 ; influence of protest upon, 517 ; Irish students in, ii. 33; in M.E.C. , 141 : in M.E.C.S., 164, 197 ; of the M.C.A., 262 Theology (see also Doctrines),
Wesley's equipment in, i. 211; summary of M., 305 ; of Re vivalism, 414 ; identity of in all M. churches, ii. 421 ; distinctive features of M., 436 ; M. and modern, 487 ; and conviction of sin, 488, 489 ; M. read, 489
Theosophy, missions and, ii. 325
Theron and Aspasia, Hervey's, i. 152
Thirty-nine Articles, The Tolera tion Act and, i. 100
Thoburn, Bishop, ii. 402
Tholuck, F. A. G., i. 280
Thorn, William, declines to sign declaration and resigns, i. 386 ; unites to form M.N.C., 495 ; with TCilham prepares a Constitu tion, 496 ; his letter to W.M. Conference, 498 ; account of, 498, 499; his influence on M.N.C. ministry, 499
Thomas, of Celano, quoted, i. 46, 48 , J. S., ii. 274
Thompson, Thomas, M.P., i. 395; and W.M. Missionary Society, 398/421 — , Thomas, ii. 221
, William, i. 373 ; and govern ment of M., 383 ; President, 184, 389 ; ii. 10, 456
Thomson, James, and Oglethorpe, i. 190 — , John E., ii. 389
Thome, James, invites O' Bryan, i. 506 ; account of, 507 ; ' his famous Christmas Day's work, 507 ; and magisterial injustice, 507, 511 ; defends women as preachers, 509 ; secretary of Conference, 512 ; and temperance work, 523; educational zeal of, 523 ; and Shebbear school, 523 ; death of, 543; his wife, 543; character of, 544, ii. 346 — , John (father), i. 507
, Mary (mother), i. 507
— , Samuel (brother), i. 513 ; founds B.C.M. school, 523 — , S. T. (China), ii. 347
Thorney, Arthur, ii. 206
Thornhill, Sir James, i. 115
Thornton, Henry, i. 365
Three years' system. See Itinerancy
Threlfell, W., ii. 270
Tibet, ii. 228
Tickell, Thomas, i. 1 1 1
Ticket of membership (see also Class-meeting and Membership)
INDEX
659
Band members receive a, i. 286 ; Wesley originated the system of giving, 286; Band, discontinued, 286 ; quarterly, 288 ; highly valued, 288 ; annual token in M.N.C. and, 542 ; first American, ii. 63
Tientsin, riots in, ii. 328, 343, 344
Tiffin, Governor Edward, ii. 98
Tigert, Bishop John J., ii. 196, 197
Tillett, Professor, ii. 147
Tillotson, Archbishop, and author ity, i. 14, 15
Tilly, Presiding Elder, ii. 412
Tindal, Nicholas, deistical works of, i. 125; answered, 131
Tiruvalur, ii. 308
Toase, W., ii. 42
Tobacco smoking, forbidden by Free M. Church (U.S.A.), ii. 134; M.E.C. ministers and, 402
Tobias, Matthew, ii. 2, 12, 26
Tokyo, uniting conference in, ii. 228
Toland, John^i. 12 ; works of, 125
Told, Silas, and prison reform, i. 225 ; account of, 311
Toleration Act, the, i. 100 ; limita tions of, 100, 101 ; Wesley's re luctance to use 32 ; chapels and preachers licensed under, 324 ; Dissenters' declaration under, 363; Lord Sidmouth's Bill and, 403,566
Tolstoy, Leo, and faith, i. 27
Toms, "Mary, i. 509
' Tom-Paine Methodists,' i. 496
Tonga, ii. 245, 247, 248, 300
Tongatabu, ii. 299
Tongue of Fire, Arthur's, i. 410
Toplady, Augustus, i. 319, 330 ; his conversion, 365
Toronto, ii. 205 ; union of M.E.C. in Canada and British W.M. at, 215, 218, 219; 221, 231, 260, 463
Torrington, i. 503
Tortola, ii. 290, 291
Total abstinence (see also Temper ance), Free M. Church (U.S.A.) and, ii. 134 ; M.E.C. and, 149 ; M.E.C. ministers and, 402
Townend, Joseph, ii. 256 — , Thomas, i. 547
Townley, Dr., his Illustrations, i. 422
Towns, size of English, at the Restoration, i. 85 ; early M. influence upon, 369 ; present-day migration to, causes of, 461, 462
Townsend, Dr. W. J., i. 551 ; quoted, ii. 450, 475
Townshend, Viscount, i. 336
Ts'ung Yang, ii. 333
Tractarianism. See Oxford Move ment
Tracts, Wesley's popular, i. 220, 22 1 ; first society for, 220 ; and the Evangelical Revival, 366
Trade, early preachers continue in, i. 304 ; John Nelson does so, 314 ; M. said to ruin, 326 ; M. en courages, 376 ; M. ' make best of both worlds,' 393 ; P.M. leaders of trade unions, 597
Training Colleges, W.M.C. Com mittee of Privileges and national, 416 ; denominational, 417 ; West minster, 472 ; Southlands, 472
Institutions (native), ii. 278
Translation of the Scriptures, into Kafir, ii. 274 ; Mashona dialect, 280 ; Singhalese, 295, 296 ; Por tuguese, 296 ; Mandingo, 299 ; Fijian, 300, 310; Tamil, 306; Maya, 336 ; Miao, 350 ; Galla, 352 ; Wenchow dialect, 354 ; into Bubi, 356; Mashukulembwe, 358; Sheetswa and Umtali, 381 ; Chinese, and Fokein dialect, 391 ; Spanish, 412
Transvaal, M. in, ii. 277
Trapp, Dr., abuses Whitefield, i. 264
Travelling, difficulties of, at the rise of M., i. 95, 96 ; dangers of, 96, 97 ; in London, 97-9 ; of the preachers, 299, 301
Tredegar, i. 584
Treffry, R., junr., defends Eternal Sonship, i. 415 : and day schools, 416
Trembath, John, in Ireland, ii. 7
Trent, Council of, condemns Assur ance, i. 22
Trevecca, College at, i. 319
Trial, Kilham's, i. 493
Trichinopoly, ii. 308
Trimble, Governor, i. 181, 184, 365, 368
Trimmer, Mrs., i. 367
Trinitarianism, American M. and, ii. 116
Truro, Samuel Walker at, i. 365
Truscott, Thomas, ii. 351
Trusts and Trustees, Deed of De claration and, i. 291, 385 ; action of in Leeds organ case, 426, 514 ; Wesleyan Board of, 467 ; Ap pointment Act (1890) for, 468; and separation from Church of
660
INDEX
England, 488 ; High Church, and Hanley separatists, 494
Tubingen, Nast at, ii. 138
Tubon, Chief, ii. 299
Tuckfield, Francis, ii. 248, 250
Tuffey, Commissary, ii. 37 ; in Lower Canada, 201, 202
Tullamore, ii. 8
Tumkur, ii. 308, 323
Tunes, early M. (see also Appendix C), 18th century, St. Ann, i. 115 ; St. Matthew, 115; for C. Wesley's conversion hymn, 239, 240 ; popu lar origin of some, 250 ; Beaumont, 391
Tung Chuan, ii. 347, 348
Tunnel, John, ii. 156
Tunstall, P.M.C. and, i. 562, 563, 570, 571 ; first chapel at, 571 ; and the Non-mission Law, 572 ; 573, 579 ; circuit missions of, 579, 582; 588
Turin, ii. 401
Turk's Island, ii. 334
Turner, J. W. M., 356
, Nathaniel, ii. 245, 248, 249
, Miss, of C.I.M., ii. 347
Twelve Rules of a Helper, Wesley's, i. 295
Twentieth Century Fund. See Financial efforts
Tyerman, Luke, his Oxford Method ists, i. 157 n. ; on Wesley as school boy, 174 ; his Life of Wesley, 329, 367 ; and Everett's Wesleyana, 532 ; quoted, ii. 54
Tyndall, John, ii. 146
Tyrell's Pass, ii. 8
UGANDA, ii. 369
Ugolino, Cardinal, i. 44, 46
Uitenhage, ii. 272
Ulster, ii. 32, 35
Umtali, ii. 381
Umusa, ii. 415
Underwood, W. J., ii. 278
Uniformity, Act of, ejections under, i. 165, 168; B.C.M. Bicentenary celebration of the, 503 ; 543
UNION AMERICAN METHODIST EPIS COPAL CHURCH, i. 514
Union and reunion, of Methodism (see also Methodism, present-day unity of), Dunn and, i. 539 ; Hughes and, 539 ; Bourne advo cates, 544 ; proposed between M.E.C. and Methodist Protestant Church, ii. 150; efforts toward,
440, 491 ; concerted action and federation in England, 441 ; united ministerial training and, 441 ; and its common modern appeal, 441, 490 ; unions and re unions effected, 448-82 (see also Contents, p. 444; and under names of united churches) ; in fluences towards, 445-8 ; affected by national and civic movements, 446 ; spiritual kinship and, 446 ; the spirit of the age and, 446 ; (Ecumenical Conference and, 447 462,469, 470, 472,478, 522; success of, resulting from, 221, 448, 465 ; of the Wesleyan Methodist Asso ciation and Wesleyan Reformers, 449-50; fraternity established between M.E.C. and M.E.C.S., 452-4 ; union of Prot. Meth. Church and the Methodist Church, 454 ; of the Irish W. M. and the Primitive Wesleyans, 455-7 ; of the M.N.C. Irish mission
with the W.M.C., 457 ; in
Canada,!. 446, ii. 457-65,523, 527; M. and M.N.C. unite, 460 ; claim for lay rights and, 461-4 ; com pleted, 465 ; in Australasia, 264, 265, 465-72, 523 ; movement to wards, 466-8 ; Wesleyan General Conference and, 471 ; completed there, 472 ; partial, in New- Zealand, 472 ; in England,
472-82, 523 ; M.N.C. leads to wards, 472 ; unsuccessful efforts towards, 472-7 ; of three churches (M.N.C., U.M.F.C., B.C.M.), 478- 82 ; enthusiasm concerning, 482 ; assisted by the tendencies of theology, 490; and hymn-books, 489, 494 ; and the Sacraments, 495 ; will assist circuit work, 496 ; and town missions, 498 ; and demand for educated min istry, 499 ; and the trend towards presbyterian government, 502 ; and the constitution of ' the Methodist Church of England,' 502-5 ; and features common to
all sections, 505 ; in America,,
117, 150, 510-28; need of, 510. 511, 523 ; influences against, 516- 18 ; of white and coloured M.,.
519, 527; of all coloured M.,
520, 521 ; of M.E.C. and M.E.C.S.,
521, 524, 525, 526; of the M.E.C. and the Methodist Protestant Church, 525; and FederalCouneils,.
INDEX
661
— in Canada, 527, 528 ; and the call of the age, 528 ; of Free Churches, 219; of non- episcopal churches, 232
Unitarians and Unitarianism, ex- cepted from Toleration Act, i. 100 ; aversion of S. Wesley to, 166 ; Presbyterianism and, ii. 438
United Brethren in Christ (German Church), ii. 136 ; is Methodistic, 136 ; and amalgamation with Congregational Churches, 136, 148 ; and M. union, 526
United Evangelical Association, ii. 137
United Kingdom Alliance, i. 523
UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, THE (see Contents, i. 483-4 ; also under titles of churches united), and the National Children's Homes, 454 ; similar origin, and sympathy of churches composing, 486, 487 ; sections of, affected by condi tions of time of their rise, 487 ; claimed spiritual freedom, 487 ; Wesleyan Reform Union and negotiations for, 539 ; three churches approximate in usage, 542 ; their statistics and finance, 549 ; complementary features in, 550 ; enabling Act for, 550 ; autonomy of, 550 ; Uniting Con ference of, 550, 551, ii. 482 ; constitution of, i. 550 ; terms of membership in, 551 ; connexion- alismof, 551 ; Thanksgiving Fund of, 551 ; evangelistic mission in, 551 ; first Annual Conference of, 551 ; account of steps towards unionas,ii.472- 481; circuit system •strengthened in, 495 ; mis sionary enterprise of, 342-54 ;
M.N.C. : to Colonies, 342 ;
in China, 343-6 ; at Tientsin, 343 ; in Shantung, 343, 344 ; and riots and famine, 344 ; training institution of, 345 ; at Kaiping, 345 ; medical work of, 345, 346 ; Centenary Fund and, 345 ; Boxer Riots and, 345, 346 ; Women's Auxiliary of, 346 ; in come and statistics of, 346 ; — B.C.M. : origin of, 346 , 347 ; in Colonies, 346 ; in China, 347 ; Women's League and, 348 ; statistics of, 348 ; Boxer riots and, 348 ; idols tested and, 349 ; fimong the Miao, 349 ; — U.M.F.C. : Jamaica section joins
Wesleyan M. Association, 350 ; in Central America, 351 ; in West Africa, 351 ; in East Africa, 352 ; industrial work in China, 353 ; growth of, 353 ; medical and edu cational work of, 354 ; Ladies' Auxiliary of, 354 ; call of missions and the, 354
United Methodist Church Act, The, i. 550 (see also App. E)
United Methodist Free Churches, The (see also Wesleyan Methodist Association, Wesleyan Reformers, and United Methodist Church), Leeds organ secessionists form part of, i. 426 ; Theological Institution agitation and, 427-9, 516-21 ; Reform agitation and, 430-2, 437-9, 527-37 ; origin of, similar to other sections in U.M.C., 486 ; rise of, affected by national reform movements, 487 ; connected protests and the forma tion of the, 514 ; Eckett serves, 520 ; Wesleyan Methodist Associ ation and Wesleyan Reformers constitute, 521, 537 ; Everett, Dunn, and Griffith and, 531-7 ; Derby Reformers join, 533 ; first Assembly of, 537, ii. 448 ; statis tics of, 537 and n. ; growth of, 537 ; adopts Association Deed, 537 ; consolidation of, 537 ; con- nexionalism v. circuit indepen dence in, 538, 549 ; position of ministers in, 538, 549 ; power of Assembly of, 538 ; evangelistic, social, and temperance effort, 545,
547 ; Caughey's work in, 545 ; Guttridge's work in, 545 ; Dea coness Institute for, 546 ; London Extension Committee of, 546 ; mission centres of, 546, 547 ; min isterial training in, 547 ; Chew's work in, 547 ; Miller's work in,
548 ; ' lay bishops ' of, 548 ; in Rochdale, 548 ; financial efforts and statistics of, at union, 549 ; in Melbourne, ii. 256 ; in New Zealand, 256 ; statistics at union, 256 ; in Australia, 466 ; and M. union, 473 et seq. ; sends annual greetings to W.M.C., 477 ; mis sionary enterprise of , see U.M.C.
United Presbyterian and Free Churches in Canada, ii. 459
States (see also America,
Methodism in), centenary gift of M. in, i. 281 ; the rise of, 360 ; Sunday
662
INDEX
schools in, 367 ; O'Bryan's work in, 512 ; Barker in, 525 ; Dow and, 564 ; P.M. missionary to, 582 ; contributions for Irish Methodists, ii. 23, 34 ; 36, 37 ; German M. and that of the, 48 ; M.E.C. declares allegiance to Government of, ii. 99 ; and George Washington, 100, 101 ; govern ment of, helps M.E.C. mission schools, 366, 371 ; rise of M. in, 53, 58 ; preachers appointed to, 64 ; their authority, 73 ; their re turn 75, 81 ; Wesley and episcopal organization of, 83, 419 ; its service and spread, 110; circuit riders in, 121 ; efforts to maintain primitive, 127, 133 ; doctrinal purity of, 131 ; and see Methodist Episcopal and other churches
Universality of redemption, i. 35, 36 ; Wesley's preaching of, 214 ; C. Wesley's hymns and, 247, 305; Wesley's sermon on Free Grace and, 267 ; Whitefield and, 267 ; ii. 434
Universities (see also Oxford, etc.), M., in U.S.A., ii. 140, 141, 170, 172, 197, 367 ; in Canada, 231 ; Indian, 308
Upper Burma, Wesleyan mission in, i. 447
Canada, M. in, ii. 37, 201, 202
Piedmont, ii. 47
Sandusky, ii. 364
Urua Eye, ii. 359
Uruguay, mission work in, ii. 384 Use and Abuse of Prophecy, Sher lock's, i. 130
Ussher, Archbishop, i. 78 ; ii. 4 Utica, Wes. Meth. Connex. of
America formed at, ii. 127 Uva, ii. 319
VAAL RIVER, i. 446, ii. 275 Vanbrugh, Sir John, i. 112 Vanderbilt University, McTyeire
and, ii. 193
Vanderhurst, Bishop, ii. 406 Van Diemen's Land, ii. 242, 243 Vanstone, T. G., ii. 347 Vasey, Thomas, Wesley ordained,
i. 231, 317; ii. 84, 85, 88, 89;
assists in Asbury's consecration,
91, 159, 288
Vaudois, French-speaking, ii. 43 Vauxhall Gardens, London, i. 90 Veddahs, the, ii. 304, 320
Venn, Henry, and Broughton, i. 153 ; 365
Vermont, ii. 105; Fisk and, 168, 170
Vernon, Leroy M. ii. 400
Verulam, ii. 276
Vicar of Wakefield, i. 92
Vice, 18th-century societies for sup pressing, i. 133; and heresy, Roman Catholicism and, ii. 410
Victoria, first M. church in, ii. 250 ; progress in, 257 ; Chinese in, 258 ; financial crisis in, 259 ; educational work in, 261 ; Wesley College in, 262 ; and M. union, 264
View of the Principal Deistical Writers, Leland's, i. 131
Village Blacksmith, Everett's, i. 531
Villages, present-day depletion of, i. 461, 462 ; decline of Non conformist churches in, 461 ;• clerical intolerance in, 462 ; amal gamation of W.M.C. circuits of, 463 ; service of local preachers to, 463 ; Champness and M. work in 463 ; over-lapping in, 477
Vine, Rev. A. H., i. 254
Virgil, i. 105
Virginia, Robert Williams in, ii. 28, 36, 69, 70 ; 95 ; Revival in, 106, 156 ; Asbury and, 158 ; M. in, claim sacraments, 73, 157, 166 ; Lee and, 164 ; large Conference attendance from, ii. 165 ; 169, 182 ; Coke in, 176 ; 515
Visitation, of church members, the Wesleys and, i. 287 ; in classes, 288 ; effect of, 301 ; neglected in Italy, ii. 403, 406 ; in the Pro testant Methodist Church, 406
Vivian, Rev. W., ii. 351
Vlakfontein, ii. 278
Voltaire, F. M. A., i. 12 ; and the French Revolution, 360 ; Wesley and, compared and contrasted, 376-8
Voluntaryism, of M., i. 289 ; in Roman Catholic countries, ii. 387
WADDY, Dr., ii. 243
— , Corporal George, begins M.
in Tasmania, ii. 243, 244 Wade, Luke, ii. 245 Wages, English, in the eighteenth
century, i. 84 Waitangi, Treaty of, ii. 249 Wakefield, C. Wesley at, tried for
disloyalty, i. 240, 324 , Thomas, ii. 352
INDEX
663
Wakeley, J. B., his American
Methodism, ii. 55, 57 Wakkerstroom, ii. 276 Waldenses, M. organization and
that of the, i. 281 ; ii. 47 Waldo, Peter, ii. 137 Wales, religious awakening in, i. 201 ; Presbyterian Church of, 264 ; lay preaching in, 291 ; Howell Harris in, 291 ; Sunday schools in, 367 ; W.M.C. in, 400, 401 ; Chapel Fund for, 469 ; W.M. Assembly for, 469 ; Kilham in, 496 ; P.M. missions in, 582 Walker, Jesse, ii. 123
1 Robert, ii. 221
, Samuel, Wesley and, i. 227 ;
288, 365
, Solomon, ii. 31
, William, ii. 245
Wallamette Valley, ii. 376 Wallbridge, Miss Elizabeth, ' Dairy man's Daughter,' i. 397 Waller, Dr. David J., ii. 195 Wallis, Robert, ii. 12 Walpole, Sir Robert, i. 105 ; corrupt administration of, 105 ; Letters of, and Wesley's Journal, 223 ; and the Countess of Huntingdon, 269; and Whitefield, 274, 371 Walsh, Thomas, scholarship of, i. 297 ; claims pulpit for early lay preachers, 317 ; ii. 10 ; account of, 27, 456
Walton, John, ii. 273 — , Thomas, i. 531 Wandsworth, U.M.C. Deaconess Institute at, i. 546 ; Wesley at, ii. 178
Wangaroa Bay, ii. 244 Wapping, i. 287
War, Wesley on, i. 224 ; English, with America, 360 ; Christianity and, 453 ; results of American, on M., ii. 76 ; American, termin ated, 78 ; American M. and the Revolution, 80 ; 'of the Axe,' 272 ; effects of South African on M., 275, 277
Warburton, Bishop, i. 19 ; on the origin of M., 53 ; his Divine Legation, 129 ; opposes Deists, 129, 130; his view of God, 211 Ward, E. F., ii. 415
, Bishop Seth, ii. 196
Ware, Joseph, ii. 257
, Thomas, ii. 82 ; founds M. in
New Jersey, 89 ; 96, 103, 107 Warhurst, John Henry, i. 542
Warner, George, i. 596 — , J. B., ii. 274
Warren, George, ii. 298
, Samuel, James Wood and,
i. 390 ; and Bunting, 407, 428 ; agitation by, 427-9, 517 ; results from Chancery suit of, 427, 517 ; is suspended, expelled, and joins Established Church, 517 ; dis covers omission of official docu ments, 517 ; and the Wesley an Methodist Association, 519 , W. F., ii. 397, 398, 525
Warrener, William, ordained by
Wesley, I. 372
Warrington, cottage church at, i. 558, ^560 ; Friar's Green Chapel at, 559; 564, 566, 568, 569, 570
Warwick, rise of M. in, i. 294, 369
Washington, General George, Coke
and Asbury and, ii. 94 ; M.E.C.
Conference congratulates him as
U.S. President, 99 ; his reply, 101
, Carnegie Institution in, ii.
121; Supreme Court at, 130; (Ecumenical Conference at, 469 ; (1891) and union of coloured M., 472, 520
— , Indiana, united university at, ii. 523 ; fraternal Conference in, 524
Waste, Wesley on, i. 224 Watchman, The, i. 429, 530 Watchman's Lantern, the, i. 518 Watchnight service, the wonderful, i. 158 ; origin of, 289 ; intro duced at New York, ii. 66 Waterberg, ii. 278 Waterford, ii. 31, 36 Waterhouses, John, ii. 248, 253 Watering-places, W.M.C. , in, i. 450 ;
Punshon's effort for, 451 Waterloo, Battle of, ii. 42 Watkins, Rev. Owen, ii. 277
, Rev. R., ii. 458
Watsford, John, ii. 248, 252, 256,
259
Watson, Bishop Richard, his plural ities, i. 119
, Richard (W.M.), replies to
Southey, i. 330, 419; and first missionary meeting, 398 ; mission ary secretary, 398, 399, ii. 301 ; as theologian and preacher, 398 ; and the slave trade, 399, ii. 178, 301, 451 ; i. 407, 414 ; prepares a catechism for children, 418 ; his Life of Wesley, 421 ; his
664
INDEX
Theological Dictionary and In stitutes, 422 ; and the W.M. Church, 427 ; a preacher in the M.N.C., 501 ; defends its prin ciples, 501 ; and the regulation of worship, 515 ; ii. 214 ; and the Australian Mission, 247 Watson, Thomas, i. 548 Watt, James, I. 337, 338 Watters, John, Conference at the house of, ii. 75, 77
, William, ii. 67, 82, 89, 92 ; ii.
156, 157
Watts, Isaac, his works and hymns, L 112; 123; Matthew Arnold and a hymn by, 112; King Edward VII. 's coronation and a hymn by, 112 ; Wesley includes hymns by, 194; suspicion of his hymns, 245 ; his hymns compared with C. Wesley's, 250 ; and children, 302 ; hymns by, in American hymn-books, ii. 143
, J. C., i. 540
Waugh, Beverly, elected Bishop, ii. 168; 174, 262 — , Thomas, ii. 12 Way, Dr., A. S., ii. 262
College, S. Australia, ii. 263
, James, ii. 255, 263
, Rt. Hon. Chief Justice Sir
Samuel, i. 524 ; ii. 255, 264, 471 Wayne's treaty (U.S.A.), ii. 121 Wealth of Nations, Smith's, i. 352 Wealth (see England and Mineral ; see also Riches), tendency of M. to produce, i. 374 ; M. and, ii. 506 ; Christian uses of, 506 ; dangers of, in American M., 509 Weavind, G., ii. 277 Webb, Captain Thomas, ii. 58 ; ac count of, 59 ; and the first Ameri can Church, 60, 62, 63, 65, 66 ; visits England and Wesley, 71, 72; 155 Wedgwood, Josiah, i. 339, 527
, John, i. 575, 578, 579, 580
Wednesbury, the Wesleys mobbed at, i. 240 ; C. Wesley's hymn after the riot at, 243 ; persecution of Methodists at, 328 Week St. Mary, i. 508 Weekly Journal, Fog's, i. 176 n. Weekly offering system, in M.N.C.,
i. 541 ; in South Africa, ii. 276 Welch, Charles, and the ' Church
Methodists,' i. 427 Welford, Rev. W., imprisoned, ii. 357
Wellesley, Marquis of, armorial bearings of, i. 164, 238
Wellington, Duke of, resemblance to Wesley, i. 203 ; his connections with the Wesley family, 238 ; Wesley resembled in generalship, 279
, Mount, ii. 243
, N.Z., ii. 253
Valley, ii. 246
Welsh preaching, i. 400
Wenchow, ii. 353
Wentworth, Erastus, ii. 390
Wenyon, Dr. C., ii. 329
Wernher von der Tegernsee, i. 49
Werrey, Mary Ann, account of, i. 510
Wesley Banner, i. 430, 531, 532
Wesley, family (see also Westley), at Epworth, i. 165 ; and Dissent, 166 ; happiness of, 170 ; burning of parsonage and, 171, 194 ; con nected with Wellesley family, 164, 238, 279 ; poetic gifts of, 242
, Charles (see also Wesley,
John and Charles), teaching of on Holiness, i. 58 ; on Quietism, 59 ; as an apostle), 70 ; founds Oxford M., 139; explains the name Methodist, 139 ; is styled a ' Sacramentarian,' 140 ; founds the Holy Club, 141 ; and Hervey, 152; and Gambold, 154, 155; place of in M., 164; styles Perronet ' Archbishop of M.,' 164, 321; at Westminster School, 173, 238 ; at Christ Church, Oxford, 174, 239 ; attracted by a solitary life, 186 ; becomes a missionary to Georgia, 190 ; and returns to Eng land, 239; illness of, 198; finds spiritual rest, 198, 239 ; visited by John, 198, 200 ; reads Luther's Galatians, 199 ; joy in John's conversion, 200 ; style of compared with John Wesley's, 210 ; physical phenomena under preaching of, 216 ; reads Life of Comenius, 218 ; shocked at his brother's ordinations, 231, ii. 160; J. R. Green on, i. 235 ; and the hymn-writers of Methodism, see Contents, 236, also hymns cited below ; account of, 238-42 ; his work complementary to John's, 237, 242 ; declines adoption by Sir Garret Wesley, 238 ; is ordained, 239 ; visited by John,
INDEX
239 ; strikes the note of the Re vival, 240 ; is curate at Islington, is inhibited and becomes an evan gelist, 240 ; and the mobs, 240 ; tried for disloyalty, 240, 324; marriage of, 241; resides at Bristol and London, 241 ; Mrs. Gumley's kindness to, 241 ; musical evenings at the home of, 241 ; his talented sons, 241 ; discontinues itinerating, 241 ; his Journal, 241 ; his ministry to prisoners, 241 ; death of, 242 ; character and genius of, 242, 243 ; declines to take John's place, 242 ; effect of his conversion on his gift, 243, suggests orphanage, 272 ; preaches in Moorfields, 282 ; defends lay preaching, 293 ; and universal redemption, 305 ; de clares M. should not preach in evangelical parishes, 321 ; visits Ireland, ii. 7 ; Irish accusations against, 9 ; attacks Coke for official acts, 94, 161 ; disapproves the constitution of M.E.C., 160 ;
his hymns, influence of,
1. 242, 261 ; number of his "works, 243 ; doctrinal value of, 244 ; place of in controversies, 244 ; variety and occasion of, 244, 245, 250 ; metres and Biblical character of, 245 ; cause of their popularity, 246 ; their evangelical and M. character, 246 ; personal experience in, 246, 248, 250 ; doctrinal value of, 246-8 ; com parison with his father's hymn, 246 ; blemishes of, 248 ; revised by his brother John, 249 ; his debt to other writers, 249 ; com pared with Watts's, 250, and translations by his brother John, 250 ; in American hymn-books, ii. 143, 144; his hymn for Mohammedans, 145 Wesley, C., hymns by, referred to : Christmas, Easter and Ascension tide, i. 243 ; for Pentecost, 244, 248 ; ' A charge to keep I have,' 243 ; ' All praise to our redeeming Lord,' ii. 417; 'All things are possible to him,' 247 ; ' All ye that pass by,' 243, com- | pared with ' Behold the Saviour j of mankind,' 246 ; ' And can it be that I should gain,' 243, 247 ; ' Christ, whose glory fills the skies,' 243 ; ' Come, Holy Ghost,
all-quickening fire,' 243 ; ' Come Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire,'
243 ; ' Come, O Thou traveller unknown,' 33, 243, II. 435 ; ' Earth rejoice, the Lord is King,' i. 243 ; ' Father of ever lasting grace,' 244 ; ' Forth in Thy Name, O Lord, I go,' 244 ; ' Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,'
244 ; ' Happy man whom God doth aid,' 244 ; ' In age and feebleness extreme,' 244 ; ' Jesu, Lover of my soul,' 243 ; ' Jesu, my God and King,' 243 ; ' Lord, I believe a rest remains,' 58 ; ' Love Divine, all loves excelling,' 243 ; ' My God, I know, I feel Thee mine,' 247 ; ' O Thou who earnest from above,' 244 ii. 143 ; ' O for a thousand tongues to sing,' J. 243, ii. 143; 'O Love Divine, how sweet thou art,' i. 243 ; ' O the fathomless love,' ii. 53 1 ; ' On Primitive Christianity,' I. 393 ; ' Open, Lord, my inward ear,' i. 59 ; ' Peace, doubting heart,' 243 ; Prayers for a Con demned Malefactor, 241 ;' Soldiers of Christ, arise,' 243 ; ' Son of the Carpenter,' 243 ; ' Stand the Omnipotent decree,' 244 ; ' Still for Thy loving-kindness, Lord,' 244 ; ' Victim divine,' 250 ; ' Where shall my wandering soul begin ' (his conversion hymn), 200, 239, 240, 242; 'Worship and thanks and blessing,' 243 ; 'When quiet in my house I sit,' 244
Wesley, Charles (son of Rev. Charles), i. 241 - College, Dublin, ii. 33 — , Emily (sister of J. and C.), her letter on Auricular Con fession, i. 146
— , Garret, proposes to adopt C. Wesley, i. 238 ; adopts Richard Colley, 238
Guild, established, i. 474
Historical Society. See foot note references, WHS, and Appendix A (C. I.)
, John (see also Wesley, John
and Charles), appealed to heart, I. 12 ; to reason, 13 ; and Stillingfleet, 15 ; and Tillotson,
15 ; and external authority, 16 ; ordination of American bishops,
16 ; philosophical position, 16,
666
INDEX
18 ; his doctrine of Assurance, 19, 182, ii. 432 ;) how safeguarded, i. 28, 29 ; his doctrine of Holiness, 31, 181, 214; and the saints of the church on holiness, 32 ; and St. Bernard's teaching, 33 ; his teaching on the Atonement, 34; his Arminianism, 35, 212; and Laud's High Churchrnanship, 37 ; and George Fox, and Montanus, 40 ; compared with St. Francis, 44-7 ; compared with Richelieu, 46, 169n., 279; compared and contrasted with Wyclif, 50-2 ; his use of the press, 50 ; employs lay preachers, 51 ; compared with Loyola, 52, 280 ; exacted obedience, 52 ; and the Mystics, 53, 55, 185-8, 208, 282; his denunciation of mysticism, 54, 55 ; and Luther's Galatians, 54, 55, 201 ; and Antinomianism, 55, 213; and Tauler, 60, 61, 186; and Quietism, 60; rejected asceticism, 62 ; free from Dualism, 64 ; through M. revived Noncon formity, 66 ; impressed Presby- terianism on M., 67 ; and Lord King's Inquiry into Catholic Church, 68, 69 ; thought Episco pacy scriptural, not prescribed, and a small point, 69 (vide Ordinations) ; his income-tax re turn, 71 ; the apostolate in M. died with him, 71 ; an epochal man, 80 ; his idea the noblest, 80 ; his reputation undamaged by criticism, 81 ; his advance upon the Puritan ideal, 81 ; was quick to receive impressions, 81, 281 ; and Oxford M., 139 ; curate at Wroote, 139, 141, 183, 239 ; his definition of ' Metho dist,' 140 ; returns to Oxford, 140 ; becomes leader of the Holy Club, 140, 141, 146, 147, 174- 189, 239 ; character of, as an under-graduate, 140 ; is ordained deacon, 176 ; Fellow of Lincoln College, 141, 177, 291 ; charities as an Oxford M., 142 ; Moderator at Lincoln College, 143, 176, 178; defends the Oxford M., 144 ; his Oxford High Churchism, 145, 184 (see also High Churchism) ; en joined auricular confession, 146 ; his sister Emily's letter to, 146 ; and Morgan's affliction and death, 148 ; and J. Whitelamb, 149 ; and
Clayton, 150; helps Hervey, 151 ; and Ingham, 153, 156'; and Gam- bold, 155, 156 ; desires to be come again an Oxford M., 158 ;
life, work, and character
of, Contents, 160 ; his place in the history of M., 161-4 ; opinions upon, 162 ; compared with other religious leaders, 162, 163, and note, 164 ; in Heretics and Sectarians, 163 ; and White- field, 163, 164, 210, 280, 266, 268, 275; ancestry of, 164-74, 279 ; his birth and parentage, 164 ; on the effeminacy of upper classes, 165 ; his Puritan and Nonconformist connexions, 165, 166 ; on his clerical ancestry, 166 ; admired earlier Puritans and Nonconformists, 166 ; assists his father in literary work, 167 ; and his father's views, 167, 168 ; and his mother, 168, 172 ; his affection for her, 169 ; his use of Scougal's Life of God in Soul of Man, 170 ; influence of Pascal upon, 171, 211 ; his escape from fire, 171 ; independence and self- control of, 172 ; at the Charter house, 173 ; religious condition as schoolboy, 174; at Christ Church, Oxford, 174, 208 ; his love of Oxford University, 176 : serious views on study and life, 176, 177, 178 ; a religious eclectic, 179 ; influence of John Norris and Cambridge Platonists on, 179, 180, 208, 211, 213; his reading (1725-9), 180, (1732-3) 185 ; his preparation for ordina tion, 180 ; ' sets upon a new life,' 181 ; rejects Predestination, 181 ; reads William Law, 182, 185 ; his debt to Bohler, 183, 196; Dr. Horton on spiritual development of, 183 ; his casuistical rules, 184 ; first publication, 185; eclectic Mysticism of, 185-8, 208 ; and the solitary life, 186; and the Port RoyalMystics, 187; declines to succeed his father, 188 ; his mission to Georgia, 189-95, ii. 53 ; service of Oglethorpe to, i. 190, ii. 53 ; consults his mother on missionary call, i. 190, ii. 54 ; his ideas of the natives, i. 190, 194 ; impressed by Moravians, 191, 193, 198, 281 ; learns German, 191 ; not satisfied with his High
INDEX
667
Churchism, 191 ; meets Spangen- berg, 192, 196 ; his High Church- ism in Georgia, 192, 267 ; defines religion, 193 ; forms a Religious Society, 194 ; learns Spanish and Italian and teaches Jews, 194 ; publishes first hymn-book, 194; love affairs of, 194, 205 ; returns to England, 195 ; later views of his early religious state, 195 ; results of his Georgian mission, 195, 196, ii. 54 ; his epoch-making experience, i. 195-201, 485, ii. 428, 432; London churches closed to him, i. 196 ; used ex tempore prayer, 197 ; visits his brother Charles, 198, 239 ; and the birthday of historic Meth., 200 ; evangelical conversion of, a landmark in history, 201, 203, ii. 208 ; Dale on the conversion of, i. 201 ; natural and spiritual manhood of, 201-9 ; considered psychologically, 202, ii. 427 ; physique and appearance, details of his, i. 203 ; university sermons, 203, 214, 215 ; portraits of, 203,
204 ; personal charm of, 205 ; his marriage, 205 ; his cheer fulness and wit, 205, 221 ; catholic spirit of, 205, 206, 221 ; literary taste of, 205, and style, 209, 210, 222, 226; dogmatism of,
205 ; serenity and strength of, 206, 207, ii. 427 ; and ' noisy thoughts,' i. 206 ; his habitual reverence, 207 ; affected his rela tions to all classes, 208, ii. 435 ; mystic regard for saintliness, i. 282 ; and also the claims of reason, 208, ii. 427 ; on spiritual sensation, i. 208 ; on the mystery of redemption, 209 ; his preach ing, 209-17, ii. 427 ; studied the drama, 209 ; and C. Wesley, 210; his preparatory reading in divinity, 211 ; A. Knox on the i theology of, 211; his letters, j 211; preached no new truth, j 211, ii. 422; on preaching the Atonement, i. 212 ; ethical pas sion of, 212; his opposition to Calvinism, 213, ii. 433 ; his ser mon on Free Grace, i. 213; and the work of the Holy Spirit, 214 ; preached universal redemption, 214, ii. 434 ; Oxford University resents preaching of, and re places him, i. 215 ; resigns
Oxford Fellowship, 215, 291 ; physical phenomena under the preaching of, 215, 216 ; his ex traordinary journeyings, 216 ; preaches fifteen sermons a week, 216 ; indisposition of, 217 ; facing the mobs, 217, 327 ; his educa tional and literary work, 218- 23, 439 ; and children, 218, 220, 302 ; his educational principles, 218 ; schools founded by, 219 ; and Sunday schools, and Raikes, 219; a pioneer in publishing cheap literature, 220, 457, ii. 439 ; and Coke establish first Tract Society, i. 220 ; his publications, 221 (for chief, see list below) ; his English Dictionary, 221 ; his advice on reading, 221 ; adapts himself to plain people, 223, 225 ; his social enterprises, 223- 7, 266, 310, ii. 439; and Christian communism, i. 223 ; Was he a Socialist ? 223, 224 n. ; his Tory optimism, and loyalty, 224; and Wilkes, 224; and liberty, 224 ; and distilling, 224 ; and the conflict with the United States, 224 ; on Waste and War, 224 ; his doctrines and the aboli tion of slavery, 225, ii. 175, 290 ; co-operates with Clarkson, i.
225, and prison reform, 225 ; his literary profits, 225 ; and the use of money, 225 ; founded a demo cratic church, 226 ; Protestant freedom and the autocracy of,
226, 227, 486 ; his expanding churchmanship, 227-32, ii. 286 ; his societies free from State or episcopal control, or uniform dogma, i. 227, ii. 86 ; administered the sacraments in ' unconse- crated ' buildings, i. 228 ; en couraged lay preaching, and ministry of women, 228 ; held the priesthood of believers and renounced apostolic succession,
228, 282 ; adopts and enjoins open-air preaching, 228, 282 ; on a State or national church,
229, ii. 86 ; and apostolic suc cession, i. 229, ii. 159 ; his attach ment to Church of England and separation of M. therefrom, 229, 232, 383, ii. 159 ; acts incon sistently with attachment to, i. 230 ; his ordinations, 230-2, 372, 383, ii. 84-6 ; regarded as a
668
INDEX
schismatic, i. 230, 232 ; American M. appeal to, 230, ii. 83, 158, 288 ; would not entangle American M. with the State or English hier archy, i. 231, ii., 83, 86, 159 ; or dains elders and a superintendent for America, i. 231, ii. 84, 159; claims to be an episcopos, 231, ii. 158 ; his Deed of Declaration, 232, 371, 381, 382; death of,
232 ; centenary of his death, and bi-centenary of his birth observed,
233 ; his work supplemented by that of his brother Charles, 237, 242 ; and the ' fair escape ' of Charles, 238 ; visits Charles at Bray's, 239 ; is joined by Charles, 240 ; the brothers compared, 242 ; his translations and editorship of hymns, 251 ; publishes first M. hymn-book, 251 ; and the Calvin- istic controversy, 267 ; preaches Whitefield's funeral sermon, 275 ; his gifts as organizer, 279, ii. 491 ; his generalship, i. 279 ; his in debtedness to Moravianism, 281 ; principles of his arrangements, 281-2 ; his use of open-air preaching, 282 ; a member of a Religious Society, 284 ; dis likes 'Stillness,' 284; secedes from Fetter Lane and forms THE FOUNDERY SOCIETY, 284 ; and the rise of the United Society, 285 ; and the Bands, 285 ; originates the* membership ticket, 286 ; describes the origin and uses of the class-meeting, 287 ; on the lack of fellowship in the Church of England, 289 ; adopts Watch- night and Covenant services, 288, 289 ; meets Ho well Harris, 291 ; and lay preaching, 292 ; and Christian David, 293 ; first evan gelistic tour of, 294 ; his centres,
294 ; and first class-meeting in Leeds, 294 ; welcomes the itiner ancy, 294, 297 ; states qualifica tions and Rules for a Helper,
295 ; insists upon studiousness, 297 ; his opinion of his early preachers, 297 ; makes a circuit Plan and adopts Quarterly Meet ings, 299 ; his assistants, 299 ; virtually superintends all earlycir- cuits, 300 ; forbad first preachers to receive monetary gifts, 303 ; separates M. from Moravianism and Calvinism, 305 ; defines M.
preaching, 306 ; his control of the early preachers, 307 ; aged, begging for the poor, 310 ; and the life stories of his helpers, 311; and John Nelson, 313-14; with Hopper introduces M. to Scot land, 317 ; and Brackenbury, 317; and M. clergy, 317, 318; and Fletcher, 318, 319; desires Fletcher to succeed him, 320 ; and Coke, 320, ii. 292 ; appeals to clergy for help, i. 320 ; declines to withdraw preachers from evan gelical parishes, 321 ; sanctions preaching by women, 322 ; and Beau Nash, 323 ; and Bishop Butler's opposition, 323 ; his mis interpretation of his academic right to teach in any parish, 323 ; reluctance in using Toleration Act, 324 ; distinguishes between M. and Dissenters, 324 ; rumoured to be a Jesuit, and as favouring Pretender, 324 ; his view of church fundamentals, 324 ; and punishment for Assurance, 325 ; mobbed at Colne, 326 ; and Doddridge, 326 ; his tact, 327 ; misrepresentation of, 329, 330 ; attitude of, towards critics and opponents, 330 ; and M. services in church hours, 342 ; abridges Brooke's novel Fool of Quality, 350 and n. ; preaching at Gwen- nap Pit, 352 ; number of news papers at death of, 355 ; the trend of English life and thought at the death of, 357 ; political situation from rise of M. until his death, 357 ; condition of Dissent at death of, 362, and Church of England, 364 ; and the rise of Sunday schools, 366 ; condition and influence of M. at death of 368-75, and see Con tents, 334 ; anticipated move ment against slavery, 370 ; Birrell on place and influence of, 371 ; his letter to the Legal Hundred, 372, 382 ; his inner cabinet of preachers, 373 ; and wealthy M., 375, ii. 506; and Voltaire compared and con trasted, 376-8 ; regarded most of his preachers as laymen, 382 ; and Mather as successor, 389 ; and Bradford, 390 ; and Bram- well, 411 ; Southey's Life of, 419 ; and Crabbe's Borough, 420 ;
INDEX
669
and soldiers and sailors, 451, 452 ; was the subject of conflict between authority and Spirit, 486, ii. 125; crisis at death of, i. 488, and Joseph Bradford, 490 ; his first expulsion of members, 492 ; Kilham's industry resembled that of, 497 ; his recognitions of Thorn, 498 ; and Hall (Notts.), 499 ; blesses the boy O'Bryan, 504 ; O'Bryan claimed absolute rule like, 512 ; and organs, 515 ; Revivalism after death of, 555 ; and Ireland, ii. 3, 6, 16, 17, 456 ; and Cork jury, 9 ; and Walsh, 27; Irish meeting-houses open to, 35 ; and work in the Channel Islands and France, 41 ; and American M., 54 ; at Ballingran, 57 ; at Limerick, 57 ; gifts of for New York church, 60 ; Taylor (New York) writes to, 62 ; and preachers for America, 62, 63, 64 ; Robert Williams and, 63 ; and Boardman and Pilmoor, 65 ; appoints Shadford and Rankin to America, 71 ; his letter to Shad- ford, 71 ; and Asbury, 68, 71, 76, 77, 78, 83 ; authority of, in America, 73, 157, 158 ; works of, in America, 73 ; Rankin's letters to, 75 ; recalls Asbury, 75 ; settles Asbury's status, 78 ; his Calm Address to American Colonies, 81, 156 ; and Alexan drian episcopacy, 83, 86 ; Coke's certificate of ordination by, 84 ; his letter to Coke, 85 ; prepares a liturgy for America, 85, 160 ; and the use of a litany and ex tempore prayer, 85, 86 ; on weekly observance of the Lord's Supper, 86 ; objects to ordina tion of his preachers by English bishops, 86 ; nature of Coke and Asbury's episcopacy, 86, 161 ; vindicates Coke's official acts, 94, 161 ; Devereaux Jarratt and, 106 ; his doctrinal formula for American M., 116 ; his absolutist /, 116, 124, 125; Free M. lurch, U.S.A., enforces his rules, 134 ; his views of heathen, 145 ; and Robert Spence, 146 ; baptized Nathaniel Gilbert and slaves, 178, 286; is refused ordination for Hoskin, 207 ; and Canada, 209 ; and Garrettson, 209 ; and John Baxter, 287 ;
polity, Churcl
features of his M., 420 ; not emotional, 427 ; Our Doctrines and, 427 ; his polemic, 433 ; restored the primacy of the love of God, 429, 433
Wesley, John, Sayings by :
' An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge,' i. 220 ; ' Bishops and presbyters are of the same order,' 230 ; ' Church or no church, we must attend to the work of saving souls,' 230, 486 ; ' Contract a taste for reading or return to your trade,' 297 ; ' He that plays when he is a boy will play when he is a man,' 220 ; ' I firmly believe that I am a scriptural episcopos as much as any man in England,' 231, ii. 158 ; 'I look upon all the world as my parish,' i. 283 (but see 323), ii. 286 ; ' It is certain that opinion is not religion, not even right opinion,' i. 572 ; ' John Marsden was a Methodist if ever there was one,' i. 396 ; ' OHT people die well,' 330, ii. 231 ; ' Slavery, that execrable sum of all villainies, 'i. 225, 370, ii. 175 ; ' Soul-damning clergy lay me imder more difficulties than soul- saving lay men,' i. 321; 'Sour godli ness is the devil's religion,' 205 ; ' Scream no more, at the peril of your soul,' 306 ; ' Sing no an thems,' 515 ; ' The best of all is, God is with us,' i. 378, 433 ; ' The friend of all, the enemy of none,' ii. 342, 425 ; ' The uninterrupted succession I know to be a fable which no man ever did or can prove,' i. 232 ; " To spread Scriptural Holiness throughout the land,' ii. 420 ; ' What marvel that the devil does not love field preaching ? ' i. 283
, , Works and publications
by, referred to :
Advice to a Soldier, i. 315 ; A Letter to a Friend, 307 ; Ar- minian Magazine, 300, 312, 321, 355, ii. 148 ; Calm Address to American Colonies, 81 ; Catholic Spirit (sermon xxxix.), 443 ; Christian Library, 50 vols., i. 186, 187, 221, 326 ; Christian Pattern, (a Kempis's), (De Imitatione Christi), i. 182, ii. 148 ; Christian Perfection (Law's), i. 183 ; Collec-
670
INDEX
tion of Forms of Prayer (1733), 185 ; Collection of Psalms and Hymns (1737), 194; Earnest Appeal, 13, 25, 165, 202, 210, 228, 293, 330, ii. 427 ; Ecclesiastical History, i. 163 ; English Dic tionary, 221 ; Free Grace, Sermon on, 213, 267, 305 ; Homilies of Macarius (pub.), 186 ; Instruc tions for Children, 302 ; Journals, 45; (1765) 165; 210, 215, 217, 223, 224, 354, 367, 451, ii. 429 ; Life of God in the Soul of Man (Scougal's), (edited), i. 170 ; Life of Madame Guy on, 188 ; Minutes of Conference (1744), 308; Nathan and Abiram (sermon cxv.), ii. 125 ; Notes on the New Testa ment, i. 221 ; Practice of the Pres ence of God (Brother Lawrence), 187 ; Preservative against Un settled Notions in Religion, 153 ; Rules for the United Societies, 227 ; Select Hymns, 251; Serious Call to a Holy Life (Law), 182, 183; Sermons, 221 n., 306, 501; in Mexican Spanish, ii. 409; Spirit of Prayer (Law's), 188 ; Spiritual Guide (Molinos), 187 ; Spiritual Letters (Juan d'Avila), 187; Thoughts on Slavery, i. 215, 225, ii. 127 ; Thoughts on the Present Scarcity of Provisions, i. 224, Twelve Rules of a Helper, 45, 295 ; Unhappy Contest between us and our American Brethren, 224; Use of Money, 225; Works,
221 ; Unpublished Works :
Georgian Diary, i. 194 ; Journal, 193, 209; Pocket Diary, 194; Latin Sermon, 214
Wesley, John, hymns trans, by : in Amer. Meth. hymn-books, ii. 143, 144; 'Come, Saviour, Jesus from above,' i. 187 ; 'I thirst, Thou wounded Lamb of God,' 49 ; ' Lo, God is here ! Let us adore,' 208 ; ' My soul before Thee prostrate lies,' 197 ; ' Now I have found the ground wherein,' 252 ; ' O God, my God, my all Thou art,' 194 ; ' Thou hidden love of God,' 58
• , John and Charles, and
authority, i. 14 ; early teaching on Assurance, 21 ; on Holiness, 58 ; were ' apostles,' 70 ; and Georgia, 133 ; instructed by Bohler, 155 ; affected by their father's views,
168 ; wholesome habits com mended to, 169 ; attracted by a solitary life, 186 ; service of Ogle- thorpe to, 190 ; Luther's service to, 201 ; administered sacraments in ' unconsecrated ' buildings, 228; their affection, 239 ; their gifts and work complementary, 237, 242 ; London pulpits closed to, 261 ; Whitefield's friendship with, 266 ; become pastors of the first M. society, 284, 287 ; begin itiner ancy, 294 ; at first Conference, 307 ; Grimshaw opens his pulpit to, 317 ; service of, to religious freedom, 323 ; pulpits reopened to them, 323 ; effect of their work on Church of England, 364 ; poems of, 479 ; their youthfulness complained of, 498
Wesley, Kezia (sister of J. and C.), lives in Gambold's house, i. 155
, Martha (sister of J. and C.),
i. 169
, Mehetabel (Hetty, sister of
J. andC.), i. 242
, Samuel (father of J. and C.),
i. 37 ; consulted by Oxford M. , 143, 164 ; Nonconformist ancestry of, 165 ; a minor poet, 167, 242^; marries Susanna Annesley, 165; account of, 166-8 ; his hymn, 167 ; missionary zeal of, 167, 189, ii. 53 ; and Assurance, i. 168 ; John declines to succeed, 188 ; and Oglethorpe, 190 ; 259, ii. 54
, (brother of J. and C.),
his mother and, i. 169 ; usher at Westminster school, 173 ; at Christ Church, Oxford, 174 ; and John Wesley's Mysticism, 186 ; consulted by John, 190 ; his poetic gift, 242
(son of Rev. C.), i. 241
, Susanna (mother of J. and C.),
and her ' Conventicle,' i. 14 ; and asceticism, 63 ; her sons, 164 ; marriage with S. Wesley, 165 ; her Nonconformist ancestry, 165, 166 ; account of, 168-72 ; her Conference with her Daughter, 170 ; her Manual, 171 ; influence on M., 172 ; Isaac Taylor on, 172 ; and Predestination, 181 ; devotes her sons as missionaries, 190, ii. 54 ; and lay preaching, 228 ; and Max- field's preaching, 292, 293 ; refers to her father, ii. 432
Vale, ii. 245
INDEX
671
Wesley Villa (Africa), ii. 273
Wesleyan Immigrants Home, Mel bourne, ii. 255
Wesleyan Journal (M.E.C.), ii. 148, 172
Wesleyan Methodist Association, rise and work of, i. 427-9, 516- 21 ; its rise affected by Reform Act, 487 ; legislation of 1835 and, 429, 519 ; Warren's pro test and, 517 ; Institutional and Constitutional questions and the rise of, 517 ; Grand Central Association and, 518 ; Watch man's Lantern and, Liverpool and, Rowland and, 518 ; Roch dale petition and, 518; first assembly of, 519 ; doctrines, ordinances, and polity of, 519 ; Eckett's services in, 519, 520, 536 ; Protestant, Arminian, and Independent Methodists join,
520 ; ii. 448 ; Jamaican churches join, 521 ; Centenary Thank-offer ing Fund, 521 ; Foundation Deed, j
521 ; unites with Wesleyan Re formers, 521, 527, 536, ii. 448- 50 ; its ministers and total abstinence, 529 ; affected by Re form agitation, 534 ; statistics at union, i. 537 ; U.M.F.C. adopts Deed of, 537 ; ministerial term in, 538 ; in Melbourne, ii. 256, 350
W^ESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH and Wesleyan Methodists (for early events, etc., see Methodism), seem ing indifference of, to national issues, i. 64 ; separated by Oxford Movement from the Established Church, 65 ; women workers in, 72 ; later hymn-books of, 254 ;
, Middle Period of, 1791-1849,
see Contents, 380 ; Conference assumes Wesley's place in, 382 ; demand for church life and sacraments in, 383, 385, 388, 486, ii. 455; Halifax circular in, i. 383; Church and Dis senting parties in, 384, 488 ; Plan of Pacification for, 386 ; ii. 455 ; separates from Church of England, 386 ; Kilham agitates and is expelled from, 386, 387, 490-4 ; Thorn resigns from, 386, 498 ; New Connexion formed from, 386, 495 ; ii. 292 ; later relation to Church of England of, i. 387, 388 ; approximates to Dis sent, 388 ; preachers and leaders
of, 388-92 ; characteristics of, 392, 393, 421 ; lay leaders then, 394, 395 ; eminent women, 396 ; its foreign missions (see also below), 397, 399 ; ii. 293; i. 413, 446-9 ; affiliated Conferences of, 446, ii. 210, see also under names of countries ; and the Bible Society, and abolition of slavery, 399 ; ii. 290, 297, 302, 303 ; and social reform, i. 399, 400 ; Home missions of, 400, 401 (see also below) ; in Wales, 400 ; Mixed Committees for, 401, 402, ii. 294 ; its Committee of Privileges, i. 402, 403 ; baptism by ministers of, legally recognized, 403 ; constitu tional development of, 401-6 ; 433, 441-5; ii. 294, 502; its District Meetings, financial, i. 403, 404 ; annual, minor, and special, 404 ; elections to the Legal Hun dred, 405 ; its preachers a ministerial order, 405 ; modes of ordination in, 405 ; a church, 406 ; Bunting's place in, 406, 440 ; Newton's place in, 410, 440 ; soul- winners in, 410 ; eminent lay preachers in, 412 ; women preachers among, 413 ; female preaching disapproved by, 413 ; Revivalism in, 413 ; doctrinal purity in, 415 ; and Sunday schools, 415, 416, 474, 516 ; sanc tions denominational training col leges and day schools and accepts government grants, 417, 470 ; first decrease in, 417 ; how dealt with, 418 ; attacks upon, 418, 422 ; Book-Room of, 420 ; litera ture of, 421, 422; and a 'Church Separation Society,' 423; J. R. Stephens withdraws from, 423 ; and Camp-meetings, 424, 562, 564, 566, 569 ; and the expulsion of the first leaders of P.M.C., 424, 568, 570 ; and the work and expulsion of O'Bryan, 425, 504-6 ; and the Leeds organ case, 425, 426, 514, 15; and the Church Methodists, 426; and the ArminianMethodists, 427, 520 ; prohibits female preach ing, 427 ; only doctrinal secession from, 427 ; its Theological Insti tution, 427, 475; and Warren's agitation, 427-9, 516-9 ; import ance of Lyndhurst's decision to, 428 ; legislation of 1835, 429, 519 ; Watchman and, 429 ; Centenary
672
INDEX
of, 429, 528 ; ii. 22, 302 ; and the Fly Sheets agitation, i. 430, 438, 528, 529-34 ; expulsion of Everett, Dunn, and Griffith from, 431, 438, 531 ; decreases in membership of, 431, 438, 533 ; ii. 307 ; prevalence of experimental religion in, i. 432 ; development and progress of, in
Middle Period, 43 3; , last fifty
years of (1849-1908), see Contents, 436 ; effect of Reform agitation, 437, 439, 538 ;' ii. 307, 315, 502 ; revision of Quarterly Meeting of, i. 439 ; Connexionalism main tained in, 439 ; Relief and Ex tension Fund of, 440 ; increased power of laity in, 441, 442 ; mixed session of Conference in, 442 ; ii. 502 ; Thanksgiving Fund of, i. 442, 448 ; Conference sessions of, changed, 443 ; advantages of these changes in, 443 ; the three years' itinerancy in, 443 ; ii. 496 ; a single Conference for, i. 443, 445, ii. 499; extended itinerancy in special cases, i. 444 ; ii. 496 ; present peaceful dis cussion in, i. 445 ; home mis sions and departments, 449-69 ; District missionaries of, 449 ; and the connexional and circuit system of 450, 479, ii. 495, 498 ; in watering-places, 450 ; difficul ties of to-day, 451, ii. 486; work among soldiers and sailors, 451- 3 ; and needy children, 453 ; its training of workers 455 ; its order of deaconesses, 455 ; its system of town missions and central halls, 456, ii. 496 ; adap tation of, to modern needs, i. 457, 461 ; its Forward Movement, 460 ; its care for the villages, 461, 463 ; amalgamation of rural circuits of, 462 ; and training of local preachers, 463, 464, ii. 500 ; and the promotion of temperance, i. 465 ; various social work, 466, ii. 496 ; chapel funds of, i. 466-9 ; number of chapels annually erected, 468 ; Acts of Parliament secured by, 468 ; in London, 468 ; in Scotland and Wales, 469 ; its declarations on primary educa tion, 471 ; and training colleges, 471 ; and secondary schools, 472 ; and the Leys School, 473 ; and Bible revision, 474 ; its Sunday schools and Wesley
Guild, 474 ; and decline of Sunday- school attendance, 475 ; and training of ministers, 476, ii. 499 ; a great national church, i. 476 ; avoids party politics, 477 ; Twentieth Century Fund of, 477 ; preaching, theology, and worship amongst, 478, ii. 487-93 ; Rigg's and Osborn's work in, i. 479 ; defects of, 479, 480 ; its fidelity to its mission, 480 ; its alternative destiny, 480 ; and reforms after Wesley's death, 488; Kilham's work in, 490 ; his pro posals since adopted in, 492 ; Thorn's work in, 498 ; Allin and the polity of, 519 ; Bunting on ' a Kilhamite practice ' in, 528 ; ' closed doors ' of Conference of, 528 ; and intemperance, 529 ; and Communion wine, 529 ; and teeto- talism, 529 ; Cornish secession from, 529 ; abstaining ministers of, 529 ; pain and losses of, in the Reform agitation, 533, 534 ; and Reform delegates and petitions to, 534, 535, 536 ; and the Mediationists, 535 ; Eckett ap-
Ereciates difficulties of, 536; iter views in, of Reform move ment, 538 ; unites with others in The Methodist Hymn-Book, 542; and the Uniting Conference , 55 1 , ii. 482 ; and Band-Room Methodists, i. 556 ; and Revivalism, 556, 557 ; assistance of Irish M. by, ii. 19, 20, 22, 23 ; recognizes M.E.C.S., 195 ; Italian mission of, 45-7, 403 ; and reunion of British M., i. 477 ; ii. 473, 475, 480 ; annual fra ternal greetings to, by U.M.F.C., 477 ; invites M.N.C. to consider union, 481 ; and negotiations of other churches for union, 481 ;
insists on Baptism, 494 ;
missionary enterprise of (see Con tents, ii. 284) : committee ap pointed for, i. 397 ; its indifference to, 397 ; Coke and, 397, ii. 287, 288, 292 ; first public meeting for, i. 397, ii. 287 ; a society formed, i. 398, ii. 293 ; Watson's and Bunting's secretariats, i. 398, ii. 301 ; Hick and Saville popu larize, i. 431 ; Women's Auxiliary for, 318, 319, 325, 332, 447; criticism of, 448, ii. 340; financial decline and advance, i. 448, 449 ; ii. 341 ; and the Hibernian
INDEX
673
Auxiliary, 37 ; and Canada, 173, 225, first work of in Antigua, 286, 289, 302 ; Baxter and, 287 ; Pro testant Reformers and, 287 ; Dis sent and, 287 ; Plan for Missions and, 288 ; recognized by Confer ence, 292, 294 ; committee ap pointed, 293 ; begins in East, 293, 294 ; income of, 294 ; reports and [ statistics of, 290, 294, 302, 342 ; | income of, 302, 315, 340, 341 ;!
, in West Indies, 289, 290 ;
persecution in, 291, 296, 297, 302; depression in, 361, 334,
337 ; , in Africa, 292, 298, 304,
313, 337-40 ; , in East, 293,
294; in Ceylon, 294, 302, 305, 317-20 ; in India, 302, 303-6, 320, 328, 320-3 ; Mysore assigned to, 324 ; educational policy and risks in India, 303, 307, 308, 319, 327 ;
, in Tonga, 299, 309 ; in Fiji
and Friendly Islands, 300, 301, 309 ; transferred to M.C.A., 310 ; in Ashanti (see above, Africa), 313, 337, 340 ; Middle Period of, 305- 42 ; and the Reform agitation, 307, 315 ; breakfast meeting for, 315, 316 ; in China, 315, 328-34 ; Jubilee Celebrations of, 317 ; after the Jubilee, 317-42; women's Indian work, 318, 325 ; - — , native work: Indian, 319, 323; Chinese, 330, 332 ; African, 339 ; industrial work and training, 319,
320, 323 ; Colombo mission press and, 320 ; other printing agencies,
321, 322 ; varied activities of, 320,
322, 327 ; medical missions of, 319, 320, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332 ; among soldiers, 320, 322, 324, 327 ; and the Indian famine, 323 ; and China famine, 329 ; and Theosophy, 325 ; riots and deaths in China, 329, 330 ; lay missions and, 330; Twentieth Century Fund and, 341 ; recent enthusiasm and, 341 ; summary of a century's work, 342 (see also Methodism, tendencies of British)
WESLEYAN METHODIST CONNEXION OF AMERICA, organized, ii. 127 ; and M.E.C. doctrine, 131 ; and secret societies, 134, 150 ; early leaders in, 175; 179 ; missions of, 414; 515
Wesleyan Methodist Local
Preachers' Mutual Aid Associa tion, i. 465
VOL. II
Wesleyan Methodist Magazine (see also Arminian), valued, 1. 393 ; names of, 421
Wesleyan Reform and Reformers (see Contents, i. 484 ; see also Wes leyan Reform Union and United Methodist Free Churches), causes of the rise of, 432, 437, 528; Everett, Dunn, and Griffith and, 531, 532; at Derby, join U.M.F.C.,
533 ; ' No supplies, no surrender, no secession,' and, 533 ; painfulness of the agitation of, 533 ; ' unguarded assertion of Conference prerogative ' and,
534 ; delegates of, meet, 534 ; and Holt chapel Chancery case, 535 ; annual meetings of, 335 ; their demands, 535, 536 ; invite other M. to a union, 536 ; and the M.N. C., 536 ; Wesleyan Methodist Association respond to invitation of, 536 ; adopt a basis of union,
537 ; statistics at union, 537 and n. ; results of agitation by, 439,
538 ; and Caughey, 545 ; Cuth- bertson brothers assist, 546
WESLEYAN REFORM UNION (see also Wesleyan Reformers), formed, i. 539 ; principles, statistics, mis sions, and temperance work of,
539 ; Jubilee of, 539 ; and nego tiations for union, 539 ; present outlook of, 539 ; united with others in The Methodist Hymn- Book, 542 ; missions of, ii. 359
Wesleyan Repository, ii. 125
Takings, Everett's, i. 430,
530
Times, i. 430, 531, 532
Wessex, i. 583, 584
West, Benjamin, i. 356, 358 — , Robert A., ii. 145, 147
Westchester, ii. 104
Westell, Thomas, i. 292
Western Australia (see also Austra lasia), ii. 247, 261 ; and reunion, 264
Western Christian Advocate, ii. 172
West Indies, W.M. missions in, ii. 37, 289, 290 ; and slavery, 296 ; M. statistics of, 291, 290, 296, 297, 334, 336, persecution in, 302 ; depression in, 311, 334-7 ; Bird's work in, 334 ; separates from British Conference, 336 ; united again with, 337 ; Wesleyan Association in, 350
Westley, Bartholomew (great-
43
674
INDEX
grandfather of the Wesleys), a Nonconformist, I. 165 ; at Oxford, 174
Westley, John (the first, grandfather of the Wesleys), a Nonconformist, i. 165, 174; missionary zeal of , 189
Westmeath, ii. 7
Westminster Confession, and Assur ance, I. 23
, gambling in, in eighteenth
century, I. 91 ; Training College at, 472 ; Smetham at, 545 ; ii. 263
Wexford, ii. 28
Whatcoat, R., Journal of, i. 231 ; is ordained, 231, ii. 84, 85, 159 ; 88, 89, 288 ; assists in Asbury's consecration, 91 ; elected as Bishop, 108, 163, 288; Marsden and, 110
Whately, Archbishop, and War- burton's Divine Legation, i. 129
Wheat crop, English, i. 83
Wheatley, James, Wesley disowns, i. 213
Whedon, Daniel D., and slavery, ii. 178
Wheeling, Ohio, ii. 97
Whitby, i. 490
White, Bishop, Coke's correspond ence with, ii. 117
, Edward, British Columbia, ii.
225
, J., organized opposition to
M., i. 325
Rev. J., Rhodesia, ii. 280
, Judge, Asbury and a Con ference at the house of, ii. 58, 76 ; arrested for disloyalty, 87
, M. C., ii. 389
Whiten" eld, George, as an ' apostle,' i. 70 ; and Georgia, 133 ; M. priority of, 163, 259, 260 ; in Heretics and Sectarians, 163; and 'tip-top no bility,' 163, 264: a favourite, 163; Oxford M., the' Holy Club, and, 147, 259 ; entertains Hervey, 152 ; compared with Wesley, 210, 266, 280 ; phenomena under preaching of, 216 ; preaches in the open air, 228, at Bristol, 263, 282 ; Whit- tier quoted on, 255 ; account of, see Contents, 256 ; his uniqueness, 257 ; his birth, 257 ; Gloucester and, 257 ; his elocutionary and dramatic gifts, 258 ; lowly work of, 258 ; his ' roguish tricks,' 259 ; enters Pembroke College, Oxford, 259, 266 ; reads Scougal's Life of God, 259 ; is ordained, 260 ; his
phenomenal success, 260, 261 ; returns to Oxford, 261 ; curate at Dummer, 261 ; 'a spiritual pick pocket,' hostility towards, 261, 264, 271 ; sails for Georgia, 261 ; co-operates with the Wesleys in London, 262 ; his full Christmas Day, 262 ; uses extemporaneous prayer, 262 ; is ordained, 262 ; his year of beginnings, 262 ; is for bidden pulpits, 263 ; withHowell Harris, 264, 269 ; preaches to London crowds, 264 ; violent literary opposition to, 264, 271 ; his Journal, 264, 273 ; sails again for Georgia, 265 ; declares, ' The world's now my parish,' 265, cf. 283 ; his Orphan House, 265, 266, 272, 273 ; his marriage, 265 ; friendship with the Wesleys, 266 ; his oratory, 267, 280 ; tolerance, 267 ; adopts Calvinism, 267, 268, 305 ; his reply to Free Grace, 267, 305; copies of his letter destroyed, 268 ; his friendship with Wesley restored, 268 ; his ready apology, 269 ; his influence in Scotland, 269 ; elected Modera tor of Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Assembly, 269 ; his Tabernacle, 269, 270 ; Countess of Hunting don supports, 269, 270 ; preaches in Long Acre, 271 ; is prohibited from preaching there, 271 ; uses Liturgy, 271, 272; Tottenham Court Road Chapel erected for, 271 ; remains attached to Church of England, 272 ; his work in America, 272, 273 ; becomes a slave -owner, 272, ii. 175; his pre-eminence as a preacher, i. 273, 280 ; his Sermons, 273 ; Franklin and, 273 ; his services described, 274 ; tributes, 274 ; his last service, 275 ; Wesley preaches funeral sermon of, 275 ; separates from M., 305 ; his service to reli gious freedom, 323, 364, 365; 420 ; and Robert Newton, 441 ; in Ireland, ii. 4 ; his work in America, 54 ; Thomas Webb re sembled, 59, 66 ; and Rankin, 71
Whitehaven, i. 593
Whitelamb, John, Wesley and, 1. 149
' White man's Book of Heaven,' Flathead Indians search for, ii. 374
Whitman, Marcus, ii. 376
INDEX
675
Whittier, J. G., describes White- field's services, i. 274 ; ii. 483
Whitworth, Abraham, ii. 72
Whydah, ii. 314
Wife, maintenance of preacher's; See Allowances
Wig, Wesley's, i. 203
Wightman, Bishop William M., ii. 192
Wilberforce, William, i. 67, 161 ; Wesley writes to, 225, 355, 365, 370 ; and Australian convicts, ii. 238 ; and Sierra Leone, 292, 293
Wilbraham, Mass., Wesleyan Acad emy at, ii. 140, 375
Wildman, Mr., visited by Tennyson, i. 432
Wildschot, Jantje, ii. 270
Wiley, Bishop Isaac W., II. 590
Wilkes, John, and Wesley, i. 224
Wilkinson, Samuel, ii. 248, 253
Will, surrender of, in Jesuitism and M. compared, i. 52, 53 ; and Augustinian doctrine, 53 ; and prevenient grace, 53 ; Mrs. Susan na Wesley on its place in religion, 171 ; freedom of the (see also Arminianism), 512 ; M. and the, i 321 ; Arminian M. and the, 520 ; ! Wesley and, ii. 435
William of Orange, i. 78, 100; Declaration of Rights and, 100 ; Toleration Act and, 100 ; Cabinet first formed by, 101 ; Government by party and, 101 ; defeats Louis XIV., 102 ; death of, 102 ; policy of, pursued, 103 ; emergence of Prime Minister under, 104; Non- jurors refuse to acknowledge, 1<21
Williams College, ii. 365
• , Rev. Dr. J. A., ii. 465
, J. E. S., ii. 312
, J. M., his portrait of Wesley,
i. 203, Dr. A. Maclaren and, 203 ; Green's description of it, 204
, John Whittaker, i. 541
, Robert, ii. 36 ; first preacher
for America, 63 ; Asbury and, 64, 66 ; 73, 74, 155, 156
,' Spencer, ii. 262
, Thomas, and Ireland, ii. 6
, William, of Pantycelyn, i. 253 j
Willis, Henry, ii. 97 ; opposes O'Kelly, 103
Wilmington, N.C., ii. 94
, Del. ii., 514
Wilson, Bishop, and his Sunday schools, i. 366
, Richard, i. 356
Wilson, Bishop Alpheus W., II. 196, 228
, John, M.E.C., Book Steward,
ii. 48
Wiltshire, rise of M. in, I. 294, 369 ; P.M. missions in, 582, 583
, John, ii. 254
Winans, William, ii. 169
Winburg, ii. 275
Winchester, P.M. imprisoned at, i. 584
Windsor, N.S.W., ii. 239, 240, 241
Winnenden, ii. 393
Winnipeg, ii. 226, 231
Winston, W. R., ii. 326
Wisconsin, ii. 514
Wiseman, Luke H., ii. 457
, Women's Hospital, ii. 319
Withingtori, Rev. J. S., ii. 477
Witness of the Spirit. See Assurance
Witney, Wesley at, i. 206
Witt, Cornelius de, on Wesley, i. 162
' Wittenberg, Methodism on the foundations of,' ii. 395
Witton, W., ii. 250
Wolseley, Colonel, ii. 226, 337
Wolverhampton, Lord (Sir H. H. Fowler), on Wesley, i. 233 ; 407
Women workers, in M., i. 71, 72 ; in primitive church, 71 ; in medi eval church, 71 ; in Caedmon's abbey, 71; in the Reformation, Geneva, the Anglican Church, and M., 72 ; as missionaries, 72 ; Wesley and, 228 ; encourage lay preaching, 292 ; in early Methodism, 321-3; as preachers, 322 ; suffer brutalities, 328 ; literary, in later eighteenth cen tury, 354 ; eminent M. (circa 1791-1816), 396 ; as preachers in W.M.C., 413 ; disapproved, 413 ; early W.M. Conferences and, 455 ; as deaconesses, 455 ; among B.C.M., 509; O'Bryan defends, 509; favoured by Arminian Methodists, 520; P.M., 685; exempt from persecution, 586 ; ii. 75 ; in America, 508 ; mission work of, see separate churches
Wonsan, ii. 413
Wood, Anthony a, i. 168
, Dr., ii. 225
, Enoch, his bust of Wesley, i.
203
— , James (W.M.), and Warren, I. 390; his Theological Dictionary, 422
— , - (P.M.), i. 567
676
INDEX
Wood, Thomas B., ii. 388
Woodchurch (Kent), i. 544
Woodhouse, Simeon, i. 500
Woodward, Dr., on the Religious Societies, i. 283
Woolner, James, ii. 352
Woolsey, Elijah, ii. 206
Woolston, Thomas, i. 12 ; work and theory of, 125; prosecution of, 126
Wooster, H. C., ii. 203, 205
Wootton, i. 570
Worcester, i. 340 ; early M. in, 369, 584
Wordsworth, W., i. 106; and thought, at death of Wesley, 357 ; and French Revolution, 361
Working classes, economic effect of M. upon, i. 374; W.M.C. and, 479 ; P.M.C. and, 597
Worship, right of, conceded to Non conformists, i. 100 ; freedom of, Wesley claimed, 227 ; M. regula tion of by Supt., 515 ; a condition of M.N.C. membership, 542 ; M. and the Prayer-Book, ii. 493 ; and liturgical services, 494; equip ment for American, 508
Worthington, Governor of Ohio, ii. 98
Wotton, Hervey at, i. 153
Wrangel, Dr., ii. 63
Wrangle, Lines., Mitchell mobbed at, i. 327
Wray, James, ii. 209
Wren, Sir Christopher, I. 115
Wright, Philip J., i. 254; joins M.N.C., 516 — , Richard, ii. 67, 70, 72, 366
Writing, etc., teaching of, forbidden on Sundays, i. 474 ; 516
Wroote, Wesley curate of, i. 141 ; J. Whitelamb vicar of, 149
Wuchang, ii. 317, 328, 331
Wuchow, ii. 331
Wun, ii. 415
Wurtemberg, ii. 48
Wusueh riot, ii. 330
Wyandot Indians, mission to, ii. 171, 364, 369
Wycherley, William, his eighteenth- century dramas, i. 78, 112, 113
Wyclif, John, denies Assurance, i. 22 ; and Wesley compared and contrasted, 50-2 ; his use of the press, 50 ; his ' poor priests,' ' unauthorized preachers,' 51 ; his
remains burned, 177 ; his Bible
(Purvey's), 178 ; 195 Wylde, Thomas, ii. 241 Wynberg, ii. 271 Wynley, i. 574 Wyoming, ii. 104
YANGTSZE, River, ii. 317
Yearby, Joseph, ii. 72
Yeotmal, Orphanage at, ii. 415
Yokohama, ii. 404
York, Wesley at, i. 217 ; beginnings of M. in, 302 ; and maintenance of early preachers, 303 ; prison at, 312 ; John Nelson and M. in, 313 ; Everett at, 531 — t South Africa, ii. 276
Yorkshire, rise of M. in, i. 294, 369 ; mobs and M. in, 327 ; economic influence of M. in, 374 ; emigrants from, start M. in Nova Scotia, ii. 201, 207, 208 ; emi grants from, in Natal, 276
Yorktown, Va., ii. 94
Yoruba Land, ii. 339
Young, Arthur, on travelling in eighteenth century, i. 95
, Benjamin, ii. 105
, Edward, his Night Thoughts
and C. Wesley's hymns, i. 249
1 Dr. George, ii. 225
, Robert, ii. 256, 311
Young Men's Christian Association, and eighteenth-century Religious Societies, i. 132; M. and European, ii. 45 ; London, ii. 254
People's Society of Christian
Endeavour, in the M.N.C., i. 542 ; Irish, ii. 26 ; M. and European, 45 ; M.C.A. and, 260 ; and P.M. missions, 359
Youth's Instructor, i. 421
Yunnan, B.C.M. mission in, ii. 347 ; 348
ZAMBESI, ii. 277, 281, 358 Zinzendorf, Count, i. 53, 156, 192 ZION UNION APOSTOLIC CHURCH, ii.
514 Zion's Herald, advocates lay rights,
ii. 135, 148, 172 Zululand, ii. 276; Joyful News
workers in, 330 Zwingli, Ulrich, i. 10
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