Skip to main content

Full text of "A new history of Methodism"

See other formats 


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. 


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. 


60 


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] 


IN   THE    UNITED    STATES  61 

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 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES  63 

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 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES  65 

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 


66 


METHODISM    BEYOND    THE    SEAS 


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. 


IN   THE    UNITED    STATES  67 

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. 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES  69 

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 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES  71 

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. 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES  73 

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. 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES  75 

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  : 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES  101 

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. 


en               &     > 
55              -     es              * 

?<                     ->                                   D 
0          ^                     *""        IJ                        O 

-'•' 

I 

V-J 

- 

' 

1 

J      <          < 

»                                  W 

o< 

-• 

e 

£ii        CC                       ^ 

a      3             M«               a-     < 

o 
v; 

''           r  -\                       S    "1       ' 

&                     C        <                        r0 

<£    S 

«                            1       S)    ^ 

H    >        o   „    „-    ^ 

**"         u. 

S      l—  ^            »      a,  O 

7-           M     -     S      uJ 

0 

*                     |      ^'S 

J      C           «    o     £      £    ' 

f-> 

u        ^;   ^    o    ^ 

^     ^ 

U      ^            |      ^«- 

5     '-         d    <    5    '  W" 

/^ 

,2          M< 

< 

.»,  .* 

s               !    -  u  ,  . 

»-          .  '                  *~"                   f  ^  v 

C 

•  w    i_i             j?«  .. 

te 

^                 s- 

"*  '              i-^ 

- 

»<i                  «v,  -° 

=i      ^             *     £ 

J 

1 

' 
,* 

p 

b,                    la         M                      *  •$ 

^                    %         s                      ^     'C 

J 

3     , 

,v            | 

'-,        <j                   •«•*.' 

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. 


108 


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 


116 


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). 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES  119 

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 


120 


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. 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES  121 

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. 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES  123 

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 


124 


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 


126 


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 

VOL.  II  1 1 


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, 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES  163 

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, 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES  165 

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 


166 


METHODISM    BEYOND    THE    SEAS 


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 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES  167 

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 


168 


METHODISM    BEYOND    THE    SEAS 


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 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES  169 

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 


170  METHODISM    BEYOND    THE    SEAS 

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 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES  171 

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 


172 


METHODISM    BEYOND    THE    SEAS 


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 


IN   THE    UNITED    STATES  173 

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 


174  METHODISM    BEYOND    THE    SEAS 

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- 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES  175 

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 


176          METHODISM   BEYOND    THE    SEAS 

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. 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES  177 

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 

VOL.  II  12 


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 


r 

^•i| 

1 

J5 
iC 

Wi 

1 

^    S 

<5 

a    1 

J3> 
~ 

"     "o 

rHt 
ill! 

•5 
•8 

I  1 

«"-» 

n 

•Jl 

Mil 

^ 

1  * 

j  !* 

i  P 

*£H 
II  il 

*2o5 

^•S 

^  -" 

*     frJ! 

isi". 

&l 

IB 
•  ji 

2I-«| 

1--1- 

•£  •-  -^  S 

11 

Iw 

i  ii 

jil-8 

*a 

^   °  e 

5^e2s 

*? 

1  si 
<„  =  u 

.-eisl 

^•£is 

^ 

1 

ill 

E           £     >, 

Jllll 

liirl 

1 

Ml 

|i!« 

s§.?^ 

1 

^J 

-HI 

£ 

a  ffc*sJ**rfJ1l*l-ii$        o     =-sv-s^ 

iiljiliiwin    g  *Hit 

a^^'S^^j^i'i.'S^s*!        »-<      « -2  s  = « 


W,S3:  fc»«g  8Q««3«*E!" 

i^lii^isl^pi 


PfllPllll 
'nJllifiJff 


13 

a  ?; 

^   c<§ 

iii 


'Klf!!.!!^ 

^lii^lf* 


Mf 


O 

<  o 

CO 


s    1  a  -"-a  ^"J'2'S  *  1  1 


11 


il 


BRITISH    SOCIETIES  289 

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 


A   PLAN 

Colombo  ano  #egombo  ^tatiotttf. 

f£££2£geg£H>££:p££t£££;gj>££^ 

f. 

Nainri  of  PI  »crl             Hu:ir»         Lan^uajrcff 

N 

ovr 

. 

I 

tec 

" 

1 

! 

- 

819 

Ja 

u 

1 

'eb 

f- 
28 

Prtathtn. 

1    B.  rili:i»ll 
2  K    Nowjirad 

•      VlMIOM 

Un  T»at 
5  J.  Cooiiman 

7       • 
8      t 

i 
a 
;> 

a 

^ 

5 

a 

i 
} 

1 

i 
g 

^ 

0 

• 

>0 

<£ 
£ 

2 

COLOMBO  I0i    Sini(l.:ilf$e 
6        F.n^li.'i 

Do     TuftJay..  \.  •  7       Ponusuote 

FV">r  (.{      English 
U...      /»,rf/if1(/jy..0l      English 

10       r.iK'i-l, 
•Nic  cm  no  II)     SmKl.nl.-M. 

1  1            Sin:;!,  .1,-v,- 

"  '    7       Singhalese 

• 

1 

1 

3 

i 

. 
i 
1 

i 

• 

' 

1 

, 
3 

1 
; 

5 
3 

, 

1 
3 

• 
1 

i 
1 

: 
. 

• 

1 

1 

' 

• 

.. 

i 
1 

. 

• 

' 
8 

1 
3 

J 

• 
• 

. 
; 

6 

I 

' 

4 

3 
3 
3 

i 

4 
: 
4 

5 

i 

8 

9 

4 

i 

I 

: 

I 

c, 
i 

Q 

4 

ci, 

8 

• 

-. 
4 

. 

' 

4 

• 

-. 

4 

G 

4 

6 

• 

6 

N.  fl.  •  When  Not.  1,  2,  3,  an. 

»|.|>oii  ted  at  this  place,  tl  .-  S.-rvKC  will  be  IB  Tamut  llirougli  an  InUip.tUr 

'J'lIK    KIUST    I'OUF.ICX    MISSION"   ClUCL'IT   PLAN',    C'lOVUXV,    1811). 
BENJAMIN  CLOUCiH,   (/.   1833.          1).  J.  GiMiKKLY,  rf.  after  forty  years'          U.   MiWSTlOAD,   d.   18G5. 

service  in  tVylon,   18(12. 
(The  missionaries  named  on  the  Plan.^ 


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 


298 


METHODIST    FOREIGN    MISSIONS 


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. 


BRITISH    SOCIETIES  299 

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- 


BRITISH    SOCIETIES  301 

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- 


302  METHODIST   FOREIGN   MISSIONS 

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 


304  METHODIST    FOREIGN    MISSIONS 

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 


306  METHODIST    FOREIGN    MISSIONS 

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. 


308  METHODIST    FOREIGN    MISSIONS 

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, 


310  METHODIST    FOREIGN    MISSIONS 

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 


BRITISH    SOCIETIES  311 

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 


312  METHODIST    FOREIGN    MISSIONS 

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 


METHODIST    FOREIGN    MISSIONS 


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. 


326  METHODIST    FOREIGN    MISSIONS 

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 


328 


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 


r-\ 


O  c   /&/*          •/ 

,,  -2j<      /-o       £i  t  ^  *  €«L/Z    jil—r-* 

n-    ti^-mioc    c 


e»~f- 


/-» 


r      ^«.«.  *      c/ 

.    V  A  /=t  /-  /V 


-r    kvl' 


*  <_,  r      &c*?^  t~      /7v*  >, 
t£    Of-    ^A 


^vw< 


f  ['< 


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. 


472 


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 


474 


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 


488 


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- 


490 


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 


494 


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 


496 


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 


498 


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. 


500 


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- 


502 


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- 


508 


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 


510 


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 


Printed  by  Hazell,  Watson  &  Viney,  Ld.,  London  and  Aylesbury.