Full text of "The "Fly sheets" vindicated : or, the statements and arguments of the writers in the Fly sheets re-asserted and defended ... / to which are appended, Remarks on the case of the Rev. Daniel Walton, and observations on the Conference Rule of 1835"

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PRI]¥CETO]V, JV. J.

DONATION OF

SAMUEL A«NKW,

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The "Fly sheets" vindicated

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"FLY SHEETS" VINDICATED:

THE STATEMENTS AND ARGUMENTS

OF ^

THE WRITERS IN THE ELY SHEETS

IN ANSWER TO OBSERVATIONS IN "THE WATCHMAN," "PAPERS ON

WESLEYAN JvIATTERS," "REMARKS ON THE FLY SHEETS,"

AND OTHER ANONYMOUS PUBLICATIONS.

By Sonaz: or Them.

TO WHICH ARE APrENDED,

IIEMAEKS ON THE CASE OF THE EEV. DANIEL WALTON,

AND OBSERVATIONS ON THE CONFERENCE RULE OF 1885.

*' Measures, not Men,"

LONDON :
JAMES GILBERT, 49, PATERNOSTER-ROW.

MDCCCXLIX.

PEEFACE.

An attempt having been made, by the writers of the "Fly Sheets,"
at great personal inconvenience and expense, to effect a peaceable reform
in various departments of the Executive of Modern Wesleyan Method-
ism ; and that attempt having failed, through the supineness or timidity
of those vi^ho ought to have been the first to move in such a cause, they
now reluctantly, and as a last resource,, bring the case before the
Wesleyan Community at large. To the people they now make their
appeal. It is in the power of the people to remedy the mischiefs of
which the writers complain, and to restore their beloved Methodism to
its original purity and efficiency. Let them but speak with sufficient
plainness, on the various questions now in agitation, and all will be well.
No grasp, however tenacious ; no effrontery, however bold ; can long
retain and support an abuse upon which the people have once past the
sentence of condemnation.

That the writers of the " Fly Sheets" were anxious to preserve the
peace of the body undisturbed, is obvious from the fact, that, with few
exceptions, the circulation of those papers was confined amongst the
preachers. Had they been desirous to stir up strife, or had their motives
been mercenary, the publication of those documents in the ordinary .
method, would have amply secured both those objects. This, however,
was far from their thoughts, whilst engaged in their unpleasant task.
It was hoped, that, as the evils on which the writers animadverted
originated with, and were perpetuated by, the preachers, the remedy
would also have been found by them, and by them promptly applied ; to
them, therefore, in the first instance, the appeal was nuule. This hope.

however, has proved fallacious. With a few noble exceptions, the
preachers have allowed themselves to be either cajoled or terrified into a
measure intended to throw discredit on the statements contained in the
" Fly Sheets," and consequently to perpetuate the evils exposed. Indeed,
it has been the fashion to denounce the " Fly Sheets " as the repositories
of all that is calumnious and false ; and that, too, in many instances, by
men who have never bestowed the requisite pains to investigate the state-
ments they contain. This, doubtless, has been found the most conveni-
ent mode of settling the questions mooted in those obnoxious papers.
It is much less difficult to make a bold assertion, than to originate a
sound argument ; it is far easier to denounce a book as false, wholesale,
and in the mass, than to demonstrate its falsehood in the detail. Hence
the charitable credulity of a generous and Christian people has been
imposed upon. And even those individuals who are too well acquainted
with the administration of " Methodism as it is," to be altogether
deceived by sweeping assertions, in the absence of logical and docu-
mentary proof, — (not having had an opportunity of judging for them-
selves as to the truth or falsehood of the allegations contained in the
" Fly Sheets,"^ — have been considerably mystified in their attempts to
form an opinion on the subject.

Nor is this the worst feature of the case. There has arisen a spirit of
furious persecution against all who are supposed to sympathize with the
writers, or who are in the least suspected of being " cognizant" of, or
in any way participant in, the aiding or abetting of the composition and
circulation of their statements. Measures have been originated, for
purposes of detection and intimidation, to which history aifords no
parallel, except in the records of the Romish Inquisition, or the English
Star Chamber in the reign of the Stuarts : all law — social, civil, and
Christian — has been most shamelessly violated ; a highly esteemed minister
of the Gospel has been subjected to torture, i/i comparison with which
the rack is but a couch of eider down ; — whilst others, whose guilt is
merely that of being " suspected^''' have been covertly threatened with
the ai)plication of a similar inquisitional process.

It is time, therefore, thcat the " popuLar ignorance," as to the allega-
tions and arguments of the " Fly Sheets," — on which their impugners
have so largely calculated, — should be removed. It is time, also, that
the iron hand of persecution, which has already seized one victim, and
which is even now " stretched out " to '' vex certain others," should
be arrested and broken. This two-fold object, the writers feel, can only
be effected by a publication to the Wesleyan Community at large, of the
substance of the "Fly Sheets;" accompanied by such additional argu-
ments and illustrations as may appear necessary to remove the false glare
thrown over the subject, by a certain " Guardian of the Nighty'" — whose
special vocation seems to be to keep the community in a state of profound
repose, that certain characters may '"'■ walk and loork in darhieas'"
undisturbed.

Should the present publication fail in producing the desired reforma-
tion, it will be followed by other revelations. The writers have not yet
exhausted their arrows, — would that they had, for they delight not in
war, — their quiver is yet " full of them." They have taken their stand,
and are not to be put down either by clamour, or misrepresentation, or
persecution. A clear justification, or a total abandonment, of what they
conceive to be evils of enormous magnitude, is what they seek, — and
with nothing less will they be satisfied.

The writers would observe, that though they adopt as their motto
" Measures, not men ;" they do not wish it to be understood that men
are to pass unnoticed, either in their sentiments, expressions, or proceed-
ings. All that is meant is, that men are not the primary objects of
attack. And this is sufKcient as a vindication against the charge of per-
sonality. There can be no measures without men ; the motives, argu-
ments, and conduct of the men are mixed up with the measures, and they
generally, as to merit or demerit, stand or fall together. Hence it is,
that though measures constitute the theme, their supporters are of
necessity named in the same category. It is in this sense that the
writers, if personal at all, are to be understood as being personal. A
personality with which every man is chargeable who undertakes the

exposure of wrong-doing ; and which is no more than that which the
prophet Nathan exhibited when he said to a guilty king, — " Thou art the
man." All other personality the writers disclaim. If the names of
certain men are found associated with certain measures which are the
subjects of animadversion, the fault is not to be charged on the writers,
but on the men who have placed themselves in such an obnoxious associa-
tion. Viewed abstractedly, indeed, the men are themselves personally
insignificant, and would never have become the objects of personality of
any kind, had not their relative position enabled them., unhappily, to
originate measures by the operation of which, it is conceived, the well-
being of the entire community is placed in jeopardy.

It is but due to the Rev. Daniel Walton, to declare, that the persecu-
tion to which he has been, and is still, subject, is as unrighteous as it is
cruel. The writers, who are familiar with the whole history of the
" Fly Sheets," from first to last, distinctly affirm the truth of his state-
ment, when he declares that he never wrote a single line derogatory to
the character of Mr. T. P. Bunting ; and that he knew nothing of the
design, and could not by possibility know any thing of even the existence
of the " Fly Sheets," previously to printing and circulation. That
knowledge he then had in common with Doctor Bunting, his persecutor,
and his judges ; and with equal fairness may they also be charged with
being " cognizant." This announcement is due to him ; and whilst the
writers regret that circumstances have prevented an earlier avowal of the
fact, they regard it as cause of triumph that hitherto he has been able to
hold head against the storm by which he has been so cruelly assailed.
His firmness, under circumstances so peculiar and trying, has raised him
high in the estimation of all right-minded men ; whilst the pertinacity
with which he is still pursued, cannot fail ultimately to overwhelm his
betrayers and persecutors with well-merited obloquy and disgrace.

Meanwhile we would affectionately exhort him to be of good courage.
He is not the first of his name who has fallen for a time under th(i power
of designing men. " Fear not, Daniel; thy God, whom thou scrvost
continually is able to deliver thee from the mouth of the lions ; yea, and

He will deliver thee.''' To certain other gentlemen connected with the
doings of the M;inchestor Minor District Meeting, we respectfully com-
mend a thoughtful consideration of the terrible catastrophe which befell
the Chaldean conspirators. There may, perhaps, be a closer parallel
between the two cases, than they think of.

In conclusion, the writers have to remark, that should the publication
of the present volume tend to disturb the harmony of the community,
they will take no blame to themselves ; — they have been compelled to the
step, by the reckless and insane conduct of others ; — upon others, there-
fore, let the odium fall. They love peace, and would do and suffer much
to promote it ; but they cannot forget, that the wisdom coming from
above is '"''first pure, then peace able." There are some who cry
" peace, peace," for the purpose of securing impunity in wrong; whilst
others, — amiable and well-meaning, but mistaken men, — are willing to
purchase peace at the expense of principle ; — healing slightly the wound,
— causing it to assume externally the appearance of soundness, — whilst,
at the same time, the disease is eating its way, silently but surely, to the
very heart of the system. In such a cry for peace — whether raised by
the one party or the other — the writers will not join. Peace, like gold,
however valuable, may be bought too dear. Better live in perpetual
strife, as some of the best men the world ever knew have done ; better
become a very Ishmael, — wearing the harness of war all your life ; and
at last die manfully, with the sword in your hand, and your face to the
foe, — than purchase peace at such a sacrifice.

THE "FLY SHEETS" VINDICATED.

The "Watchman" Newspaper, after having repeatedly denounced
the " Fly Sheets," has at length entered the arena against them,
selecting as the points of his assault, the questions of Location, Central-
ization, and Secularization : and has endeavoured to show, in opposition to
the Fly Sheet writers, that these are not evils in Methodism. As these
are only a part of the evils argued against in the Fly Sheets, observations
offered in this pamphlet will not be limited to these particulars, but will
embrace, in substance, the pith and marrow of those publications^ on the
various items which they contain.

1. The Object of the Fly Sheets, as stated by the writers them-
selves, is not the mean, selfish, personal one, attributed to them by The
Watchman. Let them speak for themselves. " As our object is not to
sow discord in the body, we are anxious to preserve them, (the Fly
Sheets,) as far as possible, within the range of the priesthood." " We
have no private, personal ends to accomplish ; — nothing beyond the good
of the body, and the liberty and comfort of the preachers : we are work-
ing not for ourselves but for others. We pay all our own expenses, and
forward our observations free of cost. When Dr. Bunting has any
measure to introduce, as in case of forcing the Theological Institution on
the people, he has the privilege of making the Book-Room and the
preachers pay for the whole." " Measures^ not men, have inspired our
movement. A system, not the originators and supporters of that system,
is the object of our assault. Could we have opened up the system in all
its evils, and kept its authors and abettors out of the reach of our dis-
secting instruments, we would have spared the men, while we laid open,
without pity, their measures. But this was impossible. The men were
implicated in the measures ;— the abettors were the very life and soul of
the system. No weapon could reach it, without piercing them. This
was our misfortune, but their fault. Our blows, though aimed directly
at the system, strike hard on a few individuals. We cannot help, though
we sincerely regret this. They have placed themselves in a false position
—in the forefront ; and when our lusty yeomen let fly clouds of arrows

from their trusty bows, the van are the first wounrled. But this is no
fault of ours."— F. S. No. 1, p. 3 No. 3, p. 5.— No. 4, p. 2.

If the writers are sincere, whatever opinion may be formed of their
judgment, their object is defensible : they are desirous of bringing to an
end what, in their opinion, is a system of misrule, which is acting detri-
mentally, in a high degree, to Wesleyan Methodism. Much dust has
been thrown into the eyes of the public by The Watchman, when
insinuating, and even asserting, that the writers of the Fly Sheets are
opposed to Methodism; though they have again and again shown, that
their opposition is directed against the administration of Methodism.
The distinction is obvious. A Briton is not disloyal because he finds
fault with the Russell or the Feel administration. The Watchman,
in this respect, has not done justice to the writers, who have not
penned a line hostile to Methodism. Let any man, with the Fly Sheets
in his hand, point out a single paragraph, sentence, or sentiment
that will disprove this assertion ; that by any ingenuity or perversion can
be interpreted or twisted into evidence of disloyalty to Methodism. The
writers appear to be as strongly attached to the body as The Watchman
itself. Their crime — if it be a crime — is, that they are not blind to, or
silent respecting, the faults of its executive.

2. The chief anxiety manifested by the assailants of the Fly Sheets
has been to discover the authors. If they have done wrong, let
them be discovered, and let them be punished. But in the mean time,
let the Sheets themselves be refuted. Whatever interest the Wesleyan
public may take in the authorship, they feel that they have much more at
stake in the nature of the statements, and in the force of the reasonings, of
the Fly Sheets. The former is a small question compared with the latter.
Why, then, has there been such anxious, unremitting, and not over scru-
pulous effort on the one point ; and, until lately, no attempt whatever to
satisfy the Wesleyan public that the allegations are false, and that the
administration of Methodism deserves well of the body, on account of its
impartiality and disinterestedness ? The writers ask, " Why this expres-
sive silence ? Is it the calm bearing of conscious rectitude ? or the
dignified indifference with which sovereign majesty pours its contempt on
malignant but imbecile assailants? Or is the clique deserted in its
extremity, and does no man care for it, under the heavy censures, which,
we confess, are found in our pages? Osborne and Co., have shewn
their good will towards the assailed ; and had it been as easy to accom-
plish the refutation of the Fly Sheets, as they were willing to stoop to

the office of servitors of the Inquisition, depend upon it, that instead of
a harmless declaration that has missed the mark, the public would have
been favoured by these chivalrous brethren, with an unanswerable reply
to our reasonings, and a triumphant demolition of our facts. No refuta-
tion has been attempted — for the most weighty of reasons — no refutation
was possible.'" — No. 4, p. 2.

Who, knowing that these Fly Sheets have been in the hands of the
preachers for four years, and remembering that our leading men have
the control of the Book-Room, the Magazine, and The Watchman, will
deny that there is much force in these interrogatories ; and that this
silence argues little generalship or considerable weakness — want of tact
or want of resources ? A spontaneous offer on the part of the Mission-
ary Secretaries, for instance, to have their accounts for repairs and
furniture of their houses examined by a Committee consisting of men
who were not on the standing Committee, and then published, would
have given much more satisfaction to the body, and have done more to
confirm its confidence, than the unwearied and dogged efforts to discover
the men who first mooted the apparently extravagant items of expendi-
ture. The one smells of vengeance : the other would have betokened
conscious rectitude of administration. The one may be perilous to an
individual : the other would have been highly satisfactory to the whole
body. If the author be discovered, and punished, the facts which he
has but narrated, the narration of which has aroused so much wrath,
remain as they were. His punishment is not the vindication of our
executive. He may deserve what he gets, but for all that, they may
deserve much more. Mr. Yevers* is not the only man who has said that
the Fly Sheets should be refuted. Do not all men see this plain point ?
Can there be any difference of opinion here ? The propriety of a refu-
tation is obvious — Why has it been so long delayed ?

At the eleventh hour, The Watchman comes to the rescue — of what ?
Does he offer to disprove, one by one, page by page, the reasonings and
facts of the Fly Sheets ? He has not engaged to do this. If he should
hereafter buckle to, in order to accomplish this, he will have the credit of

* Why has not this geutieman liimself got up a refutaliou ? lIo'.hiiS.'the pen of a ready
wi'iter, and has generally been among tlie first to tln-ow himself into the breach. Does lie
believe it to be the duty of the Missionai7 Secretaries, of Avhom he is reported long siuco lo
have said that they '• ought to refute or to resign ;" and is ho unwilling to do the work of
officials ? His recent correspondence in The Watchman indicates no want of will in tlie mutter.
Why then does liis pen stick in his inkstand ? Can he not refute ? I-s ho afraid to enter the
lists ? He is not wanting in courage. Earely does he flinch.

great courage or of singular temerity ; or ho will come into the field
with this disadvantage — that the enquiry will be made, " Why did not
he appear m it before ? " The long silence of The Watchman is extra-
ordinary. It has not been the result of exemplary patience, as its
occasional growl through the four years has shewn ; it can hardly be be-
cause the publications are contemptible ; for, having at length broken
silence on three points, he is writing on these with more force, and
energy, and spirit, than he has shewn for years ; — thus proving, that, in
his estimation, a feeble attempt will not give security to the assailed.
Time will shew whether The Watchman intends to defend every position,
or whether he will only take under his wing Location, Centralization,
and Secularization, which the writers of the Fly Sheets evidently deem
to have been productive of great evils in Methodism, and which aggra-
vate, as they seem to think, the other evils in our administration against
which they have taken up their pens.

I. LocATTON. Subjoined is the substance of the Fly Sheets on this
branch of Wesleyan administration :

1. It is opposed to the Apostolic plan of spreading Christianity
through the earth.

2. To the spirit and practice of Methodism as introduced and
established by its Founder, whose well-known sentiment, " The world
is my parish," is often quoted by the located, with whose habits, however,
it hardly seems in keeping. Wesley dreaded location. " I beg," says
this apostolic man, " my brethren, for the love of God; for the love of
me, your old and M'ell nigh worn out servant; for the love of ancient
Methodism, which, if itinerancy is interrupted, will speedily come to
nothing ; for the love of mercy, justice, and truth, all of which will be
grievously violated by any allowed inroads on this system ; I beg that
you will exert yourselves to the utmost to preserve our itinerant system
unimpaired. It is a shame for any Methodist preacher to confine him-
self to one place." And shall any, calling themselves his sons in the
gospel, and affecting to be zealous in the maintenance and promotion of
the cause which he had at heart, fritter down his system of itinerancy ?
Shall a privileged few, who, while lauding Mr. Wesley's plans and pro-
cedure, and affecting to be anxious for its conservation, destroy it by
locating themselves in London, and by bartering the spirit of ministers
of Jesus for one of fleshly ease and sloth ? Spirit of consistency ! whither
art thou fled !

.18

3. There is a painful incongruity when these located ministers
hesitate about tal<ing out young men who offer themselves only for the
home work, and manifest also an anxiety to keep their missionary breth-
ren out in the foreign field for life. Located ministers are not the men
best fitted, though they are among the most forward, to urge these acts
of self-denial ; but it is done with an ill grace by any one who, for the best
part of a quarter of a century, has been luxuriating in a metropolitan
home !

4. It prevents a fair distribution of ministerial talent : depriving
various parts of the connexion of the diversity of gifts conferred by G-od
on ministers for the perfecting of the saints. With regard to the Mis-
sionary Secretaries, in particular, What are their congregations? When
their pastoral visits ? What have they to do with the regular duties of a
Wesleyan preacher ? The office of sending others abroad is converted
into a pretext for them to sit down at home. One sermon per Sabbath
includes the ordinary ministerial labour calculated on by the metropolitan
located, and of this they are often relieved by returned Missionaries and
Theological Students.

5. It is unjust to their brethren who have sustained all the inconve-
niences of itinerancy. And what renders the presence of a privileged
few so necessary in London as to be located there for a large portion of
their ministerial life ? What talents have they for the management of
connexional interests, not shared in by hundreds of their brethren ?
And why should not these take a fair proportion of the toils and dangers
of office, if toils and dangers attach to it ?

6. Dissatisfaction with itinerancy is a natural consequence. How
would men like a poor circuit, a circuit in Dorsetshire or in Cumberland,
after the sweets of metropolitan centralization. It is an injury I an
invasion of right ! to mention it after long enjoyment of office has almost
legalized it in their esteem ! Imitate the located, and itinerancy is at
an end ! .Imbibe their spirit, and self indulgence is the order of the
day ! And these are itinerants ! These the admirers and eulogists of
Wesley! These the great pillars of Methodism ! Why, if their ex-
ample prevailed, and had we but funds on which we could depend, inde-
pendently of the people, a race of Methodists preachers would arise,
whose like would not be found in the Wesleys, Whitfields, Nelsons, and
Pawsons, of a golden age, but in lazy, fattening rectors, and obese
dignitaries of an established church. And yet, he Avho is tiie great
exemplar of location, could ask, in two successive Conferences, why

Mr. Everett, who, for a second time, is forced to become supernumerary,
does not again itinerate ; although it is very certain, that, during the
summer months, he preaches more sermons than his interrogator does in
the whole year !

7. Preachers are diverted by it from their original destination.
"Whilst there is no small danger of exercising the insolence of office, and
of exalting the secular office in themselves over the apostolic office in
their itinerant brethren, they are subjected to the almost unavoidable
loss of that compassion for men's souls, which constant pulpit exercises
are so much calculated to inspire. The longer they are kept in these
secular offices, the greater is the danger of their losing the spirit of
their calling. What then must be thought of Methodist preachers,
who, in the prime of their health, strength, and means of blessing society,
have shut themselves up in the metropolis for the last fifteen, twenty, or
thirty years, averaging barely one sermon per week ?

(8.) It makes their ministry insipid : the secularities of their office
destroying their taste for pulpit studies, till they come to a persuasion
that they have no time for pulpit preparations, and the less they are re-
quired to preach, the better they are pleased. Pastoral duties are quite
out of the question.

9. It is the fruitful parent of intrigue : the located employing
the influence which their long residence gives them to secure such men
in the metropolitan circuits as will chime in with, or not oppose, their
measures. Hence, while one preacher, who would be very acceptable
to the societies, is studiously kept out of London, another has been
hawked about from year to year in London, till the people have been
drugged with him. A law made to keep the venerable Henry Moore
out of the city, after a limited period, has been violated to keep another
in, under the pretext of his being so useful as a treasurer to the funds ;
as though it were one of the highest honours of the apostleship to hold
the bag, or no other but this one were fit to hold it! When a man is
not approved, arguments are always at hand, either to get quit of him,
or prevent his station.*

* A conversation between Doctor Bunting, Mr. J. Scott, (too long located in London,) and
another, is thus reported; — This last stated to these two worthies, that, in his judgment, it was
a pity that Mr. Bromley had not been appointed to London, as some populai- men were wanted
there. "With an unjust and cruel remark that was then made, Mr. Scott chimed in, adding,
" Mr. B. must not come to London. We have no coniidence in him ; and no man must come
to London who has not the confidence of the leading men." So then, unless a Methodist
preacher has wriggled himself into favoui- with Bunting, Scott, clique, and Co., he must be

10. Selfishness, or mere seeking their own. One of the argu-
ments for the Missionary Secretaries retaining office from period to
period is, that the longer they are in office, the better arc they acquainted
with Missionary afPairs. Doubtless. Who questions this ? Apply the
principle : the longer a man continues in a circuit, the better he becomes
acquainted with the people in it. Now, adopt it ; and good circuits, as
in the case of good offices, with easy work and good salaries, will not
be often quitted. The argument is an argument for holding office for
life!

1 1 . Location lies at the root of Centralization : furnishing time and
opportunity for men to enter into compact with each other, and to work
for themselves and one another, to the injury of others. — No. I, p.p.
5—10; No. 4, p.p. 7, 8.

These, in substance, are the points argued in the Fly Sheets, and
substantiated by illustrations and facts, as indicating the serious evils to
which Location tends, and which it has actually produced. And will
any one deny that these are its tendencies ? Is there no force in these
suggestions ? Is not Location, if at all necessary, to be closely watched
— watched with a godly jealousy, as a very possible inlet to at least
eleven very serious evils to Methodism ? Is not our connexion inter-
ested in observing the effects which a system, so capable in the hands of
the best of men, of great evils, is producing? Is not this a vital ques-
tion both to people and to preachers ? Are they enemies of Methodism
who sound an alarm now that the system is becoming every year more
and more established and extended ? If the evils incident to Location
had not made their appearance, it would be wise and prudent to keep in
view their possible developement. Or will any one affirm that these
alleged evils are not incident to Location ? Or that these allegations are
not evils?

The Watchman professes to take up the question. He has not noticed
one of these reasons urged in the Fly Sheets against Location ! Why
not ? Has he not seen them ? Does he not know that they are laid down
in the publications which have aroused him to the defence of Location
and Centralization, and to the vindication of them as not leading to
excluded from a London appointment, be his tnlents, his acquirements, his fitness, what they
may ! Ai-e none but their serving men to occupy London circuits '? Is London to bo a rendez-
vous for their myrmidons ? Is this pettit'ogguig conduct to be the guide of the Stationing
Committee'? Wliatever qualifications the Ileod of tlie Church has given a man, ai'o they less
than nothing, if he has the misfortmie (?) not to be a pet of the Mission House ?

Secularization? Why then has he not grappled with these arguments?
His argument shall be examined presently. But the question arises,
Why, as he has undertaken the defence of Location in opposition to the
views urged in the Fly Sheets, did he not grapple with the arguments
contained therein? He has not done so. They remain, each one,
untouched. Whether they are weak or strong, truthful or sophistical,
real or imaginary, he has passed them by, as soldiers have been known
to pass by a castle which, it may be, would have proved too strongly
fortified to yield to their forces.

What does The Watchman urge in defence of Location, notwithstand-
ing the evils which it may bring upon the connexion ? — Nov. 1, 1848. He
defines it, correctly enough, as " the continuous occupancy of office by
the same individuals, which leads to their settled residence in the same
place." He then enquires, " Would a regular and systematic removal
of individuals from office at the end of ... six years be advantageous to
the Institutions of Methodism ? We are not prepared to answer that
question in the affirmative." He then proceeds to notice our several
Institutions; and, on his observations respecting the principal of them,
some remarks shall be made.

In the Book-Room department he " more than doubts " whether
the regular enforcement of the rule for six years service would be for
the advantage of our periodical literature, as " Editorial habits can only
be formed by experience." He '' can conceive cases in which it would
be very unwise" thus to remove "a minister from the Editorship."
Cases too can be conceived in which it would be very unwise not to
remove an Editor, long before his time of service had expired. Some may
think that it vv^ould have been for the advantage of our periodical literature,
if there had been a more frequent change in the editorship ; on the
efficiency and skill of our editorial staff, he must know, that different
men have different views. Besides, if Location here were beneficial to
our literary interests, does it follow that it would be beneficial to our
spiritual interests? And if in a pecuniary, or literary point of view,
the Book-Room be a gainer by it, may not this gain be obtained at the
expense of the Editor, who may degenerate from a minister of Christ
into a literary man ; who, amid the charms and delights of literary pur-
suits, to which his release from almost all ministerial duty gives him full
leisure, may be lured from the paths of an experimental and practical
theology into the attractive walks of secular science ? Besides, there is
another official in the Book-Room, as well as the Editor — the Book

Steward, whose office is exclusively secular, and who is necessarily up
to his eyes in business all the year through, as much so as any London
citizen. The argument derived from experience, which, in this case, is
of force, is rather an argument for putting the business department of
the Book-Room under the management of a layman, and not of a minis-
ter, whose habits, if he will maintain the ministerial spirit, are almost, if
not quite, irreconcilable with the intense attention to business matters
which the superintendence of so vast a secular concern must demand.

" A similar difficulty presents itself in reference to the Missionary
SECRETARYSHIP... .A lengthened practical acquaintance with which
appears to be indispensably necessary to the prosecution of an intelligent
and consistent plan of operation." For this opinion The Watchman
offers no reason, and merely cites the happy result of our intervention
with New Zealand, as a case in point. There would be more shew of
force in The Watchman's view, if our principles, as a ?vlissionary Society,
were not fixed and settled ; or if the line of things were not marked out
for our officials ; and, on the same ground, he should argue for a standing
Committee ; for, no doubt, the same seculars and the same Committee,
working together uninteruptedly, could more effectually work out one
uniform plan of operations. Let a national administration continue
holding the reins, and it is obvious that they have thereby a better oppor-
tunity of carrying out one consistent plan. But will it not suggest itself
to The Watchman, that the argument cuts two ways; that this
perpetuity of office allows opportunities and facilities for carrying on a
plan of operations not exactly consistent with the original design of the
society ; and that if the officials are not chargeable with this conduct, their
mode of carrying out its recognised principles may not be the most intelli-
gent and fitting ? No head carries all wisdom. The most comprehensive
mind is too apt gradually to take a one-sided view of matters : the intro-
duction of an inferior mind into the council may be the means of suggest-
ing modes of ope ration never before thought of, and of forming a happy
innovation upon, or an invaluable addition to, a plan of uniformity to
which an unconscious partiality is too strongly attached. Besides, there
is some space intermediate between extremes : if it were merely a ques-
tion between incessant change and absolute permanency, decision would
be hopelessly difficult. We are not reduced to this necessity. To a
great extent the advantages of the one may be secured, and the evils of
the other effectually prevented : the advantages of experience may be
had, and the dangers of location avoided. Let one Secretary retire

every two years ; let a new man be as often initiated into the difficulties
and duties of the office ; the official succession will secure, in a high de-
gree, means for a continual and uniform plan of operation ; and the
before-named evils, of a personal succession, will be very effectually
guarded against.

" The Theological Tutorship must be subjected to the same style
of remark." And the same style of reply will be applicable, and with
much more force ; for it would be a severe reflection on the body of our
ministers to suggest, that, though hundreds of them have been studying
theology for twenty, thirty, or forty years, they are so little proficient in
it that a minister or two must be abstracted from his work until he forms
habits not at all favourable for resuming it, because of the paucity of
men capable of giving Theological lectures to comparatively raw young
men ! This is incredible ! Many of our ministers could furnish for
three years a sufficiently ample, elaborate, and comprehensive system of
divinity lectures, without recourse being had to a location of more than
three years. This would not only diminish the evils of Location, but
also prevent another, in reference to which many fears are entertained —
a stereotyped theology — bearing too plainly evidence, that the students
are only Hke two presses, throwing off multiplied copies of two editions
of a standard work. If moulds cannot be dispensed with, let an imitation
of nature that delights in variety, and more obviously abhors uniformity
than a vaccuum, be the model. The Theological Tutor is not the only
Tutor. Still less can be said for the permanency of the office of the
Classical and of the Mathematical Tutor. A clear and well put argu-
ment from The Watchman, or from any other source, proving, by good
logic, the necessity or the wisdom of appointing a man called to save
souls from hell, to the work of teaching The Rule of Three, Practice,
or Euclid, or Valpy's Grammar and Delectus, would well deserve to
be published with all the eclat of a " Prize Essay." To the whole of
this argument there is this fourfold answer ; —

1. The Watchman overlooks the fact, that his argument is one for
converting these into life offices.

2. That this is a question of comparative advantages and disadvantages.
It is not denied that the locating system has its advantages. To these
exclusively does The Watchman direct the attention of its readers ; in-
stead of meeting, as it would have been wisdom in him to do, the cata-
logue of evils which Location, in the best ordered community, is likely
to entail on a religious body. He pleads as counsel where he should sum

up as judge. Besides, whoever said, that, under no circumstances what-
ever, should any case of re-election be allowed? The Watchman raises
a wind-mill, and has the pleasure of knocking it down. An emergency,
for instance, may occur, when it becomes desirable to deviate from the
established Rule. But the deviations have become so numerous, so
common, as to make the law a dead letter. Would not Mr.
Wesley have had the officers changed, as he required the stations of the
preachers to be changed ? The principle of change was thought of in every
thing belonging to Methodism. Ministers must leave their circuits at
the end of three years ; and towns, (except in the case of Mr. John Scott,)
at the end of six years. Whatever influence they have acquired, it must
be sacrificed. And what if something be sacrificed at the Mission House,
as well as at the other great seats of Location ? Might not the good
resulting quite compensate for the partial loss ?

3. That, whatever apparent advantages may accrue to the body in the
management of its Institutions, by ministers long-continued in these
offices, the officials themselves are likely — such is poor human nature —
to suffer seriously in their ministeral and most important character.

4. That the question is really not of holding office for six years, but
of holding office six years upon six, and six upon another six ; and thus
nd infinitum.

" Till about nine years ago, the appointment of Missionary Secreta-
ries, as well as of Editor, Book-Steward, &c., was limited to six years.
There appears to have been sound wisdom in this. But it did not suit
the views of some in office, who had made up their minds to a life-ap-
pointment in the metropoUs. At the Birmingham Conference, there-
fore, a proposition was brought forward, substantially, to make these
offices for life.... The arguments adduced were some of the most flimsy
that a deliberative assembly ever listened to. But the spirit of the
Conference was, at that time, at its lowest ebb. A little, and but a little,
was said against it: only two hands were held up in opposition. Were
there only two men in such an assembly capable of perceiving how such
a measure would work? We cannot believe it. But, if there were
dissentients, they remained in silent neutrality. That, in its practical
workings, it makes these offices substantially for life is too plain to be
questioned. Every six years the solemn farce of deliberation takes
place, — ' Whether there exist sufficient reasons for recommending to
Conference another six years of office.' Have they, in any one instance,
failed to find the required reasons ? Never ! Did any man in his senses

ever believe they would fail to find the reasons ? If such a man there be,
he may take to himself the credit of enormous credulity — Our own
impression is, that things will never be on a safe footing until the Secre-
taries, Editors, and all the rest, are chosen by the free votes of their
brethren.* The way in which they are chosen now is disgraceful: fifty,
sixty, or seventy hold up their hands — two hundred remain quiescent ! '
And this is called a unanimous vote ! It may be said, that there is the
utmost liberty given to any one who thinks proper to hold up his hand
against the election. Yes, very true. But who, except in a very ex-
treme case, would like to appear as the opponent of a man for whom he
is bound to cherish friendly sentiments, who is, or has been, or may be,
his colleague in the ministry." — F. S., No. 2, p.p. 19, 20.

The Watchman next enquires, " What has actually been the practice
of the Conference in making its official appointments : and is the modern
re-appointment to office an innovation on early Methodism ? " Now, it
is remarkable that the only rule on the subject dates no higher than 1836,
and so far tends to support the theory of the Fly Sheets, that the system
of Location is a growing system, and is assuming gigantic proportions ;
and, consequently, that the evils arising out of it are in a course of
multiplication and aggravation. Except in the solitary case of Book-
Steward, it formed no portion of " early Methodism. "f Modern Loca-
tion and Wesleyan Itinerancy are the antipodes of each other. Modern
Location abstracting numbers — and this increasingly year by year, from
the ministry — and a solitary instance of a Location under Wesley, are as
far as the poles asunder. Modern Location, that can sum up a score of
little short of thirty years ! Why, did it enter the head of Wesley that
Methodism would ever so far' decline from its " early," its primitive, its
apostolic spirit, as to locate a man amid much that is secularizing for
more than half his ministerial life? " The spirit of early Methodism,"
does this illustrate? What! of that period when, with saddle-bags
stored with furniture for brain and for back, the genuine sons of Wesley
traversed counties as their '' rounds," and rarely occupied even the
same extensive circuit two years in succession, and as seriously thought

* For explanntion of this, see Uie section on "Vote by Ballot," or "the Core and Cure of
Misrule."

+ The Watchman, apparently to answer a purpose, speaks of Doctor Clarke's successive ap-
pointment in London, from 1805 to 1815, as illustrative of the spirit of " early Methodism."
It hardly belongs to the period of earhj IMethodism. It would more properly be placed in the
latter pait of our medioeval age. It belongs to the period, when, in the judgment of the Fly-
Sheet writers, the policy against which their pamphlets are dnected, began to work. Tliis can
hardly be taken as an illustration of the spult of earltf Tilethodism.

of locating themselves in Westminster Hall, or in Buckingham Palace,
for life, as of locating themselves in Manchester, or in London, for the
quarter of a century! This " illustrative of the spirit of early ]\Iethod-
ism ! " Shades of departed worthies, who in your truly itinerant labours
for souls, had no certain dwelhng-place, but were sojourners and pilgrims,
well may ye complain, that, after all your self-denying toils and services,
a professed friend should have dishonoured your hallowed memories, by
holding up the location ye detested, as an illustration of your devoted
and apostolic spirit !

The Watchman draws out a formidable looking catalogue of names of
ministers who have been successively located by appointment of Con-
ference. The list is formidable only in appearance. The list confirms
the truth of the Fly Sheets on this point. Alas, for The Watchman 1
If his list furnishes no " wise saws," it aboundeih in " modern instances !"
With one exception, all of them date subsequently to the death of Wesley !
Admirable period from which to draw illustrations of the primitive spirit
of Methodism, and of the pi'actice of the Conference from the begin-
ning ! " With the view of comparing the present location of officers,
so loudly complained of in certain quarters, with the practice of Confer-
ence at a former period, we have carefully gone over all the published
Minutes of the Conference, from the life-time of Mr. Wesley, and have
been somewhat surprised to fiad^ that the re-appointment of the same
persons to office, beyond the ordinary term specified by rule, does not
furnish the least plausible occasion for the loud complaint that a departure
has taken place from the practice of the connexion in the earlier periods
of its historTj." And the first instance on which The Watchman alights
in support of this statement — the first case he gives of re-appointment
after the term of off.ce is expired — is the case of Mr. Robert Smith,
appointed Governor of Kingswood School in 1820, and continued in
that office till 1843 ! ! He must have been sorely driven into a corner,
when the Governorship of Kingswood School, in 1827, is the nearest
post into which he can throw his forlorn charge for security ! In his
long array of names connected with the Mission House, he has not, on
his own shelving^ a single case in point, up to the year 1834 ! ! ! The
spirit of " early Methodism! " The Watchman brings up as his rear-
guard, the Book-Room. Here he has power. Softly. Sift him ; and
his forces, though strong in appearance, are mere illusions, — such as the
sky in some countries occasionally presents, alarming the ignorant as
prognostications of wars and desolation, when armed men, in true

military array, appear in the illusive clouds. It is true that Mr. Whit-
field was appointed by our venerable Founder to the office of Book-
Steward in 1789— very shortly before his death— and that he continued
in that office till 1 805. Does The Watchman mean to intimate that Mr.
Wesley would have sanctioned his continuance in office for sixteen years ?
Can he believe it ? Will the body believe it ? Location, The Watchman
being witness, dates from after Mr. Weslei/s death. It is no part what'
ever of Methodism, as left to us by John Wesley. It was not his spirit.
It bears none of the marks of his genius. His '' master-hand" is not in
it. It was alien to his habits : it was inconsistent with his zeal for
souls.* It savoured too much of love of ease. John Wesley and
Location ! Methodism in Wesley's days and Location ! It is like
yoking together the noble horse of Arabia and a collier's ass. It is like
associating Howard and inhumanity ; Paul and the farmer-like possessor
of a good fat rectory! "Mr. T. Blanshard succeeded in 1808, and
remained in that situation until. ..1824." In 1827 Mr. Mason succeeded,
and has continued ever since. "Mr. G. Storey was appointed ' cor-
rector of the Press 'in 1793, ...and continued in office till 1804, when
he became manager of the Printing Office until the year 1808.f Mr.

* " The time of Mr. Wesley spent in travelling," says one of his biogi-aphers, " was not lost.
' History, poetiy, and philosophy,' said he, I commonly read on horseback, having other em-
ployment at other times.' He used to throw the reins on his horse's neck ; and in this way he
rode, in the course of his hfe, above a hundred thousand miles." — Southey, Vol. II., p. 539.
Mr. Wesley, in the seventy-second year of his age, referring to his excellent health and spirits,
observes — " The chief mearas are, my constantly rising at four for about tifty yeai-s ; my generally
preaching at five in the morning — one of the most healthy exercises in the world ; my never
travelling less, by sea or land, than four thoiosand Jive hundred miles in a year." — Journals.
Take into connection with this, his preaching two or three times in a day — cliiefly travelling on
horse-back — all weathers — on unmacadamized roads — and ask how it bears on the feather-bed
system of Location. — On completing his eighty-third year, Mr. Wesley remarks again, " I am
never tu-ed, (such is the goodness of God,) either with writing, preaching, or travelling. One
natural cause, undoubtedly, is, my continual exercise and change of air.'' A little change of
air and exercise would do om- locators good. Doctor Coke, speaking of the evil in America,
obsei-ves, " The location of so many scores of our most able and experienced preachers tears
my very heart in pieces."

t " About two years before Mr. Wesley's death, Mr. T. Olivers being deemed unfit to be
continued editor of the Arminian Magazine, Mr. Wesley introduced the subject of a successor

to him into the Conference. Mr. Eradburn named Mr. Moore Mr. Wesley was silent, as he

would never propose to any one to leave the itinerancy wliile in health to continue it. Mr.
Moore promptly repUed, that he hoped to live and die a travelling preacher; and that he
would not accept of any office which would militate against, what he deemed, his higher, holier,
and more imperative duty. If ' with the ancients is wisdom,' then this, uttered in the pre-
sence of Mr. Wesley, ought to settle deep into the spirit of the great Locator of other locators."
— Fly Sheets, No. 1, p. 5.

Benson succeeded to the same post, from which death removed him in
1821, in the seventeenth year of his official labours. Mr. Bunting, at
that time Missionary Secretary, performed the duties of the Editorship
till 1824, when Mr. T. Jackson entered upon the office, who held it
until the year 1842." This is all that The Watchman can shew ! That
in modern Methodism Location was born, and that in modern Methodism
Location has been very prolific ! The very facts which the Fly Sheets
affirm, and for which the Fly Sheets are so severely censured ! The
defendant's witness proves the case for the prosecution ! His own testi-
mony secures the verdict for his opponent !

And mark this ! These cases of Location, especially for any length
of time — for Mr. R. Lomas, who succeeded Mr. Whitfield, only held
the office four years, and Mr. Kershaw, who succeeded Mr. Blanshard
only held it for the same period — belong to the period in which the
writers of the Fly Sheets say, that, under the hand of a distinguished
member of the body, the system of Location, Centralization, and Secu-
larization, has been fearfully and most injuriously developed. And are
they not sustained in their view by the opinion of one of the Presidents
of the Conference, as quoted in the Fly Sheets? *' During this period,
(the last thirty years,) our legislation bears intrinsic evidence of being
the production of one superior mind : other parties may have contributed
original suggestions and emendations ; but it is obvious, that one master
hand has framed the great majority of the acts of the Conference." —
Grindrod's Compendium. Intro, p.p. 15, 16.

And, mark another fact ! Location at first, and Location as now
existing, differ materially ; more than the child differs from the adult.
For instance, Dr. Clarke, or Mr. Benson filling, for fourteen years, the
office of Editor, hardly filled the pulpit any the less! It was not then
considered that one sermon a week was the maximum of a located minis-
ter's preaching duty. It was not thought then, that to renew the
tickets of a class after preaching on the Sabbath forenoon was more than
could be expected from, or would be done by, a located minister! The
located, when the system arose, and in some degree was found necessary,
were still considered Methodist preachers, and the offices were considered
additional, not substitutionary, to that of the ministry. Is this the case
in 1848 ? Notoriously not ! It is common talk, and lias been for years,
in London, how seldom some of our officials preach. Surprise has often
been expressed as to the views they can take of their divine call to the
ministry. Wonder has again and again been expressed, that, being for

years located in the dense population of the metropolis, they have shewn
so little zeal for its perishing masses, by the rare instances in which they
have occupied the metropolitan pulpits, and the readiness with which
they have availed themselves of substitutes. Nor can they be surprised
that these opinions prevail.

In the face of all this, The Watchman can make this exclamation :
" This result of our examination of the official publications of the
connexion is, we candidly acknowledge, in some degree, different from
what we expected. Having never before looked into the Minutes of
Conference with any such reference, the confident assertions of a party
had made upon our minds an impression, that some departure from the
practice of earlier times, had doubtless taken place, which, however
justifiable in itself, afforded at least the semblance of argument to those
who complain of modern innovation. But the illusion which has doubt-
less been produced in other minds as well as our own, by the boldness
and effrontery which have been displayed upon the subject, is at once
dissipated by an appeal to the official records of the body. (! ! !) The
modern practice of continuing the same men in office, we are told, must
be abandoned, and the practice of an earlier and purer age be restored.
But who will undertake to point out that purer age, in the face of the
fact, that the entire history of Methodism, since Mr. Wesley's days,
affords only one instance in which an individual has been removed from
office by the application of Conference Rule ? " — A Rule^ be it observed,
passed in so early a period of our history as the year 1836 /// *

The Watchman's third point on Location may be dismissed with a
sentence : " The re-appointment of the same persons to office is not their
own act, but the act of the Conference." True ; and the remarks upon
Connexional and Nomination Committees, which appear in a subsequent
page, will probably throw light upon this point.

It is well that the Fly Sheets have called the attention of the body to
the locative system. For this they are deserving of praise. It will lead

* " Mr. ^Vatson bad now for six years discliai-ged the duties of Eesideut Secretarj-, and be-
yond tlds period the Rules of the Connexion would not allow him to continue in office. He,
himself, was also desirous of resuming the full lahours of the Christian jili7iistry, which he
regarded as his proper calling.'' — Jackson's Life, p. 453.

" PeiTuit me to say, that in Mr. Watson's last appointment to office, as Mr. James' turn was
expiring, it became a subject of discussion whether it would be proper to seek a re-appointment
for that justly esteemed man ; and I ktiow-^for I was in circumstances to know — that he
resolutely opposed the proposition. There must have been some principle in this, for his re-
gard for Mr. James amounted to more than friendship, — he entertained towards him the most
ardent affection."— Doctor DLxon's letter to the Watchman, of Nov, 8, 1848,

to discussion. Some fixtures will be removed : other fixtures will be
prevented. The question having been mooted, and The Watchman
having shewn so earnest and warm a zeal, but having made so weak a
defence of it, a more vigilant eye will be kept upon it, and it will only
be allowed where some extraordinary train of circumstances vindicate a
departure from a line of things essential to the itinerancy of Methodism.
The subjoined list of the Metropolitan located will probably surprise
many, who have no idea that several of our ministers have spent a great
— and, in some instances, the greater — part of their ministerial life in
London. The facts are taken from Hill's Arrangement ; and the mode
in which the appointments are arranged in that work will strike every
reader, who is entreated to get the work and read for himself.

Mr. T. Jacksox has been located in London from 1821 — a period of 28 years!
Mr. Mason „

Dr. Buntixg „

Mr. Hoole „

Mb. Beecham „

Dr. Alder „ ■

Mr. Cubitt „

Mr. Scott , „

And who of these is not a laudator of Wesley ? Of primitive Method-
ism ? Who, than these, are more earnest censurers of all innovators on
Methodism ?f And is this no innovation ? Was the like to this con-
templated by the great man who, under God, founded Methodism, when,
in 1789, he appointed a B ook- Steward ? And will The Watchman
publish the above list? analyse it? defend it? justify it ? It will be a
tough job for any man to do, on Wesleyan, Itinerant, Primitive princi-

* Tliis does not include Doctor Bunting's first appointment to London, wluch would vdtL
propriety be noted as Location.

+ " On a young preacher being named at Conference, whose miuistiy had been crowned with
success, Doctor Bunting observed, that if we had more men like him, we should have no occa-
sion for Mr. Caughey ; forgetting, that, if himself and others located and seculariiied in Lou-
don, were to go forth as labourers, there would be still less need of such men When com-
plaints were uttered of a want of minsterial success through the year, both in the Coulerenco
and in the Missionaiy Committee, Doctor Beaumont obsen'ed, by way of putting down tlie
frivolous apologies and causes resoiled to, that, what was most wanted in tlie conncvion was, a
spirit of deeper solicitude for souls, and a lai-gor class of labourei-s— men of toil and effort in
the work. Doctor Bunting, who felt where tliis touched, and knew how it might be directed
against himself and other located seculars in the metropolis, said, that there was no substantiid
C

1823

26 years!

1815—1823

and 1833—1848

J»

[ 25 years!*

1829

)}

20 years!

1831

18 years!

1833

16 years!

1833

16 years!

1836

13 years!

pies ! Let some hand try its skill ; and a demonstration here will make
a man Senior Wrangler for the age !

But Location, with its ills, does not stand alone. It is not a upas tree
growing in the desert. It is not a wild and ravenous beast of prey that
only brings forth one birth at a time, and that at long intervals. It is
the more to be dreaded because it is intertwined with, and has given birth
to, Centralization and Secularization ; — two other giant evils, which, as
stated by the Fly Sheets, and as defended by The (valorous) Watchman,
shall now be laid before the reader.

II. Centralization. " This," say the Fly Sheets, "is an advance
upon Location ; inasmuch as the individual only may be located : but
here we refer to a number of persons thrown together for specific objects ;
and the objects themselves advanced as a plea for binding them to the
spot." The instances in which centrahzation appears are thus enume-
rated and stated in the obnoxious " Sheets" : —

1. The Book-Room. This is of ancient date ; and as its necessity
will be admitted by all, so its evils, arising from undue influence, were
few, from the fact of the committee being repeatedly changed, and the
members of it having formerly only two located brethren to contend
with, viz., the Editor and Book-Steward. Still, even here, there is a
tyranny very often exercised by the Book-Steward, owing to too long
continuance in otfice, excessively annoying to the brethren.

2. The Committee of Privileges. We have this in the Metro-
polis, with its officers, meetings, and paraphernalia ; and, in different
periods of its history, we find it graced with the names of Doctor Ben-
nett, &c.

3. The Missions. Here is the great starting point of abuse ; and
the occasion was seized with avidity by Mr. Bunting. He was the first

proof that the piety of the Wesleyans was decliuing— hliuding his hearers, by shifting the point
of Dr. Beaumont's remark respecting ministerial kibourers to the people — and that wo were in
danger of discom-aging one another— obliquely looking at the elfects which the Fly Sheets might
have on the minds of otliers respecting-himself and his colleagues who are not bmahcned with la-
bour. . Different proposals were submitted to the Conference by Mcssis. Fowler, Ve vers, Cusworth,
and Doctor Beaumont, to till up the ranks; and, among other measures, it was recommended
that young men should be taken out of the Institution, rather than that the work should be
impeded, — Doctor Beaumont concluding an impassioned burst of eloquence with—' Loose them,
and let them go, for the Lord hath need of them.' Doctor Bunting sarcastically replied, ' You
may loose the asses, and let them go.' Doctor Beaumont retorted with liis usual quickness and
force,—' There is a higher and a lower analogy, and a chiistian minister ought never to take tho
li>wer, when the higher is within Lis reach.' This pinched, as well it might."— F. S., No. 3, p. 29^

to propose a house and office for the Missionary Secretary : he knew what
he was doing. Mr. Benson argued strongly against the measure, and
cautioned the Conference against what he termed ' Brother Bunting's
colouring.' The latter, however, gained the day, and obtained a settle-
ment by the plan, as, indeed, he has profited by most of his other
schemes."

4. The Meetings of the Connexional Committees held in the
intervals of Conference. We ask, was this the case before Doctor
Bunting rose to power ? Or, would it be the case now, if he was not
located in the city? So, to suit his purposes, the freedom and well-
being of the body must be menaced, by placing the strings by which the
machinery of Methodism is to be regulated, either immediately in his
hand, or constantly within his reach !*

5. The President. The practice of removing the in-coming Pre-
sident to London is ' part and parcel ' of Doctor Bunting's policy ; and
this appears to have been projected from interested motives, — that he
might place himself the more plausibly in the seat of state ; and the
honour applying to others, as well as himself, he was, of course, the less
suspected in strenuously wishing it. Doctor Newton is an exception ;
but the reason to be assigned is, that his good lady prefers the country !

6. The Theological Institution. This, with its officers and stu-
dents, is employed to serve and save the Secretaries and others from the
toils of the ministry. A branch, it is true, has been established at

* " We had intended, by way of strengthening our position, to offer a few remarks on the con-
duct of the united coramittees, which met in London, April, 1847, on the Educational Measure
brought before parliament. When Graham's Factory Bill was before the public, preachers and
laymen, from different pai'ts of the kingdom, were invited to attend ; and no less tlian u'OO
representatives of the people were present on that occasion. On tJie occasion of 1817, to whioli
we now refer, we have Doctor Bunting's narrowing system carried out. Why was every tiling
here done silently ? Why was a promise of secrecy imposed on all the members? Had the
hundreds of thousands of Wesleyans out of doors nothing at stake ? To say that the committee
represents the people, when they thus studiously hide their intentions from them, is a solecism.
Why were not the views and decisions laid before the people ? The course to be taken I'V n
committee representing a large body, is, frequently to give opportunities for the intei-cliariL;f of
sympatliy and opinion with their constituents — to communicate fully and freely with them — and,
at every stage of then* labours, to make the fullest statements of their progress. Especinlly,
should a new featm-e of the case turn up, is there a double necessity for communicating it to
their constituents, and taking their sense on the subject. But here we have two comparatively
small packed committees, chiefly composed af Doctor Bunting's friends and favourites— silting
■with closed doors— under promise of secresy — trifling with the interests of the people' — deciding
on nothing— and linally letting the people into the secret of their non-doings, at the last boar.
when there was no time to give expression to public opinion, cither for or against the measure.
... .Men of Israel, get lid of every Buntingian Committee!" — Fly Sheets, No. 3, p. i7.

Didsbury ; but still tbe parent expects to have homcage rendered to it in
the metropolis ; and the President of both must there also sway the
sceptre ; not forgetting, that the branch has been delightfully located in
the centre of Doctor Bunting's lay supporters."

"7. The assumed authority of the London District.

(1.) In issuing tests to all other District Committees, as in Doctor
Warren's case ; to the principle of which some of the brethren objected,
and for which they were black-balled, though among the brightest orna-
ments and firmest supporters of Methodism. Doctor Beaumont is an
example, who, when proposed as a member of the ' Hundred,' was
objected to by Mr. Grindrod, because he did not sign the ' Decla-
ration,' and so vest the London Committee with the authority of a
Conference !

(2.) In taking upon themselves the office, and assuming the right, to
catechise the members of other Districts, as in the case of the ' Wesleyan
Takings.' We are credibly informed that the three brethren who
refused to reply to the interrogatories of the clique respecting author-
ship, did it, first, to impose a check on the usurped authority of the
London District ; and, secondly, to prevent the establishment of an
Inquisition in the body. For this Doctor Beaumont, Messrs. Burdsall
and Everett, deserve the thanks of their brethren ; — aye, and on a
future day, will be lauded for the act ; having saved the Connexion from
an Inquisition. How humiliating that Mr. Dixon, the President, should
be compelled, at the instigation of Doctor Bunting, to leave the Presi-
dental chair, in the presence of his brethren, and then, like a criminal,
wash his hands of the imputation of authorship ! What a spectacle !

(3.) In sanctioning in their collective form, and in their official
character, schisms in other sections of the Christian community, as in the
case of the Free Church of Scotland, before the sense of Conference
could be obtained. Look at the virtual expulsion of Joseph R. Stephens
in 1834, for withstanding church-rates, and compare it with the opening
of our chapels in 1844 for public meetings in aid of the Scotch Free
Church ; in which public meetings the Scotch Free Church advocates
attacked the Establishment with strength and acrimony of which Ste-
phens was incapable. What a pity that Doctor Bunting did not shield
Joseph as well as the Free Church, instead of drawing up the resolutions
against him ! If the Free Church was patted on the head, certainly the
latter ought to have escaped being thrown overboard."

" 8. The Final Examination of Candidates for the Ministry. When
this was first proposed, Mr. Vevers and others opposed it. And well
they might.

(I.) It goes on the supposition, that the London brethren are the
men, and wisdom will die with them.

(2,) It is a reflection on all the other Districts, and especially the
more respectable, which entertain the Conference, and in which men of
first-rate talents are to be found.

" The last measure, like many other startling measures, was stealthily
brought in at the close of Conference, when many of the brethren had
left, and others were jaded with its heat and toil ; but was afterwards
denuded, of course, of its worst features." — F. S., No. I, p.p. 17, 18.
And the writers might have added, —

9. The Educational Committee, whose movements have been so
tortuous, and whose decisions are about to inflict so heavy an annual
expense upon our burthened connexion. In order that Mr. Scott, the
chairman of this com.mittee, may remain in London, the rule of limita-
tion is violated by this stickler for rule ; and that he may be released
from all pulpit duty, save on the Sabbath, he is favoured with a curate
at the expense of the Contingent Fund.

Now, can any one wonder, that, where there is such a concentration of
office and power as the bare enumeration just given unfolds, there should
be in the body, men who have a holy jealousy of this concentration of
influence being abused ? Or, will it overwhelm with surprise any one
read in history, whether profime or of the Church, that the persons into
whose hands this executive has fallen, have been, in some measure, per-
verted from their simplicity, humility, meekness, and disinterestedness ?
They would be more than human if they had not. Their clean escape
from the uniform and universal influence for evil which, in any condition
of society, vast power in human hands has developed, would have made
their administration an exception to all history — a solitary oasis in a wide
spread desert. Has this wonder of the world occurred ? Is this rare
bird — strange in history as a black swan in the old world — to be found
in the pure, open, above-board, impartial, meek administration of
Wesleyan Centralization ? The Fly Sheets reply in the negative. Their
indictment of this system, and their evidence in support of the indict-
ment, shall be adduced ; the defence of The Watchman shall then be
heard ; and without the formality of a " summing up," the jury— the

Wesleyan Public, brought by this pamphlet into court — shall retire to
consider their verdict.

The Fly Sheets affirm " the baneful influence which Centralization
has on the Conference, constituting in itself, as some of the preachers
observe, a Conference within a Conference ; the latter forming only the
outer circle, into M'hich the brethren are admitted, with little or no
power, and with but a partial knowledge of the wheels that work the
machinery,"

" The old preachers, on the death of Mr. Wesley, before Methodism
had reached maturity, in the change of officers, had comparatively little
power in giving effect to their choice of men and measures. Doctor
Bunting has been driven to more elaborate means in choosing men, and,
therefore, has resorted, by his Nomination Committee, to the form of
close nomination, as in civil affairs in the twelfth 'century ; for, though
his chosen men have to pass the Conference, all is settled beforehand by
the centralized band in London; and then, to give form and legality
to the whole, the several measures are gracefully proposed by them,
either in committee or from the platform ; so that the Conference Plat-
form becomes, practically, a stifler of the spirit of freedom, in whatever
form it periodically exists ; being, with few exceptions, m.ostly composed
of the same individuals, in consequence of the manceuvres and power
of the London clique."

" The Centralization System leads to —

1 . Tyranny. The party domineer and ride over the heads of others.

Methodism with all its excellencies is admirably adapted, when

abused, for selfish, personal, and arbitrary ends. This receives an

illustration in the Grand Centenary Hall in London. In the course of
its erection, there were four or five committees (sitting co-temporary)
yet one committee did not know what another committee was doing —
no, nor any of the members of the several committees, with the excep-
tion of the centralizing Doctor himself,* who contrived to put himself in

* " As a proof of Lis exasperated feelings, he opposed the decision of no less than three

committees, (at the Conference of 184G,) CommiLtees had comprehended one of the aecrels

of his strength, and to oppose the decision of the committee was an insult to the Conference
that had appointed it ! Whence this change '? Did he feel the gTound gliding from under his
feet ? What is singular, in the course of the sittings of Conference, when Mr. Fowler called the
attention of the house to the London Committees acting upon laws of their own enacting before
they received the sanction of the Conference, Doctor Bunting instantly arose, and told them
that the recommendation of such committees, in which there were so many respectable laymen,
should not be slightly passed over or rejected; obser%iug, — " You are the Conference, but not the
Connexion: and you must not ride rough-shod over it." Here the lay-lords, who had bought

the way of all, and thus managed to pull the strings of each to his heart's

content Mr. Wesley says, ' Count Z. loved to keep all things

closely. I love to do all things openly.' Methodism is altered for the
worse in this respect But, apart from the Doctor, one of the ten-
dencies of the Centralization system is, to tempt the brethren in London
to assume an air of superiority over their brethren in the country ; a
superiority to which they are on no account entitled — whether on the
ground of talent, service, or ministerial character ; and which they can-
not be allowed to exercise, but at the risk of the liberties, the purity,
and peace of the Connexion.

2. Pride For parade, look at the Centenary Hall, with its

livery servants, ushering gentlemen into the august presence of the
sovereign, or telling them to M-ait till royalty is disposed to give an
audience. Look at the Wesleyan Soirees^ the cab and carriage driving
in the metropolis, the head inns and first-class carriages in the country :
look at the platforms and their furniture — animate and inanimate. (And
surely the Fly Sheet writers might have added, look at the pompous,
self-important airs assumed by the Liliputs who stand high because they
are supported on the shoulder of one higher than they.)

3. Partiality. Wei here include personal gratification in its various
forms. Having all power in their own hand, it leads to this. In the
case of Salaries. Here we refer again to our table of costs for the sums
which the self-denying Secretaries have appropriated to themselves,
while teaching the Missionaries and others economy.* The Secretaries
do not cost the Fund less than £500. per annum, each ; while Mr.
Jackson from Manchester has ,£250. per annum. (Contrast, him with
nine children, and Doctor Alder with none, and then say whether the
Fly Sheet writers are too severe when they add) — We lie pretty soft
when we have it in our power to feather our own nests. //* tlie selection
of men ; as,

(1.) For London. Even the meek Joseph Entwistle could say, —

him at Birmingham with X2000., were himg as a rod, in terrorem, over the Head of Conference.

We are not yet done with tlie Birmingham boon: it will be felt in succeeding years

How admirably he can blow hot and cold ! — cold on committees, of wliich he is not the liead ;

and hot on those of which himself and liis lay-patrons and benefactors are the principals

The brethren will bear in mind, this new definition of a 'connexion.' The rich men in com-
mittee were the persons referred to ; and they, of com-se, are the connexion ! What would

John Wesley think of this? The connexion is governed by London ; London," by Doctor

Bunting; and Doctor Bunting by the lay-lords ! "—Fly Sheets, No. 3, p.p. 12, 13.

* Sec (Table) Appendix.

' Oh, we must not have Doctor Beaumont in London ; he won't do for
us.' The question was not whether he would do for the people, the
circuit, the work of God ; but for us — the located, centralized clique !
Most of the stations are at the beck and disposal of the party. The ears
of the stewards are open to their whispers. They are in the quarterly
meetings, in the Stationing Committees, in the Conference ; — steady to
their purpose — with their eyes fixed upon their chosen and marked men.

When Mr. Fowler was stationed in London he remained only three

years : there was not another circuit found for him : he did not suit the
brethren who say, ' He won't do for us.'

(2.) For Committees. The Minutes of Conference establish the
fact, that Doctor Bunting's clique are in the habit of not only helping
each other from one London circuit to another, and to the best Q) cir-
cuits in the Connexion, but from one committee to another. Besides
chairmancy, representativeship, superintendency, deputation work, and a
number of minor honours and committees, we find certain men, denomi-
nated Bunting's clique, generally holding the highest official stations in
the Connexion, and placed on the more important and influential com-
mittees ; while men of standing, eminence, piety, usefulness, and intel-
lect are excluded : and for no other reason, than that of not being of
Doctor Bunting's party. Take an example for the years 1839 and 1840,
which is preserved in countenance by other periods."

("An extract only from the tabular view in the Fly Sheets is here
given.)

Names of the Men.

Of the Clique.

UocTOR Bunting,

J. Scott,

E. (jRINDROD,

T. Jackson,

J. Hannah,

J. Keeling,

K. Aldee,

J. Beecham,

Non-elect, or not of the Clique.

J. Stanley, Seur.,

J. HiL ,

Doctor Beaumont,

J. Fowler,

T. Galland,

S. Dunn,

Connexioual
Committees
each is on.

10
11
10

8
7

Years in

London.

18
7
6

19
6
2

Yefti's
each had

Travelled.

29
34
36
20
37
24
25

43
35

27
29
24
21

" On this Table it may be remarked 2. That Messrs. Stanley and

Galland could not, with any shew of decency, be omitted in reference to
the Kingswood and Woodhouse Grove School Committees, in conse-
quence of the one being stationed in Bristol and the other in Leeds.
3. That there is not a man in these packed connexi'onal committees
equal to Mr. Stanley for wisdom and experience, or to Doctor Beau-
mont for splendour and power ; and yet, Mr. Stanley, senior to them
all, is placed only on one Committee, from which he could not, for the

sake of common decency, be excluded ; and Doctor Beaumont has

not a single election. If there is not in this hypocrisy, there is certainly
partiality, — the latter of which has as little to do with the ' wisdom from
above ' as the former. But the general feeling of the brethren has been
manifested in reference to Mr. Stanley ;..... .and Doctor Beaumont's

day will also dawn, powerful as has been the hand, and base the means,
to crush and keep him back.

As to the lay portion of the connexional committees, we wish to know
what claims Mr. T. P. Bunting has to be pushed forward in the way he
has been ? He is Doctor Bunting's son, and that is a sufficient passport
to the highest honours ! .

(3.) For Governors. We have often felt indignant at the argu-
ments resorted to, to accomplish certain objects ; particularly in the case
of the Theological Institutions. To secure the election of Mr. En-
twistle, the argument of age, experience, and standing in the Connexion
was employed After this, being anxious to introduce a pet, the pro-
priety of selecting a man full of health, vigour, and action was urged.
Subsequently to this, another friend was to be served ; but what was to
be done ? The old argument would not answer in this case, as a person
shaken with paralysis was to be served. Never heed ; the Doctor stands
too high for a little inconsistency to shake his credit The first argu-
ment involved in it the dotage of declining years ; the second included
the strength of a stone-mason ; and the third required a crutch to sup-
port it. At the Conference of 1846, on the election of Mr. Stamp, he
gravely observed, that ' he respected age ; but that it did not follow,
because a man was a senior, he was to be put in this office, as it would
not follow, that the oldest officer in the army, or the oldest surgeon in an
hospital, should fill an important vacant post.' At the same time he
opposed the election of Mr. Fish to the office, because he was not equal
to all the duties of a circuit! He had forgotten Mr. Bowers, poor
man !

(4.) For editors, paid agents, and different posts of honour." (Here
the Fly Sheets name several offices, particularize the individuals filling
them, and state various circumstances connected with their appointment ;
which, if true, certainly disqualify some of them for office ; and, in other
cases, throw much doubt on the need of having some of the offices at
all. Several of the alleged cases deserve, for its own honour, the inves-
tigation of Conference. They will ooze out. Indeed, some of them
have got into the ears of the laity, and will probably lead to enquiries
which will only confirm the views of the Fly Sheets, as to the baneful
influence which Centralization has exerted upon the body.)

"4. Centralization leads to a misapplication of the Public Funds :*
Four Missionanj Secretaries costing in thirteen years Twenty Six

* "The Missionaiy Secretaries who had felt the force of our remarks, in No. 1, were not pre-
pared to meet them in the usual way of a formal defence. Dr. Bunting now felt the need of the
lay-aristocracy, which he had long laboured to establish, and into whose hands the connexion is
in danger of falling. Mr. Heakl started up in the ' special Committee of Review,' and pro-
posed a resolution, which, in substance, declared the satisfaction of the meeting, with the pro-
ceedings of the Committee ; thus white-washing both the men and the cellars beneath the
Mission premises. Any allusion to the Fly Sheets would have been Uke a tly in the pot of oint-
ment. Hush ! it was hoped that all was over. This was fittingly preceded by Mr. Beecham and
Dr. Alder, (the latter of whom is an admirable example of economy and self-denial,) ' who read
the Minutes of the General Committee, manifesting, as usual, the utmost attention to every par-
ticular which could increase the income, or diminish the expenditure of the Society.' Watchman,
July 29, 184G. A triumphant answer to all the charges!. . . .We should be glad to learn when
this ' diminished expenditure ' took place. By tm-ning to the Minutes of 1844, p. 127, we iind
£12. 12s. placed to the account of Mr. W. Bunting, for a jaunt to Scotland to present a copy of
Mr, Wesley's Works to the General Assembly of the Free Clmrch of Scotland. Why not present
them by the superintendent preacher on the spot? Or, if it were absolutely necessaiy to pay
for far carried respect, why not send age and experience doA\Ti to the north?. .. .We find a
second £12. 12s. for a jaunt of another with the President; and notwithstanding the £50.
quietly pocketed by Dr. Bunting, on the motion of Mr. Scott, the sum of £80. additional is
placed to his account as President, which alone is sufficient to cover the expenses of other
Presidents. With regard to Dr. Alder, it is off'ered as an apology for his extravagance, that he
is called upon, in his official capacity, to mix with the aristocracy, and that therefore it is proper

to maintain a position of dignity in his movements in society WTiat says the venerable

Wesley ? ' Hold not the faith of our common Lord, the Lord of glory — of which gloiy all who
believe in him partake — with respect to persons. That is, honour none for merely being rich ;
despise none for merely being poor.' And if none are to be honoured merely for being rich,
would the same devout expositor think that any are to be flattered and imitated, merely because
they are prodigal and e.xpensive ? How admirably Dr. A. understands and adheres to his oom-
mentator in his missionaiy excursions, — travelling in first class caiTiages, and tanking at the
first hotels and inns, and living at first-rate charges, because he is the Missionary Secretarj' who
mingles Avith the aristocracy of Methodism ! At the next meeting of the Committee of Eeview,
a vote of thanks should be tendered to the Dr"s. friends who have assigned this most appropriate
and potent argument in justification of the expensive course he has long been pm'suing. Should
it in future be found necessary to address any of our missionary functionaries on the necessity
of curtailing their extravagant expenditui'e, the Eev. Dr. A. should be specially requested to draw

Thousand Pounds ! ! Enormous prices for literary productions, if a

man is a favourite if not, he is sent empty away. On Mr. Watson's

death, £2000., were given for the copy-right of his works, the first edition
of which was published several years ago, and is either yet unsohl, or
the demand has been of such a character as to prevent the publication of

a second. The Book- Steward — a fine literary character informed

Doctor Clarke that <£400. or £500. was the utmost to which he could
go for the copy-right of his Commentary ; a work for which Tegg is
stated to have given £2000. after the market had been supplied with the
first edition, and by which, it is stated on good authority, he realized
£30,000. Either there was a want of judgment, or there was gross
partiality. Needless Paraded £40,000 were extracted from the Cen-

up such an address, as it will come from him with uncommon force, as to use the language o f
Dr. Bunting in reference to Mr. Scott, he knows all the 'ins (inns) and outs ' of the subject.

A circular, signed by the four Missionaiy Secretaries, is fonvarded to the preacher.s on the
several circuits which the lay-agent is appointed to visit. In this document the following para-
graph is found : — ' We are persuaded that you and your colleagues will do what you can to make
his visit as efficient as possible ; and that if there be any friends who can entertain him during
his stay, without cost to the Funds of the Society, they will gladly receive him into tlieir hortses,
and bid him, ' God speed.' — Signed, — Kobert Alder, &c.

We have italiced the words to which we especially invite the attention of Dr. Alder, who pre-
fers the INN to the house of a friend — costly to cheap travelling — and who saddles the

FUNDS rather than the friends of the society with his expenses We wish to know, 1st,

Whether Dr. Alder has the sanction of the body, and especially the poor, to spend their money
in tliis way ? 2. Whether any honour is reflected either on the sincerity or simplicity of Method-
ism, in taking up an assumed character — in thus passing otl" for what he is not — a gentleman, at
the expense of others ?

Great courage (was shewn) in the Conference to have read, not from the Fly Sheets, where
substantially, it had long been, but from the letter of ' an old Weslcyan,' some good advice, viz.,
that ' stifiF preachers be thrown overboard;' ihat ' good preachers be sent to poor circuits with
a view to raise them ;' that ' younger men, if suitable, be made superintendents, and the older
men not to be jealous;' that preachers ' should cost as little as possible in going to Missionary
meetings, and should never go to inns when private friends will be glad to see tliem.' " — Fly
Sheets, No. 3, p.p. 13—15 ; No. 4, p. 21.

• The system which has called the Fly Sheets into existence furnishes various incidental
instances of love of parade and shew engendered thereby. " At the last Manchester Confer-
ence, after Doctor Alder had received his title, he was anxious to appear in full costume before
the public, and hand doAvn Ids doctorate to posterity. Ho urged the committee to allow his
portrait to be taken and to appear a second time in the Wesleyan ^Magazine ; stating, that he
thought it ought to appeal- on pubhc grounds— because of the services he had rendered the
connexion, especially in Canada! A sarcastic wag, Mr. Athcrton, refen-iug to the difference in
his appearance, being slender when first taken, said, ' I for one have no objection to a second
appearance, provided all the additional matter is published with it.' This gentleman, it would
appear is unusually fond of his face. He was not at the Centenary Meeting in Iklanchcster,
and yet he is in front of the Centenarj' picture? Having heard of this forthcoming exhibition,
and aniious to appear in it, he hastened to tlie publisher, and requested to be introduced : there

tenary Fund for a couple of spirit cellars, a large room, and two rooms
for each of the Secretaries! No less a sum than £2,406. 135. 7d. was
taken from the contributions of the people to support The Watchman !
Would the whigs of the Wesleyan body, if they had known it, and been
allowed a voice on the occasion, have given their vote to support a tory
paper ; — a paper raised to support the interests of a Church and State

was naturally some demur : but secretaries have good salaries ; down went the sovereigns into
the teens ; and the publisher instantly saw an open door for his admission, and thus smuggled
him in, with a few other contraband articles, that were not at the meeting."— F. S., No. 1. p. 7.

" When the ' John Wesley,' respecting whose launch, fitting out, and sailing, we had such
flaming accounts in The Watchman, was at Southampton, the Missionary Secretaries went down
at the expense of the committee, to add dignity to the occasion, and to give an air of rehgious

solemnity, by their christian presence, to the whole affair The good people expected that a

sermon would be preached, or some rehgious service held for the benefit of the society.
NoUiing of the kind ! The worthy secretaries enjoyed two or three delightful holidays at one
of the principal inns, instead of mingling with the society and holding religious services. Wliy

did The Watchman keep this back ? Would the man whose name the vessel bore have acted

thus? One gentleman was so disgusted with the whole, that he withheld J£100., his wife

another, and Ms daughter £50., which was puii^osed to be given, in consequence." — Fly Sheets,
No. 4, p. 14.

The vain and childish love for titles, without even the semblance of scholarship to entitle
men to them, is another instance of the parade and love of shew which have been, if not
engendered, stimulated by the system of " Location, Centralization, and Secularization." For,
would Alder and Beecham, — names never heard of by a scholar, names unattached to any work
of Uterary pretensions, names unsuspected of the most ordmaiy amount of scholastic lore, —
would these men ever have thought of a Doctorate had they not first been injm-ed by place and
power ? " We would, if we could, call this gentleman Doctor. But, really, it is such a farce, we
cannot. We bm-st out into a loud exclamation at our desk at the very thought .of Beecham — a
Doctor! We will not — though under strong temptation — add more of our own, but will sub-
join a tit-bit from the " Fly Sheet Test Act Tested :"

" 'It has been quaintly hinted, that as tests are to be the order of the day, and are supported
by some of the titled brethren, it would be well, for the credit of learning, and to prevent the
body from becoming a laughing-stock to others, to establish a committee for the purpose of
testing the (jenuineness and real value of the title — its sources — the means by which it has been
obtained— its adaptation to the wearer — and the superior claims of the individual on whom it is
confeiTcd.' And we add, to imblish and present a copy to each University in Europe — it is
needless for America — that the heads of houses may know how to confer, — with honour to them-
selves, credit to the receivers, and the applause of the sensible and well-wishing, — scholastic titles

on men destitute of even the elements of scholastic lore. It is perfectly contemptible! What

would John Wesley say to it? Would he ever, save in derision, say Doctor ? It is said

in derision by most who use it. The following impromptu was written as soon as tliis doctorate
was announced by — oh, how fitting! — another Yankee Doctor — the celebrated Eobort Newton:

' Thou of the silver trump — immortal Fame,

Now blow thy sweetest, loudest, loftiest blast !
Blow, as at a Wellington's or Nelson's name,

Blow with an energy, as 'twere thy last ;
Till — all around —
'Beecham's a Doctor!' earth and heaven resound!

party ? We know most of the shareholders ; among whom are Messrs.
J. Wood, T. Bm-ton, P. Rothwell, Sands, Crook, Farmer, Elhot*
Kaye, &c.* What ! are the centralizers in London to have the privilege
of dipping their hands into the pockets of the subscribers, many of whom

Trio of learned Doctors, now they stand,
With all their blushing honours fresh about them,

The gloiy and the wonder of our laud :
I wonder how the land could do without them !

Most leai'ned three!

Profoundly do I reverence yoiu: D. D.

But 0 ! ' illustrious Hoole ! ' on whom conferred

The honour- is not yet — I grieve to think
How, of the bitter streams of hope deferred,

Thou art, and hast been long, compelled to drink.
Upon my word —
Thou standest now much like a speckled bird !

But pluck thy courage up, man ; soon no more

Shall thy conspicuous fitness smothei'ed be :
I'll match thy Latin, Greek, and Hebrew lore

Against the total of the other three.
Be sad no more !
We have three learned Doctors, why not four} '

I have thought of.putting in my claim to D.D., that is Double Dunce, upon good grounds.
One is, tliat, like one of the D. D.'s in the Mission House, I have been emi^loyed for -^ — yeai3
about £. s. d. ; and have, therefore, an equal claim vsith him to tlie title. Indeed, I am some-
times half tempted to assume it, since no one will give it me, and I have not money enough to
purchase it. — A preacher who is not a D. D. in either sense."— No. 4, p.p. 17. 18.

The possibility of a scholastic title being appended to a name whose owner has little preten-
sion to scholastic lore, is well illustrated by the author of a work whose title-page announces him
in full as, " Fellow of the Eoyal Society,' Ilonoraiy Member of the Royal Irish Academy, Corres-
ponding Member of the Eoyal Society of Northern Antiquaries, of the Society of Antiquaries of
Scotland, of the Archteological Society of Stockholm, and the Eeale Accademia di Firenzi,
'n Honorai7 Member of the Eoyal Society- of Literature, of the Newcastle Autiquai-iim Society,
of the Eoyal Cambrian Institution, of the Ashmoleau Society at Oxford, and of the Society for
the study of Gothic Architecture, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, Corresponding Member
of the Comite des Arts et Monuments, &c., &c.! And this s^ame person, thus loaded with liter-
ai7 honom-s, in editing a work for the Percy Society, has illustrated it with notes as profoundly
erudite as the follo'-vlng instance : —

" Wiich was the cause of bis sepulture— Tinnai. From tlie Latin ! ! "

* It should not be forgotten, that the most active originator of The Watchman was the re-
nowned T. P. Bunting ; who is said to have been the largest holder of the .2100. shares, and who
prevailed upon his tory friends to subscribe the necessaiy capital, in order that his honoured
father might have an organ to defend and uphold his character and policy. But, alas, the poor
shareholders have never received a single shilling in the shape of profit; -nor do the " Keporta,"
of any of the Connexional Funds, acknowledge any supplies from that quarter!

could ill afford to contribute, to save the pockets of these squires, in an
unfortunate speculation on toryism ? Some of whom might have paid the
whole out of their own pockets, without injury to themselves ! Such mis-
application of public money would have been unknown but for the system
we here expose — that of Location and Centralization. The Centenary

Hall, and the Richmond Institution trick out Methodism as a thing

to be admired by the world. But, as if this piece of pomp were to be
tarnished, a permissive providence allows the serpent to enter both, in
order to open the eyes that have been dazzled into blindness ; — a gin shop

appears within the walls of one Puseyites, Socinians, Infidels, spring

up in the other !

5. Insincerity. A system of tricking is practised to keep certain
men in office, and others out ; and this again supplants the spirit of
brotherly love, frankness, and confidence, ...the services are less effectively
performed than they might be. ..and tacitly reflects on all the brethren in
the connexion, except those in the London District, as unfit to take any
responsible part in the management of our connexional affairs.

6. It saps the foundation of the pastoral and apostolic office.
There is no escape from the fact, that it draws so much on the time of
the brethren in London, — time which ought to be employed in pastoral
visitations and ministerial studies... When is it heard, that metropolitan
officials ever visit the sick, or even give tickets ?

From what has been stated, the propriety, nay — the necessity of chang-
ing the preachers in London must be apparent to all ; — changing them as
often as the other preachers in the body The subject must be con-
sidered connexionally. The men have the sweep of the whole body.

The spirit of Methodism, which is locomotive, is opposed to it to

every thing like ease, aggrandizement, selfishness and oppression." — Fly
Sheets, No. 1, p.p. 19—30 No. 4, p. 43.

Such are the views of the Fly Sheet writers. Have they not made out
at least a ^nma /acie case ? Would a grand jury throw out the bill?
Is there no cause of alarm to the Wesleyan body in this system of cen-
tralization ? Does it not demand investigation ? Should it not awaken,
on the part of the Wesleyans, a caution and vigilance not far remote
from suspicion and jealousy, lest a system, that throws a number of per-
sons together, giving them fiicilities for combination possessed by no
other men in the body, should result in the evils which, ci priori^ may be
shewn to be incident to religious centralization, whatever may be the
advantages of the system ? The Fly Sheets overlook not this latter point :

" We have sense enough to know, that it is of importance to have
our forces concentrated, whether civil^ miUtary, or ecclesiastical, that we
may be able to bring them to act either in a combined or in a separate
form, either simultaneously or successively, as the case may require ; but
we object to their being drawn by aspiring men who are incessantly grasp-
ing at the management of all our connexional affairs, and who cannot
obtain their object so well, if at all, unless these things be placed in Lon-
don ; — men whose affection for, and interest in, the country parts of the
Connexion have been annihilated by their long residence in the metro-
polis. There it is that they find their connections, their friends, their
interests, and nearly all that is dear to them. On this account they can-
not leave London; and, hence, if they are to be leading men in, and
governors of, the body, the apparatus which they have to manage must
be there. Mr. Scarth, of Leeds, one of Doctor Bunting's friends, spoke
out on the centralization system, in one of the more recent Committees,
strongly and honestly : he could not see why the country should not
share in the power and privileges of the metropolis, being possessed of
equal sense, and more abundant in contributions. We say, why not
shift them with the Conference ? It does not suit the policy of the
sovereign." — Fly Sheets, No. 1, p. 19.

The question to be decided is not, — Are there no advantages in cen-
trahzation ? The Fly Sheets admit that there are. The question in
which the Wesleyan body is interested is, — Are the evils arising out of
our peculiar centralization more than counterbalanced by its benefits?
The Fly Sheets reply — distinctly, positively — No ! The Watchman
answers chivalrously — Yes ! He shall be heard in defence of central-
ization, as he speaks in his number for October 25, 1848.

(" The thing complained of as Centralization, is, as we understand it,
thit the principal Institutions of Methodism are placed in liondon ; and,
that, by this arrangement, the metropolis of the empire is made the great
centre of Methodistical operation : the point to which candid enquiry
should be primarily directed, as it further strikes us, is whether this
arrangement was obviously contriveH with a sinister design to subserve
the purposes of personal or party ambition, or whether is was not adopte»l
from prudential considerations, if not indeed called for by the necessity
of the case."

The Fly Sheets have enumerated eight, and might have enumerated
nine, cases of metropolitan centralization. Why were four omitted by
The Watchman ? Was it because the enumeration of so many, and

some of them without the shadow of a reason drawn from " necessity,"
all centralized in London, might have startled the suspicions and fears
even of Ids readers ? Again, Why did not The Watchman detail
the evils of centralization, as given in the Fly Sheets, and disprove them
altogether ; or shew that they were greatly exaggerated ; or compensated
by the greater good arising from centralization ? Though it is evident
he has seen the Fly Sheets, not one word has he uttered in reply to the
serious allegations extracted in the preceding pages from these obnoxious
pamphlets ! It is a queerish way of defending accused persons ! A man
hardly deserves to be bolstered up in his office, if he cannot serve his
clients more efficiently ! He gives the go-bye to almost the whole, and
dwells only upon the points where he and his opponents are not much at
issue ! He flies to the strongest parts of the fortification with all his
forces: the weak parts, which consist of more than a moiety, he leaves
to shift for themselves as they best can ! Wondrous policy ! Valorous
shrewdness ! He deserves an ovation, if not a triumph !

'^ The Book-Room was placed in London by Mr. Wesley himself.

Would the objector to centralization have it removed ? and, if so, to what
other locality ?" There are obvious reasons why the Book-Room, which
is a trading concern, should remain in one locality : and, if in one, on
principles of business, there is none so fitting as London.

" The Mission- House is also situated in London, and the management
of the foreign missions of the Society is committed chiefly to a metropoli-
tan committee of ministers and laymen. But this is not peculiar to
Methodism. All similar institutions have their head quarters also in
London." Their Conduct is not a model for us : the Wesleyans are a
connexion, and our missionary arrangements are connexional. The
" similar institutions "-belong to independent bodies and churches which,
in their corporate or church character, cannot be affected by any central-
ization of their missionary institutions. The men who are at the head of
our mission institution in London, are at the head of all our institutions
in London. The comparison fails utterly. There can be no intrigue,
for instance, at the London Mission-House, the Church Mission-House,
or the Bible Society's House, at all analogous to what might occur at the
Wesleyan Mission-House ; the leading men of which might combine, and
effectually, with other connexional committees or authorities, to keep a
man out of London, or out of the committees, because " He w^on t do
for us." Neither of the " similar institutions," could connexionally com-
bine with other committees swayed by one common influence, to keep

Mr. James of Birmingham, or E. Baines, Esq., of Leeds, out of Lon-
don. All their acts are limited : the acts of ours are connexional : in
touching one, you touch all. There is no parallel.

The Watchman proceeds : " In what provincial town would it be pos-
sible to conduct with eflBciency, the affairs of the great Missionary
Society?" He enumerates what these affairs are. "The directors of
every society have to maintain an extensive and multifarious correspon-
dence, " — which might be as efficiently done in any principal town in the
kingdom, as in London. " Missionaries are embarking for distant
stations ; others are returning from foreign service ;" in this respect,
London probably has decided advantages. " Frequent intercourse with
Government is indispensably necessary;" if so, it is not indispensably
necessary that the missionary officials should reside in London, as written
correspondence will, except in rare instances, answer every requisite end,
and not so much endanger our simplicity and spirituality, nor be so likely
to inflate little minds, as the habit of deputations, with announcements in

the Court Circular to the effect that " The Rev. Dr. had the

honour of an interview with ." But is ^'' frequent intercourse with

Government indispensably necessary " ? Is there not too much of it ?
Would not a residence of the official staff in some provincial town be a
blessing, by rendering such intercourse less frequent ? It might not then
be deemed necessary that either of the missionary secretaries should have
a table service at which, with much of the appearance of a table of fashion,
one of the aristocracy can sit down to dinner. But if any of the nobihty
should dine with a Missionary Secretary, he should sit down to the plain
table, plain furniture, and plain diet that becomes a Methodist preacher,
the son in the Gospel of him, all whose plate amounted to two silver
tea spoons. This intercourse with Government and nobility is very costly.
A nobleman, or the governor of a colony, cannot sit down at a plainly
furnished table. The wonder is, that the Fly Sheet writers have not
taken up this evil of Centralization. It is said, that one of the Mission-
ary Secretaries can have as fine a set out, for a fashionable dinner, as a
nobleman or one of the ancient gentry can desire, when, as is not rarely
the case, one of those classes does him the honour to dine with him and
drink wine, after the ladies have retired. This would not occur in
provincial towns. The provincials would not stand it.

" Necessity arises for frequent application to members of parliament,
or attendance on parliamentary committees," quoth The Watchman.
The necessity is not frequent ; and a journey to London by second class

— though officials must now take first class carriages* — would not be very
expensive. The expense of attendance on parliamentary committees, the
parliament defrays ; and the tory bias that has been given ^ in general, by
our officials in their parliamentary evidence, makes the less of this danc-
ing attendance at St. Stephens that can be, the better.

" Every Society must have its anniversary meeting in London, to
maintain its proper place in the public mind." The British Association
for the advancement of science, to secure a greater hold on the public
mind, holds its annual meetings in various parts of the kingdom. If,
however, the anniversary of the Wesleyan Missionary Society must be
held in London, its business throughout the year might, for all that, be
transacted in a provincial town. We are free, however, to concede to
The Watchman, that one department could not be carried on so well, if
indeed at all, anywhere but in London : — namely, the annual Soiree at
the Mission-House,f at which only the elect are admitted, cards of invita-
tion being issued to the gentlemen and ladies who promenade at them.

" The directors of the several societies must have opportunities of in-
tercourse with each other." Granted ; but second class carriages would
allow this at but little expense comparatively, on the very few occasions
when a queen's head or two might not be sufficient to answer all the
necessities of the case.

This is all that The Watchman has advanced on behalf of Centraliza-
tion at the Mission-House • and if this be all that can be said for it, verily
it has hardly a leg to stand on ! And when these, for the most part,
flimsy arguments, are weighed against the evils of centralization, as point-
ed out in no less than five particulars in the Fly Sheets, the case may

* A Weslej'an Minister was revolving in his mind how he could, with his limited means,
double his subscription to the mission cause. As an expedient, he resolved to travel, when he
could, by third class, instead of the second, as he had been used to do. What was his surprize,
and what his mortilication, as he was hasting to the train, with third class ticket in hand, to see
a Kev. Secretary seated in a first class train ! This is one of the evils complained of in the
Fly Sheets. The centralized Locators cannot travel like the Methodist preachers! Oh, no!
this would be beneath their dignity ! They must travel like gentlemen ! But, who pays for it ?
Themselves '> Fu'st class carriages, and first class hotels, and first class dinners, and first class
wines, are costly to all who pay for tliem out of their own pockets !

t Plainmembers of society will hardly understand this foreign and fashionable tenn. Once
a year the Missionaiy Secretaries issue cards of invitation to their favourites, who come with
Avlute kid gloves — think of A\'esleyan ministers shewing ofiiu white kid gloves! — and the gentle-
men and ladies, after walkhig about arm in ann through the suite of apartments, refreshing
themselves with vrme.s and other drinks, cakes, etc., and indulging for some hours in this fashion-
able lounging, retire, without singing, without prayer, without devotion of any kind! And theae
men are to be lauded to the skies!

stand because of usage, but can never be defended on the ground of right.
Except in one particular, there is not one of the points mentioned by The
Watchman, but what might be efficiently done in several of our provin-
cial towns, and the body, at the same time be saved from the evils of
centralization. Of these evils The Watchman seems to make no account,
as he takes no note of them. But will the Wesleyan Public take no note
of them? Will the Wesleyan Public take no account of them ? Will
they not be placed as a heavy set off against the problematical necessity
or importance of having our missionary affairs centralized in London ?
A stronger case might be made out ; and even the Fly Sheet writers
themselves, who admit the advantages of centralization, would concede,
that with regular change both of secretaries and committees, it is desir-
able that the Mission-House as well as the Book-Room, should be located
in the metropolis.

The Watchman employs precisely the same argument to justify the
placing of the Educational Department of the Connexion^ and the Com-
mittee for guarding its privileges. It would be tedious to repeat the same
reply. Indeed, for both of these there exists not the shadow of necessity
that either should be located at all, still less located in London. The
more these committees, and all other connexional ones, can be distributed
and shifted, the greater amount of interest are they likely to create, and
the larger number of individuals will be interested in them. This central-
ization without necessity, is as bad in policy as it is bad in principle.
Acquaintance with the workings of Methodism is limited to a icw ; and
these few are the same individuals, from year to year. The mass of our
influential friends take no part whatever in our connexional operations.
The laymen of London and Manchester, with few exceptions, are the
only members of our societies who have anything to do with connexional
matters. Break up the combination system ; let one connexional com-
mittee meet in one neighbourhood, a second in another, and so on ;
change the locality for each committee, from time to time ; and though
there may be some inconveniences, the fatal evils of our centralization
will be escaped, and the interests of hundreds and thousands in maintain-
ing every department of our system be enlisted. And yet The Watch-
man, with nothing more than the above cobweb arguments, ventures to
say : — '' We give credit to the inteUigence and candour of our readers,
by presuming that they must at once perceive, and be prepared to admit,
that the Conference was influenced by the most weighty reasons for
placing and continuing those institutions where they are."

" All the important institutions of Methodism are not placed in the
metropolis. Those which might be managed as well elsewhere, are all
situated in the provinces." The Watchman gives three instances. —
" Kingswood and Woodhouse Grove Schools :" — these must be fixtures :
so this is but little gain to his defence. '' The Chapel affairs .•" — which
are managed in Manchester, in the very centre of the wealthy lay sup-
porters of the great Locator and Centralizer. " The Theological Insti-
tution ;" — at least one branch of it, and that in the suburbs of Manchester
again.

And does The Watchman give us so little credit for intelligence, as to
suppose, that these three are a set off against the other nine ? That the
Wesleyan public will be satisfied that this arrangement is a safe one,
because out of twelve sources of influence three are deposited in the
provinces, and two of those three in Manchester, among the very men
who are on all the principal committees that hold their sittings in the
metropolis ? Does this location of three departments in the country,
while nine departments are drawn together in close contact in London,
shew that metropolitan centralization does not, as afiirmed in the Fly
Sheets, lead to '■'• Tyranny ;" to " Pride ;" to "• Partiality in the case of
salaries, and in the selection of men, for London, for committees, for
governors, for editors, paid agents, and different posts of honour ;" to
" Misapplication of the public funds, in extravagant salaries to missionary
secretaries ; enormous prices for literary property, if the man be a
favourite ; to needless parade at the Centenary Hall and Richmond In-
stitution ;" to " Insincerity;" and to the sapping of *' the pastoral and
apostolic office " ? Has The Watchman's empty rattle driven away these
mischiefs ? Does he suppose that the public has so little intelligence, that
when the advantages of Centralization are placed by him in bold relief,
the serious evils alleged to be its fruit, are so completely thrown into the
shade as to be altogether out of sight ? Of the three, one department,
the Schools, must be located, and located in the provinces. The other
two are j^laced where there is much sympathy with the men who figure in
the nine. To have had none in the provinces, would have been too glaring
as to the design and policy ; there are, however, as few as possible out of
London : and these few can scarcely be deemed a counterpoise to metro-
politan centralization.

III. — Secularization. The views expressed in the Fly Sheets on
this evil, may be gathered from the following extract. " This endangers

not only the connexion, but the souls of the persons in question. Being
located, and constituting- a centre, towards which money is constantly
flowing, and where matters of finance constitute the grand staple of their
business and conversation, scarcely any thing, save that which is worldly,
is permitted to come over their spirits. In the early Minutes of Con-
ference, we have the following question and answer : —

' We have this year spent about two days in temporal business: how
may we avoid this for the time to come ?

Let the clerks do as much of it as Ihey can by themselves, and it will
save us half the time.'

'Two days' were considered too much in consequence of the

baneful, secularizing influence it had upon the mind, and the time it took
away from higher and holier considerations — the spiritualities of the
church. If ' two days ' were distressing to the mind of John Wesley,
what would be his feehngs now, to find the Missionary Secretaries,

Book Steward, and others, steeped in secularities the year round,

and buried in them the half of a long, and, what should be, a ministerial

life Observe, we do not lose sight of the fact, that, in consequer>ce

of the largeness of the connexion, more time must necessarily be spent
upon merely financial matters, both by the Committees and the Confer-
ence. It is against the secularizing tendency of these things that we

direct our remarks The sense in which we employ the term ' secular,'

differs from this — (the Romish.) Our seculars have their ' religious
houses' in London, in the Book-Room, and Centenary Hall ; and they
have their own ' rules and regulations,' too ; but then, they have the
care of no ' parish,' or circuit : so that they enjoy their ' houses ' with
the bare semblance only of their priestly functions ; combining in the
two, just what preserves them ' well-favoured,' lofty, easy, and comfort-
able Whatever, therefore, renders the spirit of a man thus secular,

deprives him of the quahfication essential to a christian minister

These observations apply with peculiar force to Wesleyan Ministers.
Whatever tends to lower their concern for the souls of men, and for the
Saviour's glory — as less general intercourse with the people, less frequent
exercise of their talent among them, and less thought about them, will
indirectly do— will lead to secularity of spirit : and whatever requires
their time and talents to be employed about other things, which rather
rob them of, than add to, their incHnation to be found iu the studies and
exercises which are essential to the effective discharge of ministerial and
pastoral duties, directly secularizes their character They become

isolated ; and their feelings, interests, and friendships, become limited
and localized : and so far as their minds and time are occupied with
things that rather quench than fan, the flaming love and zeal which are
the glory of the ministers of Christ, though connected with the cause of
God, and essential to it, so far they secularize the spirit, that God had
specially called to, and fitted for, the performance of a spiritual work.

What, then, must be the tendency of the offices of the Book-Steward,
Editors, and Missionary Secretaries, without change, and for a succession

of years? Can they, thus remaining localized and centralized, avoid

being secularized in their thoughts, affections, desires, purposes, and
habits? Otherwise than this, it is impossible to be, while hands and
heart are engaged from the beginning to the end of the week, month,
and year, in things less spiritual than those to which they profess to have
a special call. They are, in their spirit and habits, not only bringing the
world into the church, but withholding the genuine apostle of Christ

from the Christian pulpit! The Book-Stewards have all participated

as much in the spirit of the world, in buying and selling, and making the
best and hardest bargains for Methodism, as the private members of
society do, in driving the most advantageous trade for their respective

families, or the persons by whom they happen to be employed This

was especially felt by that excellent man, Mr. Robert Lomas ; and Ave
could mention another case, in which one of these men was so completely
imbued with the spirit of the world, that he availed himself of his situa-
tion of bartering, buying, selling, and doing business for himself. Let
the world once enter the soul, no matter how, whether through the
counting-house or the church doors, and a man will soon reason himself
into a variety of things, with which his more delicate sense of propriety
w^ould be shocked, if he possessed the genuine spirit of the ministerial
office. He will not hesitate to lay a handsome per centage on his travel-
ling expenses ; whereas, simple wear and tear might be the only things
that entered into his early considerations ; forgetting, as habits become
fixed, that regular board and quarterage are going on, besides the pay-
ment of others for doing the work at home, while himself is abroad

We ask, then,

1. Is it agreeable to the original design of Methodism, that the
preachers should either withdraw of their own account, or constitute
such a state of things as to throw temptations in the way of others to
withdraw them, from the all-important and regular work of the ministry,
to sit and serve at tables, in committees, the greater part of whose busi-

ness is merely of a financial character, and to exchanije the ministerial
office for that of accountant — spirituals for temporals ! But, admittino-
the evil to be allowed by ' Methodism as it w,' — a term admirably
hitched in during the struggle of 1834, — we ask,

2. By what authority the Wesleyan Church requires any man so to
desecrate his talents, or to be fixed in offices, that, directly or indirectly,
war against his ministerial calling, and deprive him of the spirit given
him of God for the best performance of his highest and holiest work ?

3. How can any man, consistently with the fidelity he owes to God,
with the testimony of a good conscience, or with a hope of the final
approval of his Lord and Master, either station himself, or allow himself
to be stationed in such offices for six, twelve, twenty, or thirty vears
together ? and, at the close of a long period, maintain his hold of them
with the tenacity with which he clings to life ; or go out of them growl-
ing, as if he had received an injury, and as though he had not had his
over and above quantum of honour and ease ?

4. Why should such preachers in the connexion be located, and
laid aside from their pulpit labours, as Messrs. Bunting, Hannah,
Farrar, &c., — labours to which they consider themselves expressly and

exclusively called by God and the Church? It may be stated,

that the order of things has been changed in the body. TJm is the
core of the mischief. Why allow the change? — a change injurious to the
ministry among us ? That men ought to fill these offices is admitted :
but,

5. Why cannot laymen be found to attend to the more secularizing
part of the business, under the supervision of a committee ? Is there
any thing in these offices to which a good clever layman, versed in busi-
ness, cannot attend, and for which his commercial pursuits have not fitted
him ? Nay, why call in the aid of laymen at all, as clerks and com-
mittee men, if none but divines were equal to the work ?

6. If it is still insisted that none but preachers can fill these offices,
vehy not introduce less acceptable men, as to pulpit talent, but of equal,
if not superior business habits? If men are to be spoiled by sccularity,
let them, for the sake of the pulpit and the church, be taken, like some
of the Book- Stewards, from the less acceptable of the priesthood.

7. If the Saviour is to be robbed of his apostles, and their number
must be decreased by draughting them into the ranks of the scribes and
idlers, why keep them in office till ' twice dead, and plucked up by the
roots,' before they are removed ? Let them have a chance of recovering

themselves, and of entering into their former spirit and usefuhiess, before
they are called upon to give an account of the apostleship, to which they
professed to be called, and in which they were to live and die. With the
exception of Messrs. T. Jackson and J. Farrar, — (and these, being
steeped in divinity through the week, are happily saved — at least, in part,)
— there is not a man among them, that has not been injured in his pri-
mitive character, as a preacher, by his office And these seculars,

forsooth, are the men generally employed in ordaining others, by the
imposition of hands, to the apostolic office, to go and preach when, and
wherever they can, till they fairly die in the harness, — urging them in
their addresses, to be diligent and faithful in the work of the ministry
and pastorate!! — offices which they themselves have left, and the spirit
of which they have lost ! They remind us of a set of fat, downy bishops ;
or, in the less complimentary language of Pope, ' oily men of God,'
appointing others to work which they themselves rarely touch ; — masters
sending their servants into the field — a field in which they themselves
ought to be found, agreeably to the mandate of their Lord — ' Go work
in my vineyard,' — but in which they are only found by proxy. Substitu-
tion is easy work : go on with it, and the work of God will soon be
destroyed.

In support of the non-usefulness of these seculars, and the sapless
character of their ministry, it may be remarked, that it was found in the
December quarter of 1845, that, in the eight London circuits, there was
a decrease of 380 members, and in only one circuit an increase of 10.
In these eight circuits, exclusive of the labours of the students in the
Richmond Institution, most of whom are employed every Sabbath,
together with the labours of returned misssionaries, and local preachers,
there are between fifty and sixty preachers, including a sprinkling of
supernumeraries, stationed by Conference. This, it may be stated, will
apply to the comparative non-usefulness of the itinerant as well as located :
but it does not follow that good time-pieces will always be exact in their
movements with a number of dead weights appended to them ; or that
carriages will roll on with celerity with drags attached to their wheels.

It is a fact, stated by one of the longest of the located, that the

London societies are mostly kept up by accessions from the country.
Even the missions appear to begin to feel the deadening influence of
these ecclesiastical worldlings : an increase of only between three and four
hundred in 1845 and 1846 for an expenditure of upwards of .£100,000 1
per annum. Nor does it comport with God's general dealings, that

spiritual prosperity slioulrl follow, when guided solely by the hand of
secularity. Where is the prosperity of the English Church ? It is directed
by a set of temporals, falsely denominated spirituals. Well may the mission-
ary part of our church languish under the hands of the lords spiritual and
temporal in the Grand Centenary Hall. There is scarcely a returned
missionary with whom they have not had a squabble ; and several have
been compelled to go without a redress of gr-ievances, and the payment
of their just demands. We can name the men." — Fly Sheets, No. 1,
p.p. 30—35.

Such is the tendency, according to the Fly Sheets, of the system
against which they have directed their missiles. It is difficult to conceive
how men " steeped in secularities ail the year round," and this for an un-
interrupted period of a quarter of a century^ can retain the views, the
feelings, — habits are out of the question — of christian ministers. To call
them christian ministers is a misnomer. They are not so much christian
ministers as the majority of local preachers who are not more " steeped
in secularities " than they ; and who are not so likely to be secularized
by their daily occupations, as these located officials, because the local
preachers, in addition to quite as much preaching at least, are often en-
gaged in visiting the siclv, and in attending prayer-meetings — spiritualiz-
ing means these in which it is rare to see a centralized locator engaged.
At any rate, he' must have an extraordinary stock of grace, and must be
a very Fletcher, Bramwell, Benson, or John Smith in spirit, if, despite
of this close attendance in serving tables, he can keep up the fine sensi-
bility, the ardent compassion for souls, the enthusiasm for preaching, the
passion for sinners' conversion, that are indispensable elements of an
apostolic minister. Certainly there is not a general impression that the
centralized located are as elevated above their brethren in spirituality, in
impassioned earnestness for souls, in habitual self-denial and mortification
of the body, as they are distinguished from their brethren by the long
retention of seats of ease and of power. It is easy to give credit to a
fact " stated by one of the most intelligent, useful, and devout officers
in the metropolis, and reiterated by the private members, that there are
not more than two of the preachers who have retained their unction, and
only one his popularity, on the event of location." — F. S., No. 1, p. 33.

This may be very unpalatable to the located ; their flatterers may per-
suade them that this is a false statement ; that their popularity and the
unction of their occasional ministrations have suffered no dimmution.
It is their misfortune, as it is the misfortune of kings, seldom to hear the

truth. This is the truth. Would that they would heed it ! They are
not regarded, in general, as " examples to the church of God," or as
towering high above their brethren in '' spiritual gifts." Their willing-
ness to continue so long in offices, — which, by their own shewing, curtail
largely their opportunities of preaching the gospel — that blessed work,
compared with which all other is dung and dross, — awakens, and can any
wonder at it ? — the suspicions that the love of office has sadly neutralized
the love of souls : that the ease and comforts of location have produced
an apprehension of, and a dislike for, the inconveniences of itinerancy ;
and that a clerkship has the preference of the heart to the pastorate !
This suspicion has been awakened. It is a pity that it has been awaken-
ed : it is a greater pity that there should have been occasion given to
arouse this suspicion !

But both the fact, and the tendency are denied. The Watchman
treats the arguments as lying slander. Let him be heard. He shall
speak freely and fully in these pages.

The Watchman, Nov. 8, 1848, commences his argument by taking
exception to the sense in which the Fly Sheets use the term *' Seculariza-
tion." " Our first business is to record our protest against a style of
writing and speaking only calculated to mislead. The management of
church affairs is not ' Secularization,' if words are allowed to retain their
definite and appropriate meaning. According to the ordinary and
established forms of speech, when an individual is described as being
employed in secular pursuits, the meaning conveyed is, that he is not
devoted to the work of the christian ministry, but is engaged in some
worldly profession, or line of business, with the view of obtaining a Hveli-
hood for himself and his family. But a minister of the gospel, while
engaged in the management of those temporal matters on which the
great Head of the Church has made the maintenance and extension of
His own cause so considerably to depend, is not to be represented as
engaged in secular affairs, as employing his time and energies in secular
undertakings. When persons write and speak of this as ' Secularization,'
they awaken the supicion, that they are not anxious to avoid the use of
language which can only serve to injure the cause of truth and righte-
ousness."

The writers of the Fly Sheets seem to know full as well as The
Watchman, the meaning of the term " Secularization," and to have a
more legitimate dread of its effects than he. While The Watchman
gives one sense of the term, he appears to forget, that it has other senses,

one of which, on the authority of that prince of lexicographers, Doctor
Johnson, is " to make worldly ;" and that it is in this "ordinary and
established form of speech," and with this " definite and appropriate
meaning," that the tendency of the system is said in the Fly Sheets to
" secularize " the centralized located. " When persons write and speak"
of a term used in controversy, as if it had but one fixed sense, whereas
it happens to have another " established meaning," and moreover, it is
in this latter sense that their opponents use it, " they awaken suspicion "
too, even if they write as The Watchman does ; — a suspicion that they
wish to blind their readers to the merits of the case, and to misrepresent
the arguments which they are opposing. The Watchman, at the onset,
must be regarded as fighting with a shadow. It is the worldly tenden-
cies of this system which the Fly Sheets affirm. But take him on his own
definition, and it will be found that the " legs of the lame are not equal,"
and that his is a limping argument at best : " He that is not devoted to
the work of the christian ministry, but is engaged in some worldly pro-
fession, or line of business, is described as employed in secular pursuits."
And is the daily business of the Book-Steward the work of the christian
ministry? How so? any more than in the case of other great publish-
ers, Longman and Co.,' Murray, &c. Is the occupation of the chairman
of the Education Committee all the week long throughout the year in
collecting statistics, watching parliamentary movements, corresponding
with all kinds of people, on all kinds of questions which the Education
scheme opens, a part of the work of the christian ministry, any more
than the active life of a political economist, or of a parliamentary agent ?
Or the entire occupation of the time and labour of a Missionary Secre-
tary, in managing the financial affairs of the Society, and in fitting out
and making all necessary purchases for the fitting out of missionaries ; —
whether from a stock-in-trade kept in his own house, under the care
of his wife, or taken direct from the warehouses of others ;— is this,
so different from what is " secular," that a man by his vows, by his
divine call to preach, by his ordination called to the pastorate, is prov-
ing himself thereby a whit more '' devoted to the work of the christian
ministry " than a public accountant ; or, what is technically called, '' a
ship's husband ? " '' A minister of the gospel engaged in the manage-
ment of those temporal matters on which the great Head of the Church
has made the maintenance and extension of his cause to depend, is not to
be represented as employing his time and energies in secular undertak-
ings." Agreed. There will be no diversity of judgment on this pro-

position. But the question suggests itself: May not gospel ministers
take the management of temporal matters which the Head of the Church
never intended should be in their hands ; or, of which, at the most, they
were to take but a most general supervision — such supervision as would
not prevent their devotedness " to the work of the christian ministry ? "
Otherwise, if a church only authorize it, its ministers may engage in any
temporal matters without being secular! And the English Bishops in
the house of lords are not secular ! And clerical functionaries in eccle-
siastical courts and Doctor's Commons, and on the magisterial bench, are
not secular! And Roman priests, under the guise of Jesuits, and prac-
tising as merchants, schoolmasters, lawyers, physicians, prime ministers,
and pedlars, are not secular ! for they are managing the temporal affairs
of their church. And men, holding their fellow-men in bondage, and
making merchandise of them, or working them like brute beasts, are not
secular! because they are " employing their time and energies" in the
temporal affairs of a church, a part of whose property consists in human
chatties! ''The law and the testimony" must be appealed to, before
The Watchman can be allowed to throw his lexicographical shield before
" The Location, the Centralization, and the Secularization," assailed in
the Fly Sheets.

After this vague and useless flourish of trumpets, The Watchman
proceeds. His argument shall again be given infidl^ though it trespasses
on the space within which it is intended to confine this enquiry. ''Reject-
ing then the term ' Secularization,' we may inquire, if the occupancy of
time and attention on the part of the ministers of the gospel, in the manage-
ment of such church affairs as are committed, by the Wesleyan Confer-
ence, to its various officers, is in itself an evil, which must necessarily
prove injurious to the spiritual interests of the connexion ? Were it the
inevitable consequence, that any other employment than pulpit labour
and pastoral visitation, injured the spirituality of a minister, and seriously
unfitted him for higher functions, the cause of religion itself icould cer-
tainly suffer. But where is the evidence to be found, that this must
necessarily be the result?" Have the Fly Sheet writers, in one single
sentiment, or in one single expression, affirmed, or insinuated, that "«wy
other employment than pulpit labour and pastoral visitation" is injurious
" to the spirituality of a minister?" They do not appear to be such
children in understanding — to have so limited a view of things — or to be
so little read in scripture or in history, as this supposes. What they
affirm, and what they prove is, that the system of " Location, Central-

ization, and Secularization," so entirely precludes the possibility of pas-
toral visitation, and so fearfully trenches upon the regularity and fulness
of pulpit labour, that the gospel minister is sunk in the financier, and the
pastor is lost in the committee-man ! And this is the bull which The
Watchman should have taken by the horns, if he designed to help his
friends. Instead of this, he has set up a shadow, and fights with that,
as though it were the creature of the Fly Sheets.

The Watchman advances in the defence, and Samson-like, drags Paul,
head and shoulders, into " Secularization!" The apostle Paul an instance
of Location ! The apostle Paul an illustration of Centralization !
The apostle Paul brought forward to justify the Secularization of a gos-
pel minister ! Paul who, as a marvellous incident in his history, " dwelt
two whole years in his own hired house," at Rome, because he was a
prisoner and could not leave the imperial city, but who then " received
all that came in to h\m^ preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those
things which concern the Lord Jesus;"" — Paul, who "from Jerusalem,
and round about unto lllyricum, fully preached the gospel of Christ ;" —
Paul, who was, "in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure,
in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft, (like Brother C. Prest,) in jour-
neyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, &c., in weariness
and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often,
in cold and nakedness : " — this is the man held up, by The Watchman, as
a scriptural apostolic illustration and vindication of the Wesleyan Cen-
tralized, Secularized, Located ! " Misfortune," quoth the proverb,
"gives a man strange bedfellows ;" " Drowning men catch at straws,"
is another wise saw ; and the pressing difficulties of an argument urge
men to the most monstrous and absurd subterfuges !

" What may be termed," quoth The Watchman, " the temporalities
of the church, occupied a considerable share of his attention, as is
apparent from his writings ; but the manner in which he blends these
things with matters strictly spiritual, shews that the two were in his view,
perfectly accordant with each other." What may be termed the temporal-
ities. " When persons write and speak thus, they awaken suspicion
that they are anxious to avoid" meeting the question at issue, and to cover
over the conscious weakness of the cause they have espoused. Does The
Watchman mean to affirm, that Paul was located and centralized as our
located and centrahzed are? " The manner in which he blended these
two things" — aye, that is the point. Do Messrs. i\Iason, Bunting,
Alder, Beecham, Scott, Hoole, thus blend the two? But think of

Paul shut up in Jerusalem, or in Antioch, or in Athens, or in Rome,
or any other metropolitan city, for twelve, eighteen, twenty-five, nearly
thirty years, and loathe to leave it ! It is the very antipodes of Paul !
It is a libel on that unparallelled minister of Christ ! Paul for a quar-
ter of a century in a metropolitan city, with hundreds of thousands of
perishing sinners around him, and so taken up with financial matters,
legislative proceedings, educational statistics, and " what may be termed
the temporaHties of the church," that his zeal for the conversion
of these Christless thousands, deems it onerous work to preach to them
for years in succession, but one sermon per week, and hardly that!
This Paul, who when he went to Athens, so rich in every object, both of
nature and art, that could arrest the attention of a man of taste and
genius and erudition, only beheld their superstition, and only laboured to
preach Christ to them I What an argument for infidels ! Did Gibbon
himself ever insinuate a viler calumny against the genius of apostolic Chris-
tianity ? Paul was all but ubiquitous ; his zeal was untiring, and his
attention to the temporalities involved much more of giving advice to
others how to manage them, than it illustrates how deeply a christian
minister may be steeped in them, without hazarding his spirituality of
mind and his ministerial character ! The Watchman must have been
driven to a corner, so much as to name this illustrious man in so incon-
gruous and inapposite a connexion ! Nor less apt is he in his reference
to the closing portion of the i5th chapter of the first epistle to the
Corinthians. Had our Locators and Centralizers always ""blended the
two " as Paul did, or had they come within a reasonable approach to it,
the Fly Sheets would never have contained the powerful reasoning, the
distressing facts, the painful disclosures,, with which they abound. Never,
never again, let the noble, self-denying, laborious, unwearied, disin-
terested apostle of the Gentiles, be so dishonoured as to be called up, as
was Samuel by the witch of Endor, to give his sanction to a system as
much at variance with his practice, as the ease and pomp of an English
bishop, dean or rector, differs from the habits of a Schwartz, a Brainerd,
a Williams, or a Shaw!

The Watchman having sought to bolster up his tumbling-down argu-
ment by the life, labours, and zeal of him who was not behind the
'' chiefest of the apostles," seeks another confirmation of his argument
in the life, labours, and zeal, of one who will ever stand distinguished
among the modern apostles of Christianity. The Watchman is certainly
a bold and chivalrous fellow. He aims at the stars, if he does not reach

them : he attempts high argument, if he does not accomplish it ; he calls
mighty spirits, not from the " vasty deep," but from the loftiest heights
of pure, disinterested, unparallelled ministerial zeal, whether they come
or not at his bidding. Having supoenaed the chief of the inspired
apostles to vindicate the ease, parade, and secular habits of the central-
ized and located of Methodism, he summons to the court, and places in
the witness-box, one who in labours, in self-denial, in unwearied constancy
in preaching Christ, until " the weary wheels of life stood still," is
second to no uninsjiired man ! A singular selection ! John Wesley a
type of " Location, Centralization, Secularization ! ! ! " The Watchman
must have been dreaming ! His compositor or printer's devil must have
played a joke on him ; and, instead of the " masterly argument" which
a "Junior Wesleyan "* has discovered in this wondrous composition, must
have substituted this admirable piece of practical satire and sarcasm
against the evils so loudly complained of in the Fly Sheets !

These observations, however, shall be considered as though The
Watchman had not been nodding, or one of its officers had not been
practising a hoax upon its too incautious and somnolent editor. " Few
ministers," quoth The Watchman ; — and here he speaketh truly, but not
wisely, nor to the building up of his cause ; — " Few ministers of the
gospel have been more extensively engaged in the management of church
affairs than Mr. Wesley ; but were his spirituality and ministerial useful-
ness injured by his literary labours, and oversight and direction of all
affairs, temporal as well as spiritual, of the society which was founded by
his labours?" No, for Wesley '^blended these two," as previously
shewn, much in the same way as Paul of Tarsus did. He took effectual
means to neutralize what he well knew was their tendency. Did John
Wesley " squat" himself for a quarter of a century in the metropolis,
rarely shewing himself, except on some great public occasion, in the
provinces? Did John Wesley confine his attention exclusively, six days
out of the seven, for six, for twelve, for eighteeen, for mure than twenty-

* Eveiy one will readily believe, that the letter in The 'Watchman for Nov. li"). is the produc-
tion of one not only " Junior" in years, but "Junior" in thought. " Eveiy true Wesleyan must
have read with delight the triumphant refutation you have fm-uished, to one of the vilest speci-
mens of Jesuitical sophistic ever penned against Methodism, to wit, — ' The tlu-ee great bancs to
prosperity— Centralization, Location, and Secularization,' &c. The occasion of this controversy
will hereafter be less dei)lored, because of the unanswerable arguments which liave been urgr^d
to repel false charges, and the masterly defence of Methodism and the Conference, which has
been placed before the Wesleyan public, through your medium." Sm-ely an enemy or a flat-
terer hath done this ! Some playful lad has been tiymg his tirst hoiui on the uususpectiDg
Editor, and is now laughing at his boyish success !

fire, and almost thirty years, to the temporal matters of the society ?
Did John Wesley decline, — and on the plea of the pressure of " what
may be termed the temporalities of the church," — preaching a single
sermon on a week night for years together : and was John Wesley con-
tent with delivering his soul once on a sabbath on the average for years
together: and was John Wesley glad to get some substitute for this
occasional ministry in the word and doctrine, so as to almost bid adieu to
the pulpit, and to make his appearance there one of the wonders of the
age? John Wesley an illustration that the modern system of " Location,
Centralization, and Secularization," vvijl not injure a man's " Spirituahty
and ministerial usefulness ! " Who would have expected to see his name
in this connexion ? A man who, for ministerial toils, and for missionary
spirit, and for self-denying habits, through a long life, came as nearly up
to the blessed apostle Paul as any uninspired man ! A man who rarely
allowed a day in the week, save Saturday, to pass without preaching, and
not seldom twice, three times, and even four times in the day ; — a man
who preached oftener out of doors in one year than these located ones
have in all their lives ; — a man who, besides this constant preaching,
occupied much of his other time in society meetings of the most spiritual
• and devotional class: — his life, forsooth, shews how possible it is to
" blend the two!" The case must be desperate that has recourse to
such evidence as this ! John Wesley would look aghast at "Hill's Ar-
rangement," p.p. 2, 15, 27, 44, 83, 91, 113, &c. He would hardly be-
lieve these were the stations of his itinerant " sons in the gospel ;" he
would be surprised, perhaps shocked, to hear these " Located Centra-
lizers " laud and hold him up as the model for methodist preachers !
John Wesley stationing a preacher in London for 29 years successively ;
appointing a preacher of the gospel lor 25 years successively to superin-
tend a publisher's office, and a book establishment ! If there be any
thing hbellous in the Fly Sheets, here is a heavier libel on the character
of the ilhustrious dead — John Wesley. His name alone repudiates the
connexion in which The Watchman has so ingloriously placed it, and
where, like liglit, it makes so manifest the evil and the deteriorating effects
upon Methodism of a system of Location, Centrahzation, and Seculariza-
tion, which was abhorrent to Wesley as sin itself!

The oracle shall speak on : " The preachers whom Mr. Wesley called
to his help were the principal salesmen of the books which he provided
for the instruction of the people, and wherever they went to preach the
gospel they carried them But did the practice generate in them a

mercenary, worldly spirit, and deprive their ministry of unction and
success ?" As these salesmen were neither located, nor centralized, but
went about preaching as well as selling, the evidence may be dismissed as
not bearing upon the question how far " Secularization" is a necessary
effect of " Location and Centralization."

*■' Mr. Benson was shut up fqr a long time in London, employed on
the week days in the duties of the editorship ; and Dr. A. Clarke also
was extensively occupied, a considerable number of years, with public
engagements : but did these engagements injure the work of religion in

their souls, or render their ministry less effective? One of the public

undertakings of Dr. Clarke was not, indeed, ecclesiastical at all, but .

will those who now so loudly declaim on ' Secularization,' venture to

assert that Dr. Clarke yielded to a secular spirit, and that his public
ministry lost, in consequence, its spirituality, influence, and power ? "
One reply might be, if an editor could retain his spirituahty and minister-
rial unction after filling the office seventeen years, it does not follow that
a book-steward would to the close of a quarter of a century : another
reply is, that whilst these two distinguished men — Benson and Clarke —
remained in London, few preachers in the connexion filled their pulpits
more frequently, and attended the various spiritual meetings of the socie-
ties more conscientiously than they. Preaching was not to them a bur-
then; and, therefore, a rare event, escaped from whenever escape was
possible. This makes a most material difference, and destroys the paral-
lel attempted as effectually as an acid neutralizes an alkali.

" Werrefrain," continues The Watchman, "from pursuing any fur-
ther this style of remark, under the conviction that it would be a reflec-
tion upon the great Head of the Church, seriously to argue, that a loss
of spirituality, arid a decrease of ministerial efficiency, do not necessarily
result from an attention, on the part of the ministers of the gospel, to any
of those church-matters on which the support and extension of the
church are made materially to depend. We dare not summon the
Almighty to the bar of human reason, and presumptuously enquire
whether a practical regard to those things which He has rendered
indispensable, is not inconsistent with the sacredness- of the ministerial
character,'" And what Wesleyan presumes to do this? In what page,
sentence, line, word of the Fly Sheets, is this presumption seen ? The
Watchman, before retiring from the field, pleased with having raised this
note of triumph, should have first proved that God has " rendered it
indispensable," for the " maintenance and extension of his cause, that

one minister of Christ's gospel should be located in London between
twenty and thirty years ! that another minister of Christ's gospel should
rival in his attention to business, six days out of seven, for between
twenty and thirty years, a leading London publisher ; that other ministers
of Christ's gospel are, by an ordinance of the great Head of the Church,
so immersed in temporalities, that a weekly discourse is the very maximum
proportion of preaching Christ's blessed gospel, to be expected from them
for twenty to thirty years. If The Watchman had proved that this was
" rendered indispensable " by God's ordination, no Wesleyan would
have presumed to set up his folly against divine wisdom. But after the
" masterly argument," and the " triumphant refutation " of The Watch-
man, there are Wesleyans who will presume still to ask how this system
■works ; who will require abler arguments and stronger facts than yet
adduced, to satisfy them either that the system works well, or that it is in
accordance with the spirit of the apostles who said " to the multitude of
the disciples. It is not reason that we should leave the word of God^ and
serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of
honest report, full of the Holy G-host and wisdom, whom we may appoint
over this business. But ive will give ourselves continually to prayer^
and to the ministry of the woku." — Acts vi. 2 — 4.

" What decision, then, may we now ask," enquires The Watchman,

*' are we to pronounce upon the entire case ? We have seen that not

any of these alleged causes is injurious in itself; and we cannot, there-
fore, conceive, how the union of the three, each harmless in itself, can

possibly be unfavourable to the Society's interests If our readers are

by this time convinced — and we flatter ourselves those are who are willing
to be convinced — that the alleged ' three great banes ' to prosperity are

no hanes at all ; then are they prepared with ourselves to attach its

true value to the exhortatory language of ' An Englishman,' when he
recommends the Wesleyan people not to forget ' what has grown out ' of
Location, Centralization, and Secularization." The last words of The
Watchman shall be left now to sink or swim according to the specific
gravity of the waters into which they fall.

IV. Mission House Expenditure. In the Fly Sheets, No. 1, p.
11, 12, is given a tabular view of the expenditure for the Home depart-
ment of our Missions. On this table the writers observe; —

"1. The calculations are taken for a period of thirteen years : from
1833 to 1845.

2, From 1833 to 1836, there were only three Secretaries on the
reports ; consequently, as the average is for four, it will be in favour of
the three.

3. From 1834 to 1843, the Repairs, Furniture, Coals, Candles,
Rates, Taxes, &c., of the Blission House ^ were mixed up with the
Houses of the Secretaries. But this is of little importance ; for when
the covering v/as taken off, the expenses absolutely accumulated on the

part of the Secretaries The Mission House and the houses of the

Secretaries cost, in 1836, £769. 17s. 4d. ; in 1837, £782. 16s. 8d. ; in
1841, £606. 17s. lOd. ; in 1842, which was the year before they were
separated^ £645. 5s. 3d. ; whereas, the cost in the same items, for the
Secretaries' Houses alone, amounted in 1843, the year after the separa-
tion, to £929. 13s. 6d. ; in 1844, to £820. 19s. 9d. ; in 1845, to £864.
18s. 5d. The less, therefore, this part of the expenditure is explored the
better. (No, no, the sooner, and the more rigorously this extraordinary
fact, taken from the Annual Reports, is enquired into, the better. The
items for repairs and furniture seem most lavish, excessive, unaccount-
able, incredible, unless the Secretaries' Houses are little palaces.) The
article of furniture* alone is sufficient to furnish the houses of a whole
village. Either there must have been wanton destruction, — the houses
must be stocked like furniture warehouses, — or the prominence given to
the article must have been to serve as a decoy to something else.

4 Here we find several omissions all of which tell in the

shape of perquisites Travelling expenses, which, in the case of Dr.

Alder, will be heavy, as he travels in the first class carriages, and fre-
quently stops at the first inns, to the great pain of our best friends, who
ask where the moral feeling of a man is who prefers the mixed company
of an Hotel to the rehgious quiet of a Wesley an family ? We may just
state that we have a long list of the places, and we are not without a
tolerably correct knowledge of several of the charges This gentle-
man refuses to charge for his expenses in the country ; he takes them to

London without a single provincial check, while his brethren have to

undergo an annual drilling in the District Committee on the subject of

* It is generally rumoured that a costly article of fm-niture has recently been introduced into
Doctor Alder's house — Library shelves, at an expense of seventy poands hai-d cash ! Who pays
for this extravagance ? The subscribers to the fund ! At the veiy time, too, when an appeal —
"urgent and important," — is circulated through the country urging more supplies! Is all
shame fled ? Will the force of efifronteiy go to the veiy extreme of daring ? Missionaries pur
on the lowest scale of diet and living ; subscribers urged to renewed liberality ; treasurers and
oommittees stimulated to greater efforts in an emergency of a very tlu-eateniug nature ; and
seventy pounds spent in librai-y shelves for one of the Secretaiies ! It is intolerable.

economy and retrenchment. The hard treatment, scanty allowance, and
threatenings to abridge still more the stipends of the Missionaries, render
it doubly painful, when it is known, that the screw is put on by persons
who are at ease at home, and fed on the fat of the land.

5. Exclusive of the five items just noticed [they are ommitted in
this pamphlet] which will form a round sum during the year, each
Secretary has cost the Missionary fund, on an average, for the last thir-
teen years, a sum of ,£373. 7s. per annum. A handsome sum for a man
and his wife — upwards of one guinea per day ! ! ! Add the other
items, with the exoeption of travelling expenses and the advantage of a
lodging house for Missionaries — all of which enhance the value of the

office and it will be found, that these four men have cost the fund,

not less than £500. per man, or Two Thousand per annum ! And,
yet, this is not all ; for,

6. We have another entry, in connexion with the salaries, which
implies much more than is expressed. Whatever is actually received,
there is still more in the rear : the amount received is only ' in part.'

The ever memorable William Dawson v/as not allowed to go on the
Mission Fund : it was too sacred a thing for him ; the connexion, there-
fore, was to be traversed from one end to the other to raise an annuity
for him to do the drudgery of these four privileged beings, when the
paltry sum of £150. per annum could only be raised for him. A short

time after this, Mr. Jackson, of Manchester, was handed forward,

and so, the Missionary Fund, which was too ecclesiastical in its charac-
ter to be touched by a layman like Dawson — but who, nevertheless,
preached and speechified more than the four apostolic Secretaries — was
to be saddled with a man, his wife, and nine children, at a cost of £200.

a year exclusive of travelling expenses!! Think again of this poor

fellow, with a wife and nine children, being indulged with £200.* and
Doctor Alder and his lady costing the fund £500. at least ; and Dawson
only £150.

Whatever wriggHng, shuffling, and softening there may be, we have a
right, as subscribers to the Missionary Fund, to know what becomes of
our monies, and whether retrenchments cannot be made in the metropolis
as well as in the provinces. We have in these ' pickings ' alone a sub-
stantial reason for location." — Fly Sheets, No. 1, p.p. 13 — 15.

* "We Lope vre are understood; and, if the office is necessai-y, (that of lay-agent,) and the
man is qualitied for it, we shall rejoice in the addition of £00. being made to liis saluiy."— Fly
Sheets, iS'o. 3, p. 14,

" We have shewn that the cost of the Mission House is excessive^
averaging for each Secretary £500. per annum. We have asked why
four Secretaries, and one lay-agent, besides clerks, are necessary in the
Wesleyan Missionary House, when two Secretaries can transact the
business of the London Missionary Society ? And who has given us an

answer? Doctor Alder could be spared for Canada some months

Doctor Bunting has not been seen at the Mission House for lengthened

periods together three of the Secretaries — learned Doctor's of course

— have be(m missing at once. We have asked, why an independent
committee of examination of the expenditure of our Missions, has not

been appointed and who has given us an answer? We have stated,

that whilst the Missionary Secretaries have cost the society £2000. annu-
ally, the labourers abroad have had their salaries cut down, their smallest
items of incidental expenses most unmercifully examined, and reductions
in the income of our heroic, self-denying Missionaries made to such an
extent, that some of them have, to our knowledge, bitterly complained ;
and yet, while all this close shaving is going on abroad, by orders from
Somerset House, Doctor Alder, forsooth, is allowed to travel by post-
chaise, in tirst-class carriages, and to put up at first-rate hotels ; and we
have asked plainly, ' Is this right? Is it just? ' And none of the well-
paid functionaries, to this moment, has dared to give a reply. Why ?
The Secretary knows too well that the fiicts are undeniable ; — that if he
were venturous enough to give them a denial, we should give time, place,
date, inn, — every detail : aye, even to the expensive bills themselves,
with their curious and suspicious items." — Fly Sheets, No. 4, p. 89.*

As these facts become known in the Wesleyan body, it will become
necessary that an enquiry — not of, Who first circulated them ? but of,

* An excellent letter appeared in the Wesleyan of June 22, 1848, entitled "TIio Mission
House and its Management." The writer says, " I find their (the Missiouanes') income aver-
aged, in Van Dieman's laud, £193. ; in Hudson's Bay, not JE200. a year; and in other districts
not so much ; while in England, the Iny-agent, who does just the work of a city missionary,
exclusive of travelling, has .{■377. 14s. Id. The town Secretaries had among them the sum of
£1356. 13s. 8d. last year, besides travelling expenses. Let the Committee Uiink of this when

they call upon the Missionaries to retrench. Let them ask the Secretaries to begin at home

Is it too much to ask, that a Committee be appointed, of grntleraen actively cngafied in the
■Mission cause, but not connected with the oflcials at the Centenaiy Hall, to examine into the
accounts, and to report to the subscribers what reductions could be made in the ojfice and in the
saUiries of the Secretaries ? The labourer is worthy of his hire; but why should the labour-
ers (?) at the Mission House have double the salaiy of London circuit preachers, or the forei<rn

missionaries} Do they work harder ? Are they more zealous, devoted, holy? Cannot f wo,

or at most three, do all the work that is nominally done by four ? Can any one, on going on
business to the Mission House, see any other than Mr. Hoole ? \Miere are the three U. D.'s ?
Are they engaged in their rooms, or are they found snugly at home ? "

Are these things so ? — be instituted. General assertions, made by the
general Secretaries, as to the items of home expenditure for printing,
or such as that made by Mr. Heald, v/ho said that he was ashamed to see
one of the secretaries' houses, so badly was it furnished, will not inspire
confidence in the administration of our Mission House finances for the
Home department. As the facts have begun, by means of The V/atch-
man and The Wesleyan, to ooze out into public, — for their own credit,
for the satisfaction of the subscribers, and for the conviction of the Fly
Sheets of lying slanders, — the Missionary Secretaries should furnish afl
independent committee with the opportunity of examining their entire
financial proceedings for the last twelve years ; and then issue a report
that will prove, that not alone in the foreign stations, but that also and
equally in personal expenses of the home department, the most conscien-
tious economy has been observed ; — that is, if they can do so.

Till this is done, the Fly Sheets may be denounced, their authors cen-
sured, declarations affirming their falsehood numerously signed by minis-
ters, re-issue upon re-issue of obnoxious and inquisitorial tests make
their appearance, Manchester Minor District Meetings by the perversion
of a law which itself involves an impious rejection of the law of Christ
be repeated till the tyranny is intolerable ; but all this M-ill not have the
effect of giving confidence to the Wesleyan body as to the wise, economi-
cal, and disinterested expenditure of Missionary monies. A well drawn
up report, after an impartial examination of all docum.ents, ledgers, and
officials,* signed by men, a majority of whom have not been officially con-
nected with the Centenary Hall, or any other great centre of " Location,

* Tiie Fly Sheets have intimated that there is great danger, lest by retaining men of Iunit«.d
incomes in offices which cause considerable sums of money to pass through their hands, they
should be tempted, especially if tlie system favours their continuance in such offices for an
unlimited period, to misappropriate, and apply them to their own uses. For this uncharitable
suspicion, for this gi'oundless apprehension, they have been most severely censured as traducers
a nd false accusers of the bretln-en. Are they so ? Was there no ground of apprehension ? Does
not evei7 man see that when men of limited incomes are li\-iug luxuriously either as to viands
or to drinks, in their mode of travelling, or their habits on the road, they must either get fright-
fully into debt, or be making too free with money not ther own ? The conclusion is inevitable.
What is the fact ? Providence, at this very juncture, when by Osborn's Test Act Screw, and Eunr
ting's Manchester Inquisition, the interested parties are employing all their means to put down
the Fly Sheets, and to visit witli condign punishment their authors if found to be within their
reach ; at this veiy juncture, rnoviDENCE itself issues forth a Fly Sheet to the wiiole connexion,
by bringing to light a fact sustaining one of the heaviest chaa-ges of the Fly Sheets. It is now
no secret. It is knoM-n in tovvn and countiy; by laymen and by minislers : in London it is the
common talk : it has produced consternation ; it has induced some, who before treated the Fly
Sheets as a pack of lies, to believe that they are not so false in other particulars, since they
prove correct in one of their most awful allegations— embezzlement of public funds. A Trea-

Centralization, and Secularization," would be worth =£10,000. just now
to the Missionary Society. It ought to be furnished. The Secretaries
may flatter themselves that it is unnecessary. They do not hear what is
said in the provinces. They do not even hear what is siiid in the
metropolis. The Fly Sheets on this point are only the organ of Wes-
leyan opinion. And if the officials at the Mission House will keep their
affairs wrapped up in mystery, if they will not explain these heavy
furniture items, if they will not explain the necessity of the large per-
sonal expenditure, instead of the Fly Sheets, they will have public opinion,
in tones not to be mistaken, and with an authority not to be resisted,
summoning them to its bar, and demanding an account of their steward-
ship. The Mission House v/ill be searched : nothing can prevent it.
The time is not distant.

V. The Presidential Chair. " Though," say the Fly |Sheets,
'"'' the world may be disposed to think lightly of the office of the President
of a Y*^esleyan Conference, it may be doubted whether a more really
honourable office exists than that of a minister of Jesus Christ, chosen
by the spontaneous suffrages of five hundred of his brethren to preside
over them Its qualifications are, —

1. Age. We may safely predict that the Conference will not again
select for its President a man of (onlyj twenty years standing, as in the
case of Mr. Bunting. It is not for the honour of the body: it is scarcely
an ultimate advantage to himself. Thirty, or between that and forty
years of ministerial labour, seem desirable — and that spent in the regular

surer of one is under suspension. Alreiidy Tory laymen are saying — this is a fact — That our
financial accounts must undergo impartial investigation hi every department, or the confidence
of the body will be seriously afFocted ; and that more frequent changes must be made of our
principal officers. The matter cannot now resr, where it is. Honourable men, who hold other
equally and similarly responsible positions, will now be anxious for a thorough examiuatiou into
their respective depaitments, that they may stand free of all suspicion of malappropriation of
the contributions of the body. — But what have the auditors of this Treasurer's accounts been
about, that they did not discover defalcations amounliug to some thousands ? Who are they ?
Are they among the located ?

These remarks will probably be severely censured. Ey whom? By none more severely
than by those Avho could hardly have been without suspicion of soine of the delinquencies of the
party in question. By none more severely tlian by those whose activity and zciil in getting
private subscriptions in another case suggest the idea, tliat a man unfit to superintend a journal
^t home, is a very lit person to exercise that supcn'ision abroad, and on a ISIission station too.
.By none more severely than by those who wink at an official slop shop for the outfit of Wesleyau
Missionaries, where the best articles may be had at the lowest prices— «n(J may not be .-—parties
at home and abroad, in town and in countiy, will understand the allusion, even if none should
exclaim, "Ah, I was duped tliere." Let Sampson's companions puzzle out this riddle.

ministerial work — that the man may be thoroughly acquainted with the

workings of the system Men who are located are not the men to be

elected they want the proper sympathies requisite for the discharge of

the duty : their habits and associations render them cold, distant, strange.
Men engaged in the work can alone sympathise with their fellows.

2. Wisdom. Without this the head will require a head ; — a prompter
by his side who either voluntarily, officiously, or mechanically, turns to
him.

3. Firmness. This is necessary to control and command ; but then
it must steer clear of obstinacy. How would such a man as Joseph
Taylor, all gentleness, have met a storm ?

4. Dignity.

No man possessed of these qualifications should be deemed ineligible ;
or even less eligible because of his political principles. Think of the
absurdity of rejecting any man, simply because he is known not to be a
tory ! or because he has been known to express a doubt whether the union
of Church and State works well for either party ! — Fly Sheets, No. 2,
p.p. 3—6.

" The impropriety of re-electing to the office any who have filled it,
while there are others equally eligible, as to qualification, who have not
yet been so honoured," is thus put by the writers of the Fly Sheets :

"1. The honours of the body are denied to those who are equally
entitled to them

2. The respectability of the body is prostrated. Instead of having
twelve patriarchs to look up to in twelve elections, the brethren are
favoured with four, in consequence of triple elections ; instead of ' twenty
four elders ' we are furnished with eight : and these passing from little
more than boyhood to manhood, on their third election, and not even

then ripe for veneration Where is the respect due from the body at

large to five or six comparatively young men, — say, Bunting, Jackson,
Grindrod, Scott, &c., elevated above their brethren, instead of a score of
sages, venerable for years, with the wisdom and experience of the Church

embodied in them ? And what must be the opinion of other sections

of the church, when they perceive us practically declaring, that there are
only three or four men in the whole Conference, capable of filling the
Presidential Chair ? — these men occupying it for a series of years, and
thus confirming, though in reference to one of the largest christian
communities in the Protestant world, the low views which many have
entertained of the talents and attainments of Methodist preachers !

3. The liberties of the body are jeopardized. However it may be
accounted for, the first election of a man (and his discharge of his duty)
has had a freshness about it, seldom, perhaps, never equalled on the
repetition of the honour. Doctor Bunting, in his first election, did more
of unmixed good to the connexion, (or less evil, which you will,) than in
any of his subsequent elections

4. Re-election is no exaltation Were it the understood usuage

not to re-elect, no man could deem himself slighted for not being re-
chosen. Not to be chosen again when eligible, is a slight ; almost as bad
as not being chosen at all. But all cannot be re-elected ; therefore, this
serious evil should be removed.

5. It is a piece of flagrant injustice to others of equal, and, in
many instances, superior claims to the persons elected, whose wisdom and
experience, as in the case of Mr. Stanley, are placed under a bushel, by
lesser lights being put in their place.

6. It is unnecessary. There are other men able to fill the office.
Who ever filled it more creditably than Mr. Stanley ? (who was so long
kept out of it for no other reason than that he was known to be a liberal.)
Actual experience and practice in the office, cannot be employed as an
argument ; for — First, That would operate against any man's entering
upon it, since no one could acquire its experience till he first filled it.
Secondly, The practical working of the office is familiar to every man
that attends Conference, and on which he may be said to receive lessons
annually, in the conduct of those who fill it. Thirdly, There are certain
contingencies that cannot be foreseen, respecting which a re-elected
President would feel himself as awkwardly placed, as any other member
of the Conference.

No private or party consideration should be allowed either to pro-
mote or to hinder an election to this office To secure elections,

arguments have frequently been resorted to, not only pitiful in the
extreme, but utterly derogatory to christian character. Firmness was
pleaded to secure the re-election of Mr. Reece, it being affirmed that he
would be able to meet the Warrenite storm at Sheffield. This, with
some who employed it, was only another word for obstinacy, which was
no less than a reflection on the man himself; nor would such a quality
have disturbed the minds of those who put it forth as an excellence.
Loyalty was pleaded by the same party on behalf of Mr. Stephens, at
the Manchester Conference; — a man who, because of his preaching king
George more than King Jesus, gave great offence to the people, and

sacrificed nearly five hundred members of the Society, through his
haughty, political bearing. The monument, it was urged, was to be
raised w^here the battle was fought ! and this irrespective of every other
qualification, or even private virtues, of which he had many. Honour
was advanced in favour of Mr. Grindrod's election at Leeds, he having
been actively engaged in the ill-fated organ case. Here again, the monu-
ment was to be erected on the battle-field, and the people to be addition-
ally irritated by the preferment. ' Well,' said Doctor Clarke to Doctor
Townley, ' I have known and loved you ; but I never thought you were
the man to move a resolution to white-wash these Leeds fellows : they
will never be white-washed to eternity.' This is, perhaps, too strong....
Whiggism was urged against Mr. Stanley, by the London clique ; and,
yet, Mr. Atherton, another whig, was nominated by the tories, when, in
order to serve a purpose, it became convenient to forget his political sins.
Other arguments, that have been employed, are as contemptible as
the above. '' Mr. T. Jackson ought to be re-elected, because he had the
fag of the Centenary work, and he had the principal part of the work
of Mr. Lessey, his successor, to do.' On Mr. S. Jackson being named,
'Oh,' said one of the tory ex-presidents, Mie won't do; he has been
awkward some years ;' that is, not sufficiently supple for the party.
' We cannot,' said another of them, give appearance to a man.' This is

as laughable as it is contemptible, and implies that Messrs. were

perfect beauties Just as the brethren were proceeding to vote, Doctor

Bunting said that the step he was going to take was unprecedented ;
that it had only within a few minutes entered his mind, and respecting
which he had the sanction of those around him — that it was very desir-
able, that united as they M-ere in reality, they should also keep the sem-
blance of it before the world ; and that as it appeared a very general
feeling on the part of the preachers, that a certain venerable minister,
(Mr. Atherton,) should be elected, he, and others with him, M'ho had
actually had other intentions when they came to Bristol, sliould submit
to the known desire of the mnjority, and give their votes to that venerable
man. On the face of this it is evident, —

1. That Doctor Bunting and his party had fixed on another man.

2. That they were so completely wrapped up in the plenitude of their
supposed power, owing to their plans and past success, that it was only
on the eve of the election that they discovered and felt their weakness.

3. That Doctor Bunting felt the impertinence of his position when
he stepped fortii as he did

4. That he wished to impose upon others, hy conveying the impres-
sion, that Mr. Atherton's election was likely to be the result of his co-
operation, when it was firmly believed by the opposite party, that it really

did not make the difference of twenty votes It was well remarked —

aye, by a tory too, ' When the Doctor found he must fall, he ought to
have fLilIon with dignity ; and when he found he could not keep Mr.
Atherton out, he ought not to have appeared to help him, when it was
apparent enough that his professed help was only a cover to his own

defeat.' On a motion of thanks to the ex-president, (Mr. Stanley,)

Doctor Beaumont observed that he rejoiced in the choice made in

the President for the present year, on the ground that the Rev. W.
Atherton had never filled the office before, and expressed a hope that
henceforth Presidents would be chosen on this principle. This senti-
ment was loudly cheered by the majority; but Doctor Bunting

endeavoured to put the latter dov/n, by stating, that he was not speaking
to the point, but introducing matter " most unwarrantably and unjustifi-
ably " by referring to the "question of re-election," which, he

averred, was out of season. Doctor Beaumont came down upon him
with an advantage only equal to the force w'ith which he dealt out his
blows ; stating, in reply, that his remarks were neither unseasonable nor
unwarrantable; and that, if they w^ere, Doctor Bunting, of all men
in the world, should be the last to prefer such a charge, as he was
notorious for taking occasions, while speaking on one subject, of forstall-
ing the Conference upon others, that he might the more readily insinuate
his views and measures. Mr. Jackson was elected President by a
triumphant majority of 174 over Mr. Beecham ; on whose behalf the
clique exerted all their power both before and at Conference, but who
only obtained 5Q votes, — votes by ballot, be it remembered. The defeat
was complete, as they had strained every nerve to get him into the chair.
The vanquished could not conceal their chagrin. ' We thought that ice
ought not to vote for you, 7jou being the nominee uf a factiun!' Such
was the language with which the only man in the Conference who would
have had the temerity, and who would have been allowed the opportunity,
insulted the President, after he had taken the chair. ' The nominee of
a faction,' indeed ! 174 being the faction, and 54 being the Conference.
Any other man would have been clamoured down : would have been
compelled to make an apology. When, during the same Conference- —
and that was often — Doctor Beaumont came down upon the clique with
his avalanche powers, scores of voices at their highest pitdi, bellowed

' order, order ;' and shewed intense sensitiveness to decorum, modera-
tion, and meekness in the speaker : but when the President was insulted
to his face, in the open Conference, these throat-orators were quiet and

unmoved Whom was G. Morley, J. Taylor, E. Grindrod, or J.

Scott, the nominee of? Of Doctor Bunting. Surely 174 brethren
have as good a right to nominate as one. But the good Doctor forgot
his own towering assumptions when, himself filling the chair, he coolly
told the wondering and gaping brotherhood, that they were to look upon
him as John Wesley ! The very same chair (now) filled by the nominee
of a faction."*— Fly Sheets, No. 2, p.p. 6—10; No. 3, p.p. 16, 17;
No. 4, p.p. 17—19.

Not even The Watchman, that has come so valorously, and, according
to '^ S.," in a letter in The Watchman for Nov. 22, so successfully,
that he wishes the articles on Location, Centralization, and Seculariza-
tion, cheaply printed and extensively circulated ; — this pamphlet is circu-
lating them more widely, it is presumed, than some friends of Location
will desire, as the "" triumphant refutation " of The Watchman has been
itself exposed in all its sophisms and hollo wness ; — not even the Vfatch-
man has entered into the arena, and offered combat to the arguments of
the Fly Sheets, against re-elections. It may be because they are weak
and untenable ; that the wisdom and advantages of confining this office
to as few of the preachers as possible are so obvious that the case may be
left to its own merits, as one that speaks for itself. The Wesleyan pub-
lic will now be able to judge whether there is any, and how much there
is of, force in the arguments adduced to prevent the Conference from
electing preachers twice, thrice, and even four times, while others, not
less eligible than the choicest of the re-elected, have not the honour once
during their long, zealous, and labourious lives! That the general
opinion without is unfavourable to this monopoly of honour, will hardly
be doubted ]>y those who mix and converse freely, with, if not the elite ^
the masses of the Wesleyan public. Doctor Newton evidently felt at the
Hull Conference the pressure of the arguments against re-election, that
had been urged during the year, as he observed, that, doubtless, except
in extraordinary cases, a man should not be re-elected to the office.
What an extra extraordinary case then must it be to justify a fourth
election. Members of other christian communities are led by this
monopoly of office to conclude, either that Methodism labours under a

* "Subsequently he struck the Conference with amazement by cL'simmg to have ' Uberty of
speech.' As though lie had ever been tongue-tied or gagged ! "

sad paucity of men to fill honourably this office, or under a servile yoke
that prevents the Conference from doing itself the honour of shewing
that the Head of the Church has blessed us with men enough yearly to
fill this distinguished position in uninterrupted succession.* Besides, it
has a tendency to preserve that equality among presbyters so indispen-
sably necessary in a connexion like ours. A large and annually increasing
number of ex-Presidents could not form a junta: and the platform
would be inconveniently small, or most significantly and too strikingly
enlarged to contain them all: and thus another evil, in the estimation of
the writers of the Fly Sheets, would disappear : the platform would
soon arive wav under the weight of once-elected Presidents. Will they
stand or fall together ?

VI. The Platform. Many will not imderstand this term.
In the chapel where the Conference assembles, a platform is erected, on
which the President, the Secretary, the ex- Presidents, the Letter Writers,
Missionary Secretaries, School Governors, and other official, and semi-
official characters sit. The Fly Sheets regard this as an evil. Many
will think that the Fly Sheet writers are very captious, and very censori-
ous to devote several pages to such a trifle as this, and particularly as

* " Till the publication of No. 2 of the Fly Sheets, tliis matter had scarcely been discussed
any where, or by any one. It seemed to occur as a matter of coui'se, that the Presidential
ohair should be reserved for a very elect few ; who for life, as often as the constit.u'ion of the
body would allow, should engross this honour to themselves. Ko. 2 was a bomb-shell tlirown
into this coterie of Presidents elect. It exploded for ever the idea of its revolving in regular
but extremely limited cycles. The new idea spread like the hght of tlie morning. It is amiu-

ing hov>^ it commended itself to the judgment of candid men These reasons, we know, have

induced many preachers to declai-e themselves against the re-election of any man to tliis office.

The extent to vhich this opinion prevails will be severely tested when Doctor NewU>u

becomes eligible for a fourth time. Various pleas are assigned, even by such as are won
over to the non-re-election pilnciple, why in this instance, and in this only, it should liave the
go-bye.

' If any man deserves this distinction. Doctor Newton desenxs it.' We cannot allow that any
preacher has either such peculiar qualifications for the office, or has such exU-aordinai-y pfrsoual
merit, that he deserve the hoiiour a fourth time, rather thim another a first time. He would
himself shrink from the supposition. ' If Doctor Newton has not the chair tliis year, then it will
go down in the history of Methodism that Doctor Bunting alone had tlie distinction of the
Presidency for the fourth-time.' This plea supposes the re-election to be an evil. Shall it be

repealed ? Our reply is 'Let the system begin and end in him.' It will be a beacon to all

futui-e Wesleyan legislators and constitution niendera. ' Doctor Newton was so ill-used at Hull
by the friends of Mr. Caughey that, in this instance, we should malic an exception to what
henceforth must be the general rule.' The set-otf against tliis plea is— For yeiu-s he has had a
unique honom* : that of an extraordinary commission to have no circuit duties except on the
Sabbath. For years he has been pennanent Sccretai^ of the Conference, has otice crossed the
Atlantic as the representative of the Wesleyan to the American Conference, and thrice already

platforms are very common affairs at annual meetings, and are very inno-
cent things, and even very useful on public occasions. Granted. But
the Fly Sheets shall speak for themselves, before any observations are
made upon this part of their contents.

" We might be charged with a want of christian charity were we to
assert, that pride prompted the erection of the platform at our Confer-
ences. The presiding officer should be in such a position as to be

able to determine who is the speaker and what is the opinion of the

majority. All this may be done without the appendage of an unwieldly

platform The greatest outcry against our remarks will be from those

who occupy that elevated post : but then the opposition will be from an
interested party, whose hostility will be open to considerable suspi-
cion. We intend to be simply argumentative — to appeal to the unbiassed
judgment of all. If our arguments can he met^ let them he met. We
argue for our brethren on the floor of the house.

The following are the particulars to which we beg attention : —

1. The platform being of comparatively modern date, it cannot
claim any regard on account of age. Abstracted from the policy (which
introduced \i) it has neither beauty nor comeliness to plead. It is a
formless, unsightly, inconvenient monstrosity ; and would appear much

has he lilled the Presidential chair. Surely this is honour enough fro:n his brethren ; and may
be placed as an ample set-oif against any measure of dishonour which his friends may suppose

he has received from another quarter ! Besides, what will the Hull friends of Caughey think

of the party who set up this plea ? . . . . WOl it give them an exalted view of the Christianity of the
brethren, if they see them elevating a thrice-chaired Doctor to the chair again — not because
ihey dare pretend that he has any remarkable qualifications for it, but because on one occasion
they choose to make a poor collection?. .. .Make him president anywhere rather than Hull.
' It will go near to breaking his heart if he be not re-elected this year.' We are loathe to believe
any thing of the kind. We would not have named it, though we have heard it from some of his
own friends, only that, on the supposition that it is a libel on him, it sei'ves to shew up the vile-
uess of tlie system against wMch we take up our pens. We do not represent this plea as the
statement of a fact. We hold him not to have so overweening a vanity and self-esteem as lo
suppose himself injui'ed, because he has not for the fom-th time, the Presidential chair,
when Fowler, Beaumont, HasweU, Lomas, Walton, &c., have not had it once. V/ell may
he exclaim, ' Heaven save me from my friends ! " The plea, if true, would be a most
powerful reason for keeping him out of the chau*, as furnishing the most distressing evidence
possible, that the system has been a hot-bed of vanity, littleness, and seltishuess, inducing a
hankering after honour that nothing will satisfy, and that makes an act of justice to the many
appear an insult and wrong to a petted favourite. ' If Doctor Newton be re-elected this time,
we will consent to oppose re-elections for ever after.' If re-elections be right, why not more of
them ? If WTong ; why this one ? ' If Doctor Newton be re-elected we shall have a change in
the seat of government, fcr his lady ivill have a country residence.' Stm-dy unmistakable oppo-
nents as we are to Centralization we should think we were paying too dear for om- whistle.

We add, if Doctor Newton be elected he excludes three worthy brethren for ever from this
honour. Can he approve of this ? " — Fly Shetts, No. 4, p.p. 3 — 5.

better in the centre of a market-place, or in the front of a goal, mounted
by the executioner with his axe, than in the house of God, in the midst
of an assembly of christian ministers.

2. The brethren were not fully aware, at first, how it would work,
and were the less suspicious for some time, from the circumstance of
platforms being familiarized to the eye in Missionary Meetings. Its
introduction was sly, unobtrusive, and, at first, viewed as almost neces-
sary ; but, for some years past, its effects have been wofully felt : the
scaffold, as well as the platform, has been recognized.

3. There was no platform in Mr. Wesley's day : nor for many years
after ; and yet, when any thing does not suit the great ruler's taste or
purpose, no man pretends to greater scrupulosity, in any dejiarture from
the plans and proceedings of Mr. Wesley Just imagine the vener-
able shade of the departed Wesley to enter the Conference, and fix his
eye on this erection — this piece of parade — graced with four Missionary
Secretaries, three Letter Writers, four Secretaries to the Conference, two
Governors of Schools, with other functionaries, too numerous to mention !

4. There is no platform in the House of Commons, raising a few
ex-ministers head and shoulders over their brethren ; nor in the General
Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Why not imitate this dignity and
simplicity ? The Wesleyan platform is certainly unique in form, in
character, but obvious enough in intent and purpose.

5. It leads the young men (who may have to occupy it) to assume an
air of import;ince ; makes them forward, and officious. As ' shallow
draughts' of knowledge intoxicate the brain, so undue elevation not
unfrequently produces the same effect. Great heights are perilous to
weak heads.

6. It gives the few an undue advantage over the many. We have
often thought that arguments coming from that elevated place, — although
very light, when weighed in the balance, — have been taken to possess
unusual force, like light substances which acquire a momentum by falling
from a height.

7. Senior brethren, who have borne the burden and heat of the day,
are placed at the feet of comparatively young men. Till last Conference,
the venerable President, the Rev. J. Stanley, was placed at the feet of
Messrs. Jackson, Hannah, Scott, Fowler, Beecham, Alder, Barton,
Keeling, Farrar, &c., and Mr. Atherton and others, between 70 and 80
years of age, still remain there.

8. The whole apparatus is an anomaly. What can be more out of

keeping than the President^ the highest officer, and a Letter Writer^ the
lowest officer, placed side by side? The President is hidden, in great
part, from view, by a huge box, like an auctioneer behind his desk. He
who is to preserve the assembly in a state of order and decorum, should
have his seat so elevated, as to give him the most perfect oversight and com-
mand of the assembly ; giving him in actual position, what he is officially, a
point of elevation which will at once place the entire assembly below him.

9. As by elevating a man to such an office, we ehter into a sort of
compact with him, and promise courteous and christian submission to
him while he is in it, it is necessary that his seat and insignia of office
should be so placed, as constantly to remind us of our compact. We
iind the position of affairs the very reverse of this. All on the platform
being next to equal to the eye, the persons around the President, especi-
ally Doctor Bunting, are often addressed instead of the President him-
self ; and hence a diminution, not only of dignity bat of attention and
influence. The satellites draw off the eye from Jupiter ; the men around
divide the attention of the house among themselves, v/hich ought to be
concentrated in the Chair : nor can it be otherwise, as every man expects
some attention, being led to conclude himself a person of some considera-
tion, having been placed there for the purpose of reminding the brethren
either of what he was, or of what he is.

10. Wherefore should all or any of those who have filled the office
of — say President, have any elevated seats, or any visible emblems of past
honours, unless they mean to state, that when a man has been once ad-
vanced to this dignity of office, he is never to descend from it again ?
And, if men, who have been inflated with the dignity of the office, seek
to be thus lifted up above their brethren, ought they to be indulged?

11. If those who have sustained the honour of this office continue
to be actuated by judgment, prudence, and a love of liberty, they will
neither seek, nor allow themselves to retain, any other prominence among
their brethren, than what their age, wisdom, gravity, and service to the
Connexion will give them.

12. But what claim can the Secretary, sub-Secretaries, Missionary
Secretaries, Theological Tutors, Clerks of the Journals, School Govern-
ors, Letter Writers, Representatives from Ireland, &c., have to a
place on the platform, some of whose offices require privacy rather than
publicity to an efficient discharge of them ; none of whom should either
be, or seem to be, seeking any other credit by their offices, than what
their behaviour in them fairly entitles them to.

13. Pre-eminent modesty, humility, piety, and reflection, would
never permit the junior brethren of the connexion to place themselves
upon the platform, while any of their seniors, who are at least their equals
for talent, respectability, and service to the Connexion, are sitting on the
floor of the house : and were such compelled to take their place on the
platform, (and nothing but compulsion could place them there,) tl^v
would be the last to open their mouth on any disputed matter.

14. The presence of young men on the platform is not only flagrant
injustice to others of equal, and, in many instances of superior wisdom,
piety, and usefulness, but it is out of character even in an official point
of view. Why not place the Chairmen of such Districts as Bristol,
Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Liverpool, &c., there? They are
as important personages as some of the brethren who grace (?) the
platform.

15. A Conference platform is any thing but a true representation of
the talent, piety, and glory of our body. The public naturally enough
suppose, that the men whom they see crowding the platforms on con-
ferential occasions, constitute the weight and very cream of our Con-
nexion ; and the men who ordinarily throng them on such occasions
evidently entertain and foster the idea. But is it so ? Far otherwise :
sometimes the very reverse.

16. Conference platforms are detrimental to the transaction of
business ; overawing the brethren on the floor of the house, ...infringing
on the liberties of the body, by giving to some who are on it, and to
others who are countenanced by it, a boldness bordering upon assump-
tion and tyranny.

17. The men on the platform practically constitute a party against
the brethren below ; defending and supporting each other on any remarks
ofi'ered on their plans, propositions, and speeches. Thus Doctor Alder
was carried through his Canadian case. The men have not only the
influence and honour attached to their offices, but they have the over-
whelming weight of the platform superadded. ..they work into each other's
hands.

18. The platform has been too long a kind of seat of government.
It could, till lately, carry almost every thing. It could dispose of the
Presidency with something like certainty. No measure could succeed to
which the platform opposed itself. No measure, however absurd, was
likely to fail, if proposed there. The last Conference began to shew
some signs of having borne this long enough.

19. By some fatality a man, when raised to the refined atmosphere
of the Platform, seemed to lose all independence of thought. Mr.
Fowler may justly take to himself the credit of being the first who re-
sisted the Circean influence. He is of so sturdy a make, that the Presi-
dential Chair, when he arrives there, (which must be ere long,) will not
detract one atom from his independent bearing. Neither will it alter
the character of the venerable man — Mr. Stanley — who now so worthily
fills it. Mr. Fowler's elevation to one of the humble offices on the
platform was no more intended as a compliment, than it was expected he

would be transformed, and take the cue from others : but was aware

that every transaction was recorded in the pew : with a view to cripple

him, by furnishing him with other work, he was elevated to a place he
never loved, and where he sits as a speckled bird. The prophet saw
wheels within wheels in his day.*

20. The brethren on the Platform are too near the ear of the Pre-
sident, especially the quasi President's prompter Doctor Bunting, who is

seen always hovering round that quarter It is difficult for the

President to be preserved free from bias, on being within the imme-
diate range of a set of practised party men.

21 We enter our firm and solemn protest against the platform

as an unmitigated evil, and a stifler of the spirit of freedom.

As it is asked, whether in the case of the Missionary Secretaries there
is any reason why another six years' appointment should be made ; so,
in the same sly, but determined way, it should be asked whether there is
any just reason why the platform should remain. All upon the quarter-
deck will cry loud and long, Yes — yes — yes : but the brethren in the hold
will say, No — no, to a man." — Fly Sheets, No. 2, p.p. 11 — 16.

" But nothing short of a flooring will break the undue influence

of the platform. Let the brethren scan over, again and again, our re-
marks in No. 2 ; and never for a moment forget, that, independently of
other things, they are watched from that Observatory, f as to their
demeanour, the men with vJiom they seem most familiar, the expression

* Mr. Fowler resigned the humble office iu 1847, and re-appeai-ed among his bretlu-en on the
floor of the house, where " the Fov/lerlan note-book " could again be in requisition. In 1648,
his brethren unexpectedly elevated him to the platform by choosing him the Secretary of the
Conference.

+ Doctor Beaumont may always be seen in Conference occupying a side seat. It is under-
stood that he talces this disadvantageous position because the platform is known to be an obser-
yalorj', and he does not choose to have evej-y look and expression of countenance scanned and
interpreted by the favoured brethi-en.

of face with which they receive platform remarks, and the votes they
give, all of which have an influence in the packed Committees, either for
or against them. The weasel eye is always upon them from that height:
place it on the floor of the house, and freedom will be enjoyed. Only
the last Conference, on Mr, W. Grriffith mantaining his non approving
position of a vote put from the chair. Doctor Bunting perceiving him
from the Observatory, shouted out, — ' Come, William Griffith, stand up
like a man, and shew your approval of the resolution.' To attempt to
coerce a man into a measure by public exposure suits one of the pur-
poses for which the platform was erected." — Fly Sheets, No. 3, p. 8.

Though every one of these twenty-one objections against a Conference
platform has not overwhelming weight, and though some may think that
too much is made by the writers, of this arrangement in Conference
proceedings, yet much more can be said against having a platform than
can be said in favour of one. Can a single argument be furnished in
support of this unsightly, and, in many respects, inconvenient apparatus?
If the speaker of the House of Commons, and the ministers of the
country have no need of one ; if the General Assembly of the Church
of Scotland, and of the Free Church, can transact their ecclesiastical
business without one ; if the several Dissenting Associations, in their
annual or half yearly meetings, have never found any inconvenience from
the absence of this apparatus audits '' furniture, animate and inanimate ;"
why should one be necessary in the Methodist Conference, whose assem-
blies are not more numerous ? Why should one be persisted in when
no less than twenty-one objections, some of them very weighty ones, are
urged against its continuance? No one can doubt that the perennial
elevation of some twenty men on a platform has a tendency to give them
an influence which otherwise they would not have ; may lead them to
entertain, especially when they are not senior men, undue notions of their
own importance ; gives them opportunities, much more favourable than
are enjoyed by their brethren on the floor, for addressing the Conference;
and makes it a more difficult affair for modest and timid men, especially
if they have not stentorian voices, to speak fully their sentiments in oppo-
sition to the entire weight of the platform. The brethren are equal,
save as age, experience, talent, usefulness, piety, make a difference.
They ought to appear what they are— brethren, fellow-presbyters. Let
the President, and if it pleased, the Secretary, have a seat so placed that
the former may have a full view of the assembly over which he prcsi.lcs ;
and let the brethren, even after having filled the high office of President

of the Conference, resume the seat which their years give them on the
floor of the house, like the Moderator of the General Assembly of the
Church of Scotland, who, after the expiration of his official existence,
takes his accustomed place as one of the brotherhood. This will give
dignity to the chair. This will give liberty to the Conference.

VII. CoNNEXiONAL COMMITTEES. " Part of Doctor Bunting's
policy has been to constitute as many committees, connexional and other-
wise, as possible ; and in these to transact the vital part of the business
of Conference ; bringing in merely a report of the general proceedings
of the Committee for its sanction...... The grand argument in favour of

them is, that of expediting the business of Conference, and preserving
its affairs distinct. There is validity in this : but, with these advantages,
it is necessary to guard against abuse ; and we contend, that business

will be dispatched with equal ease and rapidity by a change of hands

The committees furnish a man, who secures a seat in all he wishes to
enter, with an undue influence over his brethren. They (the committees)
may be employed for party purposes.

For some time a Nomination Committee, composed of the ex- Presidents,
Missionary Secretaries, the Treasurers and Clerks of the Funds, &c.,
has had the work confided to it, of proposing members for the Con-
nexional Committees. This was a deep scheme ; threw an amazing

amount of power into (one man's) hands In this way have the

brethren been juggled out of their privileges and liberties, — piece after
piece, — stealthily and hooded over with plausible pretexts, and without
being aware of their position till the ground was removed from beneath
them.

These men have been in the modest and disinterested habit of nomina-
ting each other, and of adding to their number uiien like-minded with
themselves. The farce is also played (we can scarcely call it any thing
else) of finding unanimously, that there were reasons for another six
years' election. This deserves a careful consideration.

As the men who compose this Nomination Committee have been in the
habit of manifesting their partialities, by electing their own clique, as
pointed out in the Table of our last, ' Fly Sheet,' p. 4, so when an inde-
pendent man has given utterance to an opinion adverse to the clique, he
has been struck off the lists, and has been seen no more for years.
S. D. Waddy was put on the Book-Committee at the Conference of
1837 : at the following Conference, in the Book-Committee, he spoke at

some length on the desirableness of revising and amending some of our
formularies, especially the abridgement of the Common Prayer, Mils-
called Mr. Wesley's, when Doctor Bunting gave him a severe castigation.
His name appeared no more on the committee for the next seven years !
Cases of this kind would rarely occur in popular elections, as the brethren
would love a man the more for his independence.
Packed Committees engender many evils.

1 . They confine the knowledge of the Connexion to a few who allow
only the mere surface workings of the system to escape.

2. They furnish a man like Doctor Bunting with an undue degree
of influence, prejudical to the comforts of the brethren, as well as pro-
mote party feelings and party purposes.

3. It is in them that men are marked and go branded through the
Connexion for years. So it has been with Burdsall, Bromley, Beau-
mont, Everett, Galland, Dunn, Fowler, Stanley, Rowland, \V. Griffith,
Tarr, &c., &c.

4. They are employed for the baser purposes of furnishing pecuniary
help to men who have no claim upon the body, beyond that of relation-
ship to some of the members. Thus Doctor Bunting's son-in-law has
been helped to a salary of £200. per annum, exclusive of travelling
expenses ; while the Rev. S. Jackson, who has done more for the cause
of education than the whole of them put together, has been thrown into
the back-ground, and been left to struggle alone....

Conference has very little to do in choosing a man for any official
station. For example, it will probably come to pass, — though we appre-
hend not very soon, if the wishes of the present occupants are to decide
the time, — that it may be necessary to seek a successor, we will say, to
one of the Missionary Secretaries. Will Conference originate the choice
of such an official ? Nothing of the kind ! A proposal will come before
them, as the earnest recommendation of a Committee, partly consisting of

laymen ; and these, as is notorious, m)t elected with any impartiality

Can any unbiassed opinion be expected after this ? We have only to go
on in the same direction a little while longer, and it will be too late to
lament that the proper and legitimate freedom of the Conference is gone
for ever. It will have become what the French Parliament was, under
the old regime^ — an assembly for registering decrees already made to
their hands, and which they had no real power to question or resist

The self-complacent arrogance of some of these committee-men is
truly wonderful A resolution, previously in close conclave concocted,

is moved, seconded, and supported in open Conference, by three of the
select cabal. After a speech or two from others of the same conclave,
some unlucky brother "below the bar of the house," arises to shew
reasons per contra. He is immediately marked by the privileged few as
" a disaffected man," " an opposer of the Conference," and the brand of
reprobation is forthwith fixed on him ; and the brethren appear, with
meek resignation, quietly to admit the justice of the condemnation. So
general, indeed, has the disposition become to put '' The Committee "
in the place of " The Conference," and to consider the opposers of
the one as hostile to the other, that we have known men, in other respects
high-minded and liberal, who have privately remonstrated with the
refractory brother after the following fashion: — "My dear brother, if
you had nothing better to propose, why place yourself in an attitude of
hostility against The Conference!" By " The Conference," reader,
you are to understand, not The Brethren, in their collective capacity
assembled, but the proposer and seconder, and supporter of the aforesaid
resolution, with the two or three orators who spoke in its defence-. Thus
have the brethren surrendered the power of legislation into the hands of

a few self-elected individuals It would be wiser and more dignified

for them to remain at home, rather than countenance by their presence
the annual farce got up for the special glorification of Bunting and Co.,
and the lay-lords whom he delights to honour.

We have shewn that the various Connexional Committees have been
formed on the most manifest partiality and exclusiveness. The same
names occur everlastingly on the numerous committees. It would seem
as though there was an awful paucity of men of ability and character in
the Connexion. Take away some five and twenty preachers, and the
inference from the names on our committees is, that the rest of the body
consists of mere ciphers, not to be trusted in any degree with the man-
agement of our concerns. These are the men, and wisdom will die with
them. Pity, for the Connexion's sake, that we cannot procure for them
an elixer of immortality. When these permanent fathers of the body
remove, what desolate orphans we shall be ! The prospects of the Con-
nexion are awful, if these men may not live, if not for ever, for ages !"
—Fly Sheets, No. 1 , p. 23 ; No. 2, p.p. 19—22 ; No. 3, p.p. 33, 34 ;
No. 4, p.p. 6, 7.

" When Mr. S. Dunn appealed to the London Conference of 1842,
in vindication of his character, because of some disturbance in the Dudley
circuit, the clique, who were prejudiced against him, would not allow the

affair to come before Conference, but delivered him over to a Committee,
which was equal to placing him under the ' Usher of the Black Rod.'
Mr. Dunn very properly refused, and demanded an open trial ; but the
platform over-ruled it ; and the consequence was, he left the Conference
in disgust : and yet, at a subsequent Conference, after denying him jus-
tice, Doctor Bunting had the hardihood to tell him, that he ought rather
to ask pardon of the Conference, than to speak on the subject in ques-
tion ; — one of his customary brow-beating ways of answering an argu-
ment. Now the point with us is not whether Mr. Dunn was right or
wrong in the Dudley case, but the injustice of refusing a man the right
of vindicating himself; for we contend, that every member of the Con-
ference, that wishes it, has the right of public appeal If they wish to

promote any party purposes Doctor Bunting is heard to bawl out,

' The Conference must defend and support its own Committees ! ' This
is generally a closer — not an argument — as the Conference by this trick
is put upon its dignity." — Fly Sheets, No. 1, p.p. 23, 24.

" On the appointment of the Nomination Committee, the President,
(Mr. Atherton,) said, ' that it was not wise to put the same men on so
many committees,' while other men equally fit to be on committees, were
not placed on any. So much for our table in No. I ; which the Presi-
dent must have felt in days gone by ; having, as a whig, been as great a
stranger to the select committees of the tory party, as some of the breth-
ren noticed in the list. On Doctor Beaumont objecting to Mr. Scott
having so many offices as to render a curate necessary^ Doctor Bunting
insisted on his continuance, because ' he knew all the ins and outs of the
business ;' — the old argument employed for himself and his colleagues.
Keep them in office, and you keep others out of knowledge.

We could add many instances to our specimen table in No. 1. Take
the case of the celebrated Charles Prest, who, with Mr. Jobson, has
been taken under the wing of the great ' Station Master.' We find the
former, for the present year, 1846, holding the following posts of
honour: — 1. Member of the Committee for guarding our Privileges.
2. Secretary of the same Committee. 3. On the Special Committee
for cases of exigency. 4. On the Missionary deputation. 5. On the
School Committee. 6. Treasurer of the Schools. 7. On the Com-
mittee for the removal of Kingswood School. 8. On the Book Com-
mittee. 9. On the Chapel and Education Fund Committee. 10. On
the Theological Institution. 11. On the Education Committee. 12. On
the Matrimonial Committee. 1 3. Superintendent of one of the Lon-

don circuits. So much for a boy, comparatively speaking, who has
travelled only sixteen years ! We ask, is there either wisdom in this, as
to the youth himself, or fairness to others ? We may place in opposition
to this, Mr. George Steward disgracefully hunted out of London for
exposing sin. Why is W. P. Burgess omitted ? Has he sinned beyond
redemption in the publication of his hymnology, in connexion with his
vindication of it ? What has John Knowles done? He is a man of
vigorous mind, and is now in the fiftieth year of his itinerancy, and has
been uniformly kept from all committees. The only sin of which he has
been guilty, that has come to our knowledge, is, that like Mr. Everett,
who has shared the same fate, he was an admirer of Doctor Clarke.
What has John Burton done ? — a man that has laboured and suffered in
the Missionary cause — has travelled upwards of twenty years — and has an
intellect of superior order, as well as modesty and character to beautify
it ? He, alas, is another who has not rendered voluntary homage to the
' great image,' — the giver of places, preferments, and pensions, — and
must,, therefore, be kept in the back-ground. We presume Mr. Prest's
case will next have to be met with an additional curate. Brethren,
beware I A boy of sixteen years standing, loaded with thirteen Con-
nexional honours! ! " — Fly Sheets, No. 3, p. 11, 12.

" It was found that the Book Committee had neglected to prepare a
form for the solemnization of marriage in our chapels. Doctor Bunting
stated that they had not time : on which Mr. Osborn said, the London
committees had too much to do, and asked why they could not be trusted
with a committee in the country ? Doctor Bunting here took the alarm,
lest any of the appendages of power and state should be removed from
his presence ; while Scott said, that in London they could get the best
legal advice ! But what has legal advice to do with many of the Com-
mittees ? Why should work be delayed when other hands are ready to
do it, as well as able ? If there were not equal legal advice to be obtained
in the country, two or three Queen's heads would settle the difference.

We have no law prohibiting supernumeraries being members of our
Committee of Privileges, Missions, Schools, Book Affairs and other

Connexional ones Of late it has been the policy of those who have

grasped at power, to retain some of the supernumerary brethren, who
have been favourable to their measures, on most of our Connexional
Committees, to the total exclusion of the rest. This we cannot but
consider a piece of fulsome flattery, not to say vile partiality, to the few,
as well as glaring injustice to the great body of supernumeraries. We

can see some reason in paying this honour to Mr. Reece, who has been

longer in the work than any other man among us Was the Hke honour

paid to Mr. H, Moore, who was his senior by eight years ? Or to Mr.
Highfield, his senior by two years ? Or to Messrs. Reynolds and Sut-
cliffe, his seniors by one year ? O, no ! And what reason can there be
for retaining Mr. G. Marsden on nearly all our Committees, since he be-
came a supernumerary, while Messrs. Kershaw and Shelmerdine, his
seniors by two years, and Mr. R. Smith, his senior by one year, are on
none ? And why should Mr. France be kept on any of them, while
Messrs. Burdsall, Collier, Turton, and others, his seniors, and Messrs.
Blackett, Everett, Bicknell, and others, but httle his juniors, are on
none ? Is it said that Messrs. Reece and Marsden have filled the Presi-
dential chair ? So had Henry Moore. Or, that they were our repre-
sentatives to the American Conference ? " Was not that itself sufficient
honour for the service they rendered to the body ? Or, that they have
served the Connexion with acceptance, fidelity, and efficiency ? And
have not many other supernumeraries served the Connexion with equal
fidelity, acceptance, and effect ? We say, Yes! We therefore think it
preposterous that Mr. Marsden should be on the Missionary Deputation
and on eight committees, Mr. Reece on seven committees, and Mr.
France on two, while so many of their brethren, some of whom are
their seniors, and most of whom are quite as competent to serve the
Connexion, are not on any. This favouritism neither shews love for the
welfare of the body, nor yet for the brethren at large." — Fly Sheets,
No. 3, p.p. 26,27.

" The Missionary Deputation has been made the instrument of par-
tiality and favouritism. This department is known to be generally in the
hands of one of the general Missionary Secretaries, who is himself in
the hand of Doctor Bunting. If Doctor Bunting does not name every
man, his colleagues know his men, whether under the brand or in his
smiles ; and then adding a few others the list is made up.* Hence, men
are found on these deputation lists, not at all remarkable for platform
effect ; and found there, too, for a series of years ; while such men as

* The Fly Sheets have ah-cady told on some points : among others on the deputation lists, on
which, since the publication of the "Sheets," the names of Messrs. Bromley, S.Dunn, and
Kay, have been introduced.

" The Missionary Secretaries had actually put ' the whole statl" ' belonging to the hondon tirst
circuit, upon the deputation. Doctor Alder, wlio, whh this fact before him, disclflimed^all de-
sign to monopolize, reminded Mr. Lomas of the help which his circuit received from ottici'al men
resident in London. ' Aye, aye,' replied Mr. Lomas, who was alive to the ministerial soniceB of

Mr. Bromley, not to say returned Missionaries, are calvinistically ' passed
by;' shewing less anxiety how they may best serve the funds, than how
to display their antipathies and their partialities. But the people are
rising up against this plan : we hear of districts and circuits refusing the
men thus palmed upon them. In this we sincerely rejoice."

" In the number of the Wesleyan for June 22, 1848, there is a striking
tabular view of the Missionary Deputation, shewing a reckless want of
economy^ and the most glaring partiality in the appointments: 17 men,
in the course of six years, being appointed on deputations twice; 9,
thrice; 1 5 , four times ; 15, _^ye times ; 31, i^a: times. It appears also,
that, in ]8'i7, thirty-tivo men were destined to travel 16,050 miles, on
their several deputations, exclusive of their journeying to and from the
respective districts ; and the whole deputation, comprising 78 preachers,
had to travel a distance that would have much more than compassed the
earth. In most instances, better and more effective men, systematically
excluded from these deputations, might have been found ; averaging not
a twentieth part of the distance, and at a comparatively trifling expense.
We hope our readers will advert to the the Table,* in support of the fact
— That we do not complain without reason." — Fly Sheets, No. 1, p.p.
27, 28 ; No. 4, p. 6.

"■ March, 1846, a special Committee of Finance met in London, agree-
ably to the Minutes of the previous Conference, and yet nothing was
allowed to be published, respecting the decisions of this meeting, so im-
portant to the Connexion ; a circular was only directed to the chairmen
of districts, to let out just as much as the preachers should be entrusted
with ! Poor dear men ! they cannot keep secrets, and it is only fit that
the committees should constitute the cabinets in which their knowledge is
to be preserved. The keys are kept by Doctor Bunting." — Fly Sheets,
No. 2, p. 18.

" A word more on the stationing of preachers. No two men have
done more mischief in the Stationing Committee to the character, use-
fulness, and comforts of their brethren, than Doctors Bunting and New-
ton; the one by his arbitrary conduct, prejudices, and pre-possessions ;

these secularized and sluggish men, ' there are two sides to that question.' The whole five men
were, notwithstanding the remonstrance, placed upon the deputation list." — F. S„ No. 3, p. 12.

Is there such a paucity of talent in the Wesleyan ministry that a deputation list cannot be
efficiently completed in any one year, unless the whole ministerial staff be taken from an im-
portant circuit ? The idea is preposterous : the conclusion is, the existence of partyism and
fevouritism.

* See (Table, No. 2,) Appendix.

and the other by scraping up all the tittle-tattle, all the hearsay and one-
sided stories he meets on his way through the Connexion. They both
have free scope in the committees ; and, as the non-favourites turn up,

they are marked Direct opposition is an unpardonable offence, and is

visited from year to year, as in the case of Bromley, with continued
humiliations. If the man happens to be popular, and sought for by
better circuits, it will be insinuated in committee, that he is not fit for
the situation — not to be trusted — or not deserving of it — that he is a
colleague not to be desired : and should any of the lay lords, who wish
to be considered the representatives of our first-rate circuits, consult him
for his opinion, he can easily, as he has often been known to do, give a
mad dog a blow on the head. And well would it be, if there were no
other preachers in the connexion under the influence of the same spirit
and principles. We have his minions — John Scott and others, who can,
and do, as in the case of Messrs. W. Tarr and W. Griffiith, carry out
his insinuations against those whom he has branded. It is only of later
years that Doctor Newton has exercised in his wanderings an inquisitorial

espionage over independent and marked men All this under- working,

counter-working, is to be devoutly laid at the door of piety, and every

man is to consider his appointment providential ! Did the apostles and

first christian ministers, when they differed in opinion, undermine, sup-
plant, and pursue each other with malignant feeling? Did Paul watch
the appointment of Barnabas and Peter, whom he had to withstand to
the face ? Did he attempt to cramp their energies, lessen their respecta-
bility, or curtail their influence? Did he, Bunting-like, mark them from
year to year ? For a man to be pursued from year to year, like Brom-
ley, Dunn, and others, deserves no milder name than that of persecution.
It fosters the worst feelings against these excellent men, and is a sin
against the church of God, in diminishing their usefulness, by lowering

the standard of their ministerial character Did the first and best

Methodist preachers thus worry and destroy each other ? Such conduct
is reserved for the present improved and very perfect state of Methodism
under the administration of Doctor Bunting. This lovely state of things
exhibits to the very life the blessed tendency of Methodism made per-
fect by the ' master mind ' of Doctor Bunting and his adherents,— the
methodism as it is, of the ' mender of systems.' When a man does not
coincide with his views... he must be sent to certain circuits — not those
for which he is fitted— not because there are no other circuits urging his
appointment to them — not to promote the work of God — not because

there is the slightest impression that the Head of the Church designs him
for that special field of labour — not that the circuit belongs to a class
that at all harmonizes with his age, talents, or character — but by way of
PUNISHMENT ! — not for an oflPence against either God or his Church — but

because he is not the beloved of brother What a motive — what a

feeling — what an object to be associated with a minister of Christ in his

appointment to a circuit! If the men had not more of God about

them than their persecutors, girdmg them with patient endurance, they
would bid farewell to the Methodism they love. Is this the way to make
talent, and character, and usefulness, go as far as they are capable in the
body ? Are men to be appointed to the work of God out of vengeance^
rather than from views oi fitness? Is this the way in which the gifts of
God to his ministers are to be employed to the best advantage, and to
effect the greatest amount of good ? Is this the way to treat those whom
God has called to the work of the ministry, and whom he has fitted for
the higher, if not the highest posts and offices in his church ; men whose
morals are unirapeached — whose piety is unsuspected — whose usefulness
is undeniable — and whose talents are superior to several of those that
move in the Buntingian wake? If this is ' Methodism as it is,' the
Lord, in mercy, bring us back to Methodism as it was!

The Stationing Committee deserves the appellation we have given it,
— 'The Slaughter-House of Ministerial Character:' where
character is assassinated, and years elapse before the man knows that the
bowie knife has been plunged into it. Whatever misgivings some per-
sons might have of the lawfulness of the Fly Sheet system, no such mis-
givings can harrass the judgment of men, who, in the Stationing Com-
mittee, have done their brethren the most cruel wrong, and have not only
kept themselves under cover, but have taken good care that it should not
be known to the injured party, what insidious and vile efforts have been
employed against them." — Fly Sheets, No. 3, p.p. 2, 3 ; No. 4, p. 10.

" A striking instance occurred last Conference. A sub-committee
on cheap publications was appointed to act during the year. Doctor
Bunting quietly wrote a list of the committee and handed it to the
President. Doctor Beaumont proposed that Mr. Dunn should be on
the Committee, he having acknowledgedly fit qualifications for that de-
partment. But the sturdy Cornishman is no pet of the Great King,
who immediately opposed it, saying, that it was the President's place to
nominate. Beaumont immediately floored him by saying, that if it were,
it was the Conference's act to appoint, and he still proposed Mr. Dunn.

Bunting, who is never at a loss to find a reason for excluding whom he
reprobates, changed his tack, saying, ' It is not well to take persons from
such a distance, because of the expense!' Note. 1. Bunting was the
nominator ; the President being only, in this instance, his organ. 2.
Vevers, Osborn, and others at a greater distance from the place of
meeting, were not objected to, though the expense would be greater in

each of these cases These committees form a kind of circumvalla-

TioN round the Conference ; not only transacting its business, in the way
of ordering^ disposing^ and appointing, but absolutely intimidating and
preventing men from approaching Conference with their requests and
grievances. The Conference, as such, is a mere name. The whole of
its important business is transacted by the nominees in the different Com-
mittees. The grand work of the clique is to propose and help each
other into circuits, and into office^ and to keep each other in them as long
as law will allow, and beyond the time common decency will admit.
Since last Conference, some closet-conversation escaped from the place
in which it was uttered, respecting an attempt to force Mr. Scott upon
Queen-Street ; the leading-men of the circuit expressed their dissent.
What was Doctor Bunting's reply on hearing of this opposition ? 'If
Mr. Scott cannot be kept in London, I will leave it.' What a calamity I

But look at the self-conceit of the threat, and the aid lent to each

by each, in giving permanency to office ! " — Fly Sheets, No. 4, p.p. 6, 7.
" In the education Committee Doctor Banting catechised Mr. S.
Jackson ; wishing to know whether he had given up his opposition to the
Government scheme of Education. It was contended that such interro-
gatories were quite out of order. He replied, ' I shall have many ques-
tions to ask before Conference is over. You shall have no more bush-
fighting. / will make you honest men.' A valorous declaration this
from one who for years has been a bush-fighter ; who has managed by
his Committees to keep up a deadly system of attack upon men whose
only fault has been that they will not be an addition to his conglomerate
mass of party association. Where, we ask, is there more ' bush-fighting'
against the interests of the mamj, and for the benefit of the few^ than in
Committees, nominated by the elect, — if not precious ? Where, we ask,
is there more dreadful ' bush -fighting ' against character, comfort, and
usefulness, and for place and power, than in that slaughter-house of

ministerial character and peace, — the Stationing Committee? And

who has been captain of the bush-rangers ? It is but little that oozes out
of this prison-house ; but that little fixes the leadership of bush-fighting

on him, who, forsooth, will have no more of it ! Is he tired of it ? Or
does he disrelish it, now it is employed against himself? Heartily do we
wish he had never been a practised hand at it. But we are not going
to give it up because it happens just now to be offensive and annoying to
a party, who, for years, has maintained its position by its use.

'' It is often said that when Doctor Bunting goes, a great change will
take place in the administration of Methodism — Alder, Beecham, and
Co., will hardly have time to pack up their traps. Why postpone
changes till then, found to be now needful ? When we hear this said, we
are reminded of the severe reproach Demosthenes gave the Athenians,
rejoicing at the news of the sickness of the king of Macedon — " His
sickness or death, of what importance to you? Should any accident
happen to this Philip, you yourselves would instantly create another.
For not so much by his own proper strength, has he risen to this exceed-
ing greatness, as by your indolence."— Fly Sheets, No. 4, p.p. 16, 17, 12.

" The Nomination Committee is a mere instrument in the hands (of
the clique) for carrying their principles out in every department of
Methodism. By its means ' the Station Master ' has his men every where :
so that where he cannot himself be, and see with his own eyes, he can
exert his own influence and carry on his own plans. He thus is every
where ; and appears a compound never contemplated even in fable, uniting
in one, the ideal character of a Briareus with 50 heads and 100 arms,
and of an Argus with 100 eyes, only two of which were closed at once ;
by this monster union forming the heau ideal of a detective force in a
police establishment We have given a name to the Stationing Com-
mittee which will live. We venture to honour the Nomination Com-
mittee in the same way, as — The Rotten Borough of Methodism, in
which the nominees of a lordly clique are to be found, — appointing other
Committees agreeable to the mind and will of the Dictator ; the whole
of which rule the Conferential Parliament.

A Nomination Committee can only be required for one of the three
following reasons : —

1 . That the fittest persons to fill office seldom attend Conference.

2. That the Conference has too much work on its hands to allow
time to make a suitable selection ; or,

3. That men are to be secured for party purposes, and to carry out
those purposes to the satisfaction of the ruling party.

Now the first of these reasons cannot be alleged. As to the last, no
one would have recourse to it for very shame. It can only be, therefore,

on the second of these grounds that any one could attempt to justify this
anomolous thing — a committee to make committees. But the second rea-
son is as weak and worthless as the others. There is no more need to
occupy the time of Conference in discussion, in the act of choosing men
for our various Commitees, than there is in choosing either the President

or the Secretary A standing committee of nomination, we cannot hut

look upon as a reflection on the judgment and purity of the Conference,
— operating as a blight and a pestilence on the prosperity of the work at
large."— Fly Sheets, No. 3, p. 35 ; No. 4, p. 10.

The extracts now given from the Fly Sheets, on the construction and
working of the Connexional Committees, are large, and occupy a con-
siderable space in the present publication ; but the Wesleyan reader who
wishes to know what are the contents of the Fly Sheets, and who is
anxious to ascertain with what view these obnoxious articles have been
published, will probably not consider them too lengthy or too numerous.
The Wesleyan public will probably be glad to learn from The Watch-
man, or any other organ which the assailed party has under its control,
what reply can be given to the statements just laid before the reader.
Surely it is an anomaly to have a standing committee to nominate all
connexional committess. There cannot be conceived an easier way for
men to play into each others' hands ; and if, as alleged, there is a dispo-
sition to pack the committees, and to exclude certain preachers from
committees, an opportunity is thus afforded in the most effective way
imaginable. It is hardly to be supposed that they will exclude themselves,
each other, their own friends, their partizans ; (if any thing of party
spirit at any time exists in the body ;) and hence, it can no longer strike
one with surprise that, in looking over the Connexional Committees,
" the same names everlastingly occur." This may be inevitable —
necessary — desirable ; but, for the satisfaction of the body, and that no
suspicions may be fairly awakened as to the object with which this
anomaly is created, the point deserves to be argued and demonstrated.
Mr. Vevers would do a distinguished act if he would accomplish this.
This done, the brethren might then, whh necessary resignation, see th.-ir
power of appointing their committees almost annihilated ; and might, by
virtue of necessity, acquiesce in the arrangement that devolves so large a
share of the power of Conference in the hands of one small permanent
body.

Nor will this suffice. The Fly Sheets declare that the Connexional
Committees are packed ones— that they consist for the most part of party

men ; the same men appearing again and again on various committees,
to the habitual and studied exclusion of others as eligible as most who
are thus loaded with duties and honours — that this creates a party spirit
among those who are in office, who stand by and support each other,
thus engendering all the evils of party spirit in a body whose members
should be emphatically one, loving as brethren — that it acts discreditably
to us in the opinions to which it naturally leads, viz., that the number of
ministers in the body, capable of acting in the administration of its affairs
is very small — that a want of impartiality and brotherly love exists in
those who, having the administration of affairs in their hands, are too
selfish and gi*asping, or impolitic and short-sighted, to introduce into
office others who are not less qualified than themselves, or some, at least,
of their colleagues. In the Fly Sheets it is also argued, that these
packed committees give undue influence to the persons systematically upon
them ; and detract from the due influence of those who are systematically
excluded from them ; the one walking in an artificial glare, the other
bearing an undeserved brand as though they were disqualified to act side
by side with their brethren — that the Connexion thus loses the full
benefit of the varied, if not the highest talent, which it possesses —
that the opinion, if not vindicated, is suggested that the preachers
are disposed of, not so much from a persuasion that the lot respectively
assigned them is the most fitting, but that which a spirit of dictation
and absolutism selects for them — that men may be thus continued in
office from year to year when a majority of the brethren, had they
unfettered opportunity of expressing their opinion, is more than
doubtful of the propriety of their continued appointment — that the
Conference itself is thus denuded of much of its legitimate power, becom-
ing rather a court for registering decrees already past than a supreme
legislative assembly, the source and fountain of legislation. The Fly
Sheets also enquire whether this phase of modern Methodism agrees
either with the spirit of Methodism as it was, or with the spirit of
Christianity as illustrated in the generosity, largeness of soul, disinterest-
edness, and thoroughly brotherly feeling of the Ancient Church in its
purest and simplest condition ? Silence M'ili be no satisfactory argument:
it may suggest weakness. Sneers, and ridicule, and irony, and that
argumentum ad hominem which replies, that the men who agitate these
questions, are themselves ambitious of office, and it would be desirable
to see how they would fill it, or only apprehensions are to be entertained
if such men were got into power, will be deemed no reply : these may

suggest the idea of the evasion of a great difficulty. Test Acts, numer-
ously signed " declarations," flattering and highly eulogistic resolutions,
prior to investigation, refutation, demonstration, are no apology and offer
no defence, and give no reply to these allegations which if true are most
serious, and if false, cannot be of so little moment — for it cannot be
questioned that much interest is awakened on these subjects — that it is
not worth while for any official to give a distinct, and full, and argument-
ative refutation to the alleged constitution, and the alleged evils that arise
from this constitution of our Connexional Committees. At first view they
certainly have an aspect unfavourable to the liberties of the preachers, to
the dignity of the Conference, to the harmonious working of our system,
to the securing of the blessing of Him who requires all things to be done
in His Church, not only without hypocrisy but also, without partiality.
There may be as much, even more, to be said on the other side. Let it
be heard. Let the ancients speak. Let the pens of ready writers on
their side be called forth. " The law is open, and there are deputies :
let them implead one another."

VIII. The Curacy System. The term explains itself. Curates
do the chief part of parochial duties, while their incumbents can devote
what time they please to occupations that are not the prime duties of
christian pastors. The term, as applied to Wesleyan Ministers, appears
to mean, that certain preachers are allowed an assistant minister in order
that they may be relieved from a very considerable proportion of the
duties, which hitherto have been deemed foremost and of prime im-
portance, when a christian man has been, in obedience to a divine call,
brought out into the Methodist ministry. It is a novel feature in
Methodism : it belongs to Methodism as it is under the plastic powers of
the " master mind" of innovation, not as it was under thfe active genius
of its laborious founder. Wesley had his assistants : they assisted him
in his labour, but did not release him from it : Wesley did not preach
one sermon the less, because he had, at first, five or six, eventually some
hundred assistants. Theij were his helpers in the christian ministry : he
accepted gladly their services as auxiliary to his own, not as substitutionary
for his own. In all the duties of the pastorate he was as exemplary,
when his curates or assistants were much multiplied, as when, like Moses
before the elders were appointed, ho alone bore the burden of the work.
Is it so with the ministers who arc now indulged with assistants or
*' curates," as the Fly Sheets, perhaps, not most happily, have designated

them ? Let their opinions be stated and their reasons be weighed. "The
Curate System is increasing among us. The President has one, to which
we entertain no objection. But we decidedly object to Doctor Newton
being indulged in this way, for reasons stated in our second edition of
No. 1 ;* and we also object to Messrs. Young, Pengelly, and Waddy
having each a man. Our opposition does not lie against the men, but
against the principle, and against the reason assigned to establish it.
The reason assigned in the case of Mr. Young, is, that of enabling him,
as chairman, to visit the Cornish District. For a stated supply there
ought to be perpetua,} visiting. But if one chairman is to be thus elevated
and indulged, why not every chairman ? We see part of the Bishop-plan
peeping out, .after which some of our tory churchites have been so long
and ardently pining ; — the bishop visiting his diocese ! Mr. Pengelly is
allowed one, as secretary of the School Fund. But why throw the
whole of the secular part on the minister of the sanctuary ? Why not
employ a local preacher, or other layman, to attend to the secular de-
partment ? Nay, why not — if he must be kept by the Connexion — place
Mr. Armstrong there, instead of going about the country like a gentle-
man ? Doing what ? If Mr. Waddy is unable to do his work, let him

retire, like other supernumeraries It vva** a wise regulation under the

Levitical economy, that the priests should retire at a certain age, and not
yield to the sanctuary half or imperfect service. The cause demands
our fullest energies. The most outrageous aspect of the curate system
is, to admit its increase, or even its existence, when men cannot be found
for the regular work — when the President has been compelled, govern-
ment-like, in a case of emergnncy, to invite wcrn-out supernumeraries
into the field ! The accumulation of offices has led to this ; and for this
again, we must look to the system of Location, Centralization, and
Secularization practised in the metropolis, as the primary cause,' —
and to a constant change of officers, and a division of labour, as its cure.
Curatks in London, where there are so many preachers in the regu-
lar work — supernumeraries — institutionists — officials — local preachers —

* ''■ If the reader will take the trouble to look over the Miscellaneous Expenses in the Minutes
for tlie last four or live years, he will find £73. 17s. 'Jd., regularly turning up in favour of Doctor
Newton for an assistant, while he has the best allowance in the Connexion, and is fed. on the

liuest of the wheat by the friends whose abodes he visits He is worthy, certainly of all he

receives; but so, also, are others. Why is Doctor Beaumont not indulged in this way? We
look at the favouritisto of the thing ; and we object to it, on the ground of justice too : the peo-
ple have to pay double tax. It is no hardship to Doctor N. to be on the wing : it is his meat

and drink — his very life people should pay for their own pleasiues. It was with an ill gi-ace

mat he charged Mr. Caughey with making a gain of godliness in his revivals." — F. S., No. l,p. 33.

chance priestly visitors, is beyond endurance. The curates are nearly all
given to the supporters of Doctor Bunting : others have to go without.
(May they never wish to have them !) And yet, when Doctor Clarke
required a little aid, no one looked more sternly at it than Doctor Bun-
ting. There are many objections to the Curate system:

1 . It seriously affects our funds. Whence comes the support ? If
not from the connexional funds, still, from the circuits ; and these again
are cramped in their financial energies, and prevented from doing more
for the general work.

2. The young men are not equal to the men whose pulpits they
supply ; and the result is, a serious injury to the circuits.

3. Self-indulgence is encouraged in the men for whom a curate is
provided. When a visit of pleasure draws in another direction, when the
rain descends, or when the night is cold and dark, the supply w^ill be sure
to be on the road.

4. It reverses the order of God and of Methodism, by making the
christian ministry a secondary matter — having to give place to matters of
mere secularity, in men unnecessarily encumbered with a variety of
inferior offices, who, according to Doctor Bunting's string of Liverpool
Minutes should ' consecrate themselves fully and entirely to their proper
work,' — the work* of the christian ministry.

o. It destroys the apostolic spirit in men to whom the supply is
granted, and places them on a degrading level with Missionary Secre-
taries and Book- Stewards. Why not divide Charles Prest's twelve or
thirteen honours and offices, among twelve or thirteen of his brethren,

who are superior to himself in all things and who are unadorned

with a single laurel ?"— Fly Sheets, No. 3, p.p. 30, 31.
• If there be, as is asserted, such an accumulation of office, and conse-
quently of duties, on one man, and he, possibly, the superintendent of a
London circuit, that he has no time for any pastoral duties, and can only
be seen in the pulpit on the Sabbath-day — so that, for six days out of the
seven, the ministerial character lies in abeyance, a strong case, indeed,
must be made out to satisfy the Wesleyan public that it is right and
seemly, and for the spiritual interests of the body, that a race of semi-
ministerial, demi-secularized pluralists should spring up in the Conference.
Either more men must hold office, or laymen must fill some of these
offices. The circuit is injured, the ministerial influence of the preacher
is almost destroyed, when his flock sees him only on the sabbath in the
pulpit, and knows, that, in spite of his ministerial name and status, he

has been plunged into, excited, worried, annoyed, by financial and secular
matters the whole week. This is not seemly : this cannot keep up the
respect which the well-sustained office of the christian ministry inspires.
We do not consider a local preacher to be acting at variance with his
vows, or inconsistently with his status in the church, because, during the
vt^eek, he has been diligently employed in things temporal. This rather
adds to the interest of his services, and gives him a stronger claim upon
the kindness and gratitude of his hearers, as it involves much personal
sacrifice, and gives inferior opportunities for effecting pulpit ministrations.
But there is much that is unseemly in the case of a person devoted to the
christian ministry, and supported by a christian church in order that he
may devote his fullest energies to the religious improvement of the flock,
occupying six-sevenths of his time, throughout the year, in cares, anxie-
ties, discussions, business, that are at the antipodes of preparation for the
pulpit, or for the pastorate. The thought must strike the audience on a
Sabbath morning, that the occupation of such a minister during the pre-
vious week has not been of the kind that belongs to the office. He has
not been digging deep into the golden mine of truth. He has not been
sitting close at the Master's feet receiving large supplies of hallowed fire,
and, Christ-like, feeling for souls. He has left his study, his closet, his
bible, his books on divinity, his holy meditations, his mental appliances
to secure proper ministerial furniture and energy, to sit at a desk in an
office, to rummage documents and statistics, that, only in an indirect
way, are connected with religion, and that have qualified him to act the
accountant, or to become the lecturer on some branch of political econo-
my, rather than to lead the children of God to a knowledge of the deep
things of God. If this were not so, the curate system must have some
strong argument in its favour before it will come into esteem with the
Wesleyan public, because the body recognises the vast importance of
week-day services. And will they be satisfied with the labours of a
preacher, who, while he receives full pay, only does a preacher's work
one-sixth of his time ? Full pay for one-sixth of the labour for ivhich
that pay is given ? Methodist preachers are not called out from their
circuits into the itinerancy to be financiers, inmates of business offices,
tenants of committee-rooms.* Quarterly meetings did not sanction their

* A writer in The "Watchman of January, 1849, under the initials of " J. TT. E,.," (Bigg ?) steps
foi'ward in the defence of the metropolitan seculars, but has met with an answer, in the note of
a correspondent in The Wesleyan Times, who obsen^es, " When J. H. E., brings forward the
venerable Joseph Eutwistle as iin instance of freedom from all secularization of spirit, he is
guiliy of unfauness; lie adduces one of the best cases, as an apology for the worst; an office

going forth into the itinerancy for this. Circuits do not engage to sup-
port itinerants for this. No, no. To preach the word in season and out
of season ; to give himself wholly to ministerial work is the reason
why circuits support wholly an itinerant : and if the curacy system extend
much more, it will cure itself — the abscess will then burst, but the patient
may die. For the circuits will not, if the system extends, give full pay
for part work.

The curacy system is lowering the tone of ministerial character ; and
this is not the age in which it is desirable to reduce the public estimation
of the ministerial office. Will not this, however, be the case, if it be
seen that a minister keeps his relative position in the church, although he
has been as much steeped in secularities during the week, as any man of
business ? Will it not lower the tone of feeling and the sense of respon-
sibility in the rising ministry, and in candidates for the ministry, when it
is found, that distinguished ministers may be free from their chief duties
as Methodist preachers, upwards of three hundred days in the year, and
may be, during so large a portion of their time, pursuing the most
worldly callings, and in order that they may do this, assistants must be
provided for them ? Will it not speedily root the opinion in them, that
the pastor and the minister are not the most important features of the
Methodist preacher, but that these are only of secondary importance
when they can be thus laid aside ? And will this engender no evils ?
Will not this open the door for candidates with low views of the minis-
try ? but with some longings for the status, — freedom from the re-
sponsibilities of business, and leisure for somewhat literary and intellec-
tual pursuits, afforded by the ministerial office ? The curate system
must not be extended ; it must be curtailed : except in the case of the

thd least secularizing iu its character, as a justification of those that arc tenfold more so iu
their tendency ; a man in the decline of life, and out of the re{,-ular work, as a set-olf against
men, full of vigour, taken from their more imperative apostolic calling and labouiii ; a muJi
meeting a class of ' twenty-seven young men,' for spiritual purposes, as a reason why oili.as
should be employed in purchases, fitting out, and in the everlasting change of pounds, shilliu-'S,
and pence ! Whoever thought that class-meeting was of a secularizing tendency ? There are
those, however, who think, that a supernumerary, the Tuiors of the lusLituiion, or tlie Preachers
on tlie circuit, might perform this work. 'J. IT. 11.,' acts the mifair part of a corufactor who
brings a tolerable sample of wheat into the mai'ket as a fair specimen of grain of an inferior
quality; of one who points out a piece of ground, unchoked with weeds, and upon tlie wholo
fruitful, as a specimen of that on which it is next to impossible to get any thing suitable to
grow. Besides, if no one, on his shewing, can be ' too active for the importiuU position of
Governor,' what becomes ofa^e and injirmity} Men are to be found as accommodating iu argu-
ment, fts a weathercock to the wind."

President, whose office gives him during the year many extra duties, and
an extensive, and often confidential correspondence, and in whose case, the
office being only for a year, an assistant can only be had for one year,
the curate system must be abolished. And though it may not be correct
in the Fly Sheets to represent the curates as ''hacks," yet it cannot be
denied that there is great danger lest the assistance thus rendered should
engender indolence on the part of the assisted, an avoidance of incon-
venient journeys and work, and an arbitrariness of manner towards the
young men, who, because they are given as helps, will be subject to the
most arbitrary appointments and arrangements that their rector may
choose to make. For these reasons, in all probability, the Wesleyan
public will be of opinion that the '' Curacy System " must be of the
things that do forthwith cease and determine, and that every man whose
name is on the Minutes as a travelling preacher, shall be accounted to
do, and shall be responsible for doing, the full, and daily work of a good,
old-fashioned Methodist-preacher.*

* Surely this is reasonable. The fact stated below is an anomaly, "\^^ly is it allowed. "Doc-
tor Bunting on his fourth election agreed to do without a yoimg man, assigning as a reason, that
he could gain what assistance he required from his son, who was not in the regular work. To
this may be added, that himself was not burthened with pulpit duties. As the Connexion was
saved the expense of a young man, the Doctor, for his great generosity, must be presented with
fifty pounds! This is one way of saving the Connexion! putting fifty pounds into a private
purse, and depriving the Connexion of the labours of a young man, to support whom tliat fifty
pounds would have gone neaily the full length of the way. When the Committee of the British
and Foreign Bible Society presented Doctor Clarke with fifty pounds, he nobly refused its
acceptance. But hereby hangs a tale. Mr. W. Bunting, at this moment, 1846, has Ms name
entered in the Minutes of Conference, for the eighth London Circuit; though not one of the
re"ular working preachers. He had a young man in 1845, which allowed him sufiicient vacant
time to assist his father. Kow, the Doctor, who can preach against other anomalies, can see
and approve of this anomaly ;— a son on the eighth London circuit — without an in%itation to it
— without salai-y — entered as a regular preacher ! His having the rank of a regular preacher,
is not the only offence, but the pai'iiality of the thing, as well as its injustice to others, who, as
supernumeraries, are much more entitled to stand there than he is, whetlier on the gi'ound of
age, uscfidness, or piety. Where is the man (else) who would be allowed this pi-ivilege, — allowed
by a manoeuvre of this kind, to steal a march on the Preachers' Fund, in having a year or two
more added to his account, grounded on the list of his regular appointments ? Doctor Clarke
■wished a year or two to be added to his itinerant life, to make up his fijitj ; but that was over-
ruled by the London clique.

On Mr. Reece retiring from the regular work, Doctor Bunting proposed a resolution similar
to that in the case of Messrs. H. Moore and J. Wood, in 1827-. This furnished him with a fine
oppoilunity of aiming an indirect blow at Doctor Clarke, by stating, that there was no miss-
nancyism about Mr. lleece ; that, having laboured 59 years, he was not disjiosed to indulge a
foolish vanity to attempt his COth, when he felt himself inadequate to the work; Doctor Clarke
having wished to complete the 50th of his itinerancy. And yet Mr. Ptcece, whom we venerate
both for age and character, was obliged to have help before he retned." — Fly Sheets, No. 3,
p 31 ; No. 2, p. .

IX. The Core and Cure of Misrule: Vote by TJali.ot.

'* All public bodies," quoth the Fly Sheets, '' are in danger of departing:,
by little and little, from first principles. It is necessary to keep a most
vigilant eye upon the earliest symptons of deviation from the straight
line ; and we hope we shall not be charged with undue suspicion for
doing this in these papers. From such departure, insensibly creeping iu
amongst us, a good deal of the present uneasiness has arisen.

1. It was evidently a principle with those venerable men to whom,
after Mr. Wesley's death, was entrusted the settling of the constitution
of Methodism, that, in all cases of election to office^ — (and indeed, in all
instances where personal favour or feeling was likely to interfere,) — the
vote of the Conference should he taken by ballot. The stjlemn admoni-
tion of Mr. Wesley, written with his own hand, was delivered to them
at their first Conference after his death. It implored them ''by their
love to him to do nothing by prejudice or partiality ;" and it was present
to their minds in all their arrangements. The instances of election to
any office were then few. What would have been thought of abstracting
from the regular work of the ministry four men for Missionary Secre-
taries,— six for a Theological Institution, — three for the Book-Room, —
two for the Schools, &c., &c. ? — it is difficult to tell. But we may safely
infer in what way they would have been chosen, if chosen at all. At
that time, the elections, in which any thing of personal favour or dis-
approval could be manifested, were chiefly confined to the offices of
President and Secretary of the Conference, — Chairmen of Districts, —
together with the election of members into the legal Conference ; to
which might be added, the election of the members of the Stationing
Committee.

2. Now the true spirit of Wesleyanism, in respect to tliis matter,
raay be gathered from the fact, that, by common constMit, it was agreed
that all these elections ought to be by ballot ; and, by ballot — (though
efforts have been secretly made, again and again, to deprive the brethren
of their ancient liberty,) — they still remain. Usage has been suffered
to deviate from this primitive mode. Care has been taken that not one
of the numerous offices which have been so profusely created of late
years, should be entered upon l)y the spontaneous suffrages of the breth-
ren. Nomination, and a shew of hands, have been the order of the day.
How can anything else than distrust, and a want of confidence be the
result? It is not old, but modern Methodism, that is resisted, because
intolerable.

3. But this is not all. The election of men to office is, at present,
still less in the power of Conference than it was a few years ago, when
less of lay-influence existed in the Committees. We wish here to ob-
serve, that we have no objection to the introducing of laymen on these
Committees. We think it very proper that the general sense of the
whole Connexion should be represented in them. But is it so repre-
sented ? Are they not generally partial and one-sided affairs ? We have
great doubts whether confidence, in this respect, can be restored, until
these lay-members, as well as the clerical portion, be fairly chosen by
the ballot of the whole Conference.

4. In recommending this, we are quite sure that we are ' standing
in the ancient ways,' and following the example of men whose prudence
and good sense were unquestionable. Take the following example. For
the purpose of drawing up the Plan of Pacification in 1795, tVie most
important committee, perhaps, that was ever selected by the Conference,
was thus chosen. The fact itself, and the reasons assigned for it, are
worthy of serious consideration. We give them in the very words of
these open-hearted and sincere men, whose honesty and integrity we
greatly admire. ' On the second day, we saw the necessity of appointing
a Committee to prepare a Plan of General Pacification ; and that the
Committee might be men of our own choice, in the fullest sense of the
word, (it will be perceived that it is the whole Conference that speaks,)
we resolved that they should be chosen by ballot.' — Minutes, Vol. I.,
p. 322.

We recommend every preacher to ponder these words, till they are
indelibly fixed in his memory. The men are not ' men of your own
choice^ in the fullest sense of the words ^^ unless they are chosen by your
own free and unbiassed suffrages.

5. As things now are. Conference has little to do in choosing a man
for an official station. It will probably come to pass some of these days

that it may be necessary to seek a successor, we will say, to .one of

the Missonary Secretaries. Will the Conference originate the choice of
such an official ? Nothing of the kind ! A proposal will come before
them, as the earnest recommendation of a Committee partly consisting of
laymen ; and these, as is notorious, not elected with impartiality. For
whether we look at the men chosen, or at the men systematically excluded,
there is in these elections, much more to wonder at than approve. The
matter will come before the Conference, just as the last recommendation
of the kind did, with this viva voce addition : ' now that vou have lavmea

on your committees, attention is due to their recommendation.' Can any
unbiassed opinion of the Conference be anticipated after this ?

We have, indeed, only to go on in the same direction, a little while
longer and the Conference will have become what the French parlia-
ment was, under the old regime^ — an assembly for registering decrees
already made to their hands, and which they had no real power to ques-
tion or resist.

6. We have already exposed the utter futility of the pretence, —
' You have your remedy ; — you may hold up your hand against the
individual proposed.' The answer is obvious. You forget that you

have just told me that has been selected already as the most

suitable person, by a very influential and mixed committee, whose opinion

ought to have weight with me. You forget, too, that is my

personal friend. And, though I may be convinced I could find a more
suitable man, — though I may be convinced that to take him out of the
regular work would be an injury to the cause of God, and at the same
time to himself ; yet^ as he is my friend^ and has how set his heart on
being elected, you place me under strong temptation either to give a vote
contrary to my conscientious conviction, (which I will not do,) or to
be neuter; as the majority of the whole Conference of tea is on these
occasions.

Can any one deny that this is a state of things which ought forthwith
to be amended ?

7. In nothing did the wisdom of the men of 1795 more manifestly
appear than in their establishing mutual confidence among the brethren ;
and in their putting it, by means of the ballot, out of the power of any
man to lord it over his equals. On the other hand ; — in nothing has the
present mischievous state of things struck its roots so deeply, as in the
Conference permitting the power of control to go out of its own hands,
by suffering the actual government of the Connexion, in point of fact, to
glide imperceptibly under the power of Committees, over which it has
very little influence, either primarily, in their election, or subsequently,
in their acts and decisions. The result is that men are chosen to office,
— and, what is more, — men are kept in office, whom two-thirds of their
brethren believe to be not the most ft for the places they fill. We know
this will be denied in argument ; but we are as sure of it as of any pro-
position in Euclid. We dare the gainsayer to the PROor. Let
him consent to have it put to the ballot, and he will see.

8. It will be perceived that we ardently wish to dispense with the
services of the Nomination Committee altogether. The brethren need
no such help as this committee professes to render. They can do the
work themselves.

9. To sum up the whole. That man will deserve well of his
brethren, — he will merit the grateful eulogy of generations yet unborn,
— that shall have courage enough to stand up nobly in his place in the

Conference, and move, ' That from and after this day of August,

184 — , all elections and re-elections to ofl5ce shall, honafide^ be originated
by the Conference itself, and not by any of its Committees ; and that,
for the purpose of establishing entire confidence among the brethren,
the vote of Conference, in reference to all official appointments^ shall
henceforth be had and taken by ballot.'

We think we see the rapid approach of the event. But we warn him
who may think himself called to propose it, that, in the carrying of it,
he must prepare himself for a life or death struggle. He will be sure
to encounter, from one who is well acquainted with all the tricks of rhe-
toric, some such plea as this, — ' None of your secret voting. It will
lead to canvassing, and to all the secret works of darkness.'

Nothing of all that passes the Conference gives such general satisfac-
tion as that portion of its business in which the ballot has, from the first,
been used. Every one is satisfied with the result ; for all has, at least,
been fair and honest. No intimidation, nor personal influences, can, to
any exteiit, have prevailed.

10. We have now searched to the ' Core of all Misrule.' We
believe, too, that we have suggested the only ' Cure.' The brethren
have the remedy in their own hands. But ' herein the patient must

minister to himself.' We venture then to predict, that, in fewer years

than you can number on your fingers, the vessel of our ecclesiastical
state, which is now almost on its beam ends, will right itself again. The
measure may put in peril the official status of two or three, who ought
to have had the modesty, long before this, to retire. But, subsequently
to the first grand effort for freedom^ ihere. will, upon our plan, be no
contention. There need not be one angry word spoken. A few scratches
of the pen will put all to rights. And in three or four years, every man

in office will have the heartfelt satisfaction of saying to himself, ' j

occupy the station I now fill, with the concurrence of a clearly expressed
majority of all the brethren, whom I love and honour the most in the
world '

The propriety of Vote hij Ballot.

1. It is perfectly scriptural. Acts i. 26. Doctor Clarke sajs, ' It is
possible that the whole was decided by what we commonly call ballot.'
Schleusner says that the lots {xXr^oi) were the tablets on which the apos-
tles had vvritten each the name of one of the candidates for the apostolic
office.' This method was adopted in a case of as great importance as
any that can come before a Wesleyan Conference.

2. It is Wesleyan. (The above quotation shews this.)
Objections urged against the Ballot.

1. ' It would occupy too much time.' In a couple of hours the
fifteen general committees might thus be formed.

2. ' It is odious and often cowardly.' This comes with an ill grace
from persons so partial to closed doors, privacy, and packed committees.

3. ''It would defeat the design of secresy.' The object is not secresy ;
but freedom from all improper restraint.

4. ' It is an American exotic' Things are not necessarily bad that
come from America. But we have traced it to Palestine.

5. ' No man need be afraid of voting openly, seeing he can suffer
no inconvenience.' We could tell some tales that makes this more than
doubtful.

The advantages arising from the adoption of the Ballot.

1. It is more grateful to the feelings to know that one is the man of
the multitude than that of the few.

2. He is placed in a much more honourable position before the
public, by a popular election, than he could be as the nominee of a
clique ; or, worse still, of a person of influence.

3. It gives him confidence in the discharge of duty, to know that he
is acting for the many, whose opinions are in unision with his own, and
who will support him in his exercises.

4. He secures his independence, irrespective of small party knots,
who would ever trammel him.

5. The safety of the body is preserved, as he is elevated by the body
who constitute it, and who must be satisfied with the choice they have
made. Hence, —

6. The great amount of personal qualification in the voters, who
know, not only that they have something at stake, but who are anxious to
preserve their privileges in the man they have voluntarily placed over
themselves to protect them." — Fly Sheets, No. 3, p.p. 32 — 36 ; No. 2,
p.p. 17—19.

100

There can be no doubt that vote by ballot was the original mode in
which the Conference chose its officers. There can be no doubt that the
fathers of Methodism adopted this mode in order that the officials might
be " the men of their own choice^ in the fullest sense of the words. ^^
There can be no doubt that this was the most effective method that could
be adopted to avoid prejudice, partiality, intimidation, apprehension of
displeasing another by a conscientious discharge of duty. There can be
no doubt that the men thus placed in office reached their dignity because
of the high esteem in which they were held by the majority of their
brethren. It does not appear that any serious inconvenience ever arose
from this mode of election. So far as the published history of Method-
ism shews, the ballot system, whilst it was adhered to, worked well.
The most incompetent were not thus elected into office ; that is certain.
Piety, experience, devotedness, usefulness, talent, genius, were not repro-
bated and " calvinistically passed by." The officers chosen by the
fathers of Methodism, when the ballot prevailed, were the pillars and
the ornaments of Methodism: — men whose "praise was in all our
churches." It was characteristic of the godly sincerity of these vener-
able men, and of their earnest anxiety that the unbiassed jjidgment of
the majority of the brotherhood should be expressed in every official
appointment. The plan exceeded to admiration.

Why was it innovated upon? Why, as new offices were created —
necessarily, in many instances — was not this well-working system of
election carried out ? It had not worked disadvantageously ; — more —
it was universally advantageous. The lot, in days of yore, did not more
effectually cause contention to cease, than did the ballot prevent dissatis-
faction and partyism, in the early period of Methodism. Is it so now ?
Are the holders of office in possession of their honours by the free suf-
frages of their brethren? Were they elected into office, or was their
continuance in office the vote of decided, clear, overwhelming majorities?
And does a large majority of their brethren rejoice to see them holding
office, some twelve, some fifteen, some twenty, some five and twenty, and
even more years, until they and office appear as truly one, as the half
human and half brute of the fabled centaur, appeared but one ? If the
Fly Sheets speak truly, the reply is decidedly, positively, unequivocally,
No, No. Are. they found in this matter false witnesses ? Then they
manifest extreme temerity ; for hundreds upon hundreds must know to
the contrary. Is it false ? Is it true ? Is the public to believe it ? Or
should the public stigmatize it a lie—that when the ballot is not resorted

101

to in the elections for office, it sometimes happens, that for a very im-
portant office, only '"''Jifty''^ hands are held up, and upwards of '"'two
hundred''^ hands are kept down ? And then this is called a unanimous
vote ? Is this true ? "What does it indicate ? Free, unbiassed expres-
sion of opinion ? Has it ever been known that only " fifty " have voted
for the President, more than " two hundred" remaining neuter? For
the Secretary ? For the Chairman of the smallest district in England,
whose office at least is not more important than that of Editor of the
Magazine ? Perpetual Secretary of the Missions ? In every case of bal-
lot the votes are numerous. Few neglect the exercise of their franchise,
except where the ballot is unused^ and the hand must he held up : and then,
it appears, that a fraction of fifty may constitute the unanimous vote of a
Conference of hundreds ! ! Is not this suspicious ? Does it not lead
to the conclusion, that hand voting is not, somehow or other, favour-
able to a free expression of judgment and will? — Again: are the Fly
Sheet writers true or false, when they affirm that men are retained in
office whom " two-thirds of their brethren believe to be, (to say the least,)
not the most fit for the places they fill ? " If it be so, must there not be
" something rotten in the state of Denmark " — something wrong in policy
at least in the mode of election ? And is not the public compelled to believe
this, when every one hears repeated, what Mr. W. M. Bunting is reported
to have said, " There will be a change when my father dies ? " Has any
one ever conversed with a preacher, or influential layman, who has not
admitted the fact, though he may not have used the homely phrase of those
who say, "Alder, Beecham, & Co., will then hardly have time to pack
up their traps ? " The present system of voting is not working well.
Dissatisfaction — it is painful to acknowledge the fact — exists, spreads,
increases, becomes louder and louder. What is to be done to allay the
ferment ; to restore confidence ; to make the acts of Conference satis-
factory to the majority of the Conference? Can any plan do it, except
the adoption of vote by ballot " in all instances where personal favour
or feeling is likely to interfere ? " This may do so. Will anything else
do it? Should any delay be allowed in carrying out this good old Method-
ism ? To every one that would oppose the extension of vote by ballot,
may not the language be addressed —

Incedis per ignes
Suppositos cineri doloso ?

102

X. Stolen Marches " One of the usual tricks was about to be

played off, at the close of the Conference, when the generality of the
brethren had left ; but Dr. Beaumont, and Messrs. Fowler and Vevers,
fully alive to the platform manoeuvres, remained till the coast was clear.
Dr. Newton proposed, and Mr. Mason seconded, that the representa-
tives should be chosen in the district meeting, immediately on the election
of the Secretary, and Dr. Bunting argued in favour of it. The brethren
referred to, knew how this would operate, met the arguments offered in
favour of the measure, and obtained a large majority against it. This
is one of those elections, properly placed at the close of the meeting, and
has been handed down by the fathers of the connexion, as a compliment
to the chairman, who, as preparatory to such election, shall conduct the
business of the district to the satisfaction of the brethren. The man,
under these circumstances, is on his preferm.ent — is tried before he is
trusted : and very properly so, for, as Dr. Beaumont justly observed, the
person thus elected might, on the examination of character, have some
charges preferred against him affecting even his standing in the body.

We regret exceedingly, that the motion of which Mr. Fowler gave
notice, was allowed to be passed over, viz. : — That every legislative act
of the Conference, shall be enacted within the first ten days of the sit-
ting of the Conference ; assigning as a reason, which weighs with us, —
that many important enactments have been made at the very close of the
Conference, when there were comparatively f^w ministers present, and
when so little time remained, that no sufficient enquiry and discussion
could occur. This subject, we hope, will still be kept in view, and the
usual trick guarded against.

We say, usual trick ; for many of Dr. Bunting's marches upon the
liberties of the brethren have been stolen towards the close of Conference.
The brethren having been either indisposed, in consequence of constant
attendance, or having finished what they deemed the peculiar object of
their mission to the place of gathering, have left the Conference before
its termination. The clique, remaining to the close, have then stepped
in to complete their altered plans and purposes. On the publication of
the Minutes, or on hearing of other resolutions entered into the Confer-
ence Journal, the brethren have been startled, and have exclaimed, —
' No such rule was made that I heard of.' ' It was made,' has been
tlie reply, ' after you left, just at the close, when there were very few of
the brethren present.' In this way, the resolution for examining can-
didates for the ministry in the metropolis was carried; in this way, too,

103

without two minutes discussion, a resolution was proposed and carried
by the notable Doctor — that a representative for each branch of the
Theological Institution, should sit as a member of the Stationing Com-
mittee. We could enumerate other cases, and may give a list of them
some future day.

How discreditable to take the advantage, in this way, of excellent,
unsuspecting men ! What a deep conviction of the wrong in itself, to
take the advantage of doing that in their absence which they are aware
of being offensive to them, or of the likelihood of carrying which in any
other way they entertain a doubt ! Is this the way to promote union ?...
Would they Avish themselves to be thus dealt with ? Is not such conduct
enough to drive men to what we should deprecate — radicalism ?... It is a
humiliating supremacy ; and good men, Vv'ho are outwitted by it, have
most cause of joy.

Doctor Beaumont and Mr. Fowler strongly objected to the motion
because of a want of previous notice. But previous notice would have
given the alarm, and purloiners of privileges are as little anxious of detec-
tion, as purloiners of property. It is only part and parcel of Master
Charles Prest's plan, — equally absurd and mischievous, but a little more
insidious. Though this motion was calculated to uproot a usage as long
established as representatives have existed among us, yet on Mr. Rule's
book on Methodism being noticed, Doctor Bunting could gravely, patheti-
cally, and earnestly, caution the brethren against becoming ' menders and
makers of institutions !' Admirable ! from a ma.n who has frittered down
most of the privileges of his brethren to the shadow of a shade — taken
them into his own hands — and was about to rob them of one of the last
shreds of another ! — a man who has given a new face to Methodism, and
destroyed its ancient spirit of brotherhood, simplicity, and honesty, and
induced one of caution, cunning, fear, and distrust! — a man, who in all
his studies — for of labour and hardship he has had little to boast — has
never lost sight of his ov/n ease and honour ! The truth is, no one is
allowed' to make or mend systems but himself; deeming his own patches
the most seemly for the ' coat of many colours.' A proposition from any
man, save himself and his own party, operates on him like the sight of
water on an animal under hydrophobia. Yet^ in the same Conference^
he could object to a motion by another brother^ though of minor moment^
for want of previous notice.

The Doctor unwittingly observed to a friend once, ' if we were to put
some resolutions in a full Conference, they would never be carried!!'

104

This... from the improver of Methodism L.-^eVnew the fact before,

but its admission was wanting, to fix upon him the indeUble seal of

We still urge in the case, (Mr. Jackson's appointment as Lay-Agent
to our Missionary Society.)... He taking the whole family to London and
the entailing- on the fund £200. a year, before the sanction of Conference
could be obtained. ...That does not alter our views of the march stolen on
the Conference, by Doctor Bunting and his party, in first fixing him in
his present situation, and then asking permission of the Conference.
What were the Doctor's sayings, in connection with Mr. S. D. Waddy,
for not obtaining permission of Conference, before he applied to Sir
James Graham respecting the Sheffield Proprietary School ? Were they
not all condemnatory of the act? What makes the matter more astonish-
ing is, the manner in which the case was smuggled through the Confer-
ence of 1845, whose sanction ought first to have been obtained; for at
the Conference of 1846, when Mr. Vevers* asked for the Minutes on the
subject, not a single entry could he found in the Conference Journal ;
(concerning Mr. J's. appointment ;) clearly proving, that the opinion of
Conference had neither been given nor sought. No wonder that there
should be such a shew of utility, to hide and drive from the memory the
clandestine act. The President hhm elf declared it had not paused." —
Fly Sheets, No. 3, p. 9—11, 14, 15.

XI. Floating Opinions. " The follov>^ing sentiments and ex-
pressions have reached our ears and our eyes, either brought in, or
transmitted by our friends, or casually heard in the social circle, when
the parties interested were not suspected to be present. We can filiate
the whole as to time, place, and person, but forbear ; each parent will
know his own child, though it may have passed through half-a-dozen
hands in its passage to us : —

' It is very extraordinary,' says one, to start with, ' but these Fly
Sheets have been out some time, and I never heard of them till now ;
(July ;) and what is remarkable, they have not once been named in the
Book Committee, of which I am a member.'

* It is a matter of surprise, that this geutloman has affixed his name to the Declaration, af-
fmriing that the Fly Sheets are lies. Why does he not prove their falsehood? He that has
shown so great eagerness to iix the authorship on Mr. Walton, and that, (though he has got into
a queer mess by it, if good brother Tabraham's letters contain the truth of the question disputed
between them,) has been so forward to write in the Watchman, ex parte statements injmious to
this highly esteemed and deeply hijured minister, must have some good reason for taking up
his quill to sign the Declaration, and some equally good reason for not taking up his quill to
prove, as v/ell as to (VHrm, their falsehood.

105

* This mysterious silence bespeaks much.'

' The expose is so complete and crushing that, I think, the party will
not dare to search for the authors, for fear of being held up to general
scorn and execration, by the publication of the Fly Sheets to the world,
which would be the inevitable result of an attempt to detect and punish.'

* There is too much truth in the statements : but the spirit is bad, and
the manner uncourteous.'

' The first formal mention of the Fly Sheets in Conference was this
morning, TJuly 31,) by the great personage who has the most right to
feel interested in them. After charging Mr. Fowler with their publica-
tion, he intimated that he did not mean to say that he was any ways
implicated, than as having furnished information from his note-book.'

' The Doctor and his men are extremely at a loss to conjecture from
what source some of the information is derived. He keeps harping upon
the treacherousness of this betrayal of what takes place in the debates of
Conference. But the general impression appears to be, that if persons
will say or do foolish things, they cannot hope to have them passed by in
silence.

' I have heard the Fly Sheets mentioned among the preachers at Con-
ference, in conversation with each other, with no very remarkable
disapprobation.'

' The general opinion appears to be, that No. 1 of the Physickers is
very severe, but sadly too true ; that No. 2 is full of excellencies ; and
great hopes are entertained as to the salutary operation which it is so
well calculated to produce.'

' Though the spirit of the first is bad, it contains many things that are
substantially true.'

' No. 1 is a terrible affair.'

' It is stated that when Mr. W. M. Bunting read it, he was made
absolutely ill ; and that, till then, he knew nothing of £2000. given to
his father.'

' More than one is concerned in these Fly Sheets.'

' There is a regularly organised Committee, and a returned Missionary
wrote No. 1.'

' It 'is desirable that the real Junius should be kept in profound
secresy, as ' the powers that be ' would persecute to death, the acknow-
ledged author of their confusion. On this account, and, also for the
sake of the good which will be effected by its occult influence, it is hoped
that its author, or authors, should ever be the ' Great Unknown.' '

lOG

' Alder merits the castigation he has received, and so does Prest ; and
hoth, I hope, will improve under the rod ; the latter, on one or two
occasions, was refused a hearing in the Conference.'

' None but a base assassin would write thus.'

' It is the opinion here, (Bristol, before Conference,) that the parties
implicated will, if possible, be quiet : if they can, they will prevent any
thing being said : at any rate, they will not force the subject on the atten-
tion of Conference, if they can keep others from meddling.'

' It is good physic ; it works well ; the impression against re-elections
and self-nominated committees is strong, and far from rare.'

' Doctor Bunting told a story in the Committee of Review, which
told me that he felt the Fly Sheets.'

' Doctor Alder looks mum ! '

' I have perceived two things : first, a disposition to avoid re-elections
of Presidents ; secondly, a strong dissatisfaction with the mode in which
committees are chosen : the iattiar has appeared in some strong objections
which I have heard against the late Financial Committee held in Lon-
don, on the ground of its not having been chosen by the free suffrages of
the Conference.'

' Doctor Bunting made a speech full of graciousness to the ex- Presi-
dent ; and told him, how much and sincerely he admired the whole of
his conduct, both in the chair, and during the Presidential government
of the year.'

' It is thought that the Fly Sheets have tended to tone down the spirit
of the Dictator.'

' I was in a knot of the clique yesterday : we were all talking jovially
together, — but the moment the election was announced, one would have
deemed that they had all been like a certain priest of old, — struck dumb
in the temple.'

' I expect some of the * satellites ' will throw their sympathies and
sophistries around their 'Jupiter,' and use all their influence to raise the
indignation of the ' brethren ' against the authors of the statements ;
and thus, as you say, shield the real delinquents.'

' Not to have noticed them at all, would have betokened fear ; and to
have attempted to moot any fact, would have provoked enquiry. There
was great generalship in the Doctor's manner of treating the subject ; it
was after the manner of shouting out ' Mad dog ! ' The panic was
intended to prevent examination.'

' How sudden the change ! It is like the shock of an earthquake to

107

the old dynasty — like the still small voice to the free and happy. I hope
we shall never use our ' liberty for a cloak of licentiousness,' but 'by
love serve one another.' '

' All the brethren I have seen, have expressed their pleasure at the
publication of the Fly Sheets.'

' The ears of the preachers are now open for the truth, and some are
feehng the possibihty of emancipation. The tide will set in wdth irre-
sistable and solemn grandeur, bearing away the old, musty, time-worn,
tottering palace of the aristocratic High Priest. Work while it is day —
take the thing at the flood — break the neck of Dagon, and scatter his
head and hands before the threshold of his own temple ! All may be
gained or lost ; the victory is in your hands.'

' Doctor Bunting hinted to Mr. Fowler, that he must have known
something about these Fly Sheets ; but was indignantly repelled, and
had to back out as decently as he could, Mr. Fowler telling him he
would put him to his proof when his character was called over.'

' Doctor Bunting, in opposition to Doctor Beaumont, said he would
argue the subject of re-elections at a proper time ; but the time never
arrived.'

' The yoke is broken for ever, and we shall now have the Methodism
of John Wesley.'

' Many have a sparkle in the eye, and a smile on the lip, on the subject
of Wesleyan politics, to which they have been long strangers.'

' Methodism, Wesleyan Methodism, will breathe after her long syn-
cope, and stretch her limbs to the freedom of her ancient privileges : —
the homo sum was an assertion of right, heard only from one or two ;
now there is a regenerating feeling — a pulsation of the warm life-blood
of liberty throbbing in every heart, and uttering and echoing the cry,
' am not I a man and a brother ? ' '

' I could not refrain from fervent thanksgiving to God, for having thus
succeeded the endeavours of his servants to rescue our beloved Method-
ism from the grasp of an artful, selfish clique. I am persuaded that the
Fly Sheets will effect more good in Methodism than the whole Buntingian
clique combined.'

' The general opinion of those who have not surrendered themselves
to ' the powers that be,' is, that No. 2 has unfolded some of the most
wholesome and useful statements, which could appear ; and the effort of
a certain personage to shield himself under the ss^^mpathies of his brethren,
can only afford a very ' temporary accommodation ! ' '

108

' It is one of the most tremendous attacks made upon the party in
modern times : the attempt is perfectly Lutheran.'

' We know enough to confirm us in the truth of all that is stated. A
change is absolutely necessary.'

' The Missionary Secretaries were placed in a situation which should
have led them to defend themselves by answering the charges of extra-
vagance preferred against them, especially Doctor Alder.'

' The Secretaries ought either to have defended themselves, or to have
resigned.'

' The Fly Sheets will diminish the influence of the ruling party ; the
Presidency is well argued.'

' V/hat astonishes me most is, that the writers appear to be familiar
with all the secrets of the party. I have looked upon the platform as a
great evil.'

' I can, from my own knowledge, vouch for the truth of many of the
statements. It is time the evils were corrected.'

' It is all right ; the ' Fly Sheets ' should be widely circulated : we
groan, being burdened — with abuses.'

' There is a great deal of acrimony in the first, but a great deal of
truth.'

' I regret to find that occasion has been given for so much severity.'

' The Fly Sheets will be sure to do good. Take the Stationing Com-
mittee : great mischief is done to character by the whispers of the repre-
sentatives ; and being bound to secresy, men are living on in the body,
without a knowledge of the cause or occasion of their treatment ; and
therefore, without the means to help themselves, Let those who talk
about anonymous attacks, and who tell us, if the writers of the ' Fly
Sheets ' have such charges against the reigning party, that they should
come forward openly and prefer them — let them, I say, look at home,
and think of this.'

' Several strong barriers, which kept up the exclusive system, broke
down this Conference, ('1846.) The Platform, sooner or later, must
go.'

' Dr. Bunting never had such a storm of noes as in the discussion on the
book-concern, when he attempted to twit Mr. G. Osborn : for which we
may give God hearty thanks. ' Amen,' replied the friend addressed.'

' Liberal views took strides at Conference — aye, strides indeed !'

• We have now arrived at such a state of things, that, for the safety
and prosperity of both preachers and people, there must be two news-

109

papers out of doors, and two parties in the Conference ; the on'e watch-
ing the other, and preventing all encroachment on our liberties.'

' The persons who are engaged in this work of reform have an arduous
task before them, and a diiScult path to tread, — close beside that of as
watchful a system of espionage as exists — the successors of Loyola not
excepted. Alas, I could unfold tales, in addition to those with which
you have been painfully made acquainted by the Fly Sheets, enough to
make a refined and upright mind shudder ! and these under the garb of
Wesleyan Methodism : I refer, of course, not to matters of tangible
turpitude — but to insincerity, trick, and double dealing.'

' "When the measure passed, giving a power to the London Preachers
to examine and pass candidates for the ministry, from all other compe-
tent District Committees, I said in my heart, ' I'm done with the cen-
tralized club for ever.' Such a self-sufficient, impudent, audacious piece
of presumption, I never witnessed before in Methodism : — a young man,
in some instances, sent to hear and decide on a candidate, on one speci-
men sermon, and possibly sent back after being recommended by thirty
or forty preachers belonging to one of the Districts in the country ! I
felt indignant, and resolved never more to take part in the mockery of a
provincial District examination of candidates ! '

' I look back upon the Conference with intense interest. To me,
there seems to have come upon us the first inspiration of a spirit, which,
in future, and in no very distant days, is to give a new aspect to the
administration of Methodism. I may be wrong ; but, to my mind, the
great ' Image' rocks on the plain.'

' In a few years, toryism in Methodism will be what toryism in the
British Constitution is — an antique — a thing of bye-gone days — extinct as
a class, and existing only in a few stray senectudinarians of a former cen-
tury, and who, dying, like the two venerable knights of Malta, will leave
no successors behind them.'

' They will never allow the second edition of No. 1 to remain un-
answered or unnoticed. But what a strong presumption of their guilt
is their past and present silence ! '

' It is worse than madness to sleep secure, or to set at nought this
hostile array against wrong : these attacks cannot be the work of a few,
but of many : not only are the outworks assailed, but a part of the
citadel appears to be in a blaze.'

' I am resolved for one, and I know many more of the same mind, to
abide by single elections in the case of Presidency : never will I vote for

the re-election of a man, however excellent, who has filled the Presi-
dential chair before. No. 2 has settled that question with me for ever.
There is no fear of a dearth of Presidents while we have such men to
fill the chair as S. Jackson, Beaumont, Lomas, Fowler, Vevers, Walton,
Lord, Haswell, Methley, Bell, West, Macdonald, and others ; any
of whom will fill it with as much dignity, wisdom, experience, and
piety, as either John Scott or Edmund Grindrod. If one man is more
worthy than another to fill the chair, it is Doctor Newton ; but much
as I admire him, the principle is still dearer to me than he is ; and by
the principle of single elections I am resolved to abide.'

' Like Napoleon, Doctor Buntiug's dynasty will begin, continue, and
end in himself.'

' There is too much truth in the Fly Sheets ; and they ought to be
answered — that is, if they can be answered.'

' It is a wonder to me, that the writers did not, when on the Mission
ground, take up some important points, on which I think the Secretaries
are assailable. The London Missionary Society's affairs have been
examined by a most able and impartially chosen committee. Why not
the same thing done with us ? Two financial secretaries transact all their

business; why have we four?* Doctor Alder can be spared to leave

the Mission House to go to Canada : could not the presence then of one
of the four kings be dispensed with at our Somerset House ? If I had
had a hand in getting up the Fly Sheets, I think I should have thought
myself not over bright, if these points had escaped me.'

' Nothing appears to escape the authors : they have eyes as searching
as fire ; and, as if possessed of Dionysius' ear-trumpet, they seem to
know every thing that occurs.'

' It is stated in one of the numbers of the Fly Sheets, that Mr. Jack-
son from Manchester would be employed as an ' easy chair ' for Doctor
Bunting and his colleagues. This seems to have been prophetic.
Would you believe it ? That very man, who was elected under the
specious guise of going about to revive the Missionary cause in various
places, and paid for the work, was actually kept in the Mission House,
closely employed — sometimes nearly twelve hours in the day — in prepar-
ing the Missionary Report for the press ; a work for which the four
Secretaries are handsomely paid for getting up, and to which they affix
their names, as though the whole of the labour had been their own.
This useful agent assigned this as a reason, when on a visit to a place,

* See Appendix, Iso. 8, for Home Expendimre ;— being no less than £10,453. 13s. 5d.

ill

why the Report of 1846 was out so soon, and why he had been able to
do so little in the provinces!* Little aware, that the sword was cutting
different ways ; falling with tremendous weight on the indolence of the
Secretaries ; the little need there was for him in his own peculiar sphere,
and the misappropriation of public money, in the payment of men for
work they do not attend to.'

' I have heard a complaint on the part of some Missionaries, that more
is laid to their charge, in the General Report, than the station on which
they have laboured has cost ; and that they have, consequently, been
unable to make their own private accounts tally with the published ac-
counts, as to actual expenditure. This is an argument in favour of an
impartially drawn up Committee of Examination — but not from among
themselves. Some of the Missionaries, I am told, have been kept out of
their just claims for years ; and others of them have absolutely to turn
fish-mongers, and sell fish for a living. If this were known to a gener-
ous people like the Methodists, every feeling of their nature would revolt
at it.'

* Though I cannot acquiesce in all that is contained in the Fly Sheets,
I cannot resist the thought that the writers are conservatives; for they
do not attack the Constitution of Methodism, but its present adminis-
trators— its EXECUTIVE department, where there is certainly scope for
improvement : and I am glad that they confine the sheets and the con-
flict to the preachers — anxious, apparently, not to disturb the peace of
the body.'

' The article on Secularization tells a tremendously awful tale, and
ought to rest with solemn weight on the consciences of the men that are
concerned in it.'

' There is an error in the second edition of No. I, p. 29. Instead of
£800. being abstracted from the Centenary Fund, by the trick of chang-
ing information into advertisments^ it will be seen by adverting to the
General Centenary Report, that no less a sum than ,£1406. 13s. 7d. was
taken from the contributions of the people to support The Watchman.

* Is it for this, or some similar reason, that nothing has heen heard for more than a twelve-
month of the lay agent? Where is he? In the provinces? What doing? Stining up the
missionary fire in the length and breadth of the land ? No one knows ought about him ! Or
is he in London ? At the Mission House ? employed " twelve hours a day" as an "easy chair "
for Secretaries who can go to Canada, or sojourn at Southampton? What is he doing for his
salaiy? If doing the work of a secretary instead of a lay-agent, what is that secretai-y doing
for Ms salary ? The Journal of this agent should be published. A part was : why not more ?
Why not all?

112

In this way, these tory speculators have contrived to refund part of their
own subscriptions. This paper is assisted in various ways from the
Connexional Funds. When the united committees met in April last, on
the Educational Scheme, copies of The Watchman were forwarded
gratis to the preachers, not excepting those of them that were regular
subscribers. Who paid for this? The Wesleyans out of their funds! 1
By these tricks, the conductors, at the close of thirteen years, have been
able to pay £10. to £100. shareholders, — taking care to deduct from
the ten, seven pounds for papers — thus favouring them with from three to
four in cash. And yet, as an inducement for persons to become subscri-
bers, they are told that the profits, after paying £5. per cent.^ are to go
to public charities ! '

It is not generally known, that while the disinterested supporters of that
paper tell us, when assailed on connexional principles, that it is only the
allowed, not the authorized, organ of the body ; there are some of the
London preachers on the committee to decide on articles to be inserted
or rejected. How can the work of God prosper in the metropolis, while
those apostles, who should consecrate themselves, in the expressive lan-
guage of Doctor Bunting's Liverpool Minutes, ' fully and entirely to
their proper work,' are tied to a Newspaper, as to the tail of a dog cart ?'

' W. M. Bunting said, ' My father can hook you all, and no other man
can do it but himself.' On another occasion, ^ There will be a change
when my father dies.' '

' Doctor B. sits at ease, forging chains for others, — making laws which
do not reach himself: see him tested by his Liverpool Minutes. His
mode of legislation shews that he has the most contemptible opinion of
his brethren : he legislates as for a set of disorderlies, always on the
alert to break forth into open transgression, not as for men of God.'

' We have reached a perilous position as a body, — the very state of
things against which Mr. Wesley cautioned us. Rich men, through the
policy of Doctor Bunting, have now become necessary to us : nothing
can be done without our rich laymen : if any thing is wrong, or any
measure is to be carried, Messrs. Wood and Heald must be sent for from
Manchester. Such men — if we are to have them — ought to be changed,
as well as the Secretaries and others.'

' Some of Doctor Bunting's friends are offended, because of the
£2000., subscribed for him being noticed ; stating, that it was a private
act : but such forget, that it was public both in its cause and effects, and
was given and taken at the expense of Methodism. The favouritism

113

which the Doctor had manifested, and the honours he had heaped upon
these gentlemen, led to it ; and the fact of his attempt to coerce the
Conference into submission, by the expressed opinions and wishes of
these men, in the various committees, is a proof, that the body has had
an improper influence entailed upon it by the boon.' " — Fly Sheets,
No. 3, p.p. 36—44.

These "Floating Opinions" which in one shape or another, are
heard in many a fire-side and tea-table chat, are not to be taken for more
than they are worth, and would have carried more weight with them had
the persons' names been given, whose opinions they convey. Still they
are opinions which one has often heard expressed by preachers in the
private circle. They indicate that the preachers are more quiet than
satisfied. They shew, that if there be much appearance of unity, there
is no little amount of uneasiness. The people will recollect conversations
in which many of the above " Floating Opinions" have been expressed
by their ministers in the freedom of social intercourse. It is notorious
that these sentiments prevail among many of the preachers who, though
they may not openly utter them in Conference, do not conceal them in
private. Recent Conferences have, however, witnessed the open avowal
of many of the most startling of them. He must have but little inter-
course with our ministers who does not know that there is much dis-
content among them respecting the present administration of Methodism.
Passing events, it is presumed, will not allay the uneasiness. And till
the great body of ministers is united and satisfied with the administration
of Methodism, prosperity cannot be looked for ; and to secure this union
and satisfaction, the practice of Location and Centralization must be
abandoned. The preachers mutter much discontent. Is there a circuit
that cannot bear testimony to this fact ? Is not talk of a coming change
in the administration of Methodism frequent, general? " We know you
are not satisfied. You whisper here, and you mutter there, your dis-
satisfaction. Already we have published some instances of it in the
Floating Opinions to which we have given wings. (We are thinking
of publishing another series of these opinions.) In those already in
print, figure some who, though in the parlour, at the tea-table, when
from under the surveilance of the Buntingian police, acknowledge that the
Fly Sheets are ' too true,' ' substantially true,' yet afiix their names to a
Declaration of their slanderous and vile character ! We could give their
names, but we forbear ; as these preachers cannot at present afford to
lose caste, and it may be the means of getting them into trouble, and of

114

having them sent to some poor circuit next year ; yet it is hard work to
refrain from giving the lash to a whining, but fawning spaniel.' "

Is this last quotation the expression of a fact ? Are there any — does their
conscience remind them of it — are their conversations in the recollection
of those to whom, prior to the issue of the Test, they addressed their com-
plaints and acknowledged the " substantial" truth of the Fly Sheets? —
are there any such names affixed to the Declaration ? Then must there
be some power in the administration of Methodism unfavourable to the
free and unbiassed expression of opinion ; there is, then, a painful clash-
ing between the private murmur and the public signature ; there must
be a distressing uneasiness of mind which makes a man disavow by a pub-
lic act what he has expressly and spontaneously affirmed in private — a
state of things this which it is distressing to contemplate, and which it is
most desireable to terminate.

XII. The Defence. " A single attempt has been made to screen
the clique from the severe attack of the Fly Sheets, and to annihilate in
public opinion the effect produced by their publication, as damaging the
Methodistic character of the alleged authors and abettors of misrule in
the body. Justice to ourselves requires that we notice this solitary
defence. To avoid the imputation of a consciousness that we are van-
quished, we must look in the face this piece of ordnance, which alone has
been discharged against us, and which, as it has not hit us, seems either
to have been fired by a sorry marksman, or to have been loaded only with
powder — capable of making a terrible noise — most harmless — reminding
us rather of a field-day than of a battle-field.

As some of us anticipated, No. 3 aroused the misruling party. It
could not pass altogether unnoticed at the Conference of 1847. Some-
thing must be done ; something was done ; and that something was worse
than nothing. The first blast of the war-trumpet — or rather the first
roar of the blustering ^olus — was heard in a preparatory committee,
when sundry of the assailed affirmed, that there were "villains" in the
Conference, and that they should be made " honest men of." In the
Conference itself, one of the longest, stormiest contests occurred which
the walls of that conclave ever confined.*

* " Our obsen'ations on this Test Act affair will be much briefer than we once intended them
to be, as the whole matter has been most clearly exposed, and the utter failm-e of the Test at-
tempt made manifest in an extremely calm, yet oft sarcastic tract of fifty pages ; the title of
which we subjoin, and the perusal of which we earnestly recommend to om- readers,— declai'a-

115

A motion was made, that a declaration should be issued and signed by-
all the ministers of the body, each denying that he was, or that he had
any knowledsfe of, or had had any connexion with, the author or authors
of the Fly Sheets. Never was a graver mistake made by the friends of
misrule. Wellington's anti-reform speech, in November 1830, in the
House of Lords, — Lord J. Russell's declaration on the 23rd of May,
1848, in the House of Commons, that neither the working nor middle
classes desired reform, — was not a more unlucky event than G. Osborn's
pertinacity in bringing forward and persevering in this motion. For
what was it? For a committee to inquire into, and report on, the numer-
ous and serious allegations in the Fly Sheets? For an early period,
during the sittings of Conference, to be assigned to the assailed parties
for disproving the allegations of the Fly Sheets? Nothing of the kind.
Investigation was not sought ; investigation was not wanted ; investiga-
tion was dreaded ; investigation was shunned. The proceedings were a
pailful, but too small and too weak, of whitewash ; which, if it had been
applied to the extent desired by Osborn, & Co., would not have concealed
the coal-black to which it was applied. Doctor Beaumont, Joseph Fow-
ler, Samuel Dunn, distinguished themselves by the noble manner in
which they denounced this inquisitorial attempt : — 'Doctor Bunting is
reported to have received £2000. from a certain party : I know not
whether it be true or false; but Doctor Bunting knows. I am not
called to fight Doctor Bunting's battles. Let him fight them himself,'
said the intrepid Beaumont. ' I am called to declare that the Fly
Sheets are wicked lies. I cannot : for it is well known that many of the
sentiments therein, have been mine for years,' was the open avowal of
Fowler. ' If you send me to Shetland for refusing to sign this declara-
tion, I am ready to brave its seas and its tempest ; but I will never be a
party to the establishment of an inquisition,' said the independent, long
persecuted, but laborious Dunn. Several of the abetters of the system
took part in the discussion for the purpose of detecting the authors.
But mark it, men, fathers, and brethren ! Mark it : — not one defended
himself from the accusations ; not one took the Fly Sheets in his hand^ and^
seriatim, noticed each main charge, and refuted, or ever disputed it.
Never had counsel worse cause ; never was accused in a more hopeless

tionists and anti-declarationists: ' The Fly Sheet Test Act Tested; ' comprising observations on
the Inquisitorial character of the Wesleyan Declaration of 1847, issued by the Eev. Messrs.
G. Osborn, J. Hargreaves, and H. H. CheLtle. By a Wesleyan. London : W. J. Adams, and all
booksellers."

116

plight. The attempt was not made by counsel or by prisoner to assail
the Fly Sheets by adducing the facts and disputing them. The sole aim
of the clique and their instruments was, to detect the author or authors,
if among the brotherhood. The Dictator himself stood on his character,
and was content to allow judgment to be taken on this point alone. The
smaller fry imitated him... on a division of the House, it was doubtful
which side * had it.' Twice were the votes counted : and so nearly equal
(in number^ were the friends and the foes of this inquisitorial measure,
that it was doubtful — and, in the minds of many preachers, remains
doubtful to this day — whether the ayes or the noes prevailed. The Pre-
sident,— after a suggestion that the House should formally divide and be
counted had been rejected, — decided that the ayes had it.

Had what ? Aye, ' here's the rub ! ' A vindication of the Buntingian
policy ? A refutation of the Fly Sheets ? Anything but this. A doubtful
moiety of the Conference decides that there shall be a declaration decla-
ratory, that the subscribers are not the authors of these Sheets ! That's
all ! And does this satisfy high-minded men ? Does this give clean
hands to the parties accused ? Does this falsify our statements on the
evils of Location, Centralization, Secularization ? Does this disprove
our charges of selfishness, exclusiveness, partiality ? Does the slaughter-
house disappear before this vote ? Does the Rotten Borough now crum-
ble into dust ? Is the extravas:ant expenditure of the Mission-House
annihilated by this stroke of policy ? Can the heaping of thirteen offices
on one, and the exclusion, for years, of others in every respect his
superiors, be vindicated by this vote ? Does it not concede the truth
(in main) of the Fly Sheets ? If the parties were wounded by the Fly
Sheets, is this vote a mollifying ointment ? If their Methodistic reputa-
tion was damaged by the Fly Sheets, does this unmeaning motion repair
the damage ? Had a committee of the whole house enquired into the
allegations, and had the Conference, after a fair and full trial, with
no packed jury, with no evidence kept back, decided by a majority
of its members, that the charges were false and groundless, the
Doctor could have appealed to the vote triumphantly. He might then,
to use his own illustration, have had his sword restored to him by the
President. But as it is, we opine, that the more he hears and thinks of
that vote, the worse will his cause appear in his own eyes, and the more
will he regret, that George Osborn had not the shrewdness and penetra-
tion of Lomas ; who is said to have told the former, how great a blunder
he made by insisting on the declaration.

117

What is the fate of this Declaration ? Its terms were never officially
approved; its issue was never officially authorized; the signatures ap-
pended to the circulars accompanying it were never officially authorized ;
it never received the signature of either the President or the Secretary
of the Conference. It lay on the communion table of the Conference
chapel tmder no supervision, so that whoever would, might sign what
name he would. It was hawked about for months. Young men were
told that they were under moral obligation to sign it. Weak men and
timid were told, that they v/ould be marked men if they did not sign it.
Some men, who, we suppose, were trimming and doubtful, were written
to again, aye, and again, till their signatures were extorted. Still, all
these appliances failed : signatures came in slowly. Three months had
elapsed, and the signatures were few indeed ; numerous names did not
grace the list. Alarm sprang up. The whole would be a failure. The
hydraulic press fortunately exists. Thumb-screv/s can extort what elo-
quence cannot reach. Conscience may be forced when the judgment
cannot be persuaded. ' It moves though,' said the philosopher, when he
subscribed what he could not approve. As the last resource to multiply
signatures^ and thus, if possible, to make a decentish thing of it, and
that it should not resemble Sir John Falstaff marching with his shabby
regiment into Coventry, Mr. Osborn announces in The Watchman, that
the names of those who had signed, would appear in print ; — and now,
' all who stood out to the eleventh hour, but were frightened into signing
by Mr. Osborn's letter, which gave the signal, that all who did not sign
would be exposed, ran in, either from conviction of duty or dread of con-
sequences^ thus appearing under the suspicious circumstances of rebels,
who lay dov,m their arras when an anmesty, for the last time is proposed."
— Test Act Tested, p. 29 With the aid of these — we must say, sus-
picious— characters, Messrs. Osborn and Co. issue their declaration and
its signatures. Two hundred and fifty six of the preachers in
Great Britain have withheld their signatures. Yes, 256 members of
the Conference have refused to be a party to the measure, which, in and
out of the Conference, has been stigmatized as worthy of the papacy and
of the inquisition. Among these will be found three late Presidents,
and six chairmen of Districts, besides a number of men, who, in every
respect, are, to say the least, equal in all the valuable distinctions of
ministerial talent, character, and usefulness, to those who have seen fit to
affix their names to this useless document.

The ' Declaration,' then, is an utter failure. It has not accomplished

118

its only object. It has not fixed the authorship. The hoped for prey
has escaped. The hunted victims are at large. Osborn and Co. are
defeated. '' Did they," to use the lan-^uage of the Test Act Tested,
" flatter themselves that they would reduce the non-signers to a small
and contemptible minority ? To one, two, or three recusants on whom
an inquisition might venture to enforce its un-English and unchristian
measures ? But one-fourth of the Conference is too large a proportion
even for men willing to exercise inquisitorial powers to proceed against.'
What will be done with the non-signers — 256 in number ? Had the
number been very small, they might have been gibbeted, quartered, and

; but 256 suspended at Tyburn at once, is rather more at a time

than the present enlightened age would endure ; and especially in a cause
with which a large portion of the public sympathizes."

The clever critic whom we have just quoted, urges eight weighty ob-
jections against the signatures appended. They will be found in p.p.

9 17 of that able analysis. We have not room to quote ; but if one of

the eight be valid, the declaration is invalid — is not worth a straw, and
must be regarded as worthless by so shrewd an observer as Doctor Bun-
ting, however much it may be extolled by such of his followers who are
more distinguished for their keenness of scent than for far seeing sagacity.
The above writer forcibly argues that had every one of the preachers
signed the declaration, nothing of moment would have been effected.
The Fly Sheets would not have been proved worthy of discredit ; the
dominant party in Methodism would not have been cleared of the impu-
tation of selfishness, and intrigue, and lust of power ; the whole case
would have remained precisely as though no declaration had been issued.
But the Declaration has damaged them. ' Geo. Osborn's thirty-nine
articles' — (See Test Act Tested, p.p. 37 — 41,j — will long live, a heavy
unanswerable condemnation of a policy which sought to cover its delin-
quencies by an inquisitorial test, when it should have challenged and sub-
mitted to an impartial and searching investigation.

Thus end Test Acts and Gagging Bills for ever in the Wesleyan Con-
ference. The attempt failed when a similar effort was made to fasten
their clutches on the author of the *■ Takings.' This renewed attempt is
a miserable failure, involving all connected with it in confusion and
shame." — Fly Sheets, No. 4, p.p. 12 — 16.

What can be said to gainsay this reasoning is difficult to surmise.
The declaration if universally signed would be hardly more than " sound-
ing brass, and a tinkling cmybal." The Fly Sheets are based on Mis-

119

sionary Reports and Minutes of Conference : they involve financial state-
ments, and acts of legislation, avowedly taken from these official and
authorized publications. It vi'ill be extremely difficult to conceive how a
numerously signed declaration of ignorance of, or non-connexion with,
the authors, will clear the parties on whom imputations, professedly
derived from official documents, lie. A " moiety" only of the Confer-
ence consents to the issue of the Test : whether a majority had voted for
it is so doubtful, that the votes (by shew of hands) are twice taken ; a
motion formally to divide the house and count the votes, is rejected :
many are still doubtful whether the motion was ever carried : the Presi-
dent's dictum closes the dispute. Is this satisfactory ? The Declaration
should have been quashed : or a ballot taken. Such votes damage a
cause : this bolstering is resorted to because the cause is felt to be weak.

" One-fourth" of the ministers of Great Britain have not signed the
declaration ! Nothing more needs be said ! To the public this is very
significant !

It is evidently felt as such ; and in order to weaken, if possible, the
impression which this fact is known to have made upon the public mind,
renewed attempts are made to " beat up raw recruits " and to enlist
more "suspicious" characters. Messrs. Osborn and Co., distressed to
find that all their previous hawking of the Declaration, all their ques-
tionable modes of begging and extorting signatures, all their patient
waiting month after month for every and any solitary straggler who might
under stress of weather be forced into harbour or thrown ashore, have not
given weight to their declaration, have re-issued it. The Declaration
issued in August 1847 is re-issued in November 1848! During one
whole year, and four whole months of another year, has this ill-fated
Declaration been drifting to and fro, holding out signals of distress, and
piteously entreating every bark, smack, or fishing boat within hail, to
come to her relief before she quite sinks into the lowest depths of the
Dead Sea. With what success this re-issue vi'iil be attended, time will
shew. It can hardly be expected that men, who, in August, 1847, had
reasons, self-satisfactory, for not signing the Declaration, will, in Nov-
ember, 1848, recognise the right of Osborn and Co. to re-issue that
declaration ad libitum^ and stultify their own former decision by signing
it now, because three junior ministers have taken it into their heads,
without any permission thereunto granted by the Conference, that it is a
fit and proper time to send it forth, mendicant like, once more for signa-
tures. When is the declaration list to be considered complete ? When

120

will the lists be finally closed ? Ai^e we from year to year to have a few-
more last signatures, as an old author has given us " a few more last
words?" Surely four months were sufficient to enable eleven hundred
ministers, all dwelling in Great Britain, all addressed by circulars and
by The Watchman, or else present at Conference, to sign a Declaration
sent to their dwellings, if they really wished to sign it ! Surely four
months was period long enough to enable them to decide whether they
ought or ought not to sign it ! Surely they needed not this voluntary
zeal of Osborn and Co. to quicken their dulness of conscience and their
insensibility! The re-issue is an insult to the parties to whom it is sent,
and deserves not a reply or notice from one independent man to whom
it has been addressed.

4hn official refutation, after candid examination, would have done what
no declaration, though most numerously signed, can do ; — it would have
convinced the Wesleyan public that the Fly Sheets are wicked lies, base
exaggerations, and gross misrepresentations. And the sooner this is done
the better. Recent events are bringing the Sheets into notoriety ; and
he vpill deserve well of the Connexion, who, instead of re-issuing " Test
Acts and Gagging Bills," will issue a calmly reasoned and statistical
refutation of these obnoxious publications — the more obnoxious, because,
if true, or if unrefuted, they involve the Connexion in odium and the
Conference in disgrace. " Let them be refuted, if they can be refuted,"
is the sentiment of every genuine son of Wesley : but let not a declara-
tion be mistaken or substituted for a refutation.

XIII. " Triumphs and Signs of Progress.

1. The governing clique, a third time in succession, defeated in
their attempt to fill the chair with their ' nominee.'

2. The London Committee overruled ; — a young man whom they
had rejected, being placed on the list of candidates ; while others were
received whom the said committee had not examined.

3. The Stationing Committee condemned for having assumed the
power of an ecclesiastical court ; and having thus arrogantly inflicted un-
merited punishment on those excellent men, Messrs. Hobson and Dickin.
Thank God, they went too far, and got from the Conference what made
some of the unjust judges feel sorely.

4. (Has been given.)

5. Mr. Fowler descended from the platform preparatory to his ele-
vation to the Presidential chair.

121

6. The Declaration Test opposed in Conference by nearly, if not
quite, half the brethren present ; shewing, that there is some suspicion
that all asserted in the Fly Sheets is not false in the estimation of many
preachers.

7. Though Mr. Bromley, this once^ is kept out of London, for the
weighty reason assigned in p. 6, he is appointed to Bath, and his name
appears on the deputation list. Men of Southwark, ye will have him
next time ye apply for him.

8. Great anger and wrath in the clique.

9. Pengelly removed from London, though art was used to keep
Spitalfields open for him ; and the hungry Scott unable to find an open
door in a London circuit, and so, all manner of contrivances is going on
to keep him squatted in some of our institutions there, and Prest in dike
difficulty.*

10. The Book-Committee entreated to review their decision in
reference to Burgess' Hymnology.

11. It was said, that the members of the Committee of Privi-
leges should not be considered as members for life ; the principle of
rotation should be introduced at the proper time. There was a dead
silence on the platform !

12. Doctor Bunting said in reference to a new building, ' We
should do more and shew less.' Is light breaking in ? Less shew at the
Mission House, and at Richmond ? So say we. He had ' doubts
whether the Centenary movement, great as it was, had not injured us.'
And so have we. We shall be right now, as the Doctor and we are of
one mind.

13. (This also has been given.) Fly Sheets, No. 4, p.p. 20 — 22.

XIV. The "Corresponding Committee" and what they say
FOR THEMSELVES. " Our object in these sheets is not to sow discord in

the body We are not without assurance that ultimately the Wesleyan

body will be scoured of tricksters, drones, sinecurists, locators, lords,
selfish cliques, and favouritism. There is no wish to divide the body :
God forbid ! Methodism is the life of our life ! We wish it health,
peace, and salvation. We are of opinion that we are doing God service,
by thus attempting to purify the waters at the spring-head ; or, which
amounts to the same thing, by improving the executive department of one

* " Doctor Dixon is reported to have uttered very strong things against the clique. If it be
true, when he comes out, he will come out as a giant."
I

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of the best systems in the world. Vengeance is vowed by those whose
nests have been disturbed, against the authors who have been loaded with
every species of abuse, and whom it is their great anxiety to apprehend."
—Fly Sheets, No. 1, p. 3 ; No. 2, p. 2.

As to the publication being anonymous^ they ask,
"1. Is it wise? We think, —

(l.^ That there is wisdom in preventing the worst feelings being
brought into operation against known characters. Persons cannot

hate so well in the dark as in the light give them an object and the

bile will accumulate — and their guilt will be proportionably enhanced....
The persons referred to are admirable haters ; any offence committed
against them is felt in its effects through life : Dunn was as much hated
and insulted after his renunciation of the Eternal Sonship, Bromley after
his softenings in the case of Doctor Warren, and Everett after he burnt

the 'Disputants,' as before These three men are just where

they were ; — nay, hated more. They are warnings to others not to give
place an inch.

(2.) There is wisdom in working under cover, when it is certain you
would not be listened to openly. Under cover we can go on unmolested
till the whole tale is told ; otherwise, an attempt would be made to stop
us in the onset. Junius was aware of his strength in this respect.

(3.) There is wisdom in avoiding unnecessary exposure. We may
be selfish here. But why should any class of men, to accomplish a great
good for others, risk their own position and interests in a community,
for whose success they have laboured, to whose support they have liberally
contributed, and which they ardently love ? Why purchase the possibility
of enjoying its privileges in its improved state, after evincing them, by
being persecuted from the body? We know our man, and are some-
what too knowing to allow him to know us.
2. Is it right? We reply, —

(1.) That we can see nothing morally wrong in it, while truth is ad-
hered to.

(2.) That the best leading articles, reviews, &c., in the ' Wesleyan
Magazine,' the ' Watchman,' and the most popular Journals of the day,
together with pamphlets and larger works, in which public characters are
assailed, are unaffiliated.

(3.) That agreeable to general usage, men are allowed to transact
business in their own way— to meet their opponents with their own wea-
pons—it is not usual for one party to ask another how they wish to be

123

attacked ; each side assumes the right of thinking and acting for itself j
and of this privilege we shall not allow ourselves to be deprived.

3. Is it honourable ? We observe, —

(I.) That we have the example of others for our guide. Politicians
have their secrets ; commercial men have their hidden springs, &:c.

(2.) That we confine ourselves, as much as possible, to the priest-
hood

(3.) That we have no private, personal ends to accomplish

(4.) That we are preserved in countenance by the party we oppose,
whose policy is covert, cautious, and distrustful.... All their designs, plans,
and preparatory acts, are concealed

(5.) That we are not attacking, strictly speaking, individuals, but
a system. They are measures, not men, viith which we are at war. The
individual is noticed only on our way to the system ; noticed as its au-
thor and abettor, — and the instrument of wielding it to the annoyance of
others, — and as a participator of its exclusive benefits. From hence
arise our repeated allusions to Doctor Bunting, as the originator of most
of the evils of which we complain. The apostle could not notice the
systematic opposition with which he met, without at the juncture, men-
tioning the name of ' Alexander the coppersmith,' and others who were
the authors of ' much evil.' The men together with their deeds, abso-
lutely press themselves upon us they must take the consequence.

4. Is it Christian ?

(1.) Several of the works of Sacred Records are anonymous, and
in those books, attacks are made upon persons and systems. We are
quite alive to the distinction between their inspiration and our own falli-
bility. All we insist upon is, the example What avails it, if we are

wrong, whether we are told of it by a person in the dark, or one in the
light ? A knowledge of the person will be no justification of the deed.
What would be thought of any one, roused from his slumbers by the cry
of fire in the street, who should close his window, and go to bed again,
refusing to examine his premises, because the person giving the alarm
had refused to give his name ?

(2.) Most of the Reformers were compelled for some time at first,
to work in the dark ; not only for the sake of personal safety, but to en-
able them to see how the medicine would operate — what amount of oppo-
sition they might expect — and whether they had sufficient strength to
stem the torrent that might set in against them.

This last particular will go some way in settling the prudential charac-

124

ter of the question. Christianity will, at all times, give her voice in
favour of opposing- corruption and correcting error ; if, then, she is on
the right side of the fact, it is with the manner that we have chiefly to
do ; and this again must be principally left to the wisdom we have to
guide us in the business. We shall be less in danger of suffering for
the manner of perpetrating the deed, than for the deed itself: the man-
ner may aggravate the offence ; but still, it is at the offence that we must

look The act, whether good or bad, will be decided by '' the law and

the testimony ;" the manner may be more or less happy and succesful,
according to the opinions of those v.'ho interest themselves in the matter
and in the final results.

5. Is it efficient?

We think it both is, and has been. Such was the overwhelming
influence of the platform, that any dozen men on the floor of the house
would have been frowned down, and discussion would have been strangled
in its birth. The men who have manifested such caution and taciturnity,
would have shifted the subject off, or stifled it by clamour. But the
brethren by means of the plan adopted, could read and inwardly digest
what was placed before them — not in the hurry and tumult of debate,
but in the calm of the study, or while musing by the way ; and the union
of purpose and effort at the Conference proves, not only that they had
thought, but thought calmly and deeply on the respective topics discussed,
so intimately connected with the prosperity of the body, their comfort as
men, and their liberties as christian ministers.

Let the complainants look at the Stationing and other Committees, for
freedom of remark upon moral, rehgious, and ministerial character ; —
anonymous to those that are without ; — men often injured for life, through
vague report, without knowing the authors, and without an opportunity
to vindicate themselves. The Stationing Committee is the great
Slaughter House or Ministerial Character. Having witnessed
the good effects of anonymous writing, in what we have already done,
we purpose going on in the same way. Ambuscade constitutes a part of
military tactics, and is very often more effective than open warfare: nor

is it deemed dishonourable to employ it In addition to the good effects

stated, it will appear, —

(1.) That in comparison with any other Conference, since Doctor
Bunting had the sole sway, there was never such freedom of remark as
at the one of 1846.

(2.) That there were never witnessed such boldness and resoluteness

125

of purpose to check the abuses that cunning has suggested, and tyranny
imposed.

(3.) That the hberals never before — whether from accident or
design — acted with such union of purpose.

(4.) That Doctor Bunting and his party-men were never before so
thwarted in effect, or toned down in spirit." — F. S., No. 3, p.p. 2 — 7.

When anonymous writings assail private character, there can be, except
under most extraordinary circumstances, no justification whatever of the
secret mode of writing. Every lover of fair play, every man possessed
of honour, must set his face against this assassination of character in the
dark. Every man attacked in private life ought to know who hits the
blow. It is an affair between man and man, and the blow should be
given with open face in the light of day. The safety of society demands
this : the sanctities of private life require this. The workings of a
system, or the public acts of men who have the control or take a leading
part in the workings of it, are to be viewed in a different light. The
agitated question is not barely between one man and another man : he is
one of the many arraigning the acts of one to whom has been confided,
or who holds in possession, the administration of a system. The assailant,
therefore, is not meddling with a private and personal affair : he may
be the exponent of the views of many ; he is acting on public grounds,
and for public good. Why, then, it may be safely asked, should he be
the scape-goat for the many, in bearing the odium of an assault, as
though he alone viewed with dissatisfaction an administration, when
many may be glad to avail themselves of the reforms which he thus may
be accomplishing ? Public men in civilised and free countries, at least,
hold themselves responsible for their public conduct: they know, and
this is one powerful check upon them, that their acts will be animadverted
upon, and that they will continually be passing the ordeal of public
opinion. He that attacks them openly may be more chivalrous, but it
would be difficult to prove, that he was more honourable or valorous
than he, who, in an anonymous publication, assails their public conduct.
This has never been deemed morally wrong, or dishonourable. Witness
the hosts of political pamphlets and of articles in public journals, of the
most distinguished class for probity and for the estimation in which they
are held. It has often been deemed better and more honourable to
withhold the name that the argument may weigh by its ovi'n merits and
force. Junius is at the head of a numerous class destined to be perpetu-
ated as long as free enquiry into public affairs is permitted.

126

With very few exceptions, the Fly Sheets consist of strictures upon
the administration of Methodism ; these strictures are free upon the
conduct of its administrators, and as based upon acts, and enactments,
and statistics that are published " by authority," or that take place in the
Conference. So far as this is the case, it is difficult to conjecture wherein
the authors of the Fly Sheets are worthy of censure for publishing their
pamphlets anonymously. If the administration of affairs is wise, just,
impartial, it is the easiest thing to prove it. If the administrators of
affairs have not so conducted themselves as public men as to be free from
charges of maladministration, the blame and disgrace of any exposure
which enquiry produces must fall on the heads of the executive. It is
their own doing. Are they ashamed of their deeds ? Or can they give
••' an account of their stewardship?" As public men they must know
that they are responsible to the public ; they must know that the public
will exercise its judgments upon their acts ; they must know that any
individual has a right to discuss before the pubhc the legislative enact-
ments they bring forward, and to shew the bearing of their public acts
upon the public weal ; they must know that the strongest guarantee of
the preservation of a system, is its being recommended by its sound con-
stitution and its advantageous working, to the judgment of thoughtful
men ; and that a free expression of opinion upon its administration is an
indispensible safety-valve.

So far then as the Fly Sheets are an expression of dissatisfaction with
the administration of Methodism, the authors have only used an acknow-
ledged right — a right exercised by some of the most honourable men
living — in sending forth their publications anonymously. Of the spirit
in which these have been written divers opinions will prevail ; and most
probably some, to whose judgment much deference should be shewn,
will think their spirit too severe, occasionally bitter, and even personal.
Where there is any ground for this opinion, let no one defend them.
For though there are cases when "rebuke" should be administered
" sharply," on all occasions " truth " should be spoken " in love ;" and
men who find fault with the conduct of others should take care not to
give occasion of offence by the temper and spirit in which they animadvert
upon public affairs.

Unfortunately there are a few matters in the Fly Sheets that rather
belong to private life than to the public affairs of Methodism. This is
their weakness. This gives their adversaries power, and has enlisted the
sympathies of some whose views of the administration of Methodism are

127

not less decided and less condemnatory of the present adrainisiration of
Methodism than those of the Fly Sheet writers themselves. This vul-
nerable point is perpetually alluded to, while the great principles are care-
fully avoided. Though these constitute but a very small portion of the
whole — only a page or two out of 130 closely printed pages — yet, like a
minute portion of an intense bitter, diffusing its property throughout a
large volume of otherwise useful liquid, this serves the purpose of men
who are more disposed to bring the authors into odium and discredit,
than they are to grapple with the exposed evils which their authors have
so far brought to light. Had these few instances of personalities, rather
connected with private than with public life, been omitted, the Fly Sheets
would have been no more indefensible, as to the matter they contain,
than nine-tenths of the publications that issue from the press on public
affairs. It is to be regretted that these flies are in this pot of ointment :
that these weak points embarrass the general line of defence : that such
an oversight should occur where there is evidence of so much shrewdness,
good sense, and thorough Methodistic loyalty. For it is plainly written
on the face of the publication, it is interwoven into the entire substance
of the publication, that its authors are hearty Wesleyan Methodists: men
who wish for no organic changes ; men who are no revolutionists ; men
who, whilst exposing its administration, love its constitution, and are
earnestly desirous of its prosperity.

It is true that they have been charged with disloyalty by those interested
in diverting attention from the strength of their strictures. " With a
view to make a deeper impression. Doctor Bunting raised the cry of
' Traitors in the camp,' on noticing the information communicated in the
Fly Sheets. But we ask, —

1. Whether the cry does not imply fear and an attempt at deception
in him that raises it ? Why attempt concealment, if all were right and
straightforward? Truth and honesty have nothing to fear; and, above
all, they have nothing to fear when let out before honest, simple-hearted
men. When persons are in the habit of saving or doing that which will
not meet with general acceptance, they are anxious to conceal it, and
the more so as these things are abhorrent to general feeling. But where
is the treachery ? We ask, —

2. Whether it is not to be conjectured, that preachers are engaged
in the composition of the Fly Sheets ? If so, they belong to the camp ;
and are as much entitled to know, improve, and talk about the affairs of
the Connexion as Doctor Bunting himself; and the treachery does not

128

rest with those, who, by dint of hard labour, have been able to extract
a Httle of the information that belongs to them, but those w^ho ungener-
ously try to keep it back, and so defraud them of their right. We ask,—

3. Whether when things are said in Conference they are to die
there ? Are not the preachers who hear them to be influenced by them,
not separately and alone, but in concert ? Is no permanent impression
to be made by them ? Is profound silence to be maintained the moment
the threshhold of the Conference is passed ? Is that which is spoken, all
right within, and wrong without ? We ask, —

4. Whether when a thing is confined to preachers — seen and read
by them* — that thing is not as much in the camp, with the preachers out

of doors, as within the house? It may be said that the privates are

not to be made acquainted with all that passes in the tent of the General.
True ; but it is to this kind of generalship we object, when brought into
the church of God, where all the preachers are officers, and equals, and
ought to be treated as honest and trustworthy men. There are many
brethren not allowed to go to Conference Are not these as much en-
titled to know what is done and said as the brethren present ? To these
we communicate of our abundance. But agreeably to Doctor Bunting's
doctrine, a good or bad thing spoken in Conference, becomes a species of
high treason the moment it crosses the threshhold of the house : it is
neither to be known, nor to be animadverted upon, by the timid who are
afraid to speak in Conference, or the absentee who is precluded from
going. We ask, —

5. Whether we are not on an equality with the generality of the
brethren, who, at the close of each sitting of Conference, are in the habit
of rehearsing and discussing in the rooms and at the tables of the friends,
the different topics brought before Conference ? They let the laity into the
arcanum of Conference matters ; we confine ourselves to preachers, and
so avoid a betrayal of trust, — holding communion with the members of
the house only. We ask,

6. Whether we have not exposed evils that have existed long, and
still exist ? And we demand the reason of their being allowed. There
must be a defect somewhere : and what has not been cured within, must be

* To the question, Why did not the authors, if preachers, speak these things in Conference,
rather than print them ? the old sentiment is a weighty answer : —
Segnius irritant auimos demissa per aurem,
Quam quoe sunt oculis subjecta tidelibus, et quoe
Ipse sibi ti'adit spectator.

129

attempted without. Are members of the Conference (supposing them to
be the writers of these Fly Sheets,) to be charged with treachery for
talking Conferential matters over among themselves upon paper ? No
more than members of the House of Commons, or any of their constitu-
ents are chargeable with traitorism for attempting to correct the errors of
the state by calling public attention to them. We ask, —

7. Whether the deeper treachery does not lie at the door of Doctor
Bunting and his party, who resort to trick and closed doors? We are
for day-light — for things done openly in the face of the brethren — men

who are neither knaves nor fools We are anxious that all should be

allowed to participate in the same privilege. With Doctor Banting,
things the least objectionable are brought to light ; all else is to be trans-
acted in secret. Which of the parties bears the strongest marks of the
traitor? The men who court the light, or the men who hate it? We
ask, —

8. Whether Doctor Bunting, of all men, has not the least right to
talk about traitors? — a man, who, for years, has been labouring to betray
the Connexion, by means of The Watchman, into the hands of a state-
church and tory faction, in opposition to the general views and feelings
of the people ; — a man who could, without the sanction of the sub-
scribers, advise and justify the appropriation of c£40,000 for a few rooms
to squat down in, in Bishopgate Street; — a man who could coolly allow
.£800. (rather £1400.) to be taken out of the Centenary Fund, unknown
to the subscribers, to support The Watchman, — a speculation of his
private friends and benefactors ; this man, forsooth, comes from be-
hind the scenes, and charges the innocent spectators with being traitors !
vexed to the core, because he has been detected and exposed.

By way of clearing this point, we should be glad to know from whence
the misunderstanding between the President and the superintendents of
different circuits has arisen, during the interim of Conference, respecting
the employment of Mr. Caughey ; — the former affirming it to be con-
trary to the decision of Conference, without deigning to quote the law ;
and the latter declaring their utter ignorance of any law having passed
containing such a prohibition ? If any such resolution passed, on that
special point, why was it not clearly defined and promulged ? Secret
legislation will answer the purpose of men who are afraid to publish the
laws they enact — who do not wish things carried out of Conference — and
who wish to employ their secret measures, as spring guns and men traps,
to catch the unwary, who may not be exactly to their mind, and who

130

expect, in their unsuspecting innocence, that they are treacling on solid
ground. We may be told, that a resolution was passed, expressive of a
wish for Mr. Caughey to be recalled by his Bishop ; and that the Presi-
dent, after the resolution passed, stated, that if any superintendent should
employ him, he should be called before the bar of Conference. But
this latter portion constituted no part of the resolution ; and we are
governed by law^ not by opinion. The opinion of a President is entitled
to respect, when sound and proper, but not to obedience ; obedience
belongs to law. The Conference has been too long under the govern-
ment of opinion. The ipse dixit of Doctor Bunting has been too often
substituted for law. Those who insist upon such a law being enacted
against the employment of Mr. Caughey must be able to state, when
interrogated, at what stage of the Conference proceedings it was passed
— who was the mover, who the seconders, and who the supporters — by
what kind of majority it was carried — and where it is to be found ;
whether in the published Minutes, or Conference Journal ; and if in the
latter, whether it is to be seen by the parties arraigned, without interline-
ations, alterations, note, or comment ? If men are to be governed, let
the laws be promulged by which their conduct is to be regulated ; and if
they are to be tried and condemned, let it be according to law. Men are
not to be tried by opinion ; for if so, where is the safety of the impugn-
ers and opposers of Mr. Caughey ? Some of these, it is to be feared,
would have to ascend the scaffold first. No ; let the brethren out of the
Conference know what is done in it ; and how it is done." — Fly Sheets,
No. 3, p.p. 23—^6.

The reasoning here employed is so full of common-sense, straight-
forward argument, that it will hardly fail to produce conviction, and
the writers of the Fly Sheets may rest with very easy minds under the
imputation of " Traitors ;" and the more so, considering the close, con-
claved mode, in which the party, so calling them, concocts and prepares
its schemes. A law, never promulged, acted upon ! A law, not found
in the statute-book, authority ! This is strange legislation ! Who, if
this be sound doctrine, can know what is, or is not, law ; when he is
violating, and when keeping, the law ? It is an open door for despotism.
And, if Doctor Bunting and his friends be at liberty to publish in the
social party, by epistolary correspondence, in the columns of The Watch-
man, what they please of the proceedings of Conference, it comes with
an ill grace from them, to stigmatize as " Traitors," others, who use the
liberty of which their brethren have previously and long availed themselves.

13]

THE MANCHESTEE MINOR DISTRICT MEETING,

AND THE LAW OF 1835.

The Conference Law of 1835 which has recently obtained such noto-
riety, and has been the subject of considerable discussion, is thus given in
" Grindrod's Compendium," p. 75 — 77. " In 1835, the Conference
deemed it expedient, on account of recent occurrences, to re-assert, by
declaratory resolutions, certain rules and usages which individuals had
attempted to contradict and pervert, and therefore unanimously declared
as follows : namely —

no That not only the Conference, but all its District Committees,
whether ordinary or special, possess the undoubted right of instituting,
in their official and collective character, any inquiry or investigation
which they may deem expedient, into the moral, christian, or ministerial
character of the preachers under their care, even though no formal or
regular accusation may have been previously announced on the part of
any individual ; and that they also have the authority of coming to such
decisions thereupon, as to them may seem most comformable to the laws
of the New Testament, and to the rules and usages of the Connexion.
In the District Meetings, especially, the chairman has the official right
of originating such enquiries, if he thinks necessary ; because our rule
declares, that the chairman of each District, in conjunction with his bre-
thren of the committee, shall be responsible to the Conference for the
execution of the laws as far as his District is concerned."

To this law the expositor appends the following note. This rule "was
certainly never intended to intrench upon the equitable principle recog-
nised in all wise legislation, that every accused party ought to have timely
notice of the nature of the charges to which he is required to plead ;
much less was it intended to supersede or obstruct the beneficial opera-
tion of its predecessor ; and this appears evident from the fact, that the
old law has been invariably acted upon, in the trials of preachers since
1835, as well as prior to that period : no preacher, it is believed, in the
intervening years, has been subject to any judicial censure, either in a
district meeting or at the bar of Conference, under the declaratory act.

The act was intended, 1. To preserve and perpetuate a usage in
Methodism, well know amongst our fathers, and never wholly abandoned,

132

either in the District Meetings or Conference, of noticing, without formal
charge, and in the spirit of brotherly love, such minor faults and objec-
tionable peculiarities, as did not call for a judicial proceeding; but
which might, notwithstanding, operate to the prejudice of the individual
concerned, and to the injury of the cause of God. 2. To prevent, in
times of general agitation and disturbance, any delinquent preacher from
escaping trial through the combinations of a party. During the year
preceding the passing of the declaratory resolutions, there were circuits
in which the spirit of contentious misrule was so violent and predomi-
nant, that the preachers who faithfully adhered to our established dis-
cipline were so intimidated, and set at defiance by ' associations,'
rendered formidable through a shew of numbers, that they dared not
proceed against their faithless colleagues in the usual way. An assembled
District Meeting was surrounded and menaced, the ordinary course of
law was obstructed, and a few preachers who had aided and abetted these
violent parties, appeared unimpeached at the ensuing Conference. To
guard, as far as possible, against the recurrence of such a state of things,
the Conference asserted for itself, and in behalf of its District Commit-
tees, the right to proceed in their official and collective capacities ' to any
investigation or inquiry relative to the moral, christian, or ministerial
conduct of the preachers under their care, although no formal or regular
accusation, in the individual cases, had been previously alleged.' Should
such an unhappy state of things again return, as to render it necessary to
have recourse, in extreme cases, to the provisions contained in these
Declaratory Resolutions, it would be proper and necessary, in every such
case, to institute a strict inquiry into the causes of omission of the ordin-
ary course of preliminary proceedings ; and if any blame was found
attached to the persons vvhose presumed duty it was to bring the alleged
offender to trial, duly to admonish them ; and equally proper to give the
accused every facility for his defence, which the nature and circumstances
of the case would admit."

The expositor then proceeds with the law.

(2.) " That all Preachers who desire to remain in ministerial
communion with us, are considered as retaining that communion on the
distinct condition, that they hold themselves individually pledged to sub-
mit, in a peaceable and Christian spirit, to the usual disciplinary investi-
gations, not only of the Conference, but of all its District Committees,
whether ordinary or special, when summoned according to our rules and
usages J and that any preacher who refuses to submit to the friendly

133

examination of the chairmen and of other brethren, or take his trial,
regularly and formally, before the preachers either of an ordinary or of
a special District Committee, when duly required so to do, shall be con-
sidered as, ipso facto ^ incurring the penalty of suspension until the
ensuing Conference ; because no possible security can be found even
against the worst forms of moral or ministerial delinquency, if persons
charged with any misconduct, and summoned to trial, be allowed to
evade, with impunity, our established modes of investigation."

The first idea suggested by this law is, that it is a violation of
Christ's law. A grave charge this ; but let any man read Matt, xviii.
15 — 17, and then say whether the charge is not as true as it is grave? —
" Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him
his fault between thee and him alone ; and if he shall hear thee, thou
hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with
thee one or tv^o more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every
word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it
unto the Church ; but if he neglect to hear the Church, let him be unto
thee as a heathen man and a publican." Is the above cited law of '35
in conformity with Christ's express commands ? Will any man avow
that it is ? Never was there a law of man more directly in the teeth of
the law of Christ than this law of '35. He must first be told alone, in
private, says Christ. He may first be told in the presence of 40, or of
400 persons, says the Conference law. If a private explanation be not
satisfactory, he must be visited a second time in the presence of a few
witnesses, saith Christ. There need be neither first nor second private
interview ; the whole transaction, from first to last, may be done in the
most public manner possible, saith the Conference law. The first inter-
view, strictly private ; the second interview, all but private ; having
failed of their end, then is the affair to be brought into public before the
church : so has Christ, in his legislative character, determined. Every
previous step being set aside, the affair is at once without any private
admonition or intimation to be publicly announced : so has Conference,
in its legislative character, determined. Who has supreme right to
legislate for the Wesleyan body ? Jesus Christ or the Conference ? It
is surprising that a law involving so bold and undeniable a rejection of
the legislative supremacy of the Lord Jesus should have passed in an
assembly of ministers who acknowledge the divine Headship over the
church of the blessed Son of God. Did this palpable overruling of a
divine law proceed from a body of men who avowedly set at nought

134

Christ's authority, or who hold the heresy that Christ has left to his
church a power to annul, suspend, or set aside at pleasure any of his
laws, the charge of an impious rejection of our Lord's authority could
not be sustained. But for the very men, who call Him Lord, to con-
travene a plain law of His, and to supersede it by a bye-law of their own,
is extraordinary, unaccountable, and will render nugatory the efforts of
the wisest, shrewdest, and best of their theologians to give an exposition
of Christ's words that will shew the agreement of their law with His.
Introduce the supremacy of the legislative body of a church over Christ
himself, and there is an end of Christianity: the will of the "powers
that be," and not the will of the " only Potentate " in the church, will
be supreme and dominant. No action taken on this Conference law can
be valid : since the law on which the action is taken is a gross undeniable
violation of Christ's law ; and they who enforce the penalty of suspen-
sion on any man who refuses to submit to this unchristian law, are them-
selves under much sorer guilt and condemnation for violating, and
sanctioning the violation of, the Divine Law. To all such, Divine Truth
addresses the appalling rebuke: — "Therefore art thou inexcusable, O
man, whosoever thou art that judgest : for wherein thou judgest another,
thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest, doest the same, (nay,
much worse,) things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them
that do such things, and doest the same, (and, even far, very far worse,
inasmuch as divine authority is infinitely above human,) that thou shalt
escape the judgment of Cod ? " This setting aside of divine authority
and supremacy in the church which He has bought with his own blood,
is alone sufficiently evil to bring down the divine displeasure upon us, to
account for our lamentable lack of prosperity, and for the distressing
divisions and strifes that exist in the body.

A second thought suggested is, what are the views of Wesley an exposi-
tors and theologians on this divine law^ and do their views countenance this
superseding of Christ's authority as a legislator 9 The whole of the
venerable Wesley's note shall be given, and the more so as the notes on
the passage to be found in Watson, Clarke, and Benson's commentaries,
are little else than a re-print of John Wesley's. " But how can we avoid
giving offence to some ? Or being offended at others ? Especially sup-
pose they are quite in the wrong ? Suppose they commit a known sin ?
Our Lord teaches us how ; he lays down a sure method of avoiding all
offences. Whosoever observes this three-fold rule, will seldom offend
others, and never be offended himself. If any do anything amiss, of

135

which thou art an eye or ear witness, thus saith the Lord, If thy hrother —
any who is a member of the same rehgious community : sin against thee^
1. Go and reprove him alone — if it may be, in person ; if that cannot be
so well done, by thy messenger ; or in writing. Observe, our Lord

GIVES NO lilBERTY TO OMIT THIS; OR TO EXCHANGE IT TOR EITHER OF

THE FOLLOWING STEPS. If this does not succeed, 2. Take with thee
one or two more — men whom he esteems or loves, who may then confirm
and enforce what thou sayest ; and afterwards, if need require, bear
witness of what was spoken. If even this does not succeed, then, and
not before, 3. Tell it to the Elders of the Church — lay the whole matter
before those, who watch over yours and his soul. If all this avail not,
have no further intercourse with him, only such as thou hast with
heathens.

Can anything be plainer 9 Christ does here .as expressly command all
Christians who see a brother do evil to take this way and not another^ and
to take these steps in this order ^ as he does to honour their father and
mother.

But if so, in what land do the Christians live?

If we proceed from the private carriage of man to man, to proceedings
of a more public nature, in what Christian nation are church censures
conformed to this rulei Is this the form in wJtich ecclesiastical
judgments appear in the popish^ or even the protestant ivorld? Are
these the methods used even by those who boast the most loudly of the
authority of Christ to confirm their sentences ? Let us earnestly
pray, that this dishonour to the Christian name may be wiped
away, and that common humanity may not with such solemn
MOCKERY be destroyed in the name of the Lord."

Nothing need be added to this exposition from the Standard Notes of
Mr. Wesley. The law of 1835 is as barefaced a superseding of the
standard writings of Methodism as it is a palpable violation of the in-
spired writings of the church. The law of '35 is anti- Wesley, as well as
anti-Christ. What then have our legislators been doing ? With what
face can they act in the very teeth of the founder of Methodism ? But
no wonder, they have laid Christ's supremacy beneath their platform.
" The servant shall not be above his master."

A third thought is, that this law is an atrocious one^ and capable of
being converted into an instrument of grievous tyranny and wrong. Under
this enactment, a man may be the victim of suspicion, malignity, or op-
pression. Without warning, he may be taxed with some moral delinquency

136

by one base enough to entertain a suspicion, or give currency to a
rumour ; this may be done in a large assembly, and before he has time
to rebut the charge, the rumour of it may have taken wing, and the
public may be in possession of it ; and though the victim of this anti-
Wesley, anti-Christ law, may be innocent as a new-born babe of the
charge, and may ultimately establish before his judges his innocence, yet
in addition to all the mental agony he suffers, during the progress of the
enquiry, they who have not heard the evidence, even if they hear the
judgment of the court, will in all likelihood, retain the impression that
there must have been some shew of reason for the charge, or would a
brother thus publicly have made it ? Who does not know, that in many
instances when some delinquency or irregularity of conduct has been
pre-supposed, a private explanation has been most satisfactory, and has
caused the matter forthwith to cease, without being whispered into the
ear even of a third party. And will it not be allowed to be a grievous
evil to a Christian minister to be liable to be charged with, or to be in-
terrogated respecting, an affair, before hundreds of members of the same
body, when had the interrogator obeyed the law of Christ, the matter
would have been settled for ever in a few moments ?

Must not every one perceive, that, if a dominant and arbitrary power
should ever arise in a body, on whose statute-book this law is written, it
may be the instrument of grossest injustice, and of most torturing
cruelty ? Does it not savour of the inquisition ? Will it not enable a
dominant party to put the soul of a man on a bed of torture, as truly as
ever men's bodies were by the inquisition put upon the rack ? Is this a
law breathing the mild spirit of the disciples of Christ, or the fierce per-
secuting spirit of the disciples of Loyola ? Can the liberties of a minor-
ity be safe ? Can any man obnoxious to the ruling powers be secure from
the most hateful inquisitorial processes, if this law be anything more than
a dead letter ?

A fourth suggestion is, that this law must minister to strifes and
schisms. It is possible that there will occasionally be found men, in most
rehgious bodies, disposed to ride rough-shod when they have the power,
and willing to avail themselves of any technical means of accomplishing
their ends. It is to be hoped that there ever will be in every Christian
community, men of a free spirit, men who will not submit quietly to
mere domination and terrorism. Where there is a law which the one
class will eagerly catch at, and the other class will stoutly oppose, can
there be a well-laid basis of union, love, and confidence? With such a

137

law before him, how can any man, the most consciously innocent, go into
an assembly with confidence, as he knows not, but that every moment,
some man may be springing out of the hedge upon him, with a charge
of which he has not had a surmise tiiat he is even remotely chargeable ?
Was ever a lav*^ passed more calculated to destroy confidence, to gratify
calumny, to torture innocence, to give wings to suspicion, to sow discord,
and to bring none but armed men — men armed to the teeth — into holy
convocations ?

A fifth remark. So undisguised, and undeniable is the evil and
tyrannous tendency of this law, that the author of the Compendium of
Conference Laws feels himself obliged to introduce a long note, in order
to soften down its harshness and to guard against its operations. He
evidently thinks it needs a piece of plaster, or two or three courses of
M'hite-wash. The public has been admitted into the Inquisition : this
instrument of power could not be overlooked by any man of thought and
freedom : its adaptation to purposes of atrocious cruelty and domineering
power would strike many at first view as one is struck by the " thumb-
screw " and " boots " preserved in a museum as a relic of the period of
persecution : it could not be put aside ; it could not be hidden by a cur-
tain or tapestry : so the guide informs the inquisitive public, that though
it is a tremendous instrument of power and torture to look upon, yet
that it is not so dreadful as it appears ; for it is intended to be used very
gently and tenderly indeed, and will not be allowed to hurt any one!
It is sufficient for the public to reply to the ciceroni, "It is in the
law — there is the pound of flesh." " The law allows it, and the court
awards it." The law does not say, what the expositor urges in extenua-
tion of a law condemnatory of itself, that it is intended only to be acted
upon in the case of " minor faults and objectionable peculiarities." Mr.
Grindrod says so : the Conference law says not so. Mr. Grindrod tries
to draw its teeth : the Conference does not allow the teeth to be drawn,
Mr. Grindrod appends a saving exposition : the Conference has not em-
bodied a saving clause. The expositor weakly apologizes : the Confer-
ence undisguisedly legislates. Mr. Grindrod speaks of " the spirit of
brotherly love " in which it is to be acted upon. A limited knowledge
of human nature as developed in all corporate bodies, will not inspire
much confidence as to the " brotherly love" which it will generate, but
will more likely awaken an apprehension of its divisive, schismatic, and
inquisitorial fruits.

It is matter of surprise that such a law was ever enacted. As long as

I3B

it exists there will be discord. When will it be repealed ? Repealed it
will be. The public has been ignorant of its existence ; and public
opinion will soon decide against a law which is in the teeth of all British
law, which is the very antipodes of John Wesley's principles, and which
disputes the supremacy of the Divine Head of the Church.

But the law is not a dead letter. It is a sleeping scorpion. It is need-
less to argue on its liability to abuse. It has been abused ; — abused in a
way never contemplated by the expositor of this iniquitous and wicked
law. The Manchester Minor District Meeting is its foul birth. The
progeny does not belie the sire.

The Manchester Minor District Meeting. So far as the facts
of this case have appeared in the public papers, they shall be laid before
the reader ; and an attempt will then be made to give a candid judgment
on the judicial proceedings of the case.

At the Financial district meeting held in Manchester in September,
during the sitting of the Missionary Committee, Mr. T. P. Bunting
stated, that he wished to propose a question, and then asked the Rev. D.
Walton, whether he was not the author of one or more of the Fly
Sheets in which remarks injurious to himself were made, affirming,
that he (Mr. Bunting) had by a " slow but certain process," obtained
sufficient evidence that he was. To this, Mr. Walton replied, that he
had never written a word in his life injurious to Mr. Bunting's charac-
ter. Mr. Bunting, supported by the meeting, affirmed that this was not
a satisfactory answer, and required him to answer " yea or nay " to the
question of authorship. This Mr. Walton refused to do, on the ground
that he had declined signing the Conference Declaration, and consistency
required him to maintain the position he had taken. A vote was then
taken, and all but unanimously supported, that Mr. Walton was bound
to answer the question. Mr. Walton was firm, and the affair, as far as
that meeting was concerned, dropped.

Mr. Bunting, having being reminded that before mentioning the affair
in the presence of others, he should have named it in private to Mr.
Walton, who said that he had no doubt that had Mr. Bunting done this,
an explanation perfectly satisfactory would have been given, is understood
to have sought and obtained an interview with Mr. Walton in private.
This did not put a stop to further proceedings ; — notice of a minor dis,-
trict*meeting to be held was given to Mr. Walton, who was charged by
Mr. Bunting with being '' cognisant and concerned in the preparation of

139

one or more of the Fly Sheets." The meeting was held on Monday
morning, November 13th, and continued at three adjournments until
Monday, November 20th. The parties examined in supporting the
charges were, the Rev. Messrs. Pemberton and J. Ryan, of York, and
the Rev. W. T. Radcliffe late of York, former colleague of Mr. Walton.
The Rev. W. Skidmore, of Great Grimsby, was summoned to the meet-
ing, attended it, but refused to reply to the questions proposed to him.
The Rev. Messrs. Burdsall and Everett, of York, were also summoned,
but declined to attend the meeting.

The court consisted of the President of the Conference, as Chairman
of the Manchester District, and of the Revs. Messrs. Naylor and Osborn
chosen by Mr. Bunting, and of the Revs. Messrs. Crowther and New-
stead, appointed by the Chairman, Mr. Walton having declined to choose
two members of the court.

The principal witness against Mr. Walton appears to be Mr. Radcliffe,
who deposed that he had seen a manuscript in his superintendent's study,
and that he behoved that some of its sentiments were to be found sub-
stantially in Fly Sheets, No. 2, published subsequently to his having seen
the said manuscript. The defence set up against this evidence was, that
the manuscript lay unconcealed on Mr. Walton's study table ; that he
had written his private thoughts on a public question — the re-election of
a President — without the remotest idea of publication ; that they were
written before he had seen or heard of any publication called the Fly
Sheets ; that this manuscript had only once been out of his hand, and then
was lent to a friend, and that it remained in his study until his removal
to Bolton, when it was mislaid, probably in the hurry of removal, and he
had never seen it since. And this he proved by reference to his short-
hand Journal, which he has long been in the habit of keeping.

The Watchman, evidently on authority, gives the judgment of the
meeting ; '* The meeting unanimously concluded that the charge prefer-
red by Mr. Bunting has been abundantly sustained, not only by the evi-
dence he has adduced, but also by the statements and admissions of Mr,
Walton himself. This conclusion has been greatly strengthened by his
repeated refusal to ansv/er many important questions, proposed to him in
the course of investigation ; and to produce certain documents which he
acknowledged to be in his possession, and v/hich might materially have
contributed to the settlement of various points affecting the enquiry."
The Watchman adds, " We have been informed that further resolutions
were passed, censuring Mr. Walton for his conduct, — requesting him to

140

answer certain questions to be proposed to him at the next Annual Dis-
trict Meeting,— and intimating, that, if he decline to answer such ques-
tions, the Minor District Meeting will then recommend some disciplinary
measure. There were also other resolutions passed, calling the attention
of the Conference to the conduct of certain witnesses summoned to
attend the meeting, two of whom sent letters declining to attend, while
the other attended, but refused to answer the questions proposed to him."
On this case, be it observed, —

1. The preliminary steps were anti-christian^ un-wesleyan^ and
opposed to the common courtesies of life.

(1.) Mr. T. P. Bunting's attack upon Mr. Walton was a palpable viola-
tion of the law of Christ, Matt, xviii. 1 5 — 17. Has any man denied this ?
Dares the President of the Conference justify Mr. Bunting's conduct as
agreeing with Christ's law ? He has often preached from the 20th verse
of this chapter. Let him announce that he will preach in Manchester
and in Bolton from the 15th to the 17th verse, and if he can vindicate
Mr. Bunting's conduct in the Missionary Committee he can make black
white, and prove that a private interview is a public accusation. Let him
doit. It is no very favourable feature in an ecclesiastical proceeding,
that, at the very first stage, the authority of the Son of God, as supreme
Legislator in his church, is trampled under foot, and most undeniably
contemned and outraged.* It must seriously vitiate all subsequent pro-
ceedings. However culpable Mr. Walton may be, all the parties "cogniz-
ant and concerned in " the permission of this slight and contempt of the
supreme Head, are implicated in the highest guilt. If Mr. Vv^alton
needs the forgiveness of his brethren, the brethren that have sanctioned
this dishonour to Christ need the forgiveness of their God. If Mr.
Walton owes a fellow-servant twopence, verily these fellow-servants have
a large account to settle with their common Master ; and it may be that
wise men will wonder with am.azement, and God visit in anger, if for an
offence committed against man they seize their fellow-servant, if proved
in fault, '' by the throat," whilst they, in the very course of visiting him
with judgment, must plead guilty before an infinitely higher tribunal.
The case should have been quashed as soon as introduced. It is strange,
it is sad, and ever must be deplored, that in an assembly of seventy

* Mr. Bunting did subsequeutly seek an interview -vvitli Mr. Walton ! Tliis was an acknowledge-
ment that Christ bad been dishonoured: it came too late; and there are opinions afloat that
the interview was sought rather as a lawj'er's trick, than a brother's desii'e to lind occasion of
reconciliation. But this is only conjecture.

141

christian ministers and elders, only one lifted his voice in favour of New-
Testament principles, and that his assertion of Christ's sovereignty vi^as
drowned in the voices of his co-judges and disciples !

(2.) The law on which this extraordinary step was taken is already
too celebrated to require restatement of it. It is the notorious law of
1835; a law which itself is contrary to the standard waitings of the body.
But Mr. Bunting's conduct, and the Meeting's acquiescence in it, was
itself a flagrant and undeniable violation of the Conference law. The
law of 1S35, unscriptural and inquisitorial as it is, is an enactment only
to be acted upon by and among preachers exclusively. The meeting was
a mixed committee, where no preacher could constitutionally be put upon
his trial. It was a Financial District Meeting, where no case of charac-
ter can constitutionally be investigated or introduced. It was a Mission-
ary Committee Meeting, convened specially and exclusively on matters
pertaining to our Missionary affairs. The law has been perverted from
its intention. A precedent of most serious bearing has been introduced.
If this is to be sanctioned, there is not a committee in the Connexion —
the Book-Committee, the Education Committee, the Chapel Building
Committee ; if this is to be sanctioned, there is not a meeting in the body
— whether School Meeting, Missionary Meeting, Quarterly Meeting ; —
in which a minister may not, without a moment's notice, be put upon
his trial, and find a meeting summoned for financial business converted
into an ecclesiastical court ; and men who have no such constitutional
functions transformed into spiritual judges ! Can this be allowed in
Methodism as it is ? No man will be safe. Every one must come to
every meeting for transacting even the secular business of Methodism,
armed cap-a-pie^ as in times of revolution and anarchy, when it is not
safe for citizens to assemble without weapons of defence beneath their
garments. There is not a local committee meeting in Methodism that
may not urge and employ this precedent, if the Conference should sanc-
tion this perversion of law. Every member of that Manchester meeting
— from the President to the timid man who gave his silent vote — is guilty
of trampling under foot the established usage and statute-law of the
Connexion, and is liable to impeachment for the same.

(3.) Mr. Bunting's course was ungentlemanly. From Mr. Walton's
letter addressed to The Watchman for Oct. 18, it appears that Mr.
Bunting first asked Mr. Walton a personal question, to the effect of
whether he had written the attacks in the Fly Sheets upon Mr. Bunting's
character ; and to this question Mr. Walton gave the most unequivocal

142

denial. Here the matter should have ended. Here, had a gentleman
been concerned in the affair, the matter would have ended. But Mr.
Bunting, who could have no right, even if all the preparatory steps had
been christianly and methodistically taken, to proceed to further interro-
gatories, changes his position, assumes the office of inquisitor general,
and demands from Mr. Walton an answer " yea or nay" to the question
of authorship. And here Mr. Walton ta,kes his stand, and refuses to
submit to this inquisitorial process. Was he not in the right ? Who
gave Mr. Bunting authority to propose such a question ? What warrant
had a Missionary Committee for entertaining the question ? Mr. Bun-
ting must be a sorry lawyer if he does not see that he was going beyond
all authority. A gentleman would have received Mr. Walton's denial.
Mr. Walton understood the courtesies of life^ and ga,ve what would have
been satisfaction most entire to any one who had not an ulterior end to
answer by the course he had taken. The first question appears to have
been put insidiously — to prepare the way for another. It does not seem
that Mr. Bunting was so anxious to be relieved of any painful impression
made upon his mind by the supposed conduct of an individual member
of the meeting, as he was anxious to find out the author of the obnoxious
publications.

It cannot be said, in extenuation of Mr. Bunting's conduct, that he
was taken by surprise, and fell into these errors unawares. " By a
slow but certain process," he had come to the possession of the evidence
on which he had grounded his attack. The inference, therefore, is, that
his course was deliberately taken. He had had plenty of time to think
how to manage it. If one sitting by him in the meeting had unexpectedly
whispered to him that Mr. Walton had written against him — had it come
upon him like a flash of lightning or an electric shock, and under the
impulse of the moment he had made this ungentlemanly assault — the
infirmities of human nature would have been justly pleaded as an extenu-
ation of his conduct. But it was planned and premeditated : and he
must use no ordinary legal tact to get out of the dilemma of unchristian,
anti- Wesley an, ungentlemanly conduct towards a man who hitherto has
been considered a most amiable member of the Methodist body.

2. The court before which the proceedings were taken. It has been
shewn of whom this court consisted.

(1.) Every member of it already had given his opinion both upon
the Fly Sheets and upon Mr. Walton, for declining to answer Mr. Bun-
ting's unseemly and ill-timed question. The judges could scarcely be

143

^expected to he on the side of the accused. It is difficult to imauine that
they entered the court unbiassed. If they did, they must he extra-
ordinary men, and will be meet emblems of Justice, even-handed, and
with her eyes covered.

(2.) The two members appointed by the President of the Confer-
ence, in virtue of his authority as Chairman of the District, Vvere Messrs.
Crovvther and Newstead. These two being nominated on behalf of Mr.
Walton, should, as a matter of course, if they had any leaning at all,
have been disposed to judge favourably of him. Was the selection of
the President a wise and judicious one in this point of view ? One free
from all liability to suspicion ? One that furnishes no ground for the
most uncharitable looker on to surmise that there was a sharp look out
thiit the judges should be men very likely to convict him, if there was a
bare chance of doing it. Who were the chosen of the President ? The
Presidenf s oivn colleague is one : the principal ivitness stiperintendent is
the other ! Could not a less questionable selection have been made of
men who were to appear on behalf of the arraigned ? Were there not
any two men in the Manchester and Bolton District competent to judge
in this case, and who, not having been at the notorious September meet-
ing, had not committed themselves to an official opinion on Ithe matters
in dispute? If so, why did not the President, acting on behalf of Mr.
Walton, select from these unexceptionable parties? Had he done so, it
would not involve the stretch of charity now necessary to persuade one's-
self that the President was free from bias, and that this bias against Mr.
Walton led to this imprudent and needless selection of men to constitute
the court, and force the hateful idea of a packed jury upon the public
mind.

Why did not the President select as one of the two, Mr. Tabraham ?
It may be said he had expressed an opinion on the matter in the District
Meeting. He had. He reminded the meeting of the law of Christ.
Surely this did not disqualify him for " serving on the jury." Had he
gone farther, and had he justified Mr. Walton for his conduct in the
September meeting, would he thereby have been disqualified to sit as a
member of the Minor District Meeting ? Would it have been too plain
that he was already under bias ? Would it have made it difficult for him
to listen to, and sift evidence, without prejudice? Would it, in any degree,
have impaired the moral force of his verdict, had that verdict been in
favour of the accused ? It possibly would. And will not the case tell
on the other side ? Whom did Mr. Bunting chose ? Men who had

144

maintained a prudent silence on the matter ? No : men who in no very
measured terms had given forth their sentiments, Messrs. Naylor and
Osborn, decided partizans, men taking a foremost part in expressing'
their opinions on the whole affair ! This being the case, and Mr. Bun-
ting having the right to choose whom he pleased, and having chosen men
who were known to sympathise with his case, can any one justify the
President in the selection Vt'hich he made of the members of the Minor
District Meeting ? Was he driven by necessity to this selection ? In
the large and important Manchester and Bolton District are there no
preachers out of Stockport and Manchester capabje of adjudicating in
an affair like this ?

The world will believe that Robert Newton and his colleague had
talked this matter over with each other fully enough to know one
another's mind upon it, before it was known that Mr. Wtilton would
decline nominating any member of the meeting : why then was Mr.
Crowther appointed ? Unless Mr. Newstead had excluded Mr. Radcliffe
from his study and his confidence, it is not improbable that they also had
freely conversed together on the matter, and Mr. Newstead might have
unconsciously given more weight to his evidence first received and re-
iterated in private, than he would have done, had he received it in im-
mediate connexion with the explanation ; at least the President might
have judged so ; and to avoid the appearance of packing the court, and
to give these judicial proceedings, what they now egregiously lack — an
air of impartiality and a tone of justice — would it not have been more
prudent and obviously impartial to have selected almost any other two
men than his own colleague, and the principal witness' superintendent ?

(3.) The chairman of the meeting had been assailed in the Fly
Sheets, and was therefore about to judge in his own case. Mr. Osborn
had taken a very prominent part in the Declaration issue at the Liver-
pool Conference, and is said to feel the strictures made upon his con-
duct in this Test issue, in the " Test Act Tested," and was therefore
very likely to look with a jaundiced mind upon any semblance of evidence
that might enable him to lay hold of the prey, that hitherto he has hunted
with all the ardour and perseverance of one most devoted to the break-
neck sports of the chase, but alas ! though booted, spurred, and
foaming, all in vain. Mr. Naylor, however remarkable for the sound-
ness of his judgment, and the enlargement of his views, had unfortun-
ately committed himself, and somewhat strongly it is rumoured, on the
subject, and was likely, therefore, to enter the court in expectation of

145

having his oracular opinion confirmed, not changed or abandoned. Of
the remaining members of this court, enough has ah^eady been said : they
were hkely to be seasoned as highly and delicately as the rest.

If Mr. Walton had a fair trial before this courts its proceedings
deserve to be preserved in the archives of Eternal Justice.

It is no reflection on them to say so. They must have been super-
human. Their grace must have been carried to the very limits of Chris-
tian perfection. They must have forgotten every thing of the past,
which they had felt^ and said, and done. They must not have been wil-
ling to find in Mr. Walton one of those, whom for months they had been
seeking, and on whom, if found, they were prepared, if not to wreak
their vengeance, to inflict the heaviest penalties which law would permit.
If, under these circumstances, justice was administered, never did justice
run in a purer stream — never did the ermine sit so pure on the shoulders
of human judges — never was human infirmity so severely tested — never
was human infirmity so gloriously triumphant. Aristides must no longer
be the type of justice : this long used name must give place to the longer,
less euphonious, but more fitting term, '' The Manchester Minor District
Meeting of November, 1848!" For verily, if they gave, under these
circumstances, a fair trial, they are the only men living of the sons of
Adam capable of this extraordinary greatness of mind I

3. The evidence furnished to sustain the charge. From all that as
yet has appeared on the subject, there was but one witness whose testi-
mony bore at all upon the case. The name of this witness need not be
mentioned. It is in every body's mouth, praising, or pitying, or con-
demning, or execrating, his conduct.

(1.) Let this witness' evidence be taken for what it is worth. For
the present, banish all recollection of the source whence it^ was derived.
Give it the full weight of an unsullied testimony.

Firstly, it is not direct.

Secondly, it is not even circumstantial. #

Thirdly, it is only inferential.

Fourthly, as inferential it is excessively feeble, and altogether insufii-
cient to ground upon it a verdict of guilty. Take the evidence. Sift it.
(Does it need sifting ?) The witness sees a private manuscript upon a
topic of public interest. He has a brief opportunity to inspect it by
stealth. Many months after a pamphlet appears in print, containing, the
witness " believes, some of the sentiments," and a Latin phrase, which
he furtively read in the manuscript. The inference drawn is, that the

140

writer of the manuscript is the author of the pamphlet. Is this evidence?
On such evidence can any jury convict ? On such evidence can any con-
viction be vindicated before an unbiassed pubhc ?

Can much reliance he placed on this witness' recollection ? For must
not his perusal of the manuscript have been very hurried, as he might be
interrupted before he had finished perusing what he v^as so anxious to
know? One running with breathless haste does not often receive
vivid impressions of what is on the road. Must not his perusal have
agitated him greatly, from the momentary apprehension, that he might be
detected and " taken in the very act" of a clandestine and illegitimate
intercourse with another man's private papers ? And is nervous excite-
ment a great help to clear notions, and retentive memories, or, to use an
expressive term, does it ""flurry" one? And does any agitation give
a man a more thorough shaking than the agitation of conscious guilt,
aware that the sudden opening of the door will reveal the sad breach of
confidence ? '^ Stolen waters are sweet," whispers the tempter ; but the
tempted, while putting the desired chalice to the lips is uneasy, if he
thinks that the good man of the house may step in before he can replace
the cup, and he gulps them down too hastily to taste their true flavour.

May not this witness he deceived as to his recollections ? Was there
any reason why he should take particular notice of the sentiments in this
manuscript ? If not, why should he give them any other than that
passing and cursory perusal which leaves no very permanent and deep
impression on the memory ? In the absence of any particular motive for
a careful reading and intentional retention of the sentiments read, is it
not as natural, as fair, as safe, to infer, that when the published pam-
phlet, months after, came into the hands of the witness, he, recollecting
that a manuscript on this subject had been seen by him, first, innocently
enough, wondered to himself whether there was any similarity of senti-
ment between the two ; then, after having perused the pamphlet, tried
to rub up his recollection of an almost forgotten affair ; and, eventually,
persuaded himself, that the arguments, now read in fact for the first
time, were the arguments, in some respects, that he had before met
with ? So that he is in truth transferring the arguments of the printed
pamphlet to the manuscript, and not having his recollections of the
manuscript revived by the reading of the pamphlet. This is quite
possible. Courts of law have furnished cases analagous to this.

Do his recollections amount to any thing valid as evidence ? He " be-
lieves that some of the sentiments of the manuscript are found in the

117

pamphlet." Is a man to be hanged by the neck upon such vague testi-
mony as this ? Judges ask not what a man believes, but what a man
knows. A man may believe a lie. Belief is sometimes credulous, partial,
interested ; one man believes one thing ; his neighbour believes its oppo-
site : which, then, believes aright ? As far as this witness knows^ there
is not one sentiment of the manuscript to be found in the pamphlet. He
KNOWS nothing ; he believes a very little ; he infers, and would have
the court to infer, a vast deal. This is too long a leap in the dark, for men
accustomed to sift evidence before they make a man mount the scaffold.

Allow the witness to he correct in his belief; and is the evidence then
valid :? Because some of Mr. Walton's sentiments are found in the Fly
Sheets, does it follow that he is the author, or that he intentionally and
knowingly communicated with the author for the purpose of having them
put in print ? Before the evidence, such as it is, can convict him in any
degree — T. P. Bunting, a lawyer, must know this — it must be proved,
that if Mr. Walton were not the author, but only communicated these
sentiments to the author, he did so with the intention that they should be
printed in the said Fly Sheets. Is there a particle of evidence to indi-
cate this ? Does Mr. Radcliffe say that there is? Does his testimony
furnish it ? If Mr. Walton communicated to the author, for all that
Mr. Radcliffe deposes to the contrary, he may have communicated it with
no more intention that it should go any further, than Mr. Radcliffe,
when his curiosity first prompted him to peep under cover, intended to
get himself into the queer box, where his legal friend has awkwardly,
and some say, unhandsomely, thrust him.

If the sentiments in the Fly Sheets are the same as some that were in
Mr. Walton's manuscript, it does not follow that Mr. Walton furnished
the author of the Fly Sheets with them. The subject was one of grow-
ing Wesleyan interest : the re-election of President, a subject in which
many felt an interest. Mr. Walton might in conversation have given his
views to a brother minister, to a lay friend, in his study, at the tea table,
in a large social circle : some individual, struck with their force, may
have repeated them substantially in another circle 500 miles off where
the question turned up, without stating whence he had them. In this
way, having travelled north and south, east and west, through the
length and breadth of the land, and having passed through an indefinite
number of hands, they at length come within the reach of the Fly Sheet
author or authors, (who seem to be ubiquitous ;) they are booked, and
eventually printed, and then Mr. Walton, who is, in truth, as distant

148

from authorship as Noah before the flood, is chargeable with their pub-
lication ! And this is evidence ! Evidence to convict one of the most
amiable and spotless men in the connexion.

If the sentiments in the Fly Sheets, No. 2, are similar, it does not
follow that they are the same, as in the manuscript. May not other men
have the same sentiments as Mr. Walton on a general question ? Is it
at all extraordinary and unusual, for men to entertain similar views,
though these individuals have had no opportunity of comparing notes ?
Might not two Arrainians, one living on the continent, and the other in
Britain, express their sentiments very similarly on the extent of the
atonement, though they had never interchanged one word ? Judge
Jeffries, who had made up his mind as to the sentence he would pronounce
before he had entered the court, might receive such evidence, but a British
judge and a British jury, in 1849, will not administer the penalties of law
upon a man, who, so far as the evidence produced goes, is as innocent as
his judges themselves, and less liable to suspicion than some of the par-
ties who either have brought it before the court, or are endeavouring to
sustain it when brought there.

But it is said that there is a latin phrase in the Fly Sheets, which the
witness distinctly recollects seeing in the manuscript. Ergo : — the writer
of the one is the author of the other. Admirable ! The chain of evidence
is complete ! Not a link wanting ! Only one person in the Connexion,
writing or conversing on the Presidency, could, by possibility, use that
very uncommon, and until now unheard of, term, concio ad clerum!
Gentlemen of the jury, you need not quit the box : nor need you turn
your heads round : the evidence is so conclusive that you must, as far as
this evidence goes, direct your foreman at once to pronounce " Guilty,"
in a voice loud as impudence, and harsh as injustice, and regardless of
public opinion as the Holy Inquisition ! Concio ad clerum proof ! The
clergy that can find a verdict on such trumpery evidence as this need a
discourse on some such text as, — " Judge not that ye be not judged ;
for with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again ;" or,
" Judge righteous judgment ;" or, " Do all things without hypocrisy
and without partiality." The Wesleyan, for Dec. 28, has ably exposed
the absurdity and injustice of grounding a verdict upon such flimsy
trash, misnamed evidence, and no more worthy to be introduced into a
solemn judicial enquiry, as the principal evidence, than the gossip of half
a dozen old village dames in their eightieth year, sitting around their
tea-table.

149

There is not a more common thing than to find the same classical
quotation in different works — and the same sentiments and forms of
expression in the writings of different Wesleyan authors. We have in
our recollection a case in which a literary character was complimented by
the present Bishop of London, with a quotation from the Latin classics,
and of another dignified son of the church, quoting the same passage — .
and applying it just at the same juncture, to the same person, on the
same subject, without even the possibility of the eulogists knowing what
each had done.

Is it necessary to go further into this case ? Would any jury, save, as
another correspondent of The Wesleyan drily puts it, the jury which
brought a man in guilty of manslaughter for stealing his neighbour's
small clothes ; would any other British jury allow the case to go on ?
Would the defence be called for ? Certainly not. No conviction could
take place on such evidence, even if that evidence were neither contra-
dicted nor explained away. As a defence was required at Manchester,
though the parties M'ho brought the matter forward will thereby cut a
more sorry figure than they do at present, the defence set up must be
brought up in this Vindication.*

(2.) AVhat is the defence pleaded against this worthless, flimsy, delu-
sive gossiping, dignified with the name of " evidence ?" Simple, natural,
unsophisticated, unsuspecting, open, honest. Mr. Walton acknowledges
that he wrote a manuscript on the re-election of a President. But he
affirms that it was not written for publication. His journal proves
that it was written before any Fly Sheets made their appearance ;
and he declares, before he had ever heard of any Fly Sheets either
in existence or in intention. Ought not these declarations to have
sufficed, even if a defence were called for? A more truthful man than
Mr. Walton does not exist in the Connexion. His, from the commence-
ment of his ministry, has been a spotless career. His integrity has never
been whispered against. The case should have been at once dismissed.
If any person obtained his manuscript, and used it for publication, he
himself is unblamable. It was not done with his consent or knowledge.

The leaves of this manuscript lie uncovered on his table. Is this the
way of a man about to publish a clandestine work ? Any one left alone
in his study, if curious enough, may see it. Does this betoken conscious-

* The reader is plainly to understand, that the " defence " is simply what has appeared in
the public papers. Mr. Walton is entirely ignorant of this publication ; nor are the writers of
this Vindication in possession of Mr. Walton's defence otherwise than the public are.

150

ness of guilty intention ? The manuscript remains in his study for
months after the Fly Sheets have made their appearance, and long after
diligent and inquisitorial efforts are made to punish the authors. Would
any man, conscious of guilt, keep these papers loose in his study, if con-
scious that they had contributed to, or had been substantially printed in,
the Fly Sheets, with his knowledge and consent ? Would they not have
been destroyed instantly on the publication coming out, so that no evi-
dence criminatory of himself might be in existence ? Most assuredly.
This manuscript is not now to be found. On his last removal it was
lost ; Mr. Walton knows not how.*

Till lost, it was never but once out of Mr. Walton's possession. He
lent it to a friend. He refuses to give up the name of this friend. Is
not the reason plain ? Has the court a right to ask such inquisitorial
questions ? Might it not then ask whether his wife was absent from
home at the time he wrote his " Private Thoughts," and whether he
communicated them to her substantially ? Might not the court with equal
propriety demand of him the name of every private friend he has, to
whom he had written, directly or indirectly, a single thought on the
Presidency ? Let this High Court and Star Chamber practice be
allowed, and nothing will be too sacred, nothing too private and conse-
crated to all that is dear to one's best affections, to intimidate some bold
pettifogging busybody respecting other men's matters, from setting at
work all the appliances of an inquisition to gratify his thirst for power
or wreak his revenge. It was impudent to put the question : if the ques-
tion were pressed, it was outrageous. There are parties connected with
that Minor District Meeting who would shrink from questions not a whit
more inquisitorial, unfitting, and impertinent, respecting some of their
more private and personal affairs ; and, unless T. P. Bunting, W. T.
Radcliffe, R. Newton, W. Naylor, J. Crowther, R. Newstead, and G.
Osborn, are v/illing to have close questions put respecting their private
life and their intercouse with men and things, it was a most outrageous
and monstrous violation of another divine law, to press their impertinent

* It has been suggested, that as it is not more sinful or mean to steal the manuscript itself,
for the sake of written evidence, than to steal the sentiments, for the salce of oral evidence,
parties who would employ the latter, are not likely to have been scrupulous respecting the
former, if they had the chance ; and that their not having brought it forward is no evidence
that they have it not in their possession : as they may dechue producing it, because if tliey
have it,—

1. They would be liable to a prosecution for felony.

2. It may damage their wretched cause, even more than the evidence they have adduced,
by proving less than nothing.

151

questions on this amiable man : " Whatsoever ye would that men should
do unto you, do ye even so unto them," Would each and every of the
above gentlemen like to be impertinently asked some questions respecting
transactions which he has had with any intimate personal friends ? Those
conscious of integrity would resist the attempt with honest indignation.
Such as were conscious of criminal or dishonourable participation with
their friends, would resent the vile attempt to make them criminate
themselves. Public opinion would give its unmistakable approbation in
both cases.

Had Mr. Walton dishonourably given up the name of his friend, what
could the prosecutor have done ? Only repeat his inquisitorial proceed-
ings, and — if that be possible — with results still less satisfiictory and
more futile. For until it had been proved that Mr. Walton, and the
person who had the loan of the manuscript, had never given in substance
any of the arguments contained in it, to any other person or persons, the
enquiry would have proved as wild-goose a chase as ever, and the perse-
cutor and court as far as ever from a conviction grounded on competent
and sufficient evidence.

Once again, let it be said, that if Mr. Bunting, in his professional
character, should ever bring a case before the municipal authorities of
Manchester, no better sustained than this, the bench will dismiss his
complainant with remarks not very flattering to the professional sagacity
of his attorney.

, Fifthly. It is not a case even of surmise and suspicion. It does
not amount to this. In a common court of law, Mr. Walton would
have been acquitted with honourable commendation. In a court
martial, he would have received his sword from the Presiding officer,
with every possible assurance that his honour was unspotted, and would
have been immediately and warmly greeted by the hearty felicitations of
his brother officers.

(3.) The witnesses who attended will excuse the freedom now taken
with them. As some came with rail-road speed, " zealously affected" in
this any thing but " good cause," they, at least, will not regret to have
their zeal and heartiness further advertised and blazoned forth.

Mr. W. J. Skidmore, for refusing to answer questions which doubtless
were impertinent and dishonouring, will not sink the lower in the esti-
mation of men who hate an inquisition, and will not lack their sympathy
should any attempt be made to make him smart for his honour and noble-
ness of conduct.

132

Messrs. Pemherton* and Ryan, whose eager haste to be present— like
sundry insects that speed their way with all dispatch, when their keen
scent tells them that some animal has dropped its dung, or a piece of
flesh lies putried in the sun — made one curtail his discourse, and the
other give up his discourse altogether, on a Sabbath evening, that he
might travel to Manchester on the Sabbath day, must answer to their
conscience, to the irreligious public, to the Conference, to God ; — first,
for neglecting their pulpit duties, as though they had in hand a matter of
more consequence than " preaching as dying men to dying men," on a
Sabbath evening, when ministers are specially bound to give " a call to
the unconverted ;" — secondly, for travelling by rail-road without the plea
of necessity, on the Lord's day — for they could have reached Manchester
by a Monday morning train in sufficient time to give their evidence, what-
ever it was. Had an accident happened to that train, and had they been
killed on the spot, what account could the Conference have given in its
"Minutes" next year of their deaths? Abandoning without necessity
their most solemn ministerial work, and travelling, without the plea of
necessity, by rail-road, on the Sabbath day, from York to Manchester !
It is too bad, Messrs. Peraberton and Ryan, even for the bad cause in
which ye were engaged. When will ye announce in York your intention
to preach from, " Remember to keep the Sabbath day holy ?" When ?
Why when ye truly repent : and this with deep contrition will be the
fruit meet for your repentance. Till ye have done this, even the irreli-
gious world will not hold you guiltless, and others will regard you as
impenitent desecrators of the Lord's day, for the part ye have taken in
the too celebrated Manchester Minor District Meeting of Nov. 1848.

Mr. W. T. RadcUffe, willingly should you be passed by, and your
name never more be mentioned, but the stern necessities of the case

* Mr. Pemberton, to get quit of the entire charge of guilty participation, states to his friends,
that he signed the " Test Act " before the secret was revealed to him by Mr. Curnock, and,
therefore, ought not to be placed on a level with him, the latter having signed after Mr. Rad-
clifFe's disclosure. But this does not reheve the case of culpabilitj^ With what shew of con-
sistency could he, after signing the " Test Act," and thereby binding himself not to allow any
slanderous attacks to be made on his brethren, go and bind himself vnih another promise — one
of secrecy — one of counteracting tendency — not to divulge the names of the authors of the
reputed slanders, btit allow them to pi-oceed in the work of defamation, in opposition to the
*' Test " put forth by Osborn and Co., to support the spirit and letter of which he was pre-
viously pledged ? It is of no importance v/hich pledge stands first ; they are opposed to each
other : there is no escape from disgrace ; and the impression is, in York and its vicinity, — and
sufficient circumstantial evidence has appeared to confirm it,— that both Mr Pemberton and
Mr. Ryan put themselves in the way of a joumey to Manchester on the occasion, by previous
enquiries, — and hailed the occasion, in anticipation of future honours and appointments.

153

make it unavoidable. You are pitied : from the very heart you are
pitied. Your extreme wretchedness of position awakens for you pity
in the very bosom that execrates your conduct. In sorrow for you, in
abhorrence of your perfidy, these strictures are written. To forget you
is infinitely harder than to forgive you. Christian charity does the one ;
sympathy for yourself prevents the other. You have raised your ovv'n
monument. It is only too durable in its materials. You have chosen
the site for it. It stands so solitary and huge, and unparallelled, that the
passenger, passing through the square, involuntarily raises his eye, and
reads its inscription : ^'Alas, poor Yorick ! "

Mr. Radcliffe is Mr, Walton's colleague at York. He is frankly and
unsuspectingly admitted, as such, into his superintendent's study.
Preachers, especially superintendents with their colleagues, have not
been v/ont to receive each other as if coming under suspicious circum-
stances. The superintendent's study is the place for free and easy con-
versation, for serious deliberation, for mutual counsel, edification, and
prayer. All here has been free, open, without cover. It cannot be so
henceforth: lest an unsuspected Radcliffe should enter. Before any
superintendent can admit any colleague into his study, every scrap of
written paper must be put under lock and key, and the key kept in his
own pocket, or he is not safe : some unknown Kadcliffe may pry into his
manuscripts, may retain, or dream he has retained, a snatch of their
sentiments, and years after, what the superintendent has most innocently
written, may be tortured into evidence against him. Superintendents,
who have already enough upon their minds, must not have this additional
anxiety. The only safe way, since Radcliffe has violated the sanctity of
his superintendent's study, is for no superintendent to allow his colleagues
to enter his study !

While Mr. Walton and his colleague are closetted in the study on
circuit business, the former is called out of the room ; the latter takes
the opportunity to examine his private manuscripts ! A man who does
this, must be lost to honour, must be culpably ignorant of the courtesies
of life, and has surrendered all claim to the character of a gentleman,
all claim to the confidence of his fellows. He has proclaimed himself
ready to abuse all confidence, stealthily to possess himself of a man's
most private and delicate secrets, and in the gratification of a morbid
curiosity, to repudiate no means, though they be most base, to come to
the knowledge which his prying diposition desires. Nothing but what is
under lock and key — if even that — is safe from such a one. He will

154

know every thing that can be known, however unlawful and improper it
is for him to know it, if he makes up his mind to have it. No blush of
shame, no sense of decency, no principle of honour, no consciousness of
self-degradation, no spectral vision of the wrong inflicted on the man of
abused confidence, no enlarged and sensitive reflection on the frightful
havoc that would be made of personal, domestic, and social happiness,
and of the suspension and even annihilation of all confidential intercourse
which must result, if this perfidy were general, will be sufficient to deter
such a man from indulging his inordinate and uncontrollable curiosity.
He will take the forbidden fruit whenever there is a chance, if " plea-
sant to the eye, and to be desired to make one wise." If this be justifi-
able, there is an end of all confidence between man and man. Each
must receive his fellow as a suspicious character ready to pry into what he
has no right to know of another's affairs, and must treat him accordingly !
But this is not all. Mr. Radcliffe reveals his shame : — not to Mr.
Walton. Oh, no ; Mr. Walton re-enters the room, and his colleague
is as sleek, and as "slimy,"* and as smooth-faced, and as cheerful-
countenanced, and talks, and smiles, and consults, and parts with as
apparently hearty and friendly a greeting, as if he had not perpetrated
the monstrous outrage of looking into a man's private papers ! Not to
Mr. Walton, whom he visits again and again with all the appa,rent ease,
and freedom of a man of honour, who v/as conscious of not having
wronged the man on whom he smiled, and who little suspects what a
traitor he has visiting him for months, in all the confidence which an
amiable and kind-hearted superintendent bears towards his esteemed and
honoured colleagues ! No, not to Mr. Walton, in a penitential state of
mind, to solicit forgiveness and to give him an opportunity of judging
how far it will be prudent to trust his colleague alone in his study in
future. Not to Mr. Walton, who, in a few minutes, could have offered
his most satisfactory explanation of what he had written, and his manly
forgiveness of his sneaking but penitent colleague. This is not done.
He still visits the man whom he has wronged ! He can, month after
month, affect an honest freedom which his conscience must have belied.

He can smile on the man he has betrayed. He can pray but the

pen refuses to proceed. Who knows how many other manuscripts he
has, both before and since, stealthily pried into ? Who knows what
other personal and family secrets of Walton's he has thus become privy

* " Slimy "—an epithet which a certain party has been veiy fond of using lately. It can be
used on the other side too. " I thank thee, Jew, ibr teaching me the right use of that word."

155

to ? The enquiry must be extended. He confesses he has put his eyes
where they should not have been, in one instance. Is this the only one ?
Must not every man who has unsuspectingly received him into his house,
who has in honourable confidence allowed him to remain in a room where
papers, intended only for the owner's eyes, or pertaining to matters of
much family moment, have been left not under lock and key, seriously
fear, and reasonably suspect, whether that confidence has not been abused.
Colleagues and superintendents of Brother Radcliffe, in particular, may
you not justly fear that he has in his possesion some private affair of
yours, which hitherto you have thought safe in your own keeping, for
you had not imparted it to any mortal ? This is no longer a security.
A brother may have stolen your secret from you, and in such a manner
that you do not even suspect the robbery ; and it may never come to
light till he has done all possible mischief with it.* Is this one of the
modern modes of promoting mutual confidence and esteem ?

Is evidence thus obtained to be received in any court in the kingdom ?
Is such a witness a credit to any cause? Would any jury receive his
testimony with readiness ; any man " learned in law " congratulate him-
self that his name was on the back of his brief? Would not his be a
fine case for cross-examination, and under it would not he cut such an
awkward figure, that out of sheer pity, and that he might not swoon
away in shame, the defendant's counsel would say, " You may go Sir ?"

Is not the man wlio could read these private papers equally capable of
communicating their contents ? As he could make known his shame to

* Brother N. Curnock through a fortuitous absence from the Manchester Meeting has escaped
the castigation he so richly desei'ves for the part which he has taken in this vile affair, but
■wliicU Ixis absence from the District Meeting threw into the shade. He too was one of Mr.
"Walton's colleagues. He too was in the habit of smiling on, and cordially greeting, and devoutly
communing with, Mr. Walton, while he was — it since appears — ready to burst to deliver himself
of a secret which he does not appear to have had any other reason for making known, than the
pride of appearing to know more than his neighbom's, and the contemptible and cringing hope
of benefitting by it. It was to liim that Mr. Eadclilfe first communicated his mare's-nest dis
covery. Brother Nehemiah, whose judgment will never fit him for an able councillor, and
whose egotism will ever make it difficult for him to retain any thing that will give him notoriety,
has not the sense or the honour to suggest to his informant, the propriety of stating the aifair
to Mr. Walton, and saying nothing about it until, at least, he has had Mr. Walton's explanation.
Nothing of the kind. He books it as evidence. It is, to his clear-sighted judgment, a clear
case. He wants to divulge it. To Mr. Walton ? No. Mr. Walton is giiilty : why tell him of
his guilt'? He longs to divulge it. Mr. Eadcliffe does the only honourable thing he now can do
— writes to him, letter upon letter, remonstrating ^rith Mm for wishing to make known v/hat had
been in confidence communicated. Mr. Curnock abuses this confidence, and after a time, when
his impatience to astonish the world and gratify his own vanity cannot be held in any longer,
disregards ihis remonstrance, and sneakiugly whispers this great secret to others. Mr. Nehe-

150

Messrs. Pemberton and Curnock, might he not make known their con-
tents to those who directly or indirectly might communicate them to the
Fly Sheet writers ? The manuscript is lost. Who has it ? Who but
Mr. Radcliffe and Mr. Walton knew where it was ? He that could steal
the sentiments might as well have stolen the paper.

Universal execration attends this evidence. Men who disapprove of
the Fly Sheets, condemn, in strong terms, this perfidy. Who can do
otherwise without rendering his own honour suspected ? This part of
the transaction has produced an outburst of universal disapprobation.
No ! There are exceptions.

1. Mr. T. P. Bunting relies on this evidence for a conviction.

2. The Minor District Meeting tacitly approves of it by its finding.

3. The Watchman and his correspondent actually defend it, and
even applaud it. According to The Watchman, therefore, every man
who has a chance opportunity to intrude upon another's privacy, and to
make himself possessor of his private affairs, is justified in so doing.
Henceforth then — The Watchman and his correspondent being adjudica-
tors— it is lawful, it is honourable : a man will stand no lower in the
esteem of honourable men, if, as often as he can, he looks into his friends'
manuscripts, opens private letters that lie carelessly or in full confidence
on a man's table, examines whatever comes within his reach, asks no
questions for conscience' sake, but regards himself at liberty to act Paul
Pry any where, so that it be done stealthily, so that for years no man may

miali Curnock must now pay for his vanity, by going shaves with Mr. lladcliffe, in the odium
wliich, despite the hiU'd labours of The Watchman and his correspondents, falls on the party
who have thus persecuted and injured the amiable Walton. Mr. Curnock must stand side by
side with Mr. Radcliffe at the bar of public opinion. Mr. Curnock must expect that no colleague
with whom he travels will ever contide to him a secret which it is desired to keep in coniidence .
Tilr. Curnock must expect that those who have coutided other secrets to his honour and lidelity
are now trembling lest he should blab out other matters that jnay involve themselves or tlieir
friends. Mr. Curnock must expect that he v.ill henceforth, notwithstanding his smiling face, be
viewed with mistrust, as the man on whom he smiles, and whose hand he seizes with such
warmth, may be on the eve of exposure to inconvenience — though not to guilt— by his blabbing
yet flattering tongue. Mr, Curnock must expect that Mr. Eadcliffe owes him no thanks for
putting him so unexpectedly into his present awkward plight. Mr. Curnock must know what-
ever mischief, inconvenience, and e\il grow out of this wicked attack on Mr. Walton, he will
ever be considered one of the two authors of this confusion in om-. Church, and only some shades
less guilty than the Head Traitor. Mr. Curnock may take this cordial to his heart's comfort,
that there will be those, -who, because of his wilUng hearing of Mr. Radcliffe's base inspection
of private manuscnpts, and his willing acting on this basely obtamed information, A^ill think
that he (Mr. Curnock,) would himself not have shrunk from inspecting the papers had he had the
opportunity, — for he that does not blame evil in others, is very likely to do that evil himself
—and that therefore, it was a bare chance tliat he himself was not the Head Traitor.

157

suspect him of these prying habits ! Is this christian honour ? May a
man do what he pleases ?

Rem, facias rem ;
Si possis recte : si uou, quocunque mocio rem.

Such doctrine is as viUfying to its advocate, as the act itself is to the
perpetrator. The defender is as bad as the accomplice, on the principle
that the receiver is as bad as the thief. Honourable men, such as Mr.
Vevers, among the conservative party, will not defend this treachery.
They have too high a sense of honour : they have too much at stake :
they know well, that whatever use may be made of this evidence, it has
been got at in a way which they will not by justifying identify with what
are their own principles and conduct. They know too well that he who
defends such baseness must himself be ready to practise it when oppor-
tunity serves ; and they will not hold themselves up as men to be avoided
and shunned by all who respect the sanctities of a man's closet and desk.
This unheard of daring, they will be careful enough to leave with The
Watchman and his highly honourable correspondents, who have announced
to the world, that when they can, and when they choose, there is no
privacy which they will not invade, and no confidence which they will not
abuse ? So be it.

4. The Finding of the Court has already been given, and the
fact that certain questions are to be answered at the Annual District
Meeting on pain of the exercise of further discipline.*

This is altogether an unparallelled case. Did it not involve very grave
matters, it would be a fit subject for satire. The charge is "abundantly
sustained by the evidence adduced by Mr. Bunting." What is the
meaning of this equivocal term in a judicial deliverance ? Did the Dis-
trict Meeting mean to say, that the charge was satisfactorily ^;/'oye<rZ :?
Did they mean the Connexion to understand as much when they em-
ployed that ambiguous phrase ? And yet would they, seeing how defec-

* How came tliis information into the Watchman ? It was understood that silence was im-
posed upon the parties. No evidence was to be published. (A strong reason may be guessed
for tills direction, that the judges were heartily ashamed of it.) Who put the decision and such
of the evidence as came out with it into print ? Who put Mr. Walton in this unjust and cruel
position before the public ? Silence is imposed upon all. That silence is broken just so far as to
damage, if possible, Mr. Walton in public estimation : and Mr. Walton is obliged to bear this
monstrous additional injustice, or he will be liable to further discipline by givijig such state-
ments as are due to himself ! This matter must not be left in the mist and obscurity which
Mr. Crowther's letter of explanation throws upon iti Some one deserves impeachment for
criminal ihoughtfulness, or for malignant malice.

158

tive the evidence must appear to an impartial public, leave themselves a
loop-hole by affirming no more than that it was '' abundantly sustained?"
If the evidence did prove the charge, why did not his judges say as
much ? Why was not their decision made plain and intelligible to every
man of common sense ? If the evidence did not prove the charge, why
was not the finding a plain and intelligible record of the defect and
insufficiency of the evidence ? No one can know, except those whom
they may have let into the secret of their meaning, what their judgment
is. This " abundantly sustained " charge is, however, *' greatly
strengthened" — by what, think you, — an intelligent public to whom
these observations are addressed ? — " By his repeated refusal to answer
many important questions." Was ever any thing more absurd ? Mr.
Walton's silence — under interrogatories, that no one, who has noticed
the spirit in which the whole affair has been done, can doubt were most
inquisitorial, and, if answered, would probably not only have covered
the court and the trial with deeper dishonour, but himself also — is per-
verted into evidence against him by this modern inquisition. It takes us
back to days of darkness. It immures us again within the gloomy walls
of the inquisition. Mr. Walton went to the meeting not to furnish the
inquisitor general with evidence but to hear his evidence and meet it.
This he did. More he had not to do. He evidently knew his duty,
much better than the " Triers" knew theirs. And because he main-
tains his proper position, a charge already "abundantly sustained" is
"greatly strengthened!" "This establishing of & positive accusation
upon a negative answer, or rather upon no answer at all, is an example
of logical acumen," says a clever correspondent of The Wesleyan,
" worthy the unsanctified and cruel cause in which it is employed."

A charge being " abundantly sustained," and then again " greatly
strengthened," of course sentence is in so clear a case immediately pro-
nounced. No it is not. Until seven months have elapsed Mr. Walton
will not know even what the Minor District Meeting will propose to
another meeting as its sentence. Is it not cruel to keep a man thus on
the tenter hooks for seven months ? Is this the way in which courts of
law act? Did the inquisition, did the Revolutionary Tribunal, did
Judge Jeffreys, light upon this devise for adding to the pain of punish-
ment ? Telling a prisoner that the charge, involving life or death, is
abundantly sustained, but that for seven months the accused shall remain
ignorant, and anxious respecting his fate ! Does Wesleyan law allow
this ? With what view is this done ? " The tender mercies of the wicked

159

are cruel." The object of this delay is atrocious. Certain questions
are proposed to him ; doubtless ensnaring, dishonourable, inquisitorial
ones; and if, in the mean time, unanswered,, then some discipl,inary
MEASURE will be recommended ! " We presume," says the correspondent
before quoted, " that the disciplinary measure here alluded to, is sus-
pension from the Ministry ! And we also presume that the ' certain
questions ' to be proposed have reference either to Mr. Walton's own
supposed criminality, or to his supposed knowledge of the parties actually
the authors of the Fly Sheets. If we are right in these presumptions —
(would that we were mistaken) — then have we a most atrocious example
(f the torture — of an apprehended suspension, in the case of a minister
cf thirty-four years standing, an apprehension weighing upon the mind
for seven months^ in order to extort a disclosure. ' When,' says Black-
sione, ' upon the assassination of Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, it was
proposed in the Privy Council to put the assassin to the rack, in order
t;) discover his accomplices ; the judges being consulted, declared unan-
imously, to their honour and the honour of English law, that no such
proceeding was allowable by the laws of England! ' But either because
the assassination of a Duke is a far less crime than contributing to the
Fly Sheets ; or because the judges of this Minor District Meeting at
Manchester, (be it rememberedj are far less equitable and humane than
the judges whom Blackstone thus commends ! so it is — that in order
to discover Mr. Walton's accomplices, if he have any, the worst of all
tortures — the peine forte et dure — the iron weight of a dreaded suspen-
sion, is at once laid upon him, and there left until he discloses or die !
The writer has loved Methodism for many years, and his daily prayer is
for its peace and prosperity. In the fear of God, he pronounces this
mode of obtaining evidence a corrupt and hateful innovation ; and he
cannot find language sufficiently strong to express his grief and abhor-
rence, to hear the authors of this innovation still dwelling on the phrase,
' Methodism as it is ! ' Further — we most deliberately aver, that if this
inquisition principle — this liberty to extort evidence by the infliction of
sorrows and alarm — this torture — is to be admitted ad libitum into the
courts of Methodism — we say to Mr. Walton, as many other Methodists
say in this metropolis and the provinces — expulsion from its ranks is a
boon ! ! Will Englishmen and English Methodists suffer such a sentence
to be executed at the dictation of such a court ? " The whole of this
part of the case is well put in a recent publication.
*' It is stated that Mr. Walton participated in the ' preparation ' of the

IGO

Fly Sheets, while there is not a particle of evidence to prove that he had
done so intentionally. Though at a loss for proof, the party wish the
world to believe, in their letters to their friends, and in reports to which
they are giving currency, that the intention is actually proved. In letters
that have come under our own notice, all written with a view to preju-
dice the public against the excc-llent man, it is stated that Mr. Bunting
has proved his point — that Mr. Walton stands convicted — that the Com-
mittee are unanimous in their decision — that he will be leniently dealt]
with — that he will only be admonished — that a string of questions will be
proposed to him, and that if he shall refuse to answer them, the severest
discipline will be exercised, &c. And some of these statements have
been made in the most cold-blooded way, by one who ought to be placeq
on the stool of repentance by jthe side of Judas.

All that can be said to be proved is, that Mr. Walton wrote a pape*
before the publication of the Fiy Sheets — that this paper became known,
having been seen lying on his table by Mr. Radcllffe — that no disguise
was employed, or fear entertained respecting it — and that Mr. Walton
was ignorant at the time of either the existence or contemplated publica-
tion of the said Fly Sheets ; but that, afterwards, one of those Fly
Sheets contains a half-dozen sentences somewhat like it. How, it is
demanded, did these sentences come there? This is the point ; and the
judges in effect say, ' We care nothing about the half-dozen sentences,
but you must know who is the author of the Fly Sheets, and we will
make you tell. And, if not, we will suspend you."

Was ever anything, v/ith the exception of its tortures, more monstrous
in its character practised in the Spanish Inquisition ? Mr. Walton is to
have a series of questions proposed to him, to each of which he is to give
an explicit answer, — questions put with a view to criminate either himself,
or others, or both, — and if be should refuse to answer at the next meet-
ing in May, punishment is to be awarded! What does this amount to ?
' We are short of evidence, though we make our boast to the world, that
the charge is ' abundantly sustained ;' — we are in want of more ; — our
witnesses fail us — will you be so obliging as to turn ' king's evidence,'
or at once enter the confessional against yourself? We are anxious to
suspend you but cannot ; — we can only proceed, in the present stage of the
business, to the gentle work of admonition; — we cannot, having begun the
work, retreat with honour; — and we cannot go forward without your per-
mission:— like another eminent personage, we are ' in a fix:' — you have
he key of knowledge in your keeping j we pray you to open the door.

161

and allow us to peep behind the scenes. You perceive, we cannot con-
demn you, and we are unwilling to pronounce you innocent.' Well
might they engage not to publish the evidence ; but the witnesses have
not been able to preserve the secret, and what has been given by the
judges themselves to The Watchman, of Nov. 29, instead of ' abundantly
sustaining,' exhibits still more ' abundantly ' the ' nakedness of the land.'
'Abundantly sustained ! ' and yet, not proved. 'Abundantly sustained ! '
and yet waiting in next to hopeless despair — day after day — from one to
six, for further evidence — for other documents. 'Abundantly sustained !'
and yet humiliatingly imploring the defendant to furnish them with evi-
dence against himself. 'Abundantly sustained ! ' and yet unable to
criminate — only vested with power to admonish ! 'Abundantly sustained !'
and yet compelled, owing to lack of evidence, to hold the rod of threat-
ened judgment over the defendant's head ! ! ! Was ever such folly, such
ignorance of all judicial proceedings, such wanton cruelty, exhibited in
Methodism before ?

Such is the finding of this court. Partizans may uphold it, but an
appeal is confidently made to the sense of justice in the public mind
against the entire proceeding from first to last. It dishonours every one
that has had a willing part in it. It introduces modes of discipline as
futile as they are atrocious. It tends to make ecclesiastical censures and
discipline nugatory in their effects upon the public mind. It suggests
to those who know how matters are managed by the clique, that
there is a greater desire to convict and execute penalties to the utmost
rigour of the law in a questionable matter of this kind, than for defaulters
and transgressors who may happen to be of their party and to cover
whose shameful debts, or to expatriate from their country, private sub-
scriptions are solicited from our lay-lords. It strikes at the root of
brotherly love and connexional union. It establishes a spiritual police, a
ministerial espionage, so that one minister knows not how to confide in
his brother minister. It makes confidence a hazard, and suspicion of
one's colleagues little short of a duty. It arms with dread power men
disposed to abuse it: and it cows the spirit of the timid man, and irri-
tates the soul of the bold man, who detest it. It makes it impossible to
vindicate before an impartial public what ought to be the most solemn
and impressive acts of the body — its acts of discipline, which, instead of
presenting the aspect of justice, and the force of law, suggest the tor-
tures of persecution, or the envenomed hate of enraged tyranny ; and
thus defeat the very end of discipline. It makes discipline a farce, cen-

162

sure an honour, and expulsion a boon : for a man cannot be disgraced by
a conviction obtained by means more disgraceful far than the evil of
which he is accused. It is fatal to liberty. It condemns a man on the
heaviest indictment upon bare suspicion and surmise. It encourages the
worst species of treachery. It fosters anarchy, as it both treads down
and perverts law to secure its ends. It is thoroughly anti-christian
and anti-methodistic. It marks an era of retrogradation. It allies
itself to the worst periods of society. It is despotism. It has its paral-
lel in the horrible reign of terror in France, in 1793, when, to use the
words of an illustrious writer, there was " a law which would not re-
cognise the innocence of those whom it wished to consider guilty ; when
suspicion was converted into proof; treachery held up a duty; a revo-
lutionary tribunal to apply this code ; the guillotine erected in all the
principal towns, and borne about in the smaller ; commissioners of the
convention sharing the provinces and the armies, and every where watch-
ing, accelerating, or moderating the terrible working of the Dictator-
ship. The Convention deliberating and acting, — present every where in
its emissaries, maintaining an incessant correspondence with them, inspir-
ing, stimulating, punishing, and recalling them, — such was the terrible
mechanism of that Dictatorship which is called The Terror." Pro-
ceedings laid on such a basis, and carried out by such measures, cannot
stand. The judgment of the future will condemn the finding of the
court. The Manchester Minor District of Nov., 1848, will, by the
historian of Methodism, be characterised as the darkest spot that has
dimmed its glorious escutcheon. Posterity will endorse his decision.

5. Its Episode. The summoning of Messrs. Burdsall and Ever-
ett, to give evidence, as is supposed, against their friend, and the publica-
tion to the world of resolutions affecting them, before they had so much
as heard of them. The letters of Messrs. Everett and Burdsall on these
two points are presented as a full exposition of this singular and blun-
dering episode : —

" To the Editor of The Watchman. Dear Sir, — We were not a little
surprised to find our names noticed in your number of the 29th ult., in
connexion with some official documents respecting the late Manchester
Minor District Meeting, and noticed evidently with a view to excite a
feeling of prejudice against us : this being the more apparent from the
entire omission of the name of the Rev. Nehemiah Curnock, whose
absence — though occasioned by indisposition — would have been much less

163

marked, had he been numbered among the absentees summoned to the
meeting". But that does not appear to have suited the purpose of the
writer.

It is more than probable, Sir, that you would not have heard from us
on the present occasion, had it not been for the manner in which the
thing has been done. The notice to which we refer is as follows: — ' The
Rev. John Burdsall and the Rev. James Everett, of York, were sum-
moned by the Chairman, but did not appear.' — ' There were also, we
understand, other resolutions adopted, calling the attention of the Con-
ference to the conduct of certain witnesses summoned to attend the
meeting, two of whom sent letters declining to attend.'

The official document^ and the official information^ must either have
been communicated by persons officially connected with the meeting, or
by some one, or more, acting under their sanction. Now, it seems some-
what strange, that neither of us should have received a single line, official
or otherwise, from either chairman or secretary, or other member com-
posing the meeting, relative to those ' Resolutions,' involving charges
of delinquency against us, to which ' the attention of the Conference ' is
to be called, and before whose tribunal we are threatened to be brought.
And is it come to this — that Christian ministers are to go to the Public
Journals of the day, to learn, for the Jirst time — without the slightest
private intimation, the charges which their Christian brethren have con-
cocted against them in a private, select meeting, and which they resolve
to prefer against them at another tribunal some eight or ten months
hence ? Why, the termination of the Manchester meeting is worse than
the commencement. Mr. Walton was surprised into his charge before a
committee of about sixty or seventy persons. We are surprised into ours
before the public ! Is this Christian — Matt, xviii. 15 — 17? Is it bro-
therly ? Is it courteous ? Is it decent ? Is it doing to others as we
would they should do to us ?

You, Mr. Editor, are herewith furnished with our replies to the 'sum-
mons ' issued from Manchester. Whether our conduct is reprehensible
or not, must be decided elswhere ; and when the brethren, who drew up
the ' Resolutions,' are pleased to reveal their contents, we are not with-
out hope, that we shall have sufficient firmness to meet them, intellectual
resources sufficient left to enable us to make a defence, and grace sufficient
— should we fail in that defence — to bear, with meekness, any censure
our conduct may have merited.

164

We would just add, that though Doctor Newton is to be viewed offi-
cially^ only as ' Chairman ' of the meeting, yet, out of respect to his
higher office, he was addressed as President of the Conference.

James Everett."

" Mr. Burdsall's reply to the ' summons' was, in substance, as fol-
lows— not having kept an exact copy : —

" York, Nov. 10th, 1848.
' Dear Sir, — I had but little acquaintance with the Rev. D. Walton
until he was appointed to labour in the York circuit. But from all I
have either seen or known of him^ I have nothing to say of him but what
is good ; and that my most sincere wish is, that both myself and every
minister of Christ were more like him. And were I to be at the meet-
ing to be held at Manchester, nothing but what is good could 7, or would
/, say of him to any man, or to any number of men whatsoever.

I am, dear Sir, yours truly, — John Burdsall.

To the Rev. Robert Newton, D.D., Stockport.' "

" To the Rev. Robert Newton^ D.D.^ President of the Wesleyan Con-
ference. Rev. and Honoured Sir, — As a Wesleyan minister, I con-
sider myself bound by the laws of the Wesleyan body, and am disposed
to obey them. You profess, in your 'summons,' to be ''directed by
Thomas P. Bunting, Esq. ;' but as I am not bound to be guided in my
decisions and movements by the said Mr. Bunting, or any other, you
will oblige me, honoured Sir, by stating the law of the case ; by what
law a man like Mr. Bunting is authorised to subpoena a brother, and
oblige him to bear witness against a late colleague, both against his will,
and against his most cherished sentiments of high honour and generosity?
I offer no factious opposition ; I am afraid of the precedent, and wish to
be informed. I am ignorant of any law of the kind ; and my ignorance
must be my apology. It is not the will of Mr. T. P. Bunting, but the
law of Methodism, that must guide me.

In the next place, Sir, as your notice is based upon the request of Mr.
T. P. Bunting, and he, in his letter to me, of the 7th instant, states it
to be ' in consequence of a communication received from York,' the

165

same ' morning,' I wish to know, through you, as the only official
organ in the case, —

1. What the nature of the ' communication' is, said to be ' received
from York ; ' and whether sufficient to warrant, in this special case, such
a ' summons' from Mr. T. P. Bunting?

2. Who the party is that makes the ' communication ;' and whether of
sufficient integrity and respectability to be attended to ? — I may know the
party better than Mr. Bunting.

3. Whether the party or parties, in York, at whose instigation I am to
be sent across the country between one and two hundred miles, will be
in Manchester themselves ?

Pardon, Sir, another trespass on your valuable time. I am summoned
as a ''witness.' If I am called to '' ivitness' to the character of Mr.
Walton, all I have to say is, I know nothing of him but what is good and
praiseworthy. Further I shall not proceed. If I am called to ' witness'
to the authorship of the ' Fly Sheets,' I have no answer to give pro or
con. My reasons for this are the following : —

1. I object to answer any questions as to authorship, till a searching
inquiry is made into the truth or falsehood of the allegations made in the
' Fly Sheets,' this appearing to me, and for the peace and interests of
the body, of greater importance than the enquiry set on foot, which can
only affect the individual. I commit myself neither to their truth nor
falsehood.

2. I object to the manner in which the present enquiry was begun ;
being, in my humble view, unbrotherly, uncourteous, and unscriptural —
Matt, xviii. 15 — 17 ; and will not, therefore, so far as law will lend me
aid, assist, and abet it in its progress.

3. I objected, in companionship with 256 Christian ministers, to sign
the ' Declaration,' of which the present inquiry, in my judgment, is ' part
and parcel,' both that and the commencement of the present inquiry,
being placed in the un-English form of leading a man to criminate
himself.

With all respect, honoured Sir, both for yourself and your high
office,

I am, yours, most truly, — James Everett.
York, Nov. 10, 1848.

To the queries in the last letter no reply has been given, though sought
from the dis-penser of Wesleyan Law ; and to neither of us, as stated be-

1G6

fore, has the charge been forwarded, though certainly much more deeply
interested in it, and as much entitled to it, as a public journal.

We have no wish to provoke controversy on the occasion ; but we con-
sider it as due to ourselves, to furnish the public, whose attention has
been drawn to it through your journal, with some of the reasons which
have influenced our conduct in the affair. Had we been summoned as
delinquents^ we should have deemed it imperative : — as witnesses, — and
under the peculiar circumstance named, as well as out of our districts,
we consider it optional ; and are still of opinion, that where there is no
law, there is no transgression. — James Everett

By giving this paper a place in your journal, you will oblige,

\ours, most truly,

John Bordsall,
" York. Dec. 4. 184S." James Everett."

The public is desired to peruse this Vindication of the Fly Sheets,
and then to say whether the Fly Sheets are a collection of wholesale
slander and lies. Is it a slander, is it a lie, as stated in the Fly Sheets,

1. That Doctor Bunting has not squared his conduct by, and lived
fully up to, his own rules of 1828?

2. That the system of Location is fraught with innumerable evils, and
that it is incompatible with Mr. Wesley's designs in Methodism ?

3. That the Four Missionary Secretaries have cost the funds far on to
two thousand pounds per annum, and that the item for furniture, as
copied from the Missionary Reports, is not fair, moderate, and proper ?

4. That one of the Missionary Secretaries has been in the habit of
travelling in first class carriages, and stopping at head inns, while his
brethren, on laborious deputations, have satisfied themselves with second-
class, and even third-class carriages, to save the funds, and taken up their
abode with the friends ?

5. That Doctor Bunting did receive £2,000. at Birmingham, which
another preacher had solicited from different hands, and that the donors
are always on our Connexional Committees, where they exercise a potent
influence over the body ?

6. That the Lay Agent in the Mission House was not openly and
honourably approved by Conference, before he was installed into office ?

167

7. That the Centralization system, though '^astifiahle to a certain ex-
tent, has been abused, and has engendered a lust of power ?

8. That the London District has usurped an unjustifiable and hazard-
ous control over other Districts, in consequence of the Centralization
system ?

9. That Partiality has been manifested by the ruling powers, they not
having attended to Mr. Wesley's dying request ?

10. That the tabular specimen of partiality, taken from the Minutes of
Conference, is to be found in the pages of such legal document ?

11. That all the Elections have not been based on broad, liberal
principles, and hence some of the most valuable and able men in the body,
clerical and lay, are excluded ?

12. That false arguments have been employed to assist the cause of
favouritism ?

13. That some men have been cashiered for contracting debts, while
others, who have contracted debts to a greater amount have been honoured
with office in consequence of their belonging to the ruling party ?

14. That any thing in the shape of Extravagance has appeared ?

15. That Secularization has been one of the consequences of location
and centralization ?

16. That it is not scriptural, just, and proper for a man to resign his
call to the ApostlesJdp for a Clerkship ?

17. That Located Seculars are not as useful and popular out of the
christian pulpit, as if in the regular work ?

18. That the Presidential Chair has, till lately, been held up by
Church and State considerations ?

19 That Re-elections to the Presidency, of the same person, are to be
viewed as an act of injustice towards others equally eligible, who have
never yet had the honour ?

20. That unworthy motives have prompted, or unworthy arguments
been employed, to secure party men for the chair ?

21. That the P/«(/brm does exercise a mischievous influence on the
liberties and comforts of the brethren, and that its elections are employed
for party purposes ?

22. That the Connexional Committees have been generally filled by
the friends of Doctor Bunting, exclusive of others, equally eligible ?

23. That Partial Elections are unsatisfactory, and ought not to be
preferred to those effected by ballot ?

168

24. That Packed Committees are not a blessing to the many, though
a gratification to the few ?

25. That the Nomination Committee was organized with a view to
accomplish the purposes of the ruling party ?

26. That what is said and done in the Stationing Committee is fre-
quently prejudicial to character, and does not accord with the principles
of candour, impartiality, and justice?

27. That there have been attempts to shield moral delinquency in one
case, and treat minor faults with the utmost rigour in others ?

28. That there have been attempts to enact Laws for party purposes,
at the close of the Conference, when nearly the whole of the brethren,
save the ruling party, have left?

29. That Mr. C. Prest, a junior, has been loaded with fourteen Con-
nexional honours^ while others, twice and thrice his standing in the body,
with superior talent and equal piety, have had none?

30. That the Deputation list exhibited constant examples of favour-
itism ?

31. That wealthy Laymen have been employed to intimidate the
preachers, and influence them in their proceedings ?

32. That the most rigid Economy has not been preserved ?

33. That Doctor Bunting has frequently stepped beyond the bounds
of common prudence on the election of a President ?

34. That the Missionary Secretaries do not live in the constant spirit
of their ministerial calling and work?

35. That it it is not proper that the work of God should be impeded,
that young men should remain in the Institution the full time allotted to
them ?

36. That it is not proper that men should be transferred from the
pulpit to the counting-house^ and that curates ought not to be engaged to
discharge their ministerial duties ?

37. That when the core of a disease is pointed out, it is not ' wicked'
to say that it ought to be cured ?

38. That the Opinions afloat, on the subject of misrule, are strong
signs of dissatisfaction with the present state of things ? and,

39. That Doctor Newton, above all others, ought not to have been the
first to step forward to object to Mr. Caughey ?

Who are the enemies of Methodism ? They who support this admin-
istration, or they who seek the annihilation of these evils ?

169

OBSERVATIONS ON A RULE ENACTED BY THE
CONFERENCE OF 1835.*

Perhaps there is not in the New Testament, an injunction more plain
and explicit than the one contained in Matt, xviii. 15 — 17; — " If thy
brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee
and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that
in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he
neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a
publican." Such is the order of dealing with a brother who offends —
such is the discipline which the Son of God requires in his church ;
and the wisdom and kindness so conspicuous in it, are worthy of Him.
To depart from this order — to supersede this discipline — by enactments
and proceedings of our own — must needs be a great offence against the
" crown and dignity" of King Messiah, the supreme Lawgiver in heaven
and on earth.

It is of some importance to our purpose, to consider the frequent, the
extended, the earnest manner in which this command of the Lord Jesus
is insisted upon in the standard writings of the Wesleyan Connexion.
Wesley has an elaborate and most important note on this passage in Mat-
thew ; part of it we transcribe ; —

'^ If any do any thing amiss, of which thou art an eye or ear witness,
thus saith the Lord — If thy brother — any who is a member of the same
religious community — sin against thee^ 1. Go and reprove him — if it
may be in person ; if that cannot so well be done, by thy messenger ; or
in writing. Observe, Our Lord gives no liberty to omit this ;

* Several of the arguments contained in these Ohservatious have been, iu part, anticipated
in the former pages of this work. Such, however, is the importance of the subject, that a little
repetition will not be amiss. On a question like this, " line' upon line, and precejst upon pre-
cept ; here a little, and there a little ; hei-e much, and there much ;' may be of service, especially
in the case of those brethren who are prone to claim the attribute of infallibility for the acts of
a Conference majority.

170

OU TO EXCHANGE IT FOR. EITHER OF THE FOLLOWING STEPS. If thlS

do not succeed, 2. Take with thee one or tivo more — Men whom he esteems
or loves, who may then confirm what thou sayest ; and afterwards, if
need require, bear witness of what was spoken. If even this does not
succeed, then, and not before, 3. Tell it to the elders of the Church
— lay the whole matter open before those who watch over your's and his
soul. If all this avail not, have no further intercourse with him, only
such as thou hast with heathens. Can any thing be plainer ? Christ
does here as expressly command all Christians, who see a brother do
evil, to take this way, not another, and to take these steps, in this
ORDER, as he does to honour their father and mother." And then,
transcribing a paragraph from Doddridge, Wesley proceeds to mourn over
the departures from this rule in '' private" and " public" affairs —
in Protestant as well as in Popish countries ; and, using the words of
Doddridge, says, " Let us earnestly pray that this dishonour to the
Christian name may be wiped away, and that common humanity may not,
with such solemn mockery, be destroyed in the name of the Lord.''

If we take as our guide this comment of the seraphic-minded Wesley,
nothing remains but to place those who contravene our blessed Lord's
enactment, among the men on whom the guilt of hypocrisy, of impiety,
and of inhumanity, assuredly falls.

Among the sermons of Wesley, "published in four volumes, in the
year 1771 ; and to which reference is made in the Trust Deeds of the
Methodist Chapels, as constituting, with Mr. Wesley's Notes on the New
Testament, the standard doctrines of the Methodist Connexion ;" is one
entitled, " The Cure of Evil Speaking," founded upon the afore-
said text, Matt, xviii. 15 — 17. This sermon was a favourite with Wesley,
and he ordered it to be "read in every society." It is a dignified
specimen of practical preaching. We transcribe from it, as incontro-
vertibly for our purpose, the following sentences: —

" It should be well observed, that not only this (i. e., communicating
personally with an offending brother) is a step which our Lord absolutely
commands us to take, but that he commands us to take this step first,
before we attempt any other. No alternative it allowed, no
CHOICE of any thing ELSE. This is the way, walk thou in it. It is
true he enjoins us, if need require, to take two other steps ; but they are
to be taken successively, after this step, and neither of them before it."

And so in reference to the second step, i. e., the taking with us one or
two more^ it is said, " With regard to this, as well as the preceding rule.

171

we may observo, that our Lord gives us no choice, leaves us no alterna-
tive, but expressly commands us to do this and nothing else in the place
of it. lie likewise directs us when — -neither sooner nor later — namely,
AFTER we have taken the first, and before we take the third step/'
So great is tlie stress laid upon this order of discipline, that, speaking of
those who deviate from it, it is added, '' Vv^e are sinners against God,
and asrainst our neighbour: and how fairly soever we may colour it, yet
if we have any conscience, our sin Vv^ill find us out, and bring a burden
upon our soul."

The Twelve Rules of a Helper^ used to be of great importance in
Methodism ; and an assent to them is still required from all candidates
for the ministry. The sixth of these Rules is in these words, " Speak
evil of no one ; else your word especially would eat as doth a canker.
Keep your thoughts within your own breast, till you come to the person
concerned."

In harmony with these enlightened and evangelical sentiments, it was
enacted by the Conference of 1792, that " Whenever the Chairman (of
a District) has received any complaint, against a preacher, either from
the preachers or the people, he shall send an exact account of the com-
plaint in writing, to the person accused, with the name of the accuser or
accusers, before he calls a meeting of the District Committee, to exa-
mine into the charge." Whether attempts had been made to break down,
or to evade this equitable provision, we know not ; but in 1807, it was
again enacted, " Let us enforce our existing rules — that all charges
shall be previously announced, personally or in writing, to the Brother
against whom they are directed."

Every one M'ho reads and considers these extracts — these ancient land-
marks of Wesleyan Methodism — must at once perceive, that it is in the
highest degree unchristian, and wholly anti- wesleyan, to bring accusations
affecting the moral, christian, or ministerial character of a brother, for
the FIRST time, in presence of a District Meeting, or of a Conference.
But what then are we to say to that extraordinary decree passed by the
Sheffield Conference, in the year 1835 — found at page 112 of the Minutes
of that year, and at page 549 of the octavo edition ? What can we say,
but that it is an enactment which repeals some of the wisest and most
ancient of Conference Rules — is utterly subversive of the standard writ-
ings of the Connexion — pours contempt on the name and memory of
Wesley — and, what is far worse, withstands, in the most direct manner,
an absolute command of the Son of God ! ! If such a censure be re-

172

garded as unfounded or severe, it can only be, by those who have never
considered the provisions of the law in question.

1. We have seen that in the judgment of the excellent Wesley, as re-
corded in the standard waitings of the Connexion, to deviate from the
order prescribed by the Blessed Jesus — to mention the fault of a brother
in presence of the church, before it has been mentioned to that brother
in private — is to commit sin ; sin against the law and authority of the
King of kings. But the Rule of 1835 declares, " That not only the
Conference, but all its District Committees, whether ordinary or special,
possess the undoubted right of instituting, in their official and collec-
tive character, any enquiry or investigation, which they may deem ex-
pedient, into the moral, christian, or ministerial conduct of the preachers
under their care." The Chairman is especially invested with this right
to do wrong — this right to set aside the Notes and Sermons of Wesley —
and the explicit injunctions of the Master whom Wesley loved • for,
according to this rule, ^' the Chairman has the official right of origina-
ting such enquiries, if he think necessary."

2. The Rule passed in 1792, and re-enacted in 1807, provided that
" ALL charges shall be previously announced, personally or in writing,
to the brother against whom they are directed." But the Conference of
1807 — and the Conference of 1835 — differed widely in the spirit by
which they were governed, and in the objects which they pursued. The
latter decreed, that the District Meetings and Conferences have the right
to institute and originate these enquiries and investigations, " even
although NO formal or regular accusation may have been previously an-
nounced on the part of any individual." We presume a formal and
regular accusation, must, on New Testament — on Wesleyan principles,
require attention to the two previous steps the text in Matthew enjoins.
Such regular accusation is, in this hateful rule, dispensed with in so many
words ! ! It is wonderful ! It is alarming ! ! In our civil courts, a
man cannot be brought to trial for the recovery of a paltry debt, but he
must have fourteen days' notice of the trial ; "in order," says Black-
stone, " to prevent surprise." But in the Wesleyan courts, as constitu-
ted by this rule, an enquiry affecting the ministerial existence of a bro-
ther, may be commenced a V instant — all preliminaries of personal inter-
course, or formal notice, being dispensed with, in express terms. A man
may enter a District Meeting or a Conference, imagining himself a regu-
lar member of its courts, and in a moment find himself in the position of
a culprit. lie may be in daily intercourse with his colleague in the

173

ministry — that colleague may not once breathe a complaint, until they
meet in the presence of 30 or 40 of their brethren — and that colleague
may then bring forward the gravest accusations — and by this rule he is
protected and justified in so doing!

3. Lest it should be supposed that these instanter enquiries and in-
vestigations are limited to '' minor faults," and " objectionable peculiari-
ties," to use the lana^uage of Mr. Grindrod, in his Compendium, the
right to institute them is affirmed to extend to whatever may affect " tiie
moral, christian, or ministerial conduct of the preachers under their
care." This clause of the rule is as comprehensive as it is tyrannic.

4. And, lest it should be imagined that these enquiries and investiga-
tions without previous notice, are inoperative, a species of verbal gladia-
torship with no practical result, these several courts are asserted to have
the undoubted right of " coming to such decisions thereupon, as, to
them, may seem most conformable to the New Testament." To the
New Tentament ! — think of these words, and these proceedings, and then
read Matt, xviii. 15—17.

5. But suppose some brother should plead the hardship of being taken
by surprise in the accusations brought against him — suppose he should
think certain questions proposed to him to be impertinent and insulting,
and decline to answer them — suppose that he decline, by answering cer-
tain questions, to become the betrayer and accuser of his v/ife, or of his
child, or of his friend, or of himself — suppose he should be an old nian,
and plead from under hoary locks the Methodism he joined in his youth
— the standard writings he had covenanted to maintain — the example and
solemn admonitions of the apostolic Wesley — the laws which goverjied
the body until 1835 — and above all, the command of the Great Head of
the Church himself! ! — what then ? The probability of such demurer
was foreseen, and provided for by a process as summary as it is extra-
ordinary— the brother who makes it, forfeits his standing as a minister
by the very act ! ! For by this execrable statute, it is provided that '"''any
preacher, refusing to submit to this friendly* examination, shall be con-
sidered as, ipso facto^ incurring the penalty of supension ! ! " The Writ
de hccretico comhurendo — the statute of six articles — the bull unigenitus —
and this Conference Rule of 1835, as ecclesiastical edicts, certainly rank
in one category of anti-christian despotism and cruelty !

6. It is not without a pang of humiliation and grief that we further
remark, that the despotism and severity which breathe in this Conference

* FkiendlyI — "His ironls weix softer than oil, yet were tlwjj dravn siconls." Psalm Iv. 2].

174

Rule, revolting though they be, are not so revolting as the disengenu-
ousness and falsehood it so unhappily exemplifies. Of course we speak of
the Law itself, as it now stands in the Minutes — the Statute Book of
Methodism : of the spirit and motives of the men by whom it was pre-
pared, God alone is judge.

(1.) The preamble to the law is in these words, "Is it expedient,
on account of recent occurrences, to RE-assert, by Declaratory Reso-
lutions, any of our rules or usages^ which individuals have attempted to
contradict or pervert ? A. "VVe think it is expedient ; and, therefore,
the Conference unanimously declares as follows, viz. : — &c." Who
would suppose that this was the preamble to the greatest innovation the
Connexion had ever witnessed ? Yet such is the fact. To that hour,
the standard writings of the body, and the repeated rules of the Confer-
ence, forbade the bringing of accusations against a brother, in a District
Meeting, or Conference, without formal and regular notice ; and the
doctrinal authorities made such a step to be a sin. But the rule in ques-
tion, forgetting or despising all previous authority, set aside the necessity
for regular notice, and authorized accusations instanter ! — and this is
called '''■re-asserting''^ our rules and usages! Even Mr. Grindrod, in
his explanation of this rule, given in his Compendium, admits that these
accusations without notice, are a departure from the "usual way."

(2.) The rule asserts that the several courts mentioned have the
right of "coming to such decisions thereupon, as to them may seem most
conformable to the New Testament." This mention of the New Testa-
ment, in the very sentence which sets aside one of the plainest and most
important New Testament injunctions, has something in it most offen-
sively hypocritical. The New Testament requires that an appeal to the
Church, shall be in the third and last resort ; but this rule makes
provision for an appeal to the Church in the first resort — and then
speaks of acting in conformity, " with the laws of the New Testament ! "
How can a " decision " be in comformity with the New Testament,
when the first step of the process, is in the teeth of its most solemn
injunction?

(3.) These un-English, and unchristian, and — until the year 1835 —
un-Methodistic proceedings, are called " friendly ! " Why should insult
be added to cruelty ? Very friendly indeed, to disclose an accusation,
true or false, against a brother, for the Jirst time, in the presence of 30,
or 40, or, it may be 400 of his brethren in the ministry ! If the man
who so acts, be a friend^ what is an enemy? The injury inflicted by such

175

a step is irreparable ; no defence can entirely wipe away the stain of such
a public imputation ; it is a brand for life. We have been informed,
that instances have already occurred, under the provisions of this rule,
in which a man, guiltless as the laughing babe, has been so stunned, so
confounded by the suddenness of the charges brought against him, as to
be incapable of making any defence at all ! And this is called " a friendly
examination ! " — what cruel mockery ? We know that the man who
thus accuses his brother publicly, without previous intercourse, without
notice, sins against our Divine Master ; and, if a Wesleyan minister, acts
in contempt of the writings, to which, by his ordination vows, he stands
solemnly pledged ; but as far as this rule is concerned, he is quite in
order — a very honourable and zealous brother ! !

(4.) In this rule it is affirmed that " the Chairman has the official
right of ORIGINATING such inquiries," — i. e., instant enquiries, enquiries
without notice, — " if hp. think necessary, because our rule declares, that
the Chairman of each District, in conjunction with his brethren of the
Committee, shall be responsible to the Conference for the execution of
the LA"ws." Would it be believed, that, up to that hour, the Conference
laws expressly forbade such instant enquiries — enquiries without notice ;
and that, in Mr. Wesley's Notes, and his Sermons, such a mode of pro-
ceeding in complaints against a brother, is denounced as sin f Yet such
is the sober fact.

Such is the Rule of 1835. Whether we are ever to account for these
our observations to any earthly tribunal, we know not ; but there is one
tribunal at which we must account — and there the makers and promulga-
tors of this law must stand, as well as we. In the thought of that
solemn tribvmal we affirm, that so much falsehood, so much cruelty, so
much anti-christian spirit and practice, we have not witnessed in any
ecclesiastical ordinance, out of the bloody pale of the Church of Rome,
as in this said Rule !

7. The only published defence of this Rule of 1835, which we have
seen, is found at page 76 of Mr. Grindrod's Book, entitled " A Com-
pendium of the Laws and Regulations of Wesleyan Methodism." Great
allowance should be made for the painful circumstances in which that
Compendium was prepared ; but inconclusive and absurd reasoning
should be rejected, whensoever and by whomsoever advanced.

(1.) Mr. Grindrod tells us, that the Law of 1792, which enacts
that " Whenever the Chairman has received a complaint against a
preacher, he shall send an exact account of it in writing to the person

176

accused, with the name of the accuser or accused, before he calls a
meeting of the District to examine into the charge," — and this Rule of
1835, which authorizes enquiries and investigations, " even although no
formal or regular accusation may have been announced on the part of
ANY individual," — do, to use his own terms, " agree and harmonize ! ! "
Harmonize ! — yes, as fire and water ; — as hell and heaven ! Is it not
plain that they are in flat opposition to each other ?

(2.) Mr. Grindrod states, the '* Act was intended to perpetuate a
usage of noticing such minor faults and objectionable peculiarities^ as did
not call for a formal and judicial proceeding ; " but he goes on to inform
us, that it was intended, also, "to prevent, in times of general agitation
and disturbance, any delinquent preacher from escaping trial from the
combinations of a party." To plain people like ourselves, it does appear
that a prerogative of enquiry which reaches alike to the peccadillos of life,
and to treasons against the community — to " minor faults," and to the
highest offences, is sufficiently comprehensive ; and in fact, the rule itself
is made to extend to whatever affects " the moral, christian, or minis-
terial character " of a preacher. The real enquiry is, does the text
(Matt, xviii. 15 — 17^ require that an offending brother be dealt with
privately^ before he be accused publicly in the presence of the church ?
If it does, we are not at liberty, in " times of agitation and disturbance,"
or in any other times, to reverse the order, and to commence proceedings
publicly before the church ! To set aside the divine command in seasons
of pressure and urgency — to be wiser than God — to supercede his au-
thority for our expediency, has been the snare of the devil, in all ages ! !
'"''Behold^ to obey is better than sacrifice^ and to hearlien than the fat of
rams.""

(3.) If we understand Mr. Grindrod aright, he mentions with some-
thing Hke gratulation, that the " old law (of 1792) has been invariably
acted upon, in the trials of preachers, since 1835, as well as prior to that
period; no preacher, it is believed, in the intervening years, has been
subjected to any judicial censure, either in a District Meeting, or at the
bar of the Conference, under the declaratory act." Had such been the
fact, it would only have proved how the Wesleyan courts clung to their
ancient and equitable practice. But had Mr. Grindrod lived until this
time, he would have had a different state of things to report. Already
have these instanter accusations been the initiative of many a sad prose-
cution. Already have the spirit of distrust, and the most painful heart-
burnings, widely spread among brethren, whose success depends upon

177

loving one another. Already has the unhallowed principle of the rule of
1835, descended into our Leader's and Local Preacher's meetings ; and
everywhere with tlie most divisive and deplorable consequences. Already
this unjust and anti-christian discipline, has kindled a fire which threatens
to wrap the palaces and towers of our Zion in fierce and destructive
flames.

Mr. Grindrod, in his vindication of the rule of 1835, is entitled to one
commendation ; he admits that these enquiries and investigations, without
previous intercourse with the offender, without notice of the complaint
intended publicly to be made, is a departure from the " usual way" — a
deviation from the " ordinary course of law." He gives the rule indeed,
and in his way defends it ; but he could not speak of it as a "re-ASSERTiON"
of our ancient laws and usages : No ! that unblushing lie was left for the
law itself!

We cannot conclude these observations on the Rule of 1835, without
giving expression to the wish we cherish in reference to it. Would to
God, that the very next Conference, it could be totally and for ever
repealed ! How we should rejoice, if in the month of May next, every
District Meeting in the land would take the matter up, and record against
it, with a view to its repeal at the approaching Conference, its solemn
judgment. Those parties should be the first in a movement to expunge
from our Statute Book, this hideous blot, who were accessory to its
enactment: why should they die, and leave such a curse to posterity, and
such a blast upon their own reputation ? We verily believe such a defer-
ence to evangelical authority as the repeal of this obnoxious edict would
show, would be well-pleasing in the sight of the Great Head of the
Church — would go far to restore the spirit of mutual confidence, and of
brotherly love — and perhaps might be the sign of better days hastening
to the Zion we love.

But while we thus express our wish, it is but due to truth, to record
our FEARS. We fear that the reckless, ill-conditioned, and ill-informed
spirit which dictated this rule, will maintain it at all hazards, and will be
allowed to succeed. We fear that some able pen, some Campbell of the
day, will bring under public observation this scandal upon our jurispru-
dence, and in so doing make us an offence to the land. We fear that a
departure from our doctrinal standard, so palpable and so mischievous,
will, ere long, be matter of Chancery cognizance ; and, as the conse-
quence, peril, if not forfeit, the entire of our ecclesiastical property.
We fear that our societies, perceiving in our discipline such a want of

178

conformity to the divine word, will lose confidence in the "Wesleyan
ministers, as expounders of that word, and seek to other guides to lead
them in the right way. Above all we fear, that the Divine Spirit —
grieved by an opposition to his holy dictates, so haughtily raised, and so
pertinaciously sustained' — will withdraw from us, and leave us blind,
powerless, and wretched !

Sure we are, that if the Author of the Christian religion be a living
Being, the religious community, which retains among its rules of dis-
cipline, an enactment like this law of 1835, is doomed; — nor is its over-
throw far off ! !

May He who, as a people, raised us up, be merciful unto us, and
deliver us from all our fears !

APPENDIX.

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Table 2,— MISSIONAEY DEPUTATIONS.

''^ To the Editor of The Wesleyan. Dear Sir, — In the Nottingham
Review, and in the British Banner, has appeared a paragraph entitled,
' Coming Events Shadowed Before ;' meaning, no doubt, a coach start-
ing with the morning sun, throwing its long shadow along the road,
after which it is hastening, and shortening its length as it proceeds, till
the sun is overhead, and ultimately throws the said shadow behind. Be
it so. Now for the paragraph. — ' At the late Nottingham Wesleyan
District Meeting, it was proposed to recommend to Conference, that the
Wesleyan body shall cease to receive government grants for Missionary
purposes ; and also that the Missionary Deputation system be discontinued,
as the arrangements involve great expense, owing to the unnecessary,
and, in some instances, very great distances which the preachers on the
deputations have to take. These are two important matters. We regret
that they did not pass the meeting. It is well the questions have been
mooted. The day will come when they will be taken up, largely dis-
cussed, and certainly carried.'

I may add that, in the Birmingham District Committee, dissatisfaction
was expressed with the lay agent employed at the Mission House — also
with the needless expense attendant on the support of two theological
lecturers — while a suggestion was thrown out on the propriety of remov-
ing two of the Missionary Secretaries, it being the opinion of some of
the committee that two would be quite sufficient for the Mission House.
What do these intimations portend ? The question with every lover of
peace and propriety is — Is there any reasonable ground for dissatisfac-
tion— for disturbing the present state of things ? Waiving government
grants, the subject of two theological lecturers, and two Missionary
Secretaries, I made up my mind to test the Deputation department, and
at once silence the croakers. In this work, as you, Mr. Editor, may
imagine, I was encouraged, from the fact of the Deputation being a
Conference measure^ and the selections and appointments being made by
men in vi^hose wisdom and impartiality Conference might be supposed to
confide. I commenced the work, and drew up, in connexion with a
friend, the following table — pen, ink, paper, map, compasses, &c., part
before me and part in hand :

183

Tabular View of the Wesleyan Missionary Deputations, taken
FROM the Minutes of Conference of 1^47.

Districts to which the
Deputations are

sent.

Kent . .

Norwich .

Oxford. .
Devouporl
Corn wall .

Bristol. .

Macclestield

MiUicli ester

Leeds .
York . .

Newcastle.
Carlisle
Scotland .

Circuits from which
they are taken.

f Bristol .
'■ Exeter
[Clieltenham
i Bradford, Yorl^
( Camborne
j Leeds . .
1 Sheffield .
f London .
1 Nottingham
f London .
^ Huddersiield
( Newcastle
-| Stockport
[ Truro .
;\raid stone .
[ Yarmouth
^ London .
( Dover . .
London . .
Aberdeen .
[ Truro . .
J Louth . .
[ London .
f Rochester
i Sheffield .

London .

Nottingham

Paris . .

Xo.
of

Probable

distance to

and fro.

jNIiles.

350
•470
4U0
450
(i20
330
250
400
500
1500

CuSO

580
290
280
420
500
340
480
740
(iOO
820
320

1110
700
200
780
5«0

1300

Total
distance.

Miles.
} 820

1470

} 580
} 900

[2180

1 1150

)
420

[l320

740
(iOO

2250

} 900

2000

10,050

Looking over my calculations of mileage and of mew, to say nothing of
expense^ I found myself among the complainants. Alas I how soon we
shift sides, when truth peers in our face. Observe —

1. That the distances are given from the usual route taken by travel-
lers in going from place to place.

2. That the said distances are only given approximately, and may,
therefore, be a trifle in or over.

3. That the act of travelling from place to place in the several districts,
very often considerable, is not included.

181

4. That, as to Scotland, the distance is given to and from Edinburgh,
which is considerably within the limits of the Deputation.

5. That in each case the distance is double, as the same ground would
have to be gone over on returning home, and the same expense paid, un-
less, in this age of invention, some new mode of travelHng had been hit
upon, or the directors and coach proprietors had furnished the gentle-
men with a ' cheap trip.'

6. That the Deputation list, in the minutes of Conference, includes
78 preachers in all, from which I have selected 32 — confessedly the
strongest cases, though others are to be found too nearly resembling them
— which 32, however, it will be seen, were destined — or doomed, if you
will — to travel, on the lowest calculation, upwards of 16,000 miles, aver-
aging 500 miles per man, exclusive of journeys from place to place in the
several widely extended districts.

7. That the missionary secretaries have, in making up the Deputation
list, had no regard in their several arrangements to economy ; from the
facts that, in one case, they start from Truro for Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
and pass by Bristol, Birmingham, Nottingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Man-
chester, and York ; in a second, start at Huddersfield for Cornwall, and
pass by Sheffield, Nottingham, Birmingham, Bristol, Bath, and Exeter;
in a third, start from Newcastle-upon-Tyne for Bristol, and pass by
York, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Nottingham, and Bir-
mingham ; and so of the others, one going from Maidstone to Maccles-
field, and another from Rochester to Carlisle.

8. That the whole of the 78 preachers, finding that 32 of them had
been appointed to travel 16,000 miles, and allowing only 9,000 for the
46 remaining, must have compassed ground equal in extent to the earth
itself, the circumference of the globe under the equator being only
24,951 miles.

Now, Sir, I ask with candour, though honestly, whether two-thirds of
the expense might not have been saved by employing the excellent men
included in the list nearer Jiome^ and men equally efficient at the places
more contiguous to their own stations ? Whatever may become of the
question which goes to cut down the number of secretaries to the st;>ff
employed by other societies, there can be little doubt that a change is
necessary either in men or measures.

I have not touched on ihe favouritism which is apparent in an analvsis
of Missionary Deputations, and which is a subject of complaint among
both preachers and people. This, if I am rightly informed, was noticed

185

at a district meeting, where an analysis was given for the last six years,
and which, on looking at the suhject, I find to be as follows : — 17 have
been appointed twice; 9, thrice ; 15, four times; 15, five times; and
31, six times. Is this wise in a body eminently one ? Is it just in refer-
ence to the talented, excellent men, who are branded before the Method-
ist pubHc by being systematically excluded? Is it useful to the Mission-
<\VY funds ? Is it kind to the people^ who are driven to invite the men so
' passed by,' and compelled to take others whom they do not want, or
give offence ? Is it creditable to the men who manifest such partiality in
their selections? I leave the subject, only regretting that I have found
the complaint too well grounded ; and heartily pray for either a change
in the leading men, or more wise and equitable measures.

A Wesleyan Preacher."

Table 3,— MISSION-HOUSE MANAGEMENT.

" To the Editor of The Wesleijan. Sir,— Within the last few days,
I have been favoured with a copy of the report of the Wesleyan Method-
ist Missionary Society, for the year ending April, 1848. It is certainly
a most interesting document, but it is painful to learn from a perusal of
it, that several important stations cannot have the supply their case re-
quires, for want of more adequate means for carrying on our foreign
work, and hence we read in connexion with the name of several stations,
* one wanted.'

In looking over the items of expense connected with the Mission- House
establishment, Centenary Ilall, to which I have had my attention directed,
I am astonished at the sums paid to support that establishment ; and as a
subscriber, with not a few others who have spoken on this subject, I am
of opinion, that the time is come when the whole of that expenditure
should he brought by the committee under a careful revision, with a view

186

to necessary retrenchments.* On the last page of the report, for 1848,
I find the following items of expenditure : —

£. s. d.

For printing reports, missionary notices, quarterly papers,
collectors' and secretaries' books, missionary papers,

boxes, &c., in two items 7082 2 7

Salaries for four secretaries « . . . 723 1 1

Salaries of accountants, clerks, and assistants in the

office 831 4 1

Salary and travelling expenses of travelling agent . . . . 377 14 1
Coals, candles, taxes, rates, insurance, &:c., for the houses
of the four secretaries, and rent of the secretaries'

houses 528 13 7

Taxes, rates, insurance, &c., for the Centenary Hall .. 335 4 8

Stationery and account books 107 13 0

Travelling and other expenses of missionary candidates . . 12 9 10
Carriage, porterage, shipping, and miscellaneous travel-
ling expenses, &c , 355 12 6

Eepairs of secretaries' houses, and additional furniture. . 104 19 0

£10,458 13 5

If I am right in my calculations this is a tremendous sum. Is it possi-
ble, that such an expenditure is absolutely necessary to carry on effectu-
ally the foreign work ? The treasurers of this fund ought certainly, at
the very next meeting of the general Missionary Committee in Hull, to
give some explanation as to the necessity for such an expenditure. And
it is to be hoped, that some member of the committee will call for some
such explanation as may satisfy the subscribers. I am not a member of
the committee myself, and if I were, probably I should not have reason
to propose a question which might seem to imply a want of confidence,
and by the secretaries and others, who are in the secret, it might be

* We have seen it stated on competent authority, that the following is the per centage expen-
diture of the four great Missionary Societies upon their respective incomes. The London
Missionaiy Society expends 5 per cent.; the Baptist, 7 per cent. ; whilst it is left for the Ai-isto-
cratic State-Churcli Missionaiy Society, and the humble Wesleyan Methodist Missionai7 Society,
to exceed the magnilicent expenditm-e of 10 per cent. Ten pounds for every Hundred contri-
buted, for nothing but mere oil to make the machinery woi-k glibly ! No wonder that a cog
wheel should now and then slip out of gearing, through the excessive application of the lubricat-
ing fluid;

187

regarded as an ungracious act. I have been, in years past, occasionally
present at the committee, when its transactions have been laid before the
meeting, but pray, what man is the wiser for being present ? Can he
answer one question regarding these items of expenditure ? Certainly
not. It may be said, are gentlemen not challenged to ask any question ?
It may have been so, but who are prepared to merit the frowns of men
such as have come down upon certain brethren who had the temerity to
question the propriety of their proceedings ? I am not willing to indulge
in any uncharitable feeling towards the men in office ; perhaps others,
were they allowed to remain as long as any of them have done, might
act on the same principle. But I think, as in every District Meeting
I have witnessed, there has beeen a strict investigation of the local
expenses, so there ought to be in the general committee ; for, if not,
pray of what manner of use is it to read over the mere dry details of
minor committees on matters in which I believe few that attend have any
particular interest ? It becomes the committee this very next Conference
to ask — can the expenditure at home be reduced ? Can the establishment
be efficiently worked by fewer secretaries, and clerks, and agents of one
class and another ? And v^hether the time is not yet come when there
ought to be some change, at least, in the officers of that establishment ?
They may be said to be men of talent, but are they men of business ?
Might not the work be accomplished with fewer hands, and as efficiently ?
Many, very many, believe it might ; nor, in my opinion, will the Con-
nexion be satisfied till the whole matter of expenditure be thoroughly
sifted. Let the matter be brought out, as is the business of all great
trading communities, and let every subscriber to this great concern,
have what he has a right to expect, and the cause will be supported
with a benevolence and economy which will do credit to the friends of
missions.

A Subscriber."

"July Jst, 184^."

188

" REMARKS ON THE FLY SHEETS ;

In a Letter to a Wesleyan."

As these sheets were passing through the press, there appeared on the
cover of the Wesley Banner for March, the subjoined announcement : —

*' Remarks on the Fly Sheets ; in a Letter to a Wesleyan." " ' The
Fly Sheets must be put down !' but they can only be put down by being
answered.'' — Introduction.

" This is not ' a reprint,' as the Wesleyan Times has opined it ' will
be,' but an original reply ^ embodying, in copious extracts, the pith of the
Fly Sheets, which it answers."

This Letter to a Wesleyan breaks no bones. If it would not add to
the amount of our printer's bill we should be tempted to take the hint
thrown out in the Wesleyan Times, and append every word of it to these
pages, as corroborative evidence of the truth of many of the statements
contained in the Fly Sheets. We have it on the best authority, (for our
ears are open,) that the Reverend John Wesley Thomas claims, among
his friends, the credit of authorship. We entertain not the slightest
doubt that the honour, such as it is, may be justly awarded to him. The
bantling filiates itself; the child is like its father. The work, in short,
(to employ a somewhat popular phrase,) may be said to be the " embodi-
ment " of himself. The Rev. Gentleman holds the distinguished post
of Merryandrew and caricaturist in ordinary to the Wesleyan Methodist
Conference ; and in this " Original Reply," it is very m.anift^st that the
pencil of the caricaturist and the wand of the harlequin, are the weapons
he has chiefly employed. He invariably seizes on the weak points of the
Fly Sheets, and endeavours to turn them into ridicule, — a feat which
requires no extraordinary genius to accomplish, as the most solemn
subjects may be made easy matter of ridicule. We presume the Rev.
Gentleman is sufficiently versed in controversial theology to know, that
ridicule is no argument, or the truths of the Bible would long ago have
been demolished, — ridicule having been, in ail ages, the favourite weapon
of men more remarkable for profane wit than for sober logic. Jle never

189

once grapples with the arguments. Not one of the arguments employed
by the Fly Sheet Writers has he adduced ; still less has he examined,
discussed, or annihilated them. lie well calls his Letter " An Original
Reply;" for, truly, we never before met with such a reply. Of the
thirteen arguments against Location, he has not noticed one. Of the
fourteen closely printed pages in which the evils of Centralization are
particularly pointed out, he has not noticed one single line, excepting a
concession made by the writers of the Fly Sheets. But, independently
of two quotations, — one of which does not bear on the subject, — he dis-
misses the whole in half-a-dozen lines. His is, indeed, " An Original
Reply." On the heavy home expenditure of our Mission-House he is
altogether silent ; for the single paragraph on " Missionary Affairs," in
his Letter, page 18, cannot be said to touch the question. And so of the
Re-election of Presidents, which is largely argued in No. 2 of the Fly
Sheets. In this way he proceeds throughout his Letter, — turning into
ridicule what he conceives to be weak points, but carefully avoiding all
arguments. He reminds us of an exceedingly clever man, who got
through the whole of Euclid in one day, — a tough job, certainly, and
which his friends could scarcely credit, till he informed them that he had
skipt all the As and Bs, all the diagrams of angles and triangles and the
like, and thus managed to accomplish his otherwise hopeless task.

This is the second attempt at a reply. If a third, and on its ftiilure,
a fourth, be announced, — supposing it to be worthy of its predecessors, —
it will, we presume, be the last ; on the principle of a descending series
in arithmetic, which, in very fev.' steps, reduces the original digit to a
cypher.

\Ye conclude with the following pithy notice of this pamphlet, from
the columns of the Wesleyan Times.

" We agree vvith the writer of the above letter — that the Fly Sheets
*can only be put down by being ansv^ered ;' but we think that such replies
as he has furnished us with, ''original' though they may be, will not
accomplish the desired end. He modestly says, ' The proper answer the
writer, to the extent of his ability^ has endeavoured to supply.' His
ability seems to be but small, or else he has very much underrated the
task to the performance of which he has addressed himself. He pro-
fesses, also, to give ' copious extracts, embodying the pith of the Fly
Sheets, which it answers!' We warn those who expect to obtain, ' for
the small charge of sixpence,' the pith of a series of pamphlets extend-
ing beyond one hundred closely printed pages, and an answer to the

190

grave charges contained in these pages to boot, that they will find them-
selves regularly hoaxed. The ' copious extracts ' are contained in two,
or at the most three, pages, and consist, for the most part, of detached
sentences culled from the most vulnerable parts of the Fly Sheets. The
' pith ' of the arguments he never once attempts to grapple with. He is
too wise to run his head against a stone wall. Should the writers of the
Fly Sheets think proper to publish a ' popular edition' of their labours
to the world, they may safely reprint this 'original reply' at the end of
their work. In some essential particulars, indeed, it furnishes ample
corroboration of the truth of some of the statements in the Fly Sheets —
we allude specially to the remarks on the Stationing Committee, and
which has been somewhat roughly denominated by the Fly Sheet writers,
' The Slaughter -House of Ministerial Character.' What the members
of that Committee may think of this part of the 'original reply,' we
know not; but to us it appeared very much like a '' Jly leaf against the
leading members of that Committee ! We were in error in the supposi-
tion that the ' reply' would be a reprint of the arguments of our illus-
trious cotemporary. This is, indeed, an ' original reply.'' But as an
answer to the arguments and allegations contained in the Fly Sheets, it is
perfectly ridiculous. Some mouse has been nibbling very industriously
the corners of the leaves ; its labours have not even reached the print.
Seriously, this razor, like those immortalized by Peter Pindar, was ' not
made to shave ! ' If any of our readers inquire with honest Hodge, in
his simplicity, ' What was it made for then ? ' we can only reply, in the
language put by the poet into the mouth of the thrifty razor-seller —
' Made ! ' quoth the razor-seller, with a smile, ' to sell.'

1 5»

Just published — Size, 4 feet 4 5y 3 feet 3,

Gl LBERT'S

IMPERIAL

POLITICAL AND PHYSICAL

FROM THE WORKS OF THE MOST EMINENT BRITISH AND FOREIGN
GEOGRAPHERS.

BY J. & C. WALKER.

In a nation of such great Historical, Political, and Commercial
importance as Great Britain, the possession of good modem Maps is
one of the most essential requisites for the educated and commercial
classes ; no person is qualified either to understand or discuss the
numerous facts and questions which daily arise in this kingdom,
unless his mind is well stored with geographical information, and he has
about him the facility of reference to such essential keys to knowledge
as recently-constructed and authentic Maps.

Of all the furnishings for the library^, the sitting-room or counting-
house — indeed all places of public resort also — the most essential
requisite is a new and correct Map of the World ; and next to it in
importance is a separate and enlarged Map of Europe. It is the con-
viction of this fact that has prompted the Author and Proprietor
eonjointly to project, from original drawings and the most approved
resources, this truly beautiful, copious, and correct Map, with the con-
viction that as all previous Maps of Europe are, from a variety of
causes, comparatively useless and out of date, the combined character
and cheapness of the present one will cause the public of the United
Kingdom to mete out to it a very extensive patronage.

In addition to its Geographical and Physical features (which are
very fully and carefully detailed) the Lines of all Railways are care-
fully laid dov.n, a comparative Scale of Miles of the different Nations
added, and the Boundaries of the various Countries are not only very
carefully coloured, but the various subdivisions of each State are also
depicted by colours.

THE PRICES OF THE MAP ARE

Coloured, mounted on"
cloth, highly varnished
and fixed on black

rollers

Ditto, mahogany, ditto 17 0

In Sheets, very carefully ^n in f?
coloured, only S

Mounted on cloth, beau- ^

tifully coloured, and VO 18 0
folded in case J

M 4 0

London : Jamejs Gilbert, 49, Paternoster Row.
Exportation Orders ejcecuted on liberal terms.

Just published, — Size 2 feet 4 hy Zfeet,

GILBERT^S

AS DIVIDED AMONG THE TWELVE TRIBES,

WITH EGYPT, ARABIA PETR/E, ANB THE WILDERNESS
OF MOUNT SINAI:

ikhibiting the Journeyings of Israel in the Wilderness, &c., and

showing its Divisions in the time of our Saviour ;

ILLUSTRATING THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.

Embellished by Steel-plate Engravings of

THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA,
THK CRUCIFIXION,

AND NUMEROUS EMBLEMATICAL DEVICES.
BNCRAVEJ) BY J. AND C. WALKER.

It is felt to be quite unnecessary to dwell on the importance of a
Map of the Holy Land, it being acknowledged in all Christian
Countries, and by all Christian persons, that a Correct Geographical
Delineation of the most sacred and interesting portion of our Globe,
tends materially to assist the devout and historical inquirer : the
present very superior Map is well calculated, from its beauty, size,
and cheapness, to command universal approval.

Price, in sheets, carefully) n o a
and beautifully coloured/

Mounted on cloth, co-1
loured, and folded in >0 15 0
case J

0 0

Coloured, mounted on!
cloth, highly varnished, > 1
and fixed on rollers. J

Ditto mahogany ditto 15 0

In Bvo, (270 pages) intended as a Companion to the above Map,
bound in cloth, price 3«. 6d,

A TOPOGRAPHICAL GAZETTEER

OR, THE

GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLV SCRIPTURES DESCRIBED.

THig MONTH IS PUBLISHED,

A VERY MUCH IMPROVED AND REVISED EDIISON

GILBERT'S MAP OF THE WORLD,

Size, 3 rt. 4 in. Iby 1 ft. 11 in.

It is with confidence submitted that this Map contains a large
mass of valuable information, and is a spirited attempt to
delineate the present state of the known world ; all recent dis-
coveries and boundaries are carefully attended to. In addition
to the Map — Statistical Tables of the chief Products, &c. of the
world. Pictorial Plans of the Mountains of each Hemisphere,
and Diagrams of its Rivers, (introduced round the margin of
the Map,) — it contains the dates of the important discoveries
for the last 1000 years, and the distances of the usual routes
to the Colonial possessions of Great Britain and other im-
portant places. It is also well suited for an

EMIGRATION MAP OF THE WORLD.

The price of this extremely useful Map brings it within the
reach of all classes of society, and only a very extensive sale
will remunerate the proprietor.

In sheets, carefully coloured, only 3;?. ; in case, folded, 6s. ;
mounted on black roller, highly varnished, 105. ; ditto on
mahogany rollers, 145. The colouring particularly distinguishes
the English Colonies and Dependencies, exhibiting at a glance
the extent of this great Empire.

CRITICISMS.

" It is clearly executed, and can thus be readily consulted. The other g-eneral
information, supplied on a single sheet, is also extreniely useful. The height
of the principal mountains, the length of the great rivers, the summary of the
chief products of various quarters, and tabular calculations of population,
language, &c,, &c., are all matters which should be familiar to intelligent
persons." —Literary Gazette.

" We have hearty commendations to bestow upon Gilbert's Map of the
World, which has just been issued at a cheap rate, in a convenient form, and
in a style of execution that leaves nothing to be desired. It contains a variety
of necessary information, extensive tabidar computations, and the dates of
Geographical discoveries."— Cowr^ Journal.

t»

L0ND0l5[ :

Published by James Gilbert, 49, Paternoster Row,
of whom may be had all works on Emigration.
Orders received by all Booksellers, Stationer^^, and Newsvendors.
Agent for Scotland, JoH^ jWI*Combe, Glasgow.

ine ^jhtst iaousanu, price only is. sewed, or 1^. Qd, bound

WITH

A very useful Steel-plate Genealogical Chart of the Sovereigns
of England, and other Engravings,

OUTLINES OF ENGLISH HISTORY,

WITH

INTERESTING REMARKS ON MANNERS, CUSTOMS,

ARTS, DRESSES, &c.

BY HENRY INCE, M.A!

" A neat and accurate compendium, and written with perspicuity. The
events of each reign are arranged under different heads, so as to give, at a
glance, a comprehensive view of the whole." — Aihenaum.

" There is a great deal of information in a small compass, and the Author
has availed himself of the latest authorities. We prefer the form of Outlines to
that of Catechisms. It contributes to the formation of more logical views,
both by the teacher and scholar. Catechisms are the school-books of parrots."
— Spectator.

"A very useful book for the instruction of youth, being a complete resume
of the History of England." — Metropolitan.

" A well-digested little hook,"— Literary Gazette.

" A good compendium of our national history, manners, and customs ; it
contains the essence of very many volumes." — Sunday School Magazine.

Also, price 1*. sewed, or, 1*. 6d. bound, with Engravings,
A VERY IMPROVED EDITION OF

OUTLINES OF GENERAL KNOWLEDGE.

BY HENRiY INCE, M.A.

"Extremely suited for scholars."— Swnday School Magazine.

" Contains for its size a remarkable quantity|of interesting and well-arranged
information. It would make a valuable present to Sunday Schools and Lending
Libraries." — Athenceum,

Also in 18mo., price Is. sewed, or Is. 6rf. bound,
A NEW EDITION OF

OUTLINES OF FRENCH HISTORYi

Brought down to 1848,

WITH NOTICES OF

Th9 Manners, Customs, Arts, ^c. of the different Periods,
BY HENRY INCE, M.A.

"Mr. Ince is not of those men who speak much without saying anythins •
he says much in a few words."— i^rencA Paper.

LONDON: PUBLISHED FOR THE PROPRIETOR,

By JAMES GILBERT, 49, PATERNOSTER ROW.

Sold to Order by Booksellers, Stationers, &c.

>MiiMtliiiM:irimMMiititiiMiiiiiiiiit(w£^/7'r*>-C^Xi^ - /„ • .v. », .n i ,i, ^-w i

Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library

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Full text of "The "Fly sheets" vindicated : or, the statements and arguments of the writers in the Fly sheets re-asserted and defended ... / to which are appended, Remarks on the case of the Rev. Daniel Walton, and observations on the Conference Rule of 1835"

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