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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc.. peuvent Atre fiimte A des taux de reduction diff Arents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour At;e reproduit en un seul clichA, 11 est film* A partir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 I / y /■ ^ U- THE '\ CHURCH AND THE WESLEYANS. :' BY J. K. C0B0VR6, U. C. F. D. CHATTERTON, PRINTER. 18 38. 9 } %i THE CHtRCU AND THE WESLEYANS. Wesley was a devoted admirer of the Church of England, of which he was an ordained priest, and from which, through his college feIlovvsiii{), he derived his support while he pursued his early itinerant labours. He declared, and with undouhled sincerity, that his object was not to draw the people from the Church, but to make them hetttr Churchmen. Afterwards* when from circumstances, which he has related with great sim- plicity and candour, he had become the leader of a sect, this made no change in his principles. He still impressed his soci- ties with the duty, and even necessity, not merely uf maintain- ing friendly dispositions towards the Church, but also of at- tending on her ministrations, and regarding Methodism only as an auxiliary. " When we forsake the Church," he said, " God will forsake us." — Osier's Church and King. " They that are enemies to the Church are enemies to me"— " 1 will rather lose twenty societies than separate from the Church." — " You cannot be too watchful against evil speak ng, or too zealous for the poor Church of England.'' — John, Our argument is, that it is because the Church of England is established by law, that she is able to provide a much larger amount of religious instruction for the nation at larj?e than she possibly could do were she subverted as an Establishment.— Wesleyan Methodist Magazine. ApriU 1834. I should wich to state, that we consider ourselves as a br/incb of the Church of England, both at home and abroad.— jScr. Robert Alder, Wesleyan Missionary in Canada. '7u^^^ The Church of England is a solf-reforming Church. It possssees within itself a principle of vitality, always strong enough to preserve it from utter spiritual corruption ; and that principle is the Word of God which, Sunday after Sun- day, is read from the pulpits of our Establishment, — which pervades every line of our " incomparable" Liturgy, — and which seasons with salt thiit can never lose its savour, our theological literature, " the richest," as a Wesleyan declares. ■f l '* that any soction of tho Church of Christ ever produced." In thn history of the Church wo shall find that there have been seasons wiicn this principle lay, like grain during winter, inert and unquickoiicd in the earth ; but anon a zenl, borrowing its light and w.u'intli from Gospel rays, has penetrated the fiozcn bosom of tho ^oil, and awakened into life and productiveness tho seed which was not dead, but only slept. This was most sign iliy exemplified at the period when John Wesley first commenced that religious career, which was destined to produce such a wonderful and salu. tary influence on tho Christian world. In tho early part of the last centurv a Laodicean lukewarmness had infected tho Church of England, and tho pernicious growth of theArian heresy, in addition to tho evil under which the Establish- ment laboured, hud almost choked the Christianity of dissent. At this crisis, remarks tho Christian Observer, •*from the bosom of the Cliurcli of England wont out that flame which has warmed and enlightened every other religious denomi. nation." Then, withm our own hallowed precincts, arose Venn, and Grimshaw, Romaino, and Talbot, Walker, Adam, and Conyors, — a body of spiritual labourers, strongly im. bued with evangelical views. Then, above all, arose John Wesley, tho son of a clergyman, himself a clergyman, and the fellow of a College. Then also Whitfield received his commission to preach, from an Episcopal successor of the Apostles ; and quickly following these faithful servants of the Gospel, is to be seen a long array of the Established Clergy inculcating those particular views usually denomi. nated evangelical. Thus did the Church of England, un. der Providence, reform itself by its own intrinsic means, andjthrough the agency of its own duly authorised Priesthood. Of all those holy men whom I have just enumerated, the one who had tho greatest sharo in quickening the spiritual deadness that pervaded the land, wa«, undoubtedly, Joba Wesley. The consistent and order.loring Churebmui mb. ' produced." there hav« rain during but anon a )el rays, has akened into ot doad, but Eit the period ious career, il and salu. jarly part of infected the of theArian le Establish* tj of dissent. , *'from tho flame which ious denomi. sincts, arose ilker, Adam, strongly im. , arose John gym an, and received his essor of the servants of Established ally denomi* not but regret the assumption of the power of ordaining mi. nisters and the aberrations from eculesiasticul discipline, into which this extraordinary man was led ; lie cannot but lament that Mr. Walker's advice to onollier person, — " Whatever good you design to do, do it in tlio Church," — had not been more generally prcsiml to the mind of VVtisloy ; but, with all these drawbacks, he, us well a» every otiier Christian, must hold tlin name of the founder of Mttliodism in affectionate remembrance and veneration, so long as zoul, eloquence, charity, faith, and good works, combined, pro- voke the love and admiration of mankind. In a groat de. gree also will disappear, the natural prejudice which tho conscientious Churchman may entertain against John Wcs. ley on account of his irregularities in discipline, when, from the commencement to the end of his protracted course, ho is found accounting it his " peculiar glory", not to separate from the Church, — and reiterating to his followers, •' Bo Church of England men still I" The members of the Church of England are too prone to confound Methodism with Dissent, and to put Methodists upon a level with Independents, Baptists, and other sccta. rians, who mar thf^ Cliristian unity of tho land. But this is an error which cannot be too speedily corrected, both witli regard to the peace of the Cluirch, and out of justice to the Methodists themselves ; who, with Adam Clarke, repudiate the name and the principles of Dipsenters, and " ho!d the doctrines, venerate the authority, and use the religious ser- vice" of the Establishment. So far from Methodism being !ngland, un> j designed by its founder to supersede i!ic ministrations of the insic means, Church, its main object was to supply its wants, — to be d Priesthood. ! a sort of outer court to the great national sanctuary, — to nerated, the 1" stand awallof Rre" around the citadel of the Roforniation. the spiritual iBWeBley considered his system not as an excrescence, but as Irtedly, Jobs la healthy offshoot from the parent stem. He believed that rehmaa •«»« Ithe root of Methodism lay in the Church. As the fig-tree, \ ' ;'/ { V. — >— not that kind for fruit renown'd. But such as at this day, to Indiana known, In Malabar or Decan spreads her arms Branching so broad and long, that in the ground The bended twif^s take root, and daughters grow About the mother tree, a piliur'd shade High over-arched, and echoing walks between, — as that tree stands in relation to its surrounding progeny, so stands the Church to Motliodism. The Church is t!ie mo. ther, the centre of vegetation, — Methodism is the daughter^ the ufTshoot, possessing, it is true, u root of its own, but de. riving the nutriment of that root from its parent, and inca. pabic of flourishing or even living independent of it. De. stroy the monarch tree, and its subject thickets arc involvuii in the destruction. Thus thought John Wesley, and on this principle did he act. In u paper read to the Conference in 17G9, he exclaims, — " Let us keep to the Church. Over and above all the rensons", (meaning the higher ones of principle and Christian obligation,) '• we add another now," (one of policy and self. preservation,) "from long experi- ence ; they that leave llie Cliuich, I'iavo the Methodists." His Journal is thickly studded with observations enforcing the same point. Arriving at Newcastle in 1755, "he did not Hud things there in tin; order ho expected;" and sub- joins the reason for this state of affairs immediately after ; *' Many were on the point of leaving the Church which soms had done already ; and, as thoy suppose, on my au- thority ! O ! how much discord is caused by one jarring string." In 1757 he preached at a little village called Nor. rnanby, and in the evening, he was much pleased on talking with the society, to witness " the care of God over thera that fear him." It appears that hiliierto tlieir spiritual pro. gress had been but slow and unpromising, for he puts the interrogatory '♦ VVhu t ;vas it that stoppt d their growing in grace ?" and thus ansvvois il ; " V/^j ihty had a well-mean- ing preacher among them, who was inflaming them more und n,— progeny, ao 1 is t'.ie mo^ 10 daughter f >wn, but de« it, and inca. , of it. De< aro involvuU iley, and on Conferonco urch. Over her ones of Mother now," long cxpcri- Mothodists." ns enforcing '55, " he did d;" and sub- liutely after ; lurch which , on my au. one jarring B called Nor. id on talking d over thera spiritual pro. he puts the r growing in a well-mean- f them more and nnore against the clergy ; nor could ho adviie them to attend the public ordinances, for he never went either to church or sacramoht himself. This I know not, but God did ; and by his wiuo providence prevented the Gonsequenc^u which would naturally have ensued. William MguBwtJTttho preacher] was pressed for a soldier, so tbje pcrujilb'go to church and sucruincni as beforu.V.. From this instance alone docs it not most plainly and unquestionably appear that Wesley consideied conformity to the Church as the very ground, work, the very vital principle of Methodism ? On another occasion, and at another place, when ho *' met the classes he was agreeably surprised to find that the bilturness against the Church, with which many were infected when ho was there before, was now entirely over ;" yet ho could not fail to remark on the evil which this temporary alienation had wrought, for he adds, *'yct the dcadness it had occasioned remained, and I doubt it will not boon be removed." Of his meeting **in a little conference," with ten of his brc. thren, at t!ic city of Limerick in 1760, he thus writes in a spirit of thankfulness and rejoicing; " By the blessing of God we were all of one mind, particularly with regard to the Church — even J. D. has not now the least thought of leaving it, but attends there, bo the minister good or bad." The societies that caused him the most trouble were those which were remiss in their attendance at Church. Ad- dressing his people iit Norwich in 1763, lie told tham, among other mutters, that " ho would irnmediutoly put a stop to preaching in the time of church service," and added " For mnny years I have had more trouble with this society than with half the societies in England put together;" the con- sequence, as we are left to infer of their neglecting the or. dinances of the Establishment, and of their " preaching in thotime of church service." In 1766 he "preached at Bingley, but with a heavy heart, finding &o many of the Methodists there, as well as at Haworth, perverted by ths 'I i 111 Si Anabaptists." And thus does ho account for this defection : " I see cloaror and clearer none will keop to us, unlosa th jy keep to the Church. Whouvor separate from the Cliurch will »ep:iiiite from tlio Muthodisfs." And not only does he enjoin hi:* peophi to uttcnd Chtirch uh the surest mouris of promolinjj till) growth of Molliodisrn, but ho wiirns tliein of the "sinriiliicss and foolialinuss of railing ut iIkj clergy," and corrobor;il'!s his iidinonition by llio cximi|i!'i of a place where •' there was a g.moriil lovo to the Gofi^jol, Till ttiniplo R. W. preaclifid ng linst ilu^ clergy." OiImt iiisilcfnccs re- main to be eititd froui the cooclnsioti of his Joi;:iial. When he visited Brentford in 1786, he " had little comfort there :" "the society," he declar'js, "is almost dwindled to nothing. What have wo gainr'? by separating from the Clmreh hero? Is not this n good Icv.son for others?" Let «is go with him to Deptford in 1787, and witnosa the scene which he has de- scribed to the very life ; " I wont over to D' ptford ; but it seemed J was got into a disn «)f lions. Most of the leading men of the society were mnd for separating from the Church. I endeavoured t(» reason with them, but in vain ; they had neither sense nur even good manners left. At length, after meeting the whole society, I told them, ' If you are resolved, you may have your service in church hours; but remember, from that time you will see my face no more.' This struck deep, and from that hour I have heard no more of separa- ting from the Clmreh." From a remark mado by him on the termination of the Irish Conference in 1789, wo learn that, as the Methodists dwindled to nothing when they ceased to bo Churchmen, so they grew strong and multi. plied, as long as they stood faithful to the Church. His words are these; " I never saw such a number of preachers before, so unanimous in all points, particularly as to leaving the Church, which none of them had the least thought ofi- It is no wonder that there has been this year so large an in- rrease of the society,''* I '( defection : in less Ihjy he Cliurch ly duos he fiiouns of 9 them of 10 clergy," offi place Till Hunple itcTnccs re- lul. When fort there :" to notiiing. lurch hero? with hirn to ho U'A» de- ford ; but it the leading the Church. I ; they had ongth, after iro resolved, t remember, This struck re ofaepara. I)y him on 19, wo learn when they and multi. mrch. Hia >f preachers 8 to leaving thought ofr large an in. Wesley, with all hi«onthuiiaam, wan endowed with strong ronmmn sense, and with that sagacity which can pnnotrata into futurity, und foretell the result of important measures, requiring for their duvelopmont tho lupse of generations or «^ven centuries. So far as time has tostud the incro policy of his cxliort'ition to his followers, — ^^ L.tt us kcop iti the Church," — I bulieve I may assert with the utmost safety, that cvtry year sinco his death has moro and more con. firmed the wisdom wiiicli dictated it, and brought about the consequences which ho predicted would flow from its ob. fiervance or neglect. In corroboration of this I will adduce a particular and very striking instance. Mr. Oslgr, a writer of the present day, favourably known by his Litb of Lord Exvwuth, has bestowed much attention on tho rcli« gious aspect of tho times, and has written a work, under the title of Church and King, in which he enters into an analysis of tho machinery of Methodism. Ho considers that Methodism is opposed to iho principles of Democracy and Dissent, and that so long as tho Wesleyans maintain the original principle of their Society by keeping close to the Church, and re^'p<^cling the Clergy of tho Establishment, they will never dispute theaulhoiily of their own preachers. "I expressed this opinion," he goes on to say, '• last year to a superintendent, of much observation and sound judgment. • I can confirm your remark,' ho replied, ♦ by examples within this circuit. In the next parish, we havQ u society of about sixty members, who regularly attend their parish church, and receive tho Sacrament there. They aro united among themselves, and give their preachers no trouble. At , we have a society who never go to church, and their conduct is altogether as disorderly. I told them, but tho last time I was there, that if they would go to church whenever it is open, they would learn to behave better in their own place of worship.* ** Here do w& find ample con' firmation of the justice of Wesley's remarks more immedi. 10 ate] J occasioned by the conduct of the Methodists of Biug. ley and Hawoith, but applicable as a general rule, — " I see clearer and clearer none will keep to us, unless they keep to tlje Church" ! Hero do we find the preachfr using alinobt the very words of Wcsloy at Norwich, at ail events speak- ing in their spirit, — " For many years I have had more trouble with this socioty than with half the societies in England put together." It was not however on the low ground of worldly expe. diency, and with the ultimate view of forming a large party in the church, and then by degrees wening them from it, and erecting a separate and indepcri.l^nt sect, that Wesley lived and died a Churchman, and exhorted all his followers to do the same. lie was a Ciiurchman, because his eon. ocience told him that it was his duty to remain one, — be cause he DARED NOT to bo otherwise. "Are we not Dis- senters?" — is a question proposed by him, and thus an- swered; "No; we are not dissenters in the only sense which our law acknowledges, namely, those who renounce the service of the Chnrch. We do not — we dare NOTsepa- rate from it." In another part of his writings he grapplijs with the objection that had been urged by some, that, until the Methodists separated, tluy could not expect to be a com- pact united body, — " It is true wc cMiUot till then be acorn, pact united body, if you mean by tliat fxpression a body distinct from all others. And wii have no dksiiie so to BE." Thus frequently and thus explicilly did John Wesley do. dare his mind against a separaticn from the Church of England. True it is tiir.t " in a course of years, out of ne- cessity, not choice, [hcj s'ou ly and wari!)f varied [from it] in some points of discipliu'j" ; but still not to f-iich an extent us to make the slightest alteration in the principle of his at- tachment to the Church. To the last moment of his long and righteous lifo ho adhered most strictly to the rules which, i ■'I u I ofBiug. I — " I flee ?y keep to )g alinobt nts speuk- lud more ocicties in dly cxpe. argo party n from it, at Wesley followers 3 his eon- one, — be ) not Dis. thus an> inly sense > renounce NOT sepa. e grappljs that, until be a com. 1 be a conim m a body nE so TO Vcsley do. Church of Hi of ne- from it] in an extent of hia at. ' his long [es which, with an impressive plainness, he had laid down for ihs guidance of his people, and which arc to be found in the larger Minutes of Conference published in 1770; "Warn them," — he is addressing the Assistant PreacheiB, — "against calling our society the Churchy against C'llling our preachers mmi«/er«, our houses merlins houses ; call them plain preaching-houses or chapels." Love to tlie Church, as being the purest fountain of divine truth, and the most faithful expounder of the lively oracles of God, was his ru. ling passion from youth to manhood and from manhood to old ago — it coloured all his thoughts, it influenced ai! his actions, it was breathed in the last faint murmur of his dying lips. It was no fitful fire that danced before his eyes for a moment, then disappeared, then returned, and then disappeared again. No, — it was a bright and steady eflul. gence that never lacked oil to feed its sacred flaine. It was to perpetuate this feeling among his followers that his life, as he believed, was prolonged to such an unusual dura, tion : "I believe one reason why God is pleased to continue my life so long, is to confirm them in their present purpose, not to separate from the Church." In December 1789 when death was already hovering over him, meditating the fatal blow, he wrote a paper, entitled, Further Thoughts on Separation from the Church, which coneludesthus : "And this [his duterminalion of adhering to the Church] is in no way contrary to the profession which I have made above these fifty years. I nev<:r had any design of separating from the Church ; I have no such design now." Then carrying his thoughts onward beyond his own mortal pilgrimoge, whicii he wae fully aware was hastening to a close, *—" I do not believe the Methodists in general design it, when I am no more seen. I do, and will do, all th"it is in my power to prevent such an event. Ne. verthelees, in spite of all that I can do, many of them will separate from it, ^although, I am apt to think, not one half, IS perhtips not oncthird of thorn.) These will be so bold and injudicious as to form a Heparato party, which, consequentlj, will dwindle away into a dry, dull, separate party. In flat opposition to these, [ declare onco more that I live and dib A MEMBER OF THE ChURCH OF ENGLAND ; AND THAI NONE WHO REQARD MY JUDGMENT OR ADVICE WILL EVER SEPARATE FROM IT." These sentiments, be it remembered, lie did not entertain for the (irst time when his vital spark was " glim, mering in ilssocltet"; — ihey had been a lamp to lighten his feet tiiroughoul his whole life. "These last solemn words," soys one who knew him, "toere the result of long consideration and uniform conviction. I solemnly aver that in the year 1777, or 1778, I asked him the question — ' Sir, in case the Mitliodisls should, after your death, leave tho Church of England, what would you advise your friends to do?' He answered immediately — *I would advise them to adhere to the Church, and quit the Methodists; but,' added he, • that will never be necessary ; for if some quit the Church, others will adhere to it, and then there will be Dis. seating Methodists andChurch Methodists.' " " [lis usual form of grace, after a meal, was this : — ' We thank thee, O Lord, for these and all thy mercies ; bless the C urch and King ; grant us truth and peace through Jesus Christ our Lord.' And iti these words, not many hours before his death, on having his parched lips moistened by an atten. dant, he gave audible expression to his feelings. The last blessing which ho pecms to have distinctly invoked was for tho Church and the King." Faithfully indeed, in his own conviction, did John Wesley act up to his declaration, "I LIVE AND DIE A MeMBER OF THE ChURCH OF ENGLAND." Lest however it should be supposed that Wesley only reverenced the Church in its spiritual character, and disap. proved of its Episcopal form of government, and its connez. ion with the State, — I will borrow a paragraph from a work styled * The Church and the Methodists^* published in the IS \' bold and lequentlj, In flat E AND DIB HAI' NONE SEPARATE le did not as "glim, o lighten t solemn It of long 1 aver that on — • Sir, leave the friends to 30 them to ut,' added ! quit the /ill bo Dis. His usual nk thee, O URCH and Christ our before his an atten. The last cd was for n his own ation, '*I GLAND." Bsloy only md disap. s conn ex. )m a work led in the I year 1834, in conformity with a Resolution of the Confe. rence, and written by the Reverend Thomas Jackson, the recently-elected President, if I mistake net, of the Englisii Conference for the ensuing year: — •' One of his (Mr. W's) correspondents had said, * There is an ccclcsiaslical order established in England, and it is a lawful ono ;' to which ho answers, • I believe it is in general not only lawful but HIGHLY coMxMENDABLE.' As if he intended to refute the idle plea, that he was friendly to tiio Cijurch of England as a part of the universal church of Christ, but denounced its union with the state, he says in his 'Letter to the printer of the Dublin Clironicle,' written only about eighteen months before his death, • Unless I see more reason for it than I ever yet saw, I will not leave the Church of England, as BY LAW ESTABLISHED, whil(} tho breath of God is in my nos. trils.' Thero is another remark, also, possessing a peculiarly lo. cal and present interest, which I must not here omit to make, and which I base in part on the authority of Mr. Osier : "Mr. Wesley declares, from personal observation, that very many years before the revolt of the North American Colo, nies, there was a disposition to throw off their dependence upon England, founded, not upon any alleged grievance, but upon the feeling of repulsion which necessarily exists against a Monarchy, wherever the system of Independency in religion prevails." Coupling this declaration of Mr. Wesley, with that contained in the minutes of 1770,— " What they do in America, or what their minutes say, is nothing to us ; we will keep in the good old way," — we may fairly infer that in his opinion the tendency perceptible in the Colonial Methodists of 1770 to separate from tho Church, was a tendency favourable to Independency, and consequently hostile to monarchy, and the maintenance of British connexion. Did space permit, I would hero proceed to prove, thai I ' 14 from the death of Wesley unlo the present period his tkxjr followers, " both at home and abroad," have " lived and died members of the Church of England ;*' and particularly would I show, at some length, how strong was the affection borne towards the Church by Wesley's devoted and trusted friend, the venerable, pious, and learned Adam Clarke. These subjects, however, I must reserve for another oppor. tunity. In the mean while I trust t'lat the words of John Wesley may be duly considered both by Churchman and by Methodist — that they may intiuce the Churchman to look upon the Methodist as a brother, — and that they may strongly impress upon the mind of the Wesleyan Methodist, that he is not entitled to bear that appellation, unless, like the father and founder of Methodism, he lives and dies a member of the Church of England as by law established. If any reverence bo still paid to the warnings, the pre« cepts, the exhortations, and the dying declaration of John Wesley among those who have assumed his name as a reli. gious designation, — those feelings of affection and reverenca which he so strongly entertained towards the Church rausl still be cherished in the Province of Upper Canada, whither 80 many of his followers have repaired from the troubled •ccnes of Ireland, or from his own native England. I am convinced thai it is only for want of a better understanding of the principles of Wesley that so little cordiality exists be. twfion Churchmen and Weeleyans in this Province. By the press alone can these principles be fully disseminated. The true British Wesleyan Methodist is burn with them, and needs not to be reminded of them. But the Canadian- born Methodist I am afraid, in too many instances, is as ig. norant as almost every Churchman, of the vi?.ws and feel, ings of Wesley in reference to the Church. Under this im> pression I offer these remarks ; and if the words of the ex. eellont man, of which they chiefly consist, could be conveyed to all those who rejoico in his name, and borrow their deiig. his TRtru lived and •articiilarly affection knd trueted m Clarke. ;her oppor- B of John an and by lan to looic they may Methodist, unless, like and dies a ablishcd. ^8, the pre. on of John be as a reli. id reverenco lurnh must da, whither le troubled ind. I am lerstanding y exists be. /ince. By iseminated. vith them, Canadian. 38, is as \g, s and feci. !er this im> of the ex. 9 conveyed heir desi^. 15 nation from it, it would not h(t long before the Wesleyan Methodists of Upper Canada would imitate tho example of their English and Irish Brethren, and hasten to the succour of their persecuted mother the Church, — it would not be very long before we should hear them addressing Bishop Mountain in the very language of the Methodists of New South Wales, when congratulating Di-. Broughton,on his ap. pointment to the Bishopric of Australia in the year 1836 : •• We, the undersigned, Miuistors and Members of the Societies and Congregations in New South Wales, of the people called Methodists, late in connexion with the Rev John Wesley, A.M.; sonietimo fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, deceased, beg to present to your Lordship our most respectful congratulations on your Lerdship's safe return to the shores cf Australia, and especially to express our grate, ful appreciation of the councils of His Majesty's Government^ in having erected these important colonies into a separate diocese, and in having placed at its head a Clergyman so in- timately acquainted with the character and circumstances of the people, and so zealously concerned for their spiritual welfare, as tho experience of several years has proved your Lordship to be. Firmlv and conscientiously attached as A BODV TO THE UniTED CnURCH OF ENGLAND AND IRELAND, as by law established, we cannot but rejoice in evert measure which promises to extend the usefulness and to bkcrease the prosperitv or that veneralle hierarchy.— Taught by the example of our, reverend founder, by the oft-repeated declaration of our parent connexion in an- nual conference assembled, not less than by our own ho. KZS. CONVICTION THAT THAT ChURCH HAS BEEN THE INSTRUMENT IM THK HANDS OF DiVINE PROVIDENCE OF PRESERVING TO THE British Realms the blessings of Protestant CnRrsTiANiTY, AND OF SPRE'.DINQ FAR AND WIDE THE PURE DOCTRINES OF OUR MOST HOLY FAITH, we feel bound to tender to your Lordship m these critical times the assurance that we shall evtr pray 16 I, thai your Lordihip may be enabled so to diaeharge thu du\ tit» of your 8acrcd and most responsible office, as that yourl already extensive and rapidly extending See may becomtl distinguished for the purity and undejiledness of itsreltgion,\ for the firmness (f its loyalty to our most Gracious Sovereign} and for all the virtues and happiness of a divinely favoured\ and highly prosperous colony P This is an emanation of brotherly love and Christian I friendship such as Wesley himself would have exulted to hear ! When the Methodists in Upper Canada can express »uch sentiments ns these, — (and the Bishop of Montreal ia a prelate whoso zeal, piety and meekness, might justly call them forth,) — then will they be Wesleyans not only in name, but in deed. Then will they be enabled to say in the Ian. guage of their founder, with an approving conscience; — •• We are not dissenters." '* We Co not, will not, form any separate sect, but from principle remain what we always have been, — true members of the Church of England." "Wo do not — wo dare not separate from it." Then, — if the do. parted spirits of just men made perfect are permitted to in. terest themselves in the welfare of those, to whose service they devoted their lives, —then will the heavenly essence of John Wesley rejoice at beholding his followers dwelling to. gether in unity with that Church, in the bosom and from the lessons of which he was taught the way that conducted hicn to salvation and bliss. J. K. Cobourg, 13lh October, 1838. harge ihn du- es that your\ : may beootnel ?/ itsreligionX us Sovereign] nely favouredt nd Christian ve exulted to a can express f Montreal is [ht justly cull only in name, y in the Ian. [)nscience ; — not, form any it we always ! igland." "We n, — if the do. irmittcd to in. vlaose service nly essence of s dwelling to. om and from [lat conducted J. K.