-
 
 THE 
 
 CONVERT'S COUNSELLOR 
 
 RESPECTING HIS CHURCH RELATIONS: 
 
 POPULAR OBJECTIONS TO METHODISM 
 
 CONSIDERED AND ANSWERED: 
 
 WITH REASONS WHY METHODIST CONVERTS 
 SHOULD JOIN A METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 AN ANTIDOTE TO CERTAIN RECENT PUBLICATIONS ASSAILING 
 THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
 BY DANIEL WISE, 
 
 Author of Young Man's Counsellor, Young Lady's Counsellor, 
 Path of Life, *c., fcC. 
 
 SECOND THOUSAND. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 FOR SALE BY J. P. MAGEE. 
 
 1 856.
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, 
 
 BY DANIEL WISE, 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 
 
 Qw. C. lUnd i Aver/, Printers, 3 CocnhUl, Boftoo.
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 MY first intention, when gathering materials for this 
 work, was to write a full and complete answer to all 
 the points raised by certain recent writers against our 
 church. A little reflection, however, convinced me 
 that such a task was needless. 1. Their writings do 
 not reach many of our people. 2. If they did, their 
 absurdity, falsity, and bad spirit are so obvious, that 
 none of our members, if at all acquainted with Metho- 
 dism, could be alienated from it by what they contain. 
 3. There is no probability that our enemies, who 
 accept those writings, would go to the expense of pur- 
 chasing such a reply, if written ; for such persons do 
 not wish to be convinced of their falsehood. 4. The 
 only mischief likely to accrue to our church from their 
 circulation, arises from the oral propagation of their 
 more salient assertions among those who, having re- 
 ceived Christ at our altars, and being as yet but par- 
 tially acquainted with our system, are the objects of 
 an unscrupulous proselytism. Hence it appeared to
 
 IV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 me, that a small book delineating the prominent fea- 
 tures of our system, especially at those points most 
 virulently assailed, would meet the case better than a 
 large and elaborate polemic. I therefore determined 
 to write an antidote rather than a formal answer to 
 those books ; to make a work which, placed in the 
 hands of a harassed convert, would say to him just 
 those things which his pastor would like to say had 
 he time and opportunity, and which, being said, 
 would effectually fortify him against the influences of 
 proselytism. 
 
 Whether I have realized my ideal, or not, the pub- 
 lic must now judge. I have written in a style and 
 manner adapted to the capacities of young persons ; 
 and have illustrated my points, as much as the subjects 
 treated permitted, for the purpose of making them 
 attractive. My earnest desire is, that the work may 
 be instrumental in saving many converts to the Meth- 
 oiist church and to Christ. 
 
 DANIEL WISE. 
 ROXBURT, MARCH, 1856.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 DUTY OF CONVEKTS TO JOIN THE VISIBLE CHTJBCH. 
 
 The convert'8 confidence requested The presumed relation of 
 the Convert to Methodism described His perplexity A 
 temptation and its source Union with the Visible Church es- 
 sential to safety Crossing the Atlantic in an open boat The 
 lost steam-ship The illustration applied Voices of reason 
 and experience Buoys in channels What they teach 
 The Visible Church and what it teaches of the will of Christ 
 Queries The promptings of love Duty to celebrate the 
 death of Christ requires church-membership A temptation 
 described The voyager's idle resolve The illustration ap- 
 plied, 11-22 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 
 METHODIST CONVERTS SHOULD JOIN A METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 The Convert considered as a child of Methodism A providence 
 in spiritual parentage The providential lesson Spiritual 
 sympathy, the need of a Convert Sympathy most likely to 
 b found in the house of one's spiritual birth Prospects of 
 a Methodist Convert in other churches The animus of Cal- 
 vinist churches unfriendly to Methodism Proofs Recep- 
 tion of Cooke's Centuries and the Great Iron Wheel by Cal-
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 vinist churches Inferences The sea-boy's home feelings 
 The illustration applied Converts should not join churches 
 whose creeds they do not believe Agnes Stanley, the mar- 
 tyr The illustration applied The path of duty Poetic 
 extract, 23-42 
 
 CHAPTER m. 
 
 MEANS OF GRACE PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 
 
 The ancient crusader His preparations Duty of Convert to 
 select the church most fitted to help him to heaven Claims 
 of the Methodist E. Church Its culture of the elements of 
 the spiritual life Love to God Faith The preaching of 
 Methodism Its hymns and services The doctrines of 
 Methodism as related to spiritual culture Institutions of 
 Methodism Their influence on Christian activity Itine- 
 rancy Provisions for Christian fellowship Fellowship a 
 necessity of the spiritual life Primitive Christians Ex- 
 perience of deeply pious men Mr. Wesley's visit to Ger- 
 many in search of Christian fellowship Dr. Chalmers 
 The class-meeting Its object and uses Love feasts 
 Their antiquity Quotation from Coleman Summary of 
 the chapter, 42-63 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OBJECTIONS TO METHODIST PECULIARITIES CONSIDERED. 
 
 Portrait of Jean Paul Richter The truth it embodies Ob- 
 jections to the class-meeting considered The conscience not 
 hardened by it A false assumption exposed The class
 
 CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 meeting not a confessional It does not promote insincerity 
 Its fitness to develop the Christian life Band meetings 
 Views of pious men of other denominations Opinion of an 
 Episcopal editor Testimony of a Congregationalist pastor 
 Opinion of a British critic The Spaniard's spectacles 
 Spectacled critics of Methodism Experience of fifteen con- 
 verts examined The Methodist prayer-meeting Its ear 
 nestness an argument in its favor The Czar of Russia sav- 
 ing a peasant The illustration applied The dancing 
 master and the martyr Liberty of women in the Methodist 
 church Scriptural authority Texts examined Dr. A. 
 Clarke quoted Priscilla Tryphena Tryphosa Persis 
 Clarke's note on these holy women Laughable instance 
 of the ignorance of a writer against Methodism Secret of 
 opposition to Methodism Poetic extract, . . .' . 64-94 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 
 
 Italian proverb Relation between doctrine and conduct The 
 creed of Methodism Its fundamental doctrines evangelical 
 The twenty-five articles Their origin Statement of Meth- 
 odist doctrines Antiquity of the distinguishing tenets of 
 Methodism Augustine the inventor of a new theology 
 Calvinism not taught in the Bible Historic argument The 
 doctrines of the Reformation Arminius Brief sketch of 
 his life The synod of Dort Its cruelty to the Arminians 
 Methodist Arminianism not identical with the Pelagianism of 
 the earlier Congregationalists Quotation from Tracy and 
 Edwards Pelagianism described Testimony of the Secre- 
 tary of the Home Missionary Society Methodist doctrines
 
 Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 not Romanist The Romanists tolerate both creeds Cal- 
 vinism largely represented in the Romish church Methodist 
 doctrines always powerful for good Calvinism distressing 
 and dangerous, 95-122 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM. 
 
 The Banian tree Methodism a phenomenon Its source 
 The two Wesleys John Wesley its true founder Sketch 
 of his life His birth, education, and introduction to the min- 
 istryThe Holy Club Persecution The Holy Club not 
 the origin of Methodism proper The first Wesleyan society 
 
 Mr. ^ T esley in Georgia His persecutions there His re- 
 turn Whitefield's testimony to the purity of his life Wes- 
 ley's conversion Peter Bohler Wonderful effects of Wes- 
 ley's preaching Wesley's prodigious labors Terrible per- 
 secution of the Wesleys and their followers Wesley's 
 triumphant death Resemblances between Wesley and Lu- 
 ther Wesley's work, 123-164 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 EISE AND GROWTH OF METHODISM. 
 
 The smitten rock The birth of Methodism divine The Wes- 
 leyan Pentecost Results Rise of Methodism in America 
 
 Philip Embury Barbara Hick Captain Webb Rob- 
 ert Strawbridge Growth of the mustard seed A false as- 
 sertion corrected Increase of American Methodism by de- 
 cades Percentage and ratio of its increase for v,oi<- ~
 
 CONTENTS. IX 
 
 century Growth of Methodism in New England Causes 
 which checked the ratio of its progress between 1840 and 
 1850 Growth of New England Methodism compared to the 
 growth of the Congregationalists and Baptists Valuable ta- 
 bles God in the growth of Methodism, ..... 165-185 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 SPIRITUAL RESULTS OF METHODISM. 
 
 State of England at the rise of Methodism A gloomy picture 
 
 Testimony of Dr. Isaac Taylor, Dr. Morrison, Dr. Corbett, 
 Rev. James Robie Spiritual condition of America at the 
 rise of Methodism Whitefield's statements Other testi- 
 monies Apostacy of the Puritan churches after Whitefield's 
 visit Methodism a bright particular star in two hemispheres 
 
 Its powerful effects in England and in America Testi- 
 monies of Morrison, Cecil, Chalmers, Robert Hall, Laurie, Dr. 
 Tyng, etc. Present spiritual vitality of Methodism A silly 
 assertion answered God the strength of Methodism, 186-202 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Spectre of the Brocken The illustration applied The allega- 
 tions of Messrs. Graves and Cooke The charge of despotism 
 false The occasion of the charge An a priori argument 
 What is despotism No absolute authority in Methodism 
 All its officers responsible No coercive power in Methodism 
 
 Its corner stone Its power of excommunication consid 
 ered Laymen can be condemned only by the laity Cen-
 
 C CONTENTS. 
 
 tralization of Methodism The Episcopacy not a centralized 
 power Power of Methodist bishops Its limitations The 
 appointing power Power of the General Conference Its 
 limitations The question submitted Methodist church 
 property not owned by its ministry The motive and aim of 
 Methodist church government The itinerancy Its sacrifices 
 and success Lay influence in Methodism Address to the 
 reader, 203-241 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. 1. Pelagianism and Arminianism contrasted, . . . 243 
 
 No. 2. Calvinism in 1855 Of God's eternal decree Of 
 effectual calling Of the perseverance of the saints, . 245 
 
 No. 3. Extracts from various authors, showing that 
 infant damnation is a logical sequence of Calvin- 
 istic principles, 248
 
 THE CONVERT'S COUNSELLOR, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 DUTY OP CONVERTS TO JOIN THE VISIBLE CHURCH. 
 
 CHRISTIAN reader, will you 
 give me your attention, and 
 permit me to commune with 
 you awhile, in the spirit of a 
 friend and fellow disciple ? We 
 are strangers to each other in the 
 tflesh, but are we not united in holy 
 brotherhood, through our mutual faith in Je- 
 sus? Do not our hearts beat in hallowed 
 sympathy, as we bow together in spirit, at 
 the feet of Him whose death was our life, 
 whose love is our consolation, whose pro- 
 mises are the light of our steps ? Accept, 
 then, my hand, with a brother's heart in it.
 
 12 DUTY OF CONVERTS 
 
 Give me your confidence. You are a young 
 pilgrim just entering the way of life. I en- 
 tered that sacred path in my youth. For 
 nearly twenty-five years I have journeyed 
 in it. I have mingled much with men, have 
 seen life in many phases, have enjoyed 
 much, suffered much. I know somewhat, 
 therefore, of the human heart, and have gath- 
 ered some of the fruits of experience. View- 
 ing you as a convert just entering upon novel 
 experiences, subjected to manifold tempta- 
 tions, doubtful of yourself, anxious to do 
 right, yet liable to be misled, I feel my heart 
 warm toward you, and am desirous to give 
 you such counsels as I know will benefit 
 you, if you accept and follow them. Will 
 you then give me your attention and confi- 
 dence ? 
 
 I address you as recently converted, but 
 as undecided concerning your church rela- 
 tions. You have been led to Christ, I will 
 presume, through the instrumentality of 
 Methodism. If left to your own unbiased
 
 TO JOIN THE VISIBLE CHURCH. 13 
 
 judgment, you would unhesitatingly unite 
 with the Methodist church. But your asso- 
 ciates, relatives, or personal friends are 
 hostile to Methodism. Perhaps you reside 
 in a community where Methodism is crushed 
 down and trodden under foot by proud, in- 
 fluential, sectarian men. False views of 
 Methodism, the offsprings of a prejudice 
 which is willingly ignorant of its true char- 
 acter and spirit, are whispered in your 
 ears. So much is said to you, by persons 
 you have ever esteemed, that your mind is 
 perplexed and unsettled. You hesitate and 
 wait. You do not feel entirely free to re- 
 linquish Methodism. You are too deeply 
 indebted to it to turn from it readily; yet 
 in consequence of what has been said to you 
 by others, your mind is not satisfied with 
 respect to your duty to enter into church 
 relation with it. Like a weaver's shuttle, 
 you are tossed to and fro, and amid these 
 perplexities, you are tempted to join no 
 church at all.
 
 14 DUTY OP CONVERTS 
 
 Permit me to be plain with you at this 
 point, my dear young friend. The sugges- 
 tion to join no church is from the great 
 adversary of your soul. The friends who 
 harass you that they may alienate you from 
 Methodism, are responsible for so disturb- 
 ing your wonted serenity as to fit you for 
 the solicitations of the tempter. But you 
 must resist him, nevertheless. You 'must 
 join some branch of the visible church of 
 Christ. Not to do so is to peril the safe- 
 ty of your soul. 
 
 Some time ago, a bold but reckless sea- 
 man determined to attempt the passage of 
 the Atlantic alone in an open boat. It was 
 a daring thought, but he was strong in pur- 
 pose, and he made the trial successfully. 
 Alone in his frail bark, he crossed the 
 mighty deep, braved all its dangers, outrode 
 its storms, and landed safely on the oppo- 
 site shore. 
 
 Since then, a noble steamship, like levia- 
 than for size, like the eagle for swiftness,
 
 TO JOIN THE VISIBLE CHURCH. 15 
 
 like behemoth for strength, while attempting 
 the same passage, rushed upon an unseen 
 vessel. The concussion opened the steam- 
 er's gigantic bosom to. the waves, and like 
 a dead monster of the deep, she sunk, with 
 scores of her affrighted voyagers, to the 
 invisible caverns of the seas. 
 
 Thus a voyage which was safely made by 
 a solitary seaman in an open boat, proved 
 fatal to scores who attempted it in a noble 
 steamship. But would you, therefore, prefer 
 the open boat to the steamer if you were 
 about to cross the ocean? 
 
 You would not. Reasoning upon these 
 facts, you would say, that the seaman in the 
 open boat was foolhardy. The probabilities 
 were all against him. His exploit is not 
 fit to be imitated, for it could hardly be 
 repeated by himself or any other man. Of 
 the steamship, you would say the few who 
 perished by her fatal mishap were excep- 
 tions. Most who cross the seas in such 
 vessels do so with safety, and, therefore, the
 
 16 DUTY OP CONVERTS 
 
 steamship is infinitely preferable to the open 
 boat. 
 
 Do you not perceive the application of 
 these illustrations to the question which 
 now perplexes you ? Do you think of sail- 
 ing over the sea of life alone, without the 
 fellowship of the visible church? Behold 
 the folly of such a purpose in the rashness 
 of that daring seaman. Like him, you may, 
 after many frightful experiences, land safely 
 on the bright shore beyond. But alas, all 
 the probabilities are against you. You are 
 more likely to be wrecked beneath some 
 treacherous wave, than to outsail the perils 
 of the voyage. Thus reason points you 
 toward the church. Experience directs to 
 the same path. Of the many who have at- 
 tempted a voyage to heaven out of the 
 Christian church, nearly all have lost their 
 way, while yet almost in sight of the point 
 of their departure. On the contrary, though 
 some who join the visible church, do, like 
 HYMENEUS and ALEXANDER, make shipwreck
 
 TO JOIN THE VISIBLE CHURCH. 17 
 
 of faith, yet the far greater number 
 outride every storm, and land safely on the 
 shore beyond the flood. All experience de- 
 clares in favor of the safety of seeking 
 heaven by way of the church: it shows the 
 attempt to reach it independent of the 
 church to be perilous in the extreme. Hence 
 your desire to make your salvation as sure 
 as possible, if guided by the voices of reason 
 and experience, will lead you to unite with 
 some branch of the Christian church. 
 
 Along the channels leading to harbors oi 
 difficult approach, it is not uncommon to 
 see lines of painted buoys. Those silent 
 but restless monitors serve the weary mari- 
 ner as guides and protectors. Though 
 voiceless, they assure him that the citizens 
 of that port have sounded those waters and 
 placed those lines of buoys to intimate that 
 it is safe to steer within them, but danger- 
 ous to sail without them. Wisely heedful 
 of their teaching, he .guides his bark along 
 the channel and enters the haven with a 
 2
 
 18 DUTY OP CONVERTS 
 
 joyous heart. Were he blindly unmindful 
 of their presence; were he, in a spirit of 
 self-conceited vanity, to despise them, and 
 run his ship upon sunken rocks or treacher- 
 ous banks, who would pity him ? Would not 
 all men blame him for his folly ? Would he 
 not stand silent and self condemned in pres- 
 ence of a blabbing world? 
 
 Now, as these buoys authoritatively, yet 
 kindly, point out the only safe course for the 
 sea-worn mariner, so the existence of the 
 visible church, erected and preserved by 
 Christ himself, is a divine proclamation, 
 that through its sacred portals the only safe 
 path to heaven runs. Would Jesus have 
 founded it, joined his first disciples to it, 
 called it his "body," "loved it," and pre- 
 served it, as by a perpetual miracle even 
 against the "gates of hell," if it were not 
 necessary to the salvation of his followers ? 
 Did its institution spring from the sugges- 
 tions of caprice, or was it the outgrowth of 
 his wisdom and love ? You will surely
 
 TO JOIN THE VISIBLE CHURCH. 19 
 
 acknowledge it to be the latter. How then 
 can you neglect to join yourself to it, with- 
 out despising his wisdom, exhibiting a 
 measure of self-will utterly unbecoming in 
 a disciple, risking your salvation, and ex- 
 posing yourself to the fate of him whose 
 scornful rejection of the wedding garment 
 overwhelmed him with speechless shame, 
 when he was arraigned at the tribunal of his 
 offended Lord? 
 
 Nor can you refuse to join the visible 
 church without at least a show of unkindness, 
 utterly inconsistent with that love for Christ 
 which you profess. It is the nature of love 
 to yield itself to the wishes of its object. 
 Love is obedient. It does not hesitate to 
 do, to suffer, or to die, if need be, to please 
 its beloved. What a poor starveling your 
 love will appear, if you decline to submit to 
 the undoubted will of Christ on a point 
 which, while it requires no real sacrifice, is 
 almost absolutely necessary to your salva- 
 tion. Your refusal must at least expose
 
 20 DUTY OF CONVERTS 
 
 your profession of love to merited suspi- 
 cion. 
 
 Besides, if you stand unconnected with 
 the visible church, how can you "eat the 
 body " and drink the blood " of Christ ? 
 " Do this in remembrance of me" is not a 
 mere request: it is a command. If it were 
 only a whispered wish, your affection for 
 Christ should lead you to regard it as an 
 imperial law. But it is more than a wish. 
 It is an unconditional command, invested with 
 peculiar sacredness, because given on the eve 
 of that awful hour, which witnessed the dy- 
 ing agonies of your Saviour. A wish to 
 evade it is treason to Christ. You cannot 
 therefore desire to neglect it. But how can 
 you obey it unless you become a member 
 of the visible church ? for it is not a secret 
 commemoration of his death that he re- 
 quires, but an open partaking of its emblems 
 in the company of his disciples. Are you 
 not therefore bound to become a member
 
 TO JOIN THE VISIBLE CHURCH. 21 
 
 of the visible church, by the command which 
 bids you partake of the holy supper? 
 
 It is not uncommon for converts, harassed 
 as I suppose you to be, about their church 
 relation, to be tempted to say: "I would 
 join the church if there was only one de- 
 nomination. But I am confused because of 
 the multitude of sects, claiming to be 
 churches of Christ; therefore, I will join 
 none." 
 
 Fallacious conclusion! Behold its folly. 
 Yonder is a man intending to cross the seas. 
 Seeking a ship, he finds the wharves crowded 
 with every variety of craft schooner, brig, 
 ship, clipper, and steamship. The owners 
 of each insist on the superiority of their 
 particular vessel. After hearing their pleas, 
 the intending voyager exclaims, " There are 
 so many vessels, I am confused. I know 
 not which to select. I will sail in neither of 
 them. I will swim across the seas alone ! " 
 
 Now, I know you pronounce this resolu- 
 tion absurd in the highest degree too ab-
 
 22 DUTY OP CONVERTS, ETC. 
 
 surd for any -sane man to adopt. Common 
 sense, you think, would teach such a man 
 to select that craft which his judgment, 
 after due examination, most approved. 
 Exactly so. Go then, beloved convert, and 
 follow the dictates of sound common sense 
 with respect to the multitude of sects around 
 you. Their number and variety result from 
 the necessary diversity of human opinions ; 
 and, constituted as the human mind is, their 
 multiplicity is probably a good rather than 
 an evil. Let not this fact stumble you, 
 therefore, but after a due investigation of 
 th^lr respective claims, select the one which 
 your judgment can best approve, and join 
 yourself to its communion. Remember your 
 safety, your duty, your obligations to Christ, 
 all bind you to become a member of the 
 visible church. 
 
 " And THE LOED ADDED to the church daily 
 such as should be saved.' 1 
 
 "I had rather be a door-keeper in the 
 house of my God, than to dwell in the 
 tents of wickedness."
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 METHODIST CONVERTS SHOULD JOIN A METHODIST 
 CHURCH. 
 
 HAIL you, dear reader, as a 
 child of Methodism. Your 
 parents may have educated you 
 in a different faith. Your 
 past associations may have been 
 with the followers of another creed. 
 Your personal friends, may ror- 
 ship at other altars. Nevertheless, having 
 been converted to Christ through Metho- 
 dist instrumentalities, you are a child 
 of Methodism ! God sent Methodism to 
 you, as he sent Ananias to Saul of Tarsus, 
 that it might become your spiritual parent. 
 It found you a poor unawakened sinner. 
 It alarmed you, persuaded you, led you to 
 the cross, taught you how to believe, en-
 
 24 METHODIST CONVERTS SHOULD' JOIN 
 
 couraged your first acts of trust, and led 
 you, with the solicitude of a mother, through 
 the earliest steps of your experience in the 
 way of faith. Under God, you owe your 
 spiritual life to it. Are you not, then, one 
 of the children of Methodism ? Is not the 
 Methodist church your spiritual mother? 
 
 Did it ever strike you that there is a 
 providence in this delightful relation be- 
 tween you and Methodism ? It must be so, 
 for so important a fact as your spiritual pa- 
 rentage could not have been left to chance. 
 As a Christian, you utterly eschew the no- 
 tion of chance. You recognise the guiding 
 hand of God in every event, both great and 
 small, from the upholding of the spheres to 
 the fall of a sparrow. You must, therefore, 
 concede that providence was directly con- 
 cerned in bringing you into your very 
 interesting relationship with Methodism. 
 Perhaps a little reflection, on the various 
 steps by which you have been led, will 
 unfold to your mind numerous combinations
 
 A METHODIST CHURCH. 25 
 
 of events, all tending to this result, and 
 demonstrating the presence of an invisible 
 but Almighty agency. Can you explain the 
 facts of your recent history on any other 
 principle ? If you deny it, are they not 
 mysterious and inexplicable a tangled 
 labyrinth which you cannot explore ? But 
 if you admit it, everything, though wonder- 
 ful and overwhelming, is at least intelligible 
 and plain. Ought you not then to con- 
 sider that the providence of God, made you 
 the spiritual child of Methodism? 
 
 But does not this fact teach its lesson? 
 May it not shed some light on the question 
 of your church relation ? Is there no indica- 
 tion of the divine will in these mysterious 
 leadings of his providence ? Why did your 
 Heavenly Father select a Methodist preacher 
 to be the instrument of your awakening, 
 and a Methodist altar to be the scene of 
 your conversion? He could have led yon 
 within the sphere of other, perhaps nearer, 
 instrumentalities. Why then did He lead
 
 26 METHODIST CONVERTS SHOULD JOIN 
 
 you rather out of their way, and bring you 
 into spiritual relationship with the great 
 Methodist family, if not to teach you that 
 your spiritual interests could be better pro- 
 moted within its bosom than 'elsewhere ? 
 I will not positively affirm that this is the 
 lesson of the fact, because I can conceive 
 of exceptional cases, in which it would not 
 be proper for a convert to join the church 
 of his spiritual parentage j but I do sincere- 
 ly submit this question to your judgment: 
 Do not those providences which brought you 
 within the influence of Methodism, give at 
 
 least an intimation, that it is the divine 
 
 
 
 will you should fix your spiritual home 
 within its enclosures ? I beg you to resolve 
 this question on your knees. 
 
 By uniting with the church which has been 
 the instrument of your conversion, you will 
 meet with a spiritual sympathy such as you 
 can hardly expect to find in another de- 
 nomination. 
 
 As a young convert you stand in special
 
 A METHODIST CHURCH. 27 
 
 need of the sympathy and aid of spiritual 
 minds. This need will continue until your 
 experience matures, and you acquire strength 
 through conflict and endurance. Your faith 
 is weak and vacillating a reed shaken by 
 the wind. Your love, though glowing, is 
 wavering a flame flickering in a draught of 
 air. In strength, you are a lamb shivering 
 in the chilly atmosphere of an ungenial 
 spring. In skill to resist the Tempter, you 
 are as an inexperienced youth walking amidst 
 the snares of practiced wickedness. Thus 
 feeble and harassed, you often sink into 
 "great deeps" pf despondency, where a "hor- 
 ror of great darkness," like that which fell on 
 the patriarch Abraham, encompasses your 
 trembling spirit. Then, you challenge the 
 reality of your conversion, and are ready to 
 " cast away your confidence." Then, like a 
 frighted child, you need to be folded in 
 the warm breast of Christian sympathy, that 
 your fear may be calmed, your heart cheered 
 into a renewal of your acts of faith, by the
 
 28 ' METHODIST CONVERTS SHOULD JOIN 
 
 whispers of a tender and patient brotherly 
 affection. 
 
 Now, where will you be so likely to find 
 this sympathy as with those who regard you 
 as their spiritual child? .They have wit- 
 nessed the process of your conversion, en- 
 tered into your feelings, mingled their tears 
 with yours, struggled with you in the ago- 
 nies of your penitential hour, soared with 
 you on the wings of faith to the Mediator's 
 feet, and blended their voices with yours in 
 the first songs of praise which broke from 
 your renewed heart. Hence, they love you 
 as the child of their labors and affections. 
 They have confidence in your profession of 
 faith. They are eminently fitted to sympa- 
 thize with you, to weep over your sorrows and 
 to rejoice over your joys. Is it prudent 
 to tear yourself away from such sympathy ? 
 Is it 'safe? 
 
 I do not affirm that you cannot find genu- 
 ine Christian sympathy in a church of another 
 name, because wherever there is true piety
 
 A METHODIST CHURCH. 29 
 
 there is more or less of sympathy with the 
 lambs of Christ's flock. But I do seriously 
 doubt the probability of your finding such 
 sympathy as you now enjoy in the house of 
 your spiritual parentage. Remember, that 
 being a child of Methodism, you will be but 
 an adopted child in any other branch of 
 the Christian church. You will feel this fact 
 painfully, if you leave your true home. So 
 long as you are the object of a zealous prose- 
 lytism, the confidence and sympathy of those 
 who seek to win you to their ranks will 
 appear strong and deep. But when you have 
 once crossed the Rubicon, and stand among 
 them as a candidate for church membership, 
 a change will be visible in the spirit of your 
 new friends. Having lured you from Metho- 
 dism, they will seek to divest you of every 
 shred of the Methodistic garment, and to 
 shape the manifestations of your experience 
 in their own denominational mold. They will 
 scrutinize your conversion, and challenge its 
 genuineness, because it was obtained among
 
 30 METHODIST CONVERTS SHOULD JOIN 
 
 the Methodists. It will be well if they do 
 not lead you to cast it aside as mere excite- 
 ment, and leave you to grope through mist 
 and unbelief after new light, so that, after 
 all, you may date your new birth from the 
 period of your connection with them, and 
 thus lose your sense of obligation to your 
 true spiritual parent. But if you should 
 escape so severe an ordeal, you will, at least, 
 be speedily taught by significant shrugs and 
 chilling glances, if not by direct rebuke, that 
 allusions to your indebtedness to Methodism 
 are regarded as a mark of bad taste, as an 
 offense, as a sign of disloyalty to your new 
 friends. In a word, you will have to ignore 
 your spiritual parentage or be regarded as a 
 speckled bird, an oddity, to be endured but not 
 received to the entire confidence of the church. 
 Perhaps you think these remarks are the 
 outflowings of prejudice on the part of the 
 writer. I assure you they are not. I love 
 and respect every branch of the Christian 
 church, and believe that multitudes among
 
 A METHODIST CHURCH. 31 
 
 them would scorn to do such things as I 
 have described. But facts are stubborn 
 things; and they prove that the animus 
 of the leading Calvinist denominations is 
 decidedly unfriendly to Methodism so 
 unfriendly as to look upon it with a cer- 
 tain affectation of contempt, and to speak 
 incredulously, if not with absolute doubt, of 
 the genuineness of its religious experiences. 
 The existence of this unfriendly animus 
 is proved by certain recent publications, and 
 the manner in which they have been received 
 by the denominations they represent. In 
 one of these works, written by a prominent 
 Congregationalist minister,* it is boldly as- 
 serted that "Methodism is not a 'branch of 
 the church of Christ ;" that " its aggression 
 is not one of a true religion but of a false ; " 
 that Methodist revivals are " simply corrup- 
 tions of revivals," " no part of Christianity, 
 but scandals in its way ; " that they consti- 
 tute " what may be called a religious com- 
 
 * Rev. Parsons Cooke.
 
 32 METHODIST CONVEETS SHOULD JOIN 
 
 edy;" that they are "comic operations;" and 
 that of Methodist conversions about nine- 
 tenths of the whole are found to be spurious 
 after a longer or shorter trial ! ! " 
 
 Now the volume which contains these 
 statements has been endorsed by most of 
 the leading presses of the Congregational 
 and Presbyterian churches, and by many of 
 their chief ministers and home missionaries 
 in various parts of the country. I know 
 there are numerous individuals in those 
 denominations, who dissent strongly from 
 the views of this writer ; yet their dissent 
 cannot be general, it cannot exist in the most 
 influential quarters, or it would find expres- 
 sion in earnest protests through the press. 
 The fact that no such protest has appeared, 
 except in a single instance in which the pro- 
 testant was originally a Methodist minister, 
 taken in connection with the endorsements 
 it has received, proves that the animus of 
 that book is in harmony with the animus of 
 the above named churches.
 
 A METHODIST CHURCH. 33 
 
 Another volume from the pen of a Baptist 
 minister,* written in the same spirit, and 
 placing Methodism outside the pale of 
 Evangelism, has been received with similar 
 favor among the Baptists. 
 
 These are melancholy facts, which it is 
 painful even to record. I do not name them 
 to create prejudices in your breast against 
 Christians of other churches, but merely to 
 sustain what has been said concerning their 
 views of Methodist conversions. They do 
 cherish a great doubt concerning the genu- 
 ineness of a Methodist conversion. How, 
 then, can you, who are a Methodist convert, 
 go among them without having the sound- 
 ness of your conversion doubted? without 
 being subjected to a suspicious scrutiny which 
 it is painful to an honorable mind to endure ? 
 How, under such circumstances, can you hope 
 to find that spiritual sympathy in their commu- 
 nions which is one of the great wants of your 
 
 * The Great Iron Wheel, by Rev. J. R. Graves. 
 
 3
 
 34 METHODIST CONVERTS SHOULD JOIN 
 
 renewed life ? Plainly you cannot. Are you, 
 then, at liberty to put your salvation in 
 peril by rushing from the warm atmosphere 
 of love and sympathy which now surrounds 
 you, into one of cold and unsympathizing 
 scrutiny and suspicion? 
 
 A poet has given beautiful expression to 
 the desire which carries an inexperienced 
 youth to sea, and which is succeeded by a 
 desire to return home a thousand fold more 
 intense, in the following lines : 
 
 " See how from port the vessel glides, 
 With streamered masts o'er halcyon tides : 
 Its laggard course the sea-boy chides, 
 
 All loth that calms should bind him; 
 
 But distance only chains him more 
 
 With love links to his native shore, 
 
 And sleep's best dream is to restore 
 
 The home he left behind him." 
 
 In my walks as a pastor, I have met 
 with many persons whose experience in the 
 matter of their church relation resembled 
 that of the poet's "sea-boy." When they 
 were young converts, the attentions of influ-
 
 A METHODIST CHUECH. 35 
 
 ential men, the appeal to their vanity which 
 was conveyed in the attempt to proselyte 
 them, the idea of finding a culture or a social 
 status superior to Methodism, filled them 
 with desire, like that of the sea-boy, to 
 leave the sunny port of Methodism, where 
 they were converted, and to enter another 
 church. But once away from their true 
 spiritual home, like the sea-boy, they missed 
 its genial spirit, its warm, hearty sympathies, 
 and yet felt bound to it by " love-links " 
 they could not break. They regretted what 
 they had done, yet did not feel free to re- 
 trace their steps. They were unsatisfied 
 and ill at ease in the relation they had cho- 
 sen, and longed for a fair opportunity to 
 return to their true spiritual home. And 
 such, beloved reader, may be your expe- 
 rience if you suffer yourself to be beguiled 
 from your true spiritual home by any motive 
 lower than a conviction of duty. 
 
 I have said that Providence, by giving you 
 your spiritual parentage in the house of
 
 36 METHODIST CONVERTS SHOULD JOIN 
 
 Methodism, indicated its will concerning your 
 true church home. I say indicated because 
 there may be circumstances which would ren- 
 der it improper for a convert to unite with 
 the church which led him to Christ. Should 
 that church, for example, hold doctrines 
 which he does not believe, it could not be 
 his duty to join it. To profess faith in 
 dogmas which the understanding rejects, is a 
 violation of the law of truth. Whoever does 
 so, corrupts his moral nature and offends 
 God. Hence, in determining your church 
 relation, you are solemnly bound to consider 
 the question of creeds. Should you delib- 
 erately profess a creed which you do not 
 heartily believe, you would certainly peril, if 
 not assuredly forfeit, your peace of mind. 
 You must be honest before God. 
 
 " I had rather every hair of my head were 
 burned, if it were "never so much worth, than 
 that I should forsake my faith and opinion, 
 which is the true faith." 
 
 Such was the noble utterance of AGNES
 
 A METHODIST CHURCH. 37 
 
 STANLEY, when she stood in presence of 
 BISHOP BONNER, charged with heresy and 
 threatened with martyrdom. A fiery death 
 awaited her if she persisted in maintaining 
 her opinions. Life and liberty were hers, 
 would she but profess a faith she did not 
 believe. But her noble soul spurned a life 
 which could not be retained except at the 
 price of falsehood. And for simply main- 
 taining her convictions, she passed through 
 the fires of Smithfield to the realms of 
 ineffable delight. 
 
 "Was Agnes Stanley right ? Was it worth 
 while to sacrifice life for opinion's sake? 
 Aye, it was. Had she through fear of death, 
 stained her soul with falsehood, she would 
 have forfeited self-respect, the admiration of 
 the good, and the favor of God. 
 
 But if Agnes Stanley did right, what shall 
 we say of those modern Christians who 
 profess a creed they do not believe ? I 
 have frequently referred members of Calvin- 
 iet churches to their creeds and covenants,
 
 38 METHODIST CONVEBTS SHOULD JOIN 
 
 as teaching ultra Calvinism, and they have 
 replied, "0, we don't believe that. We 
 think pretty much as you do." Alas, what 
 a dull perception of the claims of truth and 
 honor such replies imply ! The parties had 
 publicly, solemnly, consciously, professed a 
 creed which their understandings rejected. 
 Their profession was therefore a perpetual 
 lie. Such minds would have no trouble 
 with Bishop Bonner. The fires of Smithfield 
 would never fright them. The spirit of 
 Agnes Stanley is not in them. Can you de- 
 sire to tread in their steps ? 
 
 Now, I take it for granted that in doctrine 
 you are a Methodist. You believe in the 
 great truth of universal atonement. You 
 believe that Jesus " tasted death for every 
 man j " that grace, quickening and saving, is 
 tendered to every man, rendering every man 
 morally able to accept the Saviour; that 
 freedom from the guilt and dominion of sin, 
 is attainable in this life, and that a truly 
 converted man may so fall away as to finally
 
 A METHODIST CHURCH. 39 
 
 perish. Believing these truths, I do not see 
 how you can join a Calvinist church without 
 incurring the guilt of a perpetual lie ! For 
 Calvinism teaches altogether another doc- 
 trine. Its atonement, though nominally uni- 
 versal, is in fact an atonement for the elect 
 only, because none else can by any possi- 
 bility be saved by it. It teaches that effect- 
 ual or saving grace is given to the elect 
 alone ; that sin must retain a measure of its 
 power over a believer so long as he remains 
 in the flesh ; and that when once a man is 
 truly converted, his final salvation is a cer- 
 tainty he cannot fall so as to finally perish. 
 To these odious doctrines you must subscribe 
 if you enter a Calvinist church. Its creed 
 may be written so as to keep its most offen- 
 sive dogmas in the shade, but its construction 
 is as I have stated. If then you are a Meth- 
 odist in your doctrinal opinions, you cannot 
 subscribe to the creed of a Calvinist church 
 without setting your hand to a deliberate 
 falsehood. Are you not then bound by the
 
 40 METHODIST CONVERTS SHOULD JOIN 
 
 dictates of truth and honor to unite with 
 the Methodist church ? 
 
 Let me illustrate this point with a fact. 
 I knew a gentleman who, at the time of his 
 conversion, was solicited to unite with a 
 Calvinist church. He objected, saying : " My 
 doctrinal opinions are not in harmony with 
 your articles of faith." 
 
 " 0, never mind that," replied the pastor. 
 "I will represent you to the Committee. 
 You need not appear before them at all." 
 
 Satisfied with this acceptance of his pro- 
 test against its Calvinism, he consented to 
 join the church. But when he presented 
 himself for that purpose, the creed and 
 covenant were read to him, and he found 
 he was expected to give his assent to opin- 
 ions against which he had uttered his sol- 
 emn protest to the pastor. He felt like 
 one entrapped. But, hesitating to explain 
 himself so publicly, he reluctantly yielded to 
 the circumstances, and was admitted to the 
 church.
 
 A METHODIST CHURCH. 41 
 
 Still his conscience was ill at ease. He 
 was dissatisfied both with himself and his 
 pastor. With himself, because he was pro- 
 fessing doctrines which his understanding 
 rejected ,* with his pastor, for having caught 
 him with guile. Many and severe were his 
 mental struggles as to his duty. At length, 
 being moved to make an entire consecration 
 of himself to God, he saw clearly that he 
 must either renounce his false doctrinal pro- 
 fession, or to use his own words, "go to 
 hell." He hesitated no longer. He broke 
 the chain which bound him to a Calvinist 
 church, found peace of mind, united with a 
 Methodist church, and subsequently became 
 a preacher of the gospel. That he did right 
 in thus honestly conforming his profession 
 to his faith, you will not deny. What then ? 
 Go thou, and do likewise. 
 
 You must, above all things, maintain your 
 integrity. Depend upon it there is safety in 
 the path of duty only.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 MEANS OF GRACE PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 
 
 JHEN the ancient Crusader, in- 
 flamed with desire to rescue the 
 Holy Land from the sceptre of 
 the Saracen, consecrated him- 
 self to that romantic enterprise, he 
 at once threw his whole soul into 
 the work of preparation. Regarding 
 his pilgrimage as the grand object of his life, 
 he sacrificed every other interest and affec- 
 tion at its shrine. He forsook his dearest 
 friends; sold his domains; alienated his 
 rights of sovereignty ; and lavished his gold 
 that he might contribute to the success of 
 the crusade. In making preparation for 
 his military duties, he purchased armor of 
 proof, weapons of truest temper, steeds of 
 highest mettle; he selected for his leaders 
 men of true courage and sagacity, and chose
 
 MEANS OP GRACE, ETC. 43 
 
 a route most likely to lead him speedily and 
 safely to the scene of conflict. Thus he 
 surrendered everything to the claim of his 
 soul's ideal of duty and glory. 
 
 May you not, beloved convert, learn a 
 lesson from the Crusader's spirit? Does 
 not his action exhibit, in bold relief, the 
 principle which should guide you in deter- 
 mining your church relation ? Like him you 
 have consecrated yourself to a great life 
 work an infinitely greater work than his. 
 His object was to stand a conqueror on the 
 spot of his Lord's crucifixion; yours is to 
 stand victorious before the throne of your 
 Saviour's glory. If his ideal led him to 
 make stern sacrifices, and to adopt a course 
 of self-discipline adapted to the end he had 
 chosen for himself, ought not yours to bind 
 you to similar sacrifices and discipline ? 
 Ought you not to subject all your actions 
 to the demands of your purpose to reach 
 heaven ? Ought not all your voluntary rela- 
 tions to society to be determined by the
 
 44 MEANS OP GRACE 
 
 question of their fitness to contribute to 
 your great life aim? Above all, should not 
 your church relation be settled by the adap- 
 tation of the particular church you may se- 
 lect to promote your salvation? 
 
 If to these interrogatories you respond 
 affirmatively, you are bound to select a 
 church home with that body of Christians, 
 whose spirit, usages, and institutions are best 
 fitted to aid you in working out your salva- 
 tion. The social status, the wealth, the 
 culture of a church, are inferior and subordi- 
 nate questions ; though too many converts, to 
 their great spiritual loss, have allowed them 
 to be controlling and decisive. I hope better 
 things of you. I take you to be an earnest 
 convert, to whom " all things " are loss," 
 if you may but " win Christ." You will, 
 therefore, be governed by the question, 
 which church is best fitted by its peculiar 
 institutions, doctrines, and spirit to help me 
 to heaven ? 
 
 Now if you take this principle for your
 
 PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 45 
 
 guide, I have no doubt of its leading you 
 into the Methodist Episcopal Church. Within 
 her enclosures, in addition to all that is val- 
 uable in the preaching and ordinances com- 
 mon to all Christian denominations, you will 
 find some precious advantages, which you 
 cannot find outside the pale of Methodism. 
 I will name some of them. 
 
 You will find in Methodism such a degree 
 of direct and habitual culture of the great 
 elements of the Christian life, as is found in 
 no other denomination. 
 
 The Christian life consists chiefly in the 
 exercise of right affections toward God. I 
 do not affirm that it includes nothing more 
 than love, because an enlightened understand- 
 ing, a submissive will, and an obedient life, 
 are essential to it, and are, in fact, included 
 in it. But I do assert that love to God, as 
 manifested in Christ, is the principal element 
 of the Christian life. " Love," says WESLEY, 
 " is the end, the sole end of every dispensa- 
 tion of God, from the beginning of the world
 
 46 MEANS OF GEACE 
 
 to the consummation of all things ;" and the 
 apostle John observes, " Every one that 
 loveth is born of God, and knoweth God." 
 So that he who loves has spiritual life. He 
 who loves not is a stranger to that life, 
 is dead to God, is not born of God, has not 
 spiritual vitality. 
 
 But this love is the offspring of faith, de- 
 pends upon faith, grows or declines, as faith 
 is stronger or weaker. The truth which 
 faith grasps is the germ of love. The divine 
 message which faith receives, the glorious 
 facts to which it gives credence, constitute 
 the food which stimulates love and secures 
 its growth. Without faith, love could not 
 have birth or growth in the human soul. 
 Hence, faith and love are the two grand 
 elements of the Christian life. He who 
 believes most earnestly, and with the most 
 simplicity, will love most. He who has the 
 strongest faith and the warmest love will 
 have the most spiritual vitality, will grow 
 most rapidly in moral power and beauty.
 
 PECULIAB TO METHODISM. 47 
 
 Now, if you look carefully into the history 
 of Methodism, you will find that it has, from 
 the beginning, given singular attention to the 
 cultivation of these two grand elements of 
 the Christian life. 1. In its preaching, its 
 literature, its hymns, in its devotional servi- 
 ces, in the lives of its founders and repre- 
 sentative minds, it has always urged the 
 duty of an earnest, undoubting reception of 
 the truth, with singular intensity. Its preach- 
 ing has entrenched itself in the religious 
 consciousness of its hearers, to which it has 
 invariably appealed with an authority which 
 has proved itself irresistible, and com- 
 manded, so to speak, the belief of men in 
 the inspiration of the word of God. An un- 
 shrinking faith in the divine word, accom- 
 panied by a simple, unrestrained personal 
 affection for God in Christ " an individual- 
 ized spiritual life" has been the most 
 striking characteristic of its teachings, from 
 the day of Mr. Wesley's conversion until 
 now. 2. While it has not neglected to in-
 
 48 MEANS OP GKACE 
 
 struct its disciples in those great theological 
 truths which enlighten the understanding, 
 and teach men to conceive right views of 
 divine things, it has given especial attention 
 to the culture of religious experience of 
 emotional piety. Other denominations have 
 trusted chiefly to the effect of doctrinal and 
 ethical disquisitions, without seeking to stim- 
 ulate their hearers to the exercise of faith 
 and love by direct exhortation and personal 
 persuasion. Methodism does both. It un- 
 folds the truth. It also habitually enforces 
 it with tears, entreaties, exhortations. It 
 struggles to relieve men of their doubts and 
 fears, and urges them to cast their helpless 
 spirits fearlessly upon God in Christ, as on 
 the bosom of a Father, who is not merely 
 willing, but infinitely anxious to save. The re- 
 sult of this has hitherto been a stronger, more 
 cheerful faith, a more marked experience, a 
 deeper religious emotion, stronger affection 
 for God, than have been common in other 
 bodies of Christians.
 
 PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 49 
 
 The peculiar doctrines of Methodism have 
 also a direct tendency to stimulate the Chris- 
 tian life, and thereby to promote its growth. 
 
 By using the phrase " peculiar doctrines of 
 Methodism," I do not wish it to be under- 
 stood that Methodism has introduced any 
 novelties into her theology. No. The doc- 
 trines of Methodism are as old as the gospel. 
 Jesus taught them. So did his apostles and 
 their successors, through the purest periods 
 of the history of the church. Many of the 
 " Reformers," also, both in England and Ger- 
 many, were able advocates of her character- 
 istic doctrines. They are not novelties, 
 therefore ; though viewed in relation to the 
 churches which follow the theological system 
 of John Calvin, and to their distinct, earnest 
 enunciation, many of them are now peculiar 
 to Methodism. 
 
 These peculiar tenets have a beautiful, 
 
 Scriptural fitness to promote faith and love 
 
 in the hearts of men. By teaching the death 
 
 of Jesus to be the price of the gracious pro- 
 
 4
 
 50 MEANS OP GRACE 
 
 bation, granted to the human race for the 
 express purpose of restoring to righteous- 
 ness as many as would consent to be regene- 
 rated by the Divine Spirit, Methodism ex- 
 hibits the character of God in a light so just, 
 so impartial, so loving, so earnest to save, 
 that men have little ground left to cavil or to 
 doubt, and none to presume ; while they are 
 powerfully moved to love and seek God, who 
 is seen to be at once both good and just. 
 By its clear enunciation of the doctrines of 
 justification by faith only, of the witness 
 of the Spirit, of the possibility of complete 
 victory over sin, it awakens the hopes, satis- 
 fies the aspirations, and encourages the 
 efforts of such as seek to be Christians 
 indeed. By its theory of the possibility of 
 falling from grace so as to finally perish, it 
 erects a strong barrier against the return of 
 a believer to his old sins. Thus its views of 
 truth give it an immense advantage over 
 those churches which teach the dogmas of 
 Calvin dogmas which exhibit God in an as-
 
 PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 51 
 
 pect so repulsive, so uncertain as to whom he 
 is willing to save, so partial to his selected 
 favorites, so unjust to the reprobated, and so 
 concealed even from his elect, that it must be 
 exceedingly difficult to lead men to exercise 
 saving faith, and almost impossible to awaken 
 that simple, peaceful, trustful love, which is 
 the essence of the Christian life, and the 
 glory of Methodist " church-life." The re- 
 sult of this advantage is seen in her superior 
 growth. Her peculiar doctrines being pe- 
 culiarly scriptural, are peculiarly efficacious 
 in bringing men to Christ and leading them 
 to heaven. 
 
 The peculiar institutions of Methodism are 
 also eminently fitted to develope the elements 
 of the Christian life. 
 
 The Christian life, like life in all its 
 forms, is active. Its tendency is to activity. 
 It always seeks to expend its forces in its 
 legitimate sphere. Repel this tendency, 
 check this force, and it will roll back upon 
 itself and die. To be healthfully developed
 
 52 MEANS OF GRACE 
 
 it must be permitted to flow out in fit ex- 
 pression, in praise, in acknowledgment, in 
 acts of obedience, in works of benevolence, 
 in the performance of duty. This is its law, 
 and it must be obeyed. 
 
 Methodism has always recognized this im- 
 portant principle. It is incorporated into 
 its very organization, and its peculiar institu- 
 tions are therefore admirably fitted to de- 
 velop the spiritual life of its members. Look 
 at its class meetings, and love feasts : how 
 they educate the believer to form the habit 
 of giving expression to the conceptions of 
 faith, and the raptures of love. How they 
 lure him to obey that first prompting of the 
 religious life, to attempt the salvation of 
 others, of which every true disciple is con- 
 scious. How suggestive, too, of social duties 
 are those meetings, providing as they do an 
 opportunity for the confession of faults, the 
 utterances of desire, and the admonitions of 
 wisdom. So, also, the Methodistic prayer 
 meeting is an arena for the development
 
 PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 53 
 
 of the spiritual life. It is a battle-field, in 
 which every member is taught to win souls, 
 to fight for the extension of Christ's king- 
 dom. Lay preaching is also productive of 
 much enlargement to the spiritual life of 
 Methodism. By introducing thousands of 
 valuable minds into spheres of activity, it 
 developes their life, and leads to the increase 
 of that life in others. Nor is the itinerancy 
 of Methodism without its influence in this 
 direction. By the frequent introduction of 
 new pastors into its pulpits, it ensures the 
 constant, varied, energetic enunciation of 
 those great fundamental truths of our holy 
 religion, which, applied by the Divine Spirit, 
 become the germ and nutriment of the divine 
 life to those who receive them. 
 
 We doubt if the constant preaching of 
 these great, central, saving truths is possible 
 to a settled ministry, which is compelled to 
 distribute general truths, and occupy itself 
 with single points, to avoid sameness and 
 repetition. But the itinerancy of Methodism
 
 54 MEANS OF GRACE 
 
 keeps them before its congregations, the 
 same in substance, but in ever varied forms 
 of expression and diverse modes of illustra- 
 tion, and thereby becomes a powerful means 
 of stimulating the growth of the spiritual 
 life. Thus, all that is peculiar to the Metho- 
 distic organization, is strikingly may I not 
 add philosophically? adapted to develop 
 the Christian life. 
 
 In its provision for the cultivation of the 
 highest forms of Christian fellowship, Meth- 
 odism stands peerless among the churches. 
 
 One great purpose of Christianity is to 
 unite mankind in bonds of holy fellowship with 
 God and with one another. How beautifully 
 and tenderly this idea is brought to view in 
 the sacerdotal prayer of Christ, where he 
 asks for his disciples, " That they all may 
 be ONE ; as thou, Father, art in me, and I 
 in thee, that they also may be ONE IN us 
 * * * That they may be one, EVEN AS WE 
 
 ARE ONE ! ! " 
 
 The fellowship portrayed in this passage
 
 PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 55 
 
 is no cold, formal, heartless unity, but com- 
 munion and sympathy in the highest possible 
 degree, such communion as exists between 
 the Father and the Son, " That they may be 
 one, EVEN AS WE ABE ONE." What ineffable, 
 delightful fellowship is this ! " It implies," 
 says FOOTE, in his School of Christ, " sympa- 
 thy, oneness of mind, mutual understanding 
 and agreement, familiar and friendly inter- 
 course, the responsive beat of heart to 
 heart, soul answering to soul, as face 
 answers to face in water " " a fellowship 
 of love to an unseen Saviour, a fellowship 
 of joys, hopes and fears, that lie quite beyond 
 the circle of a natural man's experience." 
 
 This prayer of Christ finds constant and 
 universal utterance in the spiritual aspira- 
 tions of his true disciples. One of the first 
 desires of the converted mind is for such 
 fellowship. "01" it exclaims, " that I had 
 some one in whom I might discern the re- 
 flection of my own soul, and from whom I 
 might receive back again the expression of
 
 56 MEANS OF GRACE 
 
 my own confiding affection ! " It was this 
 aspiration, unchecked by cold suspicion, 
 which led the primitive converts to Chris- 
 tianity to seek that affectionate communion 
 which is so glowingly described by the annal- 
 ist of the apostles. " Knit together in love," 
 they met in bands, " continuing daily with one 
 accord in the temple, and breaking of bread 
 from house to house, did eat their meat with 
 gladness and singleness of heart." They spoke 
 to each other in " psalms, hymns, and spiritual 
 songs," rejoiced with those that did rejoice, 
 and wept with those that wept. They " ex- 
 horted one another daily," bore "one 
 another's burdens," confessed their " faults 
 one to another," and prayed " one for 
 another." Thus they enjoyed the " commu- 
 nion of saints " in a very high degree ; and, 
 by their practice, illustrated the method of 
 the spiritual life, wherever it is permitted 
 to unfold itself unhindered by unscriptural 
 prejudices and unevangelical customs. 
 
 If you consult the biography of deeply
 
 PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 57 
 
 pious men, of any sect, you will find them, 
 when in their healthiest state of mind, seek- 
 ing this sort of intercourse with their fellow 
 Christians. MB. WESLEY shortly after his 
 conversion was so anxious for the fellowship 
 of experienced Christians, that he actually 
 made a journey from England to Germany, 
 that he might enjoy it with the followers 
 of COUNT ZINZENDORP, at Hernhutt. His 
 motives are stated in his journal in these 
 words : 
 
 " My weak mind could not thus bear to be 
 sawn asunder. And I hoped the conversing 
 with those holy men who were themselves 
 living witnesses to the full power of faith, 
 and yet able to bear with those that are 
 weak, would be a means under God, of so 
 establishing my soul, that I might go on 
 from faith to faith, and from strength to 
 strength." 
 
 The same desire led DR. CHALMERS to 
 form a very close spiritual intimacy with his 
 friend MB. J. ANDERSON. With this gen-
 
 58 MEANS OF GRACE 
 
 tleman Dr. C. enjoyed a very intimate re- 
 ligious fellowship. Their intercourse aimed 
 at, the very thing which the Methodist class 
 meeting is designed to accomplish, the 
 communication of religious experience. Dr. 
 C. was led to practice it at first, by the im 
 pulses of his spiritual life. In the following 
 passage he defends it with the skill of a 
 philosopher. 
 
 " I am very much interested in the progress 
 of your sentiments. This, in the language 
 of good but despised Christians, is called the 
 communication of your religious experience. 
 There is fanaticism annexed to the term ; but 
 this is a mere bugbear; and I count it 
 strange that that very evidence which is held 
 in such exclusive respect in every other de- 
 partment of inquiry, should be so despised 
 and laughed at when applied to the progress 
 of a human being in that greatest of all 
 transitions, from a state of estrangement 
 to a state of intimacy with God ; from the 
 terror of His condemnation to an affecting
 
 PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 59 
 
 sense of His favor, and friendship, and 
 reconciled presence ; from the influence of 
 earthly and debasing affections, to the influ- 
 ence of those new and heavenly principles 
 which the Spirit of God establishes in the 
 heart of every believer. This is what our 
 Saviour calls l passed from death unto life.' 
 My prayer for both of us is, that 'it may be 
 made sure,' and that ' hereby we may know 
 that He dwelleth in us and we in Him, that 
 he hath given us of His Spirit.' " Memoirs 
 of Dr. Chalmers, vol. i., p. 255. 
 
 It was to meet this want of the spiritual 
 life, that MB. WESLEY introduced the CLASS 
 MEETING into the organism of Methodism. 
 He knew that the spiritual life of believers 
 could not be healthfully developed unless 
 they enjoyed constant fellowship with each 
 other, and he knew also, that the cultivation 
 of such fellowship is a scriptural duty. To 
 provide opportunity for its culture, and to 
 prevent its neglect by his followers, he estab- 
 lished this meeting. He did not pretend to
 
 60 MEANS OP GRACE 
 
 claim divine authority for it; for, in the 
 "minutes," he classed it with "prudential" 
 and not with "instituted" means of grace. 
 But it stands so intimately related to, and is 
 so necessary to the proper growth of the 
 spiritual life, that regular attendance upon it 
 has always been one of the " regulations " 
 which the M. E. Church has required her 
 members to observe. 
 
 There can be no doubt, that the piety of 
 Methodism owes much of its characteristic 
 fervor and animation to the influences of its 
 class meetings. The peculiar feature of 
 the class is the provision it makes for 
 the free communication of religious expe- 
 rience. Its members, in a spirit of frank, 
 affectionate simplicity, unfold the workings 
 of the divine life as developed in their 
 several experiences. They are thus led to 
 discover the identity of the work wrought 
 in their hearts by the self same Spirit. If 
 one is depressed, tempted, or crushed, he 
 learns that his temptations are not peculiar
 
 PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 61 
 
 to himself. Others have felt, resisted, con- 
 quered them j why may not he ? If one is 
 elevated, he finds his joy reciprocated ; while 
 his happy experience encourages his compan- 
 ions to seek like enlargement of heart. If 
 one has erred, the persuasive sympathy of his 
 brethren melts him to penitence ; their prayers 
 aid him to return to the waiting Shepherd of 
 his soul. Thus, the ignorance of one is 
 instructed by the knowledge of another. 
 The strong impart their vigor to the weak. 
 The unwary learn caution from the wisdom 
 of experience. The halting are rebuked. 
 Those who run well are confirmed, and en- 
 couraged to persevere. 
 
 Besides the class meeting, Methodism has 
 its " Love Feasts," which are also intended 
 and calculated to cultivate spiritual fellow- 
 ship. The Love Feast, though now peculiar 
 to Methodism, is as ancient as the Christian 
 Church. " It is certain," says COLEMAN, in 
 his Ancient Christianity, " that the feast of 
 charity was celebrated in the earliest period
 
 62 MEANS OP GRACE 
 
 of the Christian Church. See Acts, 2 : 46." 
 It was celebrated at first in connection with 
 the Lord's supper, and consisted of a social 
 meal, accompanied with religious exercises 
 and expressions of brotherly affection. As the 
 primitive church lost its purity, the love feast 
 lost its original significancy ; abuses became 
 associated with it, and it 'Was finally abolished 
 by the Council of Laodicea in the middle of 
 the fourth century. Mr. Wesley, in imitation 
 of the Moravians, adopted it with its present 
 simple form, and strictly religious character, 
 for the spiritual benefit of his societies. It 
 remains, a cherished and delightful institu- 
 tion of Methodism, and is eminently fitted to 
 promote Christian fellowship. 
 
 Thus, you see some of the spiritual advan- 
 tages of Methodism. It cherishes with direct 
 and habitual effort, the great elements of the 
 Christian life ; its doctrines are preeminently 
 suited to feed the flame of that life ; its pe- 
 culiar institutions have the same tendency ; it 
 provides, as no other church does, for the
 
 PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 63 
 
 cultivation of Christian fellowship. In one 
 word, the whole system is organized for the 
 special purpose of developing deep, earnest, 
 active, glowing piety. It offers no induce- 
 ments to the spiritual sluggard, the formal- 
 ist, the half-way Christian. It seeks the 
 sincere lover of Christ, and offers itself to 
 him as a helper to the attainment of the 
 highest forms of the divine life. Are not 
 these great advantages ? Ought you to sacri- 
 fice them lightly ? Are they not just what 
 you desire in your holiest moments ? Why 
 then do you hesitate ? Away with the sug- 
 gestions of those who seek to proselyte you 
 to other altars. Go, give yourself to your 
 true spiritual mother, saying, in the simple 
 language of the dutiful RUTH : " Thy people 
 shall be my people j and thy God my God 1 "
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OBJECTIONS TO METHODIST PECULIARITIES CONSIDERED. 
 
 one of the European picture 
 galleries, there is a fine por- 
 trait of JEAN PAUL EICHTEK, 
 surrounded by floating clouds, 
 which, when examined closely, re- 
 solve themselves into beautiful angel 
 faces. But so soft and shadowy are 
 those angelic images, that to be discerned 
 they must be beheld from a close stand- 
 point, and studied with an attentive eye. 
 
 This picture embodies a truth in Metho- 
 dism; for its peculiarities, if viewed at a 
 distance and by a prejudiced mind, appear 
 like impenetrable clouds. Their beauty and 
 value are not fully apparent until one draws 
 nigh to them, and examines them with an 
 appreciative mind. Then they disclose them-
 
 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 65 
 
 selves. Then they stand forth full of spirit- 
 ual attraction and power. But inasmuch as 
 many persons, who only view them from a 
 distance and with envious feelings, have set 
 themselves up as their critics and judges, 
 you will not be surprised to learn that nu- 
 merous objections have been brought against 
 those very peculiarities which are at once 
 the true ornaments of Methodism and the 
 chief sources, under God, of its wonderful use- 
 fulness. You may meet with some of these 
 self-constituted critics. Let me guard you 
 against their misrepresentations. I will begin 
 with their objections to the class meeting. 
 
 One writer (Rev. J. R. Graves, a Baptist,) 
 says " the conscience is hardened by it." In 
 support of this assertion, he argues that 
 " confession of sin to God without contrition, 
 hardens the conscience." He then infers 
 that such confession to men "must harden 
 the conscience in a greater degree." To 
 illustrate his argument, this unscrupulous 
 writer resorts to a sad slander. He says 
 5
 
 66 OBJECTIONS TO METHODIST 
 
 " that a peculiar insensibility to moral honor 
 and integrity of character " is " characteristic 
 of the Methodist common mass." 
 
 This argument reposes on a gross fallacy. 
 It assumes that the sole business of the 
 class meeting is the confession of sin. This 
 is not true. The class meeting is not a con- 
 fessional, but a place for the communication 
 of religious experience. It is the duty of 
 the class leader to draw out such communi- 
 cation by inquiring of his members "how 
 their souls prosper " a question which 
 covers the entire range of religious expe- 
 rience. It may lead to confession, or it may 
 not. That depends very much on the spirit- 
 ual health of the persons present. It gen- 
 erally leads to acknowledgments of the divine 
 goodness, and descriptions of the various 
 phases of the inner life which have character- 
 ized their recent experiences. Hence, the 
 assumption that confession is the sole, or 
 even the chief business of the class meeting, 
 is false. And it is especially false to allege,
 
 PECULIARITIES CONSIDERED. 6*1 
 
 that when there is confession, it is unaccom- 
 panied by contrition ; for the class meeting 
 is the very last place to which an impenitent 
 person would be likely to resort. Thus, the 
 assumptions of this writer, being as false as 
 they are uncharitable, his argument is invalid, 
 and his objection falls to the ground. Hie 
 charge of moral insensibility and defective 
 integrity, as characteristic of Methodists, 
 only reflects his own character, and proves 
 him to be of that class of slanderers whom 
 the poet describes in the following lines : 
 
 " They who stung were creeping things ; but what 
 Than serpent's teeth inflict with deadliest throes? 
 The lion may be goaded by the gnat 
 Who sucks the slumberer's blood ? The eagle ? No, the bat." 
 
 It has been asserted by another writer, 
 (Rev. Parsons Cooke, a Congregationalist,) 
 that the class meeting is a " mitigated form 
 of the Romish confessional." Your own in- 
 telligence will teach you that this is a lame 
 and vulgar appeal to prejudice, because there 
 is not the least analogy between the clam
 
 68 OBJECTIONS TO METHODIST 
 
 meeting and the confessional. You know 
 that the Romish confessional is a private 
 box, where the worshipper makes secret con- 
 fession of all his sins to a priest, with a view 
 to his absolution. It is a means by which 
 the Romanist penitent performs the sacra- 
 ment of penance. But a class meeting is a 
 meeting of Christian people who openly 
 converse with one of their number on the 
 subject of religious experience, for the pur- 
 pose of being assisted to "work out their 
 own salvation." It needs no priest to carry 
 it on. Its leader is a layman. It pretends 
 to nothing sacramental in its character. It 
 exacts no confessions of sin. It knows 
 nothing of priestly absolution. Its type is 
 not the Romish confessional, for it has no 
 one feature which bears the smallest resem- 
 blance to that unscriptural institution. It is 
 simply a meeting for the enjoyment and pro- 
 motion of Christian fellowship, such as God's 
 ancient people cherished, when, according to 
 Malachi, " They that feared the Lord, spake
 
 PECULIARITIES CONSIDERED. 69 
 
 often one to another ; and the Lord heark- 
 ened, and heard it, and a book of remem- 
 brance was written before him for them that 
 fear the Lord, and that thought upon his 
 name : " and such as is required by the 
 apostle James, where he says, " Confess your 
 faults one to another, and pray one for 
 another, that ye may be healed." 
 
 Again, the same inconsiderate author 
 affirms that the class meeting tends to 
 " promote insincerity and a habit of hollow 
 pretences," because the weekly relation of 
 experience it requires is "a temptation to 
 tread a beaten track of recital, in which 
 actual experience does not run ; or to rely 
 somewhat upon invention for the materials 
 of a story that will make a good appear- 
 ance before the class." 
 
 This argument is both uncharitable and 
 fallacious. Uncharitable, because it brings a 
 charge of hypocrisy and falsehood against 
 Methodists generally : fallacious, because it 
 proceeds on the supposition that a sound
 
 70 OBJECTIONS TO METHODIST 
 
 religious experience cannot furnish material 
 for such weekly inquiries and relations as a 
 class meeting implies, and therefore it must 
 lead to false pretensions. But suppose the 
 spiritual life is so active, so varied in its 
 development, so surrounded by hindrances, 
 and so subject to conflicts as to present innu- 
 merable phases and shades of experience, 
 it must then be conceded that the class 
 meeting is precisely fitted to meet its wants, 
 because it furnishes stated opportunities to 
 express its joys and griefs, and to obtain 
 encouragement, instruction, and stimulus. 
 Now this is the Methodistic view of the Chris- 
 tian life. And on this view, which I believe 
 is the true one, class meetings stand firmly 
 and securely built. Those who think the 
 Christian life is dull and stagnant a still 
 half-putrid pool of subsided feeling will 
 readily believe that a Christian cannot have 
 enough of " internal history " to furnish mate- 
 rial for weekly communion, and that the class 
 meeting cannot be sustained except by
 
 PECULIARITIES CONSIDERED. 71 
 
 falsehood and hypocrisy. But you, beloved 
 reader, do not hold such low views of the 
 Christian life. You know, too, that the class 
 meeting has stood the test of more than a 
 century, and that millions of pious souls have 
 been wonderfully blessed by it. You will not 
 therefore, be likely to be drawn away from 
 Methodism by such objections. 
 
 You will also be likely to hear similar 
 statements respecting band meetings. Mr. 
 Graves has said of it " that the vilest ques- 
 tions to be found in Denn's Theology may be 
 put to every member of a band meeting." 
 To this a very short and sufficient answer is 
 found in the fact that the band meeting is 
 almost obsolete in American Methodism, and 
 that the first instance of an improper ques- 
 tion having been put by a band leader has 
 yet to be adduced. In fact, the band meeting 
 is designed only for persons who, having 
 attained a high degree of spirituality, desire 
 a closer spiritual fellowship than is provided 
 for in the class meeting. But it was never
 
 72 OBJECTIONS TO METHODIST 
 
 general or obligatory in Methodism ; and, in 
 all probability, never will be. It presupposes 
 sucli a degree of sincerity, simplicity, integ- 
 rity, and spirituality as, I fear, will never be 
 universal in any sect, while poor human 
 nature dwells in earthly tabernacles. Hence, 
 they who seek to prejudice you against Meth- 
 odism because of what they pretend to find 
 objectionable in band meetings, only beat the 
 air. They assail an institution which can 
 hardly be said to exist, save in the letter of 
 the discipline. 
 
 It may interest you to know that while 
 some sectarian writers are assailing the class 
 meeting, others, of more intelligence, candor, 
 and piety, are recommending its introduction 
 into their own ecclesiastical organisms. A 
 recent article in the Episcopal Recorder 
 recommends the institution of class or band 
 meetings by the Protestant Episcopal Church. 
 It says that from the "class meetings the 
 great Methodist revival drew its strength, 
 and had they been legitimated in the
 
 PECULIARITIES CONSIDERED. 73 
 
 Church of England, she would have remained 
 in fact, as well as in name, NATIONAL." It 
 mentions two or three instances in which 
 meetings conducted like our class meetings 
 were signally blessed and concludes with 
 the remark: "And it is not too much to 
 say, that by the adoption of such meetings in 
 future, the church [Protestant Episcopal] 
 would be taking the means, of all others the 
 most efficient, for throwing off the spiritual 
 sluggishness with which she is now op- 
 pressed." 
 
 Not long since, the pastor of a Congrega- 
 tionalist church in Massachusetts, in conver- 
 sation with a Methodist preacher stationed 
 in the same town, lamented that the converts 
 of a recent revival in his church, did not 
 manifest that vigor in their spiritual life 
 which was desirable. He complained par- 
 ticularly of their backwardness in religious 
 meetings. He then asked his Methodist 
 brother ; " How do you manage to secure so 
 much activity as is manifest in your con- 
 verts ? "
 
 74 OBJECTIONS TO METHODIST 
 
 " Sir," replied the Methodist preacher, 
 " that results not so much from what I do, aa 
 from the influences of our system, especially 
 of our class meeting." 
 
 " What is the nature of your class meet- 
 ing ? " inquired the other. 
 
 The preacher explained the manner and 
 design of that meeting to him. After hearing 
 his statement, the Congregationalist pastor 
 looked up very earnestly, and with great 
 emphasis remarked : 
 
 " Such a meeting must have a most benefi- 
 cial influence both on old Christians and 
 young converts. It is just what WE need ! " 
 
 That pastor spoke honestly. He would 
 doubtless have been glad, if the order and 
 public sentiment of his denomination had 
 permitted, to establish class meetings in his 
 own church. 
 
 A kindred conviction of the value of this 
 means of grace is also working its way into 
 the minds of candid observers in England, as 
 will appear by the following facts.
 
 PECULIARITIES CONSIDERED. 75 
 
 A committee of the English Convocation 
 having recommended to the Episcopal Church 
 the formation of religious fraternities within 
 its bosom, for the benefit of converts, and a 
 High Church writer, in advocating the 
 measure, having ignored the existence of the 
 Wesleyan class meeting, a scholarly critic in 
 the North British Review calls attention to 
 this feature of Wesleyanism. After quoting 
 the disciplinary description of class and 
 band meetings, this critic says : " Now we 
 think that there are great doubts whether 
 the effect upon the mind of this practice of 
 confession, which prevails in this closest asso- 
 ciation, (the band) would, in most cases, be 
 salutary or no ; but it seems evident that it 
 is the sort of confession recommended in St 
 James's Epistle, being, like it, mutual 
 directed, not to a priest, but to a righteous 
 man, real or supposed and with a view to 
 obtaining the benefit of his prayers ; and it 
 supplies a want of the soul, which, although 
 perhaps morbid, is a real and frequent one."
 
 76 OBJECTIONS TO METHODIST 
 
 This writer then goes on to state what he 
 "regards as the fault of the Wesleyan sys- 
 tem," namely, " that the connection with a 
 class is made an indispensable term of com- 
 munion." " The whole thing," he adds, " should 
 be optional ; and then the system would be 
 free from all objections, and might continue, 
 as it is at present, a great means of strength- 
 ening and holding the convert, and a great 
 support and comfort to a large class of 
 minds" 
 
 You will observe that the approval here 
 given to class meetings is reluctant and 
 qualified. The writer evidently shares in 
 those prejudices which even candid and noble 
 minds may innocently possess, against institu- 
 tions with which, from the nature of the case, 
 they cannot be practically acquainted. But 
 this only renders the measure of approval 
 which is given more valuable, for it shows 
 that the writer applauds no more than his 
 gravest and most mature judgment compels 
 him to do. His praise is a concession made
 
 PECULIARITIES CONSIDERED. 77 
 
 to his prejudices, in obedience to the demands 
 of his reason. 
 
 In the above quotations you will observe 
 that this writer admits : 1. The scriptural 
 character of the class meeting. 2. Its adap- 
 tation to supply a " real want " of the soul. 
 3. That it is a "great means of strength- 
 ening and holding the convert," a " great sup- 
 port and comfort to a large class of minds." 
 
 These admissions are important, coming as 
 they do from a highly educated Presbyterian, 
 through the columns of a British Review. 
 They show that the best mind in the Chris- 
 tian church is beginning to recognize a fitness 
 and an effectiveness in the ecclesiastical organ- 
 ism established by Mr. Wesley, which more 
 shallow and bigoted minds have hitherto 
 refused to see. They also indicate a ten- 
 dency in other Christian bodies towards 
 Methodist usages. They point to a period 
 in which tardy justice will be done to Mr. 
 Wesley's sagacity by the general adoption, 
 with various modifications, of the leading
 
 78 OBJECTIONS TO METHODIST 
 
 features of his system, by the evangelical 
 churches of Christendom. 
 
 Such testimonies as these confirm what I 
 have said in illustration of the value of the 
 class meeting. They also show you that 
 others, besides Methodists, concede its 
 scriptural character, its necessity, and its fit- 
 ness to supply a positive demand of the 
 spiritual life. Be assured, then, that in 
 entering the pale of Methodism, you will find 
 in this institution such a help to the " com- 
 munion of saints," and to growth in grace, as 
 you can find in no other branch of the Chris- 
 tian Church. No other church provides in its 
 organism for the culture of Christian fellow- 
 ship. 
 
 It is related of a certain Spaniard that he 
 was accustomed to put on spectacles when 
 he ate cherries, that" they might appear large 
 and tempting to his eye. I have no doubt 
 you will find persons among those seeking 
 to proselyte you, who are wont to put on 
 spectacles when they examine the peculiar!-
 
 PECULIARITIES CONSIDERED. 79 
 
 ties of our church. Such spectacled critics 
 will point you to numerous imaginary evils. 
 Perhaps they will try to convince you that 
 Methodist prayer meetings are marked by 
 practices which are contrary to the true 
 order of the church of God. They may tell 
 you, for instance, as the Rev. Parsons Cooke 
 has done, that our practice of relating expe- 
 riences tends " to promote insincerity and a 
 habit of hollow pretences." In support of 
 this charge they may refer to this redoubtable 
 gentleman, who gravely relates that he once 
 heard " fifteen professed converts giving their 
 experience," who " repeated always the ideas 
 and most often the words of the first." This 
 convinced the Reverend critic, that their 
 " experience was nothing more than the reci- 
 tal of a lesson from memory." Your specta- 
 cled informants may then add, that these 
 converts were schooled into this hypocrisy 
 by our system, and that consequently yon 
 had better forsake it as quickly as possible. 
 But you already know enough of Methodism
 
 80 OBJECTIONS TO METHODIST 
 
 to perceive the utter falsity of this charge, 
 which, by the way, carries its own refutation 
 on its face. Just look at it. 
 
 1. It is not customary in public Methodist 
 prayer meetings for converts to relate their 
 experience at length. They merely make a 
 general confession of their newly found faith 
 in Christ. 2. The fifteen converts evidently 
 did not do it, for the time usually occupied 
 in a public meeting, would be insufficient for 
 fifteen persons to give their experience, " in 
 all its forms and minuteness." 
 
 Now, if they were not relating the details 
 of their experience, but only making a 
 general confession of their faith, what be- 
 comes of this argument ? It surely will not 
 be affirmed to be a thing " incredible," that 
 fifteen persons should have had a genuine 
 religious experience so substantially identical 
 as to find true expression in ideas and ver- 
 biage very nearly similar ? Is not the expe- 
 rience of every Christian in substance the 
 same ? Does not the difference in Christian
 
 PECULIARITIES CONSIDERED. 81 
 
 experience, lie chiefly in mode, circumstance, 
 and detail, rather than in substance ? If not, 
 why do the writings of David and Paul fur- 
 nish the best possible language by which to 
 express the experience of modern believers ? 
 Why then is the sameness of verbiage and 
 ideas employed by fifteen converts to express 
 a general confession of an experience which, 
 in order to be genuine, must be substantially 
 identical, tortured into an argument against 
 their sincerity ? Is there not a corresponding 
 sameness in the general profession, which 
 Calvinistic converts make in their inquiry 
 and conference meetings ? Do they not all 
 speak of " indulging a hope," of trusting in 
 " God's covenanted mercies," and of hoping 
 in the " sovereign grace of God," and kindred 
 " stereotyped " phrases ? What then be- 
 comes of this argument? It falls to the 
 ground, a glaring sophism, which you will 
 shake off as easily as Paul shook the viper 
 from his hand on the island of Melita. 
 The Methodist prayer meeting is objected 
 6
 
 82 OBJECTIONS TO METHODIST 
 
 to by some, because of its " noise," its altar 
 for penitents, its seeming confusion, and, in 
 seasons of revival, and at camp meetings, its 
 scenes of earnest excitement. These things 
 have been wickedly ridiculed by Mr. Cooke, 
 who, in the true spirit of infidelity, calls them 
 a "religious comedy," "comic operations," 
 Ac., which are encouraged by our ministry, he 
 says, not because of their intrinsic rightful- 
 ness, but because they "promote Metho- 
 dism." 
 
 I very much mistake the temper of your 
 piety, dear convert, if this objection has the 
 weight of a feather in your estimation. You 
 are an earnest Christian. You believe in 
 an earnest Christianity. You could not 
 endure to see men laboring to save immortal 
 souls from unending death, with the cool 
 gravity of a Turk sipping coffee. You be- 
 lieve that coldness and formality are never 
 more out of place than at a prayer meeting. 
 You will, therefore, treat this objection with 
 the contempt it justly merits. Provided the
 
 PECULIARITIES CONSIDERED. 83 
 
 earnestness of Methodism does not degene- 
 rate into extravagance and fanaticism, it will 
 be to you its highest commendation, that at 
 its altars the penitent is not forbidden to 
 exhibit the intense emotions of his awakened 
 soul; no, not if they lead him to come 
 " trembling," and " falling down," like the 
 Philippian jailor, and crying, " Sirs, what 
 must I do to be saved?" Nor, will you be 
 kept from Methodism because its ministers 
 and members are quick to sympathize with 
 such intensity of feeling, ready to pour out 
 their souls in strong desire for seekers, and 
 to lift up their voices in fervent praise when 
 God pronounces them forgiven. 
 
 Now what is there beyond this in the 
 usual manifestations of Methodist prayer 
 meetings ? Occasionally, and in some places, 
 it is true, the tides of feeling may overflow 
 the banks of rigid propriety. But are such 
 exceptional breaches of the ordinary propri- 
 eties of life so unbecoming as to merit the 
 title of " comic operations ? " I have read
 
 84 OBJECTIONS TO METHODIST 
 
 that a Czar of Russia once saw a peasant 
 struggling for life in the waters of a river. 
 The sight appealed to his humanity. The 
 Czar was forgotten in the man. He 
 tore off his coat, leaped into the river, 
 brought the half dead peasant to the shore, 
 and stood dripping and disordered among his 
 astonished attendants. Doubtless his aspect 
 was very " comic," very unsatisfactory in the 
 eyes of brainless etiquette. But -who with a 
 man's heart in his bosom, could ridicule 
 him ? So too, there may be in a Methodist 
 prayer meeting, such struggling for the " life " 
 of sinking souls as gives rise to " strong cries 
 and tears," to demonstrations which are un- 
 courtly, and contrary to the laws of a finical 
 etiquette ; but who with the soul of a Chris- 
 tian, can find it in his heart to ridicule such 
 things ? I would not, to be sure, encourage 
 them. They are not sought for or cherished 
 in the Methodist church, generally. But I 
 cannot understand how any man, whose heart 
 has learned to agonize for the "birth of
 
 PECULIARITIES CONSIDERED. 85 
 
 souls," can mock at them when they do occur. 
 I shrink from such a man, as I would from a 
 French dancing master, who should stand 
 beside the stake of a dying martyr and criti- 
 cise him because his postures were not 
 altogether secundum artem. I have little 
 doubt that, if such as he had witnessed the 
 excitement which followed the discourse 
 of Peter on the day of Pentecost, they would 
 have pronounced it a "religious comedy." 
 But I need not dwell on this point. You, 
 beloved reader, are too earnest a Christian 
 to be moved from Methodism by assaults 
 upon its activity, intensity, and ardent sym- 
 pathy for human salvation. 
 
 Another usage of Methodism, which is often 
 bitterly assailed by its enemies, is the Chris- 
 tian liberty it allows to women. Believing, 
 with an apostle, that in " Christ Jesus " 
 there is neither " male nor female," it does 
 not reduce woman to a cypher, or restrict her 
 power to do good, by depriving her of the 
 privilege of offering prayer, or of declaring
 
 86 OBJECTIONS TO METHODIST 
 
 the goodness of God to her soul, in class and 
 prayer meetings. Woman's equality in the 
 rights, privileges, and blessings of the gos- 
 pel is practically declared in Methodism, by 
 her admission to these privileges. If the 
 reader is a woman, this fact must commend 
 Methodism to her esteem. She may not wish 
 to use these opportunities herself, for she 
 may possess so sensitive a nature as to 
 shrink from public observation. Still, she 
 can but feel the honor done to her sex by a 
 usage which so distinctly recognizes its 
 equality. She can but acknowledge that 
 Methodism has an especial claim on woman's 
 gratitude for this most excellent custom. 
 
 But is this usage scriptural? Many Cal- 
 vinists affirm that it is not. They heap un- 
 stinted censures on the Methodist church for 
 allowing it ; claiming that it is forbidden by 
 the apostle, in these words : " Let your 
 women keep silence in the churches ; for it 
 is not permitted unto them to speak." 1 
 Cor. 14 : 34.
 
 PECULIARITIES CONSIDERED. 87 
 
 If this were the only text in which women's 
 privileges were referred to by the apostle, it 
 might settle the question. But fortunately 
 the mind of the Spirit is elsewhere expressed, 
 and that too, in favor of the usage of Metho- 
 dism, and the dignity of women. In 1 Cor. 
 11:5, the apostle recognizes the right of 
 women to speak and pray in the church, by 
 prescribing the manner in which those duties 
 are to be performed. "Every woman that 
 prayeth or prophesieth with her head un- 
 covered, dishonoreth her head." Again, in 
 verse 13 ; " Is it comely that a woman- pray 
 unto God with her head uncovered ? " That 
 you may see the force of these texts, I will 
 quote Dr. Adam Clarke's comment upon 
 verse 5th. 
 
 " Whatever may be the meaning of praying 
 and prophesying in respect to the man, they 
 have precisely the same meaning in respect 
 to the woman. So that some women, at 
 least, as well as some men, might speak to 
 others to edification and exhortation, and
 
 88 OBJECTIONS TO METHODIST 
 
 comfort. And this kind of prophesying or 
 teaching, was predicted by Joel, 2:28, and 
 referred to by Peter, Acts 2: 17. And had 
 there not been such gifts bestowed on women, 
 the prophecy could not have had its fulfil- 
 ment. The only difference marked by the 
 apostle was, the man had his head uncovered, 
 because he was the representative of Christ, 
 the woman had hers covered, because she 
 was placed, by the order of God, in a state 
 of subjection to the man; and because it 
 was a custom, both among the Greeks and 
 Romans, and among the Jews an express 
 law, that no woman should be seen abroad 
 without a veil." 
 
 This interpretation accords with the prac- 
 tice of the primitive church, as shown in 
 various portions of the New Testament. 
 Did not a woman make the first proclama- 
 tion of the resurrection of Christ to the 
 apostolic college? Did not PEISCILLA in- 
 struct APOLLOS in the meaning of the Scrip- 
 tures? Did not Paul greet her as his
 
 PECULIARITIES CONSIDERED. 89 
 
 " helper in Christ Jesus ? " Did he not 
 " thank her " for her services, and declare 
 that "all the churches of the Gentiles 
 thanked" her also? (See Romans 16:4). 
 Did he not also send salutations to TRY- 
 PHENA, TRYPHOSA, and the "beloved PERSIS?" 
 Of the first two ladies he says, they " labor 
 in the Lord : " of Persis, that she " labored 
 much in the Lord." What this labor was, I 
 will permit Dr. Clarke to state. In his note 
 on Romans 16 : 12, he says of Tryphena and 
 Tryphosa: 
 
 " Two holy women, who, it seems, were 
 assistants to the apostle in his work; prob- 
 ably by exhorting, visiting the sick, <fec. 
 Persis was another woman, who, it seems, 
 excelled the preceding; for, of her it is said, 
 she labored much in the Lord. We learn 
 from this, that Christian women, as well as 
 men, labored in the ministry of the word. 
 In those times of simplicity, all persons, 
 whether men or women, who had received 
 the knowledge of the truth, believed it to be
 
 90 OBJECTIONS TO METHODIST 
 
 their duty to propagate it to the uttermost 
 of their power. Many have spent much use- 
 less labor in endeavoring to prove that these 
 women did not preach. That there were 
 some prophetesses, as well as prophets in the 
 Christian church, we learn; and that a 
 woman might pray or prophecy, provided 
 she had her head covered we know ; and that 
 whoever prophesied spoke unto others to 
 edification, exhortation, and comfort, St. Paul 
 declares, I Cor. 14 : 3. And that no preacher 
 can do more, every person must acknowl- 
 edge ; because to edify, exhort, and comfort, 
 are the prime ends of the gospel ministry. 
 If women thus prophesied, then women 
 preached. There is, however, much more 
 than this implied in the Christian ministry, 
 of which men only, and men called of God, 
 are capable." 
 
 But how can these facts and interpretations 
 be harmonized with the command to " keep si- 
 lence," quoted above ? There is but one way 
 to do this. The prohibition must be under-
 
 PECULIARITIES CONSIDERED. 91 
 
 stood to apply to speaking under particular 
 circumstances, not to speaking and praying 
 in general. This is Dr. Clarke's view. He 
 says of the words " Let your women keep 
 silence in the churches : " * * * " It is evi- 
 dent from the context, that the apostle refers 
 here to asking questions, and what we call 
 dictating in the assemblies. It was permit- 
 ted to any man to ask questions, to object, to 
 altercate, attempt to refute, &c., in the syna- 
 gogue ; but this liberty was not allowed to 
 any woman. St. Paul confirms this, in refer- 
 ence also to the Christian church. He or- 
 ders them to keep silence, and if they wish 
 to learn any thing, let them inquire of their 
 husbands at home, because it was perfectly 
 indecorous for women to be contending with 
 men in public assemblies on points of doc- 
 trine, cases of conscience, <fec. But this, by 
 no means, intimated that when a woman re- 
 ceived any particular influence from God, to 
 enable her to teach, that she was not to obey 
 that influence ; on the contrary, she was to
 
 92 OBJECTIONS TO METHODIST 
 
 obey it, and the apostle lays down directions 
 in chap. 11, for regulating her personal ap- 
 pearance when thus employed," &c. 
 
 Accept this explanation and all is clear. 
 There is then no contradiction between the 
 precepts themselves, nor between the pre- 
 cepts and the practice of the apostle. Deny 
 it, and the precepts oppose each other : the 
 apostle is guilty of the inconsistency of 
 tolerating and praising a practice in one 
 place, which he condemns in another. I 
 know you will not accept this latter conclu- 
 sion. You have then but one alternative. 
 You must believe that the Methodist usage 
 of permitting women to speak and pray is 
 sanctioned by the practice of the Apostolic 
 church, and by the word of God. 
 
 Such are the chief objections urged against 
 our leading peculiarities. You see how 
 readily they dissolve when touched by the 
 Ithuriel spear of examination. It is so 
 with all the objections which are coined so 
 plentifully in the mint of our enemies. The
 
 PECULIARITIES CONSIDERED. 93 
 
 fact is, they do not understand Methodism, 
 and you have but to compare their assertions 
 with the real facts, to see them melt into 
 air. 
 
 A laughable instance of this ignorance, 
 even in regard to the historical facts of the 
 church, occurs in the writings of Mr. Cooke. 
 Speaking of JESSE LEE, he says : " there is 
 a tradition that when he came to Lynn on a 
 visit, many years after his mission here, and 
 saw the present meeting house of the first 
 Methodist Church, with its steeple and bell, 
 and all the common conveniences of meeting 
 houses, he was indignant at the mark of de- 
 generacy in his church, and even refused to 
 preach in the new house." 
 
 Had the writer of this scrap of petty 
 gossip turned to Jesse Lee's life, he would 
 have learned that the good man never saw 
 the present meeting house of the first Metho- 
 dist Church in Lynn. His last visit to 
 that town was made in 1808 Jive years be- 
 fore the said house was dedicated !
 
 94 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 How competent to judge correctly of 
 Methodism such critics are, you can readily 
 determine. If you will bring all the state- 
 ments you hear against it, by those who seek 
 to proselyte you from its communion, to the 
 test of facts, you will see them vanish like 
 this tradition. "Bring Methodism to the 
 light, and it will shine brighter and brighter. 
 And this is the secret cause of the hostility 
 which frowns upon it from so many quarters. 
 It contains so much that is good, so many 
 elements of real power, that the breasts of 
 strong sectarians are filled with envy. For 
 this cause, could its enemies triumph, it 
 might be said of it, as was once said of a 
 shining man : 
 
 " Was he not rich in independent worth? 
 And great in native goodness ? that undid him ! 
 There, there he fell ! If he had been less great, 
 He had been safe."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 
 
 [PINION" is mistress of the 
 world," says the Italian prov- 
 erb. And is it not so ? Is 
 there not a close relationship 
 between the actions and opinions 
 of men ? Does not doctrine mould 
 character and give color to action? 
 Find a nation with a false theology, and do 
 you not also find it corrupt in affection and 
 wicked in practice ? Did not the cruel, un- 
 chaste, bloodthirsty deities of Greece and 
 Rome beget cruelty, lust, and strife in their 
 worshippers ? Has any race of men ever 
 attained to rectitude of character through 
 faith in debasing falsehoods ? Has any sect 
 ever attained to a Christian standard of 
 experience and morals while denying truths 
 fundamental to Christianity ? Never ! How,
 
 96 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 
 
 then, can you reasonably hope to grow up 
 to the maturity of a sound and healthy 
 Christian character without attaining correct 
 views of the doctrines of Holy Writ ? You 
 cannot. The thistle will not bring forth 
 figs. Beauty will not spring from deformity. 
 Neither will error produce heavenly affec- 
 tions, nor unscriptural doctrines eliminate a 
 holy life. 
 
 If, therefore, beloved convert, you would 
 attain to a comfortable experience, a right 
 state of heart, and a pure life, you must 
 cherish sound doctrines you must study 
 to conform your creed to the teachings of the 
 divine word. You must place yourself in 
 communion with that church whose pulpit 
 enounces the purest forms of truth, whose 
 creed is nearest to the Bible. 
 
 If you are guided by these principles, I 
 think you will not hesitate to enter the pale 
 of Methodism; for in its creed you will 
 find doctrines which commend themselves to 
 your enlightened reason, which harmonize
 
 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 97 
 
 with the word of God, and which are emi- 
 nently adapted to support and develop a 
 vigorous religious experience. 
 
 I cannot in this little volume enter into a 
 thorough exposition and defence of the doc- 
 trines of Methodism. All I can do, is to 
 throw out such hints and suggestions as may 
 strengthen your confidence in those doctrines 
 which I presume you to have already em- 
 braced ; and to fortify your mind against 
 such objections as your proselyting friends 
 may whisper in your ears. 
 
 I wish you to note first, that the funda- 
 mental doctrines of Methodism are in strict 
 harmony with the faith of the evangelical 
 church of all ages and in all countries. 
 Methodists hold, in common with Calvinists, 
 the doctrines of human depravity, the deity 
 of Christ, the atonement, justification by 
 faith only, regeneration by the Holy Spirit, 
 the future punishment of unbelievers, the 
 inspiration of the Scriptures, and their suffi- 
 ciency for salvation. Hence, you perceive, 
 7
 
 98 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 
 
 that the evangelical character of Methodism 
 cannot be truthfully denied, because it teaches 
 those great cardinal truths which have ever 
 distinguished evangelical from non-evangelical 
 bodies. 
 
 The leading doctrines maintained by the 
 Methodists you will find stated, in general 
 terms, in the twenty-five articles of religion 
 contained in the " Discipline." These arti- 
 cles, with the exception of the twenty-third, 
 were abridged from the " Thirty -nine Arti- 
 cles " of the Church of England, * by MR. 
 WESLEY. They were first printed in what 
 was called the "Sunday Service;" but, in 
 1790, they were incorporated into the body of 
 the discipline. That you may know how they 
 are interpreted by our church, I will quote the 
 REV. RICHARD WATSON'S statement of those 
 
 # These articles were originally forty-two in number. They 
 were first framed by Archbishop Cranmer and Bishop Ridley, in 
 1651. After being approved by the Convocation, they were 
 published in English and Latin, in 1653. In 1562, they were 
 revised and reduced to thirty-nine, and approved by the Convo- 
 cation.
 
 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 99 
 
 points in them for the defence of which 
 Methodism has always been distinguished. 
 
 "Methodists maintain the total fall of 
 man in Adam, and his utter inability to re- 
 cover himself, or to take one step towards his 
 recovery, 'without the grace of God pre- 
 venting him, that he may have a good will, 
 and working with him when he has that good 
 will.' They assert that ' Christ, by the grace 
 of God, tasted death for every man.' This 
 grace they call free, as extending itself freely 
 to all. They say that ' Christ is the Saviour 
 of all men, especially of them that believe ;' 
 and that, consequently, they are authorized 
 to ofier salvation to all, and to ' preach the 
 gospel to every creature.' They hold justifi- 
 cation by faith. ' Justification,' says Mr. Wes- 
 ley, ' sometimes means our acquittal at the 
 last day, Matt. 12:37; but this is altogether 
 out of the present question; for that justifi- 
 cation, whereof our Articles and Homilies 
 speak, signifies present forgiveness, pardon 
 of sins, and consequently acceptance with God,
 
 100 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 
 
 who therein declares his righteousness, or 
 justice, and mercy, by or for the remission 
 of sins that are past, Rom. 3 : 25, saying, I 
 will be merciful to thy unrighteousness, and 
 thy iniquities I will remember no more. I 
 believe the condition of this is faith, Rom. 
 4 : 5, &c. ; I mean, not only that without faith 
 we cannot be justified, but also that as soon 
 as any one has true faith, in that moment he 
 is justified. Faith in general, is a divine 
 supernatural evidence, or conviction, of 
 things not seen, not discoverable by our 
 bodily senses, as being either past, future, or 
 spiritual. Justifying faith implies, not only a 
 divine evidence, or conviction, that God was 
 in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, 
 but a full reliance on the merits of his death, 
 a sure confidence that Christ died for my 
 sins ; that he loved me, and gave himself for 
 me ; and the moment a penitent sinner be- 
 lieves this, God pardons and absolves him.' 
 
 " This faith, Mr. Wesley affirms, ' is the 
 gift of God. No man is able to work it in
 
 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 101 
 
 himself. It is a work of Omnipotence. It 
 requires no less power thus to quicken a 
 dead soul, than to raise a body that lies in 
 the grave. It is a new creation ; and none 
 can create a soul anew but He, who first 
 created the heavens and the earth. It is the 
 free gift of God, which he bestows not on 
 those who are worthy of his favor, not on 
 such as are previously holy, and so fit to be 
 crowned with all the blessings of his good- 
 ness; but on the ungodly and unholy, on 
 those who, till that hour, were fit only for 
 everlasting destruction; those in whom is 
 no good thing, and whose only plea was, 
 God be merciful to me a sinner 1 No 
 merit, no goodness in man, precedes the 
 forgiving love of God. His pardoning mercy 
 supposes nothing in us but a sense of mere 
 sin and misery ; and to all who see and feel 
 and own their wants, and utter inability to 
 remove them, God freely gives faith, for the 
 sake of Him in whom he is always well 
 pleased. Good works follow this faith, Luke
 
 102 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 
 
 6 : 43, but cannot go before it ; much less can 
 sanctification, which implies a continued 
 course of good works springing from holi- 
 ness of heart.' 
 
 " As to repentance, he insisted that it is 
 conviction of sin, and that repentance and 
 works meet for repentance, go before justi- 
 fying faith ; but he held, with the Church of 
 England, that all works, before justification, 
 had, 'the nature of sin;' and that, as they 
 had no root in the love of God, which can 
 only arise from a persuasion of his being 
 reconciled to us, they could not constitute 
 a moral worthiness preparatory to pardon. 
 That true repentance springs from the grace 
 of God, is most certain ; but, whatever fruits 
 it may bring forth, it changes not man's re- 
 lation to God. He is a sinner, and is justi- 
 fied as such; 'for it is not a saint, but a 
 sinner, that is forgiven, and under the notion 
 of a sinner.' God justifieth the ungodly, not 
 the godly. Repentance, according to his 
 statement, is necessary to true faith; but
 
 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 103 
 
 faith alone is the direct and immediate instru- 
 ment of pardon. They hold also the direct 
 internal testimony of the Holy Spirit to the 
 believer's adoption. 
 
 " They maintain also, that by virtue of the 
 blood of Jesus Christ, and the operations of 
 the Holy Spirit, it is their privilege to arrive 
 at that maturity in grace, and participation 
 of divine nature, which excludes sin from the 
 heart, and fills it with perfect love to God 
 and man. This they denominate Christian 
 perfection. On this doctrine Mr. Wesley 
 observes, ' Christian perfection does not im- 
 ply an exemption from ignorance or mistake, 
 infirmities or temptations ; but it implies the 
 being so crucified with Christ, as to be able 
 to testify, I live not, but Christ liveth in me, 
 Gal. 2 : 23, and hath purified their hearts by 
 faith, Acts. 15: 9.' Again: 'To explain my- 
 self a little farther on this head: 1. Not 
 only sin, properly so called, that is, a volun- 
 tary transgression of a known law ; but sin, 
 improperly so called, that is, an involuntary
 
 104 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 
 
 transgression of a divine law, known or un- 
 known, needs the atoning blood. 2. I believe 
 there is no such perfection in this life as 
 excludes these involuntary transgressions, 
 which, I apprehend to be naturally consequent 
 on the ignorance and mistakes inseparable 
 from mortality. 3. Therefore, sinless per- 
 fection is a phrase I never use, lest I should 
 contradict myself. 4. I believe a person 
 filled with the love of God is still liable to 
 these involuntary transgressions. 5. Such 
 transgressions you may call sins, if you 
 please ; I do not, for the reasons above men- 
 tioned.' " 
 
 With respect to the doctrine of "Final 
 Perseverance," the Methodists hold " that 
 God gives to the truly faithful, who are 
 regenerated by his grace, the means of pre- 
 serving themselves in this state ; yet the 
 regenerate may lose true justifying faith, 
 forfeit their state of grace, and die in their 
 sins." See Ezek. 18 : 24, and 33 : 18. John 
 15:6. Heb. 6:4-6.
 
 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 105 
 
 These doctrines, though taught with pecu- 
 liar emphasis and distinctness by Mr. Wes- 
 ley and his followers, did not originate with 
 him. As I have already observed, they are 
 as ancient as Christianity. The opposite ten- 
 ets, now known as Calvinism, were unknown 
 to the primitive church. All the Fathers, down 
 to the time of AUGUSTINE, an African bishop, 
 who flourished in the latter part of the fourth 
 century, taught the truths which now distin- 
 guish the Methodists from their Calvinistic 
 neighbors. For Calvin himself admits, that 
 none of the Fathers, either Greek or Latin, be- 
 fore Augustine, give countenance to his pecu- 
 liar theology. And even Augustine, in his later 
 works, teaches opinions which are more in 
 harmony with the theory of universal re- 
 demption and its consequents, than with the 
 scheme of predestination and limited atone- 
 ment, which he had invented at an earlier pe- 
 riod of his career. 
 
 Now if Calvinism is taught in the Bible, 
 how came it to pass that the contemporaries
 
 106 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 
 
 and immediate successors of the apostles, 
 knew nothing about it ? Why is it that its 
 first appearance in the written theology of 
 the primitive church, is in the writings of 
 Augustine the African? Does it appear 
 probable that such important doctrines as 
 unconditional election, limited atonement, ir- 
 resistible grace, and the necessary final per- 
 severance of the elect, would have been for- 
 gotten or overlooked, and that their contra- 
 ries would be universally received, for over 
 three hundred years after Christ, if his apos- 
 tles had taught them to the church ? Your 
 common sense will answer in the negative. 
 Your reason will teach you that this silence 
 of all the Fathers before Augustine, is strong 
 presumptive proof that the church knew noth- 
 ing of those unscriptural theories, until the 
 philosophic bishop of Hippo evolved them in 
 his controversies with PELAGIUS the heretic. 
 While the opposite fact, that they all taught 
 an unlimited atonement, conditional election, 
 &c., affords equally strong presumption, that
 
 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 107 
 
 these latter doctrines were received by them 
 from the apostles. These things being so, it 
 is clear that Methodist doctrines are as an- 
 cient as Christianity that, in fact, they in- 
 clude all that is contained in Christianity, and 
 are the doctrines of Holy Writ. 
 
 The doctrines now taught by Methodism 
 were also taught in Germany during the 
 palmiest days of the Reformation. MELANC- 
 THON held them. LUTHER toward the end of 
 his life endorsed them. The greatest lights 
 of the Reformation in England also main- 
 tained them ; while in Holland, they were no- 
 bly upheld by ARMINIUS. Mr. Wesley revived 
 them, and they are now received by the ma- 
 jority of living Christians. 
 
 You are aware that the doctrines of Meth- 
 odism are often called Arminianism. They 
 are so named after JAMES ARMINIUS of whose 
 history I will give you a brief sketch. 
 
 D'AufiiGNE has eloquently and truly re- 
 marked that " Men, like stars, appear on the 
 horizon at the command of God ! " James
 
 108 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 
 
 Arminius was one of these stars. By his 
 light, God saved his church from the gloom 
 and darkness of the stern and unscriptural 
 theology of John Calvin. 
 
 Like most great men, James Arminius 
 sprung from the people, and not from the 
 titled ranks of society. His father was a 
 mechanic, ingenious and respectable, but com- 
 paratively poor. James was born in 1560, 
 at Oudewater, in Holland, and was bereft of 
 his father while yet an infant. A learned 
 clergyman kindly received him under his roof, 
 and superintended his education. When fif- 
 teen years of age, Arminius was deprived of 
 this friend by death. But his extraordinary 
 talents attracted the attention of one of his 
 townsmen, a learned man, who took him to 
 Marpurg, in Hessia, and caused him to enter 
 the university. While here, our young theo- 
 logian, now converted to God, was deprived 
 of his mother, brother, and sister. They 
 perished in the overthrow of Oudewater by 
 the Spanish army.
 
 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 109 
 
 In 1575, Arminius removed to Leyden and 
 entered the university just established at that 
 place by the Prince of Orange. Here he 
 continued six years ; when the municipal au- 
 thorities of Amsterdam assumed the expense 
 of his future academic studies, on condition 
 that his ministry should be exercised in that 
 city, and that he should dispose of his ser- 
 vices only as they might approve. 
 
 We find him next at Geneva, for a brief 
 period ; then, at Basle for a year ; and, then, 
 for three years again at Geneva. His acade- 
 mic studies concluded, he made a short tour 
 in Italy ; tarried awhile at Padua ; and then, 
 returning to Holland, he was ordained pastor 
 of the Dutch Church in Amsterdam, in 1588. 
 In 1603, he was elected professor of Divinity 
 in the university of Leyden; and on the 
 nineteenth of October, 1609, he died a calm 
 and peaceful death, at the age of forty-nine 
 years. 
 
 Arminius was held in very high estimation, 
 for his attainments and genius, -while he was
 
 110 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 
 
 a student ; and his success and popularity as 
 a minister and professor fully justified the 
 high opinion formed of him by his tutors and 
 fellow students. But the latter years of his 
 life were embittered by the hostility of his 
 Calvinistic adversaries, whose malevolence, 
 it was thought, contributed to render the 
 disease of which he died, fatal. 
 
 His controversy with the Calvinists was 
 brought about by a request of the ecclesiasti- 
 cal senate of Amsterdam, that he would refute 
 the alleged errors of a pious minister, named 
 COORNHERT, who had assailed the opinions of 
 Calvin on Predestination, &c. } some nine 
 years previously. Applying his mind to the 
 fulfilment of this request, he was led to such 
 an examination of Calvin's dogmas as re- 
 sulted in a conviction that they were unscrip- 
 tural, and in the adoption of those opinions 
 to which his name has since been attached. 
 The violent assaults of the Calvinistic party 
 on himself, and on his opinions, led to the 
 writings which constitute his " works."
 
 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. Ill 
 
 After the death of Arminius, his followers 
 were cruelly persecuted by the Calvinists. 
 A synod was called at Dort, in 1618, by 
 which the Arminians were pronounced here- 
 tics, were excommunicated, driven from their 
 churches, imprisoned, fined, and banished. 
 Their name became a by-word and reproach 
 among their enemies. And it has been a 
 favorite practice among Calvinists, from that 
 time until now, to call almost every form of 
 doctrinal error Arminianism. "If a man 
 hold that good works are necessary to justi- 
 fication ; if he reject the doctrine of original 
 sin ; if he deny that divine grace is necessary 
 for the whole work of sanctification ; it is 
 concluded that he is an Arminian. But the 
 truth is, that a man of such sentiments is a 
 disciple of the Pelagian school. To such 
 sentiments pure Arminianism is as diametri- 
 cally opposed as Calvinism itself." 
 
 You may be told, nevertheless, that the 
 doctrines of Methodism are identical with 
 those heresies, misnamed Arminianism, which
 
 112 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 
 
 once prevailed among the New England Con- 
 gregationalists, and which " rocked the cradle 
 of Unitariaiiism in a hundred churches." 
 
 But the assertion is false. The heresy 
 which pervaded those churches was not true 
 Arminianism. It was Pelagianism. It denied 
 human depravity ; it taught the doctrine of 
 salvation by works. You will be satisfied on 
 this point if you will carefully read the fol- 
 lowing extracts from Mr. Tracy's History of 
 the Great Awakening. That writer says : 
 
 " Rev. Joseph Peck had been too much en- 
 lightened by conviction of sin to embrace 
 Arminian principles at large ; but still 
 secretly imagined that there was something 
 in men to begin with, and which gospel 
 grace came to make perfect. He preached 
 and labored with his own heart accordingly, 
 but could not get to such a pitch as to 
 think himself ripe for grace, or with any 
 confidence lay claim to it, because he found 
 his own works not good enough to build 
 any such claim upon; so it was for several
 
 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 113 
 
 years, till it pleased God * * to show him 
 a way of justification by faith, without the 
 deeds of the law." 
 
 Describing the so-called Arminian minis- 
 ters of Connecticut, Mr. Tracy says : 
 
 " They led their hearers to believe, that 
 by a certain round of duties, performed while 
 still impenitent, they might insure their 
 regeneration ; * * that the proper course for 
 a sinner to take was to go steadily about 
 the duties which God has appointed for 
 impenitent sinners to perform before conver- 
 sion, and leave the event with God." " This," 
 says Mr. T., * * " was practically Arminian- 
 ism. If any one preached Calvinism thor- 
 oughly, to the very end of his sermon, 
 maintaining that God has made no promise 
 to such as industriously perform certain 
 duties while impenitent, that nothing done 
 during impenitence counts at all toward 
 the justification of the doer, that deferring 
 repentance and faith, and doing something 
 else first, is flat rebellion against God, all 
 8
 
 114 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 
 
 such preaching was condemned as Antino- 
 mian;" p. 309, History of the Great 
 Awakening. 
 
 Edwards gives a similar view of the 
 alleged Arminianism of those times in the 
 following sentence : 
 
 "According to Arminian principles men 
 have a good and honest heart, the very 
 thing that is the grand requisite in order to 
 God's acceptance, * * before they have the 
 proper condition of salvation" Edwards' 
 Works, p. 581, Vol. 2. 
 
 I will now quote a sentence or two from 
 Watson's Dictionary, descriptive of the 
 salient points in the system of Pelagius, pre- 
 mising that PELAGIUS was a British monk 
 who lived in the early part of the fifth cen- 
 tury. Visiting Eome, with his friend CELES- 
 TIUS, he opposed the " received notions con- 
 cerning original sin, and the necessity of the 
 divine grace." Watson says he is repre- 
 sented as teaching " that mankind derived no
 
 DOCTRINES PBCULIAE TO METHODISM. 115 
 
 injury from the sin of Adam ; that we are 
 now as capable of obedience to the will of 
 God as he was, * * that men are born with- 
 out vice as well as without virtue. That it 
 is possible for men, provided they fully em- 
 ploy the powers and faculties with which 
 they are endued, to live without sin ; " and 
 Watson adds, " though he did not deny that 
 external grace, or the doctrines and motives 
 of the gospel, are necessary, yet he is said 
 to have rejected the necessity of internal 
 grace, or the aids of the Divine Spirit." 
 
 By comparing the italicised sentences in 
 the above quotations, you will perceive that 
 what Edwards and Tracy call Arminianism 
 is strictly identical with the peculiar views 
 of Pelagius. Both systems denied the doc- 
 trines of original sin, and the absolute de- 
 pendence of man for regeneration on the 
 grace of God; both taught the doctrine of 
 salvation by works, in opposition to the 
 scriptural and Methodistical theory of salva-
 
 116 DOCTRINES PECULIAE TO METHODISM. 
 
 tion by grace, and justification by faith 
 alone.* 
 
 With these facts and statements before 
 you, I think you will be convinced that those 
 who charge Methodism with a likeness to the 
 heresy which desolated the churches of the 
 last century, are " false accusers," and conse- 
 quently unworthy of your confidence in this 
 matter. 
 
 For a further view of the points of differ- 
 ence between Pelagianism and Arminianism, 
 see Appendix No. 1. 
 
 There is yet another misrepresentation of 
 
 # This just distinction between a true and false Arminianism 
 is recognized and stated by the Rev. Mr. Clarke, Secretary of 
 the Home Missionary Society, in his " Historical Discourse," in 
 the following note: "The term (Arminianism) is used here 
 and throughout this discourse to denote the doctrine of Do 
 AND LIVE, or salvation by works, a system which dispenses 
 with the necessity of regeneration by the Holy Spirit's agency, 
 and is more properly named Pelagianism. In this sense of tho 
 word, it can hardly be said that Arminius was himself an 
 Anninian. But as the word was uniformly employed by our 
 fathers of the last century to indicate these Pelagian views, 
 which were coming into the churches, it is thought best to 
 retain it in tracing its growth."
 
 DOCTRINES PECULIAE TO METHODISM. 117 
 
 Arminianism which your proselyting friends 
 may use to excite your prejudices. They 
 may tell you, in the words of a recent writer, 
 that Romanism has its " basis in the Armin- 
 ian doctrines." "Romanism," they may say, 
 "like Methodism, denies the doctrines of 
 election, of efficacious grace, of perseverance ; 
 it inculcates the existence of sinless per- 
 fection, and even more, of works of superer- 
 ogation j that is, becoming more than perfect. 
 And with these Methodist doctrines Roman- 
 ism has wrought with fearful power." 
 
 But you must not permit such a statement 
 as this to influence your action, because it is 
 as groundless as the one I have just laid 
 bare. By looking at the eleventh article of 
 religion in the discipline (p. 19) you will see 
 that it denounces works of supererogation 
 thus: "Voluntary works, besides, over and 
 above God's commandment, which are called 
 works of supererogation, cannot be taught 
 without arrogance and impiety." 
 
 With respect to " sinless perfection," Mr.
 
 118 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 
 
 Wesley says it is a "phrase I never use." 
 It has never been taught by the Methodist 
 Church. 
 
 Nor is it true that Romanists are generally 
 Arminians. They have always had no incon- 
 siderable number of believers in the dogmas 
 of Augustine in their communion. Says 
 Mosheim, (vol. 3, p. 106,) " The Dominicans, 
 (the most powerful of the monkish orders) 
 the Augustinians, the followers of Jansenius, 
 and likewise many others, deny that divine 
 grace can possibly be resisted, * * * deny 
 that there are any conditions annexed to the 
 eternal decrees of God respecting the salva- 
 tion of all men, and other kindred doc- 
 trines;" in other words, these orders and 
 sectaries of the Romish Church teach the 
 views of high Calvinists. And when Luther 
 and his coadjutors taught the opinions which 
 entered into the scheme of Arminius, the 
 Romish Church, says Mosheim, approved 
 " Augustine's sentiments," which are substan- 
 tially identical with Calvin's. The truth is,
 
 DOCTEINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 119 
 
 the views which distinguish both the Armin- 
 ian and Calvinistic schools have always been 
 largely represented in the Papal Church, and 
 so long as both parties were otherwise faith- 
 ful to her claims, she has tolerated both. It 
 cannot be said of Romanism that it has been 
 or is Calvinist or Arininian. It has been 
 and still is, both, and neither scheme of 
 theology is responsible for its errors. 
 
 Thus, you see, this attempt to identify 
 Methodist doctrines with Romanism is futile. 
 It stands on assumptions which are histori- 
 cally false, and cannot therefore command 
 your credence. 
 
 Hold fast then, beloved convert, to Metho- 
 dist doctrines. They are scriptural, reason- 
 able, full of comfort, full of power to meet 
 the demands of your spiritual nature. Under 
 their inspiration the primitive church spread 
 itself over the world. They begat holy 
 courage in the confessor, and heavenly hero- 
 ism in the martyr, during the heroic age of 
 the church. They gave life to the best period
 
 120 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 
 
 and the best advocates of the Reformation. 
 Their proclamation by Wesley and his co- 
 adjutors woke the slumbering church of the 
 last century to new life ; and gave birth to a 
 spiritual quickening which saved Christianity 
 from the death which threatened it, and 
 which is felt to this day all over the Chris- 
 tian world. Supported by them, millions of 
 holy souls have successfully solved the awful 
 problem of their probation, have triumphed 
 in their conflict with death, and have departed 
 to reign with the Great Teacher by whom 
 they were revealed. Hold them fast, there- 
 fore, and they will guide you to their author's 
 throne. 
 
 On the contrary, if you embrace Calvin- 
 ism, you will be involved in a labyrinth of 
 perplexities. Ultra Calvinism (see Appendix, 
 No. 2) with its horrible decrees of uncondi- 
 tional election of some to life, and its fore- 
 ordination of others to death, with its infant 
 damnation and passive regeneration, will dis- 
 gust your reason, wound your sense of justice,
 
 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 121 
 
 pain your sensibilities, and embarrass your 
 experience. Moderate Calvinism, with its 
 fallacious distinction between gracious and 
 natural ability, will equally perplex you, if 
 you are honest and inquiring ; because you 
 will always feel conscious that you are 
 obliged to dogmatically reject its logical 
 consequences, or be compelled to accept the 
 most repulsive features of ultra Calvinism. 
 Added to this mental embarrassment, will be 
 the fact that the Calvinist theology will chill 
 your experience. It will hold you in agoniz- 
 ing doubt as to your being one of the elect ; 
 or else it will tempt you to indifference, on 
 the ground that whether you struggle ear- 
 nestly for life, or glide indolently down the 
 stream, the result, being absolutely foreor- 
 dained and unalterably fixed, will be the 
 same. Thus distracted or tempted by your 
 theology, your experience, in all probability, 
 will be sad, painful, unsatisfactory. The 
 childlike trust, the unwavering confidence, the 
 rapturous love, the beaming hope, the aspir-
 
 122 DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO METHODISM. 
 
 ing energy, the tireless effort, which spring 
 from the doctrines of Methodism, will be 
 almost lost to you. But I need not urge this 
 point with you. You see that the Scriptures, 
 common sense, and the demands of your 
 spiritual life, all point you to Methodism; 
 and you will, I feel persuaded, conscientiously 
 follow their guidance, despite of all influence 
 from without.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM. 
 
 jHE Oriental world produces a 
 singular tree, which, in several 
 of its characteristics, not un- 
 aptly illustrates the rise and 
 growth of Methodism. This tree, 
 it is called the BANIAN TREE, has a 
 woody stem, branching to a great 
 height and vast extent. Every branch throws 
 out new roots, which descend to the earth, 
 strike in, and increase to large trunks, from 
 which new branches grow, and new roots are 
 again produced. This progression continues 
 until the original tree literally becomes a 
 forest. In like manner, Methodism, begin- 
 ing with a single society, threw out branches 
 with depending roots. These roots, striking 
 into new portions of the community, grew
 
 124 THE POUNDER OF METHODISM. 
 
 into new churches. These again were re- 
 productive. This progress has steadfastly 
 continued. It continues now. Little more 
 than a century has elapsed since it threw up 
 its first shoot; yet, rooted in every quarter of 
 the globe, it already bids fair to cover the 
 earth with its branches, and to fill the world 
 with its influences. 
 
 The creation of this great spiritual fellow- 
 ship, numbering in all its branches over two 
 millions of communicants, in so short a 
 period, is a phenomenon unparalleled by any 
 fact in the history of the Christian church 
 since the apostolic era. Who can study the 
 simplicity of its beginnings, the rapidity of 
 its growth, the stability of its institutions, 
 the amazing power of its influence on Chris- 
 tianity in general, its present vitality and 
 activity, its commanding position, and its 
 prospective greatness, without exclaiming in 
 a spirit of astonishment and gratitude, 
 What hath God wrought ? " 
 
 I have already pointed out numerous
 
 THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM. 125 
 
 spiritual advantages, which you may person- 
 ally enjoy in the fellowship of Methodism. 
 I now wish you to take a broader view to 
 stand like a traveller upon a mountain's peak, 
 and survey the system from its beginning 
 until now, to study the character of its 
 founders, mark the hand of God in its sur- 
 prising development, examine its vast spirit- 
 ual results, and convince yourself that, of all 
 existing churches, it is the most highly 
 honored of God, the most beneficial to the 
 world. Let us glance first at the man by 
 whose piety, labors, and genius it arose. 
 
 Methodism, considered as an organization, 
 is of recent date. It sprang, as you know, 
 from the pious labors of the two Wesleys 
 and their devoted compeers. John Wesley, 
 however, must be regarded as its true founder. 
 But for him, though there might have been a 
 powerful revival of spiritual religion, there 
 would, in all probability, have been no Meth- 
 odist church. He alone possessed the faculty 
 of organization and government, which was
 
 126 THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM. 
 
 necessary to gather up, combine, and con- 
 struct the spiritual results of the revival into 
 a church. He led the great Methodistic 
 movement, and stamped the image of his 
 own mind upon it. He devised the simple 
 institutions, organized the ministry, and 
 governed the societies, which, in their devel- 
 opment, grew into the various Methodist 
 churches now existing in different parts of 
 the world. It will, therefore, be proper to 
 give you a brief sketch of his life and 
 character. 
 
 JOHN WESLEY was born in the rectory of 
 Epworth, England, June 17, 1703. His 
 father, SAMUEL WESLEY, the rector, was a 
 scholarly, pious, sternly energetic, indepen- 
 dent man, a true man and a faithful minister. 
 His mother, SUSANNA WESLEY, was a woman 
 of extraordinary intelligence and force of 
 mind, of correct judgment, vivid apprehen- 
 sion of truth, and ardent piety. Under their 
 training, Wesley passed his boyhood up to 
 his eleventh year, his mother paying peculiar
 
 THE FOUNDER OP METHODISM. 127 
 
 attention to the formation of his character, 
 because of his singular escape, when a little 
 boy, from his chamber, when the rectory was 
 destroyed by fire. He was educated, first at 
 the Charter House, then at Oxford. He was 
 ordained a deacon in the church of England, 
 in 1725. The next year he was elected a 
 "Fellow" of Lincoln college, and in 1728 
 was ordained a priest. 
 
 For a few months, he acted as curate for 
 his father at Epworth. But being strongly 
 urged to become the tutor of several young 
 gentlemen at Oxford, he, returned thither in 
 1729. His first act, almost, was to form a 
 society composed of himself, his brother 
 Charles, Mr. Morgan, and Mr. Kirkham. 
 The object of this society was " to promote 
 each other's intellectual, moral, and spiritual 
 improvement." To accomplish this, they 
 spent " three or four evenings a week togeth- 
 er, reading the Greek Testament, with the 
 Greek and Latin classics. On Sunday even- 
 ings, they read divinity." They also
 
 128 THE FOUNDER OP METHODISM. 
 
 adopted various rules for the better govern- 
 ment of their lives, and the improvement of 
 their time. They visited the sick, relieved 
 the poor, circulated the scriptures, fasted 
 much, prayed much, denied themselves of 
 every sinful amusement and indulgence, at- 
 tended the means of grace very strictly, and 
 sought to reach the highest possible spiritual 
 attainments. 
 
 This strict course of life, so unusual 
 among the inmates of the college, SOOD 
 brought down an avalanche of persecution 
 upon their heads. Scorn, rebuke, insult, fell 
 upon them abundantly, from all quarters. 
 Their fidelity to their sense of duty cost 
 them the good opinion of most of their col- 
 lege companions, who stigmatized them with 
 such titles as the " Holy Club," the Godly 
 Club," the "Enthusiasts," the "Reforming 
 Club," "Methodists," "Supererogation men," 
 and so on. But, like their master, they stood 
 undaunted in the presence of persecution. 
 Its only effect was to stimulate their zeal,
 
 THE POUNDER OP METHODISM. 129 
 
 quicken their devotion, and increase their 
 numbers. 
 
 You will observe, my dear reader, that 
 although these young men were termed Meth- 
 odists at Oxford, by way of ridicule, yet 
 Methodism proper was not yet organized. 
 That band of young men did not constitute a 
 "Methodist society." Its members were 
 only styled Methodists by way of reproach, 
 just as spiritually minded men had been 
 called " Methodists " in a sermon preached 
 at Lambeth a hundred years before, and at 
 several other times and places. The first 
 Methodist " Society," properly so called, was 
 not formed until 1739, when Mr. Wesley 
 organized "the United Society,"at the Foun- 
 dery in London. This, says THOMAS JACK- 
 SON, in his life of Charles "Wesley, p. 179, 
 " was the rise of the United Societies, which 
 now constitute what is usually called the 
 Wesleyan connection." The rules for their 
 government were drawn up in 1743, by Wes- 
 ley, when he divided the societies into classes. 
 9
 
 130 THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM. 
 
 Hence, all that one of our enemies has said 
 about the Methodist church being composed 
 in its origin of "four unregenerate young 
 men," whose "worship" was "reading the 
 Greek and Latin classics" is the offspring 
 of downright frivolity, if not of deliberate 
 wickedness. 
 
 After spending nearly six years as a tutor 
 at Oxford, Mr. Wesley, having refused the 
 rectorship of Epworth, made vacant by his 
 father's death, sailed with his brother to 
 Georgia, hoping " to raise up a holy people 
 in that distant land." He was not very suc- 
 cessful in his labors. The loose manners of 
 the colonists called forth his sternest rebukes, 
 which, with the strictness of his own life, and 
 the stringency of his ecclesiastical discipline, 
 excited great opposition. A bitter persecu- 
 tion, headed by a worthless official named 
 CAUSTON, arose against him. The colony 
 resounded with the outcries of his adversa- 
 ries. They propagated all sorts of slanders 
 about him, and finally presented him to the
 
 THE POUNDER OP METHODISM. 131 
 
 grand jury. This jury, which was packed 
 with his avowed enemies, brought in two 
 bills containing ten counts, nine of which 
 related to his ecclesiastical administration. 
 The whole, if true, did not affect his moral 
 or religious character in the smallest degree. 
 But they were all either false or frivolous, 
 as was shown in a paper sent to the trustees 
 of the colony, by twelve of the jurors who 
 dissented from the majority. After seeking 
 in vain to obtain a hearing before the court, 
 and seeing no opportunity for further useful- 
 ness in Georgia, Mr. Wesley, having given 
 public notice of his intention, left Savannah, 
 and returned to England, where he arrived, 
 in February, 1738. After his departure, the 
 true character of his chief persecutor, Mr. 
 Causton, became apparent. That worthy 
 had already left England, in disgrace, for a 
 fraud on the government. Detected in a sim- 
 ilar peculation in the colony, he was deposed 
 from office by the Governor. And such was 
 the reaction of public feeling in Mr. Wesley's
 
 132 THE FOUNDER OP METHODISM. 
 
 favor, that when Mr. WHITEFIELD visited Sa- 
 vannah, a few months after Wesley's depart- 
 ure, he wrote thus : " The good Mr. John 
 Wesley has done in America, under, God, is 
 inexpressible. His name is very precious 
 among the people ! " 
 
 The only fault committed by Mr. Wesley in 
 Georgia, was his perhaps too rigid enforce- 
 ment of the canons of his church. His moral 
 character was unspotted. His religious life 
 was strict, almost ascetic. For these things 
 worldly-minded professors, and world-seek- 
 ing colonists hated him. Methodists have no 
 need to blush for that part of their founder's 
 life spent in Georgia, albeit an unscrupulous 
 scribbler has had the hardihood, in contradic- 
 tion of all the facts in the case, to insinuate 
 the contrary. 
 
 Up to the time of Wesley's return to Eng- 
 land, he had not enjoyed a clear consciousness 
 of faith in Christ. His religion was that of 
 the legalist, consisting in unceasing devotion 
 to the duties, unaccompanied by the consola-
 
 THE FOUNDER OP METHODISM. 133 
 
 tions, of an Evangelical faith. His voyage to 
 America had introduced him to the Moravi- 
 ans. What he saw of their experience con- 
 vinced him that his own religious life was de- 
 fective, and prepared him to listen to his 
 learned friend PETER BOHLER, through whose 
 instructions he was led to trust in Christ 
 alone for " the righteousness which is of faith." 
 On the 24th of May, 1738, while listening to 
 a discourse on Christian experience, he says : 
 " I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I 
 did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salva- 
 tion ; and an assurance was given me that he 
 and taken away my sins, even mine, and saved 
 me from the law of sin and death." He was 
 then thirty-five years old. 
 
 With an overflowing heart Mr. Wesley now 
 began to proclaim the doctrine of salvation 
 by faith, first in the churches, and then, at the 
 suggestion of his friend Whitefield, in the 
 open air. The effect was instantaneous and 
 wonderful. He seemed girded with power 
 from above. Wherever he preached men were
 
 134 THE POUNDER OF METHODISM. 
 
 pricked to the heart. Streams of blessings 
 poured from heaven upon his labors. His 
 brother Charles, his friend Whitefield, and 
 several other clergymen of the church of Eng- 
 land, were equally successful. Men and wo- 
 men were converted by thousands. The ex- 
 piring dissenting churches of the day were 
 quickened. New life impregnated British 
 Protestantism. The infidelity of the age was 
 rebuked. Hundreds of men were thrust out 
 into the ministry. Societies were formed in 
 all parts of the kingdom. A conference of 
 ministers was organized, and, at length, a 
 powerful connection established. 
 
 These results were not accomplished with- 
 out great toils, great sacrifices, great suffer- 
 ings. To achieve them, Mr. Wesley preached 
 forty thousand sermons, and travelled two 
 hundred and twenty thousand miles. He, 
 with his coadjutors, also endured much perse- 
 cution. I know it has been tauntingly said, 
 that Methodism " cannot boast of the honors 
 and unmistakeable characteristics of Christ's
 
 THE FOUNDER OP METHODISM. 135 
 
 church the loss of one drop of blood, a be- 
 headed saint, persecution, a flight, or having 
 been hid from the rage of enemies for a sea- 
 son." " And that no Methodist was ever be- 
 headed for his attachment to the truth ; never 
 persecuted to death or to flight, for his re- 
 ligion." (Iron Wheel, pp. 29, 32.) 
 
 These statements are slanderous. A man 
 who would make them, would affirm that light 
 is darkness, if it suited his purpose. Metho- 
 dism never persecuted ? Alas, how ignorant 
 or depraved that writer must be who so 
 affirms ! Methodism never persecuted ? 
 What is the. history of its infancy, but a re- 
 cord of persecutions? aye, of persecutions 
 as thrilling and severe as those recorded in 
 the Acts of the Apostles. True, the fact of 
 its rise in a Protestant and nominally Chris- 
 tian country, prevented its confessors from 
 sealing their faith on the scaffold. But if it 
 be persecution to suffer the loss of reputation, 
 the spoiling of goods, personal violence, judi- 
 cial accusations, imprisonment, fines, and to
 
 136 THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM. 
 
 be put in constant peril of life, then the early 
 Methodists have suffered persecutions abun- 
 dant, and the assertion of Mr. Graves is as 
 false as his favorite dogma, that the Baptist 
 is the only true church of Christ on earth. 
 
 Partly to confute his false assertion, and 
 partly to refresh you with a few pictures of 
 the unsurpassed heroism of the early Metho- 
 dists, I have brought together a few facts 
 from the history of the Wesleys. 
 
 I have already told you how the Wesleys 
 were persecuted by their college associates at 
 Oxford, and how John suffered for his re- 
 ligious strictness in Georgia. But when the 
 devoted brothers broke away from the order 
 of the church, and began their extraordinary 
 career of evangelism, the outcry against them 
 was so loud and general as to put them out- 
 side the pale of respectable society. They 
 were excluded from the pulpits of the church 
 of England, denounced by nearly all, regarded 
 as enthusiasts and madmen, and treated as 
 the " filth and offscouring of all things." So
 
 THE FOUNDER OP METHODISM. 137 
 
 strong did the current of prejudice run against 
 these great and good men, that he who dared 
 to defend them, periled his own reputation. 
 " How notorious is it," says Wesley, " that if 
 a man dare to open his mouth in my favor, it 
 needs only be replied, ' I suppose you are a 
 Methodist too,' and all he has said is to pass 
 for nothing!" A fact or two, selected at 
 random from their memoirs, will show that 
 this expression was far from being hyper- 
 bolical. 
 
 At ST. IVES, the rector of the parish church 
 publicly denounced Charles Wesley and the 
 Methodists, as enemies of the church, sedu- 
 cers, troublers, scribes and pharisees, hypo- 
 crites. At WEDNOCK, the curate, Charles 
 Wesley being present, delivered himself of 
 such a " hotch-potch of railing, foolish lies, as 
 Satan himself might have been ashamed of." 
 During his first vist to Cornwall the " clergy 
 preached against him with great vehemence, 
 and represented his character and designs in 
 the worst possible light." At CORK, in Ire-
 
 138 THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM. 
 
 land, the grand jury found " Charles Wesley 
 to be a person of ill fame, a vagabond, and a 
 common disturber of his majesty's peace," 
 and they prayed that " he might be trans- 
 ported! " And at Birstall, in 1744, a charge 
 of treason was preferred against him, and a 
 warrant issued summoning witnesses to ap- 
 pear against him ! 
 
 If a good man's reputation is next in value 
 to the purity of his character if it be a 
 jewel of higher value than the diadems of 
 princes, dearer to a man of a high sense of 
 honor than even life itself, then it is clear 
 that the early Methodists demonstrated their 
 fidelity, when they cast it away for Christ's 
 sake. To say that a people who purchased 
 their ecclesiastical existence with the loss of 
 their reputation were never persecuted, is to 
 drivel, not reason. 
 
 But the early Methodists did not escape 
 with the loss of reputation alone. They were 
 persecuted to the spoiling of their goods, to 
 flight, to stoning, to suffering, and even to
 
 THE POUNDER OP METHODISM. 139 
 
 death, as the following facts, selected at ran- 
 dom from a multitude of similar events, will 
 abundantly prove. 
 
 For crossing the field of an enemy to re- 
 ligion, to meet his congregation at Kensing- 
 ton Common, Charles Wesley was fined fifty 
 dollars with costs, amounting to as much 
 more. 
 
 At NOTTINGHAM, the rabble of the county 
 laid waste all before them that belonged to 
 the Methodists. Two of the brethren lost a 
 thousand dollars' worth of their property. 
 
 At ST. IVES, while Charles Wesley was 
 preaching, the people beat their drums, shout- 
 ed, stopped their ears, ran upon him, and 
 tried to pull him down. With a fearless 
 spirit the heroic reformer retreated from 
 these "lions' whelps," and escaped unhurt. 
 At MOBVA, just as he named his text, "an 
 army of rebels broke in upon his meeting, 
 threatening to murder the people. They 
 broke the sconces, dashed the windows in 
 pieces, bore away the shutters, benches, poor
 
 140 THE POUNDER OP METHODISM. 
 
 box, and all but the stone walls. Several 
 times they lifted their hands to strike Mr. 
 Wesley, but a stronger arm restrained them. 
 They beat and dragged the women about, 
 particularly one of a great age, and " tram- 
 pled on them without mercy" At WEDNOCK, 
 the mob, says Charles Wesley, assaulted us 
 with sticks and stones, and endeavored to 
 pull me down. Ten cowardly ruffians I saw 
 upon one unarmed man, beating him with 
 their clubs, till they felled him to the ground. 
 Another escaped by the swiftness of his horse. 
 At St. Ives, again, the mob threw eggs in at 
 the windows. Others cast great stones to 
 break what remained of the shutters. Oth- 
 ers struck the women, and swore they would 
 pull the house down. 
 
 During one of his tours in Ireland, Charles 
 was riding with several brethren from Tyr- 
 rell's Pass, to Athlone, when he was beset by 
 a company of Papists. One of his compan- 
 ions was knocked from his horse by a stone, 
 beat in the face with a club, and would have
 
 THE FOUNDER OP METHODISM. 141 
 
 been killed with a knife but for timely aid. 
 Another was struck on the head with a stone. 
 Wesley received a violent blow in the back. 
 But for the timely arrival of a company of 
 dragoons from Athlone, the whole company 
 would, in all probability, have been murdered. 
 This murderous assault was planned and in- 
 stigated by Father Ferrill, a Catholic priest. 
 
 At CORK, the Methodists were sorely per- 
 secuted. Any of the baser sort, from time 
 to time, cut and beat both men and women, 
 to the hazard of their lives. It was danger- 
 ous for any member of the society to be seen 
 abroad. 
 
 At WEDNESBURY, in October, 1743, Mr. 
 John Wesley was greatly maltreated by a 
 mob, which was instigated to drive him out 
 of the county by the incessant denunciations 
 of the vicar of the place, the curate of Wai- 
 sal, and the vicar of Darlastan. 
 
 After preaching at Wednesbury, Mr. Wes- 
 ley retired to write at the house of a friend. 
 The mob surrounded the house, shouting:
 
 142 THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM. 
 
 " Bring out the minister ! "We will have the 
 minister ! " After some parleying, Mr. Wes- 
 ley showed himself at the door, and asked to 
 go with them to a magistrate. It was now 
 dark and raining. But they dragged him to 
 Bentley Hall, two miles distant. From 
 thence they took him to Walsal. At last 
 they concluded to conduct him back to Wed- 
 nesbury ; but on their way met another mob, 
 and fell to fighting among themselves. As 
 they re-entered Wednesbury, Mr. Wesley 
 seeing the door of a large house open, at- 
 tempted to enter, but one of the mob caught 
 him by the hair of the head and pulled him 
 back into the middle of the crowd. They 
 then carried him the entire length of the 
 town. Seeing another door half open, Wes- 
 ley made toward it, but was forbidden to 
 enter by the owner, lest the mob should pull 
 it down over his head. 
 
 Wesley now confronted his foes and asked, 
 " Are you willing to hear me speak ? " 
 
 " No ! No ! knock his brains out ! Down
 
 THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM. 143 
 
 with him ! Away with him, kill him at once ; 
 tear off his clothes ! Drown him ! Hang 
 him on the next tree ! Throw him into a 
 pit ! " yelled the mob, waxing increasingly 
 furious. 
 
 " Nay, but we will hear him first I " cried 
 others ; while others again said, " Don't kill 
 him here, carry him out of the town ! Don't 
 bring his blood upon us ! " 
 
 He then spoke for a quarter of an hour, 
 till his voice failed. The mob then renewed 
 its shouts, threatening him with violence. 
 At length, three or four stout fellows, one of 
 whom was the ringleader, moved by a sudden 
 impulse, resolved to rescue him. After much 
 struggling and hustling, they got him out of 
 the town, on to the meadows. When the 
 crowd, wearied with its own violence, had 
 retired, these men conducted him to his lodg- 
 ings. His clothes were torn to tatters ; he 
 had been struck at repeatedly, and many had 
 tried to pull him down. 
 
 During this frightful scene the members
 
 144 THE FOUNDER OP METHODISM. 
 
 of the society, excepting four who kept with 
 him ready to die with him if they could not 
 save him, had fled for their lives. Yet the 
 mob threw one woman into the river, and 
 broke the arm of a young man. 
 
 Commenting on his remarkable deliverance 
 from this mob, Mr. Wesley refers to similar 
 hair-breadth escapes from the " sons of Belial," 
 in the following language : " Two years ago 
 a piece of brick grazed my shoulders. It 
 was a year after that a stone struck me be- 
 tween the eyes. Last month I received one 
 blow, and this evening two; * * one man 
 struck me on the breast with all his might, 
 and the other on the mouth, with such force 
 that the blood gushed out immediately ! " 
 
 When the ringleader of this furious mob 
 was converted, as he was a very few days 
 afterwards, Charles Wesley asked him what 
 he thought of his brother. " Think of him ! " 
 he replied, " that he is a mon of God, and 
 God was on his side, when so many of us 
 could not kill one mon ! "
 
 THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM. 145 
 
 At DUDLEY, says C. Wesley, the Methodist 
 preacher was cruelly abused by a mob of 
 Papists and dissenters. Probably he would 
 have been murdered but for an honest Quaker 
 who helped him to escape with his broad hat 
 and coat. 
 
 At DARLASTON, rioters broke into the 
 houses of the Methodists, robbing and de- 
 stroying ; and papers were sent round to the 
 adjacent towns inviting all the country to 
 rise and destroy the Methodists ! 
 
 At NOTTINGHAM, says C. Wesley, I called 
 at Bro. Saut's, and found him just brought 
 home for dead. The mob had knocked him 
 down, and would probably have murdered 
 him, but for the cries of a little child. It 
 was some time before he came to himself, 
 having been struck on the temples by a large 
 log of wood. 
 
 Up to 1744, the magistrates had generally 
 
 refused to act, and had left the Methodists at 
 
 the mercy of violent and cruel men. Then 
 
 they interfered, and endeavored by an abuse 
 
 10
 
 146 THE FOUNDER OP METHODISM. 
 
 of their power, and the perversion of law, 
 to crush a defenceless people. This made 
 their condition worse. 
 
 Another species of indignity to which the 
 early Methodist preachers were subjected 
 was their impressment into the British army, 
 on the pretence that their occupation was 
 irregular, and their lives vagabondish. 
 Among those who suffered in this way, were 
 JOHN NELSON, THOMAS BEARD, MR. DOWNES, 
 and MR. MAXFIELD. These devoted breth- 
 ren were torn from their families, shut up in 
 prison, and compelled to do military duty 
 until their friends procured their deliverance 
 by application to the heads of the Govern- 
 ment, or by procuring substitutes. But poor 
 THOMAS BEARD found deliverance through 
 death only. He was too delicate to endure 
 the fatigues of a soldier's life. He sank 
 beneath the burden, and died as truly a mar- 
 tyr to Christianity as Paul or Peter. 
 
 But I must cease my citations. I could 
 fill this volume with the details of the per-
 
 THE POUNDER OP METHODISM. 147 
 
 seditions endured by the first generation of 
 Methodists for the Gospel's sake. No his- 
 toric fact is more certain than that Mr. 
 Wesley, with most of his early preachers 
 could adopt in substance, the language of the 
 persecuted and laborious Paul, and say, 
 " Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I 
 stoned. * * In journeyings often, in perils 
 of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by 
 mine own countrymen, in perils in the city, 
 in perils in the wilderness, in perils amongst 
 false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, 
 in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in 
 fastings often, in cold and nakedness." 
 
 But notwithstanding these undeniable facts, 
 a living Baptist preacher dares to assert that 
 Methodism was never persecuted to the loss 
 of a drop of blood, or to flight! And a 
 Congregational minister in the State of Mas- 
 sachusetts endorses him. Strange assertion ! 
 Deformed offspring of a mind willingly ignor- 
 ant of the true history of the church it ma-
 
 148 THE FOUNDER 'OF METHODISM. 
 
 ligns ! Its author cannot credit his own 
 assertion, unless he is 
 
 " Like one 
 
 Who having to untruth, by telling of it, 
 Made such a sinner of his memory, 
 To credit his own lie." 
 
 Having endured " hardness like a good sol- 
 dier," and having reached the green old age 
 of eighty-eight, John Wesley died, March 2d, 
 1791. His death was as beautiful as his life 
 was active. He retained his vigor to the 
 last, and died almost on the field of battle, 
 exclaiming, as he prepared to cast aside his 
 mortal robe: "THE BEST OF ALL is, GOD is 
 WITH us. He causeth his servant to lie down 
 in peace. The Lord is with us. The God 
 of Jacob is our refuge. I '11 praise. I '11 
 praise ! Farewell." And thus, with the song 
 of a conqueror on his lips, he ascended to 
 heaven. 
 
 Before calling your attention to the spir- 
 itual structure founded by this great reformer, 
 I will point out some interesting resem-
 
 THE POUNDER OP METHODISM. 149 
 
 blances between him and the hero of the 
 "Reformation," MARTIN LUTHER. Though 
 somewhat episodical, I know you will not 
 object to it, because you are anxious to attain 
 a true conception of the founder of our 
 church. 
 
 To begin with their birth, I find LUTHER 
 born and nursed in the lap of respectable 
 poverty. WESLEY had a kindred origin. 
 For, although the family at EPWORTH could 
 boast a higher lineage and a superior social 
 grade to that of the German miner, yet, it is 
 questionable whether the pecuniary straits of 
 the good rector, Wesley's father, at Epworth, 
 were not as pinching as those of Luther's 
 peasant parents at EISLEBEN. And, if young 
 Luther, after the fashion of poor German stu- 
 dents, sung songs at EISENACH for bread, 
 young Wesley, like many other English schol- 
 ars, obtained his education from the munifi- 
 cent provisions of the Charter House, and 
 from a foundation scholarship at Christchurch ; 
 at which places he doubtless endured more
 
 150 THE FOUNDER OP METHODISM. 
 
 from the merciless despotism practised upon 
 a poor "fag" in those days, than Luther ever 
 suffered in his peregrinations as a beggar stu- 
 dent. 
 
 Intellectually, they appear to have be- 
 longed to the same high grade of minds. 
 They were both master spirits, "large in 
 heart and brain;" yet, perhaps, neither of 
 them can properly be classed with the very 
 highest order of philosophic intellects, the 
 splendor of whose genius places them in un- 
 approachable grandeur, far above the ordi- 
 nary level of mankind. Still, they were great 
 men, and men of extraordinary powers. To 
 both, the acquisition of learning was easy ; 
 and, as in their youth both led a scholastic 
 life, they became superior scholars, thorough- 
 ly versed in the classics, well read in general 
 literature, in theology, and particularly in the 
 Holy Scriptures. Both had remarkably 
 ready and retentive memories ; large powers 
 of perception and comparison; and hence, 
 they both became admirable dialecticians.
 
 THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM. 151 
 
 In original imaginative power, I incline to 
 give the palm to Luther ; while, in everything 
 relating to taste, the laurel must be placed 
 on the brow of Wesley. They both appear 
 to have possessed the power of realising 
 truth in an unusual degree. To them, their 
 ideas were as living presences, in whose 
 reality and truthfulness they believed as 
 firmly as in their own consciousness. Hence 
 proceeded that wondrous vigor which charac- 
 terized their preaching and writing; which 
 made their thoughts glow with the energy of 
 life, and gave their words a force that was 
 irresistible and overwhelming. 
 
 In their early religious experience, we find 
 some points of dissimilitude. Luther, though 
 always bearing an unstained moral character, 
 was not serious in his childhood and youth. 
 He relished the facetious and military 
 amusements so beloved by German students ; 
 and his mind turned with strong aversion 
 from the serious aspects of the priesthood, 
 and even from the gravity of the law. A
 
 152 THE FOUNDER OP METHODISM. 
 
 sudden judgment the death of a compan- 
 ion, struck down at his side by a flash of 
 lightning first turned his mind to sober 
 thoughts of spiritual things. That catastro- 
 phe, acting upon his impulsive nature, led to 
 a sudden revolution in his purposes. It sent 
 him to the monastery at ERFURT. It made 
 him a priest. 
 
 But Wesley was always serious. His pure 
 life knew no episode of frivolity or worldly 
 folly. At the age of eight years he partook 
 of the sacrament, and was grave and prayer- 
 ful from his boyhood to his tomb. Yet had 
 they this in common : they both struggled for 
 a long time in darkness, through ignorance 
 of the great doctrine of justification by faith. 
 Both sought for peace on the ascetic princi- 
 ple by works. Bitter tears did Luther 
 shed in his lonesome cell, cruel penances did 
 he undergo, long fastings and weary watch- 
 ings did he endure, in the vain hope of find- 
 ing relief. And by severe self-denial, by 
 long and frequent prayers, by self-sacrificing
 
 THE FOUNDER OP METHODISM. 153 
 
 acts of benevolence, "Wesley toiled to secure 
 intercourse with Heaven. Of course they 
 both failed. But in the conflict the monk of 
 Erfurt suffered more than the "fellow" of 
 Oxford; for his mental agonies well nigh 
 cost him his reason. This was partly owing 
 to the solitude in which he lived. His mind 
 had no relief through contact with the world. 
 It was shut up to its own reflections. Had 
 Wesley, with his almost equally intense mind, 
 been confined, like his great prototype, he 
 had doubtless suffered with equal anguish. 
 But he, while unresting and sad at heart, 
 found some relief for his feelings in the 
 ceaseless, self-imposed activity of his life. 
 
 Luther penetrated the gloom which envel- 
 oped him, unaided by man. By profound re- 
 flection on the Word of God, illuminated by 
 the Divine Spirit, he discovered the sweet 
 doctrine that man ia justified by faith alone. 
 This delightful truth broke in upon his long, 
 dark night of grief, like a bright and beauti- 
 ful star, and it guided him to a peace so de-
 
 154 THE POUNDER OP METHODISM. 
 
 lightful that he declared it was like entering 
 the open portals of Paradise. 
 
 It was otherwise with Wesley. He was 
 led to the discovery of this cardinal truth by 
 the guidance of human minds. To me it is 
 one of the most wonderful facts in history, 
 that a mind so clear and logical, so well read 
 in the homilies of his church, and the writ- 
 ings of the Reformers, so conversant with the 
 Bible, so sincere, so earnest in its seekings 
 after truth, should miss of finding this sim- 
 ple doctrine. What is it but a singular illus- 
 tration of human blindness in spiritual things, 
 without the light of the Holy Spirit ? Per- 
 haps it was necessary to fit the learned Oxo- 
 nian for his mission, that his steps should be 
 directed to Christ through the instrumentali- 
 ty of the simple-hearted Moravians. 
 
 But these great spirits resembled each 
 other in that utter unselfishness and purity 
 of intention which are the essential elements 
 of the martyr-spirit. Luther's worldly inter- 
 ests were on the side of silence towards the
 
 THE POUNDER OP METHODISM. 155 
 
 abuses of the papacy. Had he sought to se- 
 cure them, there is little question that he 
 might have worn a mitre. The same is true 
 of Wesley. But the history of both men 
 shows that, in their respective movements, 
 they ignored all selfish considerations, and 
 deliberately placed wealth, reputation, and 
 personal safety on the altar of duty. Wedded 
 to truth, they were dead to all other voices 
 and charms. Hence, Luther, with all his 
 greatness, lived in poverty, and died leav- 
 ing only a house and a legacy of a thousand 
 florins to his beloved CATHARINE, and her 
 children. Wesley, too, though considerable 
 sums of money passed through his hands, died 
 comparatively a poor man, owing to his sys- 
 tematic and princely benevolence, having no 
 property except his publications, which he 
 bequeathed to the connection. 
 
 Again,. I see a marked agreement between 
 them in their habit of acting independently, 
 and from their own self-determinations. 
 Neither of them despised the counsels of
 
 156 THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM. 
 
 other men, but neither acted from mere ad- 
 vice. Their decisions were made from the 
 depths of their own minds, after a calm and 
 careful survey of the" path to be trodden, and 
 prayerful application to Heaven for light. 
 Thus, Luther's first denunciations of TETZEL, 
 his burning of the papal bull, his appearance 
 before the diet at Worms, his marriage with 
 the nun, CATHARINE YON BORA, with all his 
 great movements, proceeded from his own 
 purposes independently formed, and carried 
 out on his own personal responsibility. The 
 same things are equally true of Wesley. His 
 own mind always chose the path he trod, 
 and chose it distinctly as being its own choice 
 its own view of duty. Eminently, there- 
 fore, did these great men possess the quality 
 of self-determination. 
 
 In courage, too, they were equally heroic 
 and sublime. They both stood firm and un- 
 daunted in danger ; immovable and unchange- 
 able in difficulty. Luther's courage is unques- 
 tionable. The man, who, with the fate of
 
 THE FOUNDER OP METHODISM. 157 
 
 Huss before his eyes, with the dust of unnum- 
 bered martyrs floating on the winds over* 
 every part of EUROPE, could stand up and 
 strike a blow, for which they had perished, 
 who dared to smite a foe, which, BRIARIUS 
 like, could stretch forth a hundred arms of 
 power, and whose voice made monarchs trem- 
 ble in their palaces that man was no cow- 
 ard ! Without the loftiest courage how could 
 he have stood undaunted in the German Diet, 
 before nearly three hundred dignitaries, to 
 assert truths, which, for a thousand years, 
 men had not dared to speak? The brave 
 knight, GEORGE FRUNDSBERG, did not over- 
 estimate his peril, when he said to him as he 
 entered the diet : " Monk 1 look to it I you 
 are about to hazard a more perilous march 
 than we have ever done ! " But he did haz- 
 ard it, with more than knightly courage : and 
 his bravery stands unimpeachable. 
 
 Nor was Wesley less courageous than Lu- 
 ther. True, he never threw himself on the 
 bosses of the papal buckler, for he had no
 
 158 THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM. 
 
 occasion ; nor did he ever confront a royal 
 diet ; but he did frequently do that which de- 
 manded equal self-possession, and equal hero- 
 ism. He stood unappalled in the midst of 
 furious mobs which clamored for his life, and 
 threatened to tear him in pieces. The man 
 who could do this, could have denounced the 
 Vatican, or stood unmoved in the halls of 
 kings, had circumstances required. His cour- 
 age, like Luther's, grew out of an absorption 
 in the great object of his mission, so com- 
 plete as to make him superior to every sign 
 of personal danger. As in the Royal Diet, 
 Luther forgot himself in his desire to give 
 utterance to truth ; so, in the mobs of Eng- 
 land, Wesley's heart burned with a desire to 
 save his angry enemies, so earnest, it exclud- 
 ed all thoughts of himself. The courage of 
 both rested on moral principles, for neither 
 of them possessed that natural courage which 
 led NELSON to say he " never knew fear ; " 
 and which rendered him perfectly indifferent 
 amid showers of cannon balls. The terror
 
 THE POUNDER OP METHODISM. 159 
 
 of Luther at his companion's death, and Wes- 
 ley's fear of death in the Atlantic storm, 
 show that their natural courage was not 
 uncommon. Theirs was a moral heroism, 
 sustained by moral forces, and not by mere 
 animal stoicism. 
 
 In zeal, in moral energy, in unceasing in- 
 dustry, they were both examples. Luther 
 did the duties of a university professor, of a 
 preacher, and an author. His writings, like 
 Wesley's, are a library in themselves ; while 
 the amount of travel and of preaching per- 
 formed by Wesley almost exceeds belief. 
 
 As writers, they are alike distinguished by 
 the nervousness, vigor, directness, and bold- 
 ness of their style. Luther is the better po- 
 lemic of the two ; Wesley the more spiritual 
 and apostolic; Luther is diffuse; Wesley is 
 concise and epigrammatic; Luther uses the 
 most rhetoric, but it is sometimes rude and 
 coarse ; while Wesley, rigidly simple and un- 
 adorned, always writes with purity, and even 
 delicacy. Both are distinguished for their
 
 160 THE FOUNDER OP METHODISM. 
 
 habit of deferential appeal to the Scriptures 
 as the source of all authority, and the only 
 standard of truth. 
 
 Viewing their religious character, we give 
 the preference to Wesley. His repose on 
 Christ was more calm and abiding than that 
 of the great German. Luther was subject to 
 tormenting mental conflicts, and to seasons 
 of deep depression. Wesley rested in calm, 
 almost undisturbed, composure upon God. 
 Luther was less meek, less patient, less gen- 
 tle than Wesley. He dealt more harshly 
 with his adversaries, and displayed a temper 
 and stubbornness, at times, which mar the 
 beauty of his piety. Wesley, on the contra- 
 ry, was mild and gentle, even toward his ene- 
 mies. Though he exercised a vast amount 
 of power over his societies, toward the last 
 of his life, yet he never used it harshly or se- 
 verely. He regarded his societies as his 
 family, his children, beloved in Christ ; and 
 his authority was that of the mildest and 
 most tender parent. But it ought not to be
 
 THE FOUNDER OP METHODISM. 161 
 
 forgotten that Wesley's early training, by his 
 excellent mother, gave him the advantage, in 
 matters of self-discipline, over Luther. Be 
 sides this, the manners and spirit of Luther's 
 times must be considered. He had to do 
 with headstrong and fiery minds, and to en- 
 dure harrassing trials; he had to watch 
 against an intriguing priesthood, who thirst- 
 ed, like wolves, for his blood. In fact, his 
 public life was mostly passed in a whirlpool 
 of tumultuous human passions. That he 
 should, under such circumstances, yield, at 
 times, to the natural impetuosity of his tem- 
 per, is not surprising. Had he, however, 
 possessed the clear, triumphant faith of Wes- 
 ley, he might have won a more perfect vic- 
 tory, and have become a more complete ex- 
 ample of the truth he taught. 
 
 Other points of comparison crowd upon 
 me, but I forbear ; and close with a glance at 
 their respective labors. Yet who can either 
 estimate or compare the labors of these two 
 reformers ? To estimate the value of their 
 11
 
 162 THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM. 
 
 work is impossible ; for it is, as yet, incom- 
 plete. They still live. Their spirits still 
 animate society, and not until the last judg- 
 ment will it be possible to measure the ex- 
 tent and value of the work they wrought. 
 
 But their labors may be compared. Thus 
 viewed, the reformation of Luther appears to 
 have prepared the way for the Wesley an re- 
 vival. Luther's mission was chiefly to eman- 
 cipate thought to set mind free from the 
 chains of authority to teach ecclesiastical 
 and civil rulers, that they have no control over 
 the human conscience. The means by which 
 he did this, was the simple assertion of evan- 
 gelical doctrine in opposition to papal here- 
 sies. He affirmed every man's individual 
 right to judge of all questions of truth and 
 duty, independently of priest, pope, or coun- 
 cil. By thus establishing the paramount 
 authority of conscience and Scripture, he par- 
 alyzed the arm of the Papacy, he freed vast 
 numbers from its bondage, and taught them to 
 exercise the right of private judgment, and
 
 THE FOUNDER OP METHODISM. 163 
 
 of freedom to worship God. In the perform- 
 ance of this great work, the truths he uttered 
 became a seed of spiritual life to many; 
 but, mainly, his reformation was rather a 
 reformation of opinion a declaration of re- 
 ligious liberty than a spiritual revival. 
 
 In this mixed form the " reformation found 
 its way to Great Britain, where it produced 
 the Scottish Covenanter, and the English 
 Puritan. By their sturdy fidelity, and by 
 their swords, the great idea of the Lutheran 
 Reformation religious liberty was firmly 
 established in British institutions; but its 
 spiritual element, when Mr. Wesley ap- 
 peared, had well nigh exhausted itself, and 
 spiritual religion was almost extinct there, 
 and throughout the world. 
 
 Wesley's mission was, therefore, to revive 
 the spiritual element of the Lutheran Refor- 
 mation. But for Luther, he would have had 
 to do Luther's work. But that being done, 
 the doctrine of religious liberty being under- 
 stood and established, it was given to him to
 
 164 THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM. 
 
 spread a new religious life throughout his 
 country and the world. This, by the grace 
 of God, he accomplished. His voice woke 
 the reformation from its slumber, roused it 
 to an evangelic vitality such as it never 
 previously enjoyed; and which has since 
 spread itself through many lands. Thus 
 while Luther's work prepared the way for 
 Wesley, "Wesley put new life into the Lu- 
 theran Reformation, and pushed it to glori- 
 ous spiritual results. And now that the 
 Christian life, evoked by their instrumen- 
 tality, flows on, in one widening, deepening, 
 branching stream of blessedness, to all parts 
 of the earth j ere long, all nations shall hail 
 it with joy ; and, when all have tasted its 
 blessedness, the world will do equal honor to 
 both, as great, good, and mighty men of God, 
 entrusted by him to do a good work, and as 
 having proved faithful in the execution of 
 that high trust. May their spirit live and 
 abide in the church forever. Amen !
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 RISB AND GROWTH OF METHODISM. 
 
 'S from the smitten rock in the 
 wilderness, the abundant waters 
 flowed at the bidding of the 
 Almighty, to quench the thirst 
 of a feverish and fainting people, 
 so did Methodism flow forth to give 
 fresh life to the expiring Christianity 
 of the age. Its birth was from above, and 
 its author was the Holy Ghost. The Wes- 
 ley s, Whitefield, and their coadjutors, were 
 only the instruments of its propagation. On 
 being powerfully converted, those holy men, 
 following the impulses of the spiritual life, 
 went forth preaching the truth, and seeking 
 to spread scriptural holiness over the land 
 of their birth. The idea of founding a 
 church, did not enter into their conceptions
 
 166 RISE AND GROWTH OP METHODISM. 
 
 for many years ; and when it appeared neces- 
 sary to the spiritual welfare of his societies 
 that they should be organized into churches, 
 Mr. Wesley accepted the idea as a necessity, 
 and provided for its realization with manifest 
 reluctance. He had no ambition to be the 
 founder of a sect. That honor was awarded 
 him by the Providence of God. 
 
 I have attributed the rise of Methodism to 
 the Spirit of God. Am I not right ? Whence 
 did it come, if not from the workings of that 
 Holy Being? It certainly did not spring 
 from the English Episcopal Church, for that 
 church did not give the Wesleys a clear con- 
 ception of the cardinal doctrine of justifica- 
 tion by faith only. They were indebted for 
 their perception of that truth to Peter Boh- 
 ler, and the Moravian brethren. Hence, the 
 human instrumentality through which the 
 spiritual life of Methodism flowed, was not 
 the Episcopal, but the Moravian Church ; a 
 fact which sufficiently answers all the rant of 
 the " Iron Wheel " about the relations of
 
 RISE AND GROWTH OP METHODISM. 167 
 
 Methodism to the English Episcopal Church. 
 But the Moravians were only instruments. 
 The life of Methodism came from heaven, 
 when, on the evening of May 24, 1738, God 
 " strangely warmed " John Wesley's heart, 
 and gave him assurance that he " had taken 
 away " his sins. 
 
 That experience was Mr. Wesley's Pente- 
 cost. Three days before, Charles had expe- 
 rienced a similar baptism. By the self-same 
 Spirit, the brothers were made new men in 
 Christ Jesus. Hitherto, they had been ser- 
 vants; now they were children. From this 
 time, as with the Apostles after their Pente- 
 cost, a divine energy attended their preaching. 
 Vast multitudes were awakened and con- 
 verted. These new-born souls, attracted to 
 their spiritual parents and to each other, by 
 the affinities of their new interior life, met, 
 like the disciples in the primitive church, for 
 prayer and spiritual fellowship. They de- 
 sired Mr. Wesley's advice. For the sake of 
 convenience and order, he formed them first
 
 168 RISE AND GROWTH OF METHODISM. 
 
 into societies, and then into classes. When 
 these societies multiplied, he drew up " rules " 
 for their government. When the Holy Spirit 
 moved numbers of the converts to preach 
 the gospel, Wesley employed them, with 
 manifest reluctance at first, to call the nation 
 to repentance. When these preachers in- 
 creased, and God had abundantly owned 
 their labors, he was fully satisfied that their 
 vocation was from above j and, therefore, in 
 1744, he formed them into a Conference. 
 Thus he proceeded, step by step, wisely pro- 
 viding for exigencies as they arose, but never 
 anticipating the progress of events. His aim 
 was strictly a spiritual one. His personal 
 wish was that his societies should remain in 
 connection with the Established Church. 
 But God overruled that wish, and he was 
 compelled, at last, to give them the only re- 
 maining thing necessary to constitute them 
 churches of Christ, viz. : the privilege of hav- 
 ing the sacraments administered by their own 
 preachers, and in their own houses of wor-
 
 RISE AND GROWTH OP METHODISM. 169 
 
 ship. When this was yielded, they ceased to 
 be mere societies in a church they became 
 churches of Christ, having within themselves 
 all the elements- which went to make up the 
 apostolic church, viz. : an interior life derived 
 from the Holy Spirit, the preached Word, the 
 ordinances of the gospel, meetings for Chris- 
 tian fellowship, government. In one word, 
 they were essentially identical with the first 
 church at Jerusalem, which is described as 
 receiving the " word," the ordinances, and as 
 continuing in " fellowship " and in prayers. 
 See Acts 2 : 41, 42. 
 
 Such, in brief, was the rise of Methodism 
 in England. Small in its beginning a 
 cloud no bigger than a man's hand it grew 
 with wonderful rapidity. It throve in spite 
 of the acorn of the rich, the contumely of the 
 proud, the persecutions of the ministry, (the 
 dissenting clergy not excepted,) and the bar- 
 barity of mobs. Like the chamomile, the 
 more it was trampled upon, the more it flour- 
 ished. Hence, when Mr. Wesley died, fifty-
 
 170 RISE AND GROWTH OP METHODISM. 
 
 two years after he organized the first Metho- 
 dist Society, properly so called, his societies 
 in Great Britain alone, included upwards of 
 eighty thousand souls ! 
 
 In America, the rise of Methodism was 
 also distinctly marked by the finger of God. 
 His providence provided for its existence on 
 this Continent through several instruments. 
 To New York he directed the steps of PHILIP 
 EMBURY, a local preacher from Ireland, who 
 arrived in that city in 1765. The absence of 
 spiritual help, and the irreligious influence of 
 the time, caused Mr. Embury to neglect his 
 soul, and to grow worldly. To revive him, 
 God led an elect lady, BARBARA HICK, with 
 her family, from Ireland to New York. In 
 her heart the fires of grace burned glorious- 
 ly. Her rebuke awoke the backsliding local 
 preacher to a sense of duty. He returned 
 to his Redeemer, preached the gospel in his 
 own house, formed a class, hired a room for 
 public worship, and thus laid the foundations 
 of the Methodist temple on this Continent.
 
 RISE AND GROWTH OP METHODISM. 171 
 
 But if these emigrants at New York had 
 failed to plant the good seed of Methodism, 
 CAPTAIN WEBB, converted under Wesley, a 
 " man of fire," was residing in Albany, faithful- 
 ly cherishing the life of God, and ready to 
 embrace the first opportunity to sow the liv- 
 ing seed of truth. But Embury was before him 
 in the work ; and him the Captain greatly as- 
 sisted while in New York on a visit, and 
 afterwards when he became a resident of Ja- 
 maica, L. I. By their mutual labors, Metho- 
 dism was planted in New York. In 1768, it 
 sent out its utterances from its first Ameri- 
 can chapel on Golden Hill, in John Street. 
 
 Still another instrument for its propaga- 
 tion rose up in Maryland, in the person of 
 ROBERT STRAWBRIDGE, also a local preacher 
 from Ireland. He brought a warm heart over 
 the Atlantic, and, like a faithful man, began 
 preaching in his own house, as soon as he 
 was fairly settled. His success was such that 
 a society was formed, and a log chapel built, 
 about as early as the chapel in New York.
 
 172 EISE AND GROWTH OP METHODISM. 
 
 Thus you see how God cared for Metho- 
 dism in America, by directing these local 
 preachers to three different points, and by 
 guiding the steps of a pious matron to the 
 doors of the slumbering Philip. Was ever 
 event more signally marked by the finger 
 of God ? 
 
 I cannot detain you to watch the growth 
 of this " mustard seed," as it grew into the 
 great tree which it has since become. It is 
 enough to state, that in the brief period of 
 little more than a century from its original 
 planting, it has become the largest, fairest, 
 stateliest of ecclesiastical trees ; its branches 
 overspread the earth, its fruit imparts life to 
 over two millions of communicants, and its 
 doctrines are preached to probably not less 
 than ten millions of the human race ! 
 
 Nowhere has Methodism spread more rap- 
 idly than in this country. From its first 
 enunciation by Philip Embury until now, its 
 advance in spite of fierce opposition, un- 
 principled misrepresentation, and bitter per-
 
 RISE AND GROWTH OP METHODISM. 173 
 
 secution has been firm, rapid, wonderful. 
 You know, perhaps, that attempts are being 
 made to prove that Methodism has reached 
 its climax, and is now " dying out." I do 
 not suppose that those who are engaged in 
 this hopeless task really believe their own 
 assertions. They cannot, certainly, if they 
 understand whereof they write. This, they 
 are not careful to do. It does not suit their 
 purpose to deal in well authenticated and 
 fairly presented facts. Their aim is not to 
 tell the truth, but to retard the progress of 
 Methodism, which they most religiously hate. 
 Their tactics are those of politicians. By 
 daring and reckless assertions, which they 
 know the mass of their readers will not be 
 at the pains to investigate, they endeavor to 
 create an impression that proofs of prema- 
 ture decay are already manifest in our body. 
 These assertions are sustained by a specious 
 arrangement of statistics, which, being echoed 
 and re-echoed by their partizans, over the 
 country, are expected to work injury to us 
 wnerever they are repeated.
 
 174 RISE AND GROWTH OP METHODISM. 
 
 Against these statements, I wish to put 
 you on your guard. They are false, utterly, 
 absolutely false. Methodism is not declin- 
 ing. Its numbers were never so great as 
 now. Its ratio to the whole population was 
 never so large as at present. Those who 
 seek to produce a show of proof to the con- 
 trary, do so by selecting the years 1842 and 
 1843 as the starting points of their calcula- 
 tion the only years in our history from 
 which any appearance of numerical declen- 
 sion can be made out. I protest against this 
 arbitrary selection of a starting point, be- 
 cause it contains the maximum numbers of a 
 decade, just as I would protest against a 
 friend of Methodism, if he were to select a 
 year in which our numbers had reached the 
 minimum of any given period as the starting 
 point of his calculations. The fair method 
 of computing the numerical progress of any 
 community, society, or church, is, to compare 
 its numbers through a long space of time, 
 and through equal and specific periods. This
 
 RISE AND GEOWTH OP METHODISM. 175 
 
 I propose to do. Not that I am anxious 
 about our numbers ; for our church might be 
 standing still numerically through several 
 years, and not be " dying out." She might 
 be increasing in her hold on society, in in- 
 ward culture, in inborn strength, and in fit- 
 ness for a renewal of her aggressive efforts, 
 and the extension of her domains. But I 
 wish to state the truth, and to give you the 
 means of rebutting the false calculations of 
 our adversaries. 
 
 The tables given below cover over half a 
 century. The numbers for each decade, are 
 for the year immediately following that on 
 which each national census was taken.* 
 They show that Methodism, which up to 
 1765 had not a single representative in the 
 country, which was not ecclesiastically organ- 
 
 * Increase of the M. E. Church, by decade*, from 1791 to 1854. 
 
 Inl791, Memb, M. E. Ch.. 63,269, 
 
 An increase in 10 years of 
 
 1801, ' " 
 1811, ' " 
 
 72,874, 
 184,567, 
 
 9.605, or 15$ per ct. 
 llf,693, or 153J " 
 
 1821, ' 
 
 281,146, 
 
 96,579, or 52} " 
 
 1831 ' 
 
 513,1)4, 
 
 231,968, or 82J " 
 
 1841, ' " 
 
 859,811, 
 
 346,697, or 67i " 
 
 1851, (North & South,) 1,251,198, 
 
 391,387, or 45J " 
 
 1854, " 
 
 1,386,661, 
 
 135,463 for 3 year*.
 
 176 RISE AND GROWTH OF METHODISM. 
 
 ized until 1784, now has more than one mil- 
 lion three hundred thousand communicants ; 
 that during the last half century the ratio of 
 our communicants to the entire population 
 has increased from one in sixty-two and a 
 half to one in eighteen and a half, or in- 
 cluding the various branches of Methodism, 
 
 The next table shows how the per cenlage of our increaso 
 compares with that of the entire population of the country. 
 
 The population increased from 1790 to 1800 
 
 35.02 per ct. 
 
 Methodism, 
 
 1791 to 1801 
 
 15.20 
 
 The population, 
 Methodism, 
 
 1800 to 1810 
 1801 to 1811 
 
 36.45 
 153.50 
 
 The population, 
 
 1810 to 1820 
 
 33.13 
 
 Methodism, 
 
 1811 to 1821 
 
 52.33 
 
 The population, 
 
 1820 to 1830 
 
 33.49 
 
 Methodism, 
 
 1821 to 1831 
 
 82.50 
 
 The population, " 1830 to 1 840 
 
 32.67 
 
 Methodism, 1831 to 1841 
 
 67.50 " 
 
 The population, " 1840 to 1860 
 
 35.87 " 
 
 Methodism, " 1841 to 1851 
 
 45.50 " 
 
 Thus it appears that the per centage of our increase has been 
 decidedly greater than that of the aggregate population of the 
 country. 
 
 A comparison of our numbers with the whole population, will 
 show a rapidly increasing ratio. Thus, beginning with 1791, 
 seven years after the organization of our church, we have the 
 following results : 
 
 In 1791 one Methodist to about every 62J of the whole pop. 
 
 1801 " 72i 
 
 1811 " " 894 
 
 1821 " " 30 
 
 1831 " " 25 
 
 1841 " " 19J 
 
 1851 " " 18*
 
 RISE AND GROWTH OP METHODISM. 177 
 
 (not embraced ia these tables, but numbering 
 over one hundred and thirteen thousand com- 
 municants,) our ratio has advanced from one 
 in sixty-two and a half to one in seventeen 
 a very gratifying increase on the population 
 of the country. Is not this a wonderful in- 
 crease ? Could it have been gained if the 
 Lord had not been on the side of his people ? 
 But how is it with New England? Has 
 Methodism in the East kept pace with gen- 
 eral Methodism ? We should hardly expect 
 it to do so, because it labors under peculiar 
 difficulties, and against peculiar obstacles 
 here. It has suffered, too, for the last fif- 
 teen years, a- very heavy annual loss from 
 emigration. California, Oregon, and the 
 Western States generally, contain thousands 
 of persons, who were formerly members of 
 our church in New England. Much of our in- 
 crease in the West is the fruit of Eastern 
 Methodism. But those emigrants are lost to 
 us in New England. Their removal, in many 
 instances, more than decimated .whole church- 
 es, and in some cases left societies too fee- 
 12
 
 178 RISE AND GROWTH OF METHODISM. 
 
 ble for self-maintenance. It would not be 
 strange, therefore, if our numbers did show a 
 decrease in the Eastern Conferences. What 
 are the facts ? The tables given below* will 
 
 # The following tables contain the numbers in the New Eng- 
 land Conferences, from 1796 to 1855, a period of 59 years, 
 together with the average annual increase during each period. 
 Those parts of New England embraced in -the Troy and New 
 York East Conferences are not included in the first tables. 
 
 1796 
 1820 
 1830 
 1840 
 1860 
 1855 
 
 Conferences. 
 1 
 
 Members. 
 
 2,519 
 17,739 
 35,227 
 64,997 
 65,640 
 70,474 
 
 Average annual increase, 634 
 ?< " 1,748 
 
 " " 2,977 
 
 " " 64 
 
 966 
 
 Let us next see what is our per centage of increase compared 
 with the population of New England, through a period of fifty- 
 four years. 
 
 In N. E. the pop. increased from 1800 to 1810 19.34 per ct. 
 
 Methodism " " " 92 
 
 New England 1810 to 1820 12.77 
 
 Methodism ' " 58 
 
 New England ' 1820 to 1830 17.77 
 
 Methodism ' " " 98.50 
 
 New England ' 1830 to 1840 14.33 
 
 Methodism ' " " 85 
 
 New England ' 1840 to 1850 22.07 
 
 Methodism " " " .99 
 
 Methodism 
 
 1850 to 1855 
 
 7.36 
 
 The next table shows the ratio of our increase in New Eng- 
 land, compared with that of the population. 
 In 1800 there was 1 Methodist in every 211 of the pop. of N. E. 
 
 1S10 
 1820 
 1830 
 1840 
 1850 
 1866 
 
 131 
 94 
 56 
 34 
 41 
 38
 
 RISE AND GROWTH OP METHODISM. 179 
 
 show you that our rate of increase in New 
 England, was highest between 1820 and 1840, 
 and lowest between 1840 and 1850. But 
 during no decade has Methodism ceased to 
 advance! The ratio of our progress fell 
 immensely between 1840 and 1850. But 
 were there not various causes tending to that 
 result? 1. There was the great drain by 
 emigration spoken of above. 2. The divis- 
 ion of the church occurred in that decade, 
 and the discussion growing out of it was not 
 without its result on the spirituality and ac- 
 tivity of our people, even in New England. 
 3. The agitation and the consequent losses 
 by secession growing out of the organization 
 of the " Wesley an Church," belong to the 
 same period. 4. The Millerite excitement, 
 with the subsequent spiritual deadness which 
 overspread the churches generally, occurred 
 in the same decade. 5. The fluctuations 
 which were experienced in various branches 
 of manufacture throughout New England must 
 also be taken into account. Our people be-
 
 180 RISE AND GROWTH OF METHODISM. 
 
 ing largely composed of mechanics and per- 
 sons dependent on their labor, are materially 
 affected in their location, and frequently 
 driven to emigrate to other parts of the 
 country, by every adverse change which oc- 
 curs in manufacturing towns. 6. Our people 
 have been largely engaged in erecting and 
 rebuilding church edifices, and otherwise 
 strengthening and consolidating themselves 
 in all parts of the Eastern States, and were 
 never in so good a position, socially and eco- 
 nomically, as now. 
 
 Thus it appears that there are causes suffi- 
 cient to account for that retardation in our 
 rate of progress, which marks the decade pre- 
 cding I860, without resorting to the suppo- 
 sition that our vitality is declining. Many 
 of the evil influences of that decade have 
 passed away. It is true, emigration still 
 drains our societies; but, notwithstanding 
 this, our rate of progress has greatly im- 
 proved since 1850. Should it be maintained 
 to the close of the current decade, we shall
 
 RISE AND GROWTH OP METHODISM. 181 
 
 have in 1860, a membership in New England 
 of 80,220. As it is, our tables show, 1. That 
 in fifty-eight years we have increased from 
 2,519 members to 70,474. 2. That there has 
 been no decade in which we have failed to 
 make some advance. 3. That ourjjer cent- 
 age of increase has largely exceeded the per 
 centage of increase in the population, during 
 every decade, with a single exception i. e., 
 1840-50. 4. That fifty-five years ago there 
 was one Methodist in New England to every 
 two hundred and eleven of the population. 
 Last year, there was one to every THIRTY- 
 EIGHT ! or, adding the more than 20,000 mem- 
 bers in the New England States which belong 
 to the New York East and Troy Confer- 
 ences, there was in 1855 one Methodist to 
 every TWENTY-NINE of the population in New 
 England. 
 
 In the following note I have given the statis- 
 tics of New England Methodism in compari- 
 son with those of the Baptists and Congrega- 
 tionalists, (Orthodox,) on the same ground.
 
 182 RISE AND GROWTH OP METHODISM. 
 
 You will learn from them, what I know will 
 gratify you, that Methodism in New Eng- 
 land is second in numbers and FIRST IN PRO- 
 GRESS ! The Baptists are third in numbers 
 and second in progress. The Congregation- 
 alists are first in numbers and third in pro- 
 gress.* 
 
 * The first table shows the increase of the Congregational 
 (Orthodox) Churches in New England, from 1841 to 1866, a pe- 
 riod of fourteen years. 
 
 Aisoc'ns. 1841. 1855. Increase in 14 years. 
 
 Conn., 35,688 38,083 2,395 or 6.71 per cent. 
 
 Mass., 57,663 67,195 9,632 or 16.78 " 
 
 N. Hamp., 17,581 20,022 2,441 or 13.88 " 
 
 R. Island, 2,577 2,717 140 or 6.43 " 
 
 Maine, 17,338 16,937 (dec.) 401 or 2.31 " (loss.) 
 
 Vermont, 22,666 17,705 (dec.) 4,961 or 21.88 " (loss.) 
 
 Totals, 153,413 162,659 9,246 or 6.02 per cent. 
 
 The following table gives the increase of the Baptists in 
 New England from 1840 to 1854, a period of fourteen years. 
 
 1840. 1854. Increase in 14 yean. 
 
 Conn., 11,726 16,907 6,182 or 44.10 per cent. 
 
 Maine, 20,490 19,355 (dec.) 1,135 or 5.53 " (loss.) 
 
 Mass., 26,311 31,854 5,543 or 21.06 " 
 
 N. Hamp., 9,657 8,229 (dec.) 1,328 or 13.89 " (loss.) 
 
 R. Island, 5,962 7,357 1,395 or 23.39 " 
 
 Vermont, 11,101 7,851 (dec.) 3,250 or 29.27 " (lots.) 
 
 Totals, 86,146 91,653 6,407 or 7.52 per cent. 
 
 The next table gives the progress of our own church, in New 
 England, from 1841 to 1855, a period of fourteen years, omitting 
 the 20 to 23,000 members belonging to the New York, New 
 York East, and Troy Conferences.
 
 RISE AND GROWTH OF METHODISM. 183 
 
 This result affords matter of gratitude to 
 Almighty God. That in some sixty years we 
 should have gained a membership considera- 
 bly more than half as large as the Congrega- 
 tionalists, who for more than a century had 
 almost undisputed possession of the territory, 
 
 Vt 7844 19 ' 006 ^* c ^ 429 Or 2 ' 20 " ( fo "') 
 F M VlSt \ 20 ' 270 <*> 2 ' 574 or U ' 26 " <**> 
 
 Conf. 1841. 1855. Incrwwe in 14 jean. 
 
 N. E., 12,082 ^ 16,152 4,070 or 32.85 per ct 
 N. H., 19,485 
 
 Me., 22,844 
 
 Prov., 10,664 ' ' 15,046 4,382 or 41.09 " 
 
 Totals, 65,026 70,474 6,4-19 or 8.37 per ct 
 
 To make the results of these tables more apparent, I will reca- 
 pitulate them as follows : 
 
 Cong's from 1841 to 1855, 14 yrs, gained 9,246 or 6.02 per cent 
 Bapt's " 1840 to 1854, 14 " 6,407 or 7.52 " 
 
 Meth's " 1841 to 1856, 14 " 6,449 or 8.37 " 
 
 The succeeding table gives the ratio of increase in each de- 
 nomination since 1840, compared with the population of the New 
 England States. 
 
 In 1841 there was one Congregationalist in every 14 of the pop. 
 1865 " " 16 " 
 
 1840 " Baptist " 26 " 
 1855 " * " 29 " 
 
 1841 " Methodist " 84 " 
 1855 " " " 38 " 
 
 Including the 22,000 members our estimated numbers in 
 those parts of Connecticut, Western Massachusetts, and Ver- 
 mont, embraced in the New York, New York East, and Troy 
 Conferences we get the following ratios for Methodism : 
 
 In 1841, one Methodist in every 25 of the population. 
 1S66, one Methodist in every 29 of the population.
 
 184 RISE AND GROWTH OP METHODISM. 
 
 and who, when we came here, enjoyed the 
 prestige of wealth, social status, and culture, 
 is an astonishing fact, demanding our warm- 
 est thankfulness, and encouraging our most 
 sanguine hopes. Our advance in the race of 
 progress beyond our Baptist brethren is 
 equally gratifying. They started a century 
 and a half before we entered New England. 
 They had a membership of some 20,000 mem- 
 bers when Jesse Lee appeared in the arena. 
 Since then they have increased nearly five 
 fold, yet Methodism has outstripped them, 
 both in numbers and rate of progress. 
 
 With these illustrations of the rapid 
 growth of our church, you cannot fail to be 
 impressed with the idea that Methodism has 
 been signally favored of God. Remember, it 
 is not a church which either tolerates form- 
 ality, or permits immoralities in its members ; 
 but a church teaching men to deny themselves, 
 to forsake all sin, to attain personal holiness, 
 and enforcing this teaching with a stricter 
 discipline than any other branch of the
 
 RISE AND GROWTH OF METHODISM. 185 
 
 church. How, then, can you account for its 
 growth except on the admission that God is 
 in it; that Jesus smiles upon it; that the 
 Spirit pours his constant benediction upon it ? 
 Believing this, you need not hesitate to enter 
 its fellowship, for in Methodism, as " in 
 Judah, God is known ; his name is great in 
 Israel. In Salem, also, is his tabernacle, and 
 his dwelling-place in Zion."
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SPIRITUAL RESULTS OF METHODISM. 
 
 understand the spiritual re- 
 suits of Methodism, my dear 
 * reader, you must first glance 
 
 at the religious condition of 
 England and America, at the epoch 
 of its rise. 
 
 What was the spiritual state of 
 England prior to the appearance of the Wes- 
 leyan evangelists? I do not exaggerate 
 when I say that it was in the lowest possible 
 condition of religious torpor and indifference. 
 The shadow of an almost starless night 
 spread over the land. The clergy of the Es- 
 tablished Church were mostly unconverted 
 men, teachers of a Pelagian theology, and 
 sadly lacking in that high purity of life which 
 is so essential to ministerial influence. The
 
 SPIRITUAL RESULTS OF METHODISM. 187 
 
 Presbyterian clergy were mostly floating 
 in the putrid sea of a self-indulgent Antinomi- 
 anism, or gliding in luxuriant ease down the 
 smooth waters of a self-complacent Socinian- 
 ism. The dissenting clergy, generally were 
 lethargic, formal, dead. DODDRIDGE, WATTS, 
 and a few others, were bright exceptions ; but 
 their influence was limited to narrow circles ; 
 their light scarcely relieved the general gloom. 
 
 As it was with the clergy, so it was with 
 their flocks. The churches seemed under the 
 power of a Lethean draught. They mostly 
 slept, as if oblivious of the calls of duty, the 
 warnings of retribution, and the woes of 
 humanity. 
 
 As a consequence, irreligion stalked over 
 the land with a haughty, philosophic skepti- 
 cism at her right hand ; a coarse, blustering 
 infidelity at her left; and a host of blear-eyed 
 immoralities in her train. The nobles, the 
 statesmen, the literary men of England, did 
 not scruple to deride evangelical religion 
 with their lips, and to insult its moralities in
 
 188 SPIRITUAL RESULTS OF METHODISM. 
 
 their practice. " There was no thinking at 
 that time," says Isaac Taylor, " which was 
 not atheistical in its tone and tendency." 
 The middle classes were immersed in the sea 
 of avarice ; the lower orders were abandoned 
 to the grossest vices. " The moral and reli- 
 gious defection which obtained," says DR. 
 MORRISON, " was extraordinary and almost 
 universal" " The higher ranks of society," 
 says DR. CORBETT, "viewed the ordinances 
 of religion with indifference, and the poorer 
 classes had sunk into the grossest vices." In 
 Calvinistic Scotland, the case was no better. 
 REV. JAMES ROBIE, of Kilsyth, in 1740, said: 
 " For some years past there hath been a sen- 
 sible decay as to the life and power of godli- 
 ness. Iniquity abounded, and the love of 
 many waxed cold. Our defection from the 
 Lord, and backsliding, increased fast to a 
 dreadful apostacy. While the government, 
 worship and DOCTRINE, established in this 
 church WERE RETAINED IN PROFESSION, THERE 
 
 HATH BEEN AN UNIVERSAL CORRUPTION OF
 
 SPIRITUAL RESULTS OF METHODISM. 189 
 
 LIFE, reaching even unto the sons and daugh- 
 ters of God." 
 
 Was the spiritual condition of America 
 any better when Whitefield, glowing with 
 Methodistic life, visited its coasts ; and when, 
 subsequently, Philip Embury raised the ban- 
 ner of Methodism in New York ? Let Mr. 
 Tracy, the historian of the " Great Awaken- 
 ing," answer. Referring to the period of 
 Whitefield's labors, he says : 
 
 " The doctrine of the ' new birth ' as an as- 
 certaiuable change, was not generally preva- 
 lent in any communion when the revival com- 
 menced." 
 
 " The difference between the church and 
 the world was vanishing away. Church dis- 
 cipline was neglected, and the growing lax- 
 ness of morals was invading the churches. 
 And yet never, perhaps, had the expectation 
 of reaching heaven at last, been more gener- 
 al, or more confident. Occasional revivals 
 had interrupted this downward progress, and 
 the preaching of sound doctrine had retarded
 
 190 SPIRITUAL RESULTS OP METHODISM. 
 
 it in many places, especially in Northampton ; 
 but even there it had gone on, and the hold 
 of truth on the consciences of men was sadly 
 diminished. The young were abandoning 
 themselves to frivolity, and amusements of 
 dangerous tendency, and party spirit was pro- 
 ducing its natural fruit of evil on the old." 
 
 Again he says (in 1740) : " A large majori- 
 ty in the Presbyterian church, and many, if 
 not most, in New England, held that the 
 ministrations of unconverted men if neither 
 heretical in doctrine nor scandalous for im- 
 morality, were valid, and their labors useful." 
 
 Of the churches in Rhode Island, in 1740, 
 WHITEFIELD, as quoted by Tracy, says : " ALL, 
 I fear, place the kingdom of God too much in 
 meats and drinks, and have an ill name 
 abroad for running of goods." 
 
 Again he says, while in Boston, " I am 
 verily persuaded the generality of preachers 
 talk of an unknown and unfelt Christ ; and 
 the reason why congregations have been so 
 dead, is because they have had DEAD MEN
 
 SPIRITUAL RESULTS OP METHODISM. 191 
 
 PREACHING TO THEM." Again, " Boston * * 
 has the form kept up very well, but has lost 
 much of the power of religion. I have not 
 heard of any remarkable stir in it for these 
 many years." 
 
 In 1743, Rev. Messrs. Messenger and Ha- 
 ven, of Natick, say : " For a long time past 
 the power of godliness has been evident but 
 in comparatively few instances." 
 
 Rev. John Porter, in 1743, says of Bridge- 
 water, Massachusetts, " Experimental religion 
 and the power of godliness seemed to have 
 taken their flight from Bridgewater. The 
 greater part of the people who thought of re- 
 ligion at all, rested in various duties short 
 of a saving closure with Christ." 
 
 Rev. N. Leonard, of Plymouth, Mass., writ- 
 ing in 1744, says: " It pleased God to cast 
 my lot in the first church and town in the 
 country, twenty years ago. Religion was 
 then (i. e. in 1724) under a great decay ; most 
 people seemed to be taken up principally 
 about the world and the lusts of this life,
 
 192 SPIRITUAL RESULTS OF METHODISM. 
 
 though there appeared some serious Chris- 
 tians among us who bewailed the growth of 
 impiety, profaneness, Sabbath breaking, gam- 
 ing, tavern-haunting, intemperance, and other 
 evils, which threatened to bear down all that 
 is good and sacred before them. We were 
 sensible of an awful degeneracy. * * Ini- 
 quity prevailed, and we were in danger of 
 losing the very form of godliness." 
 
 Rev. Samuel Davies, of Virginia, writes in 
 1751 : " Religion has been, and in most parts 
 of the colony still is, in a very low state. 
 * * Family religion is a rarity. * * Vices 
 of various kinds are triumphant, and even a 
 form of godliness is not common." 
 
 Rev. Jonathan Dickenson, of Elizabeth- 
 town, New Jersey, says : " Religion was in a 
 very low state, professors generally dead and 
 lifeless, and the body of our people careless, 
 carnal and secure. There was but little of 
 the power of godliness appearing among us 
 until some time in August, 1739, when there 
 was a remarkable revival at Newark."
 
 SPIRITUAL RESULTS OP METHODISM. 193 
 
 Of the Presbyterians throughout the land, 
 in 1740, Mr. Tracy says they admitted "to 
 the full communion of the church, persons 
 who gave no evidence of regeneration. The 
 doctrine of the new birth ceased to be re- 
 garded in the administration of the ordi- 
 nances; * * as a natural consequence, it 
 practically slipped from the minds both of 
 preachers and hearers" 
 
 Rev. S. Blair, of New Londonderry, Penn- 
 sylvania, in 1 744, says : " People were very 
 generally, through the land, careless at 
 heart, and stupidly indifferent about the great 
 concerns of eternity. There was very little 
 appearance of any hearty engagedness in re- 
 ligion. * * It was sad to see with what a 
 careless behavior the public ordinances were 
 attended." 
 
 The eloquence and piety of Whitefield 
 kindled a bright light in this hour of gloom ; 
 but being fed with Calvinistic theology only, 
 it soon lost its brilliancy. The bones of that 
 apostolic man were scarcely deposited in 
 13
 
 194 SPIRITUAL RESULTS OP METHODISM. 
 
 their sepulchre at Newburyport, before anoth- 
 er fearful apostacy spread the pall of death 
 over the churches of America.* So that at 
 the advent of American Methodism, the mor- 
 al and spiritual condition of this country was 
 scarcely better than that of the Fatherland 
 when Wesley arose. 
 
 Thus, in both lands, Methodism rose like a 
 bright, particular star, in an hour of deep 
 and fearful gloom. What did it accomplish ? 
 In general terms, it may be replied that it 
 was the instrument, in both countries, of a 
 
 * " With all the accession of strength," says Mr. Tracy, " that 
 religion received from the revival, it did but just stand the shock, 
 (of the revolution,) and. for a long time, many of the pious feared 
 that everything holy would be swept away !! Strengthened by so 
 many tens of thousands of converts, and by the deep sense of 
 the importance of religion produced in other tens of thousands, 
 both in and out of the churches, religion survived, in time ral- 
 lied and advanced, and is marching on to victory." (Great 
 Awakening, p. 421. ) 
 
 The Puritan Recorder, of August 31, 1854, describing the state 
 of religion at the epoch of the revolution, confirms Mr. Tracy. 
 It says : " It is well known how disastrous to religion were the 
 influences attending that war, and what wide spread religious de- 
 ckntion followed.' 1 '
 
 SPIRITUAL RESULTS OP METHODISM. 195 
 
 revival of spiritual religion, which for depth, 
 intensity, extent, permanency, duration, and 
 humanitarian influences, has no parallel in the 
 history of the Christian Church since the 
 apostolic age.* Its results are not to be es- 
 timated by the numerical strength of the 
 Methodistic body. "Wonderful as is the crea- 
 tion of such a body of spiritual people in so 
 brief a period, its results outside of its own 
 membership are yet more vast and astonish- 
 ing. Did it not break up the formalism of 
 existing churches, and impregnate them anew 
 with that divine life which not only saved 
 them from extinction, but which also started 
 them on a career of progress that continues 
 to the present hour ? Did it not stop the 
 march of infidelity, and thereby save England 
 from the revolutionary vortex which swal- 
 
 * Methodism gained more members to its own communion in 
 its first century, than the apostolic church during its first cen- 
 tury. At the end of ibejirtt century of the Christian Era, there 
 were 600,000 Christians ; at the end of its first century, Metho- 
 dism had 1,423,000 communicant a number nearly three 
 times greater.
 
 196 SPIRITUAL RESULTS OF METHODISM. 
 
 lowed so much of the blood of France ? Did 
 it not awaken that spirit of evangelical ac- 
 tivity, which led to the conception and inau- 
 guration of the missionary and other ideas, 
 now embodied in our various benevolent 
 organizations ? Did it not do much toward 
 determining the religious condition of these 
 United States ? I do not claim that it did 
 all these things directly] but I do claim that 
 they have all grown out of the life to which 
 it gave birth. They cannot be traced to any 
 other cause. We can find their germ no- 
 where else but in the Methodistic revival: 
 but for which one trembles to think what 
 fearful moral desolation would have over- 
 spread the earth. That you may see how 
 this view is supported by large minded men 
 of other denominations, I will insert a few 
 extracts from various sources below.* 
 
 * DR. MORRISON says: " The church of England received a 
 mighty and hallowed impulse from the organization of Metho 
 dism. # # * In referring to the influence of Methodism upon 
 Dissent, it will be frankly conceded, by all competent judges of 
 passing events, that it has told with prodigious effect upon its
 
 SPIRITUAL RESULTS OF METHODISM. 197 
 
 Nor has the spiritual life of Methodism 
 yet begun to show symptoms of decay. Hav- 
 ing lifted other sects up towards its own 
 
 internal organization, and upon all its movements for the good 
 of mankind. * * Methodism did much to bring on the great 
 missionary crisis of the church. * * It was the glory of Metho- 
 dism that it siezed with a giant grasp this great principle of the 
 apostolic ministry." Dr. Morrison's Fathers and Founders of 
 the London Missionary Society. 
 
 REV. RICHARD CECIL says: " They (the Methodists) have la- 
 bored and not fainted in planting the gospel amongst the poor, 
 and that with the most surprising success, even in the most dark 
 and profligate places. * * Multitudes of genuine Christians 
 could at^st that under whatever denomination they now pro- 
 ceed, they owe their first serious impressions to the labors of 
 these men." Cecifs Memoirs of Cadogan. 
 
 DR. CHALMERS says: " Methodism is Christianity in earnest." 
 
 ROBERT HALL says: Whitefield and Wesley "will be hailed 
 by posterity as the Second Reformers of England." 
 
 SIR PETER LAURIE, a British magistrate, in a speech, said: 
 " I would much rather see a Methodist chapel than a station 
 house. I would that all the country might embrace your senti- 
 ments and emulate your moral character; for then, indeed, no 
 police would be heard of." 
 
 Similar testimonies abound with respect to American Metho- 
 dism. I will quote a few. 
 
 The following paragraph is from the pen of DR. BAIRD, a gen- 
 tleman whose extensive travel, and close and long continued 
 observation on the various religious systems of the country, en-
 
 198 SPIRITUAL RESULTS OF METHODISM. 
 
 standard, its superior vitality may not be so 
 apparent as when they were shrouded in 
 formality; yet it is as real and robust as 
 
 title his opinion to the very highest respect. He says : " No 
 American Christian, who takes a comprehensive view of the 
 progress of religion in his country, and considers how wonder 
 fully the means and instrumentalities employed are adapted to 
 the extent and wants of that community, can hesitate for a mo- 
 ment to bless God for having, in his mercy, provided them all. 
 Nor will he fail to recognize, in the Methodist economy, as well as 
 in the zeal, the devoted piety, and the efficiency of its ministry, 
 one of the most powerful elements in the religious prosperity of the 
 United Slates, as well as one of the firmest pillars of their civil 
 and political institutions." Religion in America, p. 249. 
 
 REV. DR. TYNG, in an address in London, before the Wes- 
 leyan Missionary Society, in 1842, said: "I come from a land 
 where we might as well forget the proud oaks that tower in our 
 forests, the glorious capitol we have erected in the centre of our 
 hills, or the principles of truth and liberty which we are endeav- 
 oring to disseminate, as forget the influence of Wesleyan Metho- 
 dism, and the benefits we liave received thereby. # * The Wes- 
 leyan body in our country is what the Wesleyan body is 
 throughout the world. * * Standing, I was going to say, man- 
 fully, but I check the spirit, and say humbly, at the feet of 
 Jesus, laboring for him, and accounting it its highest honor if it 
 may but bear the cross, while he, in all his glory, should be per- 
 mitted to wear the crown." 
 
 The next extract is from a writer in the Presbyterian Chris- 
 tian Herald, quoted in Clark's Memoir of Bishop Hedding: "No
 
 SPIRITUAL RESULTS OF METHODISM. 199 
 
 ever. A recent writer in the North British 
 Review, whose objections to some features 
 of the Wesleyan system prove him to be not 
 of it, says : " We believe that the Wesleyan 
 body contains by far the largest per centage 
 of true religion and moral life of any sect 
 in England." And you know, my dear con- 
 vert, that, in this country, there is no room 
 to doubt that the spiritual activity of Metho- 
 dism is vastly greater and less vacillating 
 than that of any other sect. A Congrega- 
 tional clergyman of Massachusetts, naively 
 confessed this fact recently in a conversation 
 with a Methodist preacher. He said : " We " 
 (the Congregationalists) "always look to 
 the Methodists to lead in a revival. I ad- 
 
 pioneer gets beyond the reach of Methodist itinerants. Though 
 he pass the Rocky Mountains, and pursue his game to the Pa- 
 cific, he soon finds the self-denying, unconquerable, unescape- 
 able Methodist minister at his side, summoning him to the camp- 
 meeting, and winning his soul to Christ! Thousands upon 
 thousands of pioneers, scattered like sheep and almost lost from 
 the world, in those far-off wilds of the West, have blessed God 
 for raising up Wesley and the Methodists."
 
 200 SPIRITUAL RESULTS OF METHODISM. 
 
 vised the pastor of a Congregational church 
 in a town where the church was large and 
 wealthy, but had not enjoyed a revival within 
 the memory of its oldest member, to secure, 
 if he could, the organization of a Methodist 
 church there, because such a church would 
 certainly exert a most beneficial influence on 
 the general spiritual interests of the town; 
 and particularly on the spiritual life and vig- 
 or of that Congregational church." If every 
 preacher of Calvinistic theology was as frank 
 as this good brother, such confessions would 
 be general. Thank God, Methodism re- 
 tains the life G-od gave it when he con- 
 verted the Wesleys ; and if the culture of 
 your spiritual life is the great object you 
 seek in forming a church relation, you will 
 regard it as the first of privileges to be 
 permitted to enter its fellowship. 
 
 But the enemies of our church seek to 
 divert attention from these wonderful and 
 glorious facts, by pretending that in build- 
 ing up itself, Methodism inflicts injury on
 
 SPIRITUAL BESULTS OP METHODISM. 201 
 
 society. It brings, they assert, vast num- 
 bers of persons under the influence of re- 
 ligious excitement, and induces them to 
 make spurious professions of conversion. 
 One unscrupulous writer has said that of the 
 number professing conversion at Methodist 
 meetings, "nine-tenths of the whole are 
 found to be spurious, after a longer or 
 shorter trial ! " Strange assertion ! It car- 
 ries its own contradiction on its brazen 
 brow. It is even absurdly false. To be 
 true, no less than twelve millions and a 
 half of persons, or two-thirds of the adult 
 population of the country, must have pro- 
 fessed conversion in Methodist churches, for 
 they contain about a million and a quarter of 
 communicants within their pale! A state- 
 ment resulting in a consequence so mani- 
 festly impossible cannot be true. It is un- 
 worthy the serious attention of a sane man.* 
 
 * For a full and conclusive reply to the pretended facts by 
 which this silly assertion of Parsons Cooke was supported, see 
 my pamphlet entitled " A Defence of Methodism," &c.
 
 202 SPIRITUAL RESULTS OP METHODISM. 
 
 But I need not lead you through the fog 
 with which its enemies seek to obscure the 
 glory of Methodism. You will not be de- 
 ceived nor turned aside from it, I feel as- 
 sured. You cannot fail to see that God is 
 with it. His grace is its garment. His arm 
 its power. His strength its protection. His 
 love the pledge of its perpetuity. His ap- 
 proval the diadem of beauty which crowns its 
 brow. Go, then, beloved; go, kneel at its 
 altar ; enter its fellowship ; drink deep of its 
 spirit ; emulate the zeal and purity of its mas- 
 ter spirits ; and thereby learn the truth of the 
 dying words of its great founder the best 
 of all is, God is with us.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 | ID you, my reader, ever visit the 
 Hartz Mountain, in Germany? 
 If so, you heard at least of the 
 celebrated spectre which haunts 
 its summit. Perhaps you saw it, 
 colossal figure crowning the summit 
 of the Brocken, bending and moving, 
 as if in imitation of your own gestures. If 
 you stretched out your arms, the spectre did 
 the same. If you bowed, the spectre re- 
 turned the compliment ; and you were thrilled 
 with astonishment at the phenomenon. Yet 
 you were not alarmed. Your scientific 
 knowledge taught you that the gigantic image 
 before you was merely the shadow of your- 
 self, projected on dense vapors or fleecy 
 clouds, which had the power to reflect light 
 freely. Yet such was the impression it made 
 14
 
 204 METHODIST CHUECH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 upon your mind, that you were not surprised 
 at the marvellous stories to which it had giv- 
 en rise among the peasantry of the adjacent 
 region. You could readily understand how 
 superstitious ignorance could invest that 
 spectre with the terror with which the imagi- 
 nation delights to clothe supernatural beings. 
 Now it is a curious fact that the adversa- 
 ries of Methodism, whenever they turn their 
 eyes toward its government,, affect to see a 
 spectre resting upon its dome. They take 
 strange delight in harping upon what they 
 are pleased to call its despotism. Mr. 
 Graves, whose malice floats like scum upon 
 every page of his book, calls its government 
 a " naked clerical despotism." Mr. Cooke, 
 whose views of our system are founded on 
 the most superficial knowledge of its princi- 
 ples, says, the " theory of our church assumes 
 that God has given all church power to one 
 or more bishops, to reign absolute over the 
 whole body of associated Christians in a na- 
 tion !! " Others take up the same cry, and
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 205 
 
 thus, from Maine to California, our adversa- 
 ries assail us with this charge of despotism 
 for their battle-cry. We think it possible 
 some of them may be ignorant enough of 
 Methodism to believe their own assertions. 
 But with the more intelligent of our foes, 
 this cry is raised for the purpose of raising 
 the national prejudice against a church whose 
 rapid growth and immense resources they 
 both fear and e.nvy. The numerical superi- 
 ority of Methodism, as shown by the facts of 
 the last census, has disturbed them exceed- 
 ingly. Knowing that the republican idea is 
 justly popular, and the despotic idea justly 
 hateful with the American public, they seek 
 to persuade the people that Methodism is 
 anti-republican and despotic in its principles, 
 spirit, and practice. Could they succeed, 
 they would, doubtless, inflict a deadly wound 
 upon it. They would assuredly retard its 
 progress. 
 
 But the charge is false. Methodism is not 
 a despotism, any more than the spectre of
 
 206 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 the Brocken is a reality. Like that figure, 
 the charge is proven to be a shadow the 
 reflection of the thoughts of those who make 
 it having no substantial existence. True, its 
 ecclesiastical forms were not cast in a repub- 
 lican mould. The democratic idea is not 
 very legibly written in the letter of its disci- 
 pline. A superficial observer, gazing on 
 some of its arrangements, without taking into 
 account the numerous checks which are every- 
 where thrown around those to whom it con- 
 veys power, might easily misconceive its prin- 
 ciples, and misjudge its spirit and practical 
 operations. While, to those who write in the 
 venomous spirit of the writers referred to 
 above, nothing is easier than, by exaggerating 
 some features of the system and suppressing 
 others, to make out the plausible semblance 
 of a strong case. 
 
 But there is a strong, and as we think, un- 
 answerable a priori argument against this 
 charge, in the fact that those who are in the 
 M. B. Church are utterly unconscious of the
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 207 
 
 pressure of this alleged despotism. No 
 Methodist feels oppressed by it. Methodist 
 ministers and laymen maintain as much self- 
 respect, feel as free in spirit, and are as un- 
 constrained in their action, as the ministry 
 and laity of the most ultra Congregationalist 
 church in the land. No despotic arm terrifies 
 them. No irresponsible authority oppresses 
 them. No arbitrary inflictions gall them. 
 How is this? How can this consciousness 
 of freedom exist and flourish unchecked, if 
 Methodism is such a system of despotism as 
 its enemies declare it to be ? It will not do 
 to say that our people are not sufficiently in- 
 telligent to distinguish between liberty and 
 freedom; for we hesitate not to assert that 
 the average culture of our people is equal to 
 that of any other large denomination in the 
 land. How is it, then ? There is but one 
 answer. The despotism does not exist, save 
 in the disturbed imaginations of our enemies. 
 What is despotism ? It is absolute au- 
 thority, irresponsible to constitutions, laws,
 
 208 METHODIST CHUECH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 or tribunals. But Methodism knows no such 
 authority as this. Every man minister or 
 layman upon whom it confers power, is 
 controlled by rules, and held responsible to 
 proper tribunals for the right exercise of his 
 authority. Every officer's duties, from a class 
 leader to a bishop, are specifically defined ; 
 and the greater the power bestowed, the 
 more strict is the responsibility which is ex- 
 acted. Hence, while a member or preacher 
 can be expelled for specific violations of the 
 Discipline only, a bishop is liable to expul- 
 sion for improper conduct. Should a bishop 
 foolishly undertake to enact the part of a 
 tyrant, should he wantonly abuse his appoint- 
 ing power to any appreciable extent, the 
 General Conference has the power, as it cer- 
 tainly would have the motive and inclination, 
 to expel him. While such restraints upon its 
 authorities as these exist, Methodism cannot 
 be considered a despotism. The grand fun- 
 damental element of despotism absolute, 
 irresponsible authority is not found in the 
 system.
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 209 
 
 Again I ask, what is despotism ? It is ir- 
 responsible authority reposing upon force. 
 The appeal of the despot is not to the con- 
 sent of the governed, but to force. His au- 
 thority is built, not on the enlightened affec- 
 tion of his subjects, but on the bayonets of 
 his warriors. His arguments are chains, 
 prisons, scaffolds. To talk about a despot- 
 ism without force, is to drivel, not reason. 
 There can be no despotism where there is no 
 power to coerce obedience. 
 
 Still our enemies say Methodism is a "na- 
 ked clerical despotism, that its " bishops 
 reign absolute over the whole body." Where 
 then is its coercive power ? Where its means 
 of enforcing obedience ? It has none, abso- 
 lutely none. It reposes not on force, but on 
 the opinions and choice of its members. 
 This is its corner-stone. Robbed of this, it 
 would dissolve like the " fabric of a vision." 
 So entirely does it rely on the affectionate 
 and voluntary support of the people, that it 
 formally absolves them from legal obligation 
 14
 
 210 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 to render it that pecuniary aid which is essen- 
 tial to its operations. If the allowances 
 needful for the support of its ministry are 
 not forthcoming, " the church," says the Dis- 
 cipline, p. 181, " shall not be accountable for 
 the deficiency, as in a case of debt." Did the 
 world ever hear of a despotism throwing it- 
 self so completely on the affections and choice 
 of its subjects ? Never. How then can Metho- 
 dism be despotism ? 
 
 But, it may be alleged, Methodism gives 
 the power of excommunicating the laity to 
 the clergy, and this ghostly power is equivo- 
 cal to coercion in its influence over the mem- 
 bership. Such an allegation as this is sheer 
 nonsense. To an enlightened people, excom- 
 munication without just cause, has no terror, 
 because it cannot affect the spiritual rela- 
 tions of the sufferer. Such excommunication 
 in this country is at most but an annoyance, 
 and is not even dreamed of among Metho- 
 dists as a motive to hold them to its commu- 
 nion.
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 211 
 
 But even this power is not lodged abso- 
 lutely in the ministry of the M. E. Church. 
 Before excommunication can take place, a 
 layman must be formally tried and condemned 
 by a committee of laymen. He can appeal 
 from a wrong verdict to a Quarterly Confer- 
 ence, composed chiefly of laymen. He can 
 finally procure the arrest of his pastor for 
 mal-administration, at the bar of the Annual 
 Conference. Hence, if there was terror in 
 an unjust excommunication, our laity are 
 pretty effectually guarded against it. The 
 ministry cannot use the power of excommuni- 
 cation as a means of coercing the submission 
 of the people. To what, then, does all the 
 power actually lodged in the hands of the 
 bishops and ministers of the M. E. Church 
 amount ? Restrained on every side by checks 
 and accountability, it cannot be arbitrarily 
 exercised without bringing censure or deposi- 
 tion upon him who is weak or wicked enough 
 to abuse it. Reposing upon the affections 
 and consent of the people, its abuse would'
 
 212 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 be its destruction. How then can Methodism 
 be a despotism, when it is manifestly lacking 
 in the fundamental elements of a despotic 
 power ? 
 
 A third element of despotism is centraliza- 
 tion. A. despotism seeks to "concentrate 
 the whole administration of the government 
 in its own hands." It abhors the municipal 
 idea. It frowns upon all local authority 
 which is not responsible to itself, and de- 
 pendent upon its will. For example, free 
 municipalities are unknown in the confessedly 
 despotic government of Russia. Their ex- 
 istence is little better than nominal, in des- 
 potically governed France. They flourish 
 only in such countries as enjoy a limited 
 monarchy, like England, or republican insti- 
 tutions, like the United States. But despot- 
 ism eschews them. It loathes all local au- 
 thority which is not dependent on itself. 
 Centralization is its law, and wherever it 
 exists all authority proceeds from it, is re- 
 sponsible to it, and exists only by its permis- 
 sion.
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 213 
 
 But is Methodism a system of centraliza- 
 tion ? Does it hold its members in bands 
 of iron responsibility to a single central 
 power? Does any supreme authority re- 
 strain the liberties of individual societies, 
 and deprive local churches of their proper 
 freedom ? If so, where is that central pow- 
 er ? If, as our enemies say, Methodism is a 
 despotism, let that overshadowing, all-con- 
 trolling authority be named ? It cannot be 
 done. 
 
 If such a power exist at all, it must be 
 found either in the Episcopacy or in the 
 General Conference. To affirm it of an An- 
 nual Conference, would be to talk nonsense, 
 because an Annual Conference is geographi- 
 cally limited in its jurisdiction. If it can be 
 found anywhere, it must be in the Episco- 
 pacy, or in the General Conference. I affirm 
 that it is not in either. 
 
 1. The Episcopacy is not such a power. 
 As a body, the Episcopacy has no power at 
 all. It is not recognized in Methodism in an
 
 214 METHODIST CHUECH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 associate capacity.* If our seven bishops 
 were to meet in solemn conclave, their de- 
 cisions, opinions, or doings would possess 
 no more authority over the church than the 
 decisions of any other seven preachers, of 
 equal character, age, and talent, in the con- 
 nection. Whatever power they possess be- 
 longs to them individually, and not as a bench 
 or conclave. 
 
 The power of a Methodist bishop is great- 
 ly overrated. Viewed through the spectacles 
 of our adversaries, the Methodist bishop is a 
 despot without a peer this side the Vatican. 
 But when he is examined in the light of the 
 Methodist Discipline, he becomes a simple 
 preacher of the gospel, burdened with fearful 
 responsibilities and onerous labors, but so 
 fettered by restraints and accountability that 
 he cannot enact the tyrant to any appreciable 
 extent, without feeling the sharp axe of ec- 
 clesiastical deposition on his Episcopal neck. 
 
 * In the M. E. Church South, I believe the bench of bishops, 
 as such, has certain powers. But they are clearly denned and 
 limited by the Discipline of the Church.
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 215 
 
 What are the powers of a Methodist 
 bishop ? 1. He has the power of ordination. 
 2. He is, ex ojficio, the moderator of the Gen- 
 eral and Annual Conferences. 3. He decides 
 all questions of law that may arise in an An- 
 nual Conference. 4. He can confine an 
 Annual Conference to its legitimate func- 
 tions. 5. He can change, receive, and sus- 
 pend preachers during the interval of an 
 Annual Conference. 6. He stations the 
 preachers. 
 
 Now mark the limitations of these powers. 
 1. Has the bishop the power of ordination? 
 Granted. But the Conferences only have the 
 power to elect men to orders. Without their 
 concurrence, therefore, a bishop cannot or- 
 dain a single candidate. 2. Is the bishop, ex 
 ojficio, moderator in the Conferences? He 
 is. But he has neither voice nor vote in the 
 Conference itself. He can neither make a 
 motion nor engage in debate. 3. Does he 
 decide questions of law in an Annual Confer- 
 ence ? He does ; but the application of his
 
 216 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 decision is with the Conference. His decis- 
 ion, if offensive to a single preacher, may be 
 carried by appeal to the General Conference. 
 In the General Conference he has no right to 
 decide any question, either of law or order, 
 but is in all things subject to the decisions of 
 that body. 4. Can he confine an Annual 
 Conference to its legitimate functions ? He 
 can. But those functions are specifically de- 
 fined ; and if he invades the rights of a Con- 
 ference, he is accountable at the ensuing 
 General Conference. 5. Can he change, re- 
 ceive and suspend preachers in the interval 
 of a Conference ? He can. But he must be 
 governed by the necessity of the case in his 
 exercise of the first two powers; and he 
 cannot suspend, only as " Discipline may re- 
 quire ; " that is, after due examination and 
 conviction before a committee of preachers. 
 6. Has he power to station preachers ? This, 
 we confess, is a great power, but it involves 
 such a fearful amount of responsibility to 
 God, that its possessor must needs become a
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 217 
 
 very bad and very reckless man, before he 
 could think of abusing it. But a bishop is 
 responsible for its use to the delegates of the 
 very men over whom it is exercised ; and no 
 bishop could abuse it to any serious degree 
 without stirring up such a spirit of resist- 
 ance as would result in great restrictions on 
 the appointing power itself. The General 
 Conference gave the stationing power to the 
 bishops, and should they ever abuse it, it will 
 assuredly take it from them. 
 
 Thus, on every side, the power of a bishop 
 meets with limits which it dare not pass 
 without self-destruction. Nor are these all 
 the restraints which surround a bishop. He 
 is dependent for the amount of his salary 
 on the decisions of a committee of an 
 Annual Conference. He is responsible for 
 his private and official conduct to the Gen- 
 eral Conference, which may expel him for 
 improprieties which would only subject a 
 preacher or layman to censure. He has no 
 power to appoint men to special offices in the
 
 218 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 church, such as editorships, secretaryships, 
 and book agencies. No layman, no minister, 
 no Conference, is judicially responsible to 
 him. He cannot hold the preacher he ap- 
 points to a station accountable to himself, 
 but must leave him to the judgment of the 
 brethren composing his Conference. 
 
 Now I submit the question to you, dear 
 convert, in all candor, can this Episcopacy, so 
 limited, so restrained, so utterly deprived of 
 legislative and judicial powers be such a cen- 
 tralized power as is necessary to constitute 
 a despotism ? Did any man ever dream of 
 despotism existing under such conditions? 
 Nay. Is it not worse than absurd to say, as 
 our Puritan adversary has recently said, 
 Methodist bishops " reign absolute over the 
 whole body ? " The fact is, the bishops do 
 not reign at all. They serve. Their au- 
 thority is defined, limited, hemmed in on 
 every side. They are not despots, and they 
 could not be if they would. 
 
 We know it is urged by our enemies that
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVEENMENT. 219 
 
 the bishops break down all these barriers, 
 and hold the preachers and Conferences sub- 
 servient to their will, through the influence 
 they derive from their appointing power. If 
 the bishop have " special ends of his own to 
 carry," says a bitter foe to our institutions, 
 " his will is irresistible. If he wishes to de- 
 pose a member, he could if he would, com- 
 mand every vote." 
 
 This is mere babble. It only proves how 
 ignorant its writer is, both of Methodist 
 bishops and Methodist preachers. Were he 
 acquainted with them, he would know that 
 the former are too high and noble minded to 
 use their power for personal ends, and too 
 shrewd not to perceive that to so abuse their 
 stationing power would be the sure way to 
 lose it. That Methodist preachers will not 
 take the " ministerial life " of one of their 
 number to please a bishop, the history of 
 New England Methodism most abundantly 
 proves. They have too much self-respect and 
 personal independence to submit to be
 
 220 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 coerced into that, or any other act, by the 
 stationing power. They would despise a 
 bishop who should attempt to play the tyrant; 
 and, if they saw fit, take the appointing 
 power out of the hands of the Episcopacy 
 altogether, and give it to a committee of their 
 own election. It is, therefore, absolute non- 
 sense for our enemies to prate about the 
 despotism of Methodist .bishops. They have 
 no despotic power given them by the Disci- 
 pline. They cannot arrogate such power by 
 abusing the prerogatives of their office. 
 Hence, as I have already said, they do not 
 constitute such a centralized authority as is 
 necessary to make Methodism a "naked 
 clerical despotism." 
 
 Is the General Conference such a central- 
 ized authority as is implied in a despotism ? 
 I think not. What are the powers of the 
 General Conference? 1. It has legislative 
 authority " full powers to make rules and 
 regulations for our church." 2. It has a cer- 
 tain measure of judicial authority it is a
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 221 
 
 high court of appeals from the judicial 
 decisions of Annual Conferences; it is a 
 court for the trial of bishops; it confers 
 judicial powers on the Annual and Quarterly 
 Conferences, and on the societies which con- 
 stitute the church. 3. It possesses executive 
 authority. It can elect and depose the 
 bishops. It confers administrative powers on 
 bishops, presiding elders, stationed preachers, 
 stewards, and class leaders. These are 
 large powers, we confess. Viewed apart 
 from their limitations, they wear a despotic 
 aspect. But it is neither just nor truthful 
 to so regard them. They are not absolute 
 and irresponsible powers; but they are so 
 environed by restrictions and limitations, 
 that notwithstanding their formidable ap- 
 pearance, they are not inconsistent with 
 the liberties of both preachers and people. 
 Note then the limitations of these powers. 
 1. The six restrictive rules remove several 
 most important subjects from the sphere of 
 its legislative jurisdiction. By forbidding
 
 222 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 it to change the doctrines and " General 
 Rules," they deprive it of power to afflict 
 the conscience of the church by forcing new 
 opinions upon it, or to create any law for 
 the government of its life, which is not 
 already recognized in principle by the 
 General Rules. Thus the religious faith 
 and the moral duties of the church are not 
 placed in the keeping of the General Con- 
 ference, and may not be altered by its 
 authority. The principle of Methodism is, 
 that God has determined these great 
 matters, and that ecclesiastical legislation 
 can rightfully expound His teachings, and 
 no more. The Methodistic exposition of 
 them is in our articles of faith and General 
 Rules, and the General Conference is for- 
 bidden to alter it, except in concurrence 
 with the Annual Conferences. Hence the 
 sphere for legislation by our General Con- 
 ference is mostly limited to disciplinary 
 regulations. 
 
 2. The judicial power of the General
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 223 
 
 Conference is also limited. It has original 
 jurisdiction only over the bishops. It is 
 only a court of appeals for travelling 
 preachers. It cannot receive and try charges 
 against a travelling preacher or a layman. 
 The court for the trial of the former is his 
 Annual Conference; for the latter, the 
 " society " in which he holds his member- 
 ship. Neither can the General Conference 
 interfere directly with the action of the 
 lower courts. With the " society," or its 
 court of appeal, the Quarterly Conference, 
 it has no means of intermeddling. The 
 decisions of the latter body are final and 
 conclusive, unless exception can be taken 
 to the administration of the preacher pre- 
 siding at the trial. In that case, his admin- 
 istration is subject to examination by the 
 Annual Conference, and may be determined 
 finally by appeal to the General Conference, 
 whose decisions may, by possibility, lead 
 to a reversal of the finding of the Quarterly 
 Conference, and a new trial. Such a result,
 
 224 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 however, will be an exception to ordinary 
 rule. As a matter of fact, Methodist laymen 
 are responsible to their peers only. They 
 are not held judicially responsible to either 
 the General or an Annual Conference. In 
 regard to travelling preachers, their first 
 responsibility is to their Conference, and 
 unless their conduct is brought by appeal 
 before the General Conference, that body 
 has no jurisdiction over them. Is it not 
 apparent from these facts, that the judicial 
 authority of the General Conference is far 
 from being absolute or despotic? 
 
 3. The administrative power of the Gen- 
 eral Conference is also limited. Its ad- 
 ministrative powers are practically limited 
 to the election and removal of bishops, and 
 to the formation of rules for the conduct of 
 the various administrators of its regulations 
 provided for in the Discipline. But, let it be 
 remembered, there is but one class of admin- 
 istrators directly responsible to it, viz., the 
 bishops. Class leaders are responsible to
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 225 
 
 the preacher. Stewards to the Quarterly 
 Conference. Preachers to their Annual Con- 
 ferences. Presiding elders to the Bishops. 
 The same thing is partially true of the 
 executive bodies in the church. They are not 
 so responsible to the General Conference 
 as to be susceptible of coercion by it : the 
 Quarterly Conference not being responsible 
 to it at all, and the Annual Conferences only 
 through the submission of their journals to 
 it for examination and approval. 
 
 I - know that it has been said that the Gen- 
 eral Conference could coerce a refractory or 
 heretical Annual Conference, by directing 
 the bishops to withdraw their administrations 
 from it, or to scatter its members by trans- 
 fers, and to substitute faithful men by the 
 exercise of the same power. But the men- 
 tion of these remedies only proves how weak 
 the General Conference would be if brought 
 into conflict with an Annual Conference, 
 united on any great principle or measure ; 
 for are not both the remedies proposed, 
 15
 
 226 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 suicidal acts? Does the Conference com- 
 mand the bishops to refuse their services 
 to a Conference ? What is that but cutting 
 off one of its members, and thereby weak- 
 ening itself. Such an act repeated thirty-nine 
 times would annihilate it. The exercise of 
 the transfer power to the extent proposed, 
 we take to be practically impossible. It 
 looks effectual enough in theory, but it could 
 never be carried out in practice. It is idle 
 to dream of it. What body of ministers 
 would submit to it ? What body of churches 
 would consent to such a removal of their 
 pastorate ? How could such a substitution 
 be made without almost disorganizing the 
 work generally ? Where could the men be 
 found who would consent to occupy the terri- 
 tory of the refractory Conference under such 
 circumstances ? A scheme so hedged up with 
 difficulties is not practicable, and its enun- 
 ciation was a blunder. It will never be of 
 use, save as an argument in the mouth of our 
 foes, who delight to employ it in exhibiting
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 227 
 
 what they call the despotic capabilities of 
 Methodism. 
 
 With these facts I submit the question 
 to your good sense : Can a Conference so 
 limited, by constitutional restrictions, in the 
 range of its legislative functions ; so depen- 
 dent for the enforcement and administration 
 of its disciplinary regulations on tribunals 
 and administrators not judicially responsible 
 to itself, and whose action is in a great 
 degree independent of it; so almost utterly 
 deprived of coercive power, can such a 
 Conference be that centralized authority 
 which men are wont to call a despotism? 
 Was ever government with such limitations 
 pronounced a despotism before? Never. 
 Never, so long as it is powerless to impose 
 a new dogma on the belief, or a new rule of 
 life on the conscience ; so long as it cannot 
 arraign, try, or expel layman or minister ; so 
 long as the enforcement of its regulations 
 depends on tribunals which it cannot coerce 
 or control ; so long, it must be monstrously
 
 228 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 unjust and manifestly false to call it a " naked 
 clerical despotism." 
 
 Thus, my reader, you see that none of the 
 elements essential to a despotism can be 
 found in any part of the system of Metho- 
 dism. They are not found in its Annual 
 Conferences, in its Episcopacy, nor in its 
 General Conference. Can they then be 
 found at all? Most assuredly they cannot j 
 for the government of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church is not a despotism. Neither 
 can it ever become such, so long as its exist- 
 ence depends on the consent and voluntary 
 contributions of its members. Should it 
 ever become oppressive, it would fall to 
 pieces like a rope of sand. The people have 
 but to withold pecuniary support, as they 
 would and ought to do, if treated with injus- 
 tice, and the fabric would tumble into 
 fragments. Deprived of the support of the 
 people, the dependent pastors would be 
 compelled to vacate their pulpits, for the 
 Conferences have no funds or other property
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 229 
 
 with which to support them. So long as the 
 ministry is thus directly and absolutely de- 
 pendent on the people, there is, there can be, 
 no possibility of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church becoming a despotism. 
 
 It is sometimes said that the Methodist 
 ministers either own or control the churches 
 and parsonages erected by the people ; that 
 though this property is held by trustees, they 
 are, in fact, appointed by and subject to the 
 will of the pastor in office at the time. This 
 is another misrepresentation. Our ministers 
 neither own nor control church property, as 
 you may see by turning to the chapter in the 
 Discipline of the M. E. Church which de- 
 scribes the duties of " the Trustees." That 
 chapter provides, 1. That the preacher in 
 charge, or presiding elder of the district 
 may create "a new board of trustees," to 
 hold property for the M. E. Church, unless 
 the laws of the State provide for their crea- 
 tion in some other way. Hence, in the 
 absence of State laws, the right to appoint
 
 230 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 new boards of trustees is lodged in our 
 preachers. But "where State laws provide 
 otherwise, the Discipline unequivocally waives 
 that right. 
 
 2. When a vacancy occurs in a board of 
 trustees, it is the duty of the preacher or 
 presiding elder to nominate another person 
 to fill the vacancy. The appointment of the 
 new trustee, however, is with the trustees. 
 If they are equally divided, the preacher has 
 the casting vote. 
 
 3. The trustees are not responsible to the 
 preacher, presiding elder, Annual, or General 
 Conference, but to the Quarterly Conference 
 of their circuit or station which Confer- 
 ence, as is well known, is constituted almost 
 entirely of laymen. 
 
 4. Our ministry, says Bishop Baker, in his 
 excellent " Guide Book," either in their 
 individual or associated capacity, as Annual 
 or General Conferences, have never claimed, 
 nor do they hold, in law, any title to any 
 chapel or parsonage by the deed of settle-
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 231 
 
 ment. The fee of the land is vested in 
 trustees, who hold the property in behalf of 
 each respective society. The General Con- 
 ference claims merely the right to supply the 
 pulpit, by such means as it shall elect, with 
 duly accredited ministers and preachers of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church, " who shall 
 preach and expound God's holy word 
 therein." The General Conference of 1796, 
 referring to the Deed of Settlement, adopted 
 the following sentiments: "By which we 
 manifest to the whole world that the property 
 of the preaching houses will not be invested 
 in the General Conference. But the pres- 
 ervation of our union, and the progress of 
 the work of God, indispensably require that 
 the free and full use of the pulpit should 
 be in the hands of the General Conference 
 and the yearly Conferences authorized by 
 them. Of course, the travelling preachers 
 who are in full connexion, assembled in 
 their Conferences, are the patrons of the 
 pulpits of our churches." Rec. Gen. Con/..
 
 232 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 p. 15. And if any chapel or parsonage is 
 sold by the trustees to liquidate their debts, 
 the surplus money, after cancelling the debts, 
 must be appropriated by the Annual Con- 
 ference, " according to the best of their 
 judgment, for the use of the said society" 
 
 From these facts it is obvious that the 
 assertion stated above is utterly groundless. 
 Our trustees are not " appointed by the pastor 
 in office," (except when a new board is to be 
 appointed in States which have no statute 
 otherwise providing.) They are not sub- 
 jected to the will of the pastor in office, for 
 they are not responsible to him, nor can they 
 be in any way controlled by him. The only 
 right which Methodist ministers can legally 
 enforce in our church property is that of 
 preaching in the pulpits of our churches, and 
 occupying our parsonages according to the 
 intention of those who contributed monies 
 for their erection. Can any man show the 
 injustice, or even the impropriety of such a 
 claim? It cannot be done.
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 233 
 
 To comprehend and appreciate the govern- 
 ment of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 you must view it from the same standpoint 
 as they who constructed it. From that point 
 alone, can you rationally expect to see it in 
 its beauty, fitness, and excellence. If you 
 study it from any other position, it will only 
 perplex and confound you ; because you will 
 fail to discover the motives and aims which 
 it embodies. Those motives and those aims 
 are the keys which unlock its gates, and 
 unfold its wonderful adaptations to all candid 
 beholders. Only seize them, and like Chris- 
 tian and Hopeful with their key of faith in 
 the castle of Giant Despair, you will escape 
 from the dungeon of perplexity in which 
 those who assail it without understanding it 
 would fain lock you up for ever. 
 
 What then, are the motives and aims incor- 
 porated in it ? You have but to refer to the 
 life of Wesley, and the answer is yours. 
 What great motive roused him to abandon 
 the cloisters of Oxford and to devote himself
 
 234 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 to the work of an Evangelist ? Did he not 
 say, like Paul, the love of Christ constraineth 
 me ? That was his motive the love of souls 
 proceeding from the love of Christ. What 
 was his object ? To spread scriptural holi- 
 ness over the land and the world ! To these 
 ideas, he and his coadjutors conformed the 
 ecclesiastical system which they constructed, 
 both in England and America. They regard- 
 ed it, as an organization for the propagation 
 of the gospel and the culture of piety in the 
 individual heart. They took its laws from 
 the Bible, which is the great constitution and 
 statute book of Methodism. They framed 
 its discipline, rather as a code of by-laws to 
 provide for the execution of the divine 
 statutes, than as a book of legislative canons. 
 Hence, nearly everything in the discipline 
 relates to the constitution of a series of 
 executive bodies and officers charged with the 
 execution, not of Mr. Wesley's laws, but of 
 the precepts of Christ. The classes, love 
 feasts, and prayer meetings are for the fulfil-
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 235 
 
 ment of Christ's law of Christian fellowship ; 
 the board meeting, the Quarterly Conference, 
 and the Annual Conference, are chiefly to 
 secure wholesome discipline, and to make 
 such secular and other provisions as may be 
 necessary to the maintenance of a visible 
 organization of Christians. The General 
 Conference is a legislative body, only so far 
 as it determines for the church what moral 
 practices the precepts of Christ require it to 
 enforce, and what to reject ; and what execu- 
 tive methods are best fitted to accomplish 
 the grand end of the organization. In fact, 
 many of its provisions under the latter head 
 are merely advisory ; for their observance is 
 enforced by no penalty. All its rituals ; its 
 rules on preaching, on visiting from house to 
 house, on the employment of time ; its direc- 
 tions concerning public worship, singing, band 
 societies, dress, marriages, &c., fall into this 
 category. Thus its discipline is, as the name 
 imports, more a book of provisions for the 
 enforcement of the laws of Christ and the
 
 236 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 propagation of the gospel, than a code of 
 legislative canons for the direction of the 
 life. He who reads it aright will sec its 
 grand purpose to engage the whole church in 
 unceasing effort to evangelize the world, 
 standing out in bold relief on every page. 
 He will see this purpose applied, with little 
 regard to individual interests, tastes, or 
 preferences. No provision is made for the 
 toleration of indolence, ambition, or any 
 other form of selfishness. Everything is 
 made to yield to the demands of the spiritual 
 nature and the requirements of a. vigorous 
 gospel propagandism. 
 
 How beautifully is this illustrated in its 
 itinerancy. Observing in the history of the 
 primitive church, that it was most pure and 
 most successful, when its ministry contained 
 a large corps of evangelists ; and that when 
 evangelists generally became pastors, they 
 lost both their piety and efficiency, Mr. 
 Wesley seized on the idea of a ministry 
 composed entirely of evangelists or itiner-
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 237 
 
 ants. He saw that such a ministry would 
 require great personal sacrifices on the part 
 of the ministry, and severe trials of feeling 
 on the part of the churches. The former 
 must abandon the idea of a permanent and 
 real home on earth; must consent to the 
 systematic disruption of the social affections ; 
 must resign the quiet opportunities for in- 
 tellectual culture and social influence which 
 the permanent pastorate so abundantly pro- 
 vides ; must expose their families to the social 
 and educational evils inseparable from a 
 pilgrim life ; must accept, in a word, a life of 
 incessant labor, unrest, and change. The 
 churches, too, must be sorely tried in feeling 
 by such a system, though their trials are 
 nothing when compared to those of the min- 
 istry. Mr. "Wesley saw all this. But he also 
 saw, that all these evils were outweighed by 
 the superior vitality, activity, and spiritual 
 results likely to proceed from it, and, there- 
 fore, he adopted it and recommended the 
 American Methodists to do the same. Thus
 
 238 METHODIST CHUECH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 far, the result has justified his expectation. 
 The Methodist itinerancy has been the most 
 successful body of ministers known to the 
 church since the day of Pentecost. 
 
 Some persons will tell you, it would be 
 better if Methodism admitted the laity to 
 a more direct participation in the govern- 
 ment of the church than it now does. ' Per- 
 haps it would. I see but one real objection 
 to the idea; but that is a very strong one. 
 It does not appear practicable, unless some 
 other very marked and doubtful changes are 
 also made. By degrees, however, it may be 
 done. The idea is gaining ground. Our 
 ministry is fast yielding the management of 
 the financial matters of the church to its 
 laymen. It is inviting their cooperation in 
 such parts of the business of an Annual 
 Conference as admits of it. It interferes 
 very little in the fiscal affairs of individual 
 churches. In fact, it is my opinion that, in 
 our local churches, the laity generally have 
 more to do with their management, than
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 239 
 
 they do in Congregational churches. Our 
 " boards " and " Quarterly Conferences " 
 usually comprise a majority of the effective 
 and active portion of the male membership, 
 and they determine all important matters that 
 come up in their respective churches ; while 
 in Congregational churches, notwithstanding 
 the nominal parity of their members, most of 
 their affairs are practically controlled by the 
 deacons and two or three other influential 
 men. Besides, our laity create the ministry ; 
 for no man can become a minister without the 
 vote of a Quarterly Conference. With the 
 Congregationalists, the clergy alone deter- 
 mine who shall be admitted to their number. 
 So, too, in the choice of a pastor, though 
 our churches consent to receive their preacher 
 at the hands of a bishop, yet their wishes 
 are always considered and yielded to if 
 possible. They certainly obtain the man of 
 their choice as frequently as our Congrega- 
 tional brethren do, and without the expense 
 and difficulty which with them are insepar-
 
 2-10 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 able from a change of pastors. Theoretically 
 their system yields more to the laity than 
 ours ; practically there is no church which 
 furnishes freer scope for the activity, or 
 defers more to the choice, of its laymen than 
 ours. 
 
 I have now shown you that the govern- 
 ment of Methodism is not a despotism ; that 
 it cannot become so without self destruction, 
 because its principal support depends on 
 the purely voluntary contributions of the 
 laity; that its ruling motive, object, and 
 results justify its peculiarities; and that 
 though it does not yield so much power in 
 theory to laymen, as some other systems, it 
 actually concedes much in practice. These 
 views will, I hope, satisfy you, that the 
 attacks of our enemies are founded more 
 in ignorance or malice, than in truth and 
 fact. It would be easy to meet all their 
 specific allegations in detail, but it is unneces- 
 sary in your case. "What I have said is 
 sufficient to convince you, that you have no 
 possible risk of personal oppression in the
 
 METHODIST CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 241 
 
 M. E. Church;* that the only pressure you 
 can ever experience from its government, 
 will come in the form of effort to promote 
 your holiness and usefulness, which is pre- 
 cisely what you desire. Hence, to you, its 
 government will be as acceptable, as its 
 doctrines are precious. 
 
 And now, beloved convert, adieu 1 Though 
 strangers to each other, in the flesh, I trust 
 we now feel one in spirit. This being so, you 
 will follow the advice of my unpretending 
 book, and become a willing member of the 
 great Methodist Communion ; in which case, 
 I trust, we shall remain fellow travellers in 
 the way of holiness, until we meet in the 
 world of spirits. Should it then appear that 
 my advice contributed to your glorious des- 
 tiny, we will rejoice together, returning 
 thanks to Him whose spirit led me to write 
 and you to read. Until then, fare thee well. 
 
 * For full information on the controverted points in Methodist 
 church government see Church Polity by Abel Stevens, Polity 
 of Methodism by Dr. Hodgson, Original Church of Christ by 
 Dr. Bangs, &c., &c. 
 
 16
 
 APPENDIX, NO. I. 
 
 The following logical paragraph gives a clear and satis- 
 factory view of the difference between the theory which 
 in theology is known as Pelagianism, and the evangelical 
 Arminianism taught by the M. E. Church. It is taken 
 from Watson's Dictionary : 
 
 The followers of the truly evangelical Arminius, or 
 those who hold the tenet of general redemption with its 
 concomitants, have often been greatly traduced, by tho 
 ignorant among their doctrinal opponents, as Pelagian:, 
 or at least as Semi-Pelagians. It may therefore serve the 
 cause of truth to exhibit the appropriate reply which the 
 Dutch Arminians gave to this charge when urged against 
 them at the Synod of Dort, and which they verified and 
 maintained by arguments and authorities that were un- 
 answerable. In their concluding observations they say, 
 " From all these remarks, a judgment may easily be 
 formed at what an immense distance our sentiments 
 stand from the dogmatical assertions of the Pelagians and 
 Semi-Pelagians on the grace of God in the conversion of 
 man. Pelagius, in the first instance, attributed all things 
 to nature : but we acknowledge nothing but grace. When 
 Pelagius was blamed for not acknowledging grace, he be- 
 gan indeed to speak of it, but it is evident that by grace 
 he understood the power of nature, as created by God, 
 that is, the rational will ; but by grace we understand a 
 supernatural gift. Pelagius, when afterwards pressed 
 with passages of Scripture, also admitted this supernatu- 
 ral grace ; but he placed it solely in the external teaching 
 of the law : though we affirm that God offers his word to 
 men, yet we likewise affirm that he inwardly causes the 
 understanding to believe. Subsequently, Pelagius joined 
 to this external grace, that by which sins are pardoned : we 
 acknowledge not only the grace by which sins are for-
 
 APPENDIX. 243 
 
 given, bat also that by which men are assisted to refrain 
 from the commission of sin. In addition to his previous 
 concessions, Pelagius granted, that the grace of Christ 
 was requisite, beside the two kinds which he had enumer- 
 ated ; but he attributed it entirely to the doctrine and ex- 
 ample of Christ that we are aided in our endeavors not 
 to commit sin : we likewise admit that the doctrine and 
 example of Christ afford us some aid in refraining from 
 sin, but in addition to their influence we also place the 
 gift of the Holy Spirit, with which God endues us, and 
 which enlightens our understandings, and confers strength 
 and power upon our will to abstain from sinning. When 
 Pelagius afterward owned the assistance of divine power 
 inwardly working in man by the Holy Spirit, he placed 
 it solely in the enlightening of the understanding; but 
 we believe, that it is not only necessary for us to know or 
 understand what we ought to do, but that it is also re- 
 quisite for us to implore the aid of the Holy Spirit tliat 
 we may be rendered capable of performing, and may de- 
 light in the performance of, that which it is our duty to 
 do. Pelagius admitted grace, but it has been a ques- 
 tion with some whether he meant only illumination, or, 
 beside this, a power communicated to the will ; he ad- 
 mitted grace, out he did this only to show that by means 
 of it man can with greater ease act aright : we, on the 
 contrary, affirm that grace is bestowed, not that we may 
 be able with greater ease to act aright, fwhich is as 
 though we can do this even without grace,) but that 
 grace is absolutely necessary to enable us to act at all 
 aright. Pelagius asserted, that man, so far from requir- 
 ing the aid of grace for the performance of good actions, 
 is, through the powers implanted in him at the time of 
 his creation, capable of fulfilling the whole law, of loviiu; 
 God, and of overcoming all temptations ; we, on the con- 
 trary, assert that the grace of God is required for die 
 performance of every act of piety. Pelagius declared, 
 that by the works of nature man renders himself worthy 
 of grace ; but we, in common with the church universal, 
 condemn this dogma. When Pelagius afterward himself 
 condemned this tenet, he understood by grace, partly
 
 244 APPENDIX. 
 
 natural grace, which is antecedent to all merit, and partly 
 remission of sins, which he acknowledged to be gratuit- 
 ous ; but he added, that through works performed by the 
 powers of nature alone, at least through the desire of 
 good and the imperfect longing after it, men merit that 
 spiritual grace by which they are assisted in good works ; 
 but we declare, that men will that which is good on ac- 
 count of God's provenience or going before them by his 
 grace, and exciting within them a longing after good; 
 otherwise grace would no longer be grace, because it 
 would not be gratuitously bestowed, but only on account 
 of the merit of man." That many who have held some 
 tenets in common with the true Arminians have been, in 
 different degrees, followers of Pelagius, is well known ; 
 but the original Arminians were in truth as far from Pe- 
 lagian or Semi-Pelagian errors, granting the opinions of 
 Pelagius to be fairly reported by his adversaries, as the 
 Calvinists themselves. This is also the case with the 
 whole body of Wesleyan Methodists, and of the cognate 
 societies to which they have given rise, both in Great 
 Britain and America. 
 
 APPENDIX, NO. II. 
 
 CALVINISM IN 1855. 
 
 That my reader may judge of Calvinism as now taught 
 by some of its advocates, I copy the following extracts 
 from the " Confession of Faith and Form of Covenant, 
 of the Old South Church in Boston, Massachusetts." 
 The edition from which I take these extracts is from the 
 press of Crocker & Brewster, and bears the date of
 
 APPENDIX. 245 
 
 1855. I have italicised several sentences which are wor- 
 thy of special note, because they contain the most ultra 
 aspects of Calvinism. 
 
 OF GOD'S ETERNAL DECREE. 
 
 God from all eternity did by the most wise and holj 
 counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain 
 whatsoever comes to pass ; yet so as thereby neither is 
 God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will 
 of the creatures ; nor is the liberty or contingency of 
 second causes taken away, but rather established. 
 
 2. Although God knows whatsoever may or can come 
 to pass upon all supposed conditions, yet hath he. not 
 decreed anythina., because he foresaw it as future, or as 
 that which would come to pass upon such conditions. 
 
 3. By the decree of God for the manifestation of his 
 glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto ever- 
 lasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death. 
 
 4. These angels and men thus predestinated and fore- 
 ordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed, 
 and their number is so certain and definite, that it can- 
 not be either increased or diminished. 
 
 5. Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, 
 God, before the foundation of the world was laid, accord- 
 ing to his eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret 
 counsel and good pleasure of his will, hath chosen in 
 Christ unto everlasting glory, out of his mere free grace 
 and love, without any foresight of faith or good works, or 
 perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in 
 the creature, as conditions or causes moving him there- 
 unto, and all to the praise of his glorious grace. 
 
 6. As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so 
 hath he by the eternal and most free purpose of his will 
 foreordained all the means thereunto; wherefore they 
 who are elected, being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by 
 Christ, are effectually called unto faith in Christ by his 
 spirit working in due season, are justified, adopted, sancti- 
 fied, and kept by his power through faith unto salvation.
 
 246 APPENDIX. 
 
 Neither are any other redeemed by Christ, or effectually 
 called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, BUT THE 
 
 KLECT ONLY. 
 
 7. The rent of mankind God was pleased, according to the 
 unsearchable counsel of his own will, whereby he extend- 
 ed or withholdeth mercy, as he pleaseth, for the glory of 
 his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass by, and to 
 ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the 
 praise of his glorious justice. 
 
 OF EFFECTUAL CALLING. 
 
 All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and 
 those only, he is pleased in his appointed and accepted 
 time, effectually to call by word and spirit out of that 
 state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to 
 grace and salvation by Jesus Christ, enlightening their 
 minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of 
 God, taking away their heart of stone and giving unto 
 them an heart of flesh, renewing their wills, and by his 
 almighty power determining them to that which is good, 
 and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ : yet so, 
 as they come most freely, being made willing by hia 
 grace. 
 
 2. This effectual call is of God's free and special grace 
 alone, not from any thing at all foreseen in man, who is 
 altogether passive therein until, being quickened and re- 
 newed by the Holy Spirit, he is thereby enabled to answer 
 this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed 
 in it. 
 
 3. Elect infants dying in infancy, are regenerated and 
 saved by Christ, who worketh when, and where, and how 
 he pleaseth ; so also are all other elect persons who are 
 incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of 
 the world. 
 
 Others not elected although they may be called by the 
 ministjy of the word, and may have some common 
 operations of the Spirit, yet not being effectually drawu 
 bjr the Father, they neither do nor can come unto Christ,
 
 APPENDIX. 247 
 
 and therefore cannot be saved ; much less can men not 
 professing the Christian religion, be saved in any other 
 way whatsoever, be they never so diligent to frame their 
 lives, according to the light of nature, and the law of 
 that religion they do profess ; and to assert and maintain 
 that they may, is very pernicious, and to be detested. 
 
 OF THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS. 
 
 They whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectu- 
 ally called and sanctified by his Spirit, CAN neither totally 
 nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall 
 CERTAINLY persevere therein to this end, and be eternally 
 saved. 
 
 2. This perseverance of the saints depends not upon 
 their own free will, but upon the immutability of the de- 
 cree of election, from the free and unchangeable love of 
 God the Father, upon the efficacy of the merit and in- 
 tercession of Jesus Christ, and union with him ; the oath 
 of God, the abiding of his Spirit, and the seed of God 
 within them, and the nature of the covenant of grace, 
 from all which ariscth also the certainty and infallibility 
 thereof. 
 
 3. And though they may, through the temptation of 
 Satan, and of the world, the prevalency of corruption re- 
 maining in them, and the neglect of the means of their 
 preservation, fall into grievous sins, and for a time con- 
 tinue therein, whereby they incur God's displeasure, and 
 grieve his Holy Spirit, come to have their graces and 
 comforts impaired, have their hearts hardened, and tlieir 
 consciences wounded, hurt and scandalize others, and 
 bring temporal judgments upon themselves; yet they are 
 and shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto 
 salvation.
 
 248 APPENDIX. 
 
 APPENDIX, NO. III. 
 
 The following extracts, from standard expositors of 
 Calvinism, are submitted to the reafler to prove that " in- 
 fant damnation " is a doctrine which the fathers of Cal- 
 vinism regarded as a logical sequence of their principles: 
 though very few Calvinists of the present day are willing 
 to accept such a horrid dogma, albeit it is logically con- 
 tained in every form of Calvinistic theology. 
 
 AUGUSTINE, the inventor of the scheme of uncondi- 
 tional election, says : 
 
 " It may therefore be truly said that INFANTS dying without 
 baptism, WILL BE IN A STATE OP DAMNATION of all the most 
 mild. But, greatly does he deceive and is he deceived who affirms that 
 they WILL NOT BE DAMNED." Augustine De Peccat Merit et Remiss, 
 Lib. i., c. 16. 
 
 Again, in his sermon on baptism, Augustine says : 
 
 " "We affirm that they (infants) will not be saved and have eternal 
 life, except they be baptized in Christ." De Baptismo Parvulorum 
 Contra Pelagianos Sermo D. 
 
 After showing that infants are admitted to the kingdom 
 of God by baptism, he adds : 
 
 " Whosoever does not belong to the kingdom of God, must, 
 without doubt, belong to the number of the damned. The Lord 
 will come, and, about to judge the living and the dead, will, accord- 
 ing to the gospel, make two divisions, the right and the left. To 
 those on the left he will say. Depart into EVERLASTING FIKE pre- 
 pared for the devil and his angels. To those on the right he will 
 say, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom which was 
 prepared for you from the foundation of the world. The one he call8 
 a kingdom, the other damnation with the devil. THERE is NO 
 
 MIDDLE PLACE LEFT WHERE YOU CAN PUT INFANTS. Behold, 
 
 on the right is the kingdom of heaven. Inherit, he says, the king- 
 dom. He who is not there, is on the left. What will happen on 
 the left? Depart into everlasting fire. On the right an eternaJ
 
 APPENDIX. 249 
 
 kingdom ; on the left, everlasting fire. He that is not on the right, 
 wilFimiisputably be on the left. Therefore fie that is not in tiie king- 
 dom, is DOUBTLESS IN ETERNAL KIRK. Certainly he cannot have 
 eternal life, who is not baptized; he will not be on the right, that 
 is, he will not be in the kingdom. 
 
 " Behold, he [the Lord] has explained to you what is the king- 
 dom, and what is everlasting fire, so that when you confess that 
 an i NKA >T will not be in the kingdom, you may allow that HE WILL 
 
 BE IN ETERNAL KIRK. 
 
 " I feel that this question is a profound one, and I own that my 
 powers are not sutlicient to fathom its depths, I must here be 
 content to exclaim with Paul, O the depth of the riches.' AN UN- 
 BAPTIZED INFANT OOK8 TO DAMNATION." Ibid. 14, Capp. 2, 3, 
 
 4, & 7. 
 
 FULGENTIUS, a theologian of the school of Augustine, 
 gives the following as one of the articles of the Orthodox 
 faith: 
 
 " Most firmly hold, and by no means doubt, not only that men 
 who have come to the use of reason, but also that INFANTS, whether 
 they begin to live in their mother's wombs and there die, or, after 
 being born pass from this life without the sacrament of holy bap- 
 tism, which is given in the name of the Father, Son. and" lioly 
 
 Spirit, WILL BE PUNISHED WITH THE EVERLASTING PUM8HMEKT 
 
 OF ETERNAL FIRE; because, although they had no sin of their own 
 committing, they have nevertheless incurred by their carnal concep- 
 tion and nativity, the damnation of original siD.-'Fulgentiui de 
 fide ad Pet. Diae, cap. 27. 
 
 CALVIX, in his Theological Tracts, addresses Sebastian 
 Castalio, for teaching that all laws, human and divine, 
 condemn a man after and because of transgression, in the 
 following words : 
 
 You deny that it is just in God to damn any one, unless on ac- 
 count of transgression. Persons innumerable are taken out of life 
 while vt-t infants. 1'ut forth now your virulence against God who 
 
 PRECIPITATES INTO ETERNAL DEATH HARMLESS INFANTS (innox- 
 iot /OrM.t) TORN FROM THEIR MOTHERS' BREASTS. He who will HOt 
 
 detest this blasphemy [of yours] when it is only exposed, may curse 
 me at his will. For it cannot be demanded that I should be safe 
 and free from the abuse of those who do not spare God." Tract* 
 Theul. Calumnitr Nebulonis, $c., art. 14. 
 
 Once more Calvin stys : 
 
 " Whnt other than the good pleasure of God is the cause why th 
 fall of Adam involved in eternal and remediless death whole na- 
 tions, with their INFANT OFFSPRING f I confess that it is indeed a 
 hnrriblf dteree." Nichol't Calvinism and Arminianism Compared, part 
 1., p. 19.
 
 250 APPENDIX. 
 
 EDWARDS, whose authority as an expounder of Cal- 
 vinism is above dispute, says : 
 
 "We may well argue from these things, that INFANTS are not 
 looked upon by God as sinless, but that they are by nature children 
 of wrath, seeing this terrible evil comes so heavily on mankind in 
 infancy. But besides these things, which are observable concerning 
 the mortality of infants in general, there are some particular ca^e 
 of the death of infants which the scripture sets before us, that are 
 attended with circumstances, in a peculiar manner giving evidences 
 of the sinfulnuss of such, and their just exposedness to divine wrath. 
 As particularly, 
 
 "The destroying of the INFANTS in Sodom, and the neighboring 
 cities; which cities, destroyed in so extraordinary, miraculous, and 
 awful a manner, are set forth as a signal example of God's dreadful 
 vengeance for sin, to the world in all generations; agreeable to that 
 of the apostle, Jude, verse 7." 
 
 The text here referred to, is in these words : " Even 
 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, in 
 like manner giving themselves over to fornication, and 
 going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, 
 
 SUFFERING THE VENGEAXCE OF ETERNAL FIRE." 
 
 To show that he believed these poor infantile victims 
 found no relief in the future, he adds : 
 
 "To say here, that God could make it up to those infants in 
 another world, must be an insufficient reply. For so he could as 
 easily have made it up to Lot, or to ten or nfty righteous if they had 
 been destroyed in the same fire : Nevertheless, it is plainly signified, 
 that this would not have been agreeable to the wise and holy proceedings 
 of the judge of all the earth." Edwards' Works, vol. 6, pp. 262-254. 
 
 BELLAMY, the friend and disciple of Edwards, says : 
 
 " It was at God's sovereign election, to give every child of Adam 
 born in a Christian land, opportunity by living, to hear the glad tid- 
 ings, or only to grant this to some, while others die in infancy, and 
 never hear. Those who die in infancy, may as justly be held under 
 law in the next world, as those that live may in this. God is under 
 no more obligations to save those that die, than he is to save those 
 that live ; to grant the generating influences of his spirit to them, 
 than he is to these." Bellamy's Works, vol. 2, pp. 369, 370. 
 
 ZANCHIUS, who has always stood high among Calvinist 
 writers, says : 
 
 "Says Pighius: 'Infants are without actual sin. Therefore, 
 although exiles from the kingdom of heaven, they will not be 
 damned, nor receive any punishment of sense, except those of them 
 who in the course of nature sin, either in their external or internal 
 senses [nisi etiam qui sensibus internij vtl externis naturaliter peccant.]'
 
 APPENDIX. 25 1 
 
 " I answer. They aro nevertheless wicked, and being born 
 adapted to sin, AND THEREFORE JUSTLY DAMNED, although they 
 have not yet sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression. 
 For as temporal death c:une upon them on account o 1 original fin, 
 so DID ALSO ETERNAL; for God threatened both when he said: *In 
 dying you shall die.' Even young serpents anil the whelps o/ u'oftv.i, 
 who cannot as yet harm anybody, are put to death, and with jus- 
 tice. How so? Because they are of such a nature, that they easily 
 can do harm. Therefore even INFANTS ARE DESERVEDLY DAMNED, 
 on account of the nature they have, to wit, a wicked nature and re- 
 pujjiuint to the laws of God " Op. THeol. D. Hieron. Zanchii, Tom. 
 4. Lib. 1, De Peecat. Orig. Cap. 4, thet. 6. 
 
 THE SYNOD AT CAMBRIDGE, 1648, representing the 
 Puritan churches of New England, unanimously adopted 
 the confession of faith published by the Westminster As- 
 sembly. The churches of Connecticut did the same at 
 Saybrook, in 1608. The Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States holds it as its confession. And this confes- 
 sion contains the following language : 
 
 "Eltct infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated and saved by 
 Christ through the Spirit, who worketh when, and where, and how 
 he pleaseth. So also are all other elect persons, who are incapable 
 of being outwardly called by the ministry of the word. 
 
 "Others not elected, although they may be called by the ministry of 
 the word, and may have some common operations of the Spirit, yet 
 they never truly come unto Christ, and therefore cannot be saved; 
 much less can men not professing the Christian religion be saved in 
 any other way whatsoever, be they never so diligent to frame their 
 lives according to the light of nature, and the law of that religion 
 they do profess ; and to assert and maintain that they may, is very 
 pernicious, and to be detested." 
 
 The rfelvetic divines express their views in these em- 
 phatic wools : 
 
 " That there is election AND REPROBATION OB- INFANTS as well a 
 of adults, WE CANNOT DENT AGAINST GOD, who tenderly loves, and 
 inculpably HATES them before they are born." Acta Dordrechtana 
 Jutlicia Thcologorum Exttriorum, p. 50. 
 
 ARCHBISHOP USHER, in his Body of Divinity, p. 165, 
 ed. 1 702, says : 
 
 "How dots God suffer them to run into condemnation ? 
 
 "In a divers manner: Some REPROBATES DYING INFANTS, oth- 
 ers of riper years, of which latter sort some are not called, others 
 called. 
 
 'How doth God deal with reprobates dying infants > 
 
 " Being once conceived, they are in a state of death, (Rom. 6: 14,^ 
 by reason of the sin of Adani imputed, and of original corruption 
 cleaving to their nature, wherein also DYING TUEY FEIUSH. As (for 
 instance) the children of heathen parents."
 
 252 APPENDIX. 
 
 The German doctors, Deodatus and Tranchinus, pro- 
 fessors of theology, said : 
 
 "Of the infants of belitvets ONLY, who die of an age before they 
 can be indoctrinated, we determine that they are saved." Ada Dor- 
 drecktana Judicia Tlieologorum Exteriorum, p. 58. 
 
 ARTHUR HILDERSIIAM says : 
 
 " It is evident that God hath witnessed his wrath against the sin 
 of infants, not only by hating their sin, but even their persons also, 
 (Rom. 9: 11, 13.) And not only by inflicting temporal punishments 
 upon them, but even by CASTING THEM INTO HELL. For of those 
 that perished in- Sodom and Gomorrah, it is expressly said, (Jude 7,) 
 that they were not only consumed with fire and brimstone, but that 
 they suffered the vengeance of eternal fire. And the Apostle prov- 
 ing infants to be sinners by this arguments, because death reigneth 
 over them, (Rom. 5: 14,) showeth plainly he meaneth not a temporal 
 death only, but such as lie calleth condemnation (v. 16); there is 
 then a natural proneness, disposition and inclination to everything 
 that is evil, as there is in the youngest whelp of a lion, or of a bear, 
 or of a wolf, unto cruelty, or in the very egg of a cockatrice, before 
 it is hatched.' Against these damnable errors, (one of which is that 
 all who die in their infancy shall certainly go to heaven,) you have 
 heard it evidently proved, 1. That all infants are sinners, and de- 
 serve damnation. 2. That many infants have been vessels of wrath, 
 and FIREBRANDS OP HELL.*' Arthur HUdenharri 1 * Lectures, on the 
 b\st Psalm, pp. 280, 281, Ed. 1635. 
 
 Twiss, prolucutor of the Westminster Assembly, 
 says: 
 
 " Many thousands, even all the INFANTS of Turks and Saracens 
 dying in original sin, are TORMENTED BY HIM (the Deity) IN HELL 
 FIRE, is he to be accounted the father of cruelties for this? " Again 
 "touching punishment in hell, it is either spoken of infants or men 
 of riper vears of infants departing in infancy; if guilty of eternal 
 death, 't is no injustice to inflict it, and though he be slow to anger 
 toward some, yet it is not necessary he should be so to others." 
 Again, it is true many infants we say perish in original sin only, not 
 living to be guilty of any actual sin. of their persons. Once more: 
 " Every man that is damned, it is for original, as well as actual sins, 
 
 and MANY THOUSAND INFANTS ONLY FOR ORIGINAL! " The riches 
 of God's love, unto the vessels of mercy, consistent with his absolute hatred 
 or reprobation of the vessels of wrath. Fol. ed. 1653, pp. 39, 135, 136. 
 
 I close these quotations, which, by the way, are only 
 specimens of much more of the same sort, with an ex- 
 tract from Wigglesworth's " Day of Doom," which, as 
 you know, was once as familiar as the catechism in New 
 England, and which, without doubt, represented the cur- 
 rent theology.
 
 APPENDIX. 253 
 
 According to the marginal note, " reprobate infanta 
 plead for themselves thus : 
 
 " Then to the bar all they drew near 
 
 Who died in infancy, 
 And never had or good or bad 
 
 Effected personally; 
 But from the womb'unto the tomb 
 
 Were straightway carried, 
 (Or at the last ere tliey transgress'd) 
 
 Who thus began to plead : 
 
 * 
 " ' If for pur transgression, 
 
 Or disobedience. 
 We here did stand at thy LEFT HAMD, 
 
 Just were the recompense: 
 But Adam's fjuilt our souls hath spilt, 
 
 His fault is charged on us; 
 And that alone hath overthrown, 
 And utterly undone us. 
 
 " ' Not we, but he, ate of the tree, 
 
 Whose fruit was intcrdic'-ed; 
 Yet on us all of his sad fall, 
 
 The punishment 's inflicted; 
 How could we sin that had not been, 
 
 Or how is hi* sin our 
 Without consent, which to prevent, 
 
 We never had a poaer? 
 
 " 'Behold we see Adam set free, 
 
 And saved from his trespass. 
 Whose sinful fall hath spilt us all, 
 
 And broueht us to this pass. 
 Canst thou deny us once to try, 
 
 Or grace to us to tenrter. 
 When he finds grrace before thy face, 
 
 That was the chief offender? ' " 
 
 Another marginal note tells us that their " arguments 
 are taken off" by the Judge, thus : 
 
 "Then answered the .IndEje most dread, 
 
 God doth such doom forbid, 
 That men should die eternally 
 
 For what they never did. 
 But what you call old Adam's fall, 
 
 And only his trespass, 
 Ton call amiss to call it his, 
 
 Both his and yours it wa.
 
 254 APPENDIX. 
 
 " ' He yras design'd of all mankind 
 
 To be a public head, 
 A common root whence all should shoot, 
 
 And stood in all their stead. 
 He stood and fell, did ill or well, 
 
 Not for himself alone, 
 But for you all, who now his fall, 
 
 And trespass would disown. 
 
 " ' If he had stood, then all his brood 
 
 Had been established 
 In God's true love, neverto more, 
 
 Nor once awry to tread ; 
 Then all his race, my Father's grace, 
 
 Should have enjoy 'd forever. 
 And wicked sprites by subtle slights 
 
 Could them have harmed never. 
 
 " ' You sinners are, and such a share 
 
 As sinners may expect, 
 Such you shall have ; 'for I do safe 
 
 None but my own elect. 
 Yet to compare your sin with their 
 
 Who lived a longer time, 
 I do confess yours is much less, 
 
 Though every sin 's a crime. 
 
 " 'A crime it is, therefore in bliss 
 
 You may not hope to dwelt ; 
 But unto you I shall allow 
 
 The easiest room in hell. 1 
 The glorious King thus answering, 
 
 They cease and plead no longer: 
 Their consciences must needs confess 
 
 His reasons are the stronger. 
 
 " Thus all men's pleas the Judge with ease, 
 
 Doth answer and confute, 
 Until that all, both great and small, 
 
 Are silenced and mute. 
 Vain hopes are cropt, all mouths are stopt, 
 
 Sinners have nought to say. 
 But that -t is just, and equal most 
 
 They should be DAMK'D FOR AY." 
 
 What Wigglesworth thought of the " easiest room in 
 hell," may be gathered from the following stanza : 
 
 " But who can tell the plagues of Hell, 
 
 And torments exquisite? 
 Who can relate their dismal state, 
 
 And terrors infinite? 
 Who fare the best, and feel the least, 
 
 Yet feel that punishment, 
 Wherebv to nought they should be brought 
 If God did not prevent." 
 
 Wigglesworth, Day of Doom, sixth edition, 1716-
 


 
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