176 



METHODISTS. 



Mtho<i!ss. that in Great Britain they have 318 stations, each em- 

 "Y"'' ploying at the least two preachers, and in chief towns 

 three or four ; in France, they have four missionary sta- 

 tions ; in Gibraltar, one; in Brussels, one; in Ceylon and 

 continental India, upwards of twenty missionaries; in 

 Africa six, and more requested ; in the West Indies, up- 

 wards of forty ; in the British provinces of North Ame- 

 rica, (where the Church of Scotland lias done so little,) 

 the Methodists have forty-five preachers. 



For their zealous exertions in the conversion of the 

 negroes in the West Indies, in which Dr. Coke, lately 

 deceased, laboured so indefatigably, the methodists de- 

 secve well of the Christian world. Indeed, had it not 

 been for them, our countrymen in these islands would 

 have had scarcely any opportunities of Christian in- 

 struction and public worship. As yet they are the chief 

 labourers in British America. 



There have been, from time to time, partial separa- 

 tions from the methodists, concerning the administra- 

 tion of the sacraments, service in church hours, &c. 

 but the most formidable divisions have been those re- 

 lative to the nature and exercise of religious liberty, 

 and to the forms of church government. Disputes on 

 these subjects have produced the Melhodist New Itine- 

 rancy, and the Society of Revival Methodists. At the 

 head of the former was Mr. Alexander Kilham, who 

 published a book, entitled the Progress of Liberty 

 amona the People called Methodists, in which he expo- 

 sed the alleged defects of the " Old Plan," and propo- 

 sed a form of church government on a broad and libe- 

 ral basis. He argued that the whole power of church 

 government was engrossed by the preachers, and that 

 the people were not represented in the meetings of con- 

 ference, in other words, their General Assembly. We 

 cannot pronounce on the merits of the question. When 

 the conference assembled, Mr. Kilham was unanimously 

 expelled the connection. The minutes of the trial were 

 published, and every preacher signed his name to a 

 paper, testifying his approbation of the sentence. A 

 declaration of allegiance to the conference (held at 

 Leeds, July 31, 1797,) was drawn up, which was sign- 

 ed by all the preachers present excepting Messrs. Thorn 

 and Eversfield ; a third, Mr. Cummin, signified his dis- 

 sent by letter. " They, (says Mr. Myles, in his His- 

 tory of the Methodists,) joined Alexander Kilham, and 

 made a schism, under the name of the Nerv Itinerancy" 

 The division thus originating amounted to about five 

 thousand. In the year 1806 they had nineteen cir- 

 cuits, thirty travelling or circuit preachers, and about 

 sixty local preachers. They purchased a large and ele- 

 gant meeting house, called Gibraltar Chapel, in Church 

 Street, where there is an extensive burial ground. The 

 Revival Methodists form a numerous body of the Wes- 

 leyan Christians. They are not, however, all of them 

 formally separated from the old connection, though 

 they have, in many towns, separate places for religious 

 worship. In Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Stockport, 

 Preston, and Macclesfield, they are numerous. In the 

 latter place they have lately built a neat chapel, having 

 been long separated from the old connection. They 

 have published their rules in a small pamphlet, entitled, 

 " General Rules of a Society of Christian Revivalists, 

 at Macclesfield, with a preface, containing a declaration 

 of doctrines." They are distinguished chiefly, by their 

 claiming as a Christian privilege a right to indulge 



their feelings as to prayer and praise at all times, and Methodists, 

 on all occasions, for example, while the minister is en- ""^V"*' 

 gaged in preaching. No idea can be formed of their 

 number, as they are diffused, more or less, among the 

 general body of methodists. 



We are unwilling to pronounce upon the compara- 

 tive value of Methodism, and the evils which have 

 more or less accompanied it. The enemies of the 

 Methodists say, they have contributed to fill the asy- 

 lums of lunacy ; whereas, it is beyond question that 

 they have in a thousand instances been the means of 

 reclaiming the most vicious and depraved characters. 

 They have been regarded as the most formidable 

 enemies of the establishment; but they have done 

 much good among many who might never have sought 

 more connexion with the church, than to procure bap- 

 tism, marriage, and burial. It is certain they are, 

 generally speaking, good members of society, and 

 very peaceable subjects. They are in general tem- 

 perate, both in food and dress. They avoid all places 

 of public amusement. They are very kind and sym- 

 pathizing to their poor and distressed members. They 

 make a business of religion more than the generality of 

 Christian professors. Impartiality requires that we 

 just hint at the defects and errors prevalent among 

 them. If we judge from the Monthly Magazine, edit- 

 ed by one of their most respectable members, it is un- 

 deniable that too many of their members are guided 

 in their determinations by feelings and impressions : 

 that they are too apt to magnify common events as 

 bordering on the miraculous : that their fixing always 

 the day, and even the moment of conversion, endan- 

 gers presumption on the one hand, or distracting fears 

 on the other ; that their regular detail of each indivi- 

 dual's experiences and inward conflicts, seems neither 

 rational nor scriptural, and leads to many errors ; and 

 that the practice of lay preaching is apt to expose the 

 work of the Evangelist to contempt. Moreover, their 

 system of itinerancy, and circulation of preachers, which 

 is one of the most striking features of their whole plan, 

 seems not to accord with the Scriptural descriptions of 

 the relation between pastor and flock, and encourages 

 a superficial religion, instead of Christian edification. 

 But what Mr. Wesley said of himself, may be regard- 

 ed as applicable to most of the preachers of his con- 

 nexion " I know, were I myself to preach one whole 

 year in one place, I should preach both myself and 

 most of my congregation asleep." " We have found, 

 by long and constant experience, that a frequent change 

 of teachers is best." Upon the whole, Methodism 

 seems better calculated to rouse the careless, than to 

 build up believers : to stimulate the zeal of the Chris- 

 tian world, than to form or regulate churches: to ex- 

 cite men to seek spiritual food, rather than regularly 

 to administer it. Let Methodists learn from the pious 

 members of the establishments, more regard to order, 

 and to sober mindedness ; but let all the churches learn 

 from them more fervour in devotion, more blameless- 

 ness of conduct, more brotherly affection, and a con- 

 versation which becomes the Gospel. Wesley's Life 

 by Coke and Moore. Myles' History of the Methodists. 

 Christian Observer, vol. viii. Arminian Magazine. 

 Quarterly Review. Wesley and Coke's Journals. Flet- 

 cher of Madeley's works, entitled, Chech to Antino- 

 mianism, fyc. 



