local preachers out of the chapels, which keeps things more secure.** *Class meetings,' it is affirmed, are attended to principally for raising to travel, seeing we have many of unblemished characters in divers circuits? Answer; 1. Because our temporal circumstances are exceedingly straitened, so that we cannot provide for them. And, 2. We have, at present, a sufficiency of single men to supply the circuits. See Minutes for 1798, p. 117. Oct. Edit. These reasons still hold good. Besides, such conduct is justifiable, not only on the ground of expediency, which is sufficient of itself to shew its propriety, but on the broad basis of general usage. The Establishment and the Dissenters require, in general, their ministers to pass from three to six years within the walls of a College or an Academy, in a state of probation and preparation, before they can be fully received by the respective congregations; during which period, they are, for the most part, single. Nor would it, indeed, be altogether proper for probationers, fitting themselves for the ministry, to be encumbered with the cares of a family. A state of trial is the most favourable time for improvement-the period when the mind should be free and fixed upon one object. * See Meth. Cond. 8, 9. Since the Conference actually has called out married Preachers, the former part of the quotation implies, 1. That the men so called out are insubordinate; and 2. That those who are not called out are factious and discontented. Till those two points are established, his Lordship's opinion of the falsity of the statement continues valid. With regard to the latter part of the quotation, enclosed within inverted commas, it is equally false: for 1. At the Conference for 1813, the chairmen of Districts were ordered to inquire what employment there was for the Preachers in the various circuits, not to "ascertain clearly whether a young man could be thrust in," but whether he could not be thrust out-whether the circuits could not do with a less number of Preach ers. For the inquiry itself, see Minutes vol. 3. p. 388-9; and, for the end of the inquiry, contrast the stations for Bath, Dewsbury, &c. in 1813 and 1814, and it will be found, that they each had one Preacher less after the institution of the inquiry. 2. The trouble is, not in getting single, but married men, thrust in.-It may be added, that so far are the Travelling Preachers from being opposed to the Local Brethren entering the Chapels, there is scarcely a Chapel in the whole Connexion whose pulpit is not, more or less, occupied by the latter; and that such is the modesty and timidity of many of the Local Preachers, when they are solicited either by the Superintendant or his Colleagues, to preach in the Chapels, their refusal is more frequent than their compliance Supposing Mr. D. himself not to have been permitted to enter the pulpits of the larger Chapels so frequently as he thought his talents merited, the cause, probably, of his non-admission, might be more properly traced up to the People than the Preachers. money.** In reference to articles of faith, it is said, that they have nearly as many creeds as Preachers.'-He goes on to observe, that 'the Lord's supper is thought, in general, to be of very little importance,' that it is seldom administered,' and that little care is taken Meth. Cond. 13.-It is really painful to have thus publicly to tell a fellow creature that he speaks false. But truth is not to be sacrificed to individual feeling; and especially to the feelings of one who seems to have no feeling for others. 1. Class meetings were in existence before money matters were ever thought of. See Wesley's works, vol. 6, 331. Oct. Edit. 2. A number of Classes do not collect their monies till the end of the quarter; so that there are twelve weeks frequently out of thirteen, in which there is nothing done but speaking, singing, and praying. 3. There are several hundreds of the members who do not subscribe a single farthing, + Meth. Cond. 19-We feel no hesitancy in affirming, 1. That the Methodist Preachers have but one creed. Hence, in answer to the question, "Can any thing be done for the security of our doctrines?" we read, "the President, with Mr. Benson, and the Secretary, are appointed to draw up a Digest or Form, expressive of the Methodist Doctrines, with a sufficiency of texts of Scripture to explain them respectively; and with extracts out of Mr. Wesley's Works, to prove that every thing before advanced, exactly coincides with his judgment and public declarations: And a copy of what they have drawn up, either unitedly or separately, shall be sent to the Chairman of each District before next May." See Minutes, vol. 2, 349. Accordingly, in 1807, a Digest was drawn up and printed of those doctrines which have been preached by the body at large from its commencement. 2. The Preachers are examined annually respecting the doctrines believed and preached by Mr. Wesley, in which they are required explicitly to profess their faith. The following is to the point: "Let it be clearly understood, that every Chairman is required to ask the following questions, distinctly and successively, concerning every brother; viz. Is there any objection to his moral and religious character? Does he believe and preach our Doctrines?" and so on. See Minutes vol. 3, 295. And, 3. When any of the Preachers are found deficient in orthodoxy they are expelled. To preserve the Societies from heresies and erroneous doctrines, it is a rule, that "no person shall, on any account, be permitted to retain any official situation in our Societies, who holds opinions contrary to the total depravity of human nature, the Divinity and Atonement of Christ, the Influence and Witness of the Holy Spirit, and Christian Holiness as believed by the Methodists." See Minutes, vol. 2. 403. That this rule has been acted upon, is evident from the expulsion of Mr. J. Cooke, who, when expelled, travelled in the Sunderland circuit; a circumstance which must have been known by Mr. Douglas, since he is so familiar with Shields, Sunderland, and Newcastle, which places, indeed, seem to form nearly the extent of his Geographical and Methodis who comes forward.** To prevent either male or female from escaping the lash, it is further added, that the Preachers' Widows receive a salary for life, whether they marry saint or sinner;'t that neither the deeds of the Chapels upon Conference plan, nor any copy of them, has tical knowledge. But when Mr. D. speaks of variety in creeds, he perhaps judges of others by himself-always changing, but, it is to be feared, seldom changed. Id arbitror adprime in vitá esse utile, ne quid nimis. Ter. Andr. Act 1. Sc. 1. "I take it to be a principal rule of life not to be too much addicted to any thing." * Meth. Cond. 20.-We are afraid, lest, in our notes, we should expose ourselves to the charge which is brought against the generality of the Ministers of the present day, viz, that of Three heads and a conclusion. But, for the sake of perspicuity, we solicit the indulgence of continuing in our old Puritanic trammels. To proceed, 1. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is, by the Preachers, considered of the greatest importance. Listen to their advice: "We once more earnestly beseech all the members of our Societies, conscientiously to attend this sacred ordinance of God our Saviour at every opportunity; and do entreat them to approach the Lord's Table, at least, once in every month, either in our own Chapels or elsewhere; and to make a point of staying till the whole of the service be concluded. In the visitations of the Classes, let every Preacher closely examine the members on this head, and strongly enforce our rules concerning it. And, in order to remove every excuse, let this blessed Sacrament be regularly and frequently administered wherever it has been appointed by the Conference." See Minutes, vol. 2, 348.-2. The Sacrament is administered in every place where a majority of the Leaders and Trustees wish to have it. See Ibid. vol. 1. 322, 323. This, it may be observed, ill accords with the despotic power of the Preachers, and the Trustees being in chains, (Meth. Cond. 6, 18.) since the former are here evidently subject to the will of the latter. 3. Such is the attention paid to the admission of persons to this sacred ordinance, that the rule, in reference to it, reads, "no person shall be suffered, on any pretence, to partake of the Lord's Supper among us, unless he be a member of our Society, or receive a note of admission from the Superintendant, which note must be renewed quarterly. And if any Leaders, Stewards, or Trustees, refuse to be regulated by this rule, the Sacrament shall not be administered where it is the case." See Minutes, vol. 1. 348. + System of Meth. Exp. 7.-All that is necessary to be said here is, that, on a Preacher's Widow marrying an immoral character, she is expelled from the Society; and that, in case of her marrying at all, she is discontinued as a pensioner on the bounty of the Fund. After specifying the sums due to a Preacher's Widow, it is added, "this sum shall be paid, as above specified, so long as each widow continues unmarried; but shall cease immediately on her re-marriage," See Rules and Regulations of the Fund, for 1813, p. 7. printed in a separate pamphlet. The reason as ever been suffered to appear in public;'* that, on a 'moderate calculation, it will be seen that a Methodist Preacher may cost the public, for one year's labour, 3881. 17s. 2d.;'† and, finally, that 'priests are signed for such discontinuance is, that it is generally understood the husband provides for his wife." See Myles's Chronol. Hist. 254; Third Edit. * System of Meth. Exp. p. 19. To omit the fly sheets, containing the Forms of Deeds, which have been distributed gratuitously an act directly opposed to secrecy, the copy of ove deed, at least, has "appeared before the public," in Myles's "Chronological History of the People called Methodists;" a work which has passed through various editions, and of which some thousands of copies have been sold. See p. 155. + Ibid. p. 21.-An inspired apostle has declared, that "the love of money is the root of all evil." Mr. D. therefore, knowing, that nothing was more calculated to bring the Preachers into contempt than fixing upon them the stigma of being lovers of "filthy lucre," drags forward, page after page, the cash subject. But, like all wholesale dealers in slander and falsehoods, by endeavouring to prove too much, he commits his pretensions to veracity to the detection of all who may be disposed to obtain a knowledge of the Preachers' salaries. It is pleasing, however, to witness his descent from general assertions to particulars, where he gives, what he terms, a "moderate calculation" of what " a Methodist Preacher may cost the public for one year's labour." Without réndering evil for evil, by shewing what a broken Shoemaker may cost his creditors, we will proceed to examine his statement. This will be best done by contrasting the account with the Conference allowance; observing, at the same time, that, if a Preacher, in any place, receives more, it is the free-will offering of the people-an offering, springing from a conviction of its imperious necessity. "From a late publication," Mr. D. observes," it appears, that a Methodist Preacher costs the religious public, for one year, the sum of 2111. 17s. 2d." By an immediate reference to the twin publication, we find the following statement, which, according to promise, we shall contrast with Conference allowance: Conference Allowance. See Min. vol. 3, p. 225.—271. 6s. Od. Ibid. vol. 2. p. 60.-33l. 12s. Od. the defenders and supporters of all the corrupt systems in the world.* Thus, Sire, (directing himself immediately to the throne,) we here ་ If well, nothing. But be that as it Here it is taken for granted Nothing by Conference; though, in this case, 17s. is under the general expence, and Circuit allowance. But even this statement is not sufficient to satisfy Mr. D. To shew his expertness in the art of lying, he must add the following items. Thus, he adds, if a Preacher officiates in the country, "for extra servants, labour, grog, bedding, &c. 10l. Os. Od." Now, many, though they preach in the country, sleep at home. Admitting them, however, to sleep where they preach, we defy him to prove the existence of any extra servant for their accommodation. As for grog, few ever see it, and still fewer taste it. But this is not all; labour must be named. What labour is referred to, is doubtful whether he himself knows. Any how, if there are to be extra servants, they ought to perform the extra labour.-The next item is, "Profits on the sale of books, 50l. Os. Od." We lament, on various accounts, that this is not correct. The sale of books, leaving such a profit, could not fail to profit many who might read them: and as the profits of the books are devoted to the support and spread of the gospel, the Conference would be blest with enlarged ability to do good. But the fact is, in many Circuits, books are not sold to the amount of 50l.-Another item, we observe, is, 'presents to a Preacher and his Children, 451. Does he, by this, mean that 451. is given to children whether in being or not in being; and to men, who, after having travelled a number of years, can come forward and prove that they have not, during the whole time, received the one third of the sum?-A fourth item is, "Two boys at school 601. over the yearly allowance." To this must be added 40l. 16s. for four *See the Note to this Reference in the following Page. |