in nothing inconsistent with such scattered indications as the Sacred Writings do afford. Accordingly, as has been shown, the classes, the lay preachers, the assistants, and the Conference, all owed their origin primarily to circumstances, so disposed as to render indispensable, or certainly advi sable, the various methods for securing to the rapidly-increasing Society efficient government and discipline.

The polity of the Original Connexion is in most essential points the same as that devised by Mr. Wesley; but his death necessarily produced a great alteration in the relations of the people and the Conference. During his life he was absolute arbiter between them; restraining and reproving either party as he thought fit. After his death, the Conference assumed that his power and authority descended upon them; but there was no one to restrain or moderate its exercise, and, after considerable dissension, from 1792 to 1797, certain rules, a portion of which are called "The Rules of Pacification," were agreed to by the Conference, placing some limitation upon them. The effect of these and other rules enacted subsequently in 1835 and 1852, is stated at pages 78 and 86.

As at present settled, the form of church government somewhat resembles that of the Scottish Presbyterian Churches, in the order of the courts, in the relation they bear to each other, and in their respective constitutions and functions. The difference is in the greater degree of authority in spiritual matters exercised by the Wesleyan ministers, who preside in their courts not as mere chairmen or moderators, but as pastors. This is said by them to secure an equitable balance of power between the two parties, lay and clerical, in these courts, and thus to provide against abuse on either side. How far this is the case, will be more clearly seen by a description of these various courts, tracing them upwards from the lowest to the highest-from the class to the Conference.

The classes were the very first of the arrangements introduced by Mr. Wesley. They consist, in general, of about twelve persons; each class having its appointed

leader (an experienced Christian layman, nominated by the superintendent of a circuit, and appointed by a leaders' meeting), whose duty is to meet his class once every week; converse with each class member, hear from him a statement of his spiritual condition, and give appropriate counsel. Every member of a class, except in cases of extreme poverty, is expected to contribute at least 1d. per week towards the funds of the society. Out of the proceeds of this contribution, assisted by other

The practice of the Wesleyan Methodists is, not to preach long in any place unless they succeed in forming a society;" so that, generally speaking, wherever they have a congregation they have also a "society," consisting sometimes of a single class, and from one to a considerable number, according to the number of the members. The classes attached to each chapel or preaching-place are, in the aggregate, called a "society." Each class has its "leader," and the meeting of all the leaders of a society is called a "leaders' meeting." Each society answers nearly to a "church" in other denominations; and as many societies as it may be found convenient to attach together form a "circuit."

From

The public worship of these societies is conducted in each circuit by two descriptions of preachers--one clerical, the other lay. The clerics are separated entirely to the work of the ministry-are members of, or in connection with, or received as probationers by, the Conference- and are supported by funds raised for that purpose in the classes and congregations. one to four of these, called "itinerant preachers," are appointed annually for not exceeding three years in immediate succession to the same circuit. Their ministry is not confined to any particular chapel in the circuit, but they act interchangeably from place to place, seldom preaching in the same place more than one Sunday without a change, which is effected according to a plan generally re-made every quarter. Of itinerant preachers there are, at present, about 915 in Great Britain. The lay, or "local" preachers, as they are denominated, follow secular callings, like other of their fellow-subjects, and preach on the Sabbaths at the places appointed for them in the above-mentioned plan-as great an interval being observed between their appointments to the same place as * Smaller collections, of four or five persons, called Bands," established by Mr. Wesley in 1742, are also still preserved. In these, for the purpose of a more unrestrained confession to each other, the persons in each band are all of the same condition; either married women or single women, married men or single men. The rules of the bands are: (1) That nothing spoken in the Society be spoken again; (2) That every member submit to his minister in all indifferent things; (3) That every member bring, once a week, all he can spare to a common stock. The four following questions are to be proposed to the members separately at every weekly meeting: (1) What known sins have you committed since our last meeting? (2) What temptations have you met with? (3) How were you delivered? (4) What have you thought, said, or done, of which you doubt whether it be a sin or not?

can be conveniently arranged. By these means, great variety and freshness are produced in their ministrations. No local or lay preacher is permitted to receive any remuneration for his services. By these means, a circuit, comprising perhaps twenty preaching-places, is adequately served with from two to four regular itinerants, assisted by the local preachers, and at an expense proportionately small when compared with any system having a fixed minister for each congregation. The number of these local or lay preachers is estimated at present at between 13,000 and 14,000.

In

The public services of Methodists present a combination of the forms of the Church of England with the usual practice of Dissenting churches. In the larger chapels, the church Liturgy is used; and, in all, the Sacrament is administered according to the Church of England Rubric. dependently of Sabbath worship, love-feasts are occasionally celebrated; and a midnight meeting. on the last day of each year, is held as a solemn "watch night," for the purpose of impressing on the mind a sense of the brevity and rapid flight of time.

At present, there are 428 circuits in Great Britain. Besides preaching in the various chapels in their respective circuits, the itinerant preachers administer the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. One or other of them, according to an arrangement among themselves, meets every class in his circuit once in every quarter, personally converses with every member, and distributes to all such as have throughout the past three months walked orderly, a ticket, which authenticates their membership. One of the ministers in every circuit is called the "superintendent," whose duties, in addition to his ordinary labours as a travelling preacher, are to see that the Methodist discipline is properly maintained, to admit candidates into membership (subject to a veto by a leaders' meeting), and to expel from the society any member whom a leaders' meeting shall pronounce guilty of any particular offence.+ Appeal, however,

*The administration of the Sacrament by Wesleyan ministers dates only from 1795. The plan of Mr. Wesley was, that his Societies should commune with the Established Church, and this was the course pursued throughout his life; but after his decease the Societies became extremely anxious to receive the Sacrament from their own preachers, and the consequence of the agitation which ensued was the adoption, by the Conference of 1795, of a "Plan of Pacification," which secured this object to all such Societies as should unanimously seek for it.

+ Most of the secessions which have taken place from the Original Connexion have had reference to the respective powers of the clergy, as represented by the Superintendents, and the laity, as represented by the Class Leaders, in the matter of

lies from his decision to a district meeting, and ultimately to the Conference. There is also a "circuit steward," whose duty is to receive from the society stewards the contributions of class members, and to superintend their application for the purposes of the circuit.

Once in every three months a quarterly meeting is held, attended by the ministers, preachers on trial, and supernumeraries of the circuit-the circuit, society, and poor stewards, the class leaders, the local preachers of three years' continuous standing (having been previously one year on trial), and all trustees of chapels, being members of society in the circuit. At these meetings, candidates for the ministerial office are proposed: the presiding minister nominates, and the meeting affirms or nega tives his nomination. The stewards of the various societies within the circuit then deliver their collections to the circuit steward, and the stipends of the various ministers and other expenses of the circuit are paid. The circuit stewards are elected by this meeting at every December session, on the nomination of the superintendent.

A varying number of circuits, as the Conference deems expedient, form a "district." There are twenty-nine such districts in England and Wales. To every district a superintendent minister of a circuit in the district is appointed chairman. The district meetings-or district committees, as they were originally called -are composed entirely of ministers, except when the business to be transacted relates to financial or other secular affairs, in which case circuit stewards and other

laymen attend and vote. The general duties of these district meetings, which are held in the month of May, are: 1. To examine candidates for the ministry and probationers, and to try, and, if necessary, suspend, ministers; 2. To decide preliminary questions concerning the building of chapels; 3. To review the demands from the less wealthy circuits which draw upon the public funds of the Connexion for aid in supporting their ministers; 4. To elect a representative from the district to attend the next ensuing Conference. The "district committee," between the sessions of the Conference, may interfere in any case of emergency, and pronounce a decision which is final till the next Conference.

There is also a district meeting, called the financial district meeting, held in September in each year, for the purpose of apportioning grants from the public funds admission to or expulsion from the Society. See post, The New Connexion," "The Wesleyan Association," and "The Wesleyan Reformers.'

for the support of the work within the district. There is also a third kind of district meeting, called the minor district meeting, to which an appeal lies from the leaders' meeting, and which has the power of deciding matters of discipline in the intervals between then and the May district meeting or the Conference.

The Conference, the highest Wesleyan court, is composed exclusively of ministers. It derives its authority from a deed of declaration, executed by Mr. Wesley in 1784, by which it was provided that, after the decease of himself and his brother Charles, 100 persons, named in the deed, “being preachers and expounders of God's Holy Word, under the care and in connexion with the said John Wesley," should exercise the authority which Wesley himself possessed, to appoint preachers to the various chapels. Vacancies in the "hundred" were to be filled up by the remainder at an annual Conference. In pursuance of this deed, a Conference of 100 ministers meets yearly in July, with the addition of the representatives selected by the district meetings, and such other ministers as are appointed or permitted to attend by the district committees. The custom is for all these ministers to share in the proceedings and to vote; though all the decisions thus arrived at must be sanctioned by the legal "hundred," ere they can have binding force. The Conference must sit for at least five days, but not beyond three weeks. Its principal transactions are, to examine the moral and ministerial character of every preacher; to receive candidates on trial; to admit ministers into the Connexion; and to appoint ministers to particular circuits or stations. Independently of its functions under this deed-poll, the Conference exercises a general superintendence over the various institutions of the body; including the appointment of various committees, as, 1. The committee of privileges for guarding the interests of the Wesleyan Connexion; 2. The committee for the management of missions; 3. The committee for the management of schools for educating the children of Wesleyan ministers; 4. The general book committee, for superintending the publication and sale of Wesleyan works; 5. The chapel building committee (without whose previous consent in writing, no chapel, whether large or small, is to be erected, purchased or enlarged) 6. The chapel relief committee; 7. The contingent fund committee; 8. The committee of the auxiliary fund for wornout ministers and ministers' widows; and the committees for the various schools, theological institutions, &c.

The Conference has also assumed to

itself the power of making new laws for the government of the Connexion; provided that if any circuit meeting disapprove such law, it is not to be enforced in that circuit for the space of one year. Any circuit has the power of memorialising Conference on behalf of any change considered desirable, provided the June quarterly meeting should so determine.

The doctrines held by the Wesleyans are substantially accordant with the articles of the Established Church, interpreted in their Arminian sense. In this they follow Mr. Wesley rather than Arminius; for, although the writings of the latter are received with high respect, the first four volumes of Wesley's sermons, and his notes on the New Testament (which they hold to be "neither Calvinistic on the one hand, nor Pelagian on the other") are referred to as the standard of their orthodoxy.* The continued influence of their founder is manifested by the general adherence of the body to his opinions, on the subject of attainment to Christian perfection in the present life-on the possibility of final ruin after the reception of divine grace—and on the experience by every convert of a clear assurance of his acceptance with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

From the date of its establishment till now, the progress of the Original Connexion, notwithstanding several secessions, has been continual and striking, not only in Great Britain, but also in Ireland, the Colonies, America, and other portions of the world. Confining our view to Great Britain,t the following Table shows the rate at which the Society has advanced since 1770:

*Article by Rev. W. L. Thornton, M.A.:-" The Theological Institutes of the Rev. Richard Watson have also attained a high and commanding influence in the body."

+ The figures here given as applying to Great Britain may be taken, almost without deduction, as representing England and Wales; for the number of Wesleyans in Scotland is so small as scarcely to affect the total. The number of ministers is exclusive of missionaries and of those who, in consequence of age or other causes, are unable to perform the regular duties of the office. These latter are termed Supernumeraries; their number in 1850 was 183. For information upon this and other points, I am indebted to the courtesy of the Rev. Coas. Pres, Secretary to the Wesleyan Committee of Privileges.

It is estimated that the number of persons

The census accounts show 6,579 chapels in England and Wales, belonging to this Connexion in March, 1851; containing (allowance being made for defective returns) accommodation for 1,447,580 persons. The number of attendants on the census Sunday was-morning, 492,714; afternoon, 383,964; evening, 667,850; including an estimate for 133 chapels, for which the number of attendants was not stated.

The following Table shows the principal societies and institutions for religious objects supported by the Wesleyan Original Connexion. Others, in part supported by Wesleyans, are mentioned in the general list, at page cxvii :

attending upon the ministrations of the Wesleyan Societies is about three times the number of communicants.

(a) Contingent Fund.-To assist the poorer circuits in maintaining Gospel ordinances; to provide means for employing additional preachers; and to meet various contingencies in the working of Me-. thodism.

(b) Auxiliary Fund.-To aid in making provision for those ministers who, from age or sickness, are laid aside from labour, and for the widows and children of such as are dead. There are two separate funds for the maintenance of aged or sick ministers-a Mutual Aid or Annuitant Society, to which the preachers pay each 61.68. per annum; and a fund supplementary to this, called, as above, the "Auxiliary Fund," contributed by the people. The amount paid last year to 539 annuitants was 14,7897.

(c) The Children's Fund. For equalising the payments of circuits towards the support of ministers' children.

(d) Wesleyan Theological Institution. - For the education of preachers. There are two branches, the southern at Richmond, Surrey, and the northern at Didsbury, near Manchester.

(e) General Chapel Fund.-To aid in the liquidation of chapel debts, or the annual expenditure of embarrassed trusts.

(f) Wesleyan Seamen's Mission.-This Society supports 12 distributors of tracts, and a missionary, who preaches on board vessels. About 700 tracts are distributed weekly among seamen and their families in London. There is a chapel in connection with this mission in the Commercialroad, having 800 sittings, 400 of which are reserved for seamen.

(g) Wesleyan Missionary Society.-Wesleyan missions were commenced in 1786; but they were,

In 1839 was celebrated the Centenary of the existence of Wesleyan Methodism, and the gratitude of the people towards the system under which they had derived so much advantage was displayed by contributions to the large amount of 216,000, which sum was appropriated to the esta blishment of theological institutions in Yorkshire and Richmond-the purchase of the "Centenary-hall and Mission House" in Bishopsgate-street-the provision of a missionary ship-the discharge of chapel debts-and the augmentation of the incomes of the Methodist religious societies.

Of late years a considerable agitation (to be more particularly mentioned when describing "Wesleyan Reformers") has diminished to a great extent the number of the members in Connexion. It is stated that by this division the original Connexion has sustained a loss of 100,000 members."*

(b) THE METHODIST NEW CONNEXION.+

For some time after Mr. Wesley's death, in 1791, considerable agitation was observable throughout the numerous societies which, under his control, had rapidly sprung up in every part of England. The more immediate subjects of dispute had reference to, (1), "the right of the people to hold their public religious worship at such hours as were most convenient, without being restricted to the mere intervals of the hours appointed for service in the Established Church;" and (2), "the right of the people to receive the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper from the hands of their own ministers, and in their own places of worship;" but the principal and fundamental question in dispute con

until 1813, chiefly confined to British North America and the West Indies. In 1814 the income was below 10,0007., and there were then but 70 missionaries, and 18,747 members; now (1853) the income is 105,3701., the number of missionaries 476, and the number of members 108,078. The Society's operations extend over Germany, France, Spain, India, Africa, British America, the West Indies, and Polynesia.

(h) Kingswood School.-To provide for the edu cation of the children of Wesleyan ministers.

(i) Education Fund. - The Committee of this Fund have recently erected, with the aid of the Committee of Council on Education, a Normal College and Schools at Westminster, to accommodate 100 students and 1,000 children.

The Minutes of Conference for 1853 report the number of members in Connexion as being 270,265; so that, as compared with 1850, the official account of the diminution puts it at 87,312.

+ See "Life of Kilham," by Rev. W. Cooke (1850); "The Jubilee of the Methodist New Connexion (1848);" "The General Rules of the Methodists of the New Connexion, revised and approved at their Forty-second Annual Conference (1853);" "Minutes of the Annual Conference (1853);" "Missionary Report for 1853," &c.

cerned the right of the laity to participate in the spiritual and secular government of the body. Wesley himself had, in his lifetime, always exercised an absolute authority; and after his decease the travelling preachers claimed the same extent of power. A vigorous opposition was, however, soon originated, which continued during several years; the Conference attempting various unsuccessful measures for restoring harmony. A "Plan of Pacification was adopted by the Conference in 1795, and was received with general satisfaction, so far as the ordinances were concerned; but the question of lay influence remained untouched till 1797, when the Conference conceded that the leaders' meetings should have the right to exercise an absolute veto upon the admission of new members to the Society, and that no member should be expelled for immorality "until such immorality had been proved at a leaders' meeting." Certain lesser rights were at the same time conceded to the quarterly meetings, in which the laity were represented by the presence of their stewards and class-leaders. But this was the extent of the concessions made by the preachers, and all propositions for lay delegation to the Conference and the district meetings were conclusively rejected.

Foremost among many who remained unsatisfied by these concessions, was the Rev. Alexander Kilham, who, singularly enough, was born at Epworth, in Lincolnshire, the birthplace of the Wesleys. Mr. Kilham, first acquiring prominence as an asserter of the right of Methodists to meet for worship in church hours, and to receive the sacraments from their own ministers, was gradually led to take an active part in advocacy of the principle of lay participation in the government of the Connexion. For the vigorous expression of these sentiments in a pamphlet entitled the "Progress of Liberty," he was tried at the Conference of 1796, and expelled from the Connexion. The excitement consequent on these proceedings led to the establishment, in August, 1797, when the hope was dissipated of procuring an amendment in the parent body, of the New Connexion, now discussed.

Originated by a movement for a certain

This is the rule which is acted upon at the present time, and which the Conference maintains to be the rule adopted by the Conference of 1797. On the other hand, however, it is affirmed, that this is merely an abstract of the rule then sanctioned, and that the actual rule, as subsequently published under the Conference authority, declared, that "Neither can any member of the Society be excluded but by a majority at a leader's meeting." See Pamphlet by Mr. Serjeant Matthews, 1852.

and specific alteration in the constitution of Wesleyan Methodism, the New Connexion differs from the parent body only with respect to those ecclesiastical arrangements which were then the subjects of dispute. In doctrines, and in all the essential and distinctive features of Wesleyan Methodism, there is no divergence; the Arminian tenets are as firmly held by the New as by the Old Connexion; and the outline of ecclesiastical machinery comprising classes, circuits, districts, and the Conference -is in both the same. The grand distinction rests upon the different degrees of power allowed in each communion to the laity. It has been shown, that in the Original Connexion, all authority is virtually vested in the preachers; they alone compose the Conference-their influence is paramount in the inferior courtsand even when, as in financial matters, laymen are appointed to committees, such appointments are entirely in the hands of Conference. The New Connexion, on the contrary, admits, in all its courts, the principle of lay participation in church government: candidates for membership must be admitted by the voice of the existing members, not by the minister alone; offending members cannot be expelled but with the concurrence of a leaders' meeting; officers of the body, whether leaders, ministers, or stewards, are elected by the church and ministers conjointly; and in district meetings and the annual Conference lay delegates (as many in number as the ministers) are present, freely chosen by the members of the churches.

The progress of the New Connexion, since its origin, has been as follows, in the aggregate, comprising England, Ireland, and the colonies:*