YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

1938

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^be fiDan, bis Ztcacbing, an& bis MorF?.

MORRISON AND GIBB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.

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WESLEY: Ml
THE MAN, HIS TEACHING, AND
HIS WORK.

BEING SERMONS AND ADDRESSES
DELIVERED IN CITY ROAD CHAPEL AT THE
CENTENARY COMMEMORATION OF
fOHN WESLEY'S DEATH.

REVISED BY THE AUTHORS.

LONDON:
CHARLES H. KELLY, 2, Castle Street, City Road, E.C.;
And 66, Paternoster Rq-w, E.C.
1891.

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W51

Prerac^-

The Sermons and Addresses in this volume were de
livered (with one exception) in City Road Chapel, at the
Centenary Commemoration of the Death of John
Wesley. They are reprinted for the most part from the
reports published in the Methodist Recorder. In every
case the preacher or speaker has revised the " copy," and
re-revised the proof sheets. The volume, therefore, is
issued with some degree of confidence that it presents
the best thoughts of the respective authors in the best
attainable form. It is only fair, however, to say that the
necessity for rapidity of publication has compelled the
writers to revise more quickly — not to say hurriedly —
than is consistent with finished literary work. Although
the interest excited by the Centenary Services was pro
found and widespread, it was feared lest the evanescence
inseparable from every passing event of the day might
prove too real to warrant the risk of delay.
To Dr. Cairns we are specially indebted. In response
to the request of the final meeting, he has committed to

vi PREFACE.
writing the thoughts he would have spoken had not indis
position prevented his journey to London.
The President of the Conference, in common with
many others, was anxious that, if possible, a selection
from the many Centenary Sermons and Addresses, other
than those delivered at City Road, might be included
in this volume. It was found, however, that to step
outside the central Commemoration circle would necessi
tate a much larger and consequently more costly volume
than was desirable. Possibly, a second volume may be
published, consisting of contributions from Scotland,
Ireland, Wales, and a few English provincial centres.
Limitations of space, and other obvious considera
tions, have led to the omission of such public meeting
accessories as are usually found in newspaper reports.
In an Appendix, however, will be found extracts from
a Centenary Diary, which preserve in some measure the
local colour and give an idea — it must be confessed but
faintly — of the enthusiasm and sustained interest of per
haps the most remarkable religious celebration modern
Methodism has known.
To the gentlemen who so promptly, and often with
minute care, have revised the proof sheets, grateful
acknowledgments are due, as also to the President of
the Conference and the Secretaries of the Committee,
without whose courteous co-operation much of the

PREFACE. vii
material for this volume could not have been so perfectly
prepared. All the Centenary Services, not only in London but
equally throughout the country, were most of all remark
able for spiritual fervour and devout gratitude. The God
of our fathers was present with His people. That His
name may be glorified, and that His work may be done
with ever increasing faithfulness and zeal, is the earnest
prayer of all who have contributed to this memorial of a
great and solemn event.
" The Lord hath been mindful of us : He will bless us.
He will bless them that fear the Lord,
Both small and great.
The Lord increase you more and more.
You and your children."

Cor)bei)bs. part I.
SERMONS.
y.\CE
The Man : His Teaching and his Work —
Rev. Charles H. Kelly, ...... 3
Sermon to the Young People —
Rev. Charles Garrett, . 21
The Chosen Vessel —
Rev. David J. Waller, D.D. , . . . . 29
The Centenary Service —
Rev. W. F. Moulton, M.A., D.D., .... 50
The Theology of John Wesley-
Rev. R. W. Dale, LL.D., ..... 69
Characteftstics of Wesley and his Teaching —
Rev. Principal Rainy, D.D., . . . . 91
The Prophet of the Eighteenth Century —
Rev. John Clifford, M.A., D.D., . , . . . loS
Divine Service —
Rev. F. W. Macdonald, . . . . .126

X CONTENTS.
PAGE
Wesley and the Children-
Rev. F. J. Murrell, . 138
The Charter of the Church —
Mr. S. D. Waddy, Q.C., M.P., , . .149

part 2.
addresses.
Thanksgiving and Prayer —
Rev. Richard Roberts, 169
Rev. Charles Garrett, . 171
The Unveiling of the Wesley Statue-
Rev. Dr. Moulton, . 175
Ven. Archdeacon Farrar, . 177
Right Hon. H. H. Fowler, M.P., 185
Mr. Alexander M'Arthur, M.P., 193
The Methodist Connexions-
President : Wesleyan Conference, 197
Vice-President : Irish Wesleyan Conference. 19S
President : Methodist New Connexion, 203
President: Primitive Methodist Connexion, 214
President : Bible Christian Connexion, 2lS
President : Wesleyan Reform Union, 220
President : United Methodist Free Churches, 221
The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper-
Rev. J. H. Rigg, D.D., . 230
Review of Methodist Work —
President of the Conference, 242
Methodism and the Masses —
Rev. Peter Thompson, . 243
METiinnisM AND Education —
Mr. T. G. O.sborn, M.A., . 250

CONTENTS. xi
Review of Methodist "^ ox^— continued. pac.h
Methodism and Literature —
Rev. W. L. Watkinson, . , . 263
Methodism and Missions —
Rev. G. W. Olver, B.A., . . .271
Opening of the Allan Library —
Mr. Alex. M'Arthur, M.P., . 27S
History of the Allan Library —
Rev. Dr. Rigg, . . 279
Rev. Dr. Moulton, . . . 286
Methodism and Social Work —
President of the Conference, . 289
Methodism .^nd the Working Man —
Rev. H. T. Smart, . 290
Pressing Social Questions —
Mr. P. W. Bunting, . , . 298
Methods of Rescue Work —
Jlr. Lewis Williams, J. P., Cardiff, . 305
Methodism and Temperance —
Mr. T. Morgan Harvey, . 312
The Sunken Strata —
Rev. T. B. Stephenson, LL.D., ... 316
The Young People of Methodism-
President of the Conference, 321
Lessons of the Early Time —
Rev. Thomas Allen, . 322
Methodism a Church of Jesus Christ —
Rev. J. Scott Lidgett, M.A., . . 329
Methodism and Local Preachers —
Mr. W. Owen Clough, F.R.G.S., F..S.S., etc., 333
The Past and the Future —
Rev. T. E. Westerdale, ... 340

xii CONTENTS.
The Young People of Methodism- «»//««<¦(/, page
An Appeal to Young Methodism —
Mr. George J. Smith, J. P., . . . 345
Ten Characteristics of Young Methodism —
Rev. H. Price Hughes, M. A., . 35^
Methodism and the Sister Churches-
President of the Conference, ..... 3^2
Church of the United Brethren —
Rev. W. Taylor, . . . .363
.\N Ecclesiastical Historia.v-
Rev. John Stoughton, D.D., . . 36S
Countess of Huntingdon's Connexio.n--
Rev. J. B. Figgis, M.A., , 374
The Society of Friends —
J. Bevan Braithwaite, . 380

part 3.
Centenary Diary, . . 3S7
Lovefeast, 406
Centenary Statement, . . 413
Allan Library —
Rev. M. C. Osborn, . . 416
Unitarian Address, . . .421
Letter from Rev. Thomas Champness, . . 422
An Address from Italy, ... . , 422
Letter from Rev. Dr. Cairns, . . . 423
Address by Rev. Dr. Cairns, . .42^

lr)e \vesiey Ler)tier)ary.

PART L
Sermone preacbeb in (Tit^ IRoab (Tbapel.

Rev. CHARLES HENRY KELLY,
Ex-President of the Conference.
Rev. CHARLES GARRETT,
Of the Liverpool Riverside Mission.
Rev. DAVID J. WALLER, D.D.,
Secretary of the Conference.
Rev. W. F. MOULTON, M.A., D.D.,
President of the Conference.
Rev. R. W. DALE, LL.D.,
Minister of Carr s Lane Congregational Church, Binningham.
Rev. Principal RAINY, D.D.,
Of the Free Church College, Edinburgh.
Rev. JOHN CLIFFORD, M.A., D.D.,
Minister of Westbourne Park Baptist Church.
Rev. Professor F. W. MACDONALD,
Wesleyan College, Handswovth, Birmliighaw .
Rev. FREDERICK J. MURRELL,
Minister Resident in Mr. Wesley's House, 47 Citv Ronit.
SAMUEL D. WADDY, Esq., O.C, M.P.

Tr)e Mai) : His T^act)ir)6
apa iv ork.
By the Rev. CHARLES H. KELLY,
RX-1'RE.mUENT OF THE CflX |- I'lKEXCE.

' ' Not unto us, O Lord, not tmto us,
But unto Thy name give glory.
For Thy mercy, aiidfor Thy trutli's sake." — PsALJi cxv. I.
One hundred years ago to-day, John Wesley lay in " age
and feebleness extreme " on his death-bed.
A hundred years ago to-morrow he said :
" The best of all is, God is with us."
And in the house a few yards from the place in which we
are assembled this morning, the greatest of modern
apostles died.
The Methodists of to-day stand in a great court, in
which the verdict is given of a trial that has lasted
for a century. Men, principles, methods, work, and
results have been sifted. Witnesses — good, bad, learned,
illiterate, wise men and foolish, Wesley's own countrymen,
and the sons and daughters of many climes — have given
evidence, and with the verdict and judgment of the com
munity and the nations we need not be dissatisfied ; but
in this great court the satisfaction of Wesley's followers
in 1 891 is not with man's opinion, it is in the continuance
of the fact of old, and in their power to repeat the

4 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
words of their dying patriarch, — as true to-day as on
the 2nd March 1791, —
" The best of all is, God is with us."
And for this they say :
" Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us.
But unto Thy name give glory."
We celebrate the Centenary of Wesley's death with
mingled feelings. We are too far removed from the
event to feel as they did who watched and wept on this
estate in 1791. They mourned as for a father ; they
wondered if Methodism could survive the loss ; and they
felt the anguish of a great personal bereavement. . . .
We can think of him as our " father in God ; " as one who,
though we never saw him, left us a rich legacy, a blessed
literature ; a system of theology ; a revived religion ; a
Church established in the heart of the people, that can
defy disestablishment by imperial power ; a world-wide
parish ; a definite aim in work, — to spread scriptural
holiness through the world ; an organisation for Christian
teaching and Christian fellowship, and Christian extension ;
¦ — wonderful when he died — more wonderful when he has
lain for a hundred busy years in his grave.
What, then, is our predominant feeling to-day ? Cer
tainly not one of mourning ; as little one of vain-glory.
We should be blind if we could not see the marvellous
results of Wesley's life and work ; we should be fools
if we did not recognise the influence and growth of
Methodism at home, in the Colonies, in America, and in
other foreign lands. We should be sinful if we did not
consider earnestly our duty in the present and the imme
diate future, and also our vast possibilities ; but our
deepest, strongest feeling at this hour is one of supreme
thankfulness to Almighty God, and the cry that goes up
from the heart of Methodism, as it stands by Wesley's
tomb, at this celebration of the Centenary of his death, is
" Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
But unto Thy name give glory."

THE MAN: HIS TEACHING AND WORK. 5
There was great need for such a man, and for such a
work as his, when Wesley appeared. Morals and religion
were in a dark and murky state. English life was
debased ; men swore and talked obscenely even in the
presence of women ; evei-y sixth house in London was one
in which ardent spirits were sold ; hundreds of the clergy
made no profession of personal godliness ; few of them
knew, and fewer of them preached the saving truths of the
gospel ; many of them were vile, base, and debauched.
The masses of the people were ignorant of spiritual .
religion, sunk deep in degradation, and utterly indifferent
to the claims of God or the needs of their own souls.
Surely a loud cry went up to the Lord of the Church for
help and salvation. The moral and religious state of the
English life, mind, literature, people, and clergy was such
as to make itself heard in the ears of the Almighty.
God heard and answered. In His answer He worked
according to His own old laws : " Man's extremity was
God's opportunity."
Great renewals of religious life and knowledge have
nearly always taken place in times of marked spiritual
declension and decay. It was so in the ancient Church, as
told in Old Testament history ; it was so when in the ful
ness of time the Lord Jesus came; it was so when Martin
Luther rose, and the Reformation did its wonderful work ;
it was so in the eighteenth century, when John Wesley
was sent of God. '
In the Methodist revival, as in so many other great
revivals, there was one great leader, there was a move
ment in harmony with the existing dispensation, there
was a mighty movement brought about by one who was
in the pale of the then dominant Church. Such a move
ment cannot be banked up in narrow channels, or con
fined within a sect. It was not in Luther's case : it was
not in Wesley's. So that now Methodism, so called,
cannot represent anything like the results of the Methodist
revival, and John Wesley cannot be claimed as a mere
Wesleyan, or the mere founder of a system : he belongs

6 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
not to Methodism, very much less to Anglicanism ; not
to a sect or a party, but to the Church catholic, the Church
wider than any" ism," greater than any Establishment, and
to the parish whose boundaries extend beyond earth.
L WE GIVE THE LORD THE GLORY FOR THE
MAN, JOHN WESLEY.
A great man — a good man — is a great gift of God
to any nation or community. The best products of
a country are not material; not in corn, cotton, coal,
or iron : the best products of a country are good men
and good women. These make a nation rich. When
Britain was in so sad a state religiously ; when Voltaire
and his associates were poisoning France with a poison
whose virus curses her yet ; when the Rationalists in
Germany were attacking the faith in the land where
Luther lived, and prayed, and toiled, — God in His provid
ence, who reared and trained Samuel and Moses in the
earlier Church, was preparing a man to stand before Him
in England who should be the leader of many true men
and women, and of a great religious movement intended
to rescue His Church, and bless the world with a new
evangelism. This is in accordance with God's plan. All
along the ages God has raised up men whose lives and
labours have made history. " The Lord built Him a
Solomon, that Solomon might build Him a house," and
Solomon's genius was seen in every part of the Temple.
The various great Churches show the work of those master-
builders who under God shaped their polity, formulated
their creeds, and illustrated their spirit. No history of
Methodism could be given without the biography of Wesley.
Others were with him — Charles Wesley, the sweet singer ;
what sweeter singer did the world ever know? John
Fletcher, the saint; who more saintly? Thomas Coke,
the missionary ; what missionary more devoted .? George
Whitefield, the preacher; who more eloquent? and many
besides ; — but to John Wesley belongs the pre-eminence.

THE MAN: HIS TEACHING AND WORK. 7
It has been well said that " as Mount Everest lifts its tall
head, not only above every other peak of the Himalayas,
but above the tallest peak of every other mountain range
in the wide world, so does John Wesley, as a revivalist
and reformer, tower not only above the other great men of
early Methodism, but above the greatest in all the other
Churches in Christendom." England has produced many
noble and worthy sons in her Churches, but only one John
Wesley. Good blood flowed in his veins. Men often owe much
to such a blessing. There is very much in breed. He
came of a good, strong Dissenting set ; he inherited sturdy
virtues and strong resolves. He was the son of father and
mother who were Church of England folk, and by whom
he was trained to a strait, bigoted sort of Anglicanism.
The poor country parson of Epworth, who was deep in
learning, deep in piety, was also often deep in debt, and
yet he managed, notwithstanding, to get his sons well
educated. John was sent to the Charter-house School
in the year Queen Anne died, and afterwards went to
Oxford. Let us not forget that Methodism owes a debt
to endowed scholarships, fellowships, and great schools of
learning. Without them the Epworth family could never
have had the educational training needed to fit them for
the great work of life. Think of John Wesley, Charles
Wesley, and George Whitefield. What could Methodism
have done without them ? What could they have done
without education ? How could they have got it without
the help of the great endowments of learning in schools
and university? It was needful that, as the Founder of the
great movement, John Wesley should be a good scholar.
For rough and ready work, other agents were needed and
found, men of many trades and hard hands ; but an
educated man was required to begin the work. And God
sent him. Wesley was a thorough scholar, a profound
logician, and deeply versed in the classics.
He was not only an educated man ; he was also an
educationalist. Do not let his sons forget that in 1891.

8 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
He knew that ignorance was no helpmeet for religion.
He wrote or edited numbers of books of useful knowledge,
when literature was not widely diffused. He opened
Kingswood School, and encouraged other schools. He
established Sunday schools in Methodism in 1784, and had
one in Georgia in 1736, forty-four years before Raikes began
his work. He was a pioneer in tract distribution, for he
had a Tract Society in 1747. A far-seeing man was he !
He was a man who grew. Some men never grow.
Never ! They never will ; and they cannot understand
those who do. When Wesley went from cheerless Epworth
to the Charter-house and 0;x:ford, he found London was
greater than his father's parish, and the world to be greater
than London. When he started life he was a shrivelled
sectarian ; when he got into the greater world outside
mere Anglican boundaries, he found that churches and
parishes were too small. His followers have learnt more
on that subject than he did. He doubtless would have
been glad if the Church of England had been expansive
enough to contain Methodism, but it was not ; and not
withstanding his early prejudices and some of his earlier
writings and sayings, he saw that Methodism could not.
become a Society in the Church of England. It never
had been ; it never has been ; it never will be.
At Oxford, and for a good while after he left, Wesley
was a Church of England ritualist. Studious, devout, self-
denying, charitable ; he partook of the Lord's Supper once
a week — often that, in those days ; persiladed men to attend
prayers, sermons, sacraments ; observed the discipline of the
Church in minute details ; tasted no food on Wednesdays
and Fridays till 3 p.m. " Though perhaps he and the first
Methodists never held the doctrine of the human nature
of the Divine Redeemer being present in the elements of
the Holy Sacrament, they held something approaching it,
and spoke of ' an outward sacrifice offered therein.' " He
religiously observed saint days, holydays, and Saturdays.
He maintained the doctrine of Apostolical Succession, and
believed no one had authority to administer the sacra-

THE MAN: HIS TEACHING AND WORK. g
ments who was not episcopally ordained. In Georgia he
excluded Dissenters from the Holy Communion, on the
ground that they had not been properly baptized. He
enforced confession, penance, and mortification. How he '
grew out of all this ! How much more scriptural he
became in belief and teaching I If any one doubts that,
the answer is very practical, in the fact that he himself
ordained men to the work of the ministry ; and that he
accepted and enforced the more scriptural teaching as to
the constitution, discipline, unity, and worship of the
Primitive Church. The Ritualists of to-day have gone
further than Wesley did in his early life. He laid aside
his popish follies and proud pretensions, and embraced the
truth as it is in Jesus Christ ; and then the Church, the
nation, the world, were blessed by his energy, earnestness,
diligence, self-denial, devotion, and mighty power as an
evangelist. No one can understand John Wesley and his career
who knows nothing of conversion and of his conversion.
He had been a stern religionist. He was a strict Church
man. He was a conscientious clergyman. He was a
seeker after God and truth. But he had need of much
more. He had no such spiritual experience as he heard
of among the Moravians. He had no such personal saving
faith in Jesus Christ as Peter Bohler told him of But
after much doubt and much delay he found that which he
sought. He had rendered and sung a version of a German
Moravian hymn :
"My soul before Thee prostrate lies.
To Thee, her source, my spirit flies :
My wants I mourn, my chains I see,
O let Thy presence set me free."
Charles Wesley had found peace with God on Whit
sunday, 2ist May 1738 ; but John Wesley was still a
seeker, a mourner. He was burdened, heavy in heart.
He felt there was no good in him ; and that all his works,
his righteousness, and his prayer, so far from having merit.

IO CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
needed an atonement themselves. On 24th May, at five
o'clock in the morning, he opened his Testament on these
words :
" There are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by
i these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature."
On leaving home he opened again at the words :
" Thou art not far from the kingdom of God."
In the afternoon he went to St. Paul's Cathedral, where
the anthem was full of comfort. It was :
" Out of the deep have I called unto Thee, O Lord :
Lord, hear my voice."
At night he went to a religious meeting in Aldersgate
Street, where a layman was reading Luther's preface to
the Epistle to the Romans, describing saving faith. He
heard that, possessed of this faith, —
" The heart is cheered, elevated, and transported with sweet affections
toward God."
Receiving the Holy Ghost, he was taught that the man
" is renewed and made spiritual," and that he is impelled to
" fulfil the law by the vital energy in himself"
While this preface was being read, Wesley experienced
a great change. He writes :
"I felt my heart strangely warmed. 1 felt I did trust in Christ, Christ
alone for salvation ; and an assurance was given me, that He had taken
away my sins, even mine, and saved me from ' the law of sin and death ; ' and
' I then testified openly to all there what I now first felt in my heart."
This experience was very joyous to Wesley. It was
the great event of his life. He had the liberty of a son of
God. He had the key to all sound religious experience.
He preached with mighty power. The doctrine of a
present, free, full salvation from sin, by faith in the Lord
Jesus, was like fire in his bones. His heart burned with
love to his Saviour, and yearned over the souls of men.
Eighteen days after his conversion, on nth June, he

THE MAN: HIS TEACHING AND WORK. ii
preached his famous sermon, before the University of
Oxford, on " By grace are ye saved through faith." That
was his favoiirite theme. That was the keynote of his
ministry. That sermon is Number One in the Standard
Edition of his sermons. That great doctrine he began to
preach in 1738, as soon as he experienced the blessing.
It was the preaching of it that gave birth to the revival
of religion — the religious movement of the eighteenth
century — called Methodism. And the preaching of that
doctrine, and the personal apprehension and application
of the truth of it, will secure continuous revivals and
conversions, and the conservation and perpetuity of
Methodism, and of Christian hfe.
May we not say with Dr. Punshon ?
" Praise we then our God alone.
Who made His servant thus complete !
And pour we, in libation sweet,
Our wealth of spikenard — each his own —
In tribute at the Master's feet."

II. WE GIYE GLORY TO GOD FOR WESLEY S TEACHING.
It was profoundly scriptural, comprehensive, distinct,
definite, systematic, experimental, and intensely practical.
It was such as only a highly-trained and very able man
could have given. As a teacher, Wesley was prepared of
God. He had both been taught, and had learned. He
was both a scholar and a man of genius. Mere eloquence
would not have sufSced, even when accompanied by
earnestness in aim, sound piety, and converting power.
This is seen in the contrast between Wesley and White-
field. Whitefield was a great orator, a wonderfully elo
quent man, of dramatic power, and able to sway the
crowds ; but he had not the educational breed of the
Wesleys : he was no scholar, and no scholar's son, and he
was a poor theologian. He had fervour, passion, tears,
magnetic influence, a strong personality, and sanctified
boldness ; but he has not left his mark on the nation as

12 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Wesley did, and although his work was very effective at
the time, he was not destined of the Master to be the
great teacher.
God raised up Wesley as a teacher in an hour of need.
Controversy raged bitterly. There was terrible religious
indifference. There were strong sacerdotal, popish claims
on the part of many of the clergy, and there was a ram
pant Calvinism.
The teaching of Wesley went in direct opposition
against all this. His preaching of the need of the new
birth, of conversion, of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit,
of the absolute necessity for the Christian believer to be a
Christian worker, aroused the careless and indifferent.
Whatever High Church sacramentarian views Wesley
had held, before his eyes were fully open, there can be no
doubt that his ecclesiastical exclusiveness yielded long
before his death.
He taught that sin was not a mistake, not a trifle, — not
merely a misfortune, but a black, guilty, and damning fact.
He taught that salvation was not a proposal of help made
to a few people, to be conferred at some time and some
how, no man could tell when or how ; but to every guilty
penitent it was a proclamation that he might now be
saved — fully saved — saved to the uttermost, and have the
witness of the Holy Ghost to the fact of this salvation.
No wonder the people listened, for at that time these
truths came with the force of a new revelation to the
masses of men.
! The doctrines which Wesley taught were no discoveries
or inventions of his own. They were old. They were
Christ's. They were apostolic. They were Pauline.
But he and his preachers, with their fervid declaration, so
brought the old truths before the people, that they were
new, fresh, vivid, and powerful. Yet they were the doc-
itrines of the Scriptures, old as the Bible. Wesley's teach
ing was simply a revival of primitive doctrine, primitive
'fellowship, primitive discipline. Because of this we say

THE MAN: HIS TEACHING AND WORK. 13
deliberately, that Methodism does not date from Wesley —
it is nearly 1900 years old. It began when Christ began
His life here — that Saviour whom it worships and serves,
and whose work in the world it perpetuates.
One of the chief characteristics of Wesley's teaching is,
that it is not merely theological, doctrinal, dogmatic ; it
was all that, but it was experimental. From the days
when the Holy Club met in Lincoln College, Oxford,
through the whole of his long ministry, all turned upon
the question of personal and experimental religion. It is
so yet in Methodism. Let men go into any Methodist
Church that is worthy the name, in Europe, Asia, Africa,
America, or any island in any sea, — and there are tens of
thousands of such churches, — and let them listen to the
hymns sung, the prayers offered, the sermons preached,
and the experiences narrated, and they will see that,
according to the idea of John Wesley and his followers,,
religion is no mere set of rules or laws, no mere display of!
ceremonies, no mere pietism, but a real, ^blessed, and'
triumphant spiritual life. ;
We give all the glory to God for this great human
teacher. We thank Him that he took him, the studious
boy, the diligent student, the brilliant young tutor of
Oxford, and led him, as he groped along, to the full light
of the gospel day. We give all the honour to the Lord ;
we recognise that the light itself came from Him. We
rejoice that that light was sent by God into " one of the
clearest and strongest of intellects," and also into one of
the most marvellous hearts which ever the hand of the
Creator fashioned or the spirit of the Redeemer warmed.
That masterful intellect was hungrily striving after more
and more knowledge of God, from the days of the home
in Epworth Rectory, till the day when, at eighty-eight,
the eternal sun-burst flashed upon it. But no such mere
intellectual seeking, however successful, no mere theo
logical study, could have produced the immense result
called " Methodism ; " and so, at the age of thirty-five, that
great soul saw God, changed doctrine into life ; and then

14 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
followed the extraordinary teaching and preaching which
created modern Methodism, and blessed other branches of
' the Church ; for all the Christian Churches to-day are
fuller, deeper, wider, and richer because of the great out
burst of Methodism.
But Wesley's teaching was not confined to theological
doctrine. It greatly affected ecclesiastical practice.
Under popish domination, and in the Church of England
even, after the Reformation, the lay element had been
drilled into silence. No hymn, no prayer, no exhortation
was heard save such as was uttered by priests or under
their direction. The Reformation had brought only
partial freedom — freedom from Rome, but not freedom to
work ; freedom for the ministry, but not freedom for the
laymen : these were kept under the thraldom of custom,
the slavery of precedent. Women, too, were gagged in
the Church, and consigned to the limbo of nonentities, so
far as church-work was concerned.
Wesley changed that. H§ had first to be changed him
self in opinion on the subject ; but he was changed. His
bigotry yielded. When Methodism arose and got fairly
to work, the Pauline Churches were reproduced in history.
livery man's mouth was opened, the membership found
their voice, and praise and prayer sounded once more in
the assembly of the saints. The Pauline liberty was
practised, and the Phoebes and Dorcases were permitted
to have an ecclesiastical existence and mention. They
had liberty to speak and work as the Spirit of God moved
them. This is the age of lay effort, the day of spiritual
liberty ; and we stand bathed in the light of it. Let us
recall the early dawn ; let us not forget the men who
secured us the blessing; let us remember the obloquv
those men endured, by whose prayers and labours the
liberty and light came.
When men— outsiders — study the secret of the growth
and success of Methodism, let them be pointed to the
teaching of Wesley on this subject of lay effort and work.
This great success can be traced, under the blessing of

THE MAN: HIS TEACHING AND WORK. 15
God, largely to the fact that it has reproduced the Pauline
energy in the organisation of the Churches. It has had,
as one of its great aims, the utilisation of all spiritual
forces. A man has been allowed to exercise his own
special gift. A woman has not had her mouth shut by a
perverted text of Scripture. Each has been allowed to
serve the Master as God by nature and grace has qualified
them. Much of the philosophy of the success of Method
ism is in this, — it has found a place for every man, and
generally a man for every place. It has been courageous.
It has not been afraid of new methods. It has been
conservative as well, — retaining the old if good, and not
being terrified by innovations. It has not been afraid of
respectability, nor ashamed of poverty. It has not run
away either from beautiful sanctuaries or from ducking in
horse-ponds. It has utilised as far as possible all appli
ances and varied conditions. It has its theology, — the
landmarks are notable ; — but it has never made the mistake
of carrying too much theology and too little active piety
to live.
Surely we do well to praise God for Wesley as a theo
logian and teacher.
We recognise the Divine appointment and endowment.
It is impossible to overestimate the influence of Wesley's
theology. It is powerful in the schools, a great gift to the
Church ; and it gives promise of becoming the theology
yet more fully of the myriads of the future. " It asserts ,
the liberty of the moral agent, and vindicates the spiritual
nature and essential royalty of man. It is very clear as
to the atoning work of Christ, and the office and work of
the Spirit. It insists on the necessity of personal holiness,
and holds out the possibility of a victory over the apostate
nature, by asserting a sanctification which is entire, and a
perfection in love which is not ultimate and final, but
progressive in its development for ever. It looks on man
as utterly lost on account of sin. But warm and generous
as the sunlight of God, it looks every man in the face, and
says, 'Christ died for you.' It preaches the glad news.

i6 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
that to every believer in Christ the invited Spirit will corne
and enthrone Himself in the heart as a witness of sonship
and the living Comforter. It preaches the dreadful truth
of eternal punishment, and warns men to flee from the
wrath to come ; and it makes known the everlasting
blessedness of those who fight the good fight and obtain
the crown of righteousness."
It is pre-eminently the theology of the evangelist who
seeks to revive and extend spiritual religion. The char
acter of Wesley's teaching and theology is written on
every page of the history of the mightiest revival the
Church has ever known :
"Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for
Thy mercy and for Thy truth's sake."

IH. WE GIVE THE LORD GLORY FOR WESLEY'S WORK.
' God sent Luther to reform a corrupted Christianity :
: He sent Wesley to revive a dying Christianity.
Wesley's preaching was not of strange or new doctrines,
< but it exhorted to new life, and it was effective.
He was the leader of a Church for preaching to the poor,
and for carrying the gospel to the masses. That was his
work ; and it has been the hard work of his followers
through the generations.
Unconsciously he worked out a Divine purpose. He no
more contemplated at first, nor for long, the establishment
of a separate branch of the Church, — of Methodism as a
system, — than Luther did of leaving Rome and establish
ing Lutheranism ; but the Lord thrust them both forth,
and led them whither they did not expect. Wesley, in
the providence of God, was led, driven, inspired to start
a great evangelistic and missionary organisation. The
question for the living Methodists of to-day is not,
" What did John Wesley wish for himself or his followers
in relation to the Church of England.'" This is the
question : " What did John Wesley and our God intend ? "

THE MAN: HIS TEACHING AND WORK. 17
And on this subject we ask no man's dictum, but must
be guided by providential indications.
He welded the members of his Societies into a compact
body ; gave them rules ; established classes ; promoted
Christian fellowship ; and insisted on and exercised godly
discipline. He was neither schismatic nor heresiarch, but he
had a passion for saving souls, and was eminently a
preacher. His work was oratorical, diplomatic, administrative,
constructive, and legislative. He did it all well ; as only
a man of genius, culture, intellectual force, extraordinary
power of physical endurance, and true godliness could do
it. For all this we give God the glory.
On New Year's Day 1740, — fifty-one years before
Wesley's death, — there were not fifty Methodists in the
world: on 2nd March 1791, when he died, he left behind
him 80,000 members in the Societies he had founded ;
1000 local preachers, and a pastorate of 300 itinerant
preachers. And when his spirit took its flight, he entered
into no City of Strangers, for troops of his friends and
converts had preceded him to paradise, and doubtless
gave him welcome there. One hundred years after his
death, the work has so extended, that Wesley's followers 1
living on earth at this hour number at least twenty-five
millions. Properly to judge of the work of Mr. Wesley, we need'
to read his Journals. What a record of travel I of toil ! of
holy joy I of persecutions ! What an insight they give of
the England and Ireland of 100 years ago ! How they
put to shame the indolent Christians, in the ministry and
out of it, of other days ! Let us urge every Methodist,
and especially every young Methodist, diligently to read
those fascinating Journals of Mr. Wesley, and devoutly to
study his sermons and other works. He preached his
last sermon at Leatherhead on 24th February 1791, from
" Seek ye the Lord while He may be found ; call ye upon
Him while He is near." That was the last of more
B

1 8 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
than forty - two thousand sermons. He died a week
after, — " His body with his charge lay down.
And ceased at once to work and live.''
Such was the man, such was his teaching, such was his
work ; now what as to

THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE OF METHODI.SM ?
FOR THIS, TOO, WE GIVE GOD GLORY.
It will be well if, in the spirit of our text, the Methodists
of to-day will resolve henceforth to shout no more paeans
on mere Wesleyanism, to cease from self-glorification, but
to go directly, distinctly, and earnestly to the work that
requires to be done in the world. It is high time that
now, a century after Wesley's death, Wesley's sons in
the faith, and successors in toil and the service of God,
should seek to become, more and more, leaders in religious
thought, as well as leaders in religious life and work.
They will do well to think much of Methodism and
Methodist topics, and study them deeply. They will love
their Church in proportion to their knowledge of Method
ism. The Methodists, well read in our literature will be
the most industrious, enthusiastic, and earnest workers
and Wesleyans ; but they must remember that the world
is greater than any " ism ; " and they must launch out into
the deep, and cast their nets on the other side of the ship
for greater draughts of fish than they have ever yet caught
— and for greater and other sort of fish.
We give glory to God for the past, but we give glory to
Him also because there is abundant proof that the course
of Methodism is not yet run. The causes of its past pro
gress are permanent and perpetual. Like the trade-winds,
or the flow of the Gulf Stream, the way of Methodism is
onward. In England— this little isle— we cannot see what
God has done by it. In the great West it is the mightiest

THE MAN: HIS TEACHING AND WORK. 19
Church ; and there still the promise of the future is bright
— brighter than ever before.
Let the past teach and stimulate for the future. Men
differ when they account for the marvellous growth of
Methodism. They speak of its doctrines, polity, itinerancy,
elasticity, as to forms of worship, hymnology, sayings,
revivals, fellowship, ecclesiastical freemasonry, — all these
have been dwelt upon.
But no one of these things, nor all of them put together,
is sufficient to account for the result. God must be taken
. into the reckoning. The glory — and all of it — must be
given to Him. His "mighty working" in all of them, by
men and women " full of faith and the Holy Ghost," is the
secret. The doctrines, however good, would have been
powerless if they had not been preached ; the preaching
would have been in vain without the energy of the Spirit ;
the economy would have been cumbrous despite the
wisdom that invented it, if the living power had not been
in the machinery ; the inspiring songs had to be sung by
inspired singers. It is because men and women have
preached, lived, sung, toiled under the constraint of the
love of Christ, and under a weight of responsibility that
never lost sight of the judgment-day, that Methodism has
won its greatest victories.
The secret of success has been in downright consecration
to God. Earnest, plodding, unconquerable hard work,
— work prepared by the Lord, and then energised by His
Spirit. Surely the lesson to the Methodists of to-day is clear ''
enough. Let us cherish the memory of our forefathers ;
let us emulate their spirit ; let us cling to their God-given
doctrines ; let us cultivate, as they did, communion with
the Master, and fellowship with each other ; let us aim each
one to do his own duty ; let us strive to make our Church
a greater power for evangelism among the people of the
earth than ever; let us look to the Holy Spirit for a richer
baptism of grace. And Methodism, so blessed of the Lord
in the past, will yet be blessed. Her mission is not accom-

20 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
plished. Her work is not done. Long may she live and
prosper ! Peace be within her walls ; prosperity within
her palaces. For my brethren and companions' sakes, —
the faithful living and the sainted dead, — I will now say,
" Peace be within her ! "

% IbunDteO lears ago.
Hymn written for the Centenary of Methodism, 1S39.
By James Montgomery.

Used at the Ex-President's Service, 1st March 1 89 1 .

One song of praise, one voice of prayer.
Around, above, below ;
Ye winds and waves, the burden bear,
"A hundred years ago!"
"A hundred years ago ! " — What then?
There rose the world to bless
A little band of faithful men,
A cloud of witnesses.
It look'd but like a human hand ;
Few welcom'd it, none fear'd ;
Yet, as it open'd o'er the land,
The Hand of God appear'd.
The Lord made bare His holy Arm,
In sight of earth and hell ;
Fiends fled before it with alarm.
And alien armies fell.
God gave the word, and great hath been
The preacher's company ;
What wonders have our fathers seen !
What signs their children see !
One song of praise for mercies past,
Through aU our courts resound ;
One voice of prayer, that to the last
Grace may much more abound.
AU hail "a hundred years ago!"
And when our lips are dumb.
Be millions heard rejoicing so,
.\ hundred years to come !

S^rir)or) bo \ll)e Youi)6 P^opI^
By the Rev. CHARLES GARRETT.

" Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast,
unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord, forasmuch as ye knoiv that your labour is not
in vain in the Lord." — I CoR. xv. 58.
This is the conclusion of one of the most eloquent and
impressive parts of God's Word, and, though eminently
practical, it is in perfect harmony with that which has pre
ceded it. Paul had been demonstrating the certain truth
of Christianity, and he then endeavours to bring his
reasoning to bear upon the daily life of the Corinthians.
He seems to say, seeing that Christianity is true, and that
the resurrection is sure ; seeing that Christ has made a full
atonement for the sins of the world, and thus has made
it possible that every child of man may be a child of God ;
seeing that your destiny is in your own hands, and that
your position hereafter will depend upon your conduct
here : "Be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord."
After much anxious thought, I can find no passage more
suitable than this to guide our thoughts in this important
service. It is a Divine picture of the Methodists of the
past. I know of none more striking, and the prayer of my
heart is that it may be an equally correct description of
the Methodists to come.
The text puts before us our work and our encouragement.
I. Our Work. Work is the law of the universe ; man

22 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
is the only idler, and idleness is sin. Work is also the
law of the Church. Christ did His work that we might do
ours. If we neglect that, then, as far as we are concerned,
we " receive the grace of God in vain." The text teaches
that we must begin with ourselves. It is much easier to
recommend religion to others than to receive and carry it
out ourselves. It is far more easy to be a Sunday school
teacher, a tract distributor, a teetotaller, a social reformer,
than it is to be a Christian. I want you to see this, for
whatever you may do for the promotion of the spread of
Christianity, if you are not right yourselves, you will at last
join in the sad, sad cry, " They made me a keeper of vine
yards, but my own vineyard I have not kept." Let me
then urge you, as you value your present and eternal
welfare, to listen to the apostle's words.
First, "Be stedfast" settled, decided. Till this is done
nothing is done. Indecision in religious matters is the
ruin of multitudes. They don't openly reject Christ, but
they don't loyally and lovingly receive Him. They halt
between tvvo opinions, and forget that indecision is really
decision : that not to receive Christ is to reject Him.
This, I fear, is the state of many of you. You have come
from Methodist homes, you attend Methodist chapels, you
defend Methodism if it is attacked in your shops and
warehouses ; but you have not decided for Christ. Let me
beseech you to end this hesitancy, and decide to-day.
Remember, if you ever get to heaven, you will have
decided. Why, then, not decide to-day? Can you
imagine a more favourable time for decision .' Here in
this glorious old chapel, every place in which is holy
ground, with all the memories of the past crowding in
upon you, with thousands of God's people on their knees
praying that the service may be blessed ; with many a
mother away in the country village, who knew that you
were coming to this service, pleading with God that to-day
her many prayers for your salvation may be answered -.
can there ever be a more favourable time for decision ?
Remember you must decide for yourself No one on

SERMON TO THE YOUNG PEOPLE. 23
earth or in heaven can decide for you. Christ ha's put
away sin, and opened a way to the mercy-seat ; God urges
you to come, and promises to receive you. But the
decision rests with you. You must act, or perish for ever.
God help you here and now to take the great step in life,
and say, " This people shall be my people, and their God
my God." You will no longer be tossed about ; you will
be on the Rock of Ages. This day will be to you the
beginning of days ; the light of seven days will be in it; and
long as life shall last, and may be, even in heaven itself,
you will sing, " O happy day, \!a.&.t fixed my choice
On Thee, my Saviour and my God."
Now, having got right, remain right. The text urges
you to be " unmoveable." Remember that entering the
Church is not entering heaven. True, you have become a
Christian, but it is a Christian in the battlefield, and you
will need Divine help or your song of triumph will end in)
the wail of despair. Whoever else may believe in the,
doctrine that if a man is once in grace he is always iui
grace, it is clear the devil doesn't. If he did, he wouldn't
torment some of us as much as he does. No ; he knows
your value ; "he goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking
whom he may devour," and he will use the world and the '
flesh for your destruction. Be therefore on your guard.^
Put on the whole armour of God :
" Leave no unguarded place.
No weakness of the soul ;
Take every virtue, every grace
And fortify the whole.'
Then build yourselves up in your most holy faith.
" Add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and
to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience,
and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly
kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity." " If ye do
the.se things, ye shall never fall," but the winds and waves^

24 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
of life and time shall sweep around you in vain. Lastly,
see that you grow in grace. In order to this, treasure
lip God's promises. They are the food of the soul ; you
'will have no permanent strength or peace without them.
You may have your dreams and visions and joyous
feelings, but if you have not a " Thus saith the Lord," your
faith will be mere enthusiasm, and when the days of dark
ness come, you will be hopeless and helpless. Treasure
.up the promises, and you will feel as safe in the dark as
in the light. Darkness doesn't affect the value of bank
notes, the solidity of the promises, nor our relationship to
God, and hence, grasping the promises, we shall be able
to say, " Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him."
To this end, commit the promises to memory. You
can easily learn one each week, and with fifty-two hid in
your heart you will be prepared for any emergency.
Remember, however, that no promise in the Bible will
be of any use to you unless you know it. God will never
perform a miracle to compensate you for your idleness.
Next, read the records of God's dealings with His people^
It is our privilege to "sing a performing God." Read His
wonderful works and rejoice, remembering that what He
has done for others He can do again. Don't read books
that are calculated to chill your love and weaken your
faith. What can be more unwise than for Christians to
spend their money in buying doubts. If you and the
devil cannot manufacture more doubts than you can
solve, it is strange to me. Buy doubts! No; if you
have money to spend, buy books that will feed your
faith, and brighten your hope. Read the lives of your
Methodist forefathers, such as John Nelson, John
Haime, and John Smith ; or of Samuel Pearce the Bap
tist, and R. M. M'Cheyne the Presbyterian, or Bishop
Hannington the Episcopalian ; and before you have
finished them you will be in Beulah-land, where the sun
shines all the day long.
Next, Keep up close comniiinion ivitli God. Nothing
helps the soul like thi.s. It strengthens our faith, increases

SERMON TO THE YOUNG PEOPLE. 25
our love, and gives us a foretaste of heaven. " O taste
and see that the Lord is good." Experimental religion
cannot be affected by the sneers of the infidel. If a man
has once tasted honey, all the scientific men in the world
couldn't persuade him that it wasn't sweet. So it is
with the soul. Let a man's fellowship be with the Father,
and with His Son Jesus Christ, and the pratings of the
infidel will produce no more effect upon him than the
baying of the dogs upon the moon. To all their argu
ments he will joyously reply, " I know whom I have
believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep
what I have committed to Him against that day." He
will be " stedfast " and " unmoveable."
Right yourselves, now set to work to make other people
right, be " always abounding in the work of God." The
Christian religion is the determined enemy of idleness
and selfishness. As soon as God says, " Thy sins which
are many are all forgiven," He says, " Go work to-day
in My vineyard." God does not make us Christians
merely to get us to heaven. He makes us Christians that
we may be co-workers with Him in bringing heaven here. ,
This is the work of the Church, and God holds us each
responsible for doing all in our power for its accomplish
ment. We are to do "the work of the Lord." What is
this ? We are not left in ignorance. The Lord has been
here and " left us an example that we should tread in His
steps." What then did He do ? Here also the answer
is clear : " He went about doing good." He taught the
ignorant. He fed the hungry. He comforted the sorrowful.
He sought and saved the lost. This is " the work of the
Lord " that we are to do. We are His representatives,
and we should seek to live " as Jesus lived below." As Dr.'i
Arnold said, " Our work is to make earth like heaven, and[
every man like God." Beware of the idea that some'
work is religious and some secular Christ's life teaches
us the opposite. Every act that benefits man or glorifies
God is Christlike work, and this work every one of us is
called to do.

26 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
We are to do this work heartily, not grudgingly or of
necessity, but "abounding." We are not hireHngs,_ but
sons and daughters ; we are not Jews, but Christians.
We are not under the dominion of law, but of love. And
love does not want commands, it only wants opportunities.
Love never thinks of an eight-hours Bill, for it can never
do enough for its object. We must also do this work
contimiotisly. We are to be " always " abounding in it,
in youth and age, in sunshine and in storm. Some
professors of Christianity are spasmodic in their service.
They are a kind of ecclesiastical rockets. They go up
with a great deal of noise at revivals, and then we hear
no more of them. See to it that you are not like that : be
stars, not rockets ; let your light shine more and more unto
the perfect day.
II. Our Encouragement. "Forasmuch as ye know that
your labour is not in vain in the Lord." What cheering
news. Most of us have been so dissatisfied with our work,
that we only thought of asking for mercy. Here, how
ever, is the promise of reward. Yes, " our labour is not in
vain " here, for it will increase both our strength and our
happiness. It is the best possible remedy for weakness
and gloom.
" It will not be in vain " hereafter, for it will be acknow
ledged and rewarded by God. When we think of our
many failures, it seems impossible that this should be, but
remember love soon forgets a wrong, but never forgets a
kindness. See the mother. Her son was not one of the
best of boys, but one day when she was ill he got up and
lighted the fire for her, and now that he has gone to
America, if you go and talk to her she will tell you he was
a good lad, and that when she was ill, he used to get up
and light the fire for her. So it will be with our infinitely
loving Father. Our sins shall be blotted out — be behind
His back — be forgotten ; but no act of kindness to men or
service to God shall ever be forgotten; and even if we
make the attempt and fail, He will say, " Thou did'st well
that it was in thine heart." So at the day of judgment

SERMON TO THE YOUNG PEOPLE. 27
there is not to be a word about our failures, but a pro
clamation of our service, and many a man will find himself
to be a millionaire who thought himself a bankrupt. " Then
will the King say to those on His right hand. Come, ye
blessed of My Father, inherit the kindgom prepared for
you from the foundation of the world : for I was hungry,
and ye fed me. Then will the righteous answer Him and
say, Lord, when saw we Thee hungry and fed Thee ? "
And the Lord will say, " Don't you remember when you
were sitting at your dinner one day, you said. There is a
poor woman down the court yonder that rarely gets a bit
of hot dinner, let us send her some ; and you cut it off and
sent it down to her ?" You will say, "Lord, I had forgotten
that I ever did this." " Ah," Christ will say, " I have not
forgotten it ; I was there, and I whispered to you, Well
done, good and faithful servant, thou hast done it unto Me."
" I was naked, and you clothed Me." And you will say,
"Lord, when?" And the Lord will reply, "Don't you
remember when the snow was falling, and the keen east
wind was smiting the strongest, that you saw a little
orphan boy hurrying by and trying to shelter himself from
the biting blast, and you said. Our little Willie is grown
out of his clothes, and they would just fit that little fellow,
let us call him in; and you clothed him and sent him away
rejoicing?" "Lord, I had forgotten that I ever did it." "Oh,"
Christ will say, " I have not forgotten ; I was there, and I
whispered, Thou hast done it unto Me." " I was sick, and
you visited Me." And you will say "When?" And He will
say, " Don't you remember when the young man in your
warehouse was sick unto death, and was far from home and
friends, that you proposed to the other young men that
you should sit up with him in turn ? " And you will say,
" Lord, I had forgotten it." He will say, " I have not for
gotten it ; I was there all night breathing blessings upon
you, and no service you ever rendered was so pleasing to
Me as that." Young men, this is not a dream, but the
teaching of God's Word ; and if the Church believed it
there would not be a want unmet, or a sorrowing one

28 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
uncomforted, or a sinner unsaved. There would be a
holy rivalry who should be the first in the sick-room
and the first to minister to the wants of the needy, and
first to seek the wanderer. See that you believe and act
upon it, and so lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
" Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, un
moveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in
the Lord."

lr)e Vr)oser) Y^ss^l.
By the Rev. DAVID J. WALLER, D.D.,
SECRETjiRY OF THE CONFERENCE.

' ' Go thy way : for he is a chosen vessel unto
Mc, to bear My name before the Gentiles." — Acrs
i.-c. 15.
There is nothing more remarkable than the way in
which the Divine Head of the Church has raised up
specially gifted and qualified instruments to do His work.
This is strikingly illustrated in the conversion of Saul of
Tarsus. Who so unlikely to become ¦ a Christian and
apostle of the Cross as the zealous and persecuting
Pharisee who held the clothes of the men who stoned the
first martyr Stephen? And yet Saul was a "chosen
vessel " to fulfil the Divine purpose. By the revelation of
the glorified Christ, he became a changed man, and the
persecutor " straightway preached Jesus." In subsequent
periods of the Church's history, Christ has raised up men
who, like St. Paul, were " chosen vessels " for the Master's
use. If their conversion has not been marked by heavenly
vision, or the manifestation of the glorified Redeemer,
there has been the operation of the same gracious
providence, the revelation of the same Divine Saviour,
and the gift of the same Holy Spirit. Such a man was
Martin Luther, who became the Apostle of the Protestant
Reformation. And such a man was John Wesley. He,
too, was a "chosen vessel," selected' and qualified for a
special work, who, " after he had served his own generation
by the will of God, fell on sleep," a century ago.
29

30 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
" A chosen vessel " implies selection and fitness for a
special work.
I. in the DIVINE SELECTION THERE WAS AN
ANTECEDENT PREPARATORY FITNESS.
There is frequently an " ancestral fitness " in connection
with the Divine choice. This was so in reference to John
the Baptist. He was " a man sent from God," to " go before
the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give know
ledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of
their sins." But Zacharias and Elizabeth were specially
chosen of God, and to them were committed the childhood
and training of the Prophet of the Highest. First in the
Hebron home of the pious priest, and afterwards in the
wilds of the Judean desert, the Baptist was fitted for the
great work of preparing the way of the world's Redeemer.
No angelic visitant was sent to announce the birth of
Saul ; and there were no indications of the Divine choice
apparent during the period of his youth or early manhood.
But as we listen to the announcement made by the
heavenly Saviour to Ananias, and then glance along the
pathway of his previous history, it is not difficult to see
how — though unconsciously to himself and others — there
had been a remarkable preparation for his subsequent
career as an Apostle to the Gentiles.
Saul was born in a Hebrew home, and he was care
fully educated in the Jewish faith. He was taught to
receive the Scriptures as the sacred oracles of God ; and
was brought up in "the straitest sect" of the Jews' religion.
He " was a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee ; " and he
" served God from his forefathers." When he wrote these
words, probably he had before his mind the example of his
father, " praying and walking with broad phylacteries,
scrupulous and exact in his legal observances."
But, educated in a Hebrew home, he was surrounded by
Gentile influences. Tarsus was a Roman city, and the
schools of Gentile teaching, of a high order, were at his

THE CHOSEN VESSEL. 31
very door. He had abundant opportunities of becoming
acquainted with Greek literature, and there are sufficient
evidences that he availed himself of them.
May we not see the wisdom and providence of God in
selecting one to " bear Christ's name before the Gentiles,"
who had spent his early youth in contact with the vital
forces of the Gentile world ? Though his was a Hebrew
home, it was not in Palestine, where neither the language
nor the special influences would have fitted him for his
great work ; but in Cilicia, where he was subject to Greek
and Roman influences, and where he became familiar with
the languages and ideas of the Gentile world.
At the same time, Saul was so effectually guarded
against the Gentile influences by which he was sur
rounded, that neither the philosophic schools nor the
sensual idolatries of Tarsus quenched in any degree his
devotion to the Jewish faith. His formal education was
completed, not at Tarsus, but at Jerusalem, at the feet of
the famous Gamaliel, from whom he learnt, in its best
form, the tradition of the elders. , He was one of the
foremost champions of the Hebrew faith, and one of the
most zealous members of the Jewish propaganda. " It
was," said they, " no longer possible to fortify Jerusalem
against the heathen ; but the law could be fortified like an
impregnable city. The place of the brave is on the walls
and in the front of the battle ; and the hopes of the nation
rested on those who defended the sacred outworks, and
made successful inroads on the territories of the Gentiles." ^
Saul was one of those brave defenders ! When he heard,
therefore, of the spread of the Nazarene sect among his
own nation, his indignation was extreme. His anger was
only equalled by his determination to exterminate the
hated society. And yet this man, consenting to Stephen's
death, " breathing out threatenings and slaughter against
the disciples of the Lord," is himself a " chosen vessel "
unto Christ to bear His name before the Gentiles. The
strict religious training, the careful education, the know-
' Conybeare and Howson, vol. i. 40.

32 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
ledge of the oracles of God, the familiarity with the range
of ancient philosophy, were acquirements which fitted
him for his high vocation. Then the intensity of his
nature, his passionate zeal, his unflinching courage, his
strength of will, his superior mental endowments, were
qualities which, when purified by the fire of the Holy
Spirit, and sanctified by the grace of Christ, all fitted him
to bear His name before the Gentiles.
John Wesley was in a lesser degree " a chosen vessel "
; to bear Christ's name before the people ; and in his case
I there was an antecedent preparatory fitness for the work.
If we transfer our thoughts from the Hebrew home in
Tarsus to the more familiar rectory at Epworth, we may
observe influences which in no small degree fitted John
Wesley for the great part he was designed to take in the
Revival of the Eighteenth Century. There was an
ancestry which had been ennobled by sacrifice and the
endurance of persecution, and family traditions of no
small value. The example of a devout father was before
the children, and the still more valuable and potent
influence of the mother. The world is principally indebted
to Susannah Wesley for the early religious training by
which the foundation of the eminent characters of her
children was laid. It has been truly said that "the mother
makes us most," '^ and no son was more indebted to his
mother than was John Wesley.
If we trace the history of the child in the Epworth
home, — with its careful moral and religious training, — of
the boy at public school, or of the undergraduate at the
Oxford University, it is easy to see how all this prepared
him for his life's great work. The thorough education,
the superior scholarship, the highly-trained intellect, the
extensive knowledge, all fitted him for the work to which,
by a gracious Providence, he was designated.
^ " Mind is from the mother," says Isaac Taylor, when speaking of John
Wesley's mother. With this agrees Tennyson's line,
" The mother makes us most."
— Bishop M'Tyeire's Sermons, pp. 109, no.

THE CHOSEN VESSEL. 33
Then mark his reverent devotion. As a student in
preparation for Holy Orders he was most exemplary. He
prayed and fasted, he attended the sacraments, and
strictly conformed to all outward acts of piety. This was
in no formal spirit, for he was intensely in earnest, and
thoroughly aroused to the importance of vital religion.
He was convinced, moreover, that outward conformity,
however strict, and good works, however manifold, do not
constitute true religion, but that it consists in a right
state of the heart ; and so by reading, meditation, and
prayer, he sought for the Divine image in the soul. It
was at this period that an Oxford student satirically
applied the term "Methodist" to Wesley and his associates,
little thinking that in process of time millions would be
designated by that name.
All this was part of the preparation, but it did not
constitute his essential fit?iess for the work Christ had
chosen him to fulfil. His thorough education, his know
ledge of languages, his intellectual culture, his moral
elevation, and his intense religious earnestness, constituted
an antecedent fitness for his calling. But the "chosen
vessel " received a higher and Divine qualification.
II. THE "CHOSEN VESSEL" WAS SPECIALLY PREPARED
BY THE PERSONAL MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST.
Saul was on his way to Damascus that he might bring
the disciples bound to Jerusalem, when the Lord whom
he persecuted appeared to him. St. Paul never doubted
as to the reality of Christ's. appearance. It was no dream
or vision of the night, but an actual appearance at noon
day, and with a splendour which outshone the brilliancy
of a Syrian sun. Years afterwards he asked, " Am I not
an apostle ? Have I not seen Jesus Christ ? "
It was by the personal manifestations of the glorified
Christ that the marvellous transformation was effected
which made the persecuting Saul the chosen vessel to
bear Christ's name before the Gentiles.
C

34 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
The first effect of the manifestation of the risen Saviour
to Saul was to produce in him great distress and anguish
of soul. He fell to the ground blinded by the intense glory
of the vision, and overwhelmed with terror and astonish
ment. Then, after three days, Ananias was sent to him.
He put his hands on him, and the humble penitent received
his sight ; " there fell from his eyes as it had been scales."
At the same time, by the touch of the Divine Healer,
his spiritual eyes were opened, and he saw by faith that
same Jesus who had appeared unto him in the way.
He passed from "darkness to light;" he knew whom he
had believed, and he was filled with the Holy Ghost.
We are told that " straightway he preached Christ in the
synagogues, that He is the Son of God."
Thus was the " chosen vessel " prepared to bear Christ's
name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of
Israel. Afterwards, when standing before kings, he
declared how Jesus, whom he persecuted, had appeared
to him " for this purpose " to make him " a minister and a
witness," both of the things which he had seen, and of the
things in the which Christ would appear unto him. It
was this heavenly Saviour who had sent him to the
Gentiles, " to open their eyes, and to turn them from dark
ness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that
they might receive the forgiveness of sins, and inheritance
among them which are sanctified."
The conversion of St. Paul -was brought about by personal
bitterness and suffering. Is not this part of the Divine
plan of salvation? "God wills to save sinners, but to
_save them as sinners." The salvation of a sinner is by
way of repentance toward God, as well as faith in our
Lord Jesus Christ.
But the manner of God's approach to the human soul
is wonderfully varied ; and the motions of the Divine
Spirit are beyond human comprehension. Some are
startled, and flee from " the wrath to come ; " whilst others
are secretly drawn into the vale of contrite sorrow and of
humble trust and love.

THE CHOSEN VESSEL. 35
It will be found, however, that some of the most dis
tinguished of Christ's " chosen vessels " have experienced
deep penitence and clearly marked conversion. Martin
Luther, after taking his university degree at Wittenberg,
was making his way to his Saxon home. He was at the
same time the subject of great internal conflict. He
thought of the assassin's knife that went to the heart of
his comrade ; and then asked himself if it had gone to
his own heart, how he would have appeared before God.
Just then a tempest burst over him, and the thunderbolt
fell at his side. He thought his hour was come. " Death,
judgment, and eternity surrounded him," and, wrapped in
agony; he fell upon his knees, and vowed to abandon the
world, and give himself to God. He entered an Augustine
monastery, but in vain by prayer and penance did he
seek for peace with God. At last a pious monk pointed
him to "the Son of God who came thither for the pardon
of our sins." It was not in vain that he believed the
" acceptable saying, that Jesus Christ came into the world
to save sinners."! jjg ^vas a "chosen vessel" unto Christ,
and by that experience he was fitted for his work. " The
day then broke on Luther's soul, and the Reformation
dawned on Christendom."^
It was so in the case of Whitefield, whose clarion
voice was heard more distinctly than that of any other
herald of the great Revival of the Eighteenth Century.
Whitefield's conviction of sin was attended with the
deepest distress. Of the anguish which he endured when
an undergraduate at Oxford, he says : " God only knows
how many nights I have lain groaning. Whole days and i
weeks have I spent prostrate on the ground in silent or ¦
vocal prayer." The day of redemption came, when he laid i
hold of the Cross by faith, and " the spirit of adoption
sealed him unto the day of everlasting redemption." This
" chosen vessel " unto Christ then went forth on his
gloriously successful career. The effects which he wit-
1 D'Aubigni, vol. i. p. 116.
° Life of Dr. Coke, Etheridge, pp. 25, 26.

36 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
nessed have probably not been equalled since the day
of Pentecost. In one week he received a thousand letters
from those who had received spiritual benefit under his
ministry. John Wesley was led to conscious salvation in a less
tempestuous way, but the deepest conviction of sin was
wrought in his heart by the Holy Spirit of God. This
he experienced when by prayer, fasting, and the sacra
ments he sought for the image of God in his heart. When,
on the voyage to Georgia, he witnessed the meekness and
patience and the calmness in the midst of peril which the
Moravians, who were fleeing from persecution, manifested,
he saw that they possessed a peace which passed his
understanding. His mission to Georgia was a failure, but
it was fruitful in its effect upon his religious experience.
On his return to London, he learned the way of salvation
more perfectly from Peter Bohler.
At this time his conviction of sin was clearly marked.
He tells of an inward sense of sin, of sorrow and heavi
ness of heart, and of a despair of saving himself by any
works of righteousness. Here are his words : — " How am
I fallen from God. . . . All my works, my righteousness,
my prayers, need an atonement for themselves." " God
is holy. I am unholy, and altogether a sinner meet to be
consumed." " Yet I hear a voice (and is it not the voice
of God ?), saying, ' Believe, and thou shalt be saved.' ' He
that believeth is passed from death unto life.' ' God so
loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son,' etc."
His prayer was heard. The day of redemption came.
, These are the words in which he records the blessed fact: —
" I think it was about five this morning that I opened
' my Testament on those words : ' There are given unto us
exceeding great and precious promises, even that ye
should be partakers of the Divine nature ' (2 Pet. i. 4). Just
as I went out, I opened again on those words : ' Thou art
not far from the kingdom of God.'
" In the afternoon I was asked to go to St. Paul's. The
anthem was, ' Out of the depth have I called unto Thee,

THE CHOSEN VESSEL. 37
O Lord : Lord, hear my voice. O let Thine ears consider
well the voice' of my complaint. If Thou, Lord, wilt be,
extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who may
abide it ? For there is mercy with Thee ; therefore shalt
Thou be feared. O Israel, trust in the Lord, for with the
Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemp
tion. And He shall redeem Israel from all his sins.' "
How suitable these words to the devout seeker who, out
of the depths of his contrite spirit, called unto the Lord !
How full of comfort the assurance of mercy, as the swelling
anthem filled that grand Christian temple ! He was to
taste the sweetness of that mercy by the personal mani
festation of Christ to him as his Saviour, ere the light of
that day's sun had died out of the western sky.
" In the evening I went very unwillingly to a Society in
Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's preface
to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter to nine,
while he was describing the change which God works in
the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely
warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for
salvation ; and an assurance was given me, that He had
taken away my sins, even mine, and saved tne from the
law of sin and death."
fohn Wesley was thus specially fitted for his zvork by the
revelation of Christ as his personal Saviour.
When Christ chose Saul to make him a minister to the
Gentiles, and sent him " to open their eyes and turn them
from darkness to light," the heavenly Lord began the
work by opening Saul's eyes, and by bringing him into
the true light. So it was by opening the eyes of John
Wesley to the way of salvation by faith which is in Christ
Jesus, and by the revelation of Christ to his soul as his
own personal Saviour, that he obtained his spiritual
fitness for the work which God called him to fulfil. He
tells us that when he went to convert the Indians, he
needed himself to be converted. He startled his friends
by declaring that before he experienced this change he
was not a Christian. " When," said he, " we renounce

38 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
everything but faith, and get into Christ, then, and not
till then, have we any reason to believe that we are
Christians." This was the great essential change in order
to his fitness for the work to which God had chosen him.
Charles Wesley did not accept the doctrine of salvation
by faith until after his brother, but he found acceptance
before him. These two brothers, both of them accepted
in the Beloved, could now go forth and joyously pro
claim, — " What we have felt and seen.
With confidence we tell.
And publish to the sons of men
The signs infallible."
Without this revelation of Christ to him as his personal
Saviour, and the transforming change which it wrought
within him, John Wesley could never have become the
apostle of Christ to the eighteenth century.
III. THUS SPECIALLY FITTED, THE CHOSEN VESSEL
BEGAN HIS DIVINELY APPOINTED AND SUCCESS
FUL EVANGELISTIC CAREER.
From the time of John Wesley's conversion, he bore
Christ's name before the people — "he preached Jesus."
As soon as he was convinced that salvation is by faith,
he declared it. "He preached faith till he had it, and
then he preached it because he had it." The first person
to whom he offered salvation was a prisoner under the
sentence of death. Whilst in prayer with the criminal, —
first using the collects, and then praying in language sug
gested to his mind, — the man sprang upon his feet, and
exclaimed, " I am now ready to die. I know Christ has
taken away my sins ; and there is no more condemnation
for me."
A remarkable career now opened before him. He
believed it to be the glory of the gospel that in Christ
Jesus there is a personal Saviour for every one ; that
salvation is alone by faith in Christ ; and that the know-

THE CHOSEN VESSEL. 39
ledge of the forgiveness of sin is the common privilege
of believers by the witness of the Holy Spirit. All this
he most stedfastly believed and fearlessly proclaimed.
Because of this strange doctrine, the churches soon closed
against him, but the providence of God opened a wider
door; the voice of the Risen Saviour said within him,
" Behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man
can shut it." Shut out of the churche.s, he took his stand
under the dome of heaven ; and when parochial barriers
would have circumscribed him, he said, " The world is my
parish." Whitefield had set him the example of open-air preach
ing, and advised him to take to the fields. And now
Wesley, who had been " so tenacious of every point
relating to decency and order," that he tells us "he .should,
have thought the saving of souls almost a sin if it had
not been done in a church," began his career as a field
preacher. First at Bristol, then at Bath, next to the
colliers at Kingswood, afterwards in London, and then all
over the kingdom. He laid aside his manuscript, and
used the simplest language. The common people heard
him gladly, whilst all classes were attracted by his preach
ing. Thousands found salvation by faith in Christ Jesus,
and entered into the glorious liberty of the children of
God. As might have been expected, he was censured for his
disorderly proceedings. He was the subject of slander
and opposition. " They were forbidden," says Wesley,
"from Newgate lest they should make men wicked, and
from Bedlam lest they should drive men mad." When
the hostile spirit gathered in still fiercer persecution, his.
answer was : " It were better for me to die than not to
preach the gospel ; yea, in the fields, when I may not
preach in the church, or when the church will not contain
the congregation."
Mobs of infuriated men — not unfrequently stirred up by
the clergy, and sometimes led on by them— assaulted him.
But few men could command a crowd as Wesley could.

40 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Violent men were awed by his calm courage. And, as in
the case of St. Paul, opposition and persecution helped in
no small degree the cause which God had raised him up to
promote. The persecutions of St. Paul enabled the apostle
to bear Christ's name before kings, and his imprisonment
tended to the furtherance of the gospel, " so that his bonds
were manifest in the palace, and in all other places ; and
many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by his
bonds, were much more bold to speak the word without
fear." So in the early days of Methodism. The oppon
ents guaranteed the masses of eager listeners, and the
word of Christ's servant, attended by the Holy Spirit,
subdued the crowds. The speaker's high courage charmed
and attracted other Christians into devoted sympathy ;
and the preacher's voice was multiplied as they also boldly
testified for Jesus.
God raised up an army of evangelistic helpers. Wesley
was led to take another step, by which " the system we call
Methodism became possible." I refer to the fact that
laymen were permitted to preach. Wesley was a High
Churchman, and he considered that this function belonged
exclusively to the clergy. When he learnt that during his
absence from London, Thomas Maxfield, a layman, had
taken this office upon himself, he was both shocked and
angry. It was his mother, as wise as she was beautiful,
who said to him, " Thomas Maxfield is as much called to
preach the gospel as you are. Examine what have been
the fruits of his preaching, and hear him yourself" He
did so, and was convinced that the stamp of God's approval
was on the work. " It is the will of the Lord," said he ;
"let Him do what seemeth Him good." Lay agency
then became a recognised part of the movement, and was
essential to rural Methodism. It grew so that in due time
lonely villages and distant moorland hamlets heard the
glad tidings of salvation. The agency has continued ever
since, and there are now in England 16,000 Wesleyan lay
preachers, and to-day from seven to ten thousand villages
have heard the gospel from the lips of Methodist laymen.

THE CHOSEN VESSEL. 41
There is no fact more patent than that Methodism was
not originated in either a political or ecclesiastical move
ment, but that it began in the revival of religion, and was
the outcome of spiritual life. Wesley himself found " sal
vation by faith." He preached it, and others had the
same blessed experience. With remarkable wisdom and
foresight, he gathered the graciously awakened sinners
and the penitent and rejoicing believers into the " United
Societies." Thus he sought to build up the believers, not
only in doctrine, but also in fellowship ; and by this means
he established permanent churches, which are still increas
ing with the passing years.
It then became necessary that these infant churches
should have meeting-places. Like the early Christians,
these churches met in the houses of some Christian brother
or sister. Another step is taken ; and property is ac
quired, and places of worship established. The erection
of chapels and the opening of places of worship was not
merely because the churches were closed against Wesley,
his helpers and evangelists. These chapels were needed
in order to carry on the varied and interesting services of
Methodism. The first Methodist place of worship was the Old
Foundery, which stood to the north of what is now Fins-
bury Square.! T\v\.?, provided a large preaching-house, where
crowds heard the word of life. Often in early morning,
whilst it was yet dark, they made their way with lanterns
across the open field to the preaching. But a visit to the
Old Foundery must have left an impression as to the variety
of Methodist work. There were preaching services, and,
meetings for fellowship and prayer. John Wesley was a!
lover of children, and one room was set apart for a day;
school. He established orphanages for poor children. A
Children's Home is as old as Methodism ! Another room
is set apart for the suffering poor, where they may obtain
medical relief; and thus Wesley showed himself a disciple
^ It had been in the use of Government as an arsenal for casting brass
cannon.

42 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
of the humane and the human Christ. Another room is
for the distribution of religious books. He was the pioneer
of cheap and useful literature. The opinion has been ex
pressed, that no single man ever placed a larger mass of
useful reading within the reach of the common people.
Probably his collection of hymns, composed largely by his
brother Charles, did more forthe promotion of evangelical
and spiritual religion than any book he ever issued. Wit
ness how those hymns entered into the experience of the
early Methodists, and how they lingered on their dying lips I
The mere announcement of some of these hymns is a
glorious proclamation of the gospel.
; The " United Societies" had become churches in reality
I if not ih name. The erection of City Road Chapel in 1777,
with the ministers' houses and with the provision for the
pastorate and the administration of the Lord's Supper,
marked another period in the development of Methodism.
In Mr. Wesley's sermon preached at the opening, he re
viewed the progress. " May we not ask," said he, " what
hath God wrought ? For such a work, if we consider the
extensiveness of it, the swiftness with which it has spread,
the depth of the religion so swiftly diffused, and its purity
from all corrupt mixture, we must acknowledge cannot
easily be paralleled in all these concurrent circumstances
by anything that is found in the English annals since
Christianity was first planted in this island."
But Methodism had spread far beyond the British Isles
and Ireland. It had been planted in the West Indies,
and had struck its roots deeply into the American soil.
After the declaration of the American Independence,
the spiritual needs of the American people presented a
wonderful opportunity for Methodism ; and John Wesley,
in 1784, was led to do an extraordinary thing. He
ordained Dr. Coke a bishop, and sent him to America to
ordain Asbury elder and bishop, so that elders might be
ordained to administer the sacraments.
We are being constantly reminded from certain quarters
that John Wesley was a Churchman, and that Wesleyan

THE CHOSEN VESSEL. 43
ministers who administer the sacraments are not only so
many Korahs, Dathans, and Abirams, but that we are
faithless to our Founder. It is stated that Wesley's
Korah sermon ought to convince Wesleyans not- only of
their sin, but of their gross inconsistency, in allowing
their so-called ministers to take upon themselves "the
priesthood of the new law."
What is the priesthood of the new law .' Under the
gospel dispensation, Jesus Christ is the one and only High
Priest, to the exclusion of all other priests. He has offered
one sacrifice for sin for ever; He ever liveth to make
intercession. There are no priests under the " new dis
pensation," for there are no sacrifices to offer. In the only
sense in which any one can be a priest, all believers are
priests, — priests to offer spiritual sacrifices ; priests with
right and privilege to draw near to God. The sin of
Korah is surely committed when a human priesthood is
interposed betwixt the sinner and the Divine Priest upon
His throne. Bishop Lightfoot truly says, "The kingdom^
of Christ interposes no sacrificial tribe or class between
God and man, by whose intervention alone God is recon
ciled and man forgiven. Each individual member holds
personal communication with the Divine Head. To Him
immediately he is responsible, and from Him directly he
obtains pardon and draws strength." ^ " So it was also '
with the Christian priesthood. . . . The priestly functions
and privileges of the Christian people are never regarded
as transferred or even delegated to these officers. They
are called stewards or messengers of God, servants or
ministers of the Church, and the like : but the sacer
dotal title is never once conferred upon them. The only
priests under the gospel, designated as such in the New
Testament, are the saints, the members of the Christian
brotherhood. As individuals, all Christians are priests
alike." "- \
It is beyond question that John Wesley was a Church-
' Commentary on the Philipfians, p. 179.
^ Ibid., pp. 182, 183.

44 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
man— a High Churchman (but a High Churchman of that
day was something very different from the ritualistic
sacerdotalist of to-day), — and that at one time he intended
that the revival should be kept in its organisation within
the pale of the Church. But the movement was directed
by a higher power than that of Wesley ; and it was often
with no small reluctance that Wesley followed the indica
tion of providence. The bishops of the Church of England
refused to ordain certain of his preachers, and then Wesley
ordained them himself He tells us that he was convinced
" that bishops and presbyters are the same order, and con
sequently have the same right to ordain." His brother
Charles expressed an opinion that, having come to the
conclusion that " he had a right to ordain his preachers,
he would soon be led to exercise it." Charles Wesley was
right, and John Wesley did ordain some of his preachers
to give the sacraments. He advised them to follow his
example, and continue united to the Established Church,
"so far as the blessed work in which they were engaged
would permit." ^ Wesley found that the blessed work did
not permit them to remain within the Church ; and before
his death he executed a legal instrument, by which the
Conference was constituted, and Methodism received its
present organic form ; and it is beyond the power of the
Conference to alter the main features of Methodism as
John Wesley left it.
But the end was drawing nigh. He had been in labours
more abundant, and in journeyings oft. He had travelled
five thousand miles a-year, and preached at the rate of
fifteen sermons a-week. The high courage which had
borne him up did not give way, his intellectual eye was
not dim, nor had his foresight forsaken him, but his con
stitution of steel was worn out.
The movement, of which he was the inspiration and the
instrument, had been carried to a remarkably successful
issue. There were about eighty thousand members in the
" United Societies " in this country, and in Canada and the
' Smith's History of Methodism, i. 580.

THE CHOSEN VESSEL. 45
United States from forty to fifty thousand. Thousands
born for God had preceded him to glory. He had
recorded with thankfulness, " Our people die well." ^
The Church of England does well to celebrate this
Centenary, for no Church owes to Wesley a larger debt of
gratitude. Isaac Taylor says of the Established Church
at that period : " The Anglican Church was a system under
which men had lapsed into heathenism." Green, in his
History of the English People, says : " The Methodists
themselves were the least result of the Methodist revival.
Its action on the Church broke the lethargy of the clergy.
. . . But the noblest result of the religious revival was the
steady attempt, which has never ceased from that day
to this, to remedy the guilt, the ignorance, the physical
suffering, the social degradation, of the profligate and the
poor." From the first, clergymen like John Fletcher, the
Perronets, and others gathered around him ; but towards
the end of his life he was esteemed and honoured by large
numbers, including bishops. The Bishop of London (Dr.
Lowth) refused to sit above him, and said : " Mr. Wesley,
may I be found at your feet in another world."
When contemplating the churches which under God he
had been largely instrumental in gathering, there was no
boasting, but he ascribed all the praise to God. This was
the language of thanksgiving : —
" Oh, the fathomless love, that hath deigned to approve.
And prosper the work of my hands !
With my pastoral crook I went over the brook.
And, behold, I am spread into bands !
Who, I ask in amaze, hath gotten me these ?
And inquire from what quarter they came ;
My full heart it replies, they are bom from the skies.
And gives glory to God and the Lamb. "
The end has come! Being asked the ground of his
hope, he replies : "I the chief of sinners am.
But Jesus died for me."

46 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
He then burst forth in the noble strain :
" I'll praise my Maker while I've breath,
And, when my voice is lost in death.
Praise shall employ my nobler powers ;
My days of praise shall ne'er be past
While life and thought and being last.
Or immortality endures."
His last words were :
"The best of all is, God is with us.''
At ten A.M., March 2nd, 1791, he entered into rest.
" God buries His workmen, but carries on His work"
That is the sentence inscribed on Charles Wesley's tablet,
and it was strikin,gly illustrated in the history of Method
ism after John Wesley had passed away. When the
Conference assembled, it was a time of great solemnity ;
but instead of vain regrets, " they sought to give proofs of
their veneration for the memory of their father and friend,
by endeavouring, with great humility and diffidence, to
follow and imitate him in doctrine, discipline, and life."
They gave themselves afresh to God. The whole country
was divided into districts, and they carried on the work
God had committed unto them. They proved in an
abundant manner that " Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
to-day, and for ever."
The Centenary of Methodism as an organised Society
was celebrated fifty years after the death of Wesley. It
was then found that the 80,000 members in England at
the time of Wesley's death had increased to more than
296,000 ; there were 3000 chapels, and a large number of
other preaching-places; the 312 ministers had increased
to 1019, and the number of local preachers was estimated
at 4000: 3300 Sunday schools had been formed, with
341,000 scholars. The Foreign Missions which had been
established had proved most successful, in Ceylon, South
Africa, and especially in the South Seas, where nations
had been born in a day. In the meantime, Methodism in
America had far outgrown the parent stock. " With an

THE CHOSEN VESSEL. 47
instinctive prescient of the future," the pioneers "had
struck for the country." Our fathers of that day could
only take up the language of John Wesley when he
opened this chapel, " What hath God wrought ! "
Fifty years more have elapsed, and it is now the
Centenary of the death of Wesley. It is right that we
should look back across the intervening years, and mark
the progress we have made. There has been success
which demands our gratitude ; but what abundant room
for humility, when we think how much larger it might
have been !
The number of church members in Great Britain,
including those on trial, is 512,000; there are more than^
2000 ministers, and nearly a million scholars in our
schools. There are not less than two million members
and adherents of our Church ; and, with the other branches,
not less than three millions who profess and call themselves^
Methodists. There are about 10,000 chapels and other
preaching-places, with accommodation for more than two '
millions. In thirty years we have raised and expended on
chapels, schools, and other Connexional property more
than eight millions of pounds ; and yet the total debt
does not exceed i^8oo,ooo, which is less than the yearly
income of the chapels with the sum raised annually for
new schemes.^ Then there are our Mission Churches,
— the Irish Conference, — the Affiliated Conferences of
Australasia, South Africa, and the West Indies. In
addition, there are the great Methodist Churches in the
United States and Canada. Methodism is the most
numerous Church in America. In the various branches ;
there are about five million church members, and with the^
adherents, probably twenty millions. There are SS,ooo
churches, and 32,000 ministers. For two years past they I
^ The annual income, including the maintenance of the ministry, the
various circuit organisation, the Connexional Funds, Foreign and Home
Mission, and special efforts for extension, is not known, but it probably
exceeds a million and a-half of pounds sterling.

48 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Ihave added 500 a day to the Church roll. If we take
into account the various Methodist Churches throughout
the world, — and there is a close kinship and a strong
family likeness amongst them all, — then the century of
progress since the death of Wesley has made Methodism
one of the largest forms of Protestant Christianity.
It is a small matter whether our Churchmanship is
acknowledged. The Apostle St. Paul wrote to the
Corinthians, and said : " Am I not an apostle .¦" am I not
free ? have I not seen Jesus Christ ? are not ye my work
in the Lord ? If I be not an apostle unto others, yet
doubtless I am to you, for the seal of mine apostleship
are ye in the Lord " (i Cor. ix. i, 2). Are we not a
Church ? are we not free ? have we not seen the Lord ?
The vast and growing Methodist Churches throughout
the world are the seal of our Churchmanship in Christ
Jesus. Let us not glory in the past, but rather let us think of
our responsibilities for the future. We rejoice in the
activity and successes of other Churches, but we have yet
,our own future mission to fulfil.
(i) There must be the same evangelical utterance. In the
changed conditions of the times, — with the great social
and moral problems to solve, — we must " show forth
Christ's name." Those who understand the signs of the
times will see the need there is for the proclamation of
Gospel truth. It is impossible to listen to certain priestly
pretensions, or to consider the ultimate effect of the
extreme sacerdotal teaching, without apprehension for
the future of religion and of the nation. There are abun
dant indications clearly showing that Methodism is likely
to be more needed in the next century than it has been
in the past.
(2) We must be true to our traditions. " Go not only
to those who want you, but to those who want you most."
We cannot afford to forsake the poor! Better far that
we should lose the rich, than that we should lose touch
with the masses of the poor.

THE CHOSEN VESSEL. 49
In many of our places of worship there must be more
ample and suitable accommodation of free sittings. The
pew system has sadly encroached upon the provision
formerly made. When this chapel was built, there was
provision for many hundreds of poor people. The pews
in the larger part of the chapel above and below are
a subsequent innovation. We need "to repent and do
our first works," if we would have our early successes.
We must adopt various social measures, and see that
Methodism is sufficiently elastic to adapt itself to the
conditions of modern life. ,
(3) Let it be our constant aim to bring sinners to Christ, '
and to build them up in the faith and fellowship of the
gospel. When we succeed in this, then we answer our 1
calling. Less than this is failure.
The best monument we can raise to John Wesley is,
not one in marble or in bronze, but the successful
carrying on — in this time - honoured sanctuary — of that
"work of God," which he was raised up by the great
Head of the Church to begin. May the spirit of the
Founder of Methodism animate the millions of his
followers ; and may the abundant blessing of the eternal
Godhead be outpoured on the Universal Church. Amen.

D

Tt)^ Cei)bepary S^rviQe.
By the Rev. W. F. MOULTON, M.A., D.D.
PRESIDENT OF THE CONFERENCE.

^^ Brethren, I count not myself io have appre
hended: but this one thing I do, forgetting tlwse
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto
those things which are before, I press toward the
mark for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus." — Phil. iii. 13, 14.
With these words St. Paul closes a memorable passage
in the Epistle which he addressed to the best-loved of all
his Churches. The pretensions of false teachers, who
sought to undermine his authority, that they might sub
vert his doctrine, have led him for a moment to speak
of claims which he too might have advanced had his
principles been akin to theirs. But, with characteristic
self-abnegation, the fruit at once of genuine humility and
of loyalty to truth, he enumerates possessions only to
renounce them, claims pre-eminence only to confess how
utterly he had been constrained to cast it all aside.
There is no trace of the vanity which displays the sacri
fices made for the cause espoused. Nay rather, every
ground of boasting, every " gain " is compelled by the
touch of an Ithuriel's spear to reveal itself in its proper
form : the " gain " shows itself as " loss," the prized

THE CENTENA R Y SER VICE. 5 1
inheritance is very refuse. As long as Paul was rich, he
was poor. When he left all, and not till then, could he
find the Christ.
But his present attitude is such as may well amaze us
as we read.
When the twelve were called by Christ, they too left
all, and followed Him. They renounced what would
have kept them back from Him ; but they found Him.
They lived in His presence, by His words were they
trained. His spirit was their life. St. Paul has lost, but
has he found? No word asserts a possession gained,
every sentence proclaims that he is seeking still. He
has not been baffled in his quest, but he has learned that
to be a seeker is the object he sought. He found — only to
discover how much remains for him to find. He gains —
the lifelong resolve to gain. The horizon flies before him
as he seeks its bound. The Christ, the knowledge of
Christ, seem most completely out of reach when most
truly attained, as the informing influence of daily life.
"This is life eternal," the Lord Himself has taught us,
"that they may know" (and the word implies "may be
ever gaining knowledge," "come more and more to
know") "Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom Thou hast sent." St. Paul and St. John are at
one. The stedfast purpose ever realising itself, and
never completely realised, is the essence of the Christian
life. No sacred teaching sanctions a thankful com
placency of spirit, the sigh of glad relief when the lofty
height is gained. The whole passage now before us
suggests — is full of — breathless, pauseless haste. Now
and again, when the future issue comes before us, it is
spoken of as if in language of doubt. It is not the
doubt of the dispirited and enfeebled man, who toils
along the weary road and fears his strength will fail ; it
is the doubt, if doubt it can be called, with which the
eager athlete presses on in the race, overcoming each
difficulty as he descries its presence, thinking only of the
space that remains untraversed, striving whether possibly

52 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
he may attain the goal. " That I may know Christ, and
the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His
sufferings, becoming conformed to His death, (seeking)
whether I may possibly attain unto the resurrection from
ithe dead." " Not that I have already received possession,
or am already one made perfect ; but I haste along,
(seeking) whether I may indeed take hold," may grasp the
object which I strive to gain. You are carried along with
the writer in his fervid career. You feel the influence of
his breathless speed. The same thought comes before us
later, but for a moment it is interrupted by a conception
altogether different. Paul is first the racer who speeds
along in eager hope to grasp what he seeks, and then the
man whom Christ Himself has grasped. Consistency of
figure gives place to truth of Christian experience. The
man on whom Christ has laid hold, and only he, is the
man who is fitted for the life-long struggle. The first
possession gained is — -to be grasped by Christ. The
beginning of the Christian life is passive, not active —
receiving, not giving — yielding, not victory — trust, not
mastery. Fresh from the touch of Christ, he girds him
self for the race to which he has been called, as by a
voice from heaven. " Brethren," he cries, — as if he said,
" This is not an apostle's experience, an apostle's duty : if
for one, it is for all," — "I do not yet reckon myself to have
taken hold ; seeking, not attaining, is the picture of my
life. But one thing I do, forgetting the space that is
behind, and stretching forward over that which lies before
me, I press forward to the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus."
Nowhere, perhaps, does this servant of Christ more
completely reveal himself Other Epistles depict his
human life, if I may so speak, his natural affections, dis
couragements, temptations, sorrows, joys, sympathies.
But in what we may speak of as his Christian experience,
this passage stands alone in its fervency and power.
And yet I am earnestly solicitous that we should under
stand that St. Paul never made the severance, which so

THE CENTENARY SERVICE. 53
often seems natural to us, between Christian experience
and allotted duty.
I will not deny that the distinction may often appear
both wise and necessary. The allotted tasks of life often
seem to have very little in common with the life of faith
and hope and love. The student of ancient records, for
example, or the artisan whose hourly labour taxes all his
faculties, may well look on life as compound and not
single, and may sharply distinguish the sapless wood
from the living tree. Yet even here we know what
the words of our Lord teach, and what His Spirit can
effect But I am thinking chiefly of those whose work is like
St. Paul's — not, indeed, in its maturity and splendid
power, but in its character and aim. My brethren in
the Christian ministry will understand the object I have
now in view. We have had the temptation before us, even
if we have not yielded to its power. Conscious that no
external service or ministration can bind the soul to Christ,
it may be that we have unwittingly allowed ourselves to
draw too sharp a line of division between our inner life, as
Christ's own servants, and the sacred duties to which we
have been set apart by His call and in His presence. It
is but too easy thus to put asunder what God has joined
together. Let St. Paul be our teacher here. Look at the
records of his life in the Acts and in the letters which he
wrote, and listen to his burning words : " Though I preach
the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is
laid upon me ; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the
gospel I For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward ;
but if against my will, a dispensation is committed unto
me. ... I am made all things to all men, that I might by
all means save some. And this I do for the gospel's sake,
that I may be partaker thereof with you. . . . They (they
which run, they which strive) do it to obtain a corruptible
crown : but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run not
as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the
air. But I keep under my body, and bring it into sub-

54 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
jection : lest that by any means, when I have preached to
others, I myself should be a castaway." Again, after
describing his position while in captivity at Rome, with
brethren on the one hand taking up in love his testimony
for Christ, with others actuated by unfriendly purpose, he
adds: "What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether
in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached ; and I therein
do rejoice, yea, and shall rejoice. For I know that this
shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the
supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." Would we see how
inseparable are his life and his work, let us read his
pathetic address to the elders of Ephesus ; or the confes
sion of his "great sorrow and unceasing pain" of heart,
when he even said, " I could wish that I myself were
anathema from Christ for my brethren's sake ; " or the
expression of his readiness either to bear affliction or to
receive comfort for the comfort and salvation of his con
verts, to be " offered upon the sacrifice and service " of
their faith, constrained by the love of Christ.
It is hard to say where the thought of personal loyalty
to Christ passes over into the thought of apostolic duty.
What more personal than " To me to live is Christ, and to
die is gain " ? And yet the immediate context, as we
have seen, is entirely occupied with the diffusion of the
gospel message, with Christ preached in Rome. The
elements of St. Paul's spiritual life were those of his
spiritual work. Faith was the means of his life ; faith the
power through which he spoke. The love of God had
been shed abroad in his heart ; love impelled him to spend
and be spent for the sake of men. The consecration of
heart and soul to Christ was a consecration to Christ's
work. By prayer he lived ; by prayer utterance was
given to him to make known the mystery of the gospel.
Here is the blessed privilege of the Christian minister,
if he is a follower of the apostle in intensity of life. Here
is his peril if his energies grow slack. All the day long
the same food sustains his highest life and his habitual
work. He reads the Holy Word to his flock ; he is their

THE CENTENARY SERVICE. 55
guide in prayer ; he teaches, warns, points out the way
of truth. As he does this in official duty, he may take as
he gives, feed himself as he offers food, receive help of
unutterable value in the very act of helping. Here is his
present rich reward. And yet there is no certainty that
so it will be with him, for the outward habit may remain
when the life of it is gone ; and the almoner of God, in
the very ministration of His bounty, may starve his own
soul. Here minister and people in some measure stand apart.
Both have hours of directly sacred labour, both are more
or less involved in the cares of secular toil. But the
minister of Christ has, or ought to have, but little of these
worldly cares ; and those to whom he ministers must have
many. Yet amidst these many lower but still necessary
toils, all must find room for the higher efforts to do work
like that of Christ. Leave no work unsanctified ; make the
whole life Christian ! But be not satisfied till some
portion of the precious time God lends can be devoted to
Christ's saving work. In that you will find your own
spiritual sustenance. Whatever has been said to ministers
of Christ's Church applies to all workers, in so far as they
can minister Christ. Life and work must co- exist, each
throwing light upon the other, each fostering the other,
till the day when the earthly yields place to the heavenly,
and there exists no longer any care or toil which can
be called secular, or can absorb a thought away from
Christ. The subject of our thoughts this afternoon has been St.
Paul : the occasion which has suggested the subject has
been the life and labours of the servant of Christ, the
follower of the apostles, whom we commemorate to-day.
To fulfil my appointed task, I came anew to the study of
John Wesley's wonderful career. 1 came without expecta
tion that I could add to the rich store of knowledge we
possess. On every hand we meet with students of the
history. Friends, dissentients, and (in trifling number)
foes have given to us their varied impressions of the

56 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
character and achievements of the foremost Evangelist of
the Eighteenth Century. On such a theme one cannot
hope to speak with freshness or the attractiveness of
novelty. That is not my aim. I have sought to imbue myself
with the spirit of the man we all revere, to follow his life
till I could feel the hidden spring of all his activity and
influence. And the spring is here. Underlying and
including all he planned, and all he accomplished, during
half a century, is this one principle of St. Paul. Looked
at from any other point of view than one, John Wesley's
life was manifold, inconsistent, heterogeneous. This simple
clue leads through what some have regarded as a labyrinth,
this light shows harmony amongst actions apparently dis
cordant. No other principle than St. Paul's own can make
it possible for successors to continue his work ; and hence
the words we have been considering most fitly suit the
day which ends a hundred years of Methodist toil in the
absence of its Founder, and which begins a new era for
our Church.
The picture of the Oxford scholar is familiar to us all.
Not less well known Ts the strict High 'Churchman, over
whelmed by strong convictions as to sin and holiness, in
labours more abundant, living in complete devotedness to
the service of man for Christ's sake ; in all this — yet never
by means of all this — striving to save his soul. Through
the power of the same impulse he went to preach among
the Indians of Georgia. " Our end in leaving our native
country was singly this, to save our souls, to live wholly
to the glory of God." He is a man "who has but one
business, to exercise himself unto godliness." Painful
experience, faithful help, with the guidance which never
fails the man of prayer, led him into the liberty of the
gospel, and into conscious union with the Lord he loved.
Church order was dear to him : to the Church of his
fathers he would not willingly be disobedient in a single
point of discipline. " Woe is unto me if I preach not the
gospel," was the cry of his heart ; and wherever churches

THE CENTENARY SERVICE. 57
were opened, he proclaimed the message God had given
him. But so great was the shock which the doctrine of
conversion, necessary conversion, justification by faith
alone, man's ruin unless saved by grace, gave to the easy
decorous orthodoxy of the age, that church after church
was closed against the evangelist, now brought face to
face with a choice terrible to him. By preaching still in
parishes forbidden him, he will incur the charge of schism ;
by holding his peace, he will set at nought the command
of God. " God in Scripture commands me to instruct the
ignorant, reform the wicked, confirm the virtuous. Man
forbids me to do this in another's parish — that is, in effect,
to do it at all. Whom, then, shall I hear, God or man ?
Suffer me now to tell you my principles in this matter.
I look upon all the world as my parish ; thus far, I mean
that in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, righ"-
and my bounden duty to declare unto all that are willing
to hear, the glad tidings of salvation." " Catholic prin
ciples," if by this men meant " any other than scriptural,"
weighed nothing with him. Preaching in the open air
was at first a thing abhorrent to his taste and convictions.
" I could scarce reconcile myself to this strange way of
preaching in the fields, of which Mr. Whitefield set me
an example, having been all my life (till very lately) so
tenacious of every point relating to decency and order,
that I should have thought the saving of souls almost a
sin if it had not been done in a church." Yet at a later
day he wrote : " It is field preaching which does the
execution still ; for usefulness there is none comparable
to it." All his work he looked on as work compatible
with faithfulness to his Church. Nothing that he raised
up was designed by him to stand in its place or undermine
its influence ; he wished to extend, to supplement, to in
crease the true strength of the Church by his disregard of
human limitations which were dangerous and hurtful. All
that he regarded as essential in the Church of England
commanded his reverent love. The Church prayers he
found " full of life." Usages which, though not claiming

58 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
vital importance, his Church had inherited from primitive
times, were altogether to his taste ; though, as his time and
thoughts became absorbed in practical labour, we hear
little about most of these from him. Church seasons -were
times of especial enjoyment to this loyal son. All Saints'
Day lifted his rapt soul into the joys of the communion of
saints. To such a man, thus bound by ancestral ties,
attached to the Church in all the tastes and habits of his
life, one with the Church in the strongest convictions of
his mature thought, the very idea of desertion was intoler
able ; and with all his power, with words of the greatest
vehemence, with reiterated appeal, he cried out against
separation. He was in his own belief to the very last a
true member of the Church of England. And yet, with
an inconsistency which he acknowledged, though he seems
never to have deeply felt its force, he broke through the
most binding laws of the Church he so much loved.
Three years before his death he reviewed his action in
this regard. He specifies the points of discipline in which
he and his followers had taken a separate course. They
had preached in the fields. They had used extemporary
prayer. They had employed lay-preachers, had formed
and regulated Societies, had held yearly Conferences.
But they were not conscious of varying from the Church
in any point of doctrine ; nor had they premeditatedly
or willingly varied even in a single article of discipline.
What variations there had been he declares had been
forced on them. "We did none of these things till we
were convinced we could no longer omit them, but at the
peril of our souls." The one chief transgression of Church
order Mr. Wesley does not in this passage directly specify.
Though only a presbyter, he had presumed to ordain.
Most unwillingly, after long hesitation, did he come to this
point, the crowning point of disunion. The work of God
required that men should be set apart to help. Lay evan
gelists could accomplish very much, but they could not
furnish to the souls whom God had given him all they
needed. The Lord who had saved these souls in myriads,

THE CENTENA RY SER VICE. 5 9
and had prescribed the needed ministries of grace, could
not design that these ministries should be wanting. John
Wesley sought earnestly that the want might be supplied
according to the established usage of his Church; but he
sought in vain. Still he was fain to struggle on with the
small band of clergymen who lent their aid. But wider
claims pressed upon him, followers in distant lands had no
such provision as his flock at home possessed, and — lest
God's work should suffer — this loyal-hearted Churchman
at last passed the Rubicon, assumed, what hitherto he had
held to be a bishop's right, and ordained pastors and
superintendents of the Church. The action brought him
obloquy, but there was no misgiving in his mind. He
felt himself linked with primitive times, but in such actions
he offered in sacrifice the instincts and habits of his life.
To a man so constituted the wrench was terrible. All
these actions of his were consistent in their inconsistency :
" This one thing I do." To spread scriptural holiness
throughout the land was the one object of his life ; what
ever conflicted with this must be thrust aside, whatever
this entailed must be accepted as ordained by God. A
man so single in his aim could be turned aside by no
opposition from friend or enemy. Raging mobs assailed
his people, and laid hands on himself With calm courage
he faced his foes, and daunted them by his simple sted-
fastness. " He who fears God," says Leighton, " knows no
other fear ; " and this righteous man was " bold as a lion."
His reputation was from time to time threatened by
slanderers ; he could not pause to defend his good name,
for his record was on high, and to God he committed his
cause. His keen logical mind delighted in definitions
and in points of dogma carefully laid down, and yet he is
never weary of proclaiming the worthlessness of mere
orthodoxy and right opinion. The very man who effectu
ally secured the adherence of his workers after him to the
general body of teaching which he received as truth,
glories in the possibility of combining the love and service
of God with most diverse convictions as to points of

6o CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
doctrine. " Is a man a believer in Jesus Christ ? and is
his life suitable to his profession ? are not only the main
but the sole inquiries I make in order to his admission into
our Society." Vehement in maintaining essential truth,
stringent, even to apparent intolerance, in correcting
practical error, whether promulgated by friends or by
foes, he was just as ready to accept correction : he went
through life seeking to learn, accepting new light with
eagerness. He took up the burden of responsibility, when
Providence assigned it to him, with a readiness that smaller
and less single-hearted men have wholly failed to under
stand. "Ambition was his ruling passion," says one ; " He
was an autocrat who clung to power with tenacious grip,
as for very life," is the opinion of others. But patient
study of his life has vindicated as well the ruler as the
preacher of Methodism. Only a firm rule could keep
together the hosts of converts which God had brought
together, the helpers whom he had called to work at his
side. But here also were the certain signs of the single
aim — nothing for himself, everything for the work of God !
Unwearied, unfaltering, thinking nothing done if only
something remained to be done, strong in the conscious
ness that the cause was God's, upheld by the habitual
reference of all difficulty, perplexity, misadventure, per
secution, to the same Almighty and All-Wise Guide, he
patiently and calmly, but at full stretch and without a
thought of faltering, went through his amazing course of
toil, leaving to all his followers the spectacle of labours
that perhaps no man ever surpassed. When more than
sixty years of age, he preached fifteen or sixteen times a
week ; at particular periods, as often as eighty or ninety
times a month. Even beyond the age of eighty-seven he
still pursued his unresting toil ; and his last sermon was
preached only a week before his death.
The lesson of this wonderful life is not impaired when
we listen to the imperious demand which critics make,
that we should acknowledge the presence of faults and
weaknesses of intellect or character. We set up no object

THE CENTENA R Y SER VICE. 6 r
of worship in the man we one and all revere. True, we
say but little in the critic's peculiar vein ; for what rever
ent and loving child will keenly scrutinise a parent's
features that he may find a wrinkle or a scar ? We whose
calling it is to imitate the grand life-purpose, feel our little
ness too deeply to be willing to dwell long on this or that
alleged error of judgment or mistake in action. But this
we fearlessly declare, that the inconsistencies and short
comings to which some point with scorn or ridicule, do
but make the lesson of the life more manifest and enhance
its greatness.
Let us come back to his own words in description of
the consistent attitude of his whole career. They are
well-known words ; but in their solemnity, their vividness,
their transparent truthfulness, they are ever fresh, ever
fraught with energy and power. " To candid, reasonable
men," he says, in the preface to his sermons, written in the
year 1747, " I am not afraid to lay open what have been
the inmost thoughts of my heart. I have thought I am a
creature of a day, passing through life as an arrow through
the air. I am a spirit come from God, and returning to
God — ^just hovering over the great gulf, till, a few moments
hence, I am no more seen ; I drop into an unchangeable
eternity ! I want to know one thing — the way to heaven ;
how to land safe on that happy shore. God Himself has
condescended to teach the way. For this very end He
came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book.
Oh, give me that book 1 At any price, give me the book
of God ! I have it ; here is knowledge enough for me.
Let me be a man of one book. Here, then, I am, far from
the busy ways of men. I sit down alone ; only God is
here. In His presence I open, I read His book ; for this
end, to find the way to heaven. Is there a doubt con
cerning the meaning of what I read? Does anything
appear dark or intricate ? I lift up my heart to the Father
of Lights : ' Lord, is it not Thy word, " If any man lack
wisdom, let him ask of God " ? Thou " givest liberally, and
upbraidest not." Thou hast said, " If any be willing to do

62 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Thy will, he shall know." I am willing to do ; let me
know Thy will.' I then search after and consider parallel
passages of Scripture, 'comparing spiritual things with
spiritual.' I meditate thereon with all the attention and
earnestness of which my mind is capable. If any doubt
still remains, I consult those who are experienced in the
things of God, and then the writings whereby, being dead,
they yet spealc. And what I thus learn, that I teach. I
have accordingly set down in the following sermons what
I find in the Bible concerning the way to heaven ; with a
view to distinguish this way of God from all those which
are the inventions of men. I have endeavoured to de
scribe the true, the scriptural, experimental religion, so as
to omit nothing which is a real part thereof, and to add
nothing thereto which is not. And herein it is more
especially my desire, first, to guard those who are just
setting their faces toward heaven (and who, having little
acquaintance with the things of God, are the more liable
to be turned out of the way), from formality, from mere
outside religion, which has almost driven heart religion
out of the world ; and, secondly, to warn those who know
the religion of the heart, the faith which worketh by love,
lest at any time they make void the law through faith, and
so fall back into the snare of the devil."
These memorable words show that Wesley was " ambi
tious" and an "enthusiast." His enthusiasm was to save
the perishing, and to raise up for God a holy people ; his
ambition was to be a father to those whom by God's grace
he had gathered from the world. In the simplicity of his
purpose, in the single-heartedness of his toil, he, were he
present with us now, would rebuke the expression of our
filial reverence and love, if we rested content with admira
tion of a life-.service long since fulfilled. The justification
of our study of the past is in the teaching which it affords
for the present age and ages yet to come.
The Divine method of training is through the power of
example. One perfect model has been granted to man.

THE CENTENARY SERVICE. 63
" How sayest thou. Show us the Father? Believest thou
not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me .' He
that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." " He," there
fore, " who saith he abideth in Christ, ought himself so to
walk even as He walked." The life of Christ, like the
words of Christ, is ever in advance of man. As successive
ages bring stores of added knowledge, and develop new
powers, and bring to light new wants, they at the same
time and by consequence prepare men for discovering the
wider scope and deeper meaning of the words that have
grown familiar, and the well-known features of the perfect
life. But lower examples possess a power of their own.
"Be ye imitators of me," says the Apostle Paul, "even as
I am of Christ." With limited range, with conditioned
application, the example of an apostle, because nearer to
our level, may be fraught with special blessing. Descend
ing lower still, but still high above us, the consecrated lives
of the great and good are powerful to raise us towards the
higher region in which they served their Lord. But if
their example is easier for our study and contemplation,
the principles displayed can less certainly be taken as they
are for the shaping of our life. Each man is moulded by
his age, even though his stamp impress itself again upon
that age. In our study of the heroes of the past, we must
learn to distinguish between what is fleeting and what is
permanent in the characteristics of their life. The action
of a past year may be out of place to-day, though its
living spirit may be the very guide we this moment
need. It would be a task of deepest interest.and lasting im
portance, to inquire how John Wesley's life from first to last
stood related to the spirit of the eighteenth century. This
is a subject I cannot touch to-day. We have a harder task
before us — a problem not to be solved in this brief hour,
but to be worked out by us all ; for even if it be in spite
of ourselves, we must be makers of history. How may the
lessons of John Wesley's life be adapted to the conditions

64 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
of the age in which we live ? It is idle to exclaim that
they may be adopted without change, that we may imitate
as a faithful copyist reproduces the manuscript before him.
We live in an age whose novel characteristics have hardly
yet lost their power to cause surprise. The world of
thought has been revolutionised by the spirit of historical
study, and by the wonderful scientific discoveries of our
time. A deeper and truer study of events in their mutual
relations, a more exact investigation of the witness that
describes the past, have now given firm compactness to
our knowledge of that which was in earlier days. We
may have lost by the tendency to rest content with
second causes ; but the light of an ever-present Providence
will soon illumine all the scene. There has been a deeper
study of men, and complex human nature is felt to possess
true unity. There is a more real and profound sympathy
between man and man. We rejoice in a growing spirit of
toleration, though we see with troubled hearts how easily
our growing respect for the convictions of others may
pass into an enervating influence, so that we feebly grasp
our own. The amazing revelations of physical science
have reorganised our modes of life. Separate communities
have developed into a single, ever-moving mass of human
life ; and, as many have gone to and fro, knowledge has
been increased and experience widened. Alas 1 life has
well-nigh lost its quietness : the impetuous torrent rushes
past, and we look on with bewilderment. The hurry of life
has led to a longing for compensating ease and comfort,
and a spirit of indulgence hovers about us, threatening
many of us with the curse of indolence and sloth. The
keen scientific method claims admission everywhere, and
will bring all things to the test. Creeds and dogmas that
have stood the scrutiny of centuries, are fearlessly put to
the question. There is distrust of established formulas :
veneration retires ; respect for authority, as authority, grows
ever less. Thankfully, however, do we recognise a growth
in sincerity, a hatred of hollow profession, an impatience

THE CENTENARY SERVICE. 65
when the life belies the creed uttered by the lips. Man's
life is developed on many sides, and a broader culture (we
may well believe) is preparing the way for more perfect
and deeper knowledge. The Church of Christ has felt
both the stimulating influence and the testing power of the
new spirit that breathes around us. In the midst there
has been the ever-present Spirit of God. His blessed
influence has at one time been brought to clearer mani
festation by the influences we have traced, but at another
it has been disguised and trammelled by the adverse
forces which have been permitted for a while to exert
their power.
In the Church of England we recognise a marvellous re
vival of religious earnestness and personal devotion. We
mourn, as a child for a parent, when we see the noble
organism animated by a spirit of priestliness, which often
prevents true fellowship of the sinner with his Saviour.
By the side of the Church of England, other noble and
powerful Churches are rising into new life and vigour.
The blessed message of God's love was never more widely
diffused ; but, on the other hand, doctrines which seem to
us the true criterion of a standing or a falling Church, are
not always proclaimed with a clear and certain sound.
Most of all is our gratitude kindled by the abounding
zeal with which the holy Word of God is studied, the
loving care with which every line of Sacred Writ is
scanned. The strong light which has been concentrated
on the written revelation, has disclosed new problems and
new difficulties ; but difficulties have from the beginning
been the alluring charm by which God has drawn us on
from stage to stage in our pursuit of truth. The Church
has recognised its full responsibility for the life of men to
whom it proclaims the call of God's Spirit ; and if the new
be so guided as not to eclipse the old, if the spirit of
evangelistic work move side by side with that of social
amelioration and tender beneficence, we may look for
ward with exultant hope to the triumph of love over a
selfish world. E

66 CENIENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Hurry and turmoil invade us even in these sacred courts.
Terribly has the Church suffered from the frequent sacrifice
of quiet hours, of privacy in working, of meditative study
amid the atmosphere of fervent and continued prayer.
But great has been the gain by the wide diffusion of
sacred knowledge, by the influence which has been seized
for good by many who have understood that light is
power, and have dragged the deeds of darkness from the
secret places in which they had lingered from age to age.
The influences throughout have been of mingled character :
evil and good have been at war. But the evil tendencies
may be resisted, and the good are leading on to victory.
But, whether for evil or for good, these are the moulding
forces of our age. We may look back on a former age,
and say. How easy would it then have been to live. But
this is a word of cowardice, not of faith. The present
must bring difficulty, because the Christian life is a life of
faith. We may fear when we " enter into the cloud ; " but
it is only through the cloud that we can win our way to
the light.
What shall our future be ? The Methodism of to-day
has already felt the influence of those very forces which
we have passed under review. I have not attempted to
trace the difference between Methodism as it is to-day,
and as it was when its Founder passed from earth's
conflict to heaven's rest. This is a matter of historical
inquiry, most attractive and most beneficial if thoroughly
pursued. But we are not historians : we are men of
action, women of action. The future waits for us who
are the living Methodists of to-day, — depends upon us,
must be moulded by us. In so far as we apprehend and
make our own the living influences around us and within
us, shall we be a source of living power for the years that
are not yet born.
Oh that we may now catch the inspiration of the words
with which we began our meditation this afternoon ! We
have seen the comment on them furnished by John
Wesley's life. He was wide in his sympathies, open to

THE CENTENARY SERVICE. 67
all the teaching of God's providence, a man ever learning,
broad in his culture, one who sought by every means and
appliance to attract men and to train every power and
faculty into the obedience of Christ. But the great
doctrines of salvation stood first with him, and a profound
Christian experience was the life of his life. Oh, Methodists
of to-day, hold fast the doctrines of our fathers with a
firm and steady grip ; but let them never be divorced
from the Christian experience which reveals the life and
soul of the doctrines themselves ! May our conversion be
cleaV, our conviction of sin intense, our joy in the Lord
exultant, our consecration to Him complete ! And when
we pass from the thought of the common possession of
all Christ's servants, and have to choose each one for
himself what special gifts we shall seek, what special
course we shall follow, then may we be saved from
distraction by the simplicity of our aim I If we have
St. Paul's singleness of purpose, St. Paul's breathless
effort and energy of life, we shall be free to choose, we
shall see our appointed work, we shall serve the Lord
without distracting thought. Every element of life
belongs to Christ, but in the absence of the one mighty
and constraining force it is possible that we may cultivate
the lesser faculty and neglect the higher. Learning and
art and science, citizenship, business, trade, recreation,
literature, travel, the quiet home, the busy market, the
toil of solitude, the excitement of thronged assemblies, —
whatever may be the calling of each man, each woman,
— we shall be fitted for all our work, if the principle that
guided Paul and Wesley alike is our unfailing guide.
Temptations to sloth will not touch the man thus armed,
wider culture will not mean a looser hold of truth, zeal for
the aggrandisement of a Church will not take the place
of devotion to the Lord Himself We shall live in the
world, move in the world, but our life will be animated
by the faith which overcomes the world, and our move
ment will be ceaselessly to press forward to the mark

68 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
for the prize of our high calling of God in Christ
Jesus. " O God, to whom the faithful dead
Still live, united to their Head,
Their Lord, and ours the same,
For all Thy saints, to memory dear,
Departed in Thy faith and fear.
We bless Thy holy Name !
" By the same grace upheld, may we
So follow those who followed Thee,
As with them to partake
The full reward of heavenly bliss :
Merciful Father ! grant us this
For our Redeemer's sake ! " Amen.

TI)e
Ttjeolo^y o^ Jot)i) W^e^i^y-
By the Rev. R. W. DALE, LL.D.

" IVhen it was the good pleasure of God, who
separated me, even from my mother's womb, and
called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in
me, that I might preach Hii7i among the Gentiles ;
ivimediately I cotif erred not with flesh and blood:
neither went I up to Jerusalern to them which were
apostles before me." — Gal. i. 15-17.
The faith of the Galatian Churches was being corrupted
by Judaizing teachers, who assailed that large and spiritual
interpretation of the gospel of Christ which was given by
Paul^ and they sustained their assault by insisting that
he was not one of the original apostles who had received
their authority from our Lord, and that the original
apostles had given him no commission. He does not
attempt to qualify his independence of the first preachers
of the Christian gospel, the divinely-authorised founders
of the Christian Church. He shows a certain eagerness
and exultation in asserting it. He asserts it in the very
first sentence of his letter : he is not an apostle " from
men," his commission was from Heaven ; and his com
mission had not come to him "through men," he had
not received it through the intervention of any Church'

70 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
rulers to whom Christ had delegated any part of His
authority, but direct from " Jesus Christ " Himself, and
" God the P'ather who raised Him from the dead."
He will stand in no succession. This, for which his
enemies reproached him, is the secret of his power ; in
this he glories. In the text he expands the declaration
with which the letter begins. It was the " good pleasure "
of God — God's free, spontaneous, unsought, unmerited
grace — that had made him an apostle ; and this grace had
been manifested in several ways.

GOD'S GRACE MANIFESTED TO PAUL.
(i) First, he says, "From my very birth God 'separated'
me to this work." As Paul looked back upon his life, he
could see that the Divine purpose had been controlling his
personal history from the very first, and preparing him
for a service of which he had no thought, and which, if it
had been proposed to him, he would have regarded with
horror. His birth, by which he inherited the rights of
Roman citizenship, — though he was also " of the stock of
Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews;" his early years in
Tarsus, a great Greek city, famous for its wealth, its com
merce, and its schools of learning and philosophy ; his life
as a student in Jerusalem ; his zeal in mastering the doc
trines and methods of the Rabbis ; the earnestness and
fidelity with which he had submitted to the discipline of
the most austere of Jewish sects, so that " touching the
righteousness which is in the law " he was " blameless ; " — ¦
all these had contributed in various ways to his fitness for
the work to which God had destined him.
(2) God Himself — without the intervention of apostles,
without human intervention of any kind — had spoken to
him the strong and gracious word which had broken his
heart to penitence, and which had drawn him to Christ.
There had been no movement towards Christ on his own
part. He was on his way to Damascus, vehement, passion
ate in his hatred of the new sect ; resolved to suppress it :

THE THEOLOG Y OF JOHN WESLE Y. 7 1
it was God's " grace "—what else ?— that " called " him to
receive the Christian redemption and to preach the Chris
tian gospel. At that point, indeed, his own free response
to the grace of God came in. Till now all that God had
done to prepare him for his apostleship was done without
any free concurrence of his in God's great purpose ; he had
known nothing of it. But now he might have thwarted and
defeated the Divine love ; but, as he says elsewhere, he
" was not disobedient to the heavenly vision."
And (3) he adds, "It was the good pleasure of
God ... to reveal His Son in me that I might preach
Him among the Gentiles." The revelation came, not for
his own sake merely, but for the sake of the heathen men
to whom he was to preach it ; and it, therefore, came to
him in a form which was determined by their condition as
well as his own.
god's grace MANIFESTED TO JOHN WESLEY.
These three manifestations of God's free, spontaneous
grace to Paul have their parallel in the history of John
Wesley, whose great and venerable name has drawn us
together this morning.
(i) He too might have said that from his very birth
God had " separated," set him apart, for the work of recover
ing large masses of the English people from irreligion and
vice, and founding a religious Society which would extend
to all lands. There was an heroic strain in his blood : his
parents, on both sides, were the descendants of Puritan
ministers, who had endured cruel persecution for their
fidelity to what they believed to be the will of God. But
he was saved from the peril which comes upon men who
are the heirs of great religious movements which have
spent their strength ; he was not to attempt to rekindle
the glorious fires of Puritanism, and so he was born in a
country rectory. In the discipline of his childhood and
youth, a reverence for authority, and a care for the external
institutions and aids of the religious life characteristic of

72 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
the great Anglicans, were blended with the traditions of
Puritanism. His father, a High Churchman, was a man
of courage and zeal ; he was deeply moved by the con
dition of heathen countries, proposed a scheme for carry
ing the gospel of Christ to the remotest shores that had
been reached by English trade, and offered to go out
among the first missionaries. For his mother John Wesley
had always the profoundest reverence. She was a woman
of remarkable natural sagacity, and he had almost un
measured confidence in her judgment. She had a vigor
ous and cultivated mind, and there was great depth and
strength in her religious life.
As he was passing from youth to manhood, the best
elements in the Oxford of those days and the worst, the
zeal for righteousness of the small group of young men of
whom he became the leader, the scorn, the mockery, the
; insult which their zeal provoked, — all these were part of
the discipline by which he was prepared for his work.
• His experience in Georgia was part of it. By God's grace
; he had been separated to it from his birth.
(2) By God's "grace" he was "called," if not with the
accompanirnent of visible miracle, as Paul was called on
the road to Damascus, yet by a movement of the Divine
love, not less free and not less supernatural. For John
Wesley would have said with an earnestness as deep and
passionate as that of the most faithful disciple of John
Calvin, " I sought God because God sought me. I found
God because God found me." The saints are divided by
their theologies, but they are one in their faith, and they
all confess, "We love Him because He first loved us."
(3) It is, however, to the third illustration of God's
grace in Wesley's history that I propose to direct your
special consideration. He too could have said with Paul,
" It was the good pleasure of God to reveal His Son in
me, that I might preach Him." You will understand at
once that I refer to the experience through which he
passed on the evening of Wednesday, the 24th of May 1738,
when he was thirty-five years of age, an experience so

THE THEOLOGY OF JOHN WESLEY. 73
remarkable that for many years he was accustomed to
speak of it as his real conversion, the time when his sins
were forgiven, the beginning of his life in God through
Christ. That wonderful experience, that revelation of
Christ, had, as I think, a direct and vital relation to all
that has given the name of John Wesley an enduring
place in the history of Christendom. But for tliat, there
would have been no Methodist revival ; but for that, the
great sisterhood of Methodist Societies represented at this
commemoration, belonging to many races, speaking many
tongues, and which might be described, with pardonable
rhetorical exaggeration, as gathered out of every country
under heaven, — but for that great experience, that revela
tion of Christ in John Wesley, these Societies would have
had no existence. The "good pleasure" of God, the
purposes of His grace in relation to England and the
world, might have been fulfilled in other ways, but not by
you. THE METHODIST REVIVAL AND THE NONCONFORMIST
CHURCHES.
Nor is it the Methodist Societies alone that have reason
to look back with deep and devout interest to that memor
able hour. As you have done me the great and unmerited
honour of permitting me to be here this morning, I desire
to acknowledge with devout gratitude the grace of God
which through you has reached many Churches having an
earlier origin than yours, and a polity different from your
own ; Churches which for more than two generations were
widely separated from yours by mutual distrust — distrust
created in part by serious theological differences, in part
by differences in relation to evangelistic methods and the
discipline of the spiritual life.
The obligations which, under God, the older Noncon
formist Churches of England owe to Methodism cannot be
measured. When John Wesley began his work, their
streno-th had been seriously diminished. There were

74 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
complaints that congregations were wasting away ; that
the sons and the daughters of the wealthier Noncon
formists were passing over to the Episcopal Church. It
was said that between the accession of George I., in 1714,
and the year 1731, more than fifty Dissenting ministers
took Orders in the Establishment. Those who contested
the accuracy of the stronger statements concerning the
decay of the Dissenting interest, and who insisted that if
in some parts of the country Dissenting Churches were
declining, in others their numbers were growing, acknow
ledged that the Dissenters were discouraged ; that they
were suffering from a want of buoyancy and energy in
their religious life ; that the stricter manners and the
severer morals of an earlier generation were disappearing ;
and that the movement of theological opinion gave
occasion to great anxiety. To you for a long time our
fathers did not look for deliverance. Wesley's Armin
ianism filled them with alarm. Nor was their alarm
without reason. There had been a great drifting among
the Nonconformist Churches during the first thirty or
forty years of the eighteenth century from the central
articles of the Christian faith, and this was one of the
principal causes of their weakness. The Divinity of our
Lord had been denied, and the atonement which He
achieved for men by His death ; and these grave and
ruinous errors had almost always begun with a surrender
of the characteristic doctrines of Calvinism. Even where
Arminianism had not come to these disastrous issues,
it had paralysed the strength of Christian faith, and
quenched the fire of spiritual earnestness.
But creeds which coincide in some of their principal
articles may cover wholly different systems of religious
thought, and wholly different conditions of the spiritual
life. The Arminianism of many of the Nonconformists,
at the be'ginning of the eighteenth century, appears to
. have come in part from that cold and powerless concep
tion of God which is given by Deism., a conception which
.removes Him to an infinite distance from all His creatures.

THE THEOLOGY OF JOHN WESLEY. 75
It was the result of a decaying sense of the energy and
freedom of the life of the Eternal, and of God's immanent
presence and activity in the material universe and in man.
It affirmed that man was free, partly because it conceived
of God as remote.
\\'esley's Arminianism had a wholly different root. For
him the universe was not a wonderful mechanism which
had been projected into being by a succession of creative \
acts, and then left to work according to the laws of its i
structure ; for him God did not live apart from the
creation, reigning in heights of inaccessible majesty. He
believed that in God we live and move and have our
being. And yet in the strength of his own moral life he
had a most vivid consciousness that he was morally free —
free to receive or reject the infinite grace which the living
God was pressing upon him ; and therefore he was an
Arminian. For a time the more serious Nonconformists
did not discover the immense moral and spiritual differ
ence between the old Arminianism and the new. The
walls of mutual distrust which separated your fathers and
mine stood firm and without a breach till long after
George III. was king.
But while the separating walls were still standing, the
fires which were kindled on your side were burning so
fiercely that the heat came through. The flames rose high,
and sparks fell over. You made the very atmosphere so
hot that dry timber took fire, we knew not how. We
listened — at first reluctantly — to Whitefield and the leaders
of the Calvinistic revival, and discovered that God was
doing a wonderful work before our very eyes, though it
was not being done according to our traditions. Then we
began to listen to you ; it was not far from the Tabernacle
to the Foundery. A little later we drew closer to each
other. I could give you a considerable list of eminent
Congregational ministers who, towards the close of the
last century and the beginning of this, brought to the
service of the Congregational churches the religious life
which had been originated, the religious zeal which had

76 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
been kindled, among Methodists. William Jay of Bath
discovered the glory and grace of the Christian redemption
at a Methodist service. My colleague and predecessor,
John Angell James, did not attribute his religious decision
to Methodist preaching ; but he says in his Autobiography,
that when he was a boy at Blandford, the only religious
fire in the town was among the Methodists; he was taken
by his mother to Methodist meetings on Sunday nights,
and there was a touch of Methodism in him to the very
last. He always smelt of that fire. Thomas Raffles of
Liverpool in his early life was a member of the Wesleyan
Society. John Leifchild of Craven was originally one of
your preachers. The great revival which originated
Methodism restored life, vigour, courage, fervour to the
Congregational churches of England.
JOHN WESLEY'S GREAT EXPERIENCE.
And, as I have said, Methodism owes its existence,
under God, to that great experience through which John
Wesley passed in a little room within a mile of this place
on the evening of May 24, 1738. You all know the story.
I am conscious of presumption in venturing to speak
about it in such an assembly as this ; but I ask you to
bear with me, — I care to speak of nothing else.
Wesley became a Fellow of Lincoln in 1726, and from
that time his great concern was to live a religious life.
During the following twelve years, the earnestness with
which he endeavoured to carry out his purpose was con
stantly becoming more intense. He began by setting
apart an hour or two a day for prayer and religious
meditation. He received the Lord's Supper every week.
He fasted on Wednesday and Friday. His method of life
was severe. He visited the prisoners in Oxford gaol ; he
went from house to house among the poor and the sick of
the city, and denied himself not only the " superfluities "
— to use his oven words — but " many that are called
necessaries of life," that he might do what good he

THE THEOLOGY OF JOHN WESLEY. 77
could by his presence or his little fortune to the bodies
and souls of all men. He diligently strove against all sin.
He pursued "inward holiness," — the "union of the soul
with God." He became the leader of a number of devout
young men who were of the same mind as himself ; he
was their counsellor and their strong support. He had a
passion for the conversion of the heathen, and went out
to Georgia with the hope of being able to preach the
gospel to the Indians in that part of America. The atten
tion of the whole University was drawn to his extra
ordinary zeal.
But when he returned from America he was in an
agony of distress about his own salvation. He had gone
to Georgia to convert the heathen ; and he had learnt — so
he thought — that he himself was not converted. In his
later years he modified his opinion concerning the true
nature of the experiences through which he passed in May
1738. He came to the conclusion that he was not, as he
supposed, " alienated from the life of God " till then, " a
child of wrath," "an heir of hell ;" and I think that most
thoughtful readers of his Journals will be of the same judg
ment. But he always retained the belief that that great
experience was of transcendent importance. In this he
was wholly right. If not critical for Wesley himself, in the
way he had once supposed, it was critical for Methodism.
Immediately after he had passed through it, he wrote
this explanation of what he believed to have been the
fatal defect of his previous religious life : — •
"In my return to England, January 1738, being in'
imminent danger of death, and very uneasy on that
account, I was strongly convinced that the cause of that
uneasiness was unbelief, and that the gaining of a true
living faith was the ' one thing needful for me.' But still
I fixed not this faith on its right object. I meant only faith
in God, not faith in or through Christ. Again, I knew not
that I was wholly void of this faith, but only thought I
had not enough of it."
As the result of his conversations with Peter Bohler, he

78 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
came to see that he must renounce all dependence, in
whole or in part, upon his own works or righteousness,
and seek by continual prayer what he describes as "jus
tifying, saving faith, a full reliance on the blood of Christ
shed for me, a trust in Him, as my Christ, as my sole
justification, sanctification, and redemption."
The faith came. Listen to his own account of what
happened on that memorable evening.
" I went," he says, " very unwillingly to a Society in
Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's Preface
to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine,
while he was describing the change which God works in
the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely
warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for
(Salvation. And an assurance was given me that He had
taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the
law of sin and death."
Tell me whether he might not have described all this in
Paul's words, " It was the good pleasure of God to reveal
His Son in me"?
Is there any account to be given of the nature and
sources of the change through which he passed on that
evening ? I will make the attempt.
I It is apparent that at the very core of Wesley's nature
(there was an immoveable conviction that his will was
[morally free. This made him an Arminian. His acts
were his own ; they were not determined by blind fate or
any Divine decree. It is also apparent that to him the
Divine law was august, awful. He saw, as few men have
ever seen, the infinite significance of the contrast between
obedience and disobedience, sin and righteousness. He
had sinned, and the sense of his guilt sometimes became
intolerable. During his misery he felt that it was God's
own hand that was heavy upon him ; and that the con
demnation of conscience revealed, but only partially
revealed, the more appalling condemnation of God.
Further, it is apparent that he believed that our know
ledge of God is real as far as it goes ; and that what we

THE THEOLOGY OF JOHN WESLEY. 79
call His attributes are not mere subjective representations
of Him determined by the structure and laws of our own
minds, but answer to something real and objective in the
life of the Eternal ; that as His will is not identical with
His knowledge, His justice is not identical with His
grace. In one of his sermons he speaks of men who
quiet their fears " by saying ' God is merciful ; ' confound
ing and swallowing up all at once in tJiat unwieldy idea of
mercy, all His holiness and essential hatred of sin ; all
His justice, wisdom, and truth."
He knew that God was merciful. His mercy had been
revealed in Christ, who had come to seek and to save the
lost, and who had set forth the freedom of the Divine
grace in the parable of the Prodigal Son. Yes ; but God
was just; and to Wesley the justice was as real as the
mercy, and as essential an element and force in God's
eternal, unchangeable, absolute life. Indeed, apart from
justice, mercy cannot even be thought ; any more than
the finite can be thought apart from the infinite, the
relative apart from the absolute. There is no mercy where
there is no guilt. If sin is nothing more than a transient
though necessary incident of human development, or if it
is nothing more than a disease of the moral life, it needs
no forgiveness ; there is nothing to forgive. If a disease
and nothing more, it appeals — not to the Divine mercy to
pardon — but to the Divine compassion and power to
cure. If a necessary incident in the development of the
moral life of man, then, again, as it cannot be the object
of Divine hostility and resentment, there is nothing in it
for the Divine mercy to forgive ; it will gradually dis
appear in the predetermined process of that Divine move
ment by which the race is advancing towards perfection.
But to Wesley his own sin was a violent and voluntary
disturbance of the ordered relations between man and
God. It was not a misfortune, but a crime. The respon
sibility for it was his ; the guilt of it was his ; and he
believed, and believed rightly, that his sense of guilt was
in truth his apprehension and sense of the righteousness

So CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
of God condemning him for his sin, and menacing him
with awful punishment. It was because he was justly
condemned, and because he was justly menaced with
punishment, that he was in such sore need of mercy. He
had heard, he had received, he had preached the gospel
of the Divine grace, offering to all men the remission of
sins ; but his conscience demanded a gospel of which,
during the twelve years preceding 1738, he had no real
grasp, and this prevented him from finding peace. Justice
condemned him, if mercy forgave him. In his conception
of God he could not suppress the justice, even in the
presence of the strongest assurances of the mercy. To
him the two ideas, each necessary to the other, were irre
concilable contraries. He found, not their transcendent,
but their actual and concrete synthesis in Christ — in
Christ whose " blood was shed for him ; " in Christ, who
was his "sole justification, sanctification, and redemption."
Till now, to use his own words, his faith had not been
fixed on " its right object ; " it had been " faith in God,
not faith in or through Christ." Now his faith rested in
Christ, and, as he says, " an assurance was given me that
He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me
from the law of sin and death."
It is no part of my duty this morning to offer any proofs
of the fact that Christ died forthe sins of men, or to attempt
any illustration of the mystery. It is enough that I should
remind you that in John Wesley's personal discovery of
the reality of the atonement — the synthesis of justice
and mercy in the death of Christ^ie found the inspiration
and the force which, under God, created Methodism.
Methodism has its roots in a living faith in Christ as a
real and objective atonement for the sin of the world.
Surrender that faith, and the roots of your life are destroyed.
JOHN WESLEY'S DEFINITION OF FAITH.
Wesley proclaimed his new discovery with vehement
energy. Within a month he was at Oxford, preaching

THE THEOLOGY OF JOHN WESLEY. 81
before the University in the pulpit of St. Mary's on the
text, " By grace are we saved through faith," and insisting
that the death of Christ is " the only sufficient means of
redeeming man from death eternal," and that His resur
rection is " the restoration of us all to life and immor
tality." In a later sermon, also preached before the
University, he gives his definition of faith, a definition
drawn from two separate sentences in the third of the
Homilies of the Church of England appointed to be read
in churches in the time of Queen Elizabeth. Wesley's
definition reads thus : —
" The right and true Christian faith is not only to
believe that Holy Scripture and the articles of our faith
are true, but also to have a sure trust and confidence to be'
saved from everlasting damnation by Christ. It is a sure
trust and confidence which a man hath in God, that, by
the merits of Christ, his sins are forgiven, and he reconciled
to the favour of God ; whereof doth follow a loving heart to
obey the commandments."
He repeats the substance of this definition in several of
his sermons. It is a formal statement of the nature of
that faith which had made so immense a difference in his
own religious life. I do not propose to criticise it. The
dullest intellect in Christendom might see that it is ap
parently open to one very elementary objection : if saving
faith is a condition precedent of the forgiveness of sins
and restoration to the favour of God, saving faith can
hardly be a belief that we are forgiven and restored to
His favour already. But as this objection is so very
obvious that it must occur to the dullest of men as soon
as the definition is stated, modesty requires us to assume
that it probably occurred to John Wesley himself, who
was one of the acutest. Indeed, there is evidence that it
did occur to him.
In his old age, as the result of a deeper knowledge of
the ways of God and of the religious life of man — not
for mere logical reasons — he modified his judgment con
cerning the nature and contents of what the theologians
F

82 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
call " saving faith." " Nearly fifty years ago," he says,
" when the preachers commonly called Methodists began
to preach that grand scriptural doctrine of salvation by
faith, they were not sufficiently apprised of the difference
between a servant and a child of God ; " and now, with a
breadth of thought which is not commonly attributed
to any of the men of the Evangelical Revival, he defines
'faith as " such a Divine conviction of God as, even in its
infant state, enables every one that possesses it to ' fear
God and work righteousness.' And whosoever, in every
nation, believes thus far, the apostle declares, is accepted
of Him. He actually is, at that very moment, in a state
of acceptance. But he is at present only a servant of God,
not properely a son. Meantime, let it be well observed, that
' the wrath of God ' no longer ' abideth on him.' "
But Wesley still insisted on the power and blessed
ness of the nobler faith, which he describes as " a Divine
conviction, whereby every child of God is enabled to
testify. The life that I now live I live by faith on the
Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." He
still presses upon those whose faith is of the lower kind,
the obligation to seek the higher ; and he confidently
assures them that if they seek it they will sooner or later
possess it.
In the earlier years of the movement he had refused to
recognise the distinction implied by the terms, " faith of
adherence " and " faith of assurance." He found no such
terms in the Bible. There were not " two faiths in one
Lord ; " but " one faith in one Lord." He said that
he had never known a man saved from outward and
inward sin without what was called " the faith of assur
ance," — " a sure confidence that by the merits of Christ he
was reconciled to the mercy of God." If he allowed any
distinction between "the faith of adherence" and "the
faith of assurance," he insisted, to the astonishment and
confusion of the theologians, that " the faith of assurance "
came first.
There were good reasons, no doubt, for revising his

THE THEOLOGY OF JOHN WESLEY. 83
original definition. It was true, as he said, that the
earlier teaching made " sad the hearts of those whom God
had not made sad ; " and had led to the discouragement,
perhaps the fatal discouragement, of many sincere peni
tents. And yet that paradoxical definition of saving
faith, as " a sure trust and confidence which a man hath in
God that by the merits of Christ his sins are forgiven, and
he reconciled to the favour of God," is perhaps truer than
it seems. It is a paradox ; for if faith is the condition
precedent to salvation, how can it be a belief that we are
saved already } But the definition is the result of a violent
effort, breaking through the forms of the logical under
standing, to express transcendent spiritual realities.
For is it not true that God has already given us — has
given to all men, believers and unbelievers alike — eternal
redemption in Christ? Is it not true that we can trust
God for nothing, ask God for nothing, that lies beyond
the wealth of blessing which in Christ is already ours?
Does not the gift of Christ, according to the Divine
thought and purpose, include all gifts ? And when we
find Christ, do we not discover that in Him we already
possess — and had always possessed — all things ?
Yes, it may be answered, But until we have faith in
Christ, Christ is not ours, nor are the infinite blessings of
His salvation ours. Is that true? You, surely of all
men, are not going to say that Christ died for those only
who, as God foresaw, would afterwards believe in Him .''
You, surely, are not intending to introduce into the next
edition of your Hymn-book the famous verse of the great
Hymn-writer of Congregationalism ? —
' ' My soul looks back to see
The burdens Thou didst bear.
When hanging on th' accursed tree,
And hopes her guilt was there."
You do not Jiope — you know ; and what you know is true
for yourselves you know is also true for every man, saint
or sinner, heathen or Christian, in every country and in
every age ; for Christ is " the Propitiation " for the sins

84 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
" of the whole world." There is a relation between
Christ and man antecedent to man's faith and independ
ent of it. Faith does not create that relation — it merely
accepts and consciously realises a relation which exists
before faith, and apart from which faith would be im
possible ; a relation wonderfully and mysteriously modi
fied by the death of Christ for our sins, but which is part
of the Divine order of the universe. For in Christ " were
all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth," —
sun and stars, mountains and seas, angels and men ; and
"in Him all things consist" — hold together and endure
through all the millenniums of created existence. When
I find Christ, I do not fine One who till now has been
far from me. I find One who has always been the very
ground of my being, the very root of my life. By faith
I take up my citizenship in the kingdom of God, but
the citizenship was already mine by God's gift and God's
purpose. By faith I accept and realize my sonship in the
Divine household ; but I was created in Christ to be a son.
By faith I receive and rejoice in the forgiveness of my
sin ; but the forgiveness was already mine in Christ Jesus
my Lord.
Wesley's paradox, by the very revolt to which it pro
vokes the logical understanding, compels us to confront
the transcendent mystery of the real relation of God to
the human race in Christ.
THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT.
Finally, his original definition of faith was organically
connected with the great doctrine to which Methodism has
given such magnificent emphasis, That the Spirit of God-
bears direct witness to the spirit of man, and assures him.
of the forgiveness of his sins, and his Divine sonship.
Indeed, the faith which the definition demands is im
possible, and was seen by Wesley to be impossible, apart
from this " witness."
From the very first — from the time, I mean, that he

THE THEOLOGY OF JOHN WESLEY. 85
passed through his great experience, in May 1738 —
Wesley saw that for the power as well as the joy of the
Christian life it was necessary that a man should have
the complete certaint\- that he was no longer a " child of
wrath," but a child of God. In this he was of one mind
with Luther. For in maintaining the doctrine of Justifi
cation by Faith, it had been Luther's aim to recover for
men that full assurance of their personal salvation which
had been discouraged, if not rendered impossible, by
Romish doctrines, and by the Romish discipline of the
spiritual life. To the nations of Northern Europe which
received the Lutheran gospel, there came a sudden burst
of glorious sunshine ; the clouds were driven away to
distant horizons, and men rejoiced in the light of God ; it
seemed as if the age of gold had begun. But it was not
possible for Christendom to break at once with its past.
The clouds gathered again too soon. The iron times
returned. When Wesley began his work, the religious life of
England — its best religious life- — was wanting in buoyancy,
courage, vigour, adventure ; and even among devout men,
the joy of the Holy Ghost, which can never be known apart
from the certainty of personal salvation, was not general.
But he knew that he himself had received from God the
direct assurance of the forgiveness of his sins and of his
Divine sonship, and he refused to believe that this was an
exceptional privilege inaccessible to other men. What he
had received every man that believed in Christ might
receive ; for the glorious blessings which God has given to
men in Christ are the com.mon inheritance of all believers.
From the very first, therefore, he insisted that no man
should rest until the same divinely authenticated certainty '
came to him.
By the testimony of the Spirit, he means " an inward
impression on the soul, whereby the Spirit of God immedi
ately and directly witnesses to my spirit that I am a child
of God ; that Jesus Christ hath loved me and given Him
self for me ; that all my sins are blotted out ; and I, even ¦

86 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
I, am reconciled to God." After twenty years' consider
ation, he sees no cause to retract any part of this statement.
This doctrine seems to him the " grand testimony " which
God has given to the Methodists to bear to all mankind.
He says that it is by God's " peculiar blessing upon them
in searching the Scriptures, confirmed by the experience of
His children, that this great evangelicel truth has been
recovered, which had been for many years well-nigh lost
and forgotten."
Yes, confirmed by the expei'ience of His children. That
was the strength of Wesley's position. In the religious
life of the early Methodists, there was exhilaration, vigour,
triumph. Their joy was irrepressible. It broke out in
shouts of Hallelujah ! It sang exulting songs. The old
Dissenters were perplexed — sometimes scandalised. They
heard of irreligious men, vicious men, who were writhing
in an agony of repentance yesterday, and who were
rejoicing in the certainty of forgiveness and in the sure
hope of eternal glory to-day. It was not only the sudden
ness of the transition that confounded them, but its com
pleteness. A fulness of assurance had come to penitents,
which, as many of them had supposed, was hardly possible
to saints.
This "assurance" was a large part of your power. It
gave to Methodism its hosts of preachers — preachers of
many kinds, and bearing many names. Personal testimony
to the power of Christ to restore men to God, this can be
given by every man to whom the witness of the Spirit has
come. For this no protracted training at college is neces
sary ; no Hebrew, no Greek, no mastery either of Arminius
or Calvin. The man who was drunk in the streets a week
ago, if he now knows Christ for himself, can stand under
a tree or against a wall to-day, and say to every one who
will listen to him, " Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners, of whom I am chief" He needs no leisure
to think over that text. He has no occasion to consult
commentators as to its meaning. The carpenter can put
aside his saw and his plane; the blacksmith can throw

THE THEOLOGY OF JOHN WESLEY. 87
down his apron and his hammer, and begin at once to
expound the words ; his own sin, his own salvation — these
have revealed to him their wonderful contents. But for
Wesley's doctrine of the Witness of the Spirit, Wesleyanism
would never have had its great army of lay-preachers and
class-leaders ; if the power of the doctrine is ever lost, that
army will gradually break up and melt away.
But the doctrine did something more than give you
your preachers. If the new form of the religious life,
illustrated by Methodism, perplexed the grave and
thoughtful Christian men of the older Churches, the com
mon people found in it an irresistible attractiveness. It
seemed to them now that the gospel was true after all — a
real discovery of some infinite good, that was within the
reach of every man — the revelation of an actual redemp
tion which had been wrought for the human race. The
loud Amens which came from your people confirming the
words of the preacher, the glad outcries of " Glory to God ! "
" Praise the Lord I " — these carried home the gospel to the
hearts of men who might have been almost unmoved by
the testimony of a solitary man.
Nor was it on Sunday only, or only when engaged in
religious services, that the Methodists had this abounding
joy : it remained with them all the week through ; there
was a light resting upon their common path ; their hearts
were filled with music when there was no song on their
lips. And so weary men, and men who had been dis
couraged and broken down by trouble ; and men who had
come to despair of themselves because they had been
defeated in every attempt to lead a better life ; and men who
were miserable because they hated and despised themselves
for their vice, and knew that others hated and despised
them too ; and men who had become lethargic and dull
because their horizons were narrow and their occupations
and thoughts monotonous — men whose imaginations had
never been kindled, whose hearts had never been stirred ;
and men who were happy as yet, but who had begun to
see that the streams of earthly happiness soon run dry ; —

88 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
all sorts of men were charmed, excited, by the discovery
that people like themselves had found the springs of an
immortal gladness and strength. There was mystery in
it ; but mystery itself has an eternal power over the hearts
of men. The Methodists said that they were filled with
joy because they had found God ; and is there not a secret
conviction in the heart of every man that to find God is
man's supreme blessedness ?
It was largely in the strength of your testimony to the
j witness of the Spirit that you won your early triumphs. I
I have said that if your faith in this doctrine ever declines,
' you will lose your preachers. I say now that even if you
i kept your preachers, their great successes would be over ;
; for it is the common experience of the Methodist people,
confirming every declaration of their preachers concerning
', the reality and greatness of the Christian redemption, that,
under God, gives to the testimony of your preachers pathos
and power. CONCLUSION.
I have spoken with a freedom which, as a minister of
another Church, I have no right to assume ; and yet it is
not another Church, for we are all one in Christ. In
your strength Evangelical Christendom is strong ; in your
weakness Evangelical Christendom would be weak. If I
have ventured to appeal to you with unbecoming and
presumptuous urgency to be loyal to our common faith, it
is because I am so deeply conscious that the fortunes of
the Congregational churches of England cannot be
separated from yours. You are the heirs of great tradi
tions. You stand in a noble succession. But —
"They who on glorious ancestry enlarge.
Produce their debt instead of their discharge."
You have done so much, that you are under awful responsi
bilities to the nations in which your Societies are already
planted, and to the nations to which you have still to make
known the unsearchable riches of God's grace. Keep faith

THE THEOLOGY OF JOHN WESLEY. 89
with your fathers, keep faith with Christ ; keep faith with
your children and your children's children, transmit to
coming generations the gospel which has already won ,
such splendid triumphs. That "Word of God" which!
Wesley preached, "liveth and abideth for ever." It is
translated into new tongues ; it is conceived in changing
forms by the changing minds of men ; every deeper dis
covery of the relations between God and man adds to its
wealth and power ; but it remains — that living Word of
God — the same in its sub.stance through all centuries, its
strength unspent, its glory undimmed.
It is a great gospel, which you and your fathers have
preached during the hundred and fifty years of your
history, a gospel which declares the love of God for all
men. Preach it still with the same confidence of faith
and the same passion of joy. Tell men that, while they
inherit by their birth the infirmities and sins of the race,
they also inherit by their birth the salvation which Christ
has achieved for all mankind. Tell them that they live —
not in a lost world, but in a redeemed world ; a world
lost by its revolt against God, and its alienation from the
life of God, but redeemed in the blood of Christ, and
with powers in Christ and in the Spirit of Christ which
render all righteousness possible. Tell men — all men —
that they were created in Christ, and that when they dis
cover and accept their true relation to Him, they will live
under new heavens and in a new earth, and will know the
greatness of the sons of God. Tell them that they are
blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ ; that God
chose them in Him before the foundation of the world,
that they should be holy and without blemish before Him
in love ; charge them not to defeat the purposes of the
Divine grace, but to work out their own salvation with
fear and trembling, and so to make their calling and election
sure. See to it that through God's grace you know for
yourselves that, by the merits of Christ, your sins arc
forgiven, and that you are indeed and of a truth the
children of God, that your testimony to the Christian

90 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
redemption may not rest on tradition, but on your own
personal experience.
Assembled for this sacred commemoration, the hearts of
millions of men in many lands are drawn to you, and
they trust that in these services a Divine flame will
kindle that will spread over the whole world. I think I
see descending upon this assembly the glorious forms of
millions of men of other generations, who through the
ministry of your fathers escaped from eternal destruction,
and whose home is in the fair city of God above. We are
encompassed by a great cloud of witnesses. In their
presence, in God's presence, over the very ashes of your
Founder, whose death we commemorate, but who lives for
evermore in the light of the Eternal, I call upon you to
resolve, with all the solemnities of an oath, that you will
stand fast until you die, in your fidelity to the truths which
have given to Methodism its power and glory, and that
henceforth you will pray with a deeper earnestness and a
firmer faith that the fires of Methodism may never be
extinguished. I call upon you to invoke in this great
hour the good help of God, that you may surrender
yourselves to His will and to His grace with a consecra
tion so complete and unreserved, that it shall be possible
for you to receive the fulness of His Spirit; and let your
hearts wait on Him, in confident hope, till the fulness of
His Spirit shall be yours.

Cr)aracb^risbic^ oF ^e^Iey
apd I)is T^acl)ir)6.
By the Rev. PRINCIPAL RAINY, D.D., of the Free
Church College, Edinburgh.

' ' The things -which ye both learned and received
and heard and saw in me, these things do : and the
God of peace shall be -(.uith you." — Phil. iv. 9.
If it is right to commemorate the mighty works of the
Lord, done through His more notable servants in days
gone by, then it follows that you are doing exceeding well
in calling up before this generation the record of him who
one hundred years ago closed his remarkable life. And
when you invite some of us from other lines of ecclesiast
ical descent to take part in your commemoration — a
summons which we receive with gratitude and pride — one
asks oneself with what view the friendly invitation is given.
Partly, chiefly perhaps, that it may be seen that many
more besides yourselves claim part in the benefits which
Wesley conferred, and are forward to own, with you, how
much we all owe him. But partly also, perhaps, because
you desire to hear what it occurs to those to say who look
at Wesley's goodness and greatness from other standpoints
than those which are furnished by Wesleyanism. I feel,
at all events, that it is as natural for me to act in this view
91

92 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
as I suppose it may be for you to expect it of me. Leaving,
therefore, others, to whom it more properly falls, to estimate
the influence which Wesley has exerted in the world, and
to pronounce the due panegyric on his life and work, I
propose only to note one or two impressions and lessons
which I think we may all lay to heart, especially in times
like ours. I take the text as embodying this admonition,
that men whom God has eminently blessed to us should
be studied both in their teaching and in the manner of
their life and work. Whatever their limits or their imper
fections, it is likely that we shall find in this way sugges
tions as to following and serving Christ, which we cannot
afford to want.
Wesley was the leading spirit in a great work of
awakening. That awakening has been propagating its
effects ever since. It proved to be God's way of redeeming
the battle, in days when the battle went sore against truth
and life both. It proved to be decisive in its influence on
the whole religious history of England and America, not
to speak now of influences in other fields. And if others
shared with Wesley the honour of beginning this work of
God, yet it was as controlled, organised, and sent on its
way by Wesley that the movement became decisive, and
made its great mark upon the religious history of the
world. To him, under God, we mainly trace it that new
thoughts, new aims, new hopes arose everywhere among
the Churches, coming as spring after winter, with life and
with hope.
It is natural to ask what it was in Wesley that led on to
so great a success. For while we own the Divine grace
which prepared him for his service and crowned his efforts,
yet we suppose that God fitted the agent to the work.
So far as one can see, stress might be laid on two un
doubted facts — first, that Wesley had native power to move
his fellows, and secondly, that he was sagacious in affairs.
Influence in those two lines is conspicuous throughout his
life ; but I do not think that in those quarters we shall
find the eminence which made his work so exceptional in

WESLEY AND HIS TEACHING. 93
its extent and permanence. We are nearer to the true
secret when we dwell on his singleness of purpose and of
aim. SINGLENES.S OF AIM.
Wesley knew what he wanted. And in a remarkable
degree it may be said of him, that he wanted nothing else
but that. God had so prepared and disposed this man,
that his eye rested steadily and always on the one thing.
It was not taken off either by seductions, or by assaults,
or by perplexities, or by the mere number and variety of
objects appealing to him. He saw these things, but he
saw them always in relation to his one object, which fixed:
and drew him. Now, " if thine eye be single, thy whole
body shall be full of light." Because he gazed so steadily
on the one object of attainment, his view of it became
clear; also the way to it revealed itself; the manner in
which his own powers, and the resources at his disposal,
could be put in play, with a view to reach it, became
plain. The whole situation fell in its place before him,
and the way in which it could be influenced revealed itself
Wesley knew what he wanted. He had not a very quiet
life, but he had in a wonderful degree the wisdom of a
" quiet eye." He might be occupied with interminable
activities, journeys to make, sermons to preach, books to
write, business arrangements to plan and execute, people
to talk to — reasonable and unreasonable — mobs might
howl him down and pelt him, magistrates might bully him,
Calvinists (like the present preacher) might rave at him.
But all through there was a vision from which John
Wesley's eye could not be turned away. It was not a
vision of heaven, but, on the contrary, emphatically of the
earth. It was a vision of English men and women — pre
dominantly, not exclusively, of the lower classes — loving
and serving God. Neither was it at all a fancy picture.
He knew exactly what it meant out of his own experience.
When was he disobedient to that vision? It was this
steady eye that enabled him to clear his way through

94 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
influences that might have swayed him, and entanglements
that might have fettered him and marred his work.

LOVE OF POWER.
It is a small thing to say of John Wesley, that his eye
was not caught by money, or by ease, or by reputation ;
that no dread of hostility or of slander seemed to distract
his attention or preoccupy his mind. But the same thing
may be said of a matter that has been debated, and may
seem to be debateable. Was not Wesley animated and
drawn by love of power? Now to that I feel no great
difficulty in replying. Every man who is working with
his powers at full stretch must be conscious of them, more
or less. And every man who is enabled to put forth
exceptional powers must desire to have a field for them.
Wesley did so in his own case. But it seems to me that
Wesley is totally misunderstood, unless you realise that
with him the governing question was. How his powers
could be best expended to bring to pass, under God's
blessing, the result on which his heart was set. In a
given line and way of working, Wesley saw a road to
his end, and his experience showed him how remarkable
the results might be. His decision was that his powers
should be expended on that line, and that he would not
be turned away from it. Neither would he allow himself
to expend much strength on negotiating and disputing
about it. If other Christians did not like it, they could
go and make a road for themselves. Now Wesley may
have been right or wrong in coming to these conclusions as
to his way of working, and certainly only a very strong
and capable man could have justified them in the result.
But whether right or wrong, he was not seeking power ;
he was settling the economy of his life — how it and the
powers of it could be best spent to gain the end on which
his heart was set. Very likely some love of power did
cling to his exercise of it. Most men like what they can
•successfully achieve.

WESLEY AND HIS TEACHING. 95
SINGLENESS, NOT NARROWNESS.
When I speak of the singleness of Wesley's eye, I
ought to observe that this does not necessarily imply
narrowness. One may remark in him an openness to
take into his own life, and recommend to others, a great
variety of forms of well-doing and of Christian activity.
But one can also see that in his own case they all receive
definite limits ; the space allotted to them is determined
by the main end to which his life was given. I am
inclined to recognise this same controlling influence in
connection with his controversial writing. Wesley judged
it needful for him to engage in controversial writing in
order to avert errors, and to keep his main movement on
right lines. Personally I am not with him in all his con
tentions ; and I do not know that anybody is concerned
to maintain that he escaped all the temptations which
beset controversialists. But controversy could not absorb
him. He shut it up vigorously as soon as he judged it
had done its work, and went on with his main business.
He went on with it, very little ruffled, with little sign of
having lost his breath or lost his temper.
DEVOTEDNESS.
I have dwelt on Wesley's singleness of purpose. It
is not quite saying the same thing when I go on to speak
of his unsparing devotion. It is possible to have a clear
and steady eye for a great object, and yet through some
lassitude or inertia to fail to respond to its attraction.
But in Wesley one seems to see a devotedness that spares
no effort and loses no opportunity. As his great object
and the conditions of attaining it grew clear to him, he
seemed to put himself in play, and those whom he could
influence, to press on to it through every opening that
was given. What a fine courage there was in the way he
faced his great problem ! As its greatness loomed out
upon him, he set himself the more to subdue it to his

96 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Master's will. The common fault is that we see our
problem well enough, but we falter and flinch. All that
Wesley was, and all that he had, was thrown into his
battle with a serene, intense persistency that never seemed
to flag. Doubtless he owed much to his bodily and
mental health, and to the cheerful elasticity of spirit
which so wonderfully characterised him. But those are
qualities far from being always or necessarily consecrated
to high aims or to self-denying life. We must here own
the working of the faith which subdues kingdoms and
stops the mouths of lions. As we follow him through his
life, really, the question rises, How could a man come
nearer to forsaking all that he had than Wesley did?
And he did it, not as one pondering and moralising over
so great an effort. He did it cheerfully, in the way of
business, as it were, making investments for his Master.
If we too could better learn this lesson of forsaking
all, should not we too find life becoming significant
and victorious ? Should not our world also begin to
move ? WESLEY'S ^M.
We recognise these as dispositions and influences under
which Wesley became so singularly serviceable towards the
end he lived for. This brings us to the question. What
that end was. Many phrases could be used. It was, let
us say, to bring God into the lives of men and women ; to
awaken, sustain, and animate within them the blessed
.consciousness of knowing, loving, and serving God. At a
time when Christianity for multitudes had become a dead
form, and when those, for whom it was more than a form
were perplexed and could not find their hands, this man
was sent on to take order that Christianity by the grace
of God should become real all over the country. This is
a description in terms that are pretty general and wide,
and the generality may be vindicated from the circum
stance that Wesley himself sometimes liked to speak of
true religion in the most general terms. But if we do so,

WESLEY AND HIS TEACHING. 97
we must take care that we do not miss what was essential
to the work before us.
God was to be known ; but He was to be known as the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has drawn
near in Christ to pardon and to save the undeserving and
the sinful. And human hearts were to be awakened ;
but it was to be an awakening to the wonder of redemp
tion, and an experience of God's holy mercy, making
salvation welcome and real to the awakening heart.
WHAT IS IMPLIED.
There are two things here. The first is the supernatural
grace of the incarnation and the atonement. There are
those who strive, as much as may be, to reduce Christianity
to a sublime ethic. It appears to them that this is the
safest ground on which to put its claims. They call it,
in fact, the Christianity of Christ. I shall have something
to say presently as to John Wesley's relation to the
ethical aspect of things. And for myself — and you pro
bably — I may say that every fresh illustration of the
depth and height of the Christian conception of duty,
goodness, sacrifice, is good service done to a great cause,
and so far should be gladly accepted. But then the very
meaning of Christianity is that behind all that, there is
the astonishing love of God coming into the very heart of
our need and shame, in the gift and in the sacrifice of His
Son. That, too, is the source of the ethical peculiarity
and splendour of Christianity, as it is the source of
the gift of the Spirit, who translates Christian ethics
into Christian character. Now, if that is renounced or
eliminated, you will not maintain Christianity. You will
find in the end that you are unconsciously letting go the
Christian religion. Moreover, after a brief glow of interest
and impression, you will find that you have lost the power
to move and bow the souls of men.
I am not saying this by way of invidious attack upon
those who feel themselves called — at present, for instance
G

98 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
¦ — to dwell emphatically and much on duty and on
character. I should hold that to be very unjust. They
may have very good reasons for the course they take.
And John Wesley himself has said very sharp things
about the worthlessness of mere traditional harping on the
doctrinal outlines of the scheme of grace. But no man
can rightly appreciate Wesley's work, who does not appre
hend the strength it drew from the intense conviction that
God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not
imputing unto us our trespasses. Wesley and his work
simply vanish if you suppose him withheld from going
forth as one who says, " Behold, we declare unto you glad
tidings." That is one point. The other point here to be noticed
is, the necessity for men and women individually to be
brought into this blessedness, which in Christ is set before
us, and to become partakers of pardon and of life-^iihe
necessity, in short, of conversion. It is very true that the
longer one lives and learns, the less one is inclined to lay
down rules for God as to the way in which He brings men
to Himself, and the steps by which He does it ; or as to
the measure of light and the form of thought and feeling
under which His children may be holding communion
with Him. Thank God, all our thoughts about this are
nothing to the various and unsearchable grace of His
ways. But yet we must be born again : there is such a
thing as becoming conscious of the call of Christ as some
thing for ourselves ; there is such a thing as submitting to
the righteousness of God ; there is such a thing as a contrite
heart being persuaded of the loving-kindness of the Lord ;
there is such a thing as receiving power to become a son
:of God. And Wesley's work challenged men upon the
point whether Christ was in them. It held up actual
pardon and power to serve God as benefits to be sought
and found. Frank and unfettered as Wesley might be in
recognising true godliness in forms far removed from those
of his own ministration, surely his whole ministry drew its
inspiration from that experience at a quarter to nine on a

WESLEY AND HIS TEACHING. 99
May evening in 1738, when he became conscious of the
meaning of Christianity, of the love of God in Christ, as
a possession and inheritance for himself

OUR AIM AND METHOD.
Perhaps there are reasons for dealing with many con
gregations in our day circumspectly rather than roughly.
Perhaps it is right to keep before our minds the possibility
that some good thing towards the Lord God of Israel may
have been planted early in young hearts, though it is
not yet conspicuous, and needs fostering rather than more
radical treatment. Perhaps it is well to consider that,
under the complex conditions of human souls, some may
be more hopefully approached, more persuasively dealt
with, by stealing in upon them with now this and now
that of the various aspects of Christian life and service,
suffusing their lives with influences that may gain them
— that, one may hope, are gaining them by degrees.
Perhaps so. But yet is not this true of many gospel
hearers in our congregations, that they never have dis
covered with any application to themselves what Jesus
Christ is for ? It is all vague, uncertain, unpractical,
unreal. And often they themselves feel, and we shall
help them best when we feel, that they simply need to be
converted. WESLEY'S CONCEPTION OF CONVERSION.
As to the conception of conversion, the working idea
of it which obtained among the early Methodists, and
which guided much of their activity, I shall only say this,
that we must have working conceptions to guide practice,
and at the same time we must remember that these are
commonly provisional and rough. Usually every exten
sive work of conversion or awakening has proceeded on
some conception of conversion kept in view as that
which was to be consciously realised ; and this has been,

100 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
generally, such a conception that when it is stated and
defined, it is too narrow and imperfect to cover all cases,
and yet is near enough to verify itself in many. In
different religious movements these ruling ideas have
varied a little ; and so the type and style of experience to
which the good Spirit of God has condescended to adjust
his working has varied also. On the other hand, no way
of defining conversion that man can propose or enforce,
will exclude the possibility of imitative and deceptive
experiences. ALLEGED WEAKNESS OF EVANGELISM.
This experience of conversion may be held liable to a
certain weakness and danger. A very vital element of
it is a revelation, or apprehension, of a wonderful kind
ness to myself, out of which blessedness, if it is vividly
apprehended, there comes naturally, and most legitim
ately, a sense of great gladness. It may be said,
then, that at this point self can rise fatally into ascend
ency ; the sentiment of immense gain for me — deliver
ance, security, and personal elevation for me — may usurp
a most undue place ; self-complacency, self-congratulation,
self-adulation, may break out in a great stream ; and the
very process which was supposed to carry us towards
God, and to dispose us to duty, may take a turn which
supplants both in a great degree. It is in view of this
that some critics of the Evangelical administration of
Christianity have spoken with contempt of the anxiety of
people about saving their souls — ^as if it were only a
relig-ious form of self-seeking.
WESLEY'S DEMAND FOR THE PRACTICAL.
This is not the place to argue out the question. What
I have at present to say is this, that no Evangelical man
could be less liable to the charge of concentrating atten
tion exclusively on safety, on privilege, on the passive or

WESLEY AND HIS TEACHING. loi
receiving side of things, than Wesley was. One does not
see that this was at any time even a danger or temptation
to him. He was in the first place a man of an intensely
ethical turn ; duty appealed to him with great constitu
tional force. When he began to think seriously of
Christianity, he conceived a high ideal of a Christian's
character and attainments, and spent years in trying to
realise it. Then, when he found peace and liberty in
Christ, the very feature of the new experience which
stood out to his own mind was, that it included power to
overcome sin and to serve God. No doubt his conception
of practical Christianity changed at that time, — but only
in the sense of being deepened, widened, and glorified.
Instead of mere conscientious endeavour to conform
himself to an ideal of devout life, there came the great
inspiration of the love of God shed abroad in the heart
through the Holy Ghost given to him. But that only
sent him on his way with a new conception of the magni
ficence of his calling, and a new assurance of success.
Every method he had proved before, as adapted to
promote practice, service, diligence, came into play at
once in the new career, with a new freedom and power.
And accordingly his work of awakening aimed at rousing
men to own the claims of holiness — that is to say, of con
secration to God, and devoted service of men. He wanted
people awakened and converted ; but part of the meaning
of that in his mind was that they should be set against
sin, emancipated from the world, and free and strong in
practical well-doing. He wanted Christians that should
believe in these things, aim at these things, and attain
them. And there are two features of his ministry which
impress an outsider as regards their relation to this great
and good ambition. TWO FEATURES OF HIS MINISTRY.
First, there was the method of organising and training \
the fruits of the ministry, by assembling the awakened into '

102 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
' classes. No doubt this came in at first as an expedient,
'wisely struck out in connection with the early conditions
of Methodist itinerancy, which precluded continuous pas
toral care. But it remained afterwards, as a permanent
expression of the thought that Christians, whose hearts
are in their profession, may be expected to join together
to watch and help one another under approved leadership,
in the endeavour to prove and to fulfil ' the good and
acceptable and perfect will of God. Whether this was
and is the best way of providing for the objects, I do not
know. Many of us know about the work of the Methodist
class chiefly through the example of one Daniel Quorm,
and if he is an average specimen of Wesleyan class-
leaders, there remains little room for discussion. What I
have to own is, that this Wesleyan way contrasts with the
great absence in most of our Churches of any regulated
way of providing for the same end. And though pastoral
care and Christian friendship do, of course, come largely
in to meet the necessity, yet often there is among us
serious want of helpful companionship and counsel in
early and critical stages of the life of awakened persons.
At all events, most of our Churches cannot but remark
here in Wesley's system, a striking practical tribute to the
truth that the business of Christians is to take pains and
combine their efforts to be Christians indeed.
I The other feature to which I referred, is nothing else
' than the Wesleyan doctrine of attainable perfection in
' holiness. Here, too, I am not to engage in discussion.
It is well known that some of us conceive that matter
somewhat differently. But I refer to it for the purpose
of laying emphasis on this, that in the mind of Wesley,
and of those who followed him, that doctrine stood con
nected with the noble desire to stir Christians to aim at
the fulness of Christ. For this reason he desired to clear
out of their way whatever seemed to him likely to weaken
the sense of obligation, whatever might intercept the in
fluence of the Master's call to follow Him.
For the rest, Wesley's conception of Christian holiness

WESLEY AND HIS TEACHING. 103
was not narrow, and it was abundantly practical. It
anticipated also a great deal that is put abroad to-day as
newly discovered. For there is hardly a form of benevol
ence to men's bodies or souls, and hardly a line of action
on the manifold problem of human sin and misery, that is
not somewhere exemplified among the activities of that
remarkable life — exemplified, and then commended and
inculcated.

LESSON FOR TFIE FUTURE.
Well, it is not for me to say how far the Methodists
have been enabled to keep up to the standard set for them
by their great teacher. But I daresay that in your
churches, as in ours, there is some room, not a little
room, for progress ; some ground, not a little, for lament
ing our shortcoming and compromise in the field of
practical Christianity. At least, however, it lies to you ,
to take a forward and conspicuous place in rousing the
Church afresh to this great interest. It is part of the
work which John Wesley left to you. And this seems to
be a present-day business. People are prepared to be
interested in it. Ours is a time in which we find people
realising fragments of Christianity with extraordinary
vividness. And some parts of the teaching of Christ as
to the sacrifices His followers should make, and the work
they should do, have been flashed into men's minds with
startling effect. The question is stirring. Are we doing
justice— how are we to do justice to the teaching of Christ ?
We have to learn this that we may teach it.
Religious awakening and movement come from vivid
apprehensions of the mind of God, in some aspect of it,
flashing in on the Church and on the world, so as to pos
sess men with a sense — unfelt before — of the reality and
majesty of spiritual things. Perhaps the next great
awakening may come, not in the wake of what our fathers
called a law work — an intensifying of the witness of con
science — but by a strange and vivid sense of what Christ

104 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
meant His followers to be, of what men are called to
receive from Christ. That may be felt to be real, wonder
ful, credible, and near. If so, what an awakening that will
be for the Church as well as for the world.

CONSECRATION OF COMMON-SENSE.
So far I have spoken of master principles of Wesley's
activity. As to the means by which he worked out his
object in detail, I will make one remark. They seem to
me to consecrate this principle, viz. the right of common-
sense to regulate Church methods in dealing with the
exigencies presented by God's providence. Churches,
dealing with sacred interests, and, as they trust, under
some degree of Divine guidance, are apt to be very inflex
ible in their methods. What was right before must be
right now ; and what has been sacred till this moment it
is sacrilege to alter. Now Wesley sets no example of
flightiness, of sudden, inconsiderate change. He was
' conservative enough to have a good deal of inward diffi
culty about the changes he made ; and what he did adopt
after consideration, he adhered to with a fine tenacious
consistency. But his visible conservatism only throws up
into clearer prominence the dominant sagacity of the man.
One expedient after another is considered, adopted, worked
out, simply on the ground that it was the way by which,
in fact, the necessary work could be done ; so it was with
open-air preaching, classes, lay-preachers, and all the fest
of it. If Wesley had been a mere ecclesiastic, occupied
with the play of the machinery, it might have been other-
-wise. But here again we feel what he had his eye upon —
it was that vision of saved and holy men and women to be
reached across the cruelly adverse circumstances of the
time. Now, it is a great principle that if you want to go
anywhere you must take the road to it that lies open.
Really that is so, unwilling as we of the Churches have
been to believe it. And there is nothing in the revealed
will of Christ intended to hinder us, while we administer

WESLEY AND HIS TEACHING. 105
His gospel for the ends of His glorious kingdom, from
making use of those adaptations which have the simple
consecration of common-sense.
That seems a fair inference from Wesley's practice ; and
I think the Churches need to lay it to heart. We need
greater flexibility, and more of wise, considerate, yet
courageous inventiveness. We are too slow in getting out
of the ruts. I speak of what I know in the regions
familiar to me, confessing my own share in it. I am not
acquainted enough — to my own loss it is, I am sure — with
the inner working of Wesleyanism to know how it is with
you. But I should be surprised to learn that with you, as
well as with us, the surprising principle did not hold, in
some degree, that the innovations of one age become the
traditional fetters of the next, and that the fact that our
fathers looked at things with their own eyes, comes to be ^
taken as binding us never to look at them with ours.
HIS SUSTAINED CONSECRATION IN ITS BEARING ON
MINISTERIAL SUCCESS.
But in speaking of the detail of Wesley's work, the
explanation of its daily strength, I must be allowed, in
closing, to go back on the point with which I began.
That which was the secret of his strength in dealing with
his enterprise as one immense whole, was the secret of it
also in its daily and detailed successes. I am thinking
now of that without which all the rest would have been
nothing — Wesley's success in getting into living contact
with souls as God's messenger, and his kindling a fire that
went on burning where his personal influence could not
reach. Here we all own the wise and loving grace of the
Spirit of God. But let us mark this quality in His agent
— the sheer honesty and thoroughness of Wesley's life.
Long before he found peace and liberty in Christ, these
qualities are already apparent. And when Wesley had
been enlightened and set free, they received a new con
secration and a new energy. It is not necessary to adopt

io6 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
all the judgments which Wesley made with reference to
his own duty as necessarily binding on others. But the
decision, downrightness, resolute consistency that appear
in his conduct about money, in his systematic self-denial,
in his redeeming of time, in his almost incredible diligence,
— the unselfish consecration with which he gave himself
utterly to the one end,— all this backed his preaching with
a moral force, informed it with a cogency and reality
which made it the proper instrument of the great result.
It is not only that the people knew his devotedness,
though they did know it, and bowed to it ; but the man
himself embodied it as an inspiration and a force. When
he spoke of the claims of God, he spoke what was for ever
echoing through his own life. Such men have full right
and power to speak. Whatever may be true of possible
effects from strong words spoken by spiritually weak men,
or even from the good words of bad men, there is given
to the words of a man whose life in its details has been
steadily consecrated and devoted, a force all their own.
No thought in connection with Wesley's life has impressed
my own mind more than this.
We that are ministers cannot afford to lose this lesson.
It is not difficult to believe of very many of us that we
are sincere men, fairly diligent, intelligent, and earnest in
seeking to do service to the Saviour, in whom we have
trusted, and to the flocks over which He has set us. But
what if, at successive stages — beginning early and re
peating the process often — what if when openings and
calls came to us to embrace a loftier standard, to pitch
higher and more worthily the key of service, to take the
harder and the nobler view of what a minister may dare
and do for Christ — what if we have slidden — alas I how
easily — along the lower path, transacted with our own
conscience, indulged ourselves — always, no doubt, in re
spectable and seemly ways — and set narrow limits to
sacrifice, to endeavour, to Christian ambition ? I cannot
refrain from expressing my fear that some of us older
ministers — I do not say all, for I do not think so — but

WESLEY AND HIS TEACHING. 107
some of us — have greatly lost and thrown away our lives ;
because, though we have spoken strong words and forcible
thoughts, and done it sincerely, meaning all we said, yet
we failed to back them with a straightforward, unsparing
devotedness of life, answerable to the words we spoke. I
am not thinking, of course, of a paraded devotedness,
exhibited to catch the eye of others ; but of that personal
affirmation of the truth we hold in continuous deeds of
self-forgetting practice, which should have lent its silent
force to all our dealings with the souls of men. When
we look at this aspect of Wesley's life, we seem to hear a
voice saying to us, if it is not too late — and saying
to younger men for whom it is not yet too late : " Be
ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the
Lord is."
It is time to bring this to an end. We join with you in
thanking God for the life and work of this great, true,
courageous, and fruitful Englishman, this noble servant
and apostle of Jesus Christ. We gladly own how well
it is that in this memorable instance you should consider
one that had the rule over you, that has spoken to you the
word of the Lord, that you may follow his faith, remem
bering the end of his conversation. What you have learned
and received and heard and seen in him, we shall rejoice
to know that you go forth in God's strength more than
ever to do. At the same time, we remember that this was
God's special gift in the man we commemorate, that he
was enabled to bring to the difficulties and the dangers of
his day a fresh eye, and a new impulse of faith and hope,
and a creative instinct in grappling with facts. Therefore
we will pray that among you, and also in all our Churches,
there may rise up men who in this highest, truest sense
reproduce the spirit and the work of John Wesley.

Tl)e Propt)^b o^ bt)e
Ei6l)beepbl) C^i)liury.
By the Rev. JOHN CLIFFORD, M.A., D.D.

" Ye are the sons of the prophets, and of the
covenant which God made with yojir fathers, saying
unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the families
of the earth be blessed." — Acts iii. 25.
These words form part of Peter's appeal to the Jews to
accept and use the latest revelation of God to men, made
in Jesus the Nazarene, who had been crucified on Calvary
some eight or ten weeks before, and who, within the last
few days, was so strangely and unexpectedly vindicated
and glorified by the spiritual marvels of Pentecost. It is
a supreme moment in the history of Jerusalem and of the
world. The day of Pentecost has fully come ; and it is
" the beginning of days," the dawning of a new era of
light and life, not for one here and another there, but for
thousands gathered from every nation under heaven. Nor
is the mission of Christ limited to the human spirit. The
ascended Redeemer is also the Saviour of the body, and
in the man so notoriously and so long lame, but now per
fectly sound, stands revealed before them all, in the wide
sweep of His healing energies. That man's firm step is a
visible argument for the despised Christ, and his exultant

THE PROPHET OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 109
song an audible and persuasive appeal for the examina
tion of His claims. What can you say against a gospel
that heals lame men and quickens dead souls? Butler's
Analogy you may challenge, and Waterland's reasoning
on the Eucharist you may question ; but what can you
do with the indisputable logic of facts offered in crowds of
godless miners changed to newness of life by the preaching
of John Wesley ?
But it is poor service, after all, only to silence an
objector. He needs guidance. Probably he is a baffled
seeker after truth, confronted by a new fact which refuses
to harmonise with his interpretation of the revelation he
already knows, and whose authority he has long recognised.
Therefore Peter, moved by the Holy Ghost; says to the
wondering people as they crowd the portico of the temple,
" See you what the healing of this lame man means ? Do
you understand these signs ? Don't look on us as though
we had done it; we haven't. God, and God alone, has
wrought this great marvel — your God, your fathers' God,
the God of Jesus Christ. He has raised from the dead
the Prince of Life, whom you killed, and here in this
forty-year-old cripple made young again He reveals Him
to you as the Prince of Life still. You are surprised ; and
yet, if you understood the heritage of prophecy you have
received, you would have expected it, for this victory over
disease is part of a predicted series of deliverances, and is
of a piece with the call of Moses, the exodus from Egypt,
and the departure from Babylon, and springs out of the
faithfulness of God to the covenant He made with Abra
ham when He said, ' In thj' seed shall all the families of
the earth be blessed.' Remember, ye are the sons of the
prophets. Recognise your noble heritage. See in these
occurrences verifications of the original promise, exempli
fications of the law of universal redemption, and welcome
the message of salvation we preach. The grace of Christ
is here fulfilling— that is, filling out — the programme, and
actualising the ideal of ' the law which came by Moses,'
and proclaiming to you that God has raised up His Son

no CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Jesus, and sent Him ' to bless you in turning away every
one of you from your iniquities.' "
WIDE RANGE OF WESLEY'S INFLUENCE.
II. Fathers, brothers, and members of the great Method
ist people, have I not undeniable warrant to say to you
on this memorable morning, " Ye are the children of the
prophets, of the covenant which God made with your
fathers," saying unto John Wesley, as clearly as He did
to Abraham, " And in thy spiritual children shall all the
families of the earth be blessed " ? " Ye " I did I say ?
Surely I must say we; since we Congregationalists and
Baptists of England and the world are sharers in the great
Evangelical Revival, have received incomputable blessings
from Wesley's ministry, and owe much of our present
light and fire to the message he delivered with such
convincing clearness and saintly devotion. Certainly I
cannot forget that debt ; nor can I cite a more decisive
example of the immense service of the Founder of
Methodism to the older Christian Churches of the last
century, than that which is offered in the annals of the
Society to which I owe my conversion to God. The
General Baptists date from the opening decades of the
seventeenth century, and from the first held and taught
the infinite and universal love of God in Christ Jesus.
But at the time of Wesley's conversion they were critical,
contentious, and cold. The breath of the Puritan inspira
tion had ceased to stir their hearts and move their wills.
" The word of the Lord was rare in those days ; there was
no widely-spread vision," and little experience of the
quickening energies of the Holy Spirit. But it came to
pass that Dan Taylor, a Yorkshire miner, heard the
gospel from the great evangelist, and was converted to
God. Soon afterwards he entered the General Baptist
ministry, but was so infected with the zeal and passion
of Wesley, that he could not rest till he had founded the
New Connexion of General Baptists. This was in 1770.

THE PROPHET OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, in
The word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed, and
to-day we are a strong, glad, and victorious company of
the followers of Christ ; for whom, if you are resolved to
include in one federation all the Methodist offspring, you
will assuredly have to make room. I quote this page
of history, because it is typical of that regeneration of
the Churches of England accomplished by the ministry
of Wesley. God's best gifts are for everybody. His
choicest messengers speak an universal language. His
chief prophets render a world-wide service. We are all
the sons of the prophets and of the covenant of redeeming
love which He hath made with our race, saying to its elect
spiritual leaders, " And in your seed shall all the families
of the earth be blessed."
WESLEY ESSENTIALLY A PROPHET.
III. The wise know that no heritage equals in value
that which we have in the inspirations and toils of the
God-given prophets. They are an authentic witness from
the spiritual realm, — speak for God, think after His
thought, throb with His pity, burn with His fire of justice,
move with His calm patience, and work for men with His
undespairing energy. They stand for God ; for His
motherly brooding over our chaotic life, to shape it into
Divinest order and beauty. As the great mountains catch
the sunshine, and radiate the light and heat, making the
valleys fertile and the rivers sing, so the seers receive the
rays of the Sun of Righteousness, and reflect His healing
beams on those who sit in the shadow of death. They
are conspicuously spiritual leaders of humanity, and
therefore, whilst the Old Testament is full of them and
their work, they also reappear in the New, and give energy
and exaltation, spontaneity and spirituality, to the whole
activities of the early Church. The Christ of the Cross
and of the Throne has received gifts of men for men, some
apostles and prophets, and some pastors and evangelists.
And of those men He has in His grace bestowed in these

112 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
' later centuries, John Wesley holds a place as primary as
it is arresting, and as unchallenged as it is immeasurably
and prophetically fruitful. He is the chief Prophet of the
Eighteenth Century. The prophetism of the New Testa
ment in all its sublime qualities and successes reaches its
maximum in him, and places him at the springhead of the
' spiritual life of our modern England.
Like many other men of original inspiration, Wesley
has failed even yet to win the full recognition of his
character and service. For though his name is as familiar
as the words of daily greeting, yet few know him at first
hand, and of those few not all know him accurately and in
' the secret of his inmost life and character. Intrinsically
; he is a prophet ; essentially he is a God-made, God-trained,
God-inspired, God-ruled man. Leave God out of his life,
' and it is a riddle you cannot solve, a darkness you can feel.
He was a student equipped with wide and solid learning,
a good classic, a forcible reasoner, a man of rare intellectual
' conscience and sincerity, ever alert in thought and uni
formly balanced in judgment. It would be the grossest
mistake to treat him as an ill-trained street-preacher,
compensating for lack of brain by strength of lung, and
setting fervour to do the work of thought and research.
Had he not been so distinguished a prophet, he would
have taken highest rank as a man of letters. He always
spoke with the authority of knowledge ; but his scholar
ship was always his servant : his logic was fused by a
burning love of God and souls, and his mental acquisitions
were all severely subordinated to spiritual and practical
uses. There was not the faintest trace of the scholastic
pedant in this strong and serene prophet of God.
Moreover, Wesley shines with arresting splendour in
the " glorious company of the Apostles!' Pie laboured in
season and out, going from Cornwall to Newcastle, and
from London to Ireland, as a minister and a witness to
the things wherein he for himself had seen Christ ; as a
witness to the conscious and experimental facts of deliver
ance from sin, peace with God, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

THE PROPHET OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 113
But the marvellous successes that attended his preaching,
when sinners fell prostrate beneath the power of the word,
and stricken souls cried importunately to God for mercy,
were due to the irresistible conviction that he came straight
from the presence of the living God, and witnessed for an
actual 3.ndfelt Redeemer of men. The mere witness, how
ever accurate and earnest, is always less than a prophet.
But Wesley was the inspired apostle of experience, the
real incarnation of a living and aggressive faith.
Not a few men talk of Wesley's system; graded and
coherent, ubiquitous and centralised, supple and strong,
as though his victories were won by machinery, and his
chief distinction was his masterful genius as an adminis
trator. But trace the growth of his institutions. See them '
start into life in his " Journals ; " one at Bristol, a second
at Newcastle, other portions here at City Road, each
appearing as it is wanted, a practical response to a felt
and obvious need, an appropriate garment for the grow
ing and expanding life, advancing as a family advances,
and full of the throbbing vitality of the creative man of
God ; and you discover that the power was not in the
machine, but in the man. The spiritual renewal of the
world is not in systems, but in souls — souls filled with all
the fulness of God.
Looking at the neatly-clad cleric, small of stature, calm
in spirit, clear and simple in talk, logical rather than rhetor
ical, men have hesitated to assign him a place amongst
the masters of vision and of speech whom the Eternal ever
sends forth to lead His Israel to its predestined goal. But
it is one of the charms of prophetic power, that it is so
diverse in its manifestations, and clothes itself in such a \
variety of forms. It thinks in the scholar, sings in the poet, !
paints in the artist, preaches in the evangelist, fights in the
hero, rebukes in the reformer, and pulls down and builds
up in the men who lead the ages to victory. In Elisha it
is gentle and genial, silent and strong, as the unperceived
forces of the spring changing the face of the earth this
morning ; and again, in Elijah it is sonorous and desolating
H

114 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
as a raging ice-storm. Soft and still, it moves like dew
amongst fragrant bloom, and along the spear- like blades
of grass ; violent and surprising, it dashes forward with
the swiftness of an earthquake, and the destructiveness of
streams of burning lava. In aged John it speaks with
tones of winning entreaty, and from the serenity of a
masterly calm ; in Paul it faces the " lion " Nero on his
throne, and dares death with a victor's smile. It is re
tiring as a violet in a hedgebank in Melanchthon, and in
Martin Luther it is as bold and obtrusive as a sunflower.
In Leighton it is sweet and placid and persuasive ; in
bold Hugh Latimer it speaks as fearlessly to king and
statesman as to peasant and labourer. In Wesley it
appears in many forms. Like Abraham, he early catches
a glimpse of the far-off issues of his life, and trembles
and rejoices in the sight. As a modern Moses, he leads
the English people out of a sombre and repellant theology,
into a clime radiant with summer thoughts of God and .
His redeeming mercy. Like Samuel, he is the founder
and head of a band of prophets, whose hearts God had
touched through his faith, and whose lives God had en
riched through his devotion. He has the intrepidity, but
not the crushing fierceness, of Elijah ; and, though it
comes later, yet he attains at length the Isaiah passion
for holiness. In consciousness of the resistless urgency of
the Spirit, he repeats the experience of Jeremiah, and he
follows John the Baptist in the total subordination of all
his life and work to the glory of Christ his Redeemer.
From first to last, then, he is a prophet of the Highest.
He has a prophet's training, sees with a prophet's eye,
moves in obedience to a prophetic impulse, and works to
I the end with a prophet's patient persistence, deep, calm,
; and reproductive fruitfulness.
GOD IN WESLEY'S HISTORY.
IV. No man with an eye for spiritual facts can look
' into Wesley's history without seeing God ; and he who

THE PROPHET OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 115
looks continuously is likely to feel, as Newton did after
looking at the sun, that the image of God is so burned
into his soul that he can see nothing else. At least seven
signs of Divine preparation and training for a prophet's
mission may be noted : his godly descent, his early and
prolonged spiritual education, his pre-eminent prayerful-
ness and yearning to serve God, his pity for suffering and
weak men, his whole-souled committal of himself to God
in his conversion, his clear-ringing reality and unfaltering
obedience to the Divine will.
Like Samuel, he had an inspired mother, came of a
godly stock, and was separated from his birth to his
high vocation. More propitious pre-natal conditions no
prophet could have had. Inspired personalities inspire.
Communion with his God-taught Puritan mother enriched
and quickened his life to an unprecedented degree. The
arousal of sympathy for the imprisoned, contact with
earnest seekers for a holier life, the mystic touch of
Thomas a-Kempis and Taylor and Law ; the bewildering
and disappointing experiences in Georgia, the revelations
of the Moravians, the flash of light from the soul of
Martin Luther, — all prepared for the moment when He
who sent Peter to Cornelius, and so initiated a new de
parture in religion, brought Peter Bohler into fellowship
with John Wesley, and through him into consciously vital
union with the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Redeemer from
sin, the King of souls, and the Lord and Master of
service. THE PROPHET AS SEER.
V. From that moment Wesley was a .Seer, " a man,"
as Carlyle would express it, " with an eye ; " a man living
in the hght as God is in the light, seeing things as God
sees them, thinking His thoughts, echoing His message,
and obeying His laws. He saw the facts of life in their
spring and essence, beheld God in the face of Jesus Christ,
o-ot to the beating heart of religion, and started on his
journey towards the realisation of the social ideal of Jesus.

n6 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
I. Now he saw through the heaven-lit windows of his
own soul that the radical want of men was God, the
living and loving God, delighting in mercy, eager to re
deem, and able to renew ; God revealed in His Son Jesus
Christ, and revealed also in His pardoning grace and
righteous power in man's own heart. This was the one
thing needful. This was the panacea for England's ills.
The whole head was sick, and the whole heart was faint,
but here was the one all - sufficient Physician. The
nation's so-called peace was in Wesley's judgment an
anticipated death, it's " sober piety " wicked apathy, its
Churches a deception and a snare, and its religion a series
of delusive ceremonies. Stirred in soul by the God-given
vision, he earnestly besought men, saying, " Come now
and let us reason together, saith the Lord ; though your
sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ; though
they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
Wesley was not alone in the sight of this evil. Bishop
Burnet saw it and lamented it ; Archbishop Seeker de
plored it ; but Wesley saw God as they did not, and men
never know what to do with sin and wrong unless they
see Him making an end of sin, by the sacrifice of Him
self, and bringing in an everlasting righteousness. In fact,
it is not too much to say that Wesley re-discovered the
New Testament idea of God. Raleigh, in bis Elementary
Politics, says, "To change national customs and habits,
we must change ideas" That is the fact, Nothing is so
potent amongst us as an idea, except a living soul. Ideas
make our real world. As they are, so are we. Therefore,
the man who changes the ideas of a community on the
most momentous themes — God, Sin, Duty, and Destiny —
does the most towards changing the habits and customs
of that community. This is Wesley's real distinction.
He is the foremost force in the most radical and far-
reaching revolution in the thought and life of men since
,the Reformation of Martin Luther. We call it the
Evangelical Revival. The language is most exact ; words
could not be more true to fact. It is a revival ; not an

THE PROPHET OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 117
absolutely original movement, but a quickening into new
ness of life of old truths and principles, — that is, it is a
revival of the Evangel, — a calling into play of the ideas
and forces of the gospel as it is in Jesus Himself — a
preaching of it as the power of God, actually present,
saving, healing — saving on the spot and at the moment,
and so saving that you know it, and have an assurance
of the Divine peace, and of the gracious authority of the
Saviour over the whole man. It is a restoration of the
ideas of the gospel in their primitive simplicity, a newi
advent of truth, as the truth is in Jesus.
For the most part the idea of God dominant at that
date, and regulative of the thoughts of men about re
ligion, was that of a sovereign controlling power ; absolute,
arbitrary, and awe-inspiring — fore-casting the future, fore
ordaining the lot of man. Wesley lifted into authority
over the consciences of men the conception of God in
Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing ¦
unto men their trespasses. In the reigning theology the
emphasis was placed on the eternal decrees of Jehovah ;
Wesley shifted the emphasis to the redeeming aims of the
Divine rule, and the universal provision for the forgiveness
of sins in the Divine sacrifice. To most men God was
distant from the world of man — sat apart from its sin
and sorrow, its care and woe, observing, judging, ruling ;
Wesley rose up to declare God in the actual life of
humanity, encompassing the human soul, seeking to save
and re-make it after the Divine ideal of what it should be.
Here was the major part of the secret of his power. The
old method separated society into its elect and non-elect
members ; the new, into men who gladly accepted God's
mercy, and those who continued to reject it. That fixed
men's ideas on God decreeing, and started the question,
"Am I one of the elect?" This forced men to think of
God as living, and started the inquiry, " Do I repent and
sincerely believe the gospel ? " That made debaters, this
produced penitents ; that sterilised the sense of responsi
bility, this quickened it, and made it fruitful of action ;

II 8 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
'that was a paralysis of the will, this generated repentance
: toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
That turned an era of growing religious freedom into one
of widespread decay of the spiritual life and increasing
national corruptions ; this led on to the newer and better
England of to-day, with its broad philanthropies, growing
brotherhood, and abounding beneficence.
Now that change was not in any sense due to
philosophy, nor did it owe anything to logical acumen ;
it was God Himself who inspired and sustained the revolt
against the benumbing traditionalism and blinding
theology of the day, and flashed into the prepared soul of
Wesley that New Testament conception of Himself
revealed in Jesus, which contained all the forces of the
spiritual revolution.
THE RECOVERY OF SPIRITUAL RELIGION.
2. Nowhere was this revolutionary idea more operat
ive than in Wesley's recovery of the intrinsically spiritual
conception of religion. Carlyle, misreading the man and
the hour, exclaimed, " What is this Methodism, but a
new phase of Egoism stretched out into the infinite ! "
No blunder could be greater, no judgment more want
ing in historical and spiritual insight. This Methodist
doctrine of conversion was an anticipation expressed in
more luminous termS of his own teaching about the
soul's passage from the " Everlasting No " to the " Ever
lasting Yea." It was, in short, an assertion that the
essence of religion is not opinion, not Church relation
ship, but a going over of the soul to God in Christ Jesus,
in penitence for sin, and in trustful venture for holiness,
followed by the identifying of the whole life and thought
,and being with Christ Jesus and His world-saving purposes.
Religion is of the soul, not of the senses ; of the heart
rather than of the head; of the temper and disposition,
not of the lip ; a wholly surrendered will, not an entirely
accurate creed ; a living faith in a personal Saviour, Himself

THE PROPHET OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 119
entering by His Spirit into the soul, and filling it with His
peace and joy, so that there is a vivid and glowing con- '
sciousness of actually and now possessing the eternal life.
"Whoso \12Ahfelt the Spirit of the Highest,
Cannot confound, nor doubt Him, nor deny."
" Speak to Him, thou, for He hears.
And spirit with spirit can meet ;
Closer is He than our breathing.
Nearer than hands or feet."
But the religion that commences in such an experience
advances to a distinctly ethical goal, and is full of ethical
inspirations. " One thing I do" said Wesley, '' spread
scriptural holiness." But what is that ? Let him answer:'
" Loving God with all our hearts, and our neighbour as
ourselves, is the perfection I have taught these forty years.
I pin down all its opposers to this definition of it. No
evasion ! No shifting the question ! Where is the
delusion of this ? " '
Why, Matthew Arnold himself does not insist with
closer reasoning or more pungent speech on religion as
conduct, as practical obedience, than does Wesley ; and
Wesley had what Arnold confesses he had not, — the
spiritual impulse, the adequate impact and inspiration to
obedience, which is the real secret of Jesus. " For the love
of Christ constraineth us ; because we thus judge, that One
died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, that they
which live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto
Him who for their sakes died and rose again."
THE SOCIAL IDEAL OF JESUS.
3. By way of that return to the New Testament con
ception of God, and of intrinsic religion, Wesley makes
a decided and prophetic approach to the social ideal of.,
fesus. Reared in an atmosphere of High Churchism, \
supersaturated with ecclesiastical notions, it was only I
the height of his aim, and the sincerity of his spirit,'
which saved him the labour of consciously creating a
Church system, and aided him in providing the best

120 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
nourishment for the spiritual life in the fellowship of
the " class " and " band meetings ; " in the activities of
lay-preaching and of general ministry to men. He did
not attempt to create a Church, but to save and nourish
souls. He was bent on practical ends. Besides, he did
not want to break with the Church of England ; why
should he? But he created something far better than
that Church, and rendered his followers for evermore
independent of it. That may be a most venerable edifice,
constructed on the most approved principles of ecclesiast
ical architecture, and according to the most accurate
measurement ; but if it yields neither food nor comfort to
those who are to dwell in it, it is not surprising if earnest
men should prefer to enter a simpler and less pretentious
structure, that satisfies their felt and pressing needs. To
err is human ; but man has a singular way of surprising
those sapient souls who denounce him, by refusing their
advices, and electing what proves to be the best. I cannot
understand a man who knows and uses Methodism, and
tries to follow his New Testament, preferring to dwell in
our sacerdotal Anglican Church !
4. God's gift to Wesley of the true conception of
His character, implicitly contained a covenant that in
his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed.
In God's purpose the individual and exceptional is always
the evangelistic. God never makes any man for himself,
least of all a prophet. No scripture is of any private
interpretation. Its sweep is world-wide, and its inspiration
for humanity. The Spirit of God is everywhere — underlies
all humanity ; but the carbon-points from which the
electricity which fills and bathes air, earth, and sky,
streams out in lanes of brilliant light, are those elect souls
in whom He dwells, and through whom He has free
course, illumining and guiding all. The true prophet has
not a parochial mind, except when, after Wesley's pattern,
he makes the world his parish. He cannot work in chains.
What are tribal distinctions and race-boundaries to the
man who watches for souls as one that must give account ?

No!

THE PROPHET OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 121
His motto is, like Wesley's, " To go not to those who want
him, but to those who want him most" — to the worst and
weakest, as one who has found in Christ the true measure
of man, and in His Cross the infallible standard by which
to judge of the worth of the very chief of sinners in the
sight of God. To the uttermost of human need he carries
the provisions of the gospel.
' ' Thou would'st not alone
Be saved, my father ! alone
Conquer and come to thy goal.
Leaving the rest in the wild."
"Still thou turnedst, and still
Beckonedst the trembler, and still
Gavest the weary Thy hand ;
Therefore to thee it was given
Many to save with thyself ;
And, at the end of the day,
O faithful shepherd ! to come.
Bringing thy sheep in thy hand."
These four formative ideas given by God to Wesley
have gone far to the making of our modern England, and
are now entering into the collective consciousness of the
world, shaping thought, inspiring emotion, and creating
character. Our best exegesis of the Scriptures vindicates
them. Science and philosophy agree to sustain them.
Experience attests their increasing power, and the widen
ing of human life offers fresh opportunities for their
application and use. We joyfully recognise them as
amongst the best forces of the English-speaking people
of to-day, and with devout gratitude we say, " God hath
made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and
the sheep of His pasture ; " and amongst the shepherds He
has sent us, and for whom we glorify and adore Him, none
ever led into better and more nourishing pastures than
John Wesley, the Founder of Methodism.
THE PROPHET'S CALL.
VI. If any student of John Wesley questions his claim
to the place I have assigned him as a seer, no one can

122 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
doubt that he felt the prophet's goad to service, heard the
call of God to duty, and moved from point to point in his
long career in obedience to that call. The word of the
Lord was like a fire in his bones. He was weary with
forbearing, and could not stay. He must speak. The
truth of Christ was alive in him, authoritative and all-
mastering, trampling down his prejudices and preposses
sions, and making him at last a glad slave of Jesus Christ.
He does not choose his path, but walks on, not always
seeing the next step, but still advancing to the clearly-
proposed goal. " God," he says, " thrust us out ; " that
conquers his repugnance to field - preaching, opens the
door to the lay-ministry, and makes him a revolutionist in
spite of himself He has an all-pervading sense of the
personal activity of God ; and in his last words, " The best
of all is, God is with us," he supplies the key to his entire
ministry. For him God is all, and God is enough. The
supernatural fills his life. It is not an accident in its
course ; not an occasional invasion ; not a momentary
interference : it pervades it, dyes it through and through,
constituting him a potent witness to the fact of the real
presence of the redeeming God ; to the certain arrival of
His cleansing and uplifting revelations to sincere and
courageously trustful souls ; and to the enormous power
He infuses into individual men, freely given to him, for
carrying forward the world to —
"The one far-off Divine event.
To which the whole creation moves."
CHRIST THE FINAL TEST.
VII. And now may I venture to echo Peter's teaching,
that the first duty of the heirs of the priceless legacy of
the prophets is to open heart and mind to the reception
and application of the latest revelations of God, and the
fullest energies of the Spirit of God. Wesley grounded
individual religion on the present manifestations of the
living God to the personal soul. There is no other basis

THE PROPHET OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 123
for it. God lives now, redeems now, teaches now, and
renews now. No doubt His work all through the ages is
a unity. Christ does not contradict Moses ; He fulfils
him. The Epistles do not supplant the Gospels ; they
explain and illumine them. The present does not belie
the past ; it repeats and confirms it. The truths of the
book of Nature are not in opposition to the truths of the
Bible ; they supplement each other, and therefore we ought
to listen diligently to the things spoken to us by the
Peters and Pauls of our day, comparing their words with
the Scripture of Christ, to see whether they are in accord
ance with His redeeming- purpose and kingdom, with His
sacrifice and ethics, with His character and ideal. He is
our infallible test, the complete and absolute revelation ;
other teachers were and are fragments, " broken lights."
In Him dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily. He is
the pattern and type of the fully-inspired life, and in this
infallible Person we have the all-sufficing test, the one
supreme means of verifying the teachings of men and the
movements of the Spirit of God within us. Wesley was
not averse to criticism. He did not act as if anything
could be gained by refusing to examine truth, by veiling
difficulties, and talking as if Christianity could not assure
itself to the reason as well as to the conscience and heart.
He was intellectually alert to the last, and as anxious
to maintain intellectual sincerity and sanity as he was
to secure practical holiness. In our age of intellectual
daring, we must not alienate the young mind by mental
cowardice, but be ready to " prove all things, holding fast
that which is good."
THE TRANSLATION OF ETERNAL IDEAS.
2. Nor would either Peter or Wesley free us from the
obligation of translating into the living and current speech
of men the eternal ideas of God, instead of being indol
ently content with the forms of speech and moulds of
thought consecrated by the use of centuries. The language

124 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
of science and of the street changes every fifty years ; so
ought that of theology and of the pulpit : for language,
like men, is born, and grows, and dies. We are all in
danger of meeting living men with dead words, offering
the petrifactions of theology instead of the bread of ever
lasting life, and giving the scorpion of condemnation to
those who ask for the nutritious egg. Phrases that
throbbed with life in this building at the end of the last
century, fail to touch the soul of this generation. The
elect language of the godly, such as " the witness of the
Spirit," " full assurance of faith," " Christian perfection,"
are still sweet as honey to the aged, but such words are
puzzles and worse to not a few of the younger minds
about us.
Wesley was a master of words, saw their real meaning,
and both in interpreting the speech of men and in
speaking to them, recognised the necessity for the trans
lation of the ideas of God into the actual and living words
of those he addressed ; and if we are to help in that great
readjustment of the Christian gospel with the stores of
knowledge given to us by God to-day, we must follow in
his wake, so that men may hear in their own language the
wonderful works of God as the Redeemer and Renewer of
lives, and be able to apply His gospel not only to the
individual, but to the social redemption of men.
SACERDOTALISM OUR FOE.
3. The prophets were often in battle against the
priests ; Peter's chief opponents were the priests ; Wesley
discovered in ecclesiastics his bitterest persecutors ; and
we shall not discharge our responsibilities as sons of the
prophets, if we do not fight with all our might against that
uncompromising and recrudescent sacerdotalism which
to-day fetters Christian liberty, saps Christian manhood,
and threatens the existence of the Christian religion.
We must maintain the essential spirituality and inward
ness of religion, and seek to save all men, in the personal

THE PROPHET OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 125
assurance of the adequacy of the gospel we preach, and of
the Christ we represent, for all the needs of man and all
the ills of society. The Galilean is conquering. I read a
few days since that Colonel IngersoU had prophesied that
in ten years' time Christianity would be so decadent that
two theatres would be built for every church. A month
or so ago, a zealous Methodist wrote to tell him that the
time was up, and the Methodists alone were building four
churches every day ; and he proceeded to make the almost
unkind suggestion that he should help the churches by
another prophecy. That challenge was based on the
experience of the grace of Christ in us. We know whom
we have believed. We have the witness within ourselves
to the truth of our message, and to the power of Chris
tianity ; and following Him who is at once our Saviour and
Leader, we go forward to victory, assured that to-day, as
one hundred years ago, " The best of all is, God is with
us." All glory be to His name I

By the Rev. F. W. MACDONALD, AVesleyan College,
Handsworth, Birmingham.

" Of these things put them in remembrance,
charging them in the sight of the Lord, that they .
strive not about words, to no profit, to the subverting
of them that hear. Give diligence to present thyself
approved unto God, a workman that needet/i not to
be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth." —
2 Tim. ii. 14, 15 (R.V.).
The Apostle here sets in impressive contrast the false and
the true teacher of religion. History knows them well,
these Jtwo types of theologian. The one " strives about
words." He may be learned, laborious, ingenious, but he
deals with words, not things. Logic, rhetoric, eloquence,
instead of serving truth, become its substitutes, an end in
themselves. And this the apostle calls "logomachy,"
word-strife, a term of just contempt.
And it is good for nothing. It serves no true end, it
advances no real interest. It is neither pleasing to God
nor profitable to man. Nay, it is worse than useless, it is
positively mischievous. It " subverts the hearers." Instead
of building up, it brings about their " catastrophe," or
overthrow. But the other, the true teacher, aims at being " approved
of God." To this all other approval — popularity with the

DIVINE SERVICE. 127
many, flattery from the few — is held subordinate. To be
" unashamed " before God, day by day, while his work is
doing, and at the last day when it is done, — this is at once
his endeavour and his hope. And so he " gives diligence,"
" as ever in his great Taskmaster's eye," rightly to handle
— that is, to set forth in order and proportion, and apply
to men's hearts and consciences — the word of truth, which
is the power of God unto salvation to every one that
believeth. Thus does the apostle describe the spirit and aim of
the true theologian, and, without any further exposition of
the text, I shall proceed to speak, as is fitting on this
occasion, of Wesley the theologian, as of one to whom
this description may be applied with perhaps as little
reservation as to any Christian teacher who has lived and
laboured amongst men.
I. Wesley was a theologian — that is, a student and a
teacher of Christian doctrine. The Bible was his text
book. All his studies were made to converge upon its
contents ; in all his teaching this was his basis and starting-
point. He sought to combine, to classify, to draw out in
clear and orderly statement, the teaching of Scripture con-
. cerning God and man, sin and salvation, and to show that
the root and centre and reason of all is to be found in the
person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was
essentially a Biblical theologian. "God Himself," he says,
" has condescended to teach the way. He hath written it
down in a book. Oh, give me that book ! At any price
give me the Book of God." Whatever judgment may be
passed upon this utterance, it expresses a spirit and a
method which he consistently maintained.
Moreover, he must be counted amongst the most in
fluential of theologians. What is, and what is not, influen
tial in this world is to be ascertained by the test of facts.
Wesley is one of the few teachers of religion who, after
powerfully influencing his own country and his own age,
has shaped religious faith, and the forms and manifesta
tions of religious life, in many lands, and on a large scale,

128 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
after his death. The influence of his teaching is visible
to-day, not only in the definite, easily-recognisable theology
of the twenty millions of adherents of the Methodist
Churches, but it may be traced over a much wider area, if
not as a predominating force, yet as one that has helped
to mould, or modify, or give direction to the religious pro
gress of mankind.
What a potent office is that of the theologian ! Strange
that its importance should ever be disparaged, that the
work of the teacher of religion should be compared dis-
advantageously with that of the politician, the journalist,
the financier, the man of business, as though they dealt
with realities, and he with unrealities ! But this can only
be held consistently by those who deny the spiritual order,
God and His kingdom, and the spiritual capacities and
requirements of man. But if these are the true realities,
compared with 'which earth's most substantial possessions
are shadows, then surely we may say, " The proper study
of mankind is " — God. In God the problem of humanity
has its solution, and the aspiration of man its fulfilment.
The heart and the flesh cry out for the living God. As
long as man is what he is, in respect both of capacity and
of incapacity, of desire for the good and enthralment to
evil, of yearning for life and bondage to death, teachers of
religion, though they may be despised, cannot be dispensed
with; and if one generation cast them out, the generations
that follow will build the tombs of the prophets, and
garnish the sepulchres of the righteous.
I am speaking of the true, not of the false, theologian ;
and I say that, instead of being the last and least of
workers, he is among the first and best. If he who teaches
men to plant, and build, and work in metals, is a bene
factor, what is he who brings glad tidings of great joy, who
shows the way of salvation, and rightly divides the word
of truth? If it is good to learn how to subdue the earth,
and navigate the sea, and cultivate the arts and industries
of civil life, surely it is the crown of all knowledge to
know the true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent !

DIVINE SERVICE. 129
It may seem to be enforcing a truism, but there arc
reasons which make it desirable that the true worth of
spiritual work should be understood. The office of the
preacher of the gospel, of the teacher of religion, cannot
be disparaged without vast injury to human life as a whole.
If the sensual and the intellectual between them succeed
in crushing out the spiritual from the modern world, not all
its wealth and wit will save it from corruption. The spirit
ual man was never more needed in the world than he is
to-day, — the man, that is, who works in the spiritual sphere,
who employs spiritual forces, and achieves spiritual results.
And are not spiritual results the pledge and procuring
cause of other results which even the children of this
world know how to prize ? Spiritual results — conversion,
renewal, sanctification — work out in character, and con
duct, and history. All the world admits to-day that
Methodism has exercised a great influence for good
amongst the people of this country. It has been the
parent of industry and thrift, of intelligence and virtue, of
educational, philanthropic, and social progress, here and
in America and in the Colonies, to an extent which no
historian, however cynical, can overlook, and no critic,
however hostile, can deny. As a wholesome moral force,
at once conservative and expansive, and under both aspects
beneficent in a high degree, the praise of Methodism is
now a literary commonplace. But they who prize the
fruit must not scorn the seed from which it sprung.
Wesley put forth no large programme of social reconstruc- '
tion. He preached repentance, faith, and holiness. " I
will teach transgressors Thy ways, and sinners shall be
converted unto Thee." That was his programme, — his plan
of campaign, if the terms may be used, — and the rest
followed. The sceptic, the man of the world, may despise
the teacher of religion, but he must needs pay homage to >
his work, when, after many days, it is seen in amended
lives and ennobled characters, in happy homes and a
virtuous people, in the stability of nations and the progress
of mankind. I

I30 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
2. Wesley was a theologian with a spiritual history.
If it is true of the poets that " they learn in suffering
what they teach in song," it is also true of prophets and
apostles and great spiritual teachers, that they are fitted
for their vocation through inward travail and discipline.
Paul's conversion prepares for his apostolate. God must
reveal His Son in him before he can become the messenger
and witness of Christ to the Gentiles. Before Augustine
can expound and defend the doctrines of Original Sin and
Divine Grace, he must learn by experience the meaning of
the words, " In me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good
thing ; " and, " I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me." So with Luther ; before he can
preach the forgotten gospel of the righteousness of God
which is by faith of Jesus Christ, his strong soul must
wear itself in unavailing efforts to attain a righteousness
by works of law. Then only was it revealed to his
humbled and prepared spirit, that the just shall live by
faith, — a revelation which brought to him at once the peace
of God, and the inspiration and motive of his life-work.
And Wesley is in the succession of strong men, whose per
sonal experience of the things of God has been no mere
private blessing, but the preparation for a great career.
Not justification by faith alone, but the larger issue of sal
vation by faith, — salvation, not safety, but deliverance from
sin, the renewal and sanctification of the whole nature, —
this was the large, the glorious issue to which Wesley was
irresistibly drawn, and in the solution of which was in
volved not only his individual happiness, but a new era of
spiritual life for Churches and nations.
Up to thirty-five years of age Wesley was an Oxford
Anglican of the best type. God-fearing from his well-
trained childhood, he rose through years of rigorous self-
discipline to a blameless manhood, — conscientious, self-
denying, and devout, making religion the supreme end
and master-principle of his life. He resolved to dedicate
all his life to God, to mortify everything that bore the
stamp of self, and set perfection steadily before him. So

DIVINE SERVICE. 131
he rose early, fasted rigorously, frequented sacraments,
lived on the merest pittance, and gave away the greater
part of his income. He divided his time between public
and private devotion, the visiting of prisoners and sick
people, and the spiritual oversight of the kindred souls
that gathered around him. The name of " Methodists "
was first given in derision to the little band of University
men who, under Wesley's guidance, were seeking to live
holier lives — lives more strict, methodical, and religiously
disciplined, than was usual in those days.
These first Methodists were above all things Church
men and students. They revived the observance of long-
neglected canons and rubrics ; they moulded their lives
on ascetic models ; they thought and spoke much of
Christian antiquity, and read the Fathers and Mystics,
a-Kempis and Bishop Taylor, and the great High Church
Mystic of their own day, William Law. This Oxford
Methodism, with its almost monastic rigours, is a fair
and noble phase of the many-sided life of the Church of
England, and, with all its defects and limitations, claims
our deep respect. But it was not the instrument by which
the Church and nation were to be revived. It had no
message for the world, no secret of power with which to
move and quicken the masses. To do this it must become
other than it was. It must die, in order to bring forth
much fruit. And this death and rising again were
accomplished in the spiritual change wrought in Wesley,
the leader of the later, as he was of the earlier, Methodism.
That change has often been described. I 'cannot call
it " conversion " in the full sense of the word, for I do not
believe that Wesley was an " unconverted man " through
all the devout years that preceded the change. But it is
plain that his apprehension of salvation by faith in Christ
had been imperfect and confused. It had brought him
no rest to his soul. He longed to be at peace with God,
and to have a sure trust and confidence that his sins were
forgiven. Suffice it to say that the way of faith, which is
the open secret of the gospel,. at once hidden from the

132 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
wise and prudent, and revealed unto babes, was revealed
to him. He received the reconciliation, and rejoiced in
God. Whether rightly called " conversion " or not, there
can be no doubt as to the significance of the change
wrought in him. If not a " new man " in the deepest
sense, he was practically another man, possessing new
powers, and ready for a new work. Religion was no
longer a painful quest, an anxious endeavour, an arduous
discipline, — it was a life, bright with the infinite love of
God, and strong in its consciousness of acceptance with
Him through Christ. Peace with God, the witness of the
Spirit, the blessings of sonship and sanctification, — these
were no longer the distant goal of a painful pilgrimage,
they were included in the common salvation. Every
sinner might claim them in Christ ; every believer would
find them. All this Wesley now knew by experience, and
from this revival in him, the revival throughout the land
had its beginning. He himself was the first product, and
then the chief promoter of the rediscovered gospel of
salvation by faith.
Doubtless something was lost when Methodism moved
from its academic birthplace into the work-day world,
but more was gained. The Fathers and the Mystics were
laid aside, the calm seclusion, the alternating hours of
study, meditation, and prayer, the leisurely yet diligent
life dignified by great traditions, and set amid surround
ings congenial to cultivated taste, — all this was left behind ;
but the poor had the gospel preached to them on Ken-
nington Common and Kingswood Hill, in Gwennap pit,
and on Newcastle Moor. Lincoln College and Christ
Church, with " Their studious cloisters pale.
And storied windows richly dight.
Casting a dim religious light,"
were no longer a home for Wesley and his brother.
They lodged in poor men's houses ; they ministered in
barns and kitchens ; they preached in highways and
market-places; they were. pelted with mud and stones in

DIVINE SERVICE. 133
the streets of Walsall and Wednesbury, in Sheffield and
Newcastle. But meanwhile ignorant, unhappy, sinful men
and women were brought to the knowledge and love of
God, to peace of mind, to purity of life, and good hope
of heaven. So did the change wrought in Wesley
pass from his own soul to the souls of others, and by
the blessing of God bring about a world - embracing
evangelism, crystallising after a while into CEcumenic
Methodism. 3. Wesley was the teacher of a spiritual theology. Alike
in his writings and in his ordinary ministry, Wesley laid
emphasis on the offices and operations of the Holy Spirit,
and on the capacities of the spirit that is in man. In
both these respects the orthodoxy of his day was timid
and minimising. The office of the Holy Ghost was
practically limited to the inspiration of Scripture and the
founding of the Church, that is, to the establishing and
equipment of the order of things called the Christian
religion, with which, henceforth. He had little, if any, direct
relation. To think of Him as exercising direct, vital,
fruitful influence on men was — enthusiasm. In this way
the key of personal religion was lowered and rationalised.
It was made natural throughout, a thing of ordinary
motives, resources, and results. It lacked at once depth
and height, having no Divine quickening at its root, and
nothing that implied a Divine presence and power in its
fruit. It would hardly be too much to say that Wesley
reintroduced into popular and practical theology the
doctrine of the Holy Spirit. He showed that it is not
necessary to adopt the predestinarian point of view in
order to do justice to the work of the Holy Spirit in the
salvation of man. No Calvinist could surpass him in the
just emphasis he laid upon the fact that salvation is of the
Lord, yet no Pelagian or Socinian could teach more im
pressively the reality of man's moral freedom, and his
personal responsibility as regards repentance and faith.
In Wesley's theology, the Spirit of God is everywhere a
living Spirit, and the Giver of life, the Author of faith.

134 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
regeneration, and sanctification, bearing witness with the
believer's spirit, and filling him with joy and peace through
believing. Closely allied with Wesley's reassertion of the offices
of the Holy Spirit, is his vindication of the claims and
capacities of the spirit of man. Here also the prevailing
doctrine of his day was meagre and inadequate. It had
no confidence in the spiritual element of human nature,
and in its susceptibility to other than rational and pruden
tial considerations. It did not believe in the existence of
an inward eye with powers of vision all its own, powers
dimmed and enfeebled it might be, but capable of
being revived and re-illumined. It knew nothing of an
inward ear, dull it might be from disuse, but only waiting
for the Divine Ephphatha to enable it to hear the voice of
God. In Wesley's theology, the spirit of man recovers its
rights. It is a spirit fallen, alienated from God, guilty,
incapable of self-recovery, but a spirit created in the
image of God, still possessing, though in weakness and
dishonour, the powers and faculties of its origin. Man
was created to know God. Of that knowledge he is
capable ; he possesses the organs, so to speak, of such
knowledge as surely as he possesses the organs through
which he knows the things pertaining to the temporal and
visible order. Those disused, imperfect organs may be
restored. By the operation of God's Spirit, man's spirit
may be raised into newness of life. He may hear the
Divine voice, he may discern things spiritual, he may
know the things that are freely given to him of God.
And this Wesley taught, not in philosophical but in
scriptural language, not to students and thinkers as such,
but to the people at large. He threw himself fully and
fearlessly upon the very aspects of religion of which the
Church had been fighting shy. It fairly took away the
breath of learned divines to hear of a gospel preached out
of doors, under which Kingswood colliers and Stafford
shire potters found peace with God, and rejoiced in Christ

DIVINE SERVICE. 135
Jesus. But Wesley was right. Can we not all see it
now ? It is of little use to preach a gospel timidly
trimmed down to inoffensiveness, — a gospel that makes no
great promises, and raises no high expectations. It is
an altogether mistaken wisdom to be more parsimonious
than God. The gospel is the power of God unto salva
tion, or it is not. If it is not, then no amount of learning
or ingenuity can make it a real remedy for the sin and
misery of mankind. But if it is, then let us treat it as
such, confidently reckoning on its Divine efficacy as
applied by the Spirit of God to the sinful but redeemed
spirits of men.
An illustration of Wesley's spiritual method is furnished,
by comparing his way of treating an important question
with that of Bishop Butler. This is not done with a view
to disparage the latter. It is a pleasure to bring these
two great names together, not for narrow and invidious
comparison, but as master - workmen in God's service,
accomplishing each the work that was given to him, with
the powers with which he had been entrusted by the Lord
of all power and might.
Both Butler and Wesley had a profound sense of the
vastness and mystery of things, and of the limits of human
knowledge, arising from the limitation of our faculties.
" It is not perhaps easy," says Butler, " even for the most
reasonable men, always to bear in mind the degree of our
ignorance, and make due allowances for it." "A man
must really, in the literal sense, know nothing at all who
is not sensible of his ignorance. . . . Nor can we give
the whole account of any one thing whatever." In the
same strain Wesley writes : " How little does the wisest
of men know of anything more than he can see with his
eyes ! What clouds and darkness cover the whole scene
of things invisible and eternal. . . . We have no senses
suited to eternal and invisible objects. ... A thinking
man wants an opening, of whatever kind, to let in light
from eternity."
With views like these did Butler and Wesley face the

136 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
question of religion, its evidences, its claims upon man,
and the more or less of difficulty experienced in sub
stantiating those claims by sufficient proof On every
side were those who said the case was not made out, that
the evidence was inadequate, and that, to say the very
least, great difficulties in the way of belief remained when
the apologists had done their best. This neither Butler
nor Wesley denied. Here they were at one. It is in the
further treatment of the case that the characteristic differ
ence between them appears. Butler replies, in effect: " The
evidence may not be altogether what we could desire,
but is it not sufficient to make it reasonable we should
act upon it? We are in no position to insist upon
demonstrative proof, which indeed is very rarely forth
coming in regard to practical matters. Probability is the
guide we follow in the great majority of instances where
we act at all. Ought we not to follow it in this matter
also ? Moreover, may not difficulties in respect of
religious belief constitute for some persons the chief
trial of life, a moral test on which much depends ; just as,
with other persons, common temptations to vice or folly
furnish the tests by which character is disciplined and
judged .' " These are indeed weighty suggestions, very
fit to be offered to those to whom they were addressed,
and still demanding consideration from those whom they
concern. But Wesley's method is altogether different. He replies
by shifting the whole question from one region of the soul
to another, and making his appeal to a faculty that has
not yet been consulted, a faculty whose powers have been
underestimated, whose true office has been forgotten, whose
very name is associated with feebleness and inferiority.
He calls upon faith. Like the prophet, who, when the
seven sons of Jesse passed before him that he might choose
a king for Israel from among them, called for the youngest
son, saying, " Send and fetch him ; for we will not sit
down till he come ; " so Wesley looked in the face the
whole array of intellectual forces engaged in the task of

DIVINE SERVICE. 137
making religion look reasonable, and, passing them by,
called upon Faith to awake, arise, and direct its vision to
the things of God.
" Faith," said he, " supplies the need, showing what eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither could it before enter
our heart to conceive. It gives faculties suited to things
invisible. I now am assured that these things are so, I
experience them in my own breast. And this I conceive
to be the strongest evidence of Christianity. I do not
undervalue traditional evidence. Let it have its place and
its due honour. It is highly serviceable in its kind, and
in its decree. And yet I cannot set it on a level with
this." The Spirit beareth witness with our spirit. Whoso
believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself
Such was Wesley's belief as to the province of faith,
and the power of spiritual vision possessed by the spirit
of man when quickened and illumined by the Spirit of
God. Such was his language to a learned and sceptical
correspondent ; and in strains like this it was sung by the
early Methodists at Moorfields and Kennington Common,
at the Foundery and City Road Chapel, and afterwards
by their children's children from the rising of the sun to
the going down of the same :
" Spirit of faith, come down,
Reveal the things of God ;
And make to us the Godhead known.
And witness with the blood.
" 'Tis Thine the blood to apply.
And give us eyes to see.
Who did for every sinner die.
Hath surely died for me."

l^r^sley apd \^\)e Cl)il(irer),
By the Rev. FREDERICK J. MURRELL.

" Be ye followers of them who through faitli aiui
patience inherit ihe promises." — Heb. vi. I2.
My Dear Children, —
You all know that during the past week we have been
celebrating the Centenary of the death of John Wesley,
the Founder of our Church, whose spirit passed away to
God from the house in which I live.
During the week, two, and sometimes three services,
have been held in the chapel every day, and it has been
crowded each time, from floor to ceiling, with people from
all parts of the country, and from distant lands as well.
Many people have wondered at the great interest
which has been shown in the life and work of Wesley.
But I have not been surprised at all, because what has
taken place here during the past seven days, I have
experienced on a small scale for three years.
There is not a week passes but that people come from
nearly all parts of the world to visit the house where
Wesley lived, to sit in his chair, and stand in the room
where he died.
One morning more than forty people from Toronto
came to the house in a body, before ten o'clock in the
morning, and as they stood in the little garden waiting
for the door to be- opened, they attracted so much
13S

WESLEY AND THE CHILDREN. 139
attention, that the cabmen and car-drivers stopped, and
a tremendous crowd assembled, and when I let them in,
grocers' boys and telegraph messengers came pressing in
after them, thinking something dreadful had happened.
I will give you one incident which occurred in my
house, to show you the interest people take in the place.
About two years ago, a black minister called on me from
South America, tie told me he was born a slave, and
that his father died in slavery. He said the Methodist
preachers used to preach to the slaves in their cabins, and
in the plantations, and do all they could to brighten and
bless their lives, and a large and flourishing Church of
black people was raised, called the African Methodist
Episcopal Church. But he said, when he was twelve years
old he received his freedom, and then he worked half the
year and saved enough money he put himself to school
the other half
When quite a young man he became converted and
joined the Black Church, and afterwards became a local
preacher and a minister.
And at last, as an old man, his people had honoured
him by sending him on a holiday to Europe and paying
all his expenses. And they told him, as soon as he
reached London, he was to visit Wesley's chapel and
house, and tell them what he had seen when he returned
home. And he said, " There is one thing I want you to let me
do. I hear you have Wesley's teapot. I want to have a
cup of tea out of it."
" Oh," I said, "I am afraid I can't do that, as the spout is
broken and the lid is gone. Besides, there has been no tea
in it for a hundred years, and as a great deal of dust has
got into it, I don't know what sort of tea will come out."
He said, " I don't care what com.es out, I will drink
anything." He begged so hard, I at last had some tea made in
my own pot, and poured it into Wesley's, and then gave
it him in a cup. Before he drank it, he devoutly lifted up

I40 CENTENAR Y SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
the pot and said the grace before meat which is on one
side of it, and, after he had drank the tea and eaten a slice
of bread-and-butter, he returned thanks from the other side
of the pot.
Afterwards he asked to be allowed to write a letter on
Wesley's bureau, and then to offer prayer in his study
And as I heard him thanking God for raising up a man,
who had been the means of planting great Churches in
distant lands, and breaking off the fetters, not only from
men's souls, but from their bodies as well, and giving them
liberty and life, I thought it was the most touching and
pathetic sight I had ever seen, and felt amply repaid for
all my trouble.
But why is all this interest taken in John Wesley?
Simply because he was a good man, and gave himself to
the task of making men better and the world happier and
purer. People don't enshrine the deeds or take any
interest in bad men, — -they endeavour to forget them as
soon as they can. You have had in these commemorative
services an illustration of the scripture, " The memory of
the just is blessed."
But all the other meetings were for men and women,
and it was thought there ought to be one meeting
specially for the children. And I think so too, and I
will tell you why.
Because, in the first place, John Wesley was such a
great lover of children. Dr. Stoughton told us the other
night, his mother used to boast that when she was a child,
John Wesley had kissed her. And she was not the only
child Wesley kissed. Southey, the poet and biographer,
tells us he remembered Wesley visiting his father's house,
and as he was going down-stairs, Southey's little sister, a
bright-eyed flaxen-haired child, was standing on the stairs,
and as soon as Wesley reached her, he caught her up in
his arms and kissed her, and then he laid his hand on little
Southey's head and blessed him. And Southey says,
until his death he felt the better for the good man's
blessing.

WESLEY AND THE CHILDREN. 141
And Wesley not only loved the children, but the
children loved him. They used to climb upon his knee,
look up into his beautiful face, play with his soft and
silken hair, and nestle in his bosom.
He had a marvellously successful way in winning their
love. I won't say he bribed them, but he adopted a
method which mad° failure almost impossible. He used
to save new sixpences and bright pennies, and then, when
he went among his people, give them to the children.
Mr. Curnock, who is sitting by my side, says he has one in
his family now. And thus they always hailed his visits
with delight, because they knew he had brought them
something. I think preachers would be much more
popular with you children if they acted in the same
way. Is it not right, therefore, that a man who so loved
children, and who was so loved by them, should have his
death commemorated by the children of to-day ?
And I am delighted to find the Methodist children now
have as much reverence and affection for him as the
Methodist children had a hundred years ago. The
magnificent statue of Wesley just erected in the front of
the chapel, is their gift and tribute of love.
The idea originated in the mind of a little boy, and all
the Sunday-school scholars at once took it up, and, with
the help of the editor of the Methodist Recorder, they have
already sent .£'800. And on Monday morning last, when
the statue was unveiled, it was my pleasing duty to hand
to the President of the Conference two beautiful wreaths
of ivy-leaves and snowdrops, sent by a Sunday school in
Cornwall, to be laid on the pedestal, on behalf of the
children of Methodism.
And another reason why there ought to be a children's
service is this : —
If in the next century the world is to be better and the
Church stronger and more effective, it rests entirely with
them. Wesley recognised this fact. He said, " I reverence
the young, because I know how useful they may be after I

142 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
am dead." Indeed, he felt if the Methodist Church were
to continue, it depended upon the children.
One of his preachers once asked him how Methodism
was to be perpetuated, and he said, "Take care of the
rising generation. Look after the children."
And he did that himself He prepared Scripture lessons
for them, wrote and revised catechisms ; and when in
Bristol formed the boys and girls into Juvenile Society
classes, and whilst in the city met them himself twice
every week. And the year before he died, as an old man
eighty-six years of age, he preached a sermon to children
from this very pulpit ; and to show you the great import
ance he attached to it, there is not a single word in it of
more than two syllables.
He also believed in giving the children a good secular
education, and for this purpose opened a day school, and
allowed children whose parents were too poor to pay for
them, to come free.
And as many of you think you have very hard lessons
to learn and strict rules to keep, I will tell you what the
rules of Wesley's school were.
" All the children had to be present at divine service in
the chapel every morning at five. They had to begin
lessons at six, and keep on until night. They were not
allowed to play, and had no holidays." But even Wesley
was compelled to admit this hard and severe discipline
was not a success.
But above all, he was most anxious for the conversion of
the children. He believed they could be converted and
live to Jesus, and he ordered his preachers, wherever it was
possible, to gather them together, and give them religious
and spiritual instruction. And so you see Wesley had a
great love for children, and tried in every way to do them
good. And now what I wish to do is this, I wish to hold him
up as a pattern for you young people to imitate.
I know that Jesus Christ is the only perfect pattern, but,
as the apostle says, " we should be followers of those who

WESLEY AND THE CHILDREN. 143
through faith and patience inherit the promises," and there
fore I want you to cultivate the qualities which made
Wesley great and good and useful.
And this is quite possible. You must remember John
Wesley was not a statue, a man made of bronze or marble,
but a living being, made of flesh and blood exactly as men
are now.
And he was not altogether perfect. As a young man,
before he was converted, like a great many other young
men, he had weaknesses and failings, but by the grace of
God he overcame them all, and became pure, and strong,
and noble.
I will very briefly sketch his life. He was born in a
parsonage at Epworth, in Lincolnshire. He must have
been a very proper baby, for his mother, who had nineteen
children, never allowed one of them to cry after it was a
year old, except in subdued tones.
And he must have been a very precocious child, for one
night, when he was only six years old, the rectory caught
fire, and his father and mother, in their haste to get the
servants and children out, forgot him altogether, and did
not miss him until it was too late to get to him.
But the noise woke him up, and he groped his way
through the smoke, climbed on to the top of a chest, and
in his little white night-dress presented himself at the
window, as much as to say, " Here I am, get me out," and
some men stood on each other's shoulders and rescued him.
After this he commenced his studies under the care of
his father and mother, and when he was only ten years old
was sent to the Charter-house School, London. And here,
being a little fellow, he was rather unkindly treated. He
tells us, at meal-times the big boys used to steal his meat,
and for months he had to live simply on bread.
Whilst at school he worked very hard, and soon gained
a high position, and he attributed his good health and
spirits to his running round Charter-house square three
times every morning. So you see hard work will not hurt
you if you have plain food and plenty of exercise,

144 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
After he had been at school six years he won a scholar
ship at Oxford, and proceeded to the university ; and he
at once did what I would advise every boy to do as soon
as he goes out into life, — choose _good_ companions. He
associated with the best young men in the university,
and gave himself up to a life of piety and good works.
He studied the Bible consecutively, took the sacrament
regularly, and- visited the prisons and workhouses ; and
ultimately he graduated as a very brilliant scholar, and
was elected a Fellow of Lincoln College.
After completing his university course, he was ordained
a clergyman, and went as a missionary to the North
American Indians. But after two years he returned to
England, and whilst attending a service in Aldersgate
Street, London, was savingly converted to God, and then
his life-work began.
He preached with power and success in the churches.
And when, because of his zeal and earnestness, the
churches were closed against him, he preached in houses
and barns, and in the open air; until at last, as an old man
of eighty-seven, worn out with labour, he peacefully fell
asleep in the arms of Jesus.
And now let me tell you, in a few words, what qualities
characterised Wesley. They are the following : —
I. DECISION.
As soon as he was convinced of his duty, whatever it
involved, he did it. And I want every boy and girl to
imitate him in that particular. Dare to be singular; dare
to do right.
Wesley paid no attention to sneers and derision. Per
haps there is nothing wounds a boy more than to be
jeered at, nicknamed, and treated with scorn. But all
this Wesley endured unmoved.
At Oxford they called him and his friends the Holy
Club, the Good Young Men ; and at last fixed on them,
in contempt, the name of Methodist.

WESLEY AND THE CHILDREN. 145
And he was not affected by slander and evil speeches.
One day he promised to take his nieca Sally with him to
Canterbury and Dover. Her father, Charles Wesley,
heard that some of Mr. Wesley's letters had been stolen
from the bureau, which is now in my house, and had been
so altered, that instead of conveying a spiritual meaning,
as they were intended, became capable of a wicked mean
ing, and were then sent to a newspaper. As soon as
Charles Wesley heard of it, he went to the Foundery, and
begged his brother to stay at home and vindicate his
character. John Wesley's reply was, " Brother, when I
devoted to God my ease, my time, my life, did I except
my reputation ? No ; tell Sally she shall not be dis
appointed. I will take her to Canterbury to-morrow."
Once, when he was preaching in Dublin, he said, " Every
sin a man can commit has been laid to my charge except
drunkenness." And at once a short squat woman in the
crowd, with a tattered dress and a red plaid over her
head, screamed out, at the top of her voice, " You old
scoundrel, and will you deny it? Did you not pledge
your clerical bands with Mr. H  for a noggin of
whisky, and did not our parson's wife buy them .¦" you old
rascal, you know you did." Instead of upbraiding the
woman, he simply lifted up his eyes to heaven, and
thanked God that his cup was full.
Do not be deterred by scoffs and jeers and hard
speeches, but at all costs do what is right.
H. PERSEVERANCE AND INDUSTRY.
Wesley owed all his success to the blessing of God
upon his own efforts. He entered the Charter-house School
as a free boy because of his great proficiency. And he
could never have entered Oxford had he not won a
scholarship, for whilst he was there he was so poor he
could not afford to pay a barber to dress his hair. And
his success as a preacher was largely due to the same
cause. Of course he was a great preacher and a wonderful
K

146 CENTENAR Y SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
organiser, but it was his untiring energy and his refusal to
be conquered by difficulties that made him so successful.
One afternoon Wesley was at Hayle in Cornwall, and
was appointed to preach at St. Ives in the evening. The
two towns stand on each side of a bay, and the only way
in which he could get to St. Ives in time was by driving
over the sands. When he started to cross the bay, the
tide was rising and was fast covering the sand, and a sea-
captain, apprehending his danger, begged him to go back
at once.
" But," Wesley said, " I have to preach at St. Ives at a
certain hour, and cannot get there in any other way ; I
will therefore cross over."
Putting his head out of the window, he shouted to
the driver, "Take the sea." Very soon the horses were
swimming and the carriage rocking with the waves. The
poor coachman was afraid he was going to be drowned ;
but Wesley put his head out of the window, his long hair
dripping with the salt water, and exclaimed, "Driver,
what is your name ? " " Peter," said the man. " Peter,"
he said, " fear not ; thou shalt not sink." And they got
over in safety.
The first thing Wesley did when he reached the other
side was to see the driver comfortably lodged, provided
with refreshments and warm clothing, and placed before
a good fire ; and then, totally unmindful of himself, and
drenched as he was with the dashing waves, he went to
the chapel and preached as though nothing unusual had
occurred. That shows you the determination and resolute purpose
of the man. He allowed nothing to keep him from duty.
He preached fifteen times every week, travelled four
thousand miles every year, was in the saddle more hours
than any other man that ever lived, Napoleon Buonaparte
not excepted, and was at work, winter and summer, the
whole year round, at four.
Rely for success in life on the blessing of God upon
your own industrj^

WESLEY AND THE CHILDREN. 147
III. COURAGE.
He had physical courage. In the presence of wicked
men and howling mobs, he was as bold as a lion. He was
related to the great Duke of Wellington, and he was as
bold for Jesus Christ as Wellington was for the King.
Once a multitude of rioters burst into a house in which
he was staying, determined to kill him ; but instead of
fleeing from them, he calmly walked into their midst, and
asked who he had wronged and what he had done. And
they were all so abashed and cowed, he passed through
them without receiving a scratch or a speck of dirt upon
his clothes.
At another time, a mad bull was driven into his con
gregation, and when, furious and bleeding, it reached the
table on which he was standing, Wesley simply put his
hand on its head, and went on with his sermon as
though nothing unusual had occurred.
And he had moral courage. In public and private he
rebuked men for sin, and witnessed for Christ.
Once, when riding in a coach with a young officer, who
swore frequently, Wesley asked him to grant him a
favour, and, when asked what it was, said, " As we shall
be travelling together some distance, if I so far forget
myself as to swear, kindly reprove me."
The young man took the hint, and gave up the evil
habit from that hour.
Never be ashamed of your principles, or to speak a
word for Jesus.

IV. BENEVOLENCE.
When he was a young man, however much he received,
he lived on ;^28 a year, and gave away all the rest.
When he was at Oxford, with the other young Methodists,
he helped to clothe and educate a number of poor chil
dren ; and one cold winter's day one of these poor
children, a young girl, called on him.

148 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
He said, " You seem starved. Have you nothing to
cover you but that thin linen gown ? " She told him it
was all the clothing she had. He at once put his hand
into his pocket to give her some money, but found that he
had scarcely any left. Then he looked at the pictures on
his room, and the thought struck him, "Will the Master
say, ' Well done, good and faithful servant ! ' Thou hast
adorned thy walls with the money which would have
screened this poor creature from the cold." And he at
once took them down and sold them, and bought the poor
girl warm clothing.
And he acted in this spirit throughout life. He estab
lished Orphanages for children, built Almshouses for poor
men and women, and instituted a " Loan Society '' to help
deserving people who were in monetary difficulties. He
gave away during his life more than ;£^4O,O0O ; and, when
he died, left behind him — two silver spoons and the great
Methodist Connexion !
Cultivate a spirit of generosity to the cause of God and
the poor.
Above all, imitate Wesley's devotion to God. He was
great, and good, and useful, because he was filled with
the power of God, and spent his life in the service of
humanity. Last Monday morning, at ten o'clock, I went
into my study, the room where Wesley died, and I
thought, from this spot, at this hour, a hundred years ago,
Wesley passed away to God. The place seemed holy
ground, and in contrition and penitence upon my knees
I asked God to baptize me with the same spirit that had
filled Wesley, and to qualify me for whole-hearted service.
Let me urge you all to offer the same prayer. Live as
he lived, not for ease and pleasure, but to do good, and
then your lives will be bright, joyous, and blessed.

Tt)e Ct)arb^r of \li)e CI)urct)
ii) \l})e Ce:9burie^ bo Corr)e.
By Mr. S. D. WADDY, Q.C., M.P.

"And Jesus came to them and spake tmto them,
saying. All authority hath been given unto Me in
heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoetter
1 commatided yoti: and lo, I am with -you alway,
even imto the end of the world." — ilATT. xxviii.
18-20.
During the last few days you have often been
reminded of John Wesley's saying, "The best of all
is, God is with us." It was almost his dying cry ;
but it was no new and sudden inspiration then. It
presented accurately what had long been the attitude
of his mind.
On Wesley's lips these words conveyed two distinct
and yet closely-connected ideas. On the one hand, they
expressed the exultation of hallowed joy ; and, on the
other hand, they were the shout of holy triumph. " God
was with us ; and therefore we were filled with rapture."
There it is, the cry of happy gratitude. " God was with

I50 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
us, and therefore we were crowned with success." There
it becomes the humble ascription of all glory to God.
Such was the temper of Wesley in his warfare and
toil. As he neared his end he dwelt with increasing
simplicity and earnestness on the two thoughts thus
sacredly linked together. They had long inspired the
labour of his life ; they filled with ecstasy his triumphant
death. The century that has elapsed since that day has shown
that this cry was not the boast of folly or the deception of
fanaticism. The words were words of truth and soberness.
They have been constantly illustrated and enforced by the
personal experience of believers, and the growing history
of our Church.
I do not, however, to-night desire to dwell entirely or
even mainly upon the past. Those learned and godly men
to whom you have lately listened with so much profit and
delight, have fully reminded you of the mercy God has
shown us, and the prosperity with which His presence has
blessed us. I will not presume to glean where they have
reaped. But in this last service of a series which will ever
be memorable in the history of Methodism, I may not
inappropriately fix your attention on the second century
rather than on the first. Let us, on our gratitude for the
past, found our warnings, our encouragements, our resolves
for the future. From the exclamation of the saint exult
ing that God was with him then, — from our own thankful
memories that God has been with us ever since, — we turn
to a still fuller promise — a promise not for a generation or
a century, but firm till time shall be no more — a promise
proclaimed by the lips, not of the dying servant, but of
the risen, the eternal Lord :
" Lo, I AM WITH YOU ALWAY, E\-EN UNTO THE END OF THE WORLD."
This blessed announcement is not only the hope and con
fidence of the believer, — it is the charter and inspiration
of the Church ; and to this application of the words I ask
your prayerful attention.

THE CHARTER OF THE CHURCH. 151
L TO WHOM IS THIS PROMISE GIVEN?
Matthew specifically mentions only "the eleven disciples."
From this fact some learned and well-meaning, but not
very liberal, men have assumed that the command and
blessing were confined to the apostles, and that an argu
ment in favour of " apostolical succession " may be found
in this passage. Rest assured that in the second century
of Methodist history, and in City Road Chapel to-day, I
shall not waste your time in demolishing this arrogant
trumpery. The mere existence of our Church at this
celebration, — its marvellous growth during past genera
tions, — its millions of faithful believers, on continent and
island, the wide world over, — this crowded house of God,
— these happy faces, — these saved souls, — are sufficient
answer to all charges of heresy and schism, and to every
feeble and narrow-minded attempt to limit or to fetter the
grace and mercy of God. If, in truth, none but the eleven
apostles heard these words from our Lord's lips, they
heard them for us as well as for themselves. A promise
which was to live till the end of the world, could not be
confined to men who in a very few years would rejoin
their Lord in His celestial glory, and they could no more
claim a monopoly of His earthly blessing, than an exclu
sive title to the " many mansions " in heaven.
But there is good ground for believing that the apostles
were not the only persons present on this august occasion.
It is highly probable that the evangelist gives us here the
details of the manifestation which St. Paul shortly describes
in I Cor. xv. 6, where he tells us that Jesus " appeared
to above five hundred brethren at once." This view is
strengthened by an expression in verse 17. The earlier
part of this chapter finds the apostles in Jerusalem. The
narrative brings them thence into Galilee to the appointed
mountain, and there " they worshipped Him." But it adds
that " some doubted." Now, who were these doubters ?
Certainly not the apostles. They had been already con
vinced, and filled with holy and trustful joy. Ten of them,

152 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
we are told by St. John, had seen Him in Jerusalem, and
"were glad when they saw the Lord." The eleventh,
Philip, was absent at that time ; but he had subsequently
seen Him at the same place, and had adored Him as
" my Lord and my God." The whole eleven had, in fact,
travelled to Galilee in joyful obedience to His Divine
command. The doubters must therefore have been some
of the Galilean disciples, who had not hitherto beheld their
risen Saviour ; and the whole earthly Church, with but few
exceptions, was probably gathered there when Jesus uttered
this universal blessing. Whether, therefore, these words
were spoken to the apostles as the representatives of the
Saviour's flock, or to a more numerous congregation of
the believers in Him, we equally claim them as our own, —
the heritage of the whole Church of Christ, universal and
enduring. II. BY WHOM IS THIS PROMISE PROCLAIMED?
The inquiry is not an idle one ; for the message is so
majestic that on the lips of any man — mere man — how
ever wise or good or great, it would be impertinent and
profane. The speaker therefore begins by challenging
our reverence on the ground that " all authority hath been
given to Him in heaven and on earth." His words assert
His divinity, for He claims eternity and omnipresence
when He undertakes to bless and aid His servants throueh
all time and in every place. But while the disciples were
awed by the behests of a visible God, they remembered
also that He was the risen Saviour. They recalled the
life of sympathy, the atoning love of His cruel death. His
tender forgiveness of their lukewarm cowardice and un
belief He was at once the loving Saviour and the
omnipotent God. It was this Being of infinite mercy
and of infinite power who was about to demand much
from them, and who therefore was about to promise them
a perfect encouragement and a glorious reward. He
would summon them to self-sacrifice and toil ; they must

THE CHARTER OF THE CHURCH. 153
undergo privation and suffering ; they must battle with
the powers of earth and the fiends of hell ; they must
abandon the joys of life, and crown their devotion by a
martyr's death. And before He calls them to this
tremendous strife. He heartens them by the promise that
He whose perfect and enduring love has been so well
proved in the past, and can be so absolutely trusted in
the future, — that He who will never leave them nor
forsake them, — is clothed with "all authority in heaven
and on earth." Angels from above shall have charge
over them, shall guide their steps and lift their hands.
The powers of nature shall be swayed by His high
control, the providence of God shall work on their
behalf, and the constant presence of their Lord shall be
their comfort in tribulation, their joy in sorrow, their life
in death.
Brethren, our work is not so terrible as theirs. We
have only to meet contemptuous indifference where they
encountered cruel persecution. We have to bear sarcasm
and sneer where they were chained to the stake or thrown
to ferocious beasts. But the promise in all its richness is
ours as well as theirs. And through the rolling centuries
the words are as fresh and as true in the nineteenth as
in the first. They ring blessed and glorious in our ears
to-day, and they shall be the charter and inspiration of
our Church in the ages to come, — " Lo, I am with you
alway, even unto the end of the world."
But there is one subject still to be considered before we
thus appropriate the promise :
III. THE CONDITION ON WHICH THIS PROMISE
IS GIVEN.
It is dependent on the performance of duty. The '1
authority is an authority to commission us for our work. .
The heart of the passage is the command to do it. The ¦,
grace is a grace given to assist us, and succeed us, and (
bless us in its doing. '

154 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
The central purpose of a Christian Church is a Church
to do Christian work. The nature and scope of this duty
are broadly but accurately given in the nineteenth verse.
Undeterred by the perils and difficulties of distance, we
are to " go " to the nations ; undaunted by the immensity
of the task, we are to go to " all the nations." With un
wearied patience and devotion, we are to " make disciples "
of the most brutalised and barbarous, or of the most
sceptical and sensual. We are not merely to confer upon
them civilisation, political education, or social improve
ment, — we are to bring them definitely into the Church
of Christ, " baptising them into the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." We must not
rest satisfied with their formal or intellectual acceptance
of the doctrines of religion, but must "teach them" in
purity of life and consecration of soul "to observe all
things whatsoever Christ commanded us." This is to be
the work, not of a few, however rich or godly or learned,
but of all ; and in face of this gigantic and apparently
hopeless task, our strength, our comfort, our assurance
shall be the abiding presence of the Redeemer, who will
be with us " alway, even unto the end of the world."
This was the mission of the early Church. The wide
world tells the tale of its success or failure. It was the
mission of Wesley and his sons, and millions of glorified
saints and of happy believers to-day are the result of
their labours. You and I are amongst the trophies which
those founders of our Church have won, and I refrain
from the long record of their toil and triumph, only
because during the last few days you have been so fully
reminded of their hallowed struggle and their glorious
success. But I am compelled to emphasise one principle,- — God
requires that all should work. It is our duty and our
privilege to be good. It is equally our duty and our
privilege to do good. In Mosaic times, the prayer of the
great lawgiver was, " Would God that all the Lord's people
were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon

THE CHARTER OF THE CHURCH. 155
them " (Num. xi. 29). Our Lord sent forth not only the
twelve apostles, but the seventy disciples. The growth of
the primitive Church was largely due to the fact that the
evangelising spirit and practice were not exceptional but
universal. It is true that in the Acts of the Apostles
we find scanty records of the work of more than six or
seven men. The towering pre-eminence of a few colossal
evangelists dwarfed and almost obliterated the record ,
of the steady, pervasive, but comparatively unobserved 1
work of the mass. But St. Paul contemplated with'
satisfaction a state of Church life when " all could pro
phesy one by one, and all might be comforted," and the
very disasters that threatened to destroy Christianity were
overruled for good, because they that " were scattered
abroad " by persecution, " went everywhere preaching the
Word." When Methodism was young, the same principle and
practice prevailed amongst us. One characteristic of our
forefathers was that they were all at wotk and always at
work. Humanly speaking, this was the secret of their
success. Let me ask you in all faithfulness, Are we loyal
sons of such noble sires ? I believe that I am here to-night
as being in somewise a representative of the lay-preachers
of our Church. Then let me stand by my order for a few
moments. The admirable speech delivered here last
Thursday by my brother Clough, the President this year
of our Local Preachers' Association, renders it unnecessary
and unwise for me to dwell on the enormous work that
laymen have done, and nobly done, in bygone days.
The great point is this : that while they have always
been a necessity of our Church's existence, and are still
indispensable to its continued life and usefulness, we are
sadly deficient in numbers ; and, moreover, our ranks are
deserted by the very men whose help we most specially
desire. I call to-night for recruits ! You will not so far mis
understand me as to think that this appeal involves the
slightest reflection upon the " regular" ministry. My only

156 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
desire is to rouse our educated laity to undertake this work.
The fact is that we are drifting into a habit of leaving the
preaching of the gospel almost entirely to the ordained
ministers, as though they were exclusively qualified and
appointed to be heralds of the Cross. This is fatal to
ourselves, and mischievous to others.
It is fatal to ourselves. A lazy Christian is a dying
Christian. If we are not working for Christ, Christ will
not long work in us. I believe that we have here the
reason of much which has lately caused " great searchings
of heart ; " and that one great peril of Methodism (perhaps
its greatest) lies in our losing the habit, as a people, of
earnest, healthy work. If we do this, we shall soon by
steady and fatal stages lose our love for it, then the power
¦ to do it, and at last our whole spiritual life.
But, in addition to its malignant effects on ourselves,
this tendency to narrow evangelism into a profession
or business, is ruinous to others. Humanly speaking,
the world can never be saved by the clergy. It has
never been possible at any period of the Church's his
tory. Two obvious reasons show that it is not possible
now. Consider, on the one hand, the purely missionary work
of the Church at home and abroad. The darkness of our
own country and the vastness of foreign heathenism pre
sent a field too wide, obstacles too mighty, a harvest too
plenteous, for labourers so few as the ordained ministry
must continue to be. As well might you hope to win a
campaign by the struggles of the officers only, while the
rank and file look idly on. " The field is the world," and
" the labourers are few."
But there is a further difficulty. The ordained ministry
could not do the work if they tried ; but they are not
allowed to try ! We expect them to devote themselves to
a sphere of dut}^ quite distinct, and which is apparently
the inevitable consequence of our past success. Our
preachers have become pastors, — absorbed in the cares of
the Church. If, for the edification and delight of congre-

THE CHARTER OF THE CHURCH. 157
gations of converted people, the pastor is boxed up in his
pulpit, or assigned to pastoral visitation, the meeting of
classes, and (alas !) the management of funds, he will have
but little time left in which he can go after the outcast and
lost. But they will not come to us. They will not bring
their squalor, their sorrow, or their sin into close contrast
with the light and harmony, the purity and joy of the
people of God. We must go to them and " compel them
to come in."
Who then must do this great work ? The whole Church
of Christ. We want an army of sensible, earnest, godly
talkers. Call them local preachers, or lay evangelists,
or missioners, or what you will. Never mind the name..
We want the men, and in no stinted measure. For if the
world is to be won for Christ, " ALL THE Lord's PEOPLE "
MUST BE PROPHETS. Our sermons need not be preached ^
in church or chapel, or under any roof at all. Our
audiences need not be counted by the hundred, or even
by the score. We must follow the people wherever they
go, and proclaim the glad tidings wherever we find them.
This was the work of our forefathers ; and, in order to
make our second century match our first, men of all pro
fessions and trades, and from all classes, must come to the
front, and carry the war back into the enemy's country.
If I could once plant this conviction firmly in the minds
of our educated and godly laity, this centenary celebration
would have glorious results. And the emergency is press
ing I For observe how for want of some such organisation,
Methodism already suffers. Many of our most venerable
sanctuaries in the midst of London and other large towns,
once crowded with worshippers, are now comparatively
deserted. Their former occupants and their children have
achieved wealth, and have moved into the suburbs or the
country ; and their empty places have not been refilled.
We, alas I are becoming accustomed to this state of
things, and reconciled to it. And we satisfy ourselves
by murmuring helplessly that "the population has left
London." True, one population has done so, but there

158 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
is still a population there. If one Methodist family has
gone to Brixton, and another to Chiselhurst, and a third
to Enfield, are there not thousands of human beings still
hiving around this very chapel ? They have not perhaps
the same education or rank or Methodist history as those
who have gone — but they have souls I It may be that
you cannot reach them by the same means as were effectual
with yourselves. Then let us try others. There are hun
dreds of converted people here, — at this moment, — in this
chapel, — who are admirably qualified for this work, but
who are doing, in fact, little or nothing in the way of
active Christian evangelism.
I know the " stock " excuse which many people make
in answer to such a challenge as this. " Oh," they say,
" I really cannot preach or speak in public, or ' canvas '
strangers. I have not the gift ! " This is only mock-
humility. Watch this shy and dumb Christian. His
wealth increases ; his influence widens ; his ambition
expands. Some kind friends suggest to him that his
opulence, rank, and talent clearly mark him as a fit and
proper man to be a member of the House of Commons.
His own desires are flattered by the thought. He accepts
the invitation. And in a moment he develops a power of
public oratory and resources of personal persuasion which
are a miracle to everybody but himself! My brother,
try your experiment first of all in the service of Christ !
Preach — not politics — but the gospel ! Canvas — not for
votes — but for souls !
If, however, our hesitation is the true child of humility,
our text is our perfect answer. Take courage ! The work
authorised by His Word, guided by His wisdom, done in
His strength, filled with His presence, cannot fail I Let
Christ be with us in the study and in the pulpit, in the
cottage kitchen and among the outdoor crowd, — let Him
sway our hearts, fire our emotions, inspire our words and
tones, and we must conquer ! And this rich blessing shall
assuredly be ours ; for He saith, " Lo, I am with you
alway ! "

THE CHARTER OF THE CHURCH. 159
IV. LASTLY, THEN, THE PROMISED PRESENCE OF CHRIST
IS THE church's GREAT INCENTIVE TO DUTY.
When we are brought face to face with our task, we
need some mighty motive to brace us for an enterprise
so glorious, but so awful. We look abroad over our own
country, and its unsaved millions ; we observe its social
vices, its perverse ignorance of Divine truth, its contempt
of God and His laws, its drunkenness, blasphemy, in
fidelity, and lust, — and we are appalled. We gaze on
other lands, and the prospect is still more ghastly.
Nations claiming to be civilised, whose polish is rotten
ness, whose theologies are a mockery, and whose religious
hope is despair, drive us sadly to own that it is still true
that the world lieth in the arms of the wicked one. We
may almost be forgiven if our hearts sink within us when
we are called to such a warfare as this.
The same temptation assailed the apostles, and to them
the outlook was even more terrible than it is to us. His
tory gave them none of the encouragements which have
brightened our hopes. The marvellous blood - bought
triumphs of the Cross, which cheer our hearts and sustain
our faith, were still unwon. The word of God had not
been translated into every tongue, and preached in every
clime ; learned men had not laid their talents, and mighty
kings their sceptres, at the feet of Jesus. Inconsiderable
in number, rank, and wealth, the disciples were called to
overthrow the philosophies, heresies, and tyrannies of the
world, and our Lord foresaw their probable dread. He
heartened them, therefore, beforehand. He prefaced His
command by the " authority " which pledged Almighty aid.
He followed it by the promise which rounds and perfects
the whole, with the pledge of an enduring presence and an
infinite love.
The assurance of God's presence with His servants has
always been their chief comfort and stay. When Jehovah
bade Moses bear His message to Pharaoh, the patriarch
quailed before an embassy so hazardous. " Who am I ? "

i6o CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
said he in trembling excuse. " Certainly I will be with
thee," was the all-sufficient answer of the AU-Sufficient
God. When, at a later crisis, he pleaded, " If Thy presence
go not with me, carry me not up hence," his anxiety was
anticipated by, " My presence shall go with thee, and I will
give thee rest." So also under the New Covenant. Jesus
cheered the disconsolate apostles with the promise, " I will
not leave you desolate, I will come unto you." And the
charter of the Church is still the same. The trust of
the disciples when Christ ascended from Olivet was the
strength of Methodism in our first century, — the watchword
with which we begin our second, — the source of our growing
hope, our deepening faith, our brightening joy. Christ's
presence zvith the Church and in the Church has always
been, still is, and ever shall be, its strength and its life.
Let us illustrate this by a few particulars.
I. Our exalted Christ is our strength. As the God
of Providence He supplies our every necessity.
He is not only the Head of the Church, He is also
" the Head over all things to the Church " (Eph. i. 20).
Restored to His imperial throne. He sways all things for
the accomplishment of His saving purposes. Thus, He
prepares our way, our instruments, and our men.
With infinite wisdom and power He prepares our way
before us. He moulds the history of the world for the
furtherance of the gospel. The designs of good men, and
the overruled plots of bad men, subserve His gracious pur
poses. He bends the intrigues of politics, and subdues the
ambition of conquerors, till even " war proclaims the Prince
of Peace." " The wrath of man shall praise Him, and the
remainder of wrath He shall restrain."
Moreover, He prepares our instruments. With what
merciful accuracy has He timed the progress of discovery
so as to serve His sovereign will. Inventions have sprung
to light just when they could do least harm and most good
to Christianity, and science and art have been the uncon
scious handmaids of the gospel. One familiar example of
this is the printing press. If man had possessed this

THE CHARTER OF THE CHURCH. i6i
engine at an earlier date, it is hardly too much to say that
it would have been a curse rather than a blessing. Of the
literature of Greece and Rome, it is fair to suppose that
the best has survived, and some of it is not without
nobility and beauty. But how large a proportion is
corrupt ! If the filth of Aristophanes, Catullus, Horace,
Ovid, Petronius, and a host of minor writers, had been
multiplied by the press, the flood of contamination
would have been frightful. But the art of printing
came just in time for Tyndale and the translation of the
Bible; and its whole history has been ennobled by the
work it has done in sowing broadcast the Word of God.
Christ is the strength of the Church, lastly, in this — He
prepares and gives us men.
The first disciples were chosen by Him who " knew what
was in man," summoned by His own voice, and trained by
His own care. From age to age He has continued to
provide the men for the day. He found the early fathers
and martyrs. He inspired the leaders of the Reformation.
He shaped the characters and guided the lives of the
founders of Methodism. He adorned and fortified the
infant Church with the administrative sagacity of John
Wesley, the raptured poetry of Charles Wesley, the burning
eloquence of Whitefield, the seraphic devotion of Fletcher.
Through the whole of the bygone century He has never
failed us. These walls have echoed to the voice of Benson
the divine, Coke the missionary, Clarke the scholar. Bunt
ing the statesman, Watson the theologian, Newton the
evangelist, Punshon the orator. The names of Reece,
Fowler, Treffry, the Jacksons, Hannah, Farrar, Scott,
Lomas, West, Young, Prest, Rattenbury, Jobson, Gervase
Smith, Shaw, Romilly Hall, and scores of other men as
majestic as they, rush from our hearts to our lips. With
them we think of eloquent laymen equally worthy of
memory. William Dawson, the Yorkshire farmer ; Charles
Richardson, the Lincolnshire thrasher ; Drew, the learned
shoemaker ; George Smith, the Cornish historian ; the
scholarly Dr. Melson ; the village blacksmith Hick. Mer-
L

1 62 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
chant princes have brought their wealth to Christ's feet :
Farmer, Heald, Lycett, Chubb, Macarthur. He has moved
some to consecrate their talents and their lives. He has
moved others to sanctify their riches. The Christlike
spirit, the actuating presence of Christ, has given us the
strength of the heart, of the wealth, of the learning, of the
life. Nor can we refrain from thanking God for some still
in our midst, who, with a long record of noble work nobly
done, tarry yet awhile listening for the Master's call. We
sympathise with that victim of his own tireless zeal and
self-sacrifice, the erudite and profound theologian of
modern Methodism. We rejoice over the venerable man
who, twice our President, champion in bygone days of
warfare, storehouse of our history, teacher of hundreds of
ministers of the gospel, rests from the long and worthy
labour. And we are filled with gratitude as we cry.
Thank God for William Arthur and the Tongue of Fire !
All these men have been given to us by our Head. He
made them what they were. He gave them the victories
they won. Their names, and others which I must not
recall, are an inspiration to us this day. As we hush our
own words, we almost think we can hear those well-
remembered tones which in past years have thrilled all
hearts in this house of God. We seem to catch once more
" the sound of the voice that is still," hushed in this world
for ever, but ringing with a clearer and gladder note
before " the great white throne."
Now, all these men had one prevailing characteristic.
Christ was in them. They had the abiding presence of our
Lord. Differing widely in almost everything else, they
agreed in this, they believed firmly in Christ as their Saviour;
the ambition of their lives was to do His work, to be endued
with His image, to have " Christ formed in their hearts, the
hope of glory." And the more you study their lives and
characters, the more clearly and forcibly will you recognise
that the blessed presence of Christ with them was their
motive and their argument, their inspiration and their
strength, their joy and their crown.

THE CHARTER OF THE CHURCH. 163
And He who gave us them will give us others. The
second century will bring us men as richly endowed, as
truly ordained, as these were. Shallow ritualism may im
pertinently question their " orders " or their succession.
Their " authority " comes straight from headquarters ; and
he who receives his commission direct from the King's own
hand, and who, in the strength of it, has fought and con
quered the powers of evil, may afford to smile at those
who find fault with him because he has never taken the
enlisting shilling from the recruiting sergeant.
2. But the presence of Christ is not only the strength of
the Church, — it is its very life. We depend upon Him
not only for what He does for us, or gives to us, but for
what He is in us. This is the personal experience of
every believer — " I live ; and yet no longer I, but Christ
liveth in me." And that which is true of the individual, is
true of the collective body of believers. \
He is the life of our doctrine. Our creed rests on Him,
and is filled with Plim. The atonement, resurrection,
ascension, and intercession of our Redeemer form the
centre round which all our theology is gathered, the
foundation on which all our religion is built. No philo
sophy however subtle, no morality however pure, can
supply the place of these doctrines. If we refine them into
poetry, or lose them in abstraction, the life is gone. The
doctrinal life of Methodism has ever been derived from
our clear acknowledgment of our need for Christ and our
dependence upon Him.
The characteristic feature of our teaching has been the
constant exhibition of the Cross. Our preaching has been
one long, earnest cry, " Behold the Lamb of God ; " and
this has been the great secret of its freshness and power.
We have had amongst us scholars, poets, orators, divines ;
— but their success has been proportioned not to their
genius and learning, but to their loyal devotion to Christ ;
to their emulation of the apostle, who " determined not to
know any thing save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." If
in the coming years we are to succeed like them, we must

i64 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
hold the same faith. Jesus Christ, in the atoning efficacy
of His blood, in the triumph of His mediatorial reign,
must be the life of our pulpits, the foundation and centre
of all our teaching. Any graces of style or developments
of culture will be dearly bought if for them we neglect or
conceal the Cross.
Lastly, He is the life of our experience. The character
istic feature of our experience has been a predominating
and passionate longing for conscious fellowship with the
Redeemer. We describe our seasons of holy joy most
naturally by saying, " It was good to be there, for we met
with Jesus." This desire fills our prayers and inspires our
songs. Every phase of religious experience, every step of
our spiritual life, is in our hymnology linked with and
made dependent on our personal union with Him. The
" mourner convinced of sin " cries :
" Take this poor fluttering soul to rest.
And lodge it. Saviour, in Thy breast."
Hungering for present salvation, we plead with redoubled
appeal : " My heart would now receive Thee, Lord !
Come in, my Lord, come in ! "
The yearning for entire sanctification foretells with con
fident faith that ' ' When Jesus makes my heart His home.
My sin shall all depart."
When convinced of backsliding, we pray
" Open the intercourse between
My longing soul and Thee ;
Never to be iDroke off again
To all eternity."
Wearied of the cares and vanities of the world, we sing :
' ' My heart ever fainting
He only can cheer ;
And all tilings are wanting
Till Jesus is here."

THE CHARTER OF THE CHURCH. 165
For shelter from storm and sorrow we cry,
" Take me, Jesus, to Thine arms,
And keep me ever there."
Death loses its terrors when we seek to
" Live happy in my Saviour's love,
And in His arms expire."
Celestial joys brighten into fresher glory as we exclaim :
' ' Thy presence makes my paradise.
And where Thou art is heaven."
And we exult in the prospect of everlasting blessedness in
Him:
" Spring Thou up within my heart.
Rise to all eternity. "
This experience must still be ours. It is our life. Just
as a Christless theology would soon become not only
useless, but absolutely mischievous ; so a Christless experi
ence is lethargy deepening into destruction. It is true
that emotion alone is not enough. Religion without
knowledge is superstition and fanaticism ; but religion
without a felt Christ is despair and death. The indwelling
Saviour, whose presence is ever recognised, and whose
influence is ever felt, is the strength against temptation
which brings us purity ; and the security against doubt,
which gives us peace.
This has been the history of our first hundred years.
May God repeat it in the second ! We want no new
doctrines to coax people into our communion, no new
experience to shape their lives. Fighting the same battle
as our forefathers fought, wielding the same weapons,
marshalled by the same Captain, we look vi^ith firm faith
for the same blessed and eternal victory.
Thus, then, we start on our new century. We do not
know what its unfolding will reveal, what fresh spheres of
labour will invite our effort, what times and causes of peril
will test the Church. New doors are even now opening

1 66 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
on every hand. At home and abroad souls are longing
for the truth. The partly explored regions of Central
Australia await us, the hundreds of millions of China are
awaking to the light, and the mysteries of darkest Africa
challenge our research. In this wide and varied strife, of
which at present we know so little, there will be unforeseen
but awful struggles with the powers of evil ; and in that
stern fight and long-drawn toil the promise of the text
will often be our surest and almost our only support. For
however fierce the battle, our weakness need never falter,
and our ignorance need never fail. Christ is "the power
of God and the wisdom of God ; " and with all that power,
and all that wisdom. He will be with us "alway, even unto
the end of the world."
In the work of the Church take this as your watchword.
Patient evangelist, in the midst of darkness and miserj', in
the home of despair, in the den of infamy. He is ever at
your side. Brave missionary, in the far-off islands of the
sea, in your solitude and your exile, you are not alone !
He is " with you alway ! " Simple believer, tried by the
scoffs of the scornful or the persecution of the malignant,
He will be at your right hand, and you shall not be
moved ! In bereavement, in sorrow, in trial, in care, in
agony. He will never leave you nor forsake you. And
when at last the end shall come, when strength of body
and mind begins to fail, when with wasting frame, throbbing
temples, and parched lips, you draw nearer and nearer to
the valley of the shadow of death, still His rod and His
staff shall comfort you. In the darkness and agony on
this side of the river, your last memory shall be the words
of the promise, " I am with you alway." Clinging as the
stream rises — clinging to that loving hand which has never
let a believer fall — clinging to Jesus all the way across.
He shall land you on the eternal shore ; the words begun
on earth shall finish in heaven, the promise shall become
fruition, as with fulness of revelation and fulness of glory
you hear at last His own voice, " Lo, I am with you alway,
even unto the end of the world."

Tr)e W^esley Cei)t!ei)ary,
PART II.
©tber IReligious Services,
HELD IN CITY ROAD CHAPEL.

Saturday Evening, February nZth,
THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER.
Monday Morning, March ind,
THE UNVEILING OF THE WESLEY STATUE.
Monday Evening,
MEETING: REPRESENTING THE METHODIST
CONNEXIONS.
Tuesday Afternoon, March yd,
THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER.
Tuesday Evening,
A REVIEW OF METHODIST WORK.
Wednesday Afternoon, March \th,
OPENING OF THE ALLAN LIBRARY.
Wednesday Evening,
METHODISM AND SOCIAL WORK.
Thursday Evening, March $th,
THE PRIVILEGES, DUTIES, RESPONSIBILITIES,
AND OPPORTUNITIES OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE
OF METHODISM.
Friday Evening, March 6ih,
METHODISM AND THE SISTER CHURCHES.
Saturday Evening, March Tth,
THE CENTENARY LOVE FEAST.

163

Tr)ar)ksQiYir)6 ar)d Prayer.

The Services in Cotnmemoration of John Wesley's Death
opened on Saturday evening, February 2%tli, with a
Devotional Meeting, conducted by the Rev. Richard
Roberts and the Rev. H. Douthwaite

a^^re60
By the Rev. RICHARD ROBERTS.
Recalling the circumstances of Mr. Wesley's departure,
and alluding to his quotation of the hymn, '' I'll praise
my Maker while I've breath," Mr. Roberts said : His days
of praise are not yet past. God granted to Mr. Wesley
his oft- repeated desire to "cease at once to work and live."
Every Christian is called to work for Christ, and the
humblest toil for Him is an unspeakable honour. Mr.
Wesley's message may be compared for its universality to
that of the great Apostle of the Gentiles. Like the angel
flying in the midst of heaven, he had a message to all
nations, peoples, kindreds, and tongues. It was : Re
demption for all men through faith in Jesus Christ. In
many pulpits of Wesley's early days that was a doctrine
forgotten or denounced. John Wesley was called to
169

I70 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
deliver the Churches from the swathing bands of a limited
salvation. The opening hymns of our Hymn-book show
this. Another doctrine of the Wesleyan Revival was that
of Christian Assurance. It was held, even by good men,
to be presumption ; and denounced by pulpit and press
as fanaticism. Others said it was a special privilege,
granted but to a favoured few in apostolic days. Mr.
Wesley had preached for years before experiencing this
blessing himself, but as soon as he did he boldly
proclaimed it as the heritage of every Christian. The
doctrine of the Witness of the Spirit is prominent in the
hymns. " We by His Spirit prove
And know the things of God."
Mr. Wesley made religion a thing of joy. Such hymns
as " Come ye that love the Lord," " My God is reconciled,"
etc., are proof of this.
Another doctrine emphasised was that of Christian
Perfection. It startled the Churches to hear that the
grace of God could deliver from all sin, inward and
outward ; that grace was mightier than sin — Christ
stronger than Satan. " He wills that I should holy be :
What can withstand His will ? "
May the day never come when, in our congregations and
class-meetings, meaningless drivelling ditties shall take the
place of these grand old hymns.
While thankful for Wesley and Methodism, we cannot
help casting a glance forward to the day of the Lord's
coming, when an innumerable throng of saints shall be
directed by the Saviour to take possession of the thrones
purchased for them. They will come from India, China,
and Japan ; from Europe, Africa, and Australasia ; and
Wesley, overpowered at the sight, may be imagined
crying : —

THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER. 171
"All thanks be to God,
Who scatters abroad.
Throughout every place.
By the least of His servants. His savour of grace."
And as the last is conducted through the gates of
Paradise, I see Wesley and Whitefield bowing low
before the Redeemer, saying, " Not unto us, O Lord ; not
unto us, but unto Thy Name give glory, for Thy mercy
and for Thy truth's sake." Some of us will be there.
I am thankful to be a Methodist, converted to God fifty-
six years ago, and conscious ever since that I am Christ's,
and Christ mine — able to sing,
" My God, I am Thine ;
What a comfort Divine,
What a blessing to know that my Jesus is mine.''

ab&re06
By the Rev. CHARLES GARRETT.
It is a great privilege to be present at the first of
a series of meetings, which will, I trust, bless not only
Methodism, but the world. It is peculiarly fitting that
we should begin with a prayer-meeting. Prayer-meet
ings have been our strength and glory from the beginning.
They are still the true tests of the spiritual condition of
our Churches, and I trust that a strengthening and stimu
lating influence will go from this meeting to every prayer-
meeting in Methodism. I am perplexed as to the best way
of using the few moments at my disposal, but I am anxious
to say a word or two that may promote our gratitude to
God, and lead us to devote ourselves afresh to His service.
We have reason to be grateful for' the boundless, priceless
blessings which we have received through John Wesley.
Some have thought it strange that we should celebrate
the death of a man. But I hold that this is in perfect
harmony with all our traditions. When Mr. Wesley's

172 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
mother lay dying, she said to those who surrounded her
bed, " When I am gone, sing a hymn." And when her
son went home, his friends stood up and sang,
"Waiting to receive thy spirit."
Our Hymn-book seems specially fitted for such a pur
pose. The grandest hymns in the book are such as might
be sung by death-beds and at the grave-side. No music
ever impresses my heart so much as those beautiful
hymns sung on such occasions to our old-fashioned minor
tunes. These are infinitely better than the doleful trap
pings that are sometimes thrown around the king of
terrors, making him more hideous than he is. There are
two ways of looking at death — the selfish way, which
thinks only of the loss we have sustained ; and the joyous
way, which thanks God for the good work done by the
departed, and for the pleasant memories they have left
behind. The Methodist way is the latter, and it is in
this spirit we are met to-night.
I am glad to know that we have not a monopoly of this
joy. In large numbers of churches and chapels celebra
tions similar to our own will take place to-morrow and
through the week. It is fit and proper that it should be so,
for John Wesley was the Morning Star of the Second Refor
mation ; the Herald and Inbringer of a new era of blessing
for the Church and for the world. To look beyond him is
to look into the dark ages, when men had no rights, and
God no honour. All the great religious and social move
ments, which are the glory of the nineteenth century, were
in John Wesley's mind, and he attempted to carry them
out. As to Foreign Missions, he made the Methodist
Church a Foreign Missionary Society, with the motto, "The
world is my parish ; " while the Home Missionary system
he established was such as the world had never seen since
the early days of Christianity. Sunday schools were
started by Wesley before Raikes was born. He founded
a Bible Society before the Bible Society had come into
existence ; and wrote Tracts and put them into circulation

THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER. 173
long before the era of the Religious Tract Society. He
established Schools for Poor Children before the British
and Foreign School Society had been founded. He was
a Temperance advocate long before the time of the Seven
Men of Preston ; and if the Church he founded had held
to his principles, the curse of drunkenness would long
ago have been swept away. A hundred years before
my dear friend Dr. Stephenson was born, John Wesley
established Orphanages. He was the pioneer of the
work of disseminating cheap books ; and of founding
Dispensaries for the Poor. He visited the prisons before
John Howard entered on his mission of mercy. He was
an energetic enemy of the Slave Trade before Wilber-
force took up the subject. He established a Benevolent
Loan Society long enough before General Booth. In a
word, he did his utmost to destroy the kingdom of Satan,
and set up the kingdom of Christ. But while remember
ing with gratitude the great work which God has done
through John Wesley, it is equally necessary that we
should remember our own tremendous responsibility. A
cowardly soldier in Alexander's army, who bore his name,
was told by the general that he must either change his
name or his conduct, and I would say the same to every
selfish, idle, or worldly Methodist. God means our Church
to be in the forefront of His victorious army, and with
such examples, warnings, stimulus, and opportunities, woe
to us if we shrink back. Wherever there is a work of the
devil to be destroyed, a want to be supplied, an evil to be
removed, a sorrow to be soothed, there is work for Method
ists to do. The character of the next century depends
largely on us ; and if as individuals and churches we lay
ourselves upon the altar that sanctifieth the gift, next
Sunday will see our pulpits filled with flames of fire, and
" multitudes will be in the valley of decision." To kindle
our zeal let us look at our forefathers. Look at their
simple faith ! George Dawson once said, " The world
wanted a church for doubters." It will not be the
Methodist Church. Our Hymn-book has no provision for

174 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
such an event. There are hymns for believers rejoicing,
fighting, working, suffering — but none for believers doubt
ing I Look at their ardent love ! — -It was not sentimental-
ism, but "the love of God shed abroad in their hearts
by the Holy Ghost given unto them." They taught the
working men of England to shake hands with each other.
In the class meeting the squire and the labourer were
brothers, rich and poor met together ; they had liberty,
equality, and fraternity of the highest kind. Look at
their quenchless zeal I They shrank from no toil and
no sacrifice, if by any means they might bless man or
glorify God. Look, lastly, at their heaven-born joy ! An
old-fashioned Methodist was a living proof that religion
does not make people miserable. They did not need the
theatre or the ball-room to make them happy. They had
a joy unspeakable and full of glory. I well remember, as
a lad, walking along the lanes with some of those early
preachers, after they had done a long, hard day's work,
and how joyously they sang :
"In the heavenly Lamb
Thrice happy I am ;
And my heart it doth dance
At the sound of His name."
We have a noble ancestry ; let us seek to catch their
spirit and imitate their example. Then will the next
century be filled with the glory of the Lord.

Tr)e Ur)Y^iIir)6 of bl)(
\\r^sley Sbabu^.

The Statue presented by the Children of Methodism was
unveiled by the President of the Conference on Monday
morning, March 2nd, being the One-hundredth Anniversary
of John Wesley's Death.
The Rev. Dr. MOULTON said :—
The statue is the work of Mr. Adams - Acton, to
whom also we owe the beautiful sculpture of the Wesley
Monument in Westminster Abbey ; it is the gift of the
children of Methodism. The glory of the children is
their fathers, and this gift expresses the loving and filial
devotion which they owe to him who, under God, was the
father of them all. It is a fitting thing that, close to a
crowded thoroughfare of this great city, on the spot
consecrated by Wesley's hallowed toil, there should be
placed a statue of one who was so great a benefactor to
London, and to England at large. The attitude of his
person, and the book in his hand, show that it is the
Evangelist Wesley who is now displayed before us. It
was by his active evangelism that he did the work for
which every disciple of his and every English citizen
must always revere his memory. The statue presents to
passers-by a good idea of Wesley's form and lineaments.
I hope and pray that many on viewing it may be led

176 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
to think of Wesley's character and labours, and that in
generations to come it may still be said that " He, being
dead, yet speaketh."
After the ceremony, a Religious Service was held in City
Road Chapel, at which the following addresses were
delivered : —
The PRESIDENT of the CONFERENCE.
The services that have been arranged for this week, the
various meetings that have been announced, have most of
them direct reference to the evangelistic work of the Rev.
John Wesley — the foundation of all his work — that part
of his work which is continually in our thoughts. Hence
it is well for us at this first meeting to remind ourselves
that the interest extends far beyond our own community ;
that the interest is shared by all the Churches of the land,
for we believe that there are very many who cannot be
personally present with us this morning, who are with us
in spirit ; and that this interest is carried beyond the
ranks of those who would profess to belong to any religious
community, but who are careful students of the history of
their own country. The historian of the eighteenth
century, whoever he may be, cannot pass over the social,
moral, and, I may say, the political effects of the work
which John Wesley carried out. I should consider it a
most unfitting thing on my part to detain you, under the
special circumstances of the day, by any lengthened
observations of my own, but I should like to commend
this particular thought to all those who are here met in
John Wesley's chapel. We compare most thankfully the
circumstances of England in the last century with those of
other countries ; we are deeply thankful that we were
spared much that brought trouble, and almost ruin, else
where ; and we, at all events, have no doubt that the great
work which was accomplished through Wesley and his
coadjutors — first the evangelistic work, and then the

THE UNVEILING OF THE WESLEY STATUE. 177
results of that work — had very much to do with the
liberty and peace and freedom from sore trouble that our
country enjoyed during the last century.

The Venerable ARCHDEACON FARRAR.
Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen, —
It is about a month ago, I think, since our friend Dr.
Stephenson did me the honour of asking me to be
present on this occasion; but for many reasons — partly
because for some time I have not been very well — partly
because recently it has been God's will that I should pass
through a great and crushing sorrow — and especially
because of my great dislike to make public speeches — I
thought myself justified in refusing the invitation. But
when our kind friend wrote to me again, and said there
was a very natural and earnest desire that on this occasion
at least one clergyman of the Church of England should
be present to do honour to the name of John Wesley, and
when he added further the wish — far too flattering to me
— that that clergyman should be myself, I felt that it was
a duty that put aside every other consideration, and I beg
your pardon for my impertinence in asking you to accept
my presence as a sign that the hearts of all representatives
of the great Church of England are warmly with you.
Sir, I must not appear here under false pretences. We
are here to do honour to one of the most disinterested of
those benefactors who " have raised strong arms to bring '
heaven a little nearer to our earth." But I am a presbyter
of the Church of England, the son of a presbyter of the
Church of England, the father of a presbyter of the
Church of England. To that Church I have been, and am,
and always shall be, devotedly loyal. I would say in the
well-known words of Edmund Burke, " I desire to see
the Church of England great and powerful. I wish to see
her foundations laid low and deep. I wish to see her open
M

178 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
wide her hospitable gates by a liberal comprehension. I
desire that she should bring a message of peace to man
kind, that a vexed and wandering generation may find
refuge and deliverance in the bosom of her maternal
charity." But for that very reason I have always felt it to
be my duty to hold forth the right hand of brotherly
fellowship to the members of all truly Christian com
munities, and to do this — not grudgingly, not superciliously,
: not patronisingly ; God forbid ! — but to do it in the spirit
and in the words of St. Paul, " Peace be to all them that
love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity."
Sir, I regret — I have no doubt that you regret — that
it was a part of God's mysterious providence that there
should be this great separation between the Wesleyan
community and the Church of England. It is a delicate
task — it is an ungracious task — it is for us an impossible
task — to apportion the blame for that separation (if blame
there be) ; but we may believe and hope that God has
overruled the separation for His own high purposes, and
the furtherance of His kingdom in the earth. But, as a
Churchman, I maj^ at least express my regret that to the
Church of England of a hundred years ago, perhaps for
her warning, perhaps for her punishment, perhaps, after
all, for the promotion of her essential work by those who,
not being against her, are on her part — the grace was not
given of a wisdom which has often been shown under
similar conditions by the Church of Rome — to use,
incorporate, assimilate the mighty enthusiasm which gave
its momentum to the Wesleyan community. I do not
blame, I do not judge — I leave all those decisions to the
day of judgment ; but I may say, if the bishops of that
day had only understood that the free river of the grace of
God must often overflood man's strait-dug ditches — if
they had only had the insight and magnanimity to accept
the mighty self-sacrifice of Wesley — to make him the
General of a great Christian Order within the Church of
England, or a Bishop in partibus infidelium, for the
evangelisation of the waste places, so to speak — the

THE UNVEILING OF THE WESLEY STATUE. 179
Methodist separation would never have taken place. Sir,
it was not so, and we must accept facts as facts.
But this I say : If heaven be large enough for us all — if
with members of every sect we may stand, as many of
every sect will stand, as fellow-saints in the presence of
God — it does seem to me astonishing ; I go further — it
seems to me shocking and disgraceful — that Christians
bound together by a common Christianity should treat
each other on earth with mutual coldness and disdain.
Wesley, at any rate, set us the example of a splendid
tolerance. It is said of him that no reformer whom the
world has ever seen so united faithfulness to the essential
doctrines of revelation with perfect charity to men of
every Church and of every creed. The same charity has
been expressed and felt by the best men in all ages, and
we always think with pleasure of those words of William
Penn, that " the humble, the meek, the merciful, the just,
are all of one religion, and they shall recognise each other
in another world when the mask is taken off."
But why should I appeal to human authority when we
have the authority of the Lord of all time, and of all
worlds Himself? We know that he came to a Church
that was perfectly filled with a chaos of arrogance and
disdain, yet He chose the heretical Samaritan as a type of
the goodness that loves its neighbour as itself And
therefore I shall repeat once more the story which many
of you know so well — the story which our dear friend Dean
Stanley used to tell. And let me say that if that great
and good man were living to-day, I am quite certain that
he would have been standing here as an infinitely more
worthy representative of the Church of England than
I am. He used to tell a story which he called " Wesley's
Dream," to the effect that Wesley in his dream went to
the gates of Gehenna, and there asked, " Have you any
Romanists here ? any Anglicans ? any Baptists ? any
Calvinists? any Independents?" and in every case he
received the answer "Yes, a great many!" He then
asked, "Have you any Wesleyans here?" and the answer

i8o CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
was still "Yes ! a great many 1 " Stunned by that answer,
he went back to the gates of heaven, and asked, " Have
you any Romanists here ? any Anglicans ? Baptists ?
Calvinists? Independents?" "None whatever," was the
reply. " Have you any Wesleyans here .'' " he asked.
"None at all!" Then in amazement he asked, "Whom,
then, have you here ? " The answer came, " We have none
but Christians here, and we recognise no other name."
Wesley, at any rate, — whether he had that dream or not,
or whether it was a pleasant allegory of the Dean's or not,
— Wesley was the author of a sermon on the " Catholic
Spirit," which would have the honour of being thought
I shockingly lax by bigots of every denomination. And
Wesley used to say, in words which every true Christian
'i man may borrow from him, " I desire to have a league
offensive and defensive with every true soldier of Christ.
We have one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and we are all
engaged in one common warfare."
Sir, there is no reason why, on this occasion, the most
rigid and the most icy Anglican might not feel it an
honour, as I do, to be present here to-day. For we are
present to do honour to the memory of a pre-eminently
holy man, and we honour ourselves in honouring him.
He was, as you know, a presbyter of the Church of
England. He loved the Church of England, he recognised
the Church of England every day in the grace which he
said at his daily meals — he died in her full communion;
and I think, therefore, that on that ground alone no
clergyman need hesitate to be found here. But un
doubtedly he did meet with hard measure from, and
only tardy recognition, by the Church of England. The
bishops of that day delivered charges against him. Vicar
after vicar closed his church to his ministrations at first ;
and some were so base as to head the mobs of his
assailants, and to shower upon his defenceless head a
whole literature of anathema and acrimony. As a boy I
remember to have heard how the great Bishop of Oxford,
Samuel Wilberforce, speaking in Exeter Hall, amid

THE UNVEILING OF THE WESLEY STATUE. i8i
thunders of applause, in " rolling words, oration - like,"
mentioned the day when the Church of England " showed
a semi-vitality, or rather an anti-vitality, in expelling from
her bosom that saint of God, John Wesley." Those
words were a strong indictment — they were not literally
accurate — but, at any rate, let us forget these memories,
and say that we have changed all that. I doubt not that
many of the Wesleyan ministers who are now present
were present ten years ago, when, in the solemn aisles of
Westminster Abbey, there was erected the cenotaph of
John and Charles Wesley, with the memorable words
inscribed upon it : "I look upon the whole world as my
parish;" "God buries His workmen, but carries on His'
work ; " and " The best of all is, God is with us I " j
Sir, I think with something of awe that I am standing
in the very chapel where the body of the great evangelist
was laid in state, and hard by the humble tomb where his
remains await the resurrection of the just, and I thank
God that the vast movement that he inaugurated is still
continued, that the force of it is not yet spent. Were his
spirit with us, he might recall the very text from which he
preached when the foundation-stone of this chapel was
laid one hundred and twenty years ago, and he might
again exclaim, " What hath God wrought ! "
Let me say a few words about John Wesley. Although
the Church and the world have learnt at last to be com
paratively generous to John Wesley — although the roar
of contemporary slander has long since ceased — I do not
think that even now we have learnt adequately to appre
ciate the immensity of his services. Consider only his
disinterested munificence. There may have been men
who were equal to him in talent, in imagination, in learn
ing, and in genius ; but where was there a man of that
age who came up to him in beneficent, self-sacrificing
generosity, and who left behind him such an example of
moral lustre to the world ? Consider his charities. How
many men have there been who chose to be absolutely
poor throughout their lives — living on an income little

i82 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
more than that of a curate, and yet giving away a sum not
less than ;£"40,ooo ? Consider his courage. The physical
courage of the soldier and sailor is cheap and common
compared with the courage of a scholar, a clergyman, and
a gentleman, who, in that age, day after day, and year after
year, faced raging and hostile mobs, and underwent what
> was then the humiliation of preaching in the open air.
Physical courage was nothing to the moral and spiritual
courage which enabled men like the Wesleys and George
Whitefield to " Stand pilloried on infamy's high stage.
And bear the pelting scorn of half an age.''
' When letters and extracts from his Journals were forged
to the defamation of his character, John Wesley remarked
to his brother Charles, " When I devoted to God my life,
my ease, my time, I did not except my reputation ! I will
not stay to defend my character. I will go to Canterbury
to-morrow, and pursue my work."
Consider, besides, the extraordinary continuance of his
indomitable powers. Consider that he preached 42,400
times after his return from Georgia — often at the rate of
fifteen sermons a week. Consider those 225,000 miles
that he travelled, often many hundreds of miles a week on
the execrable roads of those days. Consider the record
of the meetings he attended, the fierce controversies that
raged around him, his endless publications, his many
anxieties, his burdensome care of so many communities ;
and when you have thought of all this, I will ask you
whether the clergy of the present day have not reason to
make confession of what Mr. Price Hughes has not
hesitated to call our laziness, our ease, our supineness ?
When you consider the extraordinary energies of Wesley,
what clergyman of any denomination might not feel
honoured to stand here, to do honour to one who so
heroically lived and who so nobly died ? I say that even
now I do not think we have done sufficient honour to the
work which Wesley did. Consider the fact that he gave
an impulse to all missionary exertion — the British and

THE UNVEILING OF THE WESLEY STATUE. 183
Foreign Bible Society, the Religious Tract Society, the
London Missionary Society. Even the Church Missionary
Society owes much to his initiative. The work of Educa
tion and the work of Ragged Schools — the work of Robert
Raikes the Gloucester printer, and John Pounds the
Portsmouth cobbler — were partly anticipated when the
sainted Silas Told taught at the Foundery. Wesley was
the first to encourage the cheap press, with all its stupend
ous results ; he was the first to make common in
England the spread of religious education ; he was a
pioneer of funeral reform. Besides all these things, he
was the inaugurator of prison reform, for he visited prisons
and sought to improve them long before John Howard
made that his special work ; and the very last letter he
ever wrote was a letter written to Wilberforce to spur him
on and encourage him in his brilliant advocacy of Eman
cipation for the Slaves. We may therefore feelingly
endorse the estimate of one who said that almost every
thing in the religious history of modern days was fore
shadowed by John Wesley.
But even now we have not touched upon that which is
his most distinctive work — the preaching of the gospel to
the poor. Let Whitefield have the honour of having been
the first to make the green grass his pulpit and the blue
heavens his sounding-board ; but let it not be forgotten
that that daring example was followed from the first by
John Wesley, and he continued in it, so that at the age of
eighty-one he preached at Kingswood under the shadow
of trees which he himself had planted, and to children's
children of his disciples who at that time had passed away.
Overwhelming evidence exists to prove what was the
preaching of that day, and what was the condition of the
Church and people of England. How dull, how soulless,
how effete, how Christless was the preaching I How
vapid, how Laodicean was the general character of the
Church ! How godless, how steeped in immorality was
the general condition of the nation I W^esley was the first
man who revived the spirit of religion among the masses

1 84 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
of the people, and who roused the slumbering Church.
His was the voice that first offered the great masses of the
people hope for the despairing, and welcome to the out
cast ; and his work is continued under changed forms, not
only in the founding of the great Wesleyan community,
but also in the Evangelical movement in the Church of
England itself; and even at this moment in the enthu
siasm for humanity which is shown by the poor, humble,
and despised Salvationists. All that is best in their efforts
has been learnt from John Wesley, because, as the late
Bishop of Durham said, " the Salvationists taught by him
have learnt, and have taught to the Church again, the lost
secret of the compulsion of human souls to the Saviour."
Sir, when I think of John Wesley the organiser, Charles
Wesley the poet, George Whitefield the orator of the
Wesleyan movement, I cannot fail to see that they were
special instruments chosen by God for the revival of true
Christian religion in this land of ours, and I thank God
ffor them. We still need such men. Blessed be God ! we
have among us not only in the Church of England, but
in all Christian denominations, men who, though they may
be regarded as " lazy " in comparison with those who
preached fifteen times a week amidst such innumerable
toils, are still faithful and earnest workers. But if the
revival of religion, if the slaying of dragons, if an irresistible
enthusiasm for the redress of long-seated and intolerable
wrongs is needed, we cannot employ the services of
ordinary men like ourselves. Worlds and Churches are
not saved by Committees or by Conferences, or by men
who live and walk in the hard-beaten paths of custom and
the deep-made ruts of routine. Those revolutions are
created, and those revivals are again called into existence,
by men who escape the average ; by men who come forth
from the multitude ; by men who, as our Lord bade us,
go out into the highways and hedges ; by men who have
the love of God burning like a consuming fire upon the
altar of their hearts ; by men who ha\-e become themselves
electric to flash their lightning into the dying embers, their

THE UNVEILING OF THE WESLEY STATUE. 185
burning words, their irrepressible zeal, into other workers,
— ^these men are the richest boon which God gives to
Churches, to nations, to societies. But such men in every
age and generation are necessarily rare, and such a man
pre-eminently was John Wesley.

The Right Honourable H. H. FOWLER, M.P.
Mr. President, —
In the graceful and eloquent speech in which the
Venerable Archdeacon of Westminster has paid so ample,
so just, so fair a tribute to one of the greatest sons of
the Church of England, he said he was here to-day as a
presbyter and as the son of a presbyter of that Church. I
am here to-day, Mr. President, as the son of a Methodist
minister. My father was the only Methodist minister
who, from John Wesley's day till now, died in John
Wesley's house, and his remains lie in this campo santo of
Methodism ; and I deem it a high honour that I should be
permitted, in this the first service connected not only with
our denominational, but our national tribute, to represent
in a very feeble degree the laity of the Methodism of to-day..
Seventy years ago, the ablest of John Wesley's bio
graphers wrote these words : — " There may come a time'
when the name of Wesley will be more generally known,
and in remoter regions of the globe, than that of Frederick
or Catherine." Sir, the day has come. In the remoter
regions of the globe, the vast extent of which never crossed
the brain of Southey — the remoter regions of a greater
Britain than John Wesley ever knew — of 40 millions not
only of the English-speaking race within these islands,
and of 60 millions of the English-speaking race across the
Atlantic — but of the tens of millions of the English-speak
ing race in our great Colonies, and among the missionary
converts of India, and of China, and of Africa, and of the
sunny islands of the Southern Seas, where the name, the

1 86 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
history, the crimes of the Prussian despot and of the
Russian Empress are absolutely not only forgotten, but
unknown history — the name, the influence, the power of
John Wesley are a living and effective force.
It is right to cherish the memories of men whose lives,
whose examples are among the most precious possessions
of Churches and of nations. Heroes, saints, martyrs, we
all delight to honour, but they are gone — their work is
done — " well and faithfully done." " Good and faithful
servants," they have "entered into the joy of their Lord."
But we do not celebrate a memory to-day. John
! Wesley is a greater force in the nation to-day, in the
i Church to-day, than he was a hundred years ago. We
have not yet to write the last line of his epitaph ; we have
not yet to put the top-stone on to his monument ; he
influences powerfully and effectively our national history,
our national character, our national position.
It is easier — far easier, I think- — to estimate the progress
and the position of the work which John Wesley began, —
a work which, though a century older, is stronger to-day,
better to-day, than when he left it ; — it is easier to do that
than to form an impartial judgment of the man himself
Somebody has said that great men are like great mountains,
— a long interval must be spanned before you can esti
mate their true proportions and their real magnitude. I
do not know whether the interval of a hundred years is a
sufficiently wide chasm to intervene between the death of
Wesley and the just estimate of his character. I am not
sure that we have yet reached the standpoint from which
we can view in all their fair proportions his personality,
his genius, his greatness, his failings, his blunders, — they
have all yet to be judicially summed up. John Wesley's
biography has yet to be written. We have had portraits
painted by personal friends, we have had the eulogies of
devoted followers, we have had the criticisms of foes, or at
all events of those who are assuming to be friends, but
who have no sympathy with his movement ; but the cool,
the final judgment of history has to be written. And while

THE UNVEILING OF THE WESLEY STATUE. 187
we value what we have had, — brilliant rhetoric, keen and
cutting controversy, admirable pictures of certain phases
and characteristics of John Wesley's life, — while we value
the vast accumulations of material which some day or
other will form the storehouse where the biographer of
Wesley will find his best resources, — I still think, sir, that
the real man has to be portrayed by other hands in another
fashion. We have had full-dress lives ; we all see John
Wesley as you see him there in that statue to-day, with
his gown and cassock, and in what may have been his
natural hair or his wig ; but the man, the little man in
physical stature, the great man in mental stature, the
everyday man with all his peculiarities, has to be photo
graphed on the English mind.
We shall therefore, perhaps, best discharge to-day's duty
by looking more at the work than at the man. His work
stands out in the history of our faith, in the history of our
nation, as clearly as the dome of St. Paul's stands out on
the horizon of London. Let me go for my evidence not
to one of John Wesley's friends and admirers, but to one
who has little sympathy with John Wesley's creed, — a man
who looks upon John Wesley's work with a cool, dis
criminating eye — a fair, impartial historian — the greatest,
perhaps, of living historians, viz. Lecky. " Although,"
says Lecky, "the career of the elder Pitt, and the splendid
victories by land and sea that were won during his minis
try, form unquestionably the most dazzling episodes in
the reign of George II., they will yield, I think, in real
importance to that Religious Revolution which had
begun in England by the preaching of the Wesleys and
Whitefield." Now, why does a secular historian give Wesley's work
this political pre-eminence over even the work of the
Government of Lord Chatham ? Why does he give it to
John Wesley? Because that Religious Revolution was in
the highest sense of the word a political revolution. It
has affected, it has controlled, it has dominated our national
policy.

i88 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Two great men in the eighteenth century were contem
poraries. There is not much interval between the dates
of their births and the dates of their respective deaths, —
Voltaire and Wesley. You trace the influence of Voltaire
through the French Revolution — for that Revolution was
practically originated by him — that influence is seen to
day in the legislation, in the Government, in the morals,
in the irreligion of France. The same description can be
applied to Wesley. We trace his history through the
same period of time, and we see his influence to-day in
the legislation, the Government, the morals, and the
religion of Great Britain. And if we take the range of the
century (for a long time is needed to test a contrast
between two great lives), — -if we group the results of those
two men's teachings through the generations which have
flitted across the human stage since they left this world,
— I say boldly, I say it without fear of contradiction, that if
this world were all — if this world, with its physical happi
ness and its physical suffering, was the limit of the com
parison — I say the teachings of the one have been as
great a blessing as the teachings of the other were an
unmitigated curse.
Archdeacon Farrar has alluded to the state of England
in the eighteenth century. You can have four tests which
are within the range of^ every member of this congrega
tion, by his access either to the national libraries, or to
the cheapest forms of literature. Take the pictures of
Hogarth, the novels of Smollett, the letters of Lord
Chesterfield, and the Neztgate Calendar. These records
tell you what England was in the eighteenth century, —
sunk in moral apathy, buried in sensual corruption. I
think it was a great French writer who said there was no
religion in England at all. There were only four or five
members of Parliament who ever went to church on
Sunday. In the House of Commons to-day, we talk of
"the honourable and gallant gentleman," and "the
honourable and learned gentleman ;" but I think the House
would be very much astonished if some member were to

THE UNVEILING OF THE WESLEY STATUE. 189
speak of another, as Wilberforce was once spoken of, as
" the honourable and religious gentleman ! " Ay, and
worse than all, because this vice above, this corruption
above, descends, the poor were outside religion as they
were outside civilisation. You had cruel laws — cruelly
administered, and that made a cruel people. I cannot
sum up John Wesley's work in connection with that state
of society more justly or more completely than in the
words of another great English historian of the present
generation, J. R. Green: "The Methodists themselves
were the least result of the Methodist Revival."
I hope my friends who are going to speak this week
will remember that, and throw their minds across the
boundaries of our own denomination. The result of the
Methodist Revival — the noblest result, was "the attempt,
which has never ceased from that day to this, to remedy
the immorality, the ignorance, the physical suffering, the
social degradation, of the profligate and the poor. The
Church was restored to life, a new philanthropy reformed
our prisons ; infused clemency and wisdom into our penal
laws ; abolished the slave trade, and gave the first impulse
to national education." Wesley preached, Wesley taught
in his chapels, in his class-meeting, in his Journals, in his
practice, the true application of the great saying of
Burke, that "whatever is morally wrong can never be;
politically right." And from the days that John Wesley, 1
as a Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, visited the poor
degraded prisoners in Oxford gaol, to the last days of his
life, when he wrote his final letter, to which allusion has
already been made, bearing his dying testimony against
that most execrable of all human villanies, the slave trade
- — John Wesley never faltered in attacking cruelty, ignor
ance, intemperance — in alleviating all the forms of sorrow
and suffering, and in upholding the Christian man's
obligation to bring his Christianity into his daily per
formance of public duty in all its branches.
What was the result of such a gospel as that ? — (I will
not go over the ground that has already been traversed

I90 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
so ably and so eloquently) — the result of the position of
the English mind, of English public opinion through the
great cataclysm of the French Revolution ? If you refer
to your history, you will find that there was an attack all
along the line on property, on authority, on morals, on
religion — and England escaped. Why ? I believe it was
the Methodism of the -lower classes, the Methodism of
the middle classes, their intense antagonism — and, mind
you, they feel it as strongly to-day — to antichristian
teaching, which saved the nation and the constitution of
England ; and during the century which is now drawing to
a close, gradually, slowly, but surely, the teaching of the
New Testament is becoming year by year a stronger
force in our national life — stronger far than when in her
proudest days the undivided Western Church dominated
the thrones and principalities and powers of Christen
dom. John Wesley's Methodism " hid the leaven in
three measures of meal," and to-day, without distinction of
class, or party, or creed, our public life is being leavened
with that blessed influence.
To-day — 1 say it as a politician — as a Christian
politician — the strongest argument to the final court of
appeal is not pride, not revenge, not aggrandisement, not
gain, but " Is it right ? "
Part of the secret of this influence, still so powerful, was
John Wesley's genius in the adaptation of vital principles
to surrounding circumstances. He did not believe in —
he eschewed and abhorred — a cast-iron uniformity of
means and institutions. His religious organisation was
spiritual engineering of the truest and highest type. He
built his bridges, he excavated his cuttings, — yes, he some
times drove his tunnels, just according to the nature and
extent of the difficulty which at the time, and under the
circumstances, then confronted him. He was always
abreast of his age — generally in advance of his age — and
never behind his age.
This week we shall record (it has been recorded already
in that masterly article which appears in the Times of

THE UNVEILING OF THE WESLEY STATUE. 191
this morning) the numerical strength of Methodism ; but,
whilst we do that, let us never forget, what the Archdeacon
has so powerfully brought before us this morning, that one
of the noblest features of John Wesley's Methodism was
the absence of bigotry, of sectarian rivalry, of ecclesiastical
animosity. His catholicity was limited to no Church and
no creed. I think one of the most typical instances of
this in his later life is to be found in the anecdote, that on
one of the feasts of the Church, which he always reverently
observed, viz. All Saints' Day, — he mounted that pulpit
(to which Mr. Fowler here pointed), and in solemn silence,
in meditation, in prayer, to the astonishment of his con
gregation, he remained for several minutes. Then, as if
giving expression to the thoughts that had passed through
his mind, he gave out that noble lyric of his brother's
which sums up the communion of saints in the words :
" Come, let us join our friends above,
That have obtained the prize ;
One family we dwell in Him,
One Church above, beneath.
Though now divided by the stream.
The narrow stream of Death."
High Churchman as he no doubt originally was — and
if Dr. Rigg will forgive me, I am not quite sure whether
he ever got rid of his High Churchism, even up to the
very last ; but, at all events, irregular Churchman as he
was, declaring, as he did, within two years of his death,
that he had never varied in any point of doctrine from the
Church in which he lived, and in which he died — he held
out the right hand of fellowship, I was going to say to all
who loved the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, I may say
reverently he held out the right hand of fellowship to all
who feared God and worked righteousness. Read his
wonderful comment on the teachings of the great Emperor
Antoninus; read his prediction that that enlightened
heathen would be among those who sit down in the king
dom of God with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, when

192 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
many professing Christians will be shut out. I am old
enough to remember that one of the favourite domestic
books of devotion of the former Methodists was John
Wesley's abridgment of the work of the Roman Catholic
saint, Thomas a Kempis. He held out the right hand of
I fellowship, again, to orthodox and heterodox Nonconform
ists. He declared that Methodism required of its
members no conformity either of opinion or modes of
worship ; one thing only was required, viz. to fear God
and work righteousness. I think his last definition of the
test of admission into the Methodist Society was this : " Is
the man a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ ? is his life suit
able to his profession 1 " He hated controversy, although
he was continually involved in a great deal of it.
And we claim to-day to be his true and faithful followers.
If we inherit but the smallest portion of his spirit, we shall
claim to be "the friends of all, the enemies of none." His
conflict was with vice, with ignorance, with intemperance,
and with sin. His motive and his aim was to destroy the
works of the devil ; and all who are fighting that battle —
no matter what uniform they wear — are the comrades of
"the people called Methodists."
I would, in closing, in one sentence recall the scene
around that death-bed a century ago.
What was his last confession of faith ? What was the
creed in which he died ? —
" I the chief of sinners am,
\ But Jesus died for me ! "
What was his last hymn ? —
" I'll praise my Maker while I've breath.
And when my voice is lost in death
Praise shall employ my nobler powers. ''
What was his last prayer? — "Bless the Church and the
king. Grant us truth and peace through Jesus Christ our
Lord." And what were his final words of thanksgiving for the

THE UNVEILING OF THE WESLEY STATUE. 193
past and hope for the future ? — " The best of all is, God is
with us I "
In that confession of faith, in that litany, in that in
spiring motto, you have an epitome of the Methodism
which to-day reverently, thankfully, hopefully gathers
around John Wesley's tomb.

ALEXANDER M'ARTHUR, Esq., M.P.
My Christian Friends, —
I can assure you that I feel it both an honour and a
privilege to be permitted to take any part in these deeply-
interesting and important memorial services, and if I could
say anything calculated to interest this meeting, or pro
mote the great object we all have in view, it would afford
me much pleasure. But, after the able and admirable
addresses we have just heard, I think I shall best consult
my own feelings and your wishes by not occupying very
many minutes of your valuable time on this occasion.
You will, however, I presume, expect me to say a few
words. I once had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Talmage
of New York deliver his popular lecture on the Bright
Side of Things, and he commenced by saying he thought
this was the best world God ever made, that he believed
this to be the best period of its existence, and that he
was glad he got on board at this particular time.
Well, sir, it is of course impossible to prove that this is
the best world God ever made, but I suppose it will be
universally admitted that this is the best and most
enlightened period of our world's history. We have
heard and read much of what we call the dark ages, with
all the ignorance, superstition, persecution, and cruelty
which characterised them ; and, although the disposition
to persecute still exists to some extent, we may well feel
devoutly thankful that it is our happy privilege to live in
a better and more enlightened age, in which life and
immortality have been brought to life by the gospel, in
n

194 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
which we can worship God according to the dictates of
our consciences, none daring to make us afraid, and in
which we enjoy so many Christian privileges and advan
tages which our forefathers did not enjoy one hundred
years ago. It is also gratifying to know that we live in an
age of progress. I suppose it will be admitted by all, that
during the present century greater progress has been made
in art, in science, in literature, in the education of the
masses, in the condition of the working classes, in pro
moting temperance, in civil and religious liberty, and in
numerous discoveries calculated to promote the health,
comfort, and happiness of mankind, than has ever been
made in any previous century of our world's history. And
surely we must all rejoice in the progress and extension
of our common Christianity throughout the world, in the
success of the British and Foreign Bible Society and
similar institutions, through whose agency many millions
of Bibles and Testaments in all languages have been
put into circulation. Nor should we omit the Religious
Tract Society, and other institutions for the diffusion of
useful and Christian knowledge. In the success of our
various missionary societies, the progress of the Christian
Church at home, and above all, the marvellous progress
of that section of the universal Church to which most of
us have the honour and privilege to belong — a Church
which was only in its infancy one hundred years ago, and
which, if we include all branches of Methodism, is now said
to be, and we think correctly said to be, the largest Protest
ant Church in existence. When Mr. Wesley died there
were not 60,000 members of Society. Now, we are in
formed, there are in the United States of America alone,
31,765 ministers, 54,711 churches, and a membership of
nearly 5 millions, which we suppose may be safely doubled
or trebled if we take the number of hearers into account ;
and when to those we add the Methodism of Canada,
Australasia, Africa, the United Kingdom, and other parts
of the world, we may well adopt Wesley's own language,
and exclaim :

THE UNVEILING OF THE WESLEY STATUE. 195
" Who, I ask in amaze.
Hath begotten me these.
And inquire from what quarter they came ?
Aly full heart it replies.
They are born from the skies.
And gives glory to God and the Lamb."
Surely, sir, when we take all this into account, we
cannot fail to perceive what a mighty influence for good
Methodism exerts, and what a blessing it has been to the
Church and the world ; what a civilising, purifying, and
elevating influence it has exerted, not only in rural dis
tricts of this and other countries, but also in more crowded
centres of population, where vast numbers have been
brought from darkness to light, and to serve the living and
true God, rescued from ignorance, irreligion, and in many
cases from profligacy and vice, and have been raised up to
become useful members of society, to occupy important
positions in the Church and the world, and to prove by
happy experience that "godliness is profitable unto all
things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of
that which is to come." We might also refer to the fact
that Methodism has greatly stimulated and enriched other
Churches, many of whose most earnest and energetic
members, and most able and successful ministers, received
their first religious impressions and early training in our
Sunday schools, or as class - leaders or local preachers.
Again, it can easily be proved that the State has been
greatly benefited ; for we have it on the highest authority
that " righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a disgrace
to any people." And we believe that whatever tends to
promote education, temperance, morality, truth and right
eousness, promotes good order, lessens taxation and
increases national wealth. This, we believe, Methodism
has been instrumental in accomplishing to a much greater
extent than many, who know comparatively little about
the numerous and varied agencies she employs, are aware
of Indeed, it is astonishing how little is known about
Methodism, even by many well-meaning and professedly
Christian men : what erroneous opinions are entertained

196 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
respecting it, and how bitterly it is opposed and perse
cuted by many from whom we might expect better things
and more Christian conduct. Numerous instances might
be given in proof of these statements, and we too
frequently find them in the daily papers.
I was on one occasion travelling in a railway carriage
with a gentleman, a member of a Christian Church, and in
the course of conversation I happened to say I was a
Wesleyan Methodist. Judge my surprise when he said,
" But don't they deny the divinity of our Lord Jesus
Christ ? " I might also give an instance of the ignorance,
bigotry, or intolerance which exists, even in the House of
Commons, although, I am happy to say, to a very limited
extent. On one occasion I was writing at a table in one
of the lobbies, at which two other members were also
writing, when one of them, addressing the member sitting
beside him, said, " I am writing one of the Nonconform
ist ministers : do you give them the title of Rev. ? " But
notwithstanding the ignorance of some, the indifference of
many, and the opposition, if not persecution, too fre
quently encountered, Methodism still claims to be the
friend of all, the enemy of none ; and whether we reflect
upon the past, survey the present, or anticipate the future,
we have abundant reason to thank God, take courage, and
go forward.
Many years ago. Dr. Osborn said he thought the pre-
vailihg sentiments should be gratitude, humility, and hope.
Those should be our sentiments now. I trust that one of
the results of these services may be to unite the various
branches of the Wesleyan family and all other denomina
tions of Christians more firmly in the bonds of Christian
love and charity.

M.eetir)6 : Represei)tir)6 bl)e
iVietlr)oaisb Cor)r)exior)^.
The PRESIDENT of the CONFERENCE.
There is peculiar interest in this meeting. We are a
company of relatives, who, through force of circumstances,
do not often come together. You know how often it is
the case in the ordinary relations of life, that cousins and
brothers are separated hy circumstances or by accident. It
is from no desire on our part that this separation exists.
This first speaker of this evening is one of ourselves ;
and the warmest welcome will be granted always by an
English Methodist audience to a representative of Ireland.
But these other brothers have set up housekeeping on
their own account. Each has built a house ; and I think
I may say, without any injustice to their power of original
ity, that each has built it very much after the old pattern.
They have, of course, introduced improvements — they
would not have made alterations unless they thought
them to be improvements. It has been said by some
that it would be very much better for all the brothers to
come and set up housekeeping together. Of that I am
no judge ; but in order that we should understand one
another, it is essential that we should come together more
frequently. The interest felt in John Wesley and this
celebration is equal on their part to anything that we can

198 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
express. I will venture in your name to give one general
hearty welcome to them all, and I am perfectly sure that
they will express the same hearty welcome to you.

ni>etbobi0m in Jrelanb.
By the Rev. O. M'CUTCHEON,
VICE-PRESmENT OF THE IRISH CONFERENCE.
I ESTEEM it a privilege to be permitted to represent on
this occasion that branch of the great family of Method
ism which the late Rev. Charles Prest always insisted
should be called Methodism in Ireland, and not Irish
Methodism. We have a patron saint called St. Patrick,
and our custom has been to celebrate his death instead of
his birth. On this account we have been subject to some
kindly criticism, as if the custom partook of the character
of an Irish bull ; but now we shall at any rate be able to
comfort ourselves by your example, because you are
doing the same with regard to John Wesley. The Pro
testant Evangelical Churches meet together under the
union flag of the Evangelical Alliance on our saint's day,
to pray for God's blessing on His kingdom in that
country and throughout the world. In the same way we
are met to-day to celebrate the death of John Wesley, not
as a mere memory, because he still lives, and the influence
he generated still prevails throughout Christendom.
It is no part of my business this evening to delineate
the character and labours of John Wesley. It is as un
necessary as it would be impossible to add to what we
heard this morning. However he may have been mis
understood during his lifetime, however he may be mis
understood still, his labours were self-denying. Though
his name is pre-eminently the heritage of Methodism, the
fruits of those labours are to be found in all the Christian
Churches of the United Kingdom. A distinguished country-

THE METHODIST CONNEXIONS. 199
man of mine published some years ago a very appreciative
sketch of John Wesley. Giving a very eloquent descrip
tion of Rome, and calling St. Peter's an ecclesiastical
Eddystone, he said that John Wesley occupied towards
his age the same commanding position. There could be
no doubt whatever as to the deep interest which John
Wesley took in Ireland. He crossed the Irish Channel no
fewer than forty-two times. In those days there were
no magnificent steamboats as there are now ; even the
sailing vessels then in use were very inferior. And yet
John Wesley counted it no hardship to visit Ireland so
frequently ; and perhaps it would be better for both parts
of the United Kingdom if there were more intercourse of
that sort to-day. I do not know by what providential
circumstance John Wesley's thoughts were first directed
to that part of the kingdom. At the Conference of 1746,
held in Bristol, this question appears on the " Minutes : "
" What ought to be regarded as a providential call to
some new sphere of labour ? " The answer is : " An
invitation from some person who would have a house to
receive us, and the possibility of doing more good than
by staying where we are." In the following year he
visited Dublin, spent some time there ; and in the year
1748 Ireland appears upon the " Minutes of Conference,"
divided into four circuits, each province for a circuit ; and
in the same year appears the name of " Charles Skelton
from Ireland," received as one of the Assistants. So early
did the good seed sown in that country bear fruit.
It would be impossible on the present occasion to follow
out in detail the remarkable history of the Methodist
movement in that country. At John Wesley's death
there were 28 circuits, with 66 ministers, and about
14,000 members of Society, or about one-fifth of the
entire number of members then in the United Kingdom.
We must look upon that as a remarkable success. The
population of Ireland at that time was estimated at about
4,200,000. It is generally acknowledged that that estimate
was far too low. It was made for purposes of taxation.

200 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
and therefore was not intended to be the outside figure.
The population to-day is well known to be under five
millions. So that, for all the purposes of a rough com
parison, the population may be taken as much the same as
it was a century ago. We have now 131 circuits, 190
ministers engaged in the active work, and some 26,000
members of Society. It is true that in many places
our cause, to visitors from England, will seem very
small and feeble. But there is scarcely a part of Ireland
where Methodism is not to be found. In the course of
my ministerial life I must have visited and slept in every
county. We are not confined to one part of the country,
—our influence is very general.
You may perhaps know very well from other sources,
that there has been a vast emigration from Ireland to
other parts of the world. It is not necessary to speak of
the causes of that emigration ; they are various, and they
affect the population in various ways. I have no intention
of trenching upon the field of politics. We did not com
mence to take any account of the number of emigrants
from our Societies until 1830. Within these sixty years
35,000 members of Society have left us by emigration.
if we take into account the children and other adherents,
we have lost not less than 100,000 of our people within
that time, and yet we have two-thirds more members in
Society to-day than when John Wesley died. The marvel
is, not that we are so small, but that, despite these adverse
influences, we still maintain our position and influence, for
the good of our country, and the glory of God.
Let me say here that our country is unique in one
respect, and our brethren in England will appreciate this.
We over there get the credit of being factious and quarrel
some, and disposed to divide. That may apply to certain
parts of the population ; certainly it does not apply to
Methodism. We have never had but one division in the
Methodist family in our entire history, and that one
division we have healed. We are one united Methodism
throughout that country, with the exception of the few

THE METHODIST CONNEXIONS. 201
congregations belonging to the New Connexion and the
Primitive Brethren of England. I believe the providence
of God brought that about. For five years I was one of
the secretaries of the Union Committee. We did not go
about the thing rashly ; but, after the Church was dis
established in Ireland, our Primitive Wesleyan brethren
felt that the reason for their separate existence was
removed. It was necessary to obtain an Act of Parlia
ment in order to remove certain difficulties out of the way
to the union which we both desired. I believe, in the
most remarkable manner, God's providence favoured the
obtaining of that Act of Parliament, — a measure which took
out of the hands of local trustees the power to control the
disposition of the chapels if two-thirds of the Conference
sanctioned the union with another religious body. The
union was effected in perfect peace ; and I am thankful to
say, not only that United Methodism has passed through
the crisis of that difficulty without injury, and without any
sacrifice of principle on either side, but that the state of
the Connexion generally, financially, spiritually, and in
relation to the population, is far better than it was previous
to the union. I do not believe that any one would desire
to go back to the former state of things.
There is another matter which I think is unique in the
history of Methodism in Ireland. The late Dr. E. O.
Haven, of America, visited Ireland some years ago, and
gave to the world his impressions of our cause. He said :
" The Methodists are the only Christian denomination'.
that have ever gained a strong foothold in Ireland without
an emigration of membership from abroad, without
Government aid, and drawing their numbers alike from
the ancient Celts and Saxons. This is a phenomenon
that challenges attention. Wesley and his associates were
voluntary missionaries to Ireland. They did not carry
with them a colonisation, as the Presbyterians did. They
did not enter Ireland under the protection of an armed
soldiery. Their first converts, ministers and people, were
alike from all classes." You cannot estimate its influence

202 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
upon the population merely by its numbers. There is
another testimony which perhaps will be better appreciated
here. We envy our brethren in England nothing, except
their free access to the masses of the population. Refer
ence was made this morning to Southey and his Life of
Wesley. Whatever may have been its faults, he strove to
get the best information he could. He wrote to Bishop
Jebb of Limerick, and asked how it was that Methodism
in Ireland had been a comparative failure. The bishop
knew something of the work, and, writing back to Robert
Southey, he said he was not prepared to admit that
Methodism in Ireland had been a failure. He said that if
they looked to the Protestant portion of the population,
which was the only portion to which Methodism had
access, and compared its numbers with that portion of the
population, they would come to the conclusion that it had
been quite as successful in Ireland as in other parts of the
world. He looked upon it as " a powerful resuscitator ; "
and said, "The disproportion, I will allow, between the
gross population of Great Britain and Ireland exceeds
the disproportion between the gross population of Great
Britain and Ireland. But then I doubt whether the
Roman Catholics can be fairly taken into account ; and in
that case, Methodism may be truly said to have made a
greater progress among the legitimate objects of it here
than in the sister island." I think the bishop made a
mistake when he said that Methodism in Ireland had
access to only one portion of the population. Dr. Coke,
at one of the Conferences, suggested to the preachers to
bring to the next Conference an exact statement of the
number of Roman Catholics who had been converted to
God ; and, after careful inquiry, the report to the next Con
ference was that upwards of 700 members of Society were
converted Roman Catholics. These are matters which we
are not accustomed to blazon abroad, because, if we did,
they might block our way in some cases ; but despite
political complications, perhaps even because of them, the
barrier which has prevented our access to the people is

THE METHODIST CONNEXIONS. 203
being gradually broken down, and I do not know that at
any former time we had more access to the people. We
have no intention of living on the reputation of our fathers.
In John Wesley's lifetime, there were some leaders in
London who expressed their regret that Mr. Wesley and
his brother Charles should expend so much time in
Ireland, and send so many preachers there ; the leaders in
London would be wiser now. But Mr. Wesley replied,
" Have patience, and Ireland will repay you." Has it not
done so? Ireland yielded to him some of the most
eminent of his coadjutors, — Thomas Walsh, Adam
Clarke, William Myles, William Thompson, Henry Moore,
and others. Has not Irish Methodism founded, or aided
in founding, Methodism throughout the world ? The fruit
of our labours fills the earth. We rejoice with you in
your successes ; and unite with you to-day in thanksgiving
to God for the gift of John Wesley to the Christian
Church. We hope that for our own country, and for
God's cause throughout the world, a brighter day has
dawned. May it be found so !

fIDetbobiet IRew (Tonneyion.
By the Rev. JAMES LE HURAY,
PRESIDENT OF THE METHODIST NEW CONNEXION.
I AM here to reciprocate the brotherly sentiment which
your invitation implies, cherishing as I do the hope that
the meeting may be the pledge and promise of closer
approximation, of kindlier fellowship, and of more ser
viceable co-operation in the future than in the past.
Surely such aspirations are in harmony with the place and
purpose of our meeting. We meet in the mother church of
our beloved Methodism, to do honour to the memory of
our great Founder. At the father's grave the children's
differences are forgotten. In such a hallowed atmosphere
one cannot think of sect for love of the brethren. All

204 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
human adjustments seem to vanish, and one sees but the
heavenly side of our Methodism, and on its heavenly side
there are no differences. Its Divine principles hold us all
in unity as gravitation holds in one Atlantic the billows
of the sea. Up in our spiritual sky one rainbow arches in
benedictions over us all. We all breathe the same atmo
sphere, drink from the same fountain, and break the same
bread. In the spirit of gospel truth, as in the bonds of
gospel love, all the family are one. As I look into your
faces and join in your songs, Methodism seems broader
and more beautiful to me than ever before. It has all the
radius and radiance and charity of a Divine reality.
In Wesley's life and influence we have a common herit
age. His name is fragrant to us as the flowers of spring,
and his history inspiring as mountain breezes.
" The actions of the just
.Smell sweet, and blossom in the dust."
And the hallowed dust that reposes beside us —
"Until the eternal day shall break.
And the night shadows of earth shall flee away '' —
that dust has blossomed in beauty for many a year, and is
still fragrant with perfumes that make every English breeze
from Wesley's grave a welcome messenger to Methodists
the wide world over. He needs no marble to perpetuate
his fame. What avails the sculptor's art to him whom the
holy Church throughout all the world has embalmed in
her everlasting remembrance? His monuments are reared
in millions of glad and grateful hearts ; monuments built
up by the prayers of the penitent and the praises of the
redeemed ; monuments that are numbered by the harps
sw^pt by immortal fingers ; monuments that will endure
when the marble has crumbled, and the bronze has melted,
and the heavens rolled up as a scroll have passed away.
" They that turn many to righteousness shall shine as
stars for ever and ever."
Even outside our Methodism, no true lover of his country

THE METHODIST CONNEXIONS. 205
will willingly let the name of Wesley die. Other sons
have saved her from the enemy without ; not counting
their lives dear unto them, they have hurled back the
armed legions that would have crushed her beneath their
heel, as her uncrumbling rocks have hurled back the
inrush of the storm-driven billows. But Wesley, with other
God-raised men, saved her from the enemies within ; the
moral foes who were insidiously undermining her great
ness and threatening her with ruin, dire as that which has
overtaken others, on whose broken pillars and blackened
ruins time has long since written " Ichabod." The century
which witnessed Wesley's birth has been described as " a
dewless night succeeded by a sunless morn." Whilst
literature flourished, religion drooped and died. A
faithful few still trimmed their lamps in " a darkness which
might be felt," but their feeble light only served " to make
the darkness still more visible." The Church was desig
nated " a fair carcase without a spirit," and the clergy had
less authority, and were under more contempt, than those
of any other Church in Europe. Christianity, systematic
ally invested by an alliance of all her foes, scientific and
sensual, philosophical and frivolous, was perhaps more
fiercely and forcibly assailed than at any previous period
of her history. And the defenders of the faith, all too few
and far between, kept puffing out, half despairingly, from
behind their paper bulwarks, their replies to the well-
directed volleys of their phalanxed foes. The upper
classes were avowedly infidel and shamelessly profligate ;
the lower stupidly ignorant and grossly irreligious. Says
Hannah More, " We saw but one Bible in the parish of
Cheddar, and that was used to prop a flower-pot." In the
face of such facts, is it unreasonable to suppose that swiftly
and surely the darkness would have deepened, and the
depravity gathered strength, until Christianity would have
been proscribed, and, under the sway of a brazen, brutal
atheism, England, like her neighbour France, would have
been plunged into the agonies of a revolution, in which
order would have fled before anarchy, and the land been

2o6 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
deluged in blood ? If the nation was to be saved from riot
and ruin, then it had become time for God to work ; and
now the mighty, merciful work began. In this hour the
men were born on whom tongues of fire were hereafter to
descend, and in whose lips the old truths of a dead ortho
doxy were to become keen and powerful — the very sword
of the Spirit. God, in His mysterious providence, was
about to make Methodism the counteracting salt by which
the nation was to be preserved from putrefaction.
Three men stand out foremost and tallest in this mar
vellous work, i.e. Whitefield and the brothers Wesley, —
men who, in contrast to the sinful and sceptical and super
ficial around them, were animated by a piety which went
deeper than the face, and farther than the words, and left
behind it a fragrance fresh from the Rose of Sharon and
the Lily of the Valley. Under the same Divine inspiration,
they were as diverse in gift as in face, symbolising respect
ively soul and system and song in the new movement.
" All force and impetus, Whitefield," we are told, " was the
powder-blast in the quarry, and by one explosive sermon
would shake a district and detach materials for other men's
long work. Deft, neat, and painstaking, Wesley loved to
split and trim each fragment into uniform plinths and
polished stones. Whitefield had no aptitude for pastoral
details ; Wesley, with a beaver-like propensity for build
ing, was always constructing Societies, and, with a king
like craft of ruling, was most at home when presiding over
a class or Conference." Whilst John was the founder of
Methodism, Charles Wesley was its sweet singer ; whilst
the one brother laid the foundations and reared up the
pillars of the new tabernacle, the other filled it with
melodies — melodies which fed the flame of piety from the
purest oil of the sanctuary, renovating worn-out spirits,
and quickening hearts benumbed by sordid cares, and
winning everywhere a listening ear for the higher har
monies of heaven. Methodism was builded rapidly, but
the walls would never have gone up so fast had they not
been built to music.

THE METHODIST CONNEXIONS. 207
No new truths had these to give to the world. Their
movement was not a creation ; it was only a revival.
They simply burnished up old truths which they had
found rusty and hidden beneath encrusting errors, and
held them up in all their brightness before men's astonished
eyes. They took the very gospel, which had become
palsied and powerless in the hands of others, and made it
mighty through God. On their Heaven-inspired lips, the
message which had hitherto produced no more impression
on men's consciences than a rippling wave on a granite
rock, becarne potent and penetrating as the arrow shot
from the bow of a strong and skilful archer, which hits
the point at which it is aimed, and quivers there with
unspent force. Like a fierce tornado sweeping across
the deep, their soul-stirring appeals reached the deepest
emotions in men's natures ; strings long silent were swept
as by an unseen hand ; wells long sealed were opened, and
the waters stirred to their innermost depths. The scoffer
was silenced, and the infidel convinced. The oath died
unuttered on the lips of the blasphemer, and the fiery cup
was dashed from the lips of the intemperate. The man
that came to revile remained to pray. " I came to break
his head," said one of Whitefield, " and he has broken my
heart." In a word, whenever and wherever they preached,
there the scenes of Pentecost were re-enacted, and bitter
tears rained plentifully from broken hearts. Widely and
swiftly, as fire in stubble, the movement spread. Penitents
transformed into preachers went forth to proclaim, as with
a trumpet-note, the faith by which they were saved.
Every renewed life was converted into a lever to elevate
and ennoble other lives around. Believers banded to
gether in spiritual brotherhoods against the world, the
flesh, and the devil ; gathered together into small com
panies for counsel and communion, that they might
perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord ; and from these
class-meetings went forth, as live coals from the altar,
souls intent on kindling a fire which earth and hell might
strive to quench, but strive in vain. And from that time

2o8 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
to this, the work has grown the world over, and the years
through, until to-day the sons of Wesley are found in
nearly every land. Once a by-word, Methodism has now
become a praise and power in the earth. Though its
first adherents scarcely numbered more than the family
shut up in the ark, it gives its name to-day to over
twenty-eight millions of souls, gathered out of every
nation, and people, and kindred, and tongue. Well may
we exclaim, with its great Founder : " What hath God
wrought ! " And still it lives and thrives. Like the bones
of the prophet in Old Testament story, which gave life
to the dead body cast into their sepulchre, the divinely-
blessed words and works of Wesley are still quickening
multitudes into spiritual life, though the lips which spoke
them, and the hands which wrote them, have long since
crumbled to the dust. Being dead he yet speaks, and will
speak, for whilst Methodism lives Wesley can never die.
And now, sir, the question comes, How can we, the
children, use most wisely and well the splendid heritage
handed down to us by our fathers ? How make the future
of our Methodism greater and more glorious than its past ?
It has been said that we are in danger of being ruined by
our prosperity; that, richer and more respectable than
our fathers, we have become weaker and more worldly
than they ; and that, unless we are watchful, this worldli-
ness will bring our Methodism into the character and
condition of Sardis, which, under the name of life, had the
coldness and palsy of death. I dare not say the charge is
unwarranted, though I do believe it is exaggerated. We
admit that in too many instances the pulses of our
spiritual life are feeble and fluctuating ; that our piety is
not commensurate with our privileges. We have to mourn
too often over home lavishness and church parsimony;
days given to pleasure and hours grudged to God ; energy
in the world and indolence in the church ; tongues
eloquent on all things but Christ and Christian experi
ence ; visits of etiquette never omitted, and visits to the
fatherless and the widow in their affliction never paid !

THE METHODIST CONNEXIONS. 209
All these things prove that the old Methodist fire has
been allowed to burn too low. And what is the remedy ?
We want quickening. We need life — more life — and
still more life. It is not new machinery we want, or
even a readjustment of the old, — we have it in abundance
and in perfection. What we require is a larger inspira
tion ; a mightier spiritual force to set it in motion ; a
fresh baptism of the heaven-born ardour which sent
Wesley and Whitefield amongst the people as a flame of
fire which leaps up among dying embers. Without this
our Methodism may be " rich and increased with goods,"
and yet be only a Dead Sea, into which rivers of wealth
may flow, but from which no living waters go forth to
enrich surrounding wastes. If we wish to repeat the
successes of our fathers, we must largely run on their
lines ; drink deeply and often of the fountain whence
they derived their strength. The great Methodist Revival
was born in the little Oxford prayer-meeting. Having
there obtained power with God, they went out, and,
through Him, obtained power over men. The preaching,
which like a hammer broke the rocky heart, was nerved
with the energy of agonising prayer. As expressed in
your admirable pastoral, sir, this is our want to-day. I
fear that the hard-kneed race of Methodists is becoming
extinct. In the busy and anxious life most of us are
living, prayer is in danger of being crowded out. One
thing after another comes in and thrusts it aside. It is
like the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda : while it is
coming another steps down before it. I know that it has
become a fashionable thing to sneer at prayer as a weak
and worthless thing — "a passionate wail flung to the
viewless winds ; " but as Methodists we know better than
that. Our history from the beginning has taught us that
it is an appeal to the sympathetic heart and the resistless
arm of a living, loving God. Let those laugh at prayer
who will, we know its worth too well to be laughed out of
it. The problem of prayer is not to be solved from the
professor's chair. It has been solved already a thousand
O

2IO CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
times on the bed of languishing and in the upper chambers
of devotion, in dark hovels and darker dungeons, where
Methodists have prayed till the heavens have opened.
Let us pray, then, and pray often ; pray in secret and pray
in concert; do not let us forget the assembling of our
selves together for prayer. Remember that spiritual
warmth is communicated by contact. The warm heart
kindles the cold. The living faith quickens the dead.
The heart may grow too cold for the fire burning on its
own altar to thaw it, but the gathered heat of many fires
will quickly melt it into streams of sympathy and service.
How often in our history have a few earnest souls in a
class-room kindled a fire which has set a whole circuit
in a blaze. Oh, sir, we mourn over the hardness of men's
hearts, and the slow spread of Christ's kingdom. Let us
rather mourn over our timid faith, which only touches
the angel's wing with the tips of its fingers, instead of
hanging upon him with Jacob's death-grip, exclaiming,
" I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me." Endued
with such power, difficulties would melt before us like
snowflakes before the sun, and, like Wesley and Whitefield
of old, set on fire of God, we would go forth as cleansing
consuming flames to purge the dross and burn up the
stubble of sin.
Early Methodism was evangelistic in its spirit. It
inaugurated the " Forward Movement " in modern Church
work. The new departure, of which we are now hearing
so much, is really only a return to the old paths. Wesley
felt the burden of souls upon him, and he went out to seek
and save them. Not willingly at first, but under Divine
constraint. He would rather have delivered his message
in a church and from a pulpit, but God shut the church
door in his face, and compelled him to go out into the
highways and hedges. It needed no little fortitude for
such a man as Wesley to do this. The courage which
could lead a forlorn hope is inferior to that which led
Wesley, with the refined and scholastic atmosphere of
Oxford about him, to mount waggons and tables by the

THE ME THODIST CONNEXIONS. 1 1 1
road-side, and address low-bred, vulgar mobs ; but he did
it. It needed almost seraphic sweetness to endure un
ruffled the coarse onslaught of brutal colliers, — men who,
brought to bay by the fiery arrows with which he trans
fixed their consciences, were sometimes more savage than
beasts at Ephesus. Yet in the midst of the wildest tumults,
pelted wit'n foul missiles and fouler oaths, bruised and
bleeding, he maintained a sweet serenity, the outshining
of a Christ-like compassion which overlooked the scorn in
its solicitude to save the scorner. He saw, beneath those
rough and often ragged forms, souls capable of being
raised by Divine grace from the lowest depths to the
loftiest altitudes. of Christian saintliness and splendour.
They were to him prodigals, who, though reduced to utter-
est beggary and steeped to the lips in swinish impurities,
were to be brought back to the Father's house, clad in
festal robes, and made to swell the music of holy mirth.
And so he patiently endured insult and anguish, and
pleaded and prayed with them, with what result let history
tell. As he did so we must do, if we desire his success.
Our responsibilities are as great, and our opportunities are
as many as his. Men still stand aloof from the means of
grace. As there was a rough desert not far from the Holy
City, so round about our splendid chapels, with their re
spectable congregations, there are moral wastes which need
to be rescued from weeds and worthlessness ; multitudes
without God and without hope in the world. The fact is
notorious : it glares upon us in the crowds that flood the
streets of our cities, or flow out into the suburbs ; it
chequers the sunshine and disturbs the joy of the day of
rest. With many, eternity has disappeared from the sphere
of motive. To-day is all in all. Sense sways spirit, and
the shows of time eclipse the realities of the future. What,
then, is our duty as Methodists to these poor outcasts, who
are as sheep without a shepherd ? To bring back one, the
great Good Shepherd left His ninety-nine ; and shall not
we go forth to seek the lost when half a nation lies outside
the Church's pale? Too long we have waited for the

212 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
people to come to us. Now, like the Master, let us go to
them. We must, if we wish to be true to the spirit of
our Methodism. The greatest achievement of her early
history was the gathering in of the outcasts ; and the work
from which she derives her greatest glory, and to which
she owes her existence, must be continued if she is to be
multiplied and enlarged. Let us go, then, as Wesley went,
with compassion in our hearts and with Christ on our lips;
Christ crucified, the expression of eternal love, and the all-
sufficient refuge for sinful men ; the Christ who touches
human life at every point, and in so touching it lifts earth
to heaven. Such a message will bring the weary and
heavy-laden around us, like thirsty travellers around a
newly-discovered well. It matters little whether the
draught of living water be given in an earthen cup or a
golden chalice. "The main thing is, does it hold good measure?
Heaven soon sets right all other matters."
And, sir, let us enforce our evangel with our lives. The
age which saw the rise of Methodism was one in which
religion had fallen into contempt ; it had degenerated into
a thing of empty form. The inconsistencies of professors
had made it a smoke in men's eyes, and a stench in men's
nostrils. Methodism rose up in protest against these
things, and sought to counteract them by " spreading
scriptural holiness through the land." It demanded a
higher spiritual life in those who were called to witness
for God, so that they should not only profess the truth but
practise it. By such men — men whose lives enforced the
teaching of their lips — men who were "happy in their
holiness, and holy in their happiness " — Methodism sought
to fulfil her mission. And, sir, if our future is to resemble
our past, that is what we need as Churches to-day, — men
who not only hold the truth, but who are held by the
truth ; men whose lives are deeply rooted in Christ, and
uniformly crowned with the fruits of holiness ; men who
live in Christ and for Christ, as those who are alive from

THE ME THO DIS T CONNEXIONS. 2 1 3
the dead. Depend upon it, if we have such life in our
midst, it will make itself felt in the world around us. The
piety which can be kept in the dark, and no one be the
wiser for it, is not worth the keeping. It is worthless as
the barren fig-tree, which withered under Christ's curse.
But, sir, it cannot be hidden, even if we would. Invisible in
its essence, it will be patent enough in its result. You
could no more suppress it than you could prevent light
from shining. Imprison Peter, and the darkest dungeon
will blaze at midnight with more than midday glory.
Thrust Stephen out of the city gate to stone him, and
whilst his life ebbs away beneath the cruel, crushing blows,
the light will flash up within him till his face shines like
the face of an angel. And so in any case, if a man has
grace within him, it will flow forth spontaneously as heat
from a fire or fragrance from a rose. Like the box of
ointment which Mary broke, it will shed a perfume all
around. Ah, and like the wind which swept over the
valley in which the prophet stood, it will turn dead, dry
bones into living men. It did in Wesley's day, and it will
do in ours. These are the sort of lives Methodism wants
to fit her for her world-wide mission. Thank God she has
had, and still has, such lives. Still, they are all too few.
Our need is that such lives should be multiplied — that the
exception should become the rule. Our need is that the
average Methodist should be as our present best, and our
best such as we have never seen. Let all pray as some
pray, and there would be a plentiful and permanent rain
of blessing. Let all work as some work, and no part of
the field would be unoccupied, and no sheaf of the great
harvest ungathered. Let all live as some live, and that
old battery of the enemy. Inconsistency, would be silenced
for want of ammunition. And our beloved Methodism
everywhere would become what her sainted Founder
intended her to be, and what we his children long for her
to be — a Church whose voice will be as a trumpet, her
example as a light, her influence as a sword, and her life
as a sermon to wake the dead.

214 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.

primitive flDetbobist Conneyion.
By the Rev. J. HALLAM,
PRESIDENT OF THE PRIMITIVE METHODIST CONNEXION.
I AM glad to be here when City Road is beginning to
renew its youth, and I hope the renewal of its youth will
be something more than concrete foundations and marble
pillars and better seatage. I hope the Church that
worships in this sanctuary will renew its youth with
greater fidelity and love to Jesus Christ.
One hundred years ago to-day, John Wesley breathed
his last ; forty years ago to-day, William Clowes died —
the potter who gave up his work, and took one-third of
what he was getting at his trade, in order to preach the
gospel. 1 have been glad here to-day, sir, to see behind
me in this beautiful window, that the central representa
tion is John Wesley, standing under a green tree and in the
free open air, with Bible in hand, preaching to the people ;
so William Clowes was the field-preacher of our Church,
who, under the green tree, in the market-place, anywhere,
told poor lost sinners that Jesus Christ died to save them.
There may be some here to-night who do not know that
William Clowes is one of the men whom we call our
founders, — a man who not only could preach the gospel,
but could shake a congregation when he began to pray.
And you value prayer, unless I much misunderstand your
expressions of sympathy with what the previous speaker
has said in that singularly chaste and beautiful address.
You believe in prayer ; and if City Road and all Method
ists will go more to their knees, we shall have a revival,
and we shall all renew our youth.
At the time when John Wesley was just coming to the
front, it is said that Voltaire, the French sceptic, visited
this land ; and when he got back to his own countrymen,
he said that the English people were so disgusted with the
Christian religion, that neither the old faith revived nor a

THE ME THO DIS T CONNEXIONS. 2 1 5
new religion would make its fortune. This meeting gives i
the lie to that. If John Wesley could stand to-night on,
this platform, I think his heart would be gladdened. <
He might well say the time had come when the world,
was his parish.
And now, sir, what are we here for to-night ? Are we
here to congratulate one another, to rejoice that the Mother
Church of Methodism is hale and hearty ? She is not a
wrinkled, decrepit, withered old woman. Her quiver is full
of arrows ; her children are multitudinous. There is
" abundance of corn on the top of the mountains." This
is the hope we have, the confidence we feel here to-night.
But while we are here to congratulate ourselves, shall we
rest and be thankful ? Is the work of Methodism finished ?
If the work is not finished, and Methodism has not com
pleted its mission, we would like to say. Let us more than
ever go at it. We discuss methods, we spend time in
criticising plans,- we differ about schemes, we compare
the respective virtues of Abana and Pharpar with Jordan,
and all the time the leprosy remains. It is time that we
tried to rise and go forward. If John Wesley could speak,
he would repeat, I think, some of his own words : " Observe
that it is not your business to preach so many times, but
to save as many souls as you can, to bring as many
sinners as you can to repentance, and with all your power
to build them up in that holiness without which no man
can see the Lord." We are sometimes crushed with our
¦ rules of procedure in our Methodistic work. It has once
or twice come over me in my ministerial life, that I would
like to burn my plan, and ask myself where best to go.
I am not sure that such an expression may not be thought
heterodox in a meeting like this ; nevertheless, I have so
felt at times. We want to go go with the old watchwords,
and to sing the old hymns, such as, —
" He breaks the power of cancelled sin,
He sets the prisoner free ;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me."

2i6 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Wesley had an idea that his mission was to sinners, and
in the energy generated by such a conception, Methodism
must open her gates, and she must go out, and send her
preachers to preach the gospel wherever the people are.
Is this all we must do ? What is our work in regard to
the great social questions that are outside us 1 What
is the attitude of Methodism to some very critical ques
tions that are round about us to-day? Have we just to
preach the gospel? Is our work finished with doing that?
No, sir I Outside this chapel there are the seething
lapsed masses, men and women perishing by thousands ;
and also in other cities and towns in this land, where the
only difference is that the sinners are fewer in number,
the evil remaining the same in degree ; and there are
questions involved that touch the hearts of good men, and
Methodism cannot sit still and be silent. We want to
attend to the temporal needs of men, and we ought to act
as John Wesley acted, — to do good to all men. You
remember the story of John Wesley's coach sticking in an
Irish bog. I do not know whether our friend Mr.
M'Cutcheon has ascertained its precise geographical situa
tion or not ; but while Wesley was in difficulties himself an
Irishman passed by with a dejected air, — he was about
to be evicted from his hovel. To his surprise, Wesley put
a pound into his hand. The poor man gave expression
to his gratitude and joy as only an Irishman can. That
was John Wesley's social Christianity. A local preacher
once went home after a service he had been conducting,
and found a message that a poor man of his acquaintance
had no coal in the house to make a fire. Though weary
with a long walk of many miles, he took off his coat, in
which he had preached the gospel, and put into a sack
as much coal as he could carry, and walked two miles, in
order that the poor man might have a fire. I call that
Methodistic Christianity. It is the Christianity of Christ.
We must also present a united phalanx as Methodists.
We are different regiments ; we must all be one army.
We may be different tribes ; we must all be one Israel

THE METHODIST CONNEXIONS. 217
Issachar and Judah may have their respective positions as
well as Zabulon and Naphtali when the camp is pitched ;
but we must have in the middle one tabernacle, one law,
one Shekinah, one cloud of glory, and if we cannot realise
that our work must be a failure. I am glad to think we
are one upon these points. Some people talk of schism ;
and, while we are rejoicing, some are terming us schismatics
and telling us our duty. Well, let them call us schismatics,
it will not hurt us ; and I think we will not do each other
much harm here to-night, and we do not wish injury to the
National Church, only we would like all the Churches of
the land free Churches. As for you and us, speaking for
my own Church, I may say that we have nothing to forgive
— no hatreds to remember. I am here to-night, not only
with my personal good-will, but with the hearty consent
of the Church I represent. We have broad lines of demar
cation. They may, they will get rubbed out. Perhaps
some may think them broad, but there is no impassable
gulf That has yet to be created, if it ever is. I would
like to desiderate that we should get to know one another
a little better sometimes. You, sir, intimated that it was
an accident. I think you are right. I believe that it is
due to our itinerancy. It is not dislike, hatred, jealousy,
envy, which hinders closer relation ; it is the accident of
itinerancy which precludes it so often. Then, sir, there
are anomalies which I think should not exist, and which
freer intercourse might remedy. For instance, last week
I went to preach at a Northumbrian village ; in the same
week another Methodist preacher fulfilled his appointment
there. During the preceding week other two Methodist
ministers preached in the same village. That is the regular
fortnight's work at this particular place ; and the whole
four of us in the fortnight did not muster fifty people.
I do not want to damage village Methodism, but I want to
know if that is the right thing for village Methodism. I
do not think it is. I do not tell you on this united
platform which Church had the biggest congregation — I
leave that for you to find out.

2i8 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.

^be Bible (Tbristians.
By the Rev. W. HIGMAN,
PRESIDENT OF THE BIBLE CHRISTIAN CONNEXION.
William O'Bryan was bom thirteen years before John
Wesley died, and he was converted four years after that
event. His mother was a truly pious woman, who aided
the Methodists, and helped them to establish preaching
in her own and neighbouring parishes. The home was
a home for the ministers and their followers. William
O'Bryan, as soon as he was converted, at once sought the
salvation of others. He exhorted men to flee from the
wrath to come. A press of business led him to neglect the
duty, but a time came when he felt humiliated. He held
a prayer-meeting in a distant village. A Society was
formed ; and for the first time, on Christmas Day, 1795, he
took a text and preached a sermon. Up to that time
seventy souls had been led to Christ through him. He felt
drawn to give himself to the work of the ministry.
In July 1809, in the absence of the circuit minister, Mr.
O'Bryan was asked to do his work. While thus engaged,
he heard that in New Quay there was no evangelical
preaching, and on being relieved from circuit work he
proceeded to that place. Here his labours were greatly
blessed, and he was thus encouraged to proceed in this
irregular way. He established preaching in many places,
walking many miles on the Sabbath day. He had diffi
culties and opposition, and in November 18 10 he was
formally excluded from the Methodist Society, his ir
regularities being his only offence. As he was a
married man, he could not be admitted into the regular
ministry. At this time he heard there were many places
eastward which were destitute of evangelical preaching,
and in a true missionary spirit he went to them. Mrs.
O'Bryan, like a brave and earnest woman, began to con
duct meetings at home. Multitudes of souls were con-

THE METHODIST CONNEXIONS. 219
verted. In the early part of 18 14, Mr. O'Bryan gave up
his business, and laboured in many places. After trying
for six years to be employed by his own people, he re
solved to go on with his work, and to leave the results with
God. At Shebbear he was much pressed to form a Society,
and twenty-two persons gave in their names. Not one
of these knew of his severance from the Methodists. All
who joined had been regular attendants at the parish
church. The first quarterly meeting was held on
January i, 18 16, at his own house in Holsworthy, the
members in church fellowship being 237. The first local
preachers' meeting was held at Week Orchard, and it was
decided to employ a second preacher. James Thorne
accepted the position. The first Conference was held on
August 17, 1 8 19, and a form of chapel deed was decided
on. W'omen-preachers were unanimously accepted. The
missionary society was formed in 1821. The name of
Bible Christian was theirs by gift. Their preachers would
preach ; and one day, under the broad canopy of heaven, a
mob collected. There was a pile of broken stones close
by, and these they used freely, some using their fists with
stones in them. The preachers had their heads and faces
and hands cut, and yet they preached. Souls to them
were more than stones, and the infuriated mob said,
" Surely these must be Bible Christians." The name is a
gift from our enemies, and we accept it as such. The Lord
has blessed us greatly. We have our rules of Society, our
code of doctrines, our magazines, our hymn-books, our
missionary society, and still " the poor have the gospel
preached to them." I have known men give all their
salary to keep a station alive. Is not this true Methodism ?
And if Wesley to-day could speak to all who are in any
true sense his followers, would he not say : Economise
your time, talent, and resources of every kind, and at any
rate keep out of one another's way. Do not ride four
horses to one village, and send four men to do the work
that could be better done by one. And surely Hugh
Bourne and William O'Bryan would give the same advice.

220 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
And so would James Thorne and Dr. W. Cooke, whose
strong sympathy with every proposal tending towards
Methodist union was so well known. Union is strength,
and a United Methodism would be an immense, incalculable
power for good. The world is to be saved, and the power
of sin to be everywhere broken and destroyed. As instru
ments in God's hands, our first duty is to save the people.
Let us join hand in hand to fight for the Lord of Hosts,
and success is certain.

Meslei^an IReform lanion.
By the Rev. GEORGE GREEN,
PRESIDENT OF THE WESLEYAN REFORM UNION.
I LOOK upon Methodism as a great family, and consider
it no mean favour to be counted one of its humble
members. I trust this Centenary Celebration may enable
us to understand each other better, and that we may
separate with stronger attachments even than when we
assembled. We are met to-night under circumstances at
once solemn and joyful.
I. Solemn, because we call to mind the great loss
Methodism sustained in the death of her Founder. And
John Wesley not only belonged to Methodism, but was a
true benefactor of mankind at large. Our Church did not
suffer alone : all England suffered, humanity suffered, and
heaven alone was the richer for his death. We are re
minded, too, of the rapid flight of time. Since our
Founder's death a century has rolled away ; and still how
much work remains undone. There is surely much land
yet to be possessed.
2. But we are met under joyful circumstances, because
of the success we have thankfully to record. How true
are the words, " God buries His workmen, yet continues
His work." We have to rejoice that the work has not
been in vain. The splendid success of the great Methodist

THE METHODIST CONNEXIONS. 221
movement calls for our gratitude to-day, and should
encourage us to increase our diligence and fervour and
faith that the future may be yet more successful.
Methodism is not played out. Perhaps I represent the
most radical wing ; but we are loyal, we love Methodism.
We are proud of our parentage ; we do not forget our
origin ; and we feel a profound reverence for John Wesley's
memory, and for the Mother Church of Methodism.
Though- Methodism is divided, its sections are not
hostile. The strongest possible ties bind us together.
In all essential things we are one — one in our origin, one
in our usages, one in our work. We ought not to feel, as
we have felt, that we are so far separated. Humanity is
in a hopeless condition, but there is hope to be proclaimed
to the worst, and none need despair. We have to carry
the gospel of hope, and deliverance, and sympathy to men
everywhere, and to seek to improve their lives. It is not
her organisation, but her recognition of the ever-present
power of the Holy Spirit, that has been the strength of
Methodism in the past, and that is her hope for the future,
if we are to evangelise mankind. I trust that we shall
grow closer together as the years roll on, and that the com
ing century will eclipse the past in success and triumph.

TUniteb flDetbobist jfree Cburcb.
By the Rev. M. T. MYERS,
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED METHODIST FREE CHURCHES.
It is one hundred years to-day since John Wesley
finished his earthly course. It is very appropriate that
services should be held in commemoration of the event,
and that all the branches of the Methodist family should
unite in such a work.
Since his death, great changes have taken place in the
religious, scientific, commercial, and political world, and
in the general condition and improvement of mankind.

222 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
The Bible Society, as an auxiliary of the Church, has
scattered the leaves of the tree of life — which are for the
healing of the nations — broadcast among the people, and
the England of to-day is not what it was one hundred
years ago. That wave of spiritual light and life, which
passed over this country during the latter half of the last
century, has proved the truth of the saying of Neander :
" All national greatness depends upon the tone of public
feeling and manners, and that on the influence which
religion exerts on the life of the people." Gradually, step
by step, we have risen, until the best education is now
within the reach of every child of the poorest family in the
land ; the rights of citizenship may be enjoyed by every
man of sober and industrious habits ; liberty of conscience
has been secured ; a commercial and maritime position
has been gained, such as finds no parallel in the history of
all the human family.
Within three years of Wesley's death, William Carey
went out to India, and commenced the work of modern
Protestant Christian missions. And now, what a different
prospect does the world present to the view of a believer
in Christ ! We have access to Rome, and all the kingdoms
of papal Europe. The Bible has been translated into the
languages of the swarming millions of the Celestial
Empire, and the missionary has crossed its rivers, scaled
its mountains, and traversed its plains, carrying the lamp
of life. The ports of Japan have been opened, and
practically its inhabitants have accepted the gospel of
Jesus Christ. India is held by a Christian power, and
strenuous efforts are being made to preserve its infant
race from immolation, raise the female to her proper
position in social life, destroy the influence of caste,
abolish idol temples, and convert the abodes of cruelty
into homes of peace and love ; and all Asia begins to
recognise His throne who is Prince of the kings of the
earth. Africa is now explored, and the Missionary
Societies have undertaken the question of its evangelisa
tion, by which its sable sons shall be free, and enjoy

THE METHODIST CONNEXIONS. 223
the liberty by which Christ blesses all His people ; and
Ethiopia stretches out her hands unto God, and the Isles
of the Sea wait for His law. To Mr. Wesley, if to any
man, and more than to any man, is to be given the credit
of this change in the condition and prospects of mankind.
During the Centenary celebrations, Mr. Wesley is con
sidered as a preacher, writer, organiser, patriot, phil
anthropist, etc. Now, it is not my intention to touch
on any such questions, but to consider other phases of
the subject, different, but just now equally as important.
I. We need, and might have, a little more united action.
We have peace. We have no need to hoist the flag of
truce. There is not a jar between us. We can meet in
committee, look each other in the face, recognise each
other, shake hands, understand and bid each other " God
speed" in our work. The CEcumenical Conference ten
years ago did a great deal for us ; this meeting will
strengthen the cords ; and the Conference to be held
in Washington next October will add its influence.
Methodism in this country is split up into many sections,
each having its own peculiarities, and each doing a great
work, no doubt ; but there needs a little more united
action on the part of all these sections on all public
questions affecting the interests of the Church and the
well-being of the masses of the people. I do not mean
organic union. That will come ; but for that we are not
yet much prepared. I wish we were. When David was
an old man, he desired to build a " house for the Lord in
Jerusalem ; " but he had been a man of war ; that dis
qualified him, and the work must fall into other and
cleaner hands. " It is the Lord's doings, and it is
marvellous in our eyes. ' A United Methodism will come,
but some of us old warriors will have to be laid in the
sepulchres of our fathers, if it be in sweet odours and
divers kinds of spices made by the apothecaries' art, and
in great mourning.
But in view of the difficulties of the hour, and the need
of strength to meet the growing emergencies of the

224 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
moment there is something we can do. We can at least
prepare the ground, and collect some of the material, or
favourably dispose the people towards building this temple
of the future. Methodists of all shades of opinion should
be willing so far to unite for the common good. A
United Methodism would be the strongest bulwark of
Protestantism in this country. When high dignitaries
of the Church and official documents can unblushingly
say that the Reformation was a mistake, and that the
righteousness of God which is by faith unto all them that
believe, is a delusion and a snare, we need again some
Luther to nail his theses to the door, not outside, but
inside the Church. It is amazing what a few men can do
when they are united and determined, especially when
they are right. The poor Waldenses, notwithstanding the
power of kings and the fulminations of the wrath of the
Vatican, kept the pure fire burning in the mountains of
Piedmont for hundreds of years. One million Methodists,
with all our organisations and an open Bible, would be far
more certain of success than Leonidas with his 300 brave
Spartans in the Pass. Not only should we be able to hold
the gates of the Hot Springs, but pour the tide of light
and life over a ransomed race. " And who knoweth but
that we are come to the kingdom for such a time as this ? "
Is it too much to ask or suggest that some means be
devised by which all the sections of the Methodist family
can federate, so that we can move steadily and unitedly
in any case when the Ark of the Lord is in danger. I ask
for nothing impossible. I ask for nothing in my own
personal interests, or the interests of the community I
have the honour to represent. I ask for nothing but in
the name and interests of the Great Head of the Church
and the welfare of mankind. This is a fitting moment to
inaugurate some scheme which would rally all the hosts of
our Israel, and present such a front as would deter those
who are wrong, and strengthen and encourage those who
are right, and are trying to benefit our race. Men of light
and leading, judge ye what I say !

THE METHODIST CONNEXIONS. 225
2. To do this, we must understand and have strong
confidence in our weapons. We are engaged in a great
moral conflict. All the conquests of the past have been
won by the proper and judicious use of these two weapons
— the Word and the Spirit. Starting out from Jerusalem,
after the day of Pentecost, it was the Word which ran, and
the Spirit which glorified that Word by giving efficiency
and success to its publication. It was not till the Papacy
had succeeded in withdrawing the Word from the people,
that they succeeded in deluding, and imposing upon them
all the nonsense that cursed the ages and ruined the
prospects of the Churches. The era of Luther was the
first great revival of letters. The Reformation under
Wesley was the second revival of letters. The most
distinguishing feature of the early Methodists was the
attention they gave to, and the knowledge they had of,
the Word. Many of the mothers of Methodism had a
better knowledge of the Word than some of the most
learned men of the time. From Genesis to Malachi,
but especially from Matthew to Revelation, they were
acquainted with every promise and prospect. That was
the strength of the early Methodists ; and the Word, in the
hands of the Spirit, became the power of God unto salva
tion to thousands who believed. In modern times the
tendency is to dilute the one and ignore the other. A
strong confidence in these weapons, which still are mighty,
is essential to success. Opening our eyes, we can see this
any day by illustrations which clearly indicate the Divine
plan and purpose. Just in proportion to the clearness of
the vision, and dependence upon the work and power of
the Spirit, is the success of any person or Church. We
may depend upon other means, and have some kind of
success. There are social and moral elements in human
nature, which, if properly nursed and developed, are strong
enough to bring young people together in friendship and
in fellowship. But to build up a spiritual house, you must!
have these two divinely-appointed means, the Word and 1
the Spirit, in active and- constant co-operation. There
P

226 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
may be aids and auxiliaries, but there must be no sub
stitutes, or it is the wood, the hay, and the stubble which
will be consumed by fire. That word is the_Word, and
that spirit is the Spirit of Life ! With these we have
nothing to fear. They are omnipotent. We hear of " The
Bitter Cry," the "Submerged Tenth," and "Darkest
England" and Africa. Heaven's appointed means to
meet the wants and woes of a sorrowful world are the
Word and Spirit. These never fail, when properly used
in the full assurance of faith.
3. But there is another quality wanted, without which
much of what we possess is ineffective and useless. And
that quality is courage — that quality of mind and heart
which carries a man through danger and difficulty without
fear; so distinct and strong in the early disciples and
saints of older times — a quality as essential in the moral
world as on the field of conflict and death. You read of
those three youths on the plains of Dura. When called,
upon pain of a death of a most fearful kind, to fall down
and worship a golden image, their reply was, " We will
not worship that image : our God whom we serve is able
— if He sees fit — to deliver us out of the fire ; but if He
does not see fit — if we have to suffer — well I be it distinctly
known that we will not worship that golden god." That
is courage, courage which never fails to win, especially if
the cause is right. Such courage is as essential to-day on .
the part of the minister, the merchant prince, the trades
man, and every young man and woman who has to go
into any of the workshops of this great city and the towns
in the country, as on the plains of Dura. To be ashamed
' of Christ is more than a weakness or a failure, it is a sin,
I and a sin which soon works out its own end.
One of the tendencies of the times is to compromise
matters, until there is little distinction between what is
right and what is wrong, between what is true and what is
;false. " Oh, leave it alone, all will come right in the end ; "
and the condition of the world to-day is just the result of
this unjust and lukewarm condition and action of the

THE METHODIST CONNEXIONS. 227
Church. Looking around us, we can see churches, chapels,
and preaching-rooms without name and number. We
have cardinals, archbishops, bishops, canons, deans, rectors,
vicars, and priests. We have ministers, local preachers,
leaders, deacons, and Sunday-school teachers by hundreds
of thousands. What an army ! We have services in
cathedral, hall, and temple. We have organisations of
all sorts, from the grand Missionary Society, the Bible and
Tract Society, to the village Band of Hope. Many are
running to and fro, and knowledge is being increased.
But yet sin abounds, and unblushing profanity walks and
stalks through our streets in open day. The revelations
of our Divorce Courts, the scenes on our racecourses and in
gambling dens, and the condition of the slums in our
great and little towns from the drink traffic, are a disgrace
to the name of Englishman wherever the record flies.
Surely there must be something wrong, when all our
multiplied and varied agencies fail to keep in check the
ever-increasing flood of ungodliness and iniquity. What
is it? Let me ask you to ask yourselves. What is it?,
Are our weapons of warfare not as mighty as in former :
times? Is the word less powerful to-day than when it
was said to be the " power of God " ? Is the Lord's arm
shortened that if cannot save as in the days of Wesley
and Whitefield ? A thousand voices answer. No ! a thou
sand times No ! Then I ask you. What is it ? The fault
must be somewhere. Where is it ? If it is not Divine,
it must be human. "Tender handed stroke a nettle,
And it stings you for your pains ;
Grasp it like a man of mettle.
And it soft as silk remains."
It is courage that is wanted on the part of those who 1
love the Lord Jesus Christ to-day. The very exercise
will teach the need of seeking to be replenished at the
fountain. Many of the greatest reforms ever effected
were at the commencement treated with contempt, and
their [advocates subjected to all kinds of abuse and per-

228 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
secution. What courage it required forty years ago on
the part of Charles Garrett and others to advocate
teetotalism in the Methodist Churches 1 Their success
to-day is an evidence of what courage can do. The old
Spartan mothers used to train their boys, that when they
went to war, if they found their swords too short to reach
the enemy, they were to add a step to the length. A fire
broke out in the East-end of London, and in fifteen
minutes every engine in the Tower Hamlets was upon
the spot, and the danger and damage was rather from
flood than fire. Semiramis, at her toilet, hears of a
rebellion in Babylon. In a moment, with dishevelled
hair, she mounts her chariot, puts down the rebellion, and
returns to finish her toilet. When a French army was
crossing the Alps to the assistance of Napoleon in Italy,
an avalanche carried a drummer - boy almost looo feet
into the yawning gorge below. The general seized a rope
and threw it around his waist. His veterans besought
him with tears not to venture into the depths of the
chasm. " Wipe your tears and seize the rope," said the
general, and in thirty minutes he placed the boy upon the
road safe and sound, amid the plaudits of the whole army.
Energy and courage such as these on the part of all those
who profess the Christian name, would place a ransomed
world at the feet of Christ before the opening of the
' twentieth century. We want more courage — courage to
acknowledge that we believe in the divinity of the Word,
in the efficacy of the death, and in the sufficiency of the
grace of Christ — courage to confess Him before men, and
preach the truth, however unpopular it may be.
To-day we need a little more united action on the part
of the Methodists, a strong and unwavering confidence in
the Word and the Spirit as the means of enlightening and
saving mankind, and a courage commensurate with the
work we have to do.
We had an old man in Leeds who safely reached his
hundredth birthday ; and when asked the day after how
he was, he said, "Well, I am better on my feet to

THE METHODIST CONNEXIONS. 229
commence the second hundred than I was to begin the
first." Methodism- is on its feet, is in good health, and
active in all its movements. It is as necessary to-day as
in the middle of the last century. The world has not got
into a condition to do without it. We commence to
morrow under better conditions and brighter prospects
than ever before. The fields are white unto the harvest ;
thrust ye in the sickle. Great changes have taken place
during the century, and Methodism has been an important
factor ; but what it may do in the future remains with
ourselves. Let us resolve, the Lord helping us, to carry
the Word by the Spirit to the uttermost extremity of the
human race, and its vivifying pulsations shall be felt and
seen in the purity, the joy, and the happiness of a
redeemed and saved people.

Sacrarr)ei)b op bt)^ Lords
Supper.
By the Rev. JAMES H. RIGG, D.D.

Dear Brethren, —
We are gathered together on an occasion entirely
without precedent, with a solemnity, tenderness, and
emphasis all its own, so far at least as our Church
is concerned. We meet as followers of John Wesley,
rejoicing in that gospel which he preached, believing
in the doctrine of a conscious life in Christ, and under
standing that that life is one to flow from heart to heart,
from lip to lip, — that we are not only to be recipients,
but witnesses. The fellowship of Christ's people, after
the primitive pattern, is a hearty, free, uttered, diffusive,
generous, compassionate missionary fellowship. That
is the fellowship in Christ in which, thank God, we all
believe — the doctrine and experience and life taught us
by our Father and Founder; and it is as still holding that
doctrine, and participating in such an experience, and
prepared to witness to these truths, and as representing a
fellowship founded on these truths, that we are gathered
together in this holy sanctuary. We are here — for this is
indeed a representative gathering — not merely as belong
ing to City Road or to London, or to our own proper
Church, — in which we glory, — but as representing the
followers of Wesley in every country, on every continent,

SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 231
beyond every sea, and of many different races. How
many hearts are in unison with us to-day; how many
eyes are converging upon this point 1 Multitudes of
prayers have been offered that we should be assembled,
not only in the name of Jesus, but with the presence — the
real presence — of Jesus in the midst of us.' This is a
representative assembly, gathering for a holy commemora
tion in memory of one whom, on this day and in this
place, we can scarcely name without our hearts being filled
with deepest emotion, and our eyes almost ready to over
flow. It is in memory of Wesley that we are gathered
here to-day. He is not only a name, a memory, to us —
though dead, he not only speaks, he lives under God,
through Christ Jesus, by His Spirit. The power that
John Wesley wielded in Christ's name still holds its place
amongst the great influences of this earth. For us the
solemn thought is, that it depends more or less on us, and
each individual bears his share of responsibility, whether
the power shall abide in its pristine energy, its true Divine
and spiritual purity, or whether it shall through our own
fault decline from generation to generation. God forbid !
This celebration, we trust, will be one means of prevent
ing such a decline, and bringing us back to those original
springs of doctrine — to those fontal truths — those primitive
laws and energies — which belong to Pentecost, and which
are not yet exhausted. We are gathered in memory of
Wesley. Oh, what a hush there is throughout the Churches
of Methodism at home and abroad. We have tasted of
the holy power in the services that have preceded. Let
us lift up our hearts to God, that there may be the very
quintessence of the power for the sacred service of to-day.
We are gathered here on this spot. Yonder Wesley
died ; here his remains were laid. Within this neighbour
hood thousands came to take their last look upon the
great apostle of his time. Here we are in the chapel which
he so dearly loved. Twelve years before his death he had
the bliss of seeing it finished. How delighted he was to
preach in it ! How his soul rejoiced and was revived when ,

232 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
crowds came to listen to him here — crowds that increased
as his years grew ! But, above all, how he rejoiced to
; administer the Lord's Supper in this sanctuary 1 That
was his chiefest, most exquisite joy, to see people coming
, in crowds to consecrate themselves afresh to God. Those
saints were choice spirits- — most of them, at any rate — a
consecrated people, a peculiar people, not fashioned
according to the course of this world, but transformed
in the spirit of their minds, setting a pure and godly
example in the midst of an untoward generation. Are
we their true successors ? Let us lift up our hearts in
prayer to God, that that Spirit which rested upon them
may rest yet more abundantly upon us. Yes, brethren,
we are here. Is it too daring to ask whether John Wesley
is here, whether his spirit is near us? Is it too bold to
believe that still the spirits of those who have departed
hence in the faith and fear of God, do care for the things
which are done in this lower sphere, especially for the
causes they watched over, and for the work which it was
given them to begin ? I know not whether it is right to
speak of it. But I think all of us will have some such
thought as that now, when the hundred years are com
pleted, that the blessed saint is not far from us, that he is
permitted to joy in beholding our order, and that even his
bright spirit is more abundantly refreshed when he sees
thus that his works do follow him.
Wesley delighted in Sacraments, and especially in the
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. He loved it beyond
every other means of grace. He was never weary of in
sisting upon the duty of frequent communion, even speak
ing of constant communion. He counted it a privilege
not only to have weekly, but sometimes, though rarely,
daily communion of the Lord's Supper. Let it not be
said by any that this was mere ritualism. Wesley
doubtless was brought up a strict son of the Church of
England. He loved the order of the services in the
Church. He found them to be wells of salvation, springs
of joy and peace. But there was no slavery, no mere

SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 233
mechanism, in the ritualism of John Wesley. He kept
many of the fasts of the Church — not all ; he rejoiced in
her feasts ; he delighted in the anthems of the cathedral,
the fair order of the shrines of his Church, when indeed it
was fair, when the truth and the spirit were there. His
ritualism had its springs in a soul penetrated by Divine
light and love. There was indeed a time, even in Wesley's
history, when his ritualism had too much the character of
a servile observance. But when he embraced Christ by
spiritual faith, all that ritualism passed away. There
after he loved the services of the Church, because he found
Christ there, and his soul was refreshed. It was so with
the festival of All Saints, to which reference was made
yesterday. He loved All Saints' Day. He always kept it.
And why? Because he thought of the blessed saints of
all ages, the great cloud of witnesses. He delighted to
meditate on them, and he looked forward to the time when
he should join a still greater cloud of witnesses above.
That was spiritual faith and refreshment, and not a mere
servile ritualism. When he administered the Sacrament, •
his delight was to think that the saints of heaven were in
sympathy with the saints of earth ; and if the Holy Com
munion was administered on All Saints' Day, his joy in
that respect was redoubled.
He was not a modern ritualist. He did not love the
Sacrament because he thought the Sacrament was the
one and exclusive source of life for the soul. He did not
love it because he felt he must go to the priest and Sacra
ment, if he would have the indwelling Spirit in him, and
could not otherwise have that unspeakable privilege and
right. There was nothing of that sort about Wesley's love
for the Sacrament. No ! He had learned better in Alders- ;
gate Street. He learned better when he found peace through
believing. He tells us that whilst some one was reading
Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans, his heart
was strangely warmed, and he felt that he did trust in
Christ for salvation ; that his sins were taken away, and
that he was made free from the law of sin and death. That

234 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
did not come to him from the blessed Spirit through
the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Wesley had been
learning the secret of this great salvation for some
time before at the feet of Peter Bohler, but on that
particular occasion he proved it. Wesley knew better
than to think for a moment that the Spirit was chained,
chained to a succession of ministers — chained to a pro
cess of Church ritual. He knew better than to believe
after his conversion (he never, indeed, believed it at any
time), that the Spirit could only come through elements
upon which the priest had laid his hands — that the line of
spiritual influence was absolutely limited, and limited in
that mechanical and servile way of ministration. That
was not Wesley's faith. He knew in whom he had believed.
He knew that it is by faith — the faith of the operation of
God — that life comes into the soul. Wesley was no
ritualist in the modern sense. He knew that the " Spirit
bloweth where He listeth." Please to take that for
granted. And why do I refer to that now? Because at
this moment there are people trying their utmost to insist,
or using every device to insinuate, that Wesley was a
ritualist in that modern sense, and that all his love for
sacramental occasions was a part of such ritualism as the
priests who hold superstitious and popish doctrine teach
upon this point. I will refer to a few passages in Wesley's
own writings, for I would like to take this opportunity of
slaying that error effectually and finally for those who
have ears to hear.
In 1733, Wesley was at the very highest point of his
ritualism. He never was higher than then, and he
preached a sermon upon the Lord's Supper in 1733 for
the use of his pupils. He reprinted that sermon in 1788 ;
and he says when he reprints it, that he had never varied
in his teaching from the teaching laid down in that sermon.
Then what does that sermon teach which he wrote in 1733,
and reprinted in 1788? Does that sermon contain any
trace of the modern Anglican teaching as to sacramental
efficacy ? There is not a trace of it, He says, " As our

SACRAMENT OF THE LORDS SUPPER. 235
bodies are strengthened by bread and wine, so are our souls
by these tokens of the body and blood of Christ." " These
tokens I " In these words there is no doctrine of the
corporeal presence of the Divine-human Saviour in the
elements. Again he says, " The design of this Sacrament
is the continual remembrance of the death of Christ by
eating bread and drinking wine, which are the outward
signs of the inward grace of the body and blood of Christ."
Again he says, "All Christians were obliged to receive
these signs of Christ's body and blood." How careful he
is to retain and to repeat the words " signs " and " tokens " I
Never for a moment did it enter into his mind to use
language that savoured of anything like the superstitious
doctrines of to-day — doctrines that were then held by
some of the Non-jurors, but which he absolutely refused
to hold or have anything to do with. Again, " The bread
and wine are commanded to be received in remem
brance of His death to the end of the world." That was
his teaching in 1733. He has a sermon on "The Means
of Grace" (one of our standard sermons). In that sermon
he says a very few words about the Sacrament of the
Lord's Supper. He quotes the Lord's own words, " Take,
eat, this is My body." " That is," he explains, " the sacred
sign of My body." Can anything be more express or
Protestant than that? "And He took the cup, saying. This
cup is the New Testament (or Covenant) in My blood."
" That is," says Wesley, " the appropriate sign of that cove
nant" They are signs — not, because the priest's hand has
passed upon them, and his lips have uttered sacred words,
are they changed into the very body, blood, soul. Divinity,
and humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. No such doctrine
as that was held by John Wesley. He was no ritualist.
Again, after quoting the words, "As often as ye eat this
bread and drink this cup, ye do show forth the Lord's
death till He come," he says, " By these visible signs ye
manifest your solemn remembrance of His death till He
cometh in the clouds of heaven." He does not say,
" You feed upon the sacrifice which we have prepared for

236 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
you." He does not say, " You take the Lord Jesus into
your very system and frame of body, soul, and spirit."
Nothing of the sort. He speaks of " signs " and " tokens,"
but not a word that savours of the modern popish doctrine
can you find in anything that he has written upon this
subject. But there is still one more passage, which is, perhaps,
the most striking of all. He was writing to his mother —
and this, too, some years before his evangelical conversion,
when he was at Oxford, a High Churchman — but not in
, the modern sense. In his letter to his mother he says,
" One consideration is enough to make me assent to my
father's and your judgment concerning the Holy Sacra
ment, which is that we cannot allow Christ's human nature
to be present in it" — that is, in the bread and wine —
" without allowing either Consubstantiation or Transub
stantiation." He refused to accept the doctrine which
some of the men whom he knew held, viz., that the very
human nature of Christ was put into the bread and wine.
" It is not in it," he said, " and we cannot hold that it is
in it, without holding either Consubstantiation or Tran
substantiation." Let no one say Wesley ever held high
doctrine of this sort.
Well, but the other day I observed that a High Church
paper quoted a passage from Dr. Brevint's Manual of the
Lord's Supper, which Wesley allowed to be printed as a
preface to his brother Charles's Hymns on the Lord's
Supper; and this particular High Church organ, after
quoting a passage, says, " Hence it follows, Wesley held
all our High Church doctrine in regard to the Lord's
Supper." Let us see how that really stands. Dr. Brevint
(as Dr. Osborn has shown in his published volumes of
Wesley's poetry) did write a tractate on the Lord's Supper.
Wesley did allow it to be a preface to his brother Charles's
wonderful Hymns on the Lord's Supper. But what does
Dr. Brevint say ? This is the passage quoted : " The Lord's
body and blood have everywhere, but especially at this
Sacrament, a true and real presence." Can that be con-

SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 237
founded with the creation of the localised presence by the
manipulation of the priest, and by the words that he utters?
" The Lord's body and blood have everyivhere, but especi
ally at this Sacrament, a true and real presence." That is
a very different thing from saying that it is made to be
present because the priest has consecrated the bread and
wine. We believe that Christ's presence is everywhere,
but especially is Christ spiritually and really present with
us here and now. Further, Brevint says, " He " {i.e. the
Lord) " sends down to earth the graces that spring con
tinually from His everlasting sacrifice and His continual
intercession." Where in all this is there any teaching of
Popery, or of modern ritualism ? Surely the Lord " sends
doitni " the graces, and we are waiting for them. But their
doctrine is that the Lord Himself is put into the bread
and into the wine, so that every particle of the bread (ah I
you will hardly believe it, some of you) contains and is
instinct with the whole presence of the incarnate Christ in
His Godhead and in His humanity. And further (I never
try to explain what is believed on this head without some
thing like a shudder), they say that when the recipient
takes at the hand of the priest the bread and wine, he
receives them into himself, into his living system, and that
then there comes the thrill of Divine life into that system
— the very living Christ, because of the eating and swallow
ing the very body and blood of Christ ! and that that is
the only way Christ in His most essential graces, in His
true spiritual life, can ever find a place in the soul, the
identity, the nature of any one of woman born. Ah !
brethren, such is not our doctrine, and such was never the
doctrine of John Wesley. Take it from this meeting,
wherever you go, that when any one tries to persuade you
that John Wesley had the slightest taint of modern ritual
istic superstition in regard to the Lord's Supper in his
teaching, it is an assertion totally, absolutely without
foundation. Here let me say, in passing, it is doubtless a great part
of the power of the High Church party that they say.

238 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
" Christ Jesus is here on this altar." They elevate the
Victim when they dare, when they are not afraid of the
law and its consequences, and then what they wish is
that there should be adoration paid to the transformed
— I must say transubstantiated — bread and wine, because
the person of Christ is there. Some of them go so far as
to indicate by signs when the entrance of Christ into the
elements takes place, so that all the people may know the
very moment. There is a wonderful power in this. It is
the power of a present faith, though it is an ignorant and
superstitious faith. But then, blessed be God ! when we
are as we ought to be, we have all that power in com
bination with the simplicity of truth. For what is our
doctrine? That the Lord is verily present — that here
and now He is not very far from any one of us. But it
is not only at the Lord's Supper that He is present with
us. His promise is, " Wheresoever two or three are met
together in My name, there am I in the midst." Again
He said, " Lo ! I am with you alway, even unto the end
!of the world." We believe in the real presence of our
' Lord wherever there is a spirit yearning after God, wher
ever there is a solitary soul seeking after Jesus.
But you may be asking, Why, if Wesley were no
ritualist, did he regard the Holy Supper with such extra
ordinary love and reverence? What then is it which
makes this Sacrament so precious ? It is a part of the
same great truth which belongs to all God's dealings with
us, to all Christ's ordinances, viz., that it is through the
spiritually apprehended truth and the Divine Spirit that
men's souls are saved, enlightened, and quickened. It is
just because this Holy Sacrament is so full of aggregated,
combined, crystallised truths, gathered and united in one
blessed institution, that it is so precious, and is made such a
blessing to those who know how to receive it. You come
to the Table. You look upon it. You see nothing but
the fair cloth and the simple elements, and you may say,
How should there be such a blessing coming from it?
My friends, you look at the transparency which lies on

SACRAMENT OF THE LORDS SUPPER. 239
one of your own tables in your sitting-rooms. That
transparency, as it lies in the shadow on the dark cloth,
looks like a mere dead, plain piece of glass. But hold it
up to the sun, and you will find that it is marked with
exquisite lines, that it contains beautiful, delicate, richly-
coloured pictures, and in the sun the beauty comes out,
and you see what that transparency was meant to show
and to teach. Even so it is with the Sacrament of the|
Lord's Supper. You look at it. It seems to be a simple
ordinance. But come to consider its meaning, and you
will find it full of instruction — of suggestion — of scrip
tural truth — of blessing untold. What is it that we are
taught there? We are taught: (i) That Christ is one
with His people — most condescendingly one with them —
that He puts Himself, as it were, upon a level with them
— He is their Saviour, Brother, Friend. (2) That the
people of the Lord are one with each other, —
" One family we dwell in Him,
One Church above, beneath."
(3) That it is by feeding upon Christ in your hearts,
that Christ Himself spiritually passes into your nature,
and that you become "one spirit" with Him. "The
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they
are life." "We feed upon Him in our hearts, and find
that heaven and Christ are one." (4) That the Lord
triumphed over death ; for we are reminded of His own
precious words, " I will no more drink of the fruit of the
vine until I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."
He was looking from that table towards what awaited
Him beyond all the darkness and sorrow outside. He
knew that the cross was close at hand, but He was
looking to the feast at His Father's right hand. (5) We
learn also that those to whom Christ has given His
Spirit will be His guests at the table of His everlasting
kingdom. These are some of the truths (and there are
others) that are gathered together in this holy ordinance.
Oh ! if we come with our hearts rightly prepared, what a

240 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
depth of meaning ; what riches and treasures of instruc
tion ; what volumes of spiritual quickening ; what con
solation ; what lighting up of hope, — there is in the
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper !
And now, do not let us forget, when we come to this
table : {a) That we come as the Lord's own chosen and
consecrated disciples, those who have walked and talked
with Him, and are prepared to bear witness of Him as
their Christ and King. We do not come here to be made
disciples. In that upper room there were faulty men —
Thomas who doubted, Peter who denied his Lord, and
others — but they were all disciples (Judas had left). In
like manner there are faulty men here, but you are the
Lord's disciples, and you mean to be His. Therefore you
come to this Supper of the Lord —
" The badge and token this,
The sure confirming seal,
That He is ours, and we are His,
The servants of His will."
'{b) That at the Table of the Lord faith is the organ by
which we are brought into spiritual connection with all
the living realities of Christ's gospel, {c) That at the
Table of the Lord we shall find the Object of our faith.
The bread and wine will remind us of the atoning
sacrifice of Christ. We shall not only see the Sacrifice,
we shall look above and beyond, and on the wings
of faith soar — "From Calvary's to Zion's height."
There we shall see our great and glorious High Priest
— "who ever liveth to make intercession for us." Our
privileges are greater than were those of the disciples in
the upper room. Their Saviour was then about to go to
Calvary. Ours comes down from Zion to preside at our
gathering, and makes Himself one with us. And when
we kneel at the communion-table, it is the King of saints
that our faith recognises.
(d) Once more : If our faith is as it should be, we

SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 241
shall not only be thinking of time — dwelling upon our
present needs — we shall look to the great eternal Supper
of which I have spoken — the Supper at which, when our
Lord by His Spirit has done His final work of love upon
us, has "washed our feet" from every spot and stain of
the world and its ways, we shall sit down with Him as
His brethren and drink the new wine in the kingdom of
His Father and our Father. Our faith will realise that'
also. I
Dear brethren, we are the spiritual Israel, we are
Christ's chosen ones. Those apostles in the upper room,
what was their work ? To go out baptized, consecrated,
to be the Lord's witnesses, and to fill the world with His
saving truth. So we are to be Christ's witnesses. We
are the host of God's elect. Let us renew our vows and
consecrate ourselves afresh to God's service. Ought not
this to be a deep and memorable solemnity — one never
to be forgotten ? Ought we not all — especially those who
are ministers — to look for such a baptism of power as we
have never had before ? We are on our way to the land
of promise ; Egypt is behind us ; we have left its dark
ness. The world is outside — the world that crucifies the
Lord. In the streets of Jerusalem there are the Pharisees
and Sadducees, men who scorn and rage against the Saviour.
Within let there be consecration — peace, devotion. Let
the Lord Jesus and ourselves be united in a covenant
sealed and blest as never a covenant between Him and
us was sealed and blest before. May God give us His
blessing, for Christ's sake !

A Reviei^ o^ Mebl)0(li^tl
lATork.
The PRESIDENT of the CONFERENCE.
We deal this evening with special topics, and these topics
are those to which John Wesley attributed the very utmost
importance. Last evening we represented John Wesley's
succession ; to-night we represent his own work. You
know how he loved the villages. The connection of Mr.
Wesley with education, also, is quite familiar to us, and
the gentleman who will speak to us this evening on
education has been most closely connected for a number
of years with a school which bears the name of that which
Mr. Wesley founded. It is not necessary for me to say
to any Methodist anything about Kingswood. As to
Methodism and literature, you know that Mr. Wesley was
reading all his life. In all the intervals he could snatch
from preaching and evangelistic work, he read, but not for
himself, for he was continually bent on finding out what
he could abridge or extract for the benefit of the people.
He provided a wonderful literature, at a wonderfully cheap
price, for the use of the Methodists. As to foreign missions,
there was no great and organised society during the greater
part of Mr. Wesley's life, at any rate. You know that the
very first event in Mr. Wesley's public life was his going
to Georgia to preach to the Indians. He did not go to

A REVIEW OF METHODIST WORK. 243
preach to the colonists ; he was much surprised when he
arrived there to find that he could not go to the Indians.
Hence the close connection between all the subjects of
this meeting and our great Founder is most evident.
You will, I know, wish an expression of your warm
hearted, prayerful Christian sympathy to be conveyed to
Mr. Champness and Dr. Jenkins. From Dr. Jenkins I had
a letter last night, in which he expressed his great regret
at not being here. The name of one of the speakers
suggests the name of Dr. Osborn. We have his nephew
here, but Dr. Osborn is one of those who would have most
heartily rejoiced in this celebration. I should like very
much to be authorised by you to send a special message
to Dr. Osborn. His wonderful labours in the hymnology
on which we have been speaking, his intense interest in all
that interests us, must call for this. With his name I
should like to mention those of the only other ex-
Presidents who have not been able to be with us — the
names of Mr. Arthur and Dr. James.

flDetbobism anb tbe flDassea,
By the Rev. PETER THOMPSON.
I PERSONALLY regret that I have to be here to-night instead
of to-morrow night, in consequence of Mr. Clapham's
absence. There is not any special phase of the subject
which comes before us during such a week as this, with
which I myself have greater sympathy, or in which I have
more definite personal, practical interest. I rejoice in the
creation and history of Methodism, and in our present
position and purposes and hopes with reference to the vast
multitudes of the people of this country. I have felt
again and again during the past few hours, how completely
John Wesley was the apostle of the masses, how utterly
God fitted him and furnished him and sustained him in

244 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
that marvellous ministry for the vast crowds of people
that heard his voice, that felt his powers, and that were
blessed through his preaching and work.
I have realised what you, Mr. President, have referred
to, how wonderfully the hymns with which they were then
familiar, and with which, thank God, we are now familiar,
put in the very clearest way those experiences which were
the very foundation of all Mr. Wesley's strong efforts
throughout this country. A phrase came to my mind this
afternoon connected with him, about that inner working
of God within him, not far from here, when he felt his
heart " strangely warmed," and when he realised for him
self the full blessing of personal salvation :
' ' Salvation in His Name there is.
Salvation from sin, death, and hell.
Salvation into glorious bliss.
How great salvation, who can tell ?
But all He hath for mine I claim,
I dare believe in Jesus' name."
And then I thought of another, as I realised him going
forth, possessed of that rich gift — that great salvation from
God:
" Sent by my Lord, on you I call.
The invitation is to all."
I understood, as I thought of these words, which have
become so familiar, how deeply he realised that he was
sent of God, accredited by his Lord, with a message for
the multitudes of the people. The gospel which he
preached was a message for the poor, and for the crowds
that gathered around him. He preached Christ.
" His only righteousness I show.
His saving truth proclaim ;
'Tis all my business here below
To cry, ' Behold the Lamb ! ' "
Realising all this blessedly in his own heart, and thereby
strong and fearless and full of courage, he went among the
people, and faced all that was involved in the hostility as

A REVIEW OF METHODIST WORK. 245
well as the approval of the multitudes around. Crowds
thronged to hear him, and as they heard they received
from his message that which he had gained, and became
converted and holy in life unto God. The masses of the
people in the days of John Wesley needed the gospel, and
needed the ministry of love, and righteousness, and mercy.
The records that tell of the condition of life in those days
are startling. Most of you, no doubt, are perfectly familiar
with the details of the description that represents the
irreligion and the viciousness and the criminality of the
people of that time ; and how there was terrible severity,
and even cruelty, in the administration of the law. And
yet it was utterly powerless to bring terror to the hearts
of evil-doers. Often those who represented the Church —
the clergy, and those who were regarded as the teachers of
religion and the representatives of the New Testament —
were unfamiliar with the Word of God. Those who had
read some books seemed to neglect the Scriptures ; and
right throughout the multitudes of the people there was
found ignorance and separation from the love of God, that
involved infidelity, viciousness, and vile living. And so, as
Mr. Wesley and those who were his fellow-labourers went
in and out among the people, and got to know their
histories, their past experience in the workings of evil, and
discovered the causes which were at work, bringing such
wrongs into their lives, they were found strong and full of
earnest purpose in waging war with the causes of iniquity
and ruin that then obtained. And one of the impressions
that we get, as we try to take in a full view of the posi
tion, is this, that side by side with all this man did in
exhorting sinners to turn from their sins to God, he recog
nised his responsibility as a minister of Christ to rebuke
those who had authority and responsibility, in those
arrangements in social life which worked destruction to
the masses of the people.
His marvellous utterances against slavery stand outj
pre-eminently strong, and he could not recognise the!
actual life of the slaves, without speaking out in un-

246 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
measured terms against that iniquitous system. And the
definite action he took with reference to our own Church
in the West Indies, in requiring the members to separate
from any part whatever with slavery, is a most striking
fact. Even beyond his words against slavery were his
strong words against the liquor-makers and the liquor-
sellers. As he knew the actual lot of the people involved
with the drink, and all the workings of the public-houses,
he believed and spoke in the name of God, that these were
destroying His Majesty's subjects wholesale. His sermon
on the " Use of Money " contains probably the strongest
condemnation of the liquor traffic that has ever been
spoken or written. And in his letter to the Right Hon.
William Pitt, as well as in his " Thoughts on the Scarcity
of Provisions," he asserts and maintains the most powerful
Christian appeal that could be made to any responsible
Government against deriving revenue from that which
brought only ruin to the people. The interests of men,
as men, had taken hold of him. He felt the preciousness
of those redeemed by Christ, and whatever injured men
and women he was prepared to denounce with fierceness
and fearlessness. And while he was thus speaking out,
with utmost clearness, against all these workings of sin,
he was claiming for the people all the rights and all the
privileges that God has ordained for our humanity. He
claimed for them immediate personal access to God, im
mediate personal knowledge of God, conscious enjoyment
of salvation, deliverance from the guilt of sin, and the
possession of the might of holiness. He announced these
as the opportunity and privilege of every man, wherever
he found him. He had a gospel for the people that
secured their emancipation from the thraldom of sin, their
introduction into the family of God, and their possession
of eternal life. Hence it is said that wherever the
1 Methodist preachers went, they carried with them the
message of hopefulness, and encouragement, and blessing.
Wherever they fulfilled their ministry, good of every kind
followed them in their course.

A REVIEW OF METHODIST WORK. 247
Another aspect of our Founder's relation to the masses
of the people has impressed me in this way. He looked
out upon the people. He got to know, from actual
contact with them, all their ignorance and sin, and the
vast extent of the work that needed to be done ; and
while it was possible for him to include such an enormous
amount of ministry as he put into his life, he felt that it
was not at all adequate for reaping the plenteous harvest
that he now looked upon. Unknown to him, and without
his special effort to call it forth, — even against his
prejudices, — there were being thrust out, to be co-labourers,
the local preachers and the class-leaders ; those who
would be able to supply his lack of service, and to supple
ment his abundant labours. They received the same love,
the same conscious power, the same joyful assurance, and
they went and told their fellow-men of the saving power
of the gospel. As God was with him, so He was with
them ; and there grew out of the recognition and use of
these helpers a network of agency covering the whole land,
that the people might be reached. The masses were
rightful claimants of the gospel, and of all that grows out
of the experience of godliness. The fruits of this organised
work were seen on all hands, and have been recognised by
all those who have carefully referred to the actual life that
resulted from the enterprise, or rather, that work of God.
Side by side with this new organisation, there was the
quickening of the thought and interest of all the Churches
in the condition of the people. I am sure all of us rejoice
to-day, in looking back upon the later period of this last
century, to note the marvellous way in which the great
bulk of the Christian Churches have become Methodist.
I challenge any one to find me a Church that is not now'
looking at the masses ; that is not now considering the
people ; and that is not now arranging its energies, and
making its plans to get at the people. I wish we could
say that, while the streams of blessing have been multiplied,
they had all continued to flow strongly and deeply.
Alas for some of us, we have not kept on steam ! With

248 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
some of us there has not been a surrender of all plans and
methods and means of working to the one paramount
necessity of getting the people saved. I rejoice to
believe that better days are upon us. I hope this week
will quicken the fervour and strengthen the purpose of all
of us, so that, however multiplied may be our agencies,
there may be put into every one of them the same passion
of love, the same practical ministry, that characterised the
work of our fathers. I feel to-day that the people are
calling aloud to us, that the masses of the people are pre
senting their claim, and we shall have to be very hard
hearted if they do not compel us to regard their plea, and
to answer their call. They are crying out for Methodism.
They are stretching out their hands for Christ.
I rejoice greatly, especially with reference to London,
that we have had "the bitter cry of the outcast," so
effectively uttered by Mr. Mearns' pamphlet. I am
thankful for the marvellous labours of Mr. Charles Booth.
His book. Life and Labour in London, with its cold, hard,
stern statements of fact, ought to stir the very depth of
every Christian soul. It reveals the poverty, the oppression,
the drunkenness which exist among the vast populations
of the East-end. In proportion, similar conditions of
life obtain throughout the country. Then, again, I am
thankful for the religious statistics which have been got
together by Mr. Mearns, showing the provision made for
public worship in proportion to the population. I am
sure all of us ought to become very earnest supporters of
every Chapel Building Committee. The British Weekly
has added to our indebtedness by the publication of the
Religious Census recently taken. We find that, although
the actual provision is utterly inadequate to the population,
the provision is double what is actually necessary for
those who are so far in sympathy with religion as to
attend a place of worship. My dear friends, it is a
lamentable fact that on a Sunday night there are only a
quarter of the people worshipping God, who, on any
reasonable expectation, ought to attend. Surely there is

A REVIEW OF METHODIST WORK. 249
work to be done. The liquor traffic still walks imper
tinently before us ; the makers and consumers of drink
unblushingly take their place with us in our civil and
commercial and religious life. We must be as faithful as
our Founder. He knew that the liquor traffic was a curse :
we know it so tenfold now. He denounced slavery. I
know of a slavery — I have seen it ! — as cruel, as ill in its
manifold results as any slavery recorded in history. One
of my own members was making garments for 2id. a
dozen, because she could not see her children perish.
Another poor woman, whose babies were crying round her
for food, met her employer, and offered to do them for
2^d., if he would let her have them, and so the 2|d. work
was taken from my member, and given to the poor woman
who would do them for 2^d. to keep her children from
starvation. I had as soon work in the presence of the
lash as work in the presence of such cruelty as that. The
cry of the oppressed is filling the air. The cry of the
enslaved and crushed is going up unto the ear of God,
and if His servants will not hear, shall He not visit for
these things ? Methodism must do for the masses what
our Founder did. We shall have to denounce the com
petition which means a curse, to denounce the sweating
which means the degradation of the poor. How terribly
we are getting involved in Sunday labour ! Visit our
docks at home. Nay, alas I visit them in Scotland, the
land of the Sabbath, and you will find there the steamers
leaving the docks, entering the docks, and the men com
manded to work. Why? Because the vessels are so
valuable, they cannot afford to allow them to lie fallow for
twenty-four hours. The blood of men and women is worth
more than the biggest steamship ever built. Our tram-|
cars, our 'buses, our railways go at full speed, that men of
leisure may be gratified, that men and women who have
time and money may take their pleasure at the expense
of the workmen's Sunday. Methodism, in lineal succession
and spiritual succession, must speak out everywhere
against these things. Marvellous changes have come

250 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
during the past century. Some of those changes have
been fraught with very great peril to the entire com
munity — the aggregation of people in our large towns,
the severance of a great number of the people from the
soil, the unhappy separation between rich and poor. No
longer can it be said that the rich and the poor live
together. The poor are herded together, the rich have left
us for fairer climes. Both suffer from the separation.
The rich grow selfish and narrow in sympathy, the poor
grow reckless and bitter. I know not how these things
are to be dealt with, but I felt I could not be silent about ¦
them. We shall have to go where Mr. Wesley went,
and get our hearts "strangely warmed," — to go to the
old Book, and learn what the Master says, and what the
Master's mission is. We shall have to abolish the old
labels, "the masses," the "working classes," and the old
'terms with which we may be familiar. I want Methodism
to write over the forehead of every harlot, across the face
of every poor docker, right in the front of every man and
woman of any class and every class — " My brother,"
I" My sister." Then the liquor traffic will end. Then the
slavery of sweating and greed and competition will be
annihilated ; then the Sabbath, which was made for man,
shall be guarded for man ; and then the right of improve
ment, of music, of literature, of all the arts, shall be enjoyed
by all, and be laid at the feet of the Master. Then shall
home-life become elevated, pure and sweet ; church-life
universal, sacred, and spiritual ; and the brotherhood of
{man and the Fatherhood of God shall be real, because all
'have become " sons of God," who " worship the Father."

fIDetbobiem anb lebucation.
By Mr. T. G. OSBORN, M.A.
We read in the columns of the leading journal to-day that
the Methodists have not hitherto been remarkable for the

A REVIEW OF METHODIST WORK. 251
breadth of their intellectual culture, and in this respect
furnish a curious contrast to the Founder of their com
munion. John Wesley enjoyed the privilege of public
school education. He had the learning and resources of
a great university at his command. His successors for
many years found the universities shut against them ; and
what wonder, sir, that they had to begin at the beginning.
I admit that some of the greatest men that have belonged
to our Church did not do all they might have done for
lack of that culture, but the blame rests elsewhere.
In dealing to-day with the question of Methodism and
Education, we must not forget the different circumstances
in which both were found in England a hundred years ago.
Methodism, it is true, was born and cradled in a university,
but she soon left her native place, and it took a very long time
to get her back again. Education was then a luxury for the
rich, secured, even if somewhat extended, by a monopoly
of the clergy. All the grammar and public schools were
in their hands, and all the avenues to our great seats of
learning were closed to Nonconformists, and, after a little
while, to Methodists, while the days of popular education
were yet far away. Thus to our fathers there were pre
sented the proverbial three courses : they might let their
children grow up in ignorance — they might surrender them
to the enemy — or they might found and maintain their
own schools. The last course was difficult for a poor
people, the second was awfully dangerous, but the first
was impossible. So education and Methodism were closely
connected from the very first. Indeed, before the actual
genesis of Methodism, Wesley had recognised education as
part of his great mission work, and it was much the best
part, too, of his work at Savannah. But after his conver
sion education, as well as evangelisation, was placed at
the very root and basis of his great work.
Just take a date or two in confirmation of this. On
April 2, 1739, Mr. Wesley preached for the first time in
England in the open air. On May 12, in the same year,
the foundation-stone of his first preaching-house was laid ;

252 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
and in June 1739 the foundation-stone of Kingswood
School was laid. In these , successive months you have'
the outdoor evangelism, the chapel, and the school. And
so it was throughout Mr. Wesley's lifetime — he never
faltered in his efforts to work these three great instru
ments together. And I think I might make bold to say
that education, even higher education, was part of the
primitive — the earliest tradition of Methodism. At any
rate, I find this remarkable statement published, with high
Methodist authority, about thirty years or more after Mr.
Wesley's death : — " It has always been understood that
good schools for the literary, scientific, and religious in
struction of the youth of the Societies, was a part of the
original plans of Methodism, — a part which has been un
avoidably postponed by the necessity of circumstances,
but never finally given up."
The germs of every one of those departments of educa
tion are to be found in the work of John Wesley himself
In Kingswood School, for instance, we have Wesley's first
, attempt at primary, and afterwards at higher education ;
while we see from the life of Adam Clarke, as well as
from the early " Minutes," that this was also at first
regarded as a seminary, a theological college, for the
preachers. In the Foundery School in London, and the
Orphan House in Newcastle, as well as in Miss Bosan-
quet's (Mrs. Fletcher's) Orphanage at Leytonstone, we
have the seed sown which was to remain out of sight
buried for long years, but eventually to reappear in the
Children's Home and Orphanage which we all rejoice in
to-day. The Sunday School started by Hannah Ball, a
Methodist, at Wycombe in 1769, and by Robert Raikes
and Miss Cook at Gloucester in 1781, was warmly wel
comed, and adopted by Wesley in 1784 and 1785 ; and
thus we have not an educational institution among us
to-day which we cannot more or less distinctly trace back
to its germ and origin (though in some cases only very
embryonic) in Wesley's own day.
But to look back more definitely to the state of Method-

A REVIEW OF METHODIST WORK. 253
ist education one hundred years ago. In 1791 there were
existing a considerable number of good Methodist private
schools, but beside Kingswood, which was still open to all
Methodists (being restricted to ministers' sons ^in 1794),
there was no Connexional institution, and only a few ele
mentary charitable schools at Bristol, Newcastle, London,
and perhaps some other places. Sunday schools had
spread fast. So far as we can gather, there were through
out England, in connection with all the Churches, about
200,000 children, and perhaps about one-eighth of these
were in Methodist schools. There was no theological
institution, no training college. To-day there cannot be
less than five millions in Methodist Sunday schools
throughout the world. In England we have not merely
a large number of primary day schools, but we have
already founded, somewhat at haphazard, a number of
graded boarding schools for higher education, which only
need to be grouped and linked together to make a great
and powerful system ; and we have four theological colleges
for the special training of ministers, and two training col
leges for teachers, while the number of Methodist students
and graduates now at Oxford and Cambridge and other
national universities is by no means insignificant.
If we include in our view America and Australia, the
result is much more striking. In 1881, and I have not
been able to get later details for all the Churches, there
were about 300 colleges and seminaries reported in the
two great sections of American Methodism, and 30
colleges in Australia and New Zealand ; and to these
should be added the high schools and colleges in our own
mission work and those of the American Mission, and all
the colleges and universities of Canadian Methodism.
All this has grown from this little seed a hundred years
ago, and it surely argues real life in the seed, and careful
culture since the sowing.
It would be (to me at least) most interesting to trace
the development of our different branches of education
from the germ till now, did time permit, but it would be

254 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
far too long a task. Set apart in 1794 for ministers'
children only, and supplemented in 181 2 by Woodhouse
Grove, Kingswood has not merely been a school in the
forefront of educational institutions, and abreast of its
rivals of other names and other aims, but it has been a
seed-plot, a nursery for schoolmasters and ministers. No
money, I believe, has ever been better laid out for Con
nexional purposes than the old familiar Kingswood and
Woodhouse Grove School collection, or has brought in a
better return. The men who have devised and guided our
Methodist education schemes of improvement and advance
have, in a very large proportion, been drawn from our oldest
Methodist high schools. That means that what advance
there has been is due to an impulse from within rather
than from without ; it is natural growth, and not ex
traneous addition, that has made our educational system
what it is. This, I think, is one of the most striking and
most hopeful features in the whole case.
As we watch the development of the different branches
of 'this work, we find, I say, the initiative from men who
were at Kingswood and Woodhouse Grove. Without any
endowment but the generous interest of the Methodist
people, this school has carried on the best traditions of
Wesleyan scholarship ; it has given at least eight Presid
ents of the Conference to the Connexion, among whom
we count our Chairman of to-day ; it has supplied our
theological institutions with some of their ablest teachers
from the very first, and there is not one of these institu
tions to-day that has not high on its staff at least one from
the same source. The principals of both our training
colleges, like the head-masters of our large schools — the
Leys and Wesley College — at least half the masters of
our other quasi-Connexional schools — Truro, Trowbridge,
Canterbury, Congleton, and the like — came from the same
source. And if we look abroad, we can trace the same influence
— from Colombo and the Mysore, to Wuchang, or to
Melbourne, the educational work is under similar guid-

A REVIEW OF METHODIST WORK. 255
ance. The value of this school to us as a Connexion,
especially in former days, was perhaps more clearly seen
by our enemies than by our friends. I believe it is true,
at any rate it is stated in Methodist lore, that the two
Universities of Oxford and Cambridge both passed re
solutions to the effect that no one educated at Kingswood
School should be admitted to either university, and that
resolution has never been rescinded to this day. In the
face of a fact like that, it is interesting to know how
strong a foothold Kingswood has in both universities
to-day. In the last comparatively few years, not less than
sixty Scholarships and ten or twelve Fellowships have been
taken by Kingswood boys at these same universities ; and,
now that our head-master at Kingswood is a distinguished
alumnus of both Kingswood and Cambridge, I think we
may conclude that this resolution has surely been for
gotten. I rejoice to see in the last University Lists that
the old school shows no sign of feebleness or decay.
I wish emphatically and gratefully to express my own
conviction that John Wesley was divinely guided when ;
he put the school as -well as the chapel at the founda
tion of his great enterprise. Take away Mr. Wesley's
school and its influence from the Methodist history of
the past century, and there would be an immense
blank. The next step that was taken to advance higher
education on Methodist lines after this was, so far as I
know, taken in the year 1831-1836. This led to the
establishment of Wesley College, Sheffield, the first
Methodist High School of the new foundation, and was
due to the sagacity and foresight and earnestness of one
of the grandest Methodist preachers of the last generation.
I shall be forgiven by you, Mr. President, I know, as an
old Sheffield boy yourself, and surely by any Methodist
audience in City Road, if I stay one moment, though
unworthiest of his old pupils to do so, just to pay a brief
tribute to Dr. Waddy. He was a man before his time in
this great question of higher education in our Connexion.

256 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
He was before his age, as Mr. Wesley was, on this subject.
He maintained the true tradition in times when there
were few to support or to sympathise with him, and his
earnest efforts are still bearing fruit in the wider and
truer success to-day of the great cause he tried so hard to
serve. His name is inseparably linked with the school of
which he was the real founder — it has done great things
for Methodism. Not to mention some that bear his name
so worthily to-day, let me recall from the memories of
one brief school generation the names of the founder of
the Children's Home, the Richmond Commentator on St.
Paul's Epistles, and the author of Daniel Quorm.
Wesley College, Sheffield, was soon followed by the
College at Taunton, and, despite all changes and adapta
tions to the new times, they are both doing good service
to-day in the same great cause.
It would ill-become me, Mr. President, to say much in
your presence about the last great movement in Method
ism for the highest education. I believe it was in 1874
that as a Connexion we faced the question of a Methodist
Public School, and by the energy and liberality of a few
the Leys School was established. Of course it is but an
infant among the great old schools of the country, but it
is an infant that has won an honourable recognition
among them, and even distinction. It is through the
Leys School that we have as Methodists found our way
into the last of those charmed circles from which we were
so long shut out. There are, I know, statistics of its
success that I could quote, but statistics can never be
fair to a new school. The main fact is that the Leys has
solved a great problem for us — the question as to the
possibility of reconcihng Methodist training with the
breadth and freedom of English public school life ; and I
have no doubt that, in the review of the next century of
Methodism education, one great feature will be the story
of the Leys School and the name of its first head-master.
But about the same time attention was drawn to the needs
of a particular class of our own people. It became clear that

A REVIEW OF METHODIST WORK. 257
in self-defence we must retain the children of Methodists
who were unable to pay the high fees.
In hastily reviewing the history of education among us,
I can hardly touch for a moment on our endeavour to
fulfil our Founder's own promise of colleges to insure us
an educated ministry. We cannot forget that our fathers
had to work out this question amidst difficulty and
opposition, but their work has abundantly justified them,
and to-day we are all of one mind as to our theological
colleges, and their importance and value to us as a
Church. Their educational influence has reached far
beyond the ranks of the ministry. To mention but one
of the indirect ways in which these institutions have been
influential throughout the whole range of Methodism, let
me name the writings of Mr. Beet and Dr. Pope.
As we review Methodist educational history during the
past century, it is impossible to omit all reference to our
efforts to secure and advance primary schools. The
Churches were naturally alive to this duty before the rest
of the nation. Our fathers did right nobly when there
was no aroused national conscience to support them,
and they established schools in different parts of the
country that, besides being bulwarks against all sorts of
intolerance, will bear comparison as purely educational
agencies with any others. I think I am right in saying
that, whatever may be our views of future policy, we are
all agreed that these 839 schools, with their nearly 200,000
scholars, are a heritage of noble work, especially when we
consider with them the 800 day schools, with well-nigh
50,000 scholars, in our missions abroad. But we have
also undertaken the not less important work of training
teachers for our own schools in our own way; and our two
training colleges to-day, Westminster and Southlands,
will bear comparison with any. No thoughtful man among
us can doubt for a moment that by this work we are most
effectively bringing religion to bear on educational work.
And while it is impossible to name many of those who
have done such good work, it would be wrong not to
R

258 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
notice the sagacity and devotion of Mr. Scott, so long
a Methodist pioneer in this direction, and the public
work and public writings of his extremely able successor,
Dr. Rigg, which have yet to be fully understood and
appreciated as they should be, and as they will be some
day. To review our Sunday school work in this last century
would be long and difficult. For the most part it would
be an uneventful story of continuous progress and improve
ment in methods and arrangement, as well as aims and
their accomplishment. The Connexional recognition and
direction has been constant throughout the whole period,
although it is only in comparatively recent years that a
minister has been appointed to supervise the Sunday
schools. Our own Sunday School Union has been a great
success, and it may safely be said that never at any
previous period were our Sunday schools so well equipped
and effectively worked.
One other great department of our educational work —
one of the youngest — claims more time than we can give
to it to-night. There has been no more rapid and hopeful
growth in Methodism of late years than the Children's
Home and Orphanage. Though not overlooked by Wesley
and his contemporaries, the very tradition of this work
seemed to be lost among us until it was revived by a
young minister rather more than twenty years ago. The
wonderful success that has attended Dr. Stephenson's
efforts — the many different branches that are now in
active operation, and the far-reaching, almost world-wide
influence of this work as a whole — show clearly enough
that the scheme filled up a vacant place in our Methodist
economy, and I think I may reverently say that it shows
also that the Divine blessing has rested upon it.
I have thus, sir, very briefly, and I am conscious very
imperfectly too, touched on all the various branches of
our Methodist education. If I have said anything that
has seemed to be boastful, and inconsistent with the tone
of humility and modesty which you yourself have marked

A REVIEW OF METHODIST WORK. 259
out as most suitable for this occasion, I should deeply
regret and retract it at once.
But as we look at the state of things a century ago, and
the history of advance through the subsequent years, it
would be wrong not to rejoice gratefully in the past, and
look forward trustfully to the future. We are bound to
praise Him who has done great things for us, and as a
Church it is surely not unbecoming on an occasion like
this to recognise the work of those who have gone before
us. One soweth and another reapeth. Other men
laboured, and we have entered into their labours ; but
surely we may, for just one brief moment at least, joyfully
anticipate the time when he that soweth and he that
reapeth shall rejoice together.
If the time allowed, I should be glad to say a few words
as to the future of our work. I believe, for instance, that
our Children's Home and Orphanage work must be greatly ,
increased if we are to do our duty as a Church. Noble ,.
as that institution is, it is insufficient. Those of us who '
believe that the solution of the great pressing social
questions of the day lies with those who have and train
the children, must recognise the imperative need of making
more earnest efforts in this direction. Forty or fifty
" Children's Homes " might save the great cities of the
next two or three generations. Will any man tell me any-|
thing else that will, humanly speaking ? Then, as to our
Sunday schools — I think we must recognise that as they
are likely to be more and more the only place for direct
religious teaching and influence for multitudes of children,
the teaching must be better and more practical, and the
influence more spiritual. I do not think we realise how
much we owe in this matter to outward circumstances,
which have now for a century given to the Churches
wonderful opportunities of reaching the children of in
different or godless parents. It is a serious consideration,
that a comparatively slight change in the habits of life
among the working classes might change all this. I
sometimes think I see signs of such change, and wonder

26o CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
if the Sunday school system, as known among us to-day,
has begun to alter, if not decay, at the very height of its
great success. Change I do not fear, but I do fear decay.
If we can maintain the life, the living organism will soon
adapt itself to changed conditions, but systems die.
" They have their day, and cease to be.''
We must be on our guard. With respect to the educa
tion of our ministers, our course in the past is justified not
merely by its results, but by the imitation of our friends.
The great religious body that had for so many years the
monopoly of the universities and all their learning, as
well as their revenues, has found that general education is
insufficient, and the tendency among them is more and
more toward theological colleges. Still, we might learn
a lesson from them in return, and if we were so to
avail ourselves of modern improvements as to secure
our ministry having their general studies with our young
laity, and only their theological work under separate train
ing, I believe they would gain in breadth and sympathy.
This topic, of course, touches on our future relations to
the universities. There was a time when the nationalisa
tion of Oxford and Cambridge was thought to have met
the needs of all the Churches. Has this proved to be so ?
The immediate result has been the multiplication of
denominational colleges in-a way altogether unprecedented.
Hertford, Keble, Ridley, Selwyn, Mansfield, all these
point to a very different conclusion. Are we not to
have our Wesley or Moulton College ? But I believe this
is debateable ground.
There is, beyond dispute, one great gap in our educa
tional system that I trust to see filled up before long.
The last five-and-twenty years have seen more advance in
the higher education of girls than in any other department.
We have not as a Connexion held aloof from this move
ment : our preachers' daughters have noble schools, and
there are flourishing middle-class schools for girls at Jersey
and Folkestone, and Penzance and Penrhds, and elsewhere.

A REVIEW OF METHODIST WORK. 261
Moreover, Methodism is rich in private schools for girls,,
inferior to none, giving just the special training of a
cultured home that we most covet for our daughters.
But for those who pass on to higher educational work
we have no place. There is no college as distinguished
from high school. We cannot afford to lose our most ,
cultured women ; they have been the life and strength of
Methodism. No other Church has recognised them so
fully, and been so much indebted to them, as the Methodist
Churches, and we have greater work yet for them to do. ,
And yet at present we are losing them in numbers, by
obliging them, just when most impressionable, to live and
work under hardly neutral, probably antagonistic, influ
ences. Our brethren in America do not do that ; even the
young Churches in Australia are wiser than that. And I
trust the time shall soon come when we shall have a
Ladies' College for Methodists.
I wish that something could be done among us to link
our Methodist schools closer together, and to make a plain
and easy path for a poor child of ability from the bottom
to the very top of our system. By this I mean a Methodist
path. There are such paths that are non-Methodist and
anti-Methodist ; and our own able and ambitious children
have been left to the temptations of endowments, which
are so used as to be practically — I had almost said prizes
for apostasy — at any rate, rewards for desertion. I leave
particulars. But if we are to do our part in the next
century in the great work of education, we must have a
clearer vision and a nobler ideal towards which to work.
We must aim more especially at the cultivation to the
highest degree of all the faculties of all our children.
Usefulness rather than money-making must be our aim.
In education, as in all else, our Lord's rule is supreme : -
" Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and all these things shall be added unto you."
1 have little doubt that there is a grand future for
Methodism, as well as for education. I believe the next
century will be one of great progress in knowledge ; there

262 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
will be keener research and nobler triumphs. But know
ledge puffeth up; it is by itself proud, and selfish, and hard.
Intellectual education by itself only means more polished
pride and more refined selfishness. We must have more
than this, or it is worse than nothing. I covet earnestly
for our loved Methodism, if indeed she be " Christianity in
earnest," that best gift of teaching men that there is no in
consistency between the highest intellectual and the highest
spiritual culture, but that these two agree in one. It is our
earliest Methodist tradition, that evangelistic fervour, in
tense religious feeling, the loftiest spiritual experience, the
most thorough fidelity to God's Word, the fullest sympathy
with the needs and the difficulties of the poor and the
ignorant, can be united with intellectual breadth, with
fearless love of truth, and with a noble enthusiasm for
learning. This is the tradition that we have received from
our fathers, and this we would hand on to our sons. And
then I believe that Methodism and education, like one of
those great twin orbs that the telescope has revealed to us
in the realms above, revolving round one common centre,
each supplying light and stability to the other, will shine
forth through the ages to come, giving light and blessing
to men and glory to God.
The President said : Perhaps I may add one word to
Mr. Osborn's most useful and powerful speech, to illustrate
the change that has come over England in a comparatively
short time. I believe I am right in saying that when Mr.
Osborn himself was at the University of Cambridge, he
was the only Methodist there. I have known in recent
years sometimes as many as fifty there. When I was a
boy, a very weakly, sickly boy, my father made inquiries
to see whether I could go to the Grammar School in the
large town in which we lived. He found that the prejudice
against the son of a Nonconformist minister was so great
that he had to give up the thought. For myself, of course,
I am most thankful, as I was sent to Woodhouse Grove,
where I obtained health and everything else.

A REVIEW OF METHODIST WORK. 263
fIDetbobism anb literature.
By the Rev. W. L. WATKINSON.
Mr. Thompson challenged any one in this company to
contradict him ; he is just the man to do it. We shall all
be sorry for the man who contradicts him. But it would
not do for me to challenge any man in this congregation.
I must cast myself on your indulgence, if, not to waste
a moment, I excuse myself for once from the liberalities
of rhetoric, and speak to you under the guidance of rather
extensive notes ; and, as my subject touches literature, it
may perhaps not be altogether inappropriate that we
honour letters in this shape. And you have this con
fidence in listening to me with these notes — -there is an
end to them.
The modern Greeks have a legend, that, as the soul
resides in the human body, so every building is inhabited
by a spirit, and the character of this spirit for good or evil
is determined by the character of those whose shadow
fell on the foundation-stone of the building. Naturally,
any institution is largely influenced by the temper of its
founder, and this is manifestly true of Methodism in many
particulars. The special genius of Wesley persists in the
Methodism of to-day, and displays itself in every direction.
This is true in regard to the question of literature. Wesley
was an intelligent man, a scholar, a passionate lover of
literature, a man of light as well as of leading, — things that
do not always go together ; — and this bias he gave to the
Church which by the grace of God he was permitted to
establish. If Whitefield had formed a Church, he at least
would scarcely have given to it so marked a literary and
educational character as did John Wesley. The Church
founded by the Countess of Huntingdon has certainly not
been wanting in culture, but, I conclude, it owed little in.
that particular to Whitefield. But Wesley, calling himself
a man of one Book, was in fact a man of very many,

264 CENTENAR Y SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
books. His literary character was always revealing itself,
and his literary activity was simply marvellous. During
his long life he never ceased producing books, and pub
lishing books, — theological, historical, classical, poetical,
philosophical, and medicinal. Many of these were written
by Wesley himself, many of them were revised and con
densed by him, and many of them were issued by him at
cheap prices for the sake of the public. For John Wesley
knew the value of the working man before the working
man had a vote.
When Wesley left the Moravians in Fetter Lane, and
went to the Foundery, he went to the right place. He
had a great deal of that kind of work to do ; and whilst
with all his might he smote the anvil, and occasionally
smoothed with the hammer, his books were thrown off
like sparks to illumine the thick darkness of the age.
Wesley's preachers in this matter caught his spirit and
followed his lead.
We may at once acknowledge that Methodism is not
a literary Church in any such eminent sense as is the
National Church. It has produced little of that massive
literature which is the glory of the Establishment. And
this can be counted no disgrace to Methodism. Methodism
provides no lettered ease. It exacts from all its ministers
so much immediate active service, that they have little
opportunity to become influential scholars, profound theo
logians, literary artists. When we remember that ours is
a working Church, absorbing all our time and energy in
immediate claims of duty, the wonder is rather that we
have accomplished so much in the direction of literature,
and not so little. Our ethical writers remind us that there
sometimes occurs in life a conflict of duties ; and many
a Methodist preacher has found himself in this dilemma
between literary aspirations and pastoral duty, and it is
greatly to their credit that many of them have put aside
their intellectual speculations for the sake of homely,
simple service among the people. And if it is satisfactory
to know why many books have not been written, it is also

A REVIEW OF METHODIST WORK. 265
pathetic to think at what immense self-denial much of our
literature has been produced.
But whatever may have been the literary limitations of
Methodism, it has produced some noble writers, and made
the intellectual world its debtor. Commentators like Adam
Clarke and Joseph Benson, theologians like magnificent
Richard Watson and Richard Treffry, controversialists
like Thomas Powell, — these, and many others, are recog
nised as princes in the intellectual realm.
And these masters have worthy successors to-day. It
has been well said, "That will be a degenerate age when
we must go to the cemetery to find our greatest men."
All our greatest men are not there. Modern Methodism
has no reason to be ashamed of commentators like Agar
Beet; of popular writers like Mark Guy Pearse ; of noble
legalists and statesmen like Dr. Rigg ; of theologians like
Dr. Pope ; of Dr. Gregory, at once poet, theologian, and
philosopher ; of eloquent logicians like William Arthur.
And there is another name that it would misbecome me
to praise, and that it would be equally unpardonable in me
to ignore. A man who has the rare privilege of trans
lating the Scripture, has indeed singular honour and felicity ;
he becomes henceforth in a sense identified with the im
mortal literature he translates, and stands, like John's
angel, in the sun. If John Wesley could revisit us, nothing,
I believe, would give him greater pleasure than the fact
that modern Methodism had been honoured in the person
of one of her most gifted sons to take a place on the Board
of Translators, which has given to the whole English-
speaking world the Revised Version of the Holy Scrip- ;
tures. These writers and many lesser lights — for God made
the stars also — brighten the firmament of Methodism, and
give light unto the world. The man who affirms that
Methodism has cared little for the intellectual life of the
people, that it is altogether Philistine, proves that he is a
Philistine. Its literary work has aimed high, and it has
been steadily and ardently pursued through all the century •

266 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
i since Wesley fell asleep. And this is not only true of the
, Mother Church of our common Methodism. The Primit
ive Methodist Church, the New Connexion, the Bible
Christians, the Methodist Free Church, have each been
true to the genius of Wesley, and carried out his aim with
splendid, unflagging energy.
The literature of Methodism is the literature of a work
ing Church, and as such it bears certain characteristics
which we may note. Many of our publications have been
of an experimental character. Wesley was a great
student of psychology, and he loves to give accounts of
the conversions and experiences of people of all types and
conditions. Many a page of the Journal, on which the
reader would wish to have recorded some of the stirring
incidents of Wesley's life and generation, is occupied with
the detailed experience of some child, some poor woman,
some converted collier or convict. The Magazine followed
in the same direction. The late Mr. Percival Bunting very
graphically designated the Magazine " The Westminster
Abbey of Methodism." Arid Methodism has been exceed
ingly rich and abundant in biography. In the work
issued by Dr. Osborn some twenty years ago, it is shown
that out of the 2554 works issued by Methodist preachers
from the beginning, 320 (or about an eighth of the whole)
were biographical. And Methodism has made no mistake
jin thus giving large recognition to Christian experience.
We all know the story of the origin of the miners' safety-
lamp. George Stephenson and Sir Humphry Davy were
contemporaries, and both were engaged in designing a
lamp which might be used safely in mines infested with
fire-damp. Stephenson was engine-wright at a Newcastle
colliery, a man with the least technical scientific know
ledge; but, with a practical head and a daily experience of
mines, he felt his way empirically to a triumphant result:
without any knowledge of chemistry, he invented an
effective lamp. Sir Humphry Davy was a brilliant
scientist, he understood the nature of the various gases,
and by a series of learned experiments he perfected at

A REVIEW OF METHODIST WORK. 267
length a lamp of great merit. In fact, the lamp of the
rough engine-wright and the brilliant scientist were sub
stantially identical. The two discoverers had followed
different lines — the one theoretical, the other practical;—
but the one being a logical reasoner, and the other being a
close observer, they arrived at a similar result, and their
invention is not displaced to this day. Religion may be
demonstrated from two sides — reason and experience,
logic and life ; — and hence we have apologetical literature *
and biographical literature, but surely the latter is not
inferior to the former in power and conclusiveness. The
thousands of honest men and women who have had
experience of the things of God, who have tested the
truth of Christ in all life's chequered scenes, — these are
witnesses for the defence of the faith certainly not inferior
to Pearson, Butler, or Hooker. Here Methodist literature
has rendered great service to the Church of Christ, — it has
been a witnessing Church in a very eminent degree, telling
out what it has felt and seen of the grace of God.
The literature of Methodism has also been to a large
extent of a practical character. It has been in a very
slight degree metaphysical, or speculative, or imaginative,
except occasionally, perhaps, in some of its theology ; and
being always in such close touch with the life of the people
and the facts of evangelisation, it has been saved from
many errors and heresies. Dr. Lardner, a theorist, wrote
an able and conclusive book, to prove the impossibility of
a steamship crossing the Atlantic, and the first steamer
that crossed from Liverpool to New York carried that
book with it, and everybody except scientists believed
that Dr. Lardner was refuted. Life, experience, fact, ,
spoilt many a fine theory ; and the fact that Methodism
has been a working Church, has given its literature far
more practical worth than speculative interest.
Much of our literature has been devoted to the building
up of the people in personal goodness. Much of it has
been devoted to recording the development of the king
dom of God at home and abroad. And even when the

268 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
publications of our Church have been on subjects of a
more general character, they have usually been designed to
the moral improvement as well as the intellectual pleasure
of the reader. The poet, the metaphysician, even the
scholar, may be disappointed with our literature, but it has
its vast value notwithstanding. Kew Gardens are very
interesting and very delightful, but after all the nation finds
its life in the orchards of Kent, the pastures of Yorkshire
the harvest-fields which clothe the landscapes with cloth of
gold. Our literature has also been popular in its character.
I am not sure that it has been popular exactly in the
modern sense of that word, but in the best sense of that
word it has been popular, aiming at the instruction of the
many rather than at the culture of the few. The grand
feature of the nineteenth century has been the popularis
ing of the best things. Music has descended from the
Olympus of opulence, and the toiling million is charmed
with the concord of sweet sounds ; Art has quitted those
palaces which for ages have been her prison, and the
multitude is bewitched with the hypnotism of beauty ;
Knowledge has stepped out of the great libraries into the
street, and the masses declare it a pleasant thing to see
the light. I have no hesitation in saying that for the last
privilege the people are greatly indebted to John Wesley.
Newton discovered the law of gravitation ; Columbus
.discovered America ; Watt the steam-engine ; and John
Wesley discovered the million. Long before Lord
Brougham and his friends essayed to bring out a cheap
popular literature, John Wesley had sought, with much
success, to do the same. He had a great notion of cheap
books, and he was the very pioneer in the cause of
popular literature.
Being of this popular impressionist character, much of
the literature of Methodism has been evanescent. But a
sunny day is evanescent, so is the dew of the morning,
so is the shower and its rainbow; but they make the earth
beautiful, and fill it with fruit, and the often slight and
vanishing literature of Methodism has done its precious

A REVIEW OF METHODIST WORK. 269
and grateful work, strengthening from year to year the
best life of its people. After the lapse of a century, we
have no reason that I know of to be ashamed of our
literary histor)-. Our press has gone on unceasingly
sending forth useful and valuable books in considerable
variety ; monthly publications touching the current life of
the Church and the world, and containing many an article
of beauty and genius. We have two newspapers, of which'
I may confidently say that thej' do no more harm than
other newspapers. We issue millions of tracts, whose
simple but sublime virtue none may declare ; a missionary
literature, which to sincere and earnest students is more '
surprising and romantic than all works of mere imagina
tion ; a Review, which treats great themes in a broad and
philosophical temper ; and lastly, a literature for the
Sunday school and the young people, exquisitely calcu- [
lated to attract and exalt the intelligence of the coming
generation. We have no reason to be ashamed of our literature, for
it has always been on the side of truth, of righteousness,
of temperance, of freedom, of humanity, of holiness, and of
happiness. But what of the future ? May not Methodism in the
time to come do far more even in the direction of litera
ture than she has already done ? The development of
religious literature on all sides does not free Methodism
from literary responsibility. We have always had an
organic Methodist press ; we owe a vast deal to that press,
and we ought to do far more in this matter in the future,
and not less. Unless the Churches occupy the ground
with pure and noble literature of every kind, doubtful
and pernicious literature will spring up and flourish with
disastrous luxuriance. Our Church, then, must enter into
the modern spirit, and intelligently and enthusiastically
cater for the million.
It seems to me that our Book-Room occupies a very
peculiar and trying position. It is expected, on the one
hand, to supply the Connexion with a superior and popular

270 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
' literature, and, on the other hand, it is heavily taxed in the
interests of various Connexional Funds. And there is a
strong tendency in some quarters to cease appealing to
our people for the support of various institutions of our
Church, and to look to the Book-Room to make up the
deficiency. For my own part, I think this a great mistake.
I say, let us directly and honestly appeal to our people for
the support of the Old Preachers', and Widows' Fund, and
every other fund, and we have no reason to fear the result
of such a frank appeal. But let us not put the incidence of
what may be thought an unpopular fund on the Book-
Room ; let us not handicap our Steward by any severe
requisition. I know very well that the official men shake
their heads, but I am not alarmed by that. I have been
to Conference, and I notice that they always shake their
heads there. It is a sort of departmental palsy.
Publishing is not always such a lucrative business as
some people seem to think ; — John Wesley found that out.
An American was addressing a number of young men,
when he said : " Look at me, gentlemen, and see how I
have got on in life. When I first came to this country, I
was not worth sixpence, and now I owe 200,000 dollars."
There is a passage, a humorous passage, in Wesley's
Journal, that reminds one of this anecdote : " Wednesday
and Thursday I settled my temporal business. It is now
about eighteen years since I began writing and printing
books. And how much in that time have I gained by
printing? Why, on summing up my accounts, I found
that on March i, 1756, I had gained by printing and
preaching together a debt of ^^1236."
Still a fair profit may be made, I suppose, in the pub
lishing trade ; let us then expect no more than a modest
dividend from this quarter, let us put no M'Kinley tariff
on the intelligence of the Connexion. Nothing will serve
the world better, nothing will serve Methodism better,
than that our Book-Room should be effective. Whatever
else the Book-Room is, it must be effective. Its function is
glorious, its possibilities are great, and it must not be

A REVIEW OF METHODIST WORK. 271
limited or exhausted by financial responsibilities. Our
Book Steward at this moment has the confidence of the
whole Connexion, and from him we all expect great
things. But our Steward can only realise our hopes as
we patriotically and enthusiastically sustain him. We
shall not help him much by criticism, but wc shall help
him greatly by sympathy. Some in Methodism may aid
our Steward by giving him the opportunity of bringing
out their best work ; — the other parties I need not exhort.
Some one said of our country that it was a reservoir of
talent ; certainly there is a vast amount of literary talent
in Methodism. I would appeal to all my brethren in this
matter : let all those who can aid our Steward in sustaining
and raising the literary reputation of our Church, do so,
and even if they make some sacrifice in doing this, well,
we ought to be willing to make some sacrifice for a
Church to which we owe so much. And all our people
must aid by encouraging our literature. We have not
been a literary Church, perhaps we never can be, but there
is a sphere in the intellectual and literary world that we
ought to fill, and must fill, if we are to be true to the spirit
of our Founder, if we are to do fully the great work that
God gave us to do.

flDetbobism anb fIDiseions.
By the Rev. G. W. OLVER, B.A.
It will be very evident to all who hear me, that it would
be impossible for me to attempt to do what Dr. Jenkins
himself would have done had he been present. I could
never hope to say what he would have said, nor to say it
in the manner in which he would have said it. I have no
doubt that Dr. Jenkins will in due course revise his manu
script, already in my hands, and I trust he will be allowed
to place in the memorial volume the paper he would

272 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Otherwise have given to us this evening. At the same
time, I feel that it would scarcely be fitting if I were to sit ^
down without saying something on the subject of Missions
by way of conclusion.
I have felt this all the more, because I have been per
suaded, as I have sat upon this platform, that the relation
of Methodism to Foreign Missions is the one great secret
which must guide us in grappling with and in solving the
many problems that await us in our own land.
I need not take you back to the time when Mr. Wesley
went out to Georgia as an agent for the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. He was.
then a missionary, but not a Methodist missionary. He
returned, and very soon found himself in the midst of a
great movement, the far - reaching extent of which the
generations to come will be better able to judge than we
can even now. It would be very interesting to try to
trace how many Christian Societies that exist in our own
day, dealing with the people at home and dealing with
the needs of the heathen afar, were brought about by the
influence of the Methodist movement. For, when we are
speaking this evening of the Methodist movement, I do
not understand that we are speaking simply of our own
Church, or of the Connexion of Churches of which our own
is ever recognised as the mother ; but it is a wider move
ment, that which I will venture to call the great movement
of the eighteenth century.
But, sir, the Christian Church in England had been
stirred and moved before Wesley and Whitefield arose.
'Three great movements have swept over the religious life
\ of this country since the middle of the sixteenth century
' — the Reformation, Puritanism, Methodism. Wherein lies
the secret of Methodism, that it most of them all should
not only stir the heart but abide in its influence, gathering
might as the generations pass ? I think we may under
stand it if we will ponder for a moment.
When this question has come before my own mind,
again and again I have gone back to one passage of

A REVIEW OF METHODIST WORK. 273
Scripture : " In Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth
anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith that worketh by
love." The great theme of the Reformation was Justification
by Faith ; and the Christian Church took up the parable, and
read: "Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, but faith"
— and it stopped. Not that it did not pass further in
practical life, but the attention was riveted there. And
then gradually the Churches went back, and the movement
began to fail. Another hundred years, and Puritanism
arose, and read : " Neither circumcision nor uncircum
cision, but faith that worketh." It set itself in sternness
and loyalty to do its acknowledged work ; and those who
have read the history of the Puritan movement know what
it wrought in political, in social, and in family life. And
then again the Church settled down. Another hundred
years passed, and Methodism appeared, and took up the
old parable, but finished it well : "In Jesus Christ neither
circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but i
faith that worketh by love."
So, sir, I read that great message of Methodism, — the
love of God to man, by man, in man ; the love of God as
the substance of truth, the secret of experience, the rule of
practice. And it was when the heart of Wesley opened to
the blessed truth, " My Father, God," that he was able to
look out upon the world, and to recognise the Fatherhood
of God, the Sonship of the race, and the Brotherhood of
man. If we will understand Methodism, we may see how
that great truth, the Love of God, fixed itself in every part,
in its doctrine — the wonderful redemption, the witness of
the Spirit, the perfect life ; in its experience — ^joy in the
Lord, consecration of service, consecration of substance ;
in its economy — the Methodist class - meeting, the love
feast, the prayer-meeting, not as obedience to an ecclesi
astical rule, not as a mere fulfilment of a personal duty,
but as the outflow of a brotherly kindness that seeks to
help the feeble and the needy. And it found expression
in the outward life, as you have heard, — in the Orphan
Schools at Newcastle, the Dispensary at Bristol, the Poor's
S

274 CENTENAR Y SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Fund within the Church, the Strangers' Friend Society
without it, — everywhere it was the consecration of a living
love in the service of the common brotherhood. And it is
no marvel, therefore, that Methodism has found its place in
mission work.
I love to turn to the old Hymn-book, and to note in
what different ways Mr. Wesley was wont to deal with sin
as a personal matter, and with equal sin in other sinners.
You want a terrible hymn :
" How shall I leave my tomb.
With triumph or regret ? "
Or:
"Terrible thought, shall I alone  ? "
But when he is looking out upon the world of sinners
(have not you been singing it to-night) :
" Come, O my guilty brethren, come.''
That was the outcome of his heart. Did not he feel the
sinfulness of sin ? Did he minify the wretchedness of
wrong-doing? Never. But if you want the missionary
tone of John Wesley, as he looked out upon a world of
sinners, it is here :
" Oh that the world might taste and see
The riches of His grace ! "
Or, again : " Oh for the trumpet voice.
On all the world to call ! "
The mission work with John Wesley, the mission work
with the true Methodist, is not merely the fulfilment of
a duty ; it is the outcome of a loving heart that longs
to bless the world. It is no marvel if, as the result of
this, every Methodist Church throughout the world is a
Missionary Church. If the love is there, it cannot be
otherwise ; and the Church can never cease to be a
Missionary Church, unless the members of it first lose
the love.
I will not occupy your time this evening by many

A REVIEW OF METHODIST WORK. 275
statistics, but I may say that there are in England five
Missionary Societies more or less Methodist, — the Wes--
leyan, the Bible Christian, the New Connexion, the'
United Methodist Free Churches, and the Primitive
Methodist. In America there are the Methodist Epis
copal, the Methodist Protestant, the Wesleyan Methodist
Connexion, the African Methodist Episcopal, and the
Methodist Episcopal Church South. Wherever there is
Methodism the wide world over, it is the result of mission
work. These Missionary Societies just mentioned have
altogether a membership of 69,600. Of these the
American Societies number just over 24,000 members in
their Foreign Mission Churches, and the five English
Societies something more than 45,000. There is no
room for boasting ; but it would be a shame — would it
not? — if the old Methodist Church were not the leader, if
we gave up the heritage that we have received from our
fathers, and were not in the van of all the Methodist
Churches in this work ? And so in connection with your
own Society, after having formed so many Conferences
in different parts of the world, you have even now upon
the mission field more members than all these other
Missionary Societies, both here and in America, put
together. Those who have gone before me have asked, one after
the other, " And now, what of the future ? " I thanked
God as I sat there and listened to Peter Thompson, and
I said to my neighbour, " I only wiTh I could take a
hundred men out of this congregation, and put them to
work where Peter Thompson works, and see what he sees.
There would not be a man of the hundred that would
not come back and stand side by side with him." At
home we have the great social problem, and abroad we
have the crying need ; and where is the solution to be
found? In speculative philosophy? No. In legislation ?
No. It may help, but it cannot cure. It is to be found
in the old secret of Methodism — a truth, an experience,
and a practice — in love of God and the brotherhood of

276 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
man. Did John Wesley ever think all men were equal ?
What, in muscle, in mind, in morals ? No ; nor do you.
All men equal ? No, but all men are brethren. The
big brother and the little brother, the strong sister and
the weakly sister — brothers, sisters all — the strong to
help the weak, and God to help us all. And therefore
let us learn the lesson : If we are to reach the brethren
, afar off, and if we are to help the brethren at home, there
is one way, and only one. It is for every one of us, with
out exception, to betake himself to the secret place, and
look once more upon the face of God. It is for every
one of us to win back, by His mercy, the consciousness of
the indwelling love. It is then, in His name, to go forth
and live the life of Christ.
I spoke of three movements. I will only say a word
about a fourth. There are two great facts that concern
the life of our land and of the world to-day. The one is
in the Church — the other outside it. In the Church a
yearning for the higher life, a longing for holiness, for
consecration, and, thank God for it, a recognition of
personal services. Yes, and outside, socialism — ay, let
the ugly word alone if you don't like it — a great wail of
suffering humanity ; the world waking up to a conscious
ness of its misery ; society groaning by reason of the
burdens that press upon it. Where is society to find its
answer ? I verily believe, as I do that there is a Father
in heaven to-day, the answer is here. When the Church
takes up its theory of the real brotherhood of man, and
goes out into the world and lives its creed, socialism will
hide its head ; for its wildest dreams will be more than
fulfilled when the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth reigns in
the homes of the land.
Two lessons, then. One for the Christian, the other for
the sceptic. Amongst the working classes there is not
more scepticism than elsewhere. My conviction is that
under the profession of scepticism there is a strong yearn
ing after truth and after God. At all events, we may let
scepticism take care of itself Human nature will never

A REVIEW OF METHODIST WORK. 277
rest in a blank negation. You let scepticism alone, con
science will do its work. For the Church the lesson is to
live the life of love. For the working man, what ? Be
he who he may, he cannot adopt a policy more suicidal
than to set himself against the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The hard-headed working men of England are finding
that out, and God grant they may find it out very fast.
If they are to help one another and themselves, their
common - sense must lead them to stand side by side
with those who are trying to uphold the doctrine of
Jesus.

Tt)^ Opei)ir)6 of bt)^ Allai)
Library.
By the Chairman, Mr. ALEX. M'ARTHUR, M.P.
The service in which we are engaged is one of very
great interest and importance. The Library that is
about to be opened is very much more valuable than
many persons have any idea of Only a year or two
ago the British and Foreign Bible Society paid ^^3000 or
;^4000 for a collection of old editions of the Bible, and 1
am quite certain that if the valuable books which have
been presented to us by Mr. Allan had been offered for
sale they would have realised a much larger amount. I
think, therefore, that we may congratulate ourselves on
their possession. During the last few days we have heard
much of the great work which Mr. Wesley accomplished
during his eminently useful life, but I think that there has
scarcely been a sufficient acknowledgment of the great
services he rendered in the cause of education. It is well
known that John Wesley did more in his day for the cause
of education generally, for the uplifting of the people, for
the education of the young and of his fellow-workers, than
any other man at that period of the world. But education
in Mr. Wesley's day was very different from what it is
now. At that time the people of England were shame
fully ignorant. Two-thirds of the population of this
278

THE OPENING OF THE ALLAN LIBRARY. 279
country could neither read nor write, whereas now it
would be difficult to find a young man or woman of
twenty or twenty-five years of age who cannot both read
and write. But just in proportion as the standard of
education in the nation is raised, it is essential that the
education of ministers should be raised ; for it is their duty
not only to keep abreast of the people but to lead the
people. On that ground, therefore, I think we have great
cause to congratulate ourselves on the acquisition of so
valuable a Library. You are aware that many of our local
preachers and young ministers have not very large means,
and cannot afford to have large libraries ; and to them it
will be a great boon to have a Library of that kind to fall
back upon and to consult when they desire to do so.

^be Ibistori^ of tbe ailan Xibrar^.
By Rev. JAMES H. RIGG, D.D.
Mr. ChairiMAN, —
At the beginning of the present century Mr. Allan, who
was at that time perhaps the most safe, cautious, and
trusted adviser of the Connexion, in regard to legal
business, occupied a pew in this chapel. In that pew,
besides the father, there were two sons, who were
accustomed from their earliest years to worship in this
chapel. The father was a careful, conscientious, loyal
Methodist, from the North of England. The sons were
sent in early life to one of the public schools of London,
and, after having distinguished themselves there, they went
to the University of Cambridge. One of them died — a
most promising and devoted young man ; the other, Mr.
Thomas Robinson Allan, became the Founder of this
Library. He grew up as an exceedingly shy and timid
man — diffident to an almost unexampled degree, but
clinging continually to his recollections of Methodism,
to his love for the Conference. The family, after leaving

28o CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
City Road, went to Blackheath, where possibly there may
be some, even now, who will remember him. I believe they
lived at the "Paragon," and attended the Old Deptford
Chapel. Mr. Thomas R. Allan was not made for the conflicts of
life. His health and tastes combined to make him a
traveller. He visited a great part of Europe ; and whilst
he was travelling, and looking at book-shops, the thought
took hold of him that the Church of his childhood ought
to have a great Library. He nourished that thought for
t'nirty or forty years. During that time he was looking
out for books which could be put into such a Library, and
he spent a fortune on them. , He had booksellers in Vienna,
Berlin, Amsterdam, and other places, who were continually
on the look-out for rare and valuable books. Nothing
was said to any one until the year that Dr. Waddy was
President, some thirty years ago ; and then Mr Allan
wrote a long argument and statement which he sent to
Dr. Waddy, urging that the time had come for our Con
nexion to undertake the founding of such a Library. At
that time, however, we were not ripe for that work, and
nothing came of his representations, although the MS.
containing them was put into my hands by Dr. Osborn
not many months ago.
In the year of my Presidency this good, devoted, humble
man — this lover of learning, of good men, and of Method
ism — came more than once to see me. That was the year
of the Thanksgiving Fund ; we did not meet, and at that
time nothing was done. In 1884, however, when his travels
had come to an end, he called on me again, and, not find
ing me at home, wrote to me. Eventually we met, and
he stated to me his views. I pointed out to him the diffi
culties that would be likely to arise with regard to the
acceptance of his proposals — that we should have to build
a place in which to house his books, etc. ; and I hinted, as
gently as I could, that his gift, grand as it was, might prove
to be one that we could not easily take advantage of But
I did not discourage him from giving the books, although

THE OPENING OF THE ALLAN LIBRARY. 281
I tried to prepare him for some delay in our arrangements
to take full advantage of them. After much needful and
careful preparation, I brought the matter before the Con
ference ; and at the Conference of that year — 1884 — the
necessary consent was given to accept the books, which
had been lying, most of them for years, at Tilbury's
warehouse ; and a suitable acknowledgment was sent to
Mr. Allan of his splendid gift. They were then removed
to the Book- Room, where they have been ever since. Well,
it was a beautiful thought that the Church of his childhood
ought to have such a Library. In the original document,
in which he argued the case, he referred to the Sion College
Library of the Church of England and the English Pres
byterian or Dissenting Library (Dr. Williams'), and he
expressed the hope that the Methodist Church would, in
this respect, be equal to the Established and Dissenting
Churches. In order that this hope might be realised, he spent
many thousands of pounds in the purchase of rare and
precious books — some of which were of extraordinary
value. Thus the foundation has been laid for a Library of
inestimable worth to Methodist ministers, local preachers,
students, and lovers of books throughout the whole Con
nexion. Do they want to study the early history of the
Church ? They will find there magnificent copies of the
writings of the early Fathers, and other productions of
rare and incomparable worth. Do they wish to study the
history of the Reformation, and some of the ages that
were antecedent ? They will find a wonderful wealth of
literature appertaining to those periods. As to the Popish
Controversy — that seems to have been a peculiar study of
Mr. Allan's ; and the works relating to it, and to the his
tory of the Councils, are very numerous and very valuable
indeed. The standard works of the Reformers on the
Continent- — German, French, and Dutch — are to be found
there in a very large collection. Also the works of our
own national theologians and divines, both of the Church
of England and of the Puritan schools. Our Methodist

282 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
writers, down to a fairly recent period, are also worthily
represented. The works of many of our best historians,
such as Grote and Macaulay, are to be found there in
most magnificent bindings. These are only samples.
There is a rich contribution of hymnology of various
schools — our own included. There are medals and coins,
and engravings of emperors and of distinguished divines
of the Church of England. The collection of Bibles is
very wonderful — including, as it does, ancient and modern
editions in almost every one of the ancient and modern
languages. There are Polyglots there, Mr. President, that
would make your eyes shine to look upon.
Now I know that all this is of comparatively little worth
to those who care for nothing except modern books. But
you can't have a Library without such a foundation, that is
to be worth anything at all for a great Church. And it is
worth a great deal to us to have such a foundation on
which to build. Generous friends are adding to the
Library. Mr. Buller has contributed the wealth of litera
ture collected by the late Dr. Rule. Mrs. Bunting has
given us the remains of her husband's library ; and, both
for their intrinsic value and their precious memories, those
books have been most thankfully accepted. Mr. Pocock,
a man of literary culture, has also made us a present.
Mr. Whitehead, of Guernsey, has sent us a valuable series
of volumes. Also the library of the late Mr. Foster,
Newton, has been added. By reason of these gifts the
original Library of 12,000 or 13,000 bound volumes, besides
thousands of unbound but very valuable dissertations, has
been considerably increased. Mr. Allan knew that the
choicest theological and exegetical discussions of the
Continent are published in pamphlet form — they are not
bound ; and that is the form in which Continental scholars
are accustomed to issue their own learned researches and
the researches of others. Therefore, he collected for us
treatises on the most important questions of theology and
interpretation. Thousands of those pamphlets which he
collected are there in readiness for the use of our theo-

THE OPENING OF THE ALLAN LIBRARY. 283
logical tutors and of our exegetes. Don't let any one say
that they are all of no use because they are old — because
it will be found that the ancients have robbed us of a great
many of our thoughts. A great many of our theological
puzzles, which are supposed to be quite modern, were
anticipated by the ancients. And the same is true, though
not to so large an extent, even of many of the questions
of Biblical exegesis. There they are, and they are a part
of the learned and noble apparatus of study which has
been provided by the generosity of our venerable friend.
I visited Mr. Allan during his last months of life. My
friend the Secretary of the Conference and Mr. Telford
occasionally went with me. We were thankful that, be
fore he became so weak, he had completed the legal docu
ments by which this gift, which he had so long set his
heart upon, was made fast and sure to our Connexion.
The old man between eighty and ninety years of age had
seen the dream of his heart put in the way of accomplish
ment when he was taken to another world. For many
years he had not had a home of his own. He had spent
his life in wandering from place to place. He had no
wife, no sister. He mourned the loss of his brother. He
thought of the past, and for us he thought of the future.
You will now know something of the origin of the ALLAN
Library.
We are quite aware of the need of having modern books.
The books that Mr. Allan gave to us may be said to bring
us down not later than forty years ago. Of course we
need to have recent books. We have begun to purchase.
We have made some very capital contributions both for
ministers and for local preachers. For instance, we have
obtained the Commentaries of Meyer, also the whole
series of the Expositor's Bible. You will now find
there the Cambridge Bible for Students, the Story
of the Nations in all its parts, and many other books of
the like description. The Speaker's Commentary is
ordered, but it is not as yet upon the shelves. We are
bringing in many of the standard histories of our times.

284 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Nor are we neglecting philosophy. We have got some of
the finest philosophical works of the last twenty years ;
and we have authorised the President and Professor
Davison to superintend the selection of other books.
But we are at the end of our resources ; and the question
to-day is, whether this grand foundation is to be left with
out an adequate superstructure — whether this great
opportunity is to be brought to us, and not to be made
available for the Connexion at large? We need to spend
^700 on modern books. With that sum at our disposal
we could supply all that is pressingly needed on that head.
I do not mean to say that we should put nothing there
except the gravest possible books. We shall have poetical
works, and also some other works of imagination. But
they must be choice books, such as go to the completion
of a literary education for men who have to do their duty
in these mixed times.
But, in order to carry out this proposal, we must have
money. And, after all, ^^700 is a small sum to be raised
by a great Connexion like this. If we had had to appeal
to the Connexion for a suitable building for such a Library,
we could not have asked for less than .£^10,000 ; for Mr.
Allan bound us, by his deed, that the Library should be
within the limits of the City of London or of Westminster.
And I think he was right in so binding us. Under the
circumstances, the Connexion would have honoured such
a demand. I cannot doubt that. It would be unworthy
of us to doubt it. But now, owing to the great generosity
of which we have been the subjects, we are enabled to
place these books in the rooms which you will see this
afternoon in connection with the Book-Room. We are
bound, however, to pay some rent. Altogether we calcu
late that our expenses cannot be set down at less than
.^600 a year, exclusive of some present aid that is
necessary in order fully to equip the Library. That is
what we ask the Connexion for; and, if you think of the
history of this movement, you will say that we have a
right to ask it. We are looking for a generous response

THE OPENING OF THE ALLAN LIBRARY. 285
to this appeal, both in the way of donations and sub
scriptions. As to "subscriptions," let me remind you that the
donation of Mr. Allan was a donation to the ministers
of the Conference. He thought the ministers needed such
a Library. I believe they do ; and if all is true that is
said by some about us, as ministers and as a people, we
need the means of enriching and enlarging our learning
and culture v^ry much indeed. (A laugh.) Mr. Allan
presented his gift to the ministers of the Connexion ; but
the Pastoral Conference, to which this matter was first
referred, at once agreed that the local preachers should
share in the advantages of this Library, as soon as it could
be started, on equal terms with the ministers of the body ;
and it is upon that basis that our arrangements were made.
Of course, they were only too glad to say also that they
would like their lay-brethren, other than local preachers,
to share in the benefits, because we want the laity to help
us with the funds. Our committee, therefore, is a mixed
committee. We want our lay friends to be with us all
through — we want them to become guinea subscribers —
the subscription for ministers and local preachers being
half-a-guinea. The Library will always be in two parts. One part of it
will be circulating, and the other stationary. It will be
readily understood that volumes which have cost £^0, or
more, cannot with safety be allowed to be taken away. A
certain proportion of these books will be books of reference,
and will be retained in the Library; but all the new books
are intended to be diffused; and many a minister in country
town or village, who is not at present able to obtain valu
able books on theology and history and research, will have
them placed within his reach.
Now, this is an audience that ought to do the business.
It is large enough ; it is intelligent enough. It is, more
over, in a gracious mood. The blessing of the Lord has
come upon us ; the Spirit has touched our hearts. This is
the Centenary of Methodism. It is a time for doing some-

286 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
thing generous, and simply to renovate this chapel, greatly
as it is needed, will not fill up the measure of what might
well be done on this Centenary occasion and in connection
with this City Road gathering.

Bv the Rev. W. F. MOULTON, M.A., D.D.,
PRESIDENT OF THE CONFERENCE.
I AM glad to know that there is at this moment in the
chapel a near relative of the donor of this Library. I am
glad that he is present to hear with what gratitude we
acknowledge the very great generosity of his cousin, Mr.
T. R. Allan, in presenting this magnificent Library to our
Connexion. Dr. Rigg has fallen into what I am afraid is
a very common habit of his ; he has so spoken as to show
that he forgets an old rule that used to be laid down for
reapers — viz., that no field should be so closely gathered as
not to leave something for the gleaner. I may, however,
mention two things.
I. The book which I hold in my hand will show you
that the greater part of the 20,000 volumes (besides 8000
pamphlets of very great value) has been most carefully
catalogued. 2. In connection with this Centenary celebration it
should be remembered that John Wesley gave a Library
to the Wesleyan Connexion, which he did his utmost to
circulate as widely as possible. Wesley's " Christian
Library " was brought to the doors of his people, and he
lost a great deal of money by it.
Either of these facts might serve as a text to-day. Mr.
Wesley's plan of publishing and circulating " extracts "
from important works could not be pursued in the present
day to any large extent — students would not be satisfied
with that ; but it is well to note that Mr. Wesley showed,
in many ways, how much he valued the diffusion of
literature amongst his ministers and people, and that we

THE OPENING OF THE ALLAN LIBRARY. 287
are simply following his lead when we are considering this
question of a Library.
But how to bring the literature which we have acquired
to the doors of our people is a difficult question. Dr. Rigg
has shown that what has been given to us is not so much
a Library as the foundation of a Library. That founda
tion is a very magnificent one, but it is not one that could
be used to great advantage except by a limited number of
specialists ; and, therefore, if we resolve as Methodists to
found a Library, it will be necessary for us, at some consider
able expense, to acquire a large proportion of books such as
Dr. Rigg has mentioned. We ought to make up our minds
to this — to accept this gift as the nucleus of a large and most
useful Library, the books of which may, on reasonable
terms, be circulated in various parts of the country. I take
it for granted that the Library will, to a large extent, be a
Library of solid literature. In most towns it is easy to
obtain the lighter literature, but it is not an easy thing for
a local preacher to get a large number of books that
particularly interest him. Not long ago an earnest re
quest was presented to the Conference, on behalf specially
of our local preachers, that there might be drawn up, by
some competent authority, a list of books suitable for
reading in the different parts of Theology. Such a list
was prepared accordingly ; and that list — supplemented
from year to year — might be included in the catalogue of
this Library, and used with it.
A good library catalogue has in itself an educational
effect, and if we had not simply an alphabetical but a
classified catalogue, it would be a great benefit to our
Connexion for many years to come.
I may venture to say that there are those on this plat
form — some of whom have been connected with this
Library from the first — who are prepared to pledge them
selves that no effort shall be wanting on their part to
make the Library all that it must be made for the use of
Methodist students and the Methodist people. A great
deal depends upon the response which you make to our

288 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
appeal this afternoon. I can confirm what Dr. Rigg has
said that the Allan Library is at present housed on most
liberal terms. I only hope that the Book Steward is as
well contented with the terms, as representing the general
book department, as those who look at the matter from
the side of the Allan Library are satisfied. I hope this
Library will grow to a far greater extent than its present
limits will suffice for. We are accustomed to do things on
a large and generous scale, and I do not believe that the
Methodist people will hesitate to do this now that they see
the need of it.

-M.e[lt)Oclisrr) apd Social
^ork.
The PRESIDENT OF THE CONFERENCE.
If ever we had need of serious and earnest prayer, and of
all the courage which belongs to the service of the Lord
Jesus Christ, it is in connection with the questions which
occupy us this evening. If we cannot so fully quote the
direct example of John Wesley as we could in our last
meeting, the spirit of John Wesley is in every part of the
subject which will come before us to-night. But in some
respects it was impossible in his age to do what has
become possible in ours. Above all others, our age has
been distinguished by the privilege which has been con
ferred upon the Church of Christ in some of these all-
important questions. Questions will be brought to our
notice this evening with which your own hearts are in
deepest sympathy. Our hearts have been filled at times
with fear and horror, and at times with hope and joy ; and
nothing can so appeal to the deeper feelings of our nature
as those matters of which I am now speaking. In our
meetings hitherto, very distinct references have been made
to the future, but the present and the past have naturally
occupied our main attention. This evening we have the
future before us. I believe the future is in our hands.
We have the means of carrying on this work through
T

290 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
God's blessing. But if we have the power we have also
the responsibility. No body of Christians ever had the
responsibility for dealing with social questions which those
who live at this time undoubtedly have. Therefore I call
upon you, with all your hearts, with earnest prayer to
God, and with profound consecration of yourselves, to sing
this hymn : — " Soldiers of Christ, arise."

fIDetbobism anb tbe Meriting fll>an.
By the Rev. H. T. SMART.
I THINK myself happy that I have the honour to speak
to you on the relation of Methodism to working men, and
the more so because working men are not so much a class
as they are the nation, seeing "that three-fourths of our
'population are made up of wage-earning people. It is
well known that amongst no section of the community
was Mr. Wesley so successful as amongst this class,
Oxford don though he was, he loved to preach to the
miners of Kingswood and Wednesbury, and from them
and their order he got his most useful converts and the
largest number of his triumphs. The names of John
Nelson the stonemason, and Tom o' Jack's lad may be
taken as the representatives of many thousands of honest
working men of whom Wesley could say, " In Christ Jesus
I have begotten you through the gospel." Whilst in
Voltaire's country this class was engaged in making
tanneries for human skins, in Wesley's country the same
class were engaged in singing all over the land :
" Oh, that the world might taste and see
The riches of His grace !
The arms of love that compass me
Would all mankind embrace."
And it was very largely due to the influence of Wesley
and his coadjutors that England was not visited by those

METHODISM AND SOCIAL WORK. 291
disasters which befel our neighbours across the Channel.
What saved England in the eighteenth century will save
her in the nineteenth ; and therefore we do well to
address ourselves with all possible energy and devotion
to the work which Mr. Wesley set us the example of
doing — namely, promoting the evangelisation of the great
body of the community.
Where John Wesley's body lies we all know very well,
but his soul is marching on. And, blessed be God, his
soul has been marching on all through the century. For
this reason, therefore, we do not meet this evening to
discuss how we can win our first triumphs amongst this
class, but rather to consider by what means we can best
extend the triumphs which, by the Divine blessing, Method
ism has already achieved amongst working men. The
Rev. Edward Smith's little book. Three Years in Central
London, may, I think, be worthily mentioned on the same
day as Wesley's Journals.
But not only in Clerkenwell have we to rejoice over
converted working men. In other London circuits, as I
have myself lately seen, we have a fair representation of
this class ; whilst in Lancashire and Yorkshire, in which
counties I have spent the last twelve years of my ministry,
we have in our Societies large numbers of converted work
ing men, who are seeking not only to save their own souls,
but also to save the souls of their fellows. I have been
the pastor of working men who have counted it no hard
ship to walk four miles after a hard day's work to some
centre of evangelistic work, and then to walk four miles
back again to their home. I have been the pastor of
working men who have been so concerned for the con
version of their mates, that they have denied themselves
sleep for four nights running, in order that by prayer and
fasting they might cast out some unclean spirit. I have
heard a man say in his pew to his neighbour, "John, you
know what a blackguard I was, and God has saved me —
He can save you." And I have seen with what exuberant
joy these men enter into possession of that blessing of

292 CENTENAR Y SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
conscious salvation, of which Dr. Dale spoke to us this
morning. I have witnessed the delight which they have
experienced when, like Wesley, they have felt their hearts
"strangely warmed," and they have realised that Jesus
Christ loved them and gave Himself for them.
Yes, we are very thankful for the success that has
attended our labours during recent years ; but we know
that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we cannot be still, but
must go and take it. We are anxious to win the work
ing men of England, and therefore we must address our
selves during the closing years of this century to their
evangelisation. To secure this object, our reliance must be placed
entirely on the gospel of God's grace, made effectual by
His Holy Spirit.
At the same time, we must not forget that it is our
duty to promote the temporal well-being of the working
classes. And if we endeavour to discharge that duty, we
shall find ourselves in the happiest accord with the spirit
of our Founder, who was quite as enlightened a phil
anthropist as he was a devoted evangelist. In many ways
Mr. Wesley promoted the temporal well-being of the
people. He actively supported the Society for the
Reformation of Manners, of which he said, that if it did
not directly lead to the salvation of souls, yet inasmuch
as it lessened sin it promoted the glory of God.
Having some medical knowledge, he opened a dis
pensary, and gave away medicine to all comers, many of
whose faces he said he never expected to see again. He
established a Loan Fund, which was a rather dangerous
experiment, and one which I have not myself imitated.
Then he found that there were many people without work,
and so he actually became for a time a sort of labour-
master — a middleman, but not a sweater. During at least
four months one of the rooms at the Foundery was turned
into a workshop, which was going farther than any modern
Methodist preacher has gone ; for I do not know that
any of my brethren have turned a Methodist vestry into

METHODISM AND SOCIAL WORK. 293
a workshop ; but John Wesley did this, and he did it
because he believed that it was most important that work-
less people who were willing to work should have work
found for them.
In a time of national distress, Mr. Wesley issued a long
and an earnest appeal to the nation in Lloyd's Evening
Post, in which, having investigated the poverty which then
prevailed in England, he advocated certain remedies for
the existing destitution. He gave the people of that day
a graphic picture of " Darkest England " as it then was.
Nor did he refuse to go into details ; for he condescended
to write about beef, mutton, milk, and eggs, and to discuss
the question why those articles of diet were then so
extremely dear. He actually went so far as to call atten
tion to the high price of lard, and he recommended a plan
by which work was to be found for the unemployed. He
showed his generation a way out of " Darkest England,"
but they refused to follow it, as indeed the nation has
refused to follow it until this day. For he advised his
fellow-countrymen to " prohibit for ever that bane of
health, that destroyer of strength, of life, and of virtue —
distilling." No doubt that was a drastic remedy to propose, but it
was Wesley's plan for relieving national distress. As you
are aware, a Ministerial Temperance Secretary will be set
apart at the next Conference, and for the first time in our
history we shall have a minister whose sole duty it will
be to promote the spread of temperance. If, therefore,
you should hear of Mr. G. A. Bennetts going so far as to
recommend the entire prohibition of distilling, you may
say that the spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.
In order to promote the temporal well-being of working
men, it is necessary that we should see that they are
wholesomely housed. I have myself seen, not only in
large towns but in some of the most beautiful parts of
England and Scotland, large numbers of people, made in
the similitude of God, living in such dwellings that if
I had any horses I would disdain to put those horses

294 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
where British men and women and children are put from
day to day.
' I do not know how far the Methodist people are
acquainted with these facts ; but if they wish to grasp the
' whole problem of the uplifting of the masses of the people,
they should be told that many of our fellow-subjects are
living in " kennels," as I have heard their dwellings de
scribed by themselves, and in " coffin-cottages," as I have
heard them described by clergymen of the Church of
England. The truth is, that the poor do not so much live
in these dwellings as die in them, as may be proved from
the fact that the death-rate of the district in which my last
' chapel was situate was double what it was in the district
in which my house was situate.
To bring up children in habits of decency and morality
in such houses is most difficult, not to say impossible.
And it must be remembered that almost all home-
pleasures are beyond the reach of these ill-housed people.
Furthermore, the monetary loss they sustain through
preventible sickness is very heavy ; and, as a working man's
health is his capital, I wish to say that he should be main
tained under wholesome conditions of life. I am aware
that it is said that the habits of this class are degraded ;
but, granting that that is so, we ought to improve their
'dwellings, were it only for the sake of their children. In
the admirable address which Mr. T. G. Osborn gave us
last night, he suggested that the only effectual way of
dealing with our social problems is to rescue the children
i from evil surroundings. Certainly that is one of the best
methods — if it be not the only method — of improving
the social and moral condition of the people; but if it is to
be carried out, the children of the poor must be provided
with homes in which the sexes may be brought up
separately, and in which decency and morality may be
possible. In your day and Sunday schools, and in your
Bands of Hope, you are teaching the children principles
which, I fear, it is next to impossible for them to practise,
seeing that their environment is so degrading. Let us,

METHODISM AND SOCIAL WORK. 295
then, declare that Englishmen shall not live in foetid
alleys, and foul garrets and cellars and in single rooms,
but that they shall be decently and wholesomely housed.
I am glad to be able to tell you that during recent months
meetings have been held on Methodist premises to promote
this object. Whilst the class-meeting has been going on in
one part of the building, in another, dignitaries of the
Churches of England and Rome, members of Parliament,
and working men, who fear God and work righteousness,
have been consulting on Methodist property as to the
best means for abolishing slums.
If we can but succeed in getting the people suitably
housed, we shall find it much easier than we now do to
make them sober, righteous, and godly.
There is another work which needs to be taken in hand
by Methodism, and that is the work of effecting a recon
ciliation between capital and labour. Our industrial wars
are causing great sorrow of heart to all who wish to see
the classes reconciled to each other. I am well aware that
the subject is a delicate one ; but is Methodism to be dumb
upon the relations of capital and labour ? Have we nothing
to say to employers and employed about their respective
duties ? Surely it is right that we should exert some
influence in order to guide a movement which intimately
concerns the welfare of the community.
I should like you to dismiss from your minds what you
often hear, that working men are so discontented that it
is impossible to satisfy them. It is true that they are as
a class discontented ; but are they the only class that are
not content ? Mr. Bryce says that it is an age of dis
content, and no doubt he is right. Certainly capitalists
are as dissatisfied as labourers. Shareholders in public
companies — -Allsopp's Brewery, for example — ^are not
exactly a pattern of contentment. Only the other day I
noticed that at the meeting of the London General
Omnibus Company a shareholder was far from satisfied.
The dividend was only ten per cent, and he thought it
should have been twelve and a-half per cent Prince

296 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Bismarck said, in the day of his power, that Providence had
denied to working men the faculty of contentment, and
that, therefore, it was the duty of governments to enforce
acquiescence. But working men only share the discontent
that prevails amongst all classes, and I earnestly wish we
could turn the winter of our people's discontent into
" glorious summer " by bringing the kingdom of God
into their midst We must curb the greed for money
which marks all classes. We must insist upon this truth,
that a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the
things which he possesseth, and that men must look not
on their own things but on th« things of others also, and
that every man must seek not his own but another's
wealth. We must tell employers that it is the indefeasible
right of workmen to combine to protect their own interests ;
and we must tell the employed that it is the right of
workmen to refuse to combine if they are so minded.
It is often said that working men are led by unworthy
leaders, but, if this is so, is it not because they have not
been able to secure better leaders? When the trees
desired a king, they first solicited the olive tree to reign
over them. But the olive declined the honour. They
then approached the fig tree and the vine, but with no
better success. As a last resort they accepted the bramble
tree. If the bramble is reigning over some trees that we
know, is not the reason this — that the olive and other trees
have disdained them ? We must find leaders for the
workmen, who shall teach them to attach sanctity to
contract, to avoid all that is unfair and illegal, and to rely
on the Divine method of self-defence. We must tell them
that if they will trust to reason and expostulation and
conciliation and arbitration, for obtaining their legitimate
demands, we will stand by them. Secularism must have
no reason for existence, for ive must be as secular as the
Old Testament ; and Socialism must be shown a more
excellent way, by all of us becoming as socialistic as St
Paul, who bids us " bear one another's burdens, and thus
fulfil the law of Christ"

METHODISM AND SOCIAL WORK. 297
We must also go among the employers, and teach them to
give unto their workmen that which is just and equal, and
to be ambitious first to be good masters, and then to be
rich masters, if that may be possible. As ministers of
religion, some of us have this great advantage, that we can
put our hand across the gulf which separates employers
and employed, and bring each class nearer to the other.
During recent months work of that kind also has been
done on Methodist property. Whilst class-meetings have
been going on in some of the rooms connected with the
Wesleyan chapel in question, in another room labour
representatives, trade unionists, and unskilled workmen
have been meeting once and again, in order to pro
mote the amicable adjustment of labour disputes. I
had the privilege some time ago of leading a body of
picked workmen to the office of the Manchester Chamber
of Commerce, where they were met by a number of
capitalists, and where they discussed the question in which
they had a common interest with the employers. As I
watched the workmen conduct the business on equal terms
with the capitalists I thought I saw some of those foolish
and hurtful class-prejudices and class-hatreds, which are
doing so much mischief in this country, subside before
my eyes.
We must bring the classes closer together. At present
they are almost as much apart as are first-class and third-
class railway passengers ; and, as it is not good for any,
class to dwell apart, we must undertake the task of welding
the classes together — a task than which there is none other
of greater importance, and one which will bring about, when
once it is finished, that delightful time when " violence shall
no more be heard in our streets, wasting nor destruction
within our borders." Last night Mr. Watkinson suggested
that some persons now-a-days were interested in the welfare
of the working man because he now possesses a vote.
But we do not want his vote, for Methodism does not
exist for party purposes. But I am free to say that my
interest in the working man is all the greater because he-

298 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
has a vote. For weal or for woe you have entrusted to
him the destinies of the nation, and therefore, if it is to be
well with this country, the democracy must be sober and
God-fearing. The only way to secure a righteous House
of Commons is to secure a righteous electorate, and that
can only be done by active aggressive work amongst the
' masses of the people. I hope, therefore, that we may be
able in the years that are before us to combine fervid
evangelism and active philanthropy.

pressing Social (Sluestions.
By Mr. P. W. BUNTING.
It is with no little diffidence that I attempt to speak to an
audience like this on so vast a subject as the relation of
Methodism to the social problems of the age. Mr. Smart
has made my task a little easier, by speaking of one or
two of the great questions which agitate our time.
It is a great time into which we are going ; and, as a very
experienced statesman said two nights ago in my hearing,
we are really, in no inflated language, on the very verge
of a new era — a new era in politics, because a new era in
social questions. For politics, day by day, are coming to
be social questions ; and, if I have not the slightest hesi
tation on an occasion like this in speaking of politics, it is
because the politics of this day are no party squabble, but
touch the deeper, profounder issues which all parties are
feeling. It is true that one party may be a little less
hopeful, and another may be over-sanguine and allow
theories to prevail over practice. The President told us
that our business was not a servile imitation of Wesley,
but the application to new times and problems of the
spirit in which he lived. With this in our hearts we are
able to go forward with as much confidence into the work
of the twentieth century as, under his guidance, we went
into the work of the nineteenth.

METHODISM AND SOCIAL WORK. 299
It is, indeed, a great era into which we are going; an
age in which there are not only practical questions which
no age has ever yet had to deal with, but in which great
theories are being launched of the future of politics, and
the future construction of society. One thing I want to
observe — that, as in all great political crises, the true
foundations are to be sought in religion. The modern
political world is the direct offspring of the Reforma
tion. The reason why men are Democrats to such a
large extent to-day is that the Reformation announced
the spiritual equality of men in the presence of their
Maker, and gave to each individual soul the franchise of
the spiritual kingdom. Men are very apt to translate the
terms of ecclesiastical polity into those of civil polity. It
was when the divine right of the pope and his notion of
the Church were gone that the divine right of the king
followed. What is our attitude as Methodists to those great under
lying principles — to the principles, in a single word, of the;
brotherhood of man, and the possibility of realising that
brotherhood in a social kingdom of God upon earth ? I
hold that we have very great and special advantages for
dealing with these theories and their practical outcome.
It almost takes us back at a step to the time of John
Wesley to say that the first qualification we have is our ,
profound and enthusiastic belief in universal redemption.
In Mr. Wesley's time that was the fighting doctrine by
which he would have died. I think it is a doctrine for
which we ought to fight, and by which, if necessary, we
ought to be ready to die to-day. For I believe that the
political and social salvation of the world, as well as its
religious advancement, depends upon it. Under the
doctrine of universal redemption you put an end at
one stroke to the privilege of individuals. That doc
trine of Mr. Wesley's is no far-off and metaphysical
dogma. Universal redemption is the very life and breath [
of our religious principles, and we go forth to every man i
with the declaration that he is a brother of Christ, whether

300 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
he knows it or not ; that he has been redeemed ; and that
he has only to exercise his privilege to be a man as good
as any.
And, again, we have the principle of immediate and
conscious conversion. That again is a great political and
social principle. For what does it really mean ? That
there is no long process of training which requires expense,
labour, toil, and trouble, to enter upon our spiritual privi
lege — that the door is open for every man immediately.
From the very principle of redemption it is a birthright, in
spite of any want of conditions on his part, simply on the
terms that he is prepared to go in and exercise it. That is
a matter of the most vital consequence ; for we have to deal,
in social problems, not with a theoretical body of men, but
with the whole mass of mankind before us. You allow
no property qualification, just as you abolish as far as pos
sible the qualifications and conditions and barriers and
restraints which prevent men from entering upon the
advantages of society. We base all that upon our religious
principle — that a man may at once, whatever his past,
whatever his present, on the condition merely of justifi
cation by faith, enter upon his privileges; that. he may,
upon immediate repentance, take up his birthright and
become a full citizen.
I hold, therefore, that just as historically the Christian
doctrines of the Reformation have produced the modern
ideal of society, so we, who hold them in their strongest
form, are the best able to give them effect in the social
sphere. Again, we have had a hundred years of close and
practical experience in putting these dift'erent theories into
operation. The reason why you find wherever you go, in
village or town, so many Methodists coming into public
life is, that they have been accustomed in the spiritual
sphere to preach and practise those theories. We have
the habits of business. We have the habit of expecting
immediate results. We have a business-like style, which
qualifies us above all others to enter upon these social
problems.

METHODISM AND SOCIAL WORK. 301
I am reminded that it is from a Methodist that the
most important regenerating scheme of these days has
proceeded. They say we are under the umbrella of
General Booth ; but, the truth is, General Booth is
under our umbrella. He gets his inspiration from the
very doctrines which he and we have always preached
and practised. He happens to be the most audacious
and powerful of single Methodists, and he has therefore
produced a scheme which has challenged the attention
of the world ; and I shall be very much disappointed if
he does not make it the stepping-stone to a great social
reform. With these principles in our favour — the principle of
the right, the immediate right, of every man, and the
best method of getting that right into exercise, we, the
Methodists, may go into these social schemes of the future
and the present with the greatest confidence.
For a moment or two let us look at some of these
problems. The first is the problem of poverty. If we are going to
deal with that, we know what is the real and ultimate
cause of poverty. We know the true cause of poverty is
ungodliness. In our own Church there is not much, and
what there is we can easily deal with. If half the popu
lation were members of society there would be no
poverty at all. But, while I adhere to every word that
Mr. Smart has said about the housing of the working
classes, I know — we all know — that to make clean the out
side of the cup and platter, to give a nice four-roomed
tenement, papered and furnished, is of very little use if
your father of the family is going to come home drunk,
and break the windows and the furniture too, and tear the
paper off the walls. I am for the housing of the poor,
because I believe things act and react upon one another ;
but we, as Methodists, have this great advantage, that we
shall never forget the other side of the question. And while
some persons seem to think that a fresh coat of paint is
all that is needed to regenerate London, we know that.

302 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
while we are willing to have the paint-pot in one hand, we
must have the Bible in the other.
Over against that we have the problem of wealth. I
sometimes wonder when I read some things that our
friend Mr. Carnegie has said upon this question whether
he was not after all a Methodist in his youth. Mr. Car
negie says that, whether or not you can get rid in the
social sphere of the possessors of large wealth, at all
events a possessor of large wealth is, and must consider
himself to be, a person placed in a position of exceptional
trust ; that he is not at liberty to devolve his trust upon the
chance that his children will carry out his ideas to the
extent that he has felt them ; that it is socially wrong for
millionaires .to leave millionaire children behind them.
You have no right to suppose that the desire to carry out
such a trust is necessarily hereditary any more than you
have a right to suppose that the ability to legislate is
necessarily hereditary. Therefore, the trust is not dis
charged by simply leaving your wealth in large quantities
to the children that come after you. It is best for them
to exercise the same qualities by which you arrived at
your wealth ; and you do them no good, and fail in your
; public duty, if you leave them with large wealth. I do
not say it is wrong to make reasonable provision for
foreseen needs. I think we should sufficiently carry out
the spirit of John Wesley if we left something to Pro
vidence. The danger is, when a man can no longer look
up to God — when he loses the spirit of the Lord's Prayer,
which asks for bread day by day. Something must be
left to the chances of the future ; and your soul should
feel that, for this world also, you are a dependent being,
waiting upon the providence of God. You are not to
be so elevated above your fellows as to be unable to
sympathise with their life. If this were carried out how
mightily our Church agencies might expand, how easy it
would be to multiply our Church appliances ; how we
might take in hand the missioning of the world in serious
earnest ; how we might set an example to others of the

METHODISM AND SOCIAL WORK. 303
devotion of wealth to great public ends — not necessarily
ecclesiastical. The influence of Methodism upon society is not only
the influence exercised upon Church premises. The par
ticular functions of society which the Church should under
take differ in different ages. The Church is the pioneer
for the State ; and, when the Church has educated the
State into taking up any particular work, the Church is
free to start afresh in any direction. Look at this great
scheme of General Booth's. Do you suppose that the
benefits of that scheme are to be confined within the four
walls of the Salvation Army? The great effect will be
that he will reform our whole method of the treatment of
the poor. Already the reform of the Poor Law is going
to be a practical question very soon. The danger is,
perhaps, that some of our sons and daughters may find
the claims of public life so strong that we may lose them
from our own work. If, somehow, we could check the
ambition, which the young feel so very strongly, to get to
the top of the tree and die rich, we should be able to
conserve some of those energies for the service of Christ
and the State. We might avoid becoming rich at all.
Many other branches of social reform are beyond our
special dealing with as Methodists. We may do some
thing to reconcile the disputes of capital and labour, by
the efforts of individuals here and there. But our Metho
dist Church cannot do very much to solve, as a Church,
that great social question of the day. And as for the
great transformations which are taking place in wealth,
the better distribution of wealth that is coming to us — that
is due to great economic laws which are beyond the touch
of any individuals. There we recognise the good hand of
our God, who is so working that, at the same time that
He is showering upon us the gifts of nature, wealth is
getting better spread over the great mass of the people.
I do not know that rich people are getting richer, but the
poor are not getting poorer. The great mass is beginning
to get divided more equally. I do not know why we

304 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
, should not share the good gifts of God freely with each
other, as far as is possible. Equality may be a long way
off; but that there should be a greater equality, that we
should stand more upon one level, is a profoundly Chris
tian thought, and that is what Christ is leading us to.
Wesley is a brilliant example for the eighteenth century.
But we may go eighteen centuries farther back for a greater
Example. It is difficult to say whether our Lord spent
more of His time and trouble upon preaching than upon
healing. But what I say is that when He took to His
social work it was done on a large scale. He was in the
constant habit of healing the sick in crowds, and dispens
ing His gift of health, as it were, with the free hand of a
sower ; and when He thought fit to distribute free meals,
it was done on a large scale — five thousand at a time.
There is a precedent for your free breakfasts and dinners.
There is a great passage in which our Lord depicted, with
a'large and broad hand, the scene of the Last Judgment ;
and He laid down there what was the ultimate criterion
by which men were to go into salvation or damnation.
What was it ? It was the test of active benevolence. The
men who are blessed of the Father are those who visited
the sick and the prisoners, and fed the hungry and clothed
the naked ; and the men who go into everlasting destruction
are the men who refused to do these things. These are
our Lord's plain and unmistakable words. We need not
stop to enquire how this is consistent with justification by
faith. The old question of faith and works seems to me
to have been argued upon a somewhat mathematical basis.
Modern science has given us metaphors, by the aid of
which we may go a little deeper than these plannings out
of departments of Christian duty. Faith and works are in
organic relation to each other. Our Lord tells us that by
these works of charity and mercy, and apparently by these
alone, we are to be judged at the last day. It was said by
one that "our life is in Christ ; " but that great passage will
allow us to use the words in the reverse sense, and say that
" His life is in ours." If Christ be the Representative of

METHODISM AND SOCIAL WORK. 305
humanity, the great organic Centre to which we all belong,
then everything that is done to His brethren is, in fact,
done to Himself; and He feels the act done, and from Him
comes the thrill of gratitude ! And if in these works we
are unable to separate the Master from His brothers, or
the Lord and Saviour from the human race that is being
saved, every good done to the human race is done essenti
ally to Him, and it is impossible to do good to any man
without doing good to Christ Himself
There is our theology ; we are one in Christ, and He
lives with us and conducts the whole, and is in sensitive
connection with every touch of social reform. Christianity
is a radical revolution. It begins with a radicsil revolution
in the heart, and goes on to a radical reformation of society.
We have not only a Judge, but a Saviour who, gathering
up the whole of our works, brings us all, the saved and the
saviours, to share His glory of a complete salvation, in
which we have all received and have all given, and in both
capacities are one with Him.

fIDetbobs of IRescue MorF?.
By LEWIS WILLIAMS, Esq., J.P., Cardiff.
The topic assigned me to-night is "Methodism and
Rescue Methods." Our Founder's aim was not to estab
lish a proselytising society, but a great Rescue Mission.
It is true his master-purpose was to proclaim free, full,
and present salvation for every man ; but, in addressing
the Church, he distinctly taught the duty of every
member to seek most earnestly to rescue men from
present as well as future misery, "or ye are not living
members of Christ."
The study of Wesley's rescue methods are fraught
with as much interest for the nineteenth as they were for
the eighteenth century, and the most vigorous Methodism
U

3o6 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
, of " to-day " is where they are approximated or adopted.
Wesley organised his forces to grapple with the miseries
of his age, recognising the individual qualification, and
providing work for each and all — setting before his
followers an example unequalled, since the days of the
Apostle Paul. He believed in Mr. Moody's maxim, "If
you do a thing, do it"
His mission was to the classes as well as to the masses.
The poor and outcast had his special care. He went
amongst them not as a patron, but a brother. Bradburn
says that " no poor man ever thanked him for his charity,
but he took off his hat in graceful recognition." To his
stewards Wesley said, " Put yourself in place of every
poor man, and deal with him as you would God should
deal with you." He went to the outcasts, in those prisons
which he depicts as the " darkest seats of woe this side of
hell." He read, prayed, and wept, paying the debts of
imprisoned ones, and setting them free. We cannot gain
admission to the prisons as he did, — we must ere long ;
but what are we doing in the police courts or at the prison
gates ?
A Christian worker met at our prison gate a man who
last year was in one of your London banks, a victim of
drink. He found his way to our mission room, and
to-day is the centre of spiritual influence amongst two
hundred and fifty men. Godly Methodists are realising
that noble rescue work can be accomplished by their
friendly hand in the police courts.
Wesley went to the poorest of the poor — what did he
find? Unclothed, unfed — what did he do? Like his
Master — gave his all. Wesley's views and sermons upon
giving need to be re-stated and re-preached. Not con
tent with giving, as we are told, .^35,000 in charity, which
he never delegated when able to dispense himself, he
traversed the city to find help for the needy ; he gave the
penny a week in the classes, for forty years to the poor ;
he required all the members to bring what garments they
did not need, for their poorer brethren ; in 1748 he

METHODISM AND SOCIAL WORK. 307
established a Loan Society, a Labour Bureau, and that
Strangers' Friend Society which distributed money not
to Methodists only, but to people of all sects, and of no
sect at all.
These rescue methods are needed as much to-day as
ever, the more so as the near approach of universal
suffrage makes it imperative, if the country is to be
saved from socialism and communism, that we devote
ourselves mof^arnestly thari ever to genuine philanthropy
and religious activity. Wesley gives us a pattern of
broad, sympathetic practical charity. Care for the poor of
the Church, by all means ; and it should be deemed the
highest discredit to allow a godly saint to die in the
workhouse. But let the world feel that the Methodist
Church has a sympathetic heart and hand, wherever
need and suffering exists. A Stranger's Friend, a Merciful
Society in every Church, a Helpful Society for old gar
ments, Dorcas societies — yea, and even a Loan Society,
that shall be an antidote to the pawnshop, a help to
the Work Society. In all, ever remembering our Lord's
" Inasmuch . . to the least . it is to Me!' From this '
meeting may we catch something of that inspiration
going forth, as Whittier so tersely says —
" To make the world within our reach
Something the better for our living.
And the gladder for our human speech. "
Have you noted that Wesley arranged for the visitation
of the sick by setting apart twelve in the Society to see
that all the needy were supplied, that they met weekly to
report what had been done and consider what more could
be done?
Wesley established the first dispensary for the poor.
The present want of the Methodist Church is a nursing
sister in in every Society or Circuit. The High Church
party have been wise in their generation. They have
worked this method. The largest employer of labour in
this country said to me, two years ago, " Mr. Williams,

3o8 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
can you get me half-a-dozen Nonconformist nurses ? " He
could not. What a sphere opens up in this direction!
It is my joy to have one of my own daughters who has
consecrated her own life voluntarily to this work. What
rescue work might be effected too in our infirmaries or
workhouses I
Then there is the rescue of child-life. I hardly like to
speak of this in the presence of Dr. Stephenson, but I am
thankful that he has wiped away the discredit from our
Church which once rested upon it in this direction. We
are told that the germ idea of the children's homes, ragged
schools, and mission schools is to be found in the Orphan
'' House at Newcastle. We are thankful for all the grand
work Wesley did in that direction, how he cared for the
orphans, and how he lived amongst the poor in the
Foundery yonder. We cannot attach too large importance
to this work. Six weeks ago to-day, I was sent for by the
Mayor of our town. Lord Bute. A woman and six children
had been found in a brothel, huddled together in one room.
As chairman of our School Board, I knew there were
powers under the Act which could be put into operation.
I sent for the mother. One little fellow came to the
office with his " Good day, Mr. Williams." Inquiring,
" How do you know me ? " " Oh, I've been to the
mission school, in Miss Williams' class." " If so," I said,
" you are not going to an industrial school." Driven by
sheer want, the woman told me, through the boys going
off, fearing the bailiffs would come, to save her little
furniture she flitted, and took refuge in this place, not
knowing the character of the house ; and there she was
found. There was a girl, as fair and graceful as any
daughter in this assembly to-night. When I saw her
first of all dark fears were suggested. But I was soon
reassured. She, too, had been at the mission school.
One of my staff went out and got a new suit of clothes
for the boy, and when a friend met me with him, looking
so bright, he said, " Mr. Williams, is this your little
fellow ? " To-day he is sheltered in the Home of our

METHODISM AND SOCIAL WORK. 309
good friend. Dr. Stephenson, and that fair, beautiful girl
is sheltered in a kindly home too. That is the kind of
work we want to do. " Child life, amidst such surround
ings," as Lord Bute said, — "what can save them, booked
for hell!" I do rejoice that we have such agencies.
Give them your generous support.
Then there is the rescue of the drunkards. Given
Wesley's ideal of a Church, with its ministers and members
abstainers — that day we become the mightiest rescuing
army in this kingdom. Do not give up any case. We
have seen cases followed ten and even twenty years, and
glorious results have at length been obtained.
We must face our duty, too, in rescuing our poor fallen
sisters, in the same tender spirit, with which Wesley pleaded
for the poor Magdalene ; not forgetting it is as much our
duty to warn and rescue our falling, fallen brethren. Let us
be brave and tender to warn and save our young men from
a life of lust and passion and untimely death. In rescue '
work let us have mission-rooms connected with all our
large places of worship, but let them be under the control
of the parent Church. I wish to emphasise that — not two
rival institutions, but one, working in harmony with the
Church, and helping to fit its members to become useful
members of the Church. Let these places be in our
destitute localities. Let us have adult Bible classes. I
know something of that work. I have seen cases most
hopeless, men who would not go to a society class, who
would come with you to read the Word of God, and have
seen some of the most abandoned drunkards in our town
converted. Have your girls' parlours, your boys' brigades,
your recreative evening classes ; and — let me say — do not
be afraid of teaching cookery. I had a very stubborn
Board to contend with on that point, and I invited a lady
to meet them. She said, " The chairman of our Board in
Liverpool opposed it tooth and nail, but, being a very
active magistrate, he thought he would try to ascertain the
causes of the family broils which came under his notice.
He found as a result that one-half the family broils brought

310 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
before the Liverpool magistrates had their origin in the
want of good cooking. If we want to rescue people from
going down, depend upon it, we shall do good work in
this direction, and elevate home life.
If there is any Church that owes more to outdoor
preaching than any other, it is the Methodist Church.
Let that be as much as possible in the back and destitute
streets. I believe, for my own part it is better to get
services in the back streets than to get crowds in the large
thoroughfares. A dying Roman Catholic heard our
mission band across the street one day, singing " Jesu,
Lover of my soul." He sent out to ask them to come and
sing under the window. He died singing " Jesu, Lover of
my soul."
If there has been any work in my own life that has
repaid me more than another, it has been the sending of
books to men with whom it was not profitable to argue.
In fact, the two most intellectual men I have ever known
in my town were brought to God through the gift of
Daniel Quorm — a book which Mr. Moody said has been
made almost a greater blessing than any other within
the last twenty years.
Let us reduce the difficulties of the pew system to a
minimum by our most influential men taking their place
in the porch on a Sunday and giving a welcome to
strangers. A man came into our porch one day, a man
very well-known in London, who had had an income of
;^50oo a year, — a writer for the Times. He had fallen
through drink, but he was rescued. A young man came,
and, when spoken to, said, " I don't want to become a
Methodist" A fortnight after that he was saved in a
prayer-meeting, and to-day he is the sub-editor of the
most influential paper in Australia.
Wesley organised the laity. The hearty co-operation
of our Methodist laity is all-essential to our future success.
But Wesley also recognised an influence which we are
just beginning to recognise again^ — he recognised woman's
gifts and influence. I believe that this is the greatest

METHODISM AND SOCIAL WORK. 311
power for rescue work that the Methodist Church possesses.
We rejoice in the splendid work, the splendid illustration
which our friends Mr. Hughes and Mr. Thompson and
others are giving us of the work of women. We are not
acting as copyists in the country exactly, but we are
striking out a line for ourselves. There are provincial
sisterhoods to-day doing a good work. I said to one
sister last week in my library, " Which is the best way to
get at the people ? " She said, " Methodism must go to
the people in a brotherly spirit. May I illustrate what I
mean ? " She was a teacher in one of our Board Schools.
One day, noticing a little child looking rather wan and
pale, she said, " Jenny, what is the matter ? " She replied,
" We have had nothing to eat this morning, and father is
very ill — he is dying." As soon as school was over that'
godly woman found her way to the home, and found an
abandoned drunkard in a state of delirium, and dying.
He had been injured in a fight, and erysipelas had set in.
She went and got some food in, and fetched the doctor, —
never a word about Methodism all the time. There are
some bright exceptions among the sisters of the Anglican
Church, but with most it is nothing but " Church, Church."
Thank God, our sisters are taught to put Christ first. That
man got better, and when he was well he found out the
mission hall at which the sister worked to whom he owed
so much, and used to tramp a mile and a-half every
Sunday night, " clothed, and in his right mind," to hear
our " Dinah Morris " speak of Christ's power to save.
Let us consecrate ourselves to this work ; that we
may be " Like a chalice of dew to the weary heart,
A sunbeam of joy bidding sorrow depart ;
To the storm-tost vessel a beacon light,
A nightingale's song in the darkest night ;
A beckoning hand to the far-off goal,
And an angel of love to each friendless soul."

312 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
flDetbobism anb temperance.
By Mr. T. MORGAN HARVEY.
I AM an abstainer, and the son of an abstainer. This
meeting carries me back many years to the time when
this temperance question was not quite so popular as it is
to-day. I have repeated the story more than once, in
speaking to our friends on temperance matters ; but I think
in this gathering it would not be out of place if I referred
to the early days of the temperance movement in Cornwall.
My father became the exponent of temperance principles
in theory and practice. He received James Teare, one of
the Preston men, when he came amongst us. He devoted
a great deal of his time to the advocacy of the cause.
Naturally he received some opposition. There was the
opposition, for instance, of a publican. One day, riding
through the town of Camborne, he passed a public-house,
and the publican was at the door. As my father rode
past, the publican gracefully lifted his hat. Some one
standing by asked if he knew. who that was. "Yes; Mr.
St. Aubyn." " Oh, no," was the reply, " it is Frank
Harvey, the temperance lecturer." At this the publican
was beside himself, and snatching the hat from his head
threw it to the ground, and said, " I'll never put thee on
my head again."
At that time temperance meetings could not be held
on Methodist trust property. I am glad to say the
powers that be have been much enlightened since those
days. We have, in our President beloved, a man who has
spoken out on this great question. As to the widespread
evil and the disastrous effects of the liquor traffic, all are
agreed. The drink bill for 1890 gives ;£¦ 139,500,000. I
should like to ask how much was contributed by our
Church. I know some ministers and laymen who are not
responsible for a single penny of it This gives an aver
age of £'i, 13s. per head of the population spent in drink.
We spend on religion .£'18,000,000. Twenty shillings to

METHODISM AND SOCIAL WORK. 313
^acchus, half-a-crown to Jesus Christ.^ I would remind
youof sentiments expressed in the Times: — " Drink baffles
us, confounds us, shames us, and mocks us at every point.
It outwits alike the teacher, the man of business, the
patriot, and the legislator. Its devastating effects are seen
in every class, it affects all sorts and conditions of men."
I appeal to all Christian workers, I mean those who do
not stay at home at ease after the day's work is done, but
to those who are doing something in the Master's name.
I am quite sure they will confirm my testimony when I
say that this drink question confronts us at every turn.
You would not have the condition of bad housing — referred
to by previous speakers — if the people were abstainers.
Two gentlemen said a little while ago to Mr. Caine, " We
are going down to the East end, Caine, to see about these
things, vide the Bitter Cry — can we do anything for you ? "
He replied, " Find me a teetotal family in the slums."
They could not. I was in conversation with the son of a
landlord, one who owned tenements of this sort, and he
said, "My father has tried again and again to improve the
condition of certain dwellings, but the moment a lead pipe
or anything that can be removed is put in, it is taken
away to be sold for drink." Until you can alter the con
dition of society in this respect, you will not very materially
alter the existing condition of things.
I could speak of the ravages of this drink in connection
with commercial life. I have seen much of the sad effects
of indulgence in intoxicating liquors on the part of those
who have been in commercial circles. When I came over
in 1869 I knew only one friend in London, and he said,
" I know your principles, but I don't think you will be able
to stand the fag of city life unless you take a little wine."
I tried, however, and I tried successfully.
We have to report, in reference to our work, that we have
3,569 Bands of Hope, an enrolled membership of 370,681,
while of adult temperance societies there are 652, with
43,481 enrolled members. But the committee report the
^ Quoted from Letter by Dawson Burns.

314 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
adult societies " still feeble and unsatisfactory," and I think
it is so. But one reason may be given. These figures do
not represent the number of total abstainers in connection
with our churches. One reason is, a great many of our
people are working either as free lances, or in connection
with the Church of England Temperance Society, or other
organisations. What is the remedy ? I say God speed to
all ! but, as a Church, let us come up to our true standard —
it will help us, and encourage us when we see the grand
total of our numerical strength. I venture to suggest that
we want abstaining ministers in all our circuits. When
that is accomplished — ^and we are on the way, we are
increasing — our work will be immensely assisted. Whilst
the dual platform is altogether unsuitable for actual work
amongst the people, we can unite on great social and
political questions, such as the closing of public-houses on
the Sabbath. If it be true that the drink traffic exists for
the benefit of the people — and that is often asserted — then
let the people have the control of the drink traffic. If all
our ministers could be persuaded to be abstainers, and
would take the lead in connection with our adult societies,
we need not wait for another hundred or fifty years, but
five or ten years would produce such results as would not
only astonish us but \\ould evoke heartfelt praise and
gratitude to Almight)' God for the altered condition of
things in this countrj'.
We have taken part during the year in a very important
question — the memorial presented at the Brussels Confer
ence for the suppression of the liquor traffic in Africa. It
is a tremendous evil, and that continually. In reference
to the Sunday-closing appeal, I hope we as a Church shall
be decided on that question. Then as to compensation to
the poor publicans. Well, if that is dead and buried, 1
believe the Methodists had a great deal to do with the
interment By God's help it shall never get on the
statute book. Our last move has been the appointment
of a Connexional Secretary. This is a triumph in the
risfht direction.

METHODISM AND SOCIAL WORK. 315
What are we to do for the future ? Refuse to profit by
the drink in any shape or form ; and if any of you have
invested in breweries and distilleries I hope you will lose
not only your dividend but your principal. A friend here
suggests that they did lose their principle, or they would
not have put their money in. Come out distinctly on this
question. It rests very largely with the Methodist
Churches, because you have heard again and again that
we have influenced other Churches in the past, and are
influencing them to-day. They copy us. \\ hy, even the
Church of England so-called — the Church in England would
be a better expression — is copying us all round. This is
no time for indifference and apathy, no time simply to be
horrified by what you read, or to express a godly sorrow
and a hope that a better state of things will come about.
The time for decisive action has come. Individual respon
sibility rests upon us. We are either helping or hindering.
He who drinks is helping the drink traffic. It is a ques
tion to ask ourselves : Are our hands clean ? Some of my
friends say, " Do not you keep anything in the house for
visitors ? " Many abstainers think it would be inhospitable
and wrong to force their principles upon their visitors. 1
have escaped these trammels. Whilst it may be perfectly
safe for some of us to take the drink, it may be ruinous and
disastrous for some of those who follow our example.
Think of the influence of our example exerted upon our
servants. That is a very important point. I believe that
hundreds of servant girls are ruined by the example of their
employers. Encouraged by the successes of the past, and
assured of ultimate victory, let us as a Church follow the
example of John 'Wesley, and have nothing to do with the
" selling, buying, or using of strong drink." One of the
ditties we used to sing in the early days of the temperance
movement was this : —
" We have fought the battle many a day.
And still will fight whoever says nay ;
For while strong drink shall lay men low,
It will never do to give it up so."

3i6 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Z\)Z SunFien Strata.
By the Rev. T. B. STEPHENSON, LL.D.
I PROPOSE to put the notes of my speech into an old
secretaire I have at home, and perhaps when the next
Centenary comes round, some one will buy it in Wardour
Street, and then write a homily, showing what imperfect
ideas people had a century before. [The audience,
however, decided otherwise, and Dr. Stephenson pro-
' ceeded.] I have not time to discuss the amount of the
vice and wretchedness which lies at the bottom of the
social scale. I do not agree with the current estimate of
that mass, that it is a tenth of the population. I rather
accept Mr. Giffen's estimate of six or seven per cent, and
could give many reasons for this if I had time. That is
an important difference ; it means the difference between
two and three millions. Yet, even so, the number is
appalling. Whence comes this almost hopeless mass?
Many of them are hereditary paupers. We have a pauper
class that dates back to the time of the monasteries.
Then we have people pressed down by misfortune — the
death or disablement from disease of the bread-winner.
Great numbers are pl-essed down by competition, by the
competition of the pauper foreigner coming in ; and, most
of all, of the unskilled labour which floods London and
other great centres from the country districts. And then
there are the people brought up without a regular occupa
tion. Thousands of lads, between fourteen and seventeen,
can do nothing better than help a costermonger, or wait
for the chance of carrying a parcel. They must live, at
best, a casual life. Then there are people ruined by
drink. But I maintain, in spite of all that has been said, these
are not people who never had a chance. For seven years
I invited sixty such people to tea every Sunday afternoon.
More than once, after giving them a tea, I remember some
saying, when I read a chapter, " You remember what that

METHODISM AND SOCIAL WORK. 317
is in the Greek, Sir ? " Some were University men ; they
had had their chance. How many are there of these
people who were never in the Sunday school ? Not many.
It is not true, speaking of the sunken strata as a whole,
that they are composed of people who have never had a
chance. Hence, half the things that are said about the
Churches neglecting them are a libel. But this is no
reason why we should refuse them another chance. We
do not so treat our own people. How many in our
congregations have had a thousand chances, yet we go on
preaching to them. If these people have had chances,
and wasted them all, it only makes the case stronger for
trying to help them to the utmost of our power.
Here, then, is a vast mass of vice and sin and suffer
ing. Let everybody try to deal with it. Let General
Booth try. I sa)-, God bless him ! He will probably
make a great many mistakes — but God bless him.
Let George Hatton try ; let Benjamin Waugh try. It
will require us all to deal with this social problem. No
one set of forces will suffice. The statesman, the social
reformer, the Christian enthusiast, are all wanted in this
work. But who are the statesmen ? the men who talk at
Westminster ? Yes ; but who are the men who send the
men there to talk, and say what they shall say? The
people of England : the whole people of England, who
have votes at elections. And the duty of Christian
citizenship is one of those obligations which must be
preached until people are ready to practise it before we
can settle this vast social problem.
Did you ever read John Wesley's Word to a Freeholder -
"I hope," says he, "you have taken no money." If that
wish is no longer required, let us ponder his next words :
" Act as if the whole election depended upon your single
vote, and as if the whole Parliament depended, and through
it the whole nation upon that" I hope Methodists every
where will remember these words, on every recurring
parliamentary and municipal election, because we cannot
deal with this great social question without dealing with

31 8 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
I some of the great political questions which must be solved
I within a few years.
The land laws of this country will have to be seriously
modified, the transfer of property must be made easier and
cheaper, the law of primogeniture must be abolished, the
leasehold law must be modified, small holdings must be
increased in number, allotments on a vast scale and under
a generous system must be created. Why are the towns
crowded ? Because it is becoming harder and harder to
get a living in the country. Make it worth men's while to
stay on the land. Then we must have our education laws
modified very largely. A free education must be placed
within the reach of every child in the country without his
having to pay blackmail for it to the parson or the squire,
either in the form of compulsory attendance at a place of
worship, which neither he nor his parent would have
chosen, or in a cringing servility which makes it impossible
¦ for him to discharge freely and fearlessly his duties as a
citizen. The brightest young fellows feel the pinch of this
system, and are eager to get out of the villages into any
atmosphere that is freer than that of the places in which
they were born. In dealing with these and many like
questions Methodism has a great part to play. Many
other questions, more or less municipal in character, also
demand solution. We must have much cheaper methods
of passing from the centres of the great cities out to
suburban parts, where workmen's cottages can be built.
This bears on the question of overcrowding. As the nation
gives great privileges to railways, we have the right to say
that travelling for the workman to the only place where he
can get a cottage should be made as cheap as possible. In
Glasgow, the Corporation built a model lodging-house.
The experiment answered so well that subsequently several
have been built, and to a great extent the question of lodg
ings for the working people is solved there. The London
County Council has resolved upon a similar experiment.
Such matters as these bring nearer to Christian men
and women their direct responsibility for all that goes

METHODISM AND SOCIAL WORK. 319
on within the area of the County Council, and by its
authority. We must help to send the right men to the
County Councils, and we must protect the men we send
there and who do their duty when they get there. I am
very proud that the only man who has been burnt in
effigy for anything done in his work on the County
Council is a Methodist. Sure I am it is the clear duty of
every Christian, and therefore especially of every Metho
dist, to see that John M'Dougall and every man who
took a right stand on the rnusic-hall matter, and on all
similar questions, shall not want a hearty, loyal support
when the next election comes round.
How are we to deal further with the drainage of this
vast moral swamp? We must have a great extension of
woman's work. God forbid that our sisterhoods, or our
more organised attempts in the way of the professional
employment of women, should supersede or discourage that
free, loving labour which thousands of Methodist women
have been giving for years past. But, in the peculiar
circumstances of our times, let us send a great army of
godly and intelligent women into the abodes of poverty
and sin, to carry life and light and healing there.
We must have a vast multiplication of mission efforts
in connection with our powerful congregations. We must
have big missions, but little missions too. The big
missions are the counter-attraction to the great public-
houses. The little missions are wanted to counteract
the little public-houses. It is not the big public-houses
that do all the mischief Without going five yards from
their own door people can get drink. We cannot get all
our people into huge halls. We must have the little
mission-halls up and down in the dark alleys, into which a
woman can come in her rags ; and where a work, not
very showy but very real, can be done.
Again there must be a great popularising of our
religious services throughout the country. I would not
like to have all our services on the type of St. James's
Hall or of the Salvation Army. We must have a great

330 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
variety, and adapt the services to the wants of the people,
It is of no use saying, in a suburb where highly cultivated
people dwell, " We will come here with our big drum and
you must have this kind of service," any more than it is
wise to say to people who are not trained to it " You shall
ihave the morning prayers, whether you like them or not"
The principle of adaptation to the needs of the neigbour-
hood must be most sedulously and carefully observed.
And, let me say, we ought to be prepared to undertake
missions that will never pay financially. Ordinarily, 1
grant we ought to have regard to such considerations.
But if we are to deal with the slums, we must be content
that our voluntary love and sacrifice shall do for Metho
dism what endowments do for the Church of England.
We must be prepared to work for Christ in certain low
neighbourhoods, where we shall never have a self-support
ing Church, but where we shall have people won for the
Redeemer. Last of all, we must do a great deal more for the
children. For there is the true chance for Christianity.
Given 10,000 sunken men and women, above forty years
of age. Take hold of them ; do all you can with anxiety,
with patience, with love, with faith, with prayer ; watch
' them — and what percentage of result do you hope to get in
twenty years ? Will you be satisfied with fifty per cent ?
Looking at human nature, if, at the end of twenty years,
you have tried to save 40,000, and had succeeded with
20,000, it would be a large proportion. But give me
20,000 children and let me expend upon them the like
energy and expenditure for twenty years, and let me
report to you. I have tried it, and therefore speak from
experience. For every hundred children that you let us
deal with, you may rely upon at least ninety-five per cent
of good results. Both on the ground that we want the
highest possible result to our work, and because we want
to bring to an end as speedily as possible this dreadful
state of things that shocks and distresses us, in God's name
let us save the children.

Tt)e Your)6 People of
iVieliI)0(lisir).

By the PRESIDENT OF THE CONFERENCE.
The President read a letter he had received from Dr.
Osborn. The Bishopsgate Congregational Chapel sent a
message of kindly greeting. I have had (proceeded
the President) an intimation this evening that such
messages would have come in considerable number had
it been known that we were ready to accept these
brotherly expressions of goodwill. Few things have
been more remarkable in these celebrations than the
heartiness with which those who belong to the sister
Churches have responded to any communication that has
been sent. I think it only due to make special reference
to this intimation. We have not been announcing con
tributions, but I may mention a cheque for £$ from
J. T. Waterhouse, of Honolulu. A Presbyterian friend
has placed in my hands a cheque for three guineas. Our
subject to-night is " The Privileges, Duties, Responsibilities,
and Opportunities of the Young People of Methodism."
Anyone who knows anything about John Wesley will
know how he yearned over the young people, how deep
and constant was his sympathy with them, and how
ready they were to flock round him and receive his teach
ing and his counsel. May the young people always be
X

322 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
drawn towards the leaders of our own Church with the
same sympathy and confidence they feel towards our
great Founder !

^be lessons of tbe lEarl^ ^ime.
By the Rev. THOMAS ALLEN.
A GOOD friend once said to a gentleman who was about
to enter Parliament : " John, thou art about to enter the
House of Commons ; no doubt thou wilt often speak there.
There is one piece of advice which I should like to give
thee. Always have the end of thy speech ready, for thou
wilt never know the moment when thou mayest need it"
Now, with such a programme as we have to-night, I feel
that the end of my speech must not be far away ; and
therefore, if you will pardon the mixture, I will plunge in
and swim across, and if I do not get drowned in the
process I shall come up dripping on the other side.
I want to do one thing to-night, and only one, and that
is, to send the young people of Methodism, and the old
people too, back to the historic life of our Church.
I have been talking lately to one or ' two Methodist
historians, and one or two Methodist antiquarians, and
they all say one thing, that they are astonished and pained
to find that the people of this generation know really so
little about Wesley and early Methodism. If our young
people will read the Journals of John Wesley, and the
Life of Wesley by Tyerman, and if they find that great
storehouse of facts taxes their patience rather too much,
I will venture to substitute Telford for Tyerman ; and if
they will read Stevens's History of Methodism, they will
find that, not to touch deeper questions, these books will
refresh their intelligence vastly more than many of the
milk and water — nay, the water and milk — stories which
are in circulation at the present time.
But, as we all know, history is not merely a chronicle

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM. 323
of facts — history is a process, a growth ; and therefore the
historian needs to be followed by the philosopher, whose
work it is to trace facts to the causes which produced them.
Now, I rejoice to know that, during the past twenty-five
years, the period of the Evangelical Revival has com
manded the attention of philosophical historians, and if
the young people of Methodism, and the middle-aged and
the old people too, will read Stoughton's Ecclesiastical
History of England, Lecky's History of England in the
Eighteenth Century, and The Church in the Eighteenth
Century, by Abbey and Overton, they will be able to
estimate the great spiritual movement which we celebrate
to-night. They will be able to understand the purpose
which it has served in the scheme of Divine Providence,
and the contribution it has made to the development of the
kingdom of God on the earth.
But outside the main story of our Church life there is a
vast amount of local history, of family experience of a
Methodist character, — in a word, a vast amount of spiritual
folklore, which has never been committed to print What
is more enjoyable than to sit by the fireside while some
old man — and if you want an illustration I will name
Dr. Gregory — describes the scenes in which he has acted,
and tells anecdotes which are full of the simplicity and
humour of the olden time. One regrets very much to
think how much of this spiritual folklore perishes with
every generation. There are old people here ; your
associations have been connected with Methodism. You
have got recollections in your souls out of which volumes
might be written. I ask you to communicate this
interesting folklore to your children and grandchildren.
And there are young people in this audience to-night —
may I ask them with all affection to sit at the feet of these
fathers, these old people, and to listen to what they have
to say? And then they will have the opportunity in
years to come of helping to continue the blessed traditions
of the Methodist Church ; and God grant they may be
continued !

324 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Sir, the life of Methodism has been a wonderful life
after all. Some people may not think so, but our opinion
is perfectly clear and definite as to this point The life
of Methodism is the outcome of those providential
and spiritual forces which are the life - blood of all
communities, whether ecclesiastical or civil. The early
Methodists, for example, had a wonderful faith in Divine
Providence. Methodism is the child of Providence, from
beginning to end. You are familiar with the old Methodist
Magazines. In those books the Providence of God is
illustrated in a very remarkable manner. It may be a
little heresy of my own, but I am rather disposed to think
that their conception of Providence tended to develop
in the early Methodists a touch of self-complacency.
Some of them were disposed to think they were the
favourites of the Almighty, and better than other folks.
There is nothing like a true conception of Divine Provid
ence for chastening a spirit of that kind. I am not going
to say that Divine Providence is never special ; but we have
found out in these latter days that the care of God is
expressed to a great extent in the constitution of the
world, and in the laws of nature, which operate with so
much regularity and certainty, and we have to study these
laws and conform our action thereto.
When we consider the origin of Methodism, the external
opposition it has conquered, the internal difficulties it has
mastered, and the proportions to which it has grown in the
various countries of the world, none can doubt that,
as in the life of Israel so in the life of Methodism, the
Providence of God has been an inspiring and directing
force, and I am perfectly certain it will so continue
to be.
Then the early Methodists were wonderful believers in
the power of Divine grace. Thank God for that Those
good men never stayed to ask whether men differed in
spiritual capacity, or how far Divine action was accom
modated to the constitution and laws of human nature.
They believed that the grace of God could produce some-

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM. 325
thing like equal results in all men, and therefore they used
to insist that men of all types should pass through the
same spiritual mould. Thousands of men in the early
times developed capacities of life and service of which
they had been utterly unconscious themselves. Very
likely a certain number were injured by the pressure
which was brought to bear upon them. People of peculiar
individuality were unable to conform their experience and
testimony to the common standard, and sometimes they
were looked upon with doubt and suspicion. Sir, I rejoice
to say that our spiritual theory is wider to-day. We do
not expect every man to sound precisely the same spiritual
note. We are content that every man should be developed
by the Almighty on the lines of his own constitution and
nature. But while we have grown in breadth, I am afraid we
have lost in force. It seems to me that the conversion of
men, their sanctification, their testimony in prayer and
praise, are not so definite as they used to be fifty or sixty
years ago. I am quite aware that education has developed
human taste and sensitiveness, and this has chastened the
expression of Christian feeling. But let us be sure that
we have the feeling. It seems to me that a great deal of
experience in our Churches to-day is very indefinite, and
that is the reason so many fight shy of spiritual fellowship.
Their life will not bear description, and if that sort of
thing is to spread it will turn the Churches of Methodism
into mere congregations. If this Commemoration shall be
the means of helping us to get back our original enthusi
asm, I will tell you what it will do. Thousands of men
will be developed in the spiritual line as men used to be
developed. They will find out their spiritual capacities,
and that is precisely what thousands of men and women
in Methodism to-day need to do ; and they will use these
capacities in the highest and most spiritual forms of
Divine service.
The life of Methodism was marked by wonderful
simplicity in the early times. It was originated just at

326 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
the time when Puritanism had modified the artificial
ceremonialism of ecclesiastical and civil life. It concerned
itself with inward realities, and not with outward display ;
and yet, thank God, it did display itself in forms that were
most original and striking — in the bitterness of penitence,
in the joy of forgiveness, in outspoken testimony, in
triumphant song, and in practical efforts to bring men to
the feet of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Great Revival
fetched men out of the most unlikely places, and it
influenced them most profoundly. Think of Thomas
Olivers, the shoemaker and poet. Think of John Nelson,
the stonemason ; Robert Carr Brackenbury, the country
squire ; the Countess of Huntingdon, the aristocrat ; Dr.
Adam Clarke and Joseph Benson, the commentators;
Sammy Hick, the village blacksmith ; William Dawson,
the Yorkshire farmer ; and John Hunt, the ploughman.
These are names that have been household words in our
families for generations. We remember the three Jack-
sons ; Thomas and Samuel occupied the chair of the
Conference, and Robert was a most active minister for
many years. The Great Revival fetched these three men
out of the cottage of a farm-labourer. There is not a
Church outside Methodism that could have done for those
three men what Methodism did. In the early times there
were men in our Church of remarkable spiritual origin
ality ; in speech and action they were as fresh as the
breezes of the morning in summer time. Somehow we
don't seem to produce such men to-day. We have more
educated men than we ever had, and we are not lacking
in prudent men, men who know how to conform to the
regulations and habits of Church life. But I feel that we
need original men — in the spiritual sense. The social
influences of this age are conforming us to a common
type. Our danger to-day is spiritual monotony ; we
need a fresh baptism of the Holy Ghost, such as will
bring out everything that is fresh and individual in men.
The resources of human nature are not exhausted ; they
are only latent, like the life of plants in winter time.

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM. 327
When the heightened temperature of summer comes, all
the flowers begin to blossom, and they seem to vie with
each other in the contributions they make to the general
display of life. And so it should be in the Church of
Jesus Christ. If the spiritual atmosphere were only as
warm and genial everywhere as it ought to be, men of all
sorts would blossom under its influence, and the display
of life in the Church would be as varied and fresh as the
efflorescence of nature in tropical climes.
We hear a great deal to-day about the future of
Methodism, and as to whether Methodism is to continue,
and so on. Well, if Methodism is to continue, we must ,
get the young people of Methodism converted to God. I
cannot develop this point ; but I will say further that, if
we are to keep the young people of Methodism, we must
not be afraid of saying to the world that we are a Church
of Jesus Christ "We are discharging all the functions of
such a spiritual institution. Of course the Anglicans, the
extreme men, question our authority, but then their
authority is questioned by the Romanists. I am disposed
to dispute the very conception of historical channels
through which alone Divine grace has flowed to men.
The principle of Protestantism is that all men may come
to God through the one Mediator, and receive Divine
grace without the intervention of any particular order of
men. That is a broad principle, and it has landed us in
excessive freedom. But I would a great deal rather have
that than the opposite extreme — a rigid uniformity and a
repressive priestism.
Methodism, they say, is not ritualistic enough for people
to-day. That is a matter which needs to be looked at and
considered. There can be no doubt that, as a reaction
against the false taste of the seventeenth and the eighteenth
centuries, a wave of historic and artistic sympathy-has gone
over nearly the whole of Europe, and all the Churches have
taken advantage of it to improve their architecture and
worship. Why should we not do the same ? People
have filled their houses with musical instruments and

328 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
pictures; they have even improved the ritual of the dinner-
table. And why should we not improve all organised
expressions of Christian faith and life? Culture is the
handmaid of Jesus Christ People say you may care for
the outward until you sacrifice the inward. We know that
perfectly well. Indeed, it is possible for a Church to
become a sort of Madame Tussaud's, a show made up of
beautifully dressed figures, but figures with no life in
them. But however we may seek to improve the spec
tacle of Christianity, we must always remember that our
first duty is to cultivate it as inward and conscious life ;
and, when we have done that, let us display it in worship
and in institutional forms. But, first and foremost, let us
display it in those forms of practical religion and social
fellowship and evangelistic enterprise for which our fathers
were so distinguished.
As to the future of Methodism, I will leave that Let
me say that I rejoice in the new outburst of life and zeal
which we have in our Methodist Church. There is a
great deal that is pessimistic in this age. The age is
disconsolate. But the early Methodists were a bright and
happy people, their life went up on the wings of song to
the very gates of heaven. And so it may be with us.
You should read Charles Wesley's birthday hymn during
this time — " Away with our fears.
The glad morning appears
When an heir of salvation was born !
From Jehovah I came,
For His glory I am.
And to Him I with singing return.
" In a rapture of joy
My life I employ,
The God of my life to proclaim ;
'Tis worth living for this.
To administer bliss
And salvation in Jesus's name."
By means of the evangelism which is abroad everywhere
we shall bring the people by thousands into our Church ;

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM. 329
and let us try to conserve these results by discipline and
wise administration. Then we shall not merely extend our
Church during the next century, but we shall build it up,
and it will be like Jerusalem in the olden time, a " city
that is compact together." God grant it may be so !

riDetbobism a Cburcb of 3esus Cbrist.
By the Rev. J. SCOTT LIDGETT. i
We have not only to commemorate the past, but to
make the history of the future, and, as Mr. Allen has •
just told us, we claim to be one of the Christian Churches
of this country. It is a great thing to make good the
claim to be a Church of Jesus Christ We cannot do
it by tracing pedigrees, by taking one by one the
doctrines of our creed, and proving that we have scriptural^
authority for them. We cannot do it merely by proving
that the constitution of our Church is a scriptural constitu
tion ; and we cannot do it even by showing, as we have -
often done before and as we shall often do again, that the
rise of Methodism was natural, was necessary, was provid
ential, a century and a-half ago. It is the living Spirit
which makes the living Church ; and there are certain
tests which must constantly be applied to those who claim
to be a Church of Jesus Christ
The first great test is this, Are you possessed by, are
you in possession of, the living personal Jesus Christ ?
Have you caught His central meaning? Are you setting
that central meaning forth ? And have you, by the gift
of the blessed Spirit, the power to bring that living Jesus
Christ face to face with men ?
Next, have you the power to come into relationship —
the spiritual power I mean — -with all men ; to inspire the
whole of man's life; to foster and to direct; and, so far i-
as spiritual influence can do it, to perfect every human

330 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
power, and to order every social relationship in and for
Jesus Christ our Lord ?
And the last test, it seems to me, is this. Can you pass
from the past to the future ? Can you close the record of
one century and pass on to the record of the next? Can
, you enter into new conditions, and change them and be
changed by them, and yet in the midst of them be con
stant, losing nothing of the old but coming into securer
possession of it all ? Can you change and meet the
difficult requirements of new ages, and yet have all the
more the living Christ and the power of His presence
realised in your midst?
These, sir, it seems to me, are the great tests which
every Church must meet ; and they are the tests which will
be applied most rigorously by the age in which we have
to live, and the age which is yet to come. For, mark
you, all the changes which are going on around us at the
present time — the downfall of antiquated forms of thought
and belief, the inrush of new conceptions and new know
ledge, are only making men ask more urgently for the
living personal Christ, for His meaning, and for the
Divine touch and power upon the hearts and consciences
of our time. We have an age to meet which knows the
preciousness for all men of what are called the humanities,
as no other age has realised it before ; and we have an age
which, owing largely to the influence of our fathers and of
John Wesley, while remembering the transcendent im
portance of the individual, begins to see the questions of
society and the community coming into view. We are
coming to see that individuals and Churches must find
their true life by losing it, in and for the kingdom of
Jesus Christ, as it is to be realised on earth when His will
is done as it is done in heaven.
And if these tests are going to be applied to all
Churches, how will Methodism meet them ? I should like
to say that there is one thing which our age is asking for —
it is ultimate realities; and if you will go back to early
Methodism, to its theology and life, you will find that the

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM. 331
characteristic mark of Methodism is just that reality which
this age seeks ; the reality of men's union as a race created
and redeemed in Jesus Christ ; the reality of the terrible,
the awful fact of sin ; the reality of a living, conscious,
transforming relation to a personal Saviour, Jesus Christ —
a real reconciliation, consciously felt — a real salvation from
a real sin — a real and blessed and brotherly Church fellow
ship — a real, practical Christianity, seen in the fruits of far-
seeing philanthropy — and a real, far - reaching, practical
efficiency to deal with the changing circumstances of
our time.
I say that the more we study this Methodism of ours
the more we shall come to see that in its living faiths,
principles, and aims, we have not the gospel of the yester
day of our fathers, not the gospel of the day in which we
live, so much as the gospel of to-morrow and the days
which are after that. We shall see that the great privi
lege, duty, responsibility, and advantage of the young
people who are Methodists is just this — that our precious
heritage is the gift of that gospel with which the coming
age must be met, and by which its demand must be
satisfied, that you have not to spend your time in unlearn
ing half that which your fathers in the gospel have handed
down to you.
The coming Church will be the Church which lives most
consciously in the presence and power of Jesus Christ.
The Church of the future will be the Church which
catches from Him His broad and blessed and universal
human sympathy. The Church of the future, confronted
with the great social problems with which we have to do,
will be the Church which is instinct with hope, and has the
worthiest conceptions of the coming of the Kingdom of
God to all men ; which faces most bravely, in the light and
strength of that hope, the terrible social and moral and
religious wrongs amid which we live ; and which has the
greatest power to call forth the enthusiastic self-sacrifice
of those who are its members. And I ask this evening,
in the presence of God and of this congregation. Why

332 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
should not this Methodism of ours be that Church in the
• twentieth century ? And the answer depends on this—
Will its young people realise and bravely accept the
glorious trust which is handed down to them from those
who have gone before ?
But if they are to do that they must be led. I believe
there never was a time when the young people of Methodism
.were more ready to follow. But they must be led.
If we lose our young people it will largely be because
'they find more inspiring and more capable leaders else
where, or because, instead of satisfying them, our ministra
tions have deadened them and have dissatisfied them.
We want leaders in the ministers, in those who shape the
policy of our Churches — for Wesley was a leader to the
very last moment of his life. He was in advance of the
whole army that followed him. And if you and I are
un-Christlike, slovenly, narrow, self-satisfied, easy-going,
then the cause is hopelessly and for ever lost. 'We want
leaders — men of wide, lofty. Christlike aims ; men of self-
sacrifice, of practical wisdom ; men who are not content to
do a tidy, decent little bit of business in the Church of
Jesus Christ — but men who know that this world is to be
transformed, and who will not rest on the earth till Christ
in heaven has His rights. We want the men to lead of
whom their enemies may say, " The men who have turned
the world upside down are come hither also." And if we
get such men, endued with the power of the Holy Ghost
— God grant we may have them to-night, God grant
every one of us may be made such a man and such a
woman — then I have no fear but that the young people will
enthusiastically rise to our call, and the deposit of blessed
and saving power will be brought forth and handed down
to the times that are to come.
There is a great message to be addressed to the wealthy
parents of Methodism in the present day. Many a Solomon
has carried his wisdom with him to his grave ; but, in the
worthlessness and ruin of a Rehoboam, his ostentation
and careless indifference have borne their fruits. Manv a

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM. 333
son of Methodism has borne out the evil result of the
folly of his father. Are we to train our children to the
pursuit of wealth or honour ? In that case the atheism in
which they will end is lurking already in our hearts. Are
we going to put them to the service of Jesus Christ, bring
ing them to His altar, training them in godly simplicity
as Wesley was, with many prayers and with unsparing
watchfulness ? Are we going to pray that the flower of our
young ladies may join the Sisters of the People, that our
best-educated men may vow themselves to the cause of
God and the people for ever ? Then shall the parents of
Methodism discharge their responsibility. And then, young
people, the responsibility rests fully upon you and me.
"Wesley has won us a vantage-ground for the work of
the coming generation. He has not only founded the
Methodist Church, he has uplifted the general level of
faith. But he has only won us a vantage-ground. The
Book of the Wars of the Lord of Hosts is not completed
yet. Its greatest chapters are yet to be written in the days
to come, perhaps while you and I are yet alive. We want
men who, in the faith of Jesus Christ, will use evangelism,
theology, science, philanthropy, to carry the battle with
sin and Satan to the gate, in every department of human
thought, of politics, of economics, of social and spiritual
life. And the great message of this Centenary to-night is
that we, in the presence of our fathers, encompassed by so
great a cloud of witnessess, should yield up ourselves as
they did to the all-saving Jesus Christ, and then go forth
to quit us like men and be strong.

fIDetbobism anb Xocal preacbers.
By Mr. W. OWEN CLOUGH, F.R.G.S., F.S.S., Etc.,
PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL PREACHERS' MUTUAL AID ASSOCIATION.
I DO not think this celebration would be complete if a
department of Methodism which has done much to build

334 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
up its success were not represented ; and especially, I think,
is it appropriate that the office which I hold this year — by
the accident of an accident — brings me here on an evening
when the young are especially appealed to. I propose
to-night to build up certain facts, with a view to show that
local preachers will continue to be an absolute necessity in
the Methodist Church, and then I intend to appeal to the
young men who are present, and to that larger congrega
tion who may read the proceedings of this evening.
The Founder of our Church did not willingly admit lay-
helpers. He was a stickler for law and order. Having to
be absent from London, he left Thomas Maxfield, in 1739,
to take charge of the Society, to meet the classes, and to
give such attention as might be necessary. Maxfield went
a little further than was intended, and went on to expound
the Scriptures, and to _preach. This was represented to
Mr. Wesley, and he very quickly turned his face towards
London, to put a stop to this irregularity ; and you can
understand how stern he would be. Coming back to
London he came into the presence of his mother, who saw
he was much distressed, and asked him what was the
matter. He said, " Thomas Maxfield has turned preacher,
I find." His mother replied, "John, you know what my
sentiments have been, you cannot suspect me of favouring
readily anything of this kind. But take care what you do
in respect of that young man, for he is as surely called of
God to preach as you are. Examine what have been the
fruits of his preaching, and hear him also yourself!' She
sent him to do what I would like the educated Methodists
of this generation to do, to go and hear the local preacher.
Wesley went and heard him, and all Wesley could say
was, " It is the Lord's doing, let Him do as seemeth Him
good." His prejudice gave way. Thomas Maxfield was
the first local preacher of Wesleyan Methodism.
As the Church extended, the necessity for such help in
creased, and so Thomas Maxfield was followed by Thomas
Richards, and he by Thomas Westall, and so on until
to-day. And the necessity for lay help which existed in

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM.

335

1739 is not only as great to-day, but vastly greater. I
affirm that Methodism is impossible without its local
preachers. I hold a plan of the Louth Circuit, where I was last
Sunday week, a plan with thirty-seven preaching-places,
and there are three itinerant ministers, as we say, "to work
the circuit." This circuit of Louth is twenty-four miles
across. The circuit of Sleaford covers seven hundred
square miles, and there are three ministers to work that
circuit. Extend your vision a little farther. I have
selected six circuits out of the many in Methodism —
Retford, Louth, Pateley Bridge, Malton, Salisbury, and
Leek. I am determined to build up my position safe and
sure in order that my appeal may be irresistible to the
young men of Methodism. These are the figures : —

Ministers.

Local
Preachers.

Pr. Places.

Services.

Conducted by

Local
Preachers-
Sermons to
one Minis
terial.

Retford,Louth,Pateley Bridge,
Malton,Salisbury,Leek,

3
33
33

52674351
6055

353727
342727

59
4544 39
5443

Min. L.P.
9 •¦ 50
6 .. 39
7 •• 37
8 .. 31
7 •• 47
6 ¦¦ 37

si7 5
4766

Total,

iS

338

1S7

284

43 ..241

Let us take our own, our Mother Church. In the
Wesleyan Methodist Society the local preachers are eight
times as numerous as the travelling preachers. Out of
every seven services taken throughout this country in
Methodism, five are taken by local preachers. I am
speaking now of what we call " the old body." There are
5,500 pulpits dependent every Sunday upon local preachers.
What would it cost Methodism to supply these services ?
I will put a local preacher's services as worth five shillings
a sermon. If they are not worth that they are not worth

336 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
anything; and I may say that is the estimate manypeopk
put upon them. That would be a cost to Methodism of
;£'2,75o per Sunday, or ;£'i43,ooo for the year. What would
it cost to supply these places if, for instance, local preachers
were to go on strike ?
On Monday evening there was a meeting held in this
place, representing the Methodists of all the Connexions.
I am going to tell you the number of chapels there are to
supply in each Connexion : —

Preaching Places.

Ministers
(including 0. T.
and
Supernumeraries).

Local
Preachers.

Wes. Meth. (Grt. Brit.).
,, (Irish Conf.),
Meth. New Connexion,
Primitive Methodist, .
Bible Christian,
tJnited Meth. Free Church, .
Wesleyan Reform Union,

8,000 2,087 430
5,858 467
1.333 204

2,004 232 171
1,049 101
345 18

16,038 1,856*1,114
16,317 1,136
3,046 465

Total, .

18,379

3,920

39.972

^' Estimated in same ratio as Great Britain.

That is a proportion of ten local preachers to one
itinerant minister. In 1796, fifty-six years after that
first local preacher began his work and five years after
Mr. Wesley's death, for the first time in Methodism there
was a meeting constituted which is still known as the
local preachers' quarterly meeting — a very anxious time
for some brethren, because on that occasion certain
questions are put from the chair (the superintendent
minister presiding) which may be referred to as " search
ing." They apply to the doctrine of the brother, his
attention to duty, his fitness for the work, and his moral
character. The man who can run the gauntlet of that
" searching " for forty or fifty or sixty years, as many
do, is worthy of being listened to. To become a candi
date he must satisfy the superintendent minister as to his

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM. 337
knowledge of the Second Catechism and the elements
of English Grammar. He must pass a twelve-months'
probation. He must be "heard preach," and then he
must have read the fifty-three " Standard Sermons " of
Mr. Wesley, and Mr. Wesley's " Notes on the New Testa
ment." One of the most beneficent things the Conference
ever did was to impose that condition. At the end
they "hear" him; they appoint some one to listen to
him, who reports ; and if the report is satisfactory he is
subjected to an examination, and if he satisfies the super
intendent minister and the local preachers' miceting — and
there is generally some brother with some technical theo
logical question — he is then received on " full plan," and-
from that day all care for the intellectual life of the local
preacher disappears.
If you take the itinerant ministry, the candidate must
pass certain examinations, go through a course at College
for three years, and even then must be under the super
vision of Conference for four years, must read certain
books, and pass an annual examination until the time
of his ordination. I want to do something to raise the
intellectual status of the body I represent. Is it fair that
nine-tenths of the preachers in the Methodist Connexions
to-day should not have their intellectual life over-looked,
and their studies directed, by the Church to which they
give their services ? I hope that one result of this celebra
tion will be that there will be a centre formed in every
circuit where the local preacher shall submit himself to
a course of wisely directed study, adapted to his life,
ultimately bringing him into the position of being able
to stand up before all the good results of the Education
Act of 1870.
The influence of our Church is very great. The Times
of March 2 said : " It follows that in Great Britain the
Wesleyan Methodist Churches, taken as a whole, constitute
the largest Protestant Communion next to that of the
Church of England ; while if other parts of the world,
and especially the United States, be taken into account,
Y

338 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Wesleyan Methodism may not unreasonably claim to
number a larger body of adherents than any other Pro
testant Church." If this be so I claim for the men whom
I represent here to-night, that they have, under God and
under the guidance and direction of our ministers, aided
in the work of building up this great Church, and of
bringing us to-day to our glorious position.
The local preachers' services are gratuitous. I mention
this lest any brother may think that he can lay up a good
store of this world's goods for his old age in this work.
They do not even thank you and reappoint you, as they
do trustees and other Church officers. We are simply
expected to go on, and we are glad to go on. I met a
brother at the door of a chapel one Sunday who, learning
that a Mr. Gilbert was going to take the service, said,
" Oh, I shan't stay — it's only a local." I said to him, "Did
you ever lend him a book ? Did you ever try to direct
his studies? I will undertake to say, if this is the Mr
Gilbert that I know, that you will hear a sermon that
will do more to build up your spiritual life than all
you will hear in the City, at your club, during the next
month." There was, in connection with the Thanksgiving Fund,
a fund formed to aid necessitous local preachers, and last
year £2<^% was voted by the Committee of that Fund for
that purpose. For I am glad to be able to say that,
although Methodism does very little for the intellectual
life of her local preachers — as regards the physical life,
there is some attempt made to help them in extreme old
age. Those who have the Official Handbook will see that
I am associated with what is called the Local Preachers'
Mutual Aid Association. In 1849 this Association was
established, and consisted of local preachers in Wesleyan
Methodism, the United Methodist Free Churches, and the
Wesleyan Reform Union. These three bodies were one
at that time, and for the purposes of this Association we
solved all problems of reunion by never being separated.
Its object is to afford relief during sickness and old age.

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM. 339
to provide a sum of money payable at death, and to relieve
local preachers' widows. We believe that
" They also serve who only stand and wait.''
The amount disbursed up to the present in this way has
been i^io6, 175. At the present time there are upon the
funds of this Society 377 aged and utterly penniless
annuitants, including 97 widows. There is being paid,
mainly out of the free gifts of honorary members and
collections, the sum of ^^4,712, los. per annum; so that
some attention is paid to necessitous local preachers.
The local preachers of Methodism have specially done
their duty in respect to sound doctrine, and to maintaining
the Protestantism of our Church. A letter was sent by
Mr. Champness the other night, and I propose to read
from it one sentence : " I look upon every village chapel
as an outpost of Protestantism ; and I say to all who care
for the right of genius, liberty of speech and hearing, stand
by those who preach the gospel to the men who live by
the plough." I want the young men of Methodism to
come and help us to do it.
I would like to tell you of some cases which appear in
our report. Here is a poor old man who, after eighty-two
years of life and fifty years of service as a local preacher,
is in destitute circumstances ; another, eighty-three years
old, who has given fifty-three years of service ; another, of
ninety, who has given seventy-one years — and now,
" In age and feebleness extreme,''
they are without the necessaries of life. I might tell you
of the widows of our local preachers — one of seventy-six
years, whose husband was a local preacher for forty-seven
years ; another of eighty, whose husband preached for fifty
years. We want brethren who will go into this work, and bring
to it their wealth, their education, their social position ;
every power and influence they possess ; their burning zeal
for men, the noblest passion that can fill the human heart

340 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
We want your help — at your peril stand aside I There is
a responsibility resting here on every educated Methodist
to go into this work and help the Church. Through this
strait gate all the ministry of this Church has gone. If
you have felt this burning zeal for mankind, give your
hearts to God and your lives to His people.
' ' Thou must be true thyself
If thou the trutli would'st teach ;
Thy soul must overflow if thou
Another soul would'st reach.
It needs the overflow of heart
To give the lips full speech.
Think truly and thy thoughts
Shall the world's famine feed ;
Speak truly and each word of thine
Shall be a fruitful seed ;
Live truly and thy life shall be
A great and noble creed."

^be past anb tbe future.
By the Rev. THOMAS E. WESTERDALE.
We have heard a great deal about the history of Method
ism this week, but the future of Methodism lies in the
fascination and unused power of that section of Methodism
this great meeting represents. If this Commemoration
means anything, it means that Methodism is not decaying.
There are many things in history and in nations to
support the theory of the historic passing away of great
forces, and if you apply the test to Church systems and
Church beliefs, you will find the same development,—
periods of great prosperity followed by periods of almost
complete efifacement ; and so confused and bewildered are
some people by this historic process, that in the midst of
all the enthusiasm of these great meetings, there are those
who persist in saying that our special mission, as such,
is ended, and that we must now simply take our place
as one of the ordinary Churches of the land. And the
strangest thing of all about this modern delusion concern-

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM. 341
ing Methodism is the complacency with which some of
our own people are mentally consenting to the efface-
ment of a system, which not only shows no signs of
decay, but indications that it is still but in the infancy
of that moral regeneration God purposes to accomplish
by its blessed agency.
I have nothing in my heart to-night but the fullest
hopes concerning our coming Methodism. It is not in the
mind of God or in the nature of things that great spiritual
movements must of necessity break up and pass away.
God's promise unto you is, "I will do better unto you
. . . than at your beginnings," and when the present
indefiniteness concerning modern Methodism has worn
itself out by the glow and fervour of that new life which
is breaking out, thank God, in all our circuits, the slow
of heart amongst us to believe, will be the very first
to admit the deception of their senses. What we are
suffering from just now is the result of our magnificent
success in days gone by. When there was no inner
Church in Methodism — when the Church was made up of
units, each unit representing a new conversion — fire, love,
zeal, holy enthusiasm were the order of the day ; they
ruled the pulpit, they ruled the pew, they took possession
of the class-meeting, the leaders' meeting, and every bit
of Methodist plant throughout the Connexion, and the
land was filled with soul-converting energy. But during
the last thirty or forty years a new order has arisen, so
reserved and restrictive that some of us hardly know
what to do when Sunday comes round. But it will work
itself right; the old times are coming back, there are signs
of abundance of rain ; and you may depend upon it,
when Methodism is convalescent once more, the God
of our fathers will come down and bless us with yet more
abundant power.
I heard a man say the other day that the Forward
Movement would ruin Methodism. Well, it will ruin his
view of Methodism, and the sooner the better. It is an
outrage on historic fact to say that if John Wesley were

342 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
here amongst us now, he would not bless our Forward
Movement John Wesley had a large bump for- order and
system and organisation, and things of that sort, and
succeeded in keeping certain men in their proper places
much better than any Conference has succeeded since
But the more the vision of his glorious life bursts on our
view to-day, the more certain is it that John Wesley was
the greatest religious reformer and ecclesiastical amender
the world has ever seen ; and until men can convince me
that the two processes for which God called him into
existence have been exhausted — -first, the purification of
organised Christianity by the leaven of a converted
ministry, and, seco?idly, the saving of that great outside
world which organised Christianity never reaches — I will
never assent to the proposition that the mission of
Methodism is ended.
Don't let us be dazed by the stationary position of
Methodism in some neighbourhoods, or the prophecies of
despairing men. If Methodism is anything it is super
natural, the gift of God to our lost and ruined world ; and
so long as there are abuses to be exposed in the estab
lished religions of the world, and multitudes of unsaved
people whom no Church ever reaches, just so long will the
supernatural call and mission of Methodism be alive as
verily and as certainly as when God first sent John
Wesley forth to spread scriptural holiness throughout the
land. If we could throw ourselves back for a hundred
years, amid those scenes which took place in this very
chapel, when they buried him in early mom, for fear of a
tumult if they had buried him later in the day, — I say, if
we could place ourselves amid those scenes, — John Wesley
gone, a Church of 80,000 members and 500,000 church
followers without a personal leader, mutinous trustees
abroad in some circuits ready to defy the Deed of Declara
tion, we might tremble then for the ark of God, and
wonder whether our mission would not collapse. But
since God has brought us through a full century of trouble
and of glory since then, and established our goings until

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM. 343
we are numbered now by at least 30 millions of followers
throughout the length and breadth of the world, nothing
but an inconceivable breakdown of capacity can ever dis
lodge us from the glorious place God intends us to fill in
the destiny of the world.
I am going to make no apology for the semi-dazed
condition of Methodism in some directions, its restless
tendency towards new and dangerous experiments, its
longing desire in some cases to escape the class-meeting
test. For true it is that, in spite of all our empty chapels
and apparent incapacity to fascinate certain particular
neighbourhoods, Methodism is the greatest Protestant
evangelical power in the world to-day ; and I am one of
those who believe that when the ancient barriers which
now block the way to perfect religious equality in this
country are swept down by the advancing tides of the
new democracy, Methodism, not only in America and in
our Colonies, but in the land of its birth, will stand forth
possessed with the first charm and claim to the confidence
of those new and liberated forces. God made us not to
die, but to live, and to go on increasing until glory shall
crown what grace has begun. I do not want to indulge
my soul, or the spirit of this great meeting, with any
undue exaltation ; but if the nineteenth century is the
best century the world has ever seen, it is because John
Wesley and his faithful followers have made it so ; and
if this leaven of blessing is to continue and increase,
we must get back to the simplicity of our forefathers,
both as to their trust in God and the manner of their
daily Christian living. I am getting sick and tired —
I know thousands are — at the distractions and confused
counsels of modern-day Methodism. As far as funda
mental and constitutional Methodism is concerned, there
is very little that young Methodism desires to see altered ;
if we change at all, let us change backwards, back to
those forms and ways that made the children of our early
Methodism so intense and spiritual in all their ways. But,
as far as practical modern duty is concerned, there must

344 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
be a great change. Our card-playing and our dancing,
our going to the Sacraments on Sunday night and the
theatre on Monday night — away with it ! It is not Method
ism, it is not religion, it is not Christianity ; and if we cannot
do the work God has given us to do without such aUiances
— well, the sooner our glory is taken from us and given to
another, the better !
There were plenty of religions in the world before John
Wesley was born, magnificent modifications of the finest
modern thought of their day ; and if you simply want
Methodism to come down to one of those regular Church
orders and systems, with no other end in view than to
compete with some neighbouring church or chapel for the
greatest amount of local Church patronage and support
that is no more like John Wesley's Methodism than black's
white ; and the sooner the Archbishop of Canterbury ab
sorbs us once more into the bosom of his own communion,
the better. But if you want to see the world saved, the
Church purified by a holy ministry, the masses of the
people brought down under the convicting power of God's
Holy Spirit, then pray for the old times to come back again.
What we want is another Pentecost, a glorious revival.
Very nearly the last words that Mr. Beauchamp left to
the Methodist people were these. He said, "We have every
thing that is magnificent in Methodism just now — beauti
ful chapels, a marvellous organisation ; all we want is a
glorious revival." Brethren, let us pray for it. If you love
Methodism, young men, pray for it. If you want a revival
in your own heart, in your own home, in your own circuit,
pray for it. ' ' The praying spirit breathe,
The watching power impart ;
From all entanglements beneath.
Call off my anxious heart."
I pray that the blessing may be universal, — that wher
ever there is a Methodist heart to pray, a Methodist home
to bless, a Methodist chapel to fill, it may come down in
showers of blessing. If so, the temple of the twentieth

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM. 345
century shall surpass in glory the most radiant forms of
the building we are now completing, and the cry will still
go up to heaven, " The best of all is, God is with us I "

an appeal to IpouriQ flDetbobism.
By Mr. GEORGE J. SMITH of Truro.
I HAVE experienced this evening some of the advantages
and some of the disadvantages of being one of several
speakers to whom is committed the same text Coming
thus late, one has this awkwardness, that some of the
provinces which one fondly hoped were one's own copy
right have been already invaded ; but, on the other hand,
one is certainly spared the necessity of any introduction.
I need not now prove to you that young Methodism
has opportunities and privileges which involve duties and
resp07isibilities. I will simply, in the briefest terms, try
to announce some of what seem to me to be the chiefs
privileges of Methodist youth to-day.
There is, first of all, the glorious privilege of our spiritual -
ancestry. The echoes of this building, and all the services '
of this week hitherto, absolve me from the necessity of
dwelling on the life and labours of the great man whose
Centenary we are celebrating. We derive our strength from
no human name ; but young Methodism shall never be
ashamed of him whose name we record in our distinctive
appellation as a portion of the Church Universal. No
religious community need desire a more glorious source
for its distinct existence than that great revival of one
hundred and fifty years ago, which awoke the churches as
well as the world around, which reared again the banner
of the truth, which renewed the face of the land, and
which, as impartial and secular historians remind us,
saved England from the perils of a revolution such as
that of France. And now, with one hundred and fifty

t
346 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
years behind us and with a new era before us, young
Methodism pledges itself to follow those who have gone
before us, as they followed Christ.
And, sir, if we bless God to-night for our spiritual an
cestry, and for our heritage from the past, not less will
we bless Him for our present, — that we have the old
doctrines still in our midst, that we have a " free, full, and
present salvation " still sounding from our pulpits, and
that " Christianity in earnest," the name our fathers
earned, is not yet a misnomer for their sons.
A further privilege has been briefly touched upon by
Mr. Allen. In this age in which we live, when social
progress, social reform, social regeneration, are in the air
all about us — are the demand of the age — young Method
ists find that the Church of their fathers is the Church of
all others that has most studied and developed the social
element of Christian life. That is a privilege which 1
press upon the youth of Methodism. Ours is as truly
and distinctively social Christianity as it is " Christianity
in earnest." In addition to this, we have material advan
tages, intellectual resources, civil and religious liberties ;
with here and there a measure of wealth and of culture
which God has given in response to the faithfulness in little
of those who have gone before us, and which God never
meant to be drags upon our chariot wheels, but additional
levers in our hands for the better lifting of the world.
Such, sir, as briefly as I can put them, are a few of the
many privileges of young Methodism to-day.
What, then, are our responsibilities ? Clearly, to per
petuate and to extend these glorious blessings to those
who come after us ; freely having received, freely to give ;
to work and labour, and, by God's blessing, to succeed —
not only as those who have gone before us, but in the
ratio of our greater means, greater intellectual advantages
and wider open doors which are ours to-day. A mighty
responsibility verily ! And how shall we young men of
.Methodism set about it?
First under God, by standing fast and firm by the Church

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM. 347
of our fathers. Granted that some here and there may
conscientiously and intelligently discern their spiritual
home — their mode of worship, their sphere of labour — else
where. We argue not with them. God's blessing go with
them. But to those, if they were represented here to-night,
who show a tendency to outgrow that which, under God,
has made their fathers great, to those who seem drawn
hither or thither by vague and visionary ideas of some
advantage other than spiritual, to those I could talk^ — if
they were here. I would say, first see at least what your
Church has done and is ; mark well her bulwarks ; read her
history, and mark the results of her life. Truly those Old
Testament saints were rightly inspired to set up memorials
in the Ebenezers which marked the path of the children of
Israel, and put it on record that their children were to be
taught these lessons after them. And if any considerable
numbers of our youth secede from us, it will largely be
from our neglect of these glorious mnemonics of the past.
Our history, up to date, not only of last century but of last
week — it is more than an inspiration, it is an argument,
it is the' argument for our position. I know, lads and
maidens, you will be challenged on that point, as to the
position of your Church, and our right to that name. Our
theologians, our Church historians, will answer that chal
lenge for you, conclusively and satisfactorily. But I am
not even " a poor local preacher " (as one speaker described
himself this week). I am only a poor Sunday school
teacher, neither theologian, philosopher, nor historian. I
have only one simple answer as to my Church — as I call
her, and ever will — the manifest working of the Holy
Spirit in the labours of our fathers, the presence of God
the Holy Ghost here and now. In my simplicity I have
no other answer; I want no other defence. That, young
men and maidens of Methodism, is the answer for the
satisfaction of your own souls, and your answer to others.
It is an old challenge, sir, — " By what name or by what
authority have ye done this?" And I find that those
early irregular preachers, Peter and John, had no occasion

348 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
to rush into controversy over it ; for " seeing the man that
was healed standing with them they could say nothing
against it." And, Mr. President, while healed souls are
the product of our Methodist chapels, there is proof of
ordination, there is consecration, there is our justification
in the face of the whole world. And I appeal, as I said,
not only to the history of the past century, but of the
past week, to the few days ago when you, sir, saw these
things in the county from whence I come —
"The lame they are walking and running their race.
The dumb they are talking of Jesus's grace."
I am further intensely anxious that young Methodism
should recognise its responsibilities in upholding the old
doctrines which have made not only Methodism but, as 1
believe, old England what she is. We rejoice to have
testimony borne this week to the fact that Wesley's
doctrines — that is, the teaching of St. Paul and of Luther
• — -are now preached all around us as was not the case a
century ago. But, if I can read the signs of the times
aright, I am constrained to the belief that the old banner
of Protestantism is to be upheld with an enormously
increased responsibility resting upon evangelical Non
conformity, and especially upon our own Church. We
rejoice in the spiritual activity all around us. We rejoice
that revival elsewhere, notably the Oxford movement in
the Church of England, may seem to relieve us of some
responsibilities, but they undoubtedly increase our respon
sibilities in another direction, when we hear the Protestant
name itself protested against, and when we hear the Refor
mation sought to be half explained away in the interests
of an ecclesiastical historic continuity. Sir, at the proper
time, we too will claim — and I see no bar to it — our share
in historic continuity ; but give me
" The living present —
Heart within, and God o'erhead."
Give me the present. " The best of all (still) is, God is with
us." God grant young Methodism to be true to its great

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM. 349
charge in handing on to the next generation that which
has been delivered to us — the Bible the only standard ; the
humblest sinner's direct access to the mercy-seat ; Christ
the only Priest, the one Mediator between God and man,
the one Sacrifice once offered.
I referred incidentally to the peculiar claim in the
present day of the social institutions of Methodism ; and
by that expression I mean every social means of co
operation for the good of the souls and bodies of the
people around us, and especially what we in the provinces
call the social means of grace. I do recommend them to
the rising race of young Methodists. I pray God that
they may not outgrow the class - meeting, which in
thousands of instances made their fathers what they were.
I am liberal enough to admit that the class - meeting
requires here and there adaptation to particular places
and circumstances. I have proved that and tried to act
on it. But its abolition, or its neglect, would be an
anachronism and a fatal error. If we deprecate the
Babel voices of exaggerated class distinctions in the
world outside, let us at least strive to preserve our unity
of speech and simplicity of fellowship within our walls by
these weekly gatherings to help each other on.
I wish lastly to refer to the responsibilities coming to'
us with additional wealth, influence and culture, here and
there in our midst. I stated my conviction just now that
God had given these to us for a purpose. I am conscious
I may be addressing a small minority, but I am addressing
a minority with enormous responsibilities and with com
mensurate opportunities before them. You, sir, at least
know very well of scores of Methodist youths who have
advantages, material and intellectual, which their fathers
had not, and as a consequence have opportunities of which
their fathers and grandfathers never dreamed. And what
use is the young Methodism of which we are speaking to
make of these ? Whitecross Street and the New Method
ist Settlement? Thank God for them. But I confess
my thought was running in a different direction. I bear

350 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
testimony that it is easier to witness for God in a slum
than in a drawing-room. Wanted, young Methodist
culture to witness for its Lord wherever it goes. This
may be a harder call, but the harder call may be the
direction of God's purpose for us. I know very well that
our old motto was to carry the gospel, not only where it
was wanted, but where it was wanted most ; and I rejoice
that "the poor have the gospel preached unto thera."
But " wanted most I " Are there not some sections of
what is called society to-day that want the witness of
Christianity in earnest as much as any men or women
under heaven ? The consecration of culture — Sir, I must
not trust myself to pursue this point, the more especially
as I was anticipated by Mr. Thomas Osborn on Tuesday,
who so admirably and fitly dwelt on some aspects of this
branch of my subject Surely the additional intellectual
advantages, the additional mental power which God has
given scores of our youth to-day, should find scope in the
Church of their fathers. The acquisition of knowledge,
pursued in a thousand places to-day for its own sake, is
not the ideal of Christianity in earnest We have around
us perplexed intellects as well as aching hearts, and
Methodism has its mission to both. The furnishing of
the brains of the young men under our President's charge
should not be for the development of coteries of dilettanti,
but for the benefit of man and the glory of God. It is
not too much to say that Rugby under Arnold made its
mark on the history of England. Why not other schools?
why not one school especially present to our minds now
under a servant of Christ whom all Methodism honours ?
Why should that not make its mark on the days to come ?
I want to see a stream of this young Christian influence
flowing forth from us, helping to purify the press, public
life, county life, municipal life, political life of the land.
I do not mean that we should be all of one way of think
ing on public subjects, as would become a sect ; but that
as becomes a Church, whilst preserving individual inde
pendence of thought, young Methodism should bring its

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM. 351
Christian influence to bear on all parties and all schools
of thought, and benefit our general national life.
Does some one say that this conception of wealth and
culture seems to mark a departure from our old primitive
simplicity, and that these things seem necessarily burdens
and snares and dangers ? I should like to answer that
question, not by any words of my own, but by those of a
celebrated townsman of mine. I had, thirty odd years
ago, the pleasure of knowing something directly, and a
great deal indirectly, of the prototype of Daniel Quorm. I
think I knew the man called Daniel Quorm even better than
did my other distinguished townsman who has immortal
ised that name. He was one of those invaluable private
members of our classes, who largely help the leader with
their own individual experience ; and his leader was my
own beloved father. One Sunday morning, which I well
remember, my father came in with a more than usually
radiant face from his early class-meeting, and he could not
help telling us an excellent story which was then fresh
from that blessed little meeting-room. There had been
two young men present of relatively good position and
considerable culture, as things went at that time in that
part of the world. They had given their experience in
somewhat, truth to tell, halting and hesitating terms, as
might have been expected from those who had gifts
not altogether dedicated to the service of Christ Next
the old saint, whom Christendom now calls Daniel
Quorm, was called upon. Nobody ever knew what he
was going to say. [That is very curious. I imagine from
that laugh that in some class-meetings people do know
what is going to be said.] He proceeded to tell his recent
experience. He had been to see a brother in Chatham
Dockyard, and had been taken to see the building of one
of Her Majesty's ships. He told how he was amazed at
her tremendous proportions, at her magazines, at the ports
for her guns, at the quarters for officers and men, the
steering gear, and all the rest. But when his brother
told him that she had cost scores of thousands of pounds.

352 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Daniel came to the conclusion that there, high and dry on
the land, he did not see value for the money ; and he said,
" Brother, we've got members like that down in our class,
very expensive fittings about 'em, but no life." His
brother said, " Come again to-morrow." The next day
the vessel was to be launched. Daniel took his stand to
see it ; it was a grand sight, and he described it all, I
will give the conclusion, in the vernacular, as far as you
would be able to understand it. He said — " I saw a rope
cut, I saw some wedges knocked out, and down she
slinkered through the channel, and so was right out in the
great sea. Now I can see some value in her. I can see
she can take her guns in now ; now she can help to keep
the peace of the world and the honour of ould England ;
now I can see value for the money ; now she don't need
to be pulled about by hand, for she will hoist her sails
to the winds of heaven. And, my dear leader, I lifted
up my heart to God, and I said, ' Father, Thou know'st
those members of ours home, expensive fittings they've
got, but there's no value in them. Lord, knock out those
wedges and cut the ropes between them and the world,
slide them out into the ocean of Thy love. Then they'll
run up the old flag, then they'll use their guns 'gainst the
King's enemies. Lord, launch those members of ours.'"
I leave that parable with young Methodism to-night, and I
join in Daniel's prayer for all our youth and the consecra-
,tion of all their powers to Christ Jesus.

(Ten (Tbaracteristics of Ipouna fiDetbobism.
By the Rev. H. PRICE HUGHES, M.A.
There is one advantage in coming last. You may speak
as long as you like without disturbing anyone else.
The children of the nineteenth century have a very
definite way of their own ; and it will be interesting to
inquire at this stage of these historic proceedings what are

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM. 353
likely to be the tendencies and the actions of that young
Methodism which will produce the rulers and the trustees
of Methodism at the beginning of the twentieth century. I
think there is no difficulty in giving an answer. We have
already entered upon a new era of a very marked type.
The speeches which we have heard to-night, and which we
have heard on every previous night of this week, would
have been simply impossible in Methodism twenty years
ago. What is this new development of which the most con
spicuous manifestation is called the Forward Movement ?
What are the characteristics of the young Methodists of
to-day ?
I venture to express the strongest conviction, having a
good many sources of information within my reach, that,
spiritually, young Methodism is very old-fashioned indeed.
Let our seniors be fully reassured. We are very intense
Methodists. Let us at any rate clearly understand, on indis
putable evidence within everybody's reach, that the young
Methodists on whose behalf I venture to speak, are proud
of their Church, and are confident of her future. It is
always well that such appeals should be made as my
friend Mr. George Smith has made so eloquently, but I
hasten to express my strong conviction that never since
I was born were they so little needed as they are to
night. There never was a time when modern Methodists
hungered and thirsted after spiritual holiness as much as
they do to-day. There never was a time when we loved
the class-meeting and the prayer-meeting better than
to-day. There never was a time when we had richer
and more victorious experiences in our lovefeasts, or
when we had more penitents at our services and prayer-
meetings and after-meetings. You may be fully assured
that we young Methodists believe, to the bottom of our
souls, in revivals and conversions, and every possible
agency for the deepening of the spiritual life. But many
of us are disposed to agree with Principal Rainy — who
has laid us under a very deep obligation by the discourse
Z

354 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
which many of us had the privilege of hearing this after
noon — that in the immediate future, the work of God may
not take the form which he described as " law work," but
that we may increasingly realise that the true Christian is
a Christ-like man. If there is anything that distinguishes
our method of teaching Christianity it is this — the emphasis
with which we assert that the essence of practical Christi
anity is to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, and to do
what He would have done had He been in our place.
The next special feature of young Methodists is that we
believe Methodism is a Church. When our American
brethren were in this country, during the last CEcumenical
Conference, they told me that nothing astonished them so
much as the excessive deference which some among us
exhibited towards the Church of England. I believe that
young Methodists sincerely pray for the welfare of that
Church, but if the American brethren come ten years
hence to an CEcumenical Conference in England, they will
not notice that peculiarity. Never again will we consent
to play the rdle of a poor relation of the Established
Church. Young Methodists believe that the President of
the Wesleyan Conference is as truly and eminently a
minister of Christ as the Archbishop of Canterbury. As
for the doctrine of Apostolical Succession, we hold, with
John Wesley, that it is a fable, although accepted by
many sincere and godly men ; that it is as absolutely a
fiction as the forged decretals upon which popes have
built up their pretensions. We claim for our ministers
everything that is conceded to any minister in this country.
For that reason we are now insisting that the civil registrar
shall not be present at marriages in our churches. We
desire to be very friendly with the priests of the Anglican
communion, but always on this condition, that they meet
us on terms of absolute equality.
Further, we have developed a new friendliness for the
ancient Dissenting Churches of this country. Dr. Dale
told us very truly that the Dissenters of Wesley's days
regarded our fathers with some concern, because Armin-

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM. 355
ianism had unhappily been associated in this country with
Socinianism. That has passed away. There is no doubt,
on the other hand, that some of our fathers had a strange
dislike for the Dissenters, because they were political.
We regard that as all nonsense. They were not more
political than other people, and they have rendered an
imperishable service to the human race by teaching us
that Christian men ought to discharge their civic duties.
I may say, on behalf of the London Mission, that in every
part of this country which we visit, our platforms are
crowded by Baptist and Congregational and Presbyterian
ministers. I have received an unprecedented mark of
friendliness from the Congregational communion. When
I was in despair, after my search for a suitable locality
for the West London Mission, they placed one of their
venerable sanctuaries at my disposal without charging one
penny for rent.
We believe, further, that Methodism is a national
Church, that it is not an obscure sect or a class religion ;
and we freely admit that this involves from us two con
cessions. The first is publicity. We do not wish to be any longer
in a back street. We prefer the corner site, previously
given to a public-house. Methodism is coming out of its
shell. Our fathers preferred to do things secretly — not'
because they ever did anything wrong ; the affairs of
Methodism have always been honestly administered. But
secrecy was their policy. It is not our policy. We like
to see these reporters here. Mr. Watkinson said on
Tuesday that there were two Methodist papers, which did
not do more harm than any other papers. I presume
he referred to the Methodist Recorder and Joyful News. I
fully agree with him that they are very harmless organs
of opinion, but I say they are also very useful organs of
opinion. We believe so much in publicity that we are
delighted the representative session of the Conference
has decided to admit professional reporters. That is our
policy. Again we believe in freedom of speech in the

356 ¦ CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Conference and out of it Some of our brethren do not
like being criticised ; they -will get used to it, as I have.
It will do them no harm. It will prevent a tendency to
parochialism, and living in one groove. The first time my
grandfather went to the Conference, a young man, not
less than forty-five years of age, rose to address the
Conference. Dr. Bunting looked at him with astonish
ment, and then said, in a decisive tone, "Young man, sit
down." And the young man did sit down. If your
successor at the next Conference, sir, said that to me, I
should sit down, because I am one of the most docile of
mankind — but there would be a great deal of hubbub.
Once more, young Methodists have very strongly thought
there was too much truth in the charge brought against
us and other Evangelical Churches, that we were guilty of
other-worldliness. We believe that the vision which John
Wesley had was a vision not of heaven, but of earth
changed and purified and blessed by the power of Jesus
Christ ; and that was the vision which St. John had in the
Apocalypse. He saw the City of God coming down out
of heaven. For my own part I know very little about
heaven. It is down here on earth that our sympathy
ought to go forth, down here where there is a public-house
at the corner of every street, where the pavements are
crowded with scoundrels and their victims, and where it is
so difficult to do right. We believe that love to our
neighbour requires that we should vote at the election of
Poor Law Guardians, and of School Boards, and of Town
and County Councils. We believe, also, that we are
bound, when qualified, as part of our religious duties, to
stand as candidates for civic offices. For example, the
servants of the devil will make a tremendous fight at
the coming elections for the London County Council. I
call upon young Methodists to come forward as candi
dates, and when a Methodist like Mr. M'Dougall attacks
obscenity, you ought to support him. Why is Cardiff", as
you, Mr. President, have said, so largely Methodist?
Because Mr. Williams and other influential Methodists

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM. 357'
there have discharged their civic duties, and acquired the
influence which good men will always acquire when they
do so. We recognise our social duties, and fully appreciate
the incalculable and imperishable services rendered to
Christianity by the pioneer of our social work, Dr.
Stephenson. I am greatly indebted to the President for reminding
me that next month the election of the Board of Guardians
takes place, and it is of the greatest importance that not
only young men but young women should present them
selves for election. It is a striking sign of the times that
the President of the Conference should have instructed me
to say that. We believe that our social Christianity must
exhibit itself in the form of all sorts of individual charities
and social reforms. We believe that it is a part of our
duty to feed and clothe and care for and entertain the
disinherited and the friendless. We also believe there are
seven gigantic social evils, not one of which is necessary.
The first is the gigantic evil of^Drunkenness. We
rejoice in the fact that we have a total abstainer in the
chair of the Conference. But that, thank God, is no
novelty ; we have had several. I am happy to add, how
ever, that for the first time in Methodist history we have
a total abstainer in the chair and a total abstainer as the
Secretary of the Conference. My friend. Dr. Waller, has
been hiding his light under a bushel for eighteen months ;
I will take the bushel away.
There is another gigantic evil with which we are dealing
more directly than our fathers — that is the gigantic evil of
Lust. We glory in the credit that has come to us as a
Church because such men as Dr. Osborn and others were
amongst the very first to protest against those iniquitous
laws which were introduced into the statute book at dead
of night, but which, after a struggle of twenty years'
duration, were blotted out for ever. We learnt during
that struggle that the only true principle of chastity is one
which asserts equal claims on men and women. I rejoice
that the President of the Conference signed a public

35« CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
protest last night against the return of Sir Charles Dilke
to the House of Commons until he succeeds in clearing
his character. We who have defeated Mr. Parnell are to
defeat him.
The third evil is that of Gambling.
With respect to Pauperism I need not dwell upon that;
we have heard much from the impassioned lips of my
friend Mr. Thompson and others. I will only add that
we must remember that we who are not producers but
consumers must be prepared to fight against the craze for
unnatural cheapness.
The fifth social evil is the^frican Slave Trade.
The sixth is the diabolic Opium Trade with China.
We must also deal with" Crime and Prison Discipline,
and we must introduce a revolution into our law which
will make offences against the person as serious as offences
against property.
I am struck and distressed by the fact that not one
single word has been said during this week against the
crowning iniquity ofW^ar. My friend Mr. Smart pleaded
with us that we should intervene in the terrible strife
between labour and capital. Much more should we inter
vene to prevent war. During the last few years we have
spent .^2,700,000,000 on war in civilised Europe, and
2,500,000 honest lives have been sacrificed. Lord John
Russell said that on looking back on all the wars which
had been carried on during the last century, and looking
into the causes of them, he did not know one which might
not have been avoided if there had been proper temper
between the parties. I trust we Methodists at any rate
will not leave the Society of Friends any longer to bear
, almost unassisted the burden of this agitation.
The sixth feature of young Methodism, as it presents
itself to me, is that it recognises not only our social but
also our political duties. I entirely agree that any Church
which committed itself to one political party would be a
sect. But I absolutely refuse to allow any man to close
my mouth in relation to any political question by saying

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM. 359
that it belongs to party politics. It belongs to me as a
prophet of Almighty God before it belongs to any party.
We believe the State is as sacred as the Church. We believe
with Lord Shaftesbury that a religious man must carry
his religion with him into political life. When he brought
forward the Factory Acts he told Parliament that he did
so as a religious duty. If any man says his religion has
nothing to do with his politics I can only say that both
his religion and his politics are contemptible. The result
of such delusions is that, as Mr. Herbert Spencer has said,
we have two religions in this country — one which we pro
fess on Sunday, and the other which we practise during
the week. A distinguished Scotchman has said, " When
you Christians practise on the six days of the week the
religion you profess on the seventh, the millennium will
come at once." Assuredly if Christian men would only
stand shoulder to shoulder on all great moral questions,
the millennium would soon come.
We, young Methodists, are very democratic ; we go tof
the masses. I entirely agree with Principal Rainy that
the innovations of one age are very often the fetters of the
next. We refuse to be tied and bound by red tape. At
this moment the majority of the English people are
outside. The eighth feature of young Methodism is one upon
which Mr. Percy Bunting touched the other night, and to
which Mr. George Smith has properly referred — a new
sense of trusteeship with privilege. Never before have
our privileged young men and young women been so
thoroughly alive to their responsibilities. The great
school over which the President presides teaches that
culture is not given them for their own aggrandisement.
Next, we glory in the elasticity and many-sidedness of
Methodism. We all believe that Mr. Tom Osborn and
Professor Davison are doing the work of the Forward
Movement quite as much as Charles Garrett or Thomas
Champness. Lastly, I am deeply persuaded that young Methodism

36o CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
is in favour of Methodist union. Mr. Richard Green at
the last Fernley Lecture expressed our fervent aspiration
that the scattered sections of Methodism may some day
come together. We cannot but feel deeply the loving
sentiments which were uttered by the Presidents of all
the minor Methodist Churches last Monday. As a young
Wesleyan Methodist, I wish to take this opportunity to
reciprocate those aspirations from the bottom of my soul.
We believe more and more that the overlapping and the
waste in the country districts are scandalous. We shall
never be able to remedy this until we have enough common
sense and self-suppression to bury our differences. The
representative of the Irish Conference told us of the happy
results of Methodist union in that country. If a represen
tative from Canada had been here, he would have told us
that all the Methodist Churches in Canada are now
happily united, and that there is only one Methodist
Church from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Our brethren
there have had an increase of io,000 members every year
since their blessed union. I wish to add one other fact
that has not yet been mentioned. If by the grace of God
we could overcome our differences at home, that con
summation would be followed by Methodist union all the
world over. I n a few years we should have one Methodist
Church in France, in Germany, in Italy, in India, in
China, in Japan, in Australia. The one unanswerable
taunt I have heard this week is that already, though so
young, we are divided. There is no theological difference
among us, there is no ecclesiastical difference that is not
capable of adjustment. The day will dawn when all the
bees will come back to the old hive, and we shall then
[have plenty of honey. Standing here to-night, close to
John Wesley's tomb, on" a great historic occasion, I deli-
; berately prophesy that the devil will not be able to keep
the Methodists of England apart much longer. I am
fully convinced that, in the face of an aggressive sacerdo
talism on the one hand and a perilous secularism on the
other, we shall never be able to fulfil the mission of

THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF METHODISM. 361
Methodism until we have achieved Methodist union. We
cannot protect our village Churches adequately, we cannot
mission our towns thoroughly, we cannot evangelise the
heathen universally, until we unite our scattered forces.
But the day is coming when, in every quarter of the globe,
the mechanical and oppressive unity of Rome will be con
fronted and mastered by the spontaneous and joyful
union of the people called Methodists. When the prophet
Elijah took twelve stones, to represent the twelve tribes,
and built them up into one united altar of devotion to
God, then the fire fell and the rain came, and the drought
vanished away. And when a successor of yours, Mr.
President, gathers together on this spot the scattered
sections of Methodism to be united in the service of God
and man, then the Pentecostal fire will fall, then there
will be showers of blessing, and then the latter-day glory
of which John Wesley was the herald will burst upon the
whole world.

iAe\li)oiisrT) apd bl)e Sister
Ct)urct)es.
By the PRESIDENT OF THE CONFERENCE.
I AM very grateful to you, my dear friends, for this unex
pected but most welcome expression of your kindness.^
No thanks do I need. The enjoyment to me has been
intense, and the stimulating power of encouragement and
hope beyond all words.
I shall not detain you with many words this evening.
The subject speaks for itself, " Methodism and its Sister
Churches." I wish a much larger number of sister Churches
could have been represented on this occasion ; but in
different parts of this week we have had additional repre
sentation, as you will have fully recognised. Methodism
loves her sister Churches. Methodism is the friend of all,
but she is united in the closest possible union with those
sister Churches who can sing with her the grand Reforma
tion hymn.^ Methodism must sorrowfully stand aloof from
those who detest the word " Reformation," but to all those
who love the thought of the Reformation, and are faithful
to the principles of the Reformation, although they may
differ from her in many respects, Methodism desires to
^ For the expression of gratitude referred to, and for Dr. Cairns' letter, see
Appendix. '- "A safe stronghold our God is still," — the hymn with which the service
opened.

METHODISM AND THE SISTER CHURCHES. 363
come nearer and nearer still — acknowledging the glorious
services rendered" by each of those Churches, and wishing
that all the Churches may stand together in the great
battle of the Lord.
Various Churches are represented here to-night. But
we have really a double motive for the meeting of this
evening. Not only have we represented here that blessed
union of sister Churches, but we also have elements which
connect this meeting directly with the history of the great
man whose name and whose life are in the thoughts of all
of us this week. Who can read the Life of Wesley without
recognising with deepest thankfulness the influence for
good which the Moravians had upon this people? We
have here with us the Bishop of the Moravian Church.
We have also a representative of the Countess of Hunt
ingdon's Connexion. And who can forget that the Society
of Friends — whose glorious philanthropic work is the glory
of our land — has stood side by side with us from the first
in maintaining the great doctrine of the influence of God's
Holy Spirit, bearing testimony before the world that
nothing is great, nothing is strong, except through the
Spirit of God. I am sure that to the representative of
that Society you will accord a hearty welcome. One
thing I must not forget : we have an ecclesiastical his
torian here who has done more than most men — very
much more than most ecclesiastical historians — to bring
out the great features of the history of the last century,
and to do justice to the work of John Wesley. I will first
call upon the Rev. W. Taylor, Bishop of the Church of
the United Brethren to address you.

^be flDoravian (tburcb.
By the Rev. W. TAYLOR.
Mr. President, Christian Friends, —
I esteem it an unspeakably great honour to be privi
leged to be with you this evening, and to join in your

364 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
celebration of the memory of that great man, Englishman
and true Christian, the Rev. John Wesley. And I beg in
the first place to offer my congratulations as a humble
individual, and to express the good wishes and prayers of
the Church with which I am connected on your behalf
It has just been said that the representatives of some
sister Churches stand around the Methodist Church. The
Church which I am privileged to represent is perhaps the
oldest of those Churches. We celebrated her 434th birth
day on Sunday last. She has been a persecuted Church,
a Church of martyrs, a Church despised in some quarters
to-day but greatly honoured for her work's sake in others.
At least, we always think so when kind brethren speak of
us in too flattering a strain in regard to our missionary
work. But we remember that it is by the grace of God
that we are what we are. I beg, therefore, dear Christian
friends of the Methodist Churches here assembled, to
express the good wishes of our community on your behalf
in the words of the text which I find in the Moravian
Text Book for to-day's date. Our Church issues an
authorised Text Book every year. This custom has been
maintained through a long course of years, and it strikes
me that the text for to-day is a very appropriate one — viz.,
" Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ."
Although these words were selected nearly two years
ago, they are exceedingly appropriate to our gathering
this evening. When we think of these words we think of
John Huss and Martin Luther and John Wesley, and
others who have gone before us ; and we magnify the
grace of God as displayed in them and through them.
I am very sure that if any of those sainted heroes knew
now — as perhaps they do know — what is transpiring here,
John Wesley would say with Paul, " By the grace of God
I was what I have been." And therefore though, as has
been stated, the Moravians had the privilege of teaching
John Wesley some important spiritual truths, yet we
do not say that we lighted the lamp of John Wesley,

METHODISM AND THE SISTER CHURCHES. 365
or John Wesley's candlestick, but we do say that we were
used to trim that lamp, and to trim it so that it burned
more brightly.
But we must go back to the beginning. It is very
interesting to trace how, step by step, God leads on His
children. You know the great Architect of the Christian
Church not only prepares His plan in general and in
detail, but He prepares every workman and instrument
whereby that work is carried on. " We are God's work
manship." Now, I think we may trace the grace of God in the
circumstances of John Wesley's birth. He was born in
the parsonage of a clergyman of the Church of England.
There he saw the practice of spare living and high think
ing. We should not, I think, forget the merit of the
father of John Wesley. It was no small thing for a
clergyman, whose income never exceeded ij200 a-year,
to feed and clothe and educate a large family of children
as he did. He sent three of his sons to the University,
and thus by self-denial he, under God, prepared the way
for that vast sphere of activity into which his son after
wards entered. The grace of God placed him in that
parsonage, and the grace of God gave him a mother
wonderfully fitted to influence him in his after career.
Her Spartan training seems to have prepared her son
for those Spartan labours which he kept up for eighty-
eight years ; a training, mind you, which never removed
her out of his affections, and which, therefore, although
severe, according to our notions, was upon the whole a good
and Christian training.
Well, then, I would further say that the grace of God
may be traced very clearly in His permitting John
Wesley to be educated at Oxford, where he had the
advantages of a liberal education — a theological training
and grounding in the original languages of the Sacred
Scriptures — so that when afterwards he came into con
tact with the Brethren, they could examine the Scriptures
together in the original. When they showed him that

366 CENTENAR Y SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
his views in many respects needed clearing, they were
careful to trace everything to the original text, and not
until he was convinced in that way would he consent to
their views. In Oxford he had the great advantage also
of coming in contact with various classes of mind. It
was there that he learnt to resist temptation — to exercise
over powerful intellects his great gifts for administration;
and then God prepared the way for that larger exercise
of his talents, which was afterwards entrusted to him in
connection with the Methodist Church.
I may proceed to claim also that the grace of God
brought him into connection with some Moravians ; and 1
would have you note that those Moravians were a few
humble people who were going to colonise Georgia, and
to work actively among the heathen there as missionaries.
It was their patience — not their theological discussions in
any way, but their character, their patience, that struck
his mind and showed him that Christianity must be a
reality ; that it must have the confirmation of the Divine
promise — that joy and peace in the Holy Ghost should
be given to those who were in union with God through
Christ, to uphold and support them in the midst of
difficulties. And this is an important thing for us to
remember; for the world looks upon us individually,
and it judges Christianity, alas ! not by its own evidence,
but by the character of those who profess it ; and it is
surely very important for us all this week — and especially
for you who are here assembled — to remember this, that
it is the evidence exhibited in a godly Christian life that
will tell far more for Christ and the Word of God than
any amount of learning, or any number of sermons
preached from this pulpit. Let us be "living epistles,
known and read of all men."
Well, I would briefly say that in regard to those
doctrines in which the Brethren with whom he came in
contact were privileged to enlighten his mind, there were
two of special moment
(i) The great doctrine of salvation through humble

METHODISM AND THE SISTER CHURCHES. 367
trust in Jesus. That doctrine lies on the face of Scrip
ture, and it is contained in the Creed of the Church of
England. Yet it is very remarkable how sometimes
men's minds are holden — they cannot see what lies
plainly before them ; and so, though Mr. Wesley had
known this doctrine, he had not appreciated it. He had
placed works — dead works — before simple faith in the
blood of " Christ who, through the Eternal Spirit, offered
Himself unto God." The great lesson that sacramental
religion avails not to give peace, but rather a humble
trust in the blood of Jesus, is the foundation stone upon
which alone the edifice of the Church can be safely built.
It is my prayer for you this evening that you may ever
be preserved on this foundation — that you may never be
led to put your trust in forms and ceremonies — but that
you may rest alone for forgiveness of sins on the blood of
sprinkling. (2) And then there is the other blessed truth — viz., the '
truth of the inward witness of the Spirit. I wonder how
anyone can dispute that that is a Scripture doctrine. It
is the promise of our blessed Saviour, " If any man love
me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him,
and we will make our abode with him." St. Paul said,
" If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of
His." Again he says, " The kingdom of God is not meat
and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the
Holy Ghost." I will not detain you long, but I must say
one word. There is one danger in this doctrine — viz.,
that of treating it as a resting-place. It is a test doctrine
— a doctrine by which we are to test our condition God-
ward. But our only rest is in the finished work of Jesus
Christ. There is a danger also of too great introspection ;
but the other danger — viz., that of insufficient self-exami
nation, is a far worse danger. If I examine my con
sciousness, and feel that I have not the peace of God,
what must I do? I must examine myself to see if I
have been acting contrary to the dictates of the Holy
Spirit, who is my inward Teacher. If I find that I have

368 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
been transgressing, then I must first of all come to the
Cross of Jesus and ask the forgiveness of that known sin,
and then there will be a renewal of peace, a renewal of
joy, a foretaste of that blessedness which remains for us
hereafter, when this life is done — a heaven of endless joy,
of perfect knowledge, and eternal glory.
I conclude, as I commenced, by saying, " Grace be to
you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ" — our common Lord and Master.

an lEccIesiaetical Ibistorian.
By the Rev. JOHN STOUGHTON, D.D.
Mr. President, my Christian Friends,
I regard it as being rather a presumptuous thing on my
part and at my age to rise here to address such an
audience as is now before me. Why, I am not many
years behind the age of John Wesley ! I think 1 am
only about five years younger than he was at the time
of his death — what do you think of that? My voice is
not what it used to be, and about two years ago I had a
severe illness which laid me aside, and since then I have
very rarely addressed a large audience, and if it had not
been that my dear friend Dr. Allon was unable to fulfil
his engagement, I do not think I could have been per
suaded to take any part in the proceedings of to-night.
But I am here as a stop-gap.
I have very vivid recollections of Methodism in my
early days. My father and mother, my grandfather and
grandmother, were all Methodists. I might be said to
have been brought up in the lap of Methodism. Some
of my earliest impressions of a religious kind were
received while I was thus connected with Methodist
associations, and to the early religious impressions which
I received I will refer presently. But, having spoken o

METHODISM AND THE SISTER CHURCHES. 369
my mother, I must tell you this much about her — that
she used to relate anecdotes of John Wesley, whom she
knew very well, and always loved him as a man, because
he was exceedingly kind and gracious to the young.
He was in the habit of taking up children in his arms
and pronouncing upon them his blessing, and giving
them a kiss. My mother used to be amazing proud of
saying that John Wesley had kissed her. There are not
many who can say what I can say. She used to speak of
him as being a perfect gentleman : at the same time so
dignified and yet so urbane and courteous. Though he
was born to rule, he always swayed the sceptre with the
hand of love.
I have recollections of some early Methodists. I do
not think I could have been much more than four years
old when I saw Dr. Coke, and he made an impression
upon my mind which I have never lost. My grandfather
was a steward in the Norwich Circuit — and at the opening
of a chapel there Dr. Coke preached. In the afternoon
there was a large gathering of people in the house of my
grandfather. I remember how Dr. Coke stood upon a
table (for he was a very diminutive man), and there was
a large number of Methodists surrounding him. There
he stood and spoke to them, and though I " have entirely
forgotten what he said, yet I have a very vivid impres
sion of his having greatly interested them and delighted
them. Next to Dr. Coke, let me speak of another man. Dr.
Adam Clarke. When I was about seventeen I was exceed
ingly anxious to hear him preach. Being in London I
came to this chapel, and there was an audience, I dare say,
as large as we see here to-night. I don't know whether
that (pointing behind) is the same pulpit. (" Yes, yes ! ")
Then he preached a sermon from that pulpit in support of
the Royal Humane Society — in the course of which he
gave a description of his own experience. When he was
very young he was drowned — really drowned — and lost
consciousness; and he gave a most vivid description of
2 A

370 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
what his sensations were at first, and how they passed
away. But, through the goodness of God, he was ex
tricated from his peril, and he might be said to have
been restored to life. I think I can now see him and hear
him. The memories of these men have always dwelt in my
mind, and I have been delighted when I have been read
ing of the early history of Methodism that I could supply
from my own recollection many anecdotes of the good and
great men who then carried on the work of God amongst
you. I remember a great number of names, some of which
would be recognised by you, and others not. But let me
say that, while I have so many personal reminiscences,
there is one recollection which, above all others, impresses
my mind at this moment, and that is, that you Methodists
might say to me, as Paul said when he was writing to
Philemon, " Thou owest me thy own self besides." How
great are my obligations to Methodism for the good
received in my early days ! I was not, in the first instance,
brought to a knowledge of the truth under the ministry of
a Wesleyan minister ; but very soon after I received my
first impressions, I recollect hearing a very good man (not
highly gifted), who preached with simple earnestness from
those beautiful words, " God so loved the world, that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on
Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." That
text let in light upon my mind, and I passed through a
state of thought and feeling which was very common
amongst Methodists in those days. I passed through a
season of great spiritual depression, seeking salvation ; and
at last I found it, to the joy of my heart. Well now, that
gives a date in my memory which, as long as I live — aye,
and in eternity too — I believe I shall often call to mind 1 1
owe much to Methodist influences, and I do not believe
that I should have done all the good that I may have been
honoured to do in connection with my own denomination
if I had not had first something of a Methodist baptism.
It used to be said in former days that those who had

METHODISM AND THE SISTER CHURCHES. 371
been first Methodists and then went over to Congre
gationalism turned out to be some of the most effective
men in their adopted Church. I might mention the very
great impression that was made upon my mind by your
hymnology. That still has a hold upon me. No other
hymns please me as well as Wesley's hymns. Often on a
Sunday night, when the day's work was over, I used to
take Wesley's Hymns and read them with great feeling
and enjoyment. There is a peculiarity about these hymns
that I do not find elsewhere. They do not deal in illus
trations of abstract truths, but they bring out what may
be called the personality of religion. They bring it out
most vividly before us. There we have hymns for
" Believers Rejoicing," " Believers Fighting," " Believers
Praying," " Believers Watching," " Believers Working," etc.,
etc. When I think of them it always appears to me some
thing like reading Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. As I
read these hymns, sometimes I get into " The Valley of
the Shadow of Death," sometimes into " The Palace
Beautiful," sometimes upon the " Delectable Mountains," —
all the phases of spiritual experience seem to come out,
and one can find a share in each according to the experi
ences of one's own heart I never can cease to feel the
amount of obligation under which I have been laid by
Wesley's hymns, and I do hope that you will always stick
to those hymns. There are many modern hymns ; but I
must say that the earlier ones are those which lay hold of
my heart most firmly — they are the hymns that go down,
as it were, into the very depths of my being ; by them I
seem to be helped in my warfare and comforted in my
troubles, and by them I receive fresh inspirations of hope.
Oh, yes. And as I think of those hymns, and look forward
to the world of light and love, I feel that it will be amongst
the great joys of that future stage of existence to meet
with some of the honoured men of whom I have been
speaking, and to stand with them before the throne.
There comes to my recollection a saying that has been
attributed to different persons, to this effect, " I am afraid

372 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
I shall not see Mr. So-and-so in heaven, because he will
be so near the throne, and I at such a distance from it that
I shall not get a sight of him." But all these feelings will
be lost when we get there. We shall, I have no doubt,
recognise one another ; but all mutual affections will be
swallowed up in the adoring love of Him that sits upon
the throne !
Now, let me say with regard to the hymns to which I
have alluded that, while there is so much of what we may
call the element of personality in them, so much of spiritual
experience, I can imagine some persons saying, "Yes, and
there is the concentrated essence of selfishness, for the
Christian is there led to think of himself, to be absorbed in
himself — in his own fightings, and in his own victories!"
Aye, but what is the end of all that personal and joyous
experience ? It comes out in " Hymns of Intercession" —
intercession for the world, intercession for all classes and
conditions of men. When those hymns were written
people did not care much about the heathen, or about the
Jews, about the perplexed, the tempted, or the sorrowing;
but Wesley wrote hymns specially for all these.
This brings to my recollection a story of George III.
He felt that a great deal of good had been done by the
Wesleys ; and when some objection was raised against
Charles Wesley, jun., being appointed organist, the king
said, " I believe John and Charles Wesley have done more
for the advancement of religion in this country than any
other names that can be named."
There are one or two other things I will mention. It
may be asked. How came it to pass, if you have such a
great love for the Methodists, that you ever left them ? I
became a Congregationalist because upon some points of
doctrine, and some points of ecclesiastical order, I differed
from the Methodists, and therefore on the whole I thought
it was my duty to be what I am. But in becoming an
Independent I did not cease to be a Methodist All my
life long Methodism has had a strong hold upon my
sympathies. Wherever I have met .a Methodist I have

METHODISM AND THE SISTER CHURCHES. 373
felt that I was in society with a brother. And the feeling
I have towards Methodism has been responded to by a
great many Methodists. Once, in Cornwall, I was engaged
to preach an anniversary sermon at an Independent chapel.
But when I arrived in the town I saw the walls placarded
with announcements that I was to preach at the Methodist
chapel. I asked what it meant The Congregationalist
pastor explained, " The fact is, sir, that when the super
intendent minister of the circuit heard of my coming, he
said, ' Now, you know that Mr. Stoughton belongs just as
much to us as to you, and if he preaches for us he will
have a very much larger congregation than if he preaches
for you, and you will have the benefit of a much larger
collection.' " And so it came to pass. Instead of preach
ing to 500 people I preached to 1,200, and instead of a
collection of about .^5 the result was about ^^'20. I always
loved to be in union with Methodists.
I sympathise with all who are here present. Especially
do I sympathise with you in the emphasis you lay upon
conversion. I have a theory of this kind (I think I got it
from Richard Baxter) that if Christian education and
training were just what they ought to be, and children
were brought up in the fear of the Lord, so that they
received the Holy Spirit and were made new creatures in
Christ Jesus in their early days, there would be no need
for their being converted afterwards. But we know that
the great majority of those who are around us have not
been so trained, and are living now in the spirit of the
world, heedless with regard to their souls, indifferent to
eternal things; and when that is the case there must be,
according to the teaching of Jesus Christ, a great change
wrought in them. " That which is born of the flesh is
flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." And
until a man is born of the Spirit of God, he remains in the
flesh. He needs, therefore, to be converted — changed.
" Marvel not that I say unto you, ye must be born again."
Now, all the way through, Methodists have been accus
tomed to preach that doctrine. We do ; but perhaps not

374 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
in that emphatic way that old-fashioned Methodists used
to do. I do not know exactly what is the tone of your
preaching now — although I very often worship at the
Methodist Church at Ealing, and, indeed, have my name
occasionally on the circuit plan.
The older we grow, I think, the more are our hearts
drawn towards each other. I have, of course, my own
preferences, but they are all lost when I come to think of
that beautiful union which exists between souls renewed
by the Spirit of God, and that are putting their trust in
Christ, feeling that He is to them " All and in all." We
are all of one mind here, so far — we are all looking to
Christ as our Saviour — all looking to heaven as our home
The things that separate us now cannot last longer than
our mortal lives. I often think of our peculiarities as being
earthly garments which, as John Bunyan says, we shall
leave in the river. Yes ! we shall leave our differences
there, and then when we get to the other side, and when
the chariot takes us up to the gates of the golden city —
when we get amongst the sanctified ones — we shall have
no more controversy, we shall have no more disputes, we
shall be of one mind and heart ; therefore, let us strive to
maintain the spirit of union whilst we are upon earth.
May God be with you, and " may the peace that passeth
all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the know
ledge and the love of God."

Countess of Ibuntingbon's Conneyion.
By the Rev. J. B. FIGGIS, M.A.
Mr. President, —
I think, with the silvery cadences of "the old man
eloquent " running in our ears, it would be almost best for
us to rise and go home. Next to coming here, if it were
possible, to hear the Rev. John Wesley speak to us, I
think to hear the Rev. John Stoughton speak to us as he

METHODISM AND THE SISTER CHURCHES. 375
has done, ought to be — and that, sir, is what I have come
here to catch — an inspiration.
" What mean ye by this service ? " What mean these
gatherings day by day? If I understand your meaning
rightly, it is just that — to catch an inspiration. As I
thought with some trembling of my appearing before you,
there came to my mind the 2ist verse of the 13th chapter
of the Second Book of Kings — where you read of a funeral
— a strange and hasty funeral — more hastened and more
strange than the funeral of John Wesley in that early morn
a hundred years ago. It was a time when war was in the
gates. They were burying a man — as when our country
men, burying Sir John Moore,
" Heard the distant and random gun
Which the foe were sullenly firing ; " —
So these men heard the tramp of armed troops, and they
threw down the body, and the corpse fell into a grave.
It was the grave of Elisha. "And it came to pass that
when it touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood
upon his feet." God grant that, by this our contact with
the illustrious dead, we may revive I
We are come here to-night for nothing less than this.
Outside this venerable, this honoured sanctuary, you have
erected a statue. I could not keep the tears from my eyes
as I looked upon that statue ; and yet I can fancy that the]
bronze and the marble will not satisfy the spirit of John
Wesley in heaven, if he is like the John Wesley that he :
was on earth. I can fancy that unless his preachers are ^
preaching Christ, and his teachers are teaching Christ, and |
his workers are winning souls for Christ, he will say, " My ¦
children ask for bread, and you give them a stone." The '
only bread that will be as food to him at the heavenly
table, and will satisfy the heart-hunger of that great
longing soul, with its passion for saving men, will be to
hear that the work of saving men goes on, and goes on
faster and on a more extended scale than was possible in
his day.

376 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
When I read about your multiplication of pastors and
teachers — your extended organisation and machinery—
and think of the millions who are looking towards this
spot I almost tremble for your greatness. You are a great
people. See to it that you are what you were when you
were a smaller people. See to it that your love of souls
remains, that you work for souls, and weep for souls, and
pray for souls, and preach for souls. And that you may do
so, take care, that you " ask for the good old paths." There
is a little pamphlet that I have often quoted, and often
given away — a little pamphlet to put into the hand of
the anxious soul wherever he may be found — it is as
fitting for him now as on the day when it first came from
the pen of John Wesley. It is called First Believe. It
says : — " Whoever thou art that desirest to be forgiven and
reconciled to God, do not say in thy heart, 'I must first do
this, I must conquer every sin, break off every evil -word
and work, and do good to all men ; ' or, ' I must first go to
Church, receive the Lord's Supper, hear more sermons, and
say more prayers.' Alas, my brother, thou art clean gone
out of the way I thou art still ignorant of the righteousness
of God, and art seeking to establish thine own righteous
ness as the ground of thy reconciliation. Knowest thou
not that thou canst do nothing but sin till thou art
reconciled to God ? Wherefore, then, dost thou say, ' I
must do this first and that first, and then I must believe ? '
No I thou must first believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who
is the Propitiation for thy sin. Let this good foundation
first be laid, and then thou shalt do all things well."
Wesley and Whitefield (with whose band I am some
what associated) were as one in the preaching of this
truth ; and, if I mistake not, as you have been hearing
about some debt that you owe to other Churches — you
owe this little debt to ours — viz., that it was George
Whitefield who thrust forth John Wesley to preach the
gospel in the highways and hedges. And if I am not
mistaken, too, those words that you have just heard
quoted by Dr. Stoughton, as falling from the lips of

METHODISM AND THE SISTER CHURCHES. 377
Wesley, had reference to Whitefield. It was when White-
field died that some one, wishing to flatter Wesley,
expressed a little doubt whether he would ever see him
in heaven. Wesley responded in words that must have
frightened his interlocutor : " I very much fear we shall
not. I think he will be so near the throne, and we may
be so far away, that it is doubtful whether we shall see him
at all."
Oh, my brethren, let us be true to the preaching of
Christ — Christ in all His attributes, in all His efficacy, in
all His sufficiency ; let us go throughout the length and
breadth of the land knowing nothing but Jesus Christ and
Him crucified.
When I think of your multitude of adherents I ask,
" Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as doves to their
window ? " And the answer comes, " These are they that,
in response to the preaching of Christ by learned men,
and by illiterate men too, are coming to trust in the living
God." To use an old illustration. As upon some day
when you look upon the clouds sailing aloft, you ask,
" What are these, and where do they come from ? " And
the answer is, " They come from many a muddy pond,
from many a stagnant pool ; but they have left the filth
and the mire and defilement down here, and up there they
are white and bright and beautiful." Even so, as we look
round the great amphitheatre of heaven, we shall ask,
"Who are these arrayed in white robes, and whence came
they ? " And the answer will be, " These came from many
a great assembly, and from many a tiny chapel, from
many a great family, and from many a poor, despised
flock ; but they have left all that was of the earth and of
sin down below, and up here they shine for ever in the
light of God through the salvation that is in Christ Jesus."
Besides that truth of the Cross, or of Justification, are we
not come here to gain fresh inspiration about other truths
— it may be as weighty and dear to the heart of your
Founder? Do you know what was the subject of John
Wesley's first published sermon ? Do you know what was

378 CENTENAR Y SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
the subject of John Wesley's first printed tract? The
subject of each was Sanctification. I am not prepared to
endorse every word that may be found in those publica
tions, or in other utterances of his or others upon the
subject He did not endorse them all himself In later
years he wrote at the bottom of the page of more than one
of them, " Too strong," " Much too strong." But I am here
to ask, in the name of my brethren and fathers around
me, and in the name of the holy men who have joined the
general assembly above. Are there many among you who
at this day are lifting up your voices for the truth of
sanctification? Are there many among your people and
ours who at this time are being " convicted for holiness ? "
John Wesley went up and down the country interested
deeply in this doctrine, and inquiring how many were
affected by it. First of all, a score or two of persons ;
then, by the year 1762, something like 650 members of
your Society in London were spoken to by him upon this
subject. " Their testimony," he says, " I have no reason
to doubt'' He gives examples of it. " I felt it," says
one, " not only outwardly but inwardly.'' Another says,
" It seemed to press upon my whole being, and to diffuse
all through a holy sin - consuming energy." Another,
" For a few minutes the deep of God's love swallowed me
up. All its waves and its billows went over me." May 1
venture to read you another Christian experience of a
hundred years ago, a little more in detail ? " My whole
heart," says the writer, " has not one single grain this
moment of thirst for approbation. I feel alone with God.
He fills the whole void. I have not one wish, one will,
one desire, but in Him. He hath set my feet in a large
room. All but God's children seem as so many machines
appointed for uses with which I have nothing to do. 1
have wondered and stood amazed that God should make
a conquest of all within me by love. Others may be
conquered by less gifts and graces, but what must that
evil heart be that nothing but the love of God can
conquer } I am brought to less than nothing — broken to

METHODISM AND THE SISTER CHURCHES. 379
pieces like a potter's vessel. Oh, may you thus be sub
jected 1 May these tears be your meat night and day. I
long to leap into the flames — to get rid of my sinful
frame, and that every atom of these ashes should be
separate — that neither time, place, nor person should stay
God's Spirit ? " That, sir, is the experience of Selina,
Countess of Huntingdon. I venture to think it may be
placed side by side with the experience of Hester Ann
Rogers, or John Fletcher of Madeley, or any of your
sainted dead. And I venture to think therefore, that, in
spite of all that in the old days divided hearts and lives,
they were really one. My only fear is that either amongst
you or amongst ourselves there may be a waning of such
light or life, and we may have fallen upon days in which
it would be hard to parallel such experiences.
God grant that the touch of Elisha may revive all our
hearts, that our flagging love may kindle into a flame, that
our faith may glow, and that we may know what it is to
say, " For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." The
one hiding-place both for the sinner and the believer is
Jesus Christ. " I've tried in vain a thousand ways
My fears to quell, my hopes to raise :
But all I need, the Bible says.
Is Jesus.
"My soul is night, my heart is steel,
I cannot see, I cannot feel ;
For light, for heat I must appeal
To Jesus.
"He died. He lives. He reigns. He pleads.
There's love in all His acts and deeds, —
All, all a guilty sinner needs In Jesus.
" V^'hat tho' the world despise or blame,
I'll go in spite of fear and shame,
I'll go to Him because His name
Is Jesus."
Go, unsaved one ; go and be the best monument on
Wesley's grave, and we will go with you. We will go

38o CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
and renew our oath of fealty unto God, and ask Him to
" save us from " our " sins ; " and so shall men " know that
there hath been a prophet among you."

^be Society of ifrienbs.
By j. BEVAN BRAITHWAITE.
Dr. Moulton, my Christi.^n Friends, —
I need not say how greatly I feel the privilege of
addressing such a body as this on such an occasion. 1
look upon this gathering as a little foretaste of the General
Assembly and Church of the Firstborn who are written
in heaven ; in which we are permitted, in a united act of
faith and love, to drink of the same cup of salvation ; and,
resting in the love of the same ever blessed Saviour, to
join in the anthem of the redeemed before the throne,
" Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us unto God by Thy
blood." Respected members of the Church of England have
expressed their regret that the attitude which Avas assumed
towards John Wesley in the course of the last century was
such as ultimately to lead, very much against his own
original expectations and desires, to the founding of a
distinct religious community, which in England and
America now numbers its millions. In reading Arch
deacon Farrar's address in this house a few days ago I
did not quite understand whether he shared this regret —
I know that it has been shared by many. I was privileged
to be present when my relative, the late Bishop of Lincoln,
in company with the present Archbishop of Canterbury,
then his chancellor, and his son, the present Bishop of
Salisbury, met a few distinguished members of your body
at my house, some eighteen years ago. He desired, I
fully believe with true honesty of purpose, to prove how
he rose superior to the prejudices which had actuated so
many during Wesley's life, by asking whether free access

METHODISM AND THE SISTER CHURCHES. 381
to the pulpits of the Churches throughout his diocese to
every Wesleyan minister in full connection would be
accepted ; adding that he would himself offer no obstruc
tion. The answer of Dr. Osborn to this appeal deeply
impressed me. "Your Lordship is eighty years too late."
That of William Arthur was even more significant — " I
should have no more objection to preach in Lincoln
Cathedral than I should from a wheelbarrow, nor from a
wheelbarrow than from the pulpit in Lincoln Cathedral."
I confess that, whilst deploring the often gross breaches
of Christian conduct and courtesy towards so eminent a
servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the instrument chosen
by Him for the gathering in of your Societies, I can only
rejoice that they were thus gathered into a separate
organisation — free from so many of the trammels which
would have obstructed their growth and usefulness in
connection with our Church Estabhshment To suppose
that the unity of the universal Church is broken by
accidents of separate organisation is to overlook the great
truth that that unity is dependent, not upon the manifold
earthly forms of outward organisation, but upon a real
spiritual union with our once crucified but now risen and
eternally glorified Redeemer, the one Head of the Church
in whom it has pleased the Father that all fulness should
dwell. This is a unity not necessarily visible to the natural
eye. It is a unity of our unseen but not unfelt minds and
hearts wrought, by the unseen but not unfelt and most real
presence of that one and self-same Spirit, dividing to every
man severally as He wills.
We are here this evening, my Christian friends, to bear
witness to the mighty fact that Christian brethren — I was
about to add sisters — when I remember such labourers
as the devoted Mary Fletcher — may be true ministers of
the Lord Jesus Christ, in the true apostolical succession
through the outpouring of the blessed Spirit, without the
laying on of any episcopal hands.
You have permitted me to stand among you with my
friend here, the Clerk of our yearly meeting, as living

382 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
witnesses of the reality and sufficiency of the baptism of
the Holy Ghost ; and that it is this baptism, and not the
mere application of outward water, that must from age
to age make men new creatures — children of God, and
inheritors of the kingdom of heaven. What a testimony
is all this against the pretensions of Ritualism in all its
forms ! Dear Christian brethren, let us hold fast this
profession of our faith without wavering.
It is not possible for me on an occasion like this to
express all that I have felt, as I have once more recurred
with deep instruction to the published Journals of John
Wesley. You are all familiar with his unrivalled hymns,
his incessant labours, his habits of early rising and of
constant self-denial, and all the details of his life-long
devotedness to his Lord. Shall I take too much upon
me in uttering the heart-felt prayer — that, in dwelling upon
that life of holy consecration, you may ever more and
more drink into the spirit of his Divine Master. It is true
that, as the work went on, differences were developed on
points more or less important between him and some of
his earlier fellow-workers. But what a joy to think of
him and his brother Charles, the sweet singer of your
Israel ; John Fletcher, and their coadjutors too numerous
to mention ; with Whitefield, Augustus Toplady, Rowland
Hill, and others associated with them ; now, after all their
labours and conflicts, rejoicing together in that glorious
rest where the redeemed see eye to eye, and all their
aspirations after a union of holiness and perfected love
are satisfied for ever.
May I venture before I conclude to note one or two
points that have struck me.
In the preface to his Sermons, John Wesley, speaking
of the Holy Scriptures, says, " God Himself hath con
descended to teach us the way to heaven. For this very
end He came from heaven ; He hath written it down in a
book ! O give me that book ; at any price give me the
Book of God 1 I have it : here is knowledge enough for
me. Let me be, homo unius libri." Amidst all the con-

METHODISM AND THE SISTER CHURCHES. 383
flicts of opinion in the present day, let the Churches be
faithful to this great trust — let them not desire to be wise
above that which is written in the Holy Scriptures, or to
know more of the things of God than Christ and His
Apostles. Rather let them determine with the Apostle of
old to confront all the attacks of a covert scepticism, or of
a false philosophy and vain deceit, with the simple, experi
mental knowledge of Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
applied with power, to the transforming of man's inner
nature, by the living Spirit of the living God. ¦
And may the Christian Societies called by the name of!
Wesley never falter in their testimony to the cardinal '
truth involved in the words of the apostle, " Being justified
by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus
Christ." The whole of Wesley's preaching was a continued
testimony to the glorious reality of such an experience,
through the living presence and work of the Spirit of
God. If we may combine the two readings familiar to
your President in Romans v. i, with a slight variation of
the rendering of the word £%w,<;!,ev warranted by other places
in the New Testament, the exhortation would run —
" Being justified by this precious faith we have, and so
having, let us hold fast, peace with God, through our Lord
Jesus Christ."
May this great Celebration prove a fresh and a whole
some stimulus to all the Churches under your name I It
is not possible, either for the individual believer or for
gathered Churches, to live upon past experiences. We
cannot look upon the Churches of the East^ or of North
Africa, where once flourished Ignatius and Polycarp, Basil
and Chrysostom, and the great names of Tertullian,
Cyprian, and Augustine, without realising the awful
warning which their present desolation is designed to give
to the Churches in these favoured islands and across the
Atlantic. Dear brethren, I need not remind you that the experi
ence of even John Wesley will not save you. It must be
repeated from age to age. And such a celebration as this

384 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
will serve a blessed purpose if it serves afresh to ground us
all in the impressive and never-to-be-forgotten words of
our Holy Redeemer : " Abide in Me, and I in you : for
without Me ye can do nothing."
The President is aware that I have been lately interested
in a little tribute to the memory of George Fox, on the
occasion of the bi- centenary of his decease in the early
part of the present year. I will conclude with two short
extracts from two of his last epistles, which might have
been written to you by your own Wesley, and which are a
precious evidence of the unity of experience which is
begotten by the Spirit of God in the hearts of true
believers. " All of you," — these are the words of his last
, epistle, written three days before his death, — " live and walk
in Christ Jesus, so that nothing may be between you and
' God but Christ, in whom ye have salvation, life, rest, and
peace with God." And again in an epistle left, to be
opened after his death, " Let no man live to self," are
his emphatic words, " but to the Lord, as they will die in
Him, and seek the peace of the Church of Christ and the
peace of all men in Him, for blessed are the peacemakers ;
and dwell in the pure, peaceable, heavenly wisdom of
God, that is gentle and easy to be intreated, that is full
of mercy — all striving to be of one mind, heart, soul, and
judgment in Christ ; having His mind and Spirit dwelling
in you ; building up one another in the love of God which
doth edify the Body of Christ, His Church, who is the
Holy Head thereof! So, glory to God through Christ
'in this age and all other ages, who is the Rock and
Foundation, the Emmanuel, God with us, the Amen, the
Beginning and the Ending. In Him live and walk,
in whom you have life eternal."

Tl)e Lesley Cei) denary.

PART III.
a Centenary Diar^?, otber ab^resses,

2 B

FROM A CENTENARY DIARY.
CENTENARY STATEMENT.
ALLAN LIBRARY: Statement by Rev. M. C. Osborn.
UNITARIAN ADDRESS.
LETTER FROM REV. THOMAS CHAMPNESS.
AN ADDRESS FROM ITALY.
LETTER FROM REV. DR. CAIRNS, Principal of the United
Presbyterian College, Edinburgh.
ADDRESS BY REV. DR. CAIRNS, Principal of the United
Presbyterian College, Edinburgh.

Lepbepary Diary, otlr)^r
ilddr^sse^, oc.
 0 
jfrom a Centenari^ Diari?,'
SUNDAY, March i.
Morning.
The morning is fair and genial. By eleven o'clock City
Road Chapel is nearly full. A few seats near the ceiling,
in the far gallery corners, await late comers. Elsewhere
it is difficult to discover an empty place. There are chairs
down the aisles, and about the doors people stand. The
Ex-President conducts the whole service. John Wesley's
abridgment of the Liturgy is used. The psalms read are
cxxii. and cxxiii. ; the lessons, i Sam. iii. and Luke iv. ;
the hymns, James Montgomery's fine Centenary hymn,
" One song of praise, one voice of prayer ; "
and after the sermon, "Arise, my soul, arise."
The congregation is most interesting. In the body of
the chapel, especially, there is a preponderance of men,
both young and elderly — perhaps as six to one. The
President occupies a new chair, constructed of very old,
' Very much of this Diary was actually written during the Services therein
described. 387

388 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
solid Spanish mahogany, carved, and upholstered in
morocco. The Revs. Charles Garrett, William Wilson,
Jabez Palmer, and others, are with the President Many
country visitors are present on the platform. Accidentally
I am able to name a few of the circuits or districts repre
sented on Saturday and Sunday : — Cardiff, Tredegar,
Leominster, Leicester, Dorking, the Potteries, Liverpool,
Dereham, Lynn, Mildenhall, and Yorkshire. The oldest
member of Society present is a lady who has been a
member sixty-four years, and for five-and-forty years in
London. Mr. Kelly preaches a Centenary sermon. Its
first sentences seize the congregation, and the interest
grows more and more intense as for forty minutes the
preacher gives thanks to God for the man, his teaching,
and his work. The close deals with the present and
future of Methodism.

MONDAY, March 2.
Morning.

The tram-travellers look down upon the chapel-yard
wonderingly. It is full. Above the crowd towers the
draped statue, under a temporary canopy. You can see
the outstretched hands and the Bible. Curiosity as to
face and figure is a little checked by the knowledge of
the fact that the bronze statue itself is not on the pedestal,
but only the plaster cast. This everybody can see.
The crowd surges to and fro, divided in opinion as to
the wiser course to take. Everybody wishes to see the
lifting of the veil, and also to secure a seat inside the
chapel. In the President's reception room (into which
the upper room in Benson's buildings has been trans
formed) all the notabilities gather. In the Morning
Chapel a procession is formed, headed by the President
With some difficulty a narrow lane is opened through the
crowded yard. At the end of the lane is a small square.
The statue fronts the square, and boys and girls of the

CENTENARY DIARY. 389
Children's Home, in black and white, front the statue.
Archdeacon Farrar, Ex-Presidents, distinguished laymen,
and Members of the Committee are grouped around the
statue. A hymn, in which the people join ; a prayer,
offered by Dr. Greeves ; an unloosing of strings ; a touch
from the President's gentle hand, and the statue is un
veiled. A photographer on a platform in Mr. Murrell's
little garden takes pictures, and the artist of the Daily
Graphic, at a corner of the square, swiftly sketches the
scene and faces in the crowd.
The President's speech is brief, and exactly what the
occasion demands. How we who are outside reach the
inside of the chapel it would be difficult to explain. From
floor to ceiling City Road Chapel is full. In the far
corners heads of standing men cast shadows on the over
head mouldings. Window-sills full ; gallery and aisles full ;
boys with white collars in the front gallery pew ; girls in
black and white behind ; a backing of Richmond students
for bass and tenor; a row of West End Sisters in silver
grey hold the left front gallery pews. Below, the aisles
to the back of the lobbies, with all their side avenues and
the space behind the platform, and the communion itself,
are densely packed by standing Methodists. The windows
of the Morning Chapel are swung open. A little maiden
sits in one, and through the other nothing can be seen save
human heads and feminine bonnets. Such a suffocating
pack no one of my acquaintance has ever seen in City
Road Chapel. There is not an inch of standing room
wasted. Old Sir George Elliot comes to the platform,
anxious to see and hear. Efforts are made to make a
space for him, but eventually he retreats in despair.
Look at the platform. This is how they sit : —
On the right of the President : — Revs. C. H. Kelly,
Ven. Archdeacon Farrar, Dr. Rigg, Oliver M'Cutcheon,
Dr. Greeves, Dr. Young, H. Douthwaite, Hugh Price
Hughes, G. Kenyon, N. Curnock, G. Green.
On the stairs Mr. Ralph Smith, the oldest trustee, and
in the pulpit — the Rev. Robert Foster.

390 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
On the left of the President : — Dr. Gregory, Dr.
Stephenson, Dr. Waller, Right Hon. H. H. Fowler,
M.P., A. M'Arthur, M.P., T. Morgan Harvey, Revs. R,
Roberts, W. Wilson, Walford Green, John Walton, M.A.,
W. Higman, F. C. Bourne, Mr. Munt, Revs. T. E.
Westerdale, F. J. Murrell, R. Spears.
The reception given to Archdeacon Farrar is a visible
and vocal enthusiasm. His address is frank, brotherly,
electric. Every point catches, and at every sign of halting
the cry rises " Go on.'' Mr. Fowler, though following one
of the most eloquent and popular men in England, is
equal to the occasion. Not for a moment is the hallowed
feeling allowed to cool or flag. It grows, indeed, more
and more intense and solemn, till
" Heaven comes down our souls to greet
And glory crowns the mercy-seat."
At five minutes to one the meeting is too exhausted to
listen to more speaking. Mr. Alexander M'Arthur should
have spoken earlier. Wisely, he abridged his speech ; but
it will not be lost.
A pretty thing occurred at the unveiling. Mr. Murrell
laid two wreaths on the pedestal of the statue, on behalf
of the children of Methodism from the Sunday school
children of St. Austell. The wreaths were woven snow
drops, gathered by the children last Saturday in the
Cornish fields. And a little girl who, from the begin
ning, has gleaned among the reapers for the Children's
Memorial, brought lilies which lay on the pedestal by the
side of the snowdrops.

MONDAY, March 2.
Afternoon.

The chapel is again crowded to its uttermost. The
Secretary of the Conference, according to custom, reads
the liturgy, which, appropriately, is Wesley's abridgment

CENTENAR Y DIAR Y. 39 1
The psalmis appointed are the S6th, 122nd, and 135th ;
the lessons Isaiah xii. and Rev. i. ; the anthem finely sung
by the choir of the Children's Home, strengthened by
select voices from Richmond College, " Be thou faithful
unto death," from Mendelssohn's " St Paul ; " and the
hymns are " Glory be to God on high," " Give me the
faith which can remove," and " I'll praise my Maker."
The President's sermon must be read to be fully
appreciated. Its earlier expository portion is too finely
wrought to be followed by so vast and inconveniently
placed an audience. But the after-part catches the
popular ear, and the close is given amid profound still
ness. The sermon will be read with delight.
The question is always asked when friends return to
the country from great services, " How did the President
acquit himself?" There can be no doubt that the success
of the Centenary is largely due to Dr. Moulton. Of course
he has not had the incessant labour and anxiety which
Dr. Stephenson and his colleagues, Mr. Westerdale and
Mr. Murrell, have had. But he has never lost an oppor
tunity before or during the services of helping the work
and relieving the anxiety. In difficult and perplexing
questions his counsel has been invaluable, and always,
whether in Committee or at public meetings, he has
presided firmly, wisely, and with perfect regard for
everybody rather than for himself It will be of interest
to many to know that Dr. and Mrs. Moulton have taken
up their abode for the week in the lodging which is
always ready for the President at the Book-Room. Every
afternoon friends drink tea with the President in the
extemporised reception - room adjoining the Morning
Chapel, and both before and after each service there are
pleasant little gatherings in the ministers' vestry or behind
the platform. The example of friendly intercourse set by
the President is imitated on all sides. The Centenary
has become a kind of feast of tabernacles. The tribes
have come up to Zion in force. Country Methodism from
far and near crowds the chapel yard every day. The talk

392 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
is serious, as befits the occasion. But with all the
solemnity there is great gladness. You never meet a
minister or a layman or a woman — "eminent" or other
wise — whose face is not radiant with hope, and whose
talk does not reflect the universal thankfulness. The
President's uppermost anxiety before the services began
was that the Centenary might be a victory of faith,
a revival of spirituality, a time of refreshing from God for
all Methodism. The wish has already been abundantly
fulfilled.

MONDA Y, March 2.
Evening.

For the third time there is a pack. How worn, dingy,
low-ceiled the dear old chapel looks I Those who have
pleaded hard for roof- raising point to the galleries.
Scores of people must at this moment be in course of
conversion to the same view through the pains of
asphyxia. Men standing on the backmost seats, by a tip
toe movement, might have battered in the plasters with their
skulls. The President opens with brief and cheery words,
cleverly playing on the reunion which is already an
accomplished spiritual fact. Dr. Stephenson wisely talks
his statement, and does it with wit and force. Like all
the earlier speakers — the President excepted — he is drawn
out by the enthusiasm of the meeting and probably says
more than he set out to say. What can an enthusiast do
when at almost every other sentence the people cheer him
on ? Mr. M'Cutcheon, of whom Ireland may be proud,
tells his story in a manly, sensible, interesting fashion.
But he, too, is drawn out and forgets all time and toil and
care. The most polished and thoughtful speech of the
evening is Mr. Le Huray's ; the most powerful and telling
Mr. Myers. But they are all good. There is a splendid
ring about them, nor is there from beginning to end a

CENTENARY DIAR Y. 393
single jarring note. When Mr. Hallam says that the
Primitive Methodists had nothing to forgive, the cheering
is very fine. So, also, when he follows with "lines of
demarcation, but no impassable gulf" Mr. Higman (Bible
Christian President) looks for all the world like an old
Magazine portrait come to life again. And he talks as
he looks. It is a bit of early Methodism. Mr. Green,
representing the smallest though not the youngest
Church, lets the people rest and breathe while he talks
modestly and with good sense. It is a glorious meeting
— not perhaps so perfect as might have been, because
over - weighted — the influence of which will be incal
culable and undying.

TUESDAY, March 3.
Afternoon.
Under ordinary circumstances it would not be necessary,
or perhaps fitting, that any report or description of a
sacramental service should be given. In one respect,
however, this occasion is exceptional. Dr. Rigg's address,
which devotionally is worthy of prayerful study, as a con
tribution to the Sacramentarian Controversy, especially
as related to John Wesley, is of the utmost importance.
It is sad that at such a time it should be necessary to stand
for the defence of the truth against bigotry and misrepre
sentation. Deliberate attempts, however, are being made
to persuade members of the Methodist Church that John
Wesley, at Oxford and to the end of his life, held views
practically identical with the views of modern Ritualists.
Dr. Rigg's address pricks this bubble, and does it effectually.
Not even at Oxford was John Wesley in line with modern
Ritualists upon the question of the Sacrament of the Lord's
Supper.

394 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
TUESDAY, March 3.
Evening.
From whatever cause, this meeting is even more densely
packed than any that has yet been held. The Chapel itself
cannot contain more than it contained thrice yesterday.
But the Morning Chapel also is filled to-night The
windows are peopled, and to the end of the open lobbies
nothing can be seen but heads. Mr. Thompson fills Mr.
Clapham's place, and speaks with immense energy and
power. Mr. Champness, whose illness creates profound
sympathy, has no substitute, which is fortunate. The
most extraordinary feature of this meeting is the grip Mr.
T. G. Osborn and Mr. Watkinson win with addresses on
such unlikely subjects as " Education and Literature in rela
tion to Methodism." The quality of the meeting may be
judged from the fact that these two addresses are listened
to, not only with profound attention, but with an enthusiasm
such as was scarcely exceeded even on Monday morning.
It is no Philistine mob to which Mr. Osborn speaks and
Mr. Watkinson reads. Mr. Olver, who, at short notice,
supplies Dr. Jenkins' unavoidable lack of service, performs
the extremely difficult task of holding and rousing an
exhausted and dissolving meeting. He is himself at white
heat, and, as Dr. Dale said yesterday morning, scatters
sparks around, and sets the meeting on a blaze of
missionary enthusiasm.

WEDNESDA Y, March 4.
Morning.
[My diary for this morning is a blank. To Dr. Dale I
could only sit and listen.]

CENTENAR Y DIA RY. 39 5
WEDNESDAY, March 4.
Afternoon.
©penfng of tbe ailan Xibrarg.
This afternoon is given to the Allan Library. The
public meeting is held in the Chapel, the body of which is
filled and the gallery partially. Mrl Alexander M'Arthur
presides. Mr. M. C. Osborn reads a Statement respecting
the Library. Dr. Rigg, through whom the late Mr. Allan
presented the Library, gives an interesting account of Mr.
Allan and of the circumstances under which he built up
his costly Library and gave it to the Connexion.
The President of the Conference shows the catalogue,
and tells us that the Library contains 20,000 volumes and
8000 pamphlets. Mr. Kenyon, the Hon. Librarian, states
the present financial position of the Library, and presents
a silver key to the President.
Mr. Atkinson, in an amusing and practical speech, offers
a copy of Shakespeare and a selection from his store of
rare Bibles.
The ceremony of opening is quite simple. The President,
ex-President, Mr. Kenyon, Mr. Alexander M'Arthur, and
others gather at the closed glass door. The silver key is
used, and the stream of people passes slowly between
protecting cords, viewing the shelves, until they come to
the balcony, where the President pronounces the Library
open. Above the Library is a large, empty room, which
quickly fills. The ex-President recites, without book, the
hymn : "Jesu, Lover of my soul."
The President, with powerful voice, leads the singing ; and
the people, all standing, sing "as in the ancient days."
The enthusiasm of this informal meeting is extraordinary.
The people sing and shout until one doubts whether it is
not a revival prayer-meeting. The Allan Library begins
its career with the Divine blessing, and the hearty good-

396 CENTENAR Y SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
will of the children of the author of " The Christian
Library."

WEDNESDAY, March 4.
Evening.
Everybody must know by this time that to be a Cen
tenary Secretary means some capacity for labour. But
until to-day no one knew that the office involved peril.
The little, dark, wiry man, sitting near the President, had
a narrow escape last night. Not long ago he ' caught two
cadgers, one of whom has been preying on Methodists for
years. Last night, having a quantity of Centenary letters
to post at a late hour, he disturbed a gang of thieves who
were robbing a gentleman outside the Allan Library.
After a long chase he secured the capture of one member
of the gang.
The " Social Work of Methodism," under these circum
stances, is a fitting subject for to-night's meeting. The
crowd shows no signs of exhaustion. There must be
2000 men and women in City Road Chapel. After the
President's brief introduction, the Rev. H. T. Smart comes
to the front. His work for artisans is well known. The
congregation settles down to listen to a practical man's
exposition of the part Methodism can to-day play in a
sphere to which John Wesley was no stranger. Mr.
Smart is a cool, plain, straightforward speaker. He
attempts no oratory, and deals in no rhapsodies or wild
socialistic flights. His handling of the difficulties and
complexities which beset the great labour question is
firm, judicious, sympathetic.
The name of " Bunting " brings a great cheer. The
editor of the Contemporary Review, and treasurer of the
West Branch of the London Mission, is not what is called
a popular speaker, nor is he unpopular. Like all the
Buntings of a bygone time he is gifted with word-power.
His sentences are crisp, yet graceful and musical. Those

CENTENAR ] ' DIA R Y. 397
who think while they listen are charmed by his cultured
and entirely natural talk. It is thinking — aloud. The
tongue of Dr. Bunting's grandson is like the pen of a
ready writer — a pleasant, earnest, most sincere pen. His
doctrine is essentially socialistic, though of a high order
and suffused by Christian light and feeling. All schools
of thought, whether agreeing with Mr. Bunting or dis
agreeing, must be thankful that the philosophy he
expounds is presented. It would be a precursor of
stagnant indifference if only one side of many-sided truth
were put.
Mr. Lewis Williams of Cardiff is another thinker, but
on a very different plane. He stands on the President's
left — a Celtic man, small, dark, compact, with a keen,
lively, kindly face. He is intensely practical, a Justice of
the Peace, Chairman of a great School Board, municipal
but not " parochial," bent on doing his duty with all
righteousness and with a tender regard for mercy — a
God-fearing man whose religion never sleeps and is
always shining. There is given to him a wide subject —
" Methods of Rescue Work." It is a congenial subject.
It drives him to talk experimentally, and this the people
like. He modestly apologises for an inevitable appearance
of egotism. But the people are delighted — and rightly so.
He warms to his subject, tells facts, and tells them well.
At times he is eloquent The crowd catches fire. " God
is with us," and joy, and hallowed feeling.
Mr. Morgan Harvey tells us that his "double " is with
him on the platform. The two men are distinctly different ;
and yet in height, age, style of thought and speech, are
sufficiently alike to be mistaken the one for the other.
Lewis Williams and Morgan Harvey will go down to
posterity in Methodist history as doubles. Mr. Harvey,
in spite of a hoarseness which comes of Centenary singing
and excitement, speaks effectively — never more so. He,
too, has a congenial subject — " Temperance." He has care
fully prepared, and he thoroughly understands what he
means to do. His audience is in full sympathy with him,

398 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
and he is drawn on and on until his voice is all but gone.
But the people hold on in spite of the clock which glares
down on Dr. Stephenson, who should speak next,
ominously. At last the senior Centenary Secretary rises and looks
round doubtfully on the few who are compelled to make
a rush for their trains. He offers to return his notes to
his pocket, lest he should weary a splendid meeting into
dulness. The meeting laughs his suggestion to scorn.
It is a very Shylock of a meeting. Forgive an advertised
speaker 1 " Go on ! go on ! " it shouts. " But it means
twenty minutes." " Never mind ; go on ! " and on he goes
like a racehorse, and never spoke better.

THURSDAY, March 5.
Afternoon.
Even the most sanguine are wondering whether it will
be possible to sustain the interest much longer. Principal
Rainy is not so well known south of the Tweed as Dr.
Dale and Dr. Clifford. Will the congregation be com
paratively small? May we not now look for signs of
weariness ? These not unnatural doubts are dissipated as
the invited guests fill the platform. The Chapel is full,
and from beginning to end the service takes rank with
similar services of the days that are past. Standing in
John Wesley's pulpit — massive, white, masterful — the
preacher is a striking figure. The sermon which, like all
the sermons of the Centenary, is read, takes hold of the
congregation. Its strong points wake the laugh or devout
murmurs, which tell of intelligent and sympathetic hearing.
The appeals towards the close are particularly impressive.
Everybody is thankful that the Free Church of Scotland
should be so nobly and so usefully represented in these
Centenary services.

CENTENARY DIARY. 399
THURSDAY, March 5.
Evening.
There is no falling away either in numbers or en
thusiasm. There is the same dense, raised, broad line of
heads down each aisle ; the same human lining of side
walls ; the same block in remote corners ; the same
occupancy of stairways and window-sills, pulpit and apse.
It is a sea of faces — two seas, one like rings of wave-
crests threatening to pour down upon the other. The
repetition, without abatement, of such phenomena, night
after night, is one of the most impressive features of the
Centenary. The spirit of hearing is upon the people.
They are more eager to-night than at the beginning.
Nothing like it has been seen within the memory of
man. It is an intensely religious crowd. Every allusion to
the most spiritual and practical side of religion is caught
and flung heavenwards in cheering that is more praise
and prayer than applause. Is City Road Chapel this
week the pulse of Methodism? If so, the beat is full,
strong, regular. It may quicken under the stimulus of
strong or witty words, but when it settles down again to
its normal rhythmical beat, there is no reaction into fitful
feebleness. The President presides as Costa used to conduct. He
has energy, sympathy, tact, and an incapacity for weari
ness. He makes no long speeches, and the little inter
ludes in which he tells the origin of a hymn, or announces
the collection, or rectifies any little misunderstanding, or
emphasises the interest of a new phase in the programme,
or suggests the piano singing of a particular hymn, are
quiet and yet inspiring. It is only bare justice to say
that he does not appear to have made a single mistake ;
error in point of taste or devoutness he probably could not
commit even if he tried.
And the Secretaries — Dr. Stephenson, Mr. Westerdale,

400 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
and Mr. Murrell, with their many helpers, both ministers
and laymen — have rendered excellent service. Only those
who have been behind the scenes can form any idea of
the amount of downright hard work which their duties
have involved. If they had yielded to weariness, or had
allowed themselves to be hustled into irritability, every
reasonable man would have been swift to forget and
forgive. But they seem to be superior even to excusable
weakness, and sit " calm on tumult's wheel " — always con
siderate, courteous, and anxious to do the best thing
possible for everybody. Their reward — the only reward
for which they care — is in the success of the services.
The platform changes slightly with every service. To
night there are several new features. Principal Rainy sits
in Mr. Wesley's chair by the President's side. Near to
him is a stalwart Presbyterian supporter well-known in
North London Methodist circles, and also in Canada —
Mr. Thornton, minister of Camden Town Presbyterian
Church. The younger Methodist Churches are well
represented by the Revs. J. Kirsop and A. Crombie, who
sit by Mr. George Smith's side in the front row. Dr.
Watts and Mr. J. S. Simon, who have often crossed
quarter-staves in controversy, sit lovingly side by side.
Mr. T. Allen — tall, iron-grey — is speaking as I write.
He is blowing up the smithy fire. With a steady, power
ful swing he drives heaven's pure oxygen into the embers.
All the forge is in a glow. And now the "heat"— how
white it is — is on the anvil. The sparks are flying, and
there is the ringing music dear to Methodist ears. Yet,
with all the resonance and sparkle and swing, there is
quite enough of balanced hitting to remind us that it is a
man of discretion who is manipulating the " heat," while
the huge audience wields the sledge-hammer with all its
hands and a thundering roar.
The children's anthem comes as a pleasant relief By
the time that the last bar is sung, the last vacant place in
the chapel is filled. The windows down the right side
are swung open. You look through " over the heads of

CENTENARY DIARY. 401
window - seatholders," and you can see nothing except
more heads and the wall of the Morning Chapel above
them. It was so on Monday and Tuesday nights — more
so on Tuesday than Monday — more so, I fancy, to-night
than on Tuesday.
Mr. Scott Lidgett is speaking. There is a touch of the
old Magazijie portrait about his head. He is neat, com
pact, resolute, refined. He plunges into a vehement
speech. Every sentence is perfect. Doubtless he has
carefully prepared, as indeed has every speaker. Yet
there is no stilted formality. He is bringing the power
of a living past to bear upon the needs of to-day. Con
version he believes in, pleads for, centralises on his radiant
field of vision. " The Church of the Future," as sketched
by the leader of the coming University Settlement, is not
such as Mr. Stead, borrowing Mr. Whistler's brush (or
palette knife), has sketched, but a Church instinct with
spiritual life. Leaders he calls for, and rouses a storm by
satirical side-thrusts at men who are content to do " a
tidy, decent little bit of business " — a style of Christianity
from which Mr. Scott Lidgett evidently thinks the world
needs to be purged.
How the collection gets through the dense masses it
would be difficult to say. The only hope for it that I
can see is in launching boxes at one end of the chapel, on
the faith that they will come out full and safe at the
other end.
Mr. Clough is up, as are the people. For, whatever
may be the practice of individual Methodists, their collec
tive creed — their opinion when massed in public meeting
— is wholly in favour of the local preacher. It is a clever
stroke to hand over Susanna Wesley's advice respecting
the first local preacher — "Go and hear him for yourself"
— to the rich men of Methodism. Mr. Clough's six circuits
and his strings of figures are handled with consummate
address. There is a rotund and rubicund completeness
about this vigorous Yorkshireman. The people take all
he says, silently, but with intent attention, until there
2 c

402 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
comes a smart saying, and then away go hands and
throats. He pleads for the training of local preachers,
for a centre in every circuit, which may raise the intellec
tual life of his brethren. His enthusiasm rushes the
meeting so utterly that one forgets note-taking. And
when the end comes, we wake up to the fact that a capital
speech has been made.
Mr. Westerdale looks over-wrought, as well he may,
after months of incessant toil. The strong point in his
speech is the defence of Methodism against the charge of
decay. As is so often the case, he is most effective when
he lowers his voice and speaks calmly and slowly.
Mr. George Smith, son of the late Dr. Smith of Cam
borne, gives a speech which can only be ranked with Mr.
Fowler's, Mr. Osborn's, and Mr. Bunting's. And the
people listen. How can they help listening to such
manly, glowing, reasonable words I But, even if the
earlier portion had been less eloquent than it was, the end
would have won every eye and ear. A new story about
the real flesh-and-blood Daniel Quorm, with snatches of
Cornish dialect, was enough to drive the people delirious
with delight For if th^re is one thing more than another
that the children of John Wesley love, it is a story.
There are very few speakers living who can compare
with Mr. Hughes as a platform man. Even with the
disadvantages of notes and a late hour and an exhausted
atmosphere, he holds the people as by spells, and makes
his points tell. To have developed fully a speech, the
scheme of which had ten heads and a vast complication of
appurtenances and burning questions, would have required
two hours. Mr. Hughes really attempted to condense
into half-an-hour all imaginable phases of Methodist
Churchmanship and Christian Socialism. I cannot deny
myself the pleasure of emphasising the section on "Method
ism — a Church, and not a poor relation of the Church of
England." Apostolical succession ! John Wesley declared
it to be a fable — as great a fable as the forged decretals
on which the Popes built the Church of Rome.

CENTENA R Y DIAR Y. 403
FRIDAY, March 6.
Morning.
Dr. Clifford's service I was only able to hear in part.
This, as I expected, was a serious loss. The sermon, I
am told, was the most popular of the series. It cannot
be compared with Dr. Dale's, or with Dr. Rainy's, being
wholly different in style. But of its kind, and for its
purpose, it was a masterpiece. Judging from the little I
heard, it came nearest to the sort of sermon which one
needed to complete the cycle of characteristic discourses.
If I may venture a word of criticism, where everything
was so fit and intrinsically excellent, what we lacked was
a sermon — not in place of any one of those actually
preached, but additional — a sermon such as Spurgeon,
John M'Neill, or " Wee Macgregor " would have preached
— a great, popular, heart - searching, soul - saving sermon.
This, however, must be remembered. In all probability
the "wondrous gatherings day by day" were almost, if
not exclusively, gatherings of converted persons, devout
believers, earnest workers. For such, all the sermons and
addresses were exactly appropriate — Dr. Clifford's not less
than either of its companions.

FRIDAY, March 6.
Evening.

The President's reception-room was crowded for after
noon tea. Mrs. Moulton, who has been present at every
service, did the honours. Miss Stephenson helped her,
and girls from the Children's Home waited. New faces
were present — Bishop Hawkins and his wife. Dr. Dallinger,
who had just completed his service as Gilchrist Lecturer in
Scotland, and several distinguished representatives of sister
churches. An hour later the minister's vestry presented a

404 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
scene which no one who saw it will ever forget Indeed,
day by day I have regretted the impossibility of preserving
pictorial records of the vestry-groups. They have been
historic. The crowd in the chapel is, if that were possible, greater
than ever. The absence of Dr. Cairns is a disappoint
ment. Dr. Allon also is missed, but his inability to attend
was already known, and Dr. Stoughton is sure to be an
excellent substitute. To each of .these honoured men a
telegram was sent during the evening.
Very appropriately Bishop Taylor, representing the
Moravians, is the first speaker. He receives a warm
welcome, and strikes precisely the note which all desire to
be dominant at this last public meeting. There is an old-
world look about the good man. One can fancy him in
the pulpit at Fetter Lane, surrounded by memories of the
past. We forget dead controversies as the Bishop speaks,
and think only of the springs among the hills. Even now
there is much that Methodism might learn from the United
Brethren. Like a shower of summer rain falls the benedic
tion of the representative of Count Zinzendorf and Peter
Bohler. It is the text for to-day in the Moravian Text
book, " Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father,
and the Lord Jesus Christ."
Dr. Stoughton is quite the old man. But he speaks as
freshly as if he were in his prime. As we left the vestry
he told me that he was going to " talk." And talk he
does, to some purpose. His mother was one of the
children, about whom we have so often heard, who were
kissed by the dear old John Wesley. His own memory
goes far into the past. His " own self also " he owes to
Methodism. The Wesley hymns have soothed and
cheered him on Sunday nights after the work of the day
was done. And now he stands on the border, waiting to
join the great company. " Why has he left the Method
ists ? He has never left them." Very impressive is the
emphasis he lays on the old-fashioned Methodist doctrine
of conversion, and very beautiful the glimpse we catch of

CENTENAR Y DIAR V. 405
the City beyond the river, where we shall have no more
controversy or disputes. And so the old man ends — with
the benediction of peace.
From the gallery rises a clear sweet voice, " How
beautiful upon the Mountains," and presently all the
children and young students join the chorus.
Mr. Figgis, of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion,
raises the tone still higher. His address is too beautiful
and loftily spiritual for description. The people, by this
time wrought into an intensely devout and thoughtful
frame, are losing their applausiveness. Prayer, praise,
communion with God, alone seem to befit the hour. The
old story of the frightened bird, which suggested Charles
Wesley's hymn, "Jesu, Lover of my soul," is turned to a
new and mystic use. Christ is the bird, and we make a
nest, it may be of bits of straw and hair ; and Christ
comes and dwells in us. This parable pictures the ex
perience of the congregation whilst these good men
are speaking. Friday evening is pre-eminently a means
of grace.
Mr. Braithwaite, of the Society of Friends, completed
the roll of sister Churches. The old gentleman, tall and
dignified, quaintly dressed in a Quaker coat, with a broad
white cravat, might have come back from the last century.
His address is read tremblingly and with an occasional
stammer. It is intensely spiritual, and contains several
points of exceptional interest. Although unadorned by
rhetoric or eloquence, it commands an intelligent hear
ing. It will be read, I am sure, with great delight
Here the meeting should have closed. But Bishop
Hawkins was present, and the people were axious to hear
him. An African, eighty years old, who knew the bitter
ness of slavery, who for sixty years had held what he
called a " through ticket for Heaven," and who now
appeared in John Wesley's Chapel as the minister of a
Canadian Methodist Church, — such a man was sure of
an enthusiastic welcome.

4o6 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
SATURDA Y, March 7.
Evening.
The chapel once more is crowded. Stewards in charge
of baskets and old-fashioned lovefeast mugs look doubt
fully at the aisles, wondering how they can possibly make
their way from pew to pew. James Calvert, without whom
a great City Road lovefeast would not be complete, is in
John Wesley's chair, with his wife by his side. Sisters
from Mewburn House, Katharine House, and the Chil
dren's Home are near, as are many laymen — leaders in all
manner of good work. The Rev. J. Idrisyn Jones sits
on the Chairman's right. With the exception of the
secretaries, who are all three in their places, there are not
many ministers present After a week of services, and
Sunday so near, it is not possible for ministers to come.
Mr. Murrell is obliged to leave early, for eight hundred
people are waiting for him in New North Road Chapel.
Dr. Stephenson, with his Mustel organ and no choir,
leads the singing. The first hymn is —
" O for a thousand tongues to sing."
Mr. W. Allen, who tells me that he distinctly remembers
hearing Mr. Charles Wesley, junior, play the organ in
Marylebone Church, offers prayer, after T^-hich comes the
simple meal — a small queen cake and a draught of pure
water, with a collection to follow.
Thanks have scarcely been offered when the superinten
dent of the circuit rises, and in few words tells how he
found Christ, and how in early life he used to sit in City
Road Chapel.
Without the loss of a moment the " presiding elder "
tells his story.
The "chief singer" testifies to the fulness of God's
love, gives thanks for the success of the Centenary, pleads
that City Road might be made a great centre of fellowship
and work, and suggests two watch-nights and two such
lovefeasts in the year.

LOVEFEAST. 407
A minister from Ireland has a joyful experience, and a
store of Wesley reminiscences.
A Methodist of the third generation, converted twenty
years ago, springs to his feet on the platform, and ascribes
his conversion to a godly father and the Sabbath school.
He is a local preacher now, and the superintendent of one
of the largest suburban Sunday schools.
A brother in the aisle, with an auburn beard and a
loving face, tells us that his grandfather and father were
Methodists, and that he, long ago, was converted, and that
his wife and children were all members — one family in
heaven or on the way to heaven.
Away in the far end of the left gallery a working man,
strong and sturdy, says he was brought up as a Roman
Catholic, but is now a member of the Methodist Society,
and happy in the love of God.
A railway man in full dress, from a pew to the left, tells
how his foster-mother taught him to tell the truth ; how,
in a mission-room worked by the Queen's Road Society,
he was impressed ; how, at a covenant service, to which
he went out of curiosity, the impression was deepened ;
how, under a student from Richmond, he was smitten
down in penitence ; and how a brother's hand was laid on
his shoulder in the prayer-meeting. " I feel the touch of
that hand now. They go to college to get a degree —
Bachelor of Arts, I think they call it. But / went to
Jesus to be Born Again." He, and his ten children and
their mother, are travelling the same road.
In the front of the gallery a sister in mourning, the
widow of a local preacher, says she is a sinner saved
by grace, converted under the preaching of Mr. Neville
Andrews. In the same front row, nearer the platform, an iron-grey
man testifies that for fifty years he has been following the
Master. In St. Sidwell's, Exeter, Joseph Wood brought
him to decision with the text, " My son, give Me thin6
heart" Five-and-twenty years he spent in Exeter, first
as a prayer-leader and then as a local preacher. There

4o8 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
came a call to London, which he feared to obey. "I
thought I should never see the sun in London. But
God said, ' Go, and I will go with thee.' And I went and
gave my note of removal to the Rev. George Perks, in City
Road. And I took him the first-fruits of my increase —
seven-and-sixpence — the first money I made. I've worked
with brother Beauchamp here, and with brother Munro;
and they've gone home, and now I can't do much." With
the great hearing-trumpet to his ear, he looked like the
old man in the picture of John Wesley's death.
A Welshman in the body of the chapel, pursued after
he came to London by a mother's letter, was converted in
an East-end mission-room over a stable, and telegraphed
the news to his mother.
From South Petherton, originally, comes the next — a
working man, who thanks God that ever he came to
London, and declares that the sceptical working men are
really, many of them, searching for truth.
The meeting is at white heat. All over the Chapel
brothers and sisters, young and old, are up. Dr. Stephen
son, with his hands on the keys, is waiting for a chance
to sound the notes of a hymn. James Calvert rules
splendidly and, notwithstanding the intense excitement,
there is no disorder.
The leader of the Leysian Mission speaks from the
aisle at the right corner of the platform. His, too, is a
story of mother's love and prayers. " Our mouth is filled
with laughter and our tongue with singing."
" My God, I am Thine " sounds from the Mustel. Verse
after verse, each with its hallelujah chorus, is sung — how
sung let red-hot Methodists imagine.
Number fourteen is an old man with a grey beard, who
for forty-nine years has enjoyed religion, and finds it
better than ever. It was the hymn, "My God, I am Thine,"
sung in a packed school-room, that set his heart " beating
pit-a-pat." He found his wife in that same school-room,
and she found Christ
The old man's son in the corner under the platform

LOVEFEAST. 409
greets his father across the crowd — for himself and his
wife, and I know not how many relatives. A teacher
boxed his ears by mistake. With his silk pocket-hanker-
chief the repentant teacher wiped away the lad's tears,
until they flowed as tears of penitence. And now he is a
teacher himself, and a class-leader.
Under the platform rises a Southwark brother. His
witness, too, is full of " mother " and the Sunday school
(John Street).
Far away in the gallery an old St. John's Square soldier
of the Cross quotes Dr. Dale's sermon, and declares that
" the fire from over the wall " has this week re-kindled
him. They have all had a fresh baptism of fire and love
and power.
Whereupon down go the hands on the organ keys, and
the people are singing with all their might — to " Falcon
Street"— " The men of grace have found
Glory begun below."
Dr. Stephenson wishes to sing the whole verse of eight
lines ; but the popular tune and the outbursting emotion
sweep the lovefeast into the chorus : —
" Praise ye the Lord ! Hallelujah ! "
The Doctor laughs, lifts his hands from the keys, and joins
the chorus.
An African from Lagos— a class-leader, and one of the
first circuit stewards — speaks from under the left gallery
and is transplanted to the platform.
From the same side, but nearer the door, a young man
catches the chairman's eye. His father was a parish
clerk. Mr. Webb-Peploe and Great Queen Street appear
to have worked together for the speaker's good. He is
not a Methodist, but is made to feel very much at home
in the lovefeast.
A man in the reporters' pew has been night after night
to the services. His wife said, "What, are you going
again ? " " Yes," he replied, " I shall not have a chance

410 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
to attend the Bicentenary, and I mean to get all I can
now." At Abingdon he heard a minister from Fiji preach
on " Brethren, pray for us " — not at, or with, but for us.
The word was blessed to him. He did not know when
or where he was converted. But he did know that,
whereas once he was blind, now he saw. " I've learnt this
week more about Wesley and Methodism than I ever knew
before. I mean to have the Journals, and other books will
follow in time."
An old man tells the story of a lovefeast in 1839, and of
the great Conference lovefeast in Toronto after the fusion
of all the Methodist Churches into one. He frankly un
veils the cause which led to his loss of wealth, and thanks
God for the discipline which brought him back to his
first love. As he speaks I remember how, as a boy, I rode
in his carriage and spent holidays in his beautiful house.
A Scotchman, having suffered many things from Calvin
ism of a type nearly if not quite extinct, desires to
enlarge on his escape into the freer faith of Methodism,
but falls a victim to the Chairman's inexorable command,
" To the point, brother." But no one can be offended
under James Calvert's rule, and the lovefeast rushes on to
the music of shouts of praise.
Far away under the ceiling, indistinguishable in the
dense crowd, one of the Leysian Mission trophies lifts his
voice in thanksgiving. He is not now in the prize-ring,
or, as he was this time last year, on his way to a hall for
boxing. A Welsh collier, converted through his father's prayers,
is now, after five years on the Rhondda plan, on his way
to a new sphere as a lay evangelist
We sing with tremendous energy, —
" O happy day that fixed my choice ! "
and Mr. Alger leads in prayer.
Again and again a young man on the extreme edge of
the left gallery has essayed to speak. " Come to the front,
brother." He looks in despair at the crush in front, and

LOVEFEAST. 411
mounts the seat instead. What a testimony he bears !
Years ago in City Road Chapel he heard the late Mr.
Kirtland give out, " so quietly," —
"Terrible thought, shall I alone."
That was the beginning. There followed a meeting for
young people with the text, " Be of good cheer ; " then
two years in China, where he met C. T. Studd, the
University student and first cricketer in England, who
gave up all for Christ ; then a covenant service in
Plymouth immediately after his return ; then the Bible
opening on the words, " Sin shall not have dominion ; "
then Levi Waterhouse giving out the hymn beginning
" Come, Holy Ghost, all quickening fire.
Come and in me delight to rest ; "
" I can see him now," said the speaker.
But I can give no idea of the sweet, simple force of
testimonies like this.
From the platform the Rev. Idrisyn Jones speaks as a
Methodist Congregationalist, who owes much to Method
ism, who reads the Recorder every week, whose father
translated John Wesley's Primitive Physic and Adam
Clarke's Commentary into Welsh, and who, himself,
preaches Wesley's doctrines — " Jesus died for all " and
" Perfect Love."
A brother near the organ was converted under a sermon
on the " Prodigal Son " by the late Nebemiah Curnock, in
the Mint Chapel, Exeter.
After a brother from Barrow-in-Furness, a man by one
of the pillars tells an interesting story of William Booth
who, years ago, when he was a New Connexion minister,
walked with him through the Thames Tunnel, and
casting his arm round his neck implored him to " Go in
for souls."
There follows a Richmond student, who tells how Mr.
Vinter, of Woodhouse Grove, took him into his study and
besought him to give himself to Christ.

412 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Then a Methodist Free Church man ; then a West
Central sister, who never knew the time when she was not
under religious impressions, and who was led to full
consecration by a sentence from Dr. Arnold on the great
ness and happiness of entire Christlikeness ; then a
marvellous story by the contractor for the Liverpool
Exhibition, and a touching testimony from one of the
Mewburn House sisters. A New Connexion preacher
from Reading crowns the roll of thirty-five witnesses.
On their knees, in death - like silence, two thousand
Methodists (they are all Methodists for the time) conse
crate themselves afresh to God, and sing twice over —
" Lord, in the strength of grace."
Mr. Idrisyn Jones prays, James Calvert gives his
blessing, and we spring to our feet singing —
" Come, let us anew our journey pursue."
But, as the vast family dissolves, once more the joy
breaks forth — " Above the rest this note shall swell.
My Jesus hath done all things well. "

SUNDAY, March 8.

The rain fell, and it was cold and cheerless. Neverthe
less, the Chapel was nearly full on Sunday morning. Mr.
Macdonald preached a sermon that all preachers, students,
reading people, and helpers in the work of Methodism
ought to hear. It contained features of exceptional value
and interest. Wesley was a theologian — a teacher of
truth ; for that work he was spiritually prepared : he
spiritualised theology. We cannot afford to undervalue
theology ; it is the only safe basis of all true and lastingly
successful work. But theology, to be a power for good,
must be taught by men with a definite spiritual experi-

CITY ROAD CHAPEL. 413
ence. The comparison between Bishop Butler and John
Wesley — both, at the same time, face to face with the
problem of evidences which left room for the possibility
of doubt — and the contrast between their several modes of
dealing with the problem, was one of the finest things
I ever heard.
Mr. Murrell's children's service in the afternoon was a
great success. He delighted the children for half-an-hour
with stories of Wesley.
In the evening the Chapel was once more crowded, and
Mr. Waddy preached like one inspired. It was a happy
thought to use the last service, before the closing of the
dear old Chapel, for the enforcement of the great promise
— the analogue of Wesley's dying and life-long cry — " Lo,
I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
The platform was filled with local preachers. Mr. Adams-
Acton was in the congregation, and many other notable
people. The service was an admirable finish to the best
series of services that the Methodists of this generation
have seen.
The rain came, and, on Monday, the snow from heaven.
They will not return void. The spring is at hand. May
we not accept the sign ? " So shall My word be that
goeth forth out of My mouth. It shall not return unto
Me void."

Centenary? Statement.
On Monday evening, March 2nd, Dr. Stephenson made
the following Centenary Statement : —
" I speak now as representing my colleagues in the
Secretaryship, and I desire, in a single word, to express
my great indebtedness to them. When the work of pre
paring for this Centenary celebration first began, I was
under the shadow of a heavy cloud, and was not able
to take my proper part in the financial appeal But my
colleagues, Messrs. Westerdale and Murrell, took the matter

414 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
in hand most energetically, and carried it to a triumphant
conclusion. " Mr. President, I have to ask you to accept the chair in
which you are sitting, which is a gift from Messrs. Garnett
and Co., of Warrington, members of a very old Methodist
family, who have desired, in connection with these Cen
tenary services, to make a presentation. I have no doubt
that when the Bicentenary of Wesley's death is celebrated
this chair will have a halo of antiquity about it, and be a
highly-valued relic. Whether the Conference decides to
have it sent to the Conference towns year by year or not,
it should be kept here as a general rule.
" Next, I have to present a most interesting communica
tion from the British and Foreign Bible Society. At the
Committee Meeting this morning, with Lord Harrowby in
the chair, that Society resolved upon the following
motion : — ' That the Committee now sitting send a message
of friendly and sympathetic greeting to the President of
the Methodist bodies assembled to commemorate the
Centenary of the death, on March 2, 1791, of their great
Founder, John Wesley. — (Signed), HarROWBY, President'
When we think that that great Bible Society not only
helps all the Churches, but belongs to them all ; when we
think of the enormous services it is constantly rendering
to the cause of Christianity throughout the world ; when
we think of the high distinction of the Committee that
manages its affairs, I am sure this will be one of the
pleasantest incidents in connection with this Centenary
gathering. " Now, I am happy to tell the congregation that this
building is perfectly safe ; it has been very well tested
to-day. We found some time ago that the foundations
were very seriously defective. This is no reflection on
John Wesley ; because when he sanctioned the plan for
the new Chapel — it was then in the Moor Fields — the
foundations were such as to promise stability for many
generations. At that time the ground was very moist,
and timber was necessarily used for the foundations. But

CITY ROAD CHAPEL. 415
the great main drainage system of London having sub
sequently drained off the water, the wood has rotted away,
and the chapel for some years has been standing upon a
sort of dry black powder. The building has gone about
four inches out of the perpendicular. Happily, these facts
were discovered in time. The foundations have been
taken down to the virgin earth in concrete, and this was
finished on Saturday night. We have every reason to
believe that a hundred years from now, the people who
will then crowd this place will find it as sound as ever.
" We really are not very proud of the interior. We value
its sacred memories. We are glad that it is a great repre
sentative of a good Methodist preaching-house — capitally
adapted for it. But I sympathise with our friends in the far
corners. John Wesley would never have consented to put
them there. In his time the pulpit was four feet or six feet
higher. At the end of the Chapel there was no lobby, but
a large open space, in which the people used to stand, and
in which, just a hundred years ago, the body of John
Wesley lay in state, passed by ten thousand people alto
gether. This building is hardly equal to its position as
the principal, the representative Chapel of the Methodist
Church. So we are going to restore it thoroughly. We
shall take away those pillars, which are not perfectly
sincere. They are shams — wooden pillars pretending to
be stone. The new pillars have been given by the Metho
dists of Ireland, Australasia, the Methodist Episcopal
Church South, the West Indies, and Canada. We hope
the South African Methodists will join their brethren in
this matter, and the seven pillars of this house will then
represent the seven great developments of the old Metho
dist Church in different parts of the world. The staircase
will be placed in annexes, thus giving additional room in
the main building. We are going to put in new pews of
solid oak — for Methodism is going to last We are going
to make all the arrangements of the building suitable for
the many great gatherings which we hope will assemble
within these walls. The poorest man shall be as comfort-

4i6 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
able as the richest. We shall make arrangements that all
strangers shall feel perfectly at home when they come
into this building. We are not merely anxious in this
way to leave behind an enduring monument of these
services, but -we hope all these arrangements will help
this place to be once more a great centre of evangelistic
activity. For this, the mother church of Methodism, ought
to be foremost in all that is best, in the great work that
God has committed to us. I hope that in years to come
we shall have this place as full every Sunday as it is
to-night If we look after the young men in the city, and
the young women who are employed in places of business,
the working men who inhabit the great blocks of model
dwellings within a stone's-throw, and Methodists coming
from the country and all parts of the world, we shall see
great and glorious days in connection with this Chapel"

^be ©riQin an& ©rganisation of tbe
ailan Xibrar^.
At the Meeting held on Wednesday, March 4th, in con
nection with the opening of the Allan Library, the Rev. M.
C. Osborn, secretary of the Committee, read the following
statement : —
"The Allan Library, consisting of many thousands of
rare and valuable books and pamphlets, was presented to
the Conference of 1 884, through the Rev. Dr. Rigg, by the
late Mr. Thomas Robinson Allan, ' to the intent that the
same be constituted a Library for the use of ministers of
the people called Wesleyan Methodists, similar, so far as
the said Conference may seem advisable, to the Library of
Sion College, founded by the Rev. Thomas White, D.D.,
canon of Christchurch, Oxford, for a corporation of all the
ministers, parsons, vicars, lecturers, and curates, within

THE ALLAN LIBRARY. \\1
London and the suburbs ; or to the Library, founded by
Dr. Daniel Williams, for the use of the Nonconformist
denominations.' " This gift was gratefully accepted by the Conference.
A number of ministers and laymen were appointed to act
as trustees, in whom the Library- has since been duly
vested, and a Committee of Management was appointed.
" At the same time the Conference resolved : —
" I. That, in the first place.all ministers and preachers
on trial, whose names appear on the printed minutes,
shall have right of access to the Library, subject to
such regulations as shall hereafter be determined.
" 2. That persons other than ministers shall also be
admitted to the benefit of the Library, under such
regulations as shall hereafter be determined.
"The Regulations suggested are: —
" I. That the Library and Reading Room shall be
open to all Wesleyan ministers and preachers on trial
and local preachers, on payment of an annual sub
scription of half-a-guinea ; and to others on pay-
,ment of an annual subscription of one guinea ; but
that, in the event of any books being taken out of
the Library, the charge for carriage shall be defrayed
by the subscribers to whom such books are sent
" 2. That all donors of ten guineas and upwards
shall be life members.
" 3. That all donors of books of the value of twenty
guineas and upwards shall be life members.
"4. That the above subscriptions shall entitle the
subscriber to two volumes at a time, to be taken from
such books as may be taken from the Library.
" 5. That the Library and Reading Rooms shall be
open to subscribers and members on all week-days
from ten to five (Saturdays ten to two), except Good
Friday, Christmas Day, and bank holidays, also the
first week of March. 2 D

41 8 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
" [The Reading Room is furnished with many
reviews and magazines, maps, atlases, railway guides,
and writing materials for the use of members.
Writing-paper, envelopes, and stamps may also be-
obtained from the attendant]
" 6. That special terms be arranged for a supply of
books to the members of the local preachers' meeting
in any circuit, and to the readers connected with
circuit libraries.
•' At the Burslem Conference a subscription list was
opened amongst the ministers for initial expenses, and a
sum amounting to nearly ;^300 was promised. The Book
Steward was authorised to make advances towards the
necessary costs of management and maintenance, pending
arrangements for the permanent accommodation and
settlement of the Library.
" Diligent inquiries were made as to a site on which a
suitable building for the accommodation of the Library
might be erected, and the cost of such erection, and also
as to the possibility of hiring premises for the purpose;
but these all proved abortive, until at length it was
ascertained that the trustees of the Book-Room were
intending to extend their premises, and the then Book
Steward, the Rev. Theophilus Woolmer, offered to the
Committee to include in his extension provision for the
Library on advantageous terms. This offer was gratefully
accepted, the new buildings have been erected, and the
Library is now suitably housed therein. The original gift
of Mr. Allan has already received large additions. The
library of the late Dr. Rule, that of the late Rev. W. M.
Bunting, and valuable books presented by Mrs. Jobson and
other friends, have largely increased the value and useful
ness of this unique collection. No doubt many other
books of equal value will be added year by year. The
Committee contemplates the addition of modern books,
;^20o having already been given for that purpose by the
Fernley Board of Trustees.

THE ALLAN LIBRARY. 419
" Large expenses have been incurred in the maintenance
of the Library during the last seven years, and in the
fitting up and furnishing of the large and handsome rooms
in which it is now lodged. The last Conference authorised
an appeal to the Connexion to provide this cost, and for
annual subscriptions. Such appeal is now made with
all confidence as to its propriety and claim. Your help,
cither as an annual subscriber or a donor to the Furnish
ing Fund, will be gratefully received. Some friends may
prefer to make a special gift of furniture, or of books
which shall be known as their personal contribution, as in
the case of the generous gift of the trustees of the late
Mr. John Fernley. The Committee will be glad to
respect your wishes in this matter. Every economy will
be used to secure a comparatively small annual cost in
working the Library. The Librarian gives his services
without stipend. The Sub-librarian, the Caretaker, the
moderate rent, and the incidental expenses, will not exceed
;^6oo (more than one-half of which is for rent, warming,
lighting, etc.). This sum, however, must be provided bj-
subscribers. "At the Sheffield Conference of 1889, a number of gentle
men met to consider the claims of the Library, and a sum
of about i!^500 was contributed towards initial expenses,
and .^30 as annual subscriptions. A sum of .^5000 could
be well employed in the purchase of modern books, in the
furnishing of the rooms, and in the establishment of a fund
for the continued supply of new books for the special use
of general readers.
" It is hoped, now that the matter is placed clearly before
the Methodist people, that the necessary funds will be forth
coming, so that this great opportunity may be embraced
for the building up of a Methodist Public Library, which
shall be an educational endowment for all time."
The Rev. George Kenvon stated the sum total
received and promised amounted to ;^i,220. The
treasurer had in hand about ;^I20, the whole of which

420 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
would be expended in rent and taxes, payment of Care
taker and Sub-librarian, to the ensuing Conference. He
had a very modest request to make — viz., that fifty persons
would at once constitute themselves life-members by a
donation of ten guineas each, and that 500 persons would
become guinea subscribers. The Committee would also
thankfully receive gifts of suitable books. He would ask
the President of the Conference to accept the silver key
which he had now the honour of presenting to him where
with to open the Library. The honour of that ceremony
was due to the President, not simply because he was the
President, but because he was at the head of the great
Methodist educational establishments throughout the
country. The key had on it the following inscription : —
" Vaz BUan XibrarSt Marcb 4, 1891.
"Dr. moulton /«);« GEORGE KENYON."
In repl)', the PRESIDENT said, — I very gratefully accept
the honour which the Committee has put upon me, and
I heartily thank you, Mr. Kenyon, for this visible ex
pression of it. My interest in the Allan Library is very
deep, and will be lasting.
Mr. H. J. Atkinson, M.P., in response to an appeal
made by the Secretary, said he would be glad to give him
a good copy of Shakespeare. He had also a rare collec
tion of Bibles, to a selection from which the Committee
would be welcome.
The congregation accompanied the President to the new
building in City Road, where the doors of the Library were
dulyopened,the President completingthe ceremony thus: —
" With hearty gratitude to the munificent donor of this
Library ; in reverent memory of our great Founder, who
taught us the lesson of the right use of books ; and with
prayer to God that the use of these books may be for the
lasting advantage of our Connexion, and thus for the glory
of Almighty God, I declare this Library open."

REV. ROBERT SPEARS. 421
¦^Unitarian abbress.
On Monday, March 2nd, after the unveiling of the statue,
the following remarkable incident occurred : —
The Rev. Dr. STEPHENSON said that an unlooked-for
honour had been put upon him. He had to introduce a
gentleman, the bearer of an address from a great many
distinguished persons connected with the Unitarian
denomination. They did not feel themselves at liberty to
assume that their friends would desire to take part in their
celebration. Spontaneously and entirely of their own
accord that address was forthcoming.
The Rev. ROBERT Spears was then introduced to the
President, and read an address which testified the " pro
foundest reverence for the memory of John Wesley," and
congratulated the Methodist Churches on their success.
The Address was signed by representatives of over two
hundred Unitarian families, including the Earl of Carlisle,
Dr. Martineau, Dr. Crosskey, the Rev. Stop ford Brooke,
several members of Parliament, many knights and magis
trates ; and was stated by Mr. Spears to have been
suggested by Miss Sharpe, daughter of the late famous
Egyptologist. The President, in reply, said, — You have already
practically authorised me to express to the Rev. Mr.
Spears, and to those whom he represents, our very warm
thanks for the kindly feeling expressed by the words he
has used, and our very deep interest in discovering that
admiration of John Wesley, and deep interest in John
Wesley's work are found amongst those whose doctrinal
convictions differ so widely from his, and differ so widely
from our own. This incident illustrates how very wide-
reaching is the admiration felt for him whose memory we
celebrate to-day. The services that have been arranged
for this week, the various meetings that have been
announced, have most of them direct reference to the
evangelistic work of the Rev. John Wesley — the foundation

422 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
of all his work — that part of his work which is continually
in our thoughts ; and it is very well for us at this first
meeting to remind ourselves that the interest extends far
beyond our own community ; that the interest is shared
by all the Churches of the land, for we believe that there
are very many who cannot be personally present with us
this morning who are with us in spirit ; and that this
interest is carried beyond the ranks of those who would
profess to belong to any religious community, but who are
careful students of the history of their own country. The
historian of the eighteenth century, whoever he may be,
cannot pass over the social, moral, and, I may say, the
political effects of the work which John Wesley carried out.

Xetter from IRev. TTbomae Cbampness.
In a letter to the President explaining that illness had
compelled him to relinquish his engagement, the Rev.
Thomas Champness said, "As a man who has studied
rural Christianity, studied it for years, studied it on the
spot, and watched it year by year with increasing eagerness
and anxiety, I have come to the conclusion that the battle
between Liberty and Sacerdotalism has to be fought in
the agricultural parts of the country. I look upon every
village chapel as an outpost of Protestantism, and I say to
all who care for right of conscience, liberty of speech and
hearing, stand by those who preach the gospel to the men
who live by the plough."

an abbress from 3tal^.
On Wednesday, March 4th, the following Letter of fraternal
greeting from Italy was presented to the Meeting : —
"Tff the Rev. Wm. F. M. Moulton, M.A., D.D., and the Ministers
and Brethren of the City Road Wesleyan Chapel, London —
" The late lamented Dr. Punshon, in a grand and

REV. DR. CAIRNS. 423
eloquent lecture on 'John Wesley and his Times,' when
speaking of the character of this great and noble servant
of God, used these words : —
" ' Since the days of St. Paul the world has not felt the
power of a man more noble or greater than he.'
" We, the brethren of the Wesleyan Methodist Church,
Pozzuoli — the Puteoli recorded in the Acts of the Apostles,
xviii. II, 14 — the Puteoli at which St. Paul landed on his
journey to Rome, and where, finding some brethren, he
was desired to tarry, remaining with them seven days, —
" With Christian affection we salute the hour in which
we celebrate the first Centenary of the death of this great
and noble Founder of the Methodist Church.
" ' They of Italy salute you ' (Hebrews xiii. 24).
" They of Pozzuoli salute you.
" Francesco Sciarelli,
^'Minister.
"Pozzuoli, Feb. 25, 1891."

Xetter from IRev. Br. Cairns,
PRINCIPAL OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE, EDINBURGH.
10 Spence Street, Edinburgh, Feb. 27.
" My dear Dr. Stephenson, — I have received the valued
tickets so kindly sent by you ; and now, how unwelcome
is the communication I have now to make, that, through
a failure of strength, I feel the work which I had under
taken to be too great for me, and that I must most sorrow
fully resign the hope of being at your great Centenary. . . .
It is one of the greatest disappointments I have ever experi
enced in my public life. I had hoped in the speech I should
have delivered, of some twenty or twenty-five minutes, to
have had the occasion of touching on the relation of
Wesley to the German Reformation, most of all in his

424 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
conversion by hearing read in the MoravianMeeting-house
Luther's Preface to his Epistle to the Romans, a fact of
kindred magnitude to that of Bunyan by the Commentary
on the Epistle to the Galatians, and proving that the
Reformation, however decried, is still shaping and mould
ing the world. I cannot conceive that Luther would have
more rejoiced over any of his spiritual children. I should
have touched also on his immediate visit, after his con
version, to Germany, and the influence on him of Zinzen
dorf, with the missionary impulses that he must have
received, the hints towards organisation, and the feeding
of the Methodist hymnology from the old fountains of
Germany, which he then studied and in part transposed.
I should have ended by speaking of the place of Methodism
in our British and American religion as recalling the
Puritans, supplying the failing element in the great
apologists like Butler, and originating the greatest and
most pervasive of spiritual movements on the soil of
Anglo-Saxon Christianity. These things, however, I can
only hint at May God bless to all of us so glorious a
memory, and make the celebration a year of His own
right hand. — I am, my dear Dr. Stephenson, ever most
cordially, though sorrowfully, yours,
"John Cairns.
"To the Rev. Dr. T. B. Stephenson."
The President said, — There is one point that I omitted
to mention. It will be your wish that some expression of
our deep regret at the absence of Dr. Cairns and Dr. Allon
should be forwarded to them, and I may and also the
name of the Rev. Thomas M'Cullagh, whom we expected
to be present and to take part in one of the services of
this week, but who has not been able to come. It has
been suggested that, as Dr. Cairns carefully thought out
what he was intending to say to us we may beg him to
allow us to print what he would have said, and with your
authorisation I will send a telegram to him this evening to
beg him to do us this kindness,

REV. DR. CAIRNS. 425
abbress b^ IRev. ©r. Cairns/
PRINCIPAL OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE, EDINBURGH.
In taking part in this great celebration of the work of
John Wesley, as we can now survey it a hundred years
after his death, I am bound to begin with a personal
reference, and to contribute a fact apparently not generalh'
known in the early history of Methodism in the capital of
Scotland. This has for me all the greater interest, because
it is the only point of contact that I know between John
Wesley and the Church of which I am a minister — the
United Presbyterian Church. This Church was formed in
1847 by the union of two other Churches, the Secession
and Relief each of which had previously had a large
career. The Secession originated in 1732, when Ebenezer
Erskine and three other ministers seceded from the
National Church, on the ground of opposition to the law of
patronage, but on the deeper ground of attachment to the
doctrines of grace. With them, and especially with Ralph
Erskine, Whitefield had for a time friendly intercourse,
though afterwards interrupted ; but what I have now to
mention respects the contact of John Wesley with them at
a later period. The Secession from the first struck its roots
deep in Edinburgh, and though divided, numbered two
large congregations. The largest of these, called Bristo
Street, in 1783 disagreed in the choice of a minister. The
majority called a man who became most venerable, the
Rev. Dr. James Peddle, whose son. Dr. William Peddie, still
lives, having made up with his father over this same large
congregation a ministry of one hundred and eight years.
But the minority, nearly equal in numbers, called another
eminent minister. Dr. James Hall, and could not be made
to acquiesce. Hence a split from the original stock, and
a fight with the rigid Presbytery of those days, who fought
as hard against church extension as men now fight for it.
' This Address, but for the indisposition of Dr. Cairns, v\rould have
been delivered at Meeting in City Road Chapel, March 6, 189 1.

426 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
The Secession Synod, that was appealed to, only granted
a separation on condition that the complainers should
remove to a great distance ; nor could they find a tem
porary place of worship within the limits ; and the only
refuge in all Edinburgh was the Methodist Chapel, built
twenty years before, in 1763, and lasting till 1788. Of
this, Tyerman says (ii. 471), "Of the Methodist Chapel,
which during the year 1763 was built in Edinburgh, we
know nothing." I am happy, therefore, to add to Tyer
man these facts regarding the place where the Seceders
found a shelter. It was in the Low Calton, under the
shadow of where the present Post Office stands, but in a
humble block of buildings vulgarly called the " Saut-
Backet," from its resemblance to a wooden salt-cellar, still
used in some parts of Scotland. Here the Seceders were
allowed by the Methodists to worship at a separate hour,
paying a rent of half-a-guinea each Sabbath, and "ten
pounds besides for liberty to set (let) the seats." This
continued for one year or more, from 1785 till the end of
1786, when these Seceders went off to the new church
built by them in Rose Street, where Dr. Hall came to be
their minister. Now the interesting thing is, that all these
arrangements, as to the use of this Methodist chapel,
were made with the knowledge and concurrence of John
Wesley himself, six years before his death, and when the
whole Connexional property was still in his hands. How
little could he have foreseen that this Presbyterian separa
tion was to grow up into three large and flourishing con
gregations — Rose Street, Broughton Place, and Palmer-
ston Place — all in Edinburgh, each with a high name in
connection with Christian work at home and abroad. The
whole United Presbyterian Church is thus under a debt to
John Wesley ; and well may I record it, who have for
more than fifty years been connected with Broughton
Place congregation, the oldest representative of those
exiles from Bristo, whose next minister after Dr. Hall was
the Rev. Dr. John Brown, one of the greatest men we ever
had, and, with Jabez Bunting, one of the founders of the

REV. DR. CAIRNS. 427
Evangelical Alliance ; and of whose present ministers, the
one — Dr. Andrew Thomson, has preached one of your mis
sionary sermons ; and the other, the Rev. John Smith, will
do so, if spared, in due season. Let me only remark before
I leave this point of the early contact of the Seceders with
Methodism, both in the history of Whitefield and of
Wesley, that the two movements, in England and in
Scotland, agreed, more than at the time they recognised,
in being efforts to revive the Reformation, to shake off
the lethargy into which, in both countries, after the brighter
days of Puritanism, Christianity had fallen, and to bring
home to the mass of the people the great gospel of a present
salvation, and of a life superior to the world. And the
theology on each side, though different, were not so
different after all ; for the Seceder believed in an atone
ment which expressed the love of God to mankind sinners
as such ; and the Methodist held to a call and a witness
which only grace could give, and which thus tended from
and to eternity. This is to me the most interesting side
of Methodism, as the renewal of the Reformation to
England and to the world. In this sense it is very signi
ficant that the conversion of Wesley should have come — at
least in its final shape — through the hearing read in 1738
of Luther's Preface to the Romans. In this it recalls the
earlier influence of Luther's Epistle to the Galatians upon
Bunyan. That earlier conversion was destined to exert a
world-wide effect; and with a soul of poetry in Bunyan
which Luther would have hailed as congenial to his own.
But there was not less that was congenial in Wesley, who
seized with a giant-grasp the doctrine of Justification by
Faith, and with the kindred doctrine of the New Birth made
it the foundation of his whole theology. Nor is it without
interest to see how even pre-Reformation influences assert
themselves in the conversion, and subsequent religious
experience and work of Wesley. The Moravian Brethren
propagate in him the spirit of Huss, and so far also of
Wycliffe. However much he may have afterwards modi
fied his impressions derived from intercourse with Peter

428 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
Bohler and Zinzendorf, and his visit in 1738 to Herrnhut,
where he saw the life of Moravianism on its favourable
side, it can hardly be questioned, that he gained something
from what he witnessed of it in its spiritual depth, its
elevation above the world, and its diffusive power. Nor
must we omit to mention the more mystic element which
appears in the Methodist hymns, and which connects them
not only with the general German type, but so far also
with the best in the Moravian. Charles Wesley is not
alone the fount of this, but also John, whose translations
from the German rival the originals, as in the great hymn
of Rothe, — "Now I have found the ground wherein
Sure my soul's anchor may remain ; "
one of the stanzas of which is an imperishable utterance
of the doctrine of Justification :
"O Love, thou bottomless abyss.
My sins are swallowed up in thee !
Covered is mine unrighteousness.
Nor spot of guilt remains on me.
While Jesus' blood, through earth and skies,
Mercy, free boundless mercy cries ! "
But while I dwell on these points of succession to the
German Reformation, and might also have touched on its
affinity to the somewhat earlier effort through Pietism
in the hands of Spener and Francke to revive the German
Reformation on its own soil, I now must mention some
features of novelty in the great Methodist movement,
which show that God never simply restores the past, but
always with elements of adaptation to the existing age.
These circumstances then, I think, discriminate the Method
ist uprising from what went before in the German, and 1
may add, in the English Reformation.
I. First, it was not so much a Reformation as an Evan
gelism'. No doubt it opposed Rome ; and Methodism has
always been one of the strongest Anti-Romish influences.
It also opposed the Church of England, where it had
departed from its own formularies, and other Churches

REV. DR. CAIRNS. 429
where the essence of the gospel had slipped away. But
it was still more essentially a preaching to the masses,
irrespective of old theological lines and antagonisms.
The Word of God and human experience became the
great text- books. Its appeal was " Come and see." This
was its reply to Deism and. every form of unbelief, not to
the rejection of Butler and the Apologists, but to the
supplementing of them by a nearer argument — the present
work of the Holy Spirit. This was its mission, too, over
against indifference, worldliness, and sin of every kind.
" Awake from Nature's guilty sleep, and Christ shall give you light.
Cast all your sins into the deep, and wash the -Kthiop white."
The long-drawn arguments of the Protestant confessions
against Romish and other error, had less place. It was a
living Christ guaranteeing a present and a self-evidencing
salvation. " Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest"
2. Wesley, in the second place, escaped the difficulties of
tli£ Reformers in dealing ivith the relations of Church and
State. I am far from saying that the Reformers went out
of the line of their duty in trying to settle these, though
they may have settled them mistakenly. But Wesley
saw from first to last that this was not his call. He had
only to build up a Society; and to this, with admirable
wisdom and energy, he limited himself Hence the
struggles of Luther, of Calvin, and of Knox, do not
reappear in his career. He is liker Paul and the early
Christians, appealing no doubt to Caesar, when stoned and
beaten, but willing to suffer till his rights, not as a Roman
citizen, but a British subject, should be conceded to him
and to his followers. No part of Wesley's course appears
to me more noble than the stedfastness . with which he
adhered to this spiritual side of his commission ; so that
at length toleration came, and peace, and as much just
influence upon the State, as so great a body ultimately
could not but acquire. Hence Methodism in all the
world has looked at spiritual work as its first and greatest.

430 CENTENARY SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.
and has trusted to converted souls as the right and true
materials of a Christian commonwealth.
3. As a third point of difference, the Wesleyan revival
added to the Reformation type of tlie organisation of the
Church. The universal priesthood of believers was indeed
a watchword of Luther ; but it has failed to this day to be
adequately developed in the Lutheran Churches of Ger
many. In those of the Presbyterian type, which, following
the lead of Zwingli and Calvin, sprung up on the Rhine, in
Switzerland, Holland, France, and also in Britain, the
organisation went so far as to supply, in addition to the
teaching body, under the name of elders, valuable spiritual
help and guidance ; and the Congregationalist movement,
whether Independent or Baptist, beyond anything that
preceded, led, especially in England, in the Common
wealth time, to a large assertion and practice of preaching
by laymen. Yet a combination was ultimately made,
under Wesley and his helpers, of these elements of Christian
organisation, such as hardly existed before. They did not
aspire to found a Church, but only to build up a Society ;
and yet that Society, even before Wesley's death, and still
more after it, had a range and a flexibility, which had not
. in any Reformed country been seen before. It escaped
the territorialism of the State Churches, being founded on
spiritual birth. It had a regular ministry like all the
Churches, and yet a local preaching better drilled and
controlled. It had a class-meeting more warm and vital
than any average Presbyterian eldership, fortified by a
better system of finance ; and whereas in England,
Episcopacy, nominally one for a whole kingdom, had never
got over the boundary of a diocese, or Independency of
a congregation, and Presbytery, after the Westminster
Assembly too often saw its order with its faith become
a dead letter, there sprang up in Methodism, with its annual
Conference, a real unity, stamping upon the great rising
body everyvi^here the same energy and spiritual aspiration.
4. I mention, fourthly and lastly, that Methodism went
beyond the Reformation in its direct and speedy advance to

REV. DR. CAIRNS. 431
foreign missionary enterprise. No doubt the Reformation
had only too good a defence of itself on this side, that it
had to fight, both on the Continent and in Britain, for bare
life, and lost the glow of its zeal for souls amidst the trials
and temptations of the battlefield. There can be little
doubt that, with a less terrible adversary than a militant
Romanism, the Protestant fire would more quickly have
spread into the rest of the world. This was the felicity
of Methodism, that it came after the age of Gustavus
Adolphus, and Cromwell, and William III., and also
when British Colonies might be a stepping-stone to the
heathen field. Wesley's early Georgian experiences had
not been lost upon him ; and the restless fervour of
Whitefield in crossing and re-crossing the Atlantic must
have been a stimulus to all the Methodist leaders. But
the deepest cause after all was the internal life of the
Methodist Society itself A great Home Mission cannot
be limited any more than a zealous Foreign Mission can
leave home neglected. Much of the missionary zeal, that
led by the end of the century to the formation of the
great Societies, was indirectly a result of the Methodist
awakening ; and on the Methodist soil itself, though the
special Society came later, the impulse was coeval with its
origin. The missionary genius of Methodism is seen
in Dr. Coke, who not only connects himself with the
gigantic expansion of the work in the United States, but
embraces both the East and West Indies. Other names
follow, never to be forgotten, carrying the Wesleyan
memories to Sierra Leone and Western Africa ; to the
Cape ; to Kaffirland ; to Ceylon and China ; to every
solitude of Australia and New Zealand ; and in the mighty
transformations in the Fiji Islands, rivalling the greatest
missionary wonders of any age or country. Happily there
is not the least evidence of this tide tending to any ebb ;
and by another centenary of Wesley's death, may it not,
with other kindred streams, have covered the earth as the
waters the sea ?

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