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sailed; and at nine on Friday 13, landed at Helvoetsluys. Here we hired a coach for Briel; but were forced to hire a wagon also, to carry a box, which one of us could have carried on his shoulders. At Briel we took a boat to Rotterdam. We had not been long there, when Mr. Bennet, a bookseller, who had invited me to his house, called for me. But as Mr. Loyal, the minister of the Scotch congregation, had invited me, he gave up his claim, and went with us to Mr. Loyal's. I found a friendly, sensible, hospitable, and I am persuaded, a pious man.

"Saturday, 14. I had much conversation with the two English ministers, sensible, well-bred, serious men. These, as well as Mr. Loyal, were very willing I should preach in their churches; but they thought it would be best for me to preach in the episcopal church. By our conversing freely together many prejudices were removed, and all our hearts seemed to be united together.

"Sunday, 15. The episcopal church is not quite so large as the chapel in West-street: it is very elegant both without and within. The service began at half past nine. Such a congregation had not often been there before. I preached on, God created man in his own image.' The people 'seemed all, but their attention, dead.' In the afternoon the church was so filled, as (they informed me) it had not been for these fifty years. I preached on, God hath given us eternal life; and this life is in his Son.' I believe God applied it to many hearts. Were it only for this hour, I am glad I came to Holland.

"Monday, 16. We set out in a track-skuit for the Hague: by the way we saw a curiosity; the gallows near the canal, surrounded by a knot of beautiful trees! so the dying man will have one pleasant prospect here, whatever befalls him hereafter!

"At eleven we came to Delft, a large, handsome town; where we spent an hour at a merchant's house; who as well as his wife, a very agreeable woman, seemed both to fear and to love God. Afterwards we saw the great church, I think, nearly, if not quite, as long as York Minster. It is exceedingly light and elegant within, and every part is kept exquisitely clean.

"When we came to the Hague, though we had heard much of it we were not disappointed. It is indeed beautiful beyond expression. Many of the houses are exceedingly grand, and are finely intermixed with water and wood; yet not too close, but so as to be sufficiently ventilated by the air.

"Being invited to tea by Madam de Vassenaar, (one of the first quality in the Hague,) I waited upon her in the afternoon. She received us with that easy openness and affability, which is almost peculiar to Christians and persons of quality. Soon after came *en or twelve ladies more who seemed to be of her own rank, (though dressed quite plainly,) and two most agreeable gentlein n: one of whom, I afterwards understood, was a colonel in the Prince's Guards. After tea I expounded the three first verses of the thirteenth chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians: Captain M. interpreted, sentence by sentence. I then prayed, and Col. V. after me. I believe this hour was well employed.

"Tuesday, 17. We dined at Mrs. L-'s, in such a family as I have seldom seen. Her mother, upwards of seventy, seemed to be continually rejoicing in God her Saviour. The daughter breathes the same spirit; and her grandchildren, three little girls and a boy, seem to be all love. I have not seen four such children together in England. A gentleman coming in after dinner, I found a particular desire to pray for him. In a little while he melted into tears, as indeed did most of the company. Wednesday, 18. In the afternoon Madam de Vassenaar invited us to a meeting at a neighboring lady's house. I expounded Gal. vi. 14, and Mr. M. interpreted as before

Thursday, 19. We took boat at seven. Mrs. L and one of her relations, being unwilling to part so soon, bore us company to Leyden, a large and populous town, but not so pleasant as Rotterdam. In the afternoon we went to Haarlem, where a plain good man and his wife received us in a most affectionate manner. At six we took boat again: as it was filled from end to end, I was afraid we should not have a very pleasant journey. After Mr. Ferguson had told the people who we were, we made a slight excuse, and sung a hymn: they were all attention. We then talked a little, by means of our interpreter, and desired that any of them who pleased would sing. Four persons did so, and sung well: after a while we sung again; so did one or two of them; and all our hearts were strangely knit together, so that when we came to Amsterdam, they dismissed us with abundance of blessings.

"Friday, 20. At five in the evening we drank tea at a merchant's, Mr. G-'s, where I had a long conversation with Mr. de H. one of the most learned as well as popular ministers in the city; and I believe (what is far more important) he is truly alive to God. He spoke Latin well, and seemed to be one of a strong understanding, as well as of an excellent spirit. In returning to our inn, we called at a stationer's, and though we spent but a few minutes, it was enough to convince us of his strong affection even to strangers. What a change does the grace of God make in the heart! Shyness and stiffness are now

no more!

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Sunday, 22. I went to the new church, so called still, though four or five hundred years old. It is larger, higher, and better illuminated than most of our cathedrals. The screen that divides the church from the choir, is of polished brass, and shines like gold. I understood the psalms that were sung, and the text well, and a little of the sermon; which Mr. de H. delivered with great earnestness. At two I began the service at the English church, an elegant building, about the size of West-street chapel; only it has no galleries, nor have any of the churches in Holland. I preached on Isaiah Iv. 6, 7, and I am persuaded many received the truth in the love thereof.

"After service I spent another hour at Mr. V's. Mrs. V. again asked me abundance of questions concerning deliverance from sin, and seemed a good deal better satisfied with regard to the great and precious promises. Thence we went to Mr. B. who had lately found peace with God. He was full of faith and love, and could hardly mention the goodness of God without tears. His wife appeared to be of the same spirit, so that our hearts were soon knit together. From thence we went to another family, where a large company were assembled; but all seemed open to receive instruction, and desirous to be altogether Christians.

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"Wednesday, 25. We took boat for Haarlem. The great church here is a noble structure, equalled by few cathedrals in England, either in length, breadth, or height: the organ is the largest I ever saw, and is said to be the finest in Europe. Hence we went to Mr. Van K.'s, whose wife was convinced of sin, and brought to God, by reading Mr. Whitefield's sermons.

"Here we were at home. Before dinner we took a walk in Haarlem wood. It adjoins to the town, and is cut out in many shady walks, with lovely vistas shooting out every way. The walk from the Hague to Scheveling is pleasant; those near Amsterdam more so; but these exceed them all.

"We returned in the afternoon to Amsterdam, and in the evening took leave of as many of our friends as we could. How entirely were we mistaken in the Hollanders, supposing them to be of a cold, phlegmatic, unfriendly temper! I have not

met with a more warmly affectionate people in all Europe! No, not in Ireland!

"Thursday, 26. Our friends having largely provided us with wine and fruits for our little journey, we took boat in a lovely morning for Utrecht, with Mr. Van K.'s, sister, who in the way gave us a striking account. In that house,' said she, (pointing to it as we went by,)' my husband and I lived: and that church adjoining it, was his church. Five years ago, we were sitting together, being in perfect health, when he dropped down, and in a quarter of an hour died: I lifted up my heart and said, Lord, | thou art my husband now; and found no will but his.' This was a trial worthy of a Christian: and she has ever since made her word good. We were scarcely got at our inn at Utrecht when Miss L. came; I found her just such as I expected. She came on purpose from her father's country-house, where all the family were. I observe of all the pious people in Holland, that, without any rule but the word of God, they dress as plainly as Miss March did formerly, and Miss Johnson does now! And considering the vast disadvantage they are under, having no connection with each other, and being under no such discipline at all as we are, I wonder at the grace of God that is in them.

"Saturday, 28. I have this day lived fourscore years; and by the mercy of God, my eyes are not waxed dim, and what little strength of body or mind I had thirty years since, is just the same I have now. God grant I may never live to be useless. Rather may I

'My body with my charge lay down,

And cease at once to work and live.'" "Sunday, 29. At ten I began the service in the English church in Utrecht. I believe all the English in the city were present, and forty or fifty Hollanders. I preached on the 13th of the first of Corinthians, I think as searchingly as ever in my life. Afterwards a merchant invited me to dinner: for six years he had been at death's door by an asthma, and was extremely ill last night; but this morning, without any visible cause, he was well, and walked across the city to the church. He seemed to be deeply acquainted with religion, and made me promise, if I came to Utrecht again, to make his house my home.

"In the evening, a large company of us met at Miss L.'s, where I was desired to repeat the substance of my morning sermon. I did so, Mr. Toydemea, (the professor of law in the university,) interpreting it sentence by sentence. They then sung a Dutch hymn, and we an English one. Afterwards Mr. Regulet, a venerable old man, spent some time in prayer for the establishment of peace and love between the two nations.

Tuesday, July 1. I called on as many as I could of my friends, and we parted with much affection. We then hired a yacht, which brought us to Helvoetsluys about eleven the next day. At two we went on board: but the wind turning against us, we did not reach Harwich till about nine on Friday morning. After a little rest, we procured a carriage, and reached London about eleven at night.

"I can by no means regret either the trouble or expense which attended this little journey. It opened me a way into, as it were, a new world, where the land, the buildings, the people, the customs, were all such as I had never seen before: but as those with whom I conversed were of the same spirit with my friends in England, I was as much at home in Utrecht and Amsterdam, as in Bristol and London." That provision for the stability and the govern ment of the connection after his death which had been to Mr. Wesley a matter of serious concern for several years, was accomplished in 1784, and gave

| him, whenever he subsequently adverted to the subject, the greatest satisfaction. From this time he felt that he had nothing more to do, than to spend his remaining life in the same spiritual labors in which he had been so long engaged; and that he had done all that a true prudence required, to provide for the continuance and extension of a work which had so strangely enlarged under his superintendence.

This settlement was effected by a legal instrument, enrolled in chancery, called "A Deed of Declaration," in which one hundred preachers, mentioned by name, were declared to be "the conference of the people called Methodists." By means of this deed, a legal description was given to the term conference, and the settlement of the chapels upon trustees was provided for; so that the appointment of preachers to officiate in them should be vested in the conference, as it had heretofore been in Mr. Wesley. The deed also declares how the succession and identity of the yearly conference is to be continued, and contains various regulations as to the choice of a president and secretary, the filling up of vacancies, expulsions, &c. Thus "the succession," as it was called in Mr. Charles Wesley's letter, above quoted, was provided for; and the conference, with its president, chosen annually, came into the place of the founder of the connection, and has so continued to the present day. As the whole of the preachers were not included in the deed, and a few who thought themselves equally entitled to be of the hundred preachers who thus formed the legal conference were excepted, some dissatisfaction arose; but as all the preachers were eligible to be introduced into that body, as vacancies occurred, this feeling was but partial, and soon subsided. All the preachers in full connection were also allowed to vote in the conference; and subsequently, those who were not of the hundred, but had been in connection a certain number of years, were permitted, by their votes, to put the president into nomination for the confirmation of the legal conference. Thus all reasonable ground for mistrust and jealousy was removed from the body of the preachers at large; and with respect to the hundred preachers themselves, the president being chosen annually, and each being eligible to that honor, efficiency of administration was wisely connected with equality. The consequence has been, that the preachers have generally remained most firmly united by affection and mutual confidence, and that few serious disputes have ever arisen among them, or have extended beyond a very few individuals. Ecclesiastical history does not, perhaps, present an instance of an equal number of ministers brought into contact so close, and called so frequently together, for the discussion of various subjects, among whom so much general unanimity, both as to doctrines and points of discipline, has prevailed, joined with so much real good will and friendship towards each other, for so great a number of years. This is the more remarkable, as by their frequent changes from

"Messrs. John Hampson, sen., and John Hamp son, jun., his son, William Eells, and Joseph Pilmoor, with a few other travelling preachers, were greatly of fended that their names were not inserted in the deed. By Mr. Fletcher's friendly efforts, a partial reconciliation was effected between them and Mr. Wesley; but it was of short continuance. Soon after the conference, 1784, Mr. Hampson, senior, became an independent minister: but being old and infirm, and the people poor among whom he labored, he was assisted out of the preachers' fund while he lived. He died in the year established church, and got a living in Sunderland, in 1795. Mr. Hampson, jun. procured ordination in the the north of England. Mr. Eells also left the connection, and, some time after, joined Mr. Atlay at Dewsbury; and Mr. Pilmoor went to America."—Myles.

God. The two last mentioned preachers returned, after employing themselves on the mission for about five years; and Mr. Asbury, a true itinerant, who in this respect followed in America the unwearied example of Mr. Wesley, gradually acquired a great and deserved influence, which, supported as it was by his excellent sense, moderating temper, and entíre devotedness to the service of God, increased rather than diminished to the end of a protracted life. The American preachers, like those in England, were at first restrained by Mr. Wesley from administering either of the sacraments; but when, through the war, and the acquisition of independence by the states, most of the clergy of the church of England had left the country, neither the children of the members of the Methodist societies could be baptized, nor the Lord's supper administered among them, without a change of the original plan. Mr. Asbury's predilections for the former order of things prevented him from listening to the request of the American societies to be formed into a regular church, and furnished with all its spiritual privileges; and a division had already taken place among them. This breach, however, Mr. Asbury had the address to heal; and at the peace he laid the whole case before Mr. Wesley. The result will be seen in the following letter:

station to station, opposite interests and feelings are | from the preachers to supply them with the word of very often brought into conflict. The final decisions of the conference on their appointment to these stations, generally the most perplexing part of its annual business, are, however, cheerfully or patiently submitted to, from the knowledge that each has of the public spirit with which that body is actuated, and the frank and brotherly manner in which all its proceedings are conducted. The order of proceeding in the business of the conference is the same as in the days of Mr. Wesley. It admits candidates for the ministry, on proper recommendation from the superintendents and district meetings; examines those who have completed their probation of four years, and receives the approved into full connection, which is its ordination; investigates, without any exception, the character and talents of those who are already in connection year by year; appoints the stations of the year ensuing; sends additional preachers to new places; receives the reports of the committees appointed to manage and distribute various funds; reviews the state of the societies; and issues an annual pastoral address. At the time of the meeting of the conferences, beside the Sunday services, public worship is held early in the morning, and in the evening of every day, except Saturday, which is usually attended by great multitudes. The business of each conference, exclusive of that done in committees which meet previously, occupies, on the average, about a fortnight in every year. Were it not for the district meetings, composed of the preachers, and the stewards of a number of circuits, or stations, in different parts of the kingdom, (an arrangement which was adopted after Mr. Wesley's death,) the business of the conference would require a much longer time to transact; but in these meetings much is prepared for its final decision.

In this important and wise settlement of the government of the connection by its founder, there appears but one regulation which seems to controvert that leading maxim to which he had always respect, namely, to be guided by circumstances in matters not determined by some great principle. I allude to the proviso which obliges the conference not to appoint any preacher to the same chapel for more than three years successively, thus binding an itinerant ministry upon the societies for ever. Whether this system of changing ministers be essential to the spiritual interests of the body or not, or whether it might not be usefully modified, will be matters of opinion; but the point ought perhaps to have been left more at liberty.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE state in which the separation of the United States from the mother country left the Methodist American societies, had become a matter of serious concern to Mr. Wesley, and presented to him a new case, for which it was imperative to make some provision. This, however, could not be done but by a proceeding which he foresaw would lay him open to much remark, and some censure, from the rigid English episcopalians. But with him, the principle of making every thing indifferent give place to the necessity of doing good or preventing evil, was paramount; and when that necessity was clearly made out, he was not a man to hesitate. The mission of Messrs. Boardman and Pilmoor to America has been already mentioned. Two years afterward, in 1771, Mr. Wesley sent out Messrs. Asbury and Wright; and in 1773, Messrs. Rankin and Shadford. In 1777, the preachers in the different circuits in America had amounted to forty, and the societies had also greatly increased. These were scattered in towns and settlements so distant, that it required constant and extensive travelling

"TO DR. COKE, MR. ASBURY, AND OUR BRETHREN IN

NORTH AMERICA.

Bristol, Sept. 10, 1784. "By a very uncommon train of providences, many of the provinces of North America are totally disjoined from their mother country, and erected into independent states. The English government has no authority over them, either civil or ecclesiastical, any more than over the states of Holland. A civil authority is exercised over them, partly by the congress, partly by the provincial assemblies. But no one either exercises or claims any ecclesiastical authority at all. In this peculiar situation, some thousands of the inhabitants of these states desire my advice; and, in compliance with their desire, I have drawn up a little sketch.

"Lord King's account of the primitive church convinced me, many years ago, that bishops and presbyters are the same order, and consequently have the same right to ordain. For many years I have been importuned, from time to time, to exercise this right, by ordaining part of our travelling preachers; but I have still refused, not only for peace' sake, but because I was determined, as little as possible, to violate the established order of the national church to which I belonged.

"But the case is widely different between England and North America. Here there are bishops who have a legal jurisdiction. In America there are none, neither any parish ministers. So that, for some hundred miles together, there is none either to baptize or to administer the Lord's supper. Here, therefore, my scruples are at an end; and I conceive myself at full liberty, as I violate no order, and invade no man's right, by appointing and sending laborers into the harvest.

I have accordingly appointed Dr. Coke and Mr Francis Asbury to be joint superintendents over our brethren in North America, as also Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey to act as elders among them, by baptizing and administering the Lord's supper. And I have prepared a liturgy little differing from that of the church of England, (I think the best constituted national church in the world,) which I advise all the travelling preachers to use on the Lord's day, in all the congregations, reading the litany only on Wednesdays and Fridays, and praying extempore on all other days. I also advise

the elders to administer the supper of the Lord on | brother, "I firmly believe that I am a scriptural every Lord's day. iniakonos as much as any man in England, or in Europe; for the uninterrupted succession I know to be a fable, which no man ever did or can prove. But this does, in no wise, interfere with my remaining in the church of England; from which I have no more desire to separate than I had fifty years ago."

"If any one will point out a more rational and scriptural way of feeding and guiding those poor sheep in the wilderness, I will gladly embrace it. At present I cannot see any better method than that I have taken.

"JOHN WESLEY."

"It has, indeed, been proposed to desire the EnThe point which has been most insisted upon is glish bishops to ordain part of our preachers for the absurdity of a priest ordaining bishops. But this America. But to this I object, 1. I desired the bishop absurdity could not arise from the principle which of London to ordain only one, but could not prevail: Mr. Wesley had adopted, viz. that the orders were 2. If they consented, we know the slowness of their identical; and the censure therefore rests only upon proceedings; but the matter admits of no delay: the assumption, that bishops and priests were of dif3. If they would ordain them now, they would like-ferent orders, which he denied. He never did prewise expect to govern them. And how grievously tend to ordain bishops in the modern sense, but only would this entangle us? 4. As our American according to his view of primitive episcopacy. Litbrethren are now totally disentangled both from the the importance therefore is to be attached to Mr. state and from the English hierarchy, we dare not Moore's statement, that Mr. Wesley having named entangle them again either with the one or the other. Dr. Coke and Mr. Asbury simply superintendents, They are now at full liberty simply to follow the he was displeased when, in America, they took the Scriptures and the primitive church. And we judge title of bishops. The only objection he could have it best that they should stand fast in that liberty likely to convey a meaning beyond his own intention. to the name was, that from long association it was wherewith God has so strangely made them free. But this was a matter of mere prudential feeling, confined to himself: so that neither are Dr. Coke and Mr. Asbury to be blamed for using that appellation in Mr. Wesley's sense, which was the same as presbyter, as far as order was concerned; nor the American societies, (as they have sometimes inconsiderately been,) for calling themselves, in the same view, 'The American Methodist Episcopal Church;' since their episcopacy is founded upon the principle of bishops and presbyters being of the same degreea more extended office only being assigned to the former, as in the primitive church. For though nothing can be more obvious than that the primitive pastors are called bishops or presbyters indiscriminately in the New Testament; yet, at an early period, those presbyters were, by way of distinction, denominated bishops, who presided in the meetings of the presbyters, and were finally invested with the government of several churches, with their respective presbyteries; so that two offices were then, as in this case, grafted upon the same order. Such an arrangement was highly proper for America, where many of the preachers were young, and had also to labor in distant and extensive circuits, and were therefore incapable of assisting, advising, or controlling each other. A travelling episcopacy, or superintendency, was there an extension of the office of elder or presbyter, but it of course created no other distinction; and the bishops of the Methodist church in America have in practice as well exemplified the primitive spirit, as in principle they were conformed to the primitive discipline. Dr. Coke was only an occasional visitant in America, and though in the sense of office he was a bishop there, when he returned home, as here he had no such office, so he used no such title, and made no such pretension. Of this excellent man, it ought here to be said, that occasional visits to America could not satisfy his ardent mind; he became the founder and soul of the Methodist missions in various parts of the world, first

Two persons were thus appointed as superintendents or bishops, and two as elders, with power to administer the sacraments, and the American Methodists were formed into a church, because they could no longer remain a society attached to a colonial establishment which then had ceased to exist. The propriety and even necessity of this step is sufficiently apparent; but the mode adopted exposed Mr. Wesley to the sarcasms of his brother, who was not a convert to his opinion as to the identity of the order of bishops and presbyters; and to all high churchmen the proceeding has had the appearance of great irregularity. The only real irregularity, however, has been generally overlooked, whilst a merely apparent one has been made the chief sub- | ject of animadversion. The true anomaly was, that a clergyman of the church of England should ordain, in any form, without separating from that church, and formally disavowing its authority; and yet, if its spiritual governors did not choose to censure and disown him for denying the figment of the uninterrupted succession, which he openly said "he knew to be a fable;" for maintaining that bishops and priests were originally one order only; (points, let it be observed, which perhaps but few churchmen will now, and certainly but few at that time, would very seriously maintain, so decisive is the evidence of Scripture and antiquity against them, and so completely was the doctrine of the three orders given up by the founders of the English church itself;)* nor, finally, for proceeding to act upon that principle by giving orders; it would be hard to prove that he was under any moral obligation to withdraw from the church. The bishops did not institute proceedings against him, and why should he formally renounce them altogether? It was doubtless such a view of his liberty, in this respect, that made him say on this occasion, in answer to his

"I am not ashamed of the room and office which I have given unto me by Christ to preach his gospel; for it is the power of God, that is to say, the elect organ or instrument ordained by God, and endued with such virtue and efficacy, that it is able to give, and administer effectually, everlasting life unto all those that will believe and obey unto the same.

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Item. That this office, this power and authority, was committed and given by Christ and his apostles unto certain persons only, that is to say, unto priests and

bishops whom they did elect, call and admit thereunto, by their prayers, and imposition of their hands.

"The truth is, there is no mention made of any degrees or distinctions in orders, but only of deacons or ministers, and of priests or bishops.-A DECLARATION

MADE OF THE FUNCTIONS AND DIVINE INSTITUTION OF BISHOPS AND PRIESTS, Regno Hen. VIII. circiter A. D. 1537-40.

"This declaration was signed by Cromwell, the vicar general, Cranmer and Holgate, the archbishops, with many of their suffragans, together with other persons intituled.

"Sacræ Theologia, Juris Ecclesiastici et Civilis, Professores."

byterians and Episcopalians in the time of Charles I was also founded upon the principle of bishops and presbyters being one order.

Archbishop Usher's plan for comprehending the Pres

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Life of Wesley.

under the direction of Mr. Wesley, and then in conjunction with the conference; and by his voyages, travels, and labors, he erected a monument of noble and disinterested zeal and charity, which will never be obliterated. * But Mr. Asbury remained the preaching, travelling, self-denying bishop of the American societies, till afterwards others were as-ordinations to the work and office of the ministry, sociated with him, plain and simple in their manners as the rest of their brethren, and distinguished from them only by "labors more abundant."

It was by thus absurdly confounding episcopacy in the modern acceptation, and in Mr. Wesley's view, that a good deal of misplaced wit was played off on this occasion; and not a little bitterness was expressed by many. He, however, performed a great and good work, and not only provided for the spiritual wants of a people who indirectly had sprung from his labors; but gave to the American church a form of administration admirably suited to a new and extensive empire, and, under which, the societies have, by the divine blessing, prospered beyond all precedent. Some letters passed between him and Mr. Charles Wesley on the subject of the American ordinations. The first, written by Charles, was warm, and remonstrative; the second, upon receiving his brother's calm answer, was more mild, and shows, that he was less afraid of what his brother had done for America, than that Dr. Coke, on his return should form the Methodists of England into a regular and separate church also! The concluding paragraph of this letter is, however, so affecting, so illustrative of that oneness of heart, which no difference of opinion between the brothers could destroy, that it would be unjust to the memory of both, not to insert it:"I thank you for your intention to remain my friend. Herein my heart is as your heart. Whom God hath joined, let no man put asunder. We have taken each other for better for worse, till death do us-part? no: but eternally unite. Therefore, in the love which never faileth, I am

"Your affectionate friend and brother,

"C. WESLEY."

Some time after this, Mr. Wesley appointed several of the English preachers, by imposition of hands, to administer the sacraments to the societies in Scotland. There the English establishment did not extend, and a necessity of a somewhat similar kind existed, though not of so pressing a nature as in America. He, however, steadily objected to give this liberty, generally, to his preachers in England, and those who administered the sacraments in Scotland were not permitted to perform the same office in England upon their return. The reason why he refused to appoint in the same manner, and for the same purpose, for England, is stated in the letter above given. He was satisfied of his power, as a presbyter, to ordain for such an administration; but, he says, "I have still refused, not only for peace' sake, but, because I was determined as little as possible to violate the established order of the national church to which I belonged." This was a prudent principle most sincerely held by him; and it explains his condict in those particulars for which he has been censured by opposite parties. When it could not be avoided, without sacrificing some real good, he did violate the established order," thinking that this order was in itself merely prudential. When that

* Dr. Coke connected himself with Mr. Wesley in 1776, as stated by the latter in his journal:-"Being at Kingston, near Taunton, I found a clergyman, Dr. Coke, late gentleman commoner of Jesus College, in Oxford, who came twenty miles on purpose. I had much conversaion with him, and a union then began, which, I trust, shall never end." His name did not appear on the minutes till the year 1778. In that year he was appointed to labor in London.

necessity did not exist, his own predilections, and the prejudices of many members of his societies, enforced upon him this abstinence from innovation. It may, however, be asked, in what light Mr. Wesley's appointments to the ministry, in the case of his own preachers, ought to be viewed. That they were cannot be reasonably and scripturally doubted; and that they were so in his own intention, we have before shown from his own minutes. It was required of them, as early as 1746, to profess to be "moved by the Holy Ghost, and to be called of God to preach." This professed call was to be tested by their piety, their gifts, and their usefulness; all of which points were investigated; and after probation they were solemnly received by prayer to labor with him in the gospel;" and from that time were devoted wholly to their spiritual work,* including the pastoral care of societies. Here was ordination, though without imposition of hands, which, although an impressive ceremony, enters not, as both the Scriptures and the nature of the thing itself point out, into the essence of ordination; which is a separation of men by ministers, to the work of the ministry, by solemn prayer. This was done at every conference, by Mr. Wesley, who, as he had, as early as 1747, given up the uninterrupted succession and the distinct order of bishops as a fable, left himself, therefore, at liberty to appoint to the ministry in his own way. He made, it is true, a distinction at one time between the primitive offices of evangelists or teachers, and pastors, as to the right of giving the sacraments, which he thought belonged to the latter only; but as this implied, that the primitive pastors had powers, which the primitive evangelists, who ordained them, had not, it was too unsupported a notion for him long to maintain. Yet, had this view of the case been allowed, the preachers were not mere teachers, but pastors in the fullest sense. They not only taught, but guided, and managed the societies; receiving members, excluding members, and administering private, as well as public, admonitions; and if they were constituted teachers and pastors by his ordination, without the circumstance of the imposition of hands, it is utterly impossible to conceive that that ceremony conveyed any larger right, as such, to administer the sacraments, in the case of the few he did ordain in that manner for Scotland and America. As to them it was a form of permission and appointment to exercise the right. His appointments to the ministry every conference, necessarily conveyed all the rights of a pastor, because they conveyed the pastoral office; but still it did not follow, that all the abstract rights of the ministry, thus conveyed to the body of the preachers, should be actually used. It was not imperative upon them to exercise all their functions; and he assumed no improper authority as the father and founder of the connection, to determine to what extent it was prudent to exercise them, provided he was satisfied that the sacraments were not put out of the power of the societies to observe. He exercised this suspending authority even over those preachers whom he ap pointed to give the sacraments in Scotland, by prohibiting them from administering in the English societies, over which they became pastors. So little difference did his ordination by imposition of hands make in their case, even in his own estimation. It

It is observable, that in the conference of 1768 he enjoined abstinence from all secular things upon them, both on the scriptural principle, 1 Tim. iv. 13, and on the ground, that the church, "in her office of ordination," required this of her ministers.

See Moore's Life of Wesley, vol. ii. p. 340. When a few of the preachers received ordination from a Greek bishop, then in England, and from whem he was falsely reported himself to have sought consecra

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