A DELEGATE'S NOTION OF WHAT IS FAIR AND

EQUAL.

"AFTER a long and anxious deliberation, a thorough investigation of the whole subject, and a free and protracted debate, we have come to the solemn conviction, that, as the assumption and acts of the Conference are palpably contrary to the authority of the great Head of the church.........we dare not, and cannot conscientiously, contribute, as heretofore, to any of the funds employed in its support. In obedience to the imperious call of duty, we therefore deliberately advise and recommend that the usual contributions to all Wesleyan funds be at once diverted into another channel, until the Conference shall yield to your just and scriptural claims." (Address to the Methodist Societies from the Wesleyan Delegates assembled in Albion chapel, London, August, 1850, p. 6.)

We do not now offer any remark upon the justice or injustice, the kindness or the cruelty, of this piece of "obedience" to "duty;" but merely call attention to the fact that these "Delegates" had, and knew they had, the absolute control of their own money, and the power to say, at any time, that not a farthing more of it shall go into แ any of the funds employed in support" of the "Conference;" that the "Delegates" who preceded them in '95 and '97, in this respect enjoyed equal rights with themselves, their imitators, and successors; and that all the private members of the "Methodist Societies" do now, and always did, possess precisely the same power; for to them, say the authors of this "Address," we deliberately advise and recommend" its exercise universally, and without delay.

"9 66

It seems the "Delegates of '95 and '97" evinced great tenderness and anxiety on the subject of their own membership, the offices they filled, and especially their pecuniary liabilities as Trustees. With all their might they sought to provide-and their successors say they actually did provide “That no Leader or Steward can be put out of his place but by a majority of a Leaders' or Quarterly Meeting; neither can a member of Society be excluded but by a majority of a Leaders'Meeting." *

Most likely, too, the same men had suggested to the Conference the propriety of enacting, that "no Trustee (however accused, or defective in conforming to the established rules of our Society) shall be removed from the Society, unless his crime or breach of the rules of the Society, be proved in the presence of the Trustees and Leaders.Ӡ Delegates assembled again in Albion chapel, London, in 1850; but, as they professed a wish to restore Methodism to the state in which it was left by their predecessors in '95 and '97, they did not, of course, either propose or even intend to weaken or remove any of the guards and defences which had been thrown around themselves, or to do anything likely to render the pecuniary position of their Ministers more secure and satisfactory. Here, therefore, are two classes of wellascertained facts in the history of Methodism ; and by comparing them

* Martin's Speech, March 14th, 1850, p. 3. + Minutes of Conference, vol. i., p. 300.

with each other, we may learn something respecting "a Delegate's notion of what is fair and equal."

1. As these gentlemen do not profess to be partial and selfish, nor to disregard the maxim of doing as they would be done by, we must conclude, that both what they have done and what they have left undone, in their opinion, at least, was perfectly equitable. Now, it is a fact, that, while those who are the representatives of the people are the only parties who can give any regular and authorised protection to the ministry, in pecuniary matters, the parties in Methodism who at different times have assumed this title have most studiously fenced and guarded their own feelings, and reputation, and worldly interests; but have notoriously left the honest stipend, the hard-earned bread, of their Ministers without the slightest protection whatever. Ask any of these gentlemen why they so fear exclusion from the Methodist Society, and they will tell you, because it separates them from their friends, breaks up long-established and highly-valued associations, and thereby their feelings are lacerated;-because their reputation is by such an act rather lowered than exalted; while some have said that to withhold their ticket is to inflict a civil injury, and have talked about an action at law for the recovery of damages. Against all these possible inconveniences they have carefully guarded themselves by requesting the enactment of laws, well known, and often and triumphantly quoted. But no body of representatives ever urged upon the Conference the propriety of making a rule to which a deserving Minister, appointed to a poor Circuit, where the allowances are on the very lowest scale, might appeal for some degree of protection, when his scanty pittance, honestly earned, was unrighteously withheld by the mere proposal of a Circuit-Steward, and the hasty vote of an excited Quarterly-Meeting. Unprejudiced people think that, when, according to a specific rule, “neither can a member of Society be excluded but by a majority of a Leaders'-Meeting," a proper counterpart and companion to this would have been a rule according to which no ministerial labourer should be deprived of his hire, but "by a majority" of a Preachers' "Meeting." But instead of such a pair of rules, we find only a solitary enactment; for the first exists without the last. In the recent practice of the Connexion we have an exemplification of the state of its laws; for, while the "Newgate Calendar" of Methodism has ostentatiously reported innumerable trials of lay officers and members, with, occasionally, what is called "a triumphant acquittal,"— poor Ministers, when abruptly deprived of their little stipends, for which they had honestly laboured, and on which they were entirely dependent, have sought for no trial, because for them there was no protection, nor anything but meekness and submission, even when insult was added to robbery. Such is Wesleyanism as left by former Delegates; and as the men assembled in Albion chapel do not propose any measure intended to place Ministers and people more entirely on a par, we are obliged to conclude that, according to the

united notions of these self-styled representatives, such a state of things, as between man and man, is perfectly fair and equal.

2. We have a further intimation of the opinions of these gentlemen on the subject of equality. After two parties have long acquiesced in a division of power which was mutually deemed to be tolerably equal, and it is afterwards proposed that one of these parts be further subdivided into two, and then three of these quarters given to one party, and the remaining one to the other, this would then become a fair and equal distribution. It was amidst the "cheers" of a large Meeting in Exeter-Hall, that a Reforming orator made the following deliverance :-"To my mind, nothing is more evident than that the legislative, directive, and judicial functions of the church should be shared equally by the Clergy and laity." Amongst the Methodists, for more than a century, the "legislative, directive, and judicial functions" had been substantially exercised by the Conference, while the people had the absolute and unconditional control over all funds, as these were created or annihilated according to their will and pleasure. In general, this was thought to be a tolerably fair division of power, as the Ministers were left quite free to adopt and execute the best measures they could devise for the spread of the Gospel, and the evangelization of the world; while upon Conference proceedings the people had an effectual check, since, without their co-operation, the machine must come to a dead stand, and all "legislative, directive, and judicial functions," whoever held them, be at once reduced to a nullity. At least, if any party had reason to complain of weakness, it was certainly not the holders of the purse; but there were and are some who think that Ministers can scarcely be expected to act freely and faithfully, while compelled to feel that, for their daily bread, they are entirely dependent on the opinions of their people. However, in this arrangement all parties generally acquiesced, and the system was found, not merely to work, but to prove "as a wonder unto many." Now it is proposed, not that the "laity" come under some pecuniary restrictions and limitations, for they are to retain their former power in all its latitude and integrity, and remain the absolute "Lords of the Treasury," while the "legislative, directive, and judicial functions" are to be" shared equally" between them and the "Clergy;" and although there are people who think that a thing is not "shared equally" when three-fourths are given to one party, and only one-fourth to another, yet Delegates seem to be of a different opinion.

3. In the judgment of these parties, too, it is quite fair and equal that the blame, which properly belongs to themselves, should, with all its inconveniences, be borne by other people. The men assembled in Albion chapel first of all resolve to "stop the supplies” themselves, and then proceed to "deliberately advise and recommend" all Methodists to do the same; assuming, of course, that to do this they had both the right and the power, which point we have no wish to dispute. Then they tell us, there" are the office-bearers and members bound hand and foot, reduced to servility and submission, gagged and

*

fettered," by their Ministers.

by their Ministers. We may venture to affirm, that if the holders of the purse, in any community, are ever reduced to this pitiable condition, it can be only through some glaring misconduct of their own.

In Great Britain, the House of Commons withhold or "vote the supplies;" and that assembly, by a skilful use of the advantages of their position, have gradually risen to be the most powerful of all the three estates of the realm. Should they ever become "bound hand and foot, reduced to servility and submission, gagged and fettered," we may rest assured they have lost their wits, and been acting in a very preposterous manner. Wesleyanism contains no system of representation; yet, as a perfectly voluntary association, the body of its people retain in their own hands precisely the same power; and if they really are, as they say, "reduced to servility and submission," that effect must, in some way or other, have resulted from their own conduct. Either, therefore, these persons perpetrate a known injustice, when they talk of being "bound hand and foot," "gagged and fettered," by their Ministers; or they deem it quite fair and equitable to place upon the shoulders of another that burden of shame and dishonour which ought to be borne only by themselves.

4. So very peculiar are the opinions of these Delegates, that conduct which is truly and substantially fair and equal, they declare to be iniquitous and oppressive beyond endurance. If ever the world beheld an example of generous confidence, it has been set by the Wesleyan Conference. John Wesley made common cause with his people, and entirely trusted them with the maintenance of himself, his brother, and the Preachers he had called out, and relied on their kindness for the execution of the mighty plans he had devised for the evangelization of the world. In these respects his appointed successors “walked in the same steps." Some of these men had private property, on which they partly subsisted while engaged in their ministry. Others of them were poor, and entirely dependent upon the Christian liberality of the Societies. Not only did these men trust the Wesleyan "laity" for themselves, but incurred a vast amount of responsibility by employing hundreds of Ministers with families, both at home and abroad; fully believing that in these arrangements they should be sustained by the people united with them in religious fellowship. This gigantic superstructure has been reared without a scrap of paper, or a verbal promise, or any other pecuniary guarantee, and rests entirely upon a principle of confidence in the Christian honour and devout feeling of the Methodist people.

And what is the general import of the language and practice of the Conference on the subject of excluding members from the Society, viewed in connexion with the foregoing statements of facts? It simply amounts to this: "We trust you, and request you to trust us." We deem our own bread, and that of our families, perfectly safe in your

* Martin's Speech in Exeter-Hall, p. 3.

hands; and your feelings and reputation are equally safe in ours. It is true, such as “walk disorderly, and will not be reproved," must be put away from us. That point is settled, not only by Mr. Wesley, but by a Divine authority. As your Ministers, we can have no reason for putting away any man without a cause. Members constitute our worldly inheritance, as well as, evangelically, "our glory and joy." To put away them is to cut the sinews of our own strength, and to reduce and scatter the means of our own subsistence. Individual Ministers, indeed, may be passionate and indiscreet. But every one of them is amenable to our constituted courts. "That Superintendent would be bold indeed, who should act with partiality or injustice in the presence of the whole Meeting of Leaders. Such a Superintendent, we trust, we have not among us: and if such there ever should be, we should be ready to do all possible justice to our injured brethren." *

When it is considered that this language was addressed to people on whom the parties speaking were as entirely dependent as was Lazarus upon the "rich man," it is impossible to doubt its sincerity. After the violent outcry of "Stop the supplies," raised in Albion chapel, and repeated in several places, and after the privations endured by many deserving Ministers, the Conference has called for no additional guards and securities which, whether the stipends of the men it appoints are large or small, may tend to insure their actual payment. It freely leaves, as heretofore, the bread of its own members, with that of their brethren at home and abroad, entirely in the hands of the body of Wesleyan people.

A vast majority of these are known to be "called, and chosen, and faithful," and the "best of all is, God is with us." The true security against an illegal expulsion is to follow that which is good; and the surest guarantee for the due payment of salary is a course of fidelity to Christ and His cause. Other guards may be multiplied on both sides, but can afford very little personal protection, amidst increasing jealousy and distrust, while these, like a stroke of lightning, will shiver Methodism to pieces. Conference confidence reciprocated will give protection to individual members, and omnipotence to the system. Ordinary and unbiassed people will probably deem it equal to "give and take," and say, "While the Conference trusts us, it is but fair that we should trust them." Delegates seem to hold a different opinion, as one of their orators has characterized the conduct of the Conference as "tyranny," "overbearing intolerance," "despotism," "selfishness," and "priestcraft;" and they all plainly act like men who think it is fair and equal, that unbounded confidence, placed by Christian Ministers in their people, should be repaid by intense suspicion and vulgar abuse.

* Minutes of Conference, vol. i., p. 377. + Martin's Speech, March 14th, p. 3.