ment, -an Act of Parliament having been obtained to that effect.1 Had the Methodists been able, and had they actually availed themselves of such a means of building their chapel, their toils indeed would have been far less than they were; but their conduct would have been less exemplary to their descendants, exactly in the same proportion.

The principal persons then in Society consulted with each other and with their preachers, on the business; and a trust was nominated, consisting of Messrs. John Sewell, John King, Samuel Warren, James Swanton, James Fish, Nathanael Lewis, Samuel Sewell, Cozens, Robert Page, Samuel Bultitude; who immediately began to make the necessary arrangements for the work before them.

Of these men it has, I believe, been observed, "They had much faith, and little money:" Which, though not absolutely true, was true to a considerable extent. But this reflects honour upon them, and not disgrace : And from what they did, we may judge what they would have done, had their shillings

(1) Preston's Picture of Yarmouth, p. 22.

but been pounds, or their pounds hundreds. They were men of principle and grace; and though it might have put some of them to great inconvenience, to raise, without borrowing, the monies necessary for the undertaking; yet they knew it was the cause of God, and that it was no imprudence to risk something for the honour of his name, and the promotion of his glory in the earth.

They therefore went to work, much in the spirit of the pious Nehemiah in days of old, who said, when he was about the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, "The God of heaven will prosper us; therefore we, his servants, will arise and build." They purchased a large building, on freehold property, in a very central and respectable part of the town; and, setting the carpenters, bricklayers, &c., to work upon this edifice, they converted it into a commodious sanctuary, which would accommodate nearly a thousand people to hear the word of God. Towards raising the funds necessary for this work, they had recourse to the usual method of voluntary subscriptions, and realized, among themselves and such others as were friendly to the cause, the sum of £272 16s. 2d. : And among

the list of subscribers I feel pleasure in finding the names of respectable individuals now living in the town, not members of our Society, and of the late Samuel Whitbread, Esquire, M. P., prefixed to the liberal donation of twenty guineas.

The cost of the whole undertaking, including the purchase-money, amounted to about £1300: So that, after all, they were obliged to borrow to a considerable amount. I did intend to give the reader in this place a particular account of the settlement of our chapels, the powers and office of the trustees, &c. ; but as that would swell this narrative too much, as well as for various other reasons, I must decline it, referring those who wish to be informed on these topics, to "the Works of Mr. Wesley," "Crowther's Portraiture of Methodism," &c., which any of the preachers will easily obtain for those who may wish to become purchasers. I shall merely state in general, that the Methodist chapels, settled on the regular Wesleyan plan, are the legal - property of METHODISM, as a religious system, rather than of the Methodists as a religious body. In other words, they are strictly and legally the property of the cause of God. The Con

ference have the sole right of appointing preachers to them, which they do from year to year. The preachers, so appointed, cannot be interrupted in the free exercise of their ministry in them, while they live and preach the gospel as explained in Mr. Wesley's Works: And the trustees are vested with full powers to keep out heterodoxy; while, at the same time, they are very properly divested of the power to assist in its introduction.

Upon these principles the Methodist Chapel in Yarmouth was settled; and upon these principles it will now continue, I trust, till the sun and moon shall be no more,—affording all our members, rich or poor, private or official, the same equal privilege, that of worshipping God, and finding their way to heaven. To this wise regulation of settling our chapels, and thus associating them with the cause of Methodism, as as well as to the regular exchange of preachers, we may principally attribute, under God, that oneness in doctrine and discipline, which exists among us as a body, more, in all probability, than among any other denomination of Christians whatsoever. Among other parties, there are

men of various and even contradictory sentiments; and the epithets of high and low are somewhat oddly given to them, in consequence of their relative doctrinal position one to another. But if a man attempt to preach any other doctrines among us than those recognized by the whole body, he is soon, by the very nature of our constitution and discipline, turned adrift, either to float on the billows of his own creed, or to be picked up by others whose principles and ways are similar to his own.

This chapel was opened in the autumn of the year 1792. Mr. Charles Boon and Mr. John Wilshaw, having recently arrived in the circuit, conducted the public services on the occasion; the former commencing the devotional exercises by solemn prayer to God, and the latter delivering an appropriate discourse from Haggai ii. 9: "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the glory of the former, saith the LORD of hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts."-These words have been remarkably fulfilled in the experience of many a broken-hearted sinner.

There was one circumstance relative to the