Indeed, the Scriptures from first to last envelope this union with a sacred and mysterious solemnity. The first marriage, that of Adam and Eve,Godhimself solemnized, evenGod, who, by that very act, instituted the ordinance, and stamped it as Divine, and not a mere human contract. The whole proceeding, with respect to the marriage of Adam and Eve, is related under circumstances calculated to awaken the most solemn attention. As to the other creatures of his hand, they were produced by a fiat of theAlmightywill, (male and female of every species,) a corporeal and instinctive adaptation to herd together being the bounds of their perfection. But in the case of the human species, a very different course was observed. Man is first formed, a splendidly gifted creature, who soon is made to feel his social wants, (by a survey of allGod’screaturesmatedexcept himself,) and to express, by a plaintive reference to his own comparative destitution, how desolate he was even in Paradise, being alone in the garden of delights; and how hopeless was the search for a helpmeet for him throughout the whole compass of hitherto animated nature. Then it is thatGodputs his last finish to the visible universe by his own wonderful counsel for supplying the deficiency. He takes from man’s own substance the material from which his second self is to be formed; as the term employed by Moses imports, he works upon it with the skill of a profound artificer; and having framed and modelled out of it, after man’s own image, softened and refined, but still retaining its Divine similitude, the grace of social life, he himself brings her to him to be his bosom counsellor and partner of his joys,(for cares and sorrows he, as yet, had none,) knitting them together, and pouring on them the most precious benedictions. Thus was the marriage first solemnized by the greatGodhimself. And even so do his ambassadors now;they, as an ancient writer observes, they, as the representatives ofGod, come forth to the persons who are to be joined together, to confirm this their sacred covenant by the offering up of holy prayers.
By Canon 62, it is enjoined that no minister shall join persons in marriage in any private place, but either in the churches or chapels where one of them dwelleth, and likewise in time of Divine service. (SeeBanns.)
An uniformity of principle prevails throughout the sacred Scriptures, and to the sacredness of the marriage contract frequent allusions are made. Thus Israel is said to have beenmarriedto theLord; and idolatry (that is, the following of the gods of the heathens) is represented as adultery, a breach of the covenant betweenGodand Israel.God’sreproofs to them for their infidelity are sharpened by the recollection of their marriage relation with him. The state of believers in this world is compared by the apostle Paul to the time that used to elapse between the betrothing and the actual marriage among the Jews; nay, St. Paul goes further, he alludes to this sacred contract as a type or representation of the mysterious love ofJesusto his Church. For ourLordforsook his heavenlyFather, and did cleave unto our nature, becoming one flesh with us, giving to the Church hisSpiritfor a dowry, and heaven for a jointure, feeding her at his table, adorning her by his grace, and protecting her by his power; and from this love ofChristto his spouse, the Church, are many converts begotten untoGodthrough the gospel, and (born again of water and theHoly Ghost) they become heirs of glory. Thus honoured is the marriage contract, by being made an emblem of so Divine and mysterious a mercy. It was indeed to hallow the rite by this application that St. Paul wrote, since in the passage referred to he was arguing against certain seducers who would have disfigured Christianity by imputing to it the forbidding of its disciples to marry. He shows, on the contrary, that marriage, so far from having any discredit cast upon it by the gospel, is advanced in honour. He describes, indeed, the ministerial office to consist in espousing the Church toChrist; and St. John, in the Apocalypse, depicts the consummation of all things as the marriage of theLamband his wife, the beatific union betweenChristand his redeemed ones, betweenGodand the Church, when the Church has been cleansed and sanctified, and become a glorious Church, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing.
MATTHEW, ST., THE EVANGELIST’S DAY. A festival of the Christian Church, observed on the 21st of September.
St. Matthew, the son of Alpheus, was also called Levi. He was of Jewish original, as both his names discover, and probably a Galilean. Before his call to the apostolate, he was a publican or tollgatherer to the Romans; an office of bad repute among the Jews, on account of the covetousness and exaction of those who managed it. St. Matthew’s office particularly consisted in gathering the customs of all merchandise that came by the sea of Galilee, and the tribute that passengers were to pay who went by water. And here it was that Matthew sat at the “receipt of custom,” when our Saviour called him to be a disciple. It is probable, that, living at Capernaum, the place of Christ’s usual residence, he might have some knowledge of him before he was called.
Matthew immediately expressed his satisfaction, in being called to this high dignity, by entertaining our Saviour and his disciples at a great dinner at his own house, whither he invited all his friends, especially those of his own profession, hoping, probably, that they might be influenced by the company and conversation of Christ.
St. Matthew continued with the rest of the apostles till after ourLord’sascension. For the first eight years afterwards he preached in Judea. Then he betook himself to propagating the gospel among the Gentiles, and chose Ethiopia as the scene of his apostolical ministry; where it is said he suffered martyrdom, but by what kind of death is altogether uncertain. It is pretended, but without any foundation, that Hyrtacus, king of Ethiopia, desiring to marry Iphigenia, the daughter of his brother and predecessor Æglippus, and the apostle having represented to him that he could not lawfully do it, the enraged prince ordered his head immediately to be cut off.
MATTHEW’S, ST., GOSPEL. A canonical book of the New Testament. (See the preceding article.)
St. Matthew wrote his Gospel in Judea, at the request of those he had converted. It is thought he began this work aboutthe year 41, eight years after ourSaviour’sresurrection. Irenæus thinks he wrote it whilst St. Peter and St. Paul were preaching at Rome. It was written (according to the testimony of all the ancients) in the Hebrew or Syriac language, which was then common in Judea.
The true Hebrew Gospel of St. Matthew is no longer in being anywhere, as far as can be discovered. Those printed by Sebastian Munster, and du Tillet, are modern, and translated into Hebrew from the Latin or Greek.
The Greek version of St. Matthew’s Gospel, and which at this day passes for the original, is as old as the apostolical times. The author is unknown. Some ascribe it to St. Matthew himself; others, to St. James the less, bishop of Jerusalem; others, to St. John the evangelist, or to St. Paul, or to St. Luke, or to St. Barnabas.
MATTHIAS’S, ST., DAY. A festival of the Christian Church, observed on the 24th of February.
St. Matthias was an apostle ofJesus Christ, but not of the number of the twelve, chosen byChristhimself. He obtained this high honour upon a vacancy, made in the college of the apostles by the treason and death of Judas Iscariot. The choice fell on Matthias by lot; his competitor being Joseph called Barsabas, and surnamed Justus.
Matthias was qualified for the apostleship, by having been a constant attendant upon ourSaviourall the time of his ministry. He was, probably, one of the seventy disciples. After ourLord’sresurrection, he preached the gospel first in Judea. Afterwards it is probable he travelled eastward, his residence being principally near the irruption of the river Apsarus and the haven Hyssus. The barbarous people treated him with great rudeness and inhumanity; and, after many labours and sufferings in converting great numbers to Christianity, he obtained the crown of martyrdom; but by what kind of death is uncertain.
The observance of this festival among us has been attended with some confusion. The Common Prayer Book of Queen Elizabeth directs, that, in Leap-years, an intercalary or additional day shall be added between the 23rd and 24th days of February. Hence St. Matthias’s day, which, in common years, was observed on the 24th of February, was, in Leap-years, observed on the 25th. But, in the review of our liturgy, it was thought more proper to add a 29th day to February. So that now, there being no variation of the days, this festival must always keep to the 24th day. But, notwithstanding the case is so clear, some almanack-makers continued to follow the old custom, which occasioned the day to be variously observed. Archbishop Sancroft decided the matter by an injunction, Feb. 5, 1683, requiring “all vicars and curates to take notice, that the feast of St. Matthias is to be celebrated, not upon the 25th of February, (as the common almanack-makers boldly and erroneously set it,) but upon the 24th of February for ever, whether it be Leap-year or not, as the calendar in the liturgy, confirmed by act of uniformity, appoints and enjoins.”
MAUNDY THURSDAY. The Thursday before Easter, being the day on which our Lord instituted the holy sacrament of his body and blood. The name of Maundy, Maunday, or Mandate, (Dies Mandati,) is said to have allusion to themandateor new commandment which, on this day,Christgave to his disciples, that they should love one another, as he had loved them. It has also been supposed by others, that the name arose from themaunds, or baskets of gifts, which, at this time, it was an ancient custom for Christians to present one to another, in token of that mutual affection which ourLordso tenderly urged, at this period of his sufferings, and as a remembrancer of that “inestimable gift” ofChrist, to be our spiritual food in the sacrament of his body and blood. Says a writer of the age of Wickliff, “Christmade hismaundyand said, Take, eat,” &c.
On this day it was customary for bishops, sovereigns, and nobles, to wash the feet of the poor, a ceremony still observed in many places abroad. In the Hierurgice Anglicana (p. 282, 283) is given an account of the ceremonial observed by Queen Elizabeth. King James II. is said to have been the last of our sovereigns who performed it. It is still the custom on Maundy Thursday for the Lord Almoner to distribute certain royal donations to the poor in the Royal Chapel at Whitehall. This service consists of appropriate psalms, lessons, anthems, and special prayers. It is performed with great solemnity. For the full particulars see Stephens’s edition of the Common Prayer Book.
MAY, TWENTY-NINTH OF. (SeeForms of Prayer.)
MEANS OF GRACE. (SeeOrdinancesandSacraments.) The sacraments and other ordinances of the Church, through which grace is conveyed to souls prepared by faith and penitence to receive it.
MEDIATOR. (SeeJesus,Lord,Christ,Messiah.) A person who intervenes between two parties at variance. Thus our blessedLordandSaviour Jesus Christis the Mediator betweenGodand man.
This appears from 1 Tim. ii. 5, “For there is oneGod, and one Mediator betweenGodand men, the manChrist Jesus.” When we call him a Mediator, we call him so, not only as he is our Redeemer, but also as he is our Intercessor. “For, if any man sin, we have an advocate with theFather,Jesus Christthe righteous.” (1 John ii. 1.)—Archdeacon Welchman.It is to be remembered, however, that by a mediator here the Church means, not barely an intercessor or transactor of business between two parties, in which sense Moses was a mediator betweenGodand the Israelites with respect to the ceremonial law; but such a mediator, intercessor, and transactor, as can plead the merit of his own blood, offered up in man’s stead, to reconcile an offendedGodto sinful man. In this senseChristis the only mediator betweenGodand man, being bothGodand man.—Dr. Bennet.
It has been already proved thatChristpartook both of the Divine and human nature: and St. Paul expressly says, “There is one mediator,” &c.Christis represented, both in the Old and New Testament, as the only redeemer of mankind, as the only sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. His merits will extend to all who lived before and after the promulgation of the gospel. “As in Adam all die, so inChristshall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. xv. 22.) “He is theLambwhich was slain from the foundation of the world.” (Rev. xiii. 8.)—Bp. Tomline.
MELCHITES. The name which is given to the Syriac, Egyptian, and other Christians of the Levant; who, though not Greeks, follow the doctrines and ceremonies of the Greek Church, and submit to the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon. The termMelchitesis borrowed from the Hebrew or Syriac wordMelec, which signifiesking. So that Melchites is as much as to say Royalists, and is a term of reproach, given to the orthodox by the Eutychians, or Jacobites, on account of their implicit submission to the edicts of the emperors, for the publication and reception of the above-mentioned council.
The Melchites, excepting some few points of little or no importance, which relate only to their ceremonies and ecclesiastical discipline, are in every respect professed Greeks. They have translations, in the Arabian language, of the Greek rituals; but their versions are for the most part very incorrect. In general, the Christians of the Levant are so far from being just and correct in their translations of the Greek authors, that they imagine they have a right to make them speak according to their own sentiments. This is evident in the Arabic canons of the Council of Nice, in which the Melchites find sufficient arguments to justify their notions against those of the Jacobites; and the Jacobites, on the other hand, by the very same canons, vindicate their tenets against those of the Melchites.
The Melchites are governed by a particular patriarch, who resides at Damascus, and assumes the title of Patriarch of Antioch. The great difficulty they meet with in finding such ministers as can read Greek, is said to be the true reason why they celebrate mass in the Arabian language: and even those who are acquainted with the Greek tongue, yet read the Epistle and Gospel in Arabic.
The monks among the Melchites follow the rule of St. Basil, the common rule of all the Greek monks. They have four fine convents, distant about a day’s journey from Damascus. They never go out of the cloister.
MELETIANS. There were in the fourth century two schisms calledMeletian.
1. The Meletians of Egypt had their name from Meletius, a bishop of Lycopolis, the second of the Egyptian sees in dignity. It has been most commonly supposed that Meletius sacrificed to the heathen gods in a persecution about the year 301, or perhaps in the last general persecution a few years later. But there seems to be reason for supposing that the occasion of his schism was of an opposite kind—that he objected to the lenity with which Peter, bishop of Alexandria, treated those who had lapsed in the persecution; and this explanation agrees better with the character of the sect, who rejected all from their communion, who in time of persecution fell fromChrist, though they afterwards repented. Meletius proceeded to ordain bishops, and at one time had nearly thirty of these in his communion. He was prohibited for ever to ordain by the Council of Nice, but his followers were admitted to communion without re-ordination. He submitted to this at first, but afterwards resumed his practice of schismatical ordinations. The Arians attempted to draw the Meletians into a connexion with them, on the ground of their common enmity to the orthodox bishops of Alexandria; and thus the schismatics whose original differencewith the Church had been limited to questions of discipline, became infected with heresy.
2. The Meletians of Antioch were so called from Meletius, who in 360 was appointed to the bishopric of that city. Although he owed his appointment to the Arians, he soon showed that he was orthodox; whereupon he was deposed and banished. He afterwards recovered his see, but the adherents of Eustathius, who had been deposed by the Arians many years before, refused to communicate with him; and Lucifer, bishop of Cagliari, by ordaining Paulinus in opposition to him, contributed to exasperate the differences of the orthodox. The schism of Antioch was not finally healed until the year 415.
MENAION. The name which the Greeks give to the twelve volumes of their Church Service. These volumes answer to the twelve months in the year, each volume taking in a month. In this book is contained the offices for the saints of every day, methodically digested.
From the Menaion is drawn theMenologium, (Menology,) or Greek calendar, in which the lives of the saints in short, or their names only, are cited. The Menaion, therefore, of the Greek answers to the Breviary of the Latins, and the Menology to the Martyrology. (SeeBreviaryandMartyrology.)
MENDICANTS, or BEGGING FRIARS. There are several orders of monks or friars, in Popish countries, who, having no income or revenues, are supported by the charitable contributions of others. These, from their manner of life, are called Mendicants.
This sort of friars began in the thirteenth century, when Dominic de Guzman, with nine more of his companions, founded the order ofPreaching Friars, called from their founderDominicans. The other threeMendicantorders are, theFranciscans,Augustines, andCarmelites.
These monks gave great disturbance to the secular clergy, by pretending to a right of taking confessions and granting absolution, without asking leave of the parochial priests, or even the bishops themselves. Pope Innocent IV. restrained this licence, and prohibited the Mendicants to confess the faithful without leave of the curé. Alexander IV. restored this privilege to them. And Martin IV., to accommodate the dispute, granted them a permission to receive confessions, upon condition that the penitents, who applied to them, should confess once a year to their proper pastor. However, this expedient falling short of full satisfaction, Boniface VIII. ordered that the superiors of religious houses should make application to the bishops, for their permission to such friars as should be commissioned by their respective abbots to administer the sacrament of penance. And upon the foot of this constitution the matter now rests.
MENGRELIANS. Christians of the Greek religion, converted by Cyrillus and Methodius. They baptize not their children till the eighth year, and enter not into the Church (the men especially) till the sixtieth (others say the fortieth) year, but hear Divine service standing without the temple.
MENNONITES. A sect of Anabaptists in Holland, so denominated from one Mennon Simonis of Frisia, who lived in the sixteenth century. The Protestants, as well as the Romanists, confuted them. Mr. Stoupp explains their doctrine thus: Mennon is not the first of the Anabaptists; but having rejected the enthusiasms and revelations of the first Anabaptists and their opinions, concerning the new kingdom ofJesus Christ, he set up other tenets, which his followers hold to this time. They believe that the New Testament is the only rule of our faith; that the termsPersonandTrinityare not to be used in speaking of theFather,Son, andHoly Ghost; that the first men were not created just; that there is no original sin; thatJesus Christhad not his flesh from the substance of his mother Mary, but from the essence of hisFather; that it is not lawful for Christians to swear, or exercise any office of magistracy, nor use the sword to punish evil-doers, nor to wage war upon any terms; that a Christian may attain to the height of perfection in this life; that the ministers of the gospel ought not to receive any salary; that children are not to be baptized; that the souls of men after death rest in an unknown place.
In the mean time these Mennonites broke into several divisions, for very inconsiderable reasons; many among them embraced the opinions of the Socinians, or rather of the Arians, touching the Deity ofChrist; and they were all for moderation in religion, not thinking that they might lawfully debar from their assemblies any man leading a pious life, and that owned the Scriptures for the word ofGod. These were called Galenites, and borrowed their name from a physician of Amsterdam, called Galen. Some of them in Holland are called Collegiates, because they meet privately, and every one in their assembly hath the liberty to speak, to expound theScriptures, to pray, and to sing: they that are truly Collegiates are Trinitarians: they never receive the communion in their college, but they meet twice a year, from all parts of Holland, at Rhinsburg, a village about two leagues from Leyden; there they receive the sacrament. The first that sits at table may distribute it to the rest; and all sects are admitted, even the Roman Catholics, if they would come.
MESSALIANS, or MASSALIANS. So called from a Chaldee word, which signifiesto pray, as does the Greekεὐχομαι, from which these sectaries had also the name ofEuchites, because they prayed continually, and held nothing necessary to salvation but prayer: they rejected preaching and the sacraments: they held that the supremeGodwas visible; and that Satan was to be worshipped that he might do no hurt: they pretended to cast out devils; and rejected almsgiving. This heresy prevailed under Valentinian and Valens, aboutA. D.370.
MESSIAH signifies the anointed. (SeeChrist,Jesus, andLord.) It is the title given by way of eminence to our blessedSaviour, meaning in Hebrew the same asChristin Greek, and it alludes to the authority he possesses to assume the characters of prophet, priest, and king, and so of theSaviourof the world.
Christthe Messiah (“anointed”) was promised byGod, (Gen. iii. 15; xxi. 12,) and foretold by the prophets, (Gen. xlix. 10; 1 Sam. ii. 10 and 35; Ps. ii. 2; xlv. 7; Micah v. 2, with John vii. 42; Mal. iii. 1,) as the “redeemer” of Israel, (Job xix. 25; Isa. lix. 20; Luke xxiv. 21,) and “the desire of all nations” (Haggai ii. 7). He who was born in the days of Herod, of a pure virgin, and called “Jesus,” according to prophecy, (Luke i. 31,) is that “Messiah,” “theChrist,” (John i. 41; Acts ii. 36,) as he declares himself to be, (John x. 24, 25,) whose coming was then expected (Matt. ii. 1, 2; John iv. 25, 29, 42). Who was “anointed,” not with any material and typifying “oil,” as were those who preceded him—his types—but with “the Spirit ofGod,” (Matt. iii. 16; John i. 32, 33,) “the Spirit of theLord,” as promised, (Isa. xi. 2; xlii. 1; Matt. xii. 18,) a spiritual unction—“the oil of gladness, above his fellows” (Ps. xlv. 7); and thus was he consecrated to the three offices, divided in others, being the great Prophet predicted, (Deut. xviii. 15, 18,) and acknowledged, (John vi. 14; vii. 40,) the eternal High Priest, (Ps. cx. 4; Heb. viii. 1; x. 12, 14,) and universal King (Gen. xlix. 10; Num. xxiv. 17; Ps. ii. 6; Dan. vii. 14; Zech. xiv. 9; Matt. xxv. 34; Rev. xi. 15). And this Spirit he received as the head, (Heb. i. 9,) and conveys to the members of his body (2 Cor. i. 21; 1 John ii. 20).
MESSIANIC. A term invented by modern critics, to signify those Psalms or other portions of Scripture which specially relate to or personify the Messiah.
METHODISTS, POPISH. Polemical doctors, who arose in France about the middle of the seventeenth century, in opposition to the Huguenots, or French Protestants.
METHODISTS. This is the distinctive appellation of the followers of the late Mr. John Wesley, who was born in 1703, and died in 1791.
Under the general term of “Methodists” are comprehended two principal and several subordinate sections, having totally distinct ecclesiastical organizations. The two grand sections differ from each other upon points ofdoctrine; one professing Arminian, and the other Calvinistic, sentiments. The former are the followers of John Wesley, and from him are called “Wesleyan Methodists;”—the latter were originated by the labours of George Whitfield, but their founder’s name is not perpetuated in their title, which is generally that of “Calvinistic Methodists.” Each of the two grand sections is divided into several smaller sections, differing from each other upon points ofChurch governmentand discipline: theWesleyan Methodistscomprise the “Original Connexion,” the “New Connexion,” the “Primitive Methodists,” and the “Wesleyan Association”—theCalvinistic Methodistscomprise the body bearing that specific name, and also the churches belonging to what is known as “The Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion.”
THE ORIGINAL CONNEXION.
THE ORIGINAL CONNEXION.
THE ORIGINAL CONNEXION.
As at present settled, the form of Church government somewhat resembles that of the Scottish Presbyterian Churches in the order of the courts, in the relation they bear to each other, and in their respective constitutions and functions. The difference is in the greater degree of authority in spiritual matters exercised by the Wesleyan ministers, who preside in their courts not as mere chairmen or moderators, but as pastors. This is said by them to secure an equitable balance of power between the two parties, lay and clerical, in these courts, and thus to provide against abuse on either side. How far this is the case will be more clearly seen by a description of these various courts, tracingthem upwards from the lowest to the highest,—from the Class to the Conference.
TheClasseswere the very first of the arrangements introduced by Mr. Wesley. They consist, in general, of about 12 persons; each class having its appointed “leader,” (an experienced Christian layman, nominated by the superintendent of a circuit, and appointed by a leaders’ meeting,) whose duty is to meet his class once every week—converse with each class member, hear from him a statement of his spiritual condition, and give appropriate counsel. Every member of a class, except in cases of extreme poverty, is expected to contribute at least a penny per week towards the funds of the society. Out of the proceeds of this contribution, assisted by other funds, the stipends of the ministers are paid. The system of class meetings is justly considered the very life of Methodism.
The public worship of these societies is conducted in each circuit by two descriptions of preachers, one clerical, the other lay. The clerics are separated entirely to the work of the ministry—are members of, or in connexion with, or received as probationers by, the Conference—and are supported by funds raised for that purpose in the classes and congregations. From one to four of these, called “itinerant preachers,” are appointed annually for not exceeding three years in immediate succession to the same circuit. Their ministry is not confined to any particular chapel in the circuit, but they act interchangeably from place to place, seldom preaching in the same place more than one Sunday without a change, which is effected according to a plan generally re-made every quarter. Of itinerant preachers there are at present about 915 in Great Britain. The lay, or “local” preachers, as they are denominated, follow secular callings, like other of their fellow subjects, and preach on the sabbaths at the places appointed for them in the above-mentioned plan; as great an interval being observed between their appointments to the same place as can be conveniently arranged.
The public services of Methodists present a combination of the forms of the Church of England with the usual practice of Dissenting Churches. In the larger chapels, the Church Liturgy is used; and, in all, the sacrament is administered according to the Church of England rubric. Independently of sabbath worship, love feasts are occasionally celebrated; and a midnight meeting, on the last day of each year, is held as a solemn “watch night,” for the purpose of impressing on the mind a sense of the brevity and rapid flight of time.
At present there are 428 circuits in Great Britain. Besides preaching in the various chapels in their respective circuits, the itinerant preachers administer the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s supper. One or other of them, according to an arrangement amongst themselves, meets every class in his circuit once in every quarter, personally converses with every member, and distributes to all such as have throughout the past three months walked orderly aticket, which authenticates their membership. One of the ministers in every circuit is called the “superintendent,” whose duties, in addition to his ordinary labours as a travelling preacher, are, to see that the Methodist discipline is properly maintained,—to admit candidates into membership, (subject to a veto by a leaders’ meeting,)—and to expel from the society any member whom a leaders’ meeting shall pronounce guilty of any particular offence. Appeal, however, lies from his decision to a District meeting, and ultimately to the Conference. There is also a “circuit steward,” whose duty is to receive from the society stewards the contributions of class members, and to superintend their application for the purposes of the circuit.
TheConference, the highest Wesleyan court, is composed exclusively of ministers. It derives its authority from a deed of declaration, executed by Mr. Wesley in 1784, by which it was provided that, after the decease of himself and his brother Charles, 100 persons, named in the deed, “being preachers and expounders of God’s holy word, under the care and in connexion with the said John Wesley,” should exercise the authority which Wesley himself possessed, to appoint preachers to the various chapels. Vacancies in the “hundred” were to be filled up by the remainder at an annual Conference. In pursuance of this deed, a Conference of 100 ministers meets yearly in July, with the addition of the representatives selected by the district meetings, and such other ministers as are appointed or permitted to attend by the district committees. The custom is, for all these ministers to share in the proceedings and to vote; though all the decisions thus arrived at must be sanctioned by the legal “hundred,” ere they can have binding force. The Conference must sit for at least five days, but not beyond three weeks. Its principal transactions are, to examine the moral andministerial character of every preacher—to receive candidates on trial—to admit ministers into the connexion—and to appoint ministers to particular circuits or stations. Independently of its functions under this deed poll, the Conference exercises a general superintendence over the various institutions of the body; including the appointment of various committees, as, (1.) The Committee of Privileges for guarding the interests of the Wesleyan Connexion; (2.) The Committee for the management of Missions; (3.) The Committee for the management of Schools for educating the children of Wesleyan ministers; (4.) The General Book Committee (for superintending the publication and sale of Wesleyan works); (5.) The Chapel Building Committee (without whose previous consent in writing no chapel, whether large or small, is to be erected, purchased, or enlarged); (6.) The Chapel Relief Committee; (7.) The Contingent Fund Committee; (8.) The Committee of the Auxiliary Fund for worn-out ministers and ministers’ widows; and the committees for the various schools, theological institutions, &c.
The Conference has also assumed to itself the power of making new laws for the government of the Connexion: provided that, if any circuit meeting disapprove such law, it is not to be enforced in that circuit for the space of one year. Any circuit has the power of memorializing Conference on behalf of any change considered desirable, provided the June quarterly meeting should so determine.
The doctrines held by the Wesleyans are substantially accordant with the Articles of the Established Church, interpreted in their Arminian sense. In this they follow Mr. Wesley rather than Arminius; for although the writings of the latter are received with high respect, the first four volumes of Wesley’s Sermons, and his Notes on the New Testament, (which they hold to be “neither Calvinistic on the one hand nor Pelagian on the other,”) are referred to as the standard of their orthodoxy. The continued influence of their founder is manifested by the general adherence of the body to his opinions on the subject of attainment to Christian perfection in the present life—on the possibility of final ruin after the reception of Divine grace—and on the experience by every convert of a clearassuranceof his acceptance with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
The Census Accounts show 6579 chapels in England and Wales, belonging to this Connexion in March 1851; containing (allowance being made for defective returns) accommodation for 1,447,580 persons. The number ofattendantson the Census Sunday was: Morning, 492,714; Afternoon, 383,964; Evening, 667,850: including an estimate for 133 chapels, for which the number of attendants was not stated.
The following table shows the principal societies and institutions for religious objects supported by the Wesleyan Original Connexion. Others, in part supported by Wesleyans, are mentioned in the General List at page cxvii. of the Report.
In 1839 was celebrated the Centenary of the existence of Wesleyan Methodism; and the gratitude of the people towards the system under which they had derived so much advantage was displayed by contributions to the large amount of £216,000, which sum was appropriated to the establishment of theological institutions in Yorkshire and at Richmond—the purchase of the “Centenary Hall and Mission House” in Bishopsgate Street—the provision of a missionary ship—the discharge of chapel debts—and the augmentation of the incomes of the Methodist religious societies.
Of late years a considerable agitation (to be more particularly mentioned whendescribing “Wesleyan Reformers”) has diminished to a great extent the number of the members in connexion. It is stated that by this division the Original Connexion has sustained a loss of 100,000 members.
THE METHODIST NEW CONNEXION.
THE METHODIST NEW CONNEXION.
THE METHODIST NEW CONNEXION.
For some time after Mr. Wesley’s death in 1791, considerable agitation was observable throughout the numerous societies which, under his control, had rapidly sprung up in every part of England. The more immediate subjects of dispute had reference to, (1.) “the right of the people to hold their public religious worship at such hours as were most convenient, without being restricted to the mere intervals of the hours appointed for service in the Established Church;” and, (2.) “the right of the people to receive the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s supper from the hands of their own ministers, and in their own places of worship;” but the principal and fundamental question in dispute concerned the right of the laity to participate in the spiritual and secular government of the body. Wesley himself had, in his lifetime, always exercised an absolute authority; and after his decease the travelling preachers claimed the same extent of power. A vigorous opposition was, however, soon originated, which continued during several years; the Conference attempting various unsuccessful measures for restoring harmony. A “Plan of Pacification” was adopted by the Conference in 1795, and was received with general satisfaction so far as the ordinances were concerned; but the question of lay influence remained untouched till 1797, when the Conference conceded that the leaders’ meetings should have the right to exercise an absolutevetoupon theadmissionof new members to the Society, and that no member should beexpelledfor immorality, “until such immorality had been proved at a leaders’ meeting.” Certain lesser rights were at the same time conceded to the quarterly meetings, in which the laity were represented by the presence of their stewards and class leaders. But this was the extent of the concessions made by the preachers; and all propositions for lay delegation to the Conference and the district meetings were conclusively rejected.
Foremost amongst many who remained unsatisfied by these concessions was the Rev. Alexander Kilham, who, singularly enough, was born at Epworth in Lincolnshire, the birth-place of the Wesleys. Mr. Kilham, first acquiring prominence as an assertor of the right of Methodists to meet for worship in church hours, and to receive the sacraments from their own ministers, was gradually led to take an active part in advocacy of the principle of lay participation in the government of the Connexion.
Originated by a movement for a certain and specific alteration in theconstitutionof Wesleyan Methodism, the New Connexion differs from the parent body only with respect to those ecclesiastical arrangements which were then the subjects of dispute. In doctrines, and in all the essential and distinctive features of Wesleyan Methodism, there is no divergence: the Arminian tenets are as firmly held by the New as by the Old Connexion; and the outline of ecclesiastical machinery—comprising classes, circuits, districts, and the Conference—is in both the same. The grand distinction rests upon the different degrees of power allowed in each communion to the laity. It has been shown that, in the “Original Connexion,” all authority is virtually vested in the preachers: they alone compose the Conference—their influence is paramount in the inferior courts—and even when, as in financial matters, laymen are appointed to committees, such appointments are entirely in the hands of Conference. The “New Connexion,” on the contrary, admits, in all its courts, the principle of lay participation in Church government: candidates for membership must be admitted by the voice of the existing members, not by the minister alone; offending members cannot be expelled but with the concurrence of a leaders’ meeting; officers of the body, whether leaders, ministers, or stewards, are elected by the Church and ministers conjointly; and in district meetings and the annual Conference lay delegates (as many in number as the ministers) are present, freely chosen by the members of the Churches.
The progress of the New Connexion since its origin has been as follows, in the aggregate, comprising England, Ireland, and the colonies:
At present (1853) the state of the Connexion,In England and Wales, is reported to be as follows:
Returns have been received at the Census Office from 297 chapels and stations (mostly in the northern counties) belonging to this Connexion, containing accommodation, after an estimate for 16 defective returns, for 96,964 persons. The number ofattendantson the Census Sunday was: Morning, 36,801; Afternoon, 22,620; Evening, 39,624: including an estimate for three chapels, the attendance in which was not stated.
In 1847 the Jubilee of the Connexion was celebrated, and it was resolved to raise a fund of £20,000, to be appropriated to the relief of distressed chapels, to the erection of a theological institution, the extension of home and foreign missions, and the provision for aged and retired ministers.
PRIMITIVE METHODISTS.
PRIMITIVE METHODISTS.
PRIMITIVE METHODISTS.
About the commencement of the present century, certain among the “Wesleyans (and conspicuously Hugh Bourne and William Clowes) began to put in practice a revival of those modes of operation, which had by that time been abandoned by the then consolidated body. The Conference of 1807 affirmed a resolution adverse to such unprescribed expedients; and the consequence of this disapprobation was the birth of the Primitive Methodist Connexion,—the first class being formed at Standley in Staffordshire in 1810. The following table, furnished by the Conference itself, will show the progress made by the Connexion since that period.
These statistics refer as well to the foreign stations of the Connexion as to England and Wales; but the deduction to be made upon this account will not exceed two or three per cent. of the above figures. The number of chapels, &c. returned by the Census officers was only 2871, so that many of the above must probably be small rooms, which thus escaped the notice of the enumerators. The number of connexional circuits and missions is, altogether, 313, of which, 13 are in Canada, 2 in South Australia, 1 in New South Wales, 1 in Victoria, and 3 in New Zealand. The “Missions,” whether abroad or at home, are localities in which the labours of the preachers are remunerated not from local sources, but from the circuit contributions, or from the general funds of the Connexion appropriated to missions.
The doctrines held by the Primitive Methodists are precisely similar to those maintained by the Original Connexion, and the outline of their ecclesiastical polity is also similar, the chief distinction being the admission, by the former body, of lay representatives to the Conference, and the generally greater influence allowed, in all the various courts, to laymen.
Camp meetings, though occasionally held, are much less frequent now than formerly: the people, it is thought, are more accessible than 50 years ago to other agencies.