excite attachment for purity of doctrine, yet at the same time not to give occasion or countenance to that irregular intemperate zeal which threatens to dash in pieces like a potter's vessel the very frame and fabric of the Church. If we would preserve what is left us of our Protestant institutions, we must be careful above all things to have union among ourselves."

THE CENTENARY OF WESLEYAN METHODISM.

In resuming this subject, we cannot but express ourselves as much pleased and encouraged by the many testimonies of approbation which we have received from different parts of the country, to the course we have adopted in reference to Wesleyan Methodism. The country Clergy especially have long seen and felt the mischievous results arising from the propagation of their schismatical doctrine, by the Wesleyan teachers, who have too generally leavened their discourses and their publications with too much abuse of the Church and slander of the Clergy. We have long grievously lamented that people were being led away from the truth of God, and having their minds filled with prejudice and hatred against the noblest institution in the world; and against, we hesitate not to say, the best body of men, taken as a whole, that ever walked the earth since the days of the Apostles, and their immediate successors. We have resolved that," the Lord being our helper," this shall be no longer done with impunity. If we have done wrong, or are doing wrong, accuse us of that wrong distinctly and openly, that we may know what we have to answer to, and may defend ourselves, as every Briton is allowed to do, and as we will do, as far as we are able; and the public shall judge of the result, whether it be successful or not. The Clergy have so long remained passive, under the most unjust reproaches and calumnies of dissenting teachers, that, positively, many people fancy that we have no defence to offer in our behalf, and that the false statements and false accusations of our enemies are for the most part true. A lay friend told us, the other day, that as he was travelling on a coach, with a spruce Quaker, the conversation soon assumed a religious turn, when the disciple of George Fox said, as for tithes and church-rates, our friend would surely not even attempt to defend them; for, in fact, they were indefensible, and the Clergy were themselves so fully convinced of this, that they had long since given up all idea of defending them; in short, he had never seen a defence of them in his life. We can easily imagine this; but to allow things to remain in such a state, would be not only gross injustice to ourselves-a matter of but little comparative importance-but gross injustice to the cause of God and truth, which we are solemnly pledged, by the most sacred vows, to support and defend to the utmost of our power. Besides, so far as we are ourselves concerned, we commenced THE CHURCH MAGAZINE for the avowed purpose of explaining the principles, customs, and practices of the Church; and of defending her and every thing that properly belongs to her from the attacks constantly made upon her. The public, therefore, have a right to expect that we should act up to our professions and fulfil our promises. And this we shall ever be found to do, regardless of the opinions, prejudices, and bigotry which may be opposed to us. Whether they be professed friends, or open foes, within the Church or without it, if they be opposed to the Church of Christ in this kingdom, they are opposed to us, and will find us firmly, but temperately and charitably, opposed to them; and according to the vows of God that

are upon us, ever ready, with all faithful diligence, to banish and drive away all erroneous and strange doctrines contrary to God's word," and to expose the unrighteous proceedings of those who for mercenary, ambitious, or other carnal purposes, are deceiving, deluding, and leading astray the souls of the people from the fold of Christ, into the bye-paths of error and fanaticism, and plundering them of money which ought to be devoted to honester purposes. We wish it, however, to be especially and constantly borne in mind, that all our animadversions are chiefly intended for the teachers of the various sects, as the parties more particularly guilty. The people are the victims of the teachers, and of their false doctrines and dangerous delusions; and are, therefore, far less culpable than those who deceive them. Oh! that God would bring all, both teachers and people, to the acknowledgment of the truth, and to the utter abandonment of the evils under which they labour, that we might be all of one heart, and of one mind, and with one mouth and one voice glorify God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So far as the Wesleyan Methodists are concerned, we have not the slightest reason for saying a word which they or rather their teachers may not like, save only their religious errors in doctrine and practice. On this ground, we oppose them, and if they were actually-what they are not, even formally-within the pale of the Church, we should feel it to be our duty equally to oppose them. And surely, in this land of boasted civil and religious liberty, we have a right to freedom of discussion on religious topics. At any rate, we believe that we have it, and shall certainly exercise it. We know that we shall expose ourselves to the vulgar abuse and slander of the teachers who will consider their incomes and advantages in danger, but nothing will deter us from the faithful performance of our duty to God, and to the precious souls of our fellow-creatures, whom we neither can nor will see destroyed or endangered without an effort to rescue them. We shall confine ourselves to facts and documents, which are at our command, and such as Wesleyans themselves shall not be able to gainsay or even to question. And surely they need not be alarmed at this, after all they have said and sung about the truth and excellency of Wesleyan Methodism! If it will not bear the light and cannot stand a searching scrutiny, let it be abandoned at once, but if it can stand the test of God's Holy Word, and sound reasoning, then no fears need be entertained regarding it. If it be of God, all that we or any body else can do or say against it will come to nought; and, therefore, why do the teachers of it throw themselves into such commotion and dread when their religion is touched? Instead of throwing themselves into passions, and pouring forth their torrents of vulgar abuse upon every one who dares to touch the image which they have set up, let them buckle on their armour, and come to the battle like bold and honest men, who have nothing to fear. They should remember that bad tempers and bad words are generally considered as pretty strong proof of a bad cause. Almost everything that has been done by Churchmen has been entirely on the defensive, and in protecting the Church and themselves from the vile and scurrilous attacks that have been constantly made upon them. Let any man-we care not if he be a very heathen-read the books and pamphlets which the Wesleyan teachers are ever publishing, and then ask him if he thought such men friends of the Church, and the man would laugh at your credulity and folly. It is true that John Wesley, "the father and founder" of his sect, often said that he was a Churchman and a friend of the Church, but it is equally true, that he was really neither the one nor the other. During the whole course of his life he kept departing further and further

from the Church, as he found his sect growing stronger and stronger, and his own pride, ambition, and self-interest, could be better promoted. His followers have pursued the same course; since his death, they too have been receding further and further from the Church until no sect in the kingdom is more distinct, more separate, more schismatic, or more opposed to the Church and the best interests of true religion than the Wesleyans. In the year 1794, just two years after Wesley's death, preaching in Canonical or Church hours, and an administration of what was intended to be, but what were not, and are not, and cannot be when administered by Laymenthe Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, much agitated the whole sect, and thenceforward became pretty general, and not long afterwards quite So. In 1816, their separation was rendered in every respect as complete as it could be; and, in 1836, they commenced at Birmingham, a place notorious for counterfeit coin, a regular line of ordination; and if any thing more be required to render the Wesleyans dissenters, separatists, schismatics, we shall be glad to be told what it is.

That many of the first Wesleyan Methodists were strongly attached to the Church of their forefathers we fully believe; and that there are some few amongst them even now, who grievously lament the departure and increasing distance of the Wesleyans from the Church, and would rejoice at their taking some retrograde steps even to a full union with the Church, we are convinced; but the number of such persons is very small, and is gradually decreasing, and they have no power to alter the great fact of the entire separation and the hostility of the Methodists generally in reference to the Church. To be consistent, such persons ought at once to leave the Wesleyan sect and return to the Church. There was an attempt some time ago on the part of a Mr. Robinson, of Beverley, to collect all such persons from the Methodist body, and to form them into a society of "Church Methodists," who should use the Liturgy of the Church, and shut up their meeting-houses during Church hours, but he found the number of such persons so small, that his wellintentioned scheme turned out a complete failure, and affords ample proof that the Wesleyans generally entertain no sort of kindly feelings towards the Church. This, we repeat, is corroborated by almost all their works and ways. It is true that they still frequently make high-sounding professions of the attachment of their "father and founder" and of themselves to the Church; but all this seems well accounted for by Mr. W. Stewart, one of their preachers, and a member of their conference. He says:"When we visited new places, and sought admission into the houses of the people, we assured them, that so far from being inimical to the Church, we were friends and members of it; hence, many doors were opened, which otherwise would have remained for ever shut against us." And when making collections, we have appealed for assistance to some of the most respectable members of the establishment, both of the clergy and the laity, on this principle, and have succeeded, because they believed we were sincere. By the very same plea, we have obtained ground for the building of chapels from different gentlemen; and from the public at large, we have collected hundreds, yea, thousands of pounds." (!!!) And Mr. James Kendall, in a pamphlet he published on Wesleyan affairs, in 1836, strongly urges against the open hostility of Wesleyans to the Church: "That in very numerous places, the bulk of Sunday evening congregations is composed of Church people;" and that" thousands of Church people, in a pecuniary way, contribute to the support of Methodism." These two powerful reasons go very far to explain the conduct of the Wesleyans, in pretending to be friendly to the Church, while they are, in reality, as the same writer

acknowledges, bitterly opposed to her. It would not do to break with the Church, while they have the chance of decoying her members, and of getting land for their meeting houses, and "thousands of pounds" of Churchmen's money, for the support of the cause. And especially, as they hope soon to become strong enough to make Wesleyanism the established religion, in place of the Church. Mr. Kendall tells us that, "there are those, who think that the progress, improvements, attractiveness, and at least partial splendour of Methodism, indicate an approach to a state of things, in which the Methodist connexion itself, shall be considered as the Church of England! and in such a case, we should be careful of courting alliance with the present establishment." The italics of the word "present" are the writer's own; and the passage is well worth the serious consideration of all true Churchmen; bearing out, as it does, what we said in our last number, on The Centenary of Wesleyan Methodism; and what we have heard again and again, and again, from the mouths of Wesleyan preachers and people-especially the latter.

In proof of what we have said of the hostility and bitter hatred of the Wesleyans generally to the Church, hear what this Mr. Kendall says on the subject-bearing in mind, that, though more favourable to the Church than many, he openly avows his supreme love to Wesleyanism, and is a regular preacher of it. The following extracts from his introduction deserve strict attention: "When stationed by the Wesleyan Conference, two years since, in Cumberland, I had the unhappiness to perceive that a considerable number of Methodists were (whether from principle or caprice I know not) remarkably hostile to the Church of England. I did what I could in private conversation to check this hostility, knowing it to be detrimental both to their piety and consistency, as the professed followers and professedly zealous adherents of the Rev. J. Wesley. My interference, however, with their views of the Church Establishment was worse than useless. The common declarations against tithes and rates, and popery, and clerical delinquencies, were all I could obtain, in reply to what I conceive to have been my correct reasoning on the subject." Such is the friendship of Wesleyans to the Church, as confessed by one of their teachers! Have we said anything more definite than this? Mr. Kendall then speaks of his having written to the Bishop of Chester, about allowing holy orders to Wesleyan teachers; and to another Bishop about a closer approach between the Church and the Wesleyans. He received " dignified and affectionate reply from the Bishop of Chester." But unfortunately for himself, he says:-"The knowledge of this correspondence amongst some of my friends, subjected me to no ordinary inconvenience. A few months after this, I was appointed to a circuit in Lancashire, where several pious Clergymen shewed me particular respect. But this circumstance, connected with a renewal of my correspondence with the Prelacy, gave such amazing offence to some members of our Society in that county, that I was censured, and threatened as a malcontent, looked upon with suspicion, regarded by some as a sly enemy to Methodism, by others as a dangerous man. Numerous absurd and false reports were widely circulated about my trying to get ordination; and I was, in fact, subject to a species of annoyance, little short of persecution for righteousness' sake.'" And yet, forsooth, the Wesleyans are friendly to the Church!! At the Conference held in Birmingham, he says, that he was questioned by some of the preachers about his sayings and doings relative to the Church; but to such interrogations he repeatedly requested to be officially examined, if suspected of being deficient in allegiance to the connexion. But, though

a most

his wish to bring about a better understanding between the Church and Wesleyanism, caused him to "be considered as employing himself in a profitless speculation, and to be avoided with a sensitiveness like that occasioned by contact with an agitator,"-yet they refused to examine him officially. The reason he assigns for this corroborates what we have said. He says, that he could have proved from the acknowledged standards of Wesleyanism, that not he, but they, were inconsistent, and that he would have shown that the present hostility of the Wesleyans to the Church was opposed to their constantly-reiterated professions, as recorded in their standards and public documents. What have we said more than this?

On the fortieth page of his pamphlet, Mr. Kendall says:-"I now come, as I proposed, to the consideration of the class-book document. The fourth and fifth sections of the rules relating to the Society,' are as follows" :He then gives those sections at length-the fourth treats "of service in Church hours," and contains six rules relating thereto; and the fifth section has reference to the administration of Baptism and the Lord's Supper in the Wesleyan Societies. Mr. Kendall then proceeds to contrast these Church attachment regulations with the notorious conduct of the Wesleyan body, and shows their gross inconsistency. We give his words at length, because they are very forcible and striking, and completely fasten the Conference and the whole connexion. He says:-" I very respectfully and seriously ask the whole Conference and connexion of Wesleyan Methodists throughout the world-WHY are these regulations, so demonstrably founded upon the principle of (excuse the mere expression,) Church attachment-ship, continued in our class-books? I am confident, you cannot, in the present state of the connexion, give me a more satisfactory answer than this-we wish to keep alive amongst our members a proper sense of regard to our original principles and usages, and to accommodate, as far as possible, all our official members, both as it respects Churchism and dissent.

"But of what real service are these rules now? As a connexion, we not only have nothing to do with the Church, but thousands of our people say that we ought to have nothing to do with it. [!!!!] And if these are in the right, why does not the Conference forbid the insertion of these Church and Sacrament regulations; or, why not at once permit ourselves to be recognised and denominated Dissenters? Here again is our dilemma. We neither dare nor wish to offend the multitudes of our people, who are in principle members of the Church of England. [Pity they are not so in practice-keeping out of meeting houses of all sorts!]

"We have yielded as much to our dissenting members as we think they can reasonably desire, and must now proceed upon the principle of mutual accommodation. But this principle of accommodation appears to me to be made up, partly of Christian forbearance, and partly of unchristian cowardice. What, now, if I, with all my insignificance, should attempt to perform the duties of my office as superintendent, according to the instructions given me in my book of minutes at the time of my reception into full connexion in 1829-a book requiring me to exhort all our people to keep close to the Church and Sacrament, and to set the example by going to Church myself? Should I not be regarded as a madman? [!!!!] It is extremely likely. But, mad or not, I should be a consistent Wesleyan superintendent. To be consistent, then, we really must, as a religious body, make some reasonable and profitable use of our church-loving documents, or for ever expunge them from our official publications.

66

'These, then, are our real difficulties as to the matter of consistency. How are we to get out of them without agitation and injury? A wiser man than myself must determine."