History Of Methodist Reform, Volume I - Media Sabda Org

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accomplishes what fair, open dealing cannot, even in religious bodies. Let the reader observe this dexterously played game of ecclesiastical chess. The memorial of the forty-eight was presented to the General Conference. The day following Asbury "called for the mind of the Conference, whether any future regulation in the order of the General Conference" was necessary. It was carried. Then Stephen G. Roszel of Baltimore and William Burke of the West moved for a committee "to draw up such regulations as they may think best, to regulate the General Conferences." Here Bishop Asbury (did he leave the chair to do it?) interposed with a motion that "the committee be formed from an equal number from each of the annual Conferences." It was a master move of the pawns by the king of the board. Tigert says, "this was excellent parliamentary tactics, for it insured to the memoritists a majority of the committee" — the forty-eight had this advantage over the eighty-one. If he ever merited his cognomen, "a long-headed Englishman," it was now. The motion carried, no one objecting; it seemed so fair. The committee was named: Cooper and Wilson from New York; Pickering and Soule from New England; McKendree and Burke from the West; Phoebus and Randle from South Carolina; Bruce and Lee from Virginia; Roszel and Reed from Baltimore; McClaskey and Ware from Philadelphia. Tigert says, "The memorialists had a clear majority of two, and thus, by the old Bishop's timely help, had won the skirmish for position." The sequel will show that it had won everything: an impregnable constitutional support to an unamenable Episcopacy, with a Delegated General Conference of one member for every five to be chosen by seniority, or choice, at the discretion of the Annual Conferences, etc. The committee thus constituted retired and went to work. The official records of the Conference must be supplemented by the revelations of later days, from which it is learned that in session a sub-committee was formed to draft a paper for their action, and Ezekiel Cooper, Joshua Soule, and Philip Bruce were appointed. It was fair, as they represented the three theories striving for mastery. The whole fray centered around the Episcopacy as may be assured. The three theories crystallized: that of Soule, a supreme Episcopacy; that of Cooper, an election of seven Bishops; one for each annual Conference, a species of diocesan episcopacy and no eldership, with Asbury for the time President of the bishops; that of Bruce, as representing Lee, for Annual Conference rights on a more liberal scale, and the principle of seniority. That of Soule he embodied in the third Restrictive Article, and must be given: "The General Conference shall not change or alter any part or rule of our government, so as to do away Episcopacy or destroy the plan of our itinerant general superintendency." Finally, in sub-committee Bruce sided with Soule, then the plan was submitted to the fourteen and agreed upon; and in that form came before the Conference. It is generally admitted that Soule was the master mind of the Conference, and that the report as framed was his work, save unimportant amendments. Despite the space required, Methodist Episcopacy cannot be understood by the reader unless the whole report, consisting of "Section III. of the General Conference," is given: 1. The General Conference shall be composed of delegates from the Annual Conferences. 2. The delegates shall be chosen by ballot, without debate in the Annual Conferences respectively, in the last meeting of Conference previous to the meeting of the General Conference.
3. Each Annual Conference respectively, shall have a right to send seven elders, members of their Conference, as delegates to the General Conference. 4. Each Annual Conference shall have a right to send one delegate in addition to the seven, for every ten members belonging to such Conference over and above fifty so that if there be sixty members, they shall send eight, if seventy, they shall send nine; and so on in proportion. 5. The General Conference shall meet on the first day of May, in the year of our Lord, eighteen hundred and twelve, and thenceforward on the first day of May, once in four years perpetually, at such place or places as shall be fixed by the General Conference from time to time. 6. At all times, when the General Conference is met, it shall take two-thirds of the whole number of delegates to form a quorum. 7. One of the general superintendents shall preside in the General Conference, but in case no general superintendent is present, the General Conference shall choose a president, pro tem. 8. The General Conference shall have full powers to make rules and regulations, and canons for our Church, under the following limitations and restrictions, viz.: The General Conference shall not revoke, alter, or change our Articles of Religion, nor establish any new standards of doctrine. They shall not lessen the number of seven delegates from each Annual Conference, nor allow of a greater number from any Annual Conference than is provided in the fourth paragraph of this section. They shall not change or alter any part or rule of our government so as to do away episcopacy, or to destroy the plan of our itinerant general superintendency. They shall not revoke or change the General Rules of the United Societies. They shall not do away the privileges of our ministers or preachers of trial by committee, and an appeal; neither shall they do away the privileges of our members of trial before the society, or by a committee, and of an appeal. They shall not apply the produce of the Book Concern or of the Chartered Fund to any purpose other than for the benefit of the traveling, superannuated, supernumerary, and worn-out preachers, their wives, widows, and children. Provided, nevertheless, that upon the joint recommendation of all the Annual Conferences, then a majority of two-thirds of the General Conference shall suffice to alter any of the above restrictions. Look at the paper. So far as human skill can conceive and frame a plan for the perpetuation of the Methodist Union under an inviolable Episcopacy, and an exclusion forever of any lay participation in the government, and a delegated reduction of the number of preachers who shall constitute the supreme and only authority of the Church, it seems secure beyond legal flaw or exception. Yet it will be seen in the sequel of this History, that it brought about the destruction of the Union, and was pronounced a rope of sand by the highest judicial authority of the United States government when
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WESLEYAN HERITAGE Library M. E. Chu
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METHODIST REFORM Edward J. Drinkhou
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world over; as well as for contrast
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No pretension is made to literary s
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considered — The first missionary
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CHAPTER 19 1779-1781 — The "regul
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Was it mailed before or after he he
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the Methodist Societies, though thr
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The period from 1784 to 1792 will b
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ENDNOTES 1 Otherwise called the Pol
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His private Journal, which came int
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with the hope that, whenever such a
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ENDNOTES 1 Whitehead's "Life of the
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His father's health failing in 1734
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The period from 1739 to 1744 was a
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1 "Mutual Rights," Vol. 1. No. 21,
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places. Stevens says the third Conf
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were necessary for an enduring orga
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chapel seats. Breaking bread in the
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severely, but not unjustly. Preachi
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ut for the children, the boys only
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leadership of the most self-asserti
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deliverance from a "Methodist curat
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sit apart, which had been violated
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1 Tyerman's "Life,'' Vol. III. p. 1
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a deed of this kind, that I have go
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arguments, except as it relates to
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as, it was, no doubt, sincere. The
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ordained Henry Moore and Thomas Ran
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Church. Upon this the meeting was a
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society in Plymouth. He was a man,
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nothing else save the Arminian Maga
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no longer." He was seriously sick d
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eached 2828. The membership was 76,
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* See Appendix to Dr. Kewley's "Inq
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He said soon after, "I will get up,
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short, and the design itself was sp
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week of Wesley's death he wrote: "M
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stewards, the admission and expulsi
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wrote like a mountain torrent. Stro
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present purpose reads: "But when on
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y the calendar, must be used wherev
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presidency the Conference would not
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1 Asbury's " Journal," Vol. II. p.1
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HISTORY OF METHODIST REFORM Synopti
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Commentary is an imperishable monum
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parent bodies will the mission of t
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ENDNOTES 1 She was a Friend, but he
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constantly devising new plans for i
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urst out, and one Daniel Shubetham
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insulted the representatives of the
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courtesy due him, was thought too p
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like Wesley, betrayed his ignorance
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delicate woman, died and was buried
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1 "History of Methodism," Vol. III.
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The respective theories are working
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or usages which had been most assai
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the ministry, its devotion and libe
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It is necessary to retrace steps to
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to interfere with the internal affa
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showed, in feasting at high dinners
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ENDNOTE 1 The plan has since been a
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into evil ways. Barbara Heck kept a
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which was the vogue of a large numb
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attended the ministry of both, conv
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thing which I seek, a circulation o
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ENDNOTES 1 Bangs' "History of the M
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13 Atkinson's "Methodism in America
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Philadelphia, George Shadford (to c
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Lednum has preserved the name of Jo
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y Methodists as a constant prayerfu
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the episcopal form of church govern
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1784, and he had regular work. He r
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of our national independence, who b
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strength of Methodism was in Maryla
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1 Lee's "History," p.56. ENDNOTES 2
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and their children, and they procee
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to men whose opinions disagreed wit
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Why do the printed Minutes take no
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ENDNOTES 1 Stevens says, "During th
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of our divisions; it was transcribe
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Mr. Wesley generally held a Confere
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under the necessity of abiding by i
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the Methodists. At twenty years of
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His references to the Conference of
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landly said, 'He is hard on us.' As
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and good sense so far predominated
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on so new a plan, he afterward susp
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of it are in the closing suggestion
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employing the terms "superintendent
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to be a mere formality, likely to r
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If any one will point out a more ra
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monotony, the "Pastorals" of Virgil
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ace, Eclipse is first, and that put
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next day, Sabbath, he reached, with
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esumed his labors, and died in Phil
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[6] is the material point. There is
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emarkable when it is considered tha
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our societies in the United States,
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eady to break with Wesley at any op
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ENDNOTES 1 The reader is apprised t
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minutes as printed. To that portion
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steps taken by Mr. Wesley and mysel
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een involuntary, wrested by the ove
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6 Bangs' "History," Vol. I. pp. 165
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see Asbury open a Methodist meeting
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obliged to acknowledge that I acted
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intimates the desire they had of my
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under present circumstances, to gra
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ENDNOTES 1 Dr. Scudder, in his "Ame
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feet in length and 40 feet in bread
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The missionary propagandists must n
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interference was no doubt well know
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it ? Wesley, when he received the a
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9; at Holstein, May 13; at Amelia,
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will determine sufficient in a man
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crosses the mountains — "the firs
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The preachers having had great diff
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Eleven Conferences were appointed f
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But in one point, my dear brother,
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The letter itself now calls for ana
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continued to this day in the Method
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his testimony. Some writer during t
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it. Besides, even allowing that Cok
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1 "Life of Wesley," Vol. II. pp. 25
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segregation complained of, is inten
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Now cull from O'Kelly's "Apology" s
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In his pastoral relation he raised
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Council, is proving too much for ev
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Even so partisan a writer as Rev. D
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of his name in 1786, the fact that
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change of environment enables them
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[9] It will be discovered that ther
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[12] not mailed there, for the bish
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6 In the Dickins minutes of 1795 th
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are men of very considerable abilit
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Wesley's knowledge, and without his
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Wesley, otherwise I shall despair o
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In addition to these letters, the o
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It is noteworthy that neither Bangs
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1 "Defense of the Truth," p.23. END
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turning to Mr. Hutchinson, he said:
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obedience in one over another of hi
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Lee affirms that, during this event
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een received into full connection c
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in a resolution which Lee gives in
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Page 353 and 354: ENDNOTES 1 It is a noteworthy fact
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Page 377 and 378: until finally the illegality of it
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Page 383 and 384: ENDNOTES 1 One was held at Cabbin C
Page 385: affirmed nor denied the truth of th
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Page 395 and 396: ENDNOTES 1 Boehm says there was pre
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Page 399 and 400: to his death a bosom friend and cou
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Page 407 and 408: ENDNOTES 1 November 6, 1820, Kingst
Page 409 and 410: McCormick has written in a legible
Page 411 and 412: as a scandal upon Mr. Wesley, thoug
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Page 415 and 416: liberal principles. To this Griffit
Page 417 and 418: and many others, and uniformly defe
Page 419 and 420: pioneers it may be said that in the
Page 421 and 422: argument against innovation. Tradit
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Page 425 and 426: to the joint authorship of the Circ
Page 429 and 430: apparently. Moore's denial was not
Page 431 and 432: y Ralph Spoor, London, etc., page 5
Page 433 and 434: Liverpool I observed that I should,
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command, when he told the elders no
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themselves to the ministry of the s
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church with true wisdom to combine
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Valentine Lucas, Alexander Clark, A
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General Conference of 1884 the Soci
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The report of the W. F. M. S. to th
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The General Conference of 1888 divi
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successful labors. The Board is reg
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While the various enterprises alrea
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scholars, 63; ordained native preac
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RESUME AND COMPARISON 1896 1897 GAI
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Art. 4th. As all men are essentiall
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Art. 10th. The government of every
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Art. 16th. Any government, that doe
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k. We want the right of peremptory
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