mm J (f^atnell UninetBttg 9Itbtacg THE GIFT OF MS^^*^**-^ ""'""^"^ '""'^^^ BX8276 .T89 " ^^''^iMiiiffliiSliiiftifiiWiS"'"'''*'* f™"! 'He Ch Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029470683 iiilliliiiliiilimililii The Separation of the Methodists from the ^ ^ Church of England 1^ ^ BY ROBERT LEONARD TUCKER, M.A. ^1 ^ ^ ^ NEW YORK 1918 ^iiiiiiilillMPiliiiliiiiilililliliililBliii^ The Separation of the Methodists from the Church of England BY ROBERT LEONARD TUCKER, M.A. SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Printed for the Author by THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN New York City igi8 A^io^^is Copyright, 1918, by R. L. TUCKER All Rights Reserved TO MY WIFE GRACE GREEN TUCKER MY MOTHER FANNIE ALLUM TUCKER MY FATHER JOHN TUCKER THREE METHODISTS WHOSE LIVES SHOW THAT NOBLEST SPIRIT OF TRUE RELIGION FAR MORE CLEARLY THAN ALL MY WORDS, THIS TASK IS DEDICATED CONTENTS PAGE Preface 7 Introduction 9 Chapter I. The Methodist View of Eighteenth Century Life 11 I. Methodist Dissatisfaction with the Customs and Religion of the Times 11 II. Methodist View of the Church and the Clergy 12 Chapter II. The Churchman's View of Eighteenth Century Life. 17 I. Enthusiasm 17 II. The Church View of Enthusiasm 23 III. Methodist Attempts to Check Extreme Enthusiasm 30 IV. Methodism and Mysticism 34 Chapter III. Methodist Doctrine 37 I. Original Sin 37 II. Justification by Faith 39 in. The New Birth 42 IV. Christian Perfection 48 V. The Witness of the Spirit 53 VI. The Early Methodist Doctrine of the Church 55 VII. The Orthodoxy of Early Methodist Doctrine 57 Chapter IV. Practices of the Early Methodists 62 I. Early Field Preaching 63 II. Early Irregular Indoor Preaching 70 III. The Beginning of the Itineracy 71 IV. The Use of Lay Preachers 74 V. The First Methodist Ordinations 83 Chapter V. The Growth of the Early Methodist Organization 96 I. Methodist Societies 96 II. The Beginning of the Methodist Conferences 104 III. Methodist Classes, Bands, Stewards, Quarterly Meetings iii IV. The Methodist Press 117 V. Summary 123 Chapter VI. Development of Methodist Solidarity 125 I. Wesley's Opposition to the Unification of Methodism 125 II. Bishops of the Established Church and Methodism 130 III. Confusion of Methodists with Catholics 136 IV. Opposition to the Methodists 138 Chapter VII. The Actual Separation After the Death of Wesley. 144 I. Paternal Government 144 II. The Eucharist 145 III. Hours of Church Service 149 IV. The Confusion after Wesley's Death 153 V. Party Struggle and the Sacrament 156 VI. Trusteeism and the Methodist New Connection 161 VII. Plan of Pacification and Regulations of Leeds 166 Conclusion 171 Bibliography 175 PREFACE This work is undertaken with the conviction that the pro- foundest interpretation of the Methodist movement must ulti- mately be sociological. History may give us the facts; but one must turn to sociology for any satisfying explanation of those facts. At the beginning of the Methodist movement, the Church- men and the majority of the Methodists were members of the same sociological "group". There were many causes contributing toward the breaking up of this group, and not least among these was the difference in emphasis on doctrine, as well as the efficient and highly centralized organization built up by Wesley and his followers. Opposition to the organization served only to strengthen the movement. Conscious of an ever-increasing strength, and opposed on every hand, the Methodists took a series of steps : they ordained their preachers without permission from the Church ; they refused to take the sacrament from the clergy, but administered it in their preaching houses; in Church hours they conducted divine worship; they registered their meeting houses as places of dissent. These steps completed the separa- tion. The so-called Plan of Pacification and the Regulations of Leeds consciously and explicitly confirmed the break. The pur- pose of this work is to trace the factors resulting in disrupting the sociological group, and thereby making the separation of the Methodists from the Church of England a historical fact. The works here used are listed in the bibliography at the back of the book; but it is necessary to explain the use of the fol- lowing books: I. All references in the footnotes to the Journal refer to John Wesley's Journal, published in eight volumes by Eaton and Mains, New York, 1909, under the editorship of the Rev. Nehemiah Curnock. This edition is the latest and most scholarly; and is especially rich in notes and documents not readily found elsewhere. 2. All references to Works indicate the Works of Rev. John Wesley, AM., New York, 1831, edited by 7 8 THE SEPARATION OF THE METHODISTS John Emory and complete in seven volumes. These Works con- tain quite accurate copies of many of Wesley's writings otherwise practically inaccessible. 3. All references to Tyerman refer to the Life and Times of the Rev. John Wesley, M.A., by Rev. Luke Tyerman, New York, 1870, in three volumes. This ac- count is quite detailed and contains many documents not pub- lished elsewhere. This study could not have been completed without the aid of many friends : I wish to express my appreciation to Mr. George D. Brown, librarian of the General Theological Seminary Library, and the Rev. Robert E. Harned, librarian of Drew Theological Seminary. To the Library of Union Theological Seminary, and especially to Miss Cornelia T. Hudson and Miss Laura S. Turnbull, efficient and skilful members of its staff, I am grateful for their never-failing cooperation. Professor John Alfred Faulkner of Drew Theological Seminary has my heartiest thanks for suggesting this theme, reading the proof, and giving many searching criticisms. I am indebted to Professor William A. Dunning of Columbia University, who kindly read my manu- script. Professor F. J. Foakes Jackson, formerly of Cambridge University, England, now of Union Theological Seminary, has placed me under a great debt of gratitude; for he devoted him- self unsparingly to my interests in this work. To Professor William Walker Rockwell of Union Theological Seminary am I deeply grateful. During the past four years he has given me without stint of his keeii criticism and inspiring counsel. INTRODUCTION As a result of the fall of the Puritan ideals in England at the restoration of Charles II, there was a reaction toward im- morality. The country, heartily tired of the iron rule of the Saints, was disposed to give itself over to a reign of license. At the time of the Revolution, however, the higher moral ideals began to prevail, and strenuous efforts were made to reform the standard of life and conduct. Christian laymen like the Hon. Robert Boyle, one of the founders of the Royal Society, who formulated the well known "Boyle's Law", worked actively to promote Christian principles. For twenty-eight years Boyle was governor of the Corporation for the Spread of the Gospel in New England, and when he died, he founded and endowed with fifty pounds a year the "Boyle Lectures," for the defense of Christianity against unbelievers.^ A small company of laymen, led and inspired by Dr. Thomas Bray, an eminent divine of the period, formed themselves into the voluntary "Society for Pro- moting Christian Knowledge," in order to educate the poor, and send missionaries to America. A little later, in 1701, the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel" was organized for the more distinct purpose of advancing religion in the plantations.^ The reign of Anne was marked by a distinct revival of inter- est in religion, though unfortunately accompanied by a recrudes- cence of the High Church spirit opposed to the principles of the Revolution. After the accession of George I zeal for religion cooled, especially during the long administration of Sir Robert Walpole, whose ruling idea was to leave things as they were and to avoid raising the passion of religious fanaticism. England was occupied with her increasing commercial prosperity, and consequently men desired to maintain the statics quo.^ In- ^Dictionary of National Biography, vol. vi, p. 121. ^ Allen : History of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. London, 1898, p. 15. ' Dictionary of National Biography, vol. lix, p. 203. 9 — lo THE SEPARATION OF THE METHODISTS deed all religious controversy was avoided as likely to provoke disorder. Under these circumstances the majority in the Church of England were characterized by indifference and lack of energy.* Zeal was repressed rather than encouraged by many of the bish- ops, "safe" men chosen as supporters of the government. The old High Church party were looked on coldly as Jacobites; and as yet there was no evangelical revival to compensate for their lack of influence. The Dissenters, recruited from the trading classes, were prospering greatly by the long peace, and were characterized though with notable exceptions—by a destructive tendency toward deism in religion. The old Puritan zeal had burned itself out; yet the Dissenters showed no desire to return to the Established Church. Dissent was in fact the expression of the feelings of a highly respectable middle class and its ministers under a voluntary system were better paid than the poorer clergy. The government regarded the Church on the whole as useful as a moral police force, encouraging the people to live peacefully under authority. It, however, discouraged manifestations of religious zeal as dangerous to itself and to the nation. Up to the eighteenth century England had been essentially an agricultural country. Industrialism now began to be a power in the land and with it came the growth of great cities, with the result that the old parochial system collapsed.