WESLEYAN HERITAGE Library M. E. Church History A HUNDRED YEARS OF METHODISM By Matthew Simpson “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” Heb 12:14 Spreading Scriptural Holiness to the World Wesleyan Heritage Publications © 1998 A HUNDRED YEARS OF METHODISM By Matthew Simpson, One of the Bishops of the M. E. Church New York: Nelson & Phillips Cincinnati: Hitchcock & Walden 1879 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by Nelson & Phillips In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington ************************************* Digital Edition 11/04/97 By Holiness Data Ministry ************************************* TABLES AS TIFF GRAPHICS Please note: The author's smaller tables have been placed in this digital text, but the larger tables have been copied as TIFF graphics. These Table TIFFs have the same file number as this document, but the letters a — through — k have been placed on the ends of the file names, thus: hdm0519a.tif, hdm0519b.tif, etc. — DVM — The TIFF files are appended in sequence at the end of this document. ************************************* A HUNDRED YEARS OF METHODISM By Matthew Simpson PREFACE This little volume is not designed to be a History of Methodism, but to give the general reader a glance at what Methodism is, and what it has accomplished during the century. The writer refers those who wish to obtain a more detailed account of its rise and progress to such works as Tyerman's "Life of Wesley," and to Stevens' interesting and admirable volumes. For the statistics of the various branches of the Church, he is indebted to their own historians, or to leading members of those Churches who have kindly furnished them. The reader is specially requested to note that the Centennial Period is counted from the close of 1775 to that of 1875; the facts and numbers being taken from the respective reports for those years. ************************************* A HUNDRED YEARS OF METHODISM By Matthew Simpson CONTENTS Preliminary Remarks Rise Of Methodism British Methodism To 1775 Rise Of Methodism In America Progress During The Revolution Organization Of The Church Progress From 1785 To 1792 Progress From 1792 To 1800 Progress From 1800 To 1808 Progress From 1808 To 1820 Progress From 1820 To 1832 Progress From 1832 To 1844 Progress From 1844 To 1860 Progress From 1860 To 1875 Doctrines, Usages, And Economy Church Institutions American Branches Methodism In Foreign Countries Review Appendix A HUNDRED YEARS OF METHODISM By Matthew Simpson Chapter 1 PRELIMINARY REMARKS The occurrence of the Centennial Anniversary of the Nation's Birth revives the memories of the past. The actors of 1776 are roused as if by magic wand, and step upon the stage again. Scene after scene flits before us, recalling the revolutionary struggle from Lexington to Yorktown. We listen to the voices of the old patriots, and to the tones of the old bell, ringing, "Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof." Would there were some skillful workman to mend that bell, that our children and children's children might listen to its sound! Orators, statesmen, poets, philosophers, inventors, and discoverers pass in long procession before us. The teeming millions come from farm and shop, from land and sea. The forests turn into farms and the deserts into gardens, and songs of joy announce that oppressed colonies have become a triumphant nation, acknowledging no superior on the globe. Nor has the world been unmoved. Civilization has extended her triumphs. The islands of the sea and the inland deserts and mountains have been explored and measured. The brave mariner has battled the icebergs of the North, and the intrepid traveler has dared the heat and dangers of the tropics. The railroad has spanned the continents and tunneled the Alpine mountains. The telegraph has cabled the ocean and joined the extremities of the earth. Africa and Asia have parted their borders, and permitted the Mediterranean to mingle its waters with the Indian Ocean, and the "Highway of the East" has been opened. Despotisms have fallen, and monarchies have been remodeled. Republican ideas have spread eastward and westward. Machinery has multiplied the power of labor, and inventions have added to human comfort. The advancement of science; the diffusion of literature; the establishment of public schools; the endowment of universities; the enlargement of libraries and museums; the opening of hospitals; the care of orphans; the teaching the blind to read and the dumb to speak; the education and elevation of woman, giving her access to employments and professions; the myriad issues of the daily press, with its news from every quarter of the globe; the systems of express and cheap postages; the furnishing houses and streets with water and gas; the phosphoric match; the electric fire and burglar alarm; the sewing-machine and kindred appliances; the photograph; the spectroscope, which makes us neighbors to the stars; the partial separation of Church and State; the freedom of religious worship; the multiplication of religious edifices; the establishment and growth of Sunday Schools, with the system of international lessons indoctrinating youth with the ideas of a universal brotherhood and foreshadowing international fraternity; the emancipation of serfs, the striking of manacles from millions of slaves, and transmuting chattels into citizens — all these are but faint outlines of the manifold triumphs of the century, which might well startle old Galileo from his slumbers to cry again, "But it does move, though!" In these great movements America claims her part. In some of them she has been a chief actor. She has given the world the example of a free Church in a free State. She has realized the grand ideas of "liberty, equality, and fraternity;" older nations are but beginning to follow the path on which she boldly stepped ere the morning light had dispelled the shadows. In material progress and in inventive genius the nations recognize her power. Her grain is feeding, her cotton is clothing, her oil is lighting, and her precious metals are enriching millions of people of the world. Well may she invite all nations to rejoice in her centennial birthday, for she "is the friend of all, the enemy of none." But the material rests upon the immaterial — the seen issues from the unseen. The patriot and philanthropist well know that civil freedom must rest on moral purity. True morality receives its inspiration and strength from a spiritual religion. For its law, it bows at Sinai, and for its hopes it listens to the sweet whispers that float over the sea of Galilee. General Washington, in his farewell address, well said: "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connection with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles." Any review of the century would be incomplete without a survey of the work of the Churches. Rapid as has been the increase of population, still more rapid has been the increase of membership in the Churches. On the first wave of population, as it rolled westward over plain or mountain, floated the banner of the cross, and the voice of its herald was heard before the sound of the hammer in the erection of the pioneer tent or cabin had died away. The emigrant from distant lands has been met with the Bible in his own language, and has been invited to the sanctuary, the "house of prayer for all nations." In the midst of all the excitements of business and the pursuit of pleasure, the quiet and calmness of the holy Sabbath has stilled the factory and the mart, and the weary and exhausted workman has heard the divine invitation, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." This result has been achieved, not in an age of apathy or indifference, or by the exercise of repressive power. The spirit of free inquiry has been abroad. The old has been called in question by the new. The spirit of skepticism has suggested doubts upon all subjects, and has spared no topic, human or divine. Histories have been challenged and miracles assailed. The votaries of science have tried to construct a universe without a God. Yesterday the material alone was magnified, and immateriality, spirituality, and immortality, were pronounced to be fancies of an excited brain. Today the world is reported to be full of spirits that not only "peep and mutter," but rap and startle, and utter strange messages to credulous inquirers. Error, ever changing, with chameleon hue and protean form, discomfited or vanquished, vanishes but for a moment to reappear in fresh disguise. Meantime the "truth as it is in Jesus" pursues its steady way, enlightening the ignorant, comforting the afflicted, and throwing the light of immortality into the caverns of the tomb. Bible societies have been the glory of the century, translating God's word into two hundred languages, and seeking to place a copy in the hand of every human being.