JOHN WESLEY. DiedIMarch 2nd, 1791. Born January 17th, 1703. • The best of all is, God is with us. : CENTENNIAL OF Canadian Methodism PUBLISHED BY DIRECTION OF THE GENERAL CONFERENCE. TORONTO WILLIAM BRIGGS, we s l !: y build i s <; s. Montreal: C. W. COATF.S. Halifax: S. F. IIUFSTIS. Entered according to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-one, by William Briggs, in the office of the Minister of Agriculture, at Ottawa. ! PREFACE, T N this book representatives of the different branches of which the united Methodist Church in this country is now com- posed, give from their respective points of view a brief record of the historical development of Methodism in this land. No con- trol is sought to be exercised over the expression of individual opinion. It is possible that in the treatment of what were at the time strongly disputed topics, there may be expressed some variety of judgment ; but as these are now dead issues, with respect to which we can agree to differ, it is thought best to leave untouched such expressions. It is a happy thought that at the close of the first century of Methodism in Canada all these causes of dispute and of difference between brethren are now laid aside, and that we can calmly survey what was once a hotly disputed field. At no previous period in the history of Methodism in this land could this have been possible, and in no other land beneath the sun is it possible yet. The different phases of church life and church work—mission- ary, educational, literary, statistical and the like— are treated by persons having special facilities for treating the same. It was felt by the General Conference, which authorized the publication of this book, that it would have been a misfortune to allow this opportunity to pass without summing up the progress of the century. With devout hearts we may well exclaim, " What hath God wrought!" If with limited means and divided efforts in this sparsely settled country so much has been accomplished in the past, what may we not expect as the result of the larger endow- ment and greater number and more favourable opportunities of the future ffi0mmttt.ee oit f) ublkation. Rev. E. H. Dewart, D.D., Rev. John Lathern, D.D., Rev. \villiam Briggs, D.D., Rev. S. F. Huestis, Rev. A. H. Reynar, D.D., Rev. E. I. Badgley, D.D., Rev. J. C. Antliff, D.D., Rev. Hugh Johnston, D.D., Rev. George Werber. Rev. W. H. Withrow, D.D., Serelai v. WESLEY MEMORIAL, WESTMINSTER ABBEY, CONTEXTS. PAGE. The Providential Rise of the Wesleyan Revival. Bee. George Douglas, D.D., LL.D. '.) Historical Sketch of Methodism in the Eastern Provinces Bee. John Lathe m, D.D. 27 Historical Sketch of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Upper and Lower Canada. Rev. Hugh Johnston, M.A., D.D. 55 Historical Sketch of the Methodist New Connexion Church in Canada . .Rev. William Williams, D.D. 95 The Methodist Church of Canada, 1873-1883. Rev. E. H. Den-art, D.D. 127 Historical Sketch of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada Rev. 8. G. Stone, D.D. 141) Historical Sketch of the Primitive Methodist Church in Canada B< e. J. Cooper Antliff, D.D. 181 The Bible Christian Church Bee.GeoKfe Wchher 205 The Methodist Chcrch Bee. Alherl Carman, D.D. 22!) The Methodist Chcrch in Relation to Missions. Bee. Ah'.ro iidir Sntlarht nil, l).l>. 2.>."> Methodist Literatim; k and Methodist Sunday-schools. Be. W. II. Wiihrme, />./>., F.ll.S.C 27- Methodist Education in Canada. Rue. Nathanirl Ihinnmh, 8.T.D. 2«.»7 Statistical Recokd of the Prooless of Methodism in Canada dcrino the First One Hundred Years of Its History Bee. Geome II, Cornish, LL. I>. 331 JSUSA^NA WESLEY, ' THE MOTHER OF METHODISM, THE PROVIDENTIAL RISE OF THE WESLEYAN REVIVAL. By the Rev. George Douglas, D.D., T/Ti.D., Principal of the Wesleyan Theological College, ^ontrcal. THE history of the Church in its evolution through the ages is a perpetual attestation to the immensity of the divine resources, not only in ordaining and rendering all events subservient to its interests, but in bringing for- ward at the appointed time those types of mental and moral manhood, as instrumental agencies, which its ever-advancing necessities may require. How does history authenticate the fact that God not only appoints men gifted with plenary inspiration, but men uninspired, to accomplish His purpose in the regeneration of the world f When in the post- apostolic period it became necessary to formulate and vindi- cate the fundamental truths of Christianitv against the Gnostic and Arian heresies, Athanasius and Cyril appear, whose searching and subtle intellects confronted the won- drous problems of Deity, and gave those definitions of the person of Christ and the Trinity which have commanded the homage of the universal Church. Early in the history of Christian life and worship, the demand arose for the enthusiasm of song. Gifted with devout and poetic skill, John of Damascus, and in later times Bernard, penned their hymns, while Gregory, and 2 10 Centennial »f Canadian Methodism. Ambrose of Milan, in their chants and cantatas voiced these noble hymns in all the melodies of music. Long before a sacred literature was born, we find that genius consecrated its powers, and became an educating force by which the multitudes were familiarized with religious thought. In the cartoons and statuary of Raphael and Angelo, incarnated in fresco and stone, there was an ever-open Gospel in which were recorded, in tinted and glowing colors, the leading events of Christianity. It was in the mediaeval times, when the inner life of the Church had gone down to zero, that the schools of the Mystics were originated, and the writings of Thomas a Kempis, Molinos, and Fenelon, attest how deep was the spiritual life which God had commissioned them to awaken. At length papacy, insolent as in the times of Uildebrand, avenging in its cruelty and abject in its corruption, became a burden intolerable to the nations, when Luther, Zwingli, and Melanchthon arose, renounced the yoke of Rome, and led the way in the Reformation of the fifteenth century. With the advent of the Wyclif Bible in England, Wyclif, compassionating those wasted and trodden down by feudal despotism, sent forth one hundred men, loval to the truth, to preach a Gospel of uplifting to the poor. Branded by the stigma of Lollards, and discounted by the grandees of the times, they yet lived on and blossomed into the Puritanism of another age. Never, in the history of the Church, did a great leader appear more essential than in the period immediately preceding the great Methodist revival. The early part of the eighteenth century is one of the darkest pages in the religious history of England. The Restoration witnessed a complete reaction from the stri.i- Rise of the Wesleyan Revival. 11 gencies which marked society under the puritanic rule of Cromwell. It gave rise to a libertine literature, which found its expression in the nameless degradation of its dramatists, and the social corruption which abounded in the higher life of the nation. The infidelity of Lord Herbert had alienated the aristocracy from the Church, while that of Tyndal and Wolston had taken hold of the popular mind, so that the press abounded with the most g ; and ribald attacks on all that was noble and virtuous in man. The clergy of the Establishment were intolerant in the extreme, and with but few exceptions made no pretensions to piety, and in some instances not even to morality itself. The Non- conformist successors of Doddridge had inclined toward the principles of Socinianism, while the poorer classes were steeped in ignorance, and had descended to a depravity well-nigh beyond conception. The impartial historian frankly admits that all language fails to adequately picture the deterioration which rested alike on all classes, from titled nobles to barbarous toilers in the grim and dismal mines of the North. In the obscure rectory of Epworth, amid the marshy fens of Lincolnshire, a child was born to one of the noblest mothers that Cod ever gave to counsel and inspire a son ; a son who, in the allotment of heaven, was to become the modern apostle to revive the Church and regenerate society; a son whose line was destined to go out into all the earth, and his words unto the ends of the world. The name of John Wesley will gather strength with the years ; and already lie stands as one of the most prominent and remarkable agents whom Providence has ever brought forward for the accomplishment of a great work. Feeble in its beginnings, the a^es only will tell the grandeur of its consummation. 2 1 Centennial of* Canadian Methodism. In briefly sketching the elements which conspire to render Wesley foremost of a'l revivalists whom the Church has ever witnessed, we propose to notice the System of Truth which he accepted, the Character of his Spiritual Life, the Style of his Preaching, and his Power of Organization as seen in the means which he employed to give permanence to his work. As a first and fundamental point, we notice that system of theological truth which Wesley formulated and has given as a heritage to the Church. It has seldom fallen to the lot of man to be endowed with a mind so full, so many-sided, as that with which he was intrusted. While it would be untrue to claim for him the inductive power of Bacon ; or to assert that he could walk the inner sanctuary of the soul with the stately tread of Shakspeare, who flashed the torch-light of his genius into the remotest corners of the heart ; or that he could wield the philosophic argument of Butler ; yet the more profoundly we study his natural endowments the more we are impressed with their remarkable character.