Star.
London, England, 1816-08-27 00:00:00

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METIIOI3ISY-14.

TO TAE MEIVIIERI OF THE OLirMETkObIST
CONNEXION IN THE UNITEI3 XINODOBA.

(Irs Canntauat!on from the State of August so.)
History does nut inform us of any individual, or
any number of individuals, who ever attempted to
enslave a people, comparatively free, by an instanta-
neous jump to the opposite extreme :—No l it is in.
variably done by almost imperceptible degrees ; hence
the necessity pf the spiciest diligence. I would
therefore recommend to every individual, who has
the ability, as well as those who feel any interest in
these things, to purchase thi Minutes of the Con-
ferences, from their commencement to the present
'time (extracts from which-will, from time to time, by
given). They may be had in S vols. price 2s. 6d.
A slight survey of these documents will soon con-
vince them, that every year since the death of Mr.
Wesley, the liberties of the. people have diminished,
and, in exact proportion, the power of 'the Preachers
has been increased ; till. in the present day. there is
not any description of Ministers, whose power and
authority over their flocks will bear even a compa-
rison with that of your -Preachers over, you; yet no
class of men declaim louderageinst the power (as
they call it) of the. Bishops of the Establishment,
than they do; but the power possessed by the Bishops
leaves themselves slaves. when compared with the
power of the Methodist Preachers. Let us contrast
them, with thestriew to skates you to exertion*, and
into a consistent conduct. -Is any alteration in the
laws for the better government of the Church deemed
necessary; A Bill has to pass the House'. of Com-
mons, where not even oast priest is allowed to sit !
witness the expulsion of Horne .Tooke, who WAS
th ;vett from the House, not because he then officiated
as a priest, but because he bad officiated ! sir jealous
were our ancestors of priestly intrigue, or determined
to make them conform to their more consistent du-
ties; and-even in. the House of Lords, where the
Bishops are allowed to sit by virtue of the Constitu-
tion, they only consist in the proportion of about one
to ten ; and after a Bill has passed, both Houses, the
King (and not a Bishop) has to sanction their pro-
ceedings, before the law can be enforced. Among the
Methodists, however, the two supreme meetings are
the District Meetings and the Conferences. in both of
which the Preachers oefepreark : and to such a pitch
are some now arrived, that one of them. .(a Mr. It.
W—o--d, I think), during the Manchester Con-
ierence, was heard to say, that he never would sit in
either of those meetinzs, it laymen were allowed to
do so: we cannot say in this case, " how are the
soigilty fallen," but .how are the fallen raised ! It
will,l am afraid, my brethren, require more hu-
mility and more patience, than missy of us possess.
to hear such s iyings, without
.feeling a little indig.
'ant, at so no warrantable, so unchristian adeclaration.
Is it not then dirguiting to hear such men professing
the utmost zeal anJ attfchment to Church and State
(as by law established) while the pies. is loaded with
their publications against the exclusive claims of the
Bishops to ordination? Such, however, is the case
—and yet there is no i tstnuation too base, no sarcasm
too keen, for, the man who boldly attacks them in
their entrenchments; yet nun:be:sof you can be found,
olio will either justify such proceedings by your ac-
tions, or sanction them by your silence. •
But the main engine, and which is calculated to
destroy every vestige c;f• liberty among you, is the
' command, and right of occupancy of the chapels
throughout the kingdom. We are indeed told, tbat
the Preachers have no real property in them ; be it
so : it is quite clear however that the trustees have not.
any (though they are responsible for the money bor-
rowed to erect them) without the signature of a cer-
tain number of Preacheri, in behalf of the Confer.
ence, be first obtained; and it is absolutely certain,
that none but the Preachers can recover them. For
the truth of this, you are referred to the case of the
Huddersfield Chapel, which the Preachers recovered'
from a majority of the trustees of that 'Chapel, be-
cauSe they appropriated it to the use, and for the be-
nefit of the New Connexion of Methodists, though
the said trustees, being members of, or attached to
the principles oti that Celine:ion; bad curled that
Chapel over with them, at the division of the Me
thodist body in 1797.
It is impossible, I think, to read over a pamphlet
lately published by a Mr. Valentine Ward, entitled,
" A Brief Statement of EMU, designed for the in-
forination of those who, from good motives, enquire
what are these Methodists ?" and recommended to
the notice of the Med.odists, &c. by a Mr. D. J—s,
Mr. R. N-4—,n, and Mr. R. W—t--ti, Without
supposing that they either ;wirer read what they so
recommended, or imputing such recommendation 'to
baser motives; as a proof, they sanction the follow.
ing description of a Methodist Conference, and I
think I may challenge theacquirecl knowledge of Sir
Wm. Jones, who was certainly well versed- in the
histories of. Aristocratic States, to point any other
instance besides this, where a historian, whoprofes.
bed to relate what this sage-pretends to relate, emitted
to poiut out the itothority:by 'which the laws Were
made for those States, 97 the power which conferred
that authority. This profound attempts to give
a !Awn y of the. Methodists ; to point out their origin,.
rise, and progress, in the religious world ; also their
customs, manners, andliabits ;
.he describes well the
nature of their religious meetings, as well as every
other netting, .where the t mide are Isiloweil to be,
I present, but when he comes to treat of the meetings to
which the Preachers alone
that, which is almost every way
admitted, he states only
way unimportant, whether
stated or not: Who would suppose, fmm his descrip.
tion of a Conference, that nut only every' law and
regulation for the goverement of **bore 200.Q00
people, emanates from, but is made in .this secret
assembly ; but that upwards of A 30.000 per. annum
is received (1 cannot say disbursed) tbereia I shall,
however, in my next, supply what appearrnecessary
to enable you to form a correct knowledge ot . this
Meeting, and that by the significant method of ques.
tion and answer. •

•
Puu.O.OltflliV 11.
q. In the second note snaffled to " Mairaoatem No. III."
for the following words: " Far fright aU Mhi Mule chills, which
tormisly were saddled from the yearly collection, are now sup.
piled from the Meiclful Fuld • u per rule: and the e,iotmuua
stUR the
the
no's called upon• to pay, to. support the chit.
Aron of the achers wadi they wise at the age 44 twenty,"
read, " For many of thew claim which fonuerly wan soriblid
friutithe rainy collecting, air now supplied from the Manual
Feud •at Ter rule,' besides the esionnout urn which you are
now called upon to find, to Anon the children of rhe-Preaeherb
warn they units lit the age of ell."--(7:6s coditaw ths tsy svui )*