The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-12-20 00:00:00

THE WESLEYAN METHODISTS.

We have much pleasure in laying before the public the
following letter,', and. the extract from the annual address
of die Methodist. CorWerence- to which it refers; We con-
fess that neither the letter nor extract gives us any new
view of the feelings or conduct of the followers of John
Wesley ; but it is right that the character of this truly
pious and ever loyal class should be thoroughly under-
stood by their brother Christians.—_

TO THE EDITOR OF THE STANDARD.
" Sir,—As a constant reader of your excellently conducted
raper, I cannot avoid bearing testimony to the correctness of
your views of the Wesleyan body. In reading your paper of
yesterday, I determined on forwarding you a copy of the last
y
annual address of the Conference to the Methodist societies in
Great Britain. I beg, as a personal favour, that you will give
it a perusal, which will more fully, if necessary, establish ou
in the views you have already so justly imbibed, and so faith
fully published to the world.
am sure you will duly appreciate the spirit pervading the
address, and which, if the contest between Dissenter and
Churchman proceed, the publication of, at least some parts of
it, would probably do good, and effectually place the great body
of Wesleyan' in their proper iight and character. I now quote
a minute of the Est Conference, , which will at once show you
the views of its ministers of the paper falsely called or described
as the Che,"..izion Advocate. Adverting to an attack made by that
paper upon- anoth*-denomination, it says The Conference
aiselaitn any connection whatever with the Christian Advocate
viewlrperi
" From the Magazine for September last I quote the fol-
lowing :

'" Christian Advocate Newspaper.

"4 We, the undersigned Wesleyan ministers, withdraw our
names from any support or recommendation of a public paper
called the Christian Advocate.' "
"Then follow 69 signatures, which are intended as an echo
of the sentiments of the whole body.
were you, sir, to drop in on a Sunday morning, either at
our chapel in Great Queen-street or City-road, you would hear
and see at once how far we ought to he looked upon as beir.s
inimical to the interests of the Established Church.
" In either of the chapels alluded to Ten would observe the
sacraments,—such as the Lord's Supper, Baptism .&c., admi-
nistered according to the forms of the Church of England. Also
the same lessons for the day, the same Liturgy, with serneneceb-
sal, abridgments for brevity sake.

" Some notice of the above communication will nnit-h
Sir, yonr most obedienbeervant,
A CONSTANT READER OP- YOUR EXCELLENT
PAPER, ♦ND WESLEYAN.
Bedford, Dec. 11, 1833.

[We (the LIVERWOL STANDARD) have already had the

pleasure of publishing a portion of the following extract,
but it is sufficiently good to bear repetition :---]
" You cannot fail to observe, that we live in times of great
public change and agitation. High controversies are on foot,
both as to civil and ecclesiastical affairs. You may sometimes
be in danger of listening with too warm an interest to such de-
bates; for, though they do not irninediately concern our con-
nexion, yet they occupy so great a share of the public attention,
that you may tied it difficult to avoid forming. certain strong
opinions which, without great watchfulness, might betray you
into unprofitable prejudices, and a party spirit somewhat in-
jurious to your charity and peace of mind. The Divine Head
of the Church will no doubt eventually cause these agitations to
subside, and to be succeeded by great and permanent spiritual
prosperity ; will say to the sea of conflict " be still," and there
will be ' a great calm.' Amidst all the complication and per-
plexity of our public affairs, events are doubtless hastening the
universal triumph of the cross ; and the people of God have no
cause to be discouraged or alarmed, but to hope in Hiin that
the magnificent prophecies of his word on this most interesting
subject will be speedily fulfilled ; not by breaking down the
several and unessential forms of ecclesiastical government,
forms which, for aught we know to the contrary, may remain
while time shall last; hut by accompanying the publication of
the truth as it is in Jesus' with the copious effusions of his
Holy Spirit, to turn men from darkuess to light, and from the
power of satan' to the service of the living God.' Io this im-
portant result you may essentially contribute, if not by preach-
ing, yet by priver for this promised advent of the Spirit, and by
promoting the dissemination of the truth to the ends of the
earth ; not by fiery zeal for circumstautials, but by exhibiting
the 'fewer of the Gospel in a holy life, and thus diffusing its
,savour through the whole circle of your influence. Such ap-
pears to have been the principal design and constant practice of
the first Christians, as it was in the case of. the primitive Me-
thodists. All other things seem to have been merged in this,
subject, to the regulating power of its supremacy in the hearts
of those benevolent and heavenly minded men. Brethren, let
us follow them as thus they followed Christ.' "
" The special blessing of God upon means chiefly and vigor-
ously directed to this one point,—upon the doctrines we preach,
the discipline we exercise, and the public and private ordinances,
so scriptural, so simple, so spiritual, which as a body we enjoy,
—is the great secret of the extraordinary success of Methodism.
Those who attribute this success to mere ecclesiastical policy,
both of our venerable father and of those who have followed him
in the continued application of his system, have done too much
honour to the genius and sagacity of the Methodists. They do
not understand the nature of that system; they perceive not the
general principle of its working, and true cause of its wonderful
efficiency. Let them but preach the same truths, and prosecute
the same plans, and the same divine blessing on such measures
will produce the same effects.
" As our grand aim, therefore, as ministers, is to save souls,
your aim, of course, is to be saved, and to promote as far as
possible the salvation of your fellow men. We beseech you
then not only to believe our doctrines with great cordiality, 'but
to reach after the cullnessof the experimental privilege to which
they direct you, and to graft upon the healthful stock of this
experience the practice of piety. Be alarmed at the very thought
of the unfruitful notions and feelings of the Antinomian and the
enthusiast. Claim and maintain, indeed, your constant enjoy-
ment of the Spirit's witness testifying your adoption ; but join
to this the strictest attention to the duties of your station. Read,
and study, and obey the brief but comprehensive abstract of
scriptural holiness contained in the Rules of the Society. It
will teach you to abstain from that which is evil, and to follow
that which is good.
" In these times of conflict among certain classes of the com-
munity, keep at the utmost distance from all associations which
are subversive of the principles of true and proper liberty,
employing unlawful oaths, and threats, and force, to acquire
new members, and to accomplish purposes which would tend to
destroy the very frame-work of civil society. Such connexion
would inflict a dangerous wound on your spiritual existence,
and greatly injure the life of God within you. Watch against
the evil tendency of many cheap and imposing publications
now circulating through the land; and which, to say the least,
contain nothing Mat can nourish faith and love. Read the
holy Scriptures, and meditate upon them day and night. Ob-
serve the duties of the Sabbath with all due solemnity; and
promote its sanctified observance as far as possible in others.
Be serious and punctual in the several exercises of family reli-
gion. ' Owe no man any thing, but to love one another.' Let
love, perfect love to God and man, sweeten all your tempers,
and adorn all your actions, both at home and in your ordinary
intercourse with others. 'Be at peace among yourselves.' Be
of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will
be with you.'
" Signed in behalf and by order of the Conference,
"RICHARD TREFFRY, President,
"EDMUND GRINDROD, Secretary.
" Manchester, August 12, 1833." _

London Standard.)

THE CHURCH AND STATE.

Under this head, The Manche:ter herald of Wednes-
day contains the following article:—
At a time when the church is threatened, not only with the
spoliation of many of her temporal rights and privileges, which she
has long enjoyed under Christian kings and queens,who have been
" nursing fathers and nursing mothers of the church of God,"
but with some bold and daring innovations of her apostolical
discipline and doctrines, it may check the violence of her ene-
mies, and tranquillize the fears of her friends, who deprecate
any unhallowed mutilation of her beautiful Liturgy and scrip-
tural articles, to know how little an imbecile time-serving go-
vernment, supported by an obsequious Parliament, have it legally
in their power to continue or alter the church at their pleasure.
We therefore rejoice in laving before our readers the opinion
of one upon this point, whc;se accurate knowledge of the consti-
tution of the church, and profound judgment in all ecclesiasti-
cal matters, leave no room for his opinion to be questioned.
Without further comment, we make the following extract from
the writings of Jones, of Nayland, of whom, for his extensive
erudition, theological attainments, and eminent Christian piety,
the Church of England may well be proud. In his " Essays
on the Church," he says —A It is a very false suggestion, that
our civil government can alter the Church at their pleasure.
There is, indeed, a sense in which it may be said, that a man
has power to do whatever he can do by force and violence; but
still there is an essential difference between the power of force
and the right and authority. The Church of England never can
be altered LEGALLY, without the consent and act of the Convo-
cation, who are a part of the constitution; and if it were other-
wise done, it must be done by an act of violence against the
rights of Englishmen, for Englishmen do not lose their 'rights
by being Christians and churchmen, as their enemies are in-
clined to have it. There can be no power of authority in lay-
men to make or unmake a Church, any more than there can be
power in the Church to make or unmake the civil constitution ;
and nothing can confound these powers but an overbearing
principle of infidelity, from which may God deliver us. Suppose
the civil power should make an act, that the king shall ordain
priests, or that priests shall not baptise children, nor consecrate
the sacrament, what would such an act signify ? Therefore,
they have not the power to alter the Church at their pleasure;
for this might be their pleasure, if their wits, or the grace of
God, were to forsake them. Such a power, if it were claimed,
was never exercised even by heathen persecutors. However,
the dissenters do not seem unwilling that such a tyrannical
power should be exercised, and appear to relish the idea of it,
if it be turned against the Church of England." If this great
champion of the Christian faith and Church had lived in our
day, he could not have written any thing more strongly indicat-
ing his acquaintance with popular clamour, or applicable to the
present state of the tunes; hut it will give greater weight to his
sentiments, when it is recollected that they were calmly and
deliberately expressed in his admirable " Essay on the Church,"
published in 1787.

,;1-bipping Entetilarnre.

TUE.9DAY, December 17th.—Noon, Wind W.N.W.—Fair,

The William Rushton, Strachan, hence for Valparaiso, was spoken
in hit. 7 43 N, long. 23 W.
The Gipsy, Highat, hence for Bombay, was off Bardsey 15th inst.
Thomas, Smith, from Demerara, at Dublin.
Mary, Finlay, from Quebec, at do,
Elizabeth, Miller. from do, at do.
Neptune, Brown, from St John. N B, at Newry.
Edward Jones, Duncan, from Quebec, at Waterford.
Lady Leitrim, Clement, from Newfoundland,-at do.
Gute lioffnung, Wiseman, hence for Bremen, at Cardiff Roads.
Acadian, Auld, from Charleston, at the Clyde.
Matchless, Gaymer, from the River Gambia, at Cowes, towed in
with damage, loss of boat, sails, &c., and crew disabled.
Tvrian, Cunninham, from Buenos Ayres, at do.
. William Locker%y, ROwe, from Sincapore, at Deal:
Hero, Thompson, from Bombay, off Dover.
Planter, Morrison, from Charleston, off do.
Superior, Salmon, from Bahia, at London.
Mary Ann, Kemp, which sailed 13th for Naples, has Out hack.
Brian Born, Cleverty, sailed from Manilla for this port 20th .Tune.
Matilda, Orstched, hence, at Elsineur, leaky, having experienced a
gale 23d ult., off the Swinehottoms.
_

- Sophia, Lindquist, from New Carlhy for this port, is lost at Wade-
roon, the master and one man drowned—the cargo saved.

WEDNESDAY, 18th December.—Noon, Wind W.N.W.—Fair.

ARRIVED :—The Martha, Kelso, from Paraiba—Amelia,
Lisbon—Corsair, Peyton, Belfast—Queen Adelaide, Shannon, Lon-
donderry ; and Gipsy, Tobin, Waterford.
The Wanderer, Gunton, hence, at Syra.
Bridget, Corran ; Charlotte, Cosnam ; and Speedy, Kennedy, hence
at Bonny.

Buddingtons, Ellis, hence, at Camaroons.
Ida, Morgan; and Thomas Parsons, Macklin, hence, at New
Calabar.
Berlin, Moss ; and Flora, Macklin, hence, at Old Calabar.
Princess Elizabeth, Ratio ; Richard Rimmer, Duncan ; and Lady
Charlotte, Jones, hence, at Fernando Po.
Judith, Agar, from the Cape of Good Hope and the Mauritius, at
Madras.
Collingwood, Ryley, hence, at the Mauritius.
Parkfield, M'Auley, hence for Bombay, at do, 17th Sept., after en-
countering a tremendous gale about a fortn previous.
Argo, Billing, from Sydney New South Wales, at do.
Tyrer, Ellis, from Calcutta, at St Helena.
Avoca, Boadle, from Madras, at Sincapore.
Patriot, Guild, from the Cape of Good Hope, at Buenos Ayres.
Coroline, Broad, from Monte Video, at do.
Cleopatra, M•Lean, from do, at do.
Superb, Rieck, hence, at Pillau.
Achilles, Miller, hence, at do.
Joan Statonst, Tulef, hence, at St Tetersburgh.
Biene, Kelters, hence, at Warnemunde.
Dunlop, Gowan, from Miramichi, for this port, at Belfast.
Frederick, Martin, from St Andrew's, N B, at the Cove of Cork

QUEBEC, 19th Nov.—The Asia, Stephenson, bound to London, has
been got off the island of Orleans, and is alongside the wharf, appa-
rently without damage,
ELSINEUE, 7th Dec.—The Enigheid, Knudsen, from Nyekiohing to
Liverpool, put in here yesterday with her pnmps choked, and will
`have to discharge. The light vessel stationed on the Trindelen, part-
ed from her moorings during a heavy gale 29th ult., and put into Pre-
ilerickshaven. She will not resume her station till the spring.
GOTIMNISURG, 2d Dec.—The Stafette, from Liverpool to. Pillau,
after being lightened, got afloat, and will not require repairs. An
English vessel is reported to have been lOst near Stromstadt.