The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-10-27
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27. 1866.
The Centenary of American Methodism.

this country. 1t was delivered III MS own
hired house, in what is now known as "City
Hall Place." New York, and in the presence
of n congregation consisting of four persons.
Such was the humble beginning in the United
States of denomination that has to-day
twenty thousand churches, thirty thousand
preachers, and two millions of communicates.
1t is the celebration of the one-hundredth
anniversary of this event that has thrown
the Methodist denomination in this city and
throughout the country into state OF un-
usual activity and excitement, and has de-
veloped an enthusiasm in all its 8ssemblages,
from the local prayer and class-meeting to
the great congregation, hitherto unparalleled
in the history Of religious bodies.
In 1889 Wesley and his coadjutors first set
in motion throughout Great Britain this sys-
ten, which is now worldwide in its name and
fame. One hundred years subsequently that
event was duly celebrated on both sides Of
the Atlantic. The present jubilee, however
as we have said, refers to the origin of Metho-
dism in America. In 1866, Philip Embury,
local preacher from Ireland, began to preach,
and formed "class'' in New York; and
about the same time, another preacher, named
Strawbridge, founded societies in Maryland.
In October, 1771, two missionaries from the
English Wesleyan body, Messrs. Boardman
and Fillmore, landed in this city, and entered
on the work OF preaching wherever an open
door was found. In 1773, a Conference was
held in Philadelphia, consisting of ten
preachers, the number Of church members
l.. Al,
After the Revolution, which greatly re-
tarded their operations, the work began to
spread with astonishing rapidity, and converts
were multiplied on every hand. The
methodist Episcopal Church" was formally
organized in 1884, with Bishops Coke and
Asbury at the head and from that period to
the present, the General Conference has met
every four years, giving law and order to the
vast ecclesiastical machinery which, in its
network of instrumentalities, has covered the
land, and grown up with the development of
the new nation to it's present colossal proper
tions.
Glancing over the last census, the astonsh-
ing fact appears that MethodSm to-day, in its
chief and minor branches, embracing nearly
thirty thousand local and regular ministers,
its two millions OF communicates, it's twenty
thousand churches, valued at S33,000,000,
with accommodations Tor over six millions of
worshippers, and including one-1fth OF the
entire population of the country, stands pre-
eminently forward as the leading religious
body in this nation. In addition to its minis
terial force, we find about one million-and a.
half children numbered in its fourteen thou
sand Sabbath Schools, of whom it is reported
about twenty thousand are converted annually,
and received into communion with the Church.
The Methodist Discipline is a marvel of
sagacious counsel and contrivance for the
government of this immense family. The
"Book Concerns" with their branches, the
Adrocotes. periodicals, and publishing in
terests of the denomination, surpass anything
of the kind in the world We are nearly
bewildered by the array of figures and facts
which their annual statistics set before us,
and which almost vindicate the truth of the
statement that "Methodism is the grandest
achievement of the nineteenth century"
All, or nearly all, the other existing de-
nominations of Christians had an existence
some of them one hundred and some one
hundred and fifty years-beiore Methodlsm in
America was born, yet she has lar outstripped
every competitor in the work of evangelical
ton. Struggling with poverty, without
pomp or patronage, her selfsacIificing itine-
rants have traversed the continent, fording
its rivers, climbing its mountains, threading
its valleys, and ever telling the glad story OF
the Cross. Her laurels have been richly
earned, and are meekly worn.
We cannot in this article even hint at hall
the prominent objects which consideration
of the subject of American Methodism BRING,
to view. No feature of this wonderful systeu
is more hopeful tor brilliant and prosperous
future than its educational institutions. o
colleges and universities AIethodism nov
numbers twenty-three, with about five thou
sand students. Added to this, they hav
eighty-four seminaries of respectable grade
embracing about six hundred instructors an
from eighteen to twenty thousand pupils.
About ten millions are annually raised an
expended by this household of faith" i
support of the ministry, the Church, an
benevolent institutions, OF which the Amer
can Bible Society receives its due proportion
1t was wisely arranged that while the grea
heart of Methodism should be filled an
thrilled with congratulations and devou
emotions for the results, under God, of th
first hundred years of its toll, the peopl
should be permitted to "bring an offering
q great, grand thank offering, and lay 1t o