The Portland daily press., 1872-03-25

ton: the Lord will hasten it in his time, -
lisa. k:22 The whole chapter from which the
text is taken is expressive of the prosperity of
Christ's church when the spirit of Christ shall
be poured out 1t is wonderfully prophetic
Christ, when foretelling the prosperity of His
church, uses the figure of leaven as the per
meating influence of His promise and of the
power of the Gospel under the influence of His
grace. This prophecy is especially applicable
to our church 1t is now 100 years since Meth
odism had its birth in the Church of England,
and its history is full of providential epochs-
Wesley did not intend to establish a system
outside of the established church, but his expe-
rience at Oxford was the preparation for the
great work which was to follow. The tenden-
cy of Wesley was to High Churcnism. John
and Charles Wesley and Whitefield grew more
and more churchish, and would have been fine
subjects for monasteries They would have
| made goood Catholics. But Wesley's mission
to America was providential beginning of a
| new life-work for the salvation of souls free
from an absolute and unwhoesome ecclesias-
ticsm. He might otherwise have been rector
of Epworth to the day of his death, and by his
own chiice. His mission to America as chap
| w siiS NOiNAAioeo
ans was failure. He was in company with
| the Moravians, and on his return to England
| he became converted and remained with them
some time at Fetter Lane. Soon he found er-
rors in their teachings, and, in conjunction with
| his brother hes Charles established a new soci-
| ETY. in 1879. There are now three and a half
| millions of Methodists in the United States, and
| some assert that in the christian world there is
| a population of eighteen millions in connection
| with the Methodist church. 1t is the boast of
| the English monarch that the sun never sets on
English dominions. So the sun never sets up
on the spires of Methodist churches The
| growth of Methodism far exceeds in its pro-
| portions the spread of christianity under the
| apostolic preaching. The doctrine and polity
of Methodism bear indubitable evidence of di-
vine origin. Wesley was not a creative genius.
He could combine, analyze and systematic the
| good. He put himself in the stream of Gods
| providence and formed his system in it, Out
door preaching was forced ON him. How else
could he carry to the poor, the degraded and
the suffering that gospel which become new
| experience to him. The doors of all the church
| es in England, except two or three unimportant
ones, were closed upon him. Whitefield had
| gathered thousands at Kingswood and sent for
Wesley to come and assist him, and committed
the work to him and this was the first real eff
fort to popularize religion, and give the gospel
to the masses. Here Methodism begun and
| continues. This is the mission of the Metho-
| dist church. With the Methodist church be-
| gan the great doctrine of mans free choice
There are three great ideas of salvation; first,
uoh ha md ifc
is the Romish doctrine Second, salvation by
personal election; and third, the right and
power of men to choose between Heaven and
He'll. The last is the fundamental doctrine of
Methodism. Hence came the great battle in
New England. The prevailing religious senti-
ment was election Men discussed it and
thought it over their lapstones and work
benches, and feared that Gods DEGREES had
shut them out. Whitefeld brought the new
doctrine of free choice, and the common people
heard him gladly. Out of this conflict grew
approaching, and 1t has girded theiworld. AT
ter the Revolution and the disorganization Of
the Episcopal church in America, Wesley au-
thorlzed his preachers to administer the sacra-
ments. The ministers of the Established
Church went back home with the troops, and
left the field deserted. We claim no power to
administer the sacraments through the apostoI-
| ic succession. We obtain it through our call
ing. We are episcopal in name only, and near
er Presbyterian in church polity and govern
ment. Our legislation has heretofore been cler-
ical; but at the next General Conference Law
representation will be adopted This is another
Of the providential developments of the church,
and it came through struggle With the
of+ T., H.,
duties, and these are best managed by bust
ness-educated laity. The class system is an
other providential feature of the church When
Wesley had built his Westinghouse at Bristol
the burden of the cost was on his hands, and it
was proposed by one of the members that the
church be divided into classes, over which
leader be placed, who should collect the weekly
penny contributions and exercise watchful-
ness over his BRETHREN and in time these class
meetings became seasons of spiritual refresh
ment, and elements of great strength in our
church. Methodsm has also been marked by
theological advancement. Sanctification OF
perfect holiness is one of the principal tenets
and grows out of the doctrine of free choice
No man can be a member unless he can say, /
believe l can be made perfect in love and am
aiming after it. The preacher closed by refer
ring to the labors of the fathers of Methodsm,
and remarked that their preaching was the
grandest legacy the world ever received. There
was none of the peculiar features of Methodism
he was willing to part with. He appealed to
his hearers to preserve them, use them, and
God had other providences in store for them as
he had manifested them in the past
In the afternoon Mr.. Samuel R. Leavitt read
to the congregation long and exhaustive
sketch of Methodism in Portland. First con-
sidering the religious state of this community
at the time, he gave account of the first visit
of Rev. Jesse Lee in 1898, and his first sermon,
preached in a dwelling-house on Newbury
street. Then followed the formation of the Read
field Conference, without church within its
borders the formation of the Portland Confer
ference in 1895; the organization of the first
society here under Philip Wagie, with six mem
bers; then the difficulties these pioneers en-
countered and the prosecutions they suffered
The famous secession of 1885, was treated of at
some length; and the reader proceeded to mar
rate in detailed form the gradual growth of the
parent society, stopping occasionally to note its
seasons of marked depression and seasons of
unusual growth; the colonization processes
which gave form to the other societies in the
city, at Woodfords Corner and on Peaks Is
land Some of the many causes of success
were treated off, and the influence of the dis
tinctive doctrines of Methodism upon the COM
munity. A considerable portion of the address
was devoted to an examination of the charac-
teristics of some of the pioneers of the denom-
nation in Maine, illustrated by extracts from
their correspondence and journals and personal
recollections. 1t was a doctrine displaying
good deal of research and labor, and was of
more than ordinary interest to his hearers
We understand that it is soon to be printed in
pamphlet form, together with some other his
torical matter connected with this subject.
The evening meeting at the vestry was exclu-
sively devoted to the cause of Methodism.-
| Quite number of the older members of the
church INDUCED in personal recollections of the
past.
At High street church yesterday morning,
Rev. lothian B. Sewall, Professor of ancient
languages in Bowdoin College. preached from
Matt. I'll, eff ye being evil, etc. words
spoken by Christ in reference to the propriety
prayer and the certainty of answers The dis
course reviewed the objection of prayer raised
by science on the ground of the uniformity of
the laws of nature Genuine science is not to
be undervalued, for it is the knowledge of Gods
| works. If it contradicts the Bible we must re-