Daily Republican., 1881-09-10
JameS
MelltO .ifsIn.

ligious world i'll its entirety tor sol
time to come yet. We do not knc
what he said nor what line of arg
ment he pursued, but this is subje
upon which every body can say som
thing. Methodism is not SO Old y
that it cannot be grasped aud follow,
to its origin by aim )st any ordinary c
pacity. A single connecting link b
tween the lives of two men, each Sc
enty-hve years of age, will carry II
mind back TO the origin OF Metlodisn
when Wesley: without much theory, bl
agreat deal OF practical til ought broA
loose, not from the trammels of episc0
pacy, for he preserved that, but iron
the dead formal spiritlesS practice o
worship in the old established cAurcl
of England. Wesley W. , an Episco
pal clergyman, and never intended It
leave the established church if he cuulG
have brought about the reform leeded
in the church without leaving ii. 1t is
evident that Wesley never cared about
the particular forms OF the church he
established-indeed it is doubtful if lie
ever expected such a tremendous fabric
to be reared upon the foundations he
had planted. He had no model of a
church i'll view and nee led none. II
Wesley had wanted to found church
and to have made himself Il Pope, he
could have done 50, and Methodlsm
might to-day have possessed the same
practical power and essence of christi
anity THAI it possesses without Pope.
Wesley was y great organizer, but il is
doubtful if i'll the first incipient slep to
establish more spiritual worship and IL
higher christian lille, he ever dreamed OF
establishing e!en a church. Wesley
only provided for the organization OF
societies es"-bands of IA dozen under
one called a leader and this was about
the extent of his organization. He did
not make himself a pope, nor provide
for pope to succeed him, much less an
endless line of p0pes. 1t is perfectly
clear that with the mode, Of A
church before him, Wesley needed no,
model, but launched out into IA si1.ful
world with nothing but hi, litt." bands
now denominated classes, each under a |
leader Episcopacy though left tar il |
the rear al first, the desire If uniting
these bands brought on turA of Epis
copacy, which was thought by the sue
cessors of Wesley to be the best for the
times. Methodism, even lu this couu.
try, y,cannot be said to have started As an
Episcopal church through deliberate
purposes, but having taken on that
form of church government it has been
preserved.
Methodism has become a very nonu
lar religious system and Il very etfpctiye ,
one through the vital force of Metho-
dist preaching, not that tinc-spuu tAeo.
logical utteranceS not easily understood
by the masses, but that which goes d.
rectly to the Ohdnr3re heart, no matt.r
who is the preacher. We do not mean /
oy this, great preaching or fine preach "
ng or wise preaching, tArngh the
Methodists have Il good stock Of all
hese varieties, but sIch preaching as
he people viii. listen IL and which will y
tlr them to religious, action. The Mrtho- y
lists have no monopoly Of t.li, kind of u
1T hand preaching, other deuomna- ~
ions having taken it up, but there was ',
time when they had but little compe- "
ltion, and then was their day Of great ~
st prosperity. john Wesley was a II
0pular preacher and drew to himself ="
ther popular preachers. When he :
)und a man who could move other :
len with his voice, either in prayer, =
reaching or singing, that Was the man VI
9 was in search Of, and he cared very ~
tile whether he had ever worn gown q
nd bands Or ever intended to do So This -
lade the Methodists a tai king church. ~
MS troop Of takers swept all over '''
ngland and some Of them who had
ever been ordained, or dreamed of a.
cling ordained, dropped over into M
.merica and started blaze as if tlev ,f
ad been Goals OF Are. They were slch a.
reachers as Philip Embury and Can I'm
lin Webb, men who preached over the No
,untry from New York to Baltimore az,
nd started the Methodist fires burning is
,fore Francis Asbury came over to be a.,
y first Bishop. Methodism started ii,
with q hot hearted preach ed
, and by preacher VT mean anybody he
lat could TALK, ana new local begln- So
ngs have been starting in the same fa,
ay ever since. A warm hearted in
ethodist, full OF fire and zeal, in the in,
idst of community OF careless, in th
fferent people will soon attract others 10
him, and in this way class meetings ar
9 established, societies formed, and w.
7 and by the ordained preacher puts in
l appearance. In these little extempo-
zed pulpits the Methodist preachers mi
ere all powerful. "Under ordinary sp
rcumstances, said Western Hoosier, we
l weigh one hundred and fifty pounds, ba
ut when I'm mad I weigh ton" ira
he Methodist itinerant az he went no
nging through the land with horse, ba
'ddle-bags, bible and hymn.book wi