St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-12-10

other Presbyters Of the same church he set
apart and ordained the Rev Thomas Coke,
L. l. D., of Oxford University, already a
Presbyter, as Bishop Of the infant
church in America After this
was was done he sent DR.. Coke with
his credsDtials Of Office to America, where be
appeared in full canonirals AZ the conference
December 25. 1854. Dr. Coke was uuaui-
mously recognized by that body as their
Bishop snd st once entered upon the dis
charge Of his Episcopal functions. Prior to
THIS date, dee. 25, l7s4.) the Methodist
Episcopal Church did not exist as a separate
and distinct organization. This conference
assem- ied in Baltimore, and the preachers
there assembled assumed the title Of ehurch.
In this act they took higher ground than
Mr.. Wesley, the founder of the sect con-
ceived Of, or designed. It is very
appropriate thst the Centennial ami
vrrsary Of this organizing conference should
be observed In the city Of Baltimore, on the
25tE Of the present month. Il will be an &C.
eAsion Of great Interest IN the Methodist
Episcopal Church throughout the United
States, aud no doubt will give = new impulse
TO that vast and influential ecclesiastical
body.
The Archbishop Of Canterbury in a recent
sermon paid the following tribute to John
Wesley, 10 q strain OF almost unsurpassed
eloquence:
There Is something thrilling in the last quarter
OF the year l7s4- Years Of prayer and waiting
had gone by; tears and suffering bad been spent.
and stu there Was no sign Aud one gresi leader
OF religious feeling lost patience. He had set
stagnant waters flowing in channels new and old.
lie had rekindled slumhering sparks Of devotion.
Tie had organized ianguor and torpor into life.
For America how be had prayed and labored.
Church order had been his FIRST yearuing. Amer
lea his Grst field. How be had trusted that ihe
English Church would give her bishops, com
piete her structure and her powers. Al last he
would wait no longer. His own end could
not be very distant. Was he to die ana leave her
still without deacon. pr, 81 or bishop of her
own, without CONSIDERATIONS, without the binding
zeal and stirring grace % confrmatiOns No
sooner had be answered that question in hIs own
way by his own act than the clouds removed
What be did h well known. And he did Il in
that memorable year, i7si, on tn I'd OF SCptem
Der. On the lsth Of November Sesbury was
eonsecrated.
After an interval Of lees than eleven weeks
America possessed the free valid and purely
ecclesiastical supremacy for which John Yves
ley prayed. but for which be would not wait
John Wesley had waited lorg and pa
tiently for the ecclesiastical recognition or
the part OF the established church Uf England,
of his religious societies in America. hut he
bad waited In vain. When the Revolution
closed and the colonies had become indie
pendent states, aud things were changed,
Mr.. Wesley met the emergency by ordering
and sending out Bishop Coke with full can
ouical powers.
Accompanying his credentials Bishop Coke
bad instructions from Wesley to set apart
Francis Asbury, to the same office, as assist
ant Bishop with him In the government Of
the church. Asbury was accordingly
ordained Bishop, and subsequently a eonsid-
cradle number Of preachers were set apart by
ordination as deaeons aud elders. The let
tiers from Mr.. Wesley also gave them per-
mission TO organize a distinct church under
the Episcopal form OF government
which he had provided, and This they
did and assumed the title of the Methodist
Episcopal Church in the United States of
America.
From this beginning one hundred years
ago the Methodist Episcopal Church has
grown and prospered in a remarkable de-
gree, until IN point Of numbers and infu-
ence it is ranked among the great aud lead
ing religious powers OF the Christian world.