The Portland daily press., 1895-11-08
HISTORICAL ADDRESS BY REV.
CHARLES +. ALLEN,

CHARLES I. ALLEN,
pastor of the West End church, the his
torian of Methodism, and one of the vene-
rated fathers of the church in Maine.
DR.. .Allan's address follows in full:
Remember the days of old, consider
the years OF many generations.
The present century has witnessed the
most surprising progress in science and
arts, In the accumulation of material re-
sources, IN the Improvement of industrial
methods, in social development and in &C.
clelastlcal as we'll as political history. it
is especially becoming that we should
gather ourselves together to celebrate the
centennial anniversary of the birth of the
Methodist Episcopal church in Portland.
In order suitably to comprehend and
properly to recount the righteous acts of
the Lord, and the fayors shown to his
people, 1t Is necessary for us carefully to
consider the condition of this community a
hundred years ago. The wonderful changes
which century has wrought cannot be
adequately described. Inhabited Polt-
land was then bounded by High street
and India street, by the harbor and Con-
gress street, and contained about 1900 in
habltants. The nation was recovering
from the desolation of the revolutionary
war, Washington was President of the
United States, the primitive simplicity
Of colonial usage had scarcely begun to
change, the commerce of Portland, de-
stroyed by the rayages of war, was slowly
reyiying and drawing home her fugitive
children and immigrants from other
states New modes OF living were grad
ually introduced The changes in coolest
astical history are remarkable. When
the province of Maine was granted to
Sir Fernando Gorges this provision was
inserted in the charter: "Our will and
pleasure is that the religion now pro-
fessed in the Church of England and the
ecclesiastical government now usd in the
same.shall be forever hereafter protested,
and with as much convenient speed as
may be, settled and established in and
throughout said province" In the reyo-
lutionary war the Episcopal clergymen
being tories, left the country for Eng
land. The few Episcopal societies
dwindled away and but two or three
Presbyterian churches formed in Maine
before the present century soon changed
into the Congregational pnlity or be-
came extinct. The first Baptist church
in Maine at Kittery had been scattered
by persecution and for 80 years little Of
this order was known in the province.
But nine years before the Introduction
were formed and ia ten years there
were 20, with more than a thousand
communicates The first Baptist church
was formed in Portland in 1901. In
1904 they built small chapel on Federal
street. When the title of Georges was pur7
chased by Massachusetts the province of
Maine was regarded by the Puritans of
the Bay State as the abiding place Of the
ungodly, the home of outlaws. The COM
monweaith fastened to extend it's FOSTER
ing care over the acquired territory, the
general court carefully provided for the
religious instruction of the people. Port
and was early formed into parish and
the seutled minister was supported by
town tax levied upon all the inhabitants.
Anyone neglecting to attend the stated
worship of the standing order was liable
to be fined. The half way covenant by
which all that had been baptized in in
fancy, though they made no pofession of
religion, were reckoned as church men,
bers, so that they were entitled to vote
in parish affairs, broke down the distinc-
tion between the church and the world,
intensified the interest of the uncon-
verified in mere formal Christianity
and aroused their fierce hostility
against all other denominations.
From the pulpit was heard fierce
denunciations against Baptist new lights
and Methodist itinerants Evolves in
sleeps clothing, rending the flock of
Christ" and "troublers Of Israel. :" No
with civil authority, used their utmost
endeayOrs to drive away those trouble
some intruderS and to prevent any de-
lection from the established religion.
Arminian theology was COMPOUNDED with
Pelagian heresy, and Methodist converts
were stigmatized as ignorant fanatics,
victims of wild delusion.
preacher in New England, solitary
horseman, crossed the Piscataoua and
entered Maine. The first Methodist
sermon preached in the province was by
Lee in Saco, Sept. 10. Two days after he
preached in Portland in the Second Par
ish church, then under the charge of
Rev. Elijah Kellogg, father of Rev
courtesy happened to be shown to the
strange itinerant we do not know. 1t
was not repeated. On his second visit
to Portland, Lee was not admitted to
preach in any church. BY the influence
of kind friend, MajoR Ilsley, he was
allowed to use the court house and twice
afterward preached in a school house, but
finally he was driven into private houses.
When Bishop Asbury visited Portland in
1898 he preached in "Widow Roynton's
back room" to about 20 persons, mostly
women, in the morning, and to twice
that number in the afternoon.
Rev. Philip Wager, who formed the
first Methodist class in this city, was
an able and successful preacher and a
grand organizer. Following in the foot
steps of the heroic Lee, Wager in 1894
was appointed to Readfield circuit, the
first circuit formed in Maine. He or.
gained tho first classes collected in
Monmouth, Readfeld, Harrington,
Portland ADD in other towns, extending
the limit of his charge from Portland to
Passamaquoddy, so that the next year
the work was divided into two circuits,
called Kennebec and Portland. In his
official return of members to the annual
conference of 1895, he reports from Read
field, 232; Portland circuit, So; Passa-
maquoddy, so; total 31S members gathered
by him into classes in one year. We
have no record of Wager's birth or early
life, and there is no account of him after
he left the itinerant ranks and located,
having performed such successful work
for seven years in the travelling ministry.
His fields of labor were in New York,
New Hampshire and Maine. This period
of active service in the church shines