The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-02-21

the legal constitution OF tho Conference; h,
was compelled, IL he wonid provide for the
psrpetuation OF his work. to take meas.
uree for voting In trustees for tho use
OF tho people called Nethodists." under
the Jurisdiction Of the conference as to the ap
pointinent OF mini sters and preachers. all the
aroacliing places and trust property OF the con.
nection The legal conference was defined a,
consisting OF one hundred itincrant preach.
ers named by Wesley. ana power was given to
tho legal hundred to MI up the vacancies in
their own number to ndmit and expcl preach.
ers and to station them from year to year no
preacher being allowed to remain moro than
three years IN ono station. By this measure
Wesleys work was consolidated into distinct
religious organization. having n legally corpo.
rate character and large property rights
Even yet Wesley would not allow this great or
ganization to be styled n church" 1t was
only. he snld a" society" tho society OF the
people called Aicthodi.,s" or its members. all
who were not protested Dissenters were by him
reck onrd as belonging to tho Church OF Eng.
land. although q large and increasing propor-
tion OF them seldom or never attended the ser.
vices OF that Church. The explanation OF this
apparent Inconsistency Is that Wesley acknowl-
edged 10 communicates to be Dissentcrs except
such as were 20 In the eye OF the law: those who
=" for conscience sake refused to join In the ser
NlcoS OF THO tnurCD. OF 10 phrtnke IN tho saCra-
ments administered therein" As he wrote to
his brother. Charles. bo interpreted tho Church
Of England to mean " all the believers In Eng.
land. except Papists and Dlssentcrs. who have
tho Word OF God and the sacramcnts admin
istered among them"
John Wesley. however, was to carry his So
cisty to yet higher pitch OF development.
one which was to make It still more difficult TO
distinguish It's character from that of distinct
and separate church. In 1888 Wesley. then 50
years old. had been, theoretically, a High
Churchman. Even after he had entered upon
his course Of a regular md indepen dent evan
gelist he continued for some time to hold, I'm
tho abstract High Church views. In 174B on
the other hand, he abandoned. once for all, his
ecclesiastical High Churchmanship. although
he never became either q political or q
latitudinarian Low Churchman. after the
standard Of the eighteenth century. He
relates In his Journal. under date Of Jan.
20. lT40. how his views were rovolutionized By
reading Lord Chancellor Kings account Of the
primitive Church. From this time forward
Wesley maintained that tho uninterrupted
succession was fable which no man ever did
or could prove" Ono of tho dcductio he drew
from Lord Kings book was that the ONCE of
Bishop was originally one and the same with
that OF presbytcr; his practical Inference was
that he himself was a Fl" Scrptural Episcopos"
and that he had as much right any primitive
or missionary Bishop to ordain ministers as his
representatives and helpers. who should ad-
minister tho sacraments to tho sooIs.
ties which had placed themselves under
his spiritual charge. This right. as he
conceived It TO be. he held. nevertheless in
abeyance for nearly forty YEAR,. but at length
ne was constrained to exercise IL, and by 50
doing virtually led the way to- ward making his
society distinct and Independent Church. Il
was In 1884 that. tho American colonies having
gained their Independence. II became neces-
sary to organize separate Methodism for the
United States. where Methodist societies had
ley gave formal ordination to DIR. Coke. already
n presbyter of the Church OF England
rs superintendent or Bishop for tho United
states. wherein Coke subsequently or
dained Francis Asbury as prcsbyter and
Tor Bishop, and Coke and As
bury together ordained tho American preach
Frs as prcsbyters. From that ordination dates
The ecclesiastical commencement OF American
Episcopal Methodism. In which the Bishops arc
only chief among tho presbyters. whom they
'upcrintend. superior In ONCE but OF the same
order. In the following year lTs5l John wes-
ey ordained ministers for Scotland, and finally,
.hreo years later. he ordained q number Of
preachers (one authority says sevcnl TO assist
him In administering the sacraments TO the
Methodist societies of England.
At the time OF wesley's death, In 1901, there
vero In Great Britain. tho Isle OF Man and the
Channel Islands. nineteen circuits. 227 preach
'rs. and 57.562 members. There were also
eleven mission circuits in the West Indies and
British America. nineteen preachers. and $500
nembers The number OF memb ers In the
: nited states was already returned as 43,2ob,
Since then. Episcopal Methodism has grown In
his country. until IL represents to-day the
argest aggregate OF Protestant worsh: ppers Of
he same ecclesiastical name to be found In any
me nation of tho world. To this subject va
nail recur hereafter. N. w. II.