Milford chronicle., 1904-05-06
Tai IMAGE

by Rec.
Frank De e0iff
Tain a g c. D. ..

@ANAAbAAHA =t'lltlu al AOllt I'll tlltG Ol ltO1
the preacher welcomes the delegates
and points out the rise and growth of
Methodism and the secret Of its far
reaching influence upon the religious
world today. The text is Ezekiel xvi,
Z. Il have caused thee TO multiply as
the bud of the field
Nearly twenty years ago I was with
my father in hotel in London when
a deputation Of Methodist ministers
and laymen waited ON him. They said:
"Will you not preach for us at least
once before you return to America
There are thousands and tens of thou
sands of people in London who have
for years been readers of your SER
mons, and they want to hear your
voice ana touch your hand. They have
right TO make this demand You are
part of them. and we cannot go until
You consent to preach at least once"
We We're on our way to the continent
to meet my mother and sisters, who
had preceded US there some months
before. NO answered my father.
u cannot at the present time. l am
mentally and physically worn out. The
doctors have told me l must hold up.
am going to the continent, where my
lips will be closed because l do not
understand the French and the Ger
man languages. But if you wish,
viii preach for you when l return"
"Where would you like to preach, doc
tor;' With that my father turned
and said, AS am to preach but once,
l have but one desire, and that is to
preach in John Wesley's pulpit"
"Why do you want to preach in City
Road ciapel!' l asked, after the dele
cation had departed, That church
holds only a few hundred. Why not
go to one of the great buildings. like
Joseph Parker's church or Exeter hall,
where you can have an audience of
thousands of hearers! Because"
was the reply, Il consider that City
Road chapel is in some respects the
most sacred spot in all Europe That I
is the place where John Wesley is .
buried. That is the pulpit from which /
went forth a mighty power which is I
felt in every land today. The indu- /
ence Of that pulpit is potent in every
Methodist church and meeting house
and Sunday school the world over, af-
fecting the lives of twenty-five millions
of the human race, who every Lords
day assemble under Methodist auspices
TO worship God and study his word.
John Wesley built City Road chapel.
He spent the latter part of his station
airy ministry in City Road chapel, and
his presence is enshrined there"
Wesley Everywhere Respected.
Lord Macaulay, in one of his essays,
declares that John Wesley had a great
er natural genius for government than
had Richelieu. The great historian be-
lieved that in these words he was Civ
ing the eminent divine the highest (
praise. but | could see that my fathers
estimate far transcended that of Ma
caulay, and that he held Wesley in
higher honor than that Of any states
man. living or dead. The whole Chris
tian world is in accord in that esti-
mate, and as it recognizes the achieve
ments of the church which John Wes-
ley founded it thanks and praises God &
for that benefcent life {
The name of John Wesley is every {
where respected by the good and the t
true. Therefore is it to be wondered 1
1t that our people, no matter to what t
Protestant church they belonged, hail t
ID with joyful acclaim the news that f
he Methodist general conference of c
9O4 was to assemble in the City of b
he Angels? This conference opens b
IS session during the coming week. k
We, as a people, look forward to its Is
essions with interest and hope. We q
,elieve that by close touch this Il
difference will bless all Protestant u
no matter to what denomina- b
ion they belong. 1t is appropriate on X
his Sabbath day TO bid the incoming W
elegates we.come. 1t is also appro- u
riate TO state some of the reasons why | o'
he little 0and of followers with which u
ohm Wesley surrounded himself has pl
rown in numbers until today it out ne
umbers in membership every other re
Protestant church in Amer
a and in tie world.
First. her genesis. In order to study th
ie marvellous multiplying power of pr
ethodism let us analyze the cond ca
Ons attendant upon her birth. We al
ust find upon what troublOus waters tn
n cradle was rocked and search out .e,
e place of her infancy, even as the pr
gyptian princess found the future I he
lancipator Of the Hebrew race sleep ba
g in a willow basket among the bul- w
shes Of the river Nile. Every great tn,
'vement in hiAtory has been the prod fol
{ of the condition of the time of its lat
'th. God in his providence has or of
ined that the prevalence of unright- of
lsness in a nation shall so stir the bri
MS of his people that they will gath fol
in his name around the standard of by
ne leader whom he raises up to wit bis
IS for him. mo
Birth Of MethOdism. ele
What were the conditions of the ma 1T
n at the time of the birth of the ma