Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/462

 448 METER METHODISM These latter have applied to the phenomena of the atmosphere, and especially to its vertical motions, those laws of thermodynamics which were first fully insisted on by Espy in " The Philosophy of Storms" (1841), but which re- quired the accurate experiments of Regnault and the analysis of Clausius, Thomson, and others, to make them available quantitative- ly, as well as qualitatively, for meteorological purposes. The above mentioned authors have shown the connection that must exist between the expansion of uprising moist air (whether it be pushed by winds up over elevated regions, or ascend on a hot day in consequence of local rarefaction), and the formation of clouds and rain, deducing thereby, with great minuteness, many of the details of the origin, growth, path, and decay of storms. Finally, the phenomena of radiation and absorption of heat, though as yet only partially deducible from correct physi- cal theories of the constitution of gases, may still be looked upon as well determined experi- mentally by the observations of Tyndall and others, as far as regards the constituents of the atmosphere, and form the basis of the reasoning by which we are able to deduce the general laws of the periodic and non-periodic changes of temperature and moisture. We are thus in a position to reduce all meteorological pheno- mena to the three principles involved in gene- ral mechanics, thermodynamics, and molecular physics; and it may be confidently expected that the increasing powers of mathematical analysis will ere long enable us to rear upon these a superstructure of deductive meteor- ology, whose application to the explanation and even the prediction of the weather will be limited only by the extent and accuracy of our observations. METER. See GAS, vol. vii., p. 638, and WATER METER. METHODISM, a form of church life and pol- ity which originated in England during the 18th century. I. EARLY HISTORY AND PRIN- CIPLES. The moral and religious condition of England at the beginning of the 18th century was most deplorable. The court was dissolute ; the standard of taste was low ; the prevalence of skepticism was alarming ; the church, both established and dissenting, had lapsed into a state of lifeless formalism ; the masses of the people had sunk into incredible vice and bru- tality. In the year 1729 John Wesley, a fel- low of Lincoln college, Oxford, became con- vinced of the necessity of a deeper spiritual life. With his brother Charles, likewise a student of Oxford, and a few other associates, he or- ganized a meeting for their mutual moral im- provement. The band soon began to manifest increased religious zeal by visiting almshouses and prisons, by instructing the children of the poor, and by a strict and conscientious ob- servance of all the ordinances of the church. They were soon joined by others, among them Mr. Hervey and Mr. George Whitefield of Pem- broke college, till at the end of six years they numbered 14 or 15 persons. The rigid exact- ness of their lives attracted general attention among their fellows; they were objects of ridicule and contempt, and received various designations, but the term "Methodists" was applied to them by a student of Christchurch college, on account of their methodical mode of life and work. On the departure of the brothers Wesley to Georgia in 1735, the band was dissolved, but the new religious life that had there been enkindled manifested itself in the more zealous ministrations of the members of the " Godly Club." After his return, Wes- ley began to preach in London and elsewhere with great fervor. His sole object was to bring back the church to a pure and holy life, and to save the degraded and neglected. For the same object Whitefield and others had already labored earnestly during the absence of the Wesleys in Georgia. These reformers were at first received with coldness by the public, and their labors were regarded with suspicion or hostility. Wesley was at length debarred ad- mission to the pulpits. In the early part of 1739 Whitefield had set the first example of open-air preaching at Kingswood, near Bristol, where he had addressed an immense crowd of colliers. Though at first disapproving of Whitefield's attempt, after a brief hesitation John Wesley as well as his brother Charles fol- lowed this example. Being denied admission to the churches by the clergy, they were com- pelled to continue their preaching in private houses, barns, market places, and the open fields, as opportunity was given. Thousands flocked to their ministry, and multitudes were converted. Wesley and his coadjutors were stubbornly opposed by the dignitaries of the establishment, who were strong in condem- nation of this violation of ecclesiastical order. Sometimes the mob was stirred up to revile and assault them ; sometimes the power of the law was invoked against them as disturbers of the peace. The converts made by their preach- ing were either despised or utterly neglected by the church, and hence Wesley, at their own request, formed them into societies for mu- tual edification and improvement, called "the United Societies." Wesley's own account of their origin is as follows : " In the latter end of the year 1739 eight or ten persons came to me in London, who appeared to be deeply con- vinced of sin, and earnestly groaning for re- demption. They desired (as did some two or three more the next day) that I would spend some time with them in prayer, and advise them how to flee from the wrath to come, which they saw continually hanging over their heads. That we might have more time for this great work, I appointed a day when they might all come together ; which from thence- forward they did every week, viz., on Thurs- day in the evening. To these, and as many as desired to join with them (for their number in- creased daily), I gave those advices from time to time as I judged most needful for them;