Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/420

* METHODISM. 384 METHODISM. were interpreted a.s relleetiii^' on tlic Conference he was expelled in IVilfi. Three ministers joined themselves to him immediately, and soon .5000 members were enrolled, the body taking the name of the Methodist Xcw Connection at the date of its organization in 1797. In theoIogT and polity it is similar to Wesleyan Methodism, except in the principle of representation. It was the first efToctive effort to adjust Metho<lism to the non- eonforniist principle, and thus brins; it to its logical conclusion. With the building of chapels there had been a decline in the aggressive zeal of the field-preach- ing days of original Jlethodism. In the early part of the nineteenth century news was borne across the Atlantic of the marvelous success of camp meetings as a revival agency, and desire' was felt by some to revive open-air meetings in England. Accordingly Hugh Bourne (1772- 1852), assisted by ^'illiam Clowes and other zealous Yesleyan local preachers and exhort<>rs. held a camp me<ting at JIow Cap, a hill between Stalfordshire and Cheshire, May 13, 1807. and with such favorable results that several similar meetings followed. The parent Conference in 1807 passed a resolution severely condemning such meetings, but Bourne persisted in his use of an evangelism .so congenial to early Metliodism. For this he and his companions were expelled, and in 1810 they organized an independent Church, which in' 1812 took the title of the Primitive Melhodist Connection. In polity this body i.s similar to the New Connection Church, except that it has two laj-nien instead of one to every minister in their Conference, and is espe- cially noted for its large use of laymen both in Chui'-ch government and in evangelism. It pub- lishes an able review, the Primilire Methodist Quarterly, and sustains numerous schools and missions and all the appliances of a strong Church. A zealous young Wesleyan, William O'Bryan, felt called to carry the Gospel to destitute vil- lages of East Cornwall and West Devon in t!io early years of the nineteenth century, and had great success in these tours. As this necessarily carried him beyond the bounds of Wesleyan cir- cuits, and as he could not limit his work to their liarncss, he was exp<dled for his zealous follow- ing of Wesley. In 1816 0'Bry*n organized his first society, the work developed, other preachers were received, rules were drawn up in 1818. and in 181!) the first conference was held. His so- cieties came to be calh-d liihle Christians, al- though that was not adopted as the ollicial name until 1828. In IH'iO they sent Way and Rowe 1o .•istralia, where a strong cause has been built up. They also have missions in (liina. The polity of the Bible Christians is similar to that of the other bodies of reformed ^tcthodists. The forcing of an organ on the Brunswick Wes- leyan Methodist Chapel in Leeds in 1828 against the wishes of the leaders and stewards caused the withdrawal of more than a thousand members and the formation of the U'ra/eiynn Protestant Methodists. The dominating influence of .Tabez Bunting (minister I'DO-ISHS). who exercised an autocratic power over the Conference, was the in- direct cause of the next scliism — that over the formation of a theological institution. The oppo- sition to this scheme was led by Dr. Samuel Warren, who was then minister at Manchester, and who was expelled in 1835. Tliousands of members sympathized with liim and left the Churcli, forming the Wesleyan Mclhodi.tt A.iso- ciation, which in ten years luimhcrcd 21.17ti niem- I)ers. Independent speech and action in the Con- ference being impossible under Bunting, an out- let for criticism was found in anonymous publica- tions and periodicals. To find out the authors of these articles strong measures were adopted, and every member of the Wesleyan Methodist Con- ference was suliject to a system of rigid question- ing. For failure to answer these and other ques- tions .lames Everett and other ministers of stand- ing were expelled in 1849. The revulsion against these proceedings was equal to that against State control in Scotland six years before. One hundred and twenty thousand members left within three years and the contributions fell off £100.000. This separation helped to swell the nonconfonnist churches, but many kept up a Methodist organi- zation — generally called the Wesleyan Reformer! — until 1857. when they united with the I'rotet- tant ( I^eeds ) and A ssociti I ion ( Warren ) ^ let hod ista to form the United Methodist Free Churchet. This body carries on large missionary and edu- cational work. Its polity is thoroughly represen- tative, and is congregational as to the supremacy of the local church in purely local alTairs. I'nder the charge of English Wesleyan Meth- odism in 1854 the Connectional Relief and Ex- tension Fund was inaugurated, in the same year that the Wesley Cliaixd l'"und was established on a new basis, and in ISOl the Metropolitan Chapel Building Fund for the building of fifty new churches in and near London was founded by the gift of £50,000 by Sir Francis Lycett. The Children's Home was established in 1873 by the Rev. Thomas Bowman Stephenson, which has de- ^■eloped into a magnificent charity, with branches in several cities and a liouse in Canada. In 1873 the Sunday School I'nion was founded for the extension of that cause. But the most important change is the introduction of laymen into the Annual Conference since 1878. There are now two sections of the Conference — a ministerial for the consideration of matters relating to the cler- gymen, and a mixed section for the financial and other matters in which all are interested. This tanly and partial recognition of laymen has given an impetus to the ])arcnt Cliurch. seen especially in the munificent gifts for the Million Uuinea Century Fund in 18!1!)-1!)02. Irki.am). In Ireland, Wesley had been preceded by 'Hiomas Williams, who in 1747 gathered a society in Dublin. Wesley came in that same year and was greatly encouraged, and all through the second half of the eighteenth cent my both English ami native itinerants traveh-d through the country, establisliing societies in some toMms, but being frequently moblied. fined, and im- prisoned. In the Irish Hebellion of 1708 the Methodists were the special objects of Irish wrath and sufi'ered numerous tortures. It WHS they who saved Dublin from being sacked by timely communication of the intentions of the rebels. The first Irish Conference was held in 17.52. But Jfethodism was unable to affect Irish life deeply. The membership has never reached 30.000. aiid the highest nunilier was. as far back as 1814. 20.388. The Irish were even more in- sistent on receiving the sacrament at the hands of their own ministers (rather than going to the Episcopal Church) than the English were, and in this they were favored bv Dr. Coke, whO