Page images
PDF
EPUB

and save them, while the world has their hearts, and they live to themselves. And I have found, by experience, that one of these has learned more from an hour's close discourse, than from ten years' public preaching.......O brethren, if we could generally set this work on foot in all our societies, and prosecute it skilfully and zealously, what glory would redound to God thereby! If the common ignorance were thus banished, and our vanity and idleness turned into the study of the way of life, and every shop and every house busied in speaking of the word and works of God, surely God would dwell in our habitations, and make them his delight."

I need not quote the remaining portions of Mr. Baxter's directions, and of Mr. Wesley's advice; but refer the reader to the volume itself, closing with the striking and laconic summing up of the whole by the latter :

"Go into every house in course, and teach every one therein, young and old, if they belong to us, to be Christians, inwardly and outwardly." (Ibid., p. 68.)

Mr. Wesley practised what he taught. When seventy-one years of age, we find the following entry in his Journal:-"Tuesday, Jan. 12th. I began at the east end of the town to visit the society from house to house. I know no branch of the pastoral office which is of greater importance than this." In another part we meet with the following "I found the society had decreased since LC- went away; and yet they had full as good Preachers. But that is not sufficient. By repeated experiments we learn, that though a man preach like an angel, he will neither collect, nor preserve a society which is collected, without visiting them from house to house."

I will not dwell on the zeal and activity of other Christian Ministers, as a reason why our own should more fully discharge this important duty. But certainly there is at this period much increased energy and diligence among other denominations of Christians in this department of pastoral vocation. It is well known

that, notwithstanding the dangerous errors of the Papacy, Roman Catholic Priests are indefatigable in the regular visitation of their people, whether they be rich or poor, masters or servants, in the workhouse or in the hospital. No matter how dangerous the disease with which the people may be afflicted, or how great the liability of infection to the visiter, we seldom hear of any relaxation in that duty. Blame them as you may for their errors; condemn them as you judge fit on account of their idolatrous worship, and the persecuting spirit which they have manifested when armed with power; nevertheless, we must admire the zeal and fidelity with which they discharge the duty of pastoral visitation.

It is well known that many of the Clergy of the Church of England are becoming more attentive to this part of their work. In some instances they have endeavoured to claim all the inhabitants of the parish as their peculiar charge, because they reside within a certain district. We may justly smile at the idea that residence within a prescribed limit should give to any Cleric the right or prerogative over a soul in the sight of God; and that should the family or findividual remove into another locality, the Clergyman resident there possesses the same authority. Immortal spirits are not thus to be considered as part of the soil; yet we are pleased to see the Clergy of the established hierarchy becoming more diligent in caring for the flock which properly belongs to their own pasture. There are certain parishes which I could mention, in which additional Clergymen have been employed, chiefly for the purpose of pastoral visitation.

As proof of the zeal and energy which are exercised on this subject, I copy the following, addressed to the Clergy of the Church of Eng. land, from a work recently published:

"This will greatly smooth the way to that intercourse which every true Pastor must earnestly desire to establish between himself and his

flock;-pastoral visits to humble families, where counsels given in general terms from the pulpit may be enforced, with especial reference to the individual characters and circumstances. He who has on the Sabbath set forth Christ crucified, even as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, in the sight of the whole congregation, will seek, in these week-day visits, occasions for persuading each smitten soul to look unto Him, and be saved. Indeed, it is earnestly to be desired that you should find the fields of your labour so apportioned as to admit of a perfect course of domestic visitation, at no very distant intervals; than which nothing can be better adapted mutually to encourage the Minister and his people,— the former to exhibit, the latter to follow, a blameless example.

"The unequal division of parishes, of which we elsewhere complain, and its consequent imposition on the Minister of more duty than he can possibly perform, is a grievous hinderance to you; especially to be lamented when we consider that the healthiest frame often enshrouds the most diseased soul, and that he who is laying up treasure at will for himself, is frequently the least rich toward God. The sick in body, and the outwardly necessitous, have a claim not to be disputed, and few parochial Clergymen would neglect them; but the robust and the wealthy rarely receive their due portion of clerical care out of the pulpit; and such deprivation they ought not to suffer.

"When the Apostle Paul taught from house to house, he was making the best provision against his people's neglect of assembling themselves together. Few things are so likely to turn the balance, in a mind wavering between the duty of going to the house of God, and traitorous inclination to stay away, as the expectation of a friendly visit from the Minister, to inquire the cause of absence. The regular habit of church-going is a point that you cannot but desire to enforce upon all classes. Its want is at once discouraging to yourselves, and indica

tive of an evil tendency among your people. The formal punctual attendant on public worship may be a worthless, an abandoned, character at home; but he who never worships in public at all, cannot be what he ought; nor is he in the way of hearing what, by God's blessing, might convert him from the error of his way.

"The temporal comfort and welfare of the poor may be promoted by you to a surprising extent. It is emphatically your business so to promote them, seeing you bear the commission, and come in the name, of Him who went about doing good. You cannot, indeed, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils, as the first Apostles were enabled to do; but you bear with you the record of their miracles, and can show the blessed application of those acts to the state of the spiritually sick, souls stained with a moral leprosy, dead in trespasses and sins, possessed with the diabolical passions that rule in man's evil heart of unbelief. You will be hailed as a messenger of mercy and peace, even if you have only sympathy to bestow, in reference to their bodily sufferings; and God will give you persuasive power to open the hearts and purses of their richer neighbours, when making a transition from the huts of poverty, to the mansions of opulence, or, at least, the abode of easy competence."

Such are the important remarks made by a writer of no mean talents, whose heart is evidently influenced by the importance of the subject.

Is it necessary to say more on this topic? We have the divine direction delivered by St. Paul; the powerful appeal of Mr. Wesley, and his uniform example; the arguments and directions of the eminently pious Richard Baxter; and the rousing example of Ministers of other denominations. The objects of our care and labour are passing out of time into eternity; and the opportunity of being useful to many will soon pass away. In a Circuit in which are fifteen hundred members of the Wesleyan church,

through whom the Minister may have access to many families, to how many individuals may he be rendered a blessing!

Bear with me, my brethren. I urge not this subject on the ground of awful responsibility, but on that of love; love to Christ, who hath redeemed us and our flock with his most precious blood; love to immortal souls,

"Heirs of endless bliss, or pain,"

whose final state will soon be determined; gratitude to God for his mercy to ourselves, having made us partakers of his grace; and, finally, our call to the work of the Christian ministry. Let us, my brethren, be "instant in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine;" so that, when the chief Shepherd shall appear, we may receive "a crown of glory, that fadeth not away." M.

WESLEYAN METHODISM IN THE METROPOLIS.
(To the Editor of the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine.)

THE diffusion of scriptural truth by the medium of Wesleyan pulpit ministration, throughout the breadth and length of the land, has for years furnished matter for grateful observation; but there is a fact connected with this enlargement deserving of special notice, and which has often been surveyed with regret: it is, that the increase of congregational numbers, and church membership, in the metropolis of the kingdom, when compared with that in many other places, is deficient and disproportionate.

Not that the Wesleyan church in London is cooped within the limits of former time: the boundaries within which it was anciently contained, have long since been passed, and it rarely happens that a single year, or the fourth part of that time, escapes without realizing an accession of members. At the Conference of 1812, the number in churchfellowship for London was 5,468. Thirty years afterwards, that is, in 1842, the number named is 14,302; or the former amount nearly thrice told.

This increase may be surveyed as a proof of two things: one is, that the word preached is attended with power; for unless it were, such a result could not follow and the other, that though signs of success, in themselves infallible, have followed, and in defiance of the most formidable difficulty, progress is made, the extent is so contracted,

as to show that measures are still required for the diffusion of truth, far more energetic and comprehensive than those already in use.

The disparity of the Wesleyan society in London, numerically considered, will be more apparent if its condition in this respect be compared with one or other of the large towns

in the country. The population of Leeds, for instance, at the census of 1841, is taken at 168,667; and the number of Wesleyans in that respectable locality, at the same period, is 7,695, or one for every twenty-two of the inhabitants. The population of London, and the im mediate environs, may be estimated in round numbers at 2,000,000. That part over which the Wesleyan Circuits (eight in number) extend, agreeably with the census of 1841, comprehends a population of 1,717,747 persons; and as the number of Wesleyan members with

*Bermondsey, 34,947; Bethnal-Green, 74,087; Camberwell, 39,867; City, 55,967; Clapham, 39,853; Clerkenwell, 56,709; Holborn, 39,720; Islington, 55,720; Lambeth, 115,883; London, West, 33,629; London, East, 39,655; Marylebone, 137,955; Newington, 54,607; Poplar, 31,091; Rotherhithe, 13,916; St. Pancras, 129,711; St. George's, East, 41,351; St. Giles's, 54,250; St. Giles's and St. George's, 42,274; St George's, Hanover-square, 66,433; St. James's, Westminster, 37,407; St. Luke's, 49,982; St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, 25,195; St. Olave, 18,427; St. Saviour's, 32,980; St. George's, Southwark, 46,622; Shoreditch, 83,552; Stepney, 90,657; Strand, 43,894; Westminster, 56,718; Whitechapel, 71,758; Police, Middlesex, 2,220; Police, Surrey, 710: total, 1,717,747.

in that space, as above stated, is only 14,302, there is one only to every one hundred and twenty inhabitants. In other words, in the most wealthy, extensive, and influential city of the empire, the mart of nations, and the centre of many of the most important movements which engage and fix the attention of Europe and the civilized world,-and where, above most others, religion ought to arise and shine, the Wesleyan society is comparatively weak, and far beneath the standard maintained in the manufacturing districts.

But, in instituting a comparison between the numerical strength of the Wesleyans of any other city or town in the kingdom, and those in London, reference must be made not only to the superabundance of its inhabitants, but to the grade of society to which they belong, not forgetting also the peculiarity of the habits, pursuits, and predilections of very large classes, concerning the whole of which it may be said that it is no easy matter to bring them within the sound of Gospel truth. In no other city of the empire are the wide extremes of human society brought into such close fellowship. In the western squares of London, misery and magnificence are frequently next-door neighbours, and separated from each other by little more than a party wall or two. To an unpractised eye, the palaces of aristocracy reveal nothing of the sort; but, seen or concealed, poverty is nigh, and enough of it. On the eastern quarter, the world of merchandise is seen, with the rough boldness of those "whose cry is in the ship;" but with regard to the entire mass of inhabitants, from the owner of the lofty mansion to the poor fellow who sweeps its chimneys, all seem to be borne along on the forceful tide of incessant occupation. People have spoken of long hours of labour in the factories of the north. Long they undoubtedly have been; but in London it is difficult to say when engagements intermit or end; and were it not that the Sabbath comes with its healing virtue, the day of metropolitan labour might be described with small ex

aggeration, as one that, in some form or other, has demands upon the faculties through all the daylight hours of the solar year. Besides, it should be considered that, to say nothing of a large number of military and naval gentlemen, whose avocations and pursuits are somewhat desultory, there is in London a constant influx of foreigners: of these many are from Papal states; others, though perhaps divested of religious prejudices, understand the English language imperfectly, and are scarcely within the reach of pulpit influence, however energetically it may be called into action; while others (and these perhaps form the majority) are so filled and saturated with politics and traffic, that it is almost impossible to attract their notice.

On the other hand, it must be allowed, that though these circumstances create difficulties, in an endeavour to promote religion, they ought to be combated, and may be conquered. If the fight be sharp, so much greater will be the victory, and the reward will be ample. It may be difficult to teach aliens and strangers the way of truth, and to reach the position of many others, whether noted for worldly elevation, or depressed by want; but the things impossible with men, are possible to God. Wesleyanism has always been remarkable for the manner in which it has overcome obstacles, and if means are devised to enlarge its influence in the metropolis, the advantages may be greater than words can tell; the port of London may send out its vessels, which shall be navigated by men who are living witnesses of the truth, a portable "light for all nations," to guide them to the haven of peace.

In the judgment of persons, well qualified to decide, there is not the smallest difficulty in detecting one cause which hinders the Wesleyan societies of London from obtaining the extension desired. It cannot be found in the laws and regulations of that body; for the principles of its general government and administration are the same in every place: neither can it be traced to the pro

pagation of unsound or erroneous doctrine; for, in this respect also, the theology of Methodism is uniform, and confined to the exclusive standard of scriptural authority: nor can it be affirmed, that in any of the common usages, in respect either to Pastors or people, the least variation exists between town and country; unless, indeed, it be that the spiritual privileges of London are superior; and if this fact be admitted, it greatly strengthens the position assumed; for improvement in the same degree ought to follow.

The formidable barrier to the spread of evangelical truth, by the means of Wesleyan preaching, is to be found in insufficient chapel accommodation; and whoever can devise means for the removal of that defect, will dispose of one of the most serious existing impediments to the growth of Bible Christianity in the central city; whose moral condition, as the heart of the kingdom, sends forth pulsations and influences, the effect of which, whether for good or evil, strength or weakness, is felt through every artery and vein of the body.

Not that this want of Wesleyan chapels is mentioned as a discovery: the evil has been noticed and deplored on numerous occasions, and it remains unsubdued for no other reason, than that hitherto no adequate measures have been taken to remove it. Local liberality has no doubt exerted itself beneficially in several populous districts, by means of which places of worship have been enlarged or erected; and, so far as such efforts extend, they confer a valuable boon; but experience shows more clearly than ever, that the spiritual necessities of a vast and widely-spread metropolis, can never be met unless houses for religious assembly be erected upon a scale proportioned to the number of settled inhabitants.

In other words,-for this is the proposition within which the question now raised resolves itself,-a desire is felt to secure such combination of mind and effort, as shall lead to the erection of Wesleyan chapels in the eight London Cir

cuits, taking care that building-sites be carefully selected, and that every chapel to be erected be capable of containing not less than a thousand hearers.

No one, it is trusted, will imagine that these remarks are intended to lower the value of the small preaching-places, scattered more or less over each of the London Circuits. Far from it.

"When at first the work began,

Small and feeble was the day:"

as the strong oak was once inclosed in the cup of the acorn, so several, if not every one, of the well-established Wesleyan societies in London were once contained within narrow limits. But it by no means follows, because religion was once constrained to take up its abode in barns and warerooms, that it shall remain there. Holes and corners may do very well as a deposit for the rubbish of Soci alism, or any other error akin to it; and happily for public morals, property raised in London merely for the purposes of amusement, is a commodity which, whether placed in high-ways or by-ways, few would accept, even as a gift, unless on condition of a complete change of object. But good deeds should be placed in a good position. There should be vantage-ground whereon to stand, and room enough wherein to work. Sixty years ago, it was debated among gay and frivolous men, whether Wesleyans should be tolerated in any form; and it was then deemed singular to find them emerge from the inferior purlieus of the town. Not exactly so now. They are better known and received. Many have found, that, after all the obloquy cast upon religion, there is something in it, and that its professors may be reasonable men. This result is sure to be produced, whenever good and evil principles are in collision. "The vision may tarry; but it will speak in the end, and will not lie."

Wesleyans are now therefore called upon to aim at greater publicity throughout the metropolis. Chapels should be erected upon spots so noted and familiar, that the

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »