carry out plans of this kind often required very early rising, after the exertions of many preceding days, and the securing of a seat in or upon some coach, which probably was the only regular means of communication between distant places; and it was really surprising to learn how constantly he succeeded. in carrying into effect his entire plans, often extending over two or three weeks of daily travelling, exposure to the changes of the weather, and extreme exertions, without disappointing a single expectation.

"That his heart was always in his work, many minute circumstances abundantly proved. For example: although he frequently did not reach home from his long journeys until Saturday afternoon, and had then a considerable correspondence to conduct, he generally attended the prayer-meeting which was held in the vestry of the Oxford Road chapel on the Saturday evening, and evidently delighted to join in thanksgiving and supplication with the little band of pious persons who there assembled. Whenever he reached home in time to attend the weekly meeting of the ministers of the circuit, he was always present; and while his counsels were judicious, his prayers on such occasions were as fervent and frequently as copious as though he had been pleading with God in the midst of a great congregation in behalf of the ministry, the Church, and the world.

"Although his time at home was so brief, if any special cases of affliction existed among those members of the society who were known to him, he contrived, when it was at all practicable, to visit them. This diligent attention to matters which, in the midst of such extraordinary labors, might have been deemed, in his case, of minor moment, always impressed me with a profound respect for his character, as a good minister of Jesus Christ, faithful in small as well as in great things relating to the house and service of Christ."

CHAPTER VIII.

THE interruptions which good men often experience in the enterprises of benevolence and piety upon which their hearts are set, and for which they are specially qualified, must ever be regarded as some of those mysteries of Divine Providence which human ingenuity strives in vain to unravel. Who can account for the fact, that St. Paul, who was called of God to evangelize the heathen of his time, and who was endued with miraculous powers, as well as the requisite zeal and firmness of purpose, for the mighty task, was often confined in prisons by bad and worthless men, while he longed to go forth in his Master's name, and the people were actually perishing for lack of the knowledge which he was appointed to impart ?

Mr. Wesley complained that he was frequently compelled to suspend his public labors, for the purpose of repelling the fierce attacks that were made upon his doctrine and proceedings by the Lavingtons and the Warburtons of his agemen who would neither themselves attempt to instruct and reclaim the ignorant and profligate masses around them, nor quietly suffer him and his fellow-laborers to prosecute the pious and benevolent task.

It must have been intensely galling to the ardent mind of Mr. Newton, during the second and third years of his appointment to the Grosvenor street Circuit in Manchester, to be diverted from his proper work of preaching the gospel, and pleading the cause of evangelical missions, and to be occupied

in matters of discipline, which were forced upon him by misguided men, who engaged in schemes of mischief, and attempted to introduce disorder and confusion into the Methodist connection, so as to turn many out of the way of righteousness.

After many years of incessant and violent agitation, the British legislature passed what has been called the Catholic Relief Bill, admitting Romanists into parliament, and giving them a voice in framing laws for this Protestant nation. This change in the constitution was effected in the year 1829; and three years afterwards an equally important change took place in respect of the House of Commons, the elective franchise being materially altered, so as to embrace a much wider range. The consequence was, that the public mind was to a great extent unsettled, and many people were intent upon future changes, under the indefinite name of reform, without knowing or even caring to what they would ultimately lead. By means of this state of public feeling, the peace of the Methodist societies was seriously disturbed; and Mr. Newton was called upon to take a prominent part in resisting the tide of innovation which then set in, and which seemed for a time to threaten the very existence of the Wesleyan institutions, which had long been in operation, and from which the most substantial benefits had been received.

During Mr. Wesley's lifetime, he exercised a general superintendency over the preachers and societies that were in connection with him; and at his decease his power in this respect devolved upon the Conference, which he appointed to assemble every twelve months. To meet any emergency that might arise in the intervals of its sittings, the connection was divided into districts, the preachers of which formed a committee of the Conference, who were to act in its behalf in every matter that might require their interference. Over

every district there is a chairman, who is annually appointed by ballot at the Conference, and is made responsible for the maintenance of discipline in his district, until the Conference shall again assemble.

Mr. Newton was the chairman of the Manchester district in the years 1833 and 1834. The case which first claimed his attention was that of a young preacher, who was stationed in a circuit contiguous to Manchester, and who entered upon an irregular course of action, which was an occasion of just offence to many. He was the son of an esteemed minister in the body, and was himself possessed of good talents and address; and had he confined himself to his proper work, to which he was solemnly pledged, he might have been extensively useful and highly honored; but he unhappily imbibed the revolutionary spirit of the times, and engaged in a project in which it was impossible for him to succeed, and which was sure to destroy his usefulness as a Methodist preacher. When the measure of parliamentary reform was carried, many persons thought that the next great change to be effected was the separation of the Church from the State; and in some quarters an opinion was expressed, that if the Methodists would only unite with other bodies of the community in an earnest attempt to effect this object, it might be speedily obtained. This young man appears to have entertained these views, and resolved to anticipate his fathers and brethren, by taking a leading part in this tempting project. He therefore connected himself with a society which was formed for the express purpose of obtaining this end; became its corresponding secretary; attended public meetings which were convened to agitate this question, avowing himself to be a Methodist preacher, and thus compromising the character of the body to which he belonged; and all this without consulting his superintendent, and in known opposition to his judgment.

It was impossible that these proceedings should pass with out animadversion. In a body so large as that of the Wesleyan Methodists, it might be expected that there would be a diversity of opinion concerning the abstract question of a union between Church and State; but, as a religious community, they have never declared their hostility to the Church as a national establishment, nor have they ever affected to interfere with the revenues of the clergy, or the prerogative of the crown in the bestowal of ecclesiastical preferment. Many members of the Methodist societies attend the services of the church, and receive the Lord's supper at her altars. The two Wesleys lived and died in her communion: Sellon and Fletcher, the very able and earnest defenders of the Wesleyan theology, were of her clergy; so was Dr. Coke, the father of the Wesleyan missions; and so were Messrs. Richardson, Dickenson, and Creighton, who were officially connected with the Methodist chapels in London. The conduct of this young man was, therefore, an occasion of just offence, and was felt to be intolerable.*

These were not the only grounds of objection to his proceedings. It was impossible that he should fulfil his engage

* [American Methodists will not, perhaps, appreciate the force of these observations, as the Methodist Episcopal Church was never connected with the Church of England, or its offshoot, the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States: indeed, it was organized by Mr. Wesley's direction, several years before the organization of the latter. The M. E. Church, with its Episcopacy, liturgy, etc., originating in the Anglican Church was, in Mr. Wesley's opinion, more conformed than that establishment to the model of the Apostolic and Primitive Church, as well as better adapted to the American people. The British Wesleyans generally concur in this opinion; and many of their principal men regret that the Methodist Church in England was not organized by Mr. Wesley on our plan.-AMERICAN EDITOR.]