antagonists, which I have neither time nor inclination for. But I fear the face of no man, nor any body of men, in the discharge of what I conceive to be my duty; and should such circumstances arise, as appear to me to demand it, I shall, at all risks and hazards, publish my name and address. On the other hand, the Rev. Mr. Vevers, by publishing his name has nothing to lose, but everything to gain, especially Conference preferment,-this his letter to you is sure to gain for him. A LEADER.

Liverpool, March 17, 1847.

Our next communication presents a strong case of hardship, which illustrates the peculiar workings of the despotism. in a given direction :

Sir,-The observations on Wesleyan Methodism in the January Number of the CHRISTIAN WITNESS are the commencement of effects, which will expose the despotism and injustice of some of the executive proceedings of its various Connexional assemblies, called meetings of the Classes and Leaders, Quarterly and Trustee Meetings, District and Chapel Fund, Committee Meetings, &c., to the meeting of the Annual Conference, whose all-controlling influence actuates the whole. Persons composing these meetings profess to enjoy, or to be seeking to enjoy, and to propagate the blessings of gospel grace and salvation; to do unto others as they would that others do to them, as Jesus Christ taught; to render to all men their dues, and to owe no man anything, as Paul enjoined: there all the principles of moral right and gospel honesty concentrate. These things, Wesleyan Methodism professes and holds forth to the world. There

fore, if this Methodism is, what it pretends to be, then I say with that respect due to Mr. Vevers, and his brethren, if any of their muchapplauded Connexional rules tend to infringe the principles inculcated by Christ and his Apostles, by any Connexional sophistry, by any evasive and vexatious proceedings, the sooner they are abrogated the better; for while such rules are retained and enforced, Mr. Vevers and his brethren more grossly malign themselves, than it is possible for them to be, by all the facts which J. S. or Aleph has so faithfully stated. The appropriateness of my remarks will be seen by a brief statement of my own case.

Some years ago I lent the trustees of one of their chapels a sum of money, on promissory note bearing interest; the chapel became what is called embarrassed, that the trustees could not answer pecuniary claims, so that I could not obtain either principal or interest during that embarrassment. But, in consequence of hopes being held out of seeing better days, and Connexional assistance from the Chapel Fund Committee, and the Conference which was locked for, I was given to understand all would be right at length; and being recommended to wait patiently till the money could be obtained, trusted to the honour and honesty, integrity and goodness of the Connexion; and was thus led on until my claim was barred by the Statute of Limitation. I have frequently written to respective parties concerning the business, and received answers which were calculated to raise expect-. ation, and to defer hope, by soothing and silencing expressions which have wofully deceived I have repeatedly addressed their Confer

me.

ence on the subject, and received answers in their behalf, signed by Presidents and Secretaries famed and popular, and never has the justice of my claims been denied by them. Thus has the affair gone on for years.

I addressed a letter to the President of their Conference, held at Leeds, 1845. Mr. Vevers, being in Derby, was authorized to wait upon me to see if I had the note, and to take a copy of it, which he did. Their Corresponding Secretary wrote me, saying my case was referred to the District Meeting. Mr. Vevers removing from Derby after the close of that Conference, and Mr. Bedford, his late colleague, remaining another year, waited upon me to obtain my documents containing the various correspondence on the subject, to make out the case for investigation in the proper quarters; and going the year round, after the close of their last Conference, 1846, Mr. Bedford called on me and returned my papers without stating any result; and in answer to something I asked him, said, were I you, I would push it ;" shook me by the hand and departed; and thus the matter remains.

66

Any person who understands the Connexional Rules of Wesleyan Methodism may easily perceive the reciprocal relations andrespective duties of Trustees of Chapels, Chapel Fund Committees, and the members of Conference, which should not only bind them together, but ought to promote mutual responsibility and honest performance; that the strong should support the weak, and thus enable each other to fulfil their respective trusts, and to perform their Christian duties with clean hands and honest hearts; and not to allow a Common-law limitation, nor any other informality to bar a righteous claim. A Connexion like the Wesleyan Methodists ought to maintain higher ground than to allow the least suspicion to sully their holy and honest reputation, much less to suffer a greatly-reduced individual in the decline of life to continue the helpless victim of their Connexional fraud; a preacher, who wrote me respecting this affair, said, "every one who understands the business, I believe, considers you an injured man." The principal subterfuge of the Chapel Fund Committee, is, "we can only help Trustees, and not money-lenders." What constitutes the embarrassments of chapels, but money lent and borrowed ? What means, helping the Trustees, but assisting them with money to discharge honestly those debts which have been contracted, in behalf of those chapels, the occupancy of which is the Conference preachers' right to preach, to collect their thousands annually, and for other Connexional purposes? Were not some tens of thousands of pounds, from the Centenary Fund appropriated to the relief of distressed chapels, to enable Trustees to repay money-lenders, so-called? Why then should I be malevolently thrown in the back-ground by an artful policy, which, while it continues, and is allowed to be acted upon by members of Conference and their would-be thought respectable partizans, implicates them in the sin of a seeming wish to do right, while the intention is to do wrong.

Whenever money is lent for Connexional purposes, it is a Connexional duty to repay, and not to allow individuals to suffer personal loss, whether they stand in the place of claimants or sureties. Neither ought the death or insolvency of sureties, whose names are attached to any

responsible document in behalf of any public establishment for public uses, to become a bar against honest payment. If such unfaithfulness in public institutions prevailed, whether civil or religious, their foundations would soon be destroyed. Among the Methodist Society Rules, is one to this effect, "Not to go in debt without a possibility of paying." Again, How this agrees with their Connexional conduct towards my case, I leave others to judge and decide, where crimination ought to rest, to which Mr. Vevers is so alive, in his and his brethren's behalf. heartily wish him, kind soul, to make a communication in vindication of Methodism, that the "antidote may be co-extensive with the crimination," and prove a healing balm to me, as he knows my just claim has not yet been answered, notwithstanding all that he has written in behalf of himself and his clerical brethren, and also the testimony he has borne in favour of the piety, faithfulness, and respectability of their coadjutors.

I

I hope, Sir, you will never be deaf to the cries of oppression and fraud, nor close your eyes upon an evil when presented for your inspection and censure; but will use your powerful influence to redress grievance, and promote justice. The insertion of my unvarnished tale, if not of any advantage to me, may be the means of preventing some other unsuspicious and confiding souls from trusting too much to the honour and honesty of the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion. With due respect,

SIR,-I have impatiently waited the arrival of the Watchman newspaper of the 10th inst., expecting to see some remarks on your excellent exposé of the evils in Wesleyan Methodism, as they are ably set forth in your CHRISTIAN WITNESS for this month. Never was an article better arranged, nor could one be drawn up more conclusive, convincing, or luminous. Many thousands of officials in the Methodist Society are willing to present to you their most cordial and heartfelt thanks, for thus coming forward to become their mouthpiece to the world; and were it not that so many trustees are bound hand and foot by the tremendous trammels of pecuniary obligations, with which they have fettered themselves for Wesleyan chapels, for which they are held personally responsible,— whilst they have foolishly conveyed the chapels away on what is termed the Conference Plan;

-I say, were it not that they are thus kept to "METHODISM AS IT IS," they would at once come forward and tender to you their ardent thanks. But aware that, if they dare to speak out, they may weaken the public attachment to Wesleyanism, and thus cease to let their pews, they, alas are compelled to be silent;-hence their disaffection to a number of the ministers. This circumstance, together with a number of the Wesleyan preachers having married into respectable families, the connections of such fami

lies are thus bound to Wesleyanism, who otherwise would gladly wash their hands of it altogether, until it became as it ought to bereformed. But, alas! as the poor Watchman, before alluded to, carried no lantern, or no lighted candle in his lantern, a darkness which may be felt pervades a childish article in last Wednesday's paper. Never surely was there a more pusilanimous piece put forth than that signed by "A Wesleyan." Not one of the all-important charges preferred in your March number against the system or polity of Methodism does he attempt to look at; and, unless good brother Vevers, from Hull, summons to his aid some more cogent arguments than he has hitherto put forth, he, alas! will only confirm all your readers that he is attempting to build up with untempered mortar a heap of rubbish already beginning to totter and tumble about his head. I have only space left most cordially to thank you, and wish you God-speed in the name of the Lord. Dear Sir, yours, most faithfully,

A REFORMING METHODIST.

The following, from a steady friend of all that is true and good, will be read with interest. We hope it is only a drop before the shower:

Sir,-It is with no ordinary feelings that I sit down to write these lines, to thank you for the great service you have done to the cause of civil and religious liberty throughout the world, in your noble attempts to make the people who compose the members of the Wesleyan Connexion, thoroughly to understand what the powers that rule are about; and to claim for themselves the right of thinking, and acting like men possessed of common sense and reason. I am glad that it is in my power to give you a little encouragement in your work of faith, and labour of love. I do not belong to the old body of Wesleyans, but I am in the habit of associating with many good and pious members of that church, and during the last few days, I have had several conversations with them upon your "attack," as some would call it, others praise it, and wish you God-speed; but what particularly struck my attention was, the information from several of the members forming part of the Society at Harwich, that the opinion of the members of the various classes had been specially asked whether they had any objection to the present ministers that labour in this circuit, staying amongst them; and they expressed to me their surprise, and pleasure, that such had been the case, as this had been always left to the decision of the Quarterly Meeting preceding the meeting of Conference. Now, Sir, this is a movement in the right direction, in my humble opinion, and one which, I trust, will be followed throughout the Connexion; and the reason I send you this is, that you should be aware that your labours in the cause of Wesleyan Methodism are not lost sight of; but duly appreciated by that Body, I mean the thinking portion of them, and also it was the wish of several members, that this should be made known to you. Some that are rather opposed to you, were praising in my hearing the pamphlet stitched into the end of the "Friendly Visitor," called the "False Witness Unmasked." I read it, and was thoroughly disgusted with its scurrility, and low abuse; and if these are the

only champions that can be brought into the field for the defence of Wesleyanism, I mean Mr. Vevers, and the author of the above tract; why I should cry with a loud voice, save me from my friends! Your argument is true, when you say the Local Preachers are the staff of Wesleyanism, and, I trust, that these good men will see the necessity of coming out more decidedly, and if the cleansing of the Augean stable is not begun by the regular ministers, why they must bestir themselves, and come to the help of the Lord against the mighty.

I remain, yours truly,

AN ASSOCIATION METHODIST. Harwich, April 10th, 1847.

The latter part of the first letter in the foregoing series is a sufficient answer to all that has been said in the Methodistic Journals and Magazines on the subject of giving the names of correspondents. We need not remind the Wesleyan-for we deem the rest unworthy of mention—that there is danger in random strictures, of which he has given a sample in his last Number, that for March 31, forming a marked deviation from his usual candour

and good sense. “ Aleph,” he says, “is, we are led to believe, an official member of the Wesleyan Association."-Now this might be so, and yet the whole of his "findings" be strictly true, and derived from previous personal experience. But it is not true. Aleph is not and never was a member of the Wesleyan Association. Under his own hand we have it, that in 1817 he became a member of the Original Body, where he has "held nearly every office a layman could sustain." He states that, at the moment he wrote the article in question for the WITNESS, "he was a pew-holder, and a member of the congregation at Wesleyan Chapel." From the Connexion he is now withdrawn, having previously sent in his resignation, thus giving the strongest proof of the fatal force with which his own "findings" acted on his own feelings. So much for our contemporary's superior means of information. But this is not all; he loudly demands why we "permitted the evident absurdities of Aleph to appear at all?" A few more such questions from the Wesleyan, and the confidence of his supporters is gone. These "evident absurdities" have been certified in our pages as sorrowful realities, by men in all points equal, at least, as credible witnesses, to the conductor of the Wesleyan. But the bulk of these "evident absurdities" requires no man's testimony; they are self-evident truths, which require only statement to command con

fidence. "The number of letters" received "in answer to the article in the WITNESS for January" has been already stated, but not in compliance with his childish demand. But when he says, referring to ourselves, "We distinctly call upon him either to testify to the Wesleyan Methodist membership of his correspondents, or to communicate their names in confidence to us," we are lost in astonishment. The idea of surrendering the names of gentlemen who have committed themselves to our honour, to a man we never saw, and of whom, even of his name, we are utterly ignorant, and this in obedience, forsooth, to his public "call," is, doubtless, very original, very modest, and very reasonable, showing also an intimate acquaintance with the usages of the Press, and a profound respect for the proprieties of civilized life. Unless the whole article, and especially this portion of it, prove to be an emanation from the addle pate of some ignorant, impudent underling, not to be repeated, we must greatly qualify, if not wholly retract, the favourable opinion we volunteered in our last Number on behalf of the Wesleyan, and continue to lament the hapless condition of the vast empire of Wesleyan mind in relation to its Public Press, which, in point of principles, both civil and religious, of literature, of range, of power, of honour, and of all that constitutes efficiency-in point of all that is essential to instruct, guide, elevate, animate, and move a mighty people, is so utterly and every way unworthy of the Wesleyan community, and so ill-adapted to these eventful times. The rise of the Wesleyan we considered a step in the march of redemption; if that shall fail, all hope is, for the present, gone. Truth is speechless; the oppressed are friendless. But we still hope better things.

With respect to our correspondents, we state, once for all, that they are just what we and most of themselves have declared them to be; all are Methodists, where it is not otherwise set forth;-yea, and the bulk of them, be it known, men of special mark in the Body. But as to the value of evidence, this is a minor point; on such a subject the evidence of men whom oppression has forced out, for purposes of proof, is even superior to that of men whose long-enduring patience has enabled them to remain behind. But adieu to all such matters. Those who have taste for the traffic shall have the monopoly.

THOUGHTS ON THE EDUCATION

MOVEMENT.

ALTHOUGH, to our exceeding great disappointment, prevented by severe indisposition from mingling with the 500 patriotic men who composed the late Conference, we were with them throughout in spirit, and no heart burned more intensely than ours, with pure desires for the success of the Opposition. With respect to the Minutes of Council, and the passing hour, that success may, we fear, be considered as denied, although while we write, the matter is undecided; but long before this page shall meet the eyes of our readers the voice of Parliament will, we doubt not, have declared for the Council, the Bishops,-and compulsion, with all its attendant evils. But let it not thence be inferred that nothing has been gained;-all has been gained that reasonable and far-seeing men, from the first, expected. The points really secured have been great and various, and have amply compensated for all the time, toil, and expense, connected with the Opposition. Recent events have done much to reveal the true character of all parties. With respect to bodies, both ecclesiastical and political, the artificial is now giving place to the natural; religious and political truth has advanced, and a spurious catholicity is about to vanish and make way for genuine Christian charity. Alliances, truthless and trustless, are breaking up, and devotion to party is being lost in devotion to principle. True Dissent has been greatly the gainer; right-minded men are being drawn or driven together, and, weaned from weak and delusive reliance on the broken reed of earthly statesmanship, are resting their hopes on the rock of eternal truth. On the present occasion great light has been thrown on the position of Nonconformists, they have now learned to distinguish between friends and foes to their Principles. They now more fully than before see how little those Principles are understood by the bulk of Britain's leading men in all positions. The Chief Town Councils of the realm have each proclaimed either the ignorance, or the selfishness of its vast majority. The bulk of the Press, too, has proved its utter unfitness, to teach and to guide the public mind. Both Town Councillors and Newspaper Editors

have shown themselves immeasurably behind the Millions. In all free assemblies of the People, in spite of craft and the clergy, of intimidation, coercion, deception, and cabinet influence, right principles have carried everything before them with irresistible power. In nothing, have we, of late years, had more abundant proof that the home of integrity, intelligence, truth, and liberty, is not in the high-places of the land, but in the hearts of the People. It has been most exhilarating and ennobling to see the great and good, both ministers and laymen, among our Nonconformist fathers and brethren, in Leeds, Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, and elsewhere, standing up side by side with clerical and other advocates of the Evil Measure, and in the midst of congregated thousands, appealing to the understandings and the hearts of the men of England, and, in spite of all opposition, achieving the victory in behalf of reason and justice, liberty and religion! The spectacle which our free country has manifested during the last two months, has been grand,-British in the extreme! But the light has been accompanied with shade, to an extent, which, while it has rendered that light more glorious, has yet been deeply grievous and mortifying. The position of our Wesleyan brethren has been one of most discreditable prostration. Never before was the injustice, evil, and danger of Methodistic despotism so fully, so fearfully developed. We can conceive of nothing more degrading, more unmanly, more un-English, than the condition of this Body during the recent struggle. Why, the Russian and the Turkoman are freemen compared with the English Methodist! Here a mighty question arises, involving the highest interests of Britain and of man, but the mind and the conscience of the Methodist people are wholly shut out from the discussion of that question! They are voiceless, voteless-so many ciphers in the community-so many serfs in the land! While the Nonconformist freemen of England are every where meeting in masses, headed by their own ministers and laymen, and giving expression to their joint opinions in the face of their common country, throughout the realms of Methodism all has been still as death, -silent as the grave, while a small knot

of gentlemen have been meeting from time to time, and with closed doors, taking counsel together, and trafficing with the Government for certain immunities and privileges! According to the statement of the Prime Minister, the said gentlemen, took no exception whatever to the Minutes, either in whole or in part! They only asked for a voice in the appointment of their School Inspectors, and that the Wesleyan Committees of Education should be 66 a recognised authority," and as such, have direct access to the Treasury Chest! This being granted, they then tendered thanks, bolted the Minutes, bowed, and retired! The question, then, is, In this act, have they fairly represented the body of the Wesleyan People? We affirm that it is not so. The Wesleyans are men capable of becoming the subjects of the same sense, spirit, principle, and patriotism as their Dissenting brethren; and had they been treated with equal justice-had they been like those brethren, everywhere assembled, and fairly presented with the facts of the case, they would have as uniformly reached the same conclusion, and delivered as emphatically a verdict in condemnation of the Minutes, and in favour of Free Education. This presumption receives a strong corroboration from the course pursued in Norwich, Leeds, and other places, by portions of the Wesleyan body, who, in spite of fetters, have acted, and in spite of gags, have spoken. The people at large, with the Travelling and Local Preachers, Leaders, and Teachers, have all in this matter been humbled, degraded, and robbed of their rights, by the system. They

have been so taught to exult in the glory of "Connexional movement," that multitudes, we fear, have failed to examine its import. What does the phrase mean? It means centralization in its most finished, most despotic form! It means mind and will in the centre; brute matter in the circumference! It means the " movement" of a man-of-war, the "movement" of a battalion ! It means the implicit surrender of reason and of conscience, and the prompt homage of blind submission! Is this a theme for an Englishman's glory? The truth is, that this system is becoming a very serious affair, as it affects not merely the Ecclesiastical, but the political interests of England and the Colonies. It is, to a vast extent, one huge rotten borough, of which the inhabitants are grievously wronged, and through them the entire nation! It must be solemnly looked at. It must be resolutely dealt with. The Wesleyan Divan is, and will continue to be, the faithful ally of Church and State, and the strong pillar of all anti-popular government. It ought not, therefore, to be considered the true friend of the British People. The time is come for its adherents earnestly to betake themselves to the abolition of the power of the Divan, and the enfranchisement of themselves with all the privileges which belong to them, both as Christians and as Englishmen. Had the Methodist People, on this occasion, been allowed to speak, they would have cast the balance in favour of justice and freedom, which from their thraldom, and consequent silence, have been trodden in the dust!

The Standard Edition of the Pictorial Bible. Edited by JOHN KITTO, D.D., F.S.A. London: Charles Knight and Co. Nos. 1-21.

THE attention of our readers was recently invited to Dr. Kitto's last great work-the Cyclopædia of Biblical Literature; and having finished that vast undertaking, it now appears that he returned immediately to his earlier work, the "Pictorial Bible," the publication of which commenced some ten years ago. The conception of this great project was original, and the performance magni

ficent. Of all the noble achievements of Mr. Knight, the first place is, beyond controversy, due to the "Pictorial Bible." Since that period the labours of Dr. Kitto have been intensely and solely devoted in the region of Biblical Literature, and his stores of information, it need hardly be said, have been vastly increased; and these it has been determined shall be brought to bear on the improvement of the original work. In the course of the intervening years he has noted down whatever has fallen under his eye, or has been suggested by his own reflections, as tending in any