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returned content with the scantiest concessions . This , occurred in the year 1792 } . v ^ $ WilW ^ y $ P& f $ lX $ FKh Jptye § off ^ by , these presumptuous prjes ^ J ^ is u ^ to return t $ si sanejrhiiid , and to as tlie ^ eiy ^ wK ^ tj ^ r ^ ad jeai ^ ipDtained ., Again they ^ ecatrie " l dissatisfied j&ij ^ g ^^ s ^^ $ &k , hpmej ( to deinanc ^ their righ& . '} Two hundred hvji eQ ^ t ^ ^ dmbX ^ M tie- in 1797 , and extorted ! m > £ n theOCbrMrence respect
sq || i ? fiu ^^^ c ^ e ^ ^ ns ^ , VFe say extorted , arid so it was . The Conference then ^ se ^^^ j ^ in tb authority , which tire have m ^ 4 ^ i ? W || Wfy $ & §? $$ wjiat JUtle the people got , only tritetigh feat . l ^ ^ j ^^^^^^ ^ ' io ^ c ^ ip ^ s-r-to prevent wjiich the Conference had lab ^ urg ^ l p < c $ \ y , f \ jfy } r } ys and strenupusly . % yen from wliat they gave , their spiril r f ^ iJ | r ^ ' ^ njfe ^^/ . ^^ y . <' . dgi Qed . tQ publish an annual account of some They that the
of the ^ ingnje ^! under tueirjdi ^ ptriQn * agreed stewards of the circuit T 5 ( fn ^ spnxe isenserjth ^ o rga n of the people ) should be allowed to audit certain demands for , the support of the travelling preachers . They increased in appearance , t } ie pOAsrer pf the local functionaries in temporal concerns—in appearance ; ye , say , because as the system works these functionaries have really little VJ if any , niore , power than the superintendant , that is , the servant of the Conferenqe ^ chooses to allow . These things , with a few others they
gaye rr ^ c . tiug thereon as a holy alliance ought to act , giving a Constitution ( and supban one !) to the people . And what did they withhold ? They withheld that without which all their concessions were but dupery , the right of the , people to share in the legislation by which they were to be governed . A demand was made for the admission of delegates from the people into Cpnferepce ^ but it was rejected .
They withheld also , as far as they could , the right of free speech . They liniitedLthe number of meetings to be held in each circuit . They defined the business to be therein transacted . They made their nominee supreme in these meetings . They forbade ail others , and imposed penalties oh such as should venture to call " informal" meetings . They declared they would receive no communication from any meetings but such as they had appointed , and they inhibited their deputy , the superintendant , from putting
to the , vote at the regular meetings any motion hostile to the discipline of Methodism . They had previously thrown all the impediments they could in tjbe way of circulation of opinion , by letter or by the press , among the members < of the connexion . As if the people were not , by these provisions , suflGjciently l ? ound and trammelled , they made the decision , of Conference , in any disputed case , paramount ; and by certain regulations * to which the
delegates never acceded , but which the authorities assert to form part of the coQstiti | tiQnp £ 1797 ; they invested the President of the Conference , ifor the tiine |) fing , with supreme power to visit any district , and ** . to inquire into their affairs ( With ; respect to Methodism , and in union with the d * istrict , conomitteeto ^ edre ^ s any grievance . " In the whole of this affair the Conference acted on the spirit of the following quotation , made by one now ijn autl > orUy
m , fche ^ pody ,: ' * , Of this we are sure , that the most effectual ivay to cprrupt any society , ^ nd to kindle and keep alive passions and feelings inimical to the siroplieHy s ^ nd chajaty of the gospel , is to encourage tke deflating propensity , and to elevate those into legislators and public censors , who liaye
not previpusly l ^ ria ^ d t to submit with humility , andmeehnes £ to proper a ^^ flrsi / y . 'rv . . Tocecufe , ^ e people ' s acquiescence in these arbitrary enflctments they r did ^ nq ^ ^ vp ^ nioxe ^ plead iiivine , guidance , but vaunted thejir genero ^ ity ^ vdecslaring ^ jth ; no small effrpnteiry , f . Thus , brethren , w ; e ^ x given up the greatest part of our executive government into your hands . ' *
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MethodHtticHl Constitution . 537
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VOL . IV . 2 Q
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1830, page 537, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2587/page/33/
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