and burglar alarm; the sewing-machine and kindred appliances; the photograph; the spectroscope, which makes us neighbors to the stars; the partial separation of Church and State; the freedom of religious worship; the multiplication of religious edifices; the establishment and growth of Sunday-schools, with the system of international lessons indoctrinating youth with the ideas of a universal brotherhood and foreshadowing international fraternity; the emancipation of serfs, the striking of manacles from millions of slaves, and transmuting chattels into citizens all these are but faint outlines of the manifold triumphs of the century, which might well startle old Galileo from his slumbers to cry again, "But it does move, though!"

In these great movements America claims her part. In some of them she has been a chief actor. She has given the world the example of a free Church in a free State. She has realized the grand ideas of "liberty, equality, and fraternity;" older nations are but beginning to follow the path on which she boldly stepped ere the morning light had dispelled the shadows. In material progress and in inventive genius the nations recognize her power. Her grain is feeding, her cotton is clothing, her oil is lighting, and her precious metals are enriching millions of people of the world. Well may she invite all nations to rejoice in her cen

tennial birth-day, for she "is the friend of all, the enemy of none."

But the material rests upon the immaterial-the seen issues from the unseen. The patriot and phi lanthropist well know that civil freedom must rest on moral purity. True morality receives its inspiration and strength from a spiritual religion. For its law it bows at Sinai, and for its hopes it listens to the sweet whispers that float over the sea of Galilee.

General Washington, in his farewell address, well said: "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connection with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, rea

son and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religous principles."

Any review of the century would be incomplete without a survey of the work of the Churches Rapid as has been the increase of population, still more rapid has been the increase of membership in the Churches. On the first wave of population, as it rolled westward over plain or mountain, floated the banner of the cross, and the voice of its herald was heard before the sound of the hammer in the erection of the pioneer tent or cabin had died away. The emigrant from distant lands has been met with the Bible in his own language, and has been invited to the sanctuary, the "house of prayer for all nations." In the midst of all the excitements of business and the pursuit of pleasure, the quiet and calmness of the holy Sabbath has stilled the factory and the mart, and the weary and exhausted workman has heard the divine invitation, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

This result has been achieved, not in an age of apathy or indifference, or by the exercise of repressive power. The spirit of free inquiry has been abroad. The old has been called in question by the new. The spirit of skepticism has suggested doubts upon all subjects, and has spared no topic, human or

divine. Histories have been challenged and mir acles assailed. The votaries of science have tried to construct a universe without a God. Yesterday the material alone was magnified, and immateriality, spirituality, and immortality, were pronounced to be fancies of an excited brain. To-day the world is reported to be full of spirits that not only "peep and mutter," but rap and startle, and utter strange messages to credulous inquirers. Error, ever changing, with chameleon hue and protean form, discomfited or vanquished, vanishes but for a moment to reappear in fresh disguise.

Meantime the "truth as it is in Jesus" pursues its steady way, enlightening the ignorant, comforting the afflicted, and throwing the light of immortality into the caverns of the tomb. Bible societies have been the glory of the century, translating God's word into two hundred languages, and seeking to place a copy in the hand of every human being. Missionaries have visited every heathen land, and half a million of converts are singing the notes of holy triumph.

In this work each denomination has performed its part, and will rehearse its story in its own way. Be it our task to write only of one-the youngest of all the leading families of the Church of Christ—a century and a half ago "to fortune and to fame unknown."

THE

CHAPTER II.

THE RISE OF METHODISM.

HE first Methodist Society was organized in London, near the close of 1739. Centuries before, a sect of physicians had been called Methodists, and in the previous century we find the phrase "New Methodists" applied much as "New School" in our day, indicating increased religious activity and more liberal sentiments. The epithet was applied, however, in derision, to Mr. Wesley and a few young men associated with him in Oxford University. So systematic were they in their studies, their habits, their devotions, and their works of benevolence; so scrupulous in their redemption of time, and so self-denying and earnest in their practices, that the gayer young men called them. Methodists. The founder of the Society, the Rev. John Wesley, was born June 14, 1703, in the parish of Epworth, Lincolnshire. He was descended from a long line of able ministers. His father was rector of the parish church; a man of more than ordinary mental power, an able writer, but a poor financier. With a large family and a small salary he was constantly embarrassed. His mother, Susannah Wes