SOCIETY MEETINGS IN WESLEYAN METHODISM. BY THE REV. JOS. PORTREY. THE LONDON: TO THE REVEREND GEORGE CLOUGH HARVARD, MY CONSTANT AND FAITHFUL FRIEND AND FELLOW-LABOURER IN THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST, This Volume is Enscribed WITH THE WARMEST AFFECTION OF THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. I OFFER no apology for publishing "Society Meetings in Wesleyan Methodism." It is a subject which has been interwoven into my spiritual life from its very beginning, and one whose benefits have been of greater value to me than I can possibly express. "Village Methodism" is that of which I make my boast, having been cradled and nursed therein during my early religious history. The visits we received from the "Travelling Preachers" were mostly confined to the week-day evenings, their labours being urgently required in the larger places. We had no towns in the whole Circuit, but there were large and important congregations and Societies needing special pastoral attention, so that the smaller ones (one of which was my own) had to be content with the occasional visits referred to. The ministers, however, took care that every lack was supplied, as far as it was practicable to do so; and the week-night services consisted, not unfrequently, of preaching and the Society Meeting. Their labours were abundant, but they faithfully discharged the duties which their high calling imposed upon them in every particular. I have had occasion again and again to revere their memory, and I can never forget the obligations under which I am laid to Christ and His cause, through their pious care and attention. To show how fully the subject is an essential part of Methodism, I will take the liberty of giving an extract from an article in the "Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine" for 1861, to the whole of which I should like to call special attention. "Mr. Wesley's Journal stretches over the first half century of our existence, and nearly fifty years beyond the first Methodist Conference. In it we find the servant of Christ in labours more abundant,' during an extraordinary length of time. We see in him a deep penetration, a sound judgment, a store of various knowledge, a large acquaintance with human nature, a cool self-possession, a singleness of eye, an elevation of character above all that was low and selfish, and a dignity of soul which nothing but a rich supply of the grace of God could impart. His Journal will delight and instruct generations to come, in this and in many lands. It is so rich in correspondence and biography, in notices of natural history, of literature, of singular occurrences, of remarkable answers to prayer, and a vast range of other matters, that it is hard to name a topic on which it communicates no information. The style in which it is written is that of a man of extraordinary powers, born in the lap of learning, yet hallowed by deep humility and fervent devotion. Few men have been better qualified to judge of the work of God in the heart, or of the means by which that work is commenced and carried on. We turn respectfully to his Journal upon this point, and find that one of the most powerful instrumentalities in the formation of Methodism was THE SOCIETY MEETING.” "The ordinary records of his conduct for fifty years read thus:- May 5th, 1745.I afterwards met the Society, and exhorted them, in spite of men and devils, to continue in the grace of God.' 'Sunday, July 14th, 1745. I preached at Stithians, and earnestly |