It has generally been stated, that the first Methodist missionary collection was made at the conference in Leeds, in 1769; but this is obviously incorrect. The first collection of the kind was made, by Wesley himself, at Newcastle, on Saturday, the 8th of August, 1767; but was made with some misgiving. Wesley evidently had more faith in the gospel plan of missionaries going forth, at the hazard of their lives, without purse and without scrip, than he had in making large collections to furnish them with both. And, perhaps, he was not so far from being right as some imagine. At all events, it was thus the first Christian missionaries began their work; and, though no one can exonerate the church from her present missionary givings, all will admit, that missionaries’ going out as the first missionaries went, and as George Piercy went to China in modern times, would place them beyond the reach of mean, mercenary suspicion. Let the young men of the Christian church become filled with zeal for God, love for souls, and faith in the power of prayer, as Wesley was, and they will refrain from hastily condemning an idea which Wesley seemed to have. The best agents the church has ever had have been profoundly religious volunteers, rushing to the work, not because they wished or hoped for riches and for rank, but because of an inward impulse which they felt to be irresistible, and which made them willing to endure not only hunger, cold, and privation, but even death itself, for the sake of the Saviour whom they rejoiced to serve.
It is a curious coincidence that, in the very year when Wesley made the first Methodist missionary collection, the first Methodist missionary place of worship was opened in New York. “They write,” says Lloyd’s Evening Post, of September 11, 1767,—“They write from New York, that a large chapel has lately been built there for a congregation of Methodists, who already exceed two thousand persons.” The “large chapel,” somewhat erroneously said to have been built for the Methodists, was “a rigging house,” sixty feet in length, and eighteen in breadth, which was taken by Philip Embury, Captain Webb, and their Methodist companions, for Methodist services. Embury, Barbara Heck, and other Palatine Methodists from Ireland, had begun to hold meetings; Captain Webb became their regimental preacher; a large congregation was gathered; a society was formed; and the result was the opening of the sail loft, which the London newspaper describes as “a large chapel.” But more about this anon.
On the 12th of August, Wesley took coach at Newcastle, and in two days arrived in London, for the purpose of holding his annual conference. He writes: “Tuesday, August 18.— I met in conference with our assistants and a select number of preachers. To these were added, on Thursday and Friday, Mr. Whitefield, Howel Harris, and many stewards and local preachers. Love and harmony reigned from the beginning to the end: but we have all need of more love and holiness; and, in order thereto, of crying continually, ‘Lord, increase our faith!’”
As this was the first year in which a complete list of the numbers in society was given, we subjoin the statement as it stands. By this means, the reader will learn the names of all the Methodist circuits then in existence, except the Irish ones, and will see the relative proportions of each.
| London | 2250 | Grimsby | 693 |
| Sussex | 176 | Leeds | 1120 |
| Kent | 147 | Birstal | 1491 |
| Colchester | 145 | Haworth | 1366 |
| Norwich | 293 | York | 1000 |
| Bedford | 208 | Yarm | 825 |
| Oxfordshire | 142 | The Dales | 833 |
| Wilts | 840 | Newcastle | 1837 |
| Bristol | 1064 | Glasgow | 64 |
| Devon | 413 | Dunbar | 40 |
| Cornwall East | 558 | Edinburgh | 150 |
| Cornwall West | 1602 | Dundee | 40 |
| Staffordshire | 906 | Aberdeen | 174 |
| Cheshire | 525 | Wales | 232 |
| Lancashire | 1875 | Ireland | 2801 |
| Derbyshire | 741 | Total | 25,911 |
| Sheffield | 591 | ||
| Epworth | 769 |
These are curious statistics. In nine instances, circuits are counties. London has the largest number of members, and Newcastle stands next to London. Bristol, one of the largest towns in the kingdom, and the oldest of Methodist stations, only ranks eighth in point of numbers. Six of the circuits are in Yorkshire; and in these were found a fourth part of all the Methodists in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
A good beginning is a good thing. In 1767 one seventh of the Methodist circuits in the United Kingdom, and nearly one fourth of the members, were in Yorkshire. In 1870, the proportions are scarcely different, namely, circuits a fraction over one eighth, and members nearly one fifth. The exact figures are as follows.
| 1767. | 187O. | |
|---|---|---|
| Total number of Circuits | 41 | 701 |
| Yorkshire Circuits | 6 | 88 |
| Total number of Members | 25,911 | 368,434 |
| Yorkshire Members | 6,393 | 71,443 |
These Yorkshire statistics, however, for 1870, are those of the parent connexion only. The Methodist offshoots, in that large county, are, relatively speaking, quite as numerous as the original body; and, if their statistics be added to the above, it will be found that, from the beginning, Yorkshire has been the stronghold of English Methodism; and that, at the present day, it is probably more so than it was even a century ago.
There is another point which deserves attention. Methodism, in 1767, had existed eight-and-twenty years, and the result was the formation of forty-one circuits; the employment of 104 itinerants; and the gathering of 25,911 members of society. Considering the difficulties that had to be encountered, these are gigantic facts; but, in modern times, they have been surpassed. In 1810, what is miscalled “Primitive Methodism” was begun, in Staffordshire, by a few poor, uneducated, working men—William Clowes, James Crawfoot, Hugh Bourne, and his brother James. They also had difficulties, and persecutions neither few nor trivial; and yet, not merely in twenty-eight years, but in less than half that time, their labours, privations, and sufferings had resulted in greater statistics than those which Wesley had to publish in 1767. The following are the figures.