possessed by, the Church of England. What he did was, as the head of another ecclesiasticism, to make Twenty-four Articles for a new Church, and it made no difference where he got his material, or on what he based his articles. That he did base them on the Thirty-nine was a compliment to the Anglican body, and a natural thing for him to do as he was brought up under them.

In the second place, his Societies and his Society work were never under Bishop or Convocation, and never were under the Church of England. What he did was in his capacity as an authority outside the State Church.

One has directed attention to the anti-Romish spirit of Wesley's articles. He says:

"About one-third of our Twenty-five (24) Articles, pruned as they were by the hand of our great leader, are yet plainly anti-Romish. The eleventh Article

(supererogation), fourteenth (purgatory), fifteenth (speaking in a tongue not understood by the people), sixteenth (clause against five Romish sacraments), eighteenth (transubstantiation, etc.), nineteenth (of both kinds), twentieth (sacrifice of the mass), twenty-first (celibacy)—these eight of the twenty-five were written (in whole or in part) for the purpose of denying Romish

errors."

Exactly so. The Thirty-nine Articles were the utterances of Protestants not long after the dawn of the Reformation, and, now, as Romanism still exists, and the world still needs these articles, the Church should be glad that they are still in the Thirty-nine and the Twenty-five.

1 Dean Tillett: "The Faith of Methodism," p. 23.

Romanism is the same, and more so, in its teachings, and the new generations need the same protest and the same Protestantism, and, if these articles were needed when originally written, or as recast and reused by Mr. Wesley, they still are needed, for the errors still persist, and Romanism still is a mighty and aggressive force against Protestantism and its truth.

The fact is that though Wesley did not print his Twenty-four Articles of Religion until 1784, and the American Methodists did not adopt them until later in that year, Wesley and his followers had never been without them.

They were familiar with the Thirty-nine Articles, and also with Wesley's views, and with their other indicated standards and there were also, in the background, and at the front, the great fundamental teachings of general Christianity.

But the preparation and adoption of the Articles of Religion served an important purpose, for, as Principal Shaw says, "The Articles more than the Notes and Sermons, bring Methodism into harmony with catholic faith," that is to say with the historic Christian Church and historic doctrine.

'Principal William I. Shaw, Wesleyan Theological College, Montreal, "Doctrinal Standards," Toronto, 1895, p. 17.

W

XIII

AN ADDED ARTICLE

ESLEY had made Twenty-four Articles, but taking up the second edition of the "Sunday Service," published in 1786, it will be discovered that, according to that edition, the Twentyfour Articles had become Twenty-five.

The explanation of the changed number is due to the fact that The Methodist Episcopal Church had inserted another article between the Twenty-second and the former Twenty-third, making the new article the Twenty-third, and then changed the numbering of the two following articles to Twenty-four and Twenty-five.

The new article thus inserted related to the independent national government of the United States of America, and, so, the new Church had Twenty-five Articles and it has never had any more.

This new article, though it did not appear in the "Sunday Service" until 1786, was, however, really adopted by the organizing Conference in 1784, but as the Articles of Religion had been previously printed before the reorganization in the "Sunday Service," which was brought over in sheets, the additional article could not then be inserted, and, so, it appeared in the second edition of the Service Book, which was published in 1786, or two years later than the first. Doctor John Emory thus refers to the added Article:

"The article of religion contained in the prayer book of 1786 which was not in that of 1784 is that now numbered the 23d,-'Of the Rulers of the United States of America,' which had been adopted by the General Conference of 1784, and was most properly inserted in the ensuing edition of the prayer book of 1786."

1

Doctor David Sherman follows Emory with this observation: "Such an article was framed, however, at the Christmas Conference (1784), when the Church was organized. It could not be printed with the others (at that time), because they had been previously printed in England.""

Mr. Wesley wrote no Article on the United States of America, or its Rulers, but it was not through lack of sympathy with the Republic. Once the independence had been gained, though a loyal Briton, the new nation had his best wishes, but his Articles of Religion were written only the year after the Treaty of Peace, and the Constitution had not yet been drafted, and so he seemed uncertain about official titles and the exact nature of the new government.

However, in his Service Book, he endeavored to cover the ground. Thus, in one of the prayers in the Sunday Service" of 1784, Wesley had a recognition of the country and its officers, as follows:

"We beseech thee also to save and defend all Christian Kings, Princes, and Governors; and especially

1 John Emory, D. D., "Defence of Our Fathers," New York, Carlton & Porter, Preface, November, 1827, p. 76.

'David Sherman, D. D., "History of the Discipline," New York, 1874, p. 126. Sherman takes this from Robert Emory's "History of the Discipline," New York, 1843, p. 108.

thy Servants, the Supreme Rulers of these United States; that under them we may be godly and quietly governed," ' etc.

Again, in the forms for "Morning Prayer" and "Evening Prayer," instead of prayer for the ruling monarch in Great Britain, Wesley substituted this short prayer, entitled "A Prayer for the Supreme Rulers":

"O Lord our heavenly Father, high and mighty, King of Kings, Lord of lords, the only Ruler of princes, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers upon earth; Most heartily we beseech thee, with thy favour to behold the Supreme Rulers of these United States; and so replenish them with the grace of thy Holy Spirit, that they may incline to thy will, and walk in thy way; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." :

In the Service Book of 1786, this prayer, and a substitute prepared by the Americans, entitled: "A Prayer for Rulers," appears in both the Morning Prayer and the Evening Prayer, as follows:

“O Lord, our heavenly Father, high and mighty, the Ruler of all that govern, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers upon earth; Most heartily we beseech thee with thy favour to behold the Rulers of these United States, the Congress, the General Assemblies, the Governors, and the Councils of State; and so replenish them with the grace of thy Holy Spirit, that they may alway incline to thy will, and walk in thy way: Endue them plenteously with heavenly gifts, grant them in health and wealth long to live; strengthen them that they may vanquish and overcome all the enemies of their country; and finally, after 1In "Prayers for Various Occasions,” “Sunday Service,” 1784, * Wesley's "Sunday Service," 1784.