preachers, and allowed them to wear gowns and bands; and very fine, I dare say, they looked in them. I am no admirer of these things, as is well known; but God forbid that I should unchristian any man on account of them!

But if the word reverend cannot be used by any but reprobates, how happens it that such saints as these lawmakers should themselves be involved in this guilt? for in these very rules, p. 4, we read twice of the reverend John Wesley. And no scruple is made of using the word many times in the Protestant Magazines which have been published since the law was made; though that law expressly declares that the obnoxious term shall not "be used at all." And it must be particularly noted, that these legislators, having used this heretical term in their book of laws, they did "thereby exclude themselves from the connexion," and render their spiritual code void. The monster, at its birth, destroyed both its parents and itself. Suppose our king and parliament were to pass a law by which they excluded themselves from the state, it would necessarily follow, that neither themselves nor their laws could have any authority in the state; and the whole frame of society would be dissolved. You see into what a condition these wise acres have brought both you and themselves! Since the publication of my first letter, many persons have been desirous of seeing your famous rules; but have complained that they could not obtain a copy for either love or money.

I must now advert to another topic upon which our calumniators are perpetually harping, the enormous salaries of the preachers, and their incessant cravings for money. In your Magazine for January last, a most violent philippic against our preachers, as a set of mercenary wretches, is headed with,—

"Money, money's all my cry;
Oh, give me money, or I die!"

Upon this subject your holy and heavenly guides seem to have acted upon the old proverb, Throw dirt

S S

enough and some will stick." Nothing they have said against us has been so successful in alienating your affections from us, and in prejudicing your minds against us, as the perpetual outcry which they have kept up about our avarice. The gross and abominable falsehoods they have published upon this head shall now be exposed; and though I have little hope that what I may say will make much impression on their tender minds, it may serve to open your eyes, and certainly will enable the public to judge how far the reproach and calumny we have endured have been deserved.

In your Magazine for March last year there is a letter from an anonymous scribbler on the " Income of Methodist preachers;" in which he says, "It appears there are at present in Great Britain, Ireland, and Foreign stations, 304,871 members in society; and if each member contributes, as is required, one penny per week, and one shilling per quarter, ticket money, it will produce an annual income of £127,028 15s. To which may be added the following funds, all which are appropriated to the support of the preachers and their families:

"Now supposing the number of preachers, travelling, supernumerary, and superannuated to be 1,146, it is quite clear there is an annual income to each, of £173."

The writer then proceeds to complain of the inequality of the allowances in different circuits, and proposes, as a remedy, that the above sum of £198,028

15s. shall be lodged in the hands of a banker in London; that the allowances per annum be for every travelling, supernumerary, and superannuated preacher, £100., for every wife and widow, £59., for every child until eighteen years of age £20.; that the claimants draw upon the banker quarterly for a fourth part of their annual stipends; and that the preachers shall have no additional claims upon the circuits for houses, or anything else. There is not a preacher in the connexion, I am persuaded, who would object to this scheme. The reformers, I fear, however, would find it difficult to procure a banker who would guarantee to the preachers the due payment of the above sums. Had I been paid according to this ratio for the thirty years I have travelled, I should have been at this day near £1,000 richer than I happen to be in consequence of having received my salary upon the old plan.

In favour of the equality system the writer argues as follows: "I would just ask those reverend influential preachers, how they can reconcile the idea of themselves receiving, perhaps double the amount of an equally excellent and valuable preacher, who is travelling in a small country circuit, where there is probably more labour and fewer comforts; how much justice, equity, or reason is there in such conduct? how does this accord with the golden rule, 'Do ye unto others as ye would that they should do unto you?"" This is all very pious and good, as far as it goes. But why does the writer limit the operations of his levelling system to our preachers? The equality which prevailed in the apostles' time was general throughout the church at Jerusalem. "And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul; neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. Neither was there any among them that lacked; for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles' feet; and distribution was made unto every man ac

cording as he had need." (Acts iv. 32-35.) In this case the laity left their property, not in the hands of a city banker, but at the feet of the ministers of religion. What an outcry would our Protestants, had they existed at the time, have raised against this! Their writer, however, instead of trying the experiment upon so large a scale, is for restricting it to a single profession. But are not your ministers under as great an obligation as ours are, to have all things in common? It scarcely looks decent for your preachers to be pressing upon us what they think to be a sacred duty, and yet pay no attention to it themselves. Some of your ministers are possessed of both houses and lands; and every one of the rest may sing in a plaintiff tone,—

"No foot of land do I possess,

No cottage in the wilderness."

It is well known how dead your chief pastors are to all carnal things. Now I would advise your poor preachers to apply to them to set an example; and when they have sold their lands and houses, and made distribution of the price to every poverty-stricken brother, "according as he has need," we will try to emulate their virtues. That your teachers should seriously, solemnly, religiously, and with all possible gravity, insist upon our doing, what, in similar circumstances, they will not do themselves, would, I should have thought, had I not known something of the men, have exceeded all power of face. But the pharisees of old, I read, could bind burdens upon others, which they themselves would not touch with one of their fingers.

But to return to the pecuniary calculations of this writer. He takes it for granted that our members average 2s. 1d. per quarter for ticket and class money. If he had known the real state of things among us, he would have known that they do no such thing. He also assumes that the whole of this money is paid to, and for, the preachers. This is one of the most gross

and impudent falsehoods ever attempted to be imposed upon human credulity. As this is a serious charge, attend to the proof; and if I fail to substantiate it, rank me amongst the basest libelers that ever disgraced human nature. Your people pay class and ticket money as well as ours; and the whole of this money in your connexion, is expended on the incidentals of your worship, and not in paying the salaries of your ministers. You know that no religious community can exist without incurring expenses, independently of what may be paid to ministers; when, therefore, the whole receipts of our connexion are stated, by this writer, to be expended upon the preachers, you cannot reflect on the subject for a moment without being satisfied that the statement is false.

To show that the whole of your class and ticket money is disposed of in the way I have asserted, I will refer you to the published accounts of your stewards. These accounts are published half-yearly, and are entitled, "An account of the receipts and expenditure by the Stewards of the Wesleyan Protestant Methodist Society, Leeds, for six months." I have two of these papers before me, and by adding the items together under each separate head, I herewith present you with a statement of the stewards' accounts for a whole year, ending September 28th, 1829: