Wesley Corpus

Have they not authority to expel a particular member of the ciety? No: The Assistant only can do this. Q. 7. But have they not authority to regulate the temporal and spiritual affairs of the society? Neither the one nor the other. Temporal affairs belong to the Stewards; spiritual to the Assistant. Q. 8. Have they authority to make any collection of a public nature? No: The Assistant only can do this. Q. 9. Have they authority to receive the yearly subscription?- No: This also belongs to the Assistant. 428 REv. J. weslEY’s [April, 1771. 4. Considering these things, can we wonder at the confusion which has been here for some years? If one wheel of a machine gets out of its place, what disorder must ensue ! In the Methodist discipline, the wheels regularly stand thus: The Assistant, the Preachers, the Stewards, the Leaders, the people. But here the Leaders, who are the lowest wheel but one, were got quite out of their place. They were got at the top of all, above the Stewards, the Preachers, yea, and above the Assistant himself. 5. To this, chiefly, I impute the gradual decay of the work of God in Dublin. There has been a jar throughout the whole machine. Most of the wheels were hindered in their motion. The Stewards, the Preachers, the Assistant, all moved heavily. They felt all was not right. But if they saw where the fault lay, they had not strength to remedy it. But it may be effectually remedied now. Without rehearsing former grievances, (which may all die and be forgotten,) for the time to come, let each wheel keep its own place. Let the Assistant, the Preachers, the Stewards, the Leaders, know and execute their several offices. Let none encroach upon another, but all move together in harmony and love. So shall the work of God flourish among you, perhaps as it never did before; while you all hold the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Dublin, March 29, 1771. Sat. 6.--I gave the sacrament at the Widows’ House, to four or five and twenty that are widows indeed; all poor enough, several sick or infirm, three bed-rid, one on the brink of eternity. But almost all know in whom they have believed, and walk worthy of their profession. Sun.