III. l'r<:«iit Ciiii'liti'in. etc. — The progress of the de- nomination is ra|ii(l. ((msidering the bold stand it makes against many > usioins and usages quite popidar even in the churches, and the nature of the requirements made of those who become members. During the first years of its history' it had to encounter .some of the difhculties which beset early Methodism in the form of wild fanat- icism and a spirit of insubordination to proper cliurch regulations, and it sufi'ered considerably from the doings and sayings of some who were never members of the Church, but who, taking advantage of the circumstances under which it was formed, and acting somewhat in connection with its movements, promidgated ideas and encouraged practices contrary to pure Gospel ; but the young denomination has had power to shake off these parasites, and free itself from these incumbrances, and bids fair to march on its way successfully in the mission of spreading scriptural holiness as understood by Wesley and his immediate coadjutors. The religions services of the Free IMethodists are generally characterized by the warmth and fervor so noticeable among early Meth- odists. Congregational singing is universal.
The Free Methodist Church is at present compo.sed of seven Annual Conferences, embracing portions of nearly every Northern state in the Union. The follow- ing is an abstract of statistics taken from the reports of the Conferences for the year ending September, 1872 : Members, 7155; travelling preachers, 1 05; local preach- ers, 159; Sabbaih-schools, 155; scholars, 4894 ; teachers, 973; value of Cinirch jirojierty, $■203,550.
Two educational institutions have been started under the auspices of the Church, one at North Chili, Jlonroe
I Comity, N. Y., the other at Spring Arbor, Michigan.
I These are conducteil with strict reference to the princi-
1 pies and usages of the people by whom they are sus- tained, and bid fair to become successful.
The publication of a monthly magazine was com- menced by the llev. H. T. Koberts in the year 1800, en- titled The Earnest Christian, devoted to the advocacy of Hilile holiness. It has been from the first well sus- tained, and, though it is an exponent of the principles taught by Free Methodists, is still conducted as an in- depemleut enterprise, anil regarded as an inisectarian publication. It has a large circulation outside tlie Church, which siiiiplies its chief iiatronage. A weekly liaper, entitled The Free Methodist, and edited by the llev. Levi Wood, w.is started in the interests of the de- nomination Nov, 2, l.S(;7, This also is a private enter- jirise, though depending on the patronage of the body
I for support. It is now published at Aurora, 111., and its
METHODISTS
189
METHODIUS
present editor is the Rev. L. Bailey. It has a very large circulation.
At present the labors of the Free Methodist Church are confined to the poor and comparatively uneducated classes of the community, and its ministers are mostly drawn from them. It can scarcely claim much denom- inational literature. The Kev. E. Bowen, U.D., wrote a history, entitled The Orifjin of the Free Methodist Church, which is rather a plain, straightforward statement of historical facts than an attempted literary monument. The Kcv. B. T. Roberts, who has from its organization been general superintendent of the body, having been thrice re-elected to that position, graduated at Middle- town, Conn., and is a writer of considerable power. His editorials, tracts, and essays display argumentative abili- tv, and the faculty of uttering truths concisely. (N. S. G.) ' Methodists, The. Sec Methodism.
Methodius, St. (surnamed also Eubulas and Eubu- lliis), a. noted theologian of the Eastern Church of the od century, one of the " fathers" and '• martyrs" of the Clmrch, flourished first as bishop of Olympus and Pa- tara, in Lycia (hence also oftentimes surnamed Patu- reims), and lat^r presided over the see of Tyre, in Pal- estine. He is supposed to have died early in the 4th century. According to Suidas, he suffered a mart^T's death at Chalcis ('AvaroX/H-) during the reign of Decius (•2-19-'251) and Valerian. This seems improbable, how- ever, since Valerian reigned after and not contemporarj- with Decius, and since the chronology of the reign of these emperors is far from accurate. It seems pretty well established now that Methodius was a contempora- ry of Porphyry ; and if lie died in a persecution, it was probably, as Cave supposes, in that of A.U. 303, or, as Fabricius thinks, in that of A.D. 311. The last-named date is quite generally accepted as the year of Metho- dius's decease. Epiphanius says that " he was a very learned man, and a strenuous assertor of the truth." Jerome has ranked him in his catalogue of Church writ- ers, but Eusebius has not mentioned tiim ; which silence is attributed by some, though merely upon conjecture, to Methodius's having written very sharply against Or- igen, who was favored by Eusebius. His principal works arc Wtpl 'AvnaracrEwt;, De Resurrectione, against Origen, divided into two or three parts; fragments of it are to be found in Epiphanius {Paiiariuin), in Photius {Bibliotheca), and in the works of Damascenus : — nf|0( TMV yiviTwv, De Creaiis, in Photius: — Uipi Avri'^ov- aiou Kai iro^fv tu KaKc'i, De Libera A rbitrio. Leo Alla- tius gave the full text, together with a Latin version, but the work, as contained in Combetis's edition of Me- thodius, is not complete: — Iltpi TtjQ ayys\omi.ii]rov TTapjtvtiag Kai ayviiaq, De Angelica Virrjinitate et Castitate, written in the form of a dialogue : it is a cu- rious work, partaking at once of the character of Plato's Banquet and of the Song of Snlomon, thoroughly Chris- tian in its doctrines, but very free in its language. Pho- tius claims that it was interpolated, and contains traces of Arianism ; these, however, have disappeared from the MSS. at present extant, from wliich the work was first published by Leo All.itius. under the title aS'. Me- ihodii, ejmcopi et marti/r/.<. < 'luiririiim decern Virginum Leo Allatius hactenus non eilUum primus Gmce vulgnvit, Laline verit ; notas et diatriben de ilfethodioi-um scriptis adjecit (Rome, 1656, 8vo). About the same time Possi- nus prepared another edition, which was published at Paris under the title S. Methodii Conririum Virginum Greece et Latine nunc primuin editum. (1C57, 8vo). It is also to be found in Combefis, .1 uctuar. Bibl. Putr. (Paris, 1672) : — Oratio de Simeone et A7ina, seu In Festum Oc- CU2-SUS et Purificationis B. Marice, published by Petrus Plantinus (Antwerp, 1598) ; this has by some been con- sidered as the work of a later Methodius, but this opinion is contradicted by Allatius: — Aoyoc Trfpi Mnprvptov, Sermo de Martyribus: — Ei'c tu Bata, In Ramos Pal- maruni: Photius gives extracts of this oration, hut some doubt ;Methodius being its author: — Libri Adversus Porphyriunt, fragments of which are given by Damas-