There
were members that wasted as much on one foolish and mischievous party,
as would have made up the difference between a single man's salary and a
married man's salary. There were members that spent as much in
intoxicating drinks as would have kept a married preacher or two out and
out. There were tradesmen that could have supported five or six
preachers out of their yearly profits, if they had been as liberal as
the old selfish Jews were required to be. If they had been as liberal as
_Christians_ are required to be,--if they had loved their neighbors, or
Jesus, or God, as they loved themselves, they could have supported
twenty preachers, and still retained enough to keep their families in
comfort and plenty, and to carry on and extend their businesses too. To
shut good men out of the ministry because they were married, and take in
doubtful men because they were single, was, in my view, disgraceful and
inexcusable. But in this also I was considered wrong by the rulers of
the Connexion, and was once more censured and admonished for what was
considered my presumptuous interference.
9. Fifty years ago, and for some years after, almost everybody used to
drink intoxicating drinks. Ale and beer, wine and spirits, were as
freely used as tea and coffee, and were taken in great quantities by
many even in the church and ministry.
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