eeting at six
in the morning being followed by sermons preached by the Rev. Thomas
Jackson and the President, the Rev. Theophilus Lessey. A few weeks
later came the festal day, October 25, morning prayer-meetings and
special afternoon and evening services being held throughout the
country. Never had there been such large gatherings for rejoicing and
thanksgiving; there were festivities for the poor and for the
children of the day and Sunday schools. These celebrations, in which
the whole Methodist Church joined, aroused the interest of the
nation, and called forth appreciative criticism from press and
pulpit.

[Illustration: Wesleyan Centenary Hall.]

When the idea of this first great Thanksgiving Fund was originally
contemplated, the most hopeful only dared look for L10,000; but when
the accounts were closed the treasurers were in possession of
L222,589, one meeting at City Road having produced L10,000; and the
effort was made at a time of great commercial depression. This
remarkable liberality drew the attention of the Pope, who said in an
encyclical that _the heretics were putting to shame the offerings of
the faithful_.

Not a few meetings took the form of lovefeasts, where generous giving
proved the reality of the religious experiences; for there has ever
been an intimate connexion between the fellowship and the finance of
Methodism. Part of the great sum raised went to the Theological
Institution, part to Foreign Missions; Wesleyan education was helped
by a grant, L1,000 were paid over to the British and Foreign Bible
Society; and the laymen desiring to help the worn-out ministers and
their widows and children, L16,000 were set aside to form the
Auxiliary Fund for this purpose.

It was now that the Missionary Committee were enabled to secure the
Centenary Hall, the present headquarters of the Missionary Society.
The remaining sums were given to other useful purposes.

Methodism in 1839 in all its branches [Footnote] reckoned more than
1,400,000 members, with 6,080 itinerant preachers and 350
missionaries; 50,000 pupils were instructed in the mission schools,
and there were upwards of 70,000 communicants and at least 200,000
hearers of the gospel in Methodist mission chapels. In England alone
the Wesleyan Methodists owned 3,000 chapels, and had many other
preaching places; there were 3,300 Sunday schools, 341,000 scholars,
and 4,000 local preachers. These figures, when, compared with those
given at the end