completeness, of the number they already enlist, and because they, of all, are most aggressive and daring. The one is the Roman Catholic, the other the Methodist; the former the most perfect—so far; the latter the most vital. It is this latter organization, that I, a layman, educated in another church, propose to examine briefly, and as the limits of this paper will permit, for the benefit of those who, like myself, are not members of that church. Few not Methodists, have any but a vague idea of what this church is, what it is doing, or what it proposes to do. Every man fancies his own plans, and his own church, and his own personality, to be most valuable to the world; and some knowledge of other people's plans and churches and self-valuation, may bring about a juster appreciation of ourselves as well as of others. A few facts and figures become therefore important, in discussing the future as well as the present aspects of this question.
The census tables of 1860—the latest we have for the whole United States—show:
ROMAN CATHOLIC.
Churches, ........ 2,550
Church accommodations, ..... 1,404,437
Value of Church property, ..... $26,774,119
METHODIST.
Churches, ........ 19,883
Church accommodations, ..... 6,259,799
Value of Church property, ..... $33,093,371
This, I must suppose, included all forms of Methodism, before the Southern separation.
These two churches outrank any others in numbers and in wealth; and, indeed, own together more than one-third of the whole church property of the United States. It is proper to say that these figures and valuations are not those issued or accepted by the churches themselves; but are correct enough as showing the relative position of these two churches, at that date, and which has not essentially changed.
While, therefore, it is apparent that in numbers and wealth the Methodist exceeds the Catholic, it is safe to say, though it cannot be proved, that the members of the Methodist Church greatly surpass in individual wealth the Catholic; and possibly every other sect, excepting the Episcopal and Unitarian. But while the Methodist has a more fertile soil and richer subjects, it has nothing like that thorough and exhaustive system of taxation which distinguishes its great rival; and which, indeed, enables it to attempt and to do such miracles as it does attempt and accomplish.
The latest Methodist Episcopal statistics I have been able to get[1] show.
Church property, ...... $35,885,439
Parsonages, ....... 5,361,295
$41,246,734
Church Members and Probationers, .... 1,032,184
The above is for the Methodist Episcopal Church alone; but as the other forms of Methodism do not essentially differ from this, I will follow Dr. Stevens, whose statements in 1866 showed a combined force of members and preachers, of 1,901,164; representing a population (4 to each communicant) of 7,604,656
- ↑ Minutes 1867.
