submission to the above regulations, the students may delightfully unite the theory and the practice together. We say delightfully, for we do not entertain the most distant thought of turning these employ. ments into drudgery or slavery, but into pleasing recreations for the mind and body.

"In teaching the languages, care shall be taken to read those authors, and those only, who join together the purity, the strength, and the elegance of their several tongues. And the utmost caution shall be used, that nothing immodest be found in any of our books.

"But this is not all. We shall take care that our books be not only inoffensive, but useful that they contain as much strong sense and as much genuine morality as possible. As far therefore as is consistent with the foregoing observations, a choice and universal library shall be provided for the use of the students.

"Our annual subscription is intended for the support of the charitable part of the institution. We have in the former part of this address enlarged so fully on the nature and excellency of the charity, that no more need be said. The relieving our travelling ministers and preachers, by educating, boarding, and clothing their sons, is a charity of the most noble and extensive kind, not only toward the immediate subjects of it, but also toward the public in general; enabling those flames of fire,' who might otherwise be obliged to confine themselves to an exceedingly contracted sphere of action for the support of their families, to carry the savour of the gospel to the remotest corners of these United States.

"The four guineas a year for tuition, we are persuaded, cannot be lowered, if we give the students that finished education which we are determined they shall have. And though our principal object is to instruct them in the doctrine, spirit, and practice of Christianity, yet we trust that our college will in time send forth men that will be blessings to their country in every laudable office and employment of life, thereby uniting the two greatest ornaments of intelligent beings, which are too often separated, deep learning and genuine religion.

"The rules and regulations with which you are here presented have been weighed and digested in our conference: but we also submit them to your judgment, as we shall be truly thankful for your advice, as well as your prayers for the success of the college, even where the circumstances of things will not render it expedient to you to favour us with your charity. And we shall esteem ourselves happy if we be favoured with any new light, whether from the members of our own church or any other, whereby they may be abridged, enlarged, or in any other way improved, that the institution may be as near perfection as possible.

"General Rules concerning the College.

"I. A president and two tutors shall be provided for the present. "II. The students shall consist of

"First. The sons of travelling preachers.

Secondly. The sons of annual subscribers, the children recom mended by those annual subscribers who have none of their own, and the sons of members of our society.

66

Thirdly. Orphans. But,

"1. The sons of the annual subscribers shall have the preference to any others, except those of the travelling preachers.

"2. An annual subscriber who has no sons of his own shall have a right to recommend a child; and such child so recommended shali have the preference to any other, except the sons of travelling preachers and annual subscribers.

"3. As many of the students as possible shall be lodged and boarded in the town of Abingdon, among our pious friends; but those who cannot be so lodged and boarded, shall be provided for in the college.

"4. The price of education shall be four guineas.

"5. The sons of the travelling preachers shall be boarded, educated, and clothed gratis, except those whose parents, according to the judg. ment of the conference, are of ability to defray the expense.

"6. The orphans shall be boarded, educated, and clothed gratis. "7. No travelling preacher shall have the liberty of keeping his son on the foundation any longer than he travels, unless he be superannuated, or disabled by want of health.

"8. No travelling preacher, till he has been received into full con nection, shall have a right to place his son on the foundation of this institution.

"9. No student shall be received into the college under the age of seven years.

"Rules for the Economy of the College and Students.

"1. The students shall rise at five o'clock in the morning, summer and winter, at the ringing of the college bell.

"2. All the students, whether they lodge in or out of the college, shall assemble together in the college at six o'clock, for public prayer, except in cases of sickness; and on any omission shall be responsible to the president.

"3. From morning prayer till seven they shall be allowed to recreate themselves, as is hereafter directed.

"4. At seven they shall breakfast.

"5. From eight to twelve they are to be closely kept to their respective studies.

"6. From twelve to three they are to employ themselves in recreation and dining-dinner to be ready at one o'clock.

"7. From three to six they are again to be kept closely to their studies.

"8. At six they shall sup.

"9. At seven there shall be public prayer.

"10. From evening prayer till bed-time they shall be allowed recreation.

"11. They shall all be in bed at nine o'clock, without fail.

"12. Their recreations shall be gardening, walking, riding, and bathing, without doors; and the carpenter's, joiner's, cabinet maker's, or turner's business, within doors.

"13. A large plot of land, of at least three acres, shall be appropri

ated for a garden, and a person skilled in gardening be appointed to overlook the students when employed in that recreation.

"14. A convenient bath shall be made for bathing.

"15. A master, or some proper person by him appointed, shall be always present at the time of bathing. Only one shall bathe at a time; and no one shall remain in the water above a minute. "16. No student shall be allowed to bathe in the river.

"17. A Taberna Lignaria* shall be provided on the premises, with all proper instruments and materials, and a skilful person be employed to overlook the students at this recreation.

"18. The students shall be indulged with nothing which the world calls play. Let this rule be observed with the strictest nicety; for those who play when they are young, will play when they are old.

"19. Each student shall have a bed to himself, whether he boards in or out of the college.

"20. The students shall lie on mattresses, not on feather beds, because we believe the mattresses to be more healthy.

"21. The president and tutors shall strictly examine, from time to time, whether our friends who board the students comply with these rules as far as concern them.

"22. A skilful physician shall be engaged to attend the students on every emergency, that the parents may be fully assured that proper care shall be taken of the health of their children, without any expense to them.

23. The bishops shall examine by themselves, or their delegates, into the progress of all the students in learning, every half year, or oftener, if possible.

"24. The elders, deacons, and preachers, as often as they visit Abingdon, shall examine the students concerning their knowledge of God and religion.

"25. The students shall be divided into proper classes for that purpose.

26. A pupil who has a total incapacity to attain learning, shall, after sufficient trial, be returned to his parents.

"27. If a student be convicted of any open sin, he shall, for the first offence, be reproved in private; for the second offence he shall be reproved in public; and for the third offence he shall be punished at the discretion of the president: if incorrigible, he shall be expelled. "28. But if the sin be exceedingly gross, and a bishop see it necessary, he may be expelled for the first, second, or third offence.

"29. Idleness, or any other fault, may be punished with confinement, according to the discretion of the president.

"30. A convenient room shall be set apart as a place of confine

ment.

31. The president shall be the judge of all crimes and punishments, in the absence of the bishops.

"32. But the president shall have no power to expel a student without the advice and consent of three of the trustees: but a bishop shall have that power."

* It is explained, in 1796, as "a place for working in wood."

In 1792 the following changes were made :-The price of tuition, which had been before four guineas for the year, was altered to eighteen dollars and two-thirds. The rate of boarding in the college was fixed at sixty dollars per annum, which was an increase on what it had been before.

In the "Rules for the Economy of the College and Students," the thirty-first and thirty-second were altered to the following:

"31. The president shall be the judge of all crimes and punishments, in the absence of the bishops and the presiding elder: and, with the concurrence of two of the tutors, shall have power to dismiss a student, if he judge it highly necessary, for any criminal conduct, or for refusing to submit to the discipline of the college, or to such punishment as the president and tutors judge he deserves.

"32. A committee of five respectable friends, entitled, The Committee of Safety, shall be appointed, who shall meet once in every fortnight. Three of these meeting at the appointed time shall be sufficient to enter upon business, and shall have full powers to inspect and regulate the whole economy of the college, and to examine the characters and conduct of all the servants, and to fix their wages, and change them as they may think proper. The committee shall determine every thing by a majority."

In 1796, Cokesbury College having been previously burnt down, the section was considerably modified. It was then entitled, "The Plan of Education recommended to all our Seminaries of Learning." The Address to the public was greatly abridged. The "General Rules concerning the College" are omitted; as also the twenty-eighth, thirtyfirst, and thirty-second of the "Rules for the Economy of the College and Students." The other alterations are not material.

From this time the interest of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the cause of liberal education, seems for a number of years to have gradually declined; and after 1796 no notice is taken of it in the Discipline. As the church has since taken hold of this work with greater zeal than ever, may be a question, whether some provisions on the subject might not again, with propriety, be introduced.

SECTION XVII.

Of employing our Time profitably, when we are not travelling or engaged in public Exercises.

The original of this section may be fonnd in the Discipline of 1784, in the answers to Questions 49 and 50, and the first part of the answer to Question 51-to the words, "use of the preachers." (See pp. 48-9.) It has undergone no material alteration.

SECTION XVIII.

Of the Necessity of Union among ourselves. The original of this section may be found in the Discipline of 1784, in the answer to Question 67. (See p. 62.) The only material alterations have been the following:

1789. This paragraph was prefixed to the section: "Let us be deeply sensible (from what we have known) of the evil of a division in principle, spirit, or practice, and the dreadful consequences to ourselves and others. If we are united, what can stand before us? If we divide, we shall destroy ourselves, the work of God, and the souls of our people."

1792. The following was added at the close:"We recommend a serious perusal of The Causes, Evils, and Cures of Heart and Church Divisions.'

SECTION XIX.

Of the Method by which immoral Travelling Ministers or Preachers shall be brought to Trial, found guilty, and reproved or suspended in the Intervals of the Conferences.

The only provision on the subject in the first Discipline was the following:

1784. "Quest. 63. Are there any further directions needful for the preservation of good order among the preachers?

"Ans. In the absence of a superintendent, a travelling preacher or three leaders shall have power to lodge a complaint against any preacher in their circuit, whether elder, assistant, deacon, or helper, before three neighbouring assistants; who shall meet at an appointed time, (proper notice being given to the parties,) hear and decide the cause. And authority is given them to change or suspend a preacher, if they see it necessary, and to appoint another in his place, during the absence of the superintendents."*

*A previous provision on the same subject is found in the Annual Minutes for 1784. (See p. 20.)