synod has determined, "that it is agreeable to the principles of the Presbytery of Relief, to hold communion with visible saints in the Episcopalian and Independent Churches."
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THE METHODISTS.
The Methodist Society was first founded in 1729. Mr John Wesley and several others, who in 1735 were joined by the celebrated George Whitefield, constituted its first Association. They formed rules for the regulation of their times and studies, for reading the Scriptures, and self-examination; and obtained the name of Methodists from the exact regularity of their lives, and the systematical manner in which all their concerns were conducted.
In 1735, Mr Wesley and several other brethren embarked for America, where, after remaining some time he returned to England, and was succeeded by Mr Whitefield, whose unwearied exertions, and astonishing success, are without a parallel in the western world. On his return from America, in 1741, he declared his full assent to the doctrines of Calvin. Mr Wesley, on the contrary, professed the doctrines of Arminius, and had already written in favour of them, stating some strong objections in particular against the Calvinistic doctrine of election. This difference of sentiment between these two eminent men caused a separation, and their followers continue to be divided to this day.
The Wesleyan Methodists, as they are now called, were first formed into a society in 1738, after Mr Wesley's return from America; when
