One of the great mistakes made by this church is in receiving members that were never converted, but simply had a lukewarm desire to go to heaven when they had exhausted every round of earthly pleasure. Bishop Peck made this statement in a sermon that he preached a short time before his death, “I am persuaded that more than three-fourths of all the members in my beloved church, were never converted.” A sad confession indeed; but observation proves his statement correct. No wonder, with these elements within, our mother sought to array herself in gorgeous apparel. What a contrast between these days of pomp, and vanity, and worldly mindedness, and the days of blessed memory, when arrayed in Christ’s righteousness. No wonder that there was war in the church, when Susie and John came home from boarding school, backslidden completely from good desires, with the new order of things fresh in their minds, were ashamed of mother’s old fashioned style, determined that there should be a change in the programme. So they commenced by banging mother’s hair and putting rings in her ears and on her fingers. The bustle, put in its horrid appearance with extra yards of cloth, buttons, ribbons, all of which gave our dear old mother the appearance of a stranger. Of course, she was urged to comb her hair back as in the days of her simplicity, and decorate herself in modest apparel, without gold, or pearls, or costly array; but she was obstinate, and has been ever since.
The time was when the Methodists were a plain, clean, Godly class of people. Their churches were built plain with free seats, good enough for the rich, and none too good for the poor; and all were welcome, rich and poor. The principle that actuated them in bygone days was, the house of God should be as free as the gospel we preach, and both as free as the air we breathe; and on this line the glory of the Lord was manifest in the salvation of souls, and in the sanctification of believers.
The new order of things brought with it a new order of church edifices; seemingly just to accommodate the rich to the great neglect of the poor! Of course, in all churches where the seats are sold, a few are reserved for the poor, and for colored people. After a poor man or woman have accepted the paupers’ seat for a Sabbath or two, they get tempted over it, and stay away from church altogether; when if the seats had been free, they would have continued their attendance upon divine service, and likely been converted to God, and made a great blessing to the church, and to the world.