The demand for such a work as the following is the author’s chief apology for having written it. The Free Methodist Church has been in existence for about fifty-five years, and nothing like a complete history of the organization has heretofore been undertaken. Bowen’s “History of the Origin of the Free Methodist Church,” as suggested by its title, deals exclusively with the origin of the movement. Roberts’s “Why Another Sect ?“ though containing much valuable historical information, was written chiefly as an apology for the existence of the denomination, and also deals almost exclusively with matters pertaining to its origin. MacGeary’s “Outline History of the Free Methodist Church” was intended merely as an outline, and was particularly designed for use in “The Sunday-school Teachers’ Training Course.”

     Dr. Bowen’s work and that of General Superintendent B. T. Roberts are both out of print, and have been for a considerable time; and MacGeary’s “Outline” is so brief as of necessity to omit the greater part of the history connected with the origin of the Church, and as to forbid any extended discussion of those matters of controversy in the Genesee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church which preceded and finally led to the organization of the new denomination. Moreover, the first generation of Free Methodists has nearly all passed away, and a new generation has taken its place. Hence there is the greater need for such a history of the movement as will give the new generation, and those who will succeed it, a broadly intelligent idea of what the fathers of Free Methodism were contending for in the conflict amid which the movement originated-a clear and intelligent idea of what the Free Methodist Church stands for, and should stand for to the end of time.

     Moreover, many important things in the earlier history of the Church would likely be forgotten-things, too, which it is very desirable to preserve in proper form for ready reference-were they not gathered up in some such form as this for preservation. As an illustration of how such matters may become lost to the Church, the author desired to secure a copy of a certain historic pamphlet published about fifty years ago, and advertised throughout the whole Church for a copy, without getting a single response. Fortunately he found a copy that had been bound with an old magazine file, and had been turned in to the library of the Free Methodist Publishing House. Perhaps there is not another copy in existence, and the old volume containing that will not be long-lived. To rescue such things from oblivion is no small consideration.

     In the prosecution of his task the author has generally obtained his information from original sources. Where other authors have been quoted full credit has usually been given in the body of the work. A more free use has been made of Bowen’s “Origin of the Free Methodist Church” and Roberts’s “Why Another Sect ?“ than of other works, inasmuch as they substantially agree regarding those early controversies which issued in the origin of Free Methodism, and during the years that have elapsed since their publication they have never been contradicted. The silence of those authors, to the day of their death, whose statements regarding the Free Methodist Church are challenged in “Why Another Sect ?“ certainly appears to have been a tacit acknowledgment that the challenge was unanswerable.

     At least a dozen competent persons have had the reading of this work, in advance sheets, some of whom were in the midst of the conflict of over fifty years ago, and all of whom have been familiar with the entire subsequent history of Free Methodism; and these all attest the general correctness of what is herein written. The author has also received many valuable suggestions from these persons, which have helped materially in producing what he trusts will prove to be a readable and reliable history.

     Acknowledgement is made of the valuable service rendered by the Rev. J. T. Logan, Editor of the Free Methodist, in preparing the Index to the contents of these volumes.

     The publisher, and also the readers, are to be congratulated on the excellence of the mechanical part of the work, especially of the illustrations accompanying it The aim has been to present, so far as practicable, photogravures of principal actors in the movement whose history is herein related, and of some of the chief institutions of the Church, as well. It has been necessary, however, to limit portraits of living persons almost wholly to those of General Conference officers and officers of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, and in a few cases even these have had to be omitted.

     The preparation of this work has been a long, but far from a tedious task. It has been conscientiously performed, but with the full realization that conscientiousness in its performance is no guaranty of perfection. It is hoped, however, that no imperfections will be found of such a character as to depreciate the work as history, and that no errors will have escaped notice except such as are of minor significance, and can be corrected in a future edition.