Society Meetings were instituted by Mr. Wesley immediately after the formation of the first Methodist Society, and were regarded by him of great importance in a spiritual point of view. All preachers were to hold them on the Lord’s day; only those members who had tickets were to be admitted. On these occasions the society is to be closely and affectionately addressed by the preacher on those important subjects which relate to personal and domestic religion. A Methodist love-feast is a meeting at which none are present but the members of the society, and such as have obtained special permission from the minister. The meeting begins with singing and prayer, after which the stewards, or other officials of the society, distribute to each person a portion of bread or cake, and then a little water. A collection is then made for the poor. Liberty is then given to all to relate their religious experience in accordance with the words of the Psalmist—“Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will tell what He hath done for my soul.” This service is usually held once a quarter, continues about two hours, and is concluded with prayer. The times for holding public prayer-meetings are not fixed by any established rule of the connexion, but are left to the discretion of the superintendent of the circuit, who usually appoints such times as may be most convenient to the people of the district. Prayer-meetings are generally held on Sunday mornings and week-days. Missionary prayer-meetings are held once a month, and meetings in private houses for prayer are strongly recommended. Quarterly days of fasting and humiliation are also held. The religious services known as Watch Nights are usually celebrated on the New Year’s-eve, but they are not always confined to the close of the year, for it is the custom of some places to hold them quarterly. On the first Sunday afternoon in the New Year, a solemn service is held entitled the Renewing of the Covenant. It generally commences at two and closes at five. None but members or those who have obtained special permission from the preacher may be present. Baptism is regarded by the Methodists as a dedicatory act on the part of Christian parents. The Sacrament is their most solemn and sacred festival. In the bread and wine they see no mystical efficacy, but a significant emblem of the body and blood of Christ; but they do not make it the test of Church membership. Originally the Wesleyans went to their parish church for the purpose of celebrating it, and it was not till after Wesley’s death that the body received the Sacrament in their own chapels, and from their own ministers.