. The history of Methodism. which had continued since the dark days of the war,now had its menacing sequel in the introduction of the cur-rent French infi-delity, and its pre-sentation to the ris-ing generation ofAmericans in pe-culiarly seductiveguise. Notwithstandingthis luxuriant cropof tares there waso-ood erain in theharvest of the war,and to no religiousbody did more sub-stantial benefitsaccrue than to thefeeble folk whounder the name ofMethodists had come up through great tribulation. As thepopular ideas of freedom and equality became embodied inthe constitutions and laws of the new .St
. The history of Methodism. which had continued since the dark days of the war,now had its menacing sequel in the introduction of the cur-rent French infi-delity, and its pre-sentation to the ris-ing generation ofAmericans in pe-culiarly seductiveguise. Notwithstandingthis luxuriant cropof tares there waso-ood erain in theharvest of the war,and to no religiousbody did more sub-stantial benefitsaccrue than to thefeeble folk whounder the name ofMethodists had come up through great tribulation. As thepopular ideas of freedom and equality became embodied inthe constitutions and laws of the new .States the privileges ofthe older religious organizations were lopped off one by one,as in New England, or swept away at a stroke, as in Massachusetts a man must still be taxed to support theChurch of the standing order—the Congregational—unless he could prove that he was an attendant upon someother recognized religious service. But in most of the Statesfull toleration was almost immediately granted; and even. RKV. SAMUEL r-ROVOOST, Protestant Episcopal Bishop of New York. Denominational Status, 1784 261 Jews and Roman Catholics were not long denied equal rightsbefore the law. In 1784 the leading- denominations of Christians in theUnited States were as follows: the Congregationalists, whohad Xew England pretty much to themselves save in RhodeIsland, where the followers of Roger Williams were impreg-nably intrenched; the Baptists, whose devoted missionarieswere penetrating into every white settlement, the Friends,of Pennsylvania and the adjoining States; the Presbyteriansand various Reformed Churches of the Middle States ; and theChurch of England, to which the favor of royal charters andgovernors had secured a prestige, especially in New Yorkand the Southern cities, quite out of proportion to its num-bers. The Roman Catholics had a precarious foothold, withMaryland as their chief center. The Moravians had settle-ments in Pennsylvania and North Carolina,
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