t
began which opened the way to lines of development which have
been going on ever since. The vast number of present-day religious
societies, whether in direct connection with the Church or outside
of its pale, may be traced in some ways to the period just before and
during the reign of William III.

Then arose societies for the reformation of manners in all parts of
the kingdom. These societies represented the early stirring of the
spirit of reform which found its expression in so many forms of
activity in later times. They resembled somewhat the modern societies
for the correction of social evils, such as societies for the
prevention of vice, or societies for preventing the corrupting of
the youth. It was all done under the impulse of religion, but was
not initiated by the Church; it was a lay movement. The first
distinctively women's movements in religious matters were outside of
the Church. The great preacher Whitfield attracted the attention of
the Countess of Huntingdon, whose drawing rooms were thrown open for
his preaching and were filled by fashionable auditors. Other titled
women joined the countess, and among them was the famous Duchess of
Marlborough. The interest of noblewomen in a movement essentially
plebeian has its parallel in the nineteenth century, when the
Salvation Army enlisted the interest and support of women of rank and
title.

The attitude of the countess in her loyal support of the new
evangelical movement brought her under the criticism that is always
encountered by a zeal which is not understood by people generally.
The Duchess of Buckingham wrote to her: "I thank your Ladyship for the
information concerning the Methodist preachers; their doctrines
are most repulsive, and strongly tinctured with impertinence and
disrespect towards their superiors, in perpetually endeavouring to
level all ranks and do away with all distinctions. It is monstrous to
be told that you have a heart as sinful as the common wretches that
crawl on the earth. This is highly offensive and insulting, and I
cannot but wonder that your Ladyship should relish any sentiments so
at variance with high rank and good breeding." The Countess of Suffolk
on one occasion was so incensed at a sermon of Whitfield in the
Countess of Huntingdon's drawing room, that she rushed out of the
house in a passion, under the impression that the discourse was a
personal attack. The attitude of the clergy generally to the Methodist
movement w