he commanded locally. The incident showed that the leadership was not representing the interests and views of some Methodists. Its policies frequently clashed with poorer Methodists. In efforts to raise money, it introduced weekly and quarterly dues, yearly collections, the payment of class and ticket money, and seat rents. Such fees bore severely on the poor in the war years and the subsequent depression, opening a gulf between richer and poorer members. Seat rents marginalised a chapel's poor, while exalting the rich. The poor were often relegated to the least popular part of the chapel, and their involvement was implicitly devalued. At one of the earliest chapels, Walpole Old Chapel in Suffolk, attendance had once been an act of pride in the face of social superiors, but now reinforced inferiority. Such developments led to the disillusionment of rural Methodists. The poor contributions of many rural societies to the Connexion funds led to pastoral neglect. To illustrate the disillusionment of many, a pamphleteer in 1814 said, "You complain the preachers never call to see you unless you are great folks.... Well you may see the reason; you can do nothing for them; money they want and money they must and will have." Such disillusionment of many Methodists with the leadership of the Wesleyan Conference increased the possibility of schism. What was at stake The crucial factor was that the events came at a time when the movement had more to lose than ever before. Its withdrawal from the Church of England made chapel building and a larger ministry a necessity, while the Connexion also invested in schools, pension funds and foreign missions. Hard work and clean living had allowed many Methodists to increase their wealth and own property. All this could be lost to a fearful wartime government or a baying mob. The Wesleyan "clergy" derived its income from the Church and had a vested interest in ensuring a conservative policy. It was easier for men from the lower sorts, artisans like Bourne and Clowes. Bourne was a successful businessman (a carpenter whose contacts included supplying pit-props for local coal mines) and Clowes was a master potter, who had worked his way up from working in potteries as a young boy and married into the Wedgwood family. They both had considerable education, though not at university like John Wesley, but through their own hard work earning a living. Did they have